The Best of World SF by Lavie Tidhar (children's ebooks free online .txt) 📕

‘But I don’t understand. Why save me? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for you to let me die?’

Mei Lingyilu gave a slight smile. ‘If we think according to the interests of the old times, that’s true. But now things are different.’

‘Different how?’

‘To tell the truth, we believe now is the best time to strip away that original sin.’ She hesitated a moment to observe my reaction. ‘As the new leader of the Lifechain Group, I wasn’t aware of everything that had happened in the past. If you hadn’t sent an emergency signal, it’s quite possible the entire planet would never have known of these horrible acts…’

‘I’m listening.’

‘Thanks to your selfless dedication in space, we have been able to develop laser array launching technology, which greatly reduces the cost of entering low Earth orbit per unit load. We now also have four space elevators – in Quito, Mombasa, Riyadh and Singapore. Even space miners don’t have to endure the mines for too long. We’ve reached a new space revolution. We are ready to truly colonize space – Mars, the asteroid belt, Europa, into the depths of the universe. We need heroes like you to inspire our people…’

‘Hero?’ I sneered. ‘Skip the sales pitch and get to what you came to say.’

She burst into a stiff, awkward laugh that seemed out of place in our previous conversation.

‘Now, there are some people, some forces, who would like to use your experience to attack the Group. They see you as an idol, as a symbol of resistance to the entire debt system…’

‘The debtless.’ I knew she was referring to the crowd in the square.

‘So you know?’ Mei Lingyilu flashed a suspicious glance. ‘They claim the genetic debt system is outdated, too inflexible and utterly immoral. They want human civilization to take on the debt and lead what they call the ‘Debt Opening Up Movement’. If you’ve seen their people, you’ve seen the light flickering on their foreheads, which represents the changing total of debt each person has added to mankind.’

‘Doesn’t sound unreasonable.’

‘For the past five thousand years, such has been the cycle of civilization. All revolutions aim to cancel debt and redistribute resources. It doesn’t matter whether those debts are written on papyrus or hard drives. But such revolutions must progress step by careful step. Otherwise, like with the Roman Empire and the Carolingian Dynasty, society will regress to old systems, perhaps even collapse entirely.’

‘So what do you, the famed leader, want me for?… And why do they call you leader instead of boss?’

She smiled again, and for the first time I caught the significance of her golden chain brooch. It was as though a secret key had turned deep in my memory.

‘Stand on our side, Mr. Dongfang Jue. Heroes are needed to lead us in the construction of the new system, a system that will never again enslave people into wearying debt or force them to compete for their survival. Instead, we will encourage people to create and contribute, to understand the economic system they are born into, to give thanks to others, to society, to the gods and to the universe. Let us design this system together and alleviate the old system’s tyranny of interest-based debt. We will internalize costs as a natural desire rather than passing them on to others and future generations. Will you join us?’

Mei Lingyilu held out her hand in a convincing pose.

I pretended to hesitate, then burst into laughter.

‘If you weren’t already the leader, you’d make an amazing actor. Though perhaps these are the same thing?’

‘What do you wish to say?’

‘From the very start, you’ve known of the asteroid mine and all its dark secrets. But some truths are best unknown as some shackles are best unbroken. Wouldn’t you agree, Ms. Mei Li’ai?’

Her delicate and tender expression hardened as though she were taking on a completely new personality. Perfect coldness flashed in her eyes.

‘Sometimes I really must admire you. It seems any miracle can befall you. None of our top scientists could explain how your consciousness broke through the memory barrier that even our quantum computers can’t crack. They say, maybe only the power of love can explain it. See how romantic you are?’

‘Love?’ I stared in bewilderment. The word seemed so far away from me now.

‘It seems only this part of your memory has not yet been restored. But after all, it is the deepest buried, under a deadly seal. We didn’t want you to meet Anan, so we applied a certain technique to your facial recognition algorithm to make you think she was a stranger every time you saw her.’

‘Anan…’ Blurred faces began to take shape in my mind, overlapping to create a single face.

‘Yes, Anan, your daughter. You sold her data to us for your own survival. You made her a sinner of that infinite hell as well.’

Flashes from my dreams rained over me in fragments, drowning me in suffocating terror. My eyes clenched as I tried to catch my breath. It felt as though my head were splitting open. Baldy had been right. Some truths were best unknown.

‘I envy Anan, to have a father like you.’ I forced my eyes open. Mei Lingyilu’s face – or Mei Li’ai’s face rather – revealed a trace of genuine loss. ‘You’re willing to die for her, no matter how many times, no matter how many people you have to kill. Yet in the end, it’s all empty. My father, on the other hand, moved me around like a chess piece.’

I thought on my tiny embryo in Mother Whale and the girl next door who was always like a stranger to me. The two of us were so close to each other but could never recognize each other. All this was the work of this immortal leader now in front of me and the ruthless empire of debt behind her.

‘Let me pose my question one last time, Mr. Dongfang Jue. If we could bring Anan back, would you act the part of hero on behalf of