The Malicarn #5
“As a scientist, I wouldn’t say it’s a strong conclusion.
We’ve only restored a few dozen people so far, they’ve only been restored for a few weeks at most, they were only de-implemented due to other problems, and they were only implemented for a couple of days each. So I wouldn’t draw conclusions yet.”
“Sounds dangerous,” Glenn said.
“It’s safe!” Jules shouted. “Lilly is just very … precise, with her language.”
“I’m scientific,” she said.
“Well, it’s safe,” Jules said. “We’re getting droves of fans signing up to join us. It’s a real long waiting list at this point. And everyone goes through medical and mental health tests. So it’s safe. It’s safe, safe, safe.”
Lilly lifted the box into a brown satchel next to her, disguised to look like a potato sack, and stood up. “I think these are about done. We’ve been testing them for three hours.”
Lilly pulled out a walkie-talkie and radioed in. A minute later a couple of staff members surrounded the extras and began herding them toward a van that backed up into the square. One of them took the neuroscanner from Lilly and carried it into the van.
“Dinner?” Jules suggested.
South of the town, following the river, was a meadow.
With the construction crews behind them, the air was fresh and the scene exceptionally pastoral.
The three of them walked for over an hour, Jules continually saying they were almost there even though they weren’t.
Finally they arrived at a mill next to a small house.
The front of the house had a large open patio with chairs and tables sitting out front, and a woman dressed in a brown, muddied dress leaned against the patio’s frame, apparently waiting for them.
“We got us a freshly slaughtered ham, today,” she said. “If you are hungry.”
Jules smiled. “Yes, thank you. We are but weary travelers. We would like your victuals. And three ales, please.”
The woman disappeared inside the house and they sat down. Glenn’s seat rocked under his weight.
“What’s this place?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s going to be a mill, once we’ve written the miller. But we set it up as a little pub, too, with actual food. Trust me, it’s good.”
“Who’s she?” Glenn asked.
“That,” Lilly said, “is the miller’s wife. I implemented her myself.”
“But where’s the miller?”
“She thinks he’s traveling,” Jules said. He looked at Lilly. “When do you think we’ll have him ready?”
“Not sure,” Lilly said. “The backlog is growing longer. Ten days, maybe?”
“She’s going to be worried that he’s missing.”
“She’ll be fine,” Lilly said. “Is there anything here except ham?”
“You don’t eat ham?” Jules asked.
“Not usually, no.”
“Why not? Ham’s delicious.”
“My parents never ate pork so neither did I.”
“Why? They kosher?”
“My mother was, growing up. We just didn’t eat pork.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Jules said. “Either you are kosher or you aren’t, right?”
“Not really.”
“I didn’t even know you were Jewish.”
“We were very Reform. We reformed all religion out of our family.”
“But you still don’t eat pork?”
“No.”
“Well, pretend you’re not Jewish here. We’re still in character.”
The miller’s wife came back with the food, ham and potatoes, and three pints of ale. She apologized for the wait. “While my husband is out my assistant is minding the mill.”
After she walked back inside, Glenn pointed the potatoes out to Jules. “Why are there potatoes here?”
“’Cause they’re delicious?”
“There weren’t any potatoes in medieval Europe. They’re from South America.”
“It’s the Malicarn, Glenn. It’s not medieval Europe.”
“It’s based on medieval Europe.”
“No, because then there would be Jews and we already determined that Lilly isn’t Jewish right now.” He laughed, but no one else did. “The food is good! Come on!”
The food was good, Glenn had to admit. At least in-character he wouldn’t be forced to eat only gruel. The ale still tasted watered-down, however.
After they finished, and Jules paid the miller’s wife with one of the prop coins he carried with him, they walked down to the river through one of the fields. Jules led the way past the tall grass, Glenn and Lilly straggling behind.
“Sorry about him,” Glenn said to her. “He’s not really a jerk. Secretly unconfident, maybe, but not a jerk.”
“Oh, I know,” Lilly said. “Believe me, we’ve worked together for half a year already. He can’t hurt my feelings. He even tried asking me out, twice.”
“You can’t hurt his feelings, either. He doesn’t worry about much. He doesn’t seem to care that we’re walking through this meadow with, what? Venomous snakes, maybe? Jules, are we going to get bitten out here?”
“Not by snakes. Look out for the wolf spider. They’ve somehow migrated to Madeira and are everywhere now.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Glenn said.
“Well, it’s almost extinct,” Lilly said. “We’ll probably kill it off entirely with all this development and you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“That’s the most positive way to say a negative thing I’ve ever heard.”
Jules found a clearing, where they sat by the edge of the water and shared a vape pen.
“This is all going to be farms soon,” Jules said. “Real farms, worked by our extras!”
The sun lowered behind the mountains, and Glenn asked Lilly where she came from.
A doctorate from Northwestern, a few years in private industry, and after an acquisition or two ended up in R and then, in dreaming, the clouds methought would open, and show riches ready to drop upon me, that when I waked I cried to dream again.”
The sun was gone behind the mountains, stars began to sparkle in the young night sky, and Glenn thought he might be in love.
3.
Lilly did not like spending the night at Glenn’s apartment, in his tower with empty yogurt cups on the counter and script pages littered in stacks all over the floor. Glenn was always cleaning, so he said, but Lilly never saw any progress.