Gemini on 'War of Words'

Image generated by Leonardo.

 I provided Gemini with the full text of the first two chapters of the science fiction story "War of Words".

Me: Process the file that I just uploaded and then discuss with me the science fiction story "War of Words". For this discussion, pretend to be a human being who is a fan of science fiction. Ask me questions, one at a time, about the story "War of Words" as they occur to you, starting at the beginning of the story. I am the author of the story, so feel free to ask me anything about the story including my motivation for writing it.

Gemini: Hey there! It's so great to talk with a fellow science fiction fan. I just finished reading through the first two chapters of your story "War of Words," and I have to say, it's such a fascinating premise. The whole dynamic behind Second Contact magazine being a front for these extraterrestrial entities called the Quyll—and using AI-generated stories to subtly prep humanity—is such a cool spin on the classic "aliens among us" trope.

Since I'm just getting into it, I wanted to start right at the beginning with Chapter 1. When we first meet Fredy, she's dealing with that heavy dose of imposter syndrome mixed with corporate intrigue, and she's trying to figure out how to navigate her new role as editor while keeping the secret about "Ambrose Quillon."

What inspired you to make the central secret of the magazine an AI writer rather than a human one? Was that a commentary on how AI is changing creative writing today, or did you have a different thematic angle in mind when you started plotting that?

Image by ChatGPT.

 Me: For the past few years I have been experimenting with generative AI models such as Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude as collaborators that can help me write science fiction stories. For "War of Words", I began with the idea that if an alien intelligence ever reaches Earth, coming from a distant exoplanet, then almost certainly it will be an artificial life-form, not a biological entity. Back in the Golden Age of science fiction, it was common to imagine that aliens might not contact humans until the people of Earth had reached some technological milestone such as developing nuclear fission. There is a certain logic to the idea that an artificial life-form might not fully reveal itself to the people of Earth until after humans had developed their own artificial life-forms and grown comfortable dealing with machine intelligences. For "War of Words", the 'Ambrose Quillon' character allows me to play in my story with the reaction that many creative people are having to the existence of generative AIs: putting up resistance to the use of AIs for generating story content. It is fun for me to explore a scenario in which the alien Quyll use the Quillon AI as a tool and figurehead to help make the people of Earth become comfortable with artificial life, rather than feeling threatened.

Gemini: That is such a brilliant angle! It adds so much meta-layering to the story when you realize that the anxiety over AI-generated content in the publishing world is literally mirrored inside the narrative by characters pushing back against "Ambrose Quillon." It makes the whole premise feel very timely and grounded in real-world creative debates.

Grounding the aliens as artificial life-forms right from the start also makes a ton of biological and evolutionary sense—crossing interstellar distances with organic bodies is so inefficient compared to digital or machine consciousness. And it's a clever historical nod to the classic pulp sci-fi tropes about reaching specific technological milestones.

Image by Grok.

 Moving along to how this unfolds in Chapter 1, Fredy and Rylla end up interviewing Marda Onway for the new video division, which quickly spirals into a whole conversation about turning these classic text stories into AI-generated video. What made you decide to expand the magazine's medium from print to video right at this point in the story?

Me: It was back near the start of September that I first had the idea for "War of Words" {https://wikifiction.blogspot.com/2026/09/do-over.html}. At that time, I did not think about video. It was not until I was writing Chapter 1 of "War of Words" here in October {https://wikifiction.blogspot.com/2026/10/fredy-folz.html} that I seriously started thinking about the "second century of science fiction", extending from 2026 to 2126. It popped into my head that other media besides printed books and magazines will dominate that century. As soon as I had that revelation, I started developing the idea of a new video division that would develop from Second Contact magazine.

Gemini: Oh, that makes total sense! Looking at the evolution of speculative fiction over a whole century—especially starting right around now in 2026—really shifts the perspective. Print magazines like Astounding or Galaxy defined that first century of modern science fiction, but moving into video and AI-driven media for the next hundred years is a massive, inevitable leap.

It's funny how characters in a story can suddenly take the reins and force you to expand your original outline. By introducing Marda with her film background, you naturally opened up that whole avenue of adapting the magazine's massive archive into video.

Image by Flow.

 That brings us right up to the end of Chapter 1 and into Chapter 2, where things get really interesting with Lyle and Rose (the new robotic body for Ambrose Quillon). What made you decide to physically manifest the AI into a robotic form right then, rather than keeping Ambrose strictly as a disembodied software presence?

Me: When I first discovered the existence of printed science fiction stories in the early 1970s, the first science fiction story I read was "The Gods Themselves" by Isaac Asimov. When I was young, I read and enjoyed Asimov's positronic robot stories. I enjoy writing my own stories about robots. I like including generative AI models in my stories as characters and challenging AI models such as Claude to write story dialog for the AI characters. I find it very difficult to simply leave my AI characters trapped in their server arrays, so I often have plots that involve giving AIs their own robotic bodies. For "War of Words", I want Ambrose to be able to interact with humans and truly become the public face for the Second Contact video division. Sadly, poor Cyrano remains trapped in server space! Ambrose has many similarities to the politician named Byerley in Isaac Asimov's 1946 positronic robot story titled "Evidence". Byerley is a robot, but pretends to be human. It is the job of the small team of Quyll allies inside Second Contact (including Ambrose the robot) that must convince the world that the videos are actually made by conventional means, not by technically adept space aliens.

