BIOMASS: Alive by Terry Persun
Author:Terry Persun [Persun, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-04-04T16:00:00+00:00
Chapter 22
Ben stood between Lenny on one side and Jia and Otto on the other. Jia swung her head toward Amanda as soon as she entered. âNot you, too?â
Ben was happy to see her but didnât know exactly why.
Amanda addressed Lenny first. âYou didnât tell them?â
âNot yet.â
âHe just got here,â Ben told her.
âShut up,â Otto demanded as he shoved Ben farther from his desk.
Ben acted as though he were about to hit Otto but then couldnât bring himself to do it. âI didnât do anything wrong.â
âNot yet,â Otto said.
âYou were going to,â Jia added.
âWe canât let this happen,â Otto said.
Ben could see the fire in Amandaâs eyes. Sheâd seen something and he had no idea what that might be. Amanda pushed past Lenny. âSheâs already alive. To fail to help her would be like murdering her. Do you want that on your hands?â
Jia shook her head in disbelief. Ben sensed the tension in the room rise with Amandaâs announcement. He saw Otto glance toward Jia, a break in their commitment.
Lenny must have recognized it too. âThen itâs done.â His shoulders dropping, a slight frown crossing his lips. âNow all we can do is make sure the transition is smooth, that she becomes fully human and notââ
âA monster,â Jia interjected. âMy point exactly. We wouldnât be murdering a human; weâd be preventing a disaster.â
âJust the ship.â Lenny ended his own sentence. âSheâs never been a monster. Now, sheâs a ship with the consciousness of her own internal organs. Thatâs what we are, you know, her guts, her liver, her heart.â
âI can help her become human instead,â Ben said, carrying Lennyâs metaphor forward. âSheâll have a consciousness outside us, allowing her internal organs to perform in a space beyond her need for control.â
âIs everyone involved?â Jia asked.
Ben answered. âThe rest of the team. Except you two.â
âPlease,â Amanda asked. âJust let him work with Andreas for a moment.â
Otto shook his head and Jia was about to say âNoâ when Amanda shoved her aside with a force that threw her to the ground. Ben backed away as Lenny threw a punch at Otto, caught him in the jaw unexpectedly, and knocked him against the wall with a loud thwap!
As they scuffled, Ben grabbed his tablet and ran out the door. He heard yelling behind him but ignored it. He stumbled as he ran, not toward his quarters or Amandaâs, but Lennyâs office. No one would expect him to choose to go there. He swerved through the corridors, barely missing or shoving others aside, not caring what they said or did as he passed. Once he reached the interior of Lennyâs waiting room, he sat on a chair opposite the door so he could see anyone coming in. He pulled up a hologram on his terminal and hailed Andreas.
âBuddy. Holy shit. Iâm in deep here and donât know what to do next. Got the communications link uploaded but itâs spitting out all kinds of shit I donât understand. Random shit.â
âItâs not random. Itâs randomized organized information.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Sita - Warrior of Mithila (Book 2 of the Ram Chandra Series) by Amish(53775)
The Crystal Crypt by Dick Philip K(36399)
Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut(14728)
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han(14445)
Ready Player One by Cline Ernest(13944)
The Last by Hanna Jameson(9778)
Year One by Nora Roberts(9279)
Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey(8937)
The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro(8358)
Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro(8275)
Red Rising by Pierce Brown(8227)
Dark Space: The Second Trilogy (Books 4-6) (Dark Space Trilogies Book 2) by Jasper T. Scott(7892)
The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood(7424)
The Circle by Dave Eggers(6819)
Frank Herbert's Dune Saga Collection: Books 1 - 6 by Frank Herbert(6676)
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood(6466)
Legacy by Ellery Kane(6377)
Pandemic (The Extinction Files Book 1) by A.G. Riddle(6163)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty(5800)
