| Probe hears a knocking on the outer door of his quarters inside the
palace of the Regent of Ethiopia. When he answers it, even his superhuman
senses cannot tell this Doctor apart from the other two, so alike are they,
so "Dr Which" identifies himself. Then he continues: "I have some bad news
for you," and he describes what he has just seen. [8683] "What are Inquirer's
chances?" Probe asks worriedly. "Well, if she was human, I would have to
say non-existent. Assuming she could hang on, if she didn't freeze, then
she'd asphyxiate. As an AI, she's presumably much tougher than a human
being, and I imagine the near vacuum of space won't bother her, but whether
she can survive what could be several minutes at a temperature close to
Absolute Zero you will know better than I." Probe shakes his head. "I would
have known once, when we were AIs pure and simple, but for the magic-science
hybrid that we have now become, I have no idea. All I can do now is pray.
This might sound strange to you, given that Inquirer and I are AIs and
also that I was her superior officer, but we used to look on each other
as father and daughter. I shall miss her a lot, and so will her many friends
on Terra Prime. She saved my life once, in the fight against Zerm, [5400]
and there are others too on this planet who owe their lives to her. Alicia
2 for one. [2505] Indeed, you could say that everyone on the planet does,
since it was she that put the tape recorder in place for the shutting down
of the Slipgates. [5401]"
"I'm afraid there's more bad news," says the Doctor. "Although Inquirer
was still clutching the note as the TARDIS and herself dematerialised,
she did show me what was in it first. Apparently Inquirer isn't the only
one to have gone with my 'brother'. Sigin 2, Gilmuriel, E'eysha, B'Elenna
and Elrondir have all done so too, albeit in more conventional fashion.
They send their fond farewells to everyone, and hope people will understand,
but they couldn't pass up the opportunity of seeing the universe."
-
 Once that day's
session of the newly formed United Nations has concluded, the news is passed
on to the Regent and other interested parties.
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