TUELLER: “After your last talk with him, what is our plan here?”
TUELLER: “Are you going to get what you need out of him, or do we need to shift tactics? And get out of here if we can.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t know, maybe. He wants to convince me.”
TUELLER: “I would like to not be here where they kill people for knowing what we know.”
MILLICENT: “I think that’s how we went wrong in our initial encounter. We threatened him.”
MILLICENT: “He wants to know what I would do in his place. What’s the right thing to do here.”
MILLICENT: “It’s a very good question.”
MILLICENT: “The AI are as close to unbeatable as it’s possible to be. They’re taking a price most people would prefer not to know about and the remainder would likely agree was worth it.”
MILLICENT: “Are we right to be so aggrieved about this?”
STORY: So things settle down a little. Alejo, after an hour or so of listening to Millie’s story, Tueller gets radioed to separate you again. Millie, you’re in a much larger room than Alejo has, which is nice, but it’s completely locked down and stripped of all power, which is less nice. You have a big stack of books delivered, though, some of which have little notes in the margins in handwriting you recognize. He always did have to jot down his thoughts. Tueller, you think you have a shot at getting assigned to this Alejo-Millie detail if you pitch it well enough to your CO, which would be a boon.
STORY: But for now, it’s nighttime. Alejo, did you let the others know about having recruited Hannigan?
ALEJO: Yes.
STORY: Okay! When you do, you realize you were in the room when Manaaki said he was going to have Hannigan executed.
STORY: Is there a plan for that?
ALEJO: Alejo asks for ideas.
ALEJO: “Do you think that you can convince him to show mercy to Hannigan?” Alejo asks Millie.
MILLICENT: “I don’t know. He’s not the man I knew.”
MILLICENT: “He seems so different.”
TUELLER: “At some point it might be helpful to figure out when they diverged.”
ALEJO: “Maybe you could pose it as a way of bridging the gap between the man you remember and who he seems to be now? Obviously, he still has some feelings for you.” Alejo gestures to the room.
ALEJO: “I can’t let Hannigan die. Not without a fight. But I’d prefer not to fight until we have a plan.”
MILLICENT: “Maybe. But I. Look, I try not to talk like this much anymore, but it’s hard to get around this point. He and I are the only two people who ever knew what the other was talking about.”
MILLICENT: “I think he might be lonely for intelligent company.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles softly at this. “Yeah. I think that’s precisely right.”
MILLICENT: “I understand though. I don’t want Hannigan to die either. I’ll do my best.”
TUELLER: “You could always try to play up the ‘wanting you to replace him’ angle.”
ALEJO: “Hannigan’s not just an innocent. I think that he could be key to recruiting more people for our eventual move.”
ALEJO: “Not to put more pressure on it.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles again softly.
MILLICENT: “I can get him talking about it, but he’d never believe I changed my mind quickly. I could lay the groundwork to making him believe he’s convinced me, though.”
MILLICENT: “Is this spycraft? It’s so complicated.”
ALEJO: “Don’t try to make him think that you’ve changed your mind. Make him think that there’s an opening. That if he gives on this, he might be able to start to persuade you. But don’t make it too easy.”
TUELLER: “Spycraft is basically using a hypothesis you know is wrong, but trying to act as if it might be right.”
MILLICENT: Millie makes a ‘mind blown’ gesture
TUELLER: “If you can do differential equations, you could learn to lie, doc. I believe in you.”
ALEJO: “You’ll be great.” Alejo takes her hand and gives it a squeeze.
MILLICENT: She smiles at Alejo, then looks away, blinking.
TUELLER: “I’m going to see if I can get assigned this detail permanently. If anyone asks, I didn’t interact with you much, and just faded into the background.”
TUELLER: “As much as a massive guy like me can.”
ALEJO: “You’re surprisingly stealthy.” Alejo gives him a nod.
MILLICENT: Millie nods to Tueller, grateful for the interruption.
TUELLER: “If I don’t get the job, you know how to reach me.”
TUELLER: “If things go bad, just say ‘black’ into the comms, and I’ll come running no matter what.”
MILLICENT: Did Tueller and Calixta tell Millie about the modifications to her room?
TUELLER: Yes.
