14 Going On 72

in the Hierion Domain

When I learned that it was Qaz Nivsaham who had originally provided Lakum with access to the AR Simulator, I asked my grand-daughter Rylla to begin a search for Qaz at Observer Base in the Hierion Domain. During that search, Colleen Liscan was provided with some mysterious nanites, but they did not provide her with the code signal needed for access to the AR Simulator.

Below is part 2 of Rylla's report, describing how Colleen was able to use the Qaz nanites to hack into the encrypted records of the access portal for the ER Simulator (Part 1). That allowed Colleen to track Lakum's movements and then finally meet Lakum inside the ER Simulator. As Rylla's account now makes clear, there were two copies of Lakum the tryp'At hermaphrodite: 1) the original Lakum in the Asimov Reality and 2) a copy that was made here in the Final Reality.

                                 The tryp'At Hermaphrodites a report from Rylla

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Sometimes Colleen imagined that someone was trying to prevent her from using the Reality Simulation System of Eternity. Everytime she entered into a Simulation, she was automatically provided with a simulated body. However, there was a glitch. Had the teleportation equipment of Eternity been functioning correctly, her biobody would have been held in the teleportation data buffer until the simulation session was complete. Instead, her biobody was held inside a kind of suspended animation chamber where nutrients were provided to her body and wastes removed, but she herself (Colleens mind) was in control of her simulated body, not her biobody.

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For as long as the simulated Colleen lived inside the simulation, her biobody lay in the suspended animation chamber, the small muscles of its hands and eyes occasionally twitching. If colleen spent too long inside the Simulator, her biobody deteriorated, particularly her muscle strength and coordination. While searching inside the ER Simulator for Lakum, Colleen had pushed herself too long and too hard.

After a week spent sleeping, exercising and eating good meals at Anatole's, Colleen awoke from a restful night's sleep and was ready to return to the ER Simulator. Working for only about an hour during each of the past three days, Colleen had discovered how to use her mysterious new nanites to hack into the encrypted usage records of the ER Simulator. She now had in her possession what seemed to be a complete record of the times when Lakum had moved into and out of the Simulator. Even more importantly, Colleen had finally discover the exact coordinates of where and when it was in the ER Simulated Reality that Lakum came from whenever she crossed through the portal and emerged from the Simulator.

Ekcolir Reality Simulation

When Colleen arrived at the portal to the ER Simulator, Georgy was there on guard duty. A bed had been brought into the workshop and there was Georgy with Alexina, sprawled across the bed. Georgy got up, glancing back once at her sleeping daughter. Speaking in a near whisper, Georgy said to Colleen, "Are you certain that you want to go alone?"

Her hands flying over the control panel for the ER Simulator, Colleen entered her access coordinates and replied, "I'm not afraid of being ambushed, if that's what you are thinking. I have to believe that Lakum has been trying to help us." She stepped to the portal and put one hand through the display screen. It passed through the portal and into the ER Simulator.

Georgy waved to Colleen and allowed her voice to become louder, "Good luck!"

sea level rise in the Ekcolir Reality

Colleen nodded to Georgy, turned and walked into the ER Simulator. She was now at a point 17,239 years upwhen, long after the antarctic ice sheet had melted and Earth had experienced catastrophic sea level rise. With the help of the Fru'wu, humans had spread out from Earth to dozens of exoplanets, so, in principle, Lakum might be living far away on any of the many colonized planets. However, Colleen had discovered that Lakum's base of operations within the Ekcolir Reality was right inside the rather small confines of the Eternity space-time bubble.

She had never previously been to the Eternity of this upwhen era. Colleen wondered why she had been certain about the need to go into the future even before knowing exactly how far upwhen to travel. She wondered who was providing these hints and guiding her actions.

Arriving in the year 19,248 as Colleen counted the years, she found that the gravity field was stronger in this time. Apparently there was no longer an effort to trick residents of Observer Base into imagining that they were on the Moon. Colleen looked around at the equipment inside Grean's workshop. Here in this future time, the workshop appeared little different than when it had originally been constructed by the positronic robots of Earth. Grean had added manual control workstations, but the original teleportation and time travel equipment remained.

