Born in 1934 in the USSR, the author, like many others who had it persistently thrust into their heads, believed from his childhood that the "bright and joyful communism" would one day come, and with it any further social and historical development on Earth should cease. But, in 1976, a seed of doubt in this belief led him to the idea that once physical labor was completely replaced by intellectual one, not everyone would be suitable for it due to varied mental abilities. And so, humanity would be divided into people either capable or incapable of competing with ever more perfect artificial intelligence.
What can fate expect for the latter at a certain critical moment in this real future-won"t they be the victims of the next historical cycle of social inequality? A detailed representation of this all-too-possible future is presented with literary packaging in this science-fiction trilogy, Daneya. The first two novels of it, The Victims of Progress and Humanity Renaissance, have been completed in 1982; the last one, Lal"s Prediction, has been supplemented in 2014. The action takes place in the future, although it's hard to foresee how far because history is constantly changing its tempo.
Earth is unified-all mankind is integrated, and there are neither states nor nations. Development of everything is heightened, with society consisting almost exclusively of intellectual scientists.
But civilization faces a scientific crisis: there are almost no great discoveries like the previous epoch was rich with-only elaboration, refinement, and strict editing of theories. Intellectuals work themselves to death in their obsessive efforts to overcome this crisis.
Because of that, it seems to them the "inadequate" position of those people who are not fit for intensive intellectual work is absolutely natural. These "inadequates" are used as a source of organs for surgical transplantation to intellectuals, simplified satisfaction of their sexual needs, and test subjects for their experiments alongside animals. "Inadequates" become those who are separated from capable children, rejected in early childhood and only given the most primitive education.
It is possible to do this without hindrance because one category of "inadequate" women, surrogate mothers , are impregnated with fertilized in vitro ovules of intellectual women. Children born this way are then brought up exclusively by teachers. This has resulted in the disappearance of the families that could provide protection against rejection.
". . . people have ceased to be human-they have become soulless intellectuals who do not understand the meaning of the word "humanity". The society became practical maniacally, having reached with small steps from murder for donation organs for transplantation to cannibalism. Misfortune because of intellect-and it's still said the least. In a word, a completely sick world, that is confident absolutely in its infallible health." So, unusually accurately, a writer Alex Varna has appreciated the human society of Daneya. She added: "You are right frighteningly in many ways!"
Initially, the situation described in Daneya seemed a matter of a terribly distant future. But the current frenzied acceleration of scientific and technological progress made us doubt this; humanity will have to face it much sooner.
The inevitability of the social division of mankind as a result is gradually becoming obvious to others. The first sign of this was in a historian Yuval Noah Harari"s book, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, published in 2015, which stated the following: "Traditionally, life has been divided into two main parts: a period of learning, followed by a period of working. Very soon this traditional will become utterly obsolete, and the only way for humans to stay in the game will be to keep learning throughout their lives and to reinvent themselves repeatedly. Many, if not most, humans may be unable to do so." And because of that, too, a similar division of humanity is predicted: some people like gods, and others useless.
What can we expect of an ever-increasing non-creative mass whose work is unnecessary? Would not a highly intelligent minority someday consider it permissible to get rid of the people they deem "unnecessary"?
In spite of the great importance we attach to the achievements of science and human prowess, it is obvious that only humanity that is striving for ethical ends can benefit in full measure from material progress and can overcome the dangers that accompany it. . .
Albert Schweitzer
Part I
The FLINT and the STEEL
1
This meeting of two geniuses - Lal and Dan - was then what led to the elimination of the division of people into super-intellectuals and the incompetent 'inferior', reduced to the position of almost cattle. For this it was necessary first to put an end to the long scientific crisis on Earth.
Lal, a historian and journalist, was the first to recognize the social injustice of the social position of the 'inferior'. Till now, all of Lal"s timid attempts to speak his mind had been met with complete misunderstanding and indifference, causing him growing irritation. But his burning thoughts and doubts wandered in his mind, and he wanted to free himself from their oppression. This caused him an excruciating feeling of loneliness.
Lal did not receive any radio paging from Dan on Thursday. Dan was afraid in the morning to keep Lal from his date, and then he fell asleep. Then he was so distracted in the evening by searching for information and discovering an opportunity to continue the work that he forgot about Lal.
But, Lal waited. Dan was not only extremely talented, but also-and most importantly to Lal-endowed with the ability to treat with interest and attention things quite far from his work. The ability to listen and understand between the two men only added to this. It would be possible for Lal to tell Dan everything. And even if Dan did not agree with him, his attention alone would be a great service.
That evening, he did not want to part with Dan-did not want to rush to the woman who had waited for him. But he did. And when she, sated by him, lay naked and beautiful alongside him, sleeping on his shoulder, he did not think about her but instead was full of reflections on his meeting with Dan. He felt Dan"s friendly touch, saw his gentle, thoughtful look.
In the morning, he left her early to ensure that no one would interrupt their conversation if Dan were to call him. After yesterday, Lal could tell the material was very interesting to Dan. For such a scholar, it was very likely he would have begun working on it immediately, without any delay. Such scholars are never stopped by the night. If Dan found anything, he would certainly call Lal to report it. But Dan did not call, and Lal felt shy to do it.
This Thursday went as usual. After the thermae, Lal went to a theater, and after that managed to get to a racetrack. He loved animals, especially horses and dogs. Then came the evening banquet, and he left the restaurant to go home with a woman.
