TIDDAOSAOS

Brett M. Grace · 11 Feb 2003, 18:05 · from urth-v0302.mbox · original

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From: "Brett M. Grace" <bgrace at mac.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) TIDDAOSAOS
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 10:05:35 -0800
Message-ID: <urth-v0302-2929 at digest.urth.net>
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    Right, the mystery ship's construction is a bit incongruent with the=20
presumed needs of its crew, for several similar reasons (another example=20
is Daw's pointing out the use of guide wires rather than bunks for=20
sleeping purposes, which rely on a primate sleeping reflex to keep=20
sleepers in place--what's the point?)  Were there any details which=20
suggest that the ship really was designed to support AIs?  I can't=20
recall at the moment.  If not, I infer that Daw's conclusion about the=20
ship is true, that it was originally built by, or for, humans... or=20
human-like beings.  Perhaps the cube is a kind of ghost ship, whose=20
original inhabitants have vanished, to be replaced by the opportunistic=20
visitors.

    I add "or human-like" above because the AIs treat this as a first=20
contact.  But perhaps they merely mean a first contact with Daw's=20
civilization, as opposed to the other human civilizations that exist in=20
this universe.  A corollary hypothesis would be that the AIs simply=20
eliminated their creators and masters, the original crew.  (Maybe some=20
nice contrasts with the use of AI on Daw's ship here?)

    I suppose the ship could also be an elaborate rat maze to conduct=20
tests on the primates who find it, in which case, these difficulties can=20
be waved away.  I don't really care for that theory, however.

    Personally I found the story to be a bit unsatisfying for some=20
reason I can't quite put my finger on.  Loved "Tracking Song" although I=20
understood it less, or maybe not at all!

BMG

Michael Straight wrote:

>
>The best explanation I can think of for the starcharts (and it's not very
>good) is that the Alien's "simulation" of the woman's husband might mean
>they are in the habit of incarnating themselves in some sort of bodies
>which would use the charts.  You have a similar problem with the existence
>of hatches and passageways in the ship.
>
>-- Rostrum
>
>
> =20
>


--=20

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