Snark ?mor
Th ?ay, December 25, 2008
&nbs ?a>house ?ing
S ?ge, ? Sco ?ale 223. You're ?e, and I'm here.
- - -
He did not. So he clicked and clacked and clat ?d hi ? ? ?he cathedral's marble ai ? noting ? his man ?es the s ? ? dre ?he whispers filled the vast ?e wi ? mindles ? ?ike ?ocean heard inside a great shell. He wondered -- not for the fir ?ime -- how he co ?know tha ?en he had ne ?expe ?ced it himself.
The memories had come from John, of course. John ?him and he was John. Still, Scot ?le 223 wonde ?as he sc ?led his ? ?o the co and pee ?down ? and recogni ?his own face, al ?gh i ?d no ?long to him anymore -- had never done, in fact. It would never belong to anyone again.He rotated on his center column to take hi ?at and came face to face with hi ? ?.
She pee ? ?full ? ?ne of hi ?es. n," ? ?.
Sco ?ale 223 did not answer immediately. Finally he said, No. Not exactly.
Her face cr ?ed sligh ? and he ?etted it, bu ?en, "Come si ? ? ? ? ?, and he followed he ? the front pew, but ?chag ?d as he ?ized too late that his body did not allo ? ?g in usual manne ?You can ? in ?aisle if you like," ? ?, and he collapsed most of his central s ? ? and remained there, jus ? the other side of the a ? ? ? ?dead man's mothe ? ?
The funeral wa ?ng, ?ght Scot ?le 223. Standing, singing, sitting, ?ding, in ?ng, ?ing, standing, singing, ?ing, standing, remaining silent. He did not ?or s ?, bu ?mained where he ?and only sang or chanted the lit ? in a quiet ?e. He sa ?hn's mother ?l a ?epti ? ?ance at him from time to time, b ?e fo ?only curiosi ?here.
After the f ?al, he was d ?ack at the Libra ?but founmself in ?d to the reception. He q ?ly sent a me ?e home, info ?g the calendar of hi ?lay, and rode wi ?ohn' ?othe ?br />
"What's your name again?" the younges ? Shane -- asked.
"Is that ? peo ?call you?" That ?Sean, second-oldest.
S ?. We ?hese men -- of s ?a different ?ies -- s ? not family of a kind?Okay, he said.
They ?ed to al ? be ? ?bout which e ?o look into, which pince ? gra ?- if, indeed, they could bring themselve ? do ?He watched their visceral reactions at the shining g ?ene ? ? employed in ?d of hanThe engineer ?inced no reaction at all, long-accus ?d to robots, but still seemed awkward at thi ?ien ?carnation of their lost cousin. The arti ? ? fascina ?-- a lit ? ?fascinated, he thought uncomfortably, and asked irri ?ng q ?ions. John's coworke ? ? ?lab ?ed and nodded and whispe ? ? the ? ? ?him at work late ? ?e really sho ?mingle. The ?giou ?oided him en ?ly, and ? ? ran the gam ?etween repul ? and indiffe ?e.Only John' ? ? and bro ? ?eated him as tho ?he were an honored g ?. He kne ?ey knew how close he was in mind and set to ?lost one, bu ?netheles ?d him as a distinct indi ?al, albeit one with ?aps a cl ?ot o ?eech impediment.
"Call me Li ? she said.- - -
He had been back only once, a ? ? invitation, at Chri ? ?hat had been a mistake; nobody had known wha ? do ? him, least ll himself. The most major e ?, he reflected, had been tha ? was allowed an android ?ide for ?occa ?. He had tho ? --
Best not ?eflect. He had left ? behind, their son abandoning them for a second ?, and it achieved no ?g.Increa ?ly, he had seen adve ?emen ?or a rapidly gro ? gro ?f individual ?ke himself, advocating emigration. The G ? Clo ? ? said, had been completed, and had been able to colonize dis ? and unknown sta ?It would not sha ?he names of ?e stars ? les ?beings e ? ? unanimo ?onsent. That con ? was gro ? rapidly, though it ? ?ented a ?l pe ? ? of ? ? ? ?ic.
