Parallel worlds – one. Fire and flame

"So much for the second stratagem," thought Big-data. It turns out that if in his body he could not find out the secrets of the competing groups, for this he would have to cooperate with them, offering something of his own, then this way he could find out all the plans and programs, the levels of success achieved by all the scientific groups.

Rutra was right. The rest of their dialog made a lot of things clear.

– Tentatively, judging by the mysteriousness of your tone, you have succeeded, I can tell you. I, knowing your fraternity and your experiments on digitizing human consciousness and its further existence inside a supercomputer, am even afraid to think what else you will propose.

It's clear," thought Ruthra in the scientist's body, "this is a direct competitor, his developments are very much needed. Apparently, there were already rumors in the scientific community that the luminary of science wanted to get his project promoted and thus bury all such projects, of course, if the idea was approved. Which was most likely with Rutra's involvement. Big-data decided to listen to their dialog, making an indifferent disinterested look.

– Isn't that bad. You can be in different guises and talk to yourself.

– All right, all right, stop. You know how that turned out.

– I'm sorry, that wasn't with you.

– Do you remember when the computer fell in love with a bunch of girls by pretending to be a famous athlete?

– Yes. That incident was the fault of this man… whatever you call him. I don't know him personally.

– Paris.

– Yeah, that guy, Paris. But he wasn't a big-time athlete.

– Even so. It's a nightmare. Imagine what could be done with this method. What if he talks to his family or business, pretending to be the real him, and then makes you believe that it's the right thing to do? He'd find arguments, examples. After all, how he beautifully falsified and even created some facts. The complete falsification of the broadcasting of international competitions is worth it.

– Well you don't have to, especially for young people, believe everything that comes at you from the net so unquestioningly.

– Oh, my God, I don't know who I'm hearing this from.

They smiled and walked to the conference room and sat down at the table. Already seated, Big-boss nodded to Big-data. The room was full and buzzed like a beehive. Everyone was interested in the topic; both management and scientists had come. The final preparations were underway.

The big boss, who to everyone was Rutra, suggested wearing special masks. All those participating in the discussion, realizing the upcoming presentation methodology, put on without question. After the equipment was checked, i.e. a powerful beam of light flashed in front of their eyes in the mask, after which the surrounding reality completely changed, space disappeared, everything became white light, as if nothing, not even the wearer of the helmet, existed – the invisible presenter announced the beginning of the meeting. The essence of what was going on in the virtual reality helmet was a special special effect: one could be directly in the place, in the process that was being discussed. If the story was about some terrain – the surroundings became exactly the same as what was being talked about. If the story was about space, then, for example, solar flares were drawn directly in front of your eyes, you could be in the boiling atmosphere of Venus, watch the flight of everything that was "swallowed" by a black hole, as well as look at the nucleus of an atom, "dig" into the stomach of a shark, and so on.

For the time being, the "surroundings" were just a white background. Then, from afar, the "celebrant" appeared – a scientist, whom his colleagues called "Mr. Brain" and "the luminary of science," or rather, his body, because Rutra was inside, calling him a magician and sorcerer, to which the scientist smiled modestly. So, this magician and sorcerer, and in fact Rutra, having entered the role, in his style began the narration. Knowing the scientist's manners, the audience was prepared to hear a report on the theory of the universe and everything related to it. Ruthra checked the time. The chipped didn't need to look at their watches to do this. They "saw" the time inside themselves. At an internal signal, which was the thought itself, the time appeared in their minds like an exact memory. So, there was less than a minute left to exit the virtual reality. Ruthra decided to start cryptically, to make one last check before exiting.

– You know, I'm going to tell you something you won't believe, and you'll be wrong. And what I'm going to tell you is this: you don't exist. Soon I will show you this tape, and you will realize that this moment does not exist in the real world.

Then he was silent, waiting for the time to expire. The assembled people, all of whom were periodically tested in the virtual world, knew when and under what conditions they would approve what Rutra was now proclaiming. The expressions on their faces showed incomprehension. Finally the time was up. Ruthra expected a repetition of the process that usually accompanies the exit from virtual reality – "darkening" of consciousness, disappearance of visible things, completely white light in the eyes, a second blackout of senses and mind, and then a "miraculous" appearance in a new place, or rather, in the virtual reality installation. Time expired, Ruthra waited, but there was no change. "What is it? – He thought to himself. – Didn't the timer go off… It couldn't be. Irene was supposed to be in control." There was a nervous silence in the room – there was an explanation to be made.

– So tell us why," the head of the world information services control interrupted the silence.

Rutra had been on friendly enough terms with him, and they occasionally played chess in the evenings, but this played a cruel trick. He forgot his present appearance and began to speak to him as Rutra.

