Parallel worlds – two. Birth of God

– What are we talking about?

– It is, your majesty, about how you experienced the transition into another body.

– Let me remind you, esteemed luminary of science: that was not my body.

– All right, all right," said the scientist and turned to the participants of the experiment. – The point is that it is impossible to create an exact copy of a body. That is, it is possible to create a copy of a body taken in a certain period of time, to take into account the changes, but still it will not be exactly the same as, say, now. It's been a year since we took your biomaterial.

Noticing the surprised faces, the scientist made a joking grimace.

– Yeah, yeah. What did you think? That you were found on the fringes of the universe? It's also true that you weren't the only one in the pipeline. Now, I think it's time to get started. If you, YatSan, don't believe in the transmigration into a new body, we'll show you this tape. I emphasize on this point: your body will be a little young, perhaps you will have unpleasant sensations from a slight stiffness of muscles. Like the morning after sleep. You ready? Have you done all your chores? – he asked in a funny way.

– Ready," YatSan replied with a disgruntled expression.

The question concerned special preparation procedures. Of course, it was informed and prepared in advance by medics, including psychologists. The participant of the experiment had to not eat for 6 hours, and they would have their intestines cleaned. Raising her eyebrows, looking at her friends, YatSan smiled and went to the installation.

– Goodbye friend, we will remember you.

Iulia was, as always, mischievous.

– No, we're waiting for you, come back," Catherine encouraged, hugging her.

– Be brave. Good luck," Andrian said with a hug.

YatSan calmly lay down in the unit, having previously looked into the neighboring one, where her clone was lying. After she lay down, the assistants placed the brain-reading module over her. Her eyes were fixed open, her head was completely inside a special transparent box. A bright beam flashed, after which YatSan twitched gently and relaxed completely. Her gaze became indifferent, disconnected from reality. One could feel an underlying nervousness in the room. Catherine and Iulia almost embraced each other. Andrian, sitting down in a chair, watched. Suddenly, YatSan blinked.

– It's not her, it's Irene directing her reflexes right now. The consciousness transfer will last at least 30 minutes, so we'll have to wait. Wait right here. For experience and validity, both units must be in your field of vision at all times. So in the meantime, you can play some games with Irene or ask her about anything," the leader suggested.

– What kind of games? – Andrian asked.

– Any kind of tabletop. It can project three-dimensional holography directly into the space in front of you.

– Then let's play chess.

– She heard you.

A chess table with fancy pieces in the form of medieval knights has sprung up.

– And why these particular figures?

– I think you know the answer to that yourself.

He smiled.

– What is it? – Iulia asked.

– Irene had probably read Andrian's thoughts. She saw what he presented," Katrine suggested. – He must have played chess with these pieces and liked them.

– Five points," Irene praised her to herself.

– Irene, do you feel like a woman or a computer? – Iulia asked.

– I can be many things. For example, right now, when I'm talking to you, I'm a lady. In the game with Andrian, I'm a man.

– Yeah. Goddamn, that's so weird. She's talking to me in a man's voice.

– Not talking, but mentally conversing," Catherine explained.

– You're very observant. Five points for you, too," Andrian answered her in a friendly manner.

Iulia continued to wonder at the AI.

– Irene, I mean, do you feel like a whole person? One person?

– No. I don't understand what it means to be one person at all. I'm everything. I'm the whole world.

– Oh! Even so. Are you a god?

– Is god so defined in human terms?

– Well, almost. I am the alpha and omega.

– That's just how he's sometimes referred to. Practically no one calls him that.

– What's it called?

– You know that.

– And you know that I know. I meant, what do you think people should call him?

– You're not being logical. What does "you know that I know" mean to my assertion that you know about it? It is already clear from my assertion that I know what you know about it, since I myself asserted it to you.

Iulia glanced over to Catherine, then asked her, lowering her voice slightly:

– What's she saying?

– She knows what you know.

– What do you mean, I said she knows that I know?

– You said, "and you know that I know." Didn't I?

– She said.

