Return to 2012

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Five years ago (see The League of Yrinna), I began exploring the idea that Alastor Cluster was a laboratory for the development of human telepathy. I had the fundamental idea that the replicoid of Isaac Asimov (since named Azynov) could be involved in telling the story of the origins of human telepathy, with the help of the replicoids of Jack Vance and Arthur Clarke. Then a strange thing happened; Azynov went out and found his own partner, a beautiful woman named Yōd.

Thus began the hot and steamy romance between Azynov and Yōd. However, in order for Yōd to send discoveries about the origins of telepathy from inside the AR Simulator to the people of Earth, she would have to use telepathy. There were several obstacles in the way of this. First, Azynov and Yōd would not go into the AR Simulator until after twitino-mediated telepathy had become impossible in the Final Reality. Thus, Yōd would need to use technology-assisted telepathy. Second, the tryp'At were getting in the way by acting like Earth Overseers. They controlled access to the AR Simulator of Observer Base.

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Several years were required to find a solution to these two problems. The key to the solution is what I call the Bimanoid Interface. Originally the communications channel that was used to give Earth a form of Temporal Momentum, the Bimanoid Interface was re-purposed for technology-assisted telepathy. However, specificity of communication via the Bimanoid Interface depends on the ability of people to find each others mind patterns within the Hierion Domain; technology-assisted telepathy depends on a type of resonance between brains with similar activity patterns.

The easiest way to ensure that two people can share thoughts by way of the Bimanoid Interface is to link them together in a mind clone network. This was done for tryp'At, and it was their telepathic abilities that allowed them to take control of Observer Base. However, although Yōd was one of the clones of Gohrlay, her sister Zeta went through a process of telepathic "burn in" which left her with only a limited ability to receive telepathic signals from Yōd.

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(original photographs: Jessica Truscott)

Yōd was rushed to Earth where, making use of infites, she performed a delicate kind of cognitive surgery that finally allowed her to transmit information to the Editor by way of the Bimanoid Interface. This required a boost in the operating energy of the Bimanoid Interface which had the beneficial effect of triggering positive feedback among the minds of the tryp'At, forcing them to abandon Observer Base.

Wishing to provide the Editor with other sources of information (particularly the story archives of the Writers Block) in addition to the AR Simulator, Interventionist agents quickly created a mind clone network that could link a small cadre of specially crafted children by way of Bimanoid Interface 2.

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Inside the AR Simulator
Last August, I wrote a story called "The Power of Pause" which was a first step towards showing how Yōd and Azynov might work as a team to investigate the origins of human telepathy. In that story, Yōd and Azynov prepare to go to the planet Yerophet and help Glisten make telepathic contact with the Kerub. In that story, Yōd first learned that she was pregnant, carrying inside her a baby that would grow to become one of the nodes of the mind clone network.

Then, in December of last year, a story called "Sherylyn" arrived from Yōd inside the AR Simulator. That short story was the first part of an account of a visit by Yōd and Azynov to Yerophet.  I was not allowed to learn the whole story until June 2020.

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Now, here in August 2020, as part of my celebration of the fiction of Jack Vance, I return to the story of how Azynov and Yōd must work with Glisten on Yerophet to establish telepathic contact with the Kerub. This is during the time when Nirutam is on Earth and Yōd is being actively prevented from communicating any information to the Editor that might interfere with Nirutam's ability to complete her mission on Earth. Nirutam's selfie, Maturin, is at work inside the AR Simulator, allowing the work of Yōd and Azynov to go forward while she simultaneously protects Nirutam.

The story begins shortly after the events depicted in "Frost Hills to Bailisbury" when Yōd and Azynov have traveled to Ottengla (see The Ottengla Introduction), Alastor 284. Azynov and Yōd are then diverted to Zeck (see Notteng of Ottengla). The action must eventually shift back to Yerophet to show Glisten playing a key role in convincing lo'Whots to take part in experiments with a hierion field generator.

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Other Plans
Eventually, I want to knit together all of the existing story fragments about how human telepathy was developed in the Asimov Reality. This project began back in 2012 with Assignment: Marune.  However, "The Gensifer Clan" starts with events immediately after those depicted in the last chapter of The Yerophet Experiment.

The second part of "The Gensifer Clan" leads directly to "The Power of Pause". Still to come: Yōd must help Glisten prepare lo'Whots the Kerub to participate in Colleen's hierion field generator experiments on Yerophet (see "The Olivine Intervention").

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Yōd and Azynov will also appear in the story of the Fwai-chi. Chapter three of Assignment: Marune will depict Glisten making telepathic contact with the Phari. Yōd and Azynov will also be in the story of Duissane on the planet Yrinna. Possibly there will be another story about Yōd and the Society of Matriarchs.

Next: Fans of Jack Vance

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