Dr Kroonstad had a plan. They had calculated the wave function with his twin and Enembe, and they were convinced that it was safest to be near a node of the function rather than near an antinode. Lucky for us, there were nodes at the locations of the Rocks, namely right here and at the valley of Floating Rocks. But the hub was more of an antinode area, and also the village was not safe. All this was in concordance with the practical experience of the villagers and religious beliefs of the priests.
The plan was straightforward but tricky. First, everyone and their twins in the snow-world should be brought to a node area. Second, the wave function should be let collapse and hope for the best. Most people were in the cave in both realities, so that was good. The tricky things were to find Svetlana and to know how to actually collapse the wave function. The double-world function had been fairly stable for more than two weeks now and it could go on for a long time, which would cause severe problems with food supplies in the cave after a week. Based on the stories of the priests, there was an earthquake maybe an hour before a collapse. Enembe confirmed that it can be possible based on the math, as there was a point where the oscillation started to interfere with the other reality some time before a collapse. From that point on the collapse would be inevitable.
- We should start executing the plan first thing tomorrow morning by bringing Ismen's and Svetlana's twins here. So, today we have time to explain everyone what will happen, Dr Kroonstad said.
- Do we have any plan about Svetlana? She should be in this reality, but we didn't see her in the hub, and nobody has seen her here. We were asking around today, I said.
- It is really difficult to know. But we have left notes behind us. So if she comes to the hub, she'll learn that we are here. The snow-world hub does not have a note, but it is very unlikely that she would switch there without her twin switching to the other reality. And if she cannot go to the hub, she will for sure try to get to the village. So she should show up here. We just need to wait and prepare to act when we meet her.
- How do we collapse the wave function when we get that far, Ismen asked. - Are you planning to explode another Rock?
- That is one option, but it will have consequences we cannot anticipate. Rather, I suggest that we disturb the Rock #2 above the cave by removing it from the air in the snow-world. It probably will have strong enough an interference with the wave so that it starts collapsing. We should proceed in iterations: first move it a bit, wait for a few hours and if nothing happens, move it more, and so on until we get an impact.
- And how do you know that there was an impact?
- We will record the Rock movements in both realities, and inform each other about changes. I am pretty sure we'll notice when it happens.
- OK, I summarised. - We'll start slow tomorrow morning and try to avoid extra disturbances. That sounds good. But I suggest that we talk with the priests today so that we have social acceptance for our actions.
- You are right, Ismen said. - We should do that immediately, that might take the whole night. I am not sure that they will like our idea. If I have understood, they just want to protect people and not interfere with the Rocks in any way.
Everyone agreed with Ismen, so we all headed to the corridor where the priests stayed. It was around ten, so it wouldn't be too late for some discussion. Ismen was right: they were strongly against the idea of touching not to mention removing any of the Rocks (fortunately they did not know that Dr Kroonstad had exploded one!). We tried to explain that we could calculate and predict what can happen and make estimates about how long it takes for the emergence to go away and that this time it may take very long unless we interfere. It was not convincing, they just said that it is in the hands of gods and they were benevolent and won't let that happen. It was enough to keep people safe in the cave. We didn't want to push too hard, because if we would get Ismen and Svetlana here tomorrow, we were not in any particular hurry and could negotiate about this for days. Now it was more important to convince the priests that we were here to help and that we knew something about what was going on.
We were not quite sure what we should say about the other reality and whether we should tell that we had a direct connection there both ways (and also that our twins were actually there talking with the twins of the priests about the same issue with as little progress). We decided to be cautious first and not talk about it.
Suddenly the ground started shaking slightly, and the tin cups on a shelf clattered. The magnitude was very low, but without doubt we knew that it was not coming from anything someone could do in the cave. It was an earthquake. Everyone fell silent for two seconds, and then we all stood up and walked out of the priests' dormitory. We knew that our assumed-no-hurry plan was shattered in pieces and we should get Ismen and Svetlana here immediately. Also the priests knew that our discussion was over as they were needed in the hall and dormitories to give instructions and comfort to people. We only had a final two-sentence conversation with them while we all walked toward the main hall.
