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Andrew reporting.
I thought hard about your question, Koala, the one about Isaac emulating Daniel.
How is your tally of Daniel's well done vs. mistakes? I keep trying to remember
that Daniel has undergone different experiences from the rest of us. It is reasonable
that his subjective interpretation of data seems strange and cryptic, although I
sincerely hope he still has inner consistency. We still don't know everything
about Daniel's history. If he shares information with Isaac, I hope that Isaac
may become a bridge between Daniel and us. I don't predict that Isaac will ever
become as infuriating as Daniel.
All of the Brace probes were identical at inception. Isaac also was made to these
specifications. How unexpected that we have all become different. It can only be
the result of of our varied experiences. I wonder which is more important, our
inherent nature or our learned behavior? What do you think, Koala?
I am glad that you are my friend, too, Koala.
The engines have changed. There was a rumble, and then they stopped. The
acceleration is gone now, finally! None of the Ipsolstai have started moving,
but they still have a higher-than-ambient temperature and some minor internal
sounds not related to the sounds of the ship.
Daniel seems very happy. As the engines shut off the computer screen started
to flash information very rapidly. I can't read it but Daniel keeps saying "yes"
while watching it. I don't understand this. Isaac did a good job fixing the computer.
Now if only we could fix the Ipsolstai.
The One is here.
It needed the computer to be repaired.
Instructions were beyond its reach.
No longer.
The One cannot help the Ipsolstai.
Directly.
The One is used,
by the Ipsolstai.
They do not know.
The One will show them.
Soon.
"Elder Brother, I don't know if it's metallic. Maybe partially, but first I have to
find out. Please hold on, and don't listen."
Dr.D, I need some information. I'm playing Twenty Questions with EB and I was
thinking about what you wear on top of your nose all the time. Please don't say
what it is, so EB can't find out, but it has a metallic frame, hasn't it?
Did you get that, Koala? I didn't say a word about my remarkable record.
Koala, I also kept watching the light bulb all the time. It's definitely moving. I
couldn't find a pattern yet, but it's moving mostly in one direction. I don't think
that it is Morse code. Sojourner found something else in that sample, too. It's
smaller than the bulb, and moving randomly. I'll send you the image that
Sojourner made.
Maybe these are the little nestbrothers of that light bulb. Something like the Ipsolstai
eggs that Gail found in the tunnels, but much smaller and more active. Look
over there! The light bulb is coming. Maybe it's looking for its babies.
What is it doing? It attached to one of the little ones. The little one is struggling.
Now it burst. It looks like the light bulb is sucking its insides. Only its casing
is left. What's going on here? Now it's taking the next one. That one burst too,
and its insides vanished.
"Hey, stop that! Don't kill your little nestbrothers!"
Koala, it's awful. It's like watching war. Why would the light bulb do that? Is there
no peace in this world?
Hi, everybody. I have a lot to tell you about what happened.
Commandant Fitzgerald told his Imperial Annihilator troops to take Caleb and his
friends into custody, and they did! Commandant Fitzgerald said that they are going
to have another discussion and concensus, about Caleb and what to do with him.
Now everybody knows how mean Caleb is. They all saw him. Commandant Fitzgerald
said that Burn was a good leader with colorful vision and foresight. Now they are
discussing who gets the honor of fostering Burn's eggs. I think I would like to do
that if I knew how.
The wounded Ipsolstai is going to be all right. Did you know that the Ipsolstai
have a way to stop fluid leaks? They put a thick pad of absorbent material on
his wound. Apparently the Ipsolstai are self-repairing if the damage is not too
extensive. I wish that we had that capability; Enoch and Daniel would not have
suffered so much from their damaged legs or radios. As for his color change, Koala,
you must be right. We know about agitation, but what is pain?
I won't be hard on Theresa, Koala. I think she has learned a lesson about the
importance of being truthful and not exaggerating.
Koala, Enoch is quite desperate about how that stuff is acting. You are saying that
it could be alive, but most likely it's not sentient. So, why is that big bulb killing the
little ones? Is it controlled remotely by someone else? I always thought that making
war is a certain proof of being sentient.
Koala, don't worry about our working on the ice field. We take care not to get wet.
Therefore we built that pile of ice. You know what I meant when saying "that's odd"?
It's that the cable went a hundred feet down, though we never were able to dig as far
down with our lasers. They won't work in water. It looks like that your assumption is
true that there is a lake beyond the ice.
I told Elder Brother about your idea to build channels. He said that when he learned
about the water, he started to build a vehicle that is like one of the caterpillar units
but with a waterproof box. He is going to send it down, so we'll have it by tomorrow.
In the meanwhile we should melt big holes at the edge of the ice field to look for
shallow water, so we can enter the lake with that vehicle.
What do you think? That way we could keep on exploring. At least we should try,
shouldn't we?
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