Read Online The Fourth Sage (The Circularity Saga) by Stefan Bolz - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stefan Bolz
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came in through primary. Then your DIAG showed us the exact same fluctuations we've been getting for the last couple of days. We just didn't know where it was located. This morning, the error report was gone. Just disappeared from the server. The DIAG you took up there yesterday works perfectly. Nothing wrong with it that I could find."
"So what are we doing here?" Aries is aware of the slight annoyance in her voice.
"Somebody a bit grumpy this morning?" Ty opens the door to shaft number five.
"I'm fine," Aries answers. She follows him through the door.
"You're fine like you're fine or you're fine as in leave me alone?" The door closes behind them.
"I'm fine like I can't talk about it fine."
"Fair enough." Ty opens the trapdoor and climbs down the ladder. Aries follows. When she arrives inside the server cube, Ty kneels down and begins to open the panel of one of the servers.
"Wait. Ty, wait!"
Ty stops what he's doing.
"What is it?"
Aries points to the bottom of the panel. One bolt is loose. She slowly shakes her head.
"You must have forgotten it," Ty says.
"I don't think so," she answers.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Aries sees in Ty's face that he is torn.
"What is it?"
Ty presses a button on the side of the DIAG. The device begins to emit a low-volume, high-pitched sound.
"I knew this would come in handy one day. You can talk freely now. This will completely mess up any microphones they might have installed in here. After a while the software will probably modulate the frequency and be able to listen again. But I think we'll have a couple of minutes. Just keep working while we talk. So, what's on your mind, kiddo?"
"Do you really want to know?" Aries is surprised by her own question.
"I'm not sure. You tell me."
Aries isn't so sure anymore either, but she starts talking anyway. "I double checked. I made sure I closed the front on each of the servers. I would not have forgotten to tighten the bolt."
"I agree."
"So, someone must have been in here after me." Aries didn't realize the impact this thought would have on her. She wants to withdraw, change the subject, and move on.
"That means someone was here last night, reset the server, and took care of whatever they needed to do so that, today, the error would not exist anymore."
Ty nods slightly while tugging the wires onto the contacts, one by one. While Aries watches him, a question arises in her. She hasn’t thought about this before and the moment she becomes aware of it, she knows its implications will be enormous and might well change everything.
"Why?"
"I don't know. You tell me," Ty answers.
"Okay. Let's see. The fluctuation is real. And it's not a small thing and it's not insignificant. It's important. Not so much the fluctuation, but what it means. What's the cause of it? How did it appear? Where does it lead us?"
Both look at the screen of the DIAG. The image of the oscilloscope looks normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. When she looks at Ty, she sees something she has not yet perceived in him before. There is a sadness behind this weathered face, as if the hope that had been held up for so long has slowly begun to bleed out of him.
"What is it?" Aries asks, already dreading his answer.
"That's just... one possible scenario," Ty replies.
"What's the other?"
"The other is that it was a fluctuation in the sub panel that appeared on the oscilloscope as something more unusual than it is. That we haven't seen anything like it before doesn't mean it's something out of the ordinary. I've been here for close to sixty years now, and I still don't know the causes for many of the error messages."
"I think you're wrong, Ty. I think it’s significant. So much so that they sent someone in here to clean it up. I read something once. It said that if you ask the question 'why' often enough you eventually get to the bottom of everything."
She sees something shutting down in him—something that had opened just enough for her to have a glance inside,
"So what are we doing here?" Aries is aware of the slight annoyance in her voice.
"Somebody a bit grumpy this morning?" Ty opens the door to shaft number five.
"I'm fine," Aries answers. She follows him through the door.
"You're fine like you're fine or you're fine as in leave me alone?" The door closes behind them.
"I'm fine like I can't talk about it fine."
"Fair enough." Ty opens the trapdoor and climbs down the ladder. Aries follows. When she arrives inside the server cube, Ty kneels down and begins to open the panel of one of the servers.
"Wait. Ty, wait!"
Ty stops what he's doing.
"What is it?"
Aries points to the bottom of the panel. One bolt is loose. She slowly shakes her head.
"You must have forgotten it," Ty says.
"I don't think so," she answers.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Aries sees in Ty's face that he is torn.
"What is it?"
Ty presses a button on the side of the DIAG. The device begins to emit a low-volume, high-pitched sound.
"I knew this would come in handy one day. You can talk freely now. This will completely mess up any microphones they might have installed in here. After a while the software will probably modulate the frequency and be able to listen again. But I think we'll have a couple of minutes. Just keep working while we talk. So, what's on your mind, kiddo?"
"Do you really want to know?" Aries is surprised by her own question.
"I'm not sure. You tell me."
Aries isn't so sure anymore either, but she starts talking anyway. "I double checked. I made sure I closed the front on each of the servers. I would not have forgotten to tighten the bolt."
"I agree."
"So, someone must have been in here after me." Aries didn't realize the impact this thought would have on her. She wants to withdraw, change the subject, and move on.
"That means someone was here last night, reset the server, and took care of whatever they needed to do so that, today, the error would not exist anymore."
Ty nods slightly while tugging the wires onto the contacts, one by one. While Aries watches him, a question arises in her. She hasn’t thought about this before and the moment she becomes aware of it, she knows its implications will be enormous and might well change everything.
"Why?"
"I don't know. You tell me," Ty answers.
"Okay. Let's see. The fluctuation is real. And it's not a small thing and it's not insignificant. It's important. Not so much the fluctuation, but what it means. What's the cause of it? How did it appear? Where does it lead us?"
Both look at the screen of the DIAG. The image of the oscilloscope looks normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. When she looks at Ty, she sees something she has not yet perceived in him before. There is a sadness behind this weathered face, as if the hope that had been held up for so long has slowly begun to bleed out of him.
"What is it?" Aries asks, already dreading his answer.
"That's just... one possible scenario," Ty replies.
"What's the other?"
"The other is that it was a fluctuation in the sub panel that appeared on the oscilloscope as something more unusual than it is. That we haven't seen anything like it before doesn't mean it's something out of the ordinary. I've been here for close to sixty years now, and I still don't know the causes for many of the error messages."
"I think you're wrong, Ty. I think it’s significant. So much so that they sent someone in here to clean it up. I read something once. It said that if you ask the question 'why' often enough you eventually get to the bottom of everything."
She sees something shutting down in him—something that had opened just enough for her to have a glance inside,
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