“Sir, Kurzweil is back on-grid. An autonomous systems report just came in from the Juno Naval Base remote ansible.”

“Yes, sir. We’re processing them now.”

“No, sir. Given the length of time without contact, the backlog is substantial.”

“Of course, sir.”

—

“Hello? Yes, the counterresponse is ‘Lonely are the Angels’. I need to speak with Schachturke.”

“Hello, sir. Preliminary analysis is in. Project is still online, sir, but two units were lost.”

“We don’t, sir. The mission data is being reviewed as we speak.”

“It’s encouraging, sir. Behavioural adaptation is proceeding in line with expectations, and there are partial logs recovered from one destroyed unit that suggest awareness was achieved, however briefly.”

“A positive sign, sir. If one unit can do it, so can the others.”

“Yes, sir, but Ruskov will not be in contact until he arrives at Yvenar.”

“Very well. That’s all, sir.”