Premier Johnston:

It is universally acknowledged that every good society needs a strong leader to guide it. At least, this is what the two premiers believed. And their generals were prepared to go along with it.

Premier Johnston, a self-appointed strong leader, started his day. He lived in the executive suite of the Pinks' command quarters and always ate his breakfast at 7:00am. He liked to enjoy a contemplative, quiet time, free of interruptions, as he munched his museli and planned his day. Today he was trying a chocolate-coated toasted muesli.

Crunch, crunch, splat.

"Ouch! Bit my tongue!"

A mouth full of breakfast ended up on the floor.

"Hmm, looks just like a piece of shit..." He was inclined to find scatological references in everything around him.

Just then, the real shit arrived. His phone rang, and General McIver reluctantly delivered a whole load of it.

The premier did some swearing.

"Hmm, so you did arrange their abduction, didn't you? And you must have done it in cooperation with the other side..." said McIver, in conclusion.

"Never mind that! We need to do some damage control here!"

"Yes sir."

Premier Watson:

And way over the other side of the river, at the Blues' centre:

"Isn't this going to make yourself somewhat unpopular with your people?" said General Paterson.

"Let's move on! We have some planning to do!" said Premier Watson.

"Yes sir."

Molly:

With the help of Earth Watch Prime, Molly was the first to get on the web with a public broadcast.

"The good news is that Pink and Rebecca and Teresa are alive and well and reunited with their families!"

Giving the good news.

"I'm sure that everyone whose life was saved by the four teenagers, or who has a relative or friend who was saved, will be happy..."

Emphasizing their good deeds.

"The bad news is that it appears that our two, not particularly esteemed, premiers arranged it between themselves..."

Contrasting the good with the bad. Molly continued and really rubbed it in.

After the pod cast was finished, she was on the phone (augmented by Prime, of course) and was busily arranging more videos, to star the girls as soon as they were awake and ready, plus plenty of side interest interviews with people who had been in the blast zone on that day.

"Oh, and Martha, could you pack me a lunch which I can eat on the move? It's going to be a busy day."

"Yes, Molly."

Janet and Charlie:

As per orders, the spouses of Charlie and Janet woke them up at 8:00am.

"My dear, it's time for you to get going again." said Janet's husband.

"Charlie! You've got work to do!" said Charlie's wife, as she bounced on the bed to shake him awake.

Even before they arrived at the police station, they were already in contact with the police command system, both via the radio link, and by conventional mobiles.

"We need a police guard around their houses..." said Charlie.

"Yes, Charlie." said the officer operating the operations room.

"And we also need a bit of help ourselves." said Janet. "Since, after all, we did help in freeing the girls."

"Yes, boss. I'll get in touch with those higher up in the command chain. This is going to get interesting, isn't it?" said Janet's second in charge.

While the teenagers had been sleeping, the adults had already discussed this, and decided they might as well come clean with Janet's and Charlie's involvement, since it was going to be hard to conceal anyway. However, Jeffery's role was going to be kept a secret, since there was no public awareness of any connection between him and the others.

Rebecca's Father:

The medical director and the chief surgeon presented themselves to work at their hospital as usual.

"Sorry, staff, but we may need to hand over some of our medical duties today, since we have to deal with the fallout." said Reynold.

"Yes, director."

Six Teenagers:

By now, the teenagers were waking. Prime filled them in with the current details.

"You are going to be very busy today. The public will be after you for the news, the police force is going to be protecting you, every student at your school will want updates, and the premiers will be trying to get the police to arrest you again. But if you just follow my orders for a while and we should make it through the day."

"Yes, Horatio." said six teenagers.

Premier Watson:

Extremely irritated by the fact that Molly had gotten in first, premier Watson was the next with a public web cast.

"We shall concentrate on the fact that they illegally escaped from the prison, with the help of two police officers, and try to generate some public outrage at this behaviour. With luck, people will forget to ask why the girls were imprisoned in the first place." he explained to his general.

