Test
By Maurice Lane
The laboratory was never what anyone expected. Other, lesser researchers might delight in odd machines and apparatus: armies of books in a cheerful war of aggression against piles of papers and magazines, with a vast whiteboard grimly holding its last remaining territory in alliance with a battered desk and coffeepot; or even in the faint smells of acetone, chalk and dust. Not this researcher. He was not one to take delight in those sorts of things. True, he had all of these things anyway, partially because it was more efficient to leave things in existence than to be constantly creating and uncreating them (but mostly because no one had ever dared attempt to clean up his sanctum), but Jean did not delight in them.
At least, that was what fairly solid rumor said.
The angel sitting in the one seat reserved for
visitors was giving a good impression of detached, cool interest, but it was
purely superficial. Whatever the
Archangel of Lightning had summoned him for was important; at the rank that the
angel had achieved, possibly vital. It
was equally vital that he act accordingly...
Jean's calm voice cut through the (well concealed)
anxiety.
"Stewart.
Cherub Master of the Machine, Angel of Cosmology: you have reached the
highest rank possible for an angel in my service. Your research techniques are optimal: you have dozens of patents
to your credit; and your performance reports are as close to perfect as can be
expected in an imperfect world. Your
Word has grown under your stewardship, and promises to become a significant
force for Heaven in the very near future.
There are no significant complaints against you and many
commendations."
Stewart nodded; this was all true. Jean sipped his coffee (even Archangels
think better with coffee in their hands) and continued.
"That is why you are here today. I must always consider the future in my
plans; there are many possible scenarios for which I must be prepared. Some of these scenarios are beneficial;
some, not... and one of the least beneficial scenarios is one where I am no
longer able to perform my duties as Archangel and Lord of my Cathedral. If such a thing were to occur, it would be
most inefficient to allow any significant amount of disruption of our
collective tasks to take place. It thus
seems logical to make certain that there be a designated successor to my
duties." Jean sipped his coffee again.
"You may be that successor.
"There is no need to emulate my Choir while you
formulate your response."
This permission to show equal amounts of shock,
surprise, delight and deep apprehension at the news was purely pro forma:
Stewart was so taken back by the news that he swallowed his coffee in one gulp,
written instructions on the mug to the contrary. After his eyes regained focus, the Cherub began to stammer,
"But, Don Jean, we all thought that Liwet..."
"Is informally already my successor? Yes, that is true, and she will remain
so. But it would be quite inefficient
of me to not have countermeasures at hand to deal with even the most
unsatisfactory scenarios. If Heaven
knows of the Angel of Mathematics' status, then the Enemy knows it as
well. Any efficient attack on me would
certainly include one on her, and Liwet would certainly be easier to
eliminate. You would serve as a second
replacement, should the first fail - and should you prove suitable for the
task."
There could be only one reply. "I would be honored to serve, Don
Jean."
Jean rose from his own chair. "Come, then."
...
The door that the two celestials came to was one
that Stewart had never seen opened before; upon thinking about it, the Cherub
realized that he never even really noticed it.
It was just a door in a hall deep inside the Halls of Progress,
completely ordinary in its appearance.
It did have the Angel of Mathematics waiting by it, though, so
possibly it was more significant than it looked. Stewart looked slightly guiltily at Liwet: his earlier elation
at his possible new status had faded at the sight of her. It is one thing to be told that you may be
worthy of Archangelic status; it is quite another to be told that acquiring
said status might only come at the cost of the lives of a well-loved Superior
and his most beautiful Servitor.
Liwet smiled gently at Stewart's consternation and
patted his hand while Jean opened the door: there was no nonsense with a
special key or a special combination.
The Archangel of Lightning simply turned the knob and walked into the
dark room that was revealed. The two Servitors
followed...
...and Stewart was elsewhere.
It was a vast, perfectly circular room - not
the one that the Cherub had seen when the now-vanished door had opened - and
was empty save for the ornate sigil of blue light that hovered in its precise
center. Actually, 'sigil' was entirely
the wrong term, for the word couldn't hope to convey the complexity and organic
nature of what Stewart was seeing.
Possibly no one word could. It
was there, and somehow more real than its surroundings, and certainly beautiful. The Cherub found it hard to look away.
"What... what is it?"
Jean's voice was - no, not warm, but there was a
touch more animation to it. "It is
a They, Stewart. They are the laws of
the physical universe."
Stewart immediately felt a deep humility overtake
him. "Of course. We knew that the Almighty had given you the
secrets of them, but we never suspected that He had also given you a
representation of them as well..."
Liwet snickered - the first sound that she had made
since Stewart and Jean had joined her.
Jean flashed a cool look at her, then shook his head. "That is untrue. They are my creation, not the Lord's."
Stewart looked at him. "Does this then represent your current understanding of the
laws of the Cosmos?"
Jean shook his head again. "Not in the sense that you mean. I do understand them, of course, but that is not surprising. After all, I created them."
"The representation?"
"No, Stewart.
I created the physical laws themselves."
Stewart blinked.
"Cherub, have you never wondered why, if I had
been given all of the laws of physical creation, why research continues to this
day? After all, the term 'research'
implies a scenario where there are truths yet to be discovered: this is
incompatible with a scenario where I have already been given those truths. I assure you, I am not in the habit of
requiring my Servitors to engage in superfluous activities.
"What I had actually been given by the Almighty
was the ability to decide how the physical universe should operate. The basic operating parameters had been
determined beforehand, of course: I was expected to create a place where
free-willed individuals could exist, thrive and reproduce themselves. How I went about doing it was at my
discretion, provided that I was industrious about it."
