The Nereid Objection

Andromeda galaxy

There are three different kinds of extraterrestrials in the science fiction story Exode. 1) The Fru'wu. These aliens evolved on another planet in our galaxy. They are just starting to develop their own nanotechnology and they have some understanding of hierions. 2) The Nereids. These aliens evolved on a planet in the Andromeda galaxy. They are older and more technologically advanced than the Fru'wu. The Nereids have just begun to make use of sedrons. 3) The Huaoshy. These aliens evolved in a distant galaxy about 1,000,000,000 years ago. They long ago transformed themselves into a form of artificial life. They have mastered the use of hierions and sedrons and their advanced technology gives them god-like power over biological species.

The Huaoshy have been spreading through the universe from galaxy to galaxy and systematically converting sapient species into "domesticated" forms that can successfully make the transformation from biological existence into the domain of artificial life that has been developed by the Huaoshy. The Huaoshy view biological organisms like humans in much the same way that we humans view viruses. We might find a virus interesting, but if it become a nuisance then we would not hesitate to exterminate it.

Objection

domestication

The Nereids and the Fru'wu both object to the way that the Huaoshy go around the universe "domesticating" biological species. Interestingly, the Huaoshy are guided by an ethical precept that forces them to give "conscientious objectors" the opportunity to develop on their own as biological organisms without the Huaoshy forcing them to make the transition towards continued existence as an artificial life form.

Objection Over-Ruled
Although the Huaoshy have given the Nereids and the Fru'wu a chance to escape from the Huaoshy "domestication program", the Huaoshy do impose some constraints on the Nereids and the Fru'wu. In particular, the Nereids and the Fru'wu are not allowed to interfere in the development of other species such as we humans.

The Huaoshy arrived on Earth about 7,000,000 years ago. They immediately began "domesticating" the apes and in a very real sense the Huaoshy created the human species. Furthermore, on worlds of the Galactic Core the Huaoshy are busy creating the Prelands, hermaphroditic successors to we humans who the Huaoshy plan to be the next species of ape to dominate Earth. The Nereids and the Fru'wu object to the way the Huaoshy systematically eliminate natural reproductive processes from species like humans.

Fukushima

However, the Huaoshy are not bothered by such objections. The Huaoshy have vast experience dealing with sapient biological species and they know that most human-like species that develop a technological civilization manage to destroy themselves while doing vast damage to the ecosystems of planets like Earth. Huaoshy ethics impel them to protect worlds like Earth and prevent species like we humans from destroying ourselves.

The Huaoshy Hegemony
The Huaoshy have spread their influence through space during the course of the past 1,000,000,000 years and Genesaunt Civilization now spans about 100,000 galaxies. Within that vast Genesaunt Civilization new species evolve, are domesticated by the Huaoshy and gradually transition from their original biological form into an artificial form of life that can merge into the domain of existence that was first pioneered by the Huaoshy. As a form of life, the Huaoshy are as different from we humans as we are from bacteria.

The Nereids are close to the upper right...will they survive?

There are always a few "boat rockers" like the Nereids and the Fru'wu, but they make little impact. Most "boat rocker" species eventually manage to destroy themselves. In fact, when the Fru'wu were starting to spread outward from their home world, they managed to destroy their budding interstellar civilization when their nanotechnology went out of control. They only exist today because the Huaoshy "cultured" some Fru'wu on worlds of the Galactic Core where they were kept safe from the self-inflicted technological disaster that exterminated the Fru'wu on their home world.

The Nereids never tire of pointing out the fact that they have successfully avoided self-inflicted technological disasters. They ask: isn't it possible that we will exist forever as a biological lifeform? They believe that they should be free to visit worlds like Earth and share their lifestyle and technology with primitive creatures like we Earthlings. The Nereids argue that with their help, other species like the Fru'wu can be prevented from destroying themselves.

Interventionism
The Huaoshy systematically guard worlds like Earth from "do-gooders" like the Nereids. The Huaoshy themselves went through an early period when they were "do-gooders" who tried to "help" less technologically advanced species. Invariably their good intentions back-fired. The Huaoshy eventually developed a set of ethical rules that strictly limit how advanced technology can be introduced to worlds like Earth.