- Two of our colleagues have just arrived in the village, and we must go there to bring them here, Ismen said.
- Very well, if you tell that you are on a rescue mission, everyone will help you if they can, they replied.
Then we had a short discussion amongst ourselves about who should go to Khorixas' house. Ismen immediately insisted to be with his twin, and my twin said that she should go because she is in the same reality and could talk to them directly. That made sense, but for us to know what was going on, it would be important for me to go as well, and we also needed both Dr Kroonstads to communicate the other direction between realities.
Besides, he reminded, only he could use the probe, which would be very helpful when sliding people around in the reality with hard and slippery snow everywhere. So it was the five of us who left, while Enembe stayed behind and would learn anything the priests would tell people and try to figure out whether that made sense from the point of view of the wave function. Enembe should also try to find Khorixas who knew many people and could probably help. Unfortunately they would loose the inter-reality connection, but that could not be helped.
We had been told that from the earthquake there was around an hour to the wave function collapse, so in theory we should easily make it. It was only two kilometres to Khorixas' home and the road was familiar. But it was an estimate only, and if we were in a wrong place we could die. I saw that Ismen was worried about that, but he focussed his thoughts on pairing with his twin and refused to think that that was not enough. My heart was beating for Svetlana, because even if we could bring her to the cave, her odds were poor without her twin. Paradoxically, that made me even more determined to bring her there.
When we had come to the village yesterday, I had wondered the speed of Dr Kroonstad's twin. Now I could see it with my twin's eyes. His probe was flying in front of him one or two metres above ground, and he was pulling a rope from the probe and sliding on the slippery snow like on skis. My twin was holding her arms around his waist and skiing just behind him. It would had been fun winter sports unless we hadn't been on a dangerous rescue mission.
In any case, with two-directional communication, it was easy to follow the others and make sure that even with running speed, nobody was left behind. We were in the village in fifteen minutes. Khorixas' house was dark and silent.
Dr Kroonstad's twin went to the door and banged it loudly. We did the same in the non-snowy world in the hope that Svetlana's twin would be there. After a few seconds, my twin saw a light being lit in the upper street-side bedroom. Our reality was painfully silent. There were noises and squeaking stairs, and after a moment Ismen's twin opened the door. I described this to Ismen, and he looked really relieved, he almost collapsed on the veranda, but he could manage himself and sat down on a stair. In contrast, our house showed no signs of life, so we just broke a small window beside the door. While my twin explained the situation to Ismen's and Svetlana's twins (both had now appeared to the door), I rushed inside and turned all lights on. There was nobody downstairs. I rushed up the stairs and shouted for Svetlana. Complete silence.
She was not there.
I felt a panic grow in my chest, but I refused to let it take over. I went back downstairs and took some paper to write notes. With large block letters I wrote: "URGENT! COME TO A CAVE 2 KM AWAY VIA THE SOUTH ROAD, INSIDE THE HIGHEST HILL. MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, AND MINUTES. NDALI " I left the paper on the kitchen table and wrote another one. Then I took a large mug, put water in it and dumped the paper into the water. I didn't know were the plastic bags were and I had no time to find them. I put the mug into the microwave and turned on the heating program we used for bread. Then I turned off the lights, rushed out of the door and closed it behind me.
On the veranda, my twin had already explained Svetlana's and Ismen's twins what was going on, and they were ready to leave in the other reality. Dr Kroonstad's twin told them that we were also ready in this reality and we should go immediately, as time was running out. So we all headed back. This time it was slower, as the probe was supposed to pull four people instead of just two, and we had some uphill on the way. I was afraid that we would be too much delayed. Fortunately Ismen had noticed some beanpoles that Khorixas used to keep his sunflowers from falling down. They were almost two metres long and they had a sharp metal peak, so they could be used to push from the slippery snow.
