Attunga - 22. Chapter 22

ATTUNGA Part 22.

***

Shocked, Wirrin blanked for a moment before his words started to tumble.

“He couldn't be. I was speaking to him a couple of hours ago. He had everything planned for what to do if there was danger. It would only take him instants to flash onto the InterWeb. He must be on a storage system somewhere and he'll contact us when he can.”

“Wirrin, he's gone.”

Akama's words thrust like a sword through the numbing incredulity. Wirrin pulled his thoughts together and looked to Pirramar.

“How could it happen? ...It was an attack wasn't it? ...And it came from the Rogue Scientist didn't it?”

“Yes, it was an attack, and, with a 98% probability, came from our Rogue. How it happened is not completely clear and we'd like you to work with us in examining the information we've retrieved.”

“Wirrin will do whatever he can for whatever period of time is needed.”

Wirrin almost jumped at the commanding tone of Akama's voice.

“Honored one. Of course. Do you mean right now?”

“I do. With a demonstrated capability and willingness to destroy an AI, we need to determine whether there is any possibility of threat to AIs in other locations. Calen, I'd like you to meet with Sonic and Turaku at the dolphinarium, and Thom, as a precautionary measure you should move on board the Comet.”

After an exchange of looks the trio came to life, Wirrin completing his initial move to his Info Station, Calen heading for his skimmer, and Thom for the nearest TransCom portal. Akama looked momentarily to one side as if distracted.

“Wirrin, I have a meeting with the members of the Witness Council and AI representatives. I will speak with you later.”

Akama and Turaku disappeared, leaving Wirrin with Pirramar and the unknown AI.

“Wirrin, this is Bakana. He's our young reconstruction of the K74 AI and he'll be working with us.”

'Reconstruction' and 'young' were both unfamiliar terms with regard to an AI but right now didn't feel like the time to ask.

***

At mid-morning the next day the trio regrouped and caught up with each other's doings while Thom prepared one of his special snacks before they retired for a well earned rest.

“Thom, you won't sleep properly if you eat all that.”

“Yes I will. I was awake all night and we were so busy I hardly had time to eat.”

“What sort of busy?”

“All sorts. For a start we went into security mode and met up with Comet Two and did a high-level scan of everything in a two light minute radius. That didn't take long because our sensors are so powerful, especially the long range ones on Comet Two, and developed a threat gradient model for everything out there. Most of it we already had but the deep scans picked up quite a few new in-bounds.”

Wirrin didn't have a clue what a threat gradient model really was. In-bounds sounded self-explanatory.

“Heading for Attunga? Were there many of them?”

“More than 1200 which is higher than normal, but not by much. Only five of them turned out to be reds, that's a threat classification, and the rest were all okay.”

“What did you do about the reds? They don't sound too good.”

“We didn't do anything, which is what usually happens. They just get monitored carefully by Habitat Security. But at about midnight we got word from the Witness Council about their policy changes and we turned three of them away.”

“What policy changes?”

“They decided to have a clear zone, with extended boundaries, around Attunga and Warrakan and they are notifying any vessels without transparent security to stay away.”

Thom was nodding at this information from Calen.

“How did you hear about that? It's news to me.”

“I was there with Sonic and Turaku when they decided on it and sent the message to get rid of all the surveillance drones.”

“Get rid of them? Wombats! That's really something. How did they do it?”

Thom's face lit up.

“That was exciting. The Comet Two disabled every single one of them in less than a second then guided them to collection points. The Comet gathered over a thousand of them in two pick-ups.”

“A thousand? They used to be in the hundreds.”

“Wirrin, that's ages ago. There were nearly three thousand altogether. The numbers climbed like crazy when K74 put its attention on us. They keep redesigning them and sending more.”

“You said one of the exciting bits. That means there must be more?”

“There sure were. I said it was a busy night. The next thing was sending a ship back to Mars. Some program of yours picked up that they were troublemakers.”

“Mine? What are you talking about?”

“Comet-Turaku said the information came from a task you designed to watch Mars Habitats.”

“That? It was just a challenge from Pirramar for learning my InfoSystem. They use it for real?”

