Interview with Rome I - Part 11 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 11 of 17.
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Rome: Occasionally. Rei and I still use them from time to time but our love for one another has deepened to the point where the bands are more of a diversion than a life-changing experience. And no need for the T-suppressor. I know how to shut out the Overmind here when I want to. We mostly do it for recreational purposes. There are no secrets between us with or without the bands.
Perry: Going back to your first time, with Rei. From your description, I can certainly see why you didn’t stop when you were supposed to. My understanding is that the Overmind did not take kindly to your actions?
Rome: That’s an understatement. At some point during the night, Rei took the bands off my head. I was asleep at the time and didn’t notice. I’m sure the Overmind dug around in my brain to retrieve the information it desired about the Ark and all but after that it had no use for me. Talk about being soiled! I was positively corrupted in its opinion and that was that. It shut down my PPT resonance and when I awoke, I discovered I was Cesdiud, cast out. I was in shock. Something that had been a part of me ever since I was a child had been ripped out. (Rome frowns) Poor Rei. I took it out on him. It wasn’t his fault, though. And now, in retrospect, it was the greatest gift he could have ever given me.
Perry: I think I understand. Thank you for that. (Perry looks down at his tablet) I’ve heard you mention more than once that the OMCOM that became Planet OMCOM was somehow involved. Can you give me a little more detail about that?
Rome: Yes. He had his digital fingers in pretty much all the events that occurred at Tabit, as well as many of our other adventures. He couldn’t help it. He was an AI. He had no moral compass. He just had a directive to figure things out and sometimes we poor humans help and sometimes we hinder that pursuit. What he did wasn’t always bad. It was just that he didn’t care about the implications.
Perry: And how did you feel about that?
Rome: Back then, it made me angry but I’ve let it go. To the extent that I am today, with my wonderful Rei, my children, my grandchildren, oh, I have a great-grandchild now. Did you know that?
(Perry shakes his head)
Rome: Yes. He is a beautiful baby boy. But without OMCOM, none of this would have occurred so I resorted back to my old ways to just suppress my resentment of how it happened.
Perry: So how did he manipulate you and those around you?
Rome: Too many ways to even count. He had a hand in getting me Cesdiud. That was necessary so that I would be willing to break the law and override the Vuduri prohibition on mating a Casimir pump to a memron. That led to the star probes and from there to the VIRUS units. All the while, we thought OMCOM was doing this to help solve the mystery of the Stareaters, and how to stop them. He wasn’t. It was completely selfish.
Perry: From what I know, you have an extraordinary sense of right and wrong. Yet you said you willingly broke the law. How do you reconcile that with your moral code?
Rome: There’s a difference between doing the right thing and doing what people say is the right thing. At the time, it was the right thing to do. I had no hesitation. Plus, I was still angry at the Overmind for my Cesdiud and this was my way of showing it what a mistake it made. Don’t worry. I paid the price later.

Tomorrow, part 12