Conversation · Soona, the Programmer

"Actually, now that I think of it, maybe it's dangerous?"

"Maybe, but..."

She shrugs. "You know -- maybe a club for anodic music isn't the worst thing you can erect around this particular... point in space?"

"All the failed businesses in the Doomed Commercial Area. All the failure in Martinaise..."

"You think the presence of that puncture has somehow... influenced the outcome of events here? Even, say, software development?"

She already made up her mind when she heard it. Some kind of great and uncaring force had to play a part... it wasn't only them.

"Yes. Even the Revolution was defeated here. I mean a kind of... entroponetic history."

"I told the producers we need to go and move to a normal office building, with amenities. But no -- the artists like the milieu. The writers like the history..." She shakes her head. "I told them."

"I should let people still working in there know about this. They might be affected."

"You mean... Plaisance and the dicemaker? There was almost no one left when we packed up."

"No, just Plaisance. I don't think Neha is playing fair in this game."

"Then go tell her." She smiles broadly.

"No, just the dicemaker. I don't think Plaisance would survive this knowledge."

"Then go tell her." She smiles broadly.

"Yes, both of them deserve to know."

"Then go tell them." She smiles, suddenly encouraging.

No -- It's better they don't know.

"I told them, but no -- normal office buildings are bourgeois..."

"All the failed businesses and ideologies -- there's something wrong here."

"No. We're reaching. People fail on their own."

"True, we never should have upgraded to Vox '50. And the spec kept changing. And those damn Heads... but still, the anomaly caused a massive data loss. So -- it had a part to play. It does something."

"Tiago -- under the roof -- he said he's circling the spot, like a saeraff. He seemed to have lost his mind."

"The crab-man... From what I've heard, his state could be reminiscent of pale over-exposure. Time-perception related illnesses, memory malfunctions, thought insertion."

She's agreeing more and more. Partially because she wants to.

And then there is you. And what happened to your mind. Are you not a saeraff in worship too?

"Simply... curdling milk."

"But the milk -- it clearly hasn't started curdling yet. We're here and the pale is not."

All you hear is silence in your head.

"I'm ready now. Let's contact Archer."

"Very good. If you'll help me with some of this equipment, then..."

"Back across the waterlock. At least we're getting our exercise in today."

"If you'll please carry that amplifier and cables, officer. We have quite a lot to carry..."

"If you'll please carry that amplifier and cables, officer. We have quite a lot to carry..."

"Now that the ravers are settled in, can you help me contact Coalition Warship Archer?"

"It's true, the drug fiends have made themselves quite comfortable. But I still have a great deal of work to do..."

This project is immensely important to her. She's not going to help you until it's finished.

"If you're desperate for collaborators now, I suggest you ask your new friends. They seem to have plenty of time for side projects."

"Now that your project is finished, can you help me contact Coalition Warship Archer?"

She looks up from her monitor. "You're asking me to circuit-bend onto Coalition radio frequencies. You want to know is it possible? Probably. But is it a good idea? I'm not so sure..."

"The main difficulty will be finding an antenna powerful enough to reach those frequencies. Unfortunately you can't exactly buy mega-longwave antennas off the shelf."

"She's not joking. Even the RCM has to receive special approval from the Coalition to access that kind of equipment."

"The radio relay tower at Land's End... could that work?"

"I highly doubt it. That tower is barely able to transmit short-wave signals across the bay. To generate mega-low frequencies, we're going to need a much larger antenna..."

"There is an old radio relay tower at the very end of the peninsula. It's mostly used to coordinate boat traffic in the harbour, but it's possible that it's equipped to handle mega-low frequencies as well..."

"Assuming the relay isn't too badly damaged, that is. I have work to do here, but I recommend you examine the relay tower and return once you have determined its condition."

"Alright, I'll check out the tower and report back."

"Very good. I'll be here when you are finished."

"Where is this relay tower exactly?"

"North of here. Follow the coastline. I do not know how to explain it more simply."

"I wasn't kidding earlier about contacting Coalition Warship Archer. Can you help me?"

"Do I look like someone who has time for side projects at this moment?" She doesn't even look up from her computer.

If you want her help, maybe you should help her first...

"Why are there so many machines in this place?"

"I brought them here. These are my machines. Please don't touch anything."

"Right, I'll try not to touch anything. Next question..."

"Great." She dwells back into the glowing terminal.

"What are you doing with your radiocomputer?"

"I'm working."

The machine seems almost alien with its pulsing core, the light casting her face in a strange shadow.

"Working on what?"