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by Benjamin Crowell
Not Specified, 5 pages.
Originally Published in Asimovs Science Fiction, 2009
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It was a sad job, and more than a little embarrassing. Two orphaned awarenesses, both of consciousness class 13.5b or thereabout.
“Hello? Help!”
It emitted these information patterns - or would have, if there had still been a universe around it to emit them into. The referents for the symbols no longer existed, but I could still infer their meanings from the web of relationships preserved in its mind. The companion-creature was a slightly different type, and used an incompatible system for communicating.
“Is there anybody there?” the first creature continued. “Please, I can’t see anything.”
I am here.
“Oh Jesus, are you a doctor?”
Jesus... doctor... No, neither of those.
It produced something that seemed to be an carrier wave - nearly unmodulated except for gradual rises and falls in pitch, and information-free as far as I could tell. Finally it spoke in words again: “Tell me straight out. Am I dead?”
Ah, no, it’s the opposite. Your consciousness continues to exist, and also your companion’s. It’s your universe that has been...
“Go ahead, I can take it. It’s armageddon, the end of time?”
No, not exactly. Your timeline hasn’t been truncated. Actually, I regret to inform you that your entire spacetime has been accidentally... deleted. Not just its future, but also its past. It’s as if it had never existed. I searched its mind for the right words. Mistakes were made.
More carrier waves, and then: “So... it’s just the two of us - two ghosts lost in space?”
Not lost in space - your space was lost. It seemed to be having trouble understanding. They weren’t 13.5b, then - probably no more than 13.5c, or even d.
“But... it’s just us, Jim and Diane, and nobody else was saved?”
I saw that Jim was its label for itself - or his label for himself, using the pronouns he considered appropriate. But: Diane was your wife? No, your companion is the one you call Boo.
“The dog?”
Yes. You and Boo were together. Once the deletion had begun, we made a rescue attempt, but you two were the only consciousnesses within range. There was a 10 light-nanosecond radius that could be probed before the collapse was irreversible.
I expected more carrier waves, but Jim surprised me by remaining silent for a long time. Had its - his psyche been damaged by the shock? A 13.5d would be on the razor’s edge of rationality even under the best conditions. I reached into his mind and saw that my fear had been groundless. Jim was happy to have Boo with him rather than Diane.
Jim?
“Yeah?”
I’m here to try to mitigate the mistake. We can mock up a new universe for you, a simulation that operates according to the same rules.
“Like life after death?”
No, I already explained that you’re not dead. Let’s start with the logical rules that operated in your universe. Once we establish those, the physics should be straightforward.
“Science was never my best subject.”
Let X be a logical proposition, and consider the proposition Y defined by X or not X. Is Y necessaril -- [End of Preview.]