The Light of Queen Library. Chapter 6

Chapter 6. In the glass jungle. Paris

- You know, it seems to me that if Sophie creates even the worst world from my point of view, it will suit many people. It's  what you might say "What! Do you know modern life?" - Said Alicia to Jean-Flynn, when they left the house. - I must admit, the house is not too bad .. But I always did not like such cities ... I did not even know that the combination of two Veles books can  really change everything ...
- But it is impossible to build all this in 2 weeks?! - Jean-Flynn could not understand the inconsistency.
Really. It was a completely unfamiliar city ... Although maybe any famous one ...
- Ah ... So you do not mind that it's all Paris? - Alicia hold hands with Jean-Flynn like queen.
Yes, she has a short stature, but she held herself so coquettishly, and so subtly she could direct the companion where she needed.
- Paris? I thought New York!
- Charlize thinks so too. But no.
Several times patrols drived through the streets. Jean-Flynn and Alicia  tried to hide. One of the cars swept very close. Alicia straightened her high gloves and blue jeans.
- My lady ... - Jean-Flynn pushed his eyebrows at the little house, - you certainly are not at all modest. - he smiled cunningly, from the height of his height looking at the queen.
- Does it bother you how I unbutton a blouse? Do not worry, the weather in these parts can make you crazy .. It was cold yesterday, and today it's hot.
- The word "hot" does not match with high leather gloves and coats ...
- If I take off my gloves, I ... In general, then you'll find out. There's something there ...
- Can I see it?
Alicia climbed a tree. Jean-Flynn, too.
Although the tree was not high,  they could see the Eiffel Tower. The Champs Elysees was no longer  recognizable, but the tower ... The avenue to it was almost the only one that remained untouched. Everyone went in pairs - a man and a woman. Sometimes there were families with children. Nobody is alone. Nobody talked to each other. On the mall one pair was walking with... a robot- dog ... Some men  were behaving quite oddly. Alicia wanted to conduct an experiment. She climbed off the tree and looked around ... All the couples were married. At first she came closer to one pair. Polite, but somewhat slow girl, must be a wife. Alicia noticed a few wires that looked like strings on her beads from afar. Alicia unobtrusively picked up one of them and went unnoticed. And the robot girl hovered ... Then Alicia took a book somewhere and sat down on the bench. Then the adventure did not  take long. And Jean-Flynn was watching all this. Though Alicia did not notice, Jean-Flynn was only a couple of steps away from her.
The police siren screeched.
The car stopped right next to the bench where Alicia was sitting. She took off her coat and lifted her head reluctantly when she was called.
- Miss, show your passport,- the policeman demanded from her. -Where are your bracelets?
- Excuse me, what are you talking about?
Jean-Flynn went to her and stood behind her. She put her arm on his arm - not looking back.
- Are  you not local?
- We’ve only arrived. Bought here a nice apartment here ... Beautiful view ...
Jean-Flynn leaned toward Alicia and whispered something.
- Under the Rowlins State and New Town laws, the Paris District, I must detain you.
- For what a reason? - Jean-Flynn asked.
- Persons of different sex are forbidden to walk together, unless they wear wedding rings. In addition, you are accused of violating the Miss Helen system, - the policeman pointed at the robot girl in the distance, - and in reading the book. Books outside the library are prohibited.
- Did you hear this nonsense, darling? - Alicia did not lose her head.
- We just went for a walk and forgot everything ... - Jean-Flynn played along with her. - Rings ... Yes, dear? They are still betrothed, but not necessarily  married?
- You must buy the rings now and give me the book.
Alicia handed over the book and stood up.
They, together with Jean-Flynn were brought to the shop under escort. The seller looked at them incredulously. Slavic girl and some American man...
- Choose.
Alicia  gave Jean-Flynn her phone.
Jean-Flynn looked at her quizzically.
- Pay for Internet banking, I forgot how to do it ... Do you remember to do  it? - Said Alicia.
- Yes.  Mostly, everyone does so ... - the seller replied.