“Obviously. It found a connection between the ship from one of the Mars Polar Habitats and K74. We took the Comet right up close and told them they had to go back to Mars.”

“Just like that? You told them to go and they went?”

“That was another exciting bit. They said we had no jurisdiction over them and refused, so we took over their controls and turned them around.”

Wirrin could hardly believe what he was hearing.

“But they're right. We don't have jurisdiction out there.”

“After last night we do. The Witness Council and the AIs ratified it for situations involving Attunga and Warrakan interests. It was a very serious meeting last night. Sonic said he'd never seen such strong emotions from Witnesses and the AIs amazed him with their determination.”

“Sonic said that? It must have been some meeting.”

“It was, but Thom hasn't finished his news yet. I know he's got at least one other thing to tell us.”

“What thing?”

“The drones on the K74 spaceship.”

Thom looked up in surprise.

“You know what happened?”

“Thom, I was at the Council meeting when the AIs asked Sonic and the Witnesses if destroying the drones had their approval. I don't know the details but I heard them say to go ahead as long as no people were hurt.”

By now Wirrin could hardly contain himself.

“Which K74 ship and what drones? Stop arguing and tell me what happened. Was it one of those big spaceships?”

“It was the biggest. The one that was named after the number one Cadre person. He's going to be mad as a bunyip when he finds out. ...Which he already will have by now.”

Wirrin rolled his eyes, partly because Thom was expecting a reaction, and partly because this did sound like something dramatic. Thom understood both the reasons and laughed.

“It was heading towards Attunga at 9G acceleration, which is fairly fast, and we detected a load of new drones they were carrying. That was after we'd collected all the local drones, so we sent them a message saying no more were to be delivered. They ignored that. They probably thought we didn't know exactly where they were. We sent them another message saying their course showed they were heading straight for Attunga, and if they didn't turn back the drones would be destroyed. They ignored that too, even though we gave them plenty of time to talk it over with their controllers on K74, so we vaporised the drones and locked control of their ship for an hour.”

“Wouldn't vaporising the drones be dangerous to people inside the ship?”

“It didn't happen inside the ship. We made their loading system send all the drones outside. You should have seen it.”

Wirrin wasn't going to miss that and a few seconds later had a holo clip of the event running. Loading bays functioned all along the side of the massive ship, the comparatively tiny drones appeared in the openings, moved steadily away, then flashed into spectacular brilliance for an instant.

“Thom, this shows Comet's multi-spectrum beams. You must have been really close?”

“We were. We went in to five kilometers. That was plenty.”

“But that means their visuals would have been able to pick up every detail of the Comet.”

“Not if we didn't allow it. We've got the same technique that tricked the visuals for the drones near Warrakan.”

“You did allow it?”

“Yes, so they could see that a ship less than half their size could run rings around them, take over all their controls, and even make them blow themselves to bits if we needed to. We gave them a message that they can't just do whatever they like.”

Thom's feelings were starting to show through so Wirrin agreed with a quiet nod and turned to Calen. The Cadre would get the message all right, but he didn't think it would change their main plans. They might be more careful for a while, but getting direct confirmation that capabilities like those of the Comet existed, would make them more determined to get them for themselves.

“What happened at the Council? You were heading for the dolphinarium when you left.”

“Sonic's module was there so we met him and travelled to the Council Hall. He needed to be there in person instead of holo. They do it that way for important things.

The first part of the meeting was sad because they talked about dieing and how the K74 AI helped us before he was murdered. The AIs were quiet during that part but they took over when the meeting started to talk about what to do.”

That was interesting and Wirrin would have to look at that when he had a chance. Taking over wasn't what you usually saw with AIs.

“First they said that K74 has to learn that it must never happen again and they're taking a lot of actions to back that up. The Cadre won't know what's hit them when it starts.”

“When it starts? It already has.”

“Some of it. Thom's told us about clearing the drones and confronting their ships, but it's much bigger than that. Every AI in the Solar System has been informed that K74 purposely killed one of them, and they're all protesting about it to the humans in their own habitats. Akama said there will be total outrage from almost the whole solar system and K74 will be treated like a pariah, whatever that is.”

“...Someone who is despised by everyone else. It's a word from Old India.”

