Chapter 53: Leonardo

Ada had no particular love for universities-in fact, she had only ever fed herself intellectually through online databanks like most people-but she knew how to recognize a situation descending into despair when she saw one.

The last time she had passed through, the professors were speaking loudly about resistance or erecting barricades. Now, there were holes in the ground and the walls, suspicious traces of blood and projectile impacts everywhere; the rooms were empty, soldiers patrolled the campus, and the main entrance was guarded by a massive robot brought in from an industrial district.

She entered an office whose walls were lined with books, where the old academic who had once helped her was hastily gathering archives and stuffing them into a large dark bag. He looked up at her: - “Our Xeno planet explorer,” said Aloysius. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

From the way he paid attention to her, it was obvious he didn’t give a damn about the answer.

- “Yeah. The Drift coordinates work.”

- “From the monograph? That declassified Fleet document? They calculated every Drift from every planet? But how? Damn. What was it again?” he asked, turning toward the relevant shelf.

- “Habitable and Uninhabitable Worlds Based on Xeno Expeditions, by Andrei, captain of the Stellar Fleet. I think I know that guy.”

He pulled the book-which existed as a single copy-and stuffed it into the bag with the others. She held a terminal up to his face, displaying a photo and various data.

- “I want to go to this star.”

- “What star?”

- “I have no idea. It doesn’t have a name!”

- “And what do you know about it, besides the fact that it’s...”

He squinted at the screen.

- “ ... a blue giant?”

- “I’ve got its coordinates relative to another Xeno world.”

- “Is it in Andrei’s monograph?”

- “No, no one’s ever been there. No humans, at least.”

- “And you want the coordinates?”

- “Yeah.”

Aloysius’s tension eased, and he chuckled. Then, after a moment of stillness, he resumed collecting books.

- “My dear, there are three ways to go about it: you can do it randomly and hope for the best, like our good old Drift pioneers from the 2000s, and you’ll have a one-in-a-million chance of making it. Or you rent a quantum computer and let it run for eight years. Or, like everyone else, you ask Leonardo. But I warn you, the waiting list is long and the Fleet locks everything down.”

- “What is Leonardo?”

- “The computer planet, kid. Ask your LE. A Transient artifact, ideal for calculating a Drift. That’s all it’s been doing since we discovered it-no rest at all. But I don’t want to throw you into a trap: you need a permit to land on Leonardo. No permit, and they’ll seize your ship and throw you into their damned administrative detention centers. I wouldn’t wish that on you.”

- “I know it well, thanks.”

He zipped his bag shut and hoisted the strap over his shoulder.

- “Did the soldiers let you in?” he finally realized.

- “I didn’t ask them.”

- “Best way to deal with the army. Well, if you’re not afraid to die. Miss, I have to go.”

- “Where are you headed?”

- “Lodovico.”

- “You’re not seriously going to work for the Aleph?”

- “What do you think of the Aleph?”

- “I think he’s a clown, and I’m going to settle his score.”

Aloysius stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.

- “Be careful. When everything calms down, will you come back here? I’ve got tons to teach you. And vice versa.”

- “About prime numbers?”

- “Ah, the pillars of the cathedral of numbers. A fascinating field. We can talk about it if you like. But you need to stay alive. So once again ... be careful. Don’t speak ill of the Aleph. If you need to scream, do it in your head-or at least, far away from Earth.”

He walked through the door, startled upon seeing Alpha, then continued on his way. Ada looked at Alpha.

- “The world’s going to shit, my friend Alpha. You know what? We’re going to find an old friend of mine. He owes me big, and I need to get paid.”

There had been no new regulations since the arrival of the Aleph-in fact, there were fewer. The laws were falling away one by one. Citizens were experimenting with their new spaces of freedom like a cat exploring an unfamiliar garden, cautiously. All public servants and authorities were suddenly occupied with other matters (notably with discussions about their future), and everything was handed over to drones. It was an unprecedented liberation of the market, which led to insecurity and all kinds of “enterprises.”