The New Humans

Chapter 23

Ash opened his eyes as morning light filled the room. He looked at the time; it was already nine o'clock. Was everything he had seen—savants, Mr. Feynman, the ouroboros—just a dream? No, he was beginning to remember: on the night before, after returning home and being called imbecile by his mother for having come back so late, he had turned Net to go onto the Babylon site, as Albert had advised, to search for the Living Dead. But he'd made the mistake of lying down to wait for the results. He must have fallen asleep.

"Today will be a beautiful sunny day," said Net, "with an average temperature expected of ninety-five degrees, ideal for a trip to the beach."

"Thanks for the advice," said Ash, "but I think I saw enough of the sea yesterday."

He got out of bed, went into the bathroom, and rinsed his face with cold water. Then he went down to the kitchen and drunk a large cup of coffee that reinvigorated him. He returned to his room, sat in front of the computer screen, and said, "Take me to Babylon, Net."

Net came up with various results. Ash scrolled down the page until he found the link to the website. He clicked on it and the 3D face of an elderly man who looked like Albert Einstein appeared on the screen.

"Welcome to Babylon," he said in a chirpy old man's voice. "You can save all your memories here: the most beautiful photos, the songs of your lifetime, your most important documents. Sign up now to receive the benefits of our services. If you already have an account, tell me your username to access it."

Ash said, "Charon."

The old man's head did a somersault. "Now tell me your password."

Ash took the black ball. T0Ys_are_A_s3r10us_th!nG appeared on it.

He typed it in and the old man's face migrated into a corner, giving way to a white screen on which there were at least thirty folders. In that moment, Ash had access to the personal files of one of the most important and controversial personalities in history. Newspapers would have paid a fortune to be in his position.

There were several folders: Kids, Photos, Music, Work . . .

Ash said, "Search for Living Dead."

The old man said, "Sorry, the search function is disabled for this profile. To change the settings, you need another password."

Ash asked the ball, but there was no answer. Luther must have wanted to make life difficult for potential intruders. All Ash could do, therefore, was a manual search.

He opened the folder entitled Work. There were subfolders inside it named for progressive years. He opened the last in chronological order. Among the many documents was a video called, Interrogation of Ankur Naran—November 12, 2229. It didn't seem to have anything to do with his research, but Ash opened it anyway.

The video showed what looked like an interrogation room where a man seen from behind sat at a table opposite a man of at least fifty, with a face that looked like it had been pounded in a mortar. His wrists were cuffed.

The man seen from behind asked, "Do you know why you've been arrested, Naran?"

The other did not answer.

"You are a war criminal. You have been convicted in absentia in Tilburg to life imprisonment. Did you know?"

"I haven't done anything," he said with an unconcerned tone of voice.

"Do you remember Marisa Pollack?"

"No."

"She was a Numa. On August 6, 2220, you entered her house. You killed her with a crowbar and ate her arms, legs, and part of the torso. You did that to at least twenty other Numas. You thought that by eating them you would become immortal. You were called the Anthropophagus, do you remember?"