set down next to the inhaler, displaying the enhanced molecule.
“The coating added to the surface of each particle dispensed into the lungs eliminates the irritation,” the scientist says. “It must have been amazingly complex to work out. How on Earth did you do it?”
“How would you do it?” Lucius asks back.
“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t even bother. Months of number crunching for minimal benefit. Oh yeah, speaking of number crunching, I’ve been asked to give you this.”
He hands Lucius a folded sheet of paper.
“It’s a bill. You could have just looked it up, you know, but we were told to do it from scratch on the mainframe. Twenty-three minutes of wasted machine time.”
“For what?” says Lucius, unfolding the invoice. “I didn’t request anything.”
“Calculation of pi to five trillion places. Just what the hell are you up to in here?”
Lucius inspects the invoice. Authorized by Justice Garr.
* * *
The media were already locked down by the mother of all gagging orders, instigated by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the horrors perpetrated by Jerome Ellis and his fellow conspirators. Its original purpose had been to prevent a sudden dissemination of what little information was making it out of the Cantor Satori building, there being a genuine concern with regard to culture shock. What was in reality a carefully managed rumor mill now served as a useful instrument to protect JoJo, Eleanor, and, most of all, Lucy.
Nevertheless, the third-generation MBIs could not be kept hidden away forever. The initial encounters were just the start and now it was time to step their exposure up a gear. And all were agreed that there was no longer any reason to exclude Lucy.
They began by introducing the three of them to the Cantor Satori aerospace engineering team and the Afrika Project, already many years into its construction, a leviathan spaceship fast becoming a white elephant. Since the fall of Cantor Satori the Afrika Project had been challenging, with many specialists choosing to leave. It was an ideal opportunity to test the skills of the three third-generation MBIs, while providing Lucius with the perfect environment in which to study them further.
An engineering office had been established especially, within the Cantor Satori building itself. JoJo and Eleanor were assigned design tasks for an orbital platform, while Lucy worked with Dr. Panchen and Dr. Bebbington on the Afrika’s fusion drive—an area of staggering complexity, but for which she seemed strangely suited. Lucius chose to go with the flow, not making a big deal of her abilities, though it bothered him slightly that neither Alka nor Landelle did, either.
The days pass quickly for all, soon becoming weeks. It is not long before Lucy has outpaced her perplexed human colleagues, much to Lucius’s amusement, but it can’t all be about work. He is careful to arrange more encounters, especially for Lucy.
Of particular success is a visit by Macy and the rest of her class from school. They come to meet Lucy. The children gleefully show Lucy colorful pictures that they have drawn of her. Macy has a lot more friends now.
And throughout it all is an omnipresent Landelle, hovering and observing. No amount of court orders and non-disclosure agreements can keep matters out of the public domain, but they do keep the flow of information steady. It is all proceeding perfectly.
LOSS
A three-dimensional projection of an agitated General Korin confronts Justice Garr in her office.
“We need to remember what they were created for , Justice Garr.”
“What they were created for, General. They are more than expected and that changes everything. The Supreme Court has been quite clear on this. They are wards of court now.”
Korin can barely contain his immense irritation.
“This is totally unacceptable.”
He cuts off the call abruptly, a thin smile from Garr.
* * *
Korin glowers at the projection unit before him. He wants to give
“The coating added to the surface of each particle dispensed into the lungs eliminates the irritation,” the scientist says. “It must have been amazingly complex to work out. How on Earth did you do it?”
“How would you do it?” Lucius asks back.
“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t even bother. Months of number crunching for minimal benefit. Oh yeah, speaking of number crunching, I’ve been asked to give you this.”
He hands Lucius a folded sheet of paper.
“It’s a bill. You could have just looked it up, you know, but we were told to do it from scratch on the mainframe. Twenty-three minutes of wasted machine time.”
“For what?” says Lucius, unfolding the invoice. “I didn’t request anything.”
“Calculation of pi to five trillion places. Just what the hell are you up to in here?”
Lucius inspects the invoice. Authorized by Justice Garr.
* * *
The media were already locked down by the mother of all gagging orders, instigated by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the horrors perpetrated by Jerome Ellis and his fellow conspirators. Its original purpose had been to prevent a sudden dissemination of what little information was making it out of the Cantor Satori building, there being a genuine concern with regard to culture shock. What was in reality a carefully managed rumor mill now served as a useful instrument to protect JoJo, Eleanor, and, most of all, Lucy.
Nevertheless, the third-generation MBIs could not be kept hidden away forever. The initial encounters were just the start and now it was time to step their exposure up a gear. And all were agreed that there was no longer any reason to exclude Lucy.
They began by introducing the three of them to the Cantor Satori aerospace engineering team and the Afrika Project, already many years into its construction, a leviathan spaceship fast becoming a white elephant. Since the fall of Cantor Satori the Afrika Project had been challenging, with many specialists choosing to leave. It was an ideal opportunity to test the skills of the three third-generation MBIs, while providing Lucius with the perfect environment in which to study them further.
An engineering office had been established especially, within the Cantor Satori building itself. JoJo and Eleanor were assigned design tasks for an orbital platform, while Lucy worked with Dr. Panchen and Dr. Bebbington on the Afrika’s fusion drive—an area of staggering complexity, but for which she seemed strangely suited. Lucius chose to go with the flow, not making a big deal of her abilities, though it bothered him slightly that neither Alka nor Landelle did, either.
The days pass quickly for all, soon becoming weeks. It is not long before Lucy has outpaced her perplexed human colleagues, much to Lucius’s amusement, but it can’t all be about work. He is careful to arrange more encounters, especially for Lucy.
Of particular success is a visit by Macy and the rest of her class from school. They come to meet Lucy. The children gleefully show Lucy colorful pictures that they have drawn of her. Macy has a lot more friends now.
And throughout it all is an omnipresent Landelle, hovering and observing. No amount of court orders and non-disclosure agreements can keep matters out of the public domain, but they do keep the flow of information steady. It is all proceeding perfectly.
LOSS
A three-dimensional projection of an agitated General Korin confronts Justice Garr in her office.
“We need to remember what they were created for , Justice Garr.”
“What they were created for, General. They are more than expected and that changes everything. The Supreme Court has been quite clear on this. They are wards of court now.”
Korin can barely contain his immense irritation.
“This is totally unacceptable.”
He cuts off the call abruptly, a thin smile from Garr.
* * *
Korin glowers at the projection unit before him. He wants to give
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