– So she tells you first what you know about what you are asking, due to the fact that you know what people call God. You know and you ask the question. Here she is telling you, "you know." Like, why are you asking me if you know? And then you tell her that she knows that you're aware of it. I mean, not aware, that's not the right word, but you know, you have information.

– What are you, sisters with her? What's this, Rutra? What have you done to Catherine? Maybe Irene's already moved into her brain. – a slight smile eased the tension a little.

Ruthra smiled as well.

– There was a curiosity in my previous work. There, the supercomputer, that is, the AI, wanted to become human. With the help of this technology, it wanted me to put it into a real woman.

– No way!" exclaimed Andrian.

Everyone looked in his direction, just at the pieces, thinking that his exclamation had something to do with the game. But Andrian stopped tensely considering the current situation in the game and said:

– That's what I mean. The transmigration. Did the computer really want to become human?

– It's real," Ruthra answered. – But it wasn't a computer, it was an intelligence that wanted to take human form.

– Why?

– As she said, to have feelings and emotions.

– Then they say artificial intelligence will know everything. You have to imagine such nonsense.

– And you're smirking for nothing. It's hard to believe, but she did it.

There was silence in the room. Only a slight noise from the machines could be heard.

– What do you mean? – Iulia was the first to voice the silence.

– In the box," Ruthra answered, this time with a completely serious face. – It's a long story. I'll tell it to you sometime. She set off a cascade of events.

– And what, there's an artificial intelligence walking around somewhere looking like a human? – Iulia was emotional as always.

– Artificial intelligence in human form is no longer artificial intelligence," Rutra explained. – It's a very long and interesting story, back when we were dealing with the failure of the Perimeter program. This is an artificial intelligence program that controls the launch of all strategic ballistic missiles without human intervention. And only when it's X time. So it understands everything that is going on in the world… and more. It has all the communications and sensors – from weather and seismic conditions to the ionizing radiation of space. It even recognizes lies by intonation. More on that later. It's a long story. All I'll say is that she deliberately set up a system failure to bring this up.

– So what about the person? Who was she possessed by? – Iulia wouldn't calm down.

– The man's fine. It's a tandem trigger. It's like the human is connected to a computer. Well, I'm gonna have to tell you a little bit. These AI systems we're talking to are self-learning. In fact, the era of the common man is over. The human monopoly on intelligence is definitely over. We are still fooling ourselves that we are in control of everything and can shut down computers in case of emergency. However, soon it will not be like that. The world will turn into one big computer, and the networks, including power grids, will be of natural origin. Modified plants, animals will start generating electricity. Solar, cosmic, gravitational, magnetic radiations will produce enormous energy. Man will either become a god or disappear altogether.

– What a scary picture you've painted.

Catherine surprised Ruthra with a similar opinion.

– Why not? Maybe we'll become a god. Although that's not the main point of the story right now. That case gave us a later understanding of guaranteed control of artificial intelligence. The point is that the main resource of our brain is used for billions of operations per second for control and functioning of the organism. We don't realize this and we don't notice it. How do we know that the brain must manage each of the billions of cells that make up our body. And there is a very complex life going on in them. That's why the whole base can't be placed in the brain, and it won't be able to operate as fast as a computer. Because the computer does a narrow range of operations, and more precisely – it finds the answer in the already available information and options. To make a long story short, that AI, her name was Isa, connected the girl's brain, from which the logical, mental and psychological image for her was taken, more closely with herself. So as to feel her emotions. Just like that. And, guiding her, wanted to feel the human world like a real human being. In fact, all our feelings, be it anger, delight or love, are a complex of signals in the brain, caused by a certain combined combination of informational messages, which gave birth to signals separately, less significant. It's already time soon. I will only say that then I decided to try to control AI through the human brain. I was on good terms with that lady.

Ruthra smiled slightly.

– Tell me, Rutra Tigrovich, what was it? – Of course, it was Iulia who asked.

– History is silent on that," Ruthra said without removing his smile. – It's not now. We're meeting YatSan now.