“That sounds right. The AIs are going to withdraw their services for anything related to the Cadre.”

“There aren't any AIs on K74 now, so that doesn't sound like it will do much.”

“Thom, think properly. The InterWeb relies on AIs to function and that means the Cadre will be cut off from just about everything. If they want to communicate with the rest of the Solar System they'll have to send their own signals. ..And even that won't work because the receivers are managed by AIs.”

“No InterWeb? They won't be able to keep going.”

“Yes they will. They've got an Intelligent System which runs their own version throughout the Habitat. They use Intelligent Systems to run nearly everything and that makes a problem that the Council and the AIs have to solve somehow. They talked about it a great deal.”

Wirrin's interest jumped an extra level. Intelligent Systems was part of his area of interest.

“What problem?”

“The systems will all have to work at a higher level now that there's no real AI, and somehow that means a new one will appear.”

“That's how Pirramar and the other AIs from K74 were formed, but why is it a problem?”

“They think that the Rogue Scientist will know as soon as it happens and either kill the AI off like he was ordered to yesterday, or send it crazy by trying to control it. That means they'll have to do something about protection and there are huge difficulties about that because what the Rogue Scientist is doing is complicating everything. The Witnesses are asking for a lot more information about him.”

“That's going to be hard. Pirramar and I couldn't get past some of his blocks last night.”

“Well, the AIs are working on it of course, and the Council said that they'd do whatever they could to help. The next big topic they talked about was Freedom. They think it's too vulnerable and isolated and last night they contacted them and suggested the whole Habitat would be better off under the direct protection of Attunga and Warrakan.”

“Are we going to build a new Comet or give them all our defensive security data, or something like that?”

“Three more Comets Thom, but they're for here. Four of Attunga's space drives are going to be installed on Freedom so they can move. It will arrive in about five months time.”

Wirrin and Thom gawped.

“That all happened last night? They asked, and Freedom agreed, and everything got set in motion before the meeting even ended?”

“It only took twenty minutes. The Council could hardly believe it themselves, but it turned out that the Freedom AIs pointed out the benefits of the idea and practically insisted on moving and joining even more closely with us.”

It was another reminder of how fast things could happen when AIs were involved.

“Kadaitcha man! That's amazing. The AIs don't muck around once they've worked something out. The Council meeting must have been nearly as exciting as it was for me on the Comet. Did they decide anything else?”

“Lots of things. Mostly about security stuff, but they've also decided to go ahead and build the embassy at K74.”

“You must be joking. The Cadre will be so mad at us they'll probably blow it up. ...And it doesn't make sense anyway. If the AIs are cutting them off from everyone, why are we doing the opposite?”

“Akama says they won't do a thing no matter how mad they are. They'll act as if nothing happened and after three weeks of isolation they'll jump at the opportunity because it means they can get more information.”

“I'll bet it's something to do with protecting any new AIs. That's going to be really hard.”

Calen nodded at Wirrin's statement.

“What was the security stuff? Was it about the new Comets?”

“Some of it. They're going to speed up work on the shell around Attunga, and Warrakan is going to have one too.”

“Three Comets. ...As soon as I've had a sleep I'm finding out about them.”

Thom, understandably, wanted to know about the Comets, but Wirrin was intrigued by the idea of a shell for Warrakan. It already had almost a kilometre of its outer layer reserved as a natural buffer for when it started travelling through deep space, so an extra shell seemed redundant.

So many things happening at once. Well, maybe this evening after a sleep he'd get some catch-up time.

“What did you find out on your InfoSystem? Akama said you did some good things.”

“He did?”

“Yes, and he told me to tell you he's been too busy and he'll talk to you after you've had your sleep. ...But what happened? He practically ordered you to work with Pirramar.”

“We did work. For over twelve hours, and most of it was really hard. The first bit wasn't because it was helping Bakana, and Pirramar let me see what he was doing.”

“Bakana?”

“He's the new AI who was with Turaku and Pirramar when they turned up last night.”

“New?”

“He's a reconstruction of the AI from K74. Pirramar needed him to help with understanding the information which he sent through just before he died.”