Not the same one he"d been with the night before, but another. Because women liked him, it was rare that the touch of his hand did not induce a response. More often, it was enough just to stretch out his hand in reply. It helped that he had no preference between one woman or another-all were beautiful, all were clever, none would bore him . . . and hardly any of them would want to listen to him anyway, if he dared to talk about his deepest thoughts.
. . . After Thursday"s intense cascade of entertainment, which gave weary people an effective shake, there were three more days off. Most people preferred to spend these days among natural surroundings, travel as tourists to places all over the earth-hiking, skiing, boating . . . They hunted and fished, picked mushrooms, nuts, berries and wild fruits in the forests (on these days, some robot-collectors stopped working), and at the same time flowers, leaves, branches and roots with which to decorate their homes. Others went to admire the architecture of bygone epochs, and visited museums to see the originals of great masterpieces of art.
A huge army of people served them, organizing and providing a multitude of activities involving them, so they could fully relax. This service was considered very important and staffed by talented people armed with great erudition and excellent knowledge of psychology. Under their guidance, group excursions could broaden one"s range of interests while providing mental relaxation at the same time.
Many people spent this time on amateur artistic endeavors. And a great number of people also stayed at home to continue working.
. . . Lal got on a plane to go fishing-mainly to continue thinking in private over a number of things. On a rocket plane and then in an air car, he got to a river in a boreal forest quite familiar to him. It was far from any city and not very popular with tourists. There was nobody here, only animals and the occasional robot-collector of berries, herbs and dry twigs.
He enjoyed breathing the forest air, which smelled of warmed resin. He cast his line from the shore and sat down to wait for bites. The sun was warm, the wind blew a little, and he managed his thoughts carefully, afraid to miss a bite.
The sky eventually became cloudy, but not before he had caught a couple fish-enough for some soup and to fry. A robot would cook them quickly.
Lal drank some dark vodka, infused with herbs according to his special recipe, while eating hot soup and nicely fried fish. Then he felt himself nodding off. The wind was getting stronger, and the tops of cedar pines and larches rustled. Lal got into his tent and lay down, covering himself with an electric blanket. He fell asleep almost instantly.
. . . An hour later, he was awakened by the sound of rain. He folded back the window curtain and saw darkness, a sight most dreary. He drank hot tea and lay down again, then lit up a pipe. Droplets of smoking liquid passed through the heater in his pipe, which was powered by a micro battery, and come out in the form of vapor, creating flavor in his mouth-and it was absolutely harmless.
How uncomfortable he felt. Both the noise of the wind and the damp air entering the tent oppressed him. The sky outside was sullen, leaden. He suddenly felt melancholy to be firmly cut off from everyone. Maybe he should call an air car to fly away from here? Go somewhere the sun was shining?
Ah! Nonsense. It would still be there, the same uncomfortable feeling he"d felt at home and at the banquet. Because now he was really cut off firmly from everyone. His recent terrible discovery had done that. For now, he had to keep it to himself-no one wanted to listen, to try to understand him.
The painful feeling had only become a little weaker the day before, during his conversation with Dan, when some hope for the possibility of understanding had appeared. But Dan had been silent since-and Lal wouldn"t dare call him first.
It was time to think, to chew his thoughts.
In the greatest ancient book-the Bible, in its part Ecclesiastes by name, otherwise the Preacher, Lal had once read:
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, "See, this is new"? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after."
These words, attributed to the ancient sage, King Solomon, struck him then. And they also would be repeated much later.
For all this was a truism-and not only for him. It was while using this thesis, by comparing bygone epochs to the current, which he had stumbled across a number of unpleasant analogies. The first time this had happened, when he was doing his doctoral dissertation, it had aroused his interest in the historical analysis of existing reality. The most valuable material in this capacity could be created by those in the journalism occupation, so he had begun additional studies at the Literature Institute.
History. It could suggest many things to one who loved it and was able to store many facts in his memory. Since childhood, history had been Lal"s main interest. He had devoured historic books and movies, absorbing and remembering a huge amount of facts, names and dates. History was his utmost passion. While he also did well in other subjects, this was thanks to his realization that the knowledge found in other subjects was also conducive to a better understanding of history.
The topic of his doctoral dissertation was entitled "The Humanism of the Modern Epoch". Critique of the main social principles did not exist at all; these seemed to be undoubted by everyone-but nevertheless, some aspects of reality were known to have an unpleasant side.
Lal"s dissertation had attracted attention to him. A few days after his defense, he received an invitation to work in the "The News". Marc, the editor Lal was to work with, had noted in his dissertation a number of valuable qualities for a journalist: the ability to expound clearly in conjunction with a great saturation of information, and the ability to see the most important things and analyze dynamically. But the main thing was Lal"s somewhat unusual approach in analyzing today"s reality as the next stage of historical development, being a direct continuation of the previous epochs to which he compared it.
"Great! Public interest in history is currently negligible. In my opinion, this sometimes prevents us from correctly understanding current events. Your approach will be very useful."
And so Lal began to work on reporting. He became absorbed in life, acquainting himself with an incredibly large quantity of events and a huge number of people. He published his first sketches, essays, and finally a book. Many knew him already, having assisted with his work by helping him accumulate valuable material.
And then again, his doubts came, fueled by some aspects of life in their contemporary human society.
By that time, mankind had been integrated long ago.
All nations and races had disappeared, and only a few small racially pure groups were maintained artificially by geneticists-but they differed from others only in appearance.