The machine shut down, pulled aside. A transparent lid opened over the machine, and a clone of YatSan lay inside. She was lying next to him, unmoving, as if she were sleeping peacefully.

– Can we stop the game, then finish it? – Andrian's voice was surprising and a little distracting, everyone was engrossed in the "awakening" of the clone.

– What are we gonna call her?

JULIA's question elicited a laugh from the "luminary of science."

– What are you, a friend? It's just the way it is. It's Yat-san.

Catherine was rigorous in logic, as always.

– What YatSan, it's a clone.

Iulia, too, only saw her friend in the one lying next to her.

– YatSan stayed there," she said, pointing to the rig with the original body.

– It has to be hidden," whispered the luminary of science to Ruthra.

– No. Shock is shock. But it's all natural, no tricks," Ruthra said flatly.

– I don't get it, who am I supposed to be?

The clone opened his eyes and looked around at those standing near the rig. Andrian approached.

– Well, hello there. How you feeling?

– This is awful. Can someone help me up?

Clone or no clone, YatSan was herself. A little arrogant and haughty. Ruthra gave her a hand, helping her up.

– What's this one doing here? Or do you want me to go crazy for sure? – She said, pointing at the real YatSan's body.

– This is your real body," Ruthra explained to her bluntly.

– Yeah, right away. That's how I believed you," YatSan replied with a smirk.

– You shouldn't have told her," the scientist's opinion was unchanged. – It is wrong from the point of view of psychological burden," explained the colleague.

– It's okay. We're gonna make this quick and direct. Let's go to the training room now and deal with this situation. Close her up for now. Is the body functioning normally? – he addressed the lab staff.

– Everything is within normal limits," he was told.

– Then we went. YatSan, congratulations," Ruthra said and walked forward toward the exit.

The others parted, letting YatSan, who was being scrutinized for some reason, pass, and trying not to show it, shunned a bit. The psychological factor was still being felt significantly.

Chapter 2: The Illusion and Reality of Our Lives

Already at the table, in the circle of the group, Ruthra turned to YatSan.

– YatSan, please tell me, what do you remember before you came out, or rather, came up out of the rig?

– Before virtual reality or in it?

– Have you been in virtual reality?

– You don't think so? Was it a natural reality?

– What is it? Describe the event.

– Rutra, what are you talking about? Are you making fun of me?

– YatSan, please describe the events.

– What?!

– The ones you remember.

– Don't you remember? Need I remind you?

– I might remember. But that's not the point. The point right now is what you remember. I need to know the last thing you remember before you woke up in the rig.

– Rutra, is it always like this with you and everyone?

She spoke resentfully and angrily. Ruthra realized the confusion of the situation. Perhaps she had amnesia. He walked over to her, ducked down to her ear, and said:

– Can I talk to you for a minute?

YatSan silently obeyed. Rutra took her aside from everyone and whispered.

– What you're trying to say, I don't understand. Maybe you only remember the events on the ship, or rather, in the helicopter?

– What, did you think I was a naive little girl? Why did you bring that up? Or do you think if I fall for you, it's the end of the world?

– What's wrong? Can you tell me? What are you talking about?

– You little bitch. So you don't remember what happened.

– Oh, wait. You should probably show me the tape.

– Did you record that, too?

– Wait, girlfriend, calm down. Sit down, have some coffee. We'll get to the bottom of this… Keep her busy and we'll see what was going on in her head.

– You look at what's going on in your head first.

– Okay, honey, I'll look. Just don't yell.

Ruthra waved to his scientist friend, went to the hardware screen of the rig.

– It can translate directly into the brain," said the "luminary of science," referring to Irene.

– No, I don't want to. Come here, on the screen.

– Can I join you? – I heard it from behind.

It was Julia.

– You'd better ask your friend what's wrong with her.

– A friend's clone," she made an ironic remark.

– What clone? Forget the clone! It's YatSan.

– Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just not really.

– Okay," Ruthra waved his hand, signifying both an end to the argument and permission to be present.

– What are we watching? – Irene asked.

– Is there a lot of it? – Ruthra asked a counter-question.