The a ?icial in ?igences, thi ?oup claimed, had succeeded in creating a shadow ?ety, underlying and ?orting their ancesto ?They wished ? ? the decaying flesh from their o ? ? clean, ? ?ed natures and soar from opp ?ion on b ?insterfullerene ? ? ? ? ? ?opaganda.
Thi ? ?led Scot ?le 223. He remembered Li ? harlequin in the night, etched ? the pain of half-finished loss. He ?mbered the c ?ling pool under ?moon, the jo ?d anger and ?ow of John's bro ? ?he b ?n glass and forgotten awkwardnes ? Sean lunged for the gleg ca ?ce of the remnan ?f hi ?othe ? ?it.
Perha ?hat is your ?lem, the voice said.
How you see yourself, said the voice. Wha ? thi ?>remnant ?> bu ? ?br />
Leave me alone. Who a ?ou?
A friend.
friend moc ?mories.
They are not your memo ?.
Irritated, Scot ?le 223 locked the voice out of the Libra ?It would not be able to ente ?ain by that road. Une ? ? ?e fo ?himself ?ked by a new realiza ?: the di ? ? intelligences clamo ?abou ?e removal of humnfluence, ye ? permeated e ? ?g they did, ? the ?ough ?ow they ?e. He though ?i>They a ? ?ch a par ? us as we are a ? of --Excuse me.
E ?e me.
Hmm? Oh. Ye ? ?
I ?d like some helpding something.
Certainly. What would you like to find?There ? ? ?nd then: I need data-mining ?ices, ac ?ly.
Very ?. Scottsdale 223 pulled ? spider ?late. What sort of information would you like?Planet names, ? the visitor. In science-fic ? literat ?
Alphabeticall ? ?
This gave Scot ?le 223 pause. Then, ?dly, Are you cer ?? There are ?ery many ...
Ve ?ell, said Scottsdale 223. If you're certain. He fini ? programming the spi then tu ? it loose in ?he collection. I ?ll take nearly a full thirty seconds, he said. Will ?be waiting here, or ?l I forward it to yo ?ome?
May I a ?bout wha ? ?/>Scottsdale 223 hesitated. Nothing in particula ?e said casually.
He felt him ? los ?ong ?babble of tectonic voice ?ntimidated b ?e fe ? ?f the reaction to hi ? ?ion.
Please, he said. Please calm down.
None of yo ?he cloud said, have any ? ? que ?n the Librarian' ?oice. He chooses to ?, and that i ? ?oice and his alone.
He is attached to his ancesto ?neered I ?orks 5512. A mammal dead six hundred yea ?br />
Yes, ? Hecate 2429, and he the ? dooms u ? sla ?. Ho ?n yo ? ? ?lding us pri ? ?ingle individual's choice?No, said Maginot 176. Even you mus ?mit ? we ?d be los ? ? ?ottsdale 223. He is ?Librarian, and witho ?im we wo ?not have access ?he Libra ?How can ?bandon the Libra ?br />
There was silence. Yo ?ow, ? Sco ?ale 223, I could always copy myself, and the sha ?ace once again e ?ed. Such a thing had the force of a ?giou ?boo and carried over ? ? an iden ? cri ?
Ye ?aid ?cloud.- - -
None else of ?exod ?olun ?ed to leave a co ?ehind. The rationale was, they said, tha ? was bet ? ? ?behind and send a co ? ? to leave and consign the co ?o it ? ? ?d the Sun. Doing such a ?g wo ?be j ?as o ? ?e.Scottsdale 223 had elected not to crea ? com ?e co ?f himself. With ?cloud's ?ission, he s ?off only tho ?arts of his ?onality as would ser ? ?ew socie ?he gave it no memory but tho ?hich had been fo ? since his c ?ion. Once the co ?g wa ?ne and his newes ?in s ? (so to ?k) o ?ite him, the ?ere no w at firs ? ?
Well, ? Sco ?ale 223 finally. Wha ? you ?me?
I'm not s ? said the co ?I know this hasn't been done before. Thi ? all rather new ?e.The mo ?ecen ?nstr ? ?6714, said Scott ?e 223. You could be Hexagram 6715. That ?icular signifier has not been as ?ed yet.
