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.That was one of the advantages of the Brotherhood conducting its meetingson his own virtual turf – his governing systems could insert at least a modicum of courtesy.As ifto prove that the bow had not been his own gesture, Ptah snapped back: “No, damn it, of courseit’s not acceptable.But this stuff is very new – you have to expect the unexpected.”Osiris paused before replying, allowing his anger to cool.Most of the other members of theBrotherhood’s high council were at least as stiff-necked as he was; it would do no good to putthem on the defensive.“I simply want to know how we can lose someone whom we ourselvesplaced in the system,” he said at last.“How can he have ‘disappeared’? We have his body, forGod’s sake!” He frowned at this accidental self-mockery and folded his arms across hisbandaged chest.Ptah’s yellow face creased in a smile: he had a typical American disrespect for authority and nodoubt thought Osiris’ VR habitat grandiose.“Yes, we certainly do have his body, and if that wasall we cared about, we could eliminate him at any time.But you were the one who wanted thisparticular addition, although I’ve never understood why.We’re working in unknown territoryhere, especially with all the variables our own experiments have added to the mix.It’s likeexpecting objects to behave the same way in deep space that they do back on Earth.It seemspretty damn unfair to blame my people when it goes a little flippy.”“This man has not been kept alive solely on a whim.I have good reasons, even though they areprivate.” Osiris spoke as firmly and calmly as he could.He did not wish to appear capricious,especially in argument with Ptah.If anyone was likely to challenge his leadership in days tocome, it was the American.“In any case, it is unfortunate.We are nearing the crisis point, andRa cannot be kept waiting much longer.”“Jesus wept,” Falcon-headed Horus banged a fist down on the basalt table.“ Ra? What the hellare you talking about now?”Osiris stared.The black, emotionless bird-eyes stared back.Another American, of course.It waslike dealing with children – albeit very powerful children.“You are in my house,” he said ascalmly as he could.“It would not harm you to show some respect, or at least courtesy.” Heallowed the sentence to hang in the air for a moment, giving ample time for the various otherBrotherhood members to think what might harm Horus – to think of all the things an angry Osiriscould do.“If you would avail yourself of the information provided, you would know that ‘Ra’ ismy name for the final phase of the Grail Project.If you are too busy, my system will be happy totranslate for you so you do not impede the flow of conversation during meetings.”“I’m not here to play games.” The bird-headed god’s bluster had abated somewhat.Horusscratched his chest vigorously, making Osiris wince with distaste.“You’re the chairman, so weplay with your toys – wear your sims, whatever, fair enough.But I’m a busy man, and I don’thave time to download your newest set of rules every time I hook up.”“Enough squabbling.” Unlike the others, Sekhmet seemed quite comfortable in her goddessguise.Osiris thought she would enjoy wearing the lion’s head in real life.She was a naturaldeity: no corruptive notions of democracy had ever sullied her outlook.“Should we eliminatethis loose end, this ‘lost man’? What does our chairman want?”“Thank you for asking.” Osiris leaned back in his tall chair.“For reasons of my own, I wish himto be found.If enough time goes by without success, then I will allow him to be killed, but that isa clumsy solution.”“Actually, it’s not only clumsy,” Ptah offered cheerfully, “it may not be a solution at all.At thispoint, we might not be able to kill him – at least not the part of him resident in the system.”A slender hand was lifted.The others turned, their attention drawn by the rarity of Thoth havinganything to say.“Surely things have not gone so far already,” he asked.His narrow ibis headnodded sorrowfully, the beak dipping down to his chest.“Have we lost control of our own virtualenvironments? That would be a very distressing event.I would have to think carefully beforecontinuing my commitment.We must have more control of the process than this.”Osiris started to reply, but Ptah leaped in quickly.“There are always perturbations at the edge ofany paradigm shift,” he said.