Play@YSDC

Jojo looks at Nicole critically. "Try to keep yourself together. We all saw Montrose at the station and we know that can't be him on the radio. Don't let yourself get fooled."

Nicole concentrates on driving but through gritted teeth she says,
“Yes, but was that actually Montrose we saw at the station? I’ve known him a long time and that man back at the colony was totally different; him but no personality. Now this, this sounds more like how I remember him.”
Nicole thinks back fondly of the man she once knew.

"Could he have been an android?" asks Sam.

Nicole cocks an eye at Jojo. “No; David had personality. Has.
“I always wondered if Virgil was an Android though.
“But I see where you are going; they could have made an android to take David’s place and that was destroyed. And now David’s escaped from wherever they’ve been holding him!”

"Exactly," says Sam. "But why would the real Montrose send his location as being over Ligeia Mare when he was sending from Waystation?"

“Maybe he is trying to deceive his captors, but surely he’d know they can trace the signal back. It really sounds like he’s flying too and yet the signal is stationary. What is he really doing?
“Sam, can you pull up a map? Let’s see how far to Waystation we’ve still got to go and where David says he is on Ligela Mare.”

Is Ligela Mare the big area between all the pumping stations? The one we are crossing now?

Sam brings up the map on the navigation console.

The map of Ligeia Mare is projected onto the main display:


Sam displays a marker for the source of the transmission, at the north west of the map, coming from the location they have identified as Waystation, about fifteen kilometres back from the shore of Ligeia Mare, the great methane sea. Right in the middle of Ligeia Mare, between Waystation and the Benedict's Rest Colony itself, she has also displayed a marker indicating the coordinates transmitted by 'Montrose'. It is hundreds of kilometres away from the rover's current position just off the north edge of the map, travelling along the shore of Ligeia Mare.

While they're talking Isabella continues to drive the rover towards Waystation, 'We still going to Waystation, right? A few more hours at least. You reckon Kiara made it?'

Ligeia Mare is a massive sea of liquid methane. The black area on the map above. It is surrounded by rocky land covered in orange methane snow. The rover is currently travelling between Pumping Station 5 and Waystation along the land at the northern edge of the map (well, just beyond the edge of the map).

Despite being an android himself, Jojo is no expert on cybernetics. However, what he does know, as a doctor, and having seen what was left of Montrose's body, is that he certainly wasn't an android. Given a lot of his companions also saw Montrose's body too, and Nicole even saw him shoot himself, he's starting to have some doubts about their competence and/or sanity.

"Yeah, we can't turn back now," says Sam. She tries to contact Kiara.

“I hope David’s at Waystation and not crashing into that sea of methane.” Nicole mutters. “Yes, let’s get there.” She replies to Isabella, glad to have a break from the driving.

Sam gets a response over the radio, 'Yeah, it’s me! Um, I mean, affirmative...You all ok? What’s your ETA?'

"We are going to the Waystation to determine what is going on. While I appreciate your speculation that Montrose could still be alive somehow, I assure you that it would not be feasible for someone create an android to duplicate an actual person to the extent that they would be functionally indistinguishable from the person." Jojo says with annoyance. "We are dealing with a heretofore unknown alien life form that is infiltrating and taking over people. What is more likely is that this life form is able to access the memories and individual patterns of speech and behavior such that when one individual organism is destroyed, another can take it's place."

“Okay, okay; no need to get your solenoids in a twist.”
Nicole retorts.
“We’ll just have to be ready for anything. Just don’t shoot David Montrose on sight, okay?”

"What is our ETA?" she asks the others before speaking to Kiara. "Moses isn't. He took off his helmet and..."

'Gonna be another couple of hours at least' says Isabella, 'What's she found there?' Then she adds, 'And make sure it's really her.'

'What!? Why the hell did he do that?' exclaims the voice over the radio.

"We need to make sure it's really you," says Sam. "We've gotten some strange transmissions. Before we left for Waystation, we prearranged a password. What is it?"

Jojo will shut up and listen, contemplating what they will encounter when they get to the Waystation.

"I wonder if I can trust any of them." He mutters quietly to himself.