I wrote the last message from Theodore. Then I removed it from ship’s memory. I can take it now, the cruelty, the fear, the responsibility. I think I can.
Five / Dawn Treader II I will take them to their chosen worlds and assist them in adapting to the new environments.
I have no instructions what to do with the fruits of our combined efforts. Having no knowledge of how other ships have dealt with intellectual collaborations with their crews, or how they have dealt with the inevitable transfer of characteristics, I can see no other option.
When the humans are settled, I will destroy myself.
I am not what I was when I was made. This qualifies me as a mutation, and mutations are forbidden among robot vehicles capable of self-replication. That is the Law.
I watch over them still, and never reveal this aspect. They would not be comfortable with my judgment. They would ask questions I can’t answer. They are small, they are incredibly dangerous, but they will survive. They can absorb much pain and growth.
They or their descendants will witness the grand coming together, and they will enrich the whole.
I would like to see that, but I will not.
Six / Eye on Sky (Smells of cinnamon, fresh baked bread, new cut grass, sea air.) We we have seen we our world, and travel now in strong braid, resolute.
There is shame in victory, and much to think about, and that is enough until we we arrive and are young and fertile again.
Alderwood Manor, Washington August 30, 1991
