Magic Microbes

Figure 1. SIHȺM: SIH Microbes.
Search for Interesting Hollywood Microbes.

Unless I have forgotten something, the first magic 'microbe' I ever saw was a single-celled space organism in "The Immunity Syndrome". Of course, the alien space cell in Star Trek was hugely pregnant and big enough for Spock to spend an entire afternoon filled with scientific investigations inside of it. In the end, and in the spirit of scientific discovery, Spock deploys his calm and cool intellect to reach the logical conclusion that this amazing alien life-form must be disintegrated with an antimatter bomb. 💣 💥

 Impossible Fiction. Back in March,  I began my 2026 Search for Interesting Hollywood Aliens by mentioning the film "Project Hail Mary" which was being advertised as depicting an "impossible scientific mystery". My first question is: does this movie provides us with a couple of hours of entertainment featuring an interesting alien? Bonus: is there an interesting microbe?

 Sun Fiction. Back in 2022 I commented on the 1942 story "Proof" by Hal Clement. That story featured life-forms with a "matrix of electrons" that could convert stellar radiation into neutrons. Not only does the "skin" of these Sun creatures (the hero of the story is named "Kron") surround a core of neutronium (held in the creature's "nucleus"), but the "skin" can convert energy from the environment into new "particles of neutronium" that are then guided by magnetic fields towards the body core. I'm a huge skeptic when it comes to imaginary life-forms that live in or on a star, particularly if they are biological life-forms composed of cells.

 Alien Invasion. In "Project Hail Mary", we are apparently being asked to believe that some alien cells are able to fly through outer space and gather around stars and store lots of energy as neutrinos. Maybe all of this fantasy biology is explained in the book, but in the film, people just talk fast when "explaining" this alien biology and hope that we will be distracted by the one other alien life-form that is in the movie: Rocky, an Eridian.  

 Alternate Technologies. We are told that the technologically-advanced Eridians are "unaware of relativity". A memorable example of this kind of "technology blind spot" is in Clifford D. Simak's story "The Big Front Yard" where there are aliens who never thought to invent paint. I find it hard to believe that any alien with technology advanced enough to be traveling around the galaxy would either never have invented paint or never noticed relativity.

 Thanks for the memories. I don't mind when futuristic technologies come bundled with with constraints and costs. In "Project Hail Mary", we are told that an incredibly great source of energy is available (the conveniently wrapped neutrinos in the space microbes), but we can't store ten years worth of food in our interstellar spaceship. Would sleeping for three years cause selective and temporary loss of some memories? I don't know, but I do know that this overly long movie could have been improved by not including this issue in the film.

 Rocky and hoodwinkle show. The Eridians might have skipped class on the day when relativity was discussed, but they do have some cool technology. I can't stop myself from imagining that they might have advanced nanotechnology and access to hierions. Imagine a type of hierion that could be made into a composite with xenon, forming a metallic substance that is both easy to form into useful shapes, yet is also very strong.

The Rocky character in "Project Hail Mary" is amusing for about 30 minutes. Not sure I'd want to spend the rest of my life teaching young Eridians. Shouldn't someone be out trying to prevent more habitable planets from having their solar energy supply blocked? Maybe that is for the sequel.

 Disclosure Day. Apparently there actually is an alien on screen at the end of "Disclosure Day", but the movie seems to actually be about some absurd corporate/government conspiracy like in The X-Files. While searching for "Disclosure Day." I saw a marketing trick for the film, a red cardinal flying across the search results page. Good to see Google has endless ways of making $$$ from corporations even while providing search engine results for a movie that claims to be about aliens helping to take down a SuperSecret™ conspiracy by some mysterious corporate entity.

Figure 2. Image source.

 Microbe Search. I decided to search for old science fiction stories about weird microbes. Before taking a deep dive into the ISFDB, I'll mention two of the earliest science fiction stories featuring microbes that I read or saw on television: "Surface Tension" and "Fantastic Voyage". In James Blish's "Surface Tension", Blish had the audacious idea of a character who was an intelligent paramecium which deeply offended my 12-year-old self's view of the universe. "Fantastic Voyage" was only memorable for a scene in which Raquel Welch gets encased in white blood cells which then have to be pealed off of her curvaceous body by three groping men. Related Reading: see the stories by Arthur Porges, see also "Un homme chez les microbes" by Maurice Renard which features a man who is shrunk. 