Lakum

Colleen reached into her pocket and brought out the little nanite vial that she had previously obtained inside the ER Simulator. She opened the cap of the vial, but no cloud of nanites was visible. With a shrug and feeling some disappointment, she closed the vile and pushed it back into her pocket. Turning towards the door of the workshop, Colleen saw a large, humanoid figure in the dim alcove just beyond the doorway. Colleen gasped and froze. A cold flash of fear ripped through Colleen's mind; she felt her knees start to shake. Something at the core of her mind shouted: Alien!

Looking more carefully, Colleen saw that it was a tall woman who passed through the doorway and now was standing just inside the workshop. The mystery woman smiled and said to Colleen, "Nice to finally meet you, Colleen. I'm Qaz."

Colleen took a deep breath and looked carefully at Qaz, who seemed to be a perfectly normal Earthling, at least if you accept seven foot tall women with graceful statuesque physiques and cute faces as being within the bounds of "normal". With adrenaline still in her blood (simulated adrenaline, she reminded herself) Colleen spoke with a weak and quavering voice: "So, it was you who gave me those nanites."

Georgy White

"Yes, it was the least I could do for you." Qaz approached Colleen and towered above the girl; she was nearly a foot taller than Colleen. "Now I will go one step further. I'm ready to take you to Lakum's house. I warned thon to be expecting us."

"Thon?"

"Lakum is an hermaphrodite. You can use the pronoun 'her' if that is easier for you. Come on." Qaz led the way out of the workshop. Soon they were on the street. "We could teleport, but let's take the slow way... I'm sure you have a dozen questions."

Colleen tried to keep up with the long strides of Qaz. Looking dubiously up at Qaz, she asked, "Are you really a nanoscopic artificial life form?"

"Yes, but as you see, I can take on any useful physical form. This particular form is close to the original body shape of the biological entity who first organized my mind. However, I sense that you are intimidated by my height, so..." While speaking, Qaz shrank herself down until she was only two inches taller than Colleen.

The Mind Clone Network

Colleen asked bluntly, "Did you use Lakum as your tool to impregnate Georgy and Stacy?"

Qaz laughed. "I could have initiated their pregnancies myself. However, it made sense to involve Lakum in that process. I've been able to foster thon's maternal instincts so that Lakum now has a personal interest in Alexina and Amiante, not to mention Tihri."

"I've wondered if I might scare Lakum off by coming here and searching for her... thon."

"If you have worried about that, place yourself at ease. I warned Lakum that you are coming for a visit. She is expecting you." They had reached the subway system. Qaz led Colleen into a tramway car and soon they were heading out of the city core.

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As yet, Colleen had seen no other residents of Observer Base. She asked Qaz, "Nobody lives here except you and Lakum?"

Qaz shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "There are still a couple hundred residents, but little reason for them to venture downtown. Like Colleen, they tend to spend their time at their residences out towards the edges of the Eternity bubble."

"Before you introduce me to Lakum, I must ask... It is my understanding that in the Asimov Reality, Lakum ended up living with my analogue, on the planet Triskelion."

Qaz chuckled, "Ya. What is your question?"

Triskelion

"Well, when I met Lakum previously... not knowing who she was or why she was in the Final Reality... I admit, I was intrigued. She seemed different." Colleen tried to order her thoughts. "Now that I know Lakum is from the Ekcolir Reality, I wonder... was there another Lakum analogue from the Final Reality?"

Qaz sighed. "Ah, you are confused. Lakum was one of the original tryp'At, created in the Asimov Reality on a distant exoplanet. When Lakum first visited Earth, a Lakum replicoid was created, but that replicoid lived in Eternity and no analogue of Lakum was made in the Ekcolir Reality. However, when the need arose in the Final Reality, I made a teleportation duplicate of Lakum. That duplicate is who we are going to visit."

The tram car slowed and came to a halt at the end of the tramline. Colleen and Qaz stepped out of the car onto a small platform. Surrounding the platform was what looked like a cave, with blue water sparkling beyond the mouth of the cave. They walked out of the cave and onto a black sand beach. Waves curled gently and splashed onto the shore. Looking carefully into the distance, Colleen could tell that she was inside a giant artificial cavern, but she felt like she was on an island in the middle of the ocean. Turning to her right, she could see down along the shore was what looked like a small resort with a few buildings mostly obscured by trees. Colleen asked, "Lakum lives here? Alone?"

