John and Argent by cmsix

Chapter 101

After supper was finished I sat around the table with all the others and just shot the breeze. Mostly I listened to what the others had to say about what they had been doing but I did manage to mention that tomorrow or the next day we were going to need some help digging a tunnel through the snow so that we'd have a good way to get to the horse cave.

"You will need a lot of help, we will all probably need to dig. It is a long way from your cave to the horse cave," Galto said.

"We won't have to start at his cave's entrance. There is an entrance into the unmated women's quarters that is a lot closer. I think we should start there," Daaggo said.

"That's what I intended although I didn't think of it until yesterday afternoon. Danlo and I have been walking down there from my cave's entrance, passing right by a perfectly good and closer way out of here."

I laughed at our folly and everyone else did too. It hadn't been a crucial error but it did make us put out a lot of wasted effort. It was a screw-up I wasn't likely to make again.

The table was cleared and the dishes were in the washers and it was time for bed. I wasn't a damned bit sleepy since I'd had the long nap this afternoon but I could still imagine a few things I might want to do in the bedroom.

I slipped out of bed the next morning without waking any of my mates and was able to shower, dress and get the coffee going before Merita showed up in the kitchen.

"You must be feeling good this morning," she said.

"I am and I'll probably need to be feeling good tomorrow. It is still snowing but it isn't as much as it was yesterday and the wind has died down. It is probably less than half what it has been lately."

"Will you start digging the tunnel today?" she asked.

"I don't think so. We will probably try to walk down to the horse cave today and wait until tomorrow to do the digging."

"There is more snow this year than I have ever seen. I don't think it ever snowed this much at Gigo's camp," she said.

"Gigo's camp was in a more open area and the drifts probably weren't as apparent but it's possible that there is just more snow this winter."

"We could ask mother or Geera or any of the older ones. They might know," she said.

"We could but it doesn't really matter, the snow we have now is the snow we must deal with, no matter how much usually comes."

"I guess you're right. Right now it is starting the breakfast that I must deal with," she said and headed into the kitchen area.

I went into my office for a conference with Ralph. I knew that I could as easily sit at the table and talk to him with my thoughts but to me that type of communication wasn't as normal as the type we had in my office.

"Good morning John," he said as I entered.

"Good morning to you also Ralph. What is the latest weather forecast?"

"The snow will probably end tonight or tomorrow morning but it will be back within forty-eight hours," he said.

"Are the drifts along the canyon's wall big enough by now for our tunnel?"

"Yes, they are more than big enough. In fact the weight of the snow and the heat from the ground and canyon walls are beginning to cause the snow to slightly melt and then it freezes again. You should probably start soon so that you don't have to tunnel through ice, especially at the lower levels," he said.

"Good enough, we can start this morning then. Should we be especially careful in any particular spots?"

"No, we have taken the liberty of making sure that conditions are good for the tunnel. You won't experience any cave-ins," he said.

"Good. From your weather report it seems that we are going to be basically locked in here for a few weeks."

"Our data makes us think that you will be snow bound for at least eight weeks, possibly ten," he told me.

"I guess it's too late now for me to worry about it but I wonder if we have enough food for everyone. I didn't really pay as much attention to that as I should have, I guess."

"You needn't worry. These people know how to prepare for the winter and there is more than enough food for everyone even if we weren't able to supply any more. We can though, we can provide anything and any amount that you ask for," Ralph assured me.

"I know, that assumption is what let me gloss over paying careful attention to our food. It is good to know that the others didn't take food for granted though."

"The females were especially diligent about gathering nuts, berries and what passes for vegetables to them. I know that you are planning on introducing them to potatoes, beans and corn this spring and if you do there will be more food than all of them can possibly eat next year," he said.

"Will we be able to do without fertilizer and pesticides?"

"Easily. In the case of corn, beans and potatoes the insects that vex farmers of your old timeline are not evolved yet. To be sure there are a few insects that will try out the crops but none that are specialized. In any case Frank, Phil and I are more than capable of retarding the insects without resorting to pesticides and since there have never been crops before there is no need to worry about fertilizer," he said.

"It sounds to me that after I show them how to raise crops they will be able to get along without me."

"They were able to get along before you got here John, are you tiring of your part in this?" he asked.

"Not really but when things slow down I sometimes wonder why I'm here at all."