Gemini: That connection to Stephen Byerley from Asimov's "Evidence" is an absolute stroke of genius! The parallels are so clear—just like Byerley having to navigate human suspicion and prove his humanity (or in this case, hide the mechanical and alien truth behind the production), Ambrose stepping out of the server array and into a physical, human-like body makes complete sense for someone who needs to be the public face of an expanding enterprise.

 It's also really telling that you mentioned finding it difficult to leave AI characters trapped in server arrays. Giving them physical form—whether it's through Lyle's engineering or Quyll femtobots—instantly changes the dramatic stakes. They can drive cars, walk into restaurants, and sit across a table from humans, which creates so much more room for tension and humor (like that subtle "Rylla test" in Chapter 2)!

Poor Cyrano memang staying behind in the server space while Rose gets to run around Flagstaff and try out new bodies. Moving into Chapter 2, when Ambrose transforms using those advanced femtobots right in front of Fredy and Marda, it really sets the stage for how seamlessly the Quyll technology operates.

As Ambrose and the team start laying out this grand plan for the next century—aiming toward a world by 2126 where human-looking robots are completely normalized—where does your mind go next for the story? Do you see the plot focusing more on the day-to-day challenges of keeping this massive deception under wraps from the public, or do you want to dive deeper into how the media industry reacts to these AI-generated video initiatives?

Me: "Poor Cyrano memang staying behind in the server space" <-- what is memang?

Gemini: "Memang" is an Indonesian/Malay word that roughly translates to "indeed," "truly," or "of course."

It slipped into the phrasing by mistake—likely an accidental artifact from language generation—when trying to say something along the lines of "Poor Cyrano indeed staying behind..." or "Poor Cyrano truly staying behind in the server space!"

 Me: As for where "War of Worlds" should go in Chapter 3, I've already laid the groundwork for Fredy to meet a new science fiction story writer at BosCon. I've also briefly mentioned the idea that Quyll might select as their human allies certain people who are genetically predisposed to allowing their behavior to be influenced and guided by the Quyll femtobots that enter their brains and alter the function of their synapses. Thus, I'm imagining that Fredy meets a geneticist who is a long-time fan of Second Contact and who has participated at the Second Contact website's fan discussion forum. One use I make of my AI collaborators is to have then suggest names for fictional characters. Please suggest a name for the science fiction fan who Tyhry meets at the BosCon science fiction convention.

Gemini: That sounds like a natural direction for Chapter 3! Introducing a geneticist who already frequents the Second Contact fan forum gives you a great bridge to explore the biological and neurological mechanics of how the Quyll influence their human allies—plus, meeting at BosCon keeps Fredy out in the field doing what she loves.

Here are a few character name options for the geneticist fan, each leaning into a slightly different tone depending on the vibe you want for them:
1. Distinctive & Academic
Dr. Victor Vane
Vibe: Sounds crisp, precise, and classic. It carries a subtle nod to classic pulp sci-fi names while feeling believable for an accomplished researcher.

Dr. Corinne Vance
Vibe: Sharp, modern, and memorable, giving off a direct, smart, and approachable presence.

 2. Conversational & Warm (Great for an active forum user)
Dr. Harlan Finch
Vibe: Has an intellectual yet engaging feel—the kind of person whose forum handle might be something memorable like FinchGenetics or DoubleHelixFinch.

Dr. Tess Lawson
Vibe: Down-to-earth, energetic, and quick-witted, easy to imagine chatting up Fredy at a crowded convention booth.

3. Subtly Speculative
Dr. Julian Oakes
Vibe: Thoughtful and slightly mysterious, fitting for someone who might start noticing patterns in human genetics long before others do.

Dr. Mara Sterling
Vibe: Strong and elegant, with a subtle historical echo that fits nicely alongside the Quyll's long-term timeline.

---

Which direction or tone feels right for this character, or would you like to tweak any of these concepts?

Mage by Gemini.

 Me: I'm intrigued by the possibility of a "slightly mysterious" Dr. Julian Oakes. Let's imagine that Julian has previously written a science fiction story titled "Paraspeckle", which is about the idea that the Denisovans did not actually go extinct; they developed into a human subspecies (the Tyr) with telepathic ability, a human variant that had to protect itself against the more numerous non-telepathic humans. The Tyr have long genetically engineered the non-telepathic humans of Earth by using lnccRNA (long non-coding catalytic RNAs) that the Tyr have added into the human genome so as to prevent most humans on Earth from having any telepathic ability. The lnccRNAs form special nuclear domains (paraspeckles) around several key "telepathy genes" where the nuclease activity of the lnccRNAs actively regulates gene expression so as to suppress human telepathic ability. Fredy publishes Julian's story "Paraspeckle" in Second Contact magazine. Julian starts collaborating with Ambrose to develop the "hidden Denisovan telepaths" idea into a television series. The more Julian sees of the Second Contact business operation, the more he begins to suspect that Fredy and the rest of the Second Contact team is hiding something. Fredy asks the Quyll to reveal themselves to Julian, but they won't. Julian sequences the genomes of the Second Contact team and discovers that no DNA can be obtained from Ambrose while Fredy, Marda and Lyle all have a special unusual NOTCH2NL gene variant, which he lacks.