Alicia took off her gloves. Jean-Flynn put a ring on her finger. The wedding is fictitious, but he still had a strange feeling. Easy adventures of the Queen interested him. She also put a ring on him.
- Let’s go ....
Alicia suddenly turned to the policeman and held her hand over his face. Eyelashes, gentle touch - and the policeman froze. The seller was blinded by a sudden light. This gave Alicia and Jean-Flynn the chance to  escape.
- I have not done any  escape for so long ...- The queen had a shortness of breath. - I should have left before ...
They hid behind a big oak tree.
- So what was that? -  Jean-Flynn asked.
- The rescue.
He kissed Alicia.
--It's all magic. - Alicia smiled, putting a hand on his neck. - We need to find a house ...
- What for?
- In order not to cause any suspicion.
- It's all your blouse, my lady.
- Stop it! - She laughed. - Oh, the young lady  has woken up. We can walk alone, together only with rings. Around the glass anthropogenic jungle, that full of wonders and many people like Pavlik Morozov ... The world is going crazy, and I should stay away from this crazy party ... But well, all this is very interesting. I know where to find a house.
- And yet ...  how the hell did we get from New York  to Paris? On foot ??
Alicia did not listen to him, but simply crept up to the young policeman standing with his back to them and wrote something to the planshet.
- Ah ... Hey! - Jean-Flynn snorted. - I thought I was alone in this world ...-- He smiled.
Alicia tightly buttoned her coat.
- I'm sorry … - milady looked at the policeman in bewilderment. - I do not understand everything ... Where can I find accommodation?
- And you need it for a long time? - The policeman looked at her.
- No I do not think so.
- I can give you my room. I am still living in another apartment.
- And are  you not afraid?
The policeman smiled.
- Thefts? It's impossible. If you think of something to steal, you will be caught, before you cross the threshold.
Alicia looked at the policeman's bracelet.
- Have not you got the bracelet yet? - He asked the lady- stranger.
- No. And why should  we ... I love others ... And what is it that glows on you?

- It's a chip.  It submits a special program, and I can  carry all the necessary knowledge and laws. Very comfortably. Without  it, I would not remember.
-I would want the same thing when I graduated from the university ... -  thought Alicia.
 - And what's your name?
- Alicia.
- Very nice. And I'm Sam.
They shook hands.
- Sam ...
- Where's your husband? - Sam noticed the ring on her finger.
- Husband?  What husband? And, yes, my husband ... Precisely, I'm Madame Cars’en already ... - Alicia grumbled aloud. - Jean-Flynn, honey, come here!
Jean-Flynn went to them.
- I thought you'd never call me, - Jean-Flynn whispered to her.
- According to the plan, I did not intend to,- Alicia answered him.

The sun somehow strangely illuminated the quarter where  the trio was  - Jean-Flynn, Alicia and the policeman Sam. They learned a lot from Sam. He had fallen in love with Alicia, but she seemed on purpose, did not notice the guys. Only proudly and thoughtfully went under their protection.
- So I, for example, should have just downloaded the program of any university into the chip and everything, all  the knowledge will be mine? - Jean-Flynn was surprised. - My God, how the sun shines!
The sun  shifted so that, reflecting from the glass walls of houses, literally blinding a bright flash.
- Of course! - answered Sam. - Now many people  could get a job . They just load all the necessary information into the bracelet, and  the information automatically enters the brain .. somehow. Only removing it is dangerous. This is not disclosed, but the bracelet and TV-walls, cars, New Town - all this was created by Sophie Lonkrua and her company. All this is nothing, but if a child wears this bracelet, he cannot talk and walk without  it. And I understand their parents, everyone wants to make their child a genius.  Several times I answered  the calls and put on bracelets  on the guys. It hacked other children, it's like in our old days where children fought or did some dirty tricks. It seems to me that this is a lie. All these two weeks. Sophie did something to us.
- You and everybody allowed her do it,- Alicia said.
