Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 427
were decapitated, or born without a brain. There was a flaw in
the design of Ventus. Armiger is here to exploit that."
Marya shook her head. "Can’t be done," she said. "He
would have to reprogram every single particle of dust on the
planet. And even if he could, the Winds are conscious. They’d
see through it before he could get too far."
"You think he’s harmless?" snapped Calandria. She
stood up. "You’re so enraptured by your beautiful nanotech
terraformers you don’t think there’s subtler things out there?"
"I didn’t say that, I--"
"This system is nothing like a real god," said Calandria.
"3340 told me that even its thoughts were conscious entities.
Conscious thoughts!" She laughed harshly. "3340 was like an
entire civilization--an entire species!--in one body. With a
history, not just memories. He could make a world like Ventus
in a day! How do you know he’s not the one who put the flaw
in the Winds in the first place? He might have done that a
millenium ago, intending to let the place ripen then return to
harvest it. But he got distracted by another planet before he
could do that. Hsing was a much better toy, he could forge it
into his own private hell much more easily. Still, he sent
Armiger here. How do you know Armiger isn’t a resurrection
seed? He may be planning to turn the entire planet into a
single giant machine to recreate 3340. It’s within his
capabilities. Your precious Winds are no match for Armiger."
She turned and stalked off into the grass.
Marya turned to Axel. "Well!" she said.
Axel watched Calandria’s silhouette recede for a few
moments. Then he grimaced and turned to Marya. "You
touched a nerve," he said.
"Obviously."
"We went to Hsing to destroy 3340," he said. "With