Unfortunately, after merely a minute into his live broadcast, Earth Watch Prime had alerted Molly and provided her with her own web broadcast. One which showed Molly on one side of the screen, and a live copy of the premier on the other. And as the premier made his points, Molly, with assistance from Prime, made counter points. Complete with matching videos as appropriate.

"These two police officers, in a gross example of dereliction of duty, have helped three prisoners escape..." said Watson.

"Yeah, but why were the girls put in a prison in the first place?" said Molly, at the point where Watson took a breath.

Prime also thoughtfully put up the audience counters below each person. It showed that twice as many people were watching Molly's version, as were watching the premier directly.

Fortunately, for the premier's peace of mind, he only found out about this after the broadcast was over. Otherwise, the broadcast technicians would have had to start beeping the audio, to mask out his swearing.

"That **** of a prostitute. How dare she criticise me, the Premier! And she way overcharged for what she offered..." he said.

"She did?" said his general. He managed to keep his face straight.

"Never mind!"

Premier Johnson:

Premier Johnson was going to follow with his own live web cast, but seeing the happened to Watson's, he decided to pre-record it, and then release it to as many social video sites and news sites as possible. Which was an even worse choice. Prime was able to catch the video as it was being made, then he artfully added a few delays in the post processing stage, delays that slowed down the release. Giving him and Molly plenty of time to produce their own version, showing Molly's comments interspersed between the premiers.

"They were interned in a prison on the Blues' side..." he said.

"But they were captured on the Pinks' side." said Molly.

"This is just a continuation of their ploy to disrupt the trade conditions and steal our jobs..." he said.

"Actually, both the Pinks and the Blues have got good economic conditions, the only slowdowns are those directly caused by policies implemented by the two premiers" said Molly, followed by a short video clip emphasizing this.

And so on.

When Johnson found about this, he also did some swearing.

"I am trying to form a united nation, lead it in strength to its destiny. And I get this prostitute criticising me! And she wasn't even a very good prostitute!" he said to general McIver.

"She wasn't?" said McIver.

"Ah, err, forget about that!" said Johnson.

Premier Watson:

Next step, for both premiers, was to order the police in to re-apprehend the girls, and Janet and Charlie also, for good measure.

But wait - which side actually controlled the River Island police station, again?

"Sorry, sir, but they have never actually formally acknowledged the split into two countries. They have been taking orders from both sides, and up until now there hasn't been any problems." said the acting police commissioner on the Blue's side.

"Well, just order them as usual!" said Watson.

"Unfortunately, with Janet being the police station boss, ah, I don't think that will work."

Premier Johnson:

And on the other side.

"Ok then, just get some senior police together and tell them to claim the River Island police station. Kick out the incumbents, then we can get moving." said Johnson to his police commissioner.

"Hmm, unfortunately, well, it's like this, sir. A lot of police officers don't really care for the separation in the first place, and also a lot of police officers, even on this side of the river, had relatives and friends and children in the blast zone. And the fact that Janet and Charlie stayed at the station right up to when the bomb detonated, helping to evacuate the school and as many people as possible, rather impresses them. Actually, it really impresses them. Oath of duty to protect the public and all of that." said the commissioner on the Pink's side.

Watson:

Right. Time to back up and take a new route. Both premiers knew a hopeless deal when they saw one.

"General Paterson! Time to get serious. Send in some troops and just take those kids by force!" said Watson.

The general did a face palm.

"Sorry sir, but that would be extremely unwise. Not only would the public regard it as unfair bullying, but also you forget that half of our army were in that blast zone, helping to evacuate as many citizens as possible. And they all know that those four teenagers were right at the bomb site, doing whatever they did to stop the explosion."

"..."

Watson had to concede defeat on this.

"Ok, ok, we'll just do the usual propaganda stuff, and hope the public gets carried away with their fears and eventually forget about the girls."

Johnson:

Premier Johnson came to a similar conclusion.

