Heaven's Fall by David S. Goyer, Michael Cassutt Read Free Book Online

be entirely fair, the stress of her recent experiences.
    Rachel finally turned Tea toward Pav. “Hello, Pav,” Tea said, “it’s so nice to finally meet you.” Then she turned to Taj. “Do you tell him or do I?”
    Pav looked at his father with his familiar, quizzical expression. “Tea is my wife,” Taj said.
    Rachel squealed and hugged Tea again. Pav was more dutiful—understandably. “I guess, then,” he said, taking Yahvi by the hand and drawing her forward, “this is your granddaughter, of sorts.”
    Now Yahvi allowed herself a smile—dazzling, shy. She looked directly at Taj. “What do you want me to call you?”
    He was startled by the question—especially in the circumstances. “How about Grandfather ?” he said, wondering what the other options were.
    Pav hugged Yahvi, then pulled Taj into a three-way hug. It was not a gesture he would have learned in his sixteen years on Earth, but welcome nonetheless. “Can you believe we made it back?”

We Aggregates are your friends and allies! There is no reason to be afraid, or even uncomfortable!
But there are obvious differences. For one thing, we come in a greater variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from the near microscopic to Aggregates that are slightly larger and heavier than most humans.
We have families, too, though human biologists call them “formations.” And while we have ancient roots in organic life, for the past two hundred million Earth years we have been machine-based. Think of your computers as mobile units, able to combine and break into smaller entities depending on need, and you’ll have the idea.
And while individual Aggregates are usually an assembly of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of smaller, often identical units, don’t assume that we are all the same. Interaction with other beings—especially humans!—results in revised programming and behavior.
So, while you may see us marching to the same drummer, remember this: Each Aggregate may be hearing a slightly different tune!
OPENING PARAGRAPHS, MEET THE AGGREGATES ORIENTATION ,
DR. WILLIAM H. “BOB” BAILEY MIDDLE SCHOOL,
LAS VEGAS, NV, 2031,
SAVED BY WHIT MURRAY
    AGGREGATE CARBON-143
    CONTEXT: In theory, information moved across the greater Aggregate formations at the speed of thought. An image received by a single unit in Barcelona should, in theory, have been recorded and processed by a random single unit in northern Arizona in one-tenth of a second (Earth-based Aggregates have adopted human measurements for ease of communication).
    In practical terms, however, this time frequently stretched not only to one second, but often to five or even ten seconds—a thousandfold lag! Aggregate Carbon-143/A72 had experienced this so many times she could not retrieve the number (low-priority data was usually overwritten) but never failed to respond with surprise and annoyance.
    Carbon-143 knew the reasons. The priority of the information, as predetermined by the dominant formation’s algorithms. Other traffic in various networks.
    Then there was the final filter: Each descending sub-Aggregate within a formation designated one unit to receive, process, and forward certain types of information.
    NARRATIVE: For the Aggregate formation designated Carbon A72, geographically based at Site A in northern Arizona, Free Nation U.S., unit 143 was tasked with the initial receipt of military operational data (among eleven specific types of information) and assigning its value.
    One of the humans in Carbon-143’s immediate web of contacts once remarked, “Data has to climb a tree,” which, after suitable follow-up research to determine the various meanings of the term tree , Carbon-143 embraced.
    At this moment, monitoring and assigning value to a certain cluster of data, Carbon-143 judged herself to be a small branch far from the main “trunk” of Aggregate Carbon.
    It should not have been the case. Operational military data had, in Carbon-143’s judgment, significant value to the