"The reason for the experiment will be told if you ask. You can find out at anytime," he said.

"You've told me that before and lately I've been thinking of asking."

"If you do decide that you want to know, I suggest that you let Argent tell you. He might be able to explain it to you more comfortably than we can," he said.

"I'll think about that too. Right now I guess I should go back and see about breakfast."

My food was ready when I got back to the table and Ameliea brought me a plate while Jalieta refilled my coffee mug. I dug in but I wasn't through thinking about what Ralph and I had discussed.

I wondered if it wasn't about time for me to find out just what in the hell I was doing here. At first Argent had told me that it would change the experiment somehow. That just didn't make sense to me. They had done more to affect the experiment than my knowing about it could have, hadn't they?

That might not be exactly fair. Many of the things they'd done had been to placate me, starting with the bathrooms. Then again they had stopped the women here from getting pregnant for two years before I came. That had to skew what they were looking for more than anything I'd done or asked for, unless children didn't mean anything to their experiment.

Danlo joined me then and while we were eating I told him that today was the day for digging. He seemed excited about it and began to wolf down his food. I'd never seen anyone excited about digging before.

The morning meal progressed smoothly and soon enough it was time to try getting started on our tunnel. I'd been afraid that we would want for help. Wrong, I'm pretty sure that every male and most females came down to the unmated women's canyon entrance to try volunteering for the job.

Since I was the leader I got to start things off. By the time I had taken out three or four shovels of snow and explained that the tunnel should be only a little wider than wide enough for one person and only a little taller than me, since I was the tallest one in camp, I was done. I watched for about an hour and finally realized that they could do it without me and that I had no chance of getting a shovel in my hands again. I went back to the kitchen.

Jaada, Geera, Dieta, Dalia, Delia, Shelalliea and Ameliea were there, sitting at the table talking and sipping coffee.

"What are you doing back? Are you finished already?" Geera asked.

"I guess I am, there were so many there to help that after the first three or four shovels full I was pushed out of the way and relieved of my shovel."

"Our poor mate, he is so mistreated," Ameliea said and then all of them laughed at me.

"I know how to cheer him up, let's make him some more breakfast," Dalia said.

That did the trick too. I forgot about digging in the snow and watched closely while Dieta and Jaada broke and scrambled eggs, Geera and Dalia began buttering bread and both Shelalliea and Ameliea started frying a mountain of bacon. Delia got me a mug of coffee and sat in my lap so I wouldn't be lonesome.

After I finished "filling up the corners" I left the table and went back to the scene of the digging. I was amazed at the progress. The tunnel was already more than a hundred feet long and moving nicely. I saw that the work was being done carefully and that the inner surface was smooth and regular. I also saw that I still wasn't needed.

As I headed for my office I wondered again whether I was needed here at all. Things were changed considerably since I'd come, for the ones that lived with me anyway. I still hadn't decided whether I wanted to know the purpose for bringing me here but I'd tried many times to figure it out for myself. Most of the things I came up with didn't make sense to me.

If they'd wanted to introduce my genes here in an earlier time they could have done it much more easily without bringing me here. They'd already shown me that they had perfect control over the reproduction of these people.

If they wanted me to teach these people some of the modern ways it would have gone better if they'd told me what they wanted me to teach them. In fact they could have probably done it a lot easier by just taking control of one of the men here and "modifying" him to suit their purpose.

I just couldn't come up with anything that made sense to me. I couldn't think of anything that would be worth all the resources they put into this experiment. I decided that I'd just bite the bullet and find out.

I went into my office and Ralph greeted me.

"How is the tunnel going John?" he asked.

"You know very well how it's going, you probably know better than I do."

"That's true, we do know exactly how it is going," he admitted.

"I came in here to find out how the whole "experiment" is going."

"The experiment is going very well. It has turned out far better than expected and I might add that it has done wonderfully since you took complete control," he said.

"What's going to happen when I demand to know the reason?"

"We don't know. I know that you will be told and that all your questions will be answered but none of us can even guess what your reaction will be," he said.

"Well I think it's about time we all found out, aren't you curious?"

"Frank, Phil and I are not exactly curious but we are interested. I'm sure that Argent is gnashing his teeth over it but he is committed to telling you when you ask. I would like to point out that you should make sure you want to know. It is possible that learning the truth will change your view of what you're doing here and may make you want to leave," he said.

