Chapter 3 Chapter two

It seems that in every age of discord and danger there is always a leader born for that age, a political titan.Looking back at history, without their existence, it is difficult to imagine how the history of that era would be written.Meina Gladstone was such a leader in our twilight age, though no one at that time could have dreamed that no one but I could write true historical poetry about her and her time. Pleasant Stone has been compared many times to the classic figure of Abraham Lincoln, but when I was finally ushered up to her that night at the Armada Banquet, I realized she wasn't wearing a black frock coat, nor Wearing a top hat, I was a little surprised by that.The chief executive and government leader of the House of Commons, which rules over 130 billion people, wears a gray soft wool suit, the trousers and the top of the Cambodian tunic are trimmed with slightly reddish thread at the seams and at the cuffs .I don't think she looks like Abraham Lincoln...nor Alvarez-Temple, the second-most charismatic antiquity hero to whom news organizations have compared her.I think she looks like just an elderly lady.

Meina Gladstone was tall and thin, but her features were more hawkish than Lincoln's.She had a strong, aquiline nose, sharp cheekbones, a wide, thin expressive lip, and her gray hair was cut roughly and wavy like a feather.But to me, the most memorable aspect of Meina Gladstone's face were the eyes: big brown eyes full of infinite sadness. It wasn't just the two of us in the room.It was a long, softly lit room, with rows of wooden shelves holding hundreds of printed books.A narrow holographic frame disguised as a window reveals a view from the garden.A meeting was about to be disbanded, and more than a dozen men and women stood or sat, facing Yueshi's desk, forming a convex semicircle.The CEO leaned back casually on her desk, leaning forward, arms folded across her chest.She looked up at me as I entered the door.

"Mr. Seven?" "yes." "Thank you for coming." I've heard her voice so familiarly from countless Global Debates, its timbre harsh with age but smooth as expensive liqueur.The accent is famous—precise syntax mixed with a pre-Exile English tonal rhythm that has been all but forgotten, the only place where it can be clearly heard, and it is only in her old star, Patao. developed estuary triangle area. "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Mr. Joseph Seven," she said. A few people in the crowd nodded, clearly puzzled by my presence here.Yueshi didn't continue to introduce, but I checked the data network and identified everyone's identity: three cabinet members, one of whom was the Minister of Defense; two chiefs of staff of the military department; two assistants of Yueshi; four Members of Parliament, including the influential MP Korsev; there is also a projection from a technical core consultant named Alberto.

"The reason why I invited Mr. Seven to come here is to let him judge our actions from the perspective of an artist." CEO Yue Shi said. Army Commander Mo Boge let out a sneer from his nose. "An artist's perspective? Let me ask respectfully, Mr. Executive Officer, what does this mean?" Yue Shi smiled.Instead of answering the general, she turned to face me. "What do you think of the Armada parade, Mr. Seven?" "Very beautiful," I said. General Moboge opened his mouth to chatter again. "Beautiful? What he saw was the most concentrated space fire force in the history of the Milky Way, and he just thought it was beautiful?" He turned his head and shook his head at another soldier.

The smile on Yue Shi's face remained unchanged. "So what do you think about war?" she asked me. "What do you think about our attempt to save Hyperion from the barbarian Ousters?" "That's stupid," I said. The house became eerily silent.The current real-time opinion poll conducted by the whole world shows that 98% of the people support the decision of CEO Yueshi to declare war, and they are unwilling to cede the colonial planet Hyperion to the Ousters.Yueshi's political future also depended entirely on the direct result of this conflict.The men and women in the room play a vital role in policy formulation, in making decisions about aggression, and in logistical execution.Silence gradually spread.

"Why are you stupid?" Yue Shi asked softly. I gestured with my right hand. "The Hegemony has not been at war since its establishment seven centuries ago," I said, "and it would be foolish to test the soundness of its foundations in this way." "Never entered a state of war!" General Moboge shouted.His huge hands gripped his knees. "So what exactly do you call the Glennon High Rebellion?" "Rebellion," I said, "mutiny." Senator Korschef smiled, showing his white teeth, but there was nothing cheerful in his expression.He was from Luthers, and he looked more muscular than any man. "It was a fleet operation," he said. "Half a million people died, and two divisions of the corps were at war for more than a year. Is it just a police operation, boy?"

