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of
the armored beast, they were bio-mechanically linked to the drive
train and fire controls.
    As opposed to imprisoning them, the project had the
effect of turning the weapon into an extension of the man. It gave
him the ability to run at seventy to a hundred kilometers an hour
over rough terrain. Enhanced vision to locate and identify the
enemy across twenty-three light, heat and audible frequencies, and
the mechanical ability to throw a high-explosive shell through a
door five thousand meters away.
    After the cyber-tank project delivered, Lao and Fox
had parted ways. Now, so many years later, it was as if they'd
spoken only yesterday.
    "I've been working with the interface," Fox said. "I
think the Micronix can do more than just communicate."
    "Such as?"
    "I think it can be detonated," Fox answered.
    Lao looked away from the camera.
    "It's what it wants. It's what everything is leading
towards."
    "What do you mean?" Lao asked.
    "Towards fire, towards combustion. The Micronix,
everything it's been doing. It all leads towards fire. I think it
wants to burn."
    "Fox, get a hold of yourself. We can't have this
conversation if you aren't rational."
    "I'm listening."
    "Do you know why you called me tonight?"
    "Because I trust you? Because I respect you? Because
you're the only person I know, who's smarter than I am?" Fox
answered.
    "Don’t you remember? I told you this once. This is
why you called me. You called me because I have a theory about us,
humanity, about our role on the planet. Sometimes it haunts me. I
think our function in the universe is to burn things. We were
created to help push the universe over the edge, so that burnt
light outweighs visible light. I believe, that when we reach the
pinnacle of expansion, the dark matter of the universe will begin
to fall back upon itself, resulting in another big bang, creating
everything, all over again. When I hear things like what you just
said, I'm reminded that our purpose here may be to consume matter
until it's all gone."
    "Dr. Te, Sir. This is why I called you. I didn't
remember, but this IS a problem. Terillium Can Be Detonated. If you
ignite enough, it would consume everything around it. Enough and
you'd get the sun."
    "But it's impossible, despite my theory, terillium
has no burning point. It won't melt. It won't burn. It cannot be
detonated. We've been all over this Fox. All of mankind has tried
to do this, been trying longer than you, or I have been alive. You
know the chemistry, it has to be bonded with nickel, in a
vacuum."
    "I know the equations. We charge it; it packs on the
electrons and repels gravity. The denser it gets, the stronger the
charge. For computing, we use a lot less of it but it's pure. And
since we’re just storing data, we don't care how dense it gets.
We're dealing with pure terillium here. The denser it gets, the
heavier it gets. We just feed it some juice, get it charged up
enough to repel gravity, enough so we can carry it around, and we
continue. But we never know how heavy, or dense it is. Do you see
what I’m saying, do you see the implications?” Fox asked.
    "No. I don’t, and I don’t think I want to." Te
said.
    "What we have to do is make it process faster.
Processing data condenses the element, that's what makes it
heavier."
    "Okay. So what?"
    "So…. Feed the beast. Feed it an exponential
equation, something that pulls the electrons together fast, a
self-multiplying fractal, a tight mustard seed."
    "Could you control it, or is the first time the last
time?" Te asked.
    "It's got variables, entire probability matrix."
    "You're telling me that an equation can be used to
detonate, what? That little chunk of metal you carry around? Or a
gravity disk?"
    "Dr Te, I think this equation could detonate any sort
of deposit you feed it to, a vehicle, a building or an entire
district. It could burn the stagnant terillium in the air around
us," Fox said.
    "Even a rumor of this would cause a panic. Sounds as
if you have a new secret, my