Interview with Rome I - Part 8 of 17

As Steve Fisch and I get the scripts ready to sell Rome's Revolution as a streaming series, he asked me for a lot of background information that I did not have. So I took some time out to interview Rome and Rei. Rome was very talkative so I had to break up the interview into two parts. Rei was a bit more concise. So here is the first Rome interview, part 8 of 17.
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Rome: Yes. It may be the biggest single flaw of the Overmind but once it sets its mind to something, it doesn‘t value alternate opinions. It is, or it was, convinced of its infallibility. The physics behind the trip were sound. We had our timepieces, our clocks. We knew when the light waves from the disappearance of Winfall were supposed to reach Tabit. We arrived in what we thought was plenty of time. We deployed our equipment and waited. What we did not realize was that every time we jumped through a PPT tunnel, the timepieces were offset by a small amount. When we got to Tabit, our clocks were way, way off. By more than 10 days. Subjectively, our bodies aged at the same rate as our timepieces so there was no way to know that by objective time, we got there too soon. Nobody had ever measured this effect before because it reverses on the way back so everything appears normal by the time you get home. Rei told me it’s related to the theory called Relativity.
Perry: So your clocks were off.
Rome: Yes. And you know the Vuduri. They are nothing if not efficient. Seven days after the event was supposed to occur, the Overmind there concluded we would not be able to observe the disappearance for whatever reason. Wrong geometry, whatever. Commander Ursay counseled patience. The fact that the Overmind even considered it is fairly remarkable. So we waited another few days. Finally, even Commander Ursay had to admit that there was something off. Winfall was just there and wasn’t going to disappear and it had to be a parallax or an astro-geophysics issue. He ordered the instruments to be collected and we were preparing to leave when Rei’s Ark arrived and almost collided with one of our tugs.
Perry: Knowing Vuduri history, with the Ark Lords, I’m surprised that the Overmind even entertained the idea of a salvage operation. Why didn’t it just let the Ark go flying by?
Rome: That particular Overmind was constructed for research and exploration. Our original mission was a complete failure. So perhaps this was its idea of getting something, anything out of the fact that we had gone all that way, from a scientific perspective. They rescued it and picked Rei.
Perry: So why did they pick Rei, to study?
Rome: It’s the funniest thing. And it’s why I say he and I were destined to be together. He was picked totally at random. It could have been anyone. The fact that it was him and that we were Asborodi Cimponeti tells me there were forces at work, beyond anyone’s comprehension, that brought him to me.
Perry: What do you remember about that experience?
Rome: Well, that same Overmind was not above its own prejudices. Even though I was a valuable member of the crew, I was still a mosdurece so in that sense, I was the most expendable. Canus, another member of our crew, was trained in medical procedures so he and I were selected to awaken Rei and find out about the Ark’s mission. After Rei was reanimated and cleared medically, I was the one selected to interrogate him because (Rome holds up one finger), first I was the only mosdurece and (Rome holds up another finger) I was the only one on board with Espansor bands. Not that another Vuduri couldn’t have used them but if anybody was going to be soiled, of course it was me.
Perry: You told me about your parents and their experience with the bands. You had the same experience as them. Can you describe it?
Rome: I will but I just thought of a funny story that I want to tell you first.
Perry: Of course

Tomorrow, part 9