WHEN THE doctors were back in their seats again Daniel was already there. He had been collected from his care center room by two hosts and was sitting next to Gisela at the end of the table. He felt like a prisoner who had been dragged to his trial from his cell. He could only see the men and women around the table through a sort of fog. The box of contact lenses was still in the cabin and no one had fetched it for him even though he had asked several times.
Gisela welcomed him, then immediately set about questioning him like a lawyer.
“You and Max are twins, if I’ve understood you correctly?”
“I’ve said so plenty of times now.”
Everyone around the conference table was watching him with the greatest interest, except Doctor Fischer, who was looking pointedly up at the ceiling.
“Can you tell us who you are?”
As Daniel was talking, Doctor Fischer stifled a yawn, turned to Gisela Obermann, and said, “Gisela, my dear. Why are you taking up our time with this nonsense?”
“We have to listen to what he has to say. I think it’s quite clear that we’re dealing with a new personality here. He has no memories of his life as Max,” Gisela said.
Hedda Heine asked to speak.
“If Doctor Obermann is right, we’re facing a moral dilemma. Shouldn’t we be concerned for his safety? He is clearly what certain of our residents call a ‘lamb.’ Shouldn’t he have some sort of protection?”
“Absolutely not!” Karl Fischer snarled, slapping his hand down on the table. “He’s here for the same reason as all the others and he won’t be getting any more protection than anyone else. He’s a particularly devious, calculating individual who has read up about psychiatric disorders and is now trying to play us off against one another.”
“Doctor Fischer!” Gisela exclaimed. “Choose your words carefully. Remember that the resident in question is present.”
“Take him out, then. I don’t think we require his presence any longer. He keeps saying the same thing. To be honest, I’m sick of him.”
Gisela stood up abruptly and nodded to Daniel.
“I’ll come with you to your room,” she whispered.
“Well, that’s that,” Karl Fischer said once Gisela Obermann and Daniel had left. “You must make allowances for Doctor Obermann. She has a lot of ambition and works hard. I’m afraid everything has gotten to be rather too much for her recently. Does anyone have anything to add, or can we end this meeting now?”
“On an entirely different subject,” Brian Jenkins said, waving a sheet of paper. “This list of researchers who have been invited to visit. There’s one name here, Greg Jones. Who the hell is that? I’ve never heard of him.”
Karl Fischer ran his fingers through his short gray hair. He thought for a moment, cleared his throat, and said, “As you all know, we have a very generous anonymous benefactor who has given a great deal of money to Himmelstal. Well, that’s this Greg Jones. He would rather I didn’t say so, so I must ask you to keep it to yourselves. His fortune is based on a cosmetics company founded by his grandfather. His sister was kidnapped by a madman when she was eleven years old. The family was prepared to pay a huge sum in ransom but there was a misunderstanding and the kidnapper didn’t get his money in time. The girl was found in a rubbish bin with her throat cut. Greg Jones wants to solve the mystery of psychopathy. Thanks to his support, we might one day succeed. The least we can do is grant his wish to visit Himmelstal and show him around. Because he doesn’t want to make a fuss, he’d rather join a group visit. I’ve promised him the very greatest discretion. He is to be treated exactly the same as our other guests.”
Brian Jenkins let out a whistle.
“A modest billionaire. Unusual. Greg Jones isn’t his real name, is it? Fine. As long as he invests his money in Himmelstal he can call himself whatever the hell he wants.”
With her arm in a maternal hold around his back, Gisela Obermann led Daniel off to the elevator, then through the corridors.
“I’m having trouble persuading the others to agree with my theory,” she said. “Most of them think you’re manipulating me. And Doctor Fischer can be rather blunt at times. I hope it didn’t upset you. Am I walking too fast for you?”
Daniel was no longer using the crutches but was still limping slightly. He missed the contact lenses. He suddenly realized what it must be like to be old, to have difficulty walking and seeing. Gisela slowed down.
“Considering what I’ve had to put up with in this place, a few blunt words really don’t matter much,” Daniel said. “By the way, what does ‘lamb’ mean?”
“It’s Himmelstal slang. That’s what the residents call the rest of us. People with consciences and the ability to empathize. We’re lambs. They regard us as stupid, lesser creatures, but simultaneously as rather attractive, I think. Pure, innocent. They see a sort of beauty in us. Mind you, we doctors aren’t really regarded as proper lambs. Nor are the clinic staff. Because we’re on our guard, we know too much. Real lambs are probably what’s really missing in here.”
Daniel thought about Samantha, and something suddenly struck him.
“There are both men and women in the valley.”
“Mostly men,” Gisela said. “Eighty percent. Which doesn’t necessarily mean that psychopathy is more common in men, but it does tend to manifest itself in more violent acts, which makes them more liable to criminal and medical investigation. And we get most of our residents through the legal system.”
“But there are women here as well,” Daniel pointed out. “Residents of both sexes spend their whole lives in Himmelstal, interacting freely with one another. But I haven’t seen any children so far. Not in the village, nor anywhere else in the valley. Not a single child!”
“We want everything to be as natural as possible in Himmelstal. There’s no ban on sexual relationships. But obviously we can’t have any children here. Everyone, women and men alike, are sterilized. It’s done as soon as people arrive.”
She said this calmly and matter-of-factly, as though she were talking about vaccinations against the flu.
“So Max has been…”
Gisela nodded. “Everyone has. And because you and Max share a body, that applies to you as well.”
She’s talking about Max. Not me, Daniel said to himself. This doesn’t involve me.
“To start with we feared that the women would be taken advantage of. But the women here in Himmelstal can bite back. So people are allowed to pair up however they like. That’s the best way. As natural as possible. Some were couples before they even arrived. Like Hannelore and her husband at the bierstube. There are quite a lot of fleeting relationships. And some homosexual relationships as well, of course. And in all likelihood prostitution too.”
They had reached the ward where Daniel’s room was. Gisela tapped in a code and the doors slid open for them.
“But we don’t really know much about that, it’s all part of the residents’ private lives. Everyone gets tested for sexual infections. It’s done as soon as a resident arrives. Tests, then any necessary treatment. So here there’s no need for anyone to worry about anything. No pregnancy. No sexually transmitted diseases. A free-love paradise, I suppose.”
They stopped at the door to Daniel’s room.
“Well, here we are,” Gisela said, opening it for him.
But Daniel didn’t move.
“Hang on a moment. I know identical twins have the same DNA, but if Max was sterilized, you must be able to see that I’m not him. That can be checked, can’t it?”
Gisela laughed.
“Probably. That’s not really my area of expertise. But I imagine I’d have to get Doctor Fischer’s permission for such an unnecessary investigation. But everyone here knows who you are. You’re the only one who doesn’t.”
She gestured toward the room.
“Go and get some rest now. I hope you’ll be able to go back to your cabin soon. Until then, you can read through this.”
She handed him a printout with an alpine mountaintop on the cover.
“Some information about Himmelstal. We usually give it to new arrivals, and I suppose that’s how we have to regard you. And Doctor Heine was right, you need protection, Daniel. I’ll see what I can do. A piece of advice: Don’t tell the other residents that you’re Daniel. To them you’re still Max, okay? The social structure in Himmelstal is strictly hierarchical, and Max enjoyed a degree of respect.” She winked conspiratorially at him and whispered, “Just pretend to be him.”