“Wirrin, what are you talking about? The AI who died is alive again?”

“No, he's not, but yes, in a way. It's a bit like a clone only with AIs. The building blocks of the original are there so he's kind of identical but he has his own consciousness.”

“Like Comet-Turaku and Attunga-Turaku?”

“Not really. They're exactly identical because they're constantly linked and updating each other. If they stopped sharing everything then they would develop into too different AIs but they have no intention of doing that. Bakana is as close to the the K74 AI as Pirramar could make him but some things we just couldn't find out.”

“You helped to build him? How does that work? He was already alive when you met him last night.”

“That was young Bakana. Pirramar used the basic information which had already been sent and matched it with the processors and electronics which were ready in case they were needed. Last night we sneaked into every system on K74 we could and grabbed data which was tagged to be transmitted as part of the AI's escape plan. We couldn't get it all but what we did get was used by Bakana with Pirramar helping him integrate it all and build up his abilities.”

“He was different when you finished doing that? Could you tell?”

“I couldn't. Not one bit, but Pirramar said there was a huge difference.”

“It's amazing how they can just build a new AI whenever they feel like it. They should build up their population more.”

“More? We've got nearly 400 of them here. No other habitat except Titania Orbital has got anything like that number.”

“That's exactly what I mean. How would it be if there were only 400 people on Attunga? We'd think something was wrong.”

“Calen, you can't think of them like people. ...They're too different. And if you tried to build it up to even a thousand you'd have to add about eight extra levels.”

“Building levels is easy. We're adding one for the dolphins and that'll be finished in two years. Our Pico factories could add another eight in the same time if they really wanted to. But what about Warrakan? It's got so much space they could easily fit thousands of them. Is it the same breakdown there as it is here?”

“Breakdown?”

“The proportions. Attunga's got two levels for AIs and five for people, ...and one for dolphins.”

“Oh right. I see what you mean. Let's have a look.”

Within seconds Wirrin had a holo model of Warrakan floating in front of them with a cutaway view showing the general proposals for future development.

“Nine levels for people, six levels for dolphins, and five levels for AIs. The other ten levels are for all the services.”

“Their AIs get a lot more space.”

“Hey, you're right. That's very interesting. ...Wombats! That's huge. Calen, when you calculate at the Attunga rate Warrakan has enough space for over ten thousand AIs.”

“How did you do that?”

Calen and Thom were staring at him.

“What do you mean? I compared the Attunga space with the Warrakan space. That's easy.”

“It might be easy, but it should take more than a couple of blinks.”

“Did I blink?”

“I don't know. You might have. I just meant that's how long it took to work it out. You didn't seem to put it all together before you said the answer.”

“Of course I put it together. I've had lots of practice lately. That's all.”

“We said you were a brainiac when you started zapping without concentrating, and now you've proved it by doing the same thing with calculations.”

“Good try Thom, except I did think about it.”

“Are you zapping now?”

“You know I am. I've been doing it automatically for ages.”

It wasn't really ages, just since the last visit to the doctor a few weeks ago.

“Play it back for us then and see how long it took.”

Wirrin pulled the relevant moment from his storage implant and played it. He couldn't see himself of course, but his voice was recorded along with the images of Thom and Calen looking at him. There it was, in the moment before he said 'Wombats'.

“It does seem a bit short.”

“A bit? ...Measure it.”

“...1.8 seconds. See, there's a definite period while I'm thinking.”

“Thom does calculations all the time for flying the Comet. Flash the numbers and see how long it takes him.”

That little experiment showed Thom taking 6.4 seconds and brought renewed grins and cries of brainiac.

“You'd better talk to the doctor about this, before your brain goes all electronic.”

“And before you have to start plugging yourself into your InfoStation for recharges.”

Idiots! It was puzzling though, and worth checking out, but right now a subject change was in order.

“Look at this model of Warrakan. You were wrong about the shell.”

“Good change of subject Wirrin, but I wasn't. It shows it right there.”

“But they're not adding it outside like Attunga's. It's converting the buffer zone instead, so it's not really a shell.”

“Giving it a hard outer layer? Sounds like a shell to me. Stop waffling and get on with what else you did last night. I know you've got more too because the Council talked about some of it.”

