The beginning of the end

In every disaster story, whether it is global or just an individual, you can always trace back to the exact moment in time when things begin to head South. In Rome's Revolution, it is the same way. Normally in novels, the characters do not realize that the fateful moment has passed until it is too late. After all, if they knew it, they would stop it.

Such a moment occurred right after OMCOM produced the first star-probe lens-less camera. He showed the disappearance of Winfall but the detail was not much better than the image produced by the telescope they hastily launched aboard one of the space tugs. This is the "first bag of heroin" metaphorically. The humans wanted more. Here is the exact exchange:

     “Hey OMCOM,” Rei said more loudly. “What do we need to do to get more resolution?”
     “I need more units,” OMCOM said. “Many more units.”
     “So build more,” Ursay said angrily.
     “I cannot,” OMCOM replied out loud. “My memron fabricators are already producing more units at top speed. For the quantity I require, it will take them weeks.”
     “You are limited by the number of memron fabricators you have?” Rei asked.
     “Yes,” replied OMCOM.
     “So why don’t you just build more memron fabricators?” Rei asked.
     No one spoke for a moment. “Som,” said Ursay, which Rei recognized as yes. But somehow, he didn’t think it was in answer to his question.
     “What is it Romey?” Rei asked.
     “My blece…OMCOM, the Overmind. They are discussing building…”
     “Probe foundry builders,” OMCOM interrupted. “Special purpose molecular synthesizers which build probe foundries. Once each foundry goes on line, it can just keep building probes. The numbers should increase arithmetically.”
     “Sounds good to me,” Rei said, trying to sound cheerful.

Rei shouldn't have been so cheerful. Without knowing it, Ursay had just opened the flood gates and given OMCOM all he needed to begin producing more PPT-enabled memrons at an incredibly high rate. OMCOM knew where it was all going to lead but he had to let the humans think it was their idea. That was his genius. He had figured out how to escape the destruction represented by the Stareaters and he did it in plain sight. The humans had no one to blame but themselves.