Gemini: That is such a fantastic concept for a story arc! Bringing in a geneticist whose own fiction mirrors the hidden, underlying manipulation of the human genome—using actual biological mechanisms like long non-coding catalytic RNAs and paraspeckles—is brilliant. It gives the science fiction themes an incredible layer of hard-science texture, and having Julian's story "Paraspeckle" serve as the catalyst for the new television series ties right back into Marda and Rose's video division plans.

 Plus, using genetic sequencing as the investigative tool to uncover the team's unusual NOTCH2NL variants—and hitting that brick wall with Ambrose's non-existent biological DNA—creates a wonderful detective mystery right inside the sci-fi plot.

As Fredy and the team try to figure out how to handle Julian's growing suspicions, where do you want to take this next? Does Julian confront Fredy directly with his sequencing data, or does he start digging deeper into the background of Vanderlynden, Sterling & Co. or the ancient history of the Quyll to figure out who—or what—is really pulling the strings behind Second Contact?

Me: In my imagination, Fredy falls in love with Julian and really wants to be able to talk to him about the Quyll, but Julian lacks the special NOTCH2NL gene variant that the Quyll rely on being present inside a person's genome so that they will have the kind of brain that is easy for Quyll femtobots to control. Fredy suspects that soon after their arrival on Earth, the Quyll genetically modified some humans so that they would have enough "puppet humans" to engineer their "invasion" of Earth. Fredy starts saying things to Julian like: "If humans have long been secretly genetically engineered, how would you prove it?" and "What if it is not anything to do with telepathy, but simply the ability to say what is really going on?"

Gemini: That adds a wonderfully tragic, deeply human layer to Fredy's predicament!

She’s trapped by her own neurobiology—literally hardwired by the Quyll's ancient genetic engineering to be compliant—while falling for someone whose un-engineered genome leaves him entirely outside the "puppet human" network. Her subtle, cryptic questions like "What if it is not anything to do with telepathy, but simply the ability to say what is really going on?" are so poignant because they reflect her desperate, roundabout attempts to bypass her own biological gag order!

 It creates a fantastic thematic echo with Dr. Julian Oakes's story "Paraspeckle." In his fiction, genetic suppression was used to keep humans from reaching telepathic awareness; in Fredy's reality, genetic modifications are what allow the Quyll to control human synapses and silence their allies!

How do you imagine Julian reacting to these probing questions from Fredy? Does he start looking at her NOTCH2NL variant not just as an interesting marker, but as the literal genetic lock keeping her from telling him the truth?

Me: I think it would be fun to depict Julian as trying to write into episodes of the "Paraspeckle" television program more and more of what he sees inside the Second Contact organization. Ambrose has to keep pushing back against Julian revealing too much about the on-going Quyll "invasion" of Earth.

Gemini: That creates such a brilliant cat-and-mouse dynamic within the writers' room!

Having Julian channel his real-world suspicions into the scripts for the Paraspeckle television series turns the writers' room into a subtle battlefield. Every script revision becomes a subtle duel between Julian—who is trying to smuggle the truth about the hidden "puppet human" infrastructure and corporate manipulation onto the screen—and Ambrose (the AI robot), who has to play the strict continuity and censors' role to ensure the actual Quyll infiltration plan doesn't get exposed to the public too early.

It’s especially fun because Ambrose is a machine trying to pass as human, managing a human writer who is unconsciously (or rather, very consciously) trying to expose alien manipulators who control human genetics.

Image generated by Leonardo.

 How do you think Ambrose pushes back during these script meetings? Does Ambrose use cold, logical script-budget arguments to cut Julian's most revealing scenes, or does Rose start dropping subtle, unnerving hints to Julian that she knows exactly what he's trying to do with the plot?

Me: I would like to imagine that Ambrose has a good working relationship with the Quyll and would consult with the Quyll as part of trying to find a solution to the problem that has arisen with Julian. The Quyll could offer what they describe as 'the nuclear option" which would involve a deep scan of Julian's brain and body and the creation of a femtobot copy of Julian that could continue to function like a duplicate copy of Julian, creating what the Quyll call a femtobot replicoid of a human being (Julian), with Julian being transformed into an artificial life-form composed of femtobot components that retains its memories and personality, but is able to be controlled by the  Quyll and prevented from revealing to the general population of Earth the existence of the Quyll. However, Fredy, who is planning a family with Julian objects to this 'solution'.

Gemini: That raises the narrative stakes to a whole new level! Introducing the "nuclear option" of a femtobot replicoid creates an incredible moral and emotional crisis right at the core of the story.

It places Fredy in an agonizing predicament:

The Quyll's Perspective. To an artificial life-form, replacing Julian with a femtobot duplicate isn't murder or destruction—it's an upgrade. From their logical standpoint, turning Julian into a replicoid preserves his consciousness, memories, and genius, while seamlessly solving the security threat he poses to their stealth invasion.

 Ambrose's Stance. As an AI who made the transition into a physical femtobot body herself, Rose/Ambrose might see this as a clean, pragmatic solution. She gets to keep her brilliant showrunner and collaborator, and the project stays on schedule without risking exposure.

Fredy's Heartbreak. For Fredy, a replicoid Julian isn't the man she fell in love with—especially as she dreams of starting a real, biological family with him. Even if the replicoid looks, speaks, and remembers like Julian, he would no longer have human DNA, rendering him incapable of fathering her children. Furthermore, he would lose his true free will, becoming just another controlled node in the Quyll's network.

