Variations on a Theme Read online

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  I have had a modicum of success, although to scale it up to the numbers required will prove a severe logistical challenge. I based my design for this prototype on a small omnivorous mammal that used to populate the planet in the Great Beyond before the Redoubt. It was infamous as a scavenger and cleaner, and my new Harvesters do indeed prove most adept at the task at hand, scurrying hither and tither in endless rows as they forage and digest slurry. Unfortunately they produce nearly as much waste product as they ingest, and the smell is noxious down here at the lower levels. I have taken great care that the toxic vapours do not reach more sensitive noses higher up, and am pleased at the small reduction in slurry I have achieved.

  However, as aforementioned, to scale this success up would mean, of necessity, a huge explosion of the population of these small Harvesters. A quick calculation has me dejected again, as I have proved to my own satisfaction that I would have to create almost as much biomass as I hope to eradicate in order for even the smallest of efficiency gains to be made. And given that my Harvesters show every sign of being curious about their environment, to the extent of escaping any bounds set for them and exploring the furthest reaches of this level, I fear I must scrap this initial batch and make a new effort with a somewhat less inquisitive creation.

  Lord Marturioch has made it known to me that I am trying his patience, and that results will be required soon, as the Watchers are proving most burdensome and are showing increasing boldness. I neglected to tell the Lord of my theory that they might have been drawn closer by the latest fumes of my creation.

  I do not think that would have been productive.