MINIMCOM dies

Yesterday, we saw the scene at the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution whereupon Rome and Rei punched through the atmosphere and flew off to a safe distance. The scene ended with a "tremendous crash" which we later find out is the Ark toppling over and squashing MINIMCOM underneath. We know that MINIMCOM's final act as a sentient computer was to angle his tug so that Captain Keller's sarcophagus would not be crushed.

MINIMCOM knew he was going to do this. But as we have seen many times before and will see many times later, the computers are not always completely forthcoming. MINIMCOM waited until the last second to reveal his plan to Rome and Rei when there was absolutely nothing they could do about it:

     “Initiating jump,” said MINIMCOM.
     Rei and Rome heard the high-pitched whine of their PPT generators revving up. In front of them, a brightly lit hole appeared. Leaves, branches, dirt and dust started shooting out from it. The wind began to buffet the conjoined mass but the trim-jets were sufficient to keep them stable long enough. As the hole widened, they could see the bright yellow-green forest beckoning to them through the onrushing gale. They were looking down, right at it.
     MINIMCOM fired the plasma thrusters on their tug, forcing the leading edge of the Ark forward into the tunnel. After a very short time, the little computer shut their thrusters off but they could feel the ship accelerating, which meant gravity was taking over. There was a click and a thump which meant MINIMCOM had rotated around again.
     “Release your clamps,” MINIMCOM said, above the howling which was the wind against their hull. “The magnets should begin spinning immediately.”
     Rome punched some buttons on the control panel and even though the motion was slight, they began to move off, away from the Ark.
     “Your EG lifters are coming to speed,” said MINIMCOM. “I would suggest manual control from here on in. I will be busy.”
     “What do you mean? What are you going to do, MINIMCOM?” Rei asked.
     “I must remain attached until the Ark clears the tunnel. I am going to use my plasma thrusters to brake. I cannot let the ship hit the ground too quickly. In addition, I must make sure it maintains the proper orientation or it will be damaged.”
     “Will you have enough time to break loose?” Rome asked.
     “I do not know,” MINIMCOM said. “I do not think so.”
     “MINIMCOM!” Rei shouted. “What did you do? Why didn’t you tell us?”
     Quietly, MINIMCOM said, “I did not trust you to allow me to do what I had to do. This was the only way to save your Ark.”
     “You can’t…” Rei stopped speaking.

At the end of this scene we come to find out that MINIMCOM is crushed, seemingly beyond repair. Sad. It is possible that the crash scene reminds you of something. It certainly did me. More on that tomorrow.