The Thing hummed. 'This was to maintain internal power. However, I can now use ambient electricity.' That's nice,' said Grimma.
'You mean you sort of drink up the lights?' said Masklin.
'That will suffice as an explanation for now.' Why didn't you talk before, then?' said Masklin.
'I was listening.' 'Oh.' 'And now I await instructions.' 'In where?' said Grimma.
'I think it wants us to tell it what to do,' said Masklin. He sat back on his heels and watched the lights.
What can you do?' he said.
'I can translate, calculate, triangulate, assimilate, -correlate and extrapolate.' 'I don't think we want anything like that,' said Masklin. 'Do we want anything like that?' he asked the others.
Granny Morkie appeared to think about it. 'No,' she said eventually, 'I don't think we wants any of that stuff. Another banana'd be nice, mind.' 'I think all we really want is to go home and be safe,' said Masklin.
'Go home.' 'That's right.' 'And be safe.' 'Yes.' Later on, those five words became one of the most famous quotations in nome history. They got taught in schools. They got carved in stone. And it's sad, therefore, that at the time no one thought they were particularly important.
All that happened was that the Thing said, 'Computing.' Then all its lights died, except a small green one, which began to flash.
'Thank goodness for that,' said Grimma. 'What a horrible voice. What shall we do now?' 'According to that Angalo boy,' said Granny, 'we have to live very sad lives.'
3
i. For they did not know it, but they had brought with them the Thing, which awoke in the presence of Electricity, and it alone knew their History; ii. For nomes have memories of Flesh and Blood, while the Thing had a memory of Silicon, which is Stone and perisheth not, whereas the memory of nomes blows away like dust; iii. And they gave it Instructions, but knew it not.