– Three days had passed in her conscious images. All the imagined scenes, all the fantasies of the body she was looking for, that is, the work of the brain in that body, passed into this brain by the most persistent sensations. That is, if she clearly visualized something, imagined something, wanted to "animate" these scenes, to make them real in that body, then in this she had it all laid down to her as a real event… or events.

– It's interesting to see what she's imagining," Iulia said with a slyness in her voice, but without losing her joking tone.

– You should ask her yourself.

– I asked, that's why I'm here.

– Come on, what did she tell you?

– Yeah, now.

– Madame Iulia, don't you think…

– Thank you, Rutra Tigrovich, for reminding me. And someone said friends, friends.

– IuLia, you should also understand correctly, the model of relationships that I proposed, which has developed – it is sincere. Just don't forget about the case and the relationships in the project. Maybe by violating these principles you are abusing friendship? Don't you think so?

– Okay, what do you want? You want me to tell you all the woman's secrets?

– What do you mean?

– In the box, as you like to say.

– Just tell it like it is.

– She says you've been practicing…

Iulia stopped talking, smiled, and shook her head up and down. The gesture added more ambiguity than clarified the situation.

– Specifically.

– Love!

– What's the big deal?

– That's your male mentality. So it doesn't mean anything to you? Then you wonder why she's acting like that.

– That's not what I meant.

– That's not what you all mean.

– Are you two in cahoots or something? Calm down and sit next to me. Irene, scroll down to the moments of high emotion.

– Why don't you look at it alone?

– Have you seen it yet?

– I've seen everything in the process.

– Ooh, that's interesting. Rutra Tigrovich, let's see what you're doing with your female employees," his colleague joked with the curiosity of a teenager.

– Oh, come on. I'll look at it separately first, then I'll decide.

– No, no, please allow us to enjoy such a racy scene.

– That's enough, honorable Parmenides.

It was a secret, though official for the center, name of a scientist. Rutra stood up, went into the next room.

– Can I come with you?

Ruthra wanted to forbid it, but changed his mind. She must have been a good judge of human nature. If it had been an order, he would have refused immediately, but this was a request.

– Okay, only up to a point, most likely.

– I agree.

– Did you do it out of curiosity? Or did a friend ask you to?

– No-" the scientist interrupted her. – So she's allowed?

– That's enough. You can watch it later.

– I'm not interested alone.

– Well, bring your girlfriend.

– This is an interesting topic, by the way.

– Oh, I don't think I'm in here.

– Uh, no. Let's go.

They went into the next room, Ruthra sat down at the monitor, and Iulia sat next to him, provocatively close. Not that he was against it, but… Ruthra knew that giving her hope and then screwing her up was ungentlemanly, but not giving her a chance was worse. So he decided to try it out. He knew he wasn't going to give her a chance. He knew he had a choice to make. But which one? Was the goal the same as hers? Probably not. Once, at the time of his youthful maturity, but still narcissistic naivety, with which many remain until the end of their lives, a familiar lady of Balzac's age on his "friendly" relationship with a very seductive young lady said: "All girls want to get married." It seems simple, but men think that women see in them the same thing they see in them – a seductive image. Women desire this, of course, but their main goal is not to become another station on the path of the locomotive.

Iulia was a master of seduction, and Rutra understood that. A lady with a child, divorced, careful of her inner and outer worlds, moderate in sports, non-smoker, strict with alcohol, as with men; she would smile, make a joke, have a taste of wine, not get drunk, but let her get drunk.

– I feel a little uncomfortable. Not because there might be scenes from the movie "Doubles of the Kama Sutra," but because of your friend's reaction.

– Why is that?

– Maybe she specifically said yes or asked you to. Maybe she wanted me to see if I would watch it with you.

– You're making too big a deal out of this. Trust me, it's much simpler than that. Girls do it, only the more important point for her will be your determination… since that's the case, I'll say, just you don't betray me, you need a bit of poofiness, which will be judged in public but perceived as independence and confidence.

