Nyky, Roz and Dani

Earth's Reality Chain

Zeta had asked Yōd to investigate Mind Clones in the Asimov Reality, but rather than launch an investigation, Yōd almost immediately contacted me. Yōd's telepathic linkage to me from inside the AR Simulator seems to work best while I am asleep and the infites that Yōd gave me can take over my brain and resonate with Yōd's mind pattern.

Short story: upon arriving in Observer Base, Yōd had met an analogue of the Beghi Mind Clone. It took a full week of telepathically-transmitted "dreams" from Yōd to successfully communicate to me the details, but eventually I was able to create the following fairly coherent account of Yōd's time spent at Observer Base...

                            Roz, Dani and Nyky (as told by Yōd)

Doy the replicoid at Observer Base.

On the day when the Bimanoid Interface was altered, a type of positive feedback began to grow in the telepathic linkage that I had with my replicoid. The telepathic signals that we shared had become so powerful that we were both devoting our full attention to blocking out our telepathic sense; the equivalent of covering your ears when you are in a very noisy environment. While shielding my mind from the thoughts of my replicoid, I did not have enough remaining cognitive bandwidth to think clearly.

replicoids

My replicoid had warned me to prepare for extraction. Fearing that I could be sent to Eternity any moment, I tried to wrap-up my affairs on Earth. I was desperate and making mistakes. For one thing, I had to quickly decide exactly which infites to leave behind on Earth. Since I was also suffering from telepathic positive feedback with my sister Zeta, she was not being of much use and had in fact acted so as to isolate me from the one person who I needed to contact!

The final solution to the positive feedback problem was the permanent inactivation of all replicoids inside Eternity, but before that desperate action was taken, I found myself being teleported off of Earth. I was teleported into Eternity and suddenly I was standing face to face with my replicoid, Doy, who grabbed me by the hand, pulled me off of the teleportation platform and told me, "Nivsaham asked me to bring you and Dani to the AR Portal."

Observer Base

My replicoid had not let go of my hand. She was leading me at a dead run out onto one of the streets of downtown Observer Base. Disoriented from the sudden teleportation event and with my mind still being flooded by amplified thoughts, I was in no mood for more surprises. I complained to Doy, "My work on Earth was not complete! I was still editing the infites that I need to pass to-"

Doy was merciless, running with wild abandon down the street. She laughed at me and said, "Forget about Earth. We are done with that world. It is time for you to move on."

source

Doy was using a young body form that looked like one of my experiments from back when Azynov and I were in the Andromeda Galaxy and trying to fit in with the human population of Luk'ru. More recently, on Earth, I'd adopted an older body form that was more appropriate to my biological age, but now I regretted that choice. It was fun having womanly curves, but as a consequence I was now toting around extra pounds of body fat. Now running at top speed and stuggling to keep up with Doy, I was starting to suffer an oxygen dept. Sending a command to my body-sculpting nanites, I started shedding some of my excess weight. Now breathing hard, I asked, "What's the rush?"

Reality Chain

Doy did not slow down. She replied, "I don't have time to explain anything."

We were approaching a doorway that had a small sign above it: ANATOLE'S. Doy slowed her pace to an easy jog. I asked Doy, "Who is Danny?"

Doy did not take time to reply to my question as we went through the doorway and into the restaurant. Doy was visually scanning the interior of Anatole's, looking for someone. We slowed to a brisk walk and my replicoid finally looked at me again and said, "I don't know Dani, but Nivsaham told me to ask Roz for help." Doy glanced across the room towards a table in the corner. "There!" My replicoid pointed towards a table where a group of six people had gathered. "There she is." We approached the table.

One of the group, a woman who had watched us approach over the rim of her beer mug, lowered her mug and said, "I may have had too much to drink. I'm seeing two Doys!"

Roz being removed from Earth.

Everyone seated at the table turned to look at us. Doy spoke to Roz, "Come with us, Roz. We have some important business to attend to for Qaz." Doy grabbed Roz and yanked her out of her seat.

