"Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson - Dune 12 - The Battle at " - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

As he continued his regular inspection rounds, the independent robot passed the glaz windows of sealed
chambers in which plague test subjects lay strapped to beds. Some specimens were already paranoid and
delirious, displaying the symptoms of the retrovirus, while others were terrified for good and rational
reasons.

By now, testing was nearly complete on the engineered disease. The effective direct mortality rate was
forty-three percentтАФnot at all perfect, but still the deadliest viral organism in recorded human history. It
would serve the necessary purpose, and Omnius could not wait much longer. Something had to be done
soon.

The humansтАЩ holy crusade against thinking machines had dragged on for almost a full century, with much
destruction and distraction. The constant fanatical attacks from the Army of the Jihad had wrought
incalculable damage to the Synchronized empire, destroying robot warships as fast as the various
evermind incarnations could rebuild them. The progress of Omnius had been inexcusably stalled. Finally,
Omnius demanded a solution. Since direct military conflict had not proved sufficiently effective,
alternatives were explored. Biological plagues, for instance.

According to simulations, a fast-moving epidemic could be a superior weapon, serving to eradicate
human populationsтАФincluding their military forcesтАФwhile leaving infrastructures and resources intact
for the victorious thinking machines. After the specially designed plague ran its course, Omnius could
pick up the pieces and get the systems operating again.

Erasmus had some reservations about the tactic, fearing that a terrible enough disease could wipe out
every last human. While Omnius might be satisfied with total extinction, the autonomous robot had no
desire for such a final solution. He remained quite interested in these creaturesтАФespecially Gilbertus
Albans, whom he had raised as a surrogate son after removing him from the squalid slave pens. In a
purely scientific sense, Erasmus needed to keep sufficient organic material for his laboratory and field
studies of human nature.



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 Dune

They couldnтАЩtall be killed. Just most of them.

But the creatures were remarkably resilient. He doubted that even the worst epidemic could completely
wipe out the species. Humans had an intriguing ability to adapt to adversity and overcome it by
unorthodox means. If only thinking machines could learn to do the sameтАж

Drawing his exquisite robe tight, the platinum-skinned robot entered the central chamber of the facility,
where his turncoat Tlulaxa captive had engineered the perfect RNA retrovirus. Thinking machines were
efficient and dedicated, but it took a corrupted human imagination to channel OmniusтАЩs wrath into a
thoroughly destructive course of action. No robot or computer could have conceived such appalling death
and destruction: That required the imagination of a vengeful human.

Rekur Van, a biological engineer and geneticist now reviled across the League of Nobles, squirmed in his
life-support socket, unable to move more than his head because he had no arms or legs. A retention socket
connected the geneticistтАЩs body core to nutrient and waste tubes. Shortly after capturing him, Erasmus