Quoted By:
"The people who built it named it the Alpha-8K, but I'm sure you're thinking of something similar. I fished it out of a landslide just a few paths down from this one and repaired it with some components another Jake introduced me to. It's been a big help in deciphering the temporal axis."
"If it's anything like the Alpha I know, you can't trust it!"
"Don't sweat it, Jake! You do go by Jake, right? Most of us do. Listen, that computer's been gelded. You've got nothing to worry about. It serves me now, like it was meant to."
"Hey, what's that you said about cutting us in?"
"Now this is a guy I can do business with! I can tell you both perceive the deep universal resonance."
"Universal what?"
"You ever feel like you knew something was gonna happen before it happened?"
"Sure, all the time! Geri and Kristobar both think I'm crazy!"
"Well, you're not crazy. Your talent is what I need."
"And what, we help you take over an empire and you make us rulers of our own worlds?"
"Jake, I'm offering you more than a world. I'm offering you an entire universe. With the power of the temporal axis we can become <span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-i">gods</span></span>. We can open up realities where everything is exactly like we like it, live there forever, leave or change it whenever we like. You want to keep pushing ions for the rest of your days? Sitting in transit on a rusting ship counting cargo and checking logs, watching the same old tapes? You like Celats? You can have a whole population of them, bred to your taste. You don't want to be immortal, you can grow old and fat in comfort. All you have to do is help me, or stay out of my way."