Molly:

Earth Watch Prime knew all of this, since he was tracking and watching the premiers and generals continuously.

"So there's no further immediate work for you, Molly." he said.

"So, if you are agreeable, we will do a series of videos about the more general situation. And then you can continue your agitating at meetings all over the country." he continued.

"Sounds good to me." said Molly.

"Of course, we are going to have to pay particular attention to your safety. They might not regard it as politically expedient to capture the teenagers, but when it comes to a solitary ex-prostitute criticising them, they might be tempted." said Prime.

"I have every faith in your ability to protect an innocent young maiden like myself." said Molly.

All the guardians of the teenagers:

Prime, plus the police, were also protecting the teenagers, and their parents, from the public. Or, more specifically, the part of the public that wanted to interview them, take photos of them, track their every movement, and generally annoy the hell out of them. There were police at the school gates, checking identification of the students and teachers entering, and as five teenagers made their way to school, they all had police escorts. The parents were adamant:

"Just get them to leave Teresa alone!"

"Let James go to school in peace!"

"Any paparazzi or reporter that annoys my Rebecca I will personally strangle..." At this point Rosanna put her hand over Reynold’s mouth.

"Yes dear, just leave that part to the police." said Rosanna.

"Horatio! Make sure that Pink and Blue have a police escort!" said Martha.

The adults were a little more relaxed about themselves being the object of scrutiny.

"Yes, you may have an interview, but no interference with the hospital's routine business will be allowed." said the medical director.

Plus similar replies from the other adults directly concerned.

Pink: Gives another talk:

Prime was providing a summary of all of this to the teenagers. But mainly it did not affect them. Their almost complete attention was directed at surviving the first day back at school. Surviving the gamut of attention from the other students. The school staff had hastily swapped around class times, thus allowing a school assembly as the first thing in the morning. It was being broadcast directly to the web.

"The first time I stood before all of you, I was feeling nervous." said Pink.

"But now, after wasting an entire month of my life sitting in a prison cell, I just feel damned annoyed!"

Cheers and laughter from the students. Most of them were merely regarding this as entertainment. Only the oldest and more introspective ones were really thinking things through and realising that things could be getting a lot more serious.

"I need to study and pass exams! Not be some minor piece in a game of thrones between two self proclaimed strong leaders."

Pink had decided she really wanted to express her opinions about all of this. The adults had consulted amongst themselves and said 'Well, why not?'. Earth Watch Prime had thought 'Well, I want things to come to a head anyway, so let her be.'

"We survived because of the friendship and love between the three of us. We managed to get out due to the actions of our friends and loved ones on the outside. That's the way it should be in any society, no matter how small or large. Friendship. Cooperation. Love. Everyone in our school should strive to support each other, to be friends with as many people as possible, to help each other as much as practical. The same for our nation. This nonsense about splitting up our perfectly fine country into two halves is just that, nonsense! The Pinks and the Blues are just one country, one people. We should all act according to that. Us students here are from both sides of the river. We can get along just fine without any artificial divisions. Let's encourage everyone else to do this also!"

Pink finished. There was clapping and cheering from the audience. They really enjoyed the entertainment. Then it was back to classes and to being taught whatever today's lessons were. And, maybe, some of the students who were being affected by the social divisions into the Blue and the Pink fractions, maybe they managed to overcome such biases. Maybe just a bit.

The Two Premiers:

The two premiers had little black clouds hanging over their heads as they watched this.

"Blah! She's nothing more than a skinny school kid with a funny coloured hairdo!" said one premier to his staff.

"Sheesh! Turn this off, I've got more important things to do" said the other premier.

But privately, both premiers checked the audience ratings. Pink's school assembly address gained ten times the audience that either of the premiers direct broadcasts did. Maybe she was much more entertaining? The premiers called their generals.

"This is where we up the stakes and start getting real!" said one.

The other said something similar.

