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This section covers conversations between George and Undepoldus.
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section.
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Conversations
The next day George was warned by his vidbook that he was being
followed again. When he checked he saw that there was no face
showing on the display. The direction indicator pointed to where
there was nobody. George re-checked and looked again. The indication
was the same. Then George noticed that the pattern on the seat
where the indicator pointed was slightly distorted. George studied
the shape of the distortion and was reassured. The follower was
Undepoldus. He then saw that the seat looked dirty and slightly
wet. George smiled. He thought. 'Undepoldus certainly knows how
to reserve a seat for himself. ' He then returned his attention
to the vidbook. He realised that if he looked at the apparently
empty seat for too long, others would notice. He contented himself
with the hazier view that the vidbook provided.
When George entered Undepoldus House he found that Undepoldus
was already there in his usual place on the desk. He decided to
tell Undepoldus about the vidbook and its properties when he had
finished his routine jobs.
Undepoldus said (via the processor). "George, I used the
processor in your cabin last night to check on religions. All
of them seem to deal with human death and what comes afterwards.
Most of them claim that a human's personality will continue after
death somehow. None of them has any evidence for this claim. It
seems to me that the religious leaders say these things because
they know humans are frightened of death and want some reassurance
that death is not the end.
These religious people say that their religion has an answer
in order to make other people do what they want then to do. They
do this mainly to have more comfortable lives for themselves and
gain power over their followers. There are some who have been
convinced by others that the religion is based on truth. They
do not question what they have been told. Some religions have
laws that forbid questioning the validity of the religion. I think
that religious leaders do not want their followers to know that
their religion is a mixture of rules and lies. Religious leaders
that gain a lot of power are usually despotic. They will denounce
anyone who undermines their lies and they will ask their followers
to kill the person denounced. I think that religion is a very
sad aspect of human society. I can understand why you and Kerstin
think that the organisation that wants me dead is based on an
Earthly religion."
"Do you understand why they might want you dead Undepoldus?"
"My existence here is proof that some form of life exists
on other planets in the universe. That alone makes Earth-centred
religions lose their uniqueness. If Earth is not the only place
in the Universe where there is life, their religious stories and
books are undermined because there are no references to life outside
the Earth in them. There are references to a place called "Heaven"
I am struck by the similarity to the word "haven", a
place of safety and security. It is assumed to be somewhere in
the sky but you and all Spacers know that there is nowhere that
fits that description in space. The only haven that Spacers know
about is Earth. The only places where humans can live apart from
Earth are in human made environments that have to be maintained
by machines. I therefore interpret "Heaven" as a place
that is "not here" that nobody has ever been to and
come back from. In other words it does not exist. If "Heaven"
is shown not to exist, many religions lose their reason for existence.
My existence is virtually proof that "Heaven", if it
exists, is a lot further away than where I came from. Many religious
leaders would not like that information to be made evident among
their followers. If I am destroyed, it could be claimed that I
was a being created by Spacers. While I exist and grow, it becomes
increasingly evident that even Spacers do not have the ability
to create a creature like me. The motivation to have me eliminated
will become intense before I have grown much bigger. If I become
very large, the fact of my existence could not be suppressed anywhere
on Earth. I will be able to speak directly to humans and tell
them what I know about myself."
George said. "Undepoldus, your logic is inescapable. Have
you tried to estimate when you will be most in danger?"
"As you and your friends have assumed, the danger to me and
yourselves is as great as it could be now. You have provided me
with an extremely well defended place to live and called upon
the help of many humans to assist in my protection. Neither you
nor your friends know when and in what form an attack could take
place. The people who have organised the attacks have large resources
and can bribe or blackmail a lot of people to help them. We know
that they are ruthless and will try everything they can to undermine
our defences."
"Do you think that they have a weakness Undepoldus?"
"I am not sure George. I think that most of the information
we have about those who have made attempts against you, Marita
and Kerstin indicates that the organisers do not want to use operatives
who have the same religion as themselves if they can help it.
