Page 71 of Alliance
I agree. A life on the line is more important—
We need to decommission that doll. Not save it.
Jharim's clarification whipped Roav, and they stalled, staring at each other hard.
"It is not a doll." Roav calibrated that statement. "Not entirely. There is intelligence there."
"And you can tell from one transmissi—"
"Yes."
Jharim hesitated this time, drawing up to his full height. His intensity scorched Roav along their connection. The sort of conviction and sense of purpose that could destroy a man.
"Whatever you heard isnothuman, brother."
"If it has been altered with living code—"
"It is impossible!" Jharim growled, his facial facets opening in a display of aggression.
Roav stilled, staring at the exposed components along his cheeks. At the hollow divot the display left on either side of his jaw. "Is it?" he asked carefully.
Jharim snapped his face closed and turned away, continuing his search along the walls and floor. "If this one has been upgraded with living code, we will not be able to distinguish its motives. It will fool the colony into thinking it is in need of safety. It could destroyeverything."He flashed angry red lenses at Roav. "You speak of guilt, and this, I swear, will ruin you."
Roav clenched his hands, letting the sting of Jharim's anger permeate his casing. "You wouldn't be able to own my serial number if you were a biognostic."
Jharim froze, lenses riveted on the younger bog. They glowed a little brighter in challenge. "Without the constraints of Unity, we have free will. Of course I can."
"The fragment of code we are born from before evolving into the institution of Unity says otherwise. Biognostics cannot express dominion over others of our kind. It is why we have no family units or leaders. No religion or government. Unity is our only form of community because it is without individual authority."
Jharim broke visual contact first, and Roav charged on.
"If you were a bog, brother, you would know this as your deepest truth."
To his surprise, Jharim breathed a self-deprecating laugh.
"I knew the moment I saw you," he said slowly, painfully. "That you would be the end of me." Air vibrated out of his chest through the vents between his ribs, and the facets of his face pulled together in a look of deep concern.
Roav's dermal mesh roiled with a wave of shock, electrical pulses popping all across his body like firecrackers. Everything they'd been through, and Roav's suspicions wereright?He hadn't expected for his analysis to be correct. A corruption, perhaps. A procedure that altered Jharim's basic principles of function. An accident or attack that left his core processor damaged.
Not this.
"Tell me, please," Roav begged, stepping towards his partner. Jharim stood his ground as he reached out his fingertips, opening their seams to ask for connection. "Let me know your plans."
We've been through so much together.
Jharim read the quantum speech in his lens and gently stopped his fingers from making contact. The rejection stung, but Roav waited, his partner's facets whirring uneasily.
"It is like fancy engineering," Jharim murmured. "The more moving parts, the more susceptible a machine is to failure." He gestured to himself. "The more people know, the more susceptibleIam to failure."
"How many people know?"
Jharim sighed. "Traveler. TheMummer.They know."
"But I can't know." Roav couldn't keep the mechanical grate of frustration out of his tone.
"You'll think I'm an interminable zealot."
"That's acceptable," Roav said succinctly. "You already conclude I am a naive protoling."
