Right. Backup drive attained. Difficulties as we discussed last week.
Now, who (if anyone) will Clarke talk to? If Lola was in town, she'd certainly be the one person he trusts most, but Clarke knows letters can be intercepted and opened en-route, so I think she's going to be left out of the loop. His fellow SDC associates... Depends on his views and how paranoid he gets. Nisha and Zoltan could probably be trusted right now, but both are in a mental state where either couid be easily compromised. Surprisingly, I think Holland is trustworthy. Oh, he's an asshole, but that's still in service of society, and he's not like a random AI on the lose.
Of course as readers we know the SWAT team can't be trusted, and, sadly, neither can Robin. She has the best of intentions and certainly doesn't know it, but if Clarke tells her anything, the "wrong" people will hear about it.
You mentioned your Terminator influence, but I assume there's some Alien with the "milky" bot blood.
Now... How long has the new AI been active? Before or after the Space Elevator debacle? I'm going to guess just after and the Space Elevator event was arranged to occupy the active AI's so final assembly and activation of the rogue went unnoticed.
With regards to Holland, do remember the 'Rendition' storyline. He got quite chummy with Miller and Hutchinson back then, and owes Miller at least one favour. I reckon Clarke has trust in Bakker as well. But, yes, knowing who to trust is not easy at this point in the story - plus, bringing people in also puts them at more risk.
You're right about Alien! Definitely had that in mind with the weird host body tech.
It's always reassuring to read your theories, Mike, because it generally indicates that I've been laying the breadcrumbs at a decent rate. If you were WAY off, I'd be worried, or if it was TOO obvious.
Yeah, something in the back of my brain was niggling. Rendition would be it. There is the difficulty of FORGETTING things with a weekly drip over a couple of years. You've got your notes, of course, and easier access to re-read chapters for review when building forward.
Fortunately Clarke is likely unlikely to trust Holland BECAUSE he's such an asshole.
Yeah, you surprise me enough to keep it interesting and seed things enough where I get enough right (or close) to feel I'm smartly picking things up.
That balance is always fun/challenging to get right, but I've found it especially tricky while writing detective fiction. It hinges around those questions, and you have to let the reader try to 'solve' the case ahead of time, to a degree, so that they can get invested in the specifics.
I suspect that's why I sometimes downplay the actual resolution of the case: the 'whodunnit' is less interesting to me as to whyitwasdun.
Ha! As for 'making sense,' I should reserve judgment til after having read the earlier chapters. But I think what you mention is what I was referring to as mood. In general tho, I'm quite partial to triversial tales set in your allotted year, with alternate possible realities :)
Thanks, Chris! This must have been quite a tricky chapter to jump in on - there's a lot of quite heavy stuff in here that I imagine could come across as expositiony without context of what's come before. Hopefully it made some sort of sense!
Yes. To make a Babylon 5 comparison, jumping in here is like jumping into B5 in an episode like "Messages from Earth" (s3 ep 8, when we get the backstory about IPX and what they found on Mars.)
Helps to remember to comment, eh?
Right. Backup drive attained. Difficulties as we discussed last week.
Now, who (if anyone) will Clarke talk to? If Lola was in town, she'd certainly be the one person he trusts most, but Clarke knows letters can be intercepted and opened en-route, so I think she's going to be left out of the loop. His fellow SDC associates... Depends on his views and how paranoid he gets. Nisha and Zoltan could probably be trusted right now, but both are in a mental state where either couid be easily compromised. Surprisingly, I think Holland is trustworthy. Oh, he's an asshole, but that's still in service of society, and he's not like a random AI on the lose.
Of course as readers we know the SWAT team can't be trusted, and, sadly, neither can Robin. She has the best of intentions and certainly doesn't know it, but if Clarke tells her anything, the "wrong" people will hear about it.
You mentioned your Terminator influence, but I assume there's some Alien with the "milky" bot blood.
Now... How long has the new AI been active? Before or after the Space Elevator debacle? I'm going to guess just after and the Space Elevator event was arranged to occupy the active AI's so final assembly and activation of the rogue went unnoticed.
With regards to Holland, do remember the 'Rendition' storyline. He got quite chummy with Miller and Hutchinson back then, and owes Miller at least one favour. I reckon Clarke has trust in Bakker as well. But, yes, knowing who to trust is not easy at this point in the story - plus, bringing people in also puts them at more risk.
You're right about Alien! Definitely had that in mind with the weird host body tech.
It's always reassuring to read your theories, Mike, because it generally indicates that I've been laying the breadcrumbs at a decent rate. If you were WAY off, I'd be worried, or if it was TOO obvious.
Yeah, something in the back of my brain was niggling. Rendition would be it. There is the difficulty of FORGETTING things with a weekly drip over a couple of years. You've got your notes, of course, and easier access to re-read chapters for review when building forward.
Fortunately Clarke is likely unlikely to trust Holland BECAUSE he's such an asshole.
Yeah, you surprise me enough to keep it interesting and seed things enough where I get enough right (or close) to feel I'm smartly picking things up.
That balance is always fun/challenging to get right, but I've found it especially tricky while writing detective fiction. It hinges around those questions, and you have to let the reader try to 'solve' the case ahead of time, to a degree, so that they can get invested in the specifics.
I suspect that's why I sometimes downplay the actual resolution of the case: the 'whodunnit' is less interesting to me as to whyitwasdun.
Ha! As for 'making sense,' I should reserve judgment til after having read the earlier chapters. But I think what you mention is what I was referring to as mood. In general tho, I'm quite partial to triversial tales set in your allotted year, with alternate possible realities :)
Love the concept, and the mood. Having just joined you, will have to go back to the preceding chapters. Good stuff, Simon.
Thanks, Chris! This must have been quite a tricky chapter to jump in on - there's a lot of quite heavy stuff in here that I imagine could come across as expositiony without context of what's come before. Hopefully it made some sort of sense!
Yes. To make a Babylon 5 comparison, jumping in here is like jumping into B5 in an episode like "Messages from Earth" (s3 ep 8, when we get the backstory about IPX and what they found on Mars.)