The progress of science and technology had freed people not only from material concerns, but also from non-intellectual labor. Most people were scientists, and the goals of scientific progress were more important than anything else-people had become more and more obsessed with this, willing to sacrifice absolutely anything for it. Especially . . .
Especially since the previous epoch had been a period of great scientific discoveries, among them one of the most remarkable-completely overcoming the problems of immuno-incompatibility . The principal had even become a science, which had been left in development far behind production, not keeping pace with it.
When its progress slowed down, that was the beginning of the contemporary epoch. The level of production and everything connected to it began to catch up with the achieved level of science and became almost equal to it. The saturation of cybernetic technique maxed out. Robots and computers were absolutely everywhere, freeing people"s time and energy for solely creative occupations.
Enormous power plants provided the energy for the huge complex of production. They worked mainly on thermonuclear fuel, both of terrestrial origin and being brought by special rockets from other planets. Like other plants, these were all located underground. Energy also came from other types of stations: wind-powered, tidal, and geothermal. The bulk of this energy was received in ultra-compact batteries, just like it was obtained from other planets.
The huge resource of energy allowed, regardless of low efficiency, society to completely mechanize and automate all agricultural work. Combined with modern agricultural technology and selection, this provided a high intensity of production of food and raw agricultural materials. Many new species of plants were used for agriculture and animals domesticated as the army of robots added wild products to traditionally agricultural ones.
But to ensure abundance by only increasing the intensity was impossible. They used the second reserve, extensity , by irrigation of deserts and clearing the Amazon jungle, within acceptable limits for the ecology of the planet; by moving north, covering the ground with greenhouses; by using the surface and depths of the oceans and seas.
Society had also accomplished something much more important: after identifying a number of problems, they had taken the necessary measures to improve conditions of existence. Fighting for purity of air, the people had refused to produce energy by burning fuel-this was now used exclusively as chemical feedstock. Long before the modern epoch, internal combustion engines had ceased to exist; and now, the old methods of obtaining metals from ore had also disappeared completely due to the abundance of electricity. No hydroelectric power plants caused environmental deterioration.
People treated with care their main source of oxygen regeneration-plants, the abundance of which they considered a mandatory element of existence. Because of this, paper had almost disappeared from use. Existing methods of machine recording eliminated the need for it as a writing material, which would require an incredible amount, and thus forests had been saved. Special robots monitored trees continuously, removing and collecting dry branches and twigs, which were then used as raw material in the chemical industry and the production of synthetic fibers. This facilitated the rehabilitation and improvement of the forests" appearance.
A week comprised three working days, six hours each. Officially. This was the only the time the network was available-for experiments, operations, meetings and consultations. For other jobs, people could work from home; this was more convenient and most common-but during working hours, radio-communication must be available.
The rest of the time, people spent at their own discretion. Much of it was meant for rest and entertainment: four days off a week and two months of annual leave. This large amount of rest was powerful-so people could actively work in the relatively short time allowed for their mandatory work.
But most people were scientists, so their work was mostly happening in their brains, which never completely stopped. Work was their main interest, sense and enjoyment in life. And they continued to work anytime and anywhere. These people could be found talking, debating and discussing their problems wherever it was possible. Often they did not leave their computers at night, or they tossed and turned in bed without sleep, and this overworking frequently caused them to succumb to nervous and mental exhaustion.
They were even able to think about their work during sports games. When hit with a sudden flash of inspiration regarding a decision over which they had long agonized, these people experienced such enthusiasm that nothing could hold their vigor. Not even a ball or a puck making it accurately into a goal, nor a billiard ball going confidently in the hole, nor figures on the board breaking through the defense of a partner-there was no greater joy than creative success.
Outwardly, people now were very different from their ancestors: tall, shapely, with beautiful muscular bodies and excellent posture. Because throughout their whole lives, from childhood until death, they highly valued time spent on sports and various physical exercises, especially the ancient "Hatha Yoga". Medically trained instructors watched on constantly, periodically assigning new sets of exercises, specific routines and changes in diet composition. Thanks to all this, people now had the necessary physical endurance for intensive intellectual work. This also contributed to the increase in life span to around 200 years-while maintaining overall health and capacity for work almost to the end, and sexual potency to a very late age.
But, of course, this was not only because of exercise and diet; medicine also played a role, especially surgery. Fully overcoming immuno-incompatibility had made it possible to transplant any organ or body part. In this way, bodies were repaired and appearance defects corrected. Therefore, everyone was beautiful. No one wore glasses-except as protection from the sun. The pinnacle of achievement in transplant surgery was the transplantation of a head onto another body-a younger one, so that thanks to the greatest scientists of Earth, one could have the opportunity to live another life.
People"s appearances had also been affected by the abundance of fabrics made from natural and synthetic fibers, natural and synthetic furs and leather, metals, plastics, artificial stones not inferior to natural ones, and all sorts of fabulous colors. The easy readjustment of universal machines in manufacturing clothes, shoes and jewelry had almost abolished fashion trends-each person could dress entirely according to his own taste. Professionals at dressmaking establishments provided consultations and suggested cuts, using a huge collection of samples plus their own research and development. Then a computer, having analyzed the body of the person in different positions and in motion, created programs for manufacturing the selected styles and delivered them into the person"s personal memory. These programs allowed anyone to manufacture anything quickly at any time, so no one ever needed to have any extra things.
