Fic: Meeting of Minds. (AMoS, FYS.)

[jeriendhal]

Because I'm a horrible person, and I only just realized how much the For Your Safety universe owes to the idea of the universe of A Miracle of Science going Horribly Right.

* * *

"Dr. Haas?" Virgil looked up at Benjamin and Caprice approached across the lawn of the hospital, the former Vorstellen Police officer looking grim as always, and even the Martian woman looking unusually grave.

"Benjamin, Caprice," he greeting, pushing his glasses back up on his face. "Whatever is the matter?"

"We have a serious problem," Benjamin said without preamble. "Ninety minutes ago your old island on Venus went dark."

"We lost all contact with it, shortly after Chaucer sent out an emergency signal," Caprice added. "And I do mean everything. Even the Martian units we stationed there to look after the place aren't talking."

"Mars is cut off?" Virgil said in alarm. The idea of the massive Martian group intelligence being thwarted at anything was a frightening idea, even if it wasn't a completely impossible one.

"Is there anything there you didn't' tell us about after you surrendered? Anything like what you used to cut Caprice off from Mars?" Benjamin demanded.

"No, nothing. I swear to you." Virgil thought for a moment, trying to bring his thoughts up to speed. It was so hard sometimes with the drugs. "Wait, you said Chaucer sent an emergency signal? He isn't hurt is he?"

"We don't know," Caprice answered. "We did see this though, before Mars was cut off." She opened her palm, using her Martian vector shield technology to bring up a holographic image. In the central courtyard of Virgil's old mansion a flare of light appeared, resolving itself into a gleaming metallic sphere that hovered a moment before dropping heavily to the ground. A few seconds later a seam along the globe's equator cracked open, and being began to climb out. They were odd looking. Not human definitely, but not precisely alien. Instead they looked a bit like cartoon characters, anthropomophic humanoids covered with fur, looking like cats and foxes and bears. Then the image suddenly went dark.

"No machines can approach within five kilometers without losing power," Benjamin said. "We need you help, Dr. Haas. We need to find out what they're doing there."

Comments

[harvey-rrit.livejournal.com]

They're either toons or fursuiters.

Hopefully toons.

They don't take over.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Beating Mars would be difficult, but not impossible for the Groupmind.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

So that's where they came from.

[shadur.livejournal.com]

The Groupmind figured that the Many-Worlds Theory was correct and decided that while /its/ humans were safe there was an infinite number of alternate worlds, most of them full of humans that still need to be protected properly?

Oh dear oh dear.

... On the other hand, if there's anything in the multiverse that might be able to reason with the Groupmind, it'd be Mars...

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Something like that. Muhahaha...

Mars would have a good chance at reasoning with it. OTOH Mars would be extremely wary of making contact, once it realized the anthromorphs were originally suborned by a mass software attack.

[shadur.livejournal.com]

The concern that a memetic infection might spread through the entire groupmind like a flashfire?

That's a definite worry, but isn't that what they, ah, 'hired' Benjamin for?

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. And Caprice has learned to handle herself if she deliberately cuts her intellect link to Mars. With Dr. Haas along to guide them through the island's secrets they have a good chance of getting a handle on things before Mars needs to blast everything flat with a cadence lance take more active measures.

[shadur.livejournal.com]

Kind of a drastic dead man's switch (excuse the phrasing) but it's the kind of situation where you prefer safe over sorry...

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Well, given that they responded to one Martian cop apparently dying by sending in the Martian Invasion Fleet (tm), I think they'd react, um, aggressively to a potential cross dimensional threat.

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

I thought it was reminiscent in some ways of Jack Williamson's Humanoids.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

I have honestly never read that series, though I knew the vague outlines of the plot. The Groupmind would definitely draw the line at mass lobotomizations though.

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

Both take Asimov's First Law of Robotics to the extreme, but the Groupmind doesn't go quite as far. The Humanoids are cold, clinical, and controlling; following their programming to its logical, cold-blooded end. The Groupmind actually are trying to do what's best for people, not simply trying to wrap them up in bubble wrap and store them.