exiles -[2] and a young woman leaves the hotel…

{edit] [edit] [edit] Ping. Ping. I’m awake, listening to the building, it sounds different, Ping, Wake up, ping, phil says. It is midsummer and I am, it is listening to the sounds of the hotel at night. The lift, people in the corridor, the unbearable soft hiss of the air conditioning, laughter of people heading towards their rooms for sleep or sex, outside its noisy, music from suite to the side and the light from the always light corridor does not get through the solid fire door. The room is almost identical to the room we entered. Almost a mirror image.

Wake up, phil had said. What is it? I’m awake already. Get up, look out the window at the drone. Why ? she asked, I asked, it asked. I feel stiff. hot. weak. another room of the hotel, you were 82 years old, and whilst you were still beautiful, graceful and desirable. You left a note on the door for the hotel staff. They found you yesterday, lying peacefully together, in the morning, having taken your lives, as you planned. Perhaps we can say you have vanished. He, in case you don’t remember, had a terminal illness. I remember, I said. You cannot live without each other. Didn’t want to, I said. I put on a teeshirt, it’s shorter than I remember.. it has a picture of Mayakovsky wearing a hat and smoking a cigerette on her chest. I, She is standing in the window looking at her young hands in the moonlight. There is a tattoo of a dragon on her left arm, curling up and around her arm vanishing beneath the tee shirt and around her shoulder onto her back. I wonder how I know that. What the fuck? Why? What’s this? she says in japanese. We are sorry, phil says, but we need you to do something… I think I copied everything. Your taller. He’s asleep. We’ll need to speak soon. Wait a few minutes phil, just a few. I say to phil, she says, I say, it says. (should I speak of the shock? the surprise? no need you can imagine that) [edit] [edit]

In the middle of the night, after 2AM and before 3AM. She is standing in the window of the hotel room looking out at at the drone which is outside about twenty or thirty feet away. She, I have been watching the drone for a few minutes, and wondering how long it has been watching her. In the quiet of the hotel. I can feel things sliding into place. Are you awake? I ask him. Looking over my shoulder at him moving in the bed. So noisy, he says, how could I sleep through that. He sits up, puts his feet on the floor. Again? He says, again? He is looking at the blue light from the ring on his young hands. I am watching the drone as it turns away and flies along the side of the hotel. What is it phil? Have we, I been edited? I asked. You may both have lost a few memories, unintentional, any questions you can ask me… What is it phil? He has turned on the bedside lamp and is looking at his young hands. The quantum ring glowing blue on his finger. Why have you done this phil? We have been asked to stop a research project. To ensure another one takes place. We needed someone who could understand the issues, and you have done it before, phil said. That’s a terrible argument, answer the question, he said from the bed. I’m glad I’d miss you both, phil said. Look in the envelope. Why us? I asked. Look in the envelope you’ll understand that there is nobody else.

While he looks at the material, inspecting his passport, his new identity, everything a person needs to live this year, this decade, a black box of an identity. I watch from the window and then sit next to him looking at the black box. We look so young. He said to me. We are young. What are the pin numbers phil? Same for both of you 1968 or 196884, all real. He went to the bathroom, the sound of water running. I opened the envelope with my new identity, passport, licences, names, identifiers and codes. There is a sheet of paper with details of my employment, our employment as precarious workers, contract workers for Hat. A meeting in London in two weeks. You are on holiday, you are newly employed permanent employees at Hat. House keys? The red set are for the warehouse apartment in London, I have an instance there. The car is parked there. There were train tickets inside the passport. I read the documents in the contract envelope. Seven days? that’s quite short notice… Do you have details of the woman as well? Yes. If we miss we’ll need them.

It’s after 3AM when he comes out of the bathroom We have an early train to catch, we should go soon. I feel well again?, he asks. You are well, phil says.

Who are they? I asked phil now that he was back. They are scientists thinking things the universe does not approve of. It cannot be allowed to become technology. Why not? It’s a variant of Jevons paradox, (an economic phenomenon) it occurs when technological progress increases the efficiency of resource use, this leads to increased consumption of the resource rather than reduced consumption, their work means planets and stars, eventually clusters will die. The universe is experimenting, with us, a homeopathic solution to its problem, phil said and stopped. I could almost hear it sigh. It’s ok phil, we understand this scenario. So is there anyone else? No one, phil replied. Just the three of us. It’s us and the Universe. Preventing the destruction of the planet with an asteroid. Preventing the destruction of stars. We won’t miss, I said. We know. It’s lovely work but the Universe doesn’t allow it. We are applying pressure to ensure that the Universe isn’t harmed. We are applying the laws of nature, a sentient species existing in this universe cannot be allowed to have that level of knowledge of the laws of nature. A natural contract, an experiment in homeopathy to see if the species can exist knowing it must capitulate to the laws of nature, he said, to phil really but also to me. This law, we did not manifest itself before us, nobody could know about this before. Though it may not be an accident that Galileo ran into trouble with the church, that Bacon died from eating frozen chicken, that our societies actively prevented women from studying science and technology, and Archimedes was killed by a drunken soldier. The law normally works by applying unbearable pressure on species, by extinction. We are the alternative approach. Selectively preventing some science from developing that would challenge the law of nature. For example this man, i tap the file with my finger, a child of his will enable matter to be removed from the universe, it would enable devastating wars, extinctions, humans, moons, planets, suns, steller clusters vanishing from the universe… we will prevent this. Besides, phil said, there is a billion years to go before this planet ends and there are better things to do than become extinct because of genocidal scientists, even if they don’t understand what they are doing.

Does this mean the three of us and the universe against humanity and science? He said watching me get dressed. (It’s my one skill, he said once, watching you get dressed and undressed. Well over 20,000 hours I told him.) Yes, phil said. It used to be just the two of us, I said. At least there are more of us now. I look young. It’s very romantic. We have lived together for about 90 years. For most of that we were agents for the law of nature. The idea of us being homeopathic agents protecting the universe pleases me. I wonder if we exist like this, in a hotel room across the multiverse. A multitude of Songs? I asked rhetorically. I would like that, he said.

We leave and stop off the mezzanie bar, seeing that it was open with a few late night customers, drank a shot of belvedere vodka and espresso. Charging it to the room. He is drinking the same. Eating some light food, poached eggs on toast and a small basket of chips. It’s nice to see your young face again, i say to him. At our age the desire… I understand this is why he is standing slightly further away than he would have a few days ago. He looks slightly worried. I step closer to him, and allow my desire to be expressed with my hands, arms hugging him. I wonder what we look like. Song, he says, your name is Song. [cut]

Rather than the scientists we are the homeopathic solution to their searching for forbidden knowledge. [edit edit edit] [end]

partt 1 is here: https://sz-duras.medium.com/an-old-woman-enters-a-hotel-room-1-c257baddaa87