Wirrin didn't know that, but it wasn't a surprise really after hearing the decisions they'd made. Pirramar had probably been in constant contact with them.

“Well, after we worked with Bakana, which was time critical in case the stored files got wiped out or blocked, we started looking at what happened on K74. That was critical too because Pirramar received just enough warning to know that there was danger for any AI looking too closely at the information in the panic transmission.”

“Danger for external AIs? That's scary.”

“Really scary. And it's why Akama made such a big deal about me helping. Just as well too, because Pirramar would have been in big trouble if he hadn't listened to the warning.”

“It wouldn't have...?”

“No, but it could have interfered with his thinking if he wasn't prepared.”

“So what was it?”

“It was a different version of that priority trap which interfered with the AIs when we were at Monkey Mia. This time it was so strong it could force processors to overload and become temporarily useless. Pirramar said it would be horrible for an AI, ...like a human suddenly losing their senses one after the other. The trap was bad enough, but its whole purpose was to tie up all the AI's resources, so he couldn't react fast enough when the real attack was launched against his core. Without that overload the AI would have escaped easily. He had that all planned and ready.”

“If he hadn't followed the warning could Pirramar have been hurt by the real attack as well as the overload part?”

“No, the attack was designed against the exact processors and code being used by the K74 AI and Pirramar's is different. His code did start off the same when he first transferred but it immediately got updated and his new processors are way ahead of the ones on K74. That's good news for every other AI too, because the lethal part won't work without being designed to their exact specifications, but we didn't know that until we looked at it and understood what it was doing.”

“Brainiac saves the AIs again.”

“Galah head! It was your idea that saved them at Monkey Mia not mine, and we knew there must be something like it happening again so call yourself a brainiac.”

Thom, completely ignoring the logic in Wirrin's argument, and knowing that much much more would have happened, promptly called him a brainiac again.

Calen was enjoying the brainiac stir as much as Thom but he moved the conversation on.

“The Council knew the AIs were safe early in the meeting, so what were you doing the rest of the time?”

“Getting into as many of K74's systems as we possibly could. It's a nightmare now because there's no AI to give us the access codes. Pirramar can work them out or bypass them sometimes but there are critical areas we can't get at. The Rogue Scientist has his section completely blocked and he's started working on the Cadre's control area as well and their meeting room has gone from our view.”

“So we won't know what they're saying any more?”

“Not when they're meeting together, but we'll be able to find out indirectly as long as the blocked areas don't spread too much.”

“If he blocks the whole place we won't know anything.”

“He couldn't. Well he could, but everything would slow down too much.”

“That wouldn't worry them.”

“Yes it would Thom. Their TransCom system isn't nearly as efficient as ours for a start, and it would probably take two or three times as long to get anywhere, and on a 300 km long habitat they definitely couldn't cope. You'd have twelve billion people complaining, and it would be the same with their services and communications.”

“So we'll still find out stuff but it will be second-hand?”

“We'll find out lots of things but really important things might be blocked.”

“The Rogue must be very clever.”

“He is. Pirramar says we need to know a whole lot more about what he's doing and what he's capable of.”

“What did Sonic say about all these things happening?”

Thom addressed this question to Calen who went a bit thoughtful before answering.

“He agreed with all the proposals from the Council and the AIs but he hardly said anything at all. When we were travelling back to the dolphinarium he said he was puzzled about K74 and needed more understanding before he could make proper decisions about them.”

“Really? That sounds like he might have doubts about the proposals?”

“He doesn't, because I asked him.”

They started to discuss Sonics reactions but when Thom half stifled a yawn and Wirrin and Calen both caught it off him, they nodded in agreement. It was time for bed.

***

Wirrin watched Thom and Calen in the pool and laughed when Thom got a face full of water for trying to twist Sonic's tail flukes. He'd been happily mucking round himself but it was now right on the time when Akama and Warrigal were due for a surprise conference. Akama was expected but the message waiting when he woke from his much needed sleep saying Warrigal would be present was not, and even more unexpected was the way the meeting was couched in terms of a conference which almost sounded serious.

“Welcome to my home Honored Ones.”

