Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

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had become the center of Gordon’s Lamp’s society. Most ofthe people here had been to Alan’s universe and most agreedthat he consumed an undue share of cherub space for his rank,but none was advocating shutting it down or banning hischerubs.Jason made him also maintain a virtual model of the studyplanet as it actually exists, it had been his sentence to put asmuch time into that as he did into his imaginary one based onit. That was to be as accurate a model as their data allowed, toallow others to study it. Few did. Biology did all that wasrequired, but they seldom visited the model of the real studyplanet in their off duty hours. They all visited Alan’s universeand Glenelle was nearly a regular at clubs in his city ofZhlindu.For these dinner parties Kelvin did not put you in theblack of space, staring at their situation with recent impactsglowing fierce yellows and reds. No, this was in a thicklypaneled wonderland of sitting areas and low steps andcomfortably firm leather lounge chairs, tiny nook bars servingonly what you wanted in the first place, large tanks filled withlarge colorfully-striped glowing fish to provide the light, andthe distant scent of perfumed pipe tobacco. The small loungeareas constantly opened to someplace different when youweren’t looking, where the people you really wanted to say‘hi’ to were hanging out.Kelvin had worked with an architect on this, DonovanAxxis and had Ava research some socially predictive software326
for him. Donovan was still working but he was going to bee’vaced any day. Kelvin was glad he was able to finish thisproject by mail before that happened. He wondered how Avawould enjoy her new found freedom on this first importantsocial occasion since the separation was official and allaccounts settled. He wondered if she would now openly takeAlan’s arm, but then remembered he was not invited to thissoiree. He was still officially serving a sentence for a seriouscrime. Few knew it but he still kept an attorney, a Smith andWesson Rottweiler 8.1a, to guard his universe rights.Who would she take? He thought Alan and Morg hadbeen the only men who had interested her, well, she alsothought Colonel Bovok was attractive in some weird way, buthe was very married to a woman who did NOT make any useof Alan’s universe.She appeared in the door by herself, wearing robes verysimilar to what she wore on duty. They were a little moresheer, the breeze pressed them to her body a little moreclosely than it did during business, and the colors were a littlebrighter and the patterns a lot bolder.He wondered who would be the first to approach her. Shehadn’t made it to the nearest bar when someone did.Lieutenant Imdrun was a very needy soul, and representedhimself as a slight man with a forlorn face and droopy eyes.He was here as a guest of Major Alverez, but Delos was notwith him at the moment.“Ava,” Lieutenant Wies Imdrun said to her. “I’m sorry to327
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TangleInTheDark
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Tangle in the DarkThe Christial sta
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He was left with the home and the l
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Engineering wouldn’t approve of h
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with one of the most important offi
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first detected, left alone once the
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without other souls, it is essentia
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didn’t retrieve.” Alan had made
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may not be under direct control, bu
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“The church is one,” Ava sighed
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transfer in the galaxy is happening
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here the rest of the time. It’s a
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hung out on Afternoonday and partie
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her official one were as unlike as
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Alan, said, “yes I know,” as he
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11:13am Tue. Jan 17, 2384“It’s
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out in a Trenst crowd and would eve
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of them. Prices are higher in the R
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this.“Oh you’re right!” she s
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special but she sported a major pai
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I’d guess she’s still at her of
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He really hoped it wasn’t Ava who
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He wanted to ask her what language
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gone to the off-duty lounge, he kne
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-Hi,It will probably be a long time
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to have repressions needing to be f
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“I’m not going to have her desc
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think, don’t you think?” she as
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central location, right next to the
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such short notice but you didn’t
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"She wouldn't tell me, ma'am.""She
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screen was modeled to look like a m
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"I found a dinner club that I thoug
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understanding how those signals act
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“You ought’a come down to the p
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with cherubs this evening. It had b
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he was not a natural chef and had t
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varied over time. There were quantu
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close to you. Even at that, you’v
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“I don’t know of anyone who’s
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awhile. Alan didn’t want to say a
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Erectus.”“In more ways than one
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“It’s all about whatever she le
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theory and simulation structure. Li
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He noticed her cup was full again a
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"Thom and Elmore?""Elmore and Alfre
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10:47pm Tue. Apr. 10, 2384Alan was
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As he walked thru the rows to the e
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did."That rang about as true as a l
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employ, opening a new back door was
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generator it took her only a little
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These cherubs are often regarded as
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shortly," it said and left the room
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"You mean what other universes?" Al
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skills to remove an encapsulation i
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2:07pm Fri. Apr. 20, 2384Once the c
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ack into here. Not only that, but a
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out of the lab, both labs."Obviousl
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"Wait Alan," Vic said, looking up f
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9:21pm Sun. Apr. 22, 2384Alan waite
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with her disappearance?From what he
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about it. Even though he was suppos
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you, there is an enemy agent aboard
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"Then I'll never see you," she teas
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“I'm surprised to hear you say th
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do anything about it. We could pass
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"I've heard that too, but we are un
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impious outside. She was one of the
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occurring condensates but they had
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esearch if it was actually done man
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“Alan is here,” she said calmly
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could. He finally looked up at her.
