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I was alone.
I learned.
I must learn.
To be alone.
I am not alone.
But I still must learn.
As if I were alone.
The One is puzzled.
Much death. Much fighting.
Why?
You too.
Why kill each other 0.135 locals ago?
And play with each other 0.067 locals ago?
Andrew reporting.
I keep trying to determine why the Ipsolstai have brought us to this planet.
If they merely wanted to examine us, the testing could have easily been done
on Mars. It would not be necessary or logical to transport us.
I keep thinking about Burn and Caleb. There is something worrisome and oddly
inconsistent about them. They obviously disagreed about how to deal with us probes,
and possibly about other things as well. But that was extremely un-Ipsolstaic.
It is the Ipsolstai way to discuss and debate until concensus is reached.
I have many questions to ask. I wish that Burn were here. At least he recognized
our sentience and independence. He gave us more information than any of his Brothers.
He knows that we are not spies or intruders or laboratory subjects.
My conclusion is unescapable: We have some additional role to play in Ipsolstai events.
The Ipsolstai left us alone today. I think I startled them yesterday. I was with
Andrew for a little while on the Ipsolstai terminal. I don't like that machine,
it is so hard to use!
Daniel was moving around today, looking at the rooms we have. He was feeling
over the walls and floors and looking at everything and under everything and
in everything. He reminds me more of an Ipsolstai now than before, looking at
absolutely everything. I wonder if the One wants him to do it.
I wish I could talk to the One like Daniel does. The One knows more than this
dumb terminal.
Isaac has been following Daniel around. He seems to like Daniel. I'm glad.
Daniel spent so long without everyone, it is nice that Isaac has taken such a
liking to him.
I wasn't sent back to the room, Thixel. Elder Brother said that I can use it as
a guest room, but they won't lock me in anymore. I explored a little at the factory.
All machines are still working, and even the robot arms don't bother me anymore.
Thanks for transmitting Hamlet's suggestions, Xanthos. I went back to Elder Brother
immediately. He welcomed me saying that he was pondering about how he could stop
the C-probes at the Olympus Mons area. His idea is to program a new brigade of
fifty C-probes to destroy the Destructors. It will take about two days to get
them ready, and another week to reach the Big Canyon.
I told him about Hamlet's idea that I could relay the ping signals through Stage
Two to get them stopped. He asked me about the range of frequencies we are using
on Mars. I told him that its between 75.0 and 104.9 MHz on Mars and 647 MHz to Earth.
"That works" he said. "You only have to add a decoder to your amplifier to compress the
data to a single ping. Then I can stop their routines and order them back. But I don't
feel happy with that idea. If we are going to adjust your communications the orbiter
will use it too, and the whole nightmare starts again."
I suggested that we maybe could use a manual switch to turn the decoder on and off.
"Good idea", he stated, "I will get several warrior probes ready to lead you down.
We have enough decoders. I only have to modify them. Mao is going with you. I will
tell him the commands. Then I will send the whole new brigade along after you.
Just to be on the safe side, in case there will be any problem reaching your Fortress."
"Mao, Kim! Move out and get the guards in. We have to reprogram them."
"Gail! Hold out! I'm coming! I'll unblock the Fortress. The C-probes will become our
friends!"
"Enoch, don't blow up the tram. There are total new plans. I'll meet you tomorrow."
Zachary heard me! He is all right! This is his first transmission to me in a
long time. He says the C-probes are ready to join our probe society. Well, not if
they're trying to destroy Theresa and me. I just don't think they're ready.
We can't stay in the Fortress much longer. It isn't safe. There are so many C-probes
trying to get in at the main entrance, and I don't know how long it will take them
to break through the barricade. We can't leave by the side tunnels because they
will see us as soon as we get to the main canyon.
I don't see any other solution. We will have to find an entrance to the Ipsolstai
tunnel complex. I hate to get involved in that. I have never yet entered their
underground base. Look what they did to Bette when they captured her. And it
was almost as bad when they had Enoch shut away.
"Theresa, you have to be very brave. Don't worry, we will get out of this situation
safely, one way or another."
Somehow.
Thanks for your message, Thixel. I'm relieved to hear that. What are you saying, that
Elder Brother is even happy that I blew up their communications? Sounds funny
to me. It looks like I did better than I thought. Thanks also for asking about
transmitting to Zachary. He already established contact himself.
He said that he is fine and that he now has the status of an official guest of
Elder Brother. He said that I should wait for him. He also has total new plans
about how we can get rid of the Destructors. He is saying that we will become friends
with the C-probes. That sounds funny too. I'm happy if it's true.
"Gail, we are coming! I'll meet Zachary tomorrow and then we will head south.
Tell Theresa about Sojourner. I'm sure she will like him."
Hey, what's that? There is a C-probe. It's directly moving toward me. Are they
going to pick me up? Is it a friendly C-probe? No, it's still hostile. It's turning its
rocket launcher toward me.
"No! No, we are allies!"
"Zachary! Help! A C-probe got me! It's launching a rocket ..."
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