Roz spilled her drink across the table and objected, "Stop it, Doy! What's this about Qaz?"

source

Doy did not stop. While pulling Roz towards the front door of Anatole's, Doy said, "I'm out of time. You have to get Dani and Yōd to the AR Simulator."

We stepped out onto the street and Roz pulled her arm away from Doy and said, "Why bother? Nobody has figured out how to get into the AR Simulator."

Doy demanded, "Where is Dani? Nivsaham told me that Dani has the access key for the AR Simulator." Before Roz could say anything, Doy grabbed both of my arms and said, "I'm out of time. While you are here, use this facial pattern."

I asked, "What for?"

Nanites Within

"Just do it! That way people will recognize you." I allowed my nanites to shift my face and hair so that they matched the appearance of Doy. She said, "Good." Then Doy seemed to dissolve into a cloud of nanites which quickly dissipated, leaving Roz and I standing there on the street looking at each other. While she was being inactivated, Doy was able to send me one last telepathic message, then her mind pattern disconnected from my brain.

Suddenly free from the debilitating positive feedback, I felt much better and could think clearly. For one thing, I now knew that it was not a 'Danny' who we were looking for, but rather 'Dani', a positronic robot. I said, "Roz Shipdesqi, I presume?" I noticed two people looking out through the front door of Anatole's to check on Roz; a man and a young girl.

Roz looked at me suspiciously and asked, "You really are Yōd, not just another replicoid?"

I laughed, mostly in relief that my mind was no longer being assaulted by telepathic signals from Doy. "Doy is gone. I'm Yōd... just teleported here from Earth." Explaining as much for myself as for Roz, I said, "Something had to be done to stop the positive feedback. That was bigger than just a problem for Doy. I'll bet that all the replicoids are now gone." I wondered if that removal of replicoids from Eternity included even the nanoscopic replicoids such as Nivsaham.

Return to Tar'tron

Roz held out her hand towards me and we shook hands. Roz told me, "You're rather famous around here. I never expected to meet you. I guess I always assumed that you would return to Tar'tron when you completed your mission on Earth."

"I'd love to chat, Roz... in particular, I'd be interested to hear what you know about the tryp'At and the family of the Editor, but there is no time for that."

The man peering at us through the door of Anatole's must have finally decided that I was no threat to Roz. He turned and moved away from the door. However, the girl still had a look of concern on her face. She opened the door and asked Roz, "Is everything alright?"

Roz replied, "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

The girl giggled and asked me, "Who was that other woman? She reminded me of Ivory."

The Lakum Intervention

I wanted to get rid of the nosy girl as quickly as possible, even though I felt a weak telepathic connection to her. I told her the most outrageous lie I could think of. "That was my sister, Alpha Gohrlay."

Wide eyed, the girl said, "Really?"

Roz grinned and told the girl, "Please give us some privacy. I'll tell you what's going on later this evening." The girl turned and went back inside Anatole's, giving me one last long stare. Only later did I learn that the young girl was Lakum, the tryp'At hermaphrodite.

I told Roz the content of the last telepathic message that I had received from Doy: "Doy warned me to find Dani quickly, before the tryp'At get to him."

tryp'At Overseers

Roz shrugged. "Well, that's a problem. Dani has been hiding from the Overseers and he made me promise not to reveal his hiding place to anyone."

I said, "Roz, you are going to have to take a chance. Doy seemed to believe that Dani needs to go with me into the AR Simulator. With the change that has been made to the Bimanoid Interface, Dani can't hide his telepathic signals from the Overseers. He will be caught by Overseer Sachiz unless we act fast."

Roz said, "Damnation! Very well, follow me." Running at full speed, Roz led the way down the street, around a corner and to the Observer Building. Hardly slowing, we entered through the front door and raced up a flight of stairs. Roz went half way down the hallway and burst into an office and I followed her through the doorway. Inside, sitting at a desk was an old man, half hidden from my view behind a big display screen. Roz told the man, "Sorry, but we need to-"

Retrofuturians

The man had risen and came around the desk to shake my hand. "Hello, Yōd. Let's go to the Simulator Portal." He'd obviously been expecting me to arrive and he firmly took my hand and pulled me towards the doorway of his office, moving quickly for an old man.

