"What about the crack in the bin?"
"There is insufficient information for me to speculate productively about that. It could be a structural flaw in the material."
"All right, set that aside for the moment. Can you still access Terran data sources?"
"Of course."
Despite the fact that it was incapable of emotion, Derec nevertheless heard a note of smug pride in Thales' statement.
"Of course," he echoed. "I want you to run a search for any recent murders or accidental deaths that bear similarities to the Brethe dealer. "
"That will require me to access certain law enforcement datums."
"Is that a problem?"
"No, but it will take more time. I may not have that information for some hours. Unless you do not care about detection."
"Do it right, Thales. I don't want the TBI on our backs about this. You said there were a number of inconsistencies. Continue."
"All the passengers but one succumbed to a neurotoxin. Why not all of them? Nyom Looms carried her own rebreather. The question is why? Did she anticipate trouble? Was she sharing the primary rebreather before donning her own? And if there was time for one to remove the rebreather mask, why not more? The DW-12 unit appears to be trying to shut the rebreather off. This suggests that the bin was pressurized and contained sufficient atmosphere that shutting down the rebreather would not constitute further threat to human life. "
"The crack. "
"Why would they use a damaged bin? It is reasonable to assume that an inspection would have revealed the crack prior to its transfer to an orbital lifter-unless, as I already suggested, it was a structural flaw which manifested only after lift-off. But it also seems reasonable to assume the crack was made specifically to force the passengers to continue using the rebreather, as the air would leak out, thus guaranteeing that they would be poisoned. "
"So the crack was made after the bin had been transferred," Derec said.
"If it was intentional, that is reasonable. But by whom?"
"Or what. That brings us back to the robot hypothesis."
"Which remains unlikely. The opening is too small for a robot to pass through, and since the DW-12 is the only one present-and is still present-in the bin, then we can rule it out."
"The masked robot?"
"Being undetectable by surveillance equipment would not render it invisible to plain sight. It would still have been in the container. There are other possibilities for creating such a crack. "
"Coren Lanra says he saw it board."
"But it was not there when the bin was opened. Either it left before arrival on Kopernik, even before it left Earth, or Mr. Lanra is mistaken."
"Agreed," Derec said, nodding. "But there are no tools in the bin. It appears that whoever made the opening also left."
"Unlikely."
"Again, I agree. Continue."
"There is evidence of an absence. Not all the cradles in the bin are occupied. Two appear to have been empty when the bin was opened. One can be accounted for by the victim found suspended from the ceiling. The other was simply empty. Both were provided with rebreather masks. From the appearance of both empty cradles, one was occupied."
Have to ask Lanra about that, Derec thought. "So? They miscounted. "
"One assumes these bins are prepared in advance. That they would contain the exact number of cradles necessary for a single shipment seems unlikely. However, if they did outfit this one to specific requirements, why would there be an extra?"
"Possibly someone elected not to go at the last moment?"
"Not an unreasonable hypothesis, Derec."
Maybe one of the late Nyom Looms' charges still lived, then. One not involved in the murder, at least, since that empty cradle remained unaccounted for.
"I have a question, Derec," Thales said.
"Yes?"
"Should I suspend my work on Bogard's positronic matrix for the duration of this assignment?"
"Why would-? Oh."
Memory, Derec realized. Normally Thales possessed far more memory than either of these chores required, but already Bogard's problem took up more than Thales possessed. The hasty move from their former housing at the defunct Phylaxis Group building meant a good portion of Thales' auxiliary memory buffers waited, unused, in storage. Having access to Kopernik's buffers, however, represented an opportunity for Thales to once more utilize its full potential.
"We'll wait," he decided. "Find out what facilities you can use on Kopernik. Maybe you can divide functions. "
"I would appreciate the opportunity to test several hypotheses concerning Bogard. Kopernik's facilities would offer that chance."
"We'll find out. Is there anything else?"
"Yes. Will identification of the deceased be provided?"
"I don't know. Is it important?"
"Finding commonalities among them may bear upon discovering who would want them all dead."
Derec blinked. Sometimes he felt like an idiot. "Of course. I'll ask." He scratched his chin idly. "Speaking of Bogard, do you have an update?"
"No change since last report. I do not possess sufficient memory to operate at a more effective level."
"Okay. I didn't expect anything, but…"
"There is a possible solution to the total problem."
Derec hesitated. "You mentioned hypotheses…"
"Part of Bogard's unusual make-up was based on unorthodox hardware configurations. I have attempted to simulate these, but like the human brain, the physical matrix itself represents a necessary and unpredictable condition of awareness. Given the limitations within which we are forced to work, I have compiled a protocol whereby it may be practical to encode a new positronic brain with a composite persona: Bogard's, and myself."
Derec considered for a few seconds. "What good would that do? Bogard's matrix is completely collapsed. Trying to load it into a new brain would either be rejected by the load protocols or result in a duplicate encoding, collapsed condition and all."
"Normally, yes. The encoding protocols require a stable framework for reception to work. I am suggesting that I can provide that framework while allowing those elements of Bogard that match a viable positronic template to load within it."
"A combination?"
"I could not predict to what extent the result would be a combination-how much of each source matrix would encode in the new brain-but in essence, parts of both Bogard and myself would transfer together."
Derec shifted in his chair, intrigued. "The result could be only a slightly less coherent matrix. Collapse would occur at the first challenge."
"Possibly. I am running simulations to account for as many variables as possible based on my own composition."
"What, uh, would be the point?"
"You would have a functioning persona capable of self-analysis. It might be possible to simply ask it why it failed."
Derec felt eager to try. He wanted to say yes. He distrusted the impulse, but the idea excited him.
"Continue running the simulations until I can find out more about Kopernik's lab."
"Yes, Derec."
The light on the comm winked on. Derec leaned closer: Ariel was calling. "We may have that answer now," he said, and reached for the ACCEPT button. His hand trembled slightly; he clenched it into a fist for a moment, then pressed the contact. Hofton brought the link to Derec's apartment. Derec opened the small metal case and ran a diagnostic on the device.
"Our shuttle lifts in an hour, twenty minutes," Hofton said. "Are you packed?"
Derec pointed to a single large case by the door. "This'll take about half an hour, " he said, patting the side of the link. "Thales, we have a Mark-Six Collaborative Transcriptor."
"You requested a Mark-Four."
"Is this a problem?"
"No, this is a considerable improvement. Refresh periods can be at greater intervals and more thorough."
Derec looked at Hofton.
"I took a few liberties," the aide said. "No one was using this one."