The Elias Anomaly

Twenty Two

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Joseph had to concede that he felt a lot calmer inside the plex. This wasn't the Cluster, it was a tiny little plex maintained on a server in the Department, constructed by Simon. It was just an upstairs flat over a small cul-de-sac backstreet in a simulation of a Soho backstreet. The plex didn't even go out onto the main street at the end.

There were a number of limitations to the plex. The only bot in the entire thing was a non-descript middle aged man. His job was to stand behind the counter in the supermarket on the opposite side of the street. Joseph could observe the bot, pretending to read a magazine, out of the window of the flat. This was where Joseph was to spend the next few hours whilst Foulkes monitored his vital signs.

In a credulity stretching move the store manned by the bot could supply any food that Joseph was in the mood for. The television in the flat's lounge received every entertainment streaming service that existed.

Joseph spent his couple of hours eating a pizza and watching a movie. Weirdly this experience of tedious mundanity made Joseph begin to warm to the experience of being immersed. This plex didn't feel like a massive decadent playground filled with sociopathic weirdos. It was just a safe cocoon away from the pressures of the real world.

He realised that this was an experience he could have in reality. There was no need for the cripplingly expensive quantum computer that generated the surroundings.

He watched some stupid romantic comedy on the television. Entertainment light and frothy enough to distract completely from Joseph's own current circumstances. Joseph understood why it was people like plexes and also why it was that they were so crammed with interest and incident. If someone was going to immerse themselves in a simulation then it wouldn't do for that simulation to be as mundane as this was. What a waste of money that would be in normal circumstances.

After the movie Dr Foulkes called Joseph and told him to take an exit. Back in reality the doctor hooked Joseph up to a bunch of medical equipment. The monitoring continued as he watched the news, followed by some stand up comedy show. He went back into the mini-plex to sleep.

In the morning he met Simon in the hospital canteen.

"You look a lot more relaxed," Simon greeted him.

"I understand that watching TV and sleeping is giving Foulkes an abundance of data," Joseph said.

"Excellent news," Simon said, smiling. "I've also been working on my other problem. I think I've found a suitable contractor to go back into the Cluster after Bloch."

"Dulcie?" Joseph asked.

"After I explained matters to her she appeared quite keen," Simon said. "I'm sorry you two missed each other last night."

"It's okay," Joseph said. "She's the only other real person that I remember knowing. Well, there was a pirate captain, but, to be honest, I didn't get on with him. Anyway, I suppose there is a sentimental desperation in my connection to Dulcie, but it is entirely arbitrary."

"Listen, Joseph," Simon said. "I need to keep you safe, whether you believe it or not. You are the first and only digital lifeform that can leave the framework of a digital environment and inhabit a human body. This fact makes you incredibly valuable to Bloch and that gives me some leverage."

"So, you just want to look out for me because I'm a stand up guy you get along with?" said Joseph.

"You'd like me to lie to you?" Simon asked. "I'm the second real person that you've ever met. On the basis that we're all people, you are one among hundreds that I know, and I don't get along with any of them either. If it makes you feel better you are, without a doubt, the most valuable asset that I've ever had the chance to encounter. All the more valuable for the fact that most people out here wouldn't even know what you are."