The Spores of Wrath: A Space Colony Exploration Series (The Biomass Conflux Book 3) by William C. Tracy

Author:William C. Tracy [Tracy, William C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Space Wizard Science Fantasy
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

PART SEVEN

Truth and Lies

47 years 6 months after landing

“Based on the situation with the artificial humans, and Frank’s helpful insistence that we work directly with him, Admin Novikov has allowed us passage between here and their lab, Jane,” Christiaan said. “He appears nervous to directly confront the problem since we are quarantined in Alpha and Beta radians.”

“Finally,” Jane said. “That old goat must be experiencing what it means to run this hole of a colony. I notice he hasn’t corrected any of the issues he accused me of propagating. Are any of the other Admins coming around?”

“I believe Admin Ragab will support you regardless, Jane,” Christiaan said. “Admin Kumarisurajinder may be easy enough to convince in case of an emergency. Admin Xi is likely to come to your side, based on Admin Novikov’s interference with the Vagals. The latter Admin has not successfully made a case to control them yet. I am unsure of the others.”

“Glad Wenqing’s standing firm. The longer Dmitri fucks around, the more the others are likely to come crawling back to me. This relaxation of the rules is only the start. Are the children handled?”

“Besh and Ovia are staying with friends today, as you asked, Jane.”

“Good. Then let’s get the hell out of here. Even visiting those two eggheads will be a good break in routine.”

Both Frank and Choi looked surprised when Jane showed up at the lab door.

“Come, in Admin,” Frank said. “Can I get you something? What passes for tea or coffee?” It was an old joke, but Jane was feeling generous.

“Some tea would be delightful. Would I be able to talk to Answerer?”

Neither asked why or how she was out of her apartments-turned-prison, and she didn’t elaborate.

“This way, ma’am,” the younger one said. Shortly, she was set up to ask questions, with Choi translating into the printed icons Answerer preferred. They explained how Answerer had become more eloquent the past few years, and how they’d made new icons for more complex principles.

“Perfect.” Jane cut them off mid-explanation. “Ask it what it means by these artificial humans and why it assumes we want to transfer to them.”

She saw Choi translating in their head as Frank brought her tea. Christiaan was hovering nearby, inspecting the lab.

Choi had made improvements. The printing time and translation time was faster, and her tea had barely cooled before an answer came back. Choi laid out the printed icons and narrated like an archeologist uncovering ancient writing.

“It’s identifying you as ‘primary first form.’ Interesting. It seems to have a better grasp on that now. Let’s see. Oh, well, ‘primary position has been compromised.’ I guess it knows what happened with you and the other Admins…” Jane watched Choi as they guiltily glanced up at her.

She motioned for them to get on with it.

“It doesn’t look like it’s actually answering the question. It says, ‘untruths can be detected with certainty now.’ Not sure if that’s informational or a threat.”

Jane frowned. “I suppose that’s good warning, in any case. Can you ask

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