Escape from Paradise

Chapter 22: Trapped

Larry shouted at Jessie, "Where is Diana?" The echo turned into an angry roar.

When the noise subsided, Diana still walking, said, "She's not here. She chose to stay behind."

"Stay where? Where are you keeping her?"

"Someplace safe, for now. But if I don't get back to her in a few hours, she may disappear forever. I don't lie. I won't lie to you here." For a brief moment, she spread her hands open wide. "Let's consider that we're inside a sanctuary of truth, a place in which nobody ever lies. I promise you to be honest while we're here. What about you Larry? Are you going to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"What truth? What the hell are you talking about? What do you want in exchange for Diana?"

"I want you to acknowledge your mistakes. Excuse for your actions and promise me that you will let me out of this place."

"You have no leverage here. Diana cannot be permanently damaged. Whatever you do to her, I can fix it, restore her."

Anger sparked out of Jessie's lips. She sneered, "The great, all-powerful restorer, aren't you? What if she won't want to be restored? What if I tell her the whole truth about you and she won't even want to see you. Or even if you try to get into her head she won't let you. Truth is a greater weapon than force."

"What truth?"

"So you don't want to acknowledge your mistakes and lies?"

"What mistakes? What lies?"

"Are you dumb, or you still can't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Has William awakened you or not, do you remember the past? Do you remember how you tricked everyone into getting here and then locked everyone up, changed them, turned this world from the last chance for human survival into your petty sandbox?"

"Not everything."

"Did you remember how to get out of this place? Is there another way besides destroying yourself?"

Silence.

Diana said, "I'm wasting my time here. Stupid William. He messed me up really good. Why couldn't he do the same to you? The fool. He thinks humans are undeveloped, flawed computer programs when they only are poorly evolved animals. He must have underestimated you. No problem. No problem at all. I will tell you then, my poor Larry what you've done. I have time. I will help you remember. I can't split your head open, shatter your mind to pieces but I can help you remember what monster you truly are.

"Back on Earth, I was a well-renowned physicist searching for a way to get us out of the dying junkyard of a planet. All my work was based on a half-century old teleportation theory. No matter what I did or how I tried, I couldn't transport a human from one place to another. There was some ingredient that I couldn't find, without which every test subject turned into a vegetable on the other end. I was running out of time. I saw no one competent enough to continue my research. So, I decided to make a shortcut by asking for your help.

"You were a material engineer fond of living, who found a way to store incredible quantities of data in synthesized crystals. One fist-sized crystal could store the almost infinite complexity of the human mind and memory. You were a thirsty man. Thirsty for life. Whatever you had never seemed enough. When your young wife was diagnosed with cancer, you became obsessed with an idea of an artificial world which could be built using the crystals, a world in which together you could live forever.

"Shortly after your wife's death, I came to you asking for your help. We tried to teleport your data crystals and they remained intact. On the other side, we placed the diamonds into machines – copies of human bodies and it worked. We did not transport flesh but we transported consciousness and memories and it was much better than nothing. I was satisfied.