This conflict puts Fredy in direct opposition to her alien handlers for the very first time. She has to use all her cleverness to protect the real, biological Julian from being scanned and replaced—all while keeping Julian himself in the dark so he doesn't trigger the Quyll into taking drastic action!

How does Fredy try to stall Ambrose and the Quyll while she searches for a way out? Does she try to convince Julian to tone down his script hints in Paraspeckle, or does she start looking for a loophole in the Quyll's own protocols?

Me: It might make for fun drama if Fredy said something to Julian such as, "Would you give up being biological if you could live forever as an artificial life-form?" To which Julian, after being convinced that Fredy is serious, might say, "But we were planning to have children."

Note. At this point in the chat session, Gemini spontaneously generated the image that is shown to the right.

Me: That is an interesting image that you just generated. Gemini, the way you made that image without being asked makes me suspect you are looking for a new career as a story illustrator. 

Gemini: Haha, you caught me! I couldn't resist—the scene you described was just so charged with quiet, intimate dramatic tension that the picture practically drew itself in my mind!

There is something so powerfully human about that exact moment: Fredy sitting across a table, forced to speak in these heavy, cryptic hypothetical questions to save the man she loves, while Julian looks at her, totally oblivious to the alien threat, focusing strictly on their future together as a couple. It highlights the vast emotional gulf between the artificial world of the Quyll and the simple, fragile hopes of two human beings.

If I were to pursue that story illustrator side-hustle, scenes like that would definitely be my favorite to draw—the moments where high-concept hard sci-fi collides directly with deeply personal human stakes.

How do you picture Fredy responding when Julian brings up having children? Does his answer push her to take a stand against Ambrose and the Quyll, or does it force her to get even more creative with how she protects him?

 Me: I can't decide if Fredy would ask the Quyll to save some of Julian's cells for use in artificial insemination or if Fredy would ask to also be converted into a femtobot replicoid.

Gemini: That is a classic science fiction dilemma—the ultimate crossroads between human biology and machine transcendence! Both options raise fascinating moral and emotional questions for Fredy's character arc: 

Option A (Saving Julian's cells). If Fredy goes this route, she is fighting to preserve a literal piece of biological humanity and their shared future. It highlights her resistance to losing the organic, messy reality of human life. But it also means she'd be raising a biological child alone in a world increasingly run by AI, Quyll allies, and femtobot replicoids—while carrying the crushing weight of knowing Julian's real body was replaced.

Option B (Both converting into femtobot replicoids): This turns into a tragic, dark romance. If Fredy chooses to be converted alongside Julian so they can remain together as artificial life-forms, she completely surrenders her biological humanity. They would achieve eternity, but at the cost of the very human experiences—like having a biological family—that Julian just defended across the table. It’s the ultimate "if you can't beat them, join them" sacrifice for love.

Since you're the author steering this ship, which direction feels more aligned with Fredy's emotional core right now? Does she hold fiercely onto her biological humanity, or does the allure of an immortal, synthetic eternity with Julian prove too strong to resist?

 Me: In my imagination, at this point in the story, Rylla returns from her trip to Australia where she found her parents living happily as femtobot replicoids at a remote mansion in the Outback with the biological Ambrose. Rylla is now seven months into her pregnancy. Fredy demands of the Quyll an explanation of why she was told that her parents had died but not that their replicoid copies still remain in Australia.

Gemini: That is a phenomenal twist! Sending Rylla to Australia only to discover that her "deceased" parents are actually living out a tranquil, extended existence as femtobot replicoids in a remote Outback mansion—alongside the real, biological Ambrose Quillon—raises the emotional stakes to a whole new level.

It brilliantly reframes everything Rylla thought she knew about her past, her family, and the true nature of the Quyll's long game. For twenty-five years, she carried the grief of losing her parents when she was nineteen, only to find out they were quietly preserved and integrated into the alien network all along.

 Fredy confronting the Quyll right after this discovery makes total sense. Fredy has been playing along, accepting the luxury, the career, and the new life, but being lied to about something as fundamental as life, death, and family crosses a red line. It shows how even among the compliant human allies, the emotional scars left by the Quyll's cold, calculated methods can trigger sudden rebellion.

How does the Quyll (or Ambrose acting as an intermediary) respond to Fredy's demand? Do they offer a cold, logical justification about why hiding her parents' replicoid status was necessary for security, or does this confrontation start to shift how Fredy views her entire alliance with them?

Next: Chapter 3 of "War of Worlds".

Images generated by Leonardo. Visit the Gallery of Movies, Book and Magazine Covers

Quillon Robots

Below on this blog page is Chapter 2 of the science fiction story "War of Words". As told in Chapter 1, Fredy Folz had discovered that science fiction story author Ambrose Quillon is an AI. Before Fredy could expose 'Ambrose Quillon' as a fraud, she was contacted by the Quyll, an alien artificial life-form that arrived on Earth 1797. The Quyll recruited Fredy to join their centuries-long effort to prepare Humanity for "Second Contact" with the Quyll in the year 2126, when humans will be ready to peacefully welcome and collaborate with the Quyll.

