Tiles on the cube are still smouldering, casting the framework in a soft glow. Virescent…

"Do you think I should turn it on?"

"It's your call." He looks over his shoulder, then back at the machine. "You're in charge of this expedition, officer."

Of course you should turn it on -- don't you want to know what's on the filament?!

"Maybe the body has stopped decomposing somehow..." He looks over his shoulder. "I don't know. You're in charge of this expedition, officer."

Is the lieutenant a little... scared? Just now when he looked around.

You can always do it after the fridge.

"We have one of these down at the station, but I never really learned how to use it."

Turn on the machine.

The machine lights up like some prehistoric animal stirring from its slumber, revealing virescent PLAY and PRINT keys on the keyboard. The hatch on the machine's central compartment is wide open.

A dusty radiocomputer sleeps on its wired frame, forgotten and unused. Its keyboard has a rectangular ON/OFF button; a piece of paper still hangs from the printer.

"Another radiocomputer..." says the lieutenant, watching you circle around the machine. "Just sitting here without anyone in sight."

What he means is that these things cost money. Why would anyone just leave it behind?

"But we're looking for a fridge and we're pressed on time -- so..."

On the other hand... it's not that I'm not interested in abandoned radiocomputers.

This is the Rehm Civic radiocomputer, model RC5120, equipped with a Feld mainframe and a Rehm-compatible printer.

This appears to be some kind of machine with a cube-shaped heart and a wired framework. The keyboard has a rectangular ON/OFF button; a piece of paper still hangs from the printer.

"A radiocomputer..." says the lieutenant, watching you circle around the machine. "Just sitting here without anyone in sight." He sounds surprised and a bit cautious.

"What, you're just going to guess?" The lieutenant shakes his head, staring at the glowing radiocomputer. Seems like the repeater station hasn't heard his words however, for the line is still silent.

Look at the table of contents.