“I am glad you asked that question. It is a good omen for the success of your mission.” Legate Stancioff moved out of his chair and came to stand in front of Tally. His hands had stopped shaking, and the vagueness was gone from his manner. “It would be an even better sign if you were to answer the question yourself. Can you do so, if I tell you that on this assignment I am assuming that your weakness may also be your strength?”

After a millisecond of analysis, Tally nodded. “It can only be because I am not an Organic. My weakness is my lack of human emotions. Therefore my failure to share organic motivations and emotions is also my strength. You must believe that Graves and Rebka acted from emotion in deciding not to leave the Mandel system.”

“Correct. We cannot prove that. But we suspect it.” Legate Stancioff placed his hands on Tally’s firm shoulders. “You will find out. Go to Dobelle. Learn what you can and report back to us. I do not want to risk another human in finding out what happened at Summertide.”

Whereas you, as an embodied computer, are quite expendable.

E. C. Tally was learning. He was able to make that inference within a microsecond. It produced no reaction within him. It could not. If he had no human emotions, he lacked the internal state to resent the suggestion that his loss was acceptable, while a human loss was not. But he began structuring the first simulation circuits. There might be situations where an understanding of human emotions could be useful.

Entry 14: Human

Distribution: Humans, plus derived or augmented forms, can be found in three principal regions of the spiral arm: the Fourth Alliance, the Zardalu Communion, and the Phemus Circle. Of these, the Fourth Alliance is the biggest, the oldest, and the most populous.