I did not say anything. Clearing his throat, the records said that this elderly man was Yue Shi's most trusted assistant, and he looked quite thin and hale. "But what Mr. Seven said is interesting. Sir, what do you think is the difference between this... ah... conflict and the Battle of Glennon High?" "Glennon Cole was a military officer," I said, realizing I was talking nonsense, "and the Ousters were an unknown group for hundreds of years. The strength of the rebel army is clearly known to us Yes, their potential can also be easily measured; while the Ouster hordes have moved outside the Ring Web since the beginning of the Great Exile, on the contrary, Glennon Gao has been staying in the protection body, attacking those who are not more than two months away from the Ring Web. A planet with time debt, and Hyperion is three years away from Parvati, the closest gathering place in the network."

"You think we haven't thought about this?" General Morpurgo asked. "And the Battle of Brescia? We fought the Ousters there already. It wasn't... a rebellion." "Be quiet, please," said Lee Hunter. "Mr. Seven, please proceed." I shrugged again. "The main difference is that we're dealing with Hyperion in this incident," I said. Councilor Li Xiu - a woman present - nodded, seeming to have fully understood what I meant. "You're afraid of the Shrike," she said. "Are you a believer in the Doomsday Redemption?"

"No," I said, "I'm not a member of the Shrike Church." "Then who are you?" Mo Boge asked. "I'm an artist." I lied. Lee Hunter smiled, and he turned to Pleasant Stone. "I agree that we need this perspective to stay awake, Mr. Executor," he said, gesturing toward the window, and the hologram revealed the still clapping crowd, "but our artist friend made his necessary point They have already been fully examined and measured by the time.” Senator Korschev cleared his throat. "I don't like it when we are deliberately ignoring certain obvious facts. But does this... Mr. One... have the proper security clearance to be present to participate in such discussions? "

Yue Shi nodded, showing her classic smile again, which many cartoonists have tried to record. "Mr. Seven was sent by the Art Department to paint a series of portraits of me over the next few days and weeks. Their rationale, I think, was that the portraits would be historically significant and an official portrait could be created from them ...In any case, Mr. Seven has been awarded T-level gold security certification, we can speak freely in front of him. At the same time, I also appreciate his straightforwardness. Perhaps his presence indicates that our meeting is drawing to a close. So, At eight o'clock tomorrow morning, we will meet at the Strategic Resolution Center before the fleet teleports into Hyperion airspace."