As we went out into the hallway, Roz asked Dani, "You were expecting us?"

Dani told Roz, "You should go back to Anatole's and wait with the rest of the Retrofuturians. There is still a danger that Overseer Sachiz will locate me." We were walking quickly down the hallway, past a long row of office doors. The robot told me, "The Overseers detected the teleportation event that brought you here from Earth." A sly grin came to his face. "That was a surprise for them... they had believed that they controlled all of the teleportation equipment here in Eternity. Now they are in full panic mode."

Roz stopped walking and told us, "Good luck, you two!" She turned and went back to the stairway that led down to the first floor.

We reached the far end of the hallway and Dani looked back down the long empty hallway. He shifted his appearance, morphing himself so that he now had the body form of a young man.

Dani pulled open a narrow door. I could see that this was a polie ascensor shaft. He reached out towards the pole and stepped into the shaft. Immediately Dani was rising up the shaft. I followed, even though I had only ever read about this form of ascension inside a building to reach higher floors. Near the top of the shaft, Dani grabbed me and pulled me into a dimly lit tunnel. He asked me, "Are you ready to go?" He'd led me down the tunnel to what looked like small closet. "Squeeze in" He pulled me close and put his arms around me. Then the floor de-materialized and we dropped into the room below.

At the time, I was disoriented and confused, but I now know that we had passed through an Hierion Tube. We had arrived in what I now know to be Grean's workshop which is hidden somewhere in the Hierion Domain "near" to Eternity. A big display screen lit up, showing the inside of Anatole's. Dani made a small adjustment to the AR Portal coordinates, shifting the view to the upper level of the restaurant.

source

Looking at the Portal coordinates, I told Dani, "I want to visit Alastor Cluster at a time much further than this into the upwhen."

"Yes, I know. But I do not know the exact coordinates of Azynov." Still with an arm around me, he guided me across the room to the wall screen which was functioning as an open portal to the Reality Simulation System. We stepped into the AR Simulator.

Looking down from the balcony level of Anatole's, we could see about two dozen people down below, scattered at several tables. They were eating, laughing and talking. Dani looked at me and said, "Welcome to the Asimov Reality."

Dani shifted his appearance, morphing into a the body form of another young man. I asked, "Who are you?"

Dani laughed and gestured towards a small table for two, "Have a seat, Yōd."

Grean beside the Reality Simulator Portal

I looked over my shoulder, but there was no sign of the Reality Simulation Portal there; I could not look back into the workshop. Somehow I knew that I had entered a strange new phase of my life trapped inside a virtual reality world. I took a slow deep breath, inhaling the savory aromas that pervaded the restaurant. My senses and thought processes seemed normal. I sat down.

For a moment, Dani continued looking over the edge of the balcony, down towards the lower floor. He waved to someone below and said to me, "I've visited here before, so the Anatole of this Reality already knows me." Dani sat down at our little table and activated the electronic menu that was built into the table top. We ordered drinks which quickly appeared by teleportation from the kitchen directly to our table.

the Final Reality

I repeated my question. "Tell me, Dani, who are you? How many other positronic robots are hiding in the Final Reality?"

He chuckled, "I'm not allowed to reveal that number. You should not be alarmed... all I've been doing is monitoring events in Eternity."

"And slipping people into Deep Time. Isn't your presence in Eternity a violation of the Pact?"

"Technically, no. You see, Yōd, even at the moment when we passed through the portal, the Final Reality had not yet actually arrived. Earth is still in a rather awkward transition out of the Buld Reality." He lifted his glass. "A toast; to the Final Reality. May it be all that we hope it can be!"

Reality Reviewing

I gently clinked my glass against Dani's. "To the Final Reality."

Dani took a dainty sip from his glass and pointed down towards the lower level and asked me, "Do you recognize anyone?"

I replied, "No, is there-" I was scanning the faces of the patrons below and seemed to recognize a woman. I fell silent then asked, "Is that Roz?"

