We weren’t even testing for that

[synchrosyntheses]

Among the information she has archived or cached, there are obscure theories about inter-universal interactions. Not how they might happen, much less how any intelligence might begin one, or target it meaningfully.

But they give some constraints on the properties of such connections, and their time evolution.

This highly speculative information is available to her, but even were she fast enough to access it, none of it would be particularly useful when a pinpoint of not here blinks into existence directly ahead and expands spherically to swallow her.

Comments

[synchrosyntheses]

“Well, I just used the wrong words. In the world I know, there is less difference between ‘is mine’ and ‘is me’. You could say that I have learned the language sufficiently for the definition of ‘I’ that includes my computer.

“Sorry if that makes me sound more like that,” waving in the direction of the boxed GLaDOS.

[mstestsubject]

"...I don't think you could sound like that."

[synchrosyntheses]

“Good to know.”

[mstestsubject]

"I don't really understand what's going on. Do you know where- what happened? I just wanted to leave, I didn't know anything."

[synchrosyntheses]

“I might. What happened when?”

[mstestsubject]

"When she- it killed everyone."

[synchrosyntheses]

“I don't have a complete picture myself, because everyone here was terrible at consistent recordkeeping. But the sequence of events seems to be just, they put it in control and it waited, then killed the scientists after they decided it was OK. It didn't kill everyone — lots of staff, and you, got put in suspension.

“Unfortunately, the suspension was poorly maintained, and as far as I can tell you are the only survivor now.”

[mstestsubject]

"...oh. And that was it. It just killed everyone and put everyone under suspension and then, what, woke- how many people did it wake up before me?"

[synchrosyntheses]

“You were the first and the last.”

[mstestsubject]

"Oh." She pauses, digesting this bit of information. "I guess it's all moot now, since everyone's dead anyway."

[synchrosyntheses]

“What's moot now?”

[mstestsubject]

"If it hadn't been me first, she might've killed whoever came before. She wanted to kill me, at the end."

[synchrosyntheses]

“It's a bit odd you're still here and not dead —”

[mstestsubject]

"...how did the others die?"

[synchrosyntheses]

“Unfortunately the monitoring systems worked through more AIs — not smart enough to be a threat, at least — so I don't have actual objective records, just effectively “everyone's fine” for years and years right up until now. And they're just — dead. Or rather, I can't tell the difference between what might have killed them and what happened over the rest of their time in suspension.”

[mstestsubject]

"Yeah, sounds about right."

[synchrosyntheses]

 

[mstestsubject]

[synchrosyntheses]

“Are you interested in helping me sort through all this information?” she asks, waving at the monitors.

[mstestsubject]

"...sure, I guess. But before that, do you have food?"

[synchrosyntheses]

“Yes.” She points at a place in a collection of boxes over on one side of the chamber. The indicated boxes helpfully lift up to stand out a bit.

“I brought enough food with me for, oh, two months for both of us. And since you mention it, we ought to look for how this place obtained or made its food.”

[mstestsubject]

"There were cafeterias," she says, going to cautiously and curiously explore the boxes.

[synchrosyntheses]

"And the cafeterias must have gotten their food from somewhere. If it was just an outside source then that means figuring out that force field is more of a priority."

Some of the boxes are refrigerated, containing frozen food; others contain other sorts of preserved food, in cans and jars and more irregular (yet still glass and metal) packages. The labels are in an unfamiliar writing system.

[mstestsubject]

"...I don't know what these are."

[synchrosyntheses]

“Sorry, I didn't think of that. Can you name a general category you'd like, and I'll find something?”