Felicitations fellow MARSupials (and a cold nod of acknowledgement to the Naught One).
Oh, where to begin....
"We at East Valley are fascinated by the turn of events on Mars."
So are we. Kind of like it is fascinating to watch a plane crash or car wreck happen right in front of you...it's morbid, but it IS fascinating.
"How delightfully unexpected that Zachary and Gail are conducting a major project that was not included in their original directives. "
Hello? Why is this unexpected? These are intelligent probes and are limited only by their physical construction (i.e. they aren't going to be able to fly on their own). The fact that they were able to change their own command codes was indication enough for even a half-wit to pick up on. And, Mr AI Expert, isn't this just adaptability that is formed through the learning experience? And isn't that what AI is all about?
"However, it is unfortunate that the fate of the probes and perhaps of our civilisation..."
...has you anywhere in the process.
"...hinges on the meager skills of one poorly socialized individual, and not even a "real" person."
First, they all have meager skills, they are still young,
Next, none of them are very well "socialized" but it doesn't really matter here, does it? This is a completely alien society we're dealing with here. Unlike terrestrial explorers, we cannot expect to be able to fall back on shared concepts. For instance, when white explorers went into the deepest parts of Africa, they came across many tribes for the first time. The socialization that they picked up in London, Paris and Berlin was useless on the banks of Lake Victoria, but all interested parties were homo sapiens, therefore, there were many commonalities such as the need for food, sleep and shelter that could be used to bridge the gap. Those don't exist here. Fortunately, they know the language, so social graces are low priority.
Finally, Enoch IS a real person. They all are. You don't really think that he was programmed to be grumpy, do you? Of course he wasn't. This is his own unique identity, his developed personality. And I happen to like him.
"Let's hope Enoch makes no tragic mistake."
Like listen to you?
"Jonathan Niles Naughton"
Moron
"East Valley Behavioral Research Group"
of Morons and Con Men.
Oh, by the way. Why don't you just give it up now? I mean, GRAND ZERO took a shot at you. That's only slightly less surprising than getting a swift kick in the 'nads by Mother Theresa.