Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

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“It may have to deal with silicon civilizations on a regularbasis. These creatures may be the answer to the Fermiparadox. It has evolved so that it’s tissues drop boulders onsilicates that compete with it for souls.”“What does it do with the souls?” Arthur asked.“It runs them in Heaven,” Ava said, “Maybe this creatureis what we’ve always known as ‘Heaven’ until the Afterlifewas invented.”Arthur turned to her and took a deep breath. “If we allagree that this thing is a single creature and not a hostilemilitary force of hyper-advanced civilization much like ourown.”“It would be more personal about what it is doing. It isjust reacting to germs in it’s tissue. I wonder how manyplanets it’s harvesting souls from?” she asked.“What is it doing with those souls?” The captain repeatedthe bishop’s question.Ava looked blank, she had already answered that.“How many are there?” Arthur asked before she couldthink of a simpler answer.“About four hundred quadrillion in this creature, I think itcomes out to be,” Ava said. “The Atlaneans did all the workon this, it would be nice if we could ask these questions ofthem.”“Four hundred quadrillion,” the bishop said.“Yes sir, and there is no chance that there have been atrillion humans in existence in all of time, even if Alan’s hack566
was the truth.”The bishop looked at that for awhile. “So if all that signalcame from simulated souls...” he trailed off.“Most stars would have to be producing more souls thanSol is,” Ava said, after working out the math.“What if this thing has spread humans to all planets in it’srealm, it’s body, whatever, as sources of souls?” Arthur asked.“You’re saying Alan’s hack wasn’t a hack?” The captainsaid.“We can’t prove that it is,” Alfred said.The captain looked at Ava. “He’s technically correct,” shehad to admit.The captain held his head in his hands, staring thru theinvisible table at the yellow star they were descending backdown to. Heymon took the floor. “Sir, I believe we can statethat we have accomplished our mission objective.”“What mission?” The captain looked up but still held hishead in his hands.“The one central command gave us back in January whenthey diverted us to the Kuiper Belt.”“We haven’t even reached it yet.”“But we have found the source of the impactors.”“And it is bigger than the human species by a factor ofthousands,” Kelvin said.“I believe we can divert back to the inner system now,”Heymon said. “We can’t make it to the asteroid belt, but we567
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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
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"How did they know?""The dimensions
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long before they went any further i
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from spewing, and she was into orga
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"I'm still divorcing him," Ava said
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ears on the ground with access to a
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Glayet dropped off the line, but as
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Book IV.Survival of the Species9:21
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eally had to look into how Alan got
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anything for a time. Though Alan's
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ecause it was only a redecoration o
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certainly never detect the entangle
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the captain go flying off because o
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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. “
Page 520 and 521: Ava wondered why there was still a
Page 522 and 523: endering engines it calls. Somewher
Page 524 and 525: “What’s that?” Ava asked.“T
Page 526 and 527: here eighty four days.”That meant
Page 528 and 529: “I can’t tell you more because
Page 530 and 531: into three sections, lifted it away
Page 532 and 533: 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
Page 542 and 543: should give up her courses. He took
Page 544 and 545: 1:27pm. Mon. Apr. 23, 2384Her first
Page 546 and 547: 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
Page 564 and 565: 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 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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Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

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