The Archangel of Lightning pointed to the center of
the Laws.
"At first, only a simple framework was needed:
just enough to give the Archangels room to work in. Later, as everyone became more efficient, I experimented with a
somewhat more complex design. Not all
of these experiments were successful.
For example, it soon became clear that a flat Earth required constant
oversight and maintenance: this was unacceptable, so I reworked things so that
it became round. This meant adding
gravity as a fundamental force, but I was able to eliminate three others,
resulting in a net gain of simplicity.
"Then there was the Ptolemaic theory of the
universe." Jean almost
sighed. "Elegant and simple, of
course, but difficult to expand and severely limiting in scope. I possibly spent an inefficient amount of
time attempting to make a poor design work, rather than begin over from first
causes. Once I had begun again with a
Copernican cosmology, the problems that I had encountered with incorporating
Newtonian physics and Einsteinian space-time effectively ceased. The lesson is obvious."
By now, the first shock had passed from
Stewart. He carefully approached the
glowing sigil, trying vainly to see the laws apparently incorporated within. "But, Don Jean, if the laws of physics
are so mutable, why is no evidence?"
"Because the rewrite function is instantaneous,
universal and automatically manufactures historical evidence consistent with
all changes. This includes the memories
of anyone not aware of the existence of this room: not even the entire Seraphim
Council knows of this. There are
several Demon Princes that would be presumably aware, but they keep silent on
this, also presumably for their own reasons.
"Stewart, you must understand that by now the
basic functions of the cosmos are effectively fixed. Any disruption of them has the potential to disrupt or negate the
existence of billions upon billions of entities. My current work is incremental.
There are principles that, if they can be successfully integrated, have
the potential to improve the living conditions of corporeal existence: I spend
much of my personal research time attempting to fit them into the existing
framework."
Liwet snorted laughter: Jean gave her another cool
look. "I also work to prevent the
Enemy from having free reign to accomplish his own goals. I have the advantage, and I exercise it to
the fullest extent. To use one example,
it is not yet time for humanity to have reliable access to fusion as an energy
source. They have created enough
problems for themselves by having it available as a weapon; until the situation
stabilizes, fusion power would be at best a distraction and at worst an open
invitation for widespread destruction." The Archangel of Lightning permitted
himself - no, not a sigh, or even the hint of one; possibly the acknowledgement
that a sigh would be appropriate at this juncture. "It is fascinating to observe how others presume that I
regulate human scientific enquiry with a heavy hand. What need to actively suppress inappropriate research when I may
simply define what is appropriate in the first place?
"But I digress. Stewart" - the
Cherub guiltily started from his adoration of the vision before him - "it
is time for your test. You have been researching
the parameters of a working faster than light drive. I have examined your theoretical speculations, and they show much
promise. Do you see the gap
there?"
At the Cherub's nod, Jean continued. "That would be the most optimal section
to incorporate the equations that you have devised."
Stewart blinked.
"How would I do that, Don Jean?"
"This space is malleable to angelic Will. A simple visualization would suffice."
The Cherub eagerly leaned forward. He had forgotten everything, his eyes intent
on the seductive vision unfolding before him.
It would be such a simple matter to make the change, after all. Stewart's hand arose to inscribe his
personal mark upon the cosmos...
... and the three were back in Jean's
laboratory. This did not discomfit the
Cherub: the Archangel of Lightning is a master at the excision and substitution
of memories. Stewart did not notice
that all his memories of the last few minutes had been replaced with something
more innocuous; nor would he, ever.
After the Servitor had left, Jean and Liwet sat together for a time.
The Angel of Mathematics ruefully sighed. "Another failure."
"It was not unforeseen. The possibility of success was sufficiently
high to justify the exercise."
"He is an excellent researcher, however..."
"I do not dispute it. Should Heaven require it, he will even make a most satisfactory
Archangel. But it would be an
unacceptable risk to allow him access to the Laws."
One of Liwet's eyebrows quirked. "You've tested seven hundred and forty
nine of your Servitors by now, and only one has ever passed. Have you considered the possibility that the
test you've devised is flawed, somehow?"
"Liwet, you have made this observation seven
hundred and forty seven times. Are you
working under the theory that repetition somehow increases the validity of your
position?"
The Angel of Mathematics rolled her eyes. "No, of course not: it's just that
you've never answered my argument to my satisfaction. This is a test to destruction: you deliberately set your
candidates off-balance, keep them off balance by blithely challenging
their most basic assumptions about the universe, then wave a Truly irresistible
temptation in front of them by letting them assume that they have the ability
and your sanction to play with the universe.
You have to admit that it's not exactly what one would call a fair test:
indeed, didn't somebody once call it 'entrapment'?"
"Certainly - but if there is a more optimal
solution, I have not yet perceived it.
The consequences of failure are sufficiently restrictive that any risk
is unacceptable: the example of your brother is instructive." Jean sipped his coffee. "After your mother died, I freely admit
that there was some question that I would regain my former levels of
efficiency. When you successfully
passed your Test, I concluded that your nigh-unique ancestry was the optimal
configuration for my potential successors.
I was incorrect in this conclusion, and so we deal with the consequences
to this day. I decline to make the same
mistake that I made with Vapula."
Jean put down his coffee. "I suppose that I should not have been surprised; after all,
he comes by his methodology honestly.
There was too much Lightning in him, and not enough Knowledge."
Liwet went very still at that. "Forgive me, Father. I did not mean to bring up old
heartaches."
"I am an Elohite, Daughter. My heart does not ache."
"Liar."