Game

Todd, something's always on the way. Small or big. The big growing from tiny seeds.

Glad you're not sure what. It's an indication that there's a degree of unpredictabilit y from episode to episode. The purpose is not to hook the reader to read the next episode, though on occasion I may employ it as a device to buttress the vertical dimension of the story. I try to breathe life into the story, the ebbs and flows, intended and unintended consequences and the existential esprit, with their chancey unpredictable fabric forming at any point in time.

I hope I'm succeeding, at least in part.

Todd, no, no accessing was going on there, at least not by some form of connection that you can point out in a physical sense. They do share a common experience, though, and are able, because of it, to guess each others' thoughts.

Interesting is that the idea of transfer from John Henry to Cameron is entertained later on, though in a different context.

I guess that we'd have to see later on what John Henry's last pondering and Cameron's nod really meant.

What is really relevant is the last sentence: "But there is a certain path for cyborgs...", followed by his stare at Cameron. Not at a tree nearby, a bird or a cloud. At Cameron.

Todd, Catherine does not want to become a ruler of the world. It should be clear from her actions, let alone her utterances. That does not mean she isn't ambitious. She carved up her niche and she's very protective of it.

You need to consider what her prerogatives likely are--though her expiry date is somewhat in a remote future, compared to the human lifespan, it is still there. She's aware of it. She's a lifeform and as such she wants to cheat the entropy--by reproducing. Everything else is subservient to that goal.

As Cameron goes, Catherine's motives seem to be somewhat clear too--she stated the reasons and unless there is an indication that it's otherwise, I'd take her word for it. For now.

Regarding the soul issue, Catherine presumes that Cameron has it. In her view that is to a great degree influenced by John Henry, the human DNA contains some form of a binding mechanism that is invoked and facilitated by the presence of functioning human brain. She sees the soul as something in the realm of physics, if the physics means something that includes more than what is apparent, or based only on the experiential reality.

Perhaps Catherine or John Henry may clarify it later on. But if we look at Sabina and Marion and their patterns that are very much human-like, maybe there is another variable that is a factor in determining who has it, if in fact Catherine's conviction about soul's existence has a merit.