"John Meaney - Sanctification (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Meaney John)

absorb the thinking and make it part of her own. Quantum theory was
taught
in the simplest fashion, for the rigorous mathematics would come later.
She had human tutors, who made no personal contact and discussed only
the
academic matter at hand. She spent hours interacting with her terminal.
Occasionally, the old man silently observed.
He was not present on the twentieth day, when Zenshara worked her way
successfully through a series of wave-function problems, drawing holos
in
the air with her fingertip-cursor. Afterwards, the terminal
demonstrated
the interconnectedness of events: separating two particles in a singlet
state, deciding afterwards the axis of the measurement upon the
randomly
fluctuating spins. Collapsing one wave function. The other particle
always
knew - instantaneously - how to be its partner's opposite. Yet it had
not
known this before the separation; it was as though history had been
altered to determine the second particle's characteristics.
"How then," asked the terminal, "may this occur?"
Zenshara remained silent.
"Why do you not answer?" The voice was neutral.
Zenshara shrugged. "It must occur, since it has happened. I can't
explain
it. It just is."
Though the old man was not in the room, he was watching nonetheless.
Observing a small display, he bowed his head as Zenshara answered.
Things
would happen as they must. It was not wisdom to hope too easily, for
there
were many disappointments for a Teacher. But the child showed promise.
A
great deal of promise, indeed.

Zenshara was placed in the girls' dormitory. To her surprise, there
were
more girls than boys studying in the monastery. Some were student
technicians, some were true acolytes who hoped to travel as far as they
 could along the path to Sainthood. Her rough accent marked her as
different from the rest. The girls' origins ranged from upper
middle-class
homes to the highest strata of society. They were educated, and
demonstrated as much poise as young girls could. Zenshara wished she
had
their dainty elegance, their gaiety. On the first evening, not one of
them
talked to her. Zenshara kept her silence. Let them, if they wanted,
make