I suggested that he give himself an injection, but he categorically refused.
How I understand you, Tolyan! I remember Karina’s face when she did not leave the mirror for hours on end, forgetting about sleep, and about food, and about me. I also vowed to myself to live an ordinary mortal life.
«That’s how we lived until his old age,» Alena continued. «And then he had a heart attack.» I made a diamond from his ashes, which I still keep close to my heart. You can’t imagine how much effort it takes me not to give up, just to continue living. There’s an eternity ahead, but I don’t know what to do the next morning.
«Or maybe…» I kissed her on the cheek. – Tolik will understand. You don’t lose anything.
During the kiss, her empty eyes looked like the artificial eyes of a robotic toy. I pulled off her clothes, and only the lines and circles of stars in the emptiness of space witnessed what happened next.
– Ilya, I love you!
– And I love you, sun!
– You did not understand! Impressive, you cured him. I don’t love Tolik anymore.
On the third day, we landed on the surface of the red planet, and Alena took me to the nearest medical center.
– Get this vaccination. For me. I don’t want to lose another person close to me.
It smelled of alcohol and carbolic acid. Under the fluorescent light, the nurse droid administered the injection. A burning wave of pain passed through my entire body, and then I felt an irresistible urge to go to the mirror. O Mars, what facial features! Why didn’t I notice in the reflection of the mirror before – how handsome I am! Smoothed an unruly strand of hair. Perfect! I suddenly realized that I was ready to stay here, near the mirror for an hour, for two… for a year? Karina, how I now understand your passion for mirrors.
Alena pulled me by the hand. Now the elf family will have an eternity of love. Alena will love me until the end of time. And I will love myself until the Universe shrinks into a point, and then a new one is born.
Universe without an observer
The clock hands crossed midnight. This was not the first time that two men emptied the contents of vessels resembling a Klein bottle in their favorite bar, «Klein Bottle.» Fortunately, the curfew had been abolished by the beginning of the twenty-second century, so visitors who had stayed for so long were not in danger. The bartender was silently wiping beer glasses behind the bar: there was nothing you could say to regular customers. But the music had already been turned off, so there was almost silence in the usually noisy room, except for two quiet voices. It smelled of beer and fried crackers.
– Listen, Vasya! There is no God on Earth. Maybe it once existed, but it left us long ago. Or it never existed.
– Tolya, where did you get the idea?
– Look around! Hundreds of infomaniacs are snooping here and there. They don’t work anywhere, and spend everything they steal on virtual entertainment. But the most worthy among us get cancer. They go to work. They spend everything they earn only on their family. Yes, maybe the church blog is not visited every Sunday, but is the essence of faith in a couple of likes? And then one day they are diagnosed with an incurable disease. And infomaniacs, just as they lived in a world of illusions, will continue to live without doing anything useful to the world. Either this god is a villain, or he doesn’t care about us, and he has derailed our lives. Or it doesn’t exist.
There is a philosopher dormant in each of us. And he wakes up when our main personality is on the verge of shutting down, for example, after a hefty dose of alcohol.
– You’re wrong. Let’s look at this from a different perspective. What happens to a small particle that no one is watching? It is located in several places at the same time with a certain degree of probability, until an outside observer appears. I would not want to live in a world without God: it would be a probabilistic hell. Objects would exist and not exist at the same time, they would be in different places. Until you deign to look at them. But our Universe is ideal, finely tuned: the atoms are just such a size that the world does not crumble into a handful of scattered ashes of small particles.
***
The midday sun seemed to burn to the bones. Although there were moments when the light suddenly disappeared, and pitch darkness set in, only a scattering of distant stars flickered in the distance. Sometimes the light of the stars obscured the entire sky, and then without glasses it was impossible to open the eyelids. Tamara gazed at the skyscraper, endlessly stretching upward. If it ended somewhere, then the human eye could not see its edges.
– Seryozha, where are you?!
– Tamara, turn around.
She turned around. The man’s hands had already partially turned into fog, but as soon as he looked at him, they immediately took on their normal form. She turned her head back, but the skyscraper was no longer there.
– You’re like a newbie! We agreed: you look at the Directory when I look at you. Then we change. Otherwise, without an observer, the building could end up anywhere on the planet. Just like you and me.
– Sorry. Near the Directory, the probabilistic blur is stronger than usual.
– And no one promised a simple operation. It’s good that the Directory stands out even compared to other skyscrapers in size. Look, she’s there. In the east. Be attentive!
Tamara waved her hand in the air, and a pass to the Directory appeared in it. For a statistician of her rank, creating a hiding place in the depths of probability was not difficult. They went inside.
Endless whiteness and sterility. Thousands of people waited in line at the turnstiles. They stood in even rows. Such an island of absolute order in a world drowning in uncontrollable chaos.
A gray-haired man approached the registration point.
– Mister Chizhikov! – asked the red-haired woman.
– Yes. He is.
– Ilya Petrovich? – the red-haired girl looked at the passport, but at the visitor’s face.
«He’s the one,» the man was noticeably nervous. – Can you do it faster?
– I act in accordance with the instructions. Birth year two thousand one hundred and fifteen.
– Absolutely, right.
– Purpose of the visit?
The man boiled:
– A girl, really! Everything is indicated on my registration card! Read more carefully! It indicates not only the purpose of the visit, but also the time during which I will be in the center building, my academic degree, the university I graduated from, my place of work and everything you need to know!
– Man, don’t be so nervous. I didn’t come up with the registration system!
– But you are doing an excellent job. I think you’ll do even better if you don’t ask tons of questions, the answers to which can be read on the