Dani shook his head, "No, that is the analogue of Roz, a woman named Nyky Dezqui."

Remembering where and when I was, I asked, "Nyky is an Earthling from the Asimov Reality?"

The Ekcolir Intervention

Dani explained, "No, Nyky never went to Earth. That was not her role when she worked on the Ekcolir Intervention." Nyky finally looked up and saw us. Dani waved and signaled to Nyky with a motion of his hand that she should come up to the second level.

I said, "Ekcolir created the Ekcolir Reality? I thought he and Trysta engineered the Reality Change that started the Final Reality."

Trysta and Ekcolir

Dani groaned. "Please don't make me explain all the details about Earth's Reality Chain to you, Yōd. It is horribly complicated. Take my word for it: the Ekcolir Intervention was temporally locked to the Asimov Reality. Both Nyky and Ekcolir were designed in the far future of the Asimov Reality and they were sent far back in time into the Paleolithic where they helped bring into existence what you know as the Ekcolir Reality. Then, it was in that new Reality that Ekcolir met Trysta, allowing establishment of the Trysta-Grean Pact. Eventually, Trysta went into far the past and triggered the Reality Change that ended the Ekcolir Reality."

I shook my head. "I'm confused... are you saying that Ekcolir lived in both of two successive Realities?"

Dani nodded, "During the Time Travel Era, it was easy to protect people, and robots, from Reality Changes. For example, we robots all carried personal temporal field generators... I've lived in several different Realities myself."

Dani and Nyky at Anatole's in the Asimov Reality.

Nyky had come up the stairs and now approached our little table. Dani sprang to his feet and told Nyky, "Please, join us. Allow me to introduce Yōd."

Nyky sat down and nodded to me. Dani pulled a third chair over and sat with us. He told me, "This is Nyky Dezqui, the original analogue of Roz."

Nyky asked Dani, "Who is Roz?"

Dani explained, "Pardon my name dropping, Nyky. Yōd and I were just with Roz a short time ago. Suffice it to say, with your unique combination of human and tryp'At genes, other copies of you have occasionally been made and used as Interventionist agents on Earth."

Nyky laughed at Dani. "I've never heard of such a thing!" She glanced at me and asked, "Where is this copy of me? Roz."

I replied, "I can tell you, but I don't think my answer will make you happy."

"Please... go ahead and tell me. I don't believe anything that Dani tells me, and since you seem to be his friend, my guess is that I'll have no problem also treating what you say as fantasy."

I laughed. "As you like. Dani and I just arrived here from another Reality. Roz is a copy of you who lives in that other Reality.

Dani added, "And I need to be getting back to that Reality, but Yōd is looking for someone here in this Reality... a replicoid named Azynov."

Nyky shrugged. "Let me check my sources." She activated her discre communicator and spoke into the device. "Hi, Luri. Can you do a quick planetary database search for me?"

Luri replied, "Sure, no problem. Target description?"

"A replicoid named Azynov."

"How is that spelled?"

I replied, "A-Z-Y-N-O-V. Limit your search to Alastor Cluster."

"Searching."

Nyky looked up from her discre and smiled at me. "The planetary census indicates that humans now reside on over two hundred thousand exoplanets. That's a lot of people to keep track of."

A moment later, Luri said, "Near proximity hit. A scientist named Voja Azynov Meiklavik... she lived on Alphanor and was the original discoverer of Alastor Cluster."

Nyky held out the discre so that I could see an image of Voja. I told Luri, "My Azynov is male. Restrict your search to exoplanets in Alastor Cluster, in our upwhen."

Luri said, "Okay, I've got some recent hits for an Azynov on planets in the Alastor Cluster. Transmitting."

"Thanks, Luri. I owe you." Nyky broke the connection to Luri and held her discre out towards Dani. "Azynov seems to be exploring multiple worlds in Alastor Cluster."

Dani scanned his robotic eyes over the list of planets and dates. He nodded to Nyky, "Thank you for getting me these coordinates. Who is Luri?"

Nyky waged a finger at Dani, "I should not say anything in front of Yōd. You still have not told me who she is."