TUELLER: Radio. Last resort. It’ll blow our cover, but go beyond the walls of the base.
MILLICENT: “Okay! I’ll try to avoid saying that word just in case.”
ALEJO: Alejo stands. “Probably time to go?” He looks over at Millie and then down again. “I’m so sorry, Millie. I’m sorry this for this turn. I cannot imagine how hard this must be.” He turns to head to the door.
MILLICENT: “Thanks. It’s. Among the bigger shocks of a pretty shocking lifetime.”
TUELLER: “I’m not sure what it means that they let you keep the gun. I don’t know if it means they’re absentminded, or utterly unthreatened by you, or something else.”
TUELLER: “Or it’s a stage prop.”
ALEJO: “Or a test.”
MILLICENT: “My money is on test.”
MILLICENT: “To see if I’m potentially able to be convinced to take over the facility?”
MILLICENT: “Also, I’m so confused as to why he wants a successor. I’m not that much younger than him. And what could he possibly do after this?”
ALEJO: “Well, I think that it’s a bargaining chip. Offer him the gun back. But do it at the right moment, to signal that you know he’s testing you. Or that’s my thought.” He shrugs.
MILLICENT: Millie frowns, thinking. “Okay.”
TUELLER: “Okay, time is almost up.” Tueller, from his position standing near the door, straightens up. “Good that we made it this far, but stay vigilant.”
TUELLER: Tueller shrugs. “Fucked if I even know what that really means, though.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Thank you, both. I couldn’t make it through this without your help.”
ALEJO: “It’s good to be back together.” He looks at them both for a long moment. “Very good.”
TUELLER: “Okay. Get your game faces back on. Hope to see you soon.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks around at both of them to make sure they’re ready.
TUELLER: Seeing nothing to contradict that, he knocks on the door to the room. Raising his voice: “Ready to exit the room, sir.”
ALEJO: Alejo moves to the door, behind Tueller, game face definitely on.
TUELLER: “Step away, sir.”
TUELLER: To Alejo.
TUELLER: He holds his other hand out, all officious guard again.
ALEJO: “Oh,” he looks around. “Right, of course. Sorry, sir.”
MILLICENT: Millie blinks her eyes clear and grabs her book
TUELLER: I’m assuming the door only opens from the outside and am waiting to be let out of the room.
STORY: Yep! You’re let out. You return Alejo to his temporary cell without incident, and Diego is on duty when you bring him there, ready for a long night’s sit-outside-the-door.
TUELLER: Diego was my partner, or CO?
STORY: Your partner for the search.
STORY: Your CO doesn’t have a name yet. What is it?
TUELLER: Alejo is being held in the conference room these days?
TUELLER: My CO is Antonia Conrad.
STORY: Alejo is indeed being held in the conference room. Alejo, what did you and Hannigan do with the two sets of boarding armor left behind?
TUELLER: Tueller gives Alejo a bit of a berth, like he saw guards do in his own prison days, to prevent him from being able to grab him. Tueller is acting as professional as he can.
ALEJO: We hid them in a small storage closet, behind some supplies.
STORY: Okay! They will not stand up to a full search, but they’re out of sight for the casual observer.
TUELLER: When he meets Diego they guide Alejo into his room. Once the door is closed, Tueller turns to Diego. “A question about nomenclature here. Are these guys prisoners, guests, or something else? And are we putting them into rooms, cells, or, well, what?”
STORY: Diego raises an eyebrow. “You tell me, man. Never had a prisoner that I know of.”
STORY: “But,” he looks around. “It sure looks like a cell in there. They threw a mattress and a bucket in and that’s about it.”
TUELLER: “We’re keeping him under observation, at the very least.”
TUELLER: “The other…person under observation has a slightly better set-up.”
TUELLER: “More than a bucket, at least.”
TUELLER: “How long have you been here, sir?”
STORY: He shrugs. “Probably about a year? I hear it’s frowned upon to count time here, I try to keep my head down.”
TUELLER: “Okay. What do you do with your time then?”
STORY: He inhales. “Cards?”
STORY: “I write some.”
STORY: “One of the guys down on 2 runs a weekly D&D game.”
