We’ve found the data pylon containing your records. Unfortunately, the data pylon containing the encryption schema is corrupt, so we’re going to have to brute force them open. Not sure how long that will take.

So yeah, two jumps forward, one jump back.

Benzi

On a scale of 1 to 10? Dubious and unreliable. But if past experience is anything to go by, the more outlandish the gossip, the more likely it is to be true.

Because she was asking me really strange questions earlier. Is it possible the pressure’s getting too much for her?

Al.

I guess.

Why?

Oh great, more good news.

How reliable is your source?

Greta

That at least makes a certain amount of sense. But why would the only record of our contract with them be on one of those?

Never mind, thinking out loud. I’ll ask Benzi.

Greta

K, you know Greta pretty well, yeah?

Al.

He had to pace out the walls of every room he entered, and then he’d work his way through every vacant space in the room. Sometimes you’d hear him muttering “rank and file, rank and file” while he moved through a room. He’d climb over and under furniture, and walk back and forth with his arms out like he was trying to take flight – and if you opened a door or a window, he’d demand you closed them, and as soon as you did, he’d start his little ritual all over again.

He was okay after that – he’d sit or stand or dance, he’d talk and even occasionally drink, just like a normal person.

We called him the OCD Chicken because that’s what he always looked like when he did his signature move, and he took it in pretty good part.

But we never called him that again after the night there was a weird squelchy sucking noise from his direction, and when we all turned to see, he was holding a knife at chest level in front of him, and lowering a slowly-fading-into-visibility man to the ground.

Looks like I spoke to soon about Hall Biotique – my mate there says that Hall herself is displeased with the work. Not sure how much faith to place in that, but thought I ought to warn you just in case – you may be hearing from them in the next little while.

Billy

Well, a Server Ship is like a massive, massive server farm, installed on an interstellar ship. You use them to get around the lightspeed barrier on communications – pack ‘em full of every conceivable backup doc you need and send ‘em out to wherever you’re building. Presto, instant colony library/bureaucracy.

Al