The White Space. Chapter 12. And Then There Were Three

The next day he could hardly wait for the meeting with his neighbor Marcus’s nephew. For the first time he had someone with shared interests, and now he was about to meet another. He would be able to share his ideas, pass on his knowledge. Even simply talking about his thoughts already meant a lot. Before, he had no one to share them with, and until recently he even felt as if there was nothing to share at all, as if he had not really lived before this.

His life seemed to have begun only in that hidden apartment. Everything before it felt like white fog.

The doorbell rang. The screen showed the name Marcus Rainer. He opened the door. A young man, about twenty years old, was standing there. He invited him in.

— Sirius, — the main character introduced himself and extended his hand.

— Kai, — the other replied and shook it.

The young man immediately began to look around the apartment in fascination, just as he himself once looked at the apartment that had changed his life. He carefully examined every detail.

Their attention was immediately drawn to the sculpture.

— A very interesting woman gave this to me yesterday, — Sirius said, noticing their gaze, and told the story. Kai listened with fascination, absorbing every detail like a sponge.

Then Sirius gave them a small tour of the apartment, explaining every object he had created there: colors, light, materials.

They sat down at the table. Over a cup of coffee, the young man began asking about the colored world. He listened so attentively, with such curiosity, as if he had already been there — as if the conversation itself was opening the door to another reality.

Sirius also showed him and Marcus his sketchbook, which he had found in the hidden apartment. Kai really liked the sketches and photographs. Sirius liked this boy — he thought differently, he did not want to obey the system. Just like the main character, he wanted change.

They agreed to redesign his apartment together. The boy would try to do it himself, and the main character would only assist.

And since neither of them liked to wait long, the very next day Sirius came to Kai’s apartment. The young man opened the door to a small studio. Sirius carefully looked around the space: Kai had designed the interior himself, and for a beginner it looked quite good. There was a sense of style. Everything was minimalistic but interesting, even within the limitations of the white world.

— Are you ready? — Sirius asked.

— Yes, — the young man replied with excitement.

They put on the glasses and opened the shared space-creation mode. Sirius sent him his material library. The boy began selecting elements in a virtual environment.

The main character found it interesting to observe him. The young man chose materials and furniture that Sirius himself would never have chosen, but he decided not to stop him. This was his space, his perception.

And gradually, a personal style began to emerge. The boy combined things Sirius would never have dared to combine — whether due to inexperience or, on the contrary, boldness — but the result looked very interesting.

Suddenly the shredder buzzed, followed by the printer. The space began to change — first in the virtual mode, and then in reality.

What surprised Sirius the most was the colored lighting the boy had added. It filled the space with soft light and created a strange, almost meditative atmosphere. The apartment became completely different.

Kai was glowing with joy, savoring the result of his work. And Sirius — the result of his. Another change in his life. And now, brick by brick, a new world was beginning to take shape. From now on, it was no longer built by his hands alone — he was not alone anymore.

— I have something for you, — he said to the boy. — I want to give you a gift.

Sirius took the sketchbook from his coat pocket. Kai froze in surprise — he understood very well how important this object was to its owner.

— These are ideas from the previous owner that once inspired me, — Sirius continued. — And I added mine as well. And now I want you to have it. To continue it… to add your ideas.

For Sirius, this was a very important moment. The sketchbook was precious to him, but true strength was not in keeping knowledge for oneself. True strength was in passing it on. And he felt that the person standing in front of him was exactly the one he wanted to entrust it to.

Kai carefully took the sketchbook, opened it, and ran his fingers over the pages.

— Thank you very much, — he said. — I promise to continue your work. We can develop it together.

From that time on, he, the boy, and the neighbor began meeting often at each other’s homes. A real friendship quickly formed between them. They could talk about anything, without fear of anyone or anything.

Marcus’s nephew was studying to become a spatial calibrator, just like the main character once had. Those times he now remembered only vaguely, but it was interesting to listen to the boy’s stories. The young man explained how they were taught that the color white was the foundation of social safety, and that humanity had reached this state after long wars that used to happen constantly. Since the system had been introduced, no wars had occurred. All the books they studied from contained only white interiors designed according to strict standards. There were entire volumes of rules: room heights, allowed angles, lighting types, material catalogs. And in none of those books were there examples of how not to do things — only how to do them correctly.

Every year these books were updated, new standards and regulations were added. A separate research center worked on them. In this way, the system trained new architects, spatial calibrators, and urban planners. To obtain a license, one had to pass an exam on regulations and create an interior without a single deviation. Any mistake meant repeating the training.

Marcus worked at a factory producing 3D printers and was a tester. Only a few people worked there — most of the production was fully automated. However, setup, calibration, and quality control were performed by humans. Each printer was issued only to a licensed person, and there was no way to obtain one otherwise.

Kai would soon receive his license to begin practical training. Until then, Sirius decided to let him use his own printer.

The neighbor explained that there were many other types of printers. For example, large industrial printers for constructing massive structures, construction drones capable of building high-rise buildings, and systems for creating bridges, tunnels, and urban infrastructure. They only produced components for these systems, while drone assembly took place at another factory. Sirius had never worked with such machines.

Each type of printer required a separate license and had its own material database. Even the cartridges were different. There was also a separate department at the factory that worked with biological materials, but the neighbor knew little about it — he did not have clearance. There were other departments as well, but what exactly was produced there remained unknown; access required strict loyalty checks, and each level had its own permissions.

Cartridges and materials were produced at other factories, and as far as Marcus knew, this was the only production facility located outside the White World. Everything was strictly divided, and there was no fully autonomous production anywhere.

For example, microchips were supplied from a completely different plant. At times it seemed as if the system was deliberately designed this way, as if it feared rebellion. Because even if one ever happened, without a complete production cycle it would not be able to survive for long.

Together with Kai, they developed something new and very useful for themselves — special window overlays. It was a kind of additional glass installed on the inside. From the outside it looked like ordinary transparent glass and let all light pass through unchanged. But when warm or colored lighting was turned on inside the apartment, the glass converted it into white light. This way, their colored spaces could exist unnoticed by the White World.

What he had once begun alone was now, together with the young student, transformed into something entirely new and useful for both of them. And when there is someone to share a small joy with, it becomes much greater. It gave them motivation. Together, things were no longer so frightening.

Of course, they understood that if the system decided to remove any of them, there would likely be no way to stop it. But emotional support was still important. It gave them a sense of calm and even a certain illusion of safety — as much as one could possibly feel safe in the White World.

They already understood that everything would not end with three apartments. They would continue coloring this world further. For now, they did not yet know how, but they clearly understood that what they were doing was only a very small change within the scale of the entire White World.

Changing only apartments was not enough to change the whole system. They did not have the resources for anything larger. But they were driven by a sense of belief — that something might eventually change over time.

Sirius had never thought that his small colored world would ever extend beyond his own door. And now they already had a small group — three people, three like-minded individuals.

Once, they were sitting together again in the main character’s apartment, talking calmly, sharing thoughts, completely unaware of where all of this would eventually lead.

The neighbor mentioned that he had found someone else who might fit into their small circle. But she did not yet know about it herself. She was a colleague from the factory where he worked. During their rare short conversations, he had noticed something in her — a subtle dissatisfaction with the system. She never spoke about it directly; her words were always careful, veiled. But sometimes, in her voice or gaze, a hint of doubt appeared.

Such things were hard to explain in words, but people who did not accept the system seemed to sense each other — as if an invisible thread connected them.

However, this was not enough. They understood that there was no room for mistakes here. They needed to be sure. A verification was required.