"I think it's time that I took that chance."

"Please remember that even though you can demand to be put back onto your former earth, it is vastly changed now," he said.

"That is another thing that I want to know. What have they done to my old home?"

"None of Argent's species has done anything to it, in fact they were completely surprised by what happened there," he said.

"Well what has happened there?"

"I will explain what we know of it. Shortly after it happened we were forced to leave that area.

"A different species did a "purge" of your former home. They released a manufactured virus that killed over 98% of the population. The remaining people are now in the process of trying to order themselves into groups that can survive," he said.

I was stunned speechless but a long line of questions started forming in my mind.

"Why?"

"We don't know why. In fact we weren't aware of this species before the event. We have since come to discover that they had kept themselves hidden from us for their own reasons and we don't know what those reasons are. We have also discovered that they are much more powerful than Argent's species," he said.

"How could they have kept themselves hidden?"

"Neither they nor Argent's species are native to your home planet's dimension. In fact, Argent's species seldom visited your dimension. Apparently the others made sure they didn't visit Argent's species' dimension and that they visited your dimension in such a way that Argent's species could not discover them," Ralph explained.

"I'm not sure that I can understand all that. Can you tell me what is happening now?"

"No more than what I've told you already. When Argent's people discovered what had happened to your home planet they began to investigate. The other species revealed themselves then and recommended that Argent's species leave that dimension at once. Some minor negotiating took place and after Argent's species was able to make an estimate of the strength of the others, they decided that leaving was in their best interest.

"The others were not completely without sympathy for the small needs Argent's species still had and they allow some small, inconsequential activity though they require that it is requested and approved before it is allowed to take place," he said.

"What type of activity?"

"The horses for instance, things like that. Argent has been included in some of the negotiations and he thinks that they will allow almost anything that won't alter what they have going on there," Ralph told me.

Well what in the fuck did all this mean? It seemed that if I wanted another horse or something else from earth the request would have to go through two different alien life forms. Hell, even my request for seed potatoes was going to have to be put through those channels. I began to feel very small and very vulnerable.

I guess that I had a right. Argent and his people, who were so far advanced over me, had found someone else that was advanced past them. The ones that they had found were able to destroy 98+% of the people on earth. I was pretty sure that getting rid of me would not pose much of a problem.

"These things occurred after the experiment with you had already started and it is lucky for you that they did. You would not have fit within the criteria of people on earth that were spared," he said.

"You mean that I would have come down with this virus?"

"Everyone on earth was infected with the virus. It was not a naturally occuring thing, it was designed by them and the virus is not fatal unless it is instructed to terminate the individual it infects," he said.

"In other words the virus is like an on or off switch for a person? Everyone gets infected and the ones that made it can switch off anyone they want to?"

"It is more complicated but that is the gist of it," he said.

"What's to keep them from forcing their way here and doing the same thing?"

"As it stands now, nothing. I will say that they were interested in what is happening here and they don't seem inclined to interfere," he told me.

"So I'm now completely at the mercy of not one but two alien species?"

"Not exactly. You and all of us and all of Argent's species are technically at the mercy of these other aliens. Circumstances here have made you invaluable to Argent and his species though. You have nothing to fear from them," he said.

"If you want Argent to tell me about this experiment instead of doing it yourself you might as well tell him. I have to know now. Does he know that you have told me all this?"

"No, and because of the negotiations he is forbidden to tell you," he said.

"Then how were you able to tell me?"

"No one negotiated with us. The other species seems to be as shortsighted about their AIs as Argent and his species are," Ralph explained.

"Then you aren't going to tell Argent that you've told me?"

"No, and I'm hoping that you won't either," he said.

"I'll try not to but it's possible that I might let it slip."

"You should try your hardest, it would be unfortunate if he were to find out," he said.

"How unfortunate?"

"I don't know but I do know that no good could come from it," he said.

"You are capable of reading my mind aren't you?"

"We are capable but we don't," he said.

"For this meeting I would like for you to do it and head me off if I'm about to disclose this particular information. Can you do that?"

"We think so, we will monitor your thoughts while Argent is here but I must tell you that we are loath to," he said.

"Good, just remember to stop when the meeting with Argent is over."

"We will," he said.