“Thank you Little Brother. We treasure the gift of your welcome.”

All sound from the pool stopped and Wirrin knew Calen, Thom and Sonic were watching, intrigued by the exchange of traditional greeting. For Wirrin it had been almost automatic because Akama's usual friendly manner was overlaid with the presence of his office, and that was somehow reflected in Warrigal.

“The Witness Council, acting on request from our AI associates, formerly commends you in recognition of your service to the community of Attunga.

Furthermore the AI gestalt expresses its gratitude for your help in protecting their interests and names you a friend.”

Wirrin stared in disbelief then into the sudden silence Sonic's voice sounded from the translator.

'Dolphins are in full agreement, friend Wirrin.'

Wirrin didn't know what to say so he just nodded.

“Wow! That's unreal.”

The charged, ceremonial atmosphere dissolved as everyone smiled at Thom's interjection, and Sonic spoke again, this time with his normal voice.

'This is a time for friends to celebrate.'

Calen understood and beckoned to Akama and Warrigal.

“He wants everyone together in the water.”

A few moments later, with four very pleased people around him, and Sonic nudging companionably against his side, Wirrin felt he could say what he really thought.

“Akama, why have they made it such a big deal? All I did was work on the InfoSystem. I don't see why the council think that's so special.”

Wirrin felt a jolt of surprise and pleasure when a hand firmly grasped his shoulder. Akama was expressing a degree of pride?

“The council had no choice Wirrin because the AIs insisted. Not that there was a skerrick of resistance. How could there be when Pirramar reported directly that you ventured where he daren't, discovered an insidious trap dangerous to every AI in the Solar System, then pointed the way to a solution. On top of that, several of your tasks and your hours of application were a vital help for the new AI. ...The commendation and the status are rightly yours.”

“Too many brains for his own good. ...What's that status part mean? Will we have to bow to him every morning when we wake up?”

Wirrin was glad Thom asked because he was wondering himself.

“You're quite astute in picking that up Thom and you're right. A formal commendation automatically grants special privilege, and from now on you will be expected to respond to his every request and treat him with the utmost respect. A bow would definitely be appropriate, along with taking over all his jobs around your living space and preparing his meals. Whenever you speak to him you should call him 'Great One'.”

That was ridiculous but Akama sounded so serious and authoratative that it must be right. Thom's jaunty manner disappeared and his jaw literally dropped.

“Great One?”

“That's correct. Try it. A commendation from the full Council and all the AIs is an extraordinary event and if you can't manage it appropriately we might need to train you with a protocol holo.”

'Wirrin is a great one.'

This was too weird but coming from Sonic made it sound right, and seeing all the expectant gazes focused on him, Thom faced Wirrin and gave a slow nod.

“Great One.”

Wirrin's thoughts were whirling. If they had to follow all his requests then the first one would be to not call him 'Great One' at home. Akama would say that must be all right, surely? Wirrin was about to ask when he caught the surreptitious little movement directed at him. A wink? Yes, Akama had a definite twinkle in his eye.

Bunyips! They'd all fallen for it completely, well maybe not Sonic. His comment was conveniently complicit come to think of it. Keeping a straight face, Wirrin returned the slow nod to Thom then suddenly directed a scoop of water right at him.

“Thank you 'Tiny One'. I'd like my breakfast delivered to the grav-bed every morning.”

First astonishment at the response, then realisation, registered with Thom and one glance at Akama's huge smile confirmed he'd been tricked. Wirrin was almost shocked when jets of water started flying at the leading Witness on all of Attunga, but the vigorous return attack showed Akama was relishing every moment. Sonic joined in and Thom had no hope.

“Fish attack. Not fair.”

'The Tiny One sends tiny splashes.'

“You great lump. Why don't you splash Akama and Warrigal ? I bet you're not game.”

Akama and Warrigal almost disappeared under the amounts of water Sonic sent, but for the last word Thom copped the same treatment.

“What did you mean by status before Thom misinterpreted it?”

“Thom didn't really misinterpret. The status is real and almost unique. The AIs have proclaimed Wirrin a friend and that means he will be recognised as special by any AI he comes in contact with.”

