–Shut it, you slag! There’s no contest. You’re the one who toddles around based on my mobility consciousness. You wouldn’t be walking without me.
–And you wouldn’t be talking without me.
Then the two turned to Balot. What do you think? Talk about being put on the spot.
Balot felt a little funny in the head, but it wasn’t the worst feeling in the world.
Above all, Tweedledee was probably the only person in the world who would introduce Oeufcoque as her lover.
–Tweedledum, are you a girl?
Balot spoke to change the subject. Tweedledum snorted spume from his nostrils.
–Hey, you’re a human, right? Don’t be so narrow-minded—you’ll end up a slave to convention. I’m male, and this guy’s brother, and lover, and homosexual partner. We even do it all the time.
He spoke rather triumphantly, and it was hard to tell how much was true and how much was Tweedledum’s fevered imagination.
–What are those eyes?
Not particularly wanting to pursue her line of inquiry any further, Balot changed the subject to the metal objects that covered the space between Tweedledum’s brow and cheeks. They looked like giant dolphin sunglasses.
–They’re neat, huh? Wanna try on a pair yourself, babe? Tweedledum answered, rather unhelpfully, but Tweedledee shrugged his shoulders and answered Balot’s question properly.
–They’re for access—an auxiliary function. They can act as visual organs too, but we don’t really need to rely on our sense of sight in the first place.
–Access?
–This pool is a giant computer terminal.
–What do you mean?
–Why don’t you come for a swim too? Then you’ll see for yourself. Balot seemed to have fallen into a pattern of doing whatever the two wanted. She thought about it for a second, then sat down at the edge of the pool. She lowered her legs into the water and immediately felt convinced that she wouldn’t drown.
Balot plunged into the water, as invited. It was wonderfully clean water—transparent and soft. It was a little bit on the chilly side, but even this felt like a good thing, appeasing the inflamed bruises that covered her body.
She immersed her whole body in water, then bobbed around, sticking her head above the surface. Tweedledee looked at the emerging face of Balot with an odd expression.
–The doctors get a bit fussy when we get our clothes wet, so best you take them off, you know.
–I’m fine as I am. If I want to take them off, I’ll take them off.
Suddenly Tweedledum was underneath her, lifting her up. It was the first time she had ever been on a dolphin’s back. Her body floated up and slid along the surface as if she were running.
Her shoulders relaxed unconsciously. If her voice had worked, she’d be laughing loudly by now.
–Hold on tight, baby. I’ll show you this pool’s true colors.
Tweedledum was on a natural high.
–Welcome to the other ocean!
At this moment in time, Balot had no idea that before long this would lead directly on to the next stage of her case. All she was concerned about for the time being was closing her mouth. For Tweedledum had just plunged underwater. Tweedledee was by their side, swimming like a fish.
Balot opened her eyes, but they could see only a small part of her surroundings, so she sensed them instead. They were indeed in some sort of computer terminal. Wireless communication equipment was growing out of one of the walls and the floor. And spread out before her was a vast, deep ocean. She realized that she was confronted with the gateway to a giant sea of electronic data.
–Take me back up!
She wasn’t sure how much longer her breath would last, and started to panic.
–Right away, missy, brought to you in style! Tweedledum said with a flourish, starting the ascent in his own inimitable style. It wasn’t a sudden ascent, but rather a careful and steady climb that took Balot’s body into account. It could indeed have been described as a stylish ascent.
They reached the surface, and Balot drew a deep breath, pushing her wet hair out of her face.
–Scary, dark, and big. She voiced her first impressions of the pool.
Tweedledum gave another great snort from his nostrils.
–It’s like Spaceship Earth herself; mostly water, there to be experienced and lived in. This is the key to transmitting data to almost anywhere in the world. You can swim almost anywhere, as long as you have permission.
Then Tweedledee emerged, floating face-up on the surface of the water.
–Not that anyone’s been given permission over the last ten years, right, Tweedledum?
–Still, we’re free to splash about in Paradise’s database as much as we like. Shall we head back down, babe?
–I’m okay for now, thanks. I’m not sure my breath will hold up.
Balot gently pushed away from Tweedledum, heading backward in the water.
She tried to swim on her own but found herself tangled up in her clothes. She tried to take them off, turning around as she did so. Suddenly some air escaped from her mouth—her earphone was about to dislodge, and, flustered, she tried to hold its clasp in place. Tweedledum moved in swiftly to prop her body up, helping to keep her afloat. Balot stripped off her sodden clothes, and Tweedledee collected them, spreading them out neatly by the side of the pool for her.
Balot wasn’t wearing any underwear. Fully nude now, she entrusted her naked body to the water. It was as if all her aches and pains had dissolved into the pool. She felt no anxiety, no awkwardness. Neither of the other two made any effort to touch her body unnecessarily. They didn’t even seem particularly interested in it.
Tweedledum appeared to be constantly accessing the database, picking up pieces of information and passing them on to Tweedledee, laughing, flirting, even.
Both Tweedledee’s and Tweedledum’s bodies appeared to be covered in scars. Fragments of metal and plastic also seemed to be protruding from various parts of their bodies—chest and sides in particular. To the extent that you could say that their bodies were almost mangled. And yet neither of them seemed remotely self-conscious about these modfications—they didn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest.
Balot watched the two of them frolicking about and thought about what Tweedledee had said.
The Complete Individual, swimming though an electronic ocean. A complete world—like an egg. This jungle, in its airtight chamber, was designed to be detached, kept apart, from something. But what? She couldn’t tell.
The duo’s laughter permeated the jungle. The laughter of those untroubled by the threat of the outside world—or of decay from within.
To realize the dream of sunny side up—a life without trouble, without consequence—and to eventually arrive at a state of such tranquillity that you no longer needed to move. Balot wasn’t sure whether to be envious or scornful of such a lifestyle.
All of a sudden she yearned to speak to Oeufcoque and the Doctor. She wanted them to tell her what she ought to do. But, as they weren’t here right now, she guessed that it would be up to her to work that out for herself.