TUELLER: “Well, let me know if you need a fourth. I love a poker game, or Hearts, or Euchre, or whatever you can teach me.”
TUELLER: Tueller pauses, “But I’m gnawing your ear off. I’ll see you later, buddy.”
STORY: “Yeah, get some sleep, I’ll catch you up tomorrow.”
TUELLER: Tueller heads down by the security office to see if Antonia is there.
STORY: She is not! Everyone’s in bed except the night crew.
TUELLER: Then Tueller heads to bed.
STORY: Anyone doing anything else before bed?
ALEJO: Alejo isn’t. He’s going to get some rest.
MILLICENT: Millie looks through the books, makes a reading order, thinks about the mindset she’s supposed to be in in her undercover role, makes a new adjusted reading order, and congratulates herself on her spycraft. Then she goes to bed.
STORY: All right!
STORY: Tueller, the next day you run into Tux in the hallway. His eyes widen and he does a really bad job pretending not to know you.
STORY: Unfortunately, you’re with Diego getting a walkthrough of the gig, so it’s a dicey moment. Tux is staring at you. What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller holds out his hand, and shakes it. “Tueller. Sorry, sir, for rousing you yesterday. We were searching for the fugitive. I know I didn’t do a great job explaining that. I don’t always know my own strength.”
TUELLER: If Tux tries to speak, Tueller will interrupt whatever he says.
STORY: Tux inhales sharply. “Ye–”
TUELLER: “It’s alright, I’m new and just getting my bearings. Sorry again.” Tueller claps him on the back and gives him a push down the hall he was going, and continues on.
STORY: Tux stumbles down the hallway, mop in hand.
TUELLER: To Diego, “I should be friendly with people, right?”
STORY: Diego agrees and continues on with his tour. Alejo! You wake up to a knock on your door.
ALEJO: Alejo sits up. “Hello.” He doesn’t get out of bed, but he readies himself for quick action.
STORY: Manaaki walks in, pulls a chair out from the conference table, and gestures for you to sit as well.
ALEJO: Alejo stands, moves to the chair, and sits. “I didn’t expect you.”
STORY: He tilts his head, acknowledging the comment. “I’m unexpected.”
STORY: “So, tell me what I’m dealing with, with you.”
ALEJO: Alejo considers this for a moment. “Doctor Breedlove and I have been through a lot. Or, some versions of us have. It was a surprise, though a very nice one, to see her here. I helped her because that’s what I do.”
STORY: “Mm. She came for you?”
ALEJO: “No.”
ALEJO: “Or, I don’t think so.”
STORY: “But you mean something to her.”
ALEJO: Alejo apprises him for a long moment. “Since that wasn’t a question, I assume you already know the answer. We mean something to each other, I’d say.”
STORY: “Hmm.”
STORY: “You were working as a janitor?”
ALEJO: He nods.
STORY: “Why? You don’t strike me as someone who would be satisfied with that life.”
ALEJO: He shrugs. “Routine. Simplicity. It isn’t so bad.”
STORY: He doesn’t believe you. “You never caused trouble.”
ALEJO: “Oh, I’ve caused plenty of trouble in my life. But not here.” He smiles. “Until Doctor Breedlove arrived, that is.”
STORY: He takes a long moment to study you.
STORY: “Who’s your roommate, again?”
ALEJO: “Hmm, fellow who goes my the name Tux. I don’t know his real name, if he has one.”
ALEJO: “Jumpy guy, but nice.”
STORY: He nods.
STORY: “I’ll be honest, Mr. Soto, I’m not quite sure what to do with you.”
STORY: “You don’t seem likely to be any help to me.”
ALEJO: “I can appreciate that.” He nods. “It’s a hard spot. And, I’ll be honest, if you hurt Doctor Breedlove, I’ll do everything in my power to end you.” He says this flatly, not as a threat. “But, I’m also practical. What help do you want? I’m always open to bargain, if I have something you want.”
STORY: Manaaki laughs.
STORY: “You threaten me with one breath and offer help with another.”
STORY: “You’re going to need to learn a new way to be, Mr. Soto.” He stands and departs before you can respond.
STORY: Millie!
MILLICENT: Here!