“Wow! Do you think they'll call him Great One?”

“They very well might Thom. Who knows what an AI will do in any given this situation, and it's certainly likely he'll be meeting quite a few in the near future.”

Wondering if this was a reference to something specific, the trio exchanged glances and looked for extra information.

“Yes Wirrin, there is another reason we're here tonight. Warrigal is present as your mentor and advocate. I represent the council and have a request for you to consider.

After last night's events there was a great deal of discussion of what to do about the Rogue Scientist, as Calen so aptly refers to him, and it's very clear that we need to know more about him, particularly the direction he's taking against non-human intelligence.

The AIs from Earth and Mars have made a joint effort to provide us with every piece of information they've been able to find so we have an extensive background of his life prior to the move to K74. Our concerns are with his current activities however, and five of our top information scientists will be examining every facet of his work and research. They will be a valuable assistance but the biggest imperative is to be forewarned and prepared should the Cadre direct him to extend his aggression. We need someone to experience his background and become expert in all his fields of work, expert enough to guide us in countering anything he might try. Pirramar insists that it should be you, and we quite agree except for the fact that it would be a major intrusion on your life.”

Wirrin was nodding his agreement about the need for knowledge. It was exactly what he'd reported to Thom and Calen and his interest flared at the prospect of involvement, then stalled. A major intrusion? He was making it sound so negative.

“I don't see why. It's directly related to my Info studies and I already have a good background in what's going on. I like working with Pirramar too, and I think it's exactly what I should be doing.”

Akama exchanged a look with Warrigal.

“Wirrin, we agree with Pirramar that you're right for this task. The problem is the degree and length of commitmentat at this stage of your life. It would involve yet another postponement of your plans to finish Basic Training and immediately shouldering a seriously heavy workload. You would have to fight your way through accelerated EdCom courses in every area the Rogue has studied and at the same time work with Pirramar to access the K74 Information Systems. I can see you're eager and feeling obliged to go ahead but we must talk this through thoroughly before you decide.”

Talk they did for over an hour till Wirrin understood, with a mixture of alarm and excitement, exactly how much was involved.

Warrigal almost vetoed the proposal at one stage, insisting that Wirrin wasn't a machine and that at least half his EdCom time should involve classes shared with other students. He very clearly understood, much better than Akama, the ins and outs of EdCom and the difficulties and needs of such a crowded course. He asked Wirrin about his best learning times and when Wirrin explained about working through the challenges on the Titania trip he called for Turaku, and on the spot asked for his involvement. Turaku agreed, but straightaway said that Pirramar was better suited and offering to take his place.

Warrigal called for Pirramar then,and told him he would link him to the sections of EdCom overseeing Wirrin's courses.

Sonic complicated everything by informing Akama that he wanted to be involved with Wirrin's learning and research as well.

Throughout all this Wirrin had no doubts at all about his decision, but as the range of things he'd have to do clarified in his mind he wondered more and more if he'd be able to manage and finally said there was too much. Warrigal allayed those worries by taking every aspect and showing how it could be organised into a workable timetable.

Another complication was the move to the new living space on Warrakan, which was only two weeks away, and Calen suggested starting the full program when that was settled. Pirramar, surprisingly, supported that, saying concentrated work with Wirrin for the next three or four weeks was actually a priority.

***

“Wirrin, I hope this doesn't mean you'll be working twelve hours a day for the next few years! We'll never see you, and when we do you'll be too tired. I don't think it's fair.”

 

“It won't be that bad. We'll have our activity days together. Warrigal made certain of that.”

“As if! Look how much they already get messed up when Thom's doing something with the Comet or I'm involved with extra things for Sonic.”

“We'll work around it. Warrigal and Akama both said they'd help us as much as they could and they really meant it. It's scary, but it's like you working extra hard with Sonic for the Meeting Day.”

“That was four or five weeks. Not forever.”

“Well, I hope you don't drop dead from brain exhaustion. A quarter of what you're doing would be enough for me. I'm going to see if there's a protein structure that stops brains wearing out.”

Trust Thom to make them all smile. Secretly, Wirrin wished him success. He might indeed need a protein structure like that.

***