For a long time, all of humanity spoke the same language, created artificially by linguists on the principle of Esperanto"s construction-based on existing languages, from which they had taken all the most common roots of words, with the same easy, simple and logically coherent grammar not allowing any exceptions to the rules. Almost all the languages of Earth had served as bases for it, and after absorbing the most valuable components from each, it was extraordinarily beautiful, sonorous and expressive.
The completely new outline of letters adopted anew the ancient order of writing, boustrophedon-from left to right on odd lines and right to left on even ones-and multicolored text allowed for a high speed of reading.
Perfect communication technology promoted the implementation of full democratic governance, and issues relevant to everyone were brought to the public for debate and a vote. Regular transmission to all personal archives took place through a special, always-open channel of communication, which was mandatory for all to become familiar with. Everyone was given all the information needed to determine their own opinions, which were transmitted in the acceptable form to a single center that processed all the views received. The results were reported in the programs that followed, and the options that arose from this process were put to a vote, which all members of society participated in-all those who had graduated from university. Final decisions were made according to the results. Thus, the universal high level of intellect provided adequate competence to decide issues.
Special coordinators approved in the election procedure managed current affairs. The main coordinating body was the Central Border of Coordination-purely collegial, with no chairman.
There were no agencies or courts to deal with violence. Through legislation and enormous technical abilities, a range of mandatory measures were enacted to ensure safety for all. Specially appointed people carried out checks, and if necessary, groups of competent individuals analyzed violations and conducted the appropriate measures against offenders-after the usual conversations and warnings. If any offender did not agree with the opinion of the group who had judged him, the proceedings could be conducted by a wide range of people, determined by the submission of a global discussion. But this was not precisely defined-because of the rarity of such occurrences.
The only exceptional case of capital punishment had involved the physical destruction of a few people who had been secretly using drugs, including ethanol in large doses, and who had even returned to this vice after receiving treatment for it. This had only happened after a turbulent campaign, after which approval was given by the overwhelming majority of mankind.
A few other cases, involving people accused of plagiarism or deliberate misinformation on the basis of ambition, had also resulted in severe punishment-long boycotts. A person condemned to a boycott was deprived of radio communications and could not use their personal archive, computer, or underground storage, and he was forbidden to appear in public. Food in sufficient quantities was delivered promptly to the convict"s residential unit-but without giving him any say in the choice of dishes. He received toiletries and clean clothes, whose color and style indicated that he may not communicate with anyone. He could not work, read, watch or listen to any programs. He was closed in with himself, despite the fact that he was not guarded-this was incredibly scary for any modern person.
But some people were excluded from this society in early childhood: the ones who lacked the capabilities to engage in intense intellectual work -and thus could not be proper members of contemporary mankind. This selection process could take up to 10 years of a child"s life, based on careful observation by teachers, and then the future of a child was determined definitively.
"Proper" children received the necessary education, while improper, "inadequate" ones were trained most primitively after being rejected. They learned nothing but basic hygiene, games and the simple work required to maintain health. Thanks to the machines, nobody needed these people for labor, and at the beginning of the current epoch they had been deemed a burden on the society.
But then, an application for them was found. First, they constituted humanity"s biofund, serving as a source for internal organs and body parts for surgical transplants to proper people whose bodies had been worn out by intensive work. Secondly, inadequates" brains were used in biocybers. Thirdly, they served as test subjects for various research experiments. Fourth, inadequate women bore children for proper women and served as nurses and child-minders. And finally, fifth, inadequates also served as "houris" to satiate proper people"s sexual lust. On this basis, they were divided into specialized groups, after which they were given additional training related to their fixed purpose.
It was the current epoch was that had brought about the separation of inadequates. When scientific progress had slowed down, intellectuals and scientists began to work harder in an attempt to speed it back up, and this deepened the chasm separating them from those who were not capable of such work. They attempted all possible means in an effort to overcome the crisis, and everything seemed permissible and justified to them.
But time passed, and nothing changed. The brilliant scientific successes of the previous epoch were a reproach of their current impotence. This was concerning to all people. The vast majority was seized with disappointment; it felt like a universal depression. And this mood could not be overcome with the help of sensational entertainment, which they had a lot more of than the people of the previous epoch.
In the previous epoch, people had enjoyed fewer holidays and simpler food and clothing; there was moderation in everything, in spite of the opportunities available. But they were happier in the knowledge that they sacrificed these benefits to give time, work, energy and materials to the tangible successes of science. Subsisting only on necessities but as contemporaries and participants of the greatest discoveries, they were full of pride in their success and belief in themselves and in the future.
Trees creaked. The ropes were drawn to their limit in preventing the wind from carrying away the tent. Though it was night, Lal did not sleep, too adsorbed in his thoughts, and from time to time he drew vapor from his smoking pipe.
One positive quality had been reached in the current epoch to an unusually high degree-frugality. Despite all the abundance. It was not stinginess-just that the modern people could not understand the barbaric treatment of raw materials in the previous epochs. Why had people once preferred to mine more and more ore instead of reusing existing metal and waste products? Instead of discarding all old, worn-out metal objects, why not protect the metal from corrosion?
Now, all waste products were maximally utilized. They subjected any used object to scrutiny by robots for identification of any possibility to restore it to its original quality. If restoration was impossible or impractical, then it was broken down and its materials recycled.
And when processing raw materials or products, they sought to use everything-to the last drop. What was impossible to use, they collected to keep, because what was no good today might tomorrow be a valuable raw material. Absolutely everything was collected: food waste; clothes that were no longer going to be worn; even human feces and urine. Each dwelling section had a salvage collector for residential waste: it analyzed, separated, and prepared for transportation and shipment. It also fully retrieved the water from sewage, which relieved the external water-supply system, which only needed to make up the difference between the amounts of consumed and returned water.
