“Maybe it wants to be able to tell us what it’s going to do to us.” Hawkins not only kept his distance, he made sure one of his companions was always between him and the alien ovoid.
“Wallace, your morbid turn of mind is bad for your liver,” Gelmann warned him.
He was unapologetic. “If you’d seen the way our ancestors mucked up this planet, you’d understand it.”
Gelmann eyed him a moment longer, then turned her attention back to the ellipse. “Now, see here! We’re not going to let you intimidate us.”
“I have no desire to try and intimidate you,” the ellipse replied.
“What are you?” Shimoda’s hairless eyebrows clenched. “Are you a living being like us, or a creature of artifice like our robot? Are you some kind of spirit?”
The Blueness paused before replying. “All of the aforementioned apply. Extensive definition to your satisfaction would take much time. I can tell you that what I am mostly at present is confused.”
This partial confession of vulnerability enhanced Gelmann’s growing confidence. “We’re a little confused ourselves, you should pardon the comparison. We didn’t know there was anything else down here besides us.” She spread her arms wide. “This whole place is just fantastic.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” The blue ellipse spoke with unmistakable pride.
“Do you have a name, something we can use to identify you with?” asked Shimoda.
“I am searching the references I have for you,” the ellipse replied. “You may refer to me as the ‘Autothor.’”
“Autothor.” Shimoda considered. “Does that mean ‘authority,’ or ‘automatic authority’? Or ‘automatic author’?”
“Don’t worry about it. There is already active sufficient confusion to confound communication. Let’s not make things any worse.”
“I’m for that,” said Hawkins fervently. “Are you responsible for all this? Did you build it, or do you just, uh, live here?”
“I exist here.” The ellipse’s deliberate pauses between replies were growing shorter. “This is my … home. I am not responsible for its construction. That was the work of the Drex.”
“The Drex.” Follingston-Heath pursed his lips.
“Yes.” The ellipse pulsed softly. “Surely you know and are of the Drex? Otherwise you could not be here.”
“Quid pro quo.” Gelmann smiled. “Naturally.” Hawkins and Iranaputra eyed her doubtfully but dared not contradict her aloud.
“Yet you do not have the appearance of Drex. Still, what is the significance of mere physical dimensions?”
“Beats the hell out of me.” Hawkins jerked a thumb in Shimoda’s direction. “Why don’t you ask him?”
“I feel strongly that this may not be the time to be making jokes, Wal,” said Shimoda tensely.
“Sure it is. Anytime’s the time to be making jokes.”
“Since you recognize our intelligence and Drex-likeness, how about opening the door so we can wander around outside for a bit? There’s a good old thing.” Follingston-Heath smiled broadly, his regenerated upper teeth indistinguishable from the original lower.
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly do that.” The ellipse retreated slightly. “External integrity must be maintained for the duration of the hiatus.”
“Hiatus.” Shimoda’s hands rested on his protruding belly. “Would that by any chance refer to the period which has elapsed since the last time you talked to someone hinting of Drexness?”
“Obviously. Integrity has been maintained since that time.”
“The poop it has.” Gelmann tried to shush him but Hawkins turned and gestured in the direction of the now sealed portal. “We just came in through there.”
“Impossible.” The Autothor was emphatic in its disagreement. “No access from outside is allowed when internal integrity is being maintained.”
“For an intelligent device, or whatever you are, you’re obstinate as hell,” Hawkins shot back.
“I am not obstinate. Flexibility is in my nature; otherwise I would be unable to properly carry out my functions.”
“Then if you’re so flexible,” said Follingston-Heath, “why can’t you open the door and let us out?”
“There is only one doorway here, and it leads inward, not out.”
“There was a passageway. There.” Hawkins jabbed a hand angrily in the direction of their arrival.
“Ah. I see what the problem is. Definitions. You must be referring to the emergency relief tube. It does not matter. Integrity has been maintained.”
“So you have said.” Iranaputra was getting frustrated. How could they get the thing to reopen an entrance it refused to admit existed?
“We have to be patient, you should excuse my restating the obvious,” Gelmann whispered to her companions. “It’s already admitted that it’s confused. Surely if we take our time, we’ll find a way to make it let us back out. That tube, or tunnel, or whatever it is, was open once. If we just wait for the right opportunity, we’ll get it open again.
“Meanwhile, as long as we’re stuck here we should make use of the opportunity to learn as much as we can about this fascinating phenomenon.”
“Let somebody else learn about it,” Hawkins griped. “I want out. I want to go back to my apartment, my fridge, my vid unit, and my books.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure, old chap?” Follingston-Heath chided him.
“Lost it on my eighteenth birthday, when my old man caught my mother in the sack with the local heating and cooling repairman and I walked in on the three of them.” He pointed a slightly shaky hand at the Autothor. “We don’t know what this thing is, what it can do besides float through walls, or what in its ‘confused’ state it’s likely to do next.”