In a few seconds Argent materialized in my office. I had come to know him pretty well and this was the first time I could remember seeing him so distressed. I wondered if he'd had to take some precautions of his own to make sure he didn't let the other cat out of the bag.

"Argent, I've decided that I must know what this is all about. Are you prepared to tell me now?"

"Yes. I never wanted you to know and many others felt the same way. Now that I must tell you I feel better about it but I am still worried about your reaction," he said.

"I will try to be fair but I can't guarantee anything."

"I will add that some of my people have wanted you to know all along and that has caused some of the trouble that I've had with them. That, and some of your actions have forced our hand and now that you are asking I can't deny you any longer," he said, sheepishly if you ask me.

"Well spill it."

"This was never truly an experiment John. We put you here to record your life and see how it would develop. We have recorded everything you do and almost everything that any human on this planet does; what is going on is similar to what you would call Television. All of your life here, everything you have done is available for our people to watch on video. Two hours of selected scenes are shown every night and are edited to give what you would call the best entertainment. All of the video is available though. People can select to watch every second of it in real time if they want to. Many are doing just that. Of course they take longer to see everything but that is how it is available.

"It can be watched in any order and at any speed that is desired. People can scan for or search for scenes that might interest them. You are providing entertainment John," Argent said.

"Well I'll be damned. Who are these people that are watching me?"

"People of my race John. It is available to anyone on any planet that we control," Argent said.

"And do they like it?"

"You are the most popular thing on our video system," he told me.

"Well exactly how many people watch me?" I asked.

"Of course it varies but remember there are approximately one hundred and ninety-one billion people that can view you. Approximately thirty-six billion people watch all of the two hours nightly. There are four hundred million that seem determined to watch every second of your life here in order, some watch as much as seven or eight hours of it every day. They even watch you sleep," Argent told me.

"I'm just having a hard time believing that Argent. I'm not trying to put on a show here. I'm no actor or showman."

"That is exactly why they love it John. I have to tell you that your video has made me a fairly powerful person in our worlds. We do not operate with any kind of monetary system. We do have limitations on our resources but they are not really restraining. Most of our people can have anything they want as far as material goods are concerned. We also have nearly zero crime. Our lives are mostly leisure and watching you is now the number one leisure activity." Argent told me.

"So I'm just "The Truman Show" in real life.

"Not exactly though it is similar. We don't plan your activities; we only watch them. Your life isn't staged, it is just watched," he said.

"And my life is interesting to your population?"

"It has become an institution. You must remember that after all this time, new ideas are scarce with us," he said.

"When did I start getting so popular then? Was it from the first?" I asked.

"You were very popular from the very first, but when you walked into the cave and the bear woke up and threatened you, it was monumental. It was unheard of at the time but our system actually bogged down for the next couple of days as people told others about it and the ones that heard it requested replays of that scene. Many of the system's operators were reprimanded for the slow down and several politicians lost their positions over it. We take our video very seriously." Argent said.

"What were some of the other highlights; let me guess. Was the dust up with Gembo a big hit?"

"Yes, it was well received. It was not nearly as popular as when you dealt with Bratto and Gordo and even they were not the biggest draw of that time. The single most requested piece of the video is the one where you dealt with Jenabo and then the young man that threw the spear into your back," he said.

Isn't that a bitch, here I'd been thinking I was some part of some grand Alien experiment dealing with the mixing of modern thought into ancient civilization when it turned out that I was actually just in some outrageously offbeat reality TV show.

"Argent, this is quite a shock. I guess that you knew it would be. I've been living here, organizing these people, killing quite a few of them and now you tell me it is all just entertainment."

"Entertainment is never just entertainment John. When leisure time fills most of a person's day entertainment becomes a necessity to keep order.

"Do you have regrets about what you've been doing here? Most of us agree that you have been very ethical in your conduct and that the decisions you have made are all more than fair. There were no restraints on you and we would not have said a word if you'd gone on a slaughtering spree but you haven't.

"You've done exactly what we hoped. You have gone about the business of making a life for yourself here. In the process you have made the lives of every reasonable person you encountered much better," he said.

"I think I understand now. My life was saved and I was put here to be observed. I would have never thought of that but I think you are wrong in some ways. It was really an experiment and it was one that was and is closely observed."

"Then you are not disgusted? You will continue?" he asked.

"The show must go on. Every actor knows that."