STORY: Around lunchtime, you’re brought from your quarters to Manaaki’s office. Do you go willingly?
MILLICENT: Sure, no sense fighting a visit
STORY: He offers you food. It’s fine, basically unrecognizable meat and some kind of steamed vegetable.
MILLICENT: Millie tries some
STORY: It tastes fine!
MILLICENT: Millie does an unconvincing eyebrow, corner of the mouth lift at the same time trying-this-and-liking-it-smile, “Mmmm!”
STORY: He gives you a “stop lying” look.
MILLICENT: Millie finishes chewing. “It’s fine, but honestly I’ve been wanting some simple steamed vegetables for a while.”
MILLICENT: “Protein bars get quite old after a while.”
MILLICENT: “A factor of life in the sky I hadn’t considered before leaving Erde Maris.”
STORY: “You didn’t modify your ship to include a greenhouse? Shame.”
STORY: “Plants do well in zero g.”
MILLICENT: “I had a lot of other things to fit in, sadly.”
STORY: “So. What’s your plan.”
MILLICENT: “Well, I’ve decided that I’ll need a project to keep myself from going mad. You’re going to love my new research subject.”
STORY: He gives you a dry look.
MILLICENT: “Why did Dr. Nikau Manaaki leave his tenured position at Erde Maris as the greatest designer of the century to come here? Subtitled, why are you doing this, Nikau? Your reading list was a good start, thank you for that.”
MILLICENT: She drops the flip tone. “I have to know. I don’t get it, but I will.”
STORY: He sighs. “I told you yesterday.”
MILLICENT: “Tell me again. Use bigger words.”
STORY: He laughs.
STORY: “I’m here ensuring humanity gets their shot.”
STORY: “We had reached the limit of what we could do in our system. Gangs rule the outer moons, bureaucrats debate on Earth. Useless. We needed to stretch our legs, prove our worth. Now we can.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “I agree with your variables, but I’m still lost on your conclusion. You believe the cost is worth it?”
STORY: “Naturally. You do not?”
MILLICENT: “The wasted potential? The impugned dignity of the people involved? It’s too much.”
STORY: “Explain.”
MILLICENT: “We don’t know what kind of intellects we’re losing to this unexamined loss. Children raised who will never benefit their progenitors or their people. Whole planets devoted to increasing biddability and devotion of sentients as if they were cattle. Do you not factor in these losses to your decision?”
MILLICENT: “Maybe you’d understand my objection if you’d seen one of these planets.”
STORY: Manaaki stands, and goes to a console, punching in a few inputs as he holds one long asparagus and bites off the end. “Since starting operation, twenty-two thousand, six hundred four children have passed through this facility and been sent elsewhere to be raised.” He turns to you.
STORY: “Would you rather they were reduced to component parts, like the others?”
MILLICENT: “Maybe. You say you’ve found a way to do it with compassion. I imagine there’s dignity to that.”
MILLICENT: “Is there dignity to a warrior breeding planet?”
STORY: “Depends on the planet, I suppose. Children represent less than a percent of human space travel. Millions of people have seen new worlds, sought out new knowledge, brought business and science and art there and back. Millions.”
STORY: “The sacrifice is comparatively small. Use your science brain, Millie. Think of all we’ve gained.”
MILLICENT: “Go on, this is your end of the debate, after all.”
STORY: “Ah ha,” he laughs, pointing at you. “You know I don’t know that. I’ve no contact with the outside world.”
MILLICENT: “Will you believe me?”
STORY: “Most likely.”
MILLICENT: “It started off well enough. Humanity was always happiest chasing a horizon.”
MILLICENT: “But the Ark council was cold. And after a few years, when the initial tourism dried up it was discovered that we simply didn’t have anything the galaxy wanted.”
MILLICENT: “Our technology was behind. Our planetary biology lacked anything crucial to intergalactic medicine. Our arts are probably most what we’re known for. There’s a fad of taking in Earth culture. But it’s fading. Every day we’re less relevant. We are headed for a future in the middle seat. And the second a civilization has an advance we badly need we are done for.”
MILLICENT: “The council won’t protect us from a monopoly on some new medicine or on a new fuel we can’t develop.”
