Read Online Creations by William Mitchell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: William Mitchell
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anywhere on the Moon that’s managed to break even, but the resources available there are huge.”
“And that’s just one factory, what we’re seeing there?”
“Yeah, that was our first site, the grandfather site, it would have been.”
“Would have been?”
“There was an accident a couple of years in. We shut things down after that.”
“What kind of accident?”
Safi went quiet for a second as if considering how best to answer. “A fatal one,” she said. It was clearly not a subject todwell on.
“So can we see you there?” Ross said, pointing to the image on the wall.
“Yeah, you can see me, in the middle distance there. Look for the one with the yellow ID patches.”
“Oh yeah,” Ross said, straining to make her out. “Cool. Who’s that with you?”
“That’s Niall West, he was the project leader.”
“So how far had you progressed when this was taken?” Victor said.
“We’d finished Anchorville a couple of months earlier. Excuse me, Anchorville was what we called this place. We were using this one to build Bakerville, then that was going to build Cooperville. We always built replicators over three generations, ever since the first lab tests.”
“How come?” Max said.
“I’m assuming, the same reason they built three of these things,” she said, indicating the ESOS machine beside her. “You need to prove that any copy you build can go on to make further copies. That way the ability to replicate gets passed down along with everything else. It’s an important test.”
“So, tell us what we’re seeing there,” Victor prompted.
“Oh, okay, that’s one of the mining trucks.” A large six-wheeled vehicle had just emerged from an opening at one end of the structure and was heading off to the side of the shot. As it did so another one approached in the opposite direction, loaded to capacity with rocks and soil.
“We had a couple of mining sites out to the east there. We had to shift a lot of dirt to get the materials we needed.”
“From lunar regolith? Yeah, I can imagine,” Ross said.
Then the picture changed. The setting was similar, but where there had been a fully functional factory, now all they were seeing was a bare skeleton. It was easy to recognise as a copy of the first site, but was far from complete. For almost half of its length itwas a mere outline, pillars and supports driven into the ground but so far unconnected. More vehicles were visible in this shot, but these were clearly construction vehicles, equipped with earth movers, cranes and robotic manipulators. They could be seen fitting sections of machinery together as other vehicles brought the parts in from elsewhere.
“Okay, this is Bakerville,” Safi said, “about two months into construction. When we built Anchorville we had to ship every part of it in via the Crisium base, but everything we’re using here is coming from Anchorville itself. Even the power is free.”
“How far apart are the two sites?” Victor said.
“About half a mile,” she said. “Not far at all.”
They could almost see the new site taking shape, even as they watched.
“Impressive,” Victor said, nodding.
“Right, a couple of things occur to me here.” It was Oliver; he’d moved round to see the projection but was still standing back from the others. “Those mobile fabricators. What kind of automation were you using on them?”
“None at all, they were operated by the drivers,” Safi said.
“They were what? I thought you said these things were meant to work autonomously?”
“Yes, they would have done, eventually.”
“And how exactly was that supposed to happen?”
“Easy, we’d have installed a central computer, running all the production lines and vehicles. Just like —”
“Easy? Have you any idea how much work it takes to automate something that size? No, no, it’s a massive job. You’d have given up within weeks.”
“We built it precisely so that we
could
automate it. Niall wanted to
“And that’s just one factory, what we’re seeing there?”
“Yeah, that was our first site, the grandfather site, it would have been.”
“Would have been?”
“There was an accident a couple of years in. We shut things down after that.”
“What kind of accident?”
Safi went quiet for a second as if considering how best to answer. “A fatal one,” she said. It was clearly not a subject todwell on.
“So can we see you there?” Ross said, pointing to the image on the wall.
“Yeah, you can see me, in the middle distance there. Look for the one with the yellow ID patches.”
“Oh yeah,” Ross said, straining to make her out. “Cool. Who’s that with you?”
“That’s Niall West, he was the project leader.”
“So how far had you progressed when this was taken?” Victor said.
“We’d finished Anchorville a couple of months earlier. Excuse me, Anchorville was what we called this place. We were using this one to build Bakerville, then that was going to build Cooperville. We always built replicators over three generations, ever since the first lab tests.”
“How come?” Max said.
“I’m assuming, the same reason they built three of these things,” she said, indicating the ESOS machine beside her. “You need to prove that any copy you build can go on to make further copies. That way the ability to replicate gets passed down along with everything else. It’s an important test.”
“So, tell us what we’re seeing there,” Victor prompted.
“Oh, okay, that’s one of the mining trucks.” A large six-wheeled vehicle had just emerged from an opening at one end of the structure and was heading off to the side of the shot. As it did so another one approached in the opposite direction, loaded to capacity with rocks and soil.
“We had a couple of mining sites out to the east there. We had to shift a lot of dirt to get the materials we needed.”
“From lunar regolith? Yeah, I can imagine,” Ross said.
Then the picture changed. The setting was similar, but where there had been a fully functional factory, now all they were seeing was a bare skeleton. It was easy to recognise as a copy of the first site, but was far from complete. For almost half of its length itwas a mere outline, pillars and supports driven into the ground but so far unconnected. More vehicles were visible in this shot, but these were clearly construction vehicles, equipped with earth movers, cranes and robotic manipulators. They could be seen fitting sections of machinery together as other vehicles brought the parts in from elsewhere.
“Okay, this is Bakerville,” Safi said, “about two months into construction. When we built Anchorville we had to ship every part of it in via the Crisium base, but everything we’re using here is coming from Anchorville itself. Even the power is free.”
“How far apart are the two sites?” Victor said.
“About half a mile,” she said. “Not far at all.”
They could almost see the new site taking shape, even as they watched.
“Impressive,” Victor said, nodding.
“Right, a couple of things occur to me here.” It was Oliver; he’d moved round to see the projection but was still standing back from the others. “Those mobile fabricators. What kind of automation were you using on them?”
“None at all, they were operated by the drivers,” Safi said.
“They were what? I thought you said these things were meant to work autonomously?”
“Yes, they would have done, eventually.”
“And how exactly was that supposed to happen?”
“Easy, we’d have installed a central computer, running all the production lines and vehicles. Just like —”
“Easy? Have you any idea how much work it takes to automate something that size? No, no, it’s a massive job. You’d have given up within weeks.”
“We built it precisely so that we
could
automate it. Niall wanted to
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