Deep Time

In the Ekcolir Reality. Original cover art by
Darrell Sweet and Antonio Schomburg

In his time travel novel, The End of Eternity, Isaac Asimov imagined that time travel can trigger Reality Changes.

In each successive Reality, the same people appear again and again, living in somewhat different lives in slightly variant societies. Outside of the normal flow of Time was a spacetime bubble called Eternity, the base of operations for the time travelers who planned and implemented the Reality Changes. Within Eternity, the time travel technicians were safe from the effects of Reality Changes.

Asimov wrote about a library inside Eternity that held copies of books from all of the different Realities. In the Exode Saga, I like to imagine the fun that might be had if I could access books that had been written by my favorite authors in previous Realities.

In Deep Time

Tormenting replicoids in the Ekcolir
Reality. Original cover art: Arnold Kohn.

In the Exode Saga, I refer to all the events in past Realities as constituting Deep Time. Sadly for those like Zeta and Yōd who live in this century and who try to investigate Deep Time, all further time travel became impossible at some point in the late 20th century.

However, the Eternity spacetime bubble still exists, along with other repositories of information about Deep Time. Within the Sedronic Domain, there are mysterious "echoes" of all the past Realities, but humans, as hadronic organisms, are unable to access information that resides within the Sedronic Domain.

Observer Base

In the Exode Saga, there are two other important spacetime bubbles in addition to Eternity. I imagine that these three "bubble universes" exist within the Hierion Domain. The oldest such bubble is Observer Base. It was created long ago by Interventionists who wanted to watch over Earth and make adjustments to the course of events on Earth. During much of Deep Time and here in the Final Reality, Observer Base was under the control of Overseers who struggled to prevent Interventionists from accelerating the pace of technological development on Earth.

The third "bubble" is known as the Writers Block. The Writers Block was created and used during the Ekcolir Reality in order to guide the development of the science fiction genre. In that Reality, science fiction was used to prepare Humanity for the arrival of the Fru'wu, alien creatures who reached Earth early in the 21st century.

Angels and Demons

In the Ekcolir Reality. Original cover art by
Edmond Swiatek and Arnold Kohn.

I've decided on a title for the 8th chapter of A Search Beyond. Yōd is vastly annoyed, not only that I've deviated from her outline of chapters, but also because I've chosen to emphasize the rocky course of "her" relationship with Asimov's replicoid.

I've never bothered to concern myself with the mystery of how replicoids are created within the Hierion Domain. R. Gohrlay's tribe of positronic robots devised an automated system for creating and archiving replicoids. I imagine that Grean and other Kac'hin eventually learned how to make use of the replicoid system for their own purposes. The Yōd replicoid has had trouble adjusting to her second life in the Hierion Domain.

A book cover in the Ekcolir Reality,
inspired by Paul Bacon

Yōd and the Yōd replicoid have been having a battle over control of the flow of information that they can share by way of the Bimanoid Interface. When the Asimov Replicoid arrived on Earth, the bio-Yōd blocked information flow to the Yōd replicoid. Now the table has been turned and Yōd is insisting that she be allowed to "watch" events in the Hierion Domain through the eyes of the Yōd replicoid.

Further, both copies of Yōd are trying to get permission to tag along with Asimov on his next mission into Eternity's simulation of the Asimov Reality.

Angela's odd family

Among the Dead Widowers, Angela is a special case. I tend to think of her as being human, but it is clear that the tryp'At Overseers consider her an alien presence, not to be allowed on Earth. In chapter 8 (Dead Widowers) it is revealed that the bio-Angela is being held prisoner by the tryp'At Overseers at Observer Base. Unlike Yōd, Angela has learned how to optimize the linkages between her bio-body and her replicoid and in some ways she has become the most effective of the Dead Widowers for carrying out the schemes of Lili.

planet Yrwerd

Nivsaham is able to keep open lines of communication between the Writers Block and Observer Base. The physical status of Nivsaham remains mysterious in chapter 8, but I enjoy the possibility that Nivsaham is nanoscopically small and thus escapes the notice of the Overseers. Lili, Nivsaham and Many Sails are guiding the Dead Widowers into their investigation of Deep Time, specifically the Asimov Reality.

Next: the planet Yrwerd

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