The crowd dispersed immediately.General Moboge gave me a gouging look as he left.When Mr. Korschef passed by me, he glanced at me with indescribable curiosity in his eyes.The Alberto advisor just slowly faded out.Now, besides Yueshi and me, Lee Hunter was alone in the room.He rested one leg comfortably on the arm of the priceless pre-Pandemic chair beneath him. "Sit down, please," Hunter said. I glanced at the CEO.She had already sat on the chair behind the large desk and nodded.I settled into the straight-backed chair where General Morpurgo had been sitting before.CEO Gladstone said, "You really think defending Hyperion is a fool's errand?" "yes." Yue Shi raised his fingers and tapped his lower lip.Behind her, the windows silently showed that the Armada banquet was in full swing. "If you wish to reunite with your...ah...personality copy," she said, "then it seems to be in your interest that we defend Hyperion." I did not say anything.The view from the window switched to show the night sky, still bright red in the molten trail. "Have you brought your painting tools?" Yue Shi asked. I took out the pencil and the little sketchbook I had told Diana Froome earlier that I hadn't. "Let's draw while we talk," Meina Gladstone said. I started sketching, first with a rough outline in a seemingly casual, almost irreverent hand, and then began to elaborate on the details of the face.Those eyes piqued my interest. I was vaguely aware that Lee Hunter was staring at me intently. "Joseph Seven," he said, "it's amusing that you should have chosen that name." I drew Yueshi's high forehead and strong nose with quick and bold strokes. "Do you know why people are wary of Cybermen?" Hunter asked. "Yeah," I said, "Frankenstein's Monster Syndrome. Fear of everything that wears human skin and isn't quite human. I guess that's the real reason robots were outlawed." "Well," Hunter agreed, "but Cybermen are perfectly human, aren't they?" "Genetically yes," I said.At this time, I suddenly thought of my mother, and remembered the situation when I read to her when she was sick in bed.I thought of my brother Tom. "But they're also part of the inner core," I said, "and thus fit the description 'not quite human.'" "Are you also part of the inner core?" Meina Gladstone asked, turning to face me.I started a new sketch again. "Not exactly," I said, "I'm able to move freely in the areas they've allowed me to enter, but that's not so much an ability of the true core personality as it is something anyone with access to the datanet can do. "Her face is quite striking from a three-quarter profile angle, but her eyes are more intense when viewed from the front.I start by painting the grid of lines that emanate from the corner of the eye.Meina Gladstone apparently never abused Paulson's treatments. "If it is possible to keep some secrets from the inner core," Yueshi said, "then it would be foolish to allow you to intervene in the government council at will. In fact..." She dropped her hands and sat up straight.I turn a new page. "Actually," said Yueshi, "you have the information I need. I heard that you can read your copy, which is the first mind to rebuild your personality. Is it true?" "No." I said.It is really difficult to capture the intricate interlocking of the corners of her mouth and muscles.I painted as best I could, and next, I got to her strong jaw, shading the hollow of her lower lip. Hunter frowned and glanced at the CEO.Ms. Yueshi put her fingers together again. "Explain," she said. I looked up from the drawing paper. "I was dreaming," I said, "and the content of the dream coincided with what was going on around the person who was carrying the previous Keats personality implant," "A woman named Braun Lamia," said Lee Hunter. "yes." Yue Shi nodded. "So the previous Keats personality, the one everyone thought was killed at Luthers, is still alive?" I paused. "That... that one...is still conscious," I said, "You know, his original personality source has been extracted from the core, perhaps extracted from his cyber body itself, and implanted The Shuklon ring bio-shunt carried by Ms. Lamia." "True, true," said Lee Hunter, "but the fact is that you can have direct contact with the Keats personality, and through that contact, you can get in touch with the Shrike Pilgrims." I made a few quick thick lines to create a dark background for Pleasant Stone's sketch to set it off even more. "Actually, I have no direct contact with them," I said, "I have dreams about Hyperion, and your meta-light broadcast confirms that its content is completely consistent with real-time events. I cannot communicate with the passive Keats personality , and unable to communicate with its host or other pilgrims." CEO Yue Shi blinked. "How do you know about the super light broadcast?" "The consul told the other pilgrims that his comlog was able to relay messages through the transponder in his ship. Just before going down the valley, he told everyone that." Yue Shi's tone of voice carried the hint that she had been a lawyer for many years before entering politics. "How did the others react to the consul's words?" I put the pencil back in my pocket. "They knew they had spies among them," I said, "and you said that to every one of them." Yue Shi glanced at her assistant.Hunter's expression was noncommittal. "If you have been in contact with them," she said, "you must know that we have not heard from us since they left the Time Fortress to descend to the Time Tombs." I shake my head. "Last night's dream was only as far as they reached the valley." Meina Gladstone got up, walked a few steps, came to the window, raised a hand, and the scene went black. "Then you don't know if any of them are still safe?" "have no idea." "In your last...dream, how were they doing?" Hunter was watching me with an eagerness he had never seen before.Meina Gladstone stared at