Interrogative 01: Tiago and the Masterless by Charles Barouch Page B
Authors: Charles Barouch
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live on the planet. It all clicked together now.
"Prime Lesser, would you humor me with an odd request? Can you define an insect?"
"Wind, rain, many things can potentially harm the crops. The insect is different than all other threats. The insect has intent," the holo said. "You are a smart insect. You figured out the maintenance language and told us you meant the crops no harm. We were not fooled. You are not the first insect we have caught. Some of them were smart, too. You are not the smartest."
"Others have tried to made you think that they were no threat."
"Yes," the holo agreed.
"Only one type of insect ever succeeded, right?"
"We don't talk about that," the holo said.
"When you said that the Interrogative was going home, you meant the planet below, didn't you?" Tiago asked, pulling back from the other line of questioning, for now.
"Yes," the holo agreed. "Where else would we call home?"
"When you called me 'spare parts' you meant that I could be forced to land the ship and disable it if you lost control of Audra."
"No reason to kill you until we are sure she'd done her job," the holo agreed. "Then you are both expendable."
"What if I can prove that I'm not an insect?" Tiago said.
"We have heard this one before as well, insect," the holo said.
"The crops are toxic to me. I have no reason to eat food raised in that atmosphere. Proof."
"You can now. We gave you the adaptation shot," the holo said.
That stopped Tiago for a moment. They'd done something to make his system tolerate the air. In the rush to get the ship back, he'd put that bit of mystery out of his mind. If they had a prepared fix for this problem, he reasoned, he wasn't their first encounter with it. Another piece fell into place.
"I can eat the crops. That makes me an insect. You made me into an insect with the shot. Doesn't that mean I wasn't an insect before?"
"There are sixty-three kinds of insects in our records which damage crops through methods other than eating," the holo said. "You may be the one of the smarter insects we've caught, but you aren't as smart as you think you are."
"The one type of insect which succeeded… you eventually found a solution for them as well, right?"
"We don't talk about that," the holo said.
He heard the defensive tone. Picking at that sore spot would require some finesse. It was his way out of this mess. Tiago reminded himself that the beautifully accented Portuguese was being spoken by a non-human. The Prime Lesser was behaving in a very human way, but there could be some differences. Fatal differences. Still, he was sure of his head-tilt moment. He pressed.
"You raise the crops for the masters. Even now, with the masters gone, you still raise them."
"We don't talk about that," the holo said.
"Because the masters ate the crops and that classified them as insects, didn't it?"
"Stop talking about that," the holo said.
"When did you reclassify them? Exactly when you made the transition from living being to ghost in the machine?"
"I will kill you, insect, if you don't stop talking," the holo said as it winked out.
"I know you can still hear me. Listen carefully. I am Tiago Modesto Breno Davi Salazar. I am your new master. You will submit to me, now!"
Nothing.
Tiago had been sure that this was the way to play it. He was certainly right about the fate of the masters. He waited, having nothing else to do. He waited as his ship moved closer to being turned into just another planet-bound relay station. He couldn't just sit and wait. He stood up and tried again.
"The crops must have a purpose. I am that purpose."
Nothing.
"Robots. Bring me to the computer which holds the Prime Lesser's intelligence."
The robots crowded around him but they didn't herd him anywhere. He thought about that. About the lack of locks on the doors. This place was never intended to be a prison. They'd seen him as spare parts, so they put him in a storage room. He ordered the robots and they responded because they were
"Prime Lesser, would you humor me with an odd request? Can you define an insect?"
"Wind, rain, many things can potentially harm the crops. The insect is different than all other threats. The insect has intent," the holo said. "You are a smart insect. You figured out the maintenance language and told us you meant the crops no harm. We were not fooled. You are not the first insect we have caught. Some of them were smart, too. You are not the smartest."
"Others have tried to made you think that they were no threat."
"Yes," the holo agreed.
"Only one type of insect ever succeeded, right?"
"We don't talk about that," the holo said.
"When you said that the Interrogative was going home, you meant the planet below, didn't you?" Tiago asked, pulling back from the other line of questioning, for now.
"Yes," the holo agreed. "Where else would we call home?"
"When you called me 'spare parts' you meant that I could be forced to land the ship and disable it if you lost control of Audra."
"No reason to kill you until we are sure she'd done her job," the holo agreed. "Then you are both expendable."
"What if I can prove that I'm not an insect?" Tiago said.
"We have heard this one before as well, insect," the holo said.
"The crops are toxic to me. I have no reason to eat food raised in that atmosphere. Proof."
"You can now. We gave you the adaptation shot," the holo said.
That stopped Tiago for a moment. They'd done something to make his system tolerate the air. In the rush to get the ship back, he'd put that bit of mystery out of his mind. If they had a prepared fix for this problem, he reasoned, he wasn't their first encounter with it. Another piece fell into place.
"I can eat the crops. That makes me an insect. You made me into an insect with the shot. Doesn't that mean I wasn't an insect before?"
"There are sixty-three kinds of insects in our records which damage crops through methods other than eating," the holo said. "You may be the one of the smarter insects we've caught, but you aren't as smart as you think you are."
"The one type of insect which succeeded… you eventually found a solution for them as well, right?"
"We don't talk about that," the holo said.
He heard the defensive tone. Picking at that sore spot would require some finesse. It was his way out of this mess. Tiago reminded himself that the beautifully accented Portuguese was being spoken by a non-human. The Prime Lesser was behaving in a very human way, but there could be some differences. Fatal differences. Still, he was sure of his head-tilt moment. He pressed.
"You raise the crops for the masters. Even now, with the masters gone, you still raise them."
"We don't talk about that," the holo said.
"Because the masters ate the crops and that classified them as insects, didn't it?"
"Stop talking about that," the holo said.
"When did you reclassify them? Exactly when you made the transition from living being to ghost in the machine?"
"I will kill you, insect, if you don't stop talking," the holo said as it winked out.
"I know you can still hear me. Listen carefully. I am Tiago Modesto Breno Davi Salazar. I am your new master. You will submit to me, now!"
Nothing.
Tiago had been sure that this was the way to play it. He was certainly right about the fate of the masters. He waited, having nothing else to do. He waited as his ship moved closer to being turned into just another planet-bound relay station. He couldn't just sit and wait. He stood up and tried again.
"The crops must have a purpose. I am that purpose."
Nothing.
"Robots. Bring me to the computer which holds the Prime Lesser's intelligence."
The robots crowded around him but they didn't herd him anywhere. He thought about that. About the lack of locks on the doors. This place was never intended to be a prison. They'd seen him as spare parts, so they put him in a storage room. He ordered the robots and they responded because they were
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