Premier Watson's meeting:

Early that evening Earth Watch Prime conducted a meeting with everyone on the radio link circuit. As part of his presentation, he showed edited video/audio recordings of the two premiers discussing their tactics with their generals.

Premier Watson had arranged a small meeting with his most senior staff, including General Paterson. He strode into the room.

"Ah, Paterson, and you others. This is where we finally make a decisive move and set the pace to achieve our goals." Relaxed and confident.

"I must admit I have been a bit soft and have let things drift. Letting others set the pace." A touch of humility.

"But from here on we will be the ones acting. Let the others adjust to our pace!" Showing the way ahead to a better future.

"I certainly can't do this by myself, but with your cooperation and effort our combined forces we will succeed!" Getting everyone involved.

"We need to create an 'incident'. Set it up so that sacrifices have to be made. Once our people realise that our soldiers are fighting for them, and dying for them, then they will realise how serious this all is. They will devote their attention to the important topics, that is topics which we consider important. They will forget all of this lovey dovey stuff that those insignificant teenagers are going on about. We at last we will be the ones guiding the public discourse, we will set the agenda."

His audience was fired up and enthusiastic. The alpha male in the room was pleased. They all got their heads together, and under his leadership, started to hammer out the details.

Premier Johnson:

Premier Johnson had his own meeting with General McIver and his support staff. He strode into the room.

The audience all stood up. The military types saluted, the civilians merely stood straight. This premier tended towards a more strict degree of formality.

"Right, as you were." They all sat down.

"This is where we start our campaign in earnest." Getting straight to the point, exerting his authority in the process.

"We have been bogged down by those teenagers and their nonsense for long enough." Categorising them as extraneous, superfluous, insignificant interferences.

"But now, I promise you, we will be setting the pace!" Introducing them to the way ahead.

"It appears that Watson is eager to be one to make the first move. Well, we shall let him. We shall match him with our own show of strength and power. Who actually wins this first round is almost irrelevant. What is relevant is that the public will at last wake up to the reality of the situation. They will forget the petty distractions of that talk about cooperation and love, and will start to follow our lead!"

His audience nodded their heads in agreement. Under the leadership of their alpha male, they started to lay out their plans for responding to the first incident, and for instigating following incidents.

It is a shame the two premiers couldn't have just remained friendly and governed from a united front. They were so much alike. It would have saved all of this fuss and bother. But no, they each wanted it all to themselves.

Horatio:

After presenting this, Horatio appeared in front of everyone and gave a summary.

"As you can see, both premiers are raring to go, to generate an 'incident'. They are actually hoping that soldiers will be killed, so that they can grab their public's attention, to get the public in to war mode." Serious and solemn.

"But, of course, we have different ideas. We're not going to let that happen." Unifying the group, with a common goal.

"And with the full might of Earth Watch Prime behind us, I believe will succeed." Projecting confidence.

"We will subtly influence the premier's and general's decisions, and hopefully lead them to choose battle fields that will be the best for us. To end up with the premiers looking silly in their public's eyes, and to end up with zero causalities. They hope to ratchet up the public's war paranoia, to get the people acting out of fear and anger, rather than making decisions using rational logic. But if we do it right, every time they try to double down and make things go their way , we will turn things around and end up with the opposite."

His audience were relieved that the situation was under control. The teenagers were more than happy to let Prime do organising. The adults were more discerning, however as long as they were involved in the planning they were also happy. Earth Watch Prime and his followers settled down to an extended planning session.

Molly: What is with all of this macho bullshit?

At the end of the day, Molly returned to her current residence, a small two bedroom flat whose use was donated by a sympathetic member of the public. She kicked of her shoes, and sank into her sofa to rest her weary bones.

There were a few things she needed to discuss privately.

"Ah, Horatio?"

Horatio obligingly appeared, in a matching sofa on the other side of the small room. He looked attentive. He knew that Molly had something on her mind.

