Both of Them
Entropy and Energy
The Opaque Part of the Body
If your world is similar to the world of the ancients， then you may easily imagine that one day you suddenly come upon a sixth or a seventh continent， upon some Atlantis， and you find there unheard-of cities， labyrinths， people flying through the air without the aid of wings or aeros， stones lifted into the air by the power of a gaze—in brief， imagine that you see things that cannot come to your mind even if you suffer from dream sickness. That is how I feel now. For you must understand that no one has ever gone beyond the Green Wall since the Two Hundred Years" War， as I have already told you.
I know it is my duty to you， my unknown friends， to give more details about that unsuspected， strange world which has opened to me since yesterday. But for the time being I am unable to return to that subject. Everything is so novel， so novel it is like a rainstorm， and I am not big enough to embrace it all. I spread out the folds of my unif， my palms—and yet pailfuls splash past me and only drops can reach these pages ....
At first I heard behind me， behind the door， a loud voice. I recognized her voice， the voice of I-330， tense， metallic—and another one， almost inflexible， like a wooden ruler， the voice of U-. Then the door burst open with a crack and both of them shot into the room. Shot is the right word. I-330 put her hand on the back of my armchair and smiled over her shoulder， but only with her teeth， at U-. I should not care to stand before such a smile.
"Listen，" she said to me， "this woman seems to have made it her business to guard you from me like a little child. Is it with your permission？"
"But he"s a child. Yes！ That is why he does not notice that you ...that it is only in order...That all this is only a foul game！ Yes！ And it is my duty... "
For a second （in the mirror） the broken， trembling line of brows. I leaped， controlling with difficulty the other self within me， the one with the hairy fists. With difficulty， pushing every word through my teeth， I cried straight into her face， into her very gills：
"Get out of here at once！ Out！ At once！"
The gills swelled at first into brick-red lumps， then fell and became gray. She opened her mouth to say something， but without a word she slammed it shut and went out.
I threw myself toward I-330.
"Never， never will I forgive myself！ She dared！ You ...But you don"t think， do you， that you， that she ...This is all because she wants to register on me， but I..."
"Fortunately she will not have time for that now. Besides， even a thousand like her ... I don"t care....I know you will not believe that thousand， but only me. For after all that happened yesterday， I am all yours， all， to the very end， as you wanted it. I am in your hands； you can now at any moment...."
"What， "at any moment"？" （But immediately I understood what. The blood rushed to my ears and cheeks.） "Don"t speak about that， you must never speak about that！ The other I， my former self...but now..."
"How do I know？ Man is like a novel： up to the last page one does not know what the end will be. It would not be worth reading otherwise."
She was stroking my head. I could not see her face， but I could tell by her voice that she was looking somewhere far into the distance； she had hooked herself on to that cloud which was floating silently， slowly， no one knows where to.
Suddenly she pushed me away with her hand， firmly but tenderly.
"Listen. I came to tell you that perhaps we are now...our last days...You know， don"t you， that all Auditoriums are to be closed after tonight？"
"Closed？"
"Yes. I passed by and saw that in all Auditoriums preparations are going on： tables， medics all in white ..."
"But what does it all mean？"
"I don"t know. Nobody knows as yet. That"s the worst of it. I feel only that the current is on， the spark is jumping， and if not today， then tomorrow....Yet perhaps they will not have time...."
It has been a long while since I ceased to understand who they are and who we are. I do not understand what I want； do I want them to have or not to have enough time？ One thing is clear to me： I-330 is now on the very edge， on the very edge， and in one second more...
"But it is folly，" I said. "You， versus the United State！ It"s the same as if you were to cover the muzzle of a gun with your hands and expect that way to prevent the shot....It is absolute folly！"
A smile.
"We must all go insane—as soon as possible go insane. It was yesterday， do you remember？"
Yes， she was right； I had even written it down. Consequently， it really had taken place. In silence I looked into her face. At that moment the dark cross was especially distinct.
"I-， dear， before it is too late... If you want...I"ll leave everything， I"ll forget everything， and we"ll go there beyond the Wall， to them....I do not even know who they are....
She shook her head. Through the dark windows of her eyes I saw within her a flaming oven， sparks， tongues of flame， and above them a heap of dry wood. It was clear to me that it was too late， my words could be of no avail.
She stood up. She would soon leave. Perhaps these were the last days， or the last minutes....I grasped her hand.
"No， stay a little while longer...for the sake...for the sake..."
She slowly lifted my hand toward the light， my hairy paw which I detest. I wanted to withdraw it， but she held it tightly.
"Your hand...You undoubtedly don"t know， and very few do know， that women from here occasionally used to fall in love with them. Probably there are in you a few drops of that blood of the sun and the woods. Perhaps that is why I..."
Silence. It was so strange that because of that silence， because of an emptiness， because of a nothing， my heart should beat so wildly. I cried：
"Ah， you shall not go yet！ You shall not go until you tell me about them， for you love...them， and I don"t even know who they are， nor where they come from."
"Where are they？ The half we have lost. —H2and O， two halves， but in order to get water—H2O， creeks， seas， waterfalls， storms—those two halves must be united."
