2021/plaintext.1b.txt

   1 MY DEAR M, THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW ABOUT T'S OFFER TO JOIN WITH US IN THE GREAT MATTER. WHILE I STILL HAVE MANY IDEAS FOR HOW TO PROSECUTE OUR PLAN, MY DAYS ARE GROWING SHORT, AS ARE YOURS, AND WE WILL NEED TO FIND OTHERS OF A SIMILAR MIND WHO HAVE THE WIT AND IMAGINATION TO CARRY IT FORWARD. OUR ABILITY TO INFLUENCE MATTERS DIRECTLY WILL CONTINUE TO DEPEND ON THE POWER OF THE DEVICES WE CAN FASHION, AND IT WILL BE CLEAR TO YOU THAT THIS WILL REQUIRE NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT THE WORLD AS WELL AS NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO MANIPULATE IT. T, TOGETHER WITH L AND THE YOUNG E WILL, I HOPE, BRING A NEW PERSPECTIVE, AND HELP TO KEEP OUR LITTLE CONSPIRACY ALIVE FOR ANOTHER GENERATION.
   2 OUR ADVENTURES SO FAR HAVE, OF NECESSITY, BEEN LIMITED IN SCOPE, THOUGH OUR ACQUISITION OF BABBAGE'S PLANS AND THE SUPPRESSION OF HIS ANALYTIC ENGINE MUST COUNT AS A HIGHLIGHT. IF WE ARE TO SUCCEED ON THE GRAND SCALE THAT WE BOTH THINK IS NECESSARY, THEN IT IS TIME FOR US TO FORMALISE OUR ARRANGEMENTS AND TO ESTABLISH A HEADQUARTERS FOR OUR OPERATIONS.
   3 I HAVE GIVEN THIS SOME THOUGHT AND HAVE AN IDEA THAT I HOPE WILL PLEASE YOU. WE SHOULD BUILD A LIGHTHOUSE IN LONDON! I CAN IMMEDIATELY SEE YOUR OBJECTION. LONDON HAS NO ROCKY SHORES, AND SO NO NEED OF ONE, BUT YOUR EXPERIMENTS WITH LANTERNS GIVE US THE IDEAL EXCUSE TO BUILD ONE AS A PLACE TO TEST THEM.
   4 THE OPPORTUNITIES THIS WILL AFFORD ARE MANY: THE DELIVERY OF LARGE CRATES OF EQUIPMENT WILL GO UNNOTICED, CONSIDERED AS PART OF THE NATURAL BUSINESS OF THE PLACE; ITS LOCATION ON A BUSY WHARF WOULD DISGUISE THE NECESSARY COMINGS AND GOINGS OF OUR CO-CONSPIRATORS; THE WATERWAY WILL PROVIDE US WITH READY TRANSPORTATION BOTH INLAND VIA THE CANALS AND TO THE DOCKS AT TILBURY FOR OUR INTERNATIONAL VENTURES. NOT LEAST, THE EXTRAORDINARY POWER NEEDED FOR OUR DEVICES WILL BE MISTAKEN FOR THE ENERGY REQUIRED TO RUN YOUR PUBLIC EXPERIMENTS.
   5 I HAVE LITTLE EXPERTISE IN THE DESIGN OR ENGINEERING OF SUCH STRUCTURES, BUT I IMAGINE THAT THEY REQUIRE SUBSTANTIAL FOOTINGS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE WILL PROVIDE THE COVER WE NEED TO CONSTRUCT OUR SECRET HEADQUARTERS UNDER THE MORE PUBLIC FACE OF THE LIGHTHOUSE ITSELF AND ITS ANCILLARY BUILDINGS.
   6 IT MAY BE THAT I HAVE MISSED SOMETHING IMPORTANT IN MY CONSIDERATIONS, IN WHICH CASE PLEASE DO POINT THAT OUT, BUT IF WE ARE TO PASS ON OUR DISCOVERIES, AMBITIONS AND PLANS TO THE NEXT GENERATION WE WILL NEED TO GIVE THEM A MORE PERMANENT HOME, SO I HOPE WE CAN AGREE TOGETHER ON THE BEST WAY TO PROCEED.
   7 YOURS, CH