Book 5: Chapter 13: It Hits the Fan
Bill
February 2337
In Virt
Iwas in my VR lab, working on the whole FTL project again. Real was nice, but for quick referencing and whiteboarding, nothing beat VR. If I reached a point where I needed to sit down and stare at the board, I could just transfer it to my physical lab and indulge myself.
The real problem was that I still didn’t understand the universe at a low enough level. No, the real problem—and I was a bit embarrassed to admit this—was that I was a competent physicist, but not an inspired one. I’d never have been a Hawking or an Einstein, and even as a replicant, I simply stumped myself faster. I could remember Original Bob having this argument with himself way back when and deciding to go into engineering instead. He knew his limitations even then.
Thoth had figured something out. Or claimed to. Or Hugh claimed that Thoth had claimed to. That was a thought that kept devilling me. Was Hugh playing us?He’d done it at least once before.
I was staring at my whiteboard, seriously considering moving it to real so I could flop on a couch, when Guppy popped in, wearing pirate garb.
[Skippy connections are down.]
“What? Which ones?”