People also used corpses in full. Mainly to supplement the surgical biofund, and partly as industrial raw material. The corpses of inadequates who had not died natural deaths were used as food for animals on fur farms and for other inadequates. It had even gotten to the point where propers had begun to eat such meat, as biologists had asserted that it was the most easily absorbed by the human body, and therefore the most valuable kind of meat-that it should be prioritized over all other meats in the diets of children and patients. This was one of the extremes of total utilization.
In his doctoral dissertation, Lal had pointed it out as the second of the darker sides of contemporary reality. The first one was the lack of sufficient intimate ties between people despite every person having a large number of non-intimate connections-this had worried him more than anything at that time, and he had worked it out by analyzing in detail the literature of different epochs. As for the second side-eating the meat of inadequates-Lal had returned when he became a journalist.
The style of interview he had used almost from the beginning was different from the style used by most journalists. During interviews, Lal spoke a lot on his own, prompting numerous questions and then answering them. This helped get to know people better and learn much more about them than what he was immediately interested in.
So he had the opportunity to make sure it wasn"t only him who detested eating human flesh-many others had never eaten it, though they did not openly oppose it. Lal received immediate support when he came out against cannibalism in "The News".
Cannibalism was a return to savagery, he argued in a series of articles. It existed only in the most backward tribes-no civilized nations had ever recognized it. This phenomenon was ethically unacceptable, its brutality totally unworthy of rational beings.
In response to his fiery articles containing an abundance of quotations from ancient philosophers and various ethical teachings, his opponents hit him from the left. To be consistent, then the slaughter and eating of animals was immoral in the same way. They also beat him with quotations-of Tolstoy and Gandhi, in particular. In answer, Lal first expressed the position that the slaughter of animals was not contrary to the biological laws under which they existed; these laws only aimed to preserve the species as a whole-under them, the individual value of a single animal did not exist.
The controversy that grew as a result of his articles was very stormy, with many participants. In the heat of debate, some of Lal"s opponents made the point that inadequates might not be considered human beings. He remembered that.
His opponents turned out to be in the minority, since the use of inadequates" meat was only at its beginning and had not yet firmly taken root. The next global poll forbade this; it became legal to feed inadequates" meat only to animals and other inadequates. This decision suited everyone, including Lal.
When this victory was won, it brought Lal fame, and many began to seek meetings with him.
One of these was the impetus to new doubts. It happened on one of the islands equipped for younger-aged children, in a meeting attended by several teachers. There Lal heard words that shook him:
"How horrible it is for us-the rejection! Like dooming children to death."
"It is our common misfortune-all teachers experience it, and it is very hard."
"Although we understand its necessity."
It was there that Lal also met some inadequates for the first time. Women giving birth, wet-nurses and child-minders. Just like the ones who had given birth to him, breast-fed him and nursed him. He did not remember the first two, and only had vague, shaky memories of the third.
Not having spent any time with inadequates until then, Lal, like most of his contemporaries, had not ever come into contact with any of the first four of their groups. And with the fifth, the houris, he had dealt only in his early youth; since then, he had been successful enough with women that it hadn"t been necessary. So he knew no more about the inadequates than most others, which was too little, considering his profession. Realizing this, Lal began to collect data about them.
As a correspondent of "The News" he visited places little known by most people. And he accumulated significant data containing a large number of striking facts.
But Lal"s editor, Marc, opposed the publication of such data categorically:
"Don"t get me wrong, colleague. We live in a hard and stressful time. We must overcome the crisis by all means. People do not have mercy on both themselves and others. We may generate a discussion that will divert power and negatively affect the rhythm of all work."
"But it is the truth!"
"This is one of the ways we"ve paid for progress. We have no right to interfere now."
Marc was successful in persuading Lal. Especially because Lal had been arguing not so much with Marc as with himself-with that half of his consciousness accustomed since his childhood to see the existing social structure of society as extremely perfect and infallibly correct, something which could not include the inadequates because of their low mental faculties. They were human beings by birth only.
But Lal could not stop: the inadequates gradually became the main focus of his attention. Continuing to collect information intensively related to them, he had thoroughly studied the history of the issue and all related areas. Then he tried to analyze this as a historical phenomenon, but was faced with great difficulties.
There had been nothing similar in any of the previous epochs. There were no direct historical analogies, except for one thing: their complete lack of any rights. And the total deprivation of their value as individuals. Inadequate donors died under the surgeon"s knife to restore the health and extend the lives of the propers. The houris, both women and men, give themselves to the propers without any question about their consent. As historical concubines.
But concubines were slaves. Perhaps this was where it would be possible to find some analogy; the inadequates" position might be compared with that of slaves in the past. But this analogy was incomplete, since no one exploited the inadequates" labor. But nevertheless!
And gradually he began to see that the inadequates were not something unrelated to human society brought about by misfortune-not a problem that had yet to be solved. Instead, they were just another social group-an organic part of society! And a logically inevitable conclusion followed: the presence of inadequates determined the existing social system, different from what had existed in the previous epoch.
It was a terrible discovery for him, the typical child of his time. History for him and his contemporaries was a history of scientific and technological progress only; social relations seemed to have some kind of rock-solid stability, which the inadequates existed outside of, having no relation to it.
