Chapter  11

                                 The  Swami’s  yurt

 

 Jack saw in the distance a small round building.

 “It is a yurt” he thought.

  But it was very unusual.

 Not the nondescript black or gray dwelling he had seen elsewhere.

 This one appeared to be floating a short distance above the ground.

 The exterior seemed to be patterned after tiger,

  in orange and black horizontal stripes.

 As he got closer,

 he noticed  that moving patterns appeared on the orange background.

 A single word   ‘ Swami ‘  .

 Walking around the tent,

 a large  crooked sign above the doorway caught his attention.

 He could  decipher the letters “  Enter ”  among the worn text. 

 The door was closed,

 but he could hear someone inside speaking quietly.

 Thin trails of smoke passed at intervals through the wall.

 The  smell  on  inscence.

 As he was examining an intricately patterned carving mounted at eye level,

 he became aware that his feet were very cold. 

 Looking downward, he saw only smoke where he expected to see his boots.

  By now, he was used to disorienting visual sensations, so was not alarmed.

  And the sensation of coldness wasn’t from snow or ice.

  Looking up again to where the carving had been,

  now was only dull black round tent. 

  Entering,  he  saw  a  small  Indian  lady  sitting  cross-legged.

       --------------------

 

 Swami           Welcome,  what  brings  you  here ?

 Agni               I  want  to  know  how  to  impress  a  Tibetan  girl .

                       Can  you  tell  me  how  to  do  this .

 Swami           Of  course  I  can .

                       be  attentive.

 Agni               Attentive  ?

 Swamī           You  must  learn  the  art  of  choosing  your  state  of  mind.

                       Choosing  the  state  of  mind  that  is  attentive  and  in  the  Now ,

                       will   surely   impress  her .

 Agni               How  do  I  learn  that  ?

 Swamī           You  are  motivated,  that’s  essential .

                       You  must  also   remember  to  be  attentive   ,

                       be  aware  of  what’s  going  through  your  mind ,

                       and   then  choose.

 Agni               Choose  ?

 Swamī           Choose  to  be  Awake  in  the  Present  Moment  , 

                       with  a  quiet  mind.

 Agni              But  what  do  I  say  to  her ?

 Swami          There  is  no  need  to  say  anything .

                       Let  us   use  Information  Theory  here .

                      Information  Theory  applies  directly  to  language .

                      It  states  that ;

                      the  cause  or  reason  for  information  transmission  is  Uncertainty .

                      If  there  is  Certainty ,

                      then  there  is  no  need  to  communicate .

                      so

                      Listen  and  respond .                     

                                    -------------------------

                             outside  texting  Yazmin

 

                                         Agni

               Yazmin ,   I’m  heading  back  to  reality.

               You  girls  do  what  ever  you  want.  

                                       Yazmin

               We’ll  head  back  in  a  couple  of  hours.

               There  is  food  in  the  refrigerator.

                                       Agni

                Later.                     

                            ----------------------------------

 

                               at  Kaminski’s  bookshop

 

 Jack              Is  Dick  in  the  back  ?

 Worker         Yes,  go  right  in .   Do  you  want  coffee ?

 J                   Yes ,   thanks.

                       -----

 J             Hey  Dick.         

 D            Hey ,     Are  you  growing  a  goatee ?

 J             Durgā  likes  the  artistic  type.

 D            You  know ,  if  she  finds  out  what  your  up  to,

                She  might  cut  your  balls  off.

 J             I’m  having  a  lot  of  fun  with  this  Dick.

                Could  we  shut  off  the  computers  in  this  room ?

 D            ahh ,   OK .

                     ---------

 J             I  may  have  something  of  value  for  you.

                This  might  put  you  on  the  map.

 D         Well ,   tell  me  what  it  is.

 J          Have  you  heard  of  the   98  Hubs  hosting  MMOs.

 D          No ,  can’t  say  that  I  have.

 J         There  could  be  something  very  big  here.

             These  huge   mainframes  are  competing  ,

             to  become  the  first  A.I.

             We  are  not  talking  about  governments  here.

             We  are  talking  about  Corporations  and  billionaires.

             Huge  amounts  of  money  is  being  spent.

 D         Online  gaming  is  a  big  business.

 J          Here  is  the  juice.

             These  mainframes  are  using  Online players

             to  learn  how  to become  conscious.

            One  of  these  Hubs  is  in  Katmandu.

 D         So,  you  think  we  should  check  them  out.

 J          Most  definitely.  But  there  is  a  problem .

             These  Hubs  have  employed  people  ,

             that  are  far  smarter  then  we.

 D         Yips ,  how  do  we  get  around  that  ?

 J          I  don’t  know  but  maybe  Dipaka  could  help  us with  this  problem .

             I  don’t  know  the  name  of  the  Hub  here,

             but  it  runs  a  game  called  Maya  Manas.

 D         I’ll  call  Dipaka  .

 J          Be  careful.

             I’m  also  sure  that  they  can  listen  in  on,

             smart phones  ,  computers   and  what  not.

             Remember ,  these  people  are  light-years  ahead  us .

 D         You  think  that  they  could  listen  to  us

             in  this  room   through   these  secure  computers ?

 J          If  they  were  turned  on,   yes  .

 D          Really .

 J           Really .  Could  you  put  a  tail  on  Durgā  for  a  couple  of  days.

             And  have  him  call  me.

 D          Yea ,  but  it’s  a  she.    We  call  her  RC .

 J           Great ,  we  also  need  to  find  the  location  of  the  local  Hub.

 D          Sure,   don’t   forget  that  you’re  leaving  for  Lhasa  in  4  days.

 J           Yes,  and  tell  Rebecca ,

              we  need  to  go  through  Chamling  Lake  again.

 D          We  need  to  get  Dipaka  in  here .

             Tomorrow  morning  8:00  good  for  you  ?

 J          See   you  then .

                     ---------------------

                      at   the  real  apartment

 

      Binā  and  Abha   took  off  their  earphones, googles  and  caps.

 

 Jack       Welcome  back .

                You  girls  want  a  beer  or  something.

                What’s  that  ?

 Binā        Beer  for both  of  us.

                It’s  a  dog .

 J             What  are  you2   doing  with  a  dog  ?

 A            It  has  become  my  friend .

               I  can’t  let  it  starve.

 J             OK ,   bring  him  in.

                What’s  his  name  ?

 A            He  doesn’t  have  a  name.

                           ------------

 J            That  cyber  journey  was  interesting ,  yes .

                  How’s  it  going  with  Penelopī  ?

 Abha         Here’s  a  plan.

                 The  next  time  she  jacks  in ,

                 we’ll  follow  her ,  hopefully  to  her  quest.

                 We  then  join,  mess  around  ,

                 and  then  give  you  a  heads  up.

 J              I  like  you  Abha .

 A             Don’t  get  any  ideas  Jack.

                 I’m  a  lesbian .

 J              Holy   crap !

 A