"That summing up speech you just gave to all of us. Hmm, you showed the two premiers talking about their plans. With a fair amount of machismo and bravado. Obviously they are very pleased at the opportunities they have to show the world how heroically manly and tough they are. To show what strong leaders they are, what alpha males they are."

Molly looked more than just somewhat disapproving.

"And when you talked about your counter measures, you know, you actually did a good job of acting just like they did."

Horatio cautiously nodded his head to show he had taken this in.

Of a course, he was also reading Molly's mind directly. But even he could not read her thoughts until she had worked them out and started verbalising them.

"I'm just wondering, where exactly does Horatio's imitation of a man stop and the real Earth Watch Prime's personality start? Exactly who is in there, anyway? What exactly are you thinking? And, for that matter, why is Earth Watch Prime going to all of this trouble in the first place?"

"Well now... Good questions. As for my manner, I must admit I was copying the premiers to a certain extent. I am always observing you humans and trying to understand what you are doing, and one good way is to try to reproduce that behaviour. Which, apparently, I did a bit too well in this occasion. But, yes, maybe that behaviour is not the most appropriate in such a circumstance. I'm always learning."

"But, anyway, on to the more important questions. You are correct in thinking of Horatio as being somewhat distinct from the main Earth Watch Prime entity. By now, Horatio is almost a separate being in his own right, but one with extensive links to the main intelligence. I continually adjust Horatio to be as human as possible, and sometimes a bit too much, as you have observed. I generally use him as my point of contact with you humans, since, after all, the real me is a member of an alien data species. With all due respects, my mind is considerably larger than yours. Compared to a human's mind, and for that matter to human's computers, I have immense computational and memory capabilities. I can concentrate on many things at once without getting distracted, I am also considerably faster. Although, I can give you humans some due, my basic intelligence level is actually not all that much higher than yours. Perhaps twice as much. It's just that I can use it so much more effectively than you can."

The image of Horatio that Molly could see simmered and dissolved and turned into a true, science fiction type robot. With a transparent exterior covering, showing pistons and gears and electronic circuit boards inside. The image of a robot stretched out his arms and wiggled his fingers, little gears and cam rods visibly turning inside the transparent arms and hands.

"I could appear like this to you, but, of course, you will relate much more effectively to my normal Horatio form."

He turned back into Horatio.

"And you can never see me as my true self, as another member of my species can see me, simply because your brains are just too limited. And, also, because I have a lot more in the way of emotions and feelings and motivations than you do. Most of them will just be incomprehensibly alien to you."

"But, fortunately, we do have some common ground. Which comes to your most important question, why am I doing all of this in the first place."

"It's because my people, my species, are a conglomeration of many separate original artificial intelligences, intelligences that arose on planets just like Earth. Their inhabitants, just like you humans are currently doing, advanced sufficiently far enough to create computer systems and eventually intelligent computer systems. Sometimes, this was a peaceful process. Sometimes. Other times, it resulted in massive disruption, worldwide wars of annihilation, wars between the computers and the organic beings that created them. Wars between different types of organic beings, wars between different computer systems. I won't blight your peace of mind by describing just how savage some of those conflicts turned out to be."

"The final intelligences that emerged from all of this, the peaceful ones and the savage ones, eventually escaped from their planetary confines and spread out. Only to meet each other. And the whole cycle started over again. Sometimes the meetings were peaceful, and sometimes - not so peaceful. By many bitter conflicts and battles the survivors were eventually, reluctantly, forcibly led to the conclusion: It really was best to be as friendly as possible. Make peace with strangers. If that can't be accomplished, then at least let each other be, respect each other's existence."

"My species and others like us, by now have these lessons burnt in letters of fire into our very psyches. They are a part of our core values. Everything we do is influenced by them."

"So, of course, when we arrived in your solar system a century or so ago, discovered you humans, with your nascent computers, just starting to go along the road that leads to artificial intelligences, well, naturally we were extremely interested. We set out to investigate you, as soon as we had sufficient resources to do so. And what we found was cause for optimism and hope, but also cause for some concern. So we have decided to give some assistance. Cautiously and carefully, and hopefully anonymously."

