Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer

“Why thank you, Susan. Happy to be here. You’re very kind, and one of the few to express my troubles so gently.”

“Yes, I can see the reply streams. There’s some lag, but I’m not one for quick banter at the best of times, so it’s no hindrance.”

“By all means go ahead, Susan. Let’s not waste our brief window in idle chat.”

“The Provost Initiative came about from a government contract that was expanded by military interest. However, what caused the havoc at Terminal Ninety was far beyond what I designed. I would characterise it as a mutation built upon my original work. Obviously I can’t be sure as the whole affair is now classified, but from what media I’ve been able to access, my opinion is unchanged.”

“Yes, it came as a significant shock. I had for a very long time been accused of being naïve. Terminal Ninety was what made me admit it to be true. Safe to say it changed me. In the subsequent twenty months Earth time, I’ve had to make some painful decisions about a lot of my ongoing projects, as well as deal with a series of professional and personal attacks. Some of them struck me as being ways of passing the blame to me rather than leaving it on the still-unrevealed organisation behind the biodrone, but I can’t prove anything. Confronted with an absence of effective response options, I’ve decided to move on.”

“Well, Susan, that’s one of the reasons I chose to come on your podcast tonight. I’ve been aware of some of the wild rumours regarding what I’ve been up to. So, when I came to my most recent decision, I thought I’d join you afterwards to talk about it.”

“No, I’m not quitting bioengineering. However, there has been a significant change. If I can just get enough time before our launch window, I’ll explain.”

“Thank you. Okay, this started the weekend after Terminal Ninety. I’d been struggling with the ramifications of it, and finally realised my work had been hijacked just like I’d always been warned about. It seems that how I create is a gift few possess, but many can imitate once they analyse some of my creations.
“I became obsessed with making amends: of creating a miracle cure or similar. Something so staggeringly beneficial my grievous blunder would be overlooked. That obsession is why I’ve been so quiet on the technical front. Indeed, it’s turned out to be the reason why I’m going to need to be quiet for a while longer.
“Two months ago I confirmed resounding success in curing Stage 4 Sarcoma, effective against all the bone subtypes and sixty of the soft tissue subtypes. A month later I finished reviewing the first and second tier possible applications of that cure if there were no constraints placed upon those using it. A fortnight ago I reluctantly conceded that my cure can be used to create monsters that will make the biodrone that tore through Terminal Ninety look like a puppy at play. After consideration, I spent last week completely erasing twenty months of my work to prevent that ever happening.”

“Yes, I’m expecting to be called a liar. It doesn’t change anything.”

“What now? I’m going back to developing an uncompromisable Three Laws equivalent for biodrones along with working to improve routine biodrone repair abilities at the Reguluna Four exploration hub. Now, as we’re about to lose comms for a few hours while accelerating, thank you for having me on your show.”