Chapter 34 - Together At Last

Lü Zhi thought carefully. There was no way that Imogen could have known about the weedkiller without the information leaking from herself somehow. That kind of narrowed the possibilities down. Secondly contact seemed to be important. There was no legal risk as a four year old would not be held accountable for her actions and it was that long ago that rehabilitation had obviously taken place. This was, of course, that you could get a jury to believe the story in the first place. She was always on the lookout for talent, especially talent that could be more on the pulse of important projects than her already brilliant team were. "So, how do you know these things?"

"Apart from breaking into your computers, which was all Daniels talent, the information leakage came from bacteria, which forms your microbiome and mine. I have a conscious connection with them. Unusual biology - but nothing supernatural. I can do other things with bacteria, especially in the area of biobricks. Instead of making square bricks I can define a shape. So lets say we have a desert and we pour the right solution on the sand for the bacteria to precipitate calcium then I can tell that bacteria to make the shape of an underground room or rooms. It solves Johns problem with the nanobots. At least from a results perspective."

Lü Zhi considered the idea. She didn't like the fact that she would be dependent on one person. However what one person could do another could do with training. She wasn't conscious of being part demon but the accusation had been metaphorically thrown at her enough times for her to consider how one could ever know one way or the other. She was what she was and if by some chance that wasn't human why give a fuck. What was important was survival and secondly the expansion to the stars. She was far from convinced that John's nanobots were a dead end, but neither was she sure that it wasn't. If she had to rely on Imogen, at least in the short term, then her strange gift would be a lot easier to solve with her being close by. "Specifically then, what is your proposal?", she asked.

This was going better than expected Imogen thought. Maybe at some deep instinctive level Lü Zhi could sense a kindred spirit. "I wish to travel with you among the stars. I can let you have Daniel's help in setting up the computer systems in Forvik Island, I can help you form the underground caverns in Bir Tawil and then you can fly Daniel and I back to Jerramungup, hopefully before Yellowstone blows. I also want my fathers company to do the building on Forvik Island."

There really wasn't much to consider here. The cost was tiny compared to what would be lost in the explosion. If these two proved useful in the 'big nasty surprises' department then she would want them to leave Earth with her.