PeterWatts_Blindsight

Peter Watts 69 Blindsight
elbows in hieroglyphics before you know it. And what's more,
you'll decode 'em in record time."
"You're sweet, but I wonder. Half the time I can't even decode
Jukka." Michelle fell silent a moment. "He actually kind of
throws me sometimes."
"You and seven billion others."
"Yeah. I know it's silly, but when he's not around there's a part
of me that can't stop wondering where he's hiding. And when he's
right there in front of me, I feel like I should be hiding."
"Not his fault he creeps us out."
"I know. But it's hardly a big morale booster. What genius came
up with the idea of putting a vampire in charge?"
"Where else you going to put them, eh? You want to be the one
giving orders to him?"
"And it's not just the way he moves. It's the way he talks. It's
just wrong."
"You know he—"
"I'm not talking about the present-tense thing, or all the glottals.
He—well, you know how he talks. He's terse."
"It's efficient."
"It's artificial, Isaac. He's smarter than all of us put together, but
sometimes he talks like he's got a fifty-word vocabulary." A soft
snort. "It's not like it'd kill him to use an adverb once in a while."
"Ah. But you say that because you're a linguist, and you can't see
why anyone wouldn't want to wallow in the sheer beauty of
language." Szpindel harrumphed with mock pomposity. "Now
me, I'm a biologist, so it makes perfect sense."
"Really. Then explain it to me, oh wise and powerful mutilator
of frogs."
"Simple. Bloodsucker's a transient, not a resident."
"What are—oh, those are killer whales, right? Whistle dialects."
"I said forget the language. Think about the lifestyle. Residents
are fish-eaters, eh? They hang out in big groups, don't move
around much, talk all the time." I heard a whisper of motion,
imagined Szpindel leaning in and laying a hand on Michelle's arm.
I imagined the sensors in his gloves telling him what she felt like.
"Transients, now—they eat mammals. Seals, sea lions, smart prey.