Qaz led Colleen down the beach at a leisurely pace. "No, not alone. Lakum has constructed a... I was about to say 'a family', but that is not really the correct description. She lives with a group of robotic artificial life forms... her trainers. You'll soon see with your own eyes."

They went up a slope from the beach to the little resort complex. Lakum stepped out on the front porch of the main building and waved as Colleen and Qaz climbed the front steps. Qaz performed introductions. "Colleen, this is Lakum, a copy of the original Lakum who lived in the Asimov Reality. Lakum, this is Colleen Liscam. You previously met on two occasions at Observer Base, but on neither of those occasions did you have a chance to speak to each other."

Lakum nodded to Colleen. Colleen could remember the strange way that Lakum had looked at her on those two previous occasions. Lakum had been with small groups of Retrofuturians when Colleen had seen 'her' previously. Colleen said, "I remember you very well. When I met you about a year ago, I was greatly impressed by your flowing hair, but I thought you were quiet and shy."

Lakum explained, "I had been warned not to... socially involve myself with you or Georgy or Stacy. The time was not right."

Colleen asked, "Is now the right time?"

Lakum shrugged and looked down at the floor. She said quietly, "You may not want to have anything to do with me."

Colleen giggled nervously, "That's silly. You are very cute... I feel strangely fascinated by you and I'm wondering if we share some kind of telepathic connection. I'm only worried that I might scare you off... I hunted you down and now I'm invading your privacy. You seem to have tried hard to find a remote hideout."

Lakum looked up and smiled at Colleen and then glanced over her shoulder through the front door of the house/resort towards the dim interior. "Come inside. Qaz brought you here to meet the robots. They might change the way you view me." Lakum turned and went inside.

Colleen had become accustomed to the robotic helpers that both Georgy and Stacy made use of to help care for their babies. Lakum seemed very young, maybe about 15 years old, but maybe she had a baby of her own waiting inside... wondering what she was getting herself into, Colleen looked at Qaz who gestured towards the doorway and said, "After you."

Colleen and Qaz followed Lakum into the front room of her house. As Colleen's eyes adjusted to the dim interior, Lakum explained, "In the old days, this was a resort for the hard workers of Observer Base. They came here to relax on the beach and surf. When the population of the Base dwindled away and the resort was abandoned, it became available for anyone who might claim it. Eventually, I moved in and inherited the staff, a team of robots who had waited centuries for humans... or a human, to again take up residence here." Lakum stood by a set of shelves that held a fine collection of fantastical sea shells. "Since moving here, I've changed very little of the original decor." Lakum took one of the colorful sea shells down from the shelf and said, "Sometimes I fantasize about the possibility of visiting Earth and seeing a real ocean. I envy you, Colleen in that you grew up on Earth."

Colleen shrugged and told Lakum, "Once in a while I miss Earth, but I've been quite busy since I reached Eternity. I'm fascinated by the technological wonders here such as the Reality Simulators."

Lakum placed the shell back on its shelf. "Qaz told me that for some reason the ER Simulator refuses to place your biobody into the teleportation buffer. I've never experienced that problem. I've been here inside the Simulator continually for as long as two years at a time. Always when I emerge, my biobody is ready and waiting for me, although it can be a bit tricky to reintegrate my mind and body after a long period of separation. Maybe we can try to figure out why you are not properly recognized by the teleportation system."

"It is kind of you to offer help." Colleen glanced at Qaz. "I suspect that someone is trying to limit my use of the Reality Simulation System."

Qaz told Colleen, "Don't look at me."

Colleen was puzzled by Lakum. The girl seemed quite young, possibly younger than 15. However, the signs were confusing. Lakum's voice was that of a girl, but when she spoke, her voice conveyed a depth and wisdom beyond her years. Colleen could not resist asking, "How old are you?"

Lakum blushed and glanced at Qaz. "That is not an easy question for me to answer. Here inside the simulator, I have the power to control my apparent age." Lakum suddenly morphed and took on the appearance of a middle-aged woman.

Qaz told Colleen, "I've allowed Lakum to explore her adult body here in this simulation, but I suppose you really want to know the physiological age of her biological body."

Colleen had been startled by Lakum's ability to morph her body. Now Colleen watched as Lakum transformed into a young girl of about age eight. Lakum giggled at the look of surprise on Colleen's face. "Usually I allow my simulated body to match the age of my biobody, but I've lost track of my actual age. According to Qaz, I was created in 1947."

