Parallel Worlds pro et contra - стр. 99

Amita trusted him, so Ruthra said without embarrassment:

– Okay, we'll do this experiment as soon as the body is ready. In fact, it is ready.

Although Amita had already heard fantastic things in the "new world"-as she called the Sphere system-she was wary and, judging by the intense look in her eyes, was thinking intensely about what she had heard.

– It's okay. I'll tell you everything," Ruthra said, turning to her.

Amita smiled understandingly and looked at him hopefully. She was very much attracted to mystery, novelty and even danger, both in life and in actions, which was expressed by agreeing to participate in the mysterious program. It could not be otherwise, as these very qualities were decisive in the selection of her among many other applicants by the artificial intelligence. But, of course, it was Rutra who finally approved the candidacy and defended his choice before the council.

There was something Ruthra was hiding from Amita, too… Whatever personal relationships he had developed, the program required cold calculation. And the relationship itself (perhaps Ruthra was not entirely honest about this) was part of the program. Ruthra was hiding from her the existence of two other applicants. They were the same ladies with interesting names and no less interesting backgrounds – IuLia and YatSan.

Noticing the interest with which Amita was looking at everything, the master of the office suggested:

– Amita… can I address you that way?

She nodded, and in his manner, without even waiting for an answer, he was already continuing:

– Amita, you have probably already been informed that although you see everyone by sight, you will not recognize their names. So address me as Parmenides. This is the luminary of science of the ancient world, the first person who asserted that the Earth has a spherical shape, and your guide to the world of the unknown, that is me, speaks about what people find it difficult to understand and perceive because of viewing the surrounding reality on the plane that their senses allow them.

Amita, already knowing her interlocutor quite well, smiled.

– Nice to meet you. But can I call you Parmen?

– You can, no question.

Rutra, meanwhile, had gone to the other end of the room and was doing something. Amita at first tried to see through the "sea kingdom" what he was doing, but then, apparently realizing that he was not a guest here, she looked at Parmen and smiled at him again. It was as if he had been waiting for this, determined to enthrall her with a story. Parmen, though, didn't know her level of knowledge, her awareness of the details of the program, her origins, or even her reasons for coming to the center. This in fact no one knew. As a character in the program – Amita was never discussed, though the scientist had little insight into character selection as it was. Knowing Rutra's status, besides being on friendly terms, Parmen waited for an explanation from him. A young person, between 20 and 25 years old, sweet, beautiful, well-mannered, in facial features you can find something in common with peoples from Gibraltar to the Caucasus and further from India to southeast Asia. Acts like she knows Rutra very well, to say the least. Doesn't ask much in the way of questions. He was lost in speculation.