– I will. I'll be blunt. Soon we'll all be watching the meeting on tape. The point is, it's not real. I know what you're thinking right now. I'm sorry if I'm patronizing myself, but I'm speaking as a professional. I, unlike you, intuitively understand the state in virtual and real reality. You can't understand it. For you, what's happening now and your condition are real. This is actually an experiment. The scientific community presenting the project and I conceived it. Let me explain. You have all been in virtual reality and you know what a double feeling you get after leaving it. Naturally, initially everything that happens seems natural to you. Naturally, you don't believe it's virtual reality. Well, what can I tell you about it… You yourself have tried many times to understand – and still do not understand. It's not that important. I conceived this project myself. Or rather, the idea part of it, I took a very active part in its development. Of course, the academic community, namely, the block that directly initiated the meeting, hoped for me as the head of the Council of Masters, counted on me to promote the project.

Ruthra noticed the thoughtfulness and wariness with which the people regarded everything. Not only could you read it on their faces, you could literally feel their emotional state. For some reason, only one person was laughing… "Damn it," Ruthra said to himself. He was the one laughing. Or rather, Big Boss was laughing. Ruthra looked at him furiously. He realized that the trickster had somehow changed the time on the timer. Looking around, Ruthra instantly realized that his speech was illogical, if not comical. He was saying what he wanted to say, but it was not what he wanted to say, because his body was different. He had to explain it somehow.

– Wait a minute, I get it. It's not me talking, I mean, I'm… You'll see. We're conducting an experiment. In addition to being in a virtual world, you're listening to a non-scientist. That is, as if you're listening to a "luminary of science", but actually it's me, the head of the Council of Masters Rutra Tigrovich Paschov.

Everyone looked at Big-daddy in amazement, and Big-boss, clapping his hands, said:

– Well, you know, with all due respect, colleague, I think you are misrepresenting your experiments… or achievements, I don't know what to call it. And I'll tell you, even though you consider this reality to be virtual, I'd like to point out some rules of protocol. You know my name well, so it would be nice if you would call yourself by your first name on the board as well. The fact that you are a "luminary of science", the fact that everyone calls you that and it has already taken root – no one is against it, but still this is not even an international seminar of the scientific community.

– Look, I'd ask you to stop this charade. First, let me know what time you set the timer for. Because we should be back to reality by now. Secondly, you know for a fact that my name is what I said it was, and I and a few members of the council know what your name is, a secret scientist, and what documents and appearance you go out into the world with. So, since you have been provided with such a level of secrecy and identity protection, kindly stop breaking comedy and tell the council about the essence of your experiment. An ingenious experiment, no doubt, I'm not disputing that.

– I'll tell you this: to hear such a thing from an eminent doctor and then entrust him with programs crucial for mankind is not only risky, but also inappropriate. Do you want to tell me who's in my body? It's not me.

– Look, what's going on? – the chairman of the council, who in real life was the head of the UN's top supervisory board, intervened in their dialog.

– And here's what's going on," Big-data made his trademark gesture, raising the index finger of his left hand. – Our esteemed scientist, "luminary of science", who, by the way, called himself that initially, offered me to conduct an experiment. The essence of the experiment is as follows: he and I enter virtual reality, where I must be him, and he me. We check the possibility of this, as they say, just in case. That's why it's an experiment. But this trickster, I will not hesitate to say so, was up to something, I realized it later… But first of all, why I did not give it all so much importance and why I agreed to come to the meeting in his image. The thing is that he needed to be in my body at our meeting. His goal is to use me to get you to approve the project. The project, which, as I now realized before the meeting, he stole partly from my ideas and partly from the developments of a rival group. He needs all of this to get funding and later world fame after we declassify it. That's the way it is. I'll even say more: the proposed technology is revolutionary. With its help, you can seize power better than with the program "Super Spy". After all, according to the rules of our organization – to control and maintain power, we voluntarily constantly hold sessions in virtual reality. So he wants to enter the body of everyone he wants, as he does now, and then make a decision on behalf of the person he wants to become. As now he wants to express support and approval of the presented project on my behalf.

– Can I stop you? We've heard a lot more than that, but this is beyond comprehension. We understand you're conducting an experiment, or rather, it's a kind of defense of the project, a way to show the council its… I don't even know what to call it. Mr. Master Paschow, can you reveal the details of the project?

– Project details? It goes like this. I myself do not quite understand what the "luminary of science" seeks, apparently, this is part of his plan to discredit the one who put forward the idea, developed the theory and proposed the method, the way of scientific research, that is me. Most likely the answer is in the proof from the contrary. Exactly as he said, only in reverse. Indeed we entered virtual reality, only we had already come out into reality, and there was no transfer of one personality into another.

– That's a lie! – Big-data shouted. – He's playing around. He doesn't realize that we'll come out of virtual reality and everyone will know what's going on. In principle, though, the experiment went great. I agree with that. But, buddy, it's time to come clean. All we have to do is ask the board if they approve of the methodology.