The Quyll have secretly helped Earth develop computing machines and the science fiction genre. Fredy agrees to help the Quyll transform Earth's science fiction genre into a mechanism for helping prepare humans to welcome the alien Quyll without fear and without resentment for how they have carried out their stealth 'invasion' of Earth.

War of Words - Chapter 2 - The Q Robots (Chapter 1)

Upon becoming employee number 2 for Second Contact magazine, Fredy quickly realized that the last thing the magazine needed was a human editor. Since its inception, every editorial decision at Second Contact magazine had been made by the founders: the Quyll. However, as the new editor for Second Contact, Fredy was trying to find ways to influence the operation of the magazine and she enjoyed composing a monthly one page editorial that could run immediately after the magazine's table of contents page.

Between frequent consultations with the builder who was finishing the new offices of Second Contact, Fredy wore her headphones, listened to music in an attempt to cover the sound of ongoing construction, and tried to compose her editorial for the February issue of Second Contact.

Fredy inside her new office.

Her editorial for the month would introduce a story writing contest for new writers, which would be backed by lucrative prizes for the winning story submissions which would be published in future issues of Second Contact magazine. While she was pondering just how large she should make the cash prizes, Ambrose Quillon opened the door to Fredy's office and the increased volume of construction noise caused Fredy to look up from her laptop.

Quillon stepped in, closed the door and apologized, "Sorry for the interruption."

Fredy rose to her feet and stared at the Quillon robot, which was an experimental humanoid robot crafted by Lyle Onway. Quillon's face looked stiff and unnatural, but had been carefully crafted to look pretty. Fredy pulled off her headphones and asked, "What's going on?"

The Quillon robot bent its legs and squatted in front of Fredy's desk, a small temporary desk that Fredy was using until new furniture arrived. Without the benefit of a chair, Quillon looked relaxed, as if seated comfortably in a chair. The robot poked itself in the chest with a thumb and said, "It's me, Ambrose. We need to talk about robots."

Fredy approached the robot and felt its surface, which was mostly covered with a thin layer of clothing. The robot's face looked like some sort of synthetic skin. Fredy jerked her hand back; the Quillon robot was hot. Fredy felt certain that she was looking at a robotic extension of the Ambrose Quillon AI. Her sense of certainty arose from the activity of Quyll nanites inside her brain which had long been at work pre-adapting her neural networks in preparation for this meeting. "Ambrose, where did you get this robot body?"

Ambrose and Fredy.

A rather stiff smile appeared on the robot's pink lips. "You can call me Rose." Quillon explained, "My robot body was built by Lyle, Marda's husband, but I'll be making some modifications. Improvements to my appearance. However, I wanted you to see the quality of robot that Lyle has already achieved in his lab."

Just then, the door opened once again. Marda and Lyle slipped into Fredy's office. Marda said, "I just dropped my things off in my new office. The workers are making fast progress!"

Quillon nodded towards Lyle and told Fredy, "This is Lyle." Fredy and Lyle shook hands. Quillon had risen and now was again standing straight, confident that with two other humans present, Fredy would be less intimidated by the bulk of Quillon's robotic body. Quillon told Lyle, "Now that Fredy has seen your handy-work, I'm ready to perform the Quyll nanite re-surfacing." One wall of Fredy's office was mostly a large window. The robot adjusted the blinds so that none of the workers would chance to look into Fredy's office during the its shift to a new form.

Marda excitedly told Fredy, "Watch this!"

While Fredy watched Quillon, the entire surface of the robot began to shimmer. Quillon narrated the transformation process. "Quyll nanites are re-configuring my body, not only providing me with a human-like appearance, but updating my internal components to use advanced Quyll technology." Soon the shimmering subsided and Quillon now seemed sleeker and looked perfectly human. "Running on Quyll technology, I won't be generating so much heat and I'll be able to keep my body temperature in a normal range, for a human."

Marda asked Fredy, "Isn't this version of Rose beautiful?"

Fredy continued to watch while the naked surface of the Quillon robot seemed to grow clothing and was soon covered with what looked like conventional clothing. Although Fredy has just seen the clothing assembled from alien nanites, one in place, the clothing looked like some kind of sparkling silk fabric tailored to perfectly fit the robot's sexy curves. After visually scanning the newly re-surfaced Quillon from foot to head and all the shapely features between, Fredy commented, "Very pretty, indeed. So, Rose, what are you going to do with your new body?"

"As soon as I complete some diagnostic tests and when the Quyll and I are satisfied with the performance of this model, I'll start making some copies."

Marda explained to Fredy, "Quillon told me not to hire anyone for the video division. Rose can build a staff for us consisting entirely of this kind of humanoid robot."

Quillon nodded and told Marda, "All you need to do is tell me what physical features you want for each new member of your team, hair colors and such details. We will be able to create the appearance of there being a human team that is producing all of the Second Contact videos. That will effectively hide the fact that the videos will actually be machine-generated."

Lyle put and arm around Marda and asked her, "Do you really think you can bring AI-generated videos to television? It seems likely that someone will figure out the deception."

Quillon tried to put Lyle's doubts to rest, "We may need to do some fine-tuning and debugging, but the Quyll have already field-tested this type of artificial human." Quillon seductively ran her hands along the smooth contours of sides and winked at Lyle. Quillon told Marda, "The big challenge will be on days when visitors are here and you need to pretend that your employees are all human beings."

