9 Making Love in the New World (1/2)
”Are you sure we should do this?” asked Rani.
Samir looked into her eyes. They were both squatting on the same hiber bed. They had put it next to their wet mattress, which was piled high with the items they had taken from the cube: timon implant kits, rolled-up hiber beds, and documentation scrolls.
It was the darkest hour of the night, the hour before the dawn. The candle had almost gone out, and the only light in the room was provided by the glowing scrolls. It wasn't much, and Samir couldn't see Rani's face clearly, even though it was very close to his. But he could feel her fear.
”Yes, we should do this,” he said. ”If we do not - we will always regret we didn't try.”
He was already holding the timon implant kit in his hand. He raised it, and put the sharp tip of the cone against the side of his head. He put his thumb over the glowing blue dot in the base.
”Samir! Don't do it! Wait!”
”For what? We know everything there is to know. We've both read the scroll end to end, and discussed every detail. It's time to act.”
”Let's wait until it gets light.”
Samir hesitated. Then he said:
”We're both very tired, Rani. We need some sleep. And the documentation says that when we are asleep, we will be able to fully enter the consciousness of our second selves. We will be able to see, hear, move, we will be able to do whatever we want in the New World. Not just communicate with our second selves. We'll actually BE there.”
”But what if something bad happens?”
”Nothing much. You know what I know. If your second self dies, you'll simply wake up. You may feel some discomfort, nothing more. Then you can have another implant, and start all over again.”
”I'm scared.”
”So am I.”
The moment he said that, he pressed his thumb against the blue dot glowing in the center of the cone's base.
He felt a tingling sensation in his skin, followed by a gentle warmth that spread from the point where the cone's tip touched his head. He became aware of a new presence inside himself, almost as if another soul had entered his body to coexist with his.
It was a friendly soul. It agreed with everything he'd ever felt or thought. Its thoughts were his thoughts. It was him. He was leading a double existence.
”Samir!”
”I'm fine,” he said. ”This is amazing, Rani. It's beautiful. Do it. Hold my hand, and do it.”
Rani moved closer to Samir, tightening her grip on his hand. She raised the hand holding the implant kit, and put the tip of the cone to the side of her head.
”I love you,” she said to Samir, and pressed the glowing dot.
For a moment they squatted side by side in silence, their shoulders touching. Then Samir whispered:
”You're sitting next to me.”
”I know! I can feel you!”
”No, I mean over there. We are sitting side by side, just like here.”
”We? You mean us or them?”
”What 'them'?”
”Our second selves.”
”There is no 'them'. They are us.”
”I can see something. It's dark, but I think I can see shapes. And I can hear sounds.”
”Here or there?”
Rani giggled.
”Both,” she said, and put down the used implant kit and pinched the skin on Samir's arm.
”Ouch!”
”Did you feel it here or there?”
They both laughed. Samir put his arm around Rani, and hugged her.
”I felt it both here and there,” he said. They were silent for a while. Then he said:
”I have this impression that everything is happening very fast.”
”Me too.”
”Can you feel the air move? Can you feel the breeze?”
”Yes. But I have to clear my head of all thoughts. I lose that feeling whenever you or I say something. Stop talking.”
”I have an idea.”