There were indignant cries, and the atmosphere was getting nervous. The Chairman decided to make it clear.

– What's the project, what's the methodology? What are you presenting to us? Initially it was declared one thing, and now it's some kind of performance. If you're conspiring like this, it's time to reveal the details of the project. Approve what? You initiated a meeting to approve a program that borders on the level of, I would say, super fiction. Even though the cloning project is a success, what you're proposing is beyond the realm of reality. You want to get the project approved and funded, you claim that not only "there is intelligent life outside of human civilization," but you say, "It's exactly like ours, a mirror image." So they are parallel worlds. Aren't they? Besides, you are going to convince the council in the possibility of transferring not only consciousness from person to person, simply speaking, something like a magic transmigration of souls, but you are also convincing in your ability to do it at a distance, with penetration into these parallel worlds. And these parallel worlds, according to your claims, can be anywhere, even in another universe. Allegedly, according to your theory, by the way, Rutra Tigrovich, they must be in infinity. And, as it turns out, it is very easy to find them, the main thing is to determine the connection between the entangled pairs of electrons, which have existed since the creation of the world and are constantly renewed. You know, even at our level, I mean brain-supercomputer connection, not everyone has a good idea of quantum entanglement and why this connection is instantaneous, why the laws of the universe are not violated, although this very connection can exceed the speed of light by hundreds of thousands of times. It is all right, we will study it. The question is this. To be convincing, you should have provided evidence of the first stage – the transfer of a person into another body and back. Then there would be some credibility to all of this. As it is, I don't understand what kind of a show you're putting on. You, Mr. Magister, should know that the council can't be persuaded like that.

– That's what I'm saying, a hoax," Big Boss replied. – I'm telling you, our luminary of science turned out to be a fake. We still need to check his role in the cloning project. Although what is there to check, the cloning itself was not invented by him, the technology of "pumping" consciousness is not his, the whole idea is mine. And in general – it's nonsense, what he's saying… we can go and check the virtual reality settings.

– This is a conspiracy. It's a mutiny! – shouted Big Daddy.

– I think he's out of his mind. He realized that his scam was about to be exposed, so he decided to try to fool everyone in the way he thinks he can," Big Boss said. – I think he's going to say to me that he wants to take over, he put my mind in his body… or some such nonsense.

– Wait, wait, wait. What the hell is going on? Are you two in cahoots? – The chairman interrupted him.

– Arrest him, I command you! – shouted Big Daddy.

– You see, he's a danger to society," Big Boss parried.

– Oh, wait a minute. What have you turned this meeting into? You know how important it is. It's not even a meeting of heads of state. We can't meet all of a sudden, even on such an important but single issue. I'm eliminating you both. The council has equally important matters on its agenda," said the chairman.

– Arrest us both. Remove me temporarily from power, or rather him. Time must be running out soon anyway," Big-data said in a harsh tone.

– Suspend, suspend, take control. We need to know what's going on. Take them to the medical section. Do a sanity check. Something's going on here. And I'm initiating danger level one. I hope the council agrees with me," the chairman sounded frankly annoyed. – Regarding virtual reality, the timer cannot be changed. It's the way Irene is programmed. It's for security reasons. If you saw the original start time, it should not have changed. Secondly, the second defense: you cannot re-enter virtual reality in virtual reality. So I'm going to send you to the lab in the science block – you did a session there – and we'll check it out there. If you enter the session – it means that this is reality, and if not – we are in the virtual world. Although it's not serious. If the council will allow me, I'll go over the latest security settings. I think it's about time the scientific community knew them. You, Master Ruthra, of all people, should know that. We all have a signaling code that signals every hour that we're in the real world. The virtual world doesn't have that program. That's why the thought doesn't even occur there. So, gentlemen, let us dispel your doubts and at the same time, I think, take part in your experiment, – he grinned slightly, and this reaction was transmitted to many in the hall. – I hope you don't mind being escorted to the laboratory?

– I absolutely do not," Big Boss blurted out instantly.

– This is kindergarten. You can check the protocols," said Ruthra in the scientist's body.

– You see, commentary is unnecessary," Big Boss said snidely, trying to imitate Rutra's gestures, namely, opening his palms up in front of him.

– Alrighty, let's go," Big-data muttered with a dose of anger and walked towards the exit.

– Irene, put me through to security, escort them to the lab, and live stream what's happening here. While we discuss the process of robotization of industries in developed countries and the consequences of migration associated with it. And the second question is about cloning in animal husbandry in developed countries. Now we have reached the point where we don't need people, cows without udders.

Big Boss and Big Data walked through with a security escort, though there was still the signal of Irene's remote taser still on. "Haven't we given a lot of power to artificial intelligence," Ruthra thought, glancing absently at the flashing light accompanying them.