MILLICENT: “We’re only part of the conversation in that we yell particularly well.”
MILLICENT: “We’ll fade within a generation and be forgotten in another.”
MILLICENT: “I have bet my life on it.”
STORY: Manaaki leans against the paneling and thinks for a long moment. “If that’s true, perhaps we deserve it.”
MILLICENT: “Perhaps. Perhaps we weren’t ready.”
MILLICENT: “Perhaps developing rudimentary AI isn’t a determining factor in making it in an intergalactic economy and therefore makes it an inconsistent entry point.”
STORY: “Perhaps. What would you do about it?”
MILLICENT: “Now? I don’t know.”
MILLICENT: “Two years ago? I’d steal an Erde Maris ship and manipulate a crew full of pirates to help me raid alien tech and deliver it through back channels to Erde Maris and the outer moons to jump our technology forward to catch up.”
STORY: Manaaki tilts his head at you. “I’m not interested in your regrets, Millie. If you have a recommendation, make your case.”
MILLICENT: “I haven’t really given it my full attention lately. I’ve been a bit busy with the Case of What the AI Collective Is Up To With Those Jump Relays.”
MILLICENT: “You’ll have my conclusions when I complete them, doctor.”
MILLICENT: She smiles here.
STORY: “Fine. I’ll give you some time to think.” He calls for the guard and has you taken out and back to your quarters.
MILLICENT: “Wait, Nikau.”
STORY: You’re still not used to this new brusqueness.
MILLICENT: “One last thing. An actual favor.”
STORY: He’s starting to leave the room, then pauses. “Quickly.”
MILLICENT: “The guard or janitor, whoever, who saw me before. I’d strongly prefer he not die for the crime of seeing me. I don’t want to be a medusa. The man’s innocent.”
MILLICENT: “Please.”
STORY: “He isn’t dying because he saw you, Millie.”
STORY: “He saw more than one of me.”
STORY: “I’m sorry.”
MILLICENT: “Whatever the case may be.”
MILLICENT: “Please, it’s not a killing offense.”
MILLICENT: “It shouldn’t be.”
STORY: “He’s unlucky. But he’s not a real person anyway.”
STORY: “None of us are.”
MILLICENT: “If you’re doing the right thing here, there should be room for you to do the right thing.”
STORY: “Keeping this secret is the right thing.”
MILLICENT: “Nikau.”
STORY: FA + Influence please
MILLICENT: “How could he be less of a real person than anyone else who’s gone through a relay in their life? At some point you’ll have replaced the whole of the spacefaring galaxy.”
MILLICENT: I’d like to use my data point on relay tech here
MILLICENT: Or relay heist ideally
STORY: Ehnnnnn. That’s quite a stretch.
STORY: Heist, sure.
MILLICENT: Because we met during the heist
MILLICENT: Okay!
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 1
STORY: josh rolled 4 + 1 = 5
MILLICENT: Well, I just killed a man
STORY: Nikau shakes his head sadly. “Try not to think about it, Millie.” He leaves, and a moment later a guard comes to retrieve you.
STORY: Tueller! You spend your day getting trained as a security guard. It’s basically how you would expect. A lot of standing around. But you get that tour of the base, so you know where most things are, though it is a bit labyrinthine and there’s a decent chance you’ll get lost now and then. Also… Assessment + Mettle please.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 8 + 1 = 9
STORY: You’re pretty sure this base is much bigger than the spaces you have access to. You got a look at the air purifier and it’s larger than it needs to be for the areas you saw, and just based on your having been outside of this thing before, it doesn’t seem like you walked enough to cover that whole area.
STORY: Does Tueller pursue anything else during his day?
TUELLER: Tueller’s playing everything straight right now, just learning his way around, following orders, being friendly to everyone.
TUELLER: Learning people’s names. Glad-handing if he can.
STORY: Okay!
STORY: Dinnertime!
STORY: Time to bring Alejo to Millie for their daily meetup.
STORY: The three of you are alone again.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller stands near the door, as before. So he looks like he’s guarding.
TUELLER: “So…”
TUELLER: “This place is much bigger that it looks.”
ALEJO: “More levels?”
