SiSU: - Accelerando

Accelerando
interest. What have you got that we want?”
Faint frown lines appear on Amber's forehead. Pierre can see her 1314
thinking very rapidly. “We consider it impolite to ask,” she says
quietly.
Clatter of claws on underlying stone floor. Chatter of clicking mandibles. 1315
“You accept our translation?” asks the leader.
“Are you referring to the transmission you sent us, uh, thirty thou- 1316
sand trillion light-kilometers behind?” asks Amber.
The lobster bobs up and down on its legs. “True. We send.” 1317
“We cannot integrate that network,” Amber replies blandly, and 1318
Pierre forces himself to keep a straight face. (Not that the lobsters
can read human body language yet, but they'll undoubtedly be
recording everything that happens here for future analysis.) “They
come from a radically different species. Our goal in coming here
is to connect our species to the network. We wish to exchange
advantageous information with many other species.”
Concern, alarm, agitation. “You cannot do that! You are not un- 1319
translatable entity signifier.”
Amber raises a hand. “You said untranslatable entity signifier. I did 1320
not understand that. Can you paraphrase?”
“We, like you, are not untranslatable entity signifier. The network 1321
is for untranslatable entity signifier. We are to the untranslatable
concept #1 as a single-celled organism is to ourselves. You and we
cannot untranslatable concept #2. To attempt trade with untranslatable
entity signifier is to invite death or transition to untranslatable
concept #1.”
Amber snaps her fingers: time freezes. She glances round at Su 1322
Ang, Pierre, the other members of her primary team. “Opinions,
anyone?”
Aineko, hitherto invisible, sits up on the carpet at the foot of the 1323
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