Not at all! They did have. And their emergence as a social group was a step in the socio-historical evolution that was never going to stop. In Lal"s opinion, it was a step backwards. A retreat to social inequality and injustice. Their economic incentives had vanished, but they had appeared again on a completely different basis. A dialectical turn.
But who cared about the inadequates? The propers, the intellectuals, never saw anything but their own problems-the most important of which was to overcome the general crisis. Even those who rallied for the prohibition of eating human flesh did not do so with the inadequates in mind. And that included Lal.
The lack of understanding he encountered in this area was as terrible as a boycott. He retired into himself, returning to the same thoughts endlessly, circling around them as if chained.
His editor, Marc, seemed worried, but did not try again to persuade Lal. Instead, he proposed a business trip to the Near Space. He wanted Lal to get a temporary change in scenery.
Lal agreed immediately. He had been interested in the cosmonauts for a very long time. These people, who lived long lives in a small world separated from everyone else, managed to get adapt and form attachments with one another. And even when on Earth, they tried to stick together. Their care for each other, their readiness at any moment to help with anything, the warm-heartedness of their relationships-it all singled out and separated them from the others, and they did not feel very comfortable among the rest of society.
To learn properly and fit in with them, Lal would need to spend a year on ships and space stations in the cosmos and on other planets. During this time, his communication would be limited to people nearby him and those exchanging radiograms with Earth. Marc was counting on this; anything could happen in this time-maybe Lal would take an interest in another, less unpleasant problem?
The thoughts about space had distracted Lal a little. After trying for a long time, he still couldn"t fall asleep.
The night was almost over. Behind the folded curtain, it began to turn gray. It was nice now that the wind had died down and the rain had stopped. He waited for a full dawn and then got out of the tent.
Fresh, moist air chilled his face. He made several stretching movements and then decided to swim.
He undressed and ran into the water. It was cold, but that was something he liked, and now he felt cheerful. Like everyone, he had been perfectly acclimated to the cold since his childhood.
But, at the moment when he decided to return to the bank, he saw it would be impossible: the river had swelled with the heavy rain-he would not be able to cope with its flow! He needed to call an air car-urgently! But he would still need to hold out until its arrival. He strained with all his will to breathe regularly.
For a moment, he dived headlong, succeeding at sending a call underwater with his radio-bracelet for an air car. He now had to hope it would come before his muscles, which had already begun to feel numb, stiffened completely; otherwise, he wouldn"t be able to cling to the rope ladder. He must hold out!
It was impossible for Lal to overcome the flow without overtiring, so he stopped struggling and began instead to move with it, where possible, to draw himself a little closer to the bank. And when the air car finally appeared in the sky, Lal found that he was already quite close to the bank. Just one more tug . . . and a moment later he felt the bottom under his feet.
Lal pulled himself out on the bank and while breathing convulsively, he rested for a few minutes on all fours. Then he forced himself to his feet and walked along the bank toward the place where his tent was; the air car flew behind him. As soon as he could, he began to accelerate his pace, until he was running. When Lal reached the tent, steam was pouring off him.
After rubbing himself to redness with a dry towel, drinking a few sips of life-giving vodka and eating a piece of hot fish, he sprawled blissfully on a mattress next to the tent and rested. He was just about to fall asleep, but he knew too well that he would only slumber gently, just for ten minutes-and immediately came vigorous clarity.
That was exactly it. And then the thoughts, becoming obsessive, came again. For a moment, he remembered his swimming-and for some reason it was only then he felt fear. He could have drowned! And he would have, for sure, if he had continued to try to overcome the flow of the river by force. No way . . . it was too strong!
His thoughts of the river"s flow connected with his thoughts of the inadequates. It was impossible to win by force against the flow of history, as well! Lal must also try to use it, by finding those currents which would bring him to the desired bank. In his current situation, this was the only way he might possibly achieve his goal.
And what was that? The injustice did exist. This was a real fact-although Lal still wanted someone to prove him wrong. But he did not believe, almost at all, that it was possible. He must thoroughly investigate his terrible conclusion one last time. To restore justice.
It was imperative! A society of highly intellectual people must not tolerate the inhumane treatment of those similar to themselves, even if inferior in ability. Human beings must not be intellectual beasts.
The path to the end would not likely be easy. It was necessary to reserve composure and patience. Much more than Lal had needed today. And he would not let indifference fetter him like the cold. To find those tendencies of historical evolution, he must look for phenomena and events that would help. Like the currents carrying him slowly to the bank. And he should not hope for quick success. He had to believe firmly and not lose his conviction-his heart. This was imperative, imperative, imperative!
For the first time in recent days, Lal felt himself begin to settle down. And his thoughts returned to yesterday's meeting with Dan.
2
"That"s not it," Dan said softly but resolutely when Lal finished listing the works published by him and his disciples-there were, after all, quite a lot. And what about the results of their practical uses?!
Not it-just what we are not eager to discover. Almost everyone said this, almost all the time. It was the motif of the contemporary epoch that was seen as a universal deep crisis. Small steps forward came at the incredible price of labor with too few tangible results; there were almost no major fundamental discoveries happening anymore, just refinement, updating, and rigorous editing of theories. And the rest was improvement, lapping, polishing, and superfinishing . It was a consuming, painstaking job-certainly necessary, but frustrating against the backdrop of past discoveries, creating old theories like unfinished lumps, not polished in the details-but giant, furthering the science far at once. And contemporary had been making convulsive efforts to overcome this state, which had wrought huge changes in their lifestyle and many social institutions.