TUELLER: “I feel like I got to the limits of the official space, but it doesn’t correspond to the outside. And they’re making more air than we need.”
MILLICENT: “I failed.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks at Millie. He nods once. “Do you know when?”
MILLICENT: Millie shakes her head.
MILLICENT: “I’m so sorry.”
TUELLER: “I’m sorry?”
ALEJO: He takes a long, deep breath. “Not your fault. At all.” He takes a step closer.
TUELLER: “Sorry I’m not psychically melded like you two apparently.”
ALEJO: “Hannigan.”
MILLICENT: “Hannigan is going to die. Nikau believes it’s necessary.”
MILLICENT: “I tried to talk him out of it, but he’s committed.
ALEJO: Alejo clenches his jaw. “If he follows his usual protocol, that means an assembly. He likes to keep discipline through fear.”
ALEJO: He looks at Millie. “I think I put him in a pissy mood. It’s not your fault.” He looks angrier than you’ve seen him since you’ve seen him again. “He came to visit me. I played it straight. He wanted me to suck up, I think. Or he wanted me to know that he was in charge and kiss his ass. I misjudged. He seemed like he wanted honesty and not a kiss ass. He’s tricky.”
MILLICENT: “Too long in front of a classroom will give anyone an unearned air of superiority. When I knew him as long as you didn’t threaten him he was perfectly reasonable.”
MILLICENT: “Did you shake your fist in his face?”
ALEJO: “Metaphorically? Maybe? But it was more like a finger wag and done to buy credibility because it’s absolutely true.”
TUELLER: “After your last talk with him, what is our plan here?”
TUELLER: “Are you going to get what you need out of him, or do we need to shift tactics? And get out of here if we can.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t know, maybe. He wants to convince me.”
TUELLER: “I would like to not be here where they kill people for knowing what we know.”
MILLICENT: “I think that’s how we went wrong in our initial encounter. We threatened him.”
MILLICENT: “He wants to know what I would do in his place. What’s the right thing to do here.”
MILLICENT: “It’s a very good question.”
MILLICENT: “The AI are as close to unbeatable as it’s possible to be. They’re taking a price most people would prefer not to know about and the remainder would likely agree was worth it.”
MILLICENT: “Are we right to be so aggrieved about this?”
ALEJO: Alejo frowns at this. “Yeah. We are. There are other ways of getting around space. Wild jumps are wild now, but that’s only because no one has had to invest time figuring out how to make them less . . . uncertain. Noma planned to take us someplace and got us there. If we had a reason to work on it, someone could figure it out. These relays are a shortcut. And the price for that shortcut is way too fucking high.”
ALEJO: “Mannaki is locked into this path because he spent his life working on it and can’t bear the thought that he wasted it.”
ALEJO: “Or, that’s what I think. I think.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, looks to Tueller
TUELLER: Tueller shrugs. “I can’t possibly be dispassionate about this.”
TUELLER: “Knowing how people who are not me will respond to things is not a thing I’m good at.”
ALEJO: “Besides, this isn’t just about . . . efficiency in the name of progress or some shit. Something more nefarious is going on.” He uses the word nefarious a bit hesitantly.
TUELLER: “Sure. Various intimations our psychic energy is being bled by this thing or something like that.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods and smiles. “Thank you, gentlemen. I always had this trouble around thesis defense. I’d do the math on each presentation just to double check I hadn’t missed anything.”
TUELLER: “Maybe that’s what’s going on in the other sections of the station”
MILLICENT: “I agree. It’s too much, what the Collective doesn’t even ask for.”
TUELLER: “We don’t even know what the purpose of this section is.”
MILLICENT: “Well, I’ll try to get that out of Nikau, but how are you two doing. What have you found out?”
TUELLER: “Can I just do that thing where I try to phrase what we have here, to make sure we’re all going from the same priors?”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, “Please.”
TUELLER: “We have a bunch of captives here, run by multiple iterations of the smartest non-Millie in the solar system, for no particular known purpose.”
TUELLER: “We have AI decks that are accessible by hims and hims alone and unhackable.”
TUELLER: “We have unknown other sections.
TUELLER: “We have…hundreds of people here, with or so three dozen security guards.”
