—Well, we basically live in a bunker, the four of us. I have my own little area where they installed the panels but—how do I put this?—I get bored…So I nose around a little. We went out for a drink a few times. Actually, they went out for a drink a few times and they felt bad about leaving me here so they asked me to tag along. Rose and I have gotten to know each other a lot more, since I report to her, but I like hanging out with Ryan and Kara. Ryan’s a nice guy. He’s a little too Captain America at times, but he grows on you.
I like Kara. She doesn’t open up much, with us, anyway. I don’t think she has someone to talk to on the outside either. I don’t know how she does it. She seems to be coping well, though. It could just be a facade, but if it is, she’s good at it. Either way, we seem to get along OK. We have the same kind of humor. Dark…we say pince-sans-rire.
—Deadpan.
—Yes. Probably a little too deadpan. Ryan thinks we’re just mean.
—So…please correct me if I am mistaken. You are saying the panels are a key to understanding whoever built this, through mathematics. You have discovered symbols for addition, multiplication, equality, truth and falsehood, as well as the numbers one through seven.
—We have a lot more than that actually. The formulas also include symbols for subtraction and division. Most importantly, we can interpret any number, if I got this right. As one would expect, some of the formulas have results that are higher than 7. Their mathematical system seems to be base-8. They only have seven symbols for numbers, plus the dot. Do you know how a base-8 system works?
—Enlighten me?
—It’s very easy to understand, just very hard to use—for us, that is. We have a base-10 system—ten symbols for numbers, if you count the zero. Basically, when we count, we go up to nine—1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9—and then we run out of symbols. So we add a digit, and we get 10, which means one set of 10, plus nothing. Then we go through our nine symbols again: 11, 12, 13, etc. And we run out at 19, so we add one to the second position and we get 20, which is two sets of ten, and so on.
Their system works the same way, but with fewer symbols. They count through seven, then add a digit, and they end up with 1 plus the dot, which you can think of as zero, or as a placeholder if you prefer to see it that way. That means one set of 8, plus nothing. Then they go on with their seven digits: one-one, one-two, one-three, etc. Remember, one-two doesn’t mean twelve, it means eight plus two. It gets much more confusing for us when we add more digits. Something like 2222 means two, plus two times eight, plus two times 64, plus two times 512, so 1170 in total.
Now, just to make this more fun, remember how the formulas read from right to left? Well, so do the numbers.
Dr. Franklin tells me the console doesn’t work yet, so we can’t know what it’s used for. Whatever it is, since all the digits are on it, you can bet Ryan will have to punch in numbers, and he’ll have to do it in base-8. I wouldn’t say it can’t be done, but it’s extremely hard to learn, you have to do pretty complex math in your head just to read the numbers. At least, writing direction shouldn’t matter when you punch in numbers on a keyboard. Still, 12345 their way is 5349 our way. 12345 our way is 30071 their way.
Oh…no. I see the look on your face but I’m not that smart, I wrote it down before you came in. I can’t imagine having to do this on the fly.
—That is not what I heard. They say you are brilliant, once-in-a-generation brilliant.
—That’s not true, unfortunately.
—Modesty does not become you, Mr. Couture.
—I’ve been accused of many things, but modesty, not so much. I’m smart. I’m really smart. Drop me in a room with a hundred people, chances are I’m smarter than ninety-nine of them. But there’s always going to be that someone. I met a lot of people at the University of Chicago who could outthink me. I met some I couldn’t even understand, and not because of my English. It wasn’t because I lacked technical knowledge in their field or anything like that either, they were just…It’s like playing chess. Some people can only see what’s in front of them, others can see several moves ahead. I’m a couple moves short of the great ones.
—Do you believe you are the smartest person here?
—Maybe, maybe not. Rose can definitely think on her feet. Alyssa might have a few IQ points on both of us.
—Who is Alyssa?
—The geneticist. Rose brought her in to figure out why Kara’s the only one who can use the helmet. She’s not a people person, but she’s a math genius. She might have figured out the panels long before me if she’d been around. I’m not sure what you want me to tell you. Do I think I’m smarter than you? Is that what you’re asking?
—Are you?
—Without a doubt. It doesn’t mean I think you’re an idiot, but I’d be lying if I said no.
—Fair enough. In my experience, people with superior intellect have a tendency to react poorly to failure. Did you ever think you might not succeed?
—I suppose what you’re asking is whether or not I ever doubted myself. No, I did not. But, there was always a good chance we were never going to figure this out. I knew that. Rose knew that. Those who didn’t need to ready themselves for some serious disappointment.
—What do you mean?
—Well, long shot doesn’t even begin to describe this. I’m amazed we actually got this far. If we manage to get the leg controls working, and if the pilots can make her move without crashing, and if we can figure out how to use the console, we might be able to use her. That is, of course, if we find all the other pieces—it’s a big planet. There’s also a distinct possibility that she just won’t work even if we do get all the pieces. She might just be broken, you know. Then, well, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men…
—…
—Humpty Dumpty? I think that’s how it goes. I’m just saying, these things are buried in the dirt. The reason for that might be slightly less romantic than what we’re all hoping for…
FILE NO. 092
INTERVIEW WITH CW2 RYAN MITCHELL, UNITED STATES ARMY
Location: Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington State
—Nothing happened.
—That is not what I heard.
—What did you…? I don’t understand. How could you…?
—Each of us has a specific function in this project, Mr. Mitchell. Dr. Franklin is in charge of all scientific aspects of this mission. You are a pilot. I know things.
—I don’t know what you want me to say.
—I asked a very simple question. What happened?
—We had one kiss…
—Mr. Mitchell. It would make things easier for both of us, especially for you, if we could forgo the part of this conversation where you take me for a complete idiot…
—OK, it was more than a kiss but it’s not like we defected to Russia or anything. I don’t think the Army has anything to worry about.
—You keep forgetting. I am not the Army, nor am I concerned with their code of conduct. I have no interest in seeing either of you court-martialed. I will, however, grow tired of asking. Just tell me what happened.
—Well, we’ve been at this for five months now, full-time, and alone. After a while, we either end up killing each other or we grow closer, there’s really no in between. We spend what? Twelve hours a day together in the sphere? Six or seven days a week. It seems pointless to go into details, but let’s just say it didn’t take long before I started thinking about her for the other twelve hours.
But Kara’s Kara. So every time I tried to get closer to her, she’d back away and give me the cold shoulder for three days. I tried to give her some space, as much as I could while being in the same room. It’s really hard spending that kind of time with someone without the conversation eventually slipping into personal territory.