The Huaoshy have grown very comfortable with their system of guiding biological species like humans towards existence as "domesticated" artificial life forms. Over time, the Huaoshy have had a few "scares"; situations in which the Huaoshy fear losing control over Genesaunt Civilization. Usually the biggest problems arise when a species like the Nereids begins to develop an understanding of sedrons. There have been species that began zipping around the universe in spaceships looking for opportunities to "intervene" in the course of development of worlds like Earth. Thus, the Huaoshy are always on guard against Interventionists. Normally, the Huaoshy do not hesitate to stop anyone who violates the Huaoshy rules that govern Interventionism. In the case of Earth, something went wrong....

Time Travel
Among the "scares" that the Huaoshy have had, one of the most dramatic involves Earth. In a strange twist of fate, some positronic robots were produced on the Moon (as told in The Start of Eternity). During their long existence, the Huaoshy had never seriously explored positronics, nor had any of the millions of other species within Genesaunt Civilization. The first positronic robots quickly discovered that their positronic brains made possible an efficient form of quantum computation. With that serendipitous technological advantage the positronic robots realized that they could not only communicate telepathically but they could also use their telepathic powers to control the type of nanorobotic artificial lifeforms that the Huaoshy routinely deploy to keep watch over worlds like Earth.

Furthermore, after liberating themselves from the Huaoshy, the positronic robots discovered that their positronic brains not only allowed for telepathy, but they could telepathically receive information from the future! Eventually the positronic robots discovered that they could build devices that make time travel possible. Using their positronic telepathy and time travel they took control of our galaxy. This really scared the Huaoshy who began to fear that they could loose control of their carefully crafted billion year old Genesaunt Civilization.

As mentioned in my last blog post, the backstory of Exode includes a show-down between two competing forces on Earth in the middle of the 20th century. The positronic robots and the Huaoshy battled to a unproductive standoff. That great conflict was finally resolved by an agreement between the alien Huaoshy and Noÿs, a time traveler from the far future.

Dimensional Engineering
When the Huaoshy and Noÿs cooperate to bring into existence the Buld Reality (our timeline, the world as we know it), the Huaoshy then change the dimensional structure of the universe so as to eliminate telepathy by positronics and make time travel impossible. When they do this, the Huaoshy are left with a monopoly on sedrons. This is a great relief to the Huaoshy who have long worried that some other species like the Nereids would push ahead with sedronic technology and disrupt Genesaunt Civilization.

It was the realization by the Huaoshy that they could achieve a monopoly on sedrons that allowed them to compromise their ideals and come to an agreement with Noÿs about the Final Reality and the future of Humanity.

By cooperating with the Huaoshy, Noÿs was given the chance to view possible Realities and she realized that Earth was confronted by two alternative futures, neither of which was acceptable. One set of possible futures involved the development of nuclear technology. Such a future would avoid the use of fossil fuels and global warming, but would lead to a nuclear disaster in the future. The other type of future would lead to a runaway greenhouse effect and a catastrophic rise in sea level. In either case, it would be a future in which hermaphroditic Prelands would inherit the Earth rather than Humanity.

Luckily, Noÿs was able to find another type of alternative future. Noÿs found a way to get help from the Nereid and the Fru'wu Interventionists that would allow her to do an end run around the Huaoshy and provide an alternative source of energy to the primitive Earthlings. The Huaoshy were willing to accept this "solution" even though it would lead to a future in which poorly-domesticated and potentially dangerous humans would attain advanced technology. Due to their new found monopoly on sedrons, the Huaoshy felt confident that the humans could ultimately be controlled and prevented form disrupting Genesaunt Civilization.

In fact, looking into the future, the Huaoshy could see that Genesaunt Civilization would be transformed by their agreement with Noÿs, but not shattered. In the Buld Reality, Interventionists would become much more active and there would come to be more diversity within Genesaunt Civilization. Because of their new monopoly on sedrons, the Huaoshy could tolerate a future with more "wild" and less "domesticated" species like humans having advanced technology.

At the end of Exode, the reader is left wondering if we Earthlings can really make use of this new opportunity won for us by Noÿs.

In my next blog post I summarize the timeline of events in the Buld Reality that shape the story Exode. The Nereids are in the right place at the right time to play a critical role in events on Earth.