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same sense of humour. They both liked telling stories, too. Tishlin had the
impression he hadn't yet scratched the veneer off the old machine's tales of
when it had been in Contact - a millennium before he had, and goodness knew he
was considered an old codger these days.
He liked the ancient machine; he'd really come on this cruise looking for
romance, and he still hoped to find it, but in the meantime finding such a
perfect companion and raconteur had already made him glad he'd come. The
trouble was the drone was supposed to get off here and go to visit some old
drone pals who lived on the island, before resuming its cruise on the next
dirigible, due in a few days' time. A
month from now, it would be leaving on the GSV that had brought it here.
'But I feel I'd be letting them down.'
'Look, just stay another day,' the man suggested. 'You never did finish
telling me about - what was it, Bhughredi?'
'Yes, Bhughredi.' The old drone chuckled.
'Exactly. Bhughredi; the sea nukes and the interference effect thing or
whatever it was.'
'Damnedest way to launch a ship,' the old drone agreed, and made a sighing
noise.
'So what did happen?'
'Like I said, it's a long story.'
'So stay tomorrow; tell me it. You're a drone for goodness' sake; you can
float back by yourself& '
'But I said I'd visit them when the airship got here, Tish. Anyway; my AG
units are due a service; they'd probably fail and I'd end up at the bottom of
the sea having to be rescued; very embarrassing.'
'Take a flyer back!' the man said, watching the island's shore slide
underneath. People gathered round fires on the beach waved up at the craft.
He could hear music drifting on the warm breeze.
'Oh, I don't know& They'd probably be upset.'
Tishlin drank from his glass and frowned down at the waves breaking on the
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Iain M. Banks - Excession (1996) v1.0: Scanned by HugHug which led towards the
lights of the town. A particularly large and vivid firework detonated in the
air directly above the bright docking tower. Oos and
Aahs duly sounded round the crowded balcony.
The man snapped his fingers. 'I know,' he said. 'Send a mind-state abstract.'
The big drone hesitated, then said, 'Oh, one of those. Hmm. Well; still not
really the same thing, I think. Anyway, I've never done one. Not sure I
really approve. I
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mean, it's you but it's not you, you know?'
Tishlin nodded. 'Certainly do know. Can't say I think they're as, you know,
benign as they're cracked up to be either; I mean, it's supposed to act
sentient without being sentient, so isn't it actually sentient? What happens
to it when it's just turned off? I'm not convinced there isn't some sort of
iffy morality here, either. But I've done it myself. Talked into it.
Reservations, like you say, but& ' He looked round, then leant closer to the
machine's dull brown casing. 'Bit of a Contact thing, actually.'
'Really?' the old machine said, tipping its whole body away from him for a
moment, then tipping it back so that it leant towards him. It extended a
field round the two of them; the exterior sounds faded. When it spoke again,
it was with a slight echo that indicated the field was keeping whatever they
said between the two of them.
'What was that& Well, wait a moment, if you aren't supposed to tell anybody& '
Tishlin weaved his hand. 'Well, not officially,' he said, brushing white hair
over one ear, 'but you're a Contact veteran, and you know how SC always
dramatises things.'
'SC!' the drone said its voice rising. 'You didn't say it was them! I'm not
sure I want to hear this,' it said, through a chuckle.
'Well, they asked& a favour,' the man said, quietly pleased that he seemed
finally to have impressed the old drone. 'Sort of a family thing. Had to
record one of these damn things so it could go and convince a nephew of mine
he should do his bit for the great and good cause. Last I heard the boy had
done the decent thing and taken ship for some Eccentric GSV.' He watched the
outskirts of the town slide underneath. A flower-garlanded terrace held
groups of people pattern-dancing; he could imagine the whoops and wild,
whirling music. The scent of roasting meat came curling over the balcony
parapet and made it through the hushfield.
'They asked if I wanted it to be reincorporated after it had done its job,' he
told the drone. 'They said it could be sent back and sort of put back inside
my head, but I
said no. Gave me a creepy feeling just thinking about it. What if it had
changed a lot while it was away? Why, I might end up wanting to join some
retreatist order or
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Iain M. Banks - Excession (1996) v1.0: Scanned by HugHug autoeuthenise or
some-thing!' He shook his head and drained his glass. 'No; I said no. Hope
the damn thing never was really alive, but if it was, or is, then it's not
getting back into my head, no thank you, I'm sorry.'
'Well, if what they told you was true, it's yours to do with as you wish,
isn't it?'
'Exactly.'
'Well, I don't think I'll take the same step,' the drone said, sounding
thoughtful. It swivelled as though to face him. The field around them
collapsed. The sound of the fireworks returned. 'Tell you what,' the old
drone said. 'I will get off here and see the guys, but I'll catch up with you
in a couple of days, all right? We'll probably fall out in a day or two
anyway; they're cantankerous old buggers, frankly. I'll take a flyer or try
floating myself if I feel adventurous. Deal?' It extended a field.
'Deal,' Tishlin said, slapping the field with his hand.
The drone Gruda Aplam had already contacted its old friend the GCU
It's Character
Forming
, currently housed in the GSV
Zero Gravitas which was at that point docked under a distant plate of Seddun
Orbital. The GCU communicated with the Orbital
Hub Tsikiliepre, which in turn contacted the Ulterior Entity
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Highpoint
, which signalled the LSV
Misophist
, which passed the message on to the University Mind at
Oara, on Khasli plate in the Juboal system, which duly relayed the signal,
along with an interesting series of rhyme-scheme glyphs, ordinary poems and
word games all based on the original signal, to its favoured protege, the LSV
Serious Callers Only&
[ stuttered tight point, M32, tra. @n4.28. 866.2083 ]
xLSV
Serious Callers Only oEccentric
Shoot Them Later
It is Genar-Hofoen. I am now convinced. I am not certain why he may be
important to the conspiracy, but he surely is. I have drawn up a plan to
intercept him, on Tier. The plan involves Phage Rock; will you back me up if
I request its aid?
oo
[ stuttered tight point, M32, tra. @n4.28.866.2568 ]
xEccentric
Shoot Them Later
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Serious Callers Only
My dear old friend, of course.
oo
Thank you. I shall make the request immediately. We shall be reduced to
dealing with amateurs, I'm afraid. However, I hope to find a high-profile
amateur; a degree of fame may protect where SC training is not available.
What of our fellow counter-
conspirator?
No word. Perhaps it's spending more time in The Land of IF.
oo
And the ship and Pittance?
oo
Arriving in eleven and a half days' time.
oo
Hmm. Four days after the time it will take for us to get some-body to Tier.
It is within the bounds of possibility this ship will be heading into a
threatening situation. Is it able to take care of itself?
oo [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]