"…..and if you're not totally immune," Probe says solemnly. "There
is no doubt whether or not you'll die. Either you fall over dead, or you
spend a week at most, writhing in agony as the Phage works it's course."
"It's something like the flu, but MUCH deadlier and quicker," Inquirer
put in.
Dr. Vincent, the living, nods and looks thoughtful as he mulls over
"And you say that you 'bio-computer' is searching for discrepancies
between the 'DNA' found in the hair samples of the other Astras and that
of the corpse in yon deep freeze?" the eccentric wizard cum scientist asks,
pointing at the coffin like device in the back of the shuttle.
"Yes, of course," Inquirer nods, blue gem sparkling as she wonders what
Vincent is getting at here. "It's standard operating procedure, actually,
whenever we ran across the results of an Enemy bio-weapon in the past.
The survivors always seemed to have some clue…….."
"Let me guess……" Dr. Vincent asks, eyes suddenly lively. "You've already
tested the surviving humans of this world, and found no reason why they
should be alive…..else we'd not be having this conversation, no?"
"Well….of course!" Probe says, looking at the old man in exasperation.
Inquirer is quiet, because suddenly she's remembering an old saying
from the other, ghostly Dr. Vincent. One that might just fit here…..
"'Common sense sometimes doesn't make sense…..'" the AI/golem muses,
suddenly looking excited.
"We're using the wrong parameters!" she says, smiling.
"Exactly," the old man says in a slightly proud voice. "When you told
me about the 'Human Genome' project, how the genes of the human being had
been mapped, but there was still much mystery about what some of them did…..and
that some appeared to do nothing at all?"
"Some were said to be vestigial," Probe says, frowning. "You're saying
that perhaps they weren't?"
"Sir, that's exactly what he's saying!" Inquirer says, taking off her
red beret as Dr. Vincent chuckles and nods. "And the bio-computer…..doesn't
scan those genes….because they serve no purpose…..that WE know of! Maybe,
they're actually something that are related to…..well…..magical disease
resistence?"
Probe goggles Dr. Vincent and Inquirer, stunned.
"You are $^&*ing kidding me, right?" Probe finally asks, aghast.
"Sir," Inquirer says silently. "The bio-computer is an expert-system.
It's perfect of the ordinary, even the extraordinary. However, it's not
able to make leaps of logic like a true Intelligence like you, me, or a
biological. It would, at the END, checked those genes, but it'll go over
old ground first……"
Probe nods as Inquirer makes adjustments to the computer's search parameters.
-
 "That should narrow the
search down from a mind numbing number to a large…..but managable number,"
Inquirer murmurs. "It could be a matter of hours….to days, IF we're right."
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