“No, you are wrong March, he was released from prison and died in 2013, his funeral was on TV, I remember very clearly the huge posters with his name, hanging on the walls”, Norman said.
“That’s it”, Hans said standing up from the floor, returning instantly to his typical gait. “You are both right.”
“But how can it be?! Impossible!”
“The truth is that Nelson Mandela died in 2013, but there is a large group of people all over the world who state that Nelson Mandela definitely died in prison in the 80-ies. They accept it as a real fact. They even have a memory about a court trial after his death with the participation of his widow about the rights for a book. Also, thousands of people are ready to swear that after his death they watched benefit concerts on TV after his death and many celebrities wore t-shirts with his prison number 46664, honoring him in this way. Some go even further, mentioning the reason for the death of the South American leader – from tuberculosis in prison in 1986. The official historic reference proves that Nelson Mandela really suffered from tuberculosis in prison because of the hard conditions there, moreover, precisely in the 80-ies of the previous century. There is a theory, according to which at that moment a splitting of reality happened in two new parallel universes, in one of which Mandela died in 1986, and in the other he continued to live till 2013. You remember the message from the ship, don’t you? 1986.”
“The prison number is quite interesting too, with many sixes in it”, Babyface added.
“There are many other similar contradictions in group memory about famous public events. For instance, the wide spread photo from Tiananmen Square, in which a student puts his body in the way of the tanks. Most people remember how they saw on TV the rest of the protestants pushing him off the street and saving his life. Many others are convinced, though, that they saw the tanks smash him. He just dies.”
“I don’t believe this crap”, Michael interjected surprisingly. He had recovered from the anaesthetic and had obviously listened quietly the whole time.
“And what are those contradictions due to?” Norman asked in a serious tone.
“There is a theory, according to which after the CERN accelerator of particles started working in Switzerland, some strange events happened, capable of influencing the time-space continuum. One way or another, if there is splitting of realities in a singularity point, caused by the collider, why would not the Core have a similar effect? Michael opposes this theory, but I will ask him: Michael, you have seen ‘Star Wars’, haven’t you?”
“Sure, who hasn’t?”
“Do you remember how Darth Vader cut Luke Skywalker’s hand above the wrist and confessed he was his father?”
“Yes, this is the second film, ‘The Empire Strikes Back’.”
“Do you remember the exact words?”
“Of course, Luke is hanging on the wall and Lord Vader tells him: ‘Luke, I’m your father’.”
“Here, see? You are the very proof of the authenticity of the ‘Mandela effect’. Half of the people, including the man with the hoarse voice, the actor James Earl Jones, swear that the line is as you say: ‘Luke, I’m your father’. But in reality, if you see the film, you’ll be informed that the real phrase is: ‘No… I am your father’.”
“Not true, this cannot be, you are fucking with my kid’s memories. There is no way what you say to be correct.”
“In one reality it is the first version, in the other – the second. It is stated that the people from one parallel universe have one set of memories, while those in the second experienced a different set. In some way both realities intertwine in a particular point… or they split in the same one.”
“Look, Hans, all this is very intriguing, but what does it have to do with our situation?”
“Have patience, Major, everything will become clear to you very soon. These creatures, our copies, are from another universe, aren’t they? And they are conceived by the Cube or arrived here with its help, right? And which is the source of the Cube’s vital energy?”
“I don’t think anybody can answer that question”, Marcela suggested tentatively. “The Cub is not anything alive, that needs energy.”
Everybody remained quiet in waiting, not daring to move, in order not to confuse Hans.
“On the contrary, the Cube is as much alive, as you and I.”
“But, Hans you don’t think it’s organic, do you? At least from what we found out through spectral analysis I don’t believe it is organic matter”, Marcela said.
“Yes, it might not be based on carbon, as are all living organisms on our planet, but it is alive. It is from another planet on which probably life was conceived and is maintained by different principle. Do you remember how the Cube was connected to us? It was literally knitted together with the non-live matter of our world through the corals. Maybe it needs live matter to feed on, to draw energy and substances from it. To copy its DNA in order to create its doubles. The Cube is at the same time alive and non-live, it creates doubles for the sake of preserving life.”
“And how exactly does it ‘preserve life’ by killing us all, in a very cruel manner too?”
“Yes, it kills only the types that are aggressive and bad, creating their opposites.”
“Well if we are the good and the cool, it means it creates nasty people, who then kill the cool guys. I can’t make sense of it, rather it seems to me vice versa.“ Michael frowned.
“Precisely, because it is ‘vice versa’, Mikey. Don’t forget that it comes from a parallel universe, mirror-like to ours, in which everything is the direct opposite”, Hans smiled at him. “So there, in this ‘upside down’ universe, the Cube makes good doubles from the good guys and bad from the bad, is that it?”
“Exactly.”
“A marvelous suggestion, which we have no way to prove”, Norman sighed. “But how is this going to help us make it toast?”
“Do you remember how the corals appeared according to Greek mythology?”
“Perseus killed some chick”, Michael said.
“Actually yes, the chick was a very beautiful woman with poisonous snakes on her head, whose eyes turned to rock anybody who looked at her. Perseus killed the Gorgona Medusa and put her head in a magic sac, which becomes as big as the thing you put in it. Perseus sat to rest, putting the head on the sea shore, and the blood of the murdered Medusa soaked through the cloth and turned the seaweed to stone. The charming nymphs fell in love with their beauty and spread them along the bottoms of all seas.
Thus, the corals appeared, according to the ancient Greeks. “A very cool story, Hans, this time your overpassed yourself.”
It was Alan this time, who raised from his bunk and interfered. Nobody had noticed him wake up.
“And do you know how Perseus succeeded to cut the head of Medusa without her looking at him? The gods gave him as a gift a polished magical shield in which he saw Medusa as in a mirror. Thus, he managed to behead her with only one hit.”
“So… Hans?” Marcela urged him.
“So… We’ll kill it the same way.”
“How?”
“We have to send it back to where it came from, to its mirror universe.”
“Okay, but in what way?” Norman insisted.
“Ask Colonel Ivanov, he knows.” Hans turned to the Russian, who lowered his eyes in embarrassment.
“What else haven’t you told us, Colonel?!” Norman shouted. “I can explain, Major…” His strong voice had turned into a quiet mumbling.
“Isn’t it enough for you that I closed my eyes and spared you the court martial?”
“Calm down, Major, it’s not his fault, those were his instructions, isn’t that right, Colonel?” Hans approached Ivanov. “You know how the Core is activated, don’t you?”