looked at her, showing surprise at her naiveté.
– It's clear," she replied.
– I'm telling you it's dangerous here," Catherine said, and only her smiling face told her that the concerns were not so serious.
– Anyone seeing their doppelganger would be shocked. And that's natural. Of course, everyone would say: it can't be.
– That's what I'm saying," Andrian said.
– I'm surprised to hear you say that," Catherine told him almost in a whisper.
– Well, why not, and I'm surprised too," Iulia said loudly.
– I do, too," YatSan said with an undertone of disbelief, surprise, and a desire to check.
– You, when I first told you this, you were completely calm for some reason.
– Because we can expect anything from you.
– I don't quite understand the logic of your reasoning, however, as they say, back to your constellations.
They, having passed Irene's identification, entered the laboratory building, a large room, in the middle of which lay elongated blocks resembling sarcophagi. Everything around was fantastic, like a fairy tale, from the sarcophagi floating and emitting white smoke to the decorative butterflies whose wings bore an image of some scene from the childhood of the person looking at it. The team froze with surprise. Perhaps they had read about something like this, but when you see the world like this for yourself in reality, you realize that it cannot be described in words.
Ruthra, seeing their surprise, decided to bring them back to reality.
– Reality is once a fantasy, but then it really becomes reality. I told you, these are all the realities of tomorrow. This will all become normal," he said and ran his hand, without touching, over one of the rigs.
The top defense disappeared. Inside, like a crystal coffin, lay the body of the princess. Or rather, it was YatSan's. The team was delighted, shocked and amazed at the same time.
– This is a nightmare. It's a wax figure," the living YatSan exclaimed, looking at her clone.
Ruthra smiled and answered her:
– This wax figure can talk to you.
– Why won't she talk?
– Because she has no consciousness. We can pump your consciousness in there. You'd really get a shock if we uploaded something other than your consciousness. We could upload a digital copy of your consciousness, and then you'd be two individuals. You'd be able to talk to each other. But you'd have a conflict. You will be two different people at the moment of "switching on", but because of the fact that the past is common, you will start conflicting whose it is, whose everything that should live together with the personality, including memory, is. That's why it should not be done.
– Which of you is which? – Andrian was the first to get away from her astonishment and joked with her. – Tell her she's the real YatSan," he asked Rutra comically for support.
– That's a hell of a thing," YatSan said.
– Shall we open the others? – Ruthra asked seriously, making it clear that this was a routine for him, something they would have to get used to as well.
– Let's open it," Iulia whispered.
– Come on," Ruthra waved his hand at Irene.
Although it was already clear that all operations could be done manually, by gestures, voice, and mentally. The other three sarcophagi opened.
– I find it strange that they are wearing exactly the same clothes as we are," Andrian remarked.
– Yes. Why not in overalls or overalls? – Iulia wondered.
– Because if it's a copy, it's an exact copy of you. Pay attention – even jewelry, hairstyles, makeup we picked up.
– It's hard to really believe in the reality of people, especially our exact replicas, in front of us. It can't be," Iulia persisted.
– Believe me, EuLeah, it's exactly like that. If actors get makeup, get a copy, why can't we do it here.
– Okay, well, how did you pick out all these clothes? My necklace, for example. I think it's really hard to do all that.
– It's not hard. People have been faked, like with the photo. They made a complete copy of you, and you're talking about bling.
– Yeah, I actually noticed, exact replica. So what, they don't have brains now?
– Thank you, Iulia. Yes, no brains," Ruthra answered her ironically.
– I mean, no, that's not what I meant.
– Okay, okay, let's stop right there. Did you see your doppelgangers?
– We did," they all answered in unison.
– See that they're alive, that they exist?
– I don't quite believe it," Catherine said.
To which Rutra replied:
– Okay, here's what we're gonna do. We're going to revive them. For a while. Only you'll see them from the outside. Okay?
– Good," the listeners again responded amicably.
– Then we'll leave now, and within an hour the assistants, the staff will prepare them, and then you'll see them here. You'll be in contact with them via video for the time being. We have the exact same room as upstairs, or rather, the exact same unit. Let's go to the training room.
– How do you bring them to life? Or what do you call it? I mean, whose consciousness is there? – Andrian asked with special curiosity.
– Oh, I forgot. At the same time, you'll see how your digitized memory, or rather, consciousness, works. You'll just see in their dialog the boundary of events. This is what I call the hour to which their consciousness, i.e. yours, is recorded. They will not talk about the last past days. We do not update them every day.
– It's a miracle.
– Mystical," Catherine pointed out.
They sat in front of the TV, which was the wall itself, and saw a strange sight: clones sitting in the same room and discussing what had happened to them.
YatSan became indignant:
– If Rutra does that damn thing again, I'll drop the project altogether.
– You're not going anywhere," Andrian told her sternly. – Don't forget where we are. And in general – put your brains together and think about what kind of organization this is. Behind all this kindness there is a system that will simply wipe us out. He warned us for a reason. We will disappear as individuals. We'll be nowhere to be found, no paperwork. Just the faintest of memories, maybe. We'll all be arrested. Everyone, even our closest relatives.
– What are you making up," Iulia spoke up.
– You're scaring me with your thinking. There's no such thing. Maybe he'll do something to us, but that has nothing to do with family.
– Yes, I may have spoken harshly. But anyway, you think about the power of this organization. I've flown in a warplane, I've fired live missiles.
– You weren't flying anywhere. That was virtual reality, too.
– There's something lurking in all of this.
– No need to be dramatic," Catherine tried to calm them down.
– That's why I say that, I liked a lot of things there too, but I wish it was real.
– So why should you resent it if you felt everything – like in reality.
– It's kind of unusual. Everything seems fine, everything is fine, and then you realize it wasn't real. You have to admit, it's not the same.
– The fact remains. I had a lot of fun.
– I'm not complaining either," YatSan