"You see, even then, for me, my practical results-for which I have obtained a doctoral degree-were not always my priority. There were a number of secondary moments obviously related to the fundamental properties of space. Then I was engaged in it all for my whole life. And for the present, to no avail." Dan fell silent to thinking.
Lal waited patiently, also in silence. Dan was of great interest to Lal, a journalist and historian of the contemporary epoch who had for a long time sought to meet him.
Dan had started off brilliantly, becoming a doctor at twenty-three and succeeding in solving a very difficult problem of increasing energy storage density. But then he had immediately switched to the problem of the spacetime, where he had been able at first to get quite encouraging results. Thanks to this, he had obtained permission and funding to carry out highly complex and power-consuming experiments using supercomputers.
He had occasionally published partial results of his research that were valuable for practical use. He gave them generously out to his disciples, but he himself had almost never engaged in their further development-and then he had fallen silent for a long time. Aside from his scientific work, he also created a course and taught some sections of fundamental physics; many prominent scientists were his former graduate students.
At first, he had seemed to Lal exactly the same as all major scientists his age: absorbed in his work so much that he saw or perceived almost nothing else. But Lal hadn"t expected anything different when preparing to interview a scientist of such a caliber.
He was now almost 150 years old. Like many people his age, he was dressed warmly-in a large knitted wool sweater, likely homemade. Completely unadorned. His head was entirely gray but his eyes were young, lively, and his gait was elastic. While talking, he walked in even, measured steps through the alley. He answered Lal"s questions pretty willingly.
"You know when sometimes you see a vague glimmer of something, and it seems you"ve grabbed the tip of the thread. . ." Dan began to speak as if he had woken up. "But then nothing happens. The thread breaks, the thought escapes. It leaves you only secondary results, not what you were looking for." He looked into Lal"s eyes.
"The great discoveries were all made when it was possible to overcome the power of existing theories. But now sometimes the most fundamental seems quite obvious and immutable. It"s been known for so long, but nevertheless . . . We are captives of our ideas, our great knowledge."
Apparently, that thought tormented him. And Lal had nothing to say-he tried to turn the conversation in another direction.
Dan listened with interest. The young journalist, whose name was already known to all because of his polemical articles and books, struck him with the breadth of his knowledge. There are people who are able to take in virtually everything! And Dan himself asked countless questions, which Lal never tired of answering.
It was quite dark, and stars covered the sky.
"So much of everything has been lost?"
"Unfortunately. Perished during the war, fires, natural disasters-destroyed on purpose or accidentally. But much was not clear to begin with, preserved in ancient documents where it was originally regarded as allegory and became clear only after re-discovery. And more is waiting for discovery, buried in the recesses."
"These findings, I think, are incredibly interesting."
"Yes, almost always."
"Tell me about some of them. The night is warm, and I like to listen to you."
"I"m glad of it. I"ll tell you willingly about the most recent discovery-especially as it may be of interest to you as a mathematician.
When laying the viaduct pipe, several notebooks-stacks of stapled sheets of paper-were found, and also a long, rolled-up sheet of paper with an orthogonal grid of 10-3 meters with charts drawn on it. After the old numbers and letters had been replaced by modern ones, it turned out to be a series of the numerical differences between prime natural numbers up to 6000, in which the repeating groups, depicted as the uniform graphic shapes, stood out. One of the notebooks contained full selection, classification, identification and names of these groups .
There were two letters. One of them contained the names "Mikhayloh" and "Odnokamushkin"; another was addressed to "the great Vladimir Neyeshpapa" whom the author also called "Odnokamushkin" periodically. The letters were written with different handwriting. In Russian, from the twentieth century. The second letter was not finished and apparently not sent. Its content is interesting."
Lal opened a fan-screen and sent from his radio-bracelet a command to replay the card-index of his personal archive located in the memory unit at his home. After finding the name of the document, he clicked it and a sheet of paper ruled with an orthogonal grid and covered with rather sloppily written words appeared on the screen. The letters-later Cyrillic. The translation glowed:
". . . I was jealous of your glory of the unrecognized genius as the author of the stunning hypothesis of the gravitational "constant" dependence on the fourth power of the absolute temperatures of interacting bodies, so I decided to make humanity happy with something similar.
I tried, a tiny bit, in my free time, to investigate prime numbers a long time ago; but, in general, I didn"t take it seriously. There were always excuses: not enough time, reluctance, absence of a table of prime numbers, and where to get it-the devil only knows. I obtained a small number of primes using the "sieve of Eratosthenes" and tried to do something to them. And for some reason, I was drawn almost immediately to compare the differences between them.
Recently at the bookstore, an arithmetic textbook with a table of primes up to 6000 turned up-I bought it immediately, then drew charts of gaps between adjacent primes on graph paper, which I took from work. Like continuous chaos. Then I scrutinized: in the chaos, there were many repeating groups, or at least some symmetrical ones. However, I couldn"t identify the pattern of recurrence, so for the present I have not moved from what I have discovered, though I dream of quickly discovering a formula to calculate prime numbers.
My next question is this: is it possible to connect these groups with subatomic particles? There are similar groups whose graphic shapes are symmetrical in the vertical and horizontal directions, or only in the horizontal if a group itself is symmetrical. An analogy to the subatomic particles of the same mass arose: the positively and negatively charged and the corresponding antiparticles in the first case, and the neutrally charged ones and their antiparticles in the second. It may be rather interesting that some groups may include others, or even more than one at once. Besides, it seems to me, since everything in nature is interrelated, there cannot be any such mathematical regularities that do not manifest themselves in some physical phenomena. And because of that, I want to try to find the periodic law for subatomic particles using these groups.
