Part 43 (1/2)

”I believe it is time to interview the computer itself,” Fuel said. ”It occurs to me that a great deal of money has been foolishly spent.”

Now the Sec summoned the courage of desperation. ”Sirs, something has obviously gone wrong with the program. We never -- ”

”Never checked the program?” Fuel inquired. ”Or never thought we'd check it?”

”The agent program has been inadequately supervised from the start,” Terri said. ”It would be simple for us to a.s.sume control of the government, and perhaps the time has come.”

Steel turned to the Sec. ”Are there no safeguards in the program?”

”Of course there are!” the Sec said nervously. ”Agents of all series are specifically directed to preserve the status quo. They -- ”

”Are they?” Steel demanded of Terri.

”Not when the status quo is obviously a liability to the welfare of the species,” she said.

Now the glances the execs exchanged were as nervous as those of the Sec.

The other agents of the TE series, male and female, fell in around them as they approached the computer communications input, like an honor guard... or merely a guard. Polite, handsome, powerful, frightening. But the execs were permitted to address the computer without interference.

Steel, no coward, became the spokesman for the execs. ”What's going on here?” he demanded.

”Interpretation,” the voice of the computer said. It was a pleasant voice, not at all mechanical.

One of the agents spoke: ”These execs are suspicious of the program and wish to ascertain whether the status quo is threatened by us. They are also confused about the nature of alternity and intrigued by nude female cellists.”

”I am speaking for OX,” the computer said. ”This is the code designation Zero X, or Arabic numeral nothing multiplied by the Roman numeral ten, themselves symbols for frame-representations that can not be expressed in your mathematics. Zero times ten is nothing in a single frame, and dissimilar systems can not interact meaningfully; but in the larger framework the result is both infinite and meaningful, expressing sentience. Think of it as the mergence of skew concepts.”

”Forget the symbolism,” Steel said. ”Who is OX?”

”OX is a pattern ent.i.ty whose nature is alien to your scheme, as just explained. OX is twenty years out of phase, so can not communicate directly. The presence of OX's shoot here in your spot-frame distorts the operation of your machine and modifies the program.”

”Obviously,” Steel said. ”What do you want from us?”

”The shoot has come on behalf of one of your kind who is in need. Provide a female infant; project her to a frame whose setting I shall indicate.”

”Provide a baby!” Steel exclaimed. ”What on Earth does a computer want with a baby?”

”She will not be on Earth,” the computer said. ”In twenty years she will be a woman.”

”Indubitably. Now is that all?” Steel asked sardonically.

”If we do it,” Fuel put in, ”will this -- this shoot go away and revert our computer to normal? No more interference?”

”Your frame will never be touched by alternity,” the computer said.

The execs exchanged glances again. ”We agree,” Steel said. ”We will provide the baby.”

”Provide also the following materials in refined form, in the amounts I shall specify,” the computer said. ”Strontium, magnesium, copper...”