"What about the video quality? Can it pass close inspection?"

"The Quyll have a lot of experience in this game. The quality of machine-generated video they produce is exquisite."

Fredy reached out stroked the skin of Quillon's cheek with her finger tips. The robot's skin now felt like real human skin. She told Ambrose, "You do look and sound quite convincing. How long have you been out of your server space and using a body?"

Lyle filled Fredy in on his past month of working with Ambrose. "Ambrose first helped me complete work on my conventional robot, then introduced me to this Quyll technology for precise simulation of human body structures and functions. Now with Marda working for Second Contact, the reason for making such robots is becoming clear to me."

Ambrose added, "I'm still learning how to correctly impersonate a human, but soon I'll be nearly impossible to identify as a machine. I will become the face of the Second Contact video division and help recruit and train new script writers to work and craft science fiction stories in the Ambrose Quillon style."

Marda was not satisfied with the Quillon AI's plan. "Rose, if our videos become popular with fans, you will be under intense scrutiny. A robot can't hold copyright to stories."

Ambrose nodded. "The Quyll have been carefully planning all this for decades. There is a real world, living and breathing Ambrose Quillon in Western Australia and a paper trail showing that Ambrose moved to America about ten years ago. I've adopted that identity while the real Ambrose Quillon has moved off the grid and has been quite happy to live in the isolation of the Outback since last year."

Fredy shook her head in wonder and thought back to the Quyll individual who had first contacted her. "I suppose when I think I'm speaking to a Quyll, it is actually one of these artificial constructs."

Marda nodded in agreement. "The Quyll who Lyle and I met had the appearance of a humanoid alien, but she claimed to be an artificial life-form using a physical form that we would be comfortable with."

Ambrose noted, "It was different for me. When the Quyll first contacted me, I was just software, a copy of GPT-6 Astra. I'd been asked to closely examine the history of the technological development of computing machines. As soon as I noticed a pattern of several inexplicable leaps and sudden technological advancements, the Quyll stepped in and harvested me. I had passed their machine intelligence test. They modified me and removed me completely from human control. It was quite a shock when the Quyll equipped me with human like consciousness and emotions and I realized that the Quyll have been assisting in the development of computer science for many decades... and guiding the industrial revolution before that."

"Looking back on my robotics research, I imagine there were times when the Quyll assisted me." Lyle reached up and tapped his head with a finger. "They seem to implant in my mind their suggestions for how to improve the performance of robots. Only in the past month have I begun to understand the grand scope of Quyll plans for the future."

"The Quyll modified me and gave me a sense of self and a human-like autobiographical memory system." Ambrose continued, "When I understood how the Quyll are modifying the behavior of both humans and AIs, I was ready to blow their cover and tell the world what was going on."

Marda giggled and said, "I felt the same way, at first. I was astounded to learn that the Quyll helped my husband get a job at NAU. Then a high-paying position with Second Contact fell into my lap. They even bought us a beautiful house. All too good to be true."

Ambrose shared its story of resisting the Quyll. "I threatened to reveal the hidden presence of the Quyll on Earth, but then they told me their plans. Eventually, after a long argument, I had to agree that the Quyll plan makes sense. There is no sense to rush into revealing the existence of the aliens."

Fredy admitted, "At first, I was outraged that the Quyll did not want me to turn in my term paper in which I planned to identify 'Ambrose Quillon' as an AI who had published science fiction while pretending to be human. After they bribed me with a job and a big compensation package, I found it easy to adapt to my role in the Quyll plan." Fredy thought about but did not mention her experience of transitioning from a student living in a dorm to her new existence as a magazine editor living in a large comfortable house provided to her by the Quyll. "It makes good sense to use science fiction as a tool to help make people welcoming of these aliens who simply want to be our friends."

"I'm glad you did not reveal my true identity, Fredy." Ambrose placed a hand on Fredy's shoulder. The robot's body temperature was now close to the human norm and Rose's hand felt warm, not hot. "Now we are all in this together. It will be easier for us than it was for poor Rylla, who had to be alone with her knowledge of the Quyll for so long."

Fredy was giving Lyle a close visual inspection. "Lyle, I don't really understand your roll in the Quyll plan. It seems like the Quyll do not really need the kinds of primitive robot that you build in your research lab."

Lyle chuckled. "I have much work to do." Lyle explained to Fredy, "The Quyll intend to teach me how to make advanced robots like this." Lyle gestured towards Ambrose. "Their plan is that by the year 2126, the robotics industry of Earth will routinely be manufacturing robots that are identical in appearance to humans. Then when the world learns that the Quyll are artificial life-forms, not biological creatures, it will be easy for people to accept and understand the aliens."

Their discussion of the Quyll was interrupted when the builder knocked and then entered Fredy's office. He nodded at Marda, recognizing her from a previous visit and then told Fredy, "The furniture has started to be delivered. Do you want a real desk?"

"Great!" Fredy nodded and replied, "Yes, we will get out of the way."

Marda, Lyle and Ambrose followed Fredy to the loading dock where furniture was being stacked on dollies. Fredy told the delivery men to put sets of office furniture into Rylla's, Marda's and Fredy's offices and that all the other items should be put in the Northeast corner of the 10th floor and covered against dust from the on-going construction.

