Pythagorean (eBook)

Chapter 2.

Who Am I? Where Am I?
When Am I?

On the shore of the bluest sea in the world lay a pleasant-looking fashionable young man of about eighteen with long dark hair who was of medium height. He was dressed in a long white chiton with a light-colored cloak draped over it. His eyes were closed, his head and face were covered with spots of blood and his clothes were slightly torn and stained. The overall appearance of the young man gave the definite impression that yesterday had not been his day.

The sea looked unusually calm, with only the noisy cries of hungry gulls busy in the spotting of prey disturbing the measured whisper of the small light waves. The young man slowly opened his eyes, looked at what was in front of him and quietly said, “Oh come on, to hell with this!” and immediately closed them again. However, the cries of the seagulls did not leave the young man any chance of lying there in peace, and he had to open his eyes again. First, he looked at the sea, and then with great surprise at his clothes, and slowly putting the words together uttered, “What kind of masquerade costume is this? What did they pour us to drink at the casino yesterday? Or were they giving it away for taste testing?” Then he thought, My God, why does my head hurt so much? Why did I get so drunk yesterday? This never used to happen before, and now here we go again. I must be getting old....

He got up and went over to the water and bent down to rinse off his face. From the mirror-like reflection of the smooth surface of the water a face that he had never seen before looked back at him. His eyes got big and round, and the young man let out a scream, the general meaning of which could be expressed in a literary manner as: “What the hell is that??” The young man was Theo, but the one looking up at him from the water was most definitely not.

Theodore’s consciousness started to quickly come back to him, and he had the clear understanding that on the one hand he was no longer asleep and was critically aware and analyzing what was happening around him. On the other hand, the face and body which he now beheld, he was seeing for the first time in all of his 36 years. What was more was that this body seemed to have lived much less and had led a much healthier lifestyle than he ever had.

The shape of his hands and fingernails were completely different, as was the figure and the shape of his legs, and this body appeared to be significantly shorter than his original one. In short he saw nothing that reminded him of, or even hinted at, the original Theo.

“I fully understand that a person can lose weight and lessen in width, but is it possible to lose weight and lessen in height?” He sat and asked himself rhetorical questions. “Well, at least if I still have a sense of humor, then that means I still exist,” for some reason he concluded.

Sedentary work usually serves to make its own adjustments to a programmer’s physical condition, including slouching and the presence of additional body fat in the front, and sometimes even in the back. If anyone believes that the main working organ of a programmer is the head, then they are mistaken. A programmer can sometimes think and sometimes they simply are not able to, but there is always the constant of sitting, so therefore the main working organ of the programmer is ... that’s right, his soft backside. However, in today’s current version of his body, all of the effects of constant sedentary, and in fact extremely intellectual work, were in no way visible to Theo.

“Wow! This is quite the upgrade!” Theo exclaimed, not noticing that he was saying it out loud. However, his joy quickly turned to worry as the thoughts took over: Where am I? Where are my phone and my documents? Where’s my car?

In the end Theo decided to go for a swim after all and clean himself up. After a short ablution in the cool salt water, he dried off a little in the sun and went in search of a shower, water and food, as well as normal law-abiding citizens in order to get answers to at least some of the questions that were currently screaming for answers.

After cleaning off all of the blood and dirt, he tried to organize his thoughts and figure out what was really going on. This is a strange place, he thought, the beach is completely uncared for and there are no hotels in sight or yachts in the sea. This is very strange. This will be quite the number if I somehow ended up on some desert island while I was sleeping! If I tell anyone, no one will believe it: I am some sort of Robinson Crusoe! Well, let’s see what happens next, Theo thought, and saw a path that led from the beach to the top of a hill.

With the overly calculated movements and gait of a brave knight after an extremely heavy session of drinking, the young man wandered off towards the unknown. Theo reasoned that if he had been stupidly robbed while drunk that he should have either woken up somewhere in the bushes or have been in his usual clothes. Then there was the third possibility that maybe ... just maybe he really was dead. That would explain the strange clothing and the lack of any signs of life near or around the sea. However, even that did not explain the unknown image of himself which he had seen in the water.

After about half an hour of walking at a lazy pace Theo finally saw what looked to be a village and people. However, it all looked like the set of some movie about Ancient Greece, with people dressed in traditional clothes and houses that looked more like ancient mud huts than anything that existed in modern times.

Oh, I see! They’re making a movie! And what high-quality decorations! Probably the guys from Hollywood have arrived and are operating with a really decent budget! This will be very interesting if they are shooting Troy-2, and I suddenly walk onto the set! The young man thought and cheerfully walked towards what he believed was a film set.

The idea that he was wearing the same clothes as the participants in the film shootings, for some reason, did not even enter his mind. However, as Theo neared the action, he suddenly noticed that the poles and lighting projectors, as well as the microphones and cameras, were not visible anywhere. Also, if this was a film shooting, then that meant that someone had to be shooting it and there should be actors and extras grouped together with those who shoot them. So then who are the filmmakers here? Directors, cameramen, costume specialists and everyone else required to make a film should be dressed in normal clothes and appear as normal, just like the vehicles that transport equipment and props that should be parked everywhere!

Logically all of that should probably be visible and all over the place, but none of that was anywhere to be found. Everything looked pristine and as it had probably been in ancient times before the harsh and merciless foot of “civilized” Europeans had set foot there. At first, Theo was shocked and taken aback by what he saw around him, and then a chill ran from the top of his head to his stomach and stayed somewhere deep inside him. With a huge effort Theo resolutely pulled himself together and tried to think things through logically.

To put it mildly, I do not look very much like myself. And now to the list of my main questions — “Where am I?” and “Who am I?”—I need to naturally add another question: “When am I?” And this is far from being funny anymore, Theo mused, either to himself or out loud … then after standing there for an indeterminate length of time staring at the village and contemplating what he saw, he came to the conclusion that he didn’t have any rational explanation for what he was currently observing, and so the rational and the most reasonable thing to do was just wait and see what happened next. Perhaps he could find an adequate explanation later.

Theo decided to go into the village and started heading towards it, walking along a small narrow street where he soon saw a small group of people, also dressed as ancient Greeks. He headed directly towards them, but no one paid any particular attention to him, which added comfort to the process of getting used to this new and unusual environment. Suddenly, behind him someone let out a startled cry and stretched out an arm pointing in his direction. Theo looked around and saw a young man ... of an indeterminate age: the outward appearance of the local population seemed to correspond to completely different age groups than those in Theo’s normal life. He estimated that the age of this young man was between 25 and 30 years old, and it was obvious that they knew each other, and that the sight of Theo bothered, or even frightened him.

Theo decided that first of all, it was definitely not worth running away, and second of all, this young man could be a source of very useful local information. With that thought in mind, Theo made his way over to the terrified young man, wondering why the sight of him could possibly frighten him so much: Maybe I’m his boss? Does he owe me money? Did I promise to kill him? In any case, there now were at least three pieces of good news: first, if he is afraid of me, then I don’t have to be afraid of him, and that’s a fact. Second, I’d like to eat something, and I don’t have any money, so I’ll tell him that if he feeds me, I’ll be less angry with him and then he’ll be less afraid of me. And third, he knows me, and I can get all the necessary information about what kind of place this is and who I am right here and now and then it will be...