Maybe it's the water

Ever since I invented the character of MINIMCOM, people have responded quite well to his somewhat quirky sense of humor. In an earlier post, I explained how MINIMCOM and OMCOM swapped roles. This is not a coincidence. In order for MINIMCOM to have enough computing power to get Rome and Rei from Tabit to Deucado, the Vuduri grafted a portion of OMCOM's original computing structure directly into MINIMCOM's infrastructure. Along with that came a portion of OMCOM's personality so MINIMCOM became, essentially, a blend of the two and simultaneously something else.

Where OMCOM became less and less caring about the fate of humans, culminating with his callous disregard for the safety of Lupe in The Milk Run, MINIMCOM became more so. Here was a brief exchange between Rei and the Deucadons where Rei tries to explain the danger presented by the Stareaters. Check out MINIMCOM's little quip:

     “I understand,” Rei said. “You do know that the mind-deaf, the mandasurte are in the same boat as you?”
     “Naw,” replied Melloy. “What does a boat have to do with anythin’?”
     “It’s a figure of speech,” Rei said. “The mandasurte, the Ibbrassati, they are not allowed access to any kind of technology. The punishment is death for them, too. So they hide among the mountains like you. That’s where my people are right now, with the Ibbrassati.”
     “I don’t care if they are or they aren’t,” said Melloy. “I would nawt trust any of them, mind-deaf or not.”
     “I have no choice right now. I’ve got to get back there,” Rei said. “I have to warn them about the Vuduri and we’ve got to get the planet ready for the Stareaters.”
     “Stop right there,” Melloy said. “Now what are ya talkin’ about?”
     “They are giant machines or creatures. We don’t know what they are. All I know is that they eat stars and they are headed for Earth,” said Rei fervently.
     “That’s crazy,” said Tridin. “Creatures eatin’ stars. How could such a thing be?”
     “I don’t know but I’ve seen them,” said Rei. “They could be headed this way as well. We have an early warning system and a weapon to destroy them but it’s going to take some work to deploy. I have to get back to show them how to use it.”
     “If one of these creatures comes here, it would destroy this world?” Melloy asked.
     “Yes,” said Rei.
     “Then all the Vuduri would die?”
     “Yes,” Rei said, sadly.
     “Maybe that would nawt be such a bad thing,” Melloy said, laughing loudly.
     Rei just sighed. “Another bunch of crazies,” he thought to himself.
     “Maybe it is the water,” quipped MINIMCOM.
     “Maybe,” Rei said, quietly chuckling to himself.

MINIMCOM is a pretty funny guy (uh, computer) and does issue some doozies down the road.