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''The Machine's Child'' is a science fiction novel by Kage Baker. It is the seventh book in the series concerning the exploits of Dr. Zeus Inc., otherwise known as The Company. == Plot introduction == Several elements introduced as far back as the fourth book ''The Graveyard Game'' develop in this volume. Most of the characters are immortal cyborgs created in the past by an organization, Dr. Zeus Inc., which exists in the 24th century and has both time travel and immortality technology. The official business of Dr. Zeus is the "finding", for a fee, of artifacts and living things thought lost to time, which have actually been carefully collected by the cyborgs known as Preservers, aided by the fixers, conmen and masters of deception known as Facilitators. Alec Checkerfield, introduced in ''The Life of the World to Come'', is trying to find his lost love, the Preserver known as the Botanist Mendoza. With the aid of his AI helper "Captain Morgan" and their time travelling schooner using technology stolen from Dr. Zeus, he aims to find her wherever and whenever she is. This is complicated by the fact that he is hosting the personalities of his two dead clones, Nicholas Harpole and Edward Alton Bell-Fairfax, in his own partially cyborged body. All three personalities knew Mendoza in the flesh, so to speak, but each has his own way of looking at the world. Nicholas is a religious zealot, Edward a cold-blooded killer, and Alec is the squeamish product of a culture that prohibits or represses everything enjoyed by humans in the past, including religion, sex, and violence. The Facilitator Joseph is reviving his "father", the ancient Enforcer cyborg Budu, as the 24th century opens. To him, Alec Checkerfield represents his nemesis and the one responsible for the downfall of Mendoza, who he regards as a daughter. As Budu re-assembles his shattered body, Joseph plunders the archives of Dr. Zeus, learning about the Adonai project which created Alec, Nicholas and Edward. He tries to bring down Adonai by any means possible, including tracking Alec through time. Executive Facilitator Suleyman is using his power base in North Africa to prepare for the year 2355, when the Company apparently suffers such a setback that no transmissions from the time beyond have ever been received. He gathers trusted operatives to his base, while hoping that Joseph, whom he revived and cast out as a rogue, untraceable and answerable to nobody, will not bring disaster about by reviving Budu, the oldest and most powerful Enforcer. Budu is enduring the decades-long process of self-repair, having been buried for 370 years, body cut apart, in rubble after the San Francisco earthquake. He knows far more about the Company than Joseph dared believe. Passing this knowledge to Joseph, he prepares his own surprise for Dr. Zeus. Alec's AI, Captain Morgan, is also creating surprises to bedevil the Company in 2355. Alec drops these in strategic places at different times in history. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Machine's Child」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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