Constable Lawrence was only beginning to recover when he heard the emergency alarm ringing in the whole building. He heard McNab message, but quickly decided he would be no use in a manhunt.
As far as piloting was involved, he was ok. But looking for some dangerous man hidden somewhere, with a shock gun as only weapon, well, he was just not the kind of guy for it. The others seemed to enjoy the thrill though, so he let them search for the Molly and decided to get himself a good warm tea to eventually recover.
He went to the Officers Mess, and while the tea was infusing, started to think about the latter events. One of the most startling event was definitely this speech pattern thing. He suddenly picked up two biscuits and his tea cup and went to the nearest terminal of the Yard Central Artificial Intelligence.
He then logged in and entered his query: "What are the most likely causes for Deviation of Speech Pattern during a suspect interrogation ?"
and then waited for the YCAI to go through its huge databanks and sum up an answer.
YCAI responded quickly to Lawrence's inquiry. The same feminine mechanical voice which had flooded the conference room before replied:
"Most likely causes for deviation of speech pattern during a suspect interrogation are: hallucination in the suspect, delusion in the suspect, suspect under influence of hallucinatory drugs, alternate personality of suspect, or the suspect being subsitituted. Deviations in speech pattern often indicate a sudden deviation in the subject's thought processes. This may indicate a possible danger to whoever is near the suspect."
"Hmmm," wondered Lawrence. "YCAI, out of those reasons, which is the most probable in this situation?"
The mechanical voice responded, "One moment please."
The constables an officers were gathered in the lauch deck.
Sir Alan was furious. His ship had been hijacked by a deluded maniac - again.
"Apparently, Burlington used a plasma cutter and cut a hole right through the wall," muttered Sir Alan, pacing rapidly, "Do you know how heavy that is, Vimes?"
"It's ship mounted, sir," replied Vimes.
"Exactly," said Sir Alan, "We need a BLOODY CRANE to lift that thing! Do you see a crane anywhere!?"
Humphrey Burlington staggered into the bar on Atka Research Station. I didn't know what brought him there. Frankly, it was like falling asleep, then suddenly waking up again. The bar was empty with the exception of the latest Tenderex model that stood behind the bar. Cautiously and warily, Burlington set foot into the bar and furtively glanced around. Up to now, he had been successful in eluding the Bretonian authorities, and the Kusarianese seemed more than happy to help a fugitive from Bretonia. At the same time, they were just as happy to see the seemingly deranged man leave Kusari space.
But his problem no longer just lay with the Bretonians alone now. They had underestimated the strength of the Bretonian intelligence networks. The Libertonian authorities already knew of their doings. They told Humphrey that the Rheinlanders could also be a significant threat, but Humphrey unconsciously reminded them that the Bretonians had a knack for sniffing out Rheinlanders and the fact that they were at war meant security was maxed out. It seemed to appease them for the present moment.
Finding a seat a the closest table, Humphrey began to doze off.
Time for us to take over, Humphrey. You're so very tired...tired, right?
"I'm tired, hell yes, I'm tired as f***," muttered Humphrey.
"Ex-cuse me, sir. Do you nee-d some-th-ing?" inquired the bartender unit.
"F off, you bloody tin can," muttered Humphrey sheepishly.
"Ye-s, sir," responded the bartender unit.
Time to sleep, Humphrey...we'll do the work now.
Although limited in cognitive function, the bartender unit did notice the human being that had just entered the room suddenly fall face flat against the table top. The movement attracted the unit's attention, and it turned to point its visual analyzer at Humphrey.
Burlington stayed down for the next several minutes. But suddenly rose and opened his eyes. If you looked hard enough, there were no pupils, but tiny, silvery, half-circles suspended in the green irises of the man.
They were on a mission. Like how humans explored the unknown with their vessels... Humphrey Burlington had simply become a vessel for exploration as well.
Quote:[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<
Quote:Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?
