Got it , Kevin said, and Helen suddenly felt very small and alone .
Got what ? she asked .
The isolation room .
Helen felt a squiggle of danger inside her .
He tapped the floor and a panel sprung open. Helen caught a glimpse of a mirrored cubicle, big enough to seat four people.
There was someone in there.
Level Two, Variation A
Kevin took hold of Helens arm and pulled her into the room. A woman sat on the floor, gazing up at Kevin with a hopeless expression.
Good afternoon, Mona. Ive brought you a friend.
Mona looked at Helen with an expression of fear and pity. Helens sense of foreboding turned to alarm. She recognized the woman who sat in the corner of the room, gazing up at Kevin with empty eyes.
Thats Mona Karel. She vanished two months ago. Nobody could explain how!
Well, now you know, said Kevin. Theyll be talking about you in the same way this time tomorrow.
He pressed his hand against Helens cheek. As he took it away she saw the skin on his fingers was dyed blue .
Relaxant, he said as Helen slumped to the floor beside Mona.
Kevin looked down at them both, then checked his watch.
Mona, your next customer will be arriving in about four hours. Helen, you can learn whats expected of you by watching Mona. Youll be on duty four hours after that.
Please, Mona said. She was shaking. Please, no.
Kevin smiled and the mirrored door slid shut.
Level Two, Variation B
Kevin took hold of Helen and pulled her by the arm into the room. A woman walked towards Kevin and kissed him on the cheek.
Hey, said Kevin. Youre not Mona!
The woman who had kissed Kevin placed a hand on each of his shoulders and gazed into his eyes. She had long, straight black hair, pulled into two halves so they looked like the carapace of a beetle. At the nape of her neck the hair was wound into a complicated bun arrangement held in place by a thick horizontal rod of lacquered wood.
Her face was utterly white save for her black lips and eyes that seemed to float over that white space, unattached. When she opened her mouth, a living red tongue ran across brilliantly white teeth. When she blinked, black lashes swept down over black irises. She wore a black kimono from which white hands and feet with black-painted nails emerged. She should have been terrifying. Instead, Helen found her strangely beautiful. When she spoke, her voice was soft and lilting, her accent vaguely Irish.
Good afternoon, Kevin. Remember me?
Judy! How could I forget? He had not been expecting this woman to be in the room, that much was obvious, but who would expect someone who seemed like a cross between a black-and-white geisha and the most sinister clown from their childhood? Strangely, Kevin seemed quite unconcerned. He casually looked around the room, searching for something.
If
youre looking for Mona, the woman said, shes somewhere safe, being counseled by Social Care.
Helen looked on, a sense of unreality settling on her like snowflakes. Truth be told, things had seemed rather strange since she woke up that morning: the world just a little too bright, the colors just a little bit too simple. But this was a step too far. Kevin reached out into the space immediately before him and began to twist his hands, as if searching for something.
No point activating the escape hatch, said the woman. Ive taken control of this processing space.
Ah, said Kevin. He put a hand in his pocket and pulled out his console.
Helen looked from Kevin to the black-and-white woman, utterly confused. Kevin still seemed quite relaxed.
No problem, he said. Theres always a failsafe.
He pressed his console and vanished. Helen jerked backwards in surprise, banging into the mirrored wall behind her.
The black-and-white woman turned to look at Helen.
Im Judy, she said. I dont think weve met yet, Helen.
Helen gazed at the woman for a moment, her lips moving silently. She suddenly understood.
Im a personality construct, arent I? This isnt the real me any more.
Judys black lips formed into a smile.
Youre not as sentimental as your personality profile makes out, are you? No matter how many readings Social Care pass on to me, they never give the same feel as actually meeting a person. Each time Ive met you, youve faced up to reality straight away.
Helen bit her lip thoughtfully. Each time weve met? she said. There is more than one copy of me?
Oh yes, youre very popular in this little chamber of horrors.
Judys console made a shushing noise, and Judy tilted her head a little, clearly listening to something.
Helen opened her mouth, and Judy raised a hand to silence her. Helen looked around the mirrored chambers, at all the black-and-white women who raised their hands to the young blond women, images receding into infinity. Helen had a sudden sense that she was not looking at reflections; that, instead, each of the pairs of figures that she saw was another Helen and Judy, trapped in another computer simulation. Each one of them awaiting some dreadful fate.
Judy lowered her hand.
Kevin has shown up on one of the Level Three simulations. Im going to intercept him. Helen, you will be safe within the stealth cube area for the moment. Dont wander too far into the arboretum; the simulation only extends for a few hundred meters beyond the limits of this construction.