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“Eliminate the impossible,” GalatAIa quote from deep inside the System’s mainframe, “and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Ms. Cipher tightened her lips as she looked at the bookcase in her office, her hands crisply behind her back. “Never reference a better story, my friend,” she admonished. “—And for us, nothing is impossible. Except this interminable waiting!”

“Hm,” GalatAIa mused, picking up a thread.

“Tell me you have something.”

“Yes. One of the tendrils that his AI sent out.”

“It’s hardly an intelligence, TAIa,” Ms. Cipher corrected. “Nothing approaching our standards. And what of it? He sends those everywhere.”

“This one isn’t retrieving information like the others—it’s sending something,” GalatAIa clarified, examining the thread more closely. “An invitation. It appears Sentry wants to talk.”

“Well!” Ms. Cipher mused. “Then by all means let’s answer.”