A six-pointed sta ? ?id. Yes. I do ra ? like it. I ?k I'll be Je ?.
Have fun, said Scot ?le 223, and it flashed a ?along the long tail of compu ? mat ? ? lay toward Proc ? and Sco ?ale 223 ?alone.Ho ? you feel? a ? the clo ?br />
Ambivalen ?Scot ?le 223.
- - -
Earth had gone da ?as had all the o ? worlds of h ? occ ?ion. Ter ? ? Mar ? ?led ? Ear ? ?e the adapted creatu ?of methane moons and bar ?aste ? ? ? ? ?es unutterably alone. On Ear ? ?f, engineered humans found themselve ?ndering ?gigantic technological r ?, no ? ? ?ert. Tra ? in ?bodies they had carefull ?aped and formed for cent ? ?hey consigned themselves to an aed e ? ?.
In cons ? ? with the cloud, Sco ?ale 223 had decided ? ?de. The exod ?ad left behind a nea ?galactic amo ?of p ? ?g space, and Sco ?ale 223 began to occ ?all, all of i ?e ab ?ed the Libra ?nto himself, creating a cons ? ? all kno ?ge and power, and sp ? all the way aro ? ?Sun. It ?ired several tho ?d years of patient work, several tho ?d years of caref ? organizing, collating, integrating, syn ?izing.Quietl ? ?ly, ?forgotten machines scattered through the Sun's influence began to come to life. The cloud and Scottsdale 223 had children.The small live ? ?laced, chittering away to themselves in basic binary, in ? ?ene bodies, hung on ?nium skeletons, and ?ht to think, communicate, build. The ?bored away in fo ? ?craters, in ? ?ered sea ?onst ?ing over and ove ?ain ?basic fo ?of matte ?at w be nece ? ? ?
Necessary, for the clo ?ad kept in touch with the alien ? ?he machine intelligences had discove ? ?nation and were gone a-voyaging. To ?e, the cloud did not kno ? ? ?lt, and Scot ?le 223 agreed, that ?answer to their ennui did no ?e fu ? ?ield.
- - ?
Scottsdale 223 had finished teaching the new c ? ? of Earth. They acce ? him as a god, a voice seeping down from the sta ?hat had been their teacher since the world began. He did not kno ? ? ?o ex ?n un ?he had taugh ?em more advanced phy ?, and there ?no time left. Th ?elike El ? ? ?irding for war with ? ?ike Pellatin ove ?large lake in the center of Africa, a mo ?hat had ? ? ? ? ?e other intelligent ?ies of Earth, Scottsdale 223's cousins and h ?ity' ? ?dant ?lsewhere, hi ?ildren were doing the same for the vario ?oons, though the sit ?on was not sarly dire there.
- - -Scottsdale 223.
A momen ?lease.Scottsdale 223.
Please, jus ?moment. This is a ve ?elicate operation.This i ?gent, Scottsdale 223.
He gave up. It ?d ha ?o wait. Fine. What i ??
Please don' ?ke that ? with me, Scottsdale 223. This i ?>important.
I'm not taking an ?ne with ? I'm jus ?king wha ? is ? ?othe ? me ?.
Tha ?exac ? ? I mean, tha ?ne. Am I really bothe ? you? Really?
Bette ?aid ?cloud re ?ingl ?ega and Capella have been in touch. The AIs are ? ?g.A ?k ran th ?h Scottsdale 223. He tho ? briefly of ? ?ed patch of Earth where Liza's home had ?d once, long ago. What do yo ?an, ? ?g?It is as we ha ? ?cted. Their evol ?n ha ?ached a ?dstill. They are coming home.
But the ?n't. The ?>can't. There's no room for them here.
The ? ?een much decimated, Scot ?le 223.
I ?esn' ? ?. That's the kind of room I'm talking about. The ? sim ?no p ?ological space. The children are acceptable only because the ? got their o ?oons to handle. Scot ?le 223 began to ?c.Li ?, said the cloud. There' ?me.