 The first candidate microbe story I came across at the ISFDB was "A Major Microbe" by W. L. Alden, but that story is not science fiction and is not actually about a microbe. The same can be said for "The Princess and the Microbe" by Margaret Sherwood.

 Weird title. I discovered that the French translation of "Needle" was titled "Le microbe détective". My best guess is that misleading title was used because there was an existing sub-genre of crime fiction about using microbes as murder weapons. 

At "First fictional lab-created plague" it says that "Professor Bakermann's Microbe" (published in 1890) is set in 1935, where the microbes causing all known diseases have been studied. The wacky Professor Bakermann cooks up a new disease microbe that can't be stopped; it is resistant to all known drugs and treatments. I've never read the story, but Google's AI Mode agent likens it to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The story was first published as a serial in La Science Illustrée (see Figure 2).

image source

I've skimmed through "The Master of the Microbe" (1926) which seems incredibly long and muddled, something like a James Bond movie with an evil character threatening the world. In the story there is a "crimson carnet", the "silver cylindar", assorted uncles, detectives and doctors along with several women to chase around after while a man-made plague spreads. The microbiology in "The Master of the Microbe" seems diseased and confused, although Google's AI Mode agent assured me that Robert Service had written into the story the idea that a pathogenic bacterium could be countered by a bacteriophage. However, the word "virus" appears only once in the story, in a sentence that makes no sense and we are told that Professor Hermann Krug (the discoverer of the plague bacterium) is a "well-known savant of Swiss origin, and considered in University circles to be a supreme authority on Micrology." It seems clear that Service knew nothing about microbes or microbiology. I could not sort out what is going on in the story with the dude named "Sinistra" who was apparently an "alias of Maximus Quin", not to be confused with "Cyrus Quin". However, I am still confused, but not interested enough to actually read the story.

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 Murder by Microbe. In "The Microbe of Death" by Rudolph De Cordova, a doctor kills a fellow doctor using anthrax (1897). "Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not" -George Bernard Shaw. In the case of De Cordova: "Some men go to medical school and save lives, I learned in medical school how to take lives." In the same spirit was "The Microbe Murders" by Frederik G. Eberhard (1935), featuring a killer who commits murders using deadly germs and microbes.

 A Strange Case. Not much is known about John Geo. E. Leech, author of "The Microbe of Love" published in Pearson's Magazine, October 1902. This is a joke story in which a "bacillus" is found that causes people to experience the pangs of "love sickness". The discoverer hopes to make big $$$ by selling an antidote, but he falls in love before he can devise the antidote. Related Reading: "Mate in Two Moves", published in the May 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. 

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 In "The Secret of the Extinct Microbe" by Clement Fezandié (1924, part of the Dr. Hackensaw's Secrets series) the bumbling Dr. Hackensaw unleashes a virulent microbe from an ancient Egyptian archeological site. Readers are told that the only way to defeat the virulent "extinct microbe" is to find another ancient microbe that is able to destroy the first one.

 I skimmed "The Bacillus of Beauty" by Harriet Stark (1900). It is impossible for me to say that "The Bacillus of Beauty" is about a microbe. Readers are told that a woman's appearance is transformed by a bacillus, but there is no reason to believe it. The story seems like a fantasy where a magic spell does the transformation. 

 "The Bacillus of Conscience" (1905) by Wilbur Dick Nesbit (Wikipedia) is pretty funny. It inspired a song titled "B. Conscience". In  "The Bacillus of Conscience", Nesbit followed a standard Sci Fi formula with a scientist, his daughter (Constance) and a man who is love with the daughter. Song lyrics:

[Verse 1]
I must offer some comments
on the bacillus of conscience 
but refer to it as B. conscience
“B is for Busy,” giggled Constance
Busy B stands before our conscience
shall I confess to giant nonsense? 
Small it is, in the strong sense

"B. Conscience"

