Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

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awhile. Alan didn’t want to say anything to make this worse,it was bad enough already so he kept quiet. “You do knowthere’s a war on?” Elmore asked.“Of course, there’s no way I could not. I’ve been trying tokeep up on it,” his guilt made sure of that.“Who’s side are you on?” Elmore asked.“The Kassikan’s,” Alan chuckled with gallows humor.“In other words, you mean to wipe out humanity.”Alan drew a deep breath. This was his real crime wasn’tit? It wasn’t just faking data from the whole expedition. No,the crystal contaminated by his hack that had been left behindat 61 Cygni had somehow taken over the Brazilian expeditionwhen they arrived. They claimed to have transmitted the codeto the virus that stopped mortals from aging back to Brasil.Lead by Heavenly Talstan, the Angels of Sol went to war toprevent that virus from being produced. So his hack of theexpedition’s data system lead to the war that was close towiping out Angel civilization and most mortal civilization inthe process. “It is not my fault the most exalted minds in thesolar system couldn’t find the patience to wait a generationand see if that output from my hack actually worked.”“This war was overdue,” Elmore said. “Stop blamingyourself for that, we all know any spark could have set it offand no one considers your hack the real cause of this war.Genus Homo has never allowed more than one species in thelong run. Sooner or later, Homo Electronicus had to sloughoff the less advanced species in the niche.”78
“We’ve made them into domestic animals. We raise themfor their souls.”“The captain should have never allowed you to keep thatuniverse,” Elmore muttered.“I’ve often thought the same,” Alan confessed. “It’s notjust that I want magic, I can do without that, even here.” Toindicate the way he lived, he pointed to the shower, a longblack hose in the sun over the patio, coming from a handpumpedtank on the roof.“I’m sure once we get back to Sol...”“Oh I fully expect to be zeroed out.” That was the correctterm for deleted with all backups.“Maybe if you contributed to the war effort, became a partof the church...”“I was excommunicated for desertion remember?”He must not have, no doubt that had been a painful timefor him. “You can at least help with the war.”“How?” Alan asked.“By not siding with the Kassikan for one.”“Elmore, the Kassikan doesn’t exist, remember? I think Ijust use them as a symbol for life. I side with life. I side withthe mortals.”“Do you think humanity should be stuck in that phase ofevolution forever?”“There would be no Homo Electronicus without HomoSapiens.”“Just like there would be no Homo Sapiens without Homo79
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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
Page 32 and 33: 11:13am Tue. Jan 17, 2384“It’s
Page 34 and 35: out in a Trenst crowd and would eve
Page 36 and 37: of them. Prices are higher in the R
Page 38 and 39: this.“Oh you’re right!” she s
Page 40 and 41: special but she sported a major pai
Page 42 and 43: I’d guess she’s still at her of
Page 44 and 45: He really hoped it wasn’t Ava who
Page 46 and 47: He wanted to ask her what language
Page 48 and 49: gone to the off-duty lounge, he kne
Page 50 and 51: -Hi,It will probably be a long time
Page 52 and 53: to have repressions needing to be f
Page 54 and 55: “I’m not going to have her desc
Page 56 and 57: think, don’t you think?” she as
Page 58 and 59: central location, right next to the
Page 60 and 61: such short notice but you didn’t
Page 62 and 63: "She wouldn't tell me, ma'am.""She
Page 64 and 65: screen was modeled to look like a m
Page 66 and 67: "I found a dinner club that I thoug
Page 68 and 69: understanding how those signals act
Page 70 and 71: “You ought’a come down to the p
Page 72 and 73: with cherubs this evening. It had b
Page 74 and 75: he was not a natural chef and had t
Page 76 and 77: varied over time. There were quantu
Page 78 and 79: close to you. Even at that, you’v
Page 80 and 81: “I don’t know of anyone who’s
Page 84 and 85: Erectus.”“In more ways than one
Page 86 and 87: “It’s all about whatever she le
Page 88 and 89: theory and simulation structure. Li
Page 90 and 91: He noticed her cup was full again a
Page 92 and 93: "Thom and Elmore?""Elmore and Alfre
Page 94 and 95: 10:47pm Tue. Apr. 10, 2384Alan was
Page 96 and 97: As he walked thru the rows to the e
Page 98 and 99: did."That rang about as true as a l
Page 100 and 101: employ, opening a new back door was
Page 102 and 103: generator it took her only a little
Page 104 and 105: These cherubs are often regarded as
Page 106 and 107: shortly," it said and left the room
Page 108 and 109: "You mean what other universes?" Al
Page 110 and 111: skills to remove an encapsulation i
Page 112 and 113: 2:07pm Fri. Apr. 20, 2384Once the c
Page 114 and 115: ack into here. Not only that, but a
Page 116 and 117: out of the lab, both labs."Obviousl
Page 118 and 119: "Wait Alan," Vic said, looking up f
Page 120 and 121: 9:21pm Sun. Apr. 22, 2384Alan waite
Page 122 and 123: with her disappearance?From what he
Page 124 and 125: about it. Even though he was suppos
Page 126 and 127: you, there is an enemy agent aboard
Page 128 and 129: "Then I'll never see you," she teas
Page 130 and 131: “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
Page 456 and 457:
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
Page 466 and 467:
“Walk into town?”“Yes.”“I
Page 468 and 469:
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,
Page 482 and 483:
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
Page 490 and 491:
important men, and it was all conne
Page 492 and 493:
The three of them sat along one sid
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mortals of the time. Just like Alan
Page 496 and 497:
started on the story of making Ava
Page 498 and 499:
waited for the meeting to start, as
Page 500 and 501:
“So that would indicate that her
Page 502 and 503:
our operative who has visited the e
Page 504 and 505:
data here to make a very accurate d
Page 506 and 507:
“...would feel more comfortable,
Page 508 and 509:
all be living in enforced three-d r
Page 510 and 511:
she could fill some of that void bu
Page 512 and 513:
completely relaxed.”“I don’t
Page 514 and 515:
filter felt sort of like a grating
Page 516 and 517:
across that atom at the speed of li
Page 518 and 519:
“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 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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