Null-A Continuum by John C. Wright

Author:John C. Wright [Wright, John C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2015-09-25T21:00:00+00:00

24

Higher order abstractions are a perfected type of memory—that is, information that preserves itself with minimal distortion within a continuum.

Gosseyn opened his eyes. Through vision-plates paneling the inside of his domelike helmet he could see the dull gray ceiling and little more.

Dr. Hayakawa was saying, “The thought-sensitive electron tubes have recorded a tremendous influx of memory energy. Are you aware of the thoughts of X in your head? Or have you become him?”

Gosseyn could not sit up in this armor, since it did not bend at the waist, but he triggered the motorized sequence that would bring him into a standing position. Now he saw the walls of the surrounding chamber, the door like a bank vault’s. Through a slit of armored glass he saw the silhouettes of the heads of Clayton, the Null-A detective, and Dr. Hayakawa and his team.

Gosseyn found he was blinking back tears of rage. Again, the cortical-thalamic pause allowed him to find a sense of calm, to remove the heaviness from his thoughts.

Clayton said, “What happened?”

Gosseyn said, “I’ve merged again. The memories of a version of Gosseyn Three from an alternate continuum have been sent back through time and similarized to my nervous system, selecting the point in time when I was most receptive to outside signals. The memories include that Leej the Predictress was persuaded, or manipulated, to volunteer to remain behind in a dead universe, apparently as part of a last-ditch effort to save it. This was a parallel continuum, artificially created to allow to exist there a type of anachronic similarity, a time-travel technique, which is being artificially blocked from occurring here. Also, her sacrifice seems to allow the Final Cosmic Mind of the last stages of the universe to track my motions: For what purpose I don’t know.”

Clayton said, “Our problem for right now is how to prove to our satisfaction that you are not the X version of Lavoisseur. A lie detector will not tell us, for obvious reasons.”

Gosseyn knew the reasons. It was X in his guise as the head of the General Semantics Institute who had found ways to falsify the readings of lie detectors: Otherwise the conspiracy against Null-A would never have been attempted in the first place and the galactic soldiers would have simply attacked with abandon, rather than attempting a less costly method of conquest-by-infiltration.

Gosseyn said, “Have the robo-operator place a call to Corthid, informing them that Illverton, head of their Safety Authority, is an agent of Enro’s. The distorter towers they are building have been misaligned in order to make the planet attuned to the Shadow Effect, rather than immune to it.”

The reply that eventually came back from the robo-operator was, “I’m sorry. We are getting no carrier signal. The distorter connection with Planet Corthid is broken.”

Gosseyn, at this point, was sitting in a lounge, nursing a cup of coffee. To nullify his extra brain was a multiple-vibration broadcaster on the table before him.

And the minutes turned into hours, and there was still no word from Planet Corthid.

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