Adam's Apple and the Infinite Regress

The Ludicrous Field

The rebels had established their base on a neglected space station orbiting a red dwarf star. According to The Great Orator, this star was once the source of life for a thriving civilization. When war broke out, the warring species decimated one another. That had been tens of thousands of years ago. The only thing that remained was the story of the terrible war, and the unfortunate event the precipitated it. These two races of people initially got along well. They had an annual banquet where heads of state from each government dined together in celebration of their mutual good will. One year, food poisoning killed more than half of those in attendance. Cooks from both worlds had been in the kitchen, and fingers were pointed, each accusing former friends of carrying out a mass assassination. As it turns out, one cook simply forgot to wash their hands.

Adam found this tale unsettling. The rebellion faced steep odds. The thought that even the tiniest mistake could kill them all made him question whether or not he should even involve himself in this.

He sat next to Layla in the space station's science lab while she peered through a microscope. "The nanos look good," she said. "It seems the time they spent dormant didn't harm them at all." She'd retrieved the nanobots from the ship used in Adam's rescue. Stored away in a stasis field hidden behind the refrigerator, they'd been safe from any scanning devices the Federation may have used to search for them.

"What are you reprogramming them to do?" Adam asked.

"I'm hoping I can reprogram them to last longer. When this was a capitalistic venture, we wanted people to keep coming back for more. Now we need to make sure Bibble remains under their influence for as long as possible, no matter what happens. I also want them to self-replicate. If one of the nanos were to suffer permanent damage, I want the nanos surrounding it to repurpose the parts and build a replacement." She bit her lower lip. "I could program them to spawn continuously, but they'd have to take material from his body to do it. And at that kind of rate, they'd kill him quickly."

"We may have to kill him anyway," Adam said softly.

"I know. I just want to avoid it if possible." Layla's eyes locked with his. "I may be many things, but I'm not a killer."

Adam opened his mouth to speak, but he was stunned into silence when George burst into the room. Or fell into the room, to be more accurate. Sprawled out on the floor, he wore only a fluffy multi-colored tutu, clown makeup, and a sombrero. "I found your engineers," he announced, looking up at them with a grin.

"Good. I need them." Then Layla frowned. "George, I think you need to go to bed now."

George laughed. "I knew you were going to say that!"

* * *

The science lab was a flurry of activity over the next few days. Layla coordinated the efforts of the engineers effortlessly. Adam admired the way she asserted her authority, and he couldn't deny her intelligence. She was confident in what she did. That quality, which he initially perceived as arrogance, didn't seem so abrasive now. He wanted to use every excuse to be around her. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about nanotechnology, so he could hardly justify getting in her way.

The Knights of the Order of Knitting occupied their own part of the station. They were tasked with knitting as many blankets as they could. The knights were going to be providing us with a large, infuriating distraction when the time came. The more they knitted now, the better their distraction would be.

The rest of the rebellion, an awkward conglomeration of humans and several other species, were studying the schematics of the DULL offices. Since Adam wasn't officially part of the shoot 'em up segment of the plan, they didn't want him around.