Excavation Action 2

Yesterday, we saw MINIMCOM begin preliminary construction of what would eventually become the University of Deucado. Rome had her initial reservations but by the time MINIMCOM was done, she was overwhelmed, not only by the grandeur of the project, but by the promise.

Here is the second part of that scene:

     “Let us take stock,” MINIMCOM said. He soared high into the sky and overlaid Rei’s blueprint on top of the physical layout of roads and foundations provided by the ventral cameras. They aligned perfectly. In addition, Rome could see that Rei had left plenty of room for growth.
     “What do you think?” MINIMCOM asked.
     “I think it is magnificent,” Rome replied, clapping her hands together. “Can we go look?”
     “I have one more action to complete,” MINIMCOM said as he drifted lower.
     “What?” Rome asked impatiently.
     “Watch,” MINIMCOM replied. At this point, he was hovering about 500 feet above the campus.
     MINIMCOM activated his external acoustic sensors. Rome heard the distinctive whining noise of the PPT generators gearing up in the back. There was a loud pop and one of the greener, bushier cane-trees that Rome had seen near the harbor appeared on the corner of the main intersection. That was followed by another pop and another tree, then another. Soon, MINIMCOM had lined the entire main thoroughfare with the second species of trees using the reverse of the technique employed earlier. When he was done, the effect was not unlike the Avenue des Champs-Élysées from old Earth.
     “Take us down! Take us down!” Rome said excitedly. “I want to see it up close!”
     “Of course,” MINIMCOM replied, diving downward, settling onto his new private landing strip. Rome exited the craft, carrying Aason and headed across the roadway directly to the site which was to hold her new library. When they got to the edge of the main excavation, she set Aason down but held onto his hand very tightly, so they could peer downward into the pit. Rome stared at it for a long time. At last, she spoke over her shoulder. “This is perfect but it will take me a long time to grow an OMCOM,” she said to MINIMCOM’s livetar. “I think we have done enough for one day. We’ll start tomorrow.”
     “I have a better idea,” rang out a deeper, more metallic voice.
     Rome whirled in place to see a two-meter tall livetar, this one completely white, standing next to MINIMCOM.
     “OMCOM!” Rome exclaimed...

OMCOM? What is he doing there? It may seem like a really nice gesture but knowing what is coming down the pike, I don't think OMCOM always had the purest of motives. We shall see.