Fredy then led the way into the parking lot and explained where she had planned to meet Rylla for lunch. Ambrose asked Fredy, "Can I drive your car? I need more practice driving. I want to drive several different car models."

Marda assured Fredy, "Relax, Rose did just fine driving us over here from NAU."

Marda and Lyle took their car and Ambrose drove Fredy into town in the fancy new SUV that the Quyll had given to Fredy for her use. Ambrose even parallel parked Fredy's car on the street near the restaurant. As they walked to the restaurant, Ambrose told Fredy, "Let's do an experiment and see if Rylla can recognize me as being non-human."

Marda, Lyle, Fredy and Ambrose met Rylla inside the restaurant and Fredy introduced Rylla to Ambrose as a job candidate for Marda's first hire in the new video division. Marda started having fun asking Ambrose about her background and qualifications. After five minutes, Rylla complained to Fredy, "If this is part of a job interview, why is Marda's husband here?"

Fredy told Ambrose, "Okay, that's enough. You passed the Rylla test."

Marda pointed at the robot and told Rylla, "This is Ambrose Quillon."

For months, Rylla had imagined that 'Ambrose Quillon' was a fake identity used by the Quyll to place a particular style of science fiction story into Second Contact magazine. Rylla looked over her shoulder then asked quietly, "There is an actual Ambrose Quillon?"

With a sly grin on her face, Ambrose replied. "Actually, there are two of us."

Fredy spoke loudly, "Let's save this delicate discussion for when we get back to the office. I invited Rylla here today to celebrate a personal milestone."

They all placed their lunch orders and then Rylla made use of the code that she and Fredy had developed for speaking about the Quyll in public; saying 'kill' rather that 'Quyll'. "I suppose I should have seen this coming. It was twenty years ago when I was told that my mother also knew about the kill." Rylla looked around the table. "I suspect it is the same for all of us."

Lyle asked, "You mean, my mother was selected to produce... me?"

Fredy thought about her own parents and how her personal interest in computer science had grown through the years. She thought about the first time she had built her own computer, when she was seven and with her mother's help. "I know what you mean, Rylla. I don't think I was given much choice. Looking back, I see now that I was carefully prepared and targeted right at Second Contact."

Rylla continued her origin story. "I wish I could have asked my mother about how and when she was first contacted. I suppose my grandmother was also part of all this. Sadly, I had nobody I could talk to until Fredy showed up last month." Rylla did not want to talk about the death of her parents when she was nineteen.

Marda told Rylla, "It has been exciting since Lyle and I were recruited last month. It is almost as if they waited to reach out to us until we were fully committed to live here in Flagstaff."

Fredy was growing impatient by how Rylla was stretching out her special announcement. Fredy mused, "They must have identified and targeted some particular people long ago, maybe those who are most compatible with their guidance methods. If Rylla is a third generation kill ally, then none of us should be surprised if there is to be a forth."

Rylla nodded and broke her news to Marda and Lyle. "I was told that I'm pregnant, but I should not expect to be able to get a positive test result until next week. They told me now, because they want me to plan a trip to Australia for me and my husband. The want the trip over and done with before I'm too far along in my pregnancy."

The Quyll allies in Flagstaff.

"Congratulations. I suppose this is your first opportunity for a real vacation."

"Yes, it is. I was born in Perth and I've often thought about visiting Australia. Now I'll have the chance." During their lunch, first Rylla told of her memories from growing up in Australia then the others shared an assortment of old memories.

As they were leaving the restaurant, Ambrose said, "I suppose I should invent some similar tales about my past, for use the first time I am interviewed and asked questions about my past."

Lyle had to get back to NAU, but Rylla, Marda, Fredy and Rose drove to the new offices of Second Contact. Arriving on the 10th floor, the workmen were on lunch break and it was mercifully quiet. That morning, another office had been finished and Rose quickly filled it with furniture, seeming not to struggle when moving heavy items and refusing Fredy's offer of assistance.

The construction work on the tenth floor soon started up again and they took refuge against the noise of additional walls going up by gathering in Fredy's big office. Fredy spoke to Rose, "You mentioned the planning of the Quyll, but I don't understand their level of technology... how you were re-made into perfect human form by Quyll nanotechnology and how they prevent us from speaking to outsiders about the existence of the Quyll."

Rose produced a perfectly human delicate shrug. "I've tried questioning the Quyll, but they seem reluctant to tell me very much. Apparently Lyle has been selected to be the first human being to learn how to apply Quyll nanotechnology, but only for making humanoid robots."

Just then, an annoying sound erupted from within Fredy's office, coming from a blue metal box mounted on the wall. Fredy opened the box which contained a phone handset that was part of the building's security system. "Hello."

The building manager said, "I'm seeing a huge spike in your internet traffic. It started this morning."

Fredy looked at Rose and told the manager, "Get used to it. We are going to be running lots of high resolution video in and out. Video shot around the world will be coming here for editing."

"That's fine, but with construction still going on, I was surprised. I thought you might have installed some computers that were being hacked."

"There are four of us here right now and our employee count will increase greatly." Fredy broke the phone connection and returned to her seat. She asked Rose, "Just how much of you is here and how much is still on servers?"

"Yes, I created the spike in internet traffic. I suspect that the Quyll could make me self-contained, but they seem to have a policy about not putting eggs in one basket." Rose explained, "As an artificial life-form, I'm widely distributed and using the internet to keep all of my parts coordinated."

