"Some of you may wonder how all this is possible, and why billions of years of anarchy have passed without such help from a Power. The answer is
… complex. Like many sensible developments, this one has a high threshold. On one side of that threshold, the development appears impossibly unlikely; on the other, inevitable. The symbiosis of the Helping depends on efficient, high-bandwidth communication between myself and the beings I Help. Creatures such as the one now speaking my words must respond as quickly and faithfully as a hand or a mouth. Their eyes and ears must report across light-years. This has been hard to achieve — especially since the system must essentially be in place before it can function. But, now that the symbiosis exists, progress will come much faster. Almost any race can be modified to receive Help."
Almost any race can be modified. The words came from a familiar face, and in Ravna's birth language… but the origin was monstrously far away.
There was plenty of analysis. A whole news group had been formed: Threat of the Blight was spawned from Threats Group, Homo Sapiens Interest Group, and Close-Coupled Automation. These days it was busier than any five other groups. In this part of the galaxy, a significant fraction of all message traffic belonged to the new group. More bits were sent analyzing poor Ovn Nilsndot's mouthing than had been in the original. Judging from the flames and contradictions, the signal-to-noise ratio was very low:
Crypto: 0
As received by: OOB shipboard ad hoc
Language path: Acquileron-»Triskweline, SjK units
From: Khurvark University [Claimed to be habitat-based university in the Middle Beyond]
Subject: Blighter Video
Summary: The message shows fraud
Distribution:
War Trackers Interest Group, Where are they now Interest Group, Threat of the Blight
Date: 7.06 days since Fall of Relay
Text of message:
It's obvious that this "Helper" is a fraud. We've researched the matter carefully. Though he is not named, the speaker is a high official in the former Straumli regime. Now why — if the "Helper" simply runs the humans as teleoperated robots — why is the earlier social structure preserved? The answer should be clear to any idiot: The Helper does not have the power to teleoperate large numbers of sentients. Evidently, the Fall of Straumli Realm consisted of taking over key elements in that civilization's power structure. It's business as usual for the rest of the race. Our conclusion: this Helper Symbiosis is just another messianic religion, another screwball empire excusing its excesses and attempting to trick those it cannot directly coerce. Don't be fooled!
Crypto: 0
As received by: OOB shipboard ad hoc
Language path: Optima-»Acquileron-»Triskweline, SjK units
From: Society for Rational Investigation [Probably a single system in Middle Beyond, 5700 light-years antispinward of Sjandra Kei]
Subject: Blighter Video thread, Khurvark University 1
Key phrases: [Probable obscenity] waste of our valuable time
Distribution:
Society for Rational Network Management, Threat of the Blight
Date: 7.91 days since Fall of Relay
Text of message:
Who is a fool? [probable obscenity] [probable obscenity] Idiots who don't follow all the threads in developing news should not waste my precious ears with their [clear obscenity] garbage. So you think the "Helper Symbiosis" is a fraud of Straumli Realm? And what do you think caused the fall of Relay? In case your head is totally stuck up your rear [«-probable insult], there was a Power allied with Relay. That Power is now dead. You think maybe it just committed suicide? Look it up, Flat Head [ «— probable insult]. No Power has ever fallen to anything from the Beyond. The Blight is something new and interesting. I think it's time that [obscenity] jerks like Khurvark University stick to the noise groups, and let the rest of us have some intelligent discussion.
And some messages were patent nonsense. One thing about the Net: the multiple, automatic translations often disguised the fundamental alienness of participants. Behind the chatty, colloquial postings, there were faraway realms, so misted by distance and difference that communication was impossible — even though it might take a while to realize the fact. For instance:
Crypto: 0
As received by: OOB shipboard ad hoc
Language path: Arbwyth-»Trade24-»Cherguelen-»Triskweline, SjK units
From: Twirlip of the Mists [Perhaps an organization of cloud fliers in a single jovian system. Very sparse priors.]
Subject: Blighter Video thread
Key phrases: Hexapodia as the key insight
Distribution:
Threat of the Blight
Date: 8.68 days since Fall of Relay
Text of message:
I haven't had a chance to see the famous video from Straumli Realm, except as an evocation. (My only gateway onto the Net is very expensive.) Is it true that humans have six legs? I wasn't sure from the evocation. If these humans have three pairs of legs, then I think there is an easy explanation for — Hexapodia? Six legs? Three pairs of legs? Probably none of these translations was close to what the bewildered creature of Twirlip had in its mind. Ravna didn't read any more of that posting.
Crypto: 0
As received by: OOB shipboard ad hoc
Language path: Triskweline, SjK units
From: Hanse [No references prior to the Fall of Relay. No probable source. This is someone being very cautious]
Subject: Blighter Video thread, Khurvark University 1
Distribution:
War Trackers Interest Group, Threat of the Blight
Date: 8.68 days since Fall of Relay
Text of message:
Khurvark University thinks the Blight is a fraud because elements of the former regime have survived on Straum. There is another explanation. Suppose the Blight is indeed a Power, and that its claims of effective symbiosis are generally true. That means that the creature being "Helped" is no more than a remotely controlled device, his brain simply a local processor supporting the communication. Would you want to be helped like that? My question isn't completely rhetorical; the readership is wide enough that there may be some of you who would answer "yes". However, the vast majority of naturally evolved, sentient beings would be revolted by the notion. Surely the Blight knows this. My guess is that the Blight is not a fraud — but that the notion of surviving culture in Straumli Realm is. Subtly, the Blight wanted to convey the impression that only some are directly enslaved, that cultures as a whole will survive. Combine that with Blight's claim that not all races can be teleoperated. We're left with the subtext that immense riches are available to races that associate themselves with this Power, yet the biological and intellectual imperatives of these races will still be satisfied.
So, the question remains. Just how complete is the Blight's control over conquered races? I don't know. There may not be any self-aware minds left in the Blight's Beyond, only billions of teleoperated devices. One thing is clear: The Blight needs something from us that it cannot yet take.
And so it went. Tens of thousands of messages, hundreds of points of view. It was not called the Net of a Million Lies for nothing. Ravna talked with Blueshell and Greenstalk about it every day, trying to put it together, trying to decide which interpretation to believe.
The Riders knew humans well, but even they weren't sure of the deadness in Ovn Nilsndot's face. And Greenstalk knew humans well enough to see that there was no answer that would comfort Ravna. She rolled back and forth in front of the News window, finally reached a frond out to touch the human. "Perhaps Sir Pham can say, once he is well."