Hofstadter, Dennett - The Mind's I

Software 260"Yyou donn't rrealizze how manny brrainns they've takenn a1 rreaddy." The signals werecarried by a weak direct current-a hopper way of whispering. "Thhey arre kkillinngpeoplle just to gets th ; e brainn ttapes. They cuts themm upp, annd thhey arre garrbageorr seed perrhapps. Do yyou knnow howw thhey seed our orrgann farrms?"Ralph had never really thought about the organ farms, the hug underground tankswhere big TEA, and the little boppers who worke for him, grew their profitable crops ofkidneys, livers, hearts and so on Obviously some human tissues would be needed as seedsor as templates, but...The sibilant, oily whisper continued. "The bigg bopperrs use hired kkillerrs. Thekkillerss act at the orrderrs of Missterr Frostee's rrobot remmote. Thiss is whatt poorrDoctorr Anndersson willl comme to if do nnot stopp yyou, Rallph."Ralph Numbers considered himself far superior to this lowly, susp cious diggingmachine. Abruptly, almost brutally, he broke free from the other's grasp. Hired killersindeed. One of the flaws in the anarchic bopper society was the ease with which suchcrazed rumors could spread.; He backed away from the console of the One."I hadd hoped the Onne coulld mmake you rrememberr what yo sstannd forr,"Wagstaff tight-beamed.Ralph snapped open his parasol and trundled out from under th parabolic arch ofspring steel that sheltered the One's console from su and from chance meteorites. Open atboth ends, the shelter resembl a modernistic church. Which, in some sense, it was."I am still an anarchist, Ralph said stiffly. "I still remember." H kept his basicprogram intact ever since leading the 2001 revolt. Wagstaff really think that the big X-series boppers could pose a threat t the perfect anarchy of the hopper society?Wagstaff slithered out after Ralph. He didn't need a parasol. H' flicker-claddingcould shed the solar energy as fast as it came down. He caught up with Ralph, eyeing theold robot with a mixture of pity an respect. Their paths diverged here. Wagstaff wouldhead for one of the digger tunnels that honeycombed the area, while Ralph would climbback up the crater's sloping two-hundred-meter wall."I'mm warrninng yyou," Wagstaff said, making a last effort. "I'mm goinng to doeverrythinng I can to sstopp you fromm turrnning that poorr olld mman innto a piece ofssofftware in the bigg bopperrs memorry bannks. Thatt's nnot immortality. We'replannninng to ttearr thosse bigg machinnes aparrt." He broke off, fuzzy bands of lightrippling down his body. "Now you knnoww. If you're nnott with uss, you'rre againnst us.I willl nnot stopp at viollence."