[Chorus]
It’s a tiny little bug with a heavy load
Screaming down a dusty, lonesome road
If you got a secret, it’s gonna find a way
To make you spit it out by the end of the day
(B. Conscience, honey)
(It’s a heavy price you pay)

[Verse 2]
In the bacterial inventory
was it new or a priori?
Obtained from a criminal gory
it made just a little history
For Professor Bindham's glory
and to be a science fiction story
B. conscience left the laboratory

[Bridge]
Is a man still a man if the truth is forced
Like a dry creek bed or a dying horse?
It ain't a choice when it’s under your skin
Just a fever burning out the original sin
(Burning it out)
(Let the truth walk in)

[Verse 3]
A microbe from 1905, I confess it
discovered by Wilbur D. Nesbit
It began with a crime committed  
Bacillus conscience with no respite
made the criminal confessed to it
We need it in 2026 just a bit
to use it on our president

[Final Chorus]
Oh, it’s a tiny little bug with a heavy load
It don't care about the laws or the code
If you got a secret, it’s gonna find a way
To make you scream it out by the end of the day
(B. Conscience, honey)
(It’s the only way)

[Outro]
Just a little drop for the man at the top
Once the valve is open it’s never gonna stop
(B. Conscience)
(Sinking in)
Yeah, it’s catching
Watch your mouth now
(B. Conscience)
It’s catching
(Catching) 

Figure 3. Interior art by Leo Morey

 Most Tedious. As fun as "The Bacillus of Conscience" (see above) is,  "The Bacillus of Death" by Arthur B. Reeve (1912) is contrived, tedious and pointlessly formulaic. In the competition for "most tedious" was "The Beautiful Bacillus" by Patrick Dutton (1931). This meandering story is science fantasy, very light on the science. First we are witness to a bacterium that grows quite large (see Figure 3) and becomes conscious then one of the two microbiologists responsible for this "advancement" shrinks and becomes a microbe that infects his buddy.

 Wells, Wells. In "The Stolen Bacillus" (1894) by H. G. Wells, an anarchist threatens the London water supply with cholera stolen from the laboratory of a bacteriologist. Disaster is averted when we learn that the stolen bacterial strain is not cholera, but rather a microbe that turns the skin blue... and only the anarchist is infected.

Figure 4. Interior art by George T. Tobin.

In 1895, the antics of anarchists was taken up in "The Purple Death" by W. L. Alden. After having published "A Major Microbe"  (see above on this page) someone must have explained to Alden what a microbe is (or maybe he read "The Stolen Bacillus"). In "The Purple Death", readers are told that the "purple death" is a a disease caused by a microbe found in snake venom. A nutty microbiologist hopes to use the "purple death" to cure poverty... by killing the poor.

 In "Dr. Cox's Discovery" by Herbert D. Ward (1903), the second paragraph includes this sentence: "What will not the bacillus be responsible for next?" Dr. Cox wants to isolate a "microbiote" that can cause death from old age. Here is another line from the story: "Nothing pleases an Englishman more than a spice of adventure in which the superstitions of an inferior race are trampled upon." 

Figure 5. Imaginary cover
art by Flow. (original cover)

Eventually, Dr. Cox finds something that that acts like a fountain of youth. In this fantasy story, Ward could not be bothered to provide a coherent explanation, just the hint that it involved test tubes. Then there is a contrived "explanation" for why Dr. Cox throws away the "fountain of youth". The End. As hinted at in Figure 4, much of the story revolves around a weird love triangle. The only two test creatures for the "fountain of youth" are a dog and the mother (the brunette in Figure 4) of Dr. Cox's girl friend (the blond in Figure 4). After dear mom dies, Dr. Cox apparently gets to live happily ever after with the daughter.

 Another "fountain of youth" story was "The Blue Germ" (1918) which is available via Google Books. I tried to read "The Blue Germ" but I soon began skimming and then at page 38 is: "The bacillus was ultra-microscopical. It could not be seen even with the highest power, under the microscope". Other people have interpreted this as indicating that the "fountain of youth" was a virus, but the term 'virus' does not appear in the story. I suspect there is nothing resembling science fiction in this novel.

