1n1REzE

Peter Watts 108 Blindsight
"I guess." Bates sent one grunt humming off to the hold; two
more emerged in formation, spinelight glinting off their armor.
"How many of these are you making, anyway"
"We're breaking and entering, Siri. Not wise to leave our own
house unguarded."
I inspected her surfaces as she inspected theirs. Doubt and
resentment simmered just beneath.
"You're in a tough spot," I remarked.
"We all are."
"But you're responsible for defending us, against something we
don't know anything about. We're only guessing that—"
"Sarasti doesn't guess," Bates said. "The man's in charge for a
reason. Doesn't make much sense to question his orders, given
we're all about a hundred IQ points short of understanding the
answer anyway."
"And yet he's also got that whole predatory side nobody talks
about," I remarked. "It must be difficult for him, all that intellect
coexisting with so much instinctive aggression. Making sure the
right part wins."
She wondered in that instant whether Sarasti might be listening
in. She decided in the next that it didn't matter: why should he
care what the cattle thought, as long as they did what they were
told
All she said was, "I thought you jargonauts weren't supposed to
have opinions."
"That wasn't mine."
Bates paused. Returned to her inspection.
"You do know what I do," I said.
"Uh huh." The first of the current pair passed muster and
hummed off up the spine. She turned to the second. "You simplify
things. So the folks back home can understand what the specialists
are up to."
"That's part of it."
"I don't need a translator, Siri. I'm just a consultant, assuming
things go well. A bodyguard if they don't."
"You're an officer and a military expert. I'd say that makes you
more than qualified when it comes to assessing Rorschach's threat