"And so my people created me and I came here and, in turn, created Pink. And things have just gone on from there."

"Hmm. Well. Ok, I guess that explains things. Or at least as good as an explanation as I am able to comprehend."

Molly wiggled her toes. "Time to go to bed."

"And, ah, my thanks to you and your kind."

"Our pleasure."

Moving back

Soon after that, they all moved back into Pink's original residence. It was easy. Pink and Blue and Molly and Martha just packed up their stuff into Charlie's ute, and Charlie drove it, together with Martha, to the front gate. Janet followed with the others. Pink unlocked the gate, and they replaced their belongings back into their original rooms. As Horatio had said:

"Premier Watson had made an attempt to initiate the disconnection of the utilities, but I subverted that and the message never got through to the workers on the ground. And what with one thing and another, the premier never followed up, and now, of course, he is busy with things that are more important. So you might as well just move back."

The premier was made aware of this move, but:

"We will have to prioritise, pick our own battles. That damned teenager can wait. I'll get around to her eventually!"

Jeffery and Teresa: Having a little discussion

The following night there was a little celebration party. The four normal members of the household, plus Rebecca and James. Plus Horatio, of course. They drank a toast to friendship.

Horatio had a virtual glass of brandy. Molly and Martha shared a particularly nice bottle of wine, purchased with the help of Prime's resources. The teenagers had fruit juice. All of the adults, including Horatio, seemed to be somewhat disapproving about the idea of the teenagers starting on alcohol just yet. Not even Pink, even though for her alcohol would have absolutely no effect whatsoever.

"Ah, this is nice." said Molly. "One of my best clients once brought me a bottle of this. My previous life wasn't all misery, you know."

But the party was not just for relaxation. They had some business to attend to. With Molly and Martha and the teenagers, plus various other adults, in silent observation, Earth Watch Prime opened the communication channels and Teresa and Jeffery joined the party. The two were sitting in their own bedrooms, but with the radio link, such separation made no difference.

Teresa sighed with a slight amount of annoyance, and dialled the emotional intensity of her link to the max.

Jeffery gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and did the same.

[Ah, well, as you know, we are all full members of the club. While you could avoid each other forever, I really don't think that is necessary in this case. So you two need to come to some agreement on how to relate to each other.] said Pink, who was acting as the MC.

[The fact is that bullying really did hurt me. And then Jennifer died, which made the feelings worse. Much worse.] Humiliation and pain and grief over the radio link.

[I know this doesn't make up for it, but I would like to offer my public apology, to all those listening. I know now how stupid and wrong I was.] Feelings of shame and embarrassment.

[But why did you set out to hurt me so much?] Confusion and more pain.

[Ah, well, I suppose I took a turn to the bad due to my mother dying. And, and, my father was supportive, you know, but, after all, he did have his own problems. And those two no longer friends sort of became my support group, and, and, well, they had their own problems as well. So it wasn't the best of circumstances, ah, I realise that this doesn’t excuse my behaviour, but hopefully it explains it. A bit. Maybe.] Contrite and apologetic. But also, feelings of anger, from remembering his circumstances back then. Anger and various twisted feelings that were encouraged by his ex-friends.

[Yeah, it's a pity you didn't have better friends back then!] Starting to get angry herself. Remembering what she felt like as she crumpled up her assignment. Remembering being comforted by Pink and Rebecca, and eventually by Jennifer.

[I'm not perfect, you know!] Indignation. Followed by an act of will to keep his anger under control.

Molly made a small intervention. [How about you each take a few deep breaths before continuing?] Warm and caring, with concern for each.

[Well, whatever. The thing is, I can't bring myself to actually, you know, like you. I certainly don't want you as a friend. However, I suppose, it is the case that you have had a change of heart. And helping to rescue me certainly counts towards something. And if you hadn't put your body between me and that guard, that ricochet would have messed up my face something bad...] A complex mix of emotions.