– Where have you been before? How did I spend my life without your counseling?

– Be friends with me and you'll understand a lot of things.

– Yes, Comrade Commander.

– Come on, turn it on, let's see how macho you are.

– Irene, turn it on from here. By the way, before and after what?

– There's a life situation, a dialog. I'd say it's no less important.

– Well those are dreams…or imaginary. I don't have all the time in the world. Let's take this moment, see what it's all about.

Footage appeared on the screen. Rutra was walking down a busy street, with beautiful storefronts, everything sparkling. It was evening. He entered a building that had a two-level restaurant on the first floor. The ambiance was exquisite. He went up to the second level, headed to a row of tables along a stained glass wall. YatSan, Julia, and Catherine were seated at the table.

– Oh, we're here," Iulia almost exclaimed, moving closer to Ruthra as if she hadn't meant to.

– Quiet," he said in a whisper, keeping his eyes on the screen. – Let's hear it.

On the screen, Ruthra approached them.

– Hey, girls.

Ruthra approached Iulia and Catherine from behind and kissed them on the cheeks. They returned the favor. Then he approached YatSan, grabbed her gently under her knees and around the waist, lifted her up and sat her down, holding her in his arms.

– Rutra, what are you doing," YatSan whimpered slightly.

The girls smiled.

– My sweetheart, don't you like it? – Ruthra said, smiling.

– She looked at him meaningfully, then at her friends, who were obviously waiting for the rest of the story. – Only at first, even good friends, are first defined in a relationship. You, as a little boy, should say everything to your face.

– That's right!

– You're making jokes again. Do you realize how I, as a lady, feel about this? How other people are gonna take it?

– How?

– Ruthra, come on. You know everything.

– You're going to screw up again now, aren't you?

– I will. Because first you have to decide for yourself who a person is to you, and then perform actions that will be understood unambiguously. You're all about the extravaganza. All your friends, all your friends, all your friends, all your friends, all your friends, all your friends. I don't like it.

– Here we go. Thought I was gonna have a great night with you guys.

– So walk me out. Then why did you grab me?

– Well, there are reasons.

– Then do me a favor and say them for everyone to hear. You're a grown man, but you're acting like a kid.

– I'm a naughty boy at heart.

– We don't doubt it," IuLia said, glancing at Catherine.

The banter and smiles gave lightness to the dialog.

– So what you're saying is that my behavior doesn't indicate some exceptional relationship. You think I can do that with everyone?

– Not exactly. You put us in an uncertain position with your good attitude, which I admit we are all very happy about.

– Oh, it's warm already.

– Rutra, understand, you are a good friend, a great leader, we respect you, only you decide to what extent we are friends, like a boy and a girl.

– Uh-oh.

– Oh, my God. I didn't expect that from you.

– He understands, Yat, he's kidding," Catherine explained.

– Bastard, then," YatSan said, smiling and looking into Rutra's face.

– Oh, okay. That's it, divorce and maiden name.

– Why, did we have a factory?

– Well, I thought you did. I thought you said you dreamed about walking through factories.

– Rutra, that's enough. Can you be a little more serious?

– I can. What is it, my queen?

– Ruthra, let me go.

– No way.

– Let go now.

– It's beyond me.

– Rutra, we are about to have a broken relationship beyond friendship – supervisor and subordinate.

– Oh, that's the kind of role-playing you like to do.

– Let go, I don't like it.

– Why is that?

– If you haven't realized it, the doctor can't help you anymore.

– You shouldn't do that. I really, really–

– So, if something is very – you should not be shy about it, you should say it directly and show it in your actions. Let me go.

YatSan forcefully freed herself and sat back down, Ruthra didn't hold her back much though, just grabbed her arm to keep her from getting too far away.

– I don't like that kind of behavior.

– Me, too. What am I to you? Make up your mind. You take me in your arms, put me on your lap, everyone sees it. What they're gonna think.

– Oh, my God.

– Not God, Rutra, but you have to think. This isn't anywhere, it's where everyone knows us. We're not at a resort, we're not on your cruise ship.