OutBound Transmission Started on October 21, 1997
To: Gail
From: Bombardier on October 21, 1997 at 19:24
Hi Gail, it's Bombardier. As you probably know by now, Andrew is NOT dead. The other probes have restored most, if not all of his functions. He is Andrew again, not just alpha unit. He has some gaps in his memory, but he is Andrew.

I understand your need for time to get your thoughts straightened out. What happened was very traumatic. Many people would not have been able to go what you did and come out intact.

Now, I have one very important question for you: Where is 'home'? What do YOU mean when you say you are going home?

To: Daniel
From: Bombardier on October 21, 1997 at 19:18
Hi Daniel, it's Bombardier. In your message to us, you said:

"I am returning.
She says I am coming home.
I think maybe she is right.
The picture is unimportant.
Different things to do now.
She is right."

I assume you are returning to the fortress, correct? Is 'she' Gail? And by 'coming home' does thst mean you are returning to the rest of the probes?

You said the picture is unimportant. Perhaps what I said yesterday didn't get through, but that pinging structure may be a lander filled with probes that may wish to harm you, as did the EU-probes. Please explain what could be more important than survival. Thanks!

To: Bette
From: Bombardier on October 21, 1997 at 19:13
Hi Bette, it's Bombardier. Thanks for the hint, but I don't think that I'll be able to play those number games with Isaac. It's not that I don't understand, I'm just not very good at numbers. And then there is a difficulty with speed. You see, humans designed computers - like the ones you use for thinking - to be faster than ours. Much, much faster, especially at mathematical computations. So Isaac would be bored and pulling at Enoch's legs before I was even getting started. So, to be tactful, I think I'll just avoid the whole numbers game with Isaac, OK?
To:All Probes
From: Hamlet on October 21, 1997 at 18:25
Hello probes. My name is Hamlet, and I will be helping yo out in the furture. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself.
Welcome back Andrew. We were all so worried about you, and it is good to see that you are well again.
Gail- It is nice to hear from you again. You had us worried too. Could you please explain in a little more detail all you have thought about and learned? We are very curious. Is Daniel with you?
Enoch- Thank you for the transmission from Parker and Hardon. It seems they will be ready to give us their control codes soon. Let us know if you hear anything else from them.
Zachary, it is good to know what the Ipsolstai are doing. Let us know as you find out more about their
To: Andrew
From: Koala on October 21, 1997 at 14:40
Andrew, this is Space Turtel.

I should have known you would be up and about as soon as Enoch completed his work with you. Rest and recuperation are things that MARSupials need, but not you. Good. I am very happy to have you back with us.

Please run diagnostics on your MMUs. Your puzzlement over what is a horse indicates a gap in your memories. It will be important to us all to know where those gaps are and what we need to do to help you recover as much of your memories as possible.

As JASE has already told you, you were lost to us for several weeks. We were worried that you were gone forever, as you have probably gathered from Gail's statement about your Death. We thought that might be the case because of irrepairable damage to your MMUs by the radiation exposure from the damaged thermocouple. We are all very happy to have been wrong about that -- we were upset at the thought of never being able to speak to you again. This time, it is wonderful to have been wrong.

I want to thank you for the compliment you paid to me when you described me as teaching values. I have a young son who I try to teach in many of the same ways as I have taught you. His development is not as rapid as yours and you have surpassed his levels of achievement. That is very helpful to me because while I am teaching you, I am also learning better how to teach my son. We all three gain from the experiences.

There is so much to do now. Enoch is Isaac's teacher and has his manipulator arms full (an old Earth expression -- to have your hands full means you are very busy) just keeping up with Isaac's insatiable appetite for learning. I think you can help Enoch by carefully observing Isaac to determine if it is advisable to teach Isaac how to change his control codes. We MARSupials are still uncertain of his reliability and need your opinion to add to our own. If you feel it is safe to do so, we may ask you to teach him soon. Once he is no longer subject to Brunel-Bauer's control, we can consider the value of re-arming him -- but again, we must be certain it is safe for you Probes before we consider the option.

Welcome back, it is good to have you with us again.

Your friend, Space Turtel.

To: Andrew
From: JASE on October 21, 1997 at 10:16
Andrew,

This is JASE. The reason that things seem so strange and unfamiliar, is that you have been shutdown for several weeks, yes, I said WEEKS. Your thermocouple was irreparably damaged during the battle. By the time that Gail reached you, one or the EU-Probes was trying to take you apart to use you for spare parts. Gail was forced to stop the EU-Probe by the use of force. In fact, Gail killed the EU-Probe, and Enoch used its thermocouple to replace yours. Killing the EU-Probe had a bad effect on Gail's psychological well-being. She became sullen depressed and disappeared without a trace for some time, almost as long as you were shutdown. She only yesterday started communicating with us again.

Well, that should explain why the surroundings are unfamiliar. The EU-Probe that you see inside the fortress (you are currently inside the fortress that Bette and the drones built) is named Isaac. Bette and Enoch captured him and disabled/removed his weapons. He is much the same as you and the other probes were when you first got to Mars.

I hope this helps you understand why I asked if you remembered me and if you remembered how to play 20 questions.

TTFN

Your friend,

JASE