- Maybe I'll guide you today and tell you about the rules? - Suggested Sam.
- Come on. - Alicia kissed his cheek and put her hand on his bracelet.
The cozy cafe was almost empty. Jean-Flynn sat down next to Alicia. He himself could not understand why he began to be jealous of this petty person, who called herself the Queen Library. And  her ponytail also. When she turned her head, her ponytail was constantly beating Jean-Flynn's face. He pushed back her chair. Alicia was completely unpredictable. She was quiet and calm in a minute, then arrogant and crazy the next. But at the table she was, after all,- the Queen.
Jean-Flynn put his hand on Alicia's hand. She caught a glimpse of him. In her eyes there was always a cunning little flame when she looked at him.
- Do you have internet banking? Sam asked.
- Yes. - Alicia answered.
- Okay.
Alicia moved the chair closer to Jean-Flynn and looked inquiringly at him. He shrugged and looked away.
- If you are a newly-married couple, you'd better choose cities that have not yet become New Town. There are certainly more prospects here, but you will always be under Sophie's control.
- Big brother is watching you? - Alicia looked at the policeman.
- Not so bad ... I, for example, put on a bracelet myself. All this is addictive. You will quickly get used to it.
- So why?
- Young Madame Cars’en, our rules and our life will embarrass you.
They were  given  a purchase order. Jean-Flynn paid off with Alicia's phone.
- After all, I spend the night in the police station after I learned that my neighbors, through the TV wall, were somehow following my personal life. When the show "an exemplary family man" was on, they got bored, they told my wife that I was cheating on her. She believed them, made me a scandal, and these ... people ... sat and made bets – whether she would throw me or not. Many people connect to other houses and peek. We, the police, can also watch and listen to anyone. But I did not tell you that. Usually you can walk alone, but then you are accompanied by a policeman. Often this is due to people's dependence on gadgets. Yes, we have enough police. You're married, it's easier for you.
Alicia and Jean-Flynn exchanged glances. Jean-Flynn asked:
- And the libraries?
- What are they for? When there is a TV-wall? Just turn on the "Library" mode, and you can get to any library in the world. Take the book and read. Then the book returns to the shelf, - said Sam. -  It's very convenient.  And with museums, it’s the same way. When  it constantly works, it's a very fine idea, I visited so many places in the first week ...
- So that's why she changed her mind ...
- What are you saying, Monsieur Cars’en?
- No, nothing ... Why books cannot be read? Simple?
- Paper books are almost all banned. We have a list. Robert Charlie in New York, and here - Charles Roland, the mayor of Paris, issued a decree signed by the  governor  Sophie Lonkrua, that books should be destroyed or placed in a special library. Destroy mainly the educational literature. Or something that would remind people that there is another life. Our world is divided into several layers-quarters. It's like a small city in a metropolitan city. The first layer is schoolchildren, students. They are controlled by their parents. Children before school can still not wear bracelets. Not all adults are used to it. The second layer is business class. Caste, close to Sophia Lonkrua and her henchmen. Stay away from the business district and the business centers, these people in neat suits, with expensive watches and several bracelets are such snakes. How many  cases of disappearance, their battle for leadership ... according to old memory, even the most terrible crimes do not  compare to what people are  willing to do for a career. And the closer to the office of Lonkrua, the more hypocrisy and more dangerous are the people. The third layer goes deep into our state and is called Industrial. The whole staff depends on it, but this is the hardest work.
Mines, factories, electric power, engineering, careers, light industry - all industries there. The fourth layer is New Technique. This is the company of Sophie Lonkrua. The most closed caste. But all the advanced technology from there. You are now in a business class caste. Schools and Universities are located on the outskirts, in the same place - school and student campuses. Nearby - Business, so that parents and schoolchildren are comfortable. It seems I have told you everything.
- Thank you, Sam, you are our savior, - Alicia said.
- Have not changed your mind?
- No, - Jean-Flynn and Alicia answered together.
- Then ... I'll take you to my house.  I do not charge fees.