TUELLER: “Running the relay I guess is what we’re doing.”
TUELLER: “What the relay does, in addition to jumping people, is unknown, but it is probably related to the problem the Grell were having with psychic energy.”
TUELLER: “And we’re going to have a public execution of a guy shortly.”
MILLICENT: “What do we know that suggests the relays are related to the Grell’s psychic energy issues?”
ALEJO: “Tux was following that thread, which got us a long way to Manaaki’s deck.”
TUELLER: “Tux found whatever was stealing dreams through the Weave was going through the relays.”
TUELLER: “Whatever you talked to, Ejo.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods at this.
TUELLER: “Anything I’m missing?”
ALEJO: “Armies in training.”
MILLICENT: “And those armies are gathering at an unknown point, best case scenario is self-defense in case of attack against the AI Collective.
MILLICENT: “Which seems to indicate a physical vulnerability.”
MILLICENT: “The Collective must be scared of something if they’ve raised an army. Something, some physical thing, must be worth protecting.”
ALEJO: “So . . .” He looks at them both. “Priors established. What next? Do we try to win the Director over? Do we keep trying to gain information by getting him to try to convince Millie to take his place? Do we act now and try to save Hannigan?”
TUELLER: “We should try to save Hannigan.”
TUELLER: “Because it’s the right thing, but also because you talked to him and he could appeal to you in the moment, too.”
ALEJO: “I agree. But that could get very . . . messy.”
MILLICENT: Millie frowns, nods.
MILLICENT: “We should.”
MILLICENT: “But there’s so much we don’t know.”
MILLICENT: “And saving Hannigan shuts down our avenue for learning new things, because it means we have to leave the relay, right?”
ALEJO: “Or we take it over.”
TUELLER: “Millie, they’re going to execute the guy. And we’re the most likely candidates for going next.”
TUELLER: “Maybe not you, but Alejo.”
TUELLER: “Then me.”
TUELLER: “If you play your cards right you can run the place and then change its policy.”
TUELLER: “But we’re in grave danger here.”
MILLICENT: “I agree, I’m just listening our costs.”
TUELLER: “We do have a secret AI, though.”
TUELLER: “And no one likes being here.”
MILLICENT: “I’m interested in how we might take it over. Alejo, say more about that.”
ALEJO: “Mutiny doesn’t seem an impossible option here. How many of these people will fight for the Director? Especially if we offer them a glimpse of the truth.”
ALEJO: “We don’t know if there are other security protocols. That’s my biggest worry.”
TUELLER: “And we have a radio.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “Yeah. Exactly.”
MILLICENT: “Worst case scenario the Collective has a couple gallons of compressed poison they can filter into the air vents without us realizing it.”
TUELLER: Quietly. “This is not a great situation to be in.”
MILLICENT: “So if we do this, we have to do it without them realizing it.”
MILLICENT: “They’ll have to think everything’s still kosher.”
ALEJO: “I like it.” Alejo nods along. “How do we do that?”
ALEJO: “While you’re thinking, one other problem . . . . ”
ALEJO: “How many copies? Instances? Versions? Whatever, of the Director are there?”
MILLICENT: “Great question.”
MILLICENT: “Here’s some good news: they’re completely unprepared for something like us.”
TUELLER: “Violent coordinated geniuses?”
MILLICENT: “Nikau was shocked that we arrived without cloning. He doesn’t know of any contingencies for us.”
MILLICENT: “Someone who can leave as they like. It’s the thing he asks me most often.
MILLICENT: “How did you get here?”
MILLICENT: “And he’s a man who’s looking for a replacement. I have a feeling he wants off this thing, defensive banter aside.”
ALEJO: “Could it be that simple? Offer him a way off?”
MILLICENT: “No.”
MILLICENT: “He doesn’t want a way off.”
MILLICENT: “He wants a way out.”
ALEJO: Alejo frowns and nods.
MILLICENT: “He won’t overturn this deal he’s made to leave, but he would like a way out of his part of the deal.”
ALEJO: “Well. Tueller said it. What if you did take over? Would he buy it? Would you be able to do it in time to save Hannigan?”
ALEJO: “Could you save Hannigan by agreeing to do it?”