Free Collective Mind by Vasily Klyukin

willing to cross the ocean to be here for just one
day.”
    Abdul
found Isaac engrossed in these thoughts.
    “Like
a coffee?” Isaac asked him.
    “No,
I don’t drink coffee, just water.”
    Isaac
called over a waiter and ordered a large bottle of water. There was an awkward
pause.
    “Abdul,
I’d like to ask you a couple of questions and make you a proposal. A week ago I
almost became a Happy, but I was lucky, God spared me or maybe I was just
fortunate I decided it wasn’t just a coincidence. I didn’t like the present
system and the downloading craze. My gut feeling told me it was wrong. And if
you dig under the surface, some points that are very unpleasant for COMA will
come creeping out.”
    Isaac
made sure that Abdul was listening to him and continued
    “I
know you have a very high creativity level. You had it measured two years ago
in the local branch. Why didn’t you download?”
    “Well,
apart from my creativity, I have couple of other things I can use to pull
through. I can always download if I wish. Meanwhile I am in training and
getting excellent results. In just a little while, I’ll make the national
team.”
    “I
see. I am glad you chose a different path. With your level you could already be
sipping a cocktail in a pretty decent villa.”
    “I
could. But maybe I’d be able to do that in any case. If I make the team, that’s
good money too. Ad sponsorships, all sorts of bonuses. I could get rich
anyway.”
    “Same
here, but we’ll talk about that later. I want to ask you to join a team, a team
of people who will sort all of this out independently. And maybe put an end to all
of it.”
    “All
of what?”
    “COMA,
downloading creativity. It all looks just too smooth.”
    “And
what do you want from me?”
    “To
take part. I want you to help.”
    “But
how?”
    “Abdul,
can I trust you?”
    “Sure.
No matter what, this conversation is just between you and me.”
    “Great.
I’m looking for partners, those with high intellect and tons of creativity to
work together to stop this idiotic trend of turning people into stupid amoebae.
I want to find the weak spots in the system, I want to creep up as close as
possible and hack it, literally or metaphorically.”
    “What
do you mean, hack it? It’s not one computer, it’s a network. Destroy one and
the others will still be there. You can’t destroy the system.”
    “If
someone created it, it can be destroyed. I have a reason to think that
Professor Link is alive.”
    “What?
– Abdul sounded astonished. - Where did you get that information?”
    “I
just have grounds for thinking that. Happies say that they’re happy. But a
drugged-up junkie is happy too, as long as the drug is still in his blood. A
junkie is just a sick person. What if the Happies are sick too? Like being on a
high. No Happy has ever returned to a normal state.”
    “That’s
just paranoia. Of course they’re happy, you can see it, and you can cast doubt
on any achievement that way.”
    “Well,
maybe it is paranoia,” Isaac retorted. “But haven’t you noticed that paranoiacs
are always the most vigilant ones? Remember in the movies? There’s always one
paranoiac that no one listens to, but in the end he always turns out to be
right. A paranoiac is the guy who saves the human race at the last moment and
what if the last moment is just about to arrive and we don’t know it?”
    “Anything
is possible, but why do you need me?”
    “You’re
strong.”
    “Are
we planning to beat someone up then?” Abdul chuckled.
    “No,
we’re not, and I hope we won’t have to. I read that you’re a hot-shot
mathematician and that’s important for my plan.”
    “But
just what is your plan, I don’t get it yet.”
    “Find
COMA’s vulnerable spots and destroy it.”
    “And
more specifically?”
    “There’s
nothing specific as of yet. We’ll create the specifics together. We’re going to
figure out where Link is.”
    Abdul
thought hard about what he was telling him.