Colleen asked Qaz, "Created?"

Qaz explained, "I created Lakum as a teleportation duplicate. I duplicated the physical form of the original Lakum using the earliest recorded teleportation records." Qaz pointed to Lakum, "This copy of Lakum originated at the biological age of two."

Lakum took a small photodisp off of the shelf. The device was showing what appeared to be a middle-aged couple. Lakum held the photodisp so that Colleen could see the image. "I grew up thinking that these were my parents, then one day (I was about 5 years old) they explained to me that they were only my adoptive parents. I grew up on a world of the Galactic Core where the years are not the same length as Earth years. I did not even know that Earth existed until I was ten years old, years as my parents counted them for me. Eventually I was teleported to Eternity and began my new life at Observer Base."

Qaz told Lakum, "If it makes any difference, you are slightly over fourteen Earth years old."

Lakum nodded. "That is close to what I have estimated. However, I have lived many years here in this simulator, so my mind is much older than my biobody; intellectually I'm closer to seventy years old. Over the many years that I have lived here, I've reprogrammed the staff so that they could help me better prepare for my various missions and I now think of them as my family. Perverse, I know. Of course, these robots are not a real family, but I like to indulge my fantasies... anyhow, they have efficiently provided me with some degree of training for the next phase of my life." Lakum morphed her simulated body back to its original form. Under the wild mop of dark hair, Colleen could see that Lakum might well be a 14-year old. Lakum seemed to be nervously rubbing her hands together.

Qaz suggested, "Lakum, why not show Colleen your robot friends?"

Lakum asked Qaz, "Do I have to? Are you absolutely sure that this is a good idea?"

Qaz put an arm around Lakum's waist. "Colleen is intrigued by you and curious about how you have been trained for your mission. I believe that honesty is always good. Be brave, my dear."

Lakum called out, "Okay, come on in." Two women walked into what had once been the lobby of the resort, entering from an adjoining room. Their footfalls on the stone floor echoed like distant drum beats.

Looking at the two women, Colleen was surprised to recognize them. "Georgy? Stacy?"

The two women stood beside Lakum, but they said nothing.

Qaz said, "Allow me to perform more introductions! Colleen, these two robots only look like your friends, but they are artificial life forms."

Lakum added, "However, I do call them Georgy and Stacy."

Puzzled, Colleen asked Lakum, "You purposely made these robots in the form of Georgy and Stacy... for what reason?"

the Trysta-Grean Pact

Qaz explained, "The reasons are complex; their beginnings can be traced far back, back to the origins of the Trysta-Grean Pact. Even then, we could see that in the future, in the Final Reality, there would have to be investigations of Deep Time, including Ekcolir's and Lakum's roles in making it possible for human telepaths to exist on Earth. Back then, the tryp'At and the Ek'col seemed like new toys, or, if you prefer, useful chess pieces to be deployed. I decided to make a copy of Lakum. One thing led to another and... well, here we are."

Another woman walked into the room, "And here I am."

For Colleen, it was like looking into a mirror. Qaz said, "Colleen, meet the robot Colleen, as you see, shaped into your likeness."

Colleen approached her robotic doppelganger. She reached out and touched the robot. "I'm impressed. This robot feels human. Do you have a copy of my memories?"

The robot Colleen replied, "No, I am not a duplicate of you, Colleen, I've just been crafted to have your physical appearance and I've recently learned to speak with a close approximation of your voice."

"If I had not been told that you are a robot, I might have imagined that you are a teleportation duplicate of me. Or maybe a clone. Or a replicoid." Colleen asked the robot, "How long have you... been pretending to be me?"

The robot laughed in a good approximation of Colleen's own laughter. "I don't actually pretend to be you. However, for the past three years I have used your physical form and tried to help Lakum grow accustomed to being with you. The tryp'At can be slow to-"

Lakum interrupted the robot. "That's enough, Colleen. R. Colleen." Lakum put special emphasis on the 'R'. The robot instantly fell silent.

Qaz gently patted the shoulder of the robot Colleen, like a human might pet a dog. "Three years ago, the tryp'At had become a disruptive force. R. Gohrlay, Many Sails and I devised a plan for getting rid of the tryp'At Overseers. At that time, we began arranging for creation of the Mind Clone Network. Although it was not her original purpose and I was only improvising, I asked Lakum to play an important role in stabilizing the part of the Network that would exist within Eternity."