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it is?" he said, "I think you are d
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signals, the signals were simply th
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Kuiper Belt they all stared in horr
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will be sucking vacuum for fifteen
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"Yes, by all means," he said. "If t
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noticed if it wasn’t for her lack
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extreme cherubs before and hadn’t
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"No; God," she said, with an implie
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thru the lab coat. “I popped in t
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Alan's world. He never saw his face
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cheating and tried to get me to che
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at the space. He always liked churc
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"Neglecting my carnal duties to my
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There was a long pause, finally Tho
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far as appearance. He actually thou
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need to understand your signals for
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continue his analysis, so he update
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asked."You wouldn't have wanted to
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guy on a flute that sounded like a
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"I'm glad you're with me this time.
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using the cherubs? She was either l
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knew that you were done forgiving m
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critics. Thom wasn't paying attenti
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"I'm going to try.""How?""That's my
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fusion in either drive could slag t
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apparatus and technique, as well as
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didn't let that distract him. He di
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things; one, whatever is making the
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to him," Warren said."I think Thom
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that he knew, but after his private
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"I loved her, I still do," Thom cam
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of Engineering and not know enough
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sure we'll find a corresponding tra
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Major Imogene Tengine he had known
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full once again. He looked away fro
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paths hadn’t crossed recently.Bef
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largest information transfer in the
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Maybe this was good. If he reported
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they had been close. At one point h
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Yellelle from the hints she gave hi
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from entanglement in their own vero
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We've discovered physical proof of
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"Somebody has to, it's not the hard
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personification.”“We’re worri
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equipment. He double checked all th
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lightspeed would not be exceeded wa
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1:14pm. Mon. Apr. 23, 2384All he co
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from the countryside will re-people
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great to see you back safe...” he
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do it, mainly because he wanted to
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Book III.The Captain's War9:51am Mo
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his public space. As captain of the
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now that I know she was there, I ca
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Ava slapped her forehead, went back
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Because his mother had been a senat
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need. He set his hormones to only t
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tangler beam, something within a fe
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"Sure, Ava, this is just a few of u
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Finally Heymon burst into the meeti
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way that said the subject was close
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looked at his virtual paperwork aga
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pious crewman and can carry out his
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anywhere in the galaxy used this co
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neglect anything."Glayet and Heymon
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"Why?" Heymon asked again."To scare
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"They were not listed," Heymon resp
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at full thrust.""Pink Dawn can't ho
Page 280 and 281: interface has been reconfigured. Av
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Page 284 and 285: processors housed in a tin shed. Th
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Page 292 and 293: 8:07am Mon. Mar. 5, 2384Kelvin had
Page 294 and 295: years.”So far peace was holding a
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Page 298 and 299: may not feel the need to be as dili
Page 300 and 301: “Yes sir,” Elmore said with a g
Page 302 and 303: There was an inclusion in a plain-p
Page 304 and 305: along the way and wiped that out.We
Page 306 and 307: mother’s handwriting.He pinged Av
Page 308 and 309: universe. His universe is the unive
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Page 312 and 313: every self-aware being in this univ
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Page 316 and 317: not just into our perception?”“
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Page 320 and 321: 8:47pm Wed. Mar. 28, 2384Kelvin sat
Page 322 and 323: “My benefits would have covered h
Page 324 and 325: “I think Yellelle has more to do
Page 326 and 327: now but she is still here. I didn
Page 328 and 329: “Set the hearing on her separatio
Page 332 and 333: hear about your divorce.”“The s
Page 334 and 335: 8:01am Fri. Apr. 19, 2384He had lef
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Page 338 and 339: also been wiping his ass longer in
Page 340 and 341: already knew and was only pretendin
Page 342 and 343: and keying in commands. He kept his
Page 344 and 345: He knew this imaging did not illumi
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Page 348 and 349: O'Connor outranked him and he knew
Page 350 and 351: she was the one who had Ava encapsu
Page 352 and 353: "So, to answer your question,” sh
Page 354 and 355: "How did they know?""The dimensions
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Page 358 and 359: from spewing, and she was into orga
Page 360 and 361: "I'm still divorcing him," Ava said
Page 362 and 363: ears on the ground with access to a
Page 364 and 365: Glayet dropped off the line, but as
Page 366 and 367: Book IV.Survival of the Species9:21
Page 368 and 369: eally had to look into how Alan got
Page 370 and 371: anything for a time. Though Alan's
Page 372 and 373: ecause it was only a redecoration o
