Journal Of Simon Herbert 3

CHAPTER THREE

After the storm moved away, Marvin got back to work. He had to check the adjustment that Scheduler made to arrival times for expected travellers. He likes to make sure he is in the transport room for all arrivals. He doesn't really have to be; the AI would give the travellers instructions on where to wait for the next jump, and how long it will be. Marvin just likes to make sure travellers knew that in this bleak environment there is a human to interface with. He also checks in with Mapper to make sure there are no known problems at destinations. Again, Scheduler and Mapper would figure that out without him, but he says he likes to be able to reassure anxious travellers, and he gets info from Traveller's Friend about the current events and weather so he can make small talk with them if they seem the type that needs that. He likes meeting the travellers and learning about them as much as he loves learning about the technology that moves them from place to place.

Myself, I am anxious for the people part of the job to be over so he can get back to teaching me the technology. I guess I am more like Webby. He watches the travellers from a distance most of the time. Usually gets bored with them quickly and finds a safe, high place to nap. Though I notice occasionally, he will be waiting at the transport door to meet someone. He will rub on their legs and purr. They think he likes them. I have begun to think he is marking them. It's like he is running his own experiment with us as the subjects, or marks, pun intended. I am tempted to query the AI to see what his marks have in common. Maybe after I learn how the dust cleaning drones work.

Today, there are three sets of travellers. All of them have less than 20 minute waits between jumps; Marvin won't get much time for small talk. That will however give Marvin more time for my lessons. He has allotted me two hours a day if that time is available. Sometimes on extremely light day, I can stretch it into three. I am thinking this is one of those days. But now Webby has my mind preoccupied with his work as he selects one particular young woman to mark. She feels so special. She picks up Webby and talks to him like he could answer back. He seems delighted. My own curiosity might kill me, but I decide to pull the microbe detector out of my bag, and I try to point it discretely at the subject of Webby's affection.

Beep.

I quickly try to act like I am looking at something on a table, then check the output.

Classification: Humanoid.

SubClassification: Sorcerer

Beep.

I think my acting has convinced the traveller that I am doing something at the table and not reading data about her.

Name: Emilia

I know 'Sorcerer' is the glitch that means she is from Marvin's planet Wytch . Maybe Webby knows that. Maybe those are the people he singles out. I press the button to display more info.

Beep.

Local Age: 24 years.

Resident Planet/Age: Sorcerer/26 years.

Home Planet/Age: Earth/25 years.

This is interesting. And it becomes more so as Webby marks another traveller in the next group. And the third one. He could go days and show only disinterest if not annoyance with any traveller, but today, he is Mr. Affectionate. Of course, I have to try the microbe detector on all of them. His targets have one thing in common with each other, and not with the unmarked travellers.

Home Planet: Earth.

Earth. A place they will never see again in this universe. A place where Aber was going in our universe when they said goodbyes. Suddenly, the dust drones don't seem as interesting as whatever Webby is up to. I have to know if there was a correlation between Webby's marks and the planets that were destroyed here. Ones that still exist in my universe. My and Aber's planets were both destroyed in this universe, just like Earth. Maybe Webby's selection of people has something to do with that. Maybe it even has something to do with The Rip.

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