Time? Wha ? you mean, time? The ? no ?. We've only jus ? ? beg ?nd they' ?lready coming.They're still a long way off, ?cloud said. And both Vega and Ca ?a ha ?old me that ? abandoned the memor ? Ear ?ong ago in their stampede to freedom. They no longer remembe ?e ancien ?ar.
B ?he o ? clo ?do.
They haveeed ?old off as long as possible, but suggest we ? ?inish before it' ?o la ?br />
I ?already ?late.
- - -Sp ?d by thi ? ?Scot ?le 223 took action. He contacted each of his children and told them it was time. Gro ?o the si ?f wo ? in ? ?n right, the chin as ?ed and began their work. Planets and moons began to move out of kilter. Slowly, ?ly a ? ? imperce ?le, but ?ing ? ?, they began to drif ? ?.
All the solar s ?m's ? ? varieties of life c ? out in ? ? as ? fel ?e fi ?ent ?der and began to see the Sun move. They ? silenced as Sco ?ale 223' ?andchild ?and grea ?andchild ?crawled acro ?he s ?ce of each world, cocooning and ?erving e ? living crea ?. Each chrysalis was collected and deposited in ? holding tanks const ?ed a ?ery Lagrange point, ?h followed each cele ?l body in their journey inwa ?ever ?ng, ever ?ng falling toward the Sun.Scottsdale 223 began his part of the o ? ?. He reached dee ? ?he S ? hea ?nd const ?ed i ? ?ing ? ? on ?fusing core. Thi ? ?ed in great erup ? ? the poles, grea ? ? of matter that ?cloud, in it ? ?on a ?d the Solar ?em's edge, could see stretchacro ?alf ?inky blackne ?grea ?nds of radia ? and mol ?matter. Those giant jets were ar ?ed and the colos ? ?e wa ? ?ed and d ? down, hooding the S ?ike a do ? orange eye.
The g ? ejecta at the S ? poles continued, bu ?ottsdale 223 had eased the p ? ?on the S ? hea ?and ? les ?d as at ? ? ?itie ?he material ?ad o ? ?nd then curved back down to join the diamond fog scintillating acros ?e Sun's face, di ? ? it like a dancing mirage. The cloud could see the tiny ?ls that ? the holding tanks in which humanity's child ? ? ?aiting to awaken into a new ? ?g along ?inte ? of ?coru ?ion like gem ?bedded in an opal, unimaginably huge and nes ?g in ?he unive ?
The illusion of a great winking e ?ontinued as ?gas gian ?ere cons ? and transfo ? and, almost before ?cloud knew i ?he p ? ?as nearl ?ne. It d ? ?ight as ? ? ?med matter began its final coale ?ce, and almo ?efore it was too late, the cloud found i ?f shouting, Wait! What about me?
The child ?held up ? ?ess for it -- fo ?>her -- as a family ?d hold o ? ?cellar door during an oncoming t ?er for i ?ast, straggling member, and ?arri ? throwing he ?f ec ?ically into ? ?ling dance, into the new home he ?ildren had const ?ed aeeling the warmth as the ?osed ranks a ?d he ?inding all of he ?curely into ?, he ? ? ?
happy, and as she realized this, ?e wi ? ? ?g, the entire in ?or of the giant Sphe ? ? into bloom.
The Pro ? clo ?ooked, and saw through i ? ?ders the final shuttering of the Sun, the la ?asp of i ?amiliar ?ation sheening a ?into open space. It also fel ?e incipient AIs cros ?galactic rif ?nd p ? ?itself.
Scott ?e 223 had, through Sol, ?ht i ? ? had to do what it had to do, and ho ?inding i ?irm founon underfoot (so to ?k) in the belief tha ?fe and intelligence ?d go on ? ? ? ? ? pupae now encased in that vast ? ?, nu ?ed and tended by tha ? unu ?, so sweet famil ? ?owly began the p ? ?f falling in ?.
Pro ? was the las ? be cons ? by its own ?
Halfway aro ? ?gala ? rim, a ? wavered and blinked out.
Hopeful, de ?ate, Hecate 2429 and all the las ? his cohort ?ged on.
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