- Thank you, - Jean-Flynn said.  - Only with what kind of generosity? Why did you tell us so much?
- I loved my family. If their world has destroyed what gave me life, let someone become a stick in the wheel and in their world. All the same, we are all here close to losing reality.
- Sounds like a dystopia...-  muttered Cars’en. - Stop! So she just used the ideas of dystopias!
- Almost. - Alicia looked thoughtfully, turning over something tiny. - In her city, the system is all interconnected. This means that it will take a long time. With such an interconnection and remoteness from the main center of life, which provides her and her idea of  profit, she needs surveillance.  In  control of a lot of keeps. She just created a convenient system. That's all. Tell me, Sam, is there any chance for a person who is punished and cast to penal servitude, to escape?
- If only he is a genius or an invisible man. -  replied the policeman.
- You said it. Okay, let's go, - suggested the lady.
Sam brought them to one of the skyscrapers. He opened the door and  a young couple  enters the apartmant.
- Here's my number. I'll  retrieve the keys when you find a place to live. Do not buy apartments with blind TV-walls. Enough when she is alone, not four ....
- Thank you!
- We did not even walk around Paris ...- Jean-Flynn said and went to inspect the apartment.
- You're  sound serious ... Or it seems to me."
- It just seems this way to you!
- Well.
Alicia went into the room. All the walls here were made from a special glass, and a huge window opened to the view of the city. Under the conditions and rules that Sam described, speaking of New Town, its existence as a single city is impossible. New Town must be many cities. Hence there are many centers. They need to know only where the central office and pick up books ... Alicia thought and touched the wall ... Under her hand  appeared "blurred" image. It was a map of all cities that have changed in this way. About a hundred ... and more are being built ...
She quickly photographed the map and hid the phone.
"Maybe the TV-wall here ..."
Alicia touched again.
This time it was an ancient forest, and the 3D image captured all the walls, even on the floor a hologram of grass appeared, to the touch - like a real one.
Jean-Flynn imperceptibly slipped into the room, and  surprised Alicia with a joyous cry:
- Wow!
- Ugh, Jean-Flynn Cars’en! - Alicia shushed at him. – What’s the matter with  you? The effect is really excellent.
The singing of birds was heard in the forest. Alicia continued to explore the Wall. She touched the button on a barely noticeable panel, and the birds flew over their heads.
- And where is the wall - surveillance? - Jean-Flynn noticed that only a huge window on the whole wall had not changed.
- You're a genius, Jean-Flynn. What do you think?
- The window.
- Bravo!
- So that's why the houses are like mirrors .... Stop.
- Do you think about the same inconsistency as I do? - Alicia stepped away from the wall.
- Door!
Jean-Flynn and Alicia returned to the door. Jean-Flynn yanked it open.
- Closed it. But if there is anything, you can break  it.
- As well as the wall. Work on this task, my smart boy, until the food  stored in his refrigerator is  depleted and we will not perish from insanity or starvation. - Said Alicia, phlegmatically.
- You are very positive, Your Highness. We will die??
- I hope not.
Alicia was gone. Jean-Flynn went to look for tools.
- Done! How are you? - He looked slyly at Alicia.
Alicia "woven" from the stems of lianas and roses in a wall that sprouts from the floor and closes the window-surveillance.
- Clever-boy, - Alicia smiled.- I'm almost done.
- It's you? How are you doing this?
-  It’s a secret.
- You have beautiful magic, your Highness Library.


- Alas, I ... I just cannot do it all. Well, one day, no one will bother us. I'll leave it on. If he really has bad neighbors, let them listen to the birds. If you break the code of the Wall, you can track where the Center is .... Make the technology work on the  it’s own disadvantage...
Jean-Flynn  moved towards the sofa and  collapse, falling asleep and snoring.
Alicia sat beside him, looking curiously at the Librarian. She took off the ring and put it on the nightstand. There she left a note.
When he woke up, she was already rushing, riding a horse to her possession at that time. If she does not have time …