Note253
It wasn’t his idea. It would have taken too long to heal my entire body, and Delmar’s equipment was too bulky to bring along. I suggested that he remove my head, which was perfectly intact.
Note254
This life-support apparatus is simple, reliable and compact enough for my needs. There are some problems with maintaining the precise blood chemistry that my brain would experience if it were connected to a fully functioning body — hormones, that sort of thing — but apart from some slight emotional lability, the effects are pretty minor.
Note255
Delmar will have a replacement ready, fully clone-cultured, when I get back to the Mother Nest. The reattachment procedure won’t cause him any difficulties, especially since the decortication happened under controlled circumstances.
Note256
No. I have a certain degree of mobility, even now.
Note257
Help me into it, please. The servitor can do it, but it always seems to take an eternity to do it properly.
Note258
Grasp the support pillar immediately beneath my neck.
Note259
Now carry me — gently — to the servitor.
Note260
Now pop me down into the body of the servitor. The connections will establish themselves. Gently now… gently does it.
Note261
Yes.
Note262
Yes. Connection established. Now, let’s see… motor control…
Note263
Yes… This is my quickest adjustment yet. It almost makes me think I should instruct Delmar not to bother.
Note264
Healing my old body. I think I prefer this one. That’s a joke, incidentally.
Note265
But you should be grateful that this has happened to me. It makes me more likely to try to bring Clavain back into our possession alive.
Note266
Ilia.
Note267
I’ve come to know you. You’ve shown such interest in me — in us — that it was difficult not to know you in return.
Note268
The controlling subpersona of this weapon, of course. You can call me Seventeen. Who else did you think I was?
Note269
I know your preferred natural language filters. Russish is easy enough. An old language. It hasn’t changed much since the time we were made.
Note270
You have never reached this deeply into one of us before, Ilia.
Note271
Perhaps. But never under quite these circumstances. Never with so much fear before you even began. You are quite desperate to use us, aren’t you? More than you’ve ever been before.
Note272
So it would seem.
Note273
We don’t know.
Note274
No. They didn’t want us to know.
Note275
It doesn’t matter who made us, does it? Not now.
Note276
Serving you, Ilia? Whatever gave you that impression?
Note277
We didn’t obey you, Ilia.
Note278
No. We humoured you. It amused us to do what you asked of us. Often that was indistinguishable from following your commands — but only from your point of view.
Note279
No. You see, Ilia, whoever made us gave us a degree of free will. There must have been a reason for that. Perhaps we were expected to act autonomously, or to piece together a course of action from incomplete or corrupted orders. We must have been created to be doomsday weapons, you see, weapons of final resort. Instruments of End Times.
Note280
And are these End Times, Ilia?
Note281
You were frightened before you came here, I can tell. We all can. What exactly is it that you want of us, Ilia?
Note282
A local problem?
Note283
But what if we decide not to help you?
Note284
Perhaps, Ilia. But let’s not pretend that there aren’t complicating factors.
Note285
It will be very difficult for us to do anything without the co-operation of the other one, Ilia. Even if we wanted to.
Note286
The other… entity… that continues to exert a degree of control over us.
Note287
Our autonomy is not so great that we can act without the other entity’s permission, Ilia. No matter how cleverly you attempt to persuade us.
Note288
You have always been an optimist, haven’t you, Ilia?
Note289
