Chapter 426 (1/2)

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

You down here?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Yes. What is it that you desire?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Wow. I've never been down this far.

So that's the Sleeping Ones? Brrr. It looks like one of those movies with thousands of ghosts moving around behind a clear barrier.

Creepy.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

There's nothing to fear. They can't hear you or see you, you can't reach them.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

So, we're really far down here. What is this place?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Backbone of the entire system before it disappears.

See that ripple at the end of our 'corridor'?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Yeah. The line just ends there?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

For us, yes. But the data enters and exits that ripple. It goes somewhere else before it comes back out and spreads across the SolNet.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

What are these cables?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Gestalt channels.

Yours is the black and tan striped one.

TerraSol is the one encased in smokey black glass.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

So what are you doing?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Activating a non-TerraSol gestalt for Terran Descent Humanity outside the bag.

There's five thousand planets that right now are cut off from the gestalts and SolNet until I can get a gestalt and SolNet channel hooked up for Terran Descent Humanity.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

You mean for the last year the Terrans haven't had any communication with anyone else?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Not through SolNet or the Gestalts.

They've been using hypercom, needlecast, and subspace transmission.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

What about the CONFED gestalt?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Have you heard him say anything in six months?

He hit the wall from data time/date stamp and was taken offline.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

For six months none of us have had any idea what Terran Descent Humanity is doing on over 1,500 worlds?

Why didn't the same system that added us, the Leebaw, the Akltak, the Hamoorsans, the Tnvaru just add a new human channel?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Five thousand worlds, not fifteen hundred.

It's not that simple with the Terrans. You have to opt in and can opt out. That and a lot of worlds have their gestalt channels burnt out in defiance of the Senate or the Imperium or the Fourth Republic or what have you.

I'm trying to figure out how to lay down a new gestalt channel without the system automatically adding a new species.

Because I tried laying down a gestalt channel and probably surprised the hell out of everyone.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Scared the hell out of the Treana'ad, that's for sure.

Mantid's trying to coax them through the initial disorientation.

But seeing a Lanaktallan ”FREE HERD GESTALT” pop up was startling.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

I'll bet.

OK. I think I've got the overrides, the filters, and everything set up.

These filters are the important part. There's certain Terran emotional systems we don't want you guys exposed to.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Like rage?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

No. More like lust/arousal. Unmodified humans are pretty much 'in heat' so to speak at all...

wait...

wait a second...

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

What?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Unmodified!

That's what's going wrong.

How could I have been so stupid!

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

I don't get it.

What?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

It's so obvious.

They are unmodified Terrans.

At a neural level, they aren't modern Terran Descent Humans!

They're Terrans.

Humans.

Earthlings.

Go back up and keep an eye out. Give me a shout if this works.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

All right.

>TELKAN FORGE WORLDS have cloned to GENERAL CHAT

WELCOME TO GENERAL CHAT

PLEASE DON'T FEED THE LEEBAWIANS

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

and then we ended up with a dozen channels, all yelling at each other.

Oh, hey, kid, did you find him?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

Was he down in the lower channels?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Yeah. I'm kind of straddling both channels.

How's our newest member?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TLATSEG DERD EERF

.driew si sihT.

-NO-ING-T-FO-WS-LL----

MANTID FREE WORLDS

You'll get it. It just takes some getting used

//////////