On the way back we did not talk much. We had to focus on getting back as fast as possible. I felt good that we found Ismen's and Svetlana's twins safe and sound. I tried to focus on that, rather than trying to think about missing Svetlana or my desparate attempt to send her a message through the microwave. It would take twenty minutes to run the baking program and even if it did go somewhere, it was not likely that she would make it to the cave in time. So we just walked and slid and pushed with the poles and tried to move well as we could. Of course it was much easier for us, but I could see everything in the snow-world and how it was much more difficult there and it made me feel that struggle as well.
Half way back I noticed that the night sky was getting brighter. I looked up and saw strong northern lights across the sky. In the North, they were so intensive that they could almost be used for reading, or that's how it felt. I could also hear their sounds. They were strange cracks and whistling, and crackle and sputter. The sounds became louder as the lights were brighter. This had been considered as humbuge for a hundred years, but just recently an audiologist had proven that these sounds can actually be recorded and that they do not form in stratosphere but rather at height of just less than a hundred meters, and therefore their timing matches with the lights. There was also a bright new star on the eastern sky, which was really strange as stars don't just appear like northern lights. I had never seen such beautiful northern lights, and they felt somehow comforting - until Dr Kroonstad said that they were probably signs of collapsing wave function and we should really hurry.
As we approached the cave and the hills, the road turned uphill, and that considerably slowed down the speed on the slippery snow. There was only twenty minutes left of the estimated respite. The probe pulled as it could, and everyone pushed with the poles, and every small lump on the surface was used as a pivot point. The northern lights were becoming brigher minute by minute, and they were also spreading higher, close to zenith. The cracks were disturbingly loud.
Then we noticed something good. The poles took a better hold of the snow, and we could push us forward easier (I mean they could, but I started to loose the distinction between my and my twin's realities, as I was so intensively in her head now). This made our moving suddenly much quicker, and we cheerily started to walk more confidently.
There were only maybe two hundred meters to the opening of the cave, when we realised that the increase of the friction did not stop. The snow was quickly turning into a sticky flypaper. Svetlana noticed this first, as she had experienced it in the snow-world before. Indeed, the temperature was much higher than it was earlier in the evening, we just hadn't noticed the change. When I thought about it, I noticed that the northern lights had gone beyond zenith and they were warming my back and head like sun on a summer day. The cracking sound had changed and was much softer, more like humming. A glimpse of humming gods, playing with us like cruel childred played with flies, struck my brain, but I pushed that idea away and fought against increasing horror.
I must focus on helping others, I thought. I encouraged Svetlana, whose boot was stuck in the snow. We pulled it together but in vain. Ismen told her to leave it and move on without, and that's what she did. We noticed that the longer we kept our feet in one place, the tighter they stuck, so we started moving our legs very fast with small steps. It worked for a while, but the snow melted more and more.
Five minutes. The cave was only fifty meters away. The sky was almost as bright as on a sunny day, and the sound had changed to a wheeze of a strong wind although it was dead calm. The snow did not carry us at all any more, and every footstep sinked into the muddy, sticky white death.
Then Enembe showed up at the cave entry. He had a long rope in his hand, and he threw it high in the air. The coil unfolded in the air, and for a short moment, it seemed to stay still in the air, just before it fell on the ground just a few metres away from us. I took two steps and reached the rope. I pulled it toward me and handed it further for everyone. Now we had a good handle, as Enembe had tied the other end up to a pole. We started pulling, and we made progress again.
