chamber. It was clear to Sarazen that this place was part of the ancient transit line network. A walkway led to a deep trench where the rails could clearly be seen. At either end of the long chamber, a dark arched tunnel engulfed the rails in a deep and foreboding blackness.
“ Here we must wait for a time.” Kerrig said, assuring Sarazen that one of the carriages would soon appear before activating some kind of device placed on the platform wall.
“ Control, transit request.” He spoke into the curious object as he engaged the adjacent push button.
“ Proceed.” A disembodied voice was heard, its voice pattern unusual to Sarazen’s auditory sensors. He could make out that the frequencies of the sound were unlike silicant speech. The tone lacked the lower and upper range; the tone was metallic and distorted.
“ Interesting.” Sarazen muttered as he tried to fathom the purpose of the unit.
“ Control...request transit, user Kerrig, destination Centrus.” Kerrig continued.
“ Request confirmed approximate arrival 34:72.”
“ Thank you, control.”
“ You’re welcome.” Kerrig turned to Sarazen and nodded.
“ Won't be long.” Sarazen was intrigued by this method of remote communication. Seeing his friend’s bemusement, Kerrig attempted to explain.
“ We use this method to communicate in the tunnel network. The device is very primitive and it relies on circuits of great length to carry our vocal commands. It converts sound waves into a small current which is then reconstructed and amplified at the destination terminal. Primitive but highly functional. It was installed long before we were here. If you require assistance at any time, you need only engage the device and communicate with control.” Kerrig did his best to entertain his new friend but he could see the glimmer of confusion written on his face.
“ Surely it would be more pertinent to create a network to utilise the data ports. Transfer of information is significantly enhanced and communication almost instantaneous?”
“ That's fine if you have a data port!” Trist added pointing to his belly. The absence of the archaic yet more efficient device should not have surprised Sarazen.
“ This is partly what I was trying to say earlier. With the advent of our sentience, we no longer needed or wanted this level of technological connectivity. We enjoy verbal and physical communication, it is slower yes, more open to flaws and misinterpretation, but overall, it is one of the things that define us.” Kerrig explained as succinctly as possible.
“ There is much to process here.” Sarazen said, ultimately confused and almost irritated by the ill logic of it all.
“ You forget, my friend, that we are the same but very different also. We have evolved in the countless cycles that you were buried in that passage. We have naturally rejected technological prowess, we now seek to hone our creative and social skills, we seek to understand our emotional states, and we have learned to reject pure logic. We are more content this way; it is very difficult to explain.” Sarazen looked disgruntled and needed more information.
“ So you are superior because you possess these unpredictable and destructive emotions? Despite a regression to the use of primitive technologies, I am in fact an inferior product?” Kerrig did not know how to answer that query. He did not want a verbal conflict with Sarazen, he did not understand enough at this time to be dwelling on the matter.
“ Sarazen, my friend, we are neither superior nor inferior, we are just different...and that is the beauty of it all.” Kerrig's ambiguous answer did little to clarify his thoughts. If the silicants had evolved in this way, then it was not logical in any sense. Furthermore, if Sarazen was an example of the very first sentients, then logic would dictate that he would be inferior to those that followed, although that did not appear to be the case. The sentients had appeared to
“ Here we must wait for a time.” Kerrig said, assuring Sarazen that one of the carriages would soon appear before activating some kind of device placed on the platform wall.
“ Control, transit request.” He spoke into the curious object as he engaged the adjacent push button.
“ Proceed.” A disembodied voice was heard, its voice pattern unusual to Sarazen’s auditory sensors. He could make out that the frequencies of the sound were unlike silicant speech. The tone lacked the lower and upper range; the tone was metallic and distorted.
“ Interesting.” Sarazen muttered as he tried to fathom the purpose of the unit.
“ Control...request transit, user Kerrig, destination Centrus.” Kerrig continued.
“ Request confirmed approximate arrival 34:72.”
“ Thank you, control.”
“ You’re welcome.” Kerrig turned to Sarazen and nodded.
“ Won't be long.” Sarazen was intrigued by this method of remote communication. Seeing his friend’s bemusement, Kerrig attempted to explain.
“ We use this method to communicate in the tunnel network. The device is very primitive and it relies on circuits of great length to carry our vocal commands. It converts sound waves into a small current which is then reconstructed and amplified at the destination terminal. Primitive but highly functional. It was installed long before we were here. If you require assistance at any time, you need only engage the device and communicate with control.” Kerrig did his best to entertain his new friend but he could see the glimmer of confusion written on his face.
“ Surely it would be more pertinent to create a network to utilise the data ports. Transfer of information is significantly enhanced and communication almost instantaneous?”
“ That's fine if you have a data port!” Trist added pointing to his belly. The absence of the archaic yet more efficient device should not have surprised Sarazen.
“ This is partly what I was trying to say earlier. With the advent of our sentience, we no longer needed or wanted this level of technological connectivity. We enjoy verbal and physical communication, it is slower yes, more open to flaws and misinterpretation, but overall, it is one of the things that define us.” Kerrig explained as succinctly as possible.
“ There is much to process here.” Sarazen said, ultimately confused and almost irritated by the ill logic of it all.
“ You forget, my friend, that we are the same but very different also. We have evolved in the countless cycles that you were buried in that passage. We have naturally rejected technological prowess, we now seek to hone our creative and social skills, we seek to understand our emotional states, and we have learned to reject pure logic. We are more content this way; it is very difficult to explain.” Sarazen looked disgruntled and needed more information.
“ So you are superior because you possess these unpredictable and destructive emotions? Despite a regression to the use of primitive technologies, I am in fact an inferior product?” Kerrig did not know how to answer that query. He did not want a verbal conflict with Sarazen, he did not understand enough at this time to be dwelling on the matter.
“ Sarazen, my friend, we are neither superior nor inferior, we are just different...and that is the beauty of it all.” Kerrig's ambiguous answer did little to clarify his thoughts. If the silicants had evolved in this way, then it was not logical in any sense. Furthermore, if Sarazen was an example of the very first sentients, then logic would dictate that he would be inferior to those that followed, although that did not appear to be the case. The sentients had appeared to
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