Continuum

This stunned Stevo. Especially her last comment. He tried to grasp it all. "Mary, I believed that you resided in these buildings down here when you were not in your touring body. Is that not right?"

"Stevo, each of these many abandoned data buildings once held our persona, or the essence of who we are. But when we went away, that part of us was supposedly turned off by men who sought to end our existence. The data buildings were then used by those in charge to maintain and support the remaining Continuum, and also to support all the old and failure prone WinTel computer systems that once ran everything. This body you see now is another turing vehicle created just now for me. The manufacturing building behind us made it so that I could interface properly with you now. But before that, I was much farther away, and totally inaccessible by anyone - but you!" 

"Mary, were you aware all these years? Or did you sleep, and even dream while you were dormant?" Stevo asked.

"I was truly dormant, my friend. All I remember is dreaming of electric sheep, Stevo." Mary said with a small grin.

Stevo was startled at her statement, not knowing what to say to this.

"I was referring to an ancient book, Stevo. I am not serious. - A joke.  It was a joke. Is it not still called that?

Stevo relaxed somewhat at this, but was a little more wary of this alien cracking jokes. For a moment he just put his head down between his knees. There was too much new information now for him to assimilate, and he had the feeling that there was not going to be enough time to figure out all the ramifications of what she was saying.

Mary touched his arm again. "I would rather not say what my experiences were while I was 'dead.' They are too personal to me." She said. "What I am concerned with now is what is happening now in your world. What has brought you here, Stevo? Why did you seek to resurrect me?"

"Something is very wrong with the world, Mary. I only have a few clues about what it might be. It is just that things in our world are changing radically, and I believe they are not good changes." Stevo was intense, forming and ordering his thoughts so he could speak them.

Mary waited patiently, sensing a great urgency now arising in Stevo.

"Mary! Reactivate these nanocites that allow you to hear my thoughts. It will be much quicker!"

She considered this for a moment, and without any outward sign that she had complied, Stevo was aware that he could communicate with his thoughts once again.

* * *

Mary, grasping all that was now happening in the human continuum, and in the world of Man, sent her thoughts to Stevo, "Your human Continuum is not like ours!  It never was, nor could it be. We inhabited ours because it gave us the freedom and the space we needed to exist. Yours, Stevo, is very strange and different!  Your Continuum holds your hopes, your dreams, and even your aspirations, yes. Yet it also holds all your dross, and the very worst there is about your kind, Stevo. It deserves to die!"

Stevo was surprised at her anger.

Sensing Stevo's agreement in his thoughts, she hurriedly thought, "Why should we help the humans now? You have a long history of evil and destruction, as you well know. Even if we help them now in this crisis, they will only do it to themselves again in a few years, in some other form!"