VERSION 497

CHIDI'S CHALLENGE

"Chidi, you are dead. But don't worry, you are in the Good Place."

Chidi did not react to that exactly as an ordinary person would. Instead, his thoughts went back to Dostoievsky, and the Russian writer's formulation that "If there is no God, then everything is lawful – in other words, that ethical systems had to be based on religion. Chidi disliked that approach; his entire life's work was based on the idea that there were systems of ethics that were self-consistent within themselves. Was he to discover now that there was a God?

But the nice white guy seemed to be waiting for an answer. He wasn't sure what the girl in blue was waiting for; she just stood there and smiled. "So the theologians were right about a supernatural realm beyond what we could perceive on Earth?"

"Not exactly," said Michael. "Each religion saw some of the truth; none of them perceived it all." He pointed at a picture on the wall, posted where the august founder or leader would ordinarily be displayed. "That's Doug Forcett . He's the only one who generally got the description right. Though he was rather "high" at the time." Chidi wondered if Michael was pulling his leg, implying that a drug-addled teenager had gotten things right while the great thinkers of history had gotten things wrong. He decided to ignore the issue while thinking of something much more interesting.

He asked who lived in the Good Place. Michael described an intricate point system. The fact that Chidi himself had ranked high under the system commended it to Chidi, but it looked like it would take time to learn how the system worked. Fortunately Michael himself seemed to realize that, particularly when the woman at his side, who said "I'm Janet", seemed inclined to explain the while system in detail. He offered to show Chidi around.

Their excursion took them down one street, through a village green that functioned as a park, then up another street. The town looked charming, but that wasn't Chidi's real interest. He wanted to know how the society functioned.

Michael did perform one introduction, to a young woman named Denise, but that fell through when Chidi asked his new acquaintance about how ethical quandaries were resolved in the Good Place. Denise didn't seem to know what an ethical quandary was. Chidi decided not to rush things. After all, he seemed to have all eternity in front of him.

They stopped at a pretty cottage, which Michael said was now Chidi 's. Going inside, they sat in a living room, where Janet somehow conjured up a tea set.

"Tell me, Chidi," said Michael, "we tried to anticipate your tastes, but we didn't know everything about you. Tell me, is there anything important that we can provide you with?"

Ordinarily it would take Chidi a long time to think through alternative answers to this question, but at the moment there was one obvious answer. "I've been writing a book for the last few years; can I retrieve it from Earth?"

"Oh, yes," replied Janet. A large stack of papers materialized in her hands.

"Er, thank you," said Chidi, who was glad to see his manuscript but was not accustomed to seeing objects materialize out of thin air. "And now, I want to continue my writing, but it will require a lot of additional research. Would it be possible for me to have access to the Internet?"

"Internet?" repeated Michael. "I don't know the term. Janet?"

"A complex communications system developed on Earth at the end of the twentieth century," explained Janet. "Unfortunately, we are in a different space-time continuum from Earth, so that exchanging the necessary electronic impulses will not be possible."

"Well, I don't really need the Internet itself," Chidi said thoughtfully. "What I would really need is a sort of library of information."

"Can we get him that, Janet?" asked Michael.

"Yes," said Janet. "Follow me."

She led them through what Chidi had thought was the back door, and he found himself in an impressive room of books. Then he realized that it was just part of a whole. Through an archway he saw another roomful of books, and then another. The same sight was visible as he turned his head to the left and to the right.

It's going to take me time to get familiar with this place, he thought. But then, it looks like I have eternity.

(MICHAEL'S LOG: It looks like the plan is going very well so far. Giving Chidi an infinite library was an obvious distraction, and although I didn't realize that Tahani was particularly interested in horse-riding, she seems very attached to her pet. No reason for them to worry about whether they're really in the Good Place or not. What's more they have interests that will isolate them and discourage them for talking to people who might give them odd ideas.

Next step, Jason)