This makes the organisers much more difficult to trace and they
know this themselves. As a result the operatives must be motivated
by bribery or coercion. The silence of those already captured
and imprisoned indicates coercion but does not prove it. You have
a proverb in English. 'One volunteer is worth 10 pressed men.'
That is the weakness of those who are sent to attack us. They
do not want to do what they feel they have to do. If they can
be freed from the coercion that they feel that they must endure,
they will be more willing to reveal more about the organisation
that sent them."
"Undepoldus, you have acquired an enormous amount of knowledge
and wisdom in a very short time. You impress me with your knowledge
and logic."
"George, I have an advantage over you. I can communicate
with the processor here as quickly as it can communicate with
other processors. As I learn more I can understand more. I can
also talk with the processor about other things at the same time
as I am talking to you. It is one of the reasons why I think that
I was made as a sort of processor which grows. Do not be impressed
too much by my apparent intelligence and knowledge. I can make
use of the intelligence of thousands of humans as I talk to you.
I can honestly say that I find it hard to accept that you are
able to converse with me at the same level without the advantages
that I have. Do not belittle yourself George."
"I appreciate the compliment Undepoldus. Can you answer a
question that has been puzzling me since yesterday? Can you control
the security system here?"
"Yes. I have not done so before yesterday because it was
unnecessary. I knew the bad man who came in with Arthur Williams
could be captured if he came in here. He was not carrying a dangerous
weapon and he did not wish to endanger his own life. I therefore
allowed him to come in so that I could deal with him. I did not
want there to be much delay before the door opened because that
might have made him suspicious."
"That was well done Undepoldus. I had not thought of a way
to deal with the situation when you opened the door. I thought
that you had a way to solve the problem but until I saw you disappear,
I did not know how you could succeed. When you became invisible,
I knew that you could solve the problem very easily. That is why
I pretended not to be interested in the two men in the utility
room."
"George, your actions helped me because the man saw you go
back to your desk so he became more confident. He was not watching
for your return so he became more interested in what Arthur Williams
was doing. That made it easier for me to get into position without
attracting his attention."
"Did you set the processor to silent mode too?"
"No George. Kerstin did that. She did not know that I was
dealing with the man so she wanted to surprise him. She thought
that you might be under threat so she used her communicator to
set silent mode so that she could enter under her own authority
if you were unable to authorise her entry. When you responded
by using the code key pattern to open the door, she realised that
you were not being threatened."
"You heard the request that I made to Marita last night about
finding a way to make the prisoners say who it was who recruited
them. Can you think of a way to make them talk?"
"That is a difficult problem to solve George. I will try
to find a solution if I can."
The processor announced. 'There is a vidcom call from Commander
Marita Andersson. '
George said. "Link and show."
Marita's face appeared. She said. "George, I have news about
your query. My twenty-four have suggested answers. Anita said
that I should not say now. Assume code two. Clearing."
George said to Undepoldus. "You heard that. Check if you
can."
George picked up his vidbook and squeezed it twice. Code two was
the general warning about eavesdroppers or spies. They could have
read what one had written or heard what had been said.
The processor announced. 'The conversation you have just heard
was from the forthcoming play; 'If Only Undepoldus Could Talk.
' This was a test of the Spacer's new processor that took the
part of Undepoldus using a skeleton script. More trial episodes
are planned for tomorrow. '
George thought that Undepoldus had made a valiant effort to conceal his ability. He would have to continue to talk to Undepoldus as if he could not reply.
George went over to the display area and said. "Undepoldus
old buddy, I wonder if you will ever be able to talk like that.
The processor did pretty well, don't you think?"
Undepoldus did not reply.
George then said. "I am going out to lunch away from the park. Look after the place for me while I am gone." He then squeezed his vidbook twice.
PAUSE
The next section covers George's unexpected
trip.
Viewers familiar with this subject may pass on to the following
section.
Please select PASS or CONTINUE.