the dark screen with her back to the two of us. "All the Pilgrims are alive," I said, "except Het Masteen, the faithful voice of the tree, who may have been killed." "Is he dead?" Hunter asked. "Two nights ago, a few hours after the Destroyer scout ship destroyed the treeship Yggdrasil, he disappeared from his wind transport in the Sea of ​​Grass. , and saw a figure in a robe trekking in the desert, aiming at the tombs." "It's Het Masteen?" Pleasant Stone asked. I raise a hand. "That's all they think. They don't know for sure." "Tell me about the others," the CEO said. I took a breath.I learned from a dream that during this last Shrike pilgrimage, at least two people, Pleasant Stone, knew each other.Braun Lamia's father had been her colleague in the Senate, and the Consul of the Overlord had been Pleasant Stone's personal representative in secret negotiations with the Ousters. "Father Hoyt was in great pain," I said, "and he told the story of the crucifix. The Consul knew that Hoyt was also carrying one... actually two. Father Durey's and his own. " Yue Shi nodded. "So he's still carrying the parasite that's reincarnated?" "yes." "Did it make him more and more uncomfortable as he approached the Shrike's lair?" "I think so," I said. "continue." "The poet Silenus was drunk most of the time. He believed his unfinished poems foreshadowed and determined the course of events." "The incident on Hyperion?" Pleasant Stone asked, still turning his back to us. "The whole world," I said. Hunter glanced at the CEO, then at me. "Is Silenas crazy?" I gave him the same look back, but didn't say anything.Actually, I have no idea. "Continue." Yue Shi said again. "Colonel Kassad continues his two obsessions that are closely related, finding the woman named Moneta and killing the Shrike. He knows very well that these two obsessions may be the same, exactly the same." "Does he have a weapon?" Yue Shi's voice was very soft. "Take it." "continue." "Saul Winterbur, the scholar from the Bana realm, wishes to enter the tomb called the Sphinx, once—" "Wait a minute," Yueshi said, "is he still with his daughter?" "yes." "How old is Rachel now?" "Five days, I think," I closed my eyes and carefully recalled the details of my dream from the night before. "Yes," I said, "five days." "Now her age is still decreasing with the passage of time?" "yes." "Go on, Mr. Seven. Please tell me about Braun Lamia and the Consul." "Ms. Lamia went to Hyperion with the wish of her former client... and lover," I said. "The Keats personality felt he had to confront the Shrike. Ms. Lamia was fulfilling that wish for him." .” "Mr. Seven," Lee Hunter said, "the tone of your 'Kats personality' sounds like it has nothing to do with your own personality..." "Wait, please, Lee," Meina Gladstone said.She turned her head to look at me. "I'm more curious about the consul. Is it his turn to tell why he joined the pilgrimage?" "I told you." I said. Pleasant Stone and Hunter waited for me to speak. "The Consul told them the story of his grandmother," I said, "of the woman named Heely who started the Mauijo rebellion more than fifty years ago. He told the rest of the destruction of his family during the reconquest of Brescia. , also confessed to his secret meeting with the deportees." "Is that all?" Yue Shi asked.Those brown eyes burned with eagerness. "And," I said, "the Consul told them he was the one who triggered the Ouster device, hastening the opening of the Time Tombs." Hunter sat up straight, lifting his legs off the armrests of the chair.Yue Shi took a deep breath. "Is there any more?" "there is none left." "How did the others react to his confession of...betrayal?" she asked. I paused, trying to reorganize the scene in the dream, sorting out a more organized context than the previous memory. "Some were enraged," I said, "but at this moment none felt invulnerable to the devotion to the Overlord. They decided to move on. I am sure that every one of these pilgrims believed that punishment would come from The Shrike makes the assignments, and the human agency has no way of doing it." Hunter slammed his fist against the arm of the chair. "If the Consul were here," he snapped, "he would soon find out how wrong he was." "Don't shout, Li." Yue Shi stepped back to her desk and touched some documents there.All the AC indicator lights are on impatiently.I was amazed that she could spend so much time talking to me at a time like this. "Thank you, Mr. Seven," she said. "I hope you will stay with us for the next few days. You will be shown to your suite in the residential wing of the Administration Building." I stood up. "I want to go back to Hope Star and bring some belongings." I said. "It's not necessary," Yueshi said. "They can be delivered without you stepping off the terminal platform. Let Li take you out." I nodded and followed the tall man towards the door. "Oh, Mr. Seven..." cried Meina Gladstone. "What's up?" The CEO laughed. "I did appreciate your frankness before," she said, "but from now on, we'll assume you're just a court painter, just a court painter, with no personal opinion, no vision, no voice. Understand? " "Understood, my lord executive," I said. Yue Shi nodded, and had already turned his attention to the flashing phone indicator light. "Excellent. Bring your sketchbooks to the meeting at the Strategic Resolution Center at eight o'clock sharp." A guard greeted us in the lobby and led me through a maze of corridors and checkpoints.Hunter yelled at him to stop, and strode across the spacious hall, his steps echoing on the carpet.He grabs my arm. "Don't get me wrong," he said, "we know...and she knows...who you are, what you are, and who you represent." I meet his gaze and calmly withdraw my arms. "Fine," I said, "because at the moment, I'm pretty sure I don't know any of this myself."

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