Divergence

—A disintegrator? I didn’t know such things existed.

—You mean you didn’t know you had it? But it is there in your left arm.

—This body has many features I don’t know about. The Watcher planned for everything, but told me very little.

—Go to the mutated seed. It is not reacting so far, but it may yet do so. Disintegrate it, just like the Schrodinger kittens are doing to the other Seeds.

—Schrodinger kittens? I didn’t know…

—Why do you think you were given them? Use the disintegrator.

—How?

—Let me show you…

This wasn’t the first time another consciousness had entered Constantine’s mind to guide him. He felt Aleph’s presence, and he turned to look at its representation. He was surprised at what he saw.

—Shhh, said Aleph, placing a finger to its mouth. —Don’t tell anyone yet. There was a pulsing in the air, regions of pressure that squeezed the soft human bodies. Distant sensations insinuated their way into the shivering space of the large hold: the smell of vomit and the sound of seagulls crying.

Something was awakening in Constantine’s body, new potentials arising in his arm. An inequality appeared in his vision.

Constantine recognized it. —Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

—Well done, said Aleph. —The disintegrator measures the positions of the individual particles within its field to an accuracy of a nanometer. This renders the momentum of those particles to such a level of uncertainty that they are excluded from being within 100 meters of here.

—Very clever, said Constantine, and the disintegrator woke up in his arm in a rainbow of colors and with the feel of flowing honey. He felt dizzy at the measurements that the device was already performing as he waved his arm around. Space wavered as the device seemed to plug him into the universe at some basic level.

A tall, good-looking man appeared in Constantine’s mind. He walked with a cocksure swagger.

—Who are you?

—Kevin. The mind of the Bailero . Kevin did a double take as he appeared to notice the device in the robot’s arm. —That looks interesting, Constantine. Do you mind if I take a look?

Kevin was already reaching towards the device, following through the circuitry in Constantine’s body. Constantine swatted the AI’s virtual arm away.

—Leave it, he said. Constantine took aim at the huge seed and concentrated…

…The mutant seed vanished. Edward was staring at the space it had occupied, mouth open wide in amazement. Events were moving so quickly in human time that, to his eyes, the seed must have appeared and disappeared in an instant.

—Nice, said Kevin.

—What do you want here? asked Constantine. —Get out of my mind.

—Hey, I’m only trying to help. The man looked hurt. —Listen, he said. —There is something strange up ahead. I’m going to need your help, Aleph, to get me through. Constantine, I suggest that the humans collect their things and then get into the shuttle in the large hold for safety. That way they’ll be shielded by both me and the Eva Rye. Tell them they’ve got thirty minutes to collect anything they need from their quarters.

—Why should you try to help? wondered Constantine. —I’d have thought you would prefer not to be the property of the Eva Rye .

—I wouldn’t, Kevin agreed. —The sooner I can get them to Earth, the better as far as I’m concerned. So tell them this: things are getting weird out here. They can’t count on the Eva Rye still being there by the time we get to Earth. They’d be safer in the shuttle.