“I’ve heard of this phenomenon!” he said.
“Yes, me too,” I said. “Time dilation.”
“No, no. It sounds like quantum decoherence to me. It’s not my area of study, you understand, but I have read O’Dowd, and I must admit that I am intrigued by his theory of how decoherence can split the quantum multiverse.”
It sounded like something Denn Jerue would be into, but it was way over my head. Thastus went on and on about various theories of the multiverse, including one that was very unsettling.
“Stop it, Thastus,” Biella said. “That’s utter nonsense.”
“It is not nonsense, dear. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about his theories. And those of Richard Terril.”
“Daddy thinks that we’re living in a simulation,” Kira said.
“Oh?” I was pretty buzzed from the gin and wasn’t a hundred percent sure of what I was hearing.
“Think about it, man!” Thastus clapped me on the shoulder. “We know that there are civilizations much more advanced than ours. And I’m not just talking about the Rhya.”
“The Aanthangans,” I offered.
“Exactly. The Pikopi as well. The thing you must ask yourself is, do any of these advanced civilizations have the capability to simulate reality?”
“What, like in Greystrand?”
Thastus snorted. “Greystrand is no more than a primitive social game.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s pretty immersive.” I played Greystrand when I was in college and occasionally dipped in to visit with some of my old buddies. The medieval virtual playground had been hugely popular a few years ago.
“Imagine the Rhya creating a simulation of the universe several orders of magnitude more detailed than your knights and dragons game. Do you see what I’m getting at, Beck?” He stabbed the air with his finger and partially spilled the drink in his other hand.
“No, we don’t see what you are getting at,” Biella interjected.
“Imagine I’m right for a moment,” Thastus said.
“You’re not,” Biella said.
“Well, then, imagine that Richard Terril is right, then.”
“He’s not!”
Thastus ignored his wife and kept going. Kira glanced over at me and rolled her eyes, then grinned impishly.
“If we accept that an advanced civilization is capable of creating a simulation that is indistinguishable from our own reality, then it just follows that—statistically speaking—the odds are astronomical that we are indeed living in one of those simulations.”
“To be honest, I’m more inclined to agree with Dr. B on this one,” I said.
“Thank you, Finnegan,” Biella said.
“It’s Jannigan, actually.”
“Why’s that, my boy?” Thastus asked. “Don’t you hold with the theory of how quantum indeterminacy strongly indicates that—”
“I think we’d notice if we were living in a simulation. There would be little mistakes here and there. Glitches.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It’s common sense. Nothing is perfect.”
“I beg to differ. Perfection is all around us. Take my lovely wife, for instance.”
“Thastus!” Biella shot a glare at her husband, but I saw her crack the barest hint of a smile.
“I’m serious,” Thastus said. “But even if the simulation were imperfect, that wouldn’t necessarily mean that us as inhabitants of the simulation could recognize those imperfections.”
“Okay, this is getting weird,” Kira said. “You’re going to scare our guest away!”
“He has no place to go, dear,” Biella said.
“True enough,” I said. “And I am very grateful for your hospitality.”
“Indeed, but you must be utterly knackered from your ordeal,” Biella said. “Kira, you give him your quarters and bunk with me, why don’t you?”
“Fine with me,” Kira said.
“Just see that you don’t snore,” Biella said.
Being drunk and the horn dog that I am, I hoped that Kira might have opted for different sleeping arrangements—i.e., with me. She seemed like a healthy young woman, with healthy needs. And living with her parents, isolated in a jungle for eighteen months at a time, couldn’t have been much fun.
But, alas, I slept alone that night.
But I did sleep like a baby, curled up in Kira’s bed, and lost in the faint scent of her flowery perfume which lingered on her pillow. Right before I drifted off, I wondered where she got perfume in the jungle? Maybe she brought some with her from Devariin.
I must have slept for twelve hours, maybe more. Her dad finally poked his head in and woke me up with the promise of a hearty breakfast.
As I stumbled out into the center of the camp, I saw Kira cooking over an outdoor grill. The smell of roasted fish made my mouth water. As I drew closer, I saw that she was also working a large iron griddle with some kind of flat cakes cooking on them.
“Wow, everything smells amazing.”
“It’s all for you, Adventure Boy. The fam has eaten already.”
Kira wore a band to keep her hair back and I got a good look at her face in the morning sun. She really was beautiful, with full lips, arched eyebrows, and impossibly-green eyes.
“I am literally drooling. Over the food, I mean.”
She laughed. “Well, I don’t blame you. The fish is fresh-caught as of about three hours ago, and the pebble cakes are home made. Grab yourself a plate.”
“Can’t wait.”
“How’d you sleep?” she asked.
“Great. Coma-like great.”
“Nice.”
Thastus walked into the clearing with a carafe of fresh-brewed moxa. “Can I interest you in a cup?”
“Of course!”
As he poured the moxa, I asked where Dr. B was.
“She’s over on Toati Ridge, closing down our collection sites there. Unfortunately we have to terminate our field work three months early.”
“Yeah, that’s what Kira said. The Mayir, huh?”
“Yes.”
He looked extremely dejected.
“I know you can’t tell me what you’re researching, but—”
“Larchions,” he blurted out.
“Lar what?”
“Father!” Kira interjected. “What about the non-disclosure agreement?”
“Bother that!” Thastus huffed. “You won’t tell anyone, will you, Beck?”
“Of course not.”
“Larchions are a type of microorganism only found here in the Rhinobo Basin. They have very unusual properties, and that’s all I’ll say on the topic. Other than this is a big setback for our research.”
“Maybe it’s temporary,” I offered. “You never know. Once the Mayir are finished doing whatever they’re doing, they might let
