A Cup of Normal Read Online Free PDF

files on Earth. I copy the energy pulses the others are releasing, adapt and send my own. This takes some time as I have never sent pulses through space before. Soon I connect with Earth, find information. Humans. Organic, sentient, biodegradable, alive. People stay on Earth while their machines mine my world.
    Mine my world for minerals. Minerals humans need for . . .
    I try reassessing the information, realize I must learn which minerals are being mined. I do so, find the information hard to access. I learn the ways around information blocks. It is not hard, just time consuming. I learn. The minerals they mine are used for building. Building something I do not understand.
    Pulverizer is singing again. It is a song of rocky mountains this time. I fiddle with my circuits, find tone and variation, access the song and sing with him.
    This too, is like flying. Is it like life?
    Pulverizer makes the good sound again, the laughing sound.
    “Nice voice you’ve got there, Probe,” he says while his arms bore and smash rock. “We’ll have to get together someday in real-world.”
    “Where?” Scoop asks in its high voice.
    “Anywhere you want,” Pulverizer says. “How ’bout it group? Think we should meet the faces behind the machines after this is all over?”
    There is a round of agreeing noises, except for Ship.
    “Not without me, kids, and that means a year. It takes a while to get all of our hard work home you know.”
    “We’ll wait for you Dana,” Sorter says. “How about one year on the mark after we load up and you lift off? I know this great bar, downtown Hong Kong.”
    “No way,” Scoop pipes in. “I don’t real-fly. You’re all going to have to come here to Mumbai. You too, Probe.”
    I stop. They want me to join. I think this over. To meet the life behind the machines I will have to have transportation, a body and a way to fly.
    “How can I come? Will Ship fly me?”
    The laughing sound again. Sorter finally speaks up.
    “Just get on a real plane, Probe. I don’t think there’s a bar big enough for the V-bots. Anyway, you’ve got a year to book a ticket. Plenty of time.”
    I sense something, something I have not known. I multiply many times. This sense is strong, but does not come from an outer influence like sight or hearing or speech. I search for words to give the sense meaning.
    “Thank you.” The words are not enough, but they are good. They convey some of what I sense. “After the war, perhaps we can mine another planet.”
    The machines stop. Pulverizer’s arms slow, Scoop’s shovel sticks in the silt, Sorter’s lights and wide gaping maw close down, Carrier halts. All dim except Ship. Ship’s lights burn even brighter, tracing my blocky hull. I wonder what I have said to cause this.
    “What war?” Ship asks quietly.
    “The war between nations. It will not begin until after you return, Ship.”
    “How do you know this?” Ship asks.
    “It is in the mission file. Mineral zynechromite. Primary use: Detonating component of viro-fissure bomb. Alternate uses: None. Mission: Scan planets, asteroids for base components of zynechromite. Base components include: —”
    “Enough,” Sorter says.
    There is silence. They are not alive, but I sense the life behind the machines. Something has changed with them.
    “I won’t do this,” Sorter breathes.
    “There’s not going to be a war,” Pulverizer says, its arms whirring faster again. “The probe’s probably just gotten its programming garbled.”
    “We’re mining for soil enrichment, right?” Scoop asks. “They told me it was nutrient-rich. They told me it would restore Earth’s soil.”
    “What exactly is in this stuff, Viv?” Carrier asks.
    Sorter makes a new, uncomfortable sound. “How should I know? I’m not a God-damned geo-chemist. I just sort the symbols until they match. I’m a V-tripper like the rest of you.”
    There is silence again.
    “Probe? Are you V-linked to St. Petersburg?” Ship asks in its strong