The Long Earth

stopped?’
    Lobsang snapped, ‘What are you suggesting, Joshua? How would you fight her? Short of destroying each world she can inhabit – working your way back up the line with nuclear bombers—’ He sounded contemptuous. ‘You think so small, both of you. All you can perceive is threat. Maybe it’s something to do with your own biological fragility. Listen to me. She wants to learn from us. But there’s so much we can learn from
her
. What does she know, she who can surely perceive on scales of space and time utterly beyond the human?’ His artificial voice was flat, yet oddly full of wonder. ‘Have you heard of the participatory universe, Joshua?’
    ‘Participatory bullshit.’
    ‘Listen. Consciousness shapes reality. That’s the central message of quantum physics.
We
participated in the creation of the Datum, our solitary strand, our Joker world. We’ve met other minds now, the elves and the trolls, and First Person Singular. Somehow, it seems ,
they
participated in the weaving of the Long Earth, a subtle and marvellous ensemble, a multiverse created by a community of minds, which we only now are beginning to join. This is the lesson you must take back to the Datum, Joshua. Never mind variations of geology and geography and collections of exotic animals.
This
is fundamental to our understanding of reality – fundamental to what we are. And if I can communicate with First Person Singular, who surely has an apprehension of the universe beyond anything we are capable of … Well, this is what I intend to discuss with our fat friend. That, and to make her aware of the threat she poses, all unconsciously.’
    ‘Wait a minute,’ Joshua said, thinking it through. ‘You’re going down there. You’re actually going
into
that thing.’
    ‘Since the creatures embedded in the structure appear to be entirely healthy and mobile, I don’t see this as a risk. Bearing in mind that I, and I alone, of the three of us, am dispensable, at least in the form of my ambulant unit. But
I
will be fully downloaded. I, Lobsang, will be fully committed to the joining.’
    ‘You don’t intend to come back, do you?’
    ‘No, Joshua. I suspect my joining with the being must be long term, if not one-way, irrevocable. Yet still I must do this.’
    Joshua bristled. ‘I know you had all kinds of hidden motives for signing me up for this trip. Fine. But
I
signed up to achieve one objective: to bring you home safely. I was your ultimate fall-back, you said.’
    ‘I respect your integrity, Joshua. I release you from your contract. I will lodge an addendum in the ship’s files.’
    ‘That’s not good enough—’
    ‘It is done.’
    ‘Oh, don’t let’s have some kind of macho honour fest,’ Sally said cynically. ‘You have backups all over the place, Lobsang. So you’re not really at risk at all, are you?’
    ‘I don’t propose to tell you all my little secrets. But should I be incapacitated or lost you will find iterations of my memory in various stores, updated every millisecond. The ultimate “black box”, you might say, is in the belly of the ship, armoured in an alloy that I confidently believe makes adamantium look like putty and will, I am sure, remain totally unscathed even in the event of a meteor strike of mass-extinction proportions.’
    Sally laughed. ‘What would be the point of surviving a collision that scythes all life from a planet? I mean, who would there be to plug you in?’
    ‘There is every likelihood that in the fullness of time sapient life might once again populate the planet, and evolve to the point where it could restore me. I can wait. I’ve plenty to read.’
    It seemed to Joshua that Sally was at her loveliest, if you could use such a term about Sally, when she was blowing her top. And for the very first time, Joshua suspected Lobsang was teasing Sally deliberately. Another Turing test passed, he supposed.
    ‘So,’ he said, ‘supposing you’re successful, and you get her to stop eating worlds. What then, Lobsang?’
    ‘Then, together, we will continue the search for the truth behind the universe.’
    ‘That sounds so inhuman,’ said Sally.
    ‘On the contrary, Sally, it is extremely human.’
    First Person Singular was looming now. Scoop-shaped objects like fleshy antennas sprouted along her length, and small crabs were hitching a ride – as were a number of seabirds, possibly after the crabs.
    ‘Well,’ said Lobsang. ‘The rest is up to you. Obviously I need you to get