Colleen asked, "What do you mean by that? Stabilizing? You intend to replace Stacy, Georgy and I with these robots?"

Qaz, Lakum and all three of the robots laughed. The robotic Colleen said, "I can't replace you. For one thing, the interlocks on the Reality Simulation System must be released by a human, such as yourself. We three robots are not very advanced models, and we can't pass through the portal of the Reality Simulator System. No, we are only tools, crafted for a limited purpose... we can't replace humans in any significant way."

Qaz added, "Colleen, when you hear the word 'robot', you immediately begin thinking about Nora, who is an artificial life form, yet she is able to function as a node in the Network. However, these robots," Qaz gestured towards the Stacy, Georgy and Colleen robots, "Are not nearly as sophisticated as Nora. Have no fear, they are not intended to replace you, Georgy and Stacy. They have been Lakum's companions, helping her prepare for the next phase of thons mission."

"Okay, I'm curious." Colleen asked Lakum, "What is it that you intend to do with these robots?"

"These three?" Lakum gazed at each of the three robots. "No, they are not part of our plans for the future." Lakum briefly touched her finger tips to the cheek of the Stacy robot. "They have served their roles.... their time has passed." Lakum shrugged. "I suppose they will return to the general labor pool of Observer Base now that I am done with them."

Qaz told Colleen, "I encouraged Lakum to make use of these robots as surrogates. I did not want thon to be lonely while waiting for the Mind Clone children to arrive at Observer Base and begin to grow. We had planned to wait about one more year, until Alexina and Amiante were old enough to walk, but your meddling, Colleen, has now forced us to revise our plan and accelerate the timetable for Lakum's mission."

With a wave of her hand, Lakum signaled to the three robots, dismissing them. The machines quickly and quietly left the room. Colleen could see that there was something artificial about their movements; they were not very good replicas of Stacy, Georgy and Colleen. Lakum said to Colleen, "It is time for me to return with you to the Final Reality. That is... if you will allow me to do so."

Colleen asked, "Allow?"

Lakum nervously twisted her hands together. "I don't want to force myself upon you. Any of you. You all... you, Georgy and Stacy... you seem quite pleased that the tryp'At were driven out of Observer Base. In particular, the Retrofuturians really seemed to despise the tryp'At Overseers." Lakum looked shyly at Colleen. "However... I think we would make a good team, even though I am tryp'At."

Qaz told Colleen, "Remember, Colleen, the original Lakum of the Asimov Reality was trained for thons mission to the past by making use of the Reality Simulation System in Eternity. I have also trained and equipped this copy of Lakum so as to be able to access the AR Simulator."

Colleen asked Lakum, "Can you take me with you? Can I go inside the AR Simulator?"

Lakum shrugged. "I don't know. We can try."

Colleen turned to Qaz, "Tell me: can Lakum get me into the AR Simulator? Last week, when I tried by myself, I discovered that I could not enter. It was very frustrating... I had the intense feeling that I should be able to enter into the Asimov Reality simulation just as easily as I enter the Ekcolir Reality simulation."

Qaz replied, "Yes, I had provided you with motivation... a strong desire to enter the AR Simulation, but it is Lakum who has the required nanite key and the training for how to use that key to unlock the portal."

Colleen thought about her own intuitive sense of certainty about the importance of the AR Simulator. A hot rush of fear shot through Colleen as she imagined that she was nothing more than a puppet, coerced and controlled by Qaz. "So, the nanites that you gave me were only intended to get me here, to Lakum."

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"Yes." Qaz seemed to proudly gaze upon Lakum. "As a carefully trained tryp'At, Lakum can access the AR Simulation." Qaz turned back towards Colleen, "And isn't that what you want? A way to gain entry to the AR Simulator?"

Colleen nodded and replied, "I know that the Editor would be thrilled if I found a new way to investigate the origins of human telepathy in the Asimov Reality."

Lakum told Colleen, "I have been inside the AR Simulator several times, but I always went by myself. I don't know if I can push you through the portal."

Colleen glanced at Qaz and then took hold of Lakum's hand, "I doubt if Qaz would have brought me to you unless you can help me. Let's go to the workshop and give it a try."

Next: copy that... Colleen and Lakum inside the AR Simulator

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