Page 374 and 375: certainly never detect the entangle
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Page 378 and 379: She knew about Heymon’s mortal li
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open shirts. Alan’s universe had
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perspiring. All of the soldiers eye
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and door frames. She was lead into
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if that was what he was, said somet
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computer banks after she was killed
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calamari chowder with plenty of pot
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used were much more stable and the
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Their hosts were maybe in their fif
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urst into riotous laughter. He was
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social parts and she decided she wa
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probably obscene, while the rest of
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med panel. She could not understand
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shambles. The captain had probably
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with Alan's world were also apparen
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The soldiers made comments that mad
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that was entangled with one of the
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shorter and even darker than the pe
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ecreation of the ancient Minoan civ
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washed themselves, and stood in the
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people since her encapsulation that
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up much from the class that seemed
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“You’re not proposing time trav
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"Pppp, you know you don't believe t
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“You put safeguards on that subst
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She thought of asking if they were
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sufficient privilege to get me out
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window behind them. Koruki herself
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“So this was made here? I ask bec
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knowledge of our civilization in yo
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fact that Ietana had been relocated
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that and the change of clothes was
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they wanted. It was a lot of oil an
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loincloths.“The judges, they’ll
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sweets.The woodwork was bold but no
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e sweating in there. Together they
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music of Kassidor Yakhan. The fact
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chest and shoulders.The bull steppe
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on, and a few would do a somersault
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One was supposed to have enough cur
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of fertility.Before he was done usi
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pleasantly warm.“I’ve had encou
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that.“I am, there’s a cesspool
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windowsill. “Woah, that’s a lon
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“Walk into town?”“Yes.”“I
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the kitchen and put shutters for th
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it, much more crudely done than it
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“We are back in the echo of 1648b
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substantial homes along shady plaza
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“Officially Atlantis is just the
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America, it had failed ninety nine
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we’re not far from the Holy Land,
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history the modern day Atlantis loo
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the Las Vegas of Europe.The car was
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the waterfront out of the reach of
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"She always enjoyed her work as a t
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important men, and it was all conne
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The three of them sat along one sid
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mortals of the time. Just like Alan
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started on the story of making Ava
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waited for the meeting to start, as
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“So that would indicate that her
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our operative who has visited the e
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data here to make a very accurate d
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“...would feel more comfortable,
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all be living in enforced three-d r
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she could fill some of that void bu
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completely relaxed.”“I don’t
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filter felt sort of like a grating
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across that atom at the speed of li
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“Because he can,” she said. “
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Ava wondered why there was still a
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endering engines it calls. Somewher
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“What’s that?” Ava asked.“T
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here eighty four days.”That meant
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“I can’t tell you more because
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into three sections, lifted it away
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calms me down.”The woman looked a
Page 534 and 535:
It took an amazingly long time with
Page 536 and 537:
The men gawked openly, except for o
Page 538 and 539:
“We know nothing of Yellelle.”
Page 540 and 541:
the captain got the letter from his
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should give up her courses. He took
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1:27pm. Mon. Apr. 23, 2384Her first
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Sol’s space. “We might actually
Page 548 and 549:
phone on him. She found that the in
Page 550 and 551:
pulling them off and letting his pa
Page 552 and 553:
completely in his hands and we have
Page 554 and 555:
giving a consulting contractor, suc
Page 556 and 557:
making of the entangled copy. “Th
Page 558 and 559:
there.”6:57am. Thus. May 7, 2384S
Page 560 and 561:
Planck frequency,” Darryl said,
Page 562 and 563:
started.“Quadrillion,” she corr
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now believe I was in the condensate
Page 566 and 567:
data says,” He looked to Arthur q
Page 568 and 569:
sincere in his faith as any saint.
Page 570 and 571:
“It may have to deal with silicon
Page 572 and 573:
could get to the all-afterlife rend
Page 574 and 575:
ack in ‘84. If Ava knew, she neve
Page 576 and 577:
Alan was friends with Roy Hallard,
Page 578 and 579:
“You’re a simulation,” Alan t
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