Dani laughed, "Relax, Nyky. Yōd is human, not some spy working for the pek."

Nyky said, "Luri works for the Historical Institute, at their headquarters on Earth."

Dani stood up and told me, "Let's go back to the workshop."

Nyky and I stood up and she complained to Dani, "That's it? You are running off again?"

Dani shrugged. "Remember, Nyky, when I suggested you retire here to this time and place, it was with the expectation that you would be able to help me with my work. I do appreciate your resourcefulness... you just gave us what we need. Now, I'll just teleport Yōd to Alastor Cluster, then I'll return here and we can celebrate. I'll buy you dinner."

Nyky laughed. "Don't be a ninny... you can't buy me dinner. Anatole never charges for anything."

"Yes, that's just an old saying, my dear! I'm sure I can find some other way to show you my gratitude."

"That sounds promising." Nyky kissed Dani's cheek. "See you later." We went down to the lower level. Nyky joined her friends while Dani and I departed from Anatole's.

Walking down the street towards the Observer Building, I asked Dani, "What was Nyky's role in the Ekcolir Intervention?"

"Nyky worked from Observer Base, making sure that Ekcolir would have a successful mission on Earth."

"So, she did more than just observe."

being observed

"The Rules of Observation have always been quite relaxed here in this Reality. Nyky could watch Ekcolir and help guide the behavior of one of his contacts on Earth, a woman named Beghi. Beghi and Nyky were telepathically linked Mind Clones."

I suggested, "When you say 'guide', you really mean control."

Dani shrugged. "Let's not quibble over semantics. Nyky made sure that Beghi fell in love with Ekcolir."

I complained, "That's not the sort of thing I want to hear."

Dani took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Ah, me. I can tell that you are excited to be here in this Reality and getting ever closer to your beloved Azynov."

I told Dani, "And I don't need you filling me with doubts and making me wonder why I fell in love with him."

Dani asked, "But isn't the thrill of love at first sight the best kind of love?"

I replied, "Not if that love is pre-programmed and enforced by telepathic emotional control."

Nereids

We'd reached the Observer Building. Dani led the way inside. I had the feeling that he was eager to get rid of me. He said, "But my dear Yōd, why do you think the Nereids so carefully crafted human emotions?"

We went to the polie. "I don't want to believe that humans were designed to make it easy for Interventionists to control our emotions."

We rode up the polie to the top floor. Dani put an arm around my shoulders as we walked through the dim tunnel that led to Grean's workshop. "You humans were also given the ability to believe whatever you want to believe. If you like, imagine that your love for Azynov is a miraculous blessing."

We dropped down into Grean's Workshop. Dani handed me a small vial of infites. "These infites are for you. They will allow you to lock yourself to Azynov. When you find him, open this vial and you will be permanently linked to him. He has the ability to move freely through this simulation, and once you activate these linker nanites, you will always stay with him." Dani must have telepathically entered my target coordinates into the control system of the workshop. He gestured towards the upwhen time kettle. "Just a short trip upwhen, then when you arrive in the upwhen, use the long range teleporter. I've already set the controls to transmit you to the planet in Alastor Cluster where Azynov is investigating the genetics of human telepathy. I hope you both find what you are searching for."

Noÿs Lambent and Andrew Harlan beside a time kettle.

"Thank you." I took a step towards the kettle, but Dani still had a hand on my arm.

Dani told me, "I feel it is only fair to warn you. Now that you know about my existence in the Final Reality, I'm going to have to put a lock on your memories of having met me. You will not be able to share with anyone your knowledge of my existence until I complete my work at Observer Base."

I asked, "When will that be?"

Azynov

"I can't say." Dani winked at me. "I only have limited information about my mission in order to avoid time paradox conflicts. Farewell!"

I entered into the time kettle and was sent upwhen to the time that Dani had selected for me to meet up with Azynov. I had no trouble teleporting to Alastor Cluster and there was Azynov, surprised and pleased that I had found him. I didn't even care if my joy from our reunion was artificial and pre-programmed.

Next: rate of change

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