I do not know whether I"ll manage to succeed, but I want to so badly!
I"m eager to meet and talk with you, because"-The letter came abruptly to an end.
"What can you say?"
"Very interesting. Show me the charts."
They were one above the other, the linear chart and the histogram. Groups, identical or symmetrical, were visible at once-even without colored demarcation.
"Lal, I"d like to have this information."
"Do you need its address in the Central Archive?"
"No. Let me copy it from your archive now."
Lal smiled in understanding. It was the usual method; many people liked to copy vast amounts of information into their personal archives to use on their days off-from Thursday to Monday, when the connection of the Central Archive was disabled. This was just one of many ineffective attempts to prevent people from working on those days. Dan gave him a chip with his personal code, and Lal, bringing it to his radio-bracelet, began the download.
When it had finished, he held the chip back out, but Dan deflected his hand.
"You can keep it." This meant a lot-recognition of Lal as a friend. Having brought the chip to his radio-bracelet, he could establish a direct connection with Dan at any time, even with the external communication turned off, and the image of Lal would immediately appear on Dan"s bracelet screen. Lal was flattered.
"Thank you, senior!"
"I"ll always be glad to see and talk to you." Dan held out Lal"s chip in response. "But now I have to go; it"s getting late, and I"m tired."
That was not the real reason, but it was all he wanted to confess to himself or Lal. He sat in a self-propelled chair, which rolled away at his command. Lal pulled motorized wheels out of thick-soled shoes and followed. Both were silent.
"Let"s say good-bye, Odnokamushkin ," Dan said next to a transport station, smiling slyly. "By the way, does that mean something?"
"Yes. It means Einstein -a playful translation into Russian, their language."
"Well then, they were also funny people."
A capsule jumped out of the transport station and rolled aside. The lid leaned back, and Dan sat down inside it. But he was slow, prolonging the last moments of their meeting, continuing to look at Lal kindly.
Dan would always remember Lal as he was now, at their first meeting. Well built and tall-at least 230 cm-Lal wore tight-fitting silver-gray overalls with the only decoration in the form of a headband with a rosette on his forehead, in which a camera and a microphone-his reporter tools-were embedded.
"Is someone waiting for you?"
"Yes."
"A woman?"
Even a friend may not ask such a question, and Lal could not answer, but somehow it did not jar him.
"Yes, a woman."
"Good luck, then!" He touched Lal"s shoulder. "Where"s your capsule?"
"It"s not far."
"Then take my chair. See you!" He lay down in his capsule. Lal raised his hand in a gesture of farewell. The lid covered the capsule, and it disappeared into the hole. Lal sat in the chair and rolled to the edge of the park, where open-work frames contained multiple tiers of block-homes.
He felt nice. Dan seemed a man able to understand many things, with whom he would finally be able to share the doubts tormenting him-and who would be able to understand and maybe help him. Like many of his contemporaries, despite having many contacts, Lal too often felt surprisingly lonely. Absorbed by their work and their own thoughts, most people had few opportunities to share the thoughts and feelings of others, With each person equally benevolent to all others, they were rarely intimate.
3
Dan"s capsule sped through the underground tunnel, one of many making up a network under the city that carried almost all passenger traffic. Pipes of tunnels had been dug through the ground by moles, which created a firm and waterproof shell by melting the inner layer when they were done. Capsules had autonomous drive and moved automatically after destination addresses were specified. All underground traffic in the city was controlled by a central transport computer, which, while receiving and processing instantly all the information about the moving capsules, defined the optimal combined routes for all of them and ensured quick arrival at their destinations. Thanks to that and the huge number of sensors in tunnels, capsules could move very quickly with absolutely no collisions. While reclining in a chair, a man in a capsule could watch a program of news and announcements on a screen in front of him-a "newspaper".
It wasn"t only transport that was hidden underground. All plants were also buried, with production fully automated and operated by computers. This had cleared the surface of the earth for people"s lives and rest and, in addition, ensured normal environmental conditions and safety in case of accidents, which, really, had been an exceptional rarity since long ago.
Aboveground, people walked or rolled slowly. Greenery grew everywhere-trees and shrubs, grass and flowers. Even the frames residential units were installed on were almost entirely entwined with plants.
. . . Dan"s capsule rose through a tubular prop of the frame to his residential block, located in one of the last tiers. Everyone had their own block with an outdoor terrace garden planted with small trees and shrubs; in winter and in bad weather, this was covered with sliding transparent walls and a roof. Mounted on the frames of several tens of tiers, blocks were arranged so that they shaded each other minimally. Blocks varied in size and shape, so they were easy to install and replace.
Their walls and ceiling were made of a material that was able to become transparent or opaque wholly or in part, to glow, to change color and pattern, or to serve as a TV screen. The sliding partitions could be rearranged and removed easily to instantly change the entire layout of the home.
Furniture and other household items were sparse because all necessary objects were stored in underground chambers under the house and, only when needed, quickly delivered and then removed by robots. Only a memory unit and a stationary computer were constantly present, along with items made by Dan"s own design or even with his own hands, serving as decoration and creating an individual look to his block-like plants, planted according to his own taste on the terrace. A robot regularly cleaned the block.