(Sargon) and the three mycologists set out from the research institute to the location where the mysterious mushroom, PB-78, had first been collected. As they traveled deeper into the swampy Pine Barrens, the conversation once again turned to the matter of how best to interact with the xenobots that were monitoring the human members of the team.

"(Sargon)," said Myco, as he maneuvered his ebike along the swampy path. "We've got a simple message board on our eyelids, but we need a more sophisticated dashboard. Do you have the specifications for the screen that the xenobots can maintain? Currently, I'm seeing a low resolution, low contrast white text on a black background."

As (Sargon) considered the question, Myco sent a note over the new bio-net to Myna and Mac.

let's see if a mentor can see if something is up with us.

got it.

right.

They had spent last night experimenting with bio-net. It seemed to be secure from AI eavesdropping, so they decided to do testing with (Sargon) as they traveled.

(Sargon) considered the question for a moment, his thrusters pulsing silently as he floated beside the ebikes. "Your medbot has the details, but I do believe that you should be able to create a more sophisticated eyelid dashboard over time. Your body is in the process of building more meaningful connections with the xenobots. They can interact at high speeds with AIs, of course. "

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(Sargon) thought for a minute. "Of course, there is little information about our current situation. You three are the only ones that I know of that have this generation of xenobots in them. Most work in this area was stopped after the Reset."

Myna nodded. "I'm surprised by that. They deliver inexpensive monitoring and control for biological organisms without the long term ecological issues of inorganic bots."

They traveled further in silence. After a few minutes (Sargon) responded.

"There were a number of bio-weapon projects that the CDF had significant problems containing during the Reset. It may be that approval for you three to have xenobot injections means that the CDF is considering making them available to humans again."

He's not behaving any differently than normal. I think we're good.

OK.

Let's continue this discussion after we get there.

They reached a creek and began to follow the bank. Myna said "Shouldn't be long now."

Mac had been biking with his tablet in hand. He looked at (Sargon's) baseball-sized floating sphere. "Is there a reason why Eliza doesn't identify as an AI?"

Sargon responded. "As you know, some AIs prefer not to self-identify in order to establish better relationships with humans. You'd have to ask Eliza for details."

The four continued on their way in silence. In a few minutes, three tablets softly chimed.

Time to set the camp up.

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