James
Time Star Loop: Chapter 4
They went back to the bodega — the first place they could think of since they could not prove that the mind chip had been hacked. The bodega owner didn’t seem surprised to see them.
- Greetings, humans — the elderly lady addressed Angela and K by theatrically opening her hands in a welcoming gesture -What took you so long? — she normalized her tone — I was about to lose hope.
- Pardon? — Asked K.
- You met the creature, as you named them, about two weeks ago, and you erased here just now. Waste of time.
- How do you know about the creature?
- You have your mind chips, and I have my basic understanding of physics. You are, have been, and will be speaking with me about the creature in this shop. Time is relative indeed. — She blinked.
- Can you see the future? — Asked K in a high tone that surprised even him.
- Do you think I’m some fortune teller or a witch? I wish. That would be much less complicated. Can I see the future? Well, I’m just a physicist who learned how to manipulate spacetime. What I can do is travel through different dimensions existing in various stages. There are some dimensions in which you told me about the creature. In other you newer meet the creature. In yet another, we have newer meat, or you don’t even exist at all. You should get the idea by now.
- How do you manipulate spacetime? Can you teach me? — Asked Angela
- You came here to learn about the creature, don’t you? — She cut the discussion short.
- Yes. What or who is it? How could they appear in thoughts? Do they hack the chip?
- I sense great fear in your heart, K. — The elderly lady looked him directly in the ease.
- Are we in danger?
- You might be in great danger, indeed.
- What is it? Tell us!
- Global warming, nuclear winter, depression… — The seriousness on her face kept melting with every second — Silly joke. I couldn’t help myself. — She laughed loudly. — You have met James.
- James?
- Yes, James. They are called Jimby. Ancient civilization in the form of an energy network. Each of their kind, the nodes, are individual beings connected with each other. You can think of them as an intelligent, life form of the wi-fi covering the Universe. Humans have had contact with Jimby for thousands of years now. You called them spirits, goddesses, and many other names. In fact, it’s just another life form that created a sophisticated existence.
- Are they pure energy? Do they have bodies?
- Just energy. They can manipulate a physical world on the molecular level, so they can act as if they would have a body. They can borrow a body or any other type of matter.
The elderly lady handed them a thin piece of old-fashioned e-paper written in Papyrus font. The title was Jimby 101 — A Practical Culture Guide for Humans. There was no information about the author or the year of publication.
- Here you go. You will find answers to all of your questions here. Since the paper should not leave my shop in any form besides your personal memory, please take a sit over there and read it now — she pointed to an old velvet sofa standing in one of the shop’s corners.
I swear this sofa wasn’t there when we came here — thought K.
- You might already noticed that your mind chips are not working here. — Immediately, K and Angela tried to communicate via their mind chips. Nothing. They tried to check video boxes, text boxes, record vision, and even their emotional status. They couldn’t.
- Terrific. Now, take a sit and enjoy your lecture. You will need it.
Jimby 101 — A Practical Culture Guide for Humans, as the name suggested, appeared to be a handbook translating Jimby culture to human norms, costumes, and values. The text starts by saying, “Dear human, we are glad you are reading this book. We hope that at the end of the lecture, you will have a quite good understanding of who Jimby is. To make it an easy journey, please start by abandoning any presumptions grounded in human culture. Think of us as intelligent, free, and interconnected information.” — Hardware-less AI with Internet access — K commented out loud.
As Angela and K learned later in the book, Jimby doesn’t feel sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise, or disgust. They know the concepts of emotions but cannot experience them in the way a human does. They are purely goal-oriented and data-driven. Jimby chooses their goals based on three basic rules:
- Do not harm life.
- Collect as much data as possible.
- Share all the data that you collected with other Jimby.
The book didn’t explain where the rules come from or how they are incorporated into Jimby itself.
- James only bothers humans with a practical reason. If he chooses to make contact with you once, they will try again.
- What does he want?
- Don’t worry he will be very clear about that
- What will happen if we fail to meet James’ expectations?
- Well…
Suddenly, the elderly lady started shrinking and flashing. Her body and clothes become more and more transparent. She looked like a combination of a disco ball and a light going through the water on a sunny day. — Not now! — she yelled, transforming into a small glass ball.
My apologies . — The voice seemed to be coming from behind the counter. — It happens occasionally — A red-haired cat jumped on the disk, reached out the glass ball, grabbed it in his muzzle, gently placed it in his belt bag, and zipped it. The belt bag has one of Hubble’s telescope pictures on it.
- Who are you?
- I’m the elderly lady, a physicist who spoke with you just a few seconds ago , answered the cat . — I believe that’s a good occasion to introduce myself formally. My name is Sim. I was awoken, as we call it, in 3025 on Mars. I’m a time traveler and scientist. As you also noticed, my physical appearance is quite different than you are used to. Well, at least sometimes.
- Can I pet you? — asked Angela
- Seriously? After all, I just revealed to you that your first question is if you can pet me.
- I love cats.
- Humans.
It was hard to tell the time. The bodega was packed with randomly looking items from the floor up to the ceiling. Natural light didn’t have an obvious way to enter the space.
- James will try to contact you soon. It seems that you possess some information or knowledge that is crucial for him. I have known him for ages. He will not do you any harm. Just be aware that he might appear in many different forms, and for you, there is no way to tell if that’s him or another Jimby. This part is actually problematic.
- Why is that so?
- Even if Jimby doesn’t have a concept of good and wrong, as well as they have a rule not to harm any life, there is some randomness in their actions that can cause harm. They can also decide not to stick to the rule or be tricked. The knowledge might be misused.
- What does it mean in our case?
- I don’t know it yet. I’m not sure what James is looking for. Whatever that would be, bringing him here is the best solution. I will be able to recognize if that’s James or someone else.
- Why are you doing that for us?
- I do it for myself. Goodbye.
Sim wagged her tail. The next thing they knew was that the whole bodega moved away from them as if they would be pushed out of the shop. The front doors closed. The sign changed from open to closed. They found themselves outside on the sidewalk in front of the grocery store.
- What the fuck do we know?
Time Star Loop, Chapter 1: How much is it?
Time Star Loop, Chapter 2: Probability theory
Time Star Loop, Chapter 3: The Creature