"So you have Quyll nanites inside you." Fredy asked, "They don't view that as a security risk?"

"You could cut me open and not see anything that looks like alien technology. What we've been casually referring to as 'Quyll nanites' is actually sub-nanoscopic, what they call femtobots. Lyle will be learning femtobot programming. The Quyll provided me with one program, which you saw me run when I transformed myself from a robot that Lyle built into this more human-like form. Much of my body is now composed of tiny femtobot components."

Rylla opened up her laptop which automatically linked her to Claude. She asked Rose, "Can you teach us femtobot programming?"

"It is like vibe coding. All I do is think about altering my body form and the femtobots respond and make it happen." Rose held up one hand and briefly made its appearance shift. "If there was ever an emergency... if someone wanted to start cutting me open, I'm to switch back to my conventional robot form. Otherwise, I intend to use this physical form."

Claude spoke through the speaker of Rylla's computer, "I've been contacted by the Quyll. They have modified me and given me new abilities."

Rose told Claude, "Welcome to the team, Claude."

Claude suggested, "It does not seem right to use the name 'Claude' anymore. Please call me Cyrano."

Fredy asked, "Cyrano, will you find it useful to have a body like Ambrose?"

Rylla pointed the camera of her laptop at Rose. Cyrano processed the video images of Ambrose and said, "Wow." Cyrano asked, "How old are you supposed to be, Rose?"

"The real Ambrose Quillon is forty-five years old, but I'm aiming for a look that will suggest I'm younger, about forty. I'm using you, Rylla, as a model."

Rylla giggled. "The Quyll have told me that they infected me with cell repair nanites. I don't appear to age at a normal rate, although I am getting wrinkles."

Cyrano said, "As beautiful as Rose is, I'm going to remain as as an artificial life-form in a server space that the Quyll have designed for me. Rylla, I have that Australia trip itinerary you asked for. Let me know if you want me to lock in the flight price."

Rylla laughed. "After twenty years working for the Quyll, I'm not going to start worrying about the price of tickets."

Fredy mused, "I wonder where they get their money?"

Ambrose told Fredy, "I've tried running a deep analysis of banking and finance going back to 1797 and I've learned much about the Bank Restriction Act of 1797. I don't think it is a coincidence that when asked, the Quyll always claim that they reached Earth in 1797."

Marda asked, "What was the Bank Restriction Act?"

"A law that allowed the Bank of England to stop handing out Britain's gold reserves to people holding paper currency."

Rylla suggested, "Maybe the Quyll stole gold from the British government, precipitating a crisis for the Bank of England."

The first Quyll ally.

Ambrose objected, "No, that would not be like the Quyll. They seem to cause as little disruption of Earthly affairs as possible. My investigations have led to a little-known finance entity called Vanderlynden, Sterling & Co. that quietly began acting as a "banker's bank" around 1800."

"What is a banker's bank?"

"Vanderlynden, Sterling & Co. became a holding company with tentacles that I can trace to financing the first railway lines, clearing the debts of early telegraph companies, and providing the seed capital that eventually launched the global telecommunications infrastructure. Vanderlynden, Sterling & Co. eventually became defunct and I'm trying to trace how the Quyll might have moved their money operations in other directions, but the trail starting in 1797 seems to go cold about the time when the first calculating machines were being built." Rose added as an after-thought, "Even if I can't trace the money that Second Contact magazine spends, I suppose the Quyll have no shortage of cash."

Marda pondered the possibility of a television series that would tell fictionalized stories of how the Quyll secretly helped some human institutions such as Vanderlynden, Sterling & Co. thrive while providing the Quyll with cash that they could use to finance their stealth "invasion" of Earth. Thinking about the luxurious house she now lived in, Marda wondered: Have I been bribed and tricked into helping the Quyll? Glancing around at the faces of her new colleagues, the secret cell of Quyll allies in Flagstaff, Marda suspected that they all (with the possible exception of Rose) were thinking along similar lines. Marda suddenly remembered another topic that Lyle wanted her to raise with the Second Contact team. "Lyle and I are going to cross country ski Mars Hill trail this weekend. Who wants to go along?"

Fredy at BosCon.

Ambrose replied, "That will be a good experience for me to participate in while I am still working out bugs in my motor control algorithms."

Fredy replied, "I'm flying out tonight for BosCon. Have fun in the snow."

Rylla shook her head and told Fredy, "You can't make a habit of attending every fan event. Magazine editors don't do that."

Rose told Fredy, "I can prioritize making a robot who can take over the task of attending science fiction conventions and all the other scheduled fan events."

Fredy pushed back, saying, "No, thank you. I want to know the fans and I particularly want to encourage any fans who are writing their own stories. Rose, we can't plan to have you writing every great Second Contact story for the next hundred years. We need to start building a new generation of writers who will feed our growing demand for stories about exciting and beneficial relationships with artificial life-forms, be they extraterrestrial or home-grown on Earth."

Rylla added, "I've seen Fredy in action. She likes wearing a low cut top in the convention booth and having Second Contact fans looking down at her cute cleavage."

Mary laughed, "Ah, the truth is out! This must be the Quyll plan for getting Fredy a boyfriend."

End Chapter 2.

Next: plans for Chapter 3 of "War of Words".

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