Page 42 - Tales Apocalyptic and Dystopian

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complained of dizziness. Well, no use in dwelling on the past. On
behalf of my colleagues at Carillon Laboratories I welcome you to the
remnants of civilization, at least as we knew it.”
She twisted around in her chair, trying to locate the source of the
voice. “Someone is playing a very cruel trick on me,” she thought
angrily. “Those brains in a bottle aren’t alive.”
“You really should calm down. We are alive, thanks to our own
efforts. And you will stay alive if you stop denying the evidence of
your own senses and start paying attention.”
“Senses? I’ve taken leave of them. This has to be the work of the
Evil One, trying to gain possession of my body.”
“Don’t be silly.” The voice sounded like her father. “You have
complete control over yourself. I am merely plugged into your
sensorium; we are having a conversation as equals. Now listen
closely, Thea: if you don’t fly off the handle and force those old
idiots to terminate you in the name of their superstitious claptrap, we
will get along just fine.”
“Blasphemy! Get thee behind me, Satan!”
“I’m not the devil. I’m the vice president of research and
development. I’m one of the old-timers responsible for telling you
people how to keep your archaic infrastructure from falling to pieces,
though I don’t know for how much longer. It can’t last forever,
regardless of our best efforts.”
“Why not?” she was intrigued, despite her distress. “Everything in
the world was put here by design, for God’s great scheme of
universal peace and prosperity.”
“Oh, everything was designed—but not by infallible beings. God’s
Law, if such exists, does not abrogate Murphy’s Law.”
“No! I won’t hear such things! I wish I could cover my ears and
stop them!”
Thea felt her grasp on reality slipping. The voice went on,
relentlessly but without a trace of anger.
“Look at it this way: do you want to serve your people? We
technophants, as your high priests insist on calling us, are the only
means of resolving certain potentially calamitous situations; and you,
at present, are the only means of facilitating that resolution. You can
either run away from your duty, and face the consequences—
unpleasant and immediate—or deal with us as we are, human minds

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