“It’s like storms on the edge of a weather front – we expect them asa generality without being able to anticipate them exactly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.That was one of the advantages of the Brotherhood conducting its meetingson his own virtual turf – his governing systems could insert at least a modicum of courtesy.As ifto prove that the bow had not been his own gesture, Ptah snapped back: “No, damn it, of courseit’s not acceptable.But this stuff is very new – you have to expect the unexpected.”Osiris paused before replying, allowing his anger to cool.Most of the other members of theBrotherhood’s high council were at least as stiff-necked as he was; it would do no good to putthem on the defensive.“I simply want to know how we can lose someone whom we ourselvesplaced in the system,” he said at last.“How can he have ‘disappeared’? We have his body, forGod’s sake!” He frowned at this accidental self-mockery and folded his arms across hisbandaged chest.Ptah’s yellow face creased in a smile: he had a typical American disrespect for authority and nodoubt thought Osiris’ VR habitat grandiose.“Yes, we certainly do have his body, and if that wasall we cared about, we could eliminate him at any time.But you were the one who wanted thisparticular addition, although I’ve never understood why.We’re working in unknown territoryhere, especially with all the variables our own experiments have added to the mix.It’s likeexpecting objects to behave the same way in deep space that they do back on Earth.It seemspretty damn unfair to blame my people when it goes a little flippy.”“This man has not been kept alive solely on a whim.I have good reasons, even though they areprivate.” Osiris spoke as firmly and calmly as he could.He did not wish to appear capricious,especially in argument with Ptah.If anyone was likely to challenge his leadership in days tocome, it was the American.“In any case, it is unfortunate.We are nearing the crisis point, andRa cannot be kept waiting much longer.”“Jesus wept,” Falcon-headed Horus banged a fist down on the basalt table.“ Ra? What the hellare you talking about now?”Osiris stared.The black, emotionless bird-eyes stared back.Another American, of course.It waslike dealing with children – albeit very powerful children.“You are in my house,” he said ascalmly as he could.“It would not harm you to show some respect, or at least courtesy.” Heallowed the sentence to hang in the air for a moment, giving ample time for the various otherBrotherhood members to think what might harm Horus – to think of all the things an angry Osiriscould do.“If you would avail yourself of the information provided, you would know that ‘Ra’ ismy name for the final phase of the Grail Project.If you are too busy, my system will be happy totranslate for you so you do not impede the flow of conversation during meetings.”“I’m not here to play games.” The bird-headed god’s bluster had abated somewhat.Horusscratched his chest vigorously, making Osiris wince with distaste.“You’re the chairman, so weplay with your toys – wear your sims, whatever, fair enough.But I’m a busy man, and I don’thave time to download your newest set of rules every time I hook up.”“Enough squabbling.” Unlike the others, Sekhmet seemed quite comfortable in her goddessguise.Osiris thought she would enjoy wearing the lion’s head in real life.She was a naturaldeity: no corruptive notions of democracy had ever sullied her outlook.“Should we eliminatethis loose end, this ‘lost man’? What does our chairman want?”“Thank you for asking.” Osiris leaned back in his tall chair.“For reasons of my own, I wish himto be found.If enough time goes by without success, then I will allow him to be killed, but that isa clumsy solution.”“Actually, it’s not only clumsy,” Ptah offered cheerfully, “it may not be a solution at all.At thispoint, we might not be able to kill him – at least not the part of him resident in the system.”A slender hand was lifted.The others turned, their attention drawn by the rarity of Thoth havinganything to say.“Surely things have not gone so far already,” he asked.His narrow ibis headnodded sorrowfully, the beak dipping down to his chest.“Have we lost control of our own virtualenvironments? That would be a very distressing event.I would have to think carefully beforecontinuing my commitment.We must have more control of the process than this.”Osiris started to reply, but Ptah leaped in quickly.“There are always perturbations at the edge ofany paradigm shift,” he said.“It’s like storms on the edge of a weather front – we expect them asa generality without being able to anticipate them exactly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]