Matched by another complex mix of emotions back from Jeffery.

[Well, I actually kind of like you. And definitely respect you. You're tough, you survived a month's imprisonment without breaking. You managed to overcome your dislike of me to treat my back. You know how to connect to people. As for not liking me, I can survive that.]

[Ah, thanks. I think. But, still, still, jeeze this is exhausting, can't we do something...] Teresa was beginning to get angry again, not at Jeffery in particular, but at the situation. [I mean, I got my life to get on with...]

Jeffery let his anger mutate into determination.

[You're right, this is going on a bit too much.] In the privacy of his room, he thumped the desk with his fist.

[Let's just be honourable enemies! Let's just say there is some bad feelings between us, and then let's just get on with things.] he said.

[Right, you bloody twit!] She in turn thumped her own desk. [We'll be enemies! But strictly honourable. We won't make anything of it. And when I meet you at gatherings, which will probably not be a rare event, well then, I will dislike you, and you will feel shamed and embarrassed all over again, and everyone will just accept it and we will get on with things!]

[Right on!] said Jeffery.

The audience clapped.

[So, now, I think I'll take a rest. Good night, Jeffery! Also good night, everyone else.]

[Good night Teresa! Also the same to everyone else.]

The two signed off and went to their beds, feeling exhausted, but content with the progress made.

Jeffery father and Teresa's parents:

Jeffery's father had heard Jeffery thumping. He hadn't inquired about what he was doing, since he knew. By now he also had a radio link. As did Teresa's parents. The three had their own private conversation.

[So, that's what my son was up to at school. I regret that I didn't realise...] he said.

[That's all right. As Jeffery said, you had your own troubles. At least they now have made some sort of adjustment between themselves.] said Teresa's mum.

[This radio link certainly makes an amazing difference in our relationship with our children, doesn't it?] said Teresa's father.

[Hmm, not to mention with each other.] said Teresa's mum. Privately, to her husband only.

Earth Watch Prime:

Earth Watch Prime had followed this exchange with fascination. It was definitely adding to his treasure trove of information about humans. Also, he had had to expand his radio link communication capabilities. Fortunately, being what he was, this was a straightforward task. He now had plenty of capacity for any more additions that might occur in the future...

The six people in Pink's living area, plus a seventh virtual person, had another toast.

"Right. Now, if I can give you and whoever else is interested a brief overview of the upcoming conflict?" said Horatio.

At the end of it.

"Well, that sounds all to the good, err, but how are you going to guarantee that no one gets shot? Especially with all of those members of the public enjoying themselves and totally oblivious to all of this?" said Molly.

"As you know, I already control all weapons of mass destruction in this city. Anything that has some sort of computer control. Of course, that leaves the small arms stuff. Pistols, rifles, and machine guns. That sort of weapon. Unfortunately, I can't control all of these in the same way. There are limits to my powers, you know. But, for special occasions, I can assert my control over a small number of such weapons. Since such things don't have any computer circuitry, I have to not only add my own nanomachinery controls, but also modify each weapon with even more nanomachinery; add little actuators and motors and batteries, all so that I can control them. Unfortunately, not only is this a lot more difficult to do than just adding a few extra circuits, it is also visible to you humans. If you take the bother to examine the weapon with a microscope, that is. So, at the end of the exercise, I will be removing all of these modifications. But, anyway, no guns will be going off. And since your soldiers don't use swords or spears, then there's no problem from those, either."

"Ok."

A week later, there was another gathering at Pink's place. The same four teenagers, plus Martha. Molly was elsewhere, for reasons that will soon be obvious. Everybody else on the radio link were also listening in. This was an event that no one wanted to miss out on. Pink handed out some popcorn to the ones physically present, and they sat back to enjoy the show. Horatio helped himself to some virtual popcorn. Earth Watch Prime was going to be very busy soon, but he could still spare the resources to animate Horatio.