Kinder des Schicksals 4 (Xeelee 9): Resplendent

about the Xeelee today,
every bit of intelligence we have, was preserved by the pharaohs. I
refuse to plead with you for my life. But I am concerned that you
should understand. We pharaohs were not dynastic tyrants. We fought,
in our way, to survive the Qax Occupation, and the Extirpation. For
we are the wisdom and continuity of the race. Destroy us and you
complete the work of the Qax for them, finish the Extirpation.
Destroy us and you destroy your own past - which we preserved for
you, at great cost to ourselves.’
    Perhaps, Nomi thought. But in the end it was the bravery and
ingenuity of one human - a mayfly - that had brought down the Qax,
not the supine compromising of the jasofts and pharaohs.
    She looked up towards the sun, towards invisible Earth. I just
want a sky clear of alien ships, she thought. And to achieve that,
perhaps we will have to sacrifice much.
     
    Reth Cana began to describe where the Callisto bugs had ’gone’,
seeking room to grow.
    ’There is no time,’ he whispered. ’There is no space. This is the
resolution of an ancient debate - do we live in a universe of
perpetual change, or a universe where neither time nor motion exist?
Now we understand. Now we know we live in a universe of static
shapes. Nothing exists but the particles that make up the universe -
that make up us. Do you see? And we can measure nothing but the
separation between those particles.
    ’Imagine a universe consisting of a single elementary particle, an
electron perhaps. Then there could be no space. For space is only the
separation between particles. Time is only the measurement of changes
in that separation. So there could be no time.
    ’Imagine now a universe consisting of two particles…’ Gemo
nodded. ’Now you can have separation, and time.’ Reth bent and, with
one finger, scattered a line of dark dust grains across the floor.
’Let each dust grain represent a distance - a configuration of my
miniature two-particle cosmos. Each grain is labelled with a single
number: the separation between the two particles.’ He stabbed his
finger into the line, picking out grains. ’Here the particles are a
metre apart; here a micron; here a light year. There is one special
grain, of course: the one that represents zero separation, the
particles overlaid. This diagram of dust shows all that is important
about the underlying universe - the separation between its two
components. And every possible configuration is shown at once, from
this god-like perspective.’
    He let his finger wander back and forth along the line, tracing
out a twisting path in the grains. ’And here is a history: the two
particles close and separate, close and separate. If they were
conscious, the particles would think they were embedded in time, that
they are coming near and far. But we can see that their universe is
no more than dust grains, the lined-up configurations jostling
against each other. It feels like time, inside. But from outside, it
is just - sequence, a scattering of instants, of reality dust.’
    Gemo said, ’Yes. >It is utterly beyond our power to measure the
changes of things by time. Quite the contrary, time is an abstraction
at which we arrive by means of the changes of things.< ’ She eyed
Hama. ’An ancient philosopher. Mach, or Mar-que…’
    ’If the universe has three particles,’ said Reth, ’you need three
numbers. Three relative distances - the separation of the particles,
one from the other - determine the cosmos’s shape. And so the dust
grains, mapping possible configurations, would fill up
three-dimensional space - though there is still that unique grain,
representing the special instant where all the particles are joined.
And with four particles - ’
    ’There would be six separation distances,’ Hama said. ’And you
would need a six-dimensional space to map the possible
configurations.’
    Reth glared at him, eyes hard. ’You are beginning to understand.
Now. Imagine a space of stupendously many dimensions. ’ He held up a
dust grain. ’Each grain represents one configuration of all the
particles in our universe, frozen in time. This is reality dust, a
dust of the Nows. And the dust fills configuration space, the realm
of instants. Some of the dust grains may represent slices of our own
history.’ He snapped his fingers, once, twice, three times. ’There.
There. There. Each moment, each juggling of the particles, a new
grain, a new coordinate on the map. There is one unique grain