Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

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shambles. The captain had probably had a meeting goingsince he first found out she was gone. He probably courtmartialedThom and maybe Darryl besides. The only otherperson aboard that she would trust installing fresh silicon wasAlan, and neither the captain nor Glayet would allow him todo so. It would be noticeable if they went much longerwithout maintenance.It was possible that was the only way she would get out ofhere. If it was Alan who was doing this, he would know tokeep the silicon updated, whether Glayet and the captainthought they were letting him or not. He might do that even ifthis wasn’t his hack, just for his own survival. He might notlet anyone know he was doing it. If this wasn’t his hack, andthe crew was successful at keeping Alan out of her lab,whoever was doing this was going to need her to keep themgoing. In a few more days they would start to notice thingsgetting flaky, a few more days after that they wouldunderstand they were going to have to let her out or hopesomeone would run their last backup.Then she had a troubling thought. For the good of themission the captain could ask Saint O’Connor to resurrect herlast backup. Once things started getting glitchy, Arthur wouldcertainly permit it. Any number of the crew had enoughsystems smarts to launch a backup once they had theapproval. If that was to happen, and she was to find a way outof here, it was the reunification all over again. She wouldhave to fight her own backup for the right to this life, and that400
was an even better copy of her than the avatar was.After only a couple hours they reached a very largesingle-building town. It reminded her of the palace ofKnossos excavated by Evans, but was somewhat larger thanReston as she remembered it from her youth, and the colorswere somewhat more tasteful than the pictures sheremembered. There were structures up to five floors, and itlooked like it covered at least a half mile square area. UnlikeReston, it was colorful and in good repair, not gaunt, rustedsteel skeletons and crumbly, graffiti-covered concrete coveredwith moss, kudzu and choke-cherry. This was gaudily paintedwood and stucco, set in the middle of wide fields, at least amile across. They were dotted with outcroppings over whichgoats scampered and cattle grazed. In the distance there werewide fields of row crops, grain fields and orchards before thetown/structure itself. Dramatic mountains rose beyond it,many more miles in the distance.In every particular it was as if this was still the BronzeAge, and she might as well allow herself to imagine she hadbeen transported back in time to the real Minoan civilization,but she knew little enough about it that she could very well befooled. Their dress was very much as she had seen in thepopular press, the architecture and the lay of the land were asshe had seen, but the thousands and thousands of mud brickand rough timber structures around the palace were nevershown on any reproduction she had seen. The similarities401
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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
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interface has been reconfigured. Av
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about Ava. Other humans were merely
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processors housed in a tin shed. Th
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to the mission, but she’s somethi
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pets, and they ran many levels of s
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screen, “is the Curitiba and that
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8:07am Mon. Mar. 5, 2384Kelvin had
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years.”So far peace was holding a
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never noticed a copy of Ava there.
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may not feel the need to be as dili
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“Yes sir,” Elmore said with a g
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There was an inclusion in a plain-p
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along the way and wiped that out.We
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mother’s handwriting.He pinged Av
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universe. His universe is the unive
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the crew, no one would ever questio
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every self-aware being in this univ
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her today. She was one of the ones
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not just into our perception?”“
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substrate. He understood the eighty
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8:47pm Wed. Mar. 28, 2384Kelvin sat
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“My benefits would have covered h
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“I think Yellelle has more to do
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now but she is still here. I didn
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“Set the hearing on her separatio
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had become the center of Gordon’s
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hear about your divorce.”“The s
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8:01am Fri. Apr. 19, 2384He had lef
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she’s your direct report, the nex
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also been wiping his ass longer in
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already knew and was only pretendin
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and keying in commands. He kept his
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He knew this imaging did not illumi
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perfect. It would be as it was when
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O'Connor outranked him and he knew
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she was the one who had Ava encapsu
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"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
Page 376 and 377: the captain go flying off because o
Page 378 and 379: She knew about Heymon’s mortal li
Page 380 and 381: open shirts. Alan’s universe had
Page 382 and 383: perspiring. All of the soldiers eye
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Page 392 and 393: used were much more stable and the
Page 394 and 395: Their hosts were maybe in their fif
Page 396 and 397: urst into riotous laughter. He was
Page 398 and 399: social parts and she decided she wa
Page 400 and 401: probably obscene, while the rest of
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Page 406 and 407: with Alan's world were also apparen
Page 408 and 409: The soldiers made comments that mad
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Page 418 and 419: people since her encapsulation that
Page 420 and 421: up much from the class that seemed
Page 422 and 423: “You’re not proposing time trav
Page 424 and 425: "Pppp, you know you don't believe t
Page 426 and 427: “You put safeguards on that subst
Page 428 and 429: She thought of asking if they were
Page 430 and 431: sufficient privilege to get me out
Page 432 and 433: window behind them. Koruki herself
Page 434 and 435: “So this was made here? I ask bec
Page 436 and 437: knowledge of our civilization in yo
Page 438 and 439: fact that Ietana had been relocated
Page 440 and 441: that and the change of clothes was
Page 442 and 443: they wanted. It was a lot of oil an
Page 444 and 445: loincloths.“The judges, they’ll
Page 446 and 447: sweets.The woodwork was bold but no
Page 448 and 449: e sweating in there. Together they
Page 450 and 451: music of Kassidor Yakhan. The fact
Page 452 and 453: 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
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It took an amazingly long time with
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The men gawked openly, except for o
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“We know nothing of Yellelle.”
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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
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phone on him. She found that the in
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pulling them off and letting his pa
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completely in his hands and we have
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giving a consulting contractor, suc
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making of the entangled copy. “Th
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there.”6:57am. Thus. May 7, 2384S
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Planck frequency,” Darryl said,
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started.“Quadrillion,” she corr
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now believe I was in the condensate
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data says,” He looked to Arthur q
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sincere in his faith as any saint.
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“It may have to deal with silicon
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could get to the all-afterlife rend
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ack in ‘84. If Ava knew, she neve
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Alan was friends with Roy Hallard,
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“You’re a simulation,” Alan t
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Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

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