The temperature rose and the consistence kept changing. When only ten meters away, the snow turned more runny, although it still was sticky. Dr Kroonstad could now walk faster and he bumped into Svetlama from behind. She was already exhausted and had no time to react, and she fell directly into the muddy snow, face first. I felt like a thunderbolt going through my body. It was only a few meters, we still had a minute to go. I would not leave her there. I waded to her, grabbed her and pulled from the snow. I dragged her for the last metres into the cave, then wiped her nose and mouth clean from the snow so she could breathe. Enembe pulled the heavy iron door of the cave closed with help from a fireman.
Svetlana was lying on the floor, breathing heavily. I fell beside her and started crying. This was everything we could do for her. We had instructed her to come from the hub to the village, we had found her from Khorixas', and we had helped her into this safety cave. But her twin was still missing, and she would most likely vanish in a minute, and we couldn't help her at all any more. I felt misarable and just cried. She was the person who had inspired us to come to this expedition in the first place, and now she was the one to suffer from the weirdness of this land.
- I am sorry, Bwana. I am really really sorry, I cried.
Then I just lied beside her on the cave floor and sobbed and listened to the storm outside that was not a storm but a collapse of universes. How can it be as beautiful and magnificient as northern lights, and at the same as unpredictable and cruel as a spiderweb to a fly? I did not want to think or feel, I just wanted to be beside her until there was nothing to be with.
The storm faded slowly and the sound turned lower, gradually to like a wind in the willows. Then it gradually disappeared altogether.
- It's okay. You can call me Bwana anytime.
I opened my eyes and looked around. Svetlana was still beside me, she had pushed herself up and leaned to her elbow. Enembe was standing just beside me, and Dr Kroonstad and Ismen and Khorixas were there as well. Ismen's and the doctor's clothes were dripping water, and Svetlana's and mine were soaking wet as well. She was smiling softly.
- Thanks for saving my life, she said.
I tried to hug her, but I just ended up pushing her back to the floor as I fell on top of her. I pushed myself up quickly and helped her up as well.
- How did it happen? I thought that people vanish if they lose their twin.
- I cannot really explain that except by saying that Amirhan is more complex a place than we can ever imagine. A wave function does not capture it all. My twin was in the non-snow world first, but somehow it got mixed up. It seems like that there was a third reality as well, because I remember the hub with no snow. I also remember hearing my own thoughts from the snow-world, but nobody could hear me. When you came from the village, you did not come to the same non-snow hub that I remember.
- So you heard your twin all along, although we had no idea about it?
- Yes, that's how it looked like. I followed me and Ismen to the village today. The reality where I was had a strange bright star in the eastern sky. I remember it from both the snow-world and non-snow world, but nobody else seems to have noticed that.
- I saw that star just a few minutes ago, I said. - But it wasn't there before.
- I guess that was when all the realities merged and all of them started to happen in the same place. That's the best how I can describe it, Dr Kroonstad said.
- So what is outside? Is there one world, or two, or three, Enembe asked the doctor.
- What do you remember? Do you remember both worlds as if you had been there yourself? If yes, I suppose the worlds did merge and the wave function collapsed in the way we hoped for.
I started probing my own memories. I had very clear memories of being in the sticky snow world a few minutes back, and walking to the village on the dirt road yesterday, and spending more than a week in the cave helping villagers, and eating bread rolls at Khorixas'. I was again the full me and I had the memories of both my twins. It felt that I had found something that I had missed a lot, except that just yesterday I couldn't even imagine that that was something that could be missed.
A priest came walking to the cave door.
- We have received a divine announcement that the Great Chasm is over and we can safely go back home, he said.
He went to the door, unlocked it, and pushed it open with the fireman. He watched outside for a while and looked pleased. Then he turned to us, waved his right hand toward the outside world and smiled. Then he bowed slightly, turned and went back to the cave.
We looked at each other for a while, and went outside. There was no snow, but the ground was soaking wet just like after heavy rain. The moon was shining bright, and the air was calm and warm.
- Hmm, I like the smell of moist soil, I said.
- Yes. My garden smells just like this before the flowers start blooming, Dr Kroonstad replied.
The end.
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