They had already lost two drones. As soon as the bipeds detected them, as soon as they were above their heads, they would usually destroy them with sticks or by throwing objects at them. They had to build smaller and quieter devices that went unnoticed to spy on their conversations. That way, they came to understand the meaning of each of those mechanical oscillations that propagated in the form of compressions and rarefactions. In compression, the particles in the medium are pressed together, while in rarefaction, the particles separate. It was clear that these pressure variations were perceived by an internal device of the bipeds, as long as they had a frequency between 20 and 20,000 hertz.
It was a slow and gradual process. As gradual as the progress of a baby, of a girl learning to speak just by watching and hearing what her mother and the people around her say. Of course, television also played a significant role, just as it does in humans. The waves transmitted the signal between 49 and 870 megahertz, and these were captured and processed profusely by the two crew members of the ship. The entire flow of information, both in real life and in the television world, quickly enabled both SAIR and MIRV to understand and speak. Moreover, all the cinema and theatre performances they processed greatly contributed to those two beings knowing how to behave and what to say and not to say.
Finally, after a time much shorter than it takes a human baby to learn to speak and understand, they were able to start a conversation.
The choice of which biped or bipeds to engage with was also clear from the beginning. In that Northern Territory, their detectors had observed a significant accumulation of what are called ‘rare earths’, materials from the actinide, lanthanide, cerium, neodymium, and other groups that are extensively used in the manufacture of high-tech devices.
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“We should start a conversation with B [the biped] who has shorter upper micro-appendages,” said MIRV.
“It’s called ‘hair’,” corrected SAIR. “Let’s try, from now on, to speak their language.”
“Agreed. The woman with short hair has been in the area the longest.”
“Yes, but the one with red hair seems to be in charge of everything. She replaced the one with white hair.”
“That seems to be the case. She gives orders to the other woman and the rest of them, and directs the work teams,” understood MIRV. “Although, indeed, either of them should work. Both entered the area of rare earths together, and therefore, they will be able to give us the answers we need. When should we do it?”
“As soon as they are alone. The fewer people around, the better. You know how dangerous these beings are, especially the small ones. I mean, the men.”
“Of course. If they damage another drone, I don’t know if we’ll have enough materials to make another one.”
“Well, that’s why the one with red hair is better, besides being the director. Neither of them is entirely alone, especially outdoors. But at least she lives with only one biped, a man. The other one has many more around her.”