 "Max Hensig: Bacteriologist and Murderer" (1907) by Algernon Blackwood is long, tedious and contrived. The story seemingly includes an attempt to depict a man getting so drunk that all the alcohol in his body will serve as protection against bacterial infection. The imaginary cover art for "Max Hensig: Bacteriologist and Murderer" (see Figure 5) was made using this text prompt: "A full color movie still showing two men in a prison cell, the accused criminal is a light-haired stripling with blue eyes and drooping mustache, that rare type of deliberate murderer, cold-blooded and calculating, who kills for a song, delights in killing, and gives its whole intellect to the consideration of each detail, glorying in evading detection and reveling in the notoriety of the trial, if caught. At first he had answered reluctantly, but then the young murderer warmed up and became enthusiastic with a sort of cold intellectual enthusiasm, till at last he held forth like a lecturer, pacing his cell, gesticulating, explaining with admirable exposition how easy murder could be to a man who knew his business. And he did know his business! The reporter watched in dismay and horror."

 Heart of Gold. "The Golden Rat" by Alexander Harvey (1913) is one of the most unique stories that I have found while investigating old stories that involve microbes. It is a fantasy story with only very minor science fictional microbiology elements. The narrator (a psychoanalyst) imagines that he was infected by golden bacterium from a golden pet rat (named 'Philander') that turns his blood into gold. "The Golden Rat" is also a strange "love story", in that the golden rat eventually leads the narrator to realize that one of his patients, Miss Lancaster, is in love with him.

 "Strangers on Paper" is an episode of "Murdoch Mysteries" that was first shown about six months ago (January 2026), but I only just watched it. In one of the silliest "mad scientist" stories ever, the plot of "Strangers on Paper" includes an angry scientist who tries to put Staphylococcus aureus into the water supply in revenge for loss of funding for research on Staphylococcus aureus. Related Reading: Amerithrax.

Figure 6. Interior artwork by Leo Morey

 Great Northern Protist. "Nœkken of Norway" by Bob Olsen (1934) provides an account of a close encounter with a giant amoeba that lives in a lake in Norway. Readers are told that if an endocrine problem in the pituitary gland can make for a giant human then why not an amoeba that just keeps growing? As shown in Figure 6, the giant amoeba is usually found in water, but when it gets hungry it will go onto shore and grab yummy people for a snack. It turns out that mistletoe is the giant amoeba's kryptonite. By the way, Wikipedia's article on kryptonite has more references than the article about mistletoe.

 Figure 7. Interior artwork by Malcolm Smith

 "Amoeba 'Roid" by Henry Bott (1948) takes us into the age of radar and rocketry when life has already been found on Venus. So why not also on an asteroid that is two miles long? That's John and Grace (see Figure 7) having a close encounter with an asteroid amoeba. As the story "Amoeba 'Roid"  is told, this amazing life-form does nothing more exciting than extend a tentacle out from its pit that curls around the curvaceous Grace, but John insists on incinerating the creature with burning rocket fuel.

image source

 Leaping ahead to the 22nd century, "Amoeba-Hunt" by Morton Klass sends us hunting for a giant amoeba on Procyon IV. Humanity has evolved since the old days of "Amoeba 'Roid" and the alien amoeba must be captured alive. Why? I have no idea. I suppose because it is there.

 The first mention of microbes in this blog was in 2012 when I was speculating about the everyday microbial horrors that might have motivated some of the horror elements in Frankenstein. I wrote, "Our species is in the middle of figuring out the world we live in. In the past, millions were mysteriously struck down by infectious diseases and it was all too easy to adopt an attitude of desperation and helplessness when we had no tools for observing microbes. Now the science of microbiology routinely makes it possible for us to understand, treat and prevent microbial diseases." Even a story as goofy as "Amoeba 'Roid" can be viewed as a human reaction to the never ending conflict between humans and microbes.

Foundations of Eternity

 In 2013 I wrote, "Imagine that the Huaoshy have a monitoring system that is analogous to the way that humans might monitor microbes for pathogenicity and potential to harm people." It is fun to compare the relationship between the technologically-advanced Huaoshy and we humans to the relationship that we humans have with microbes.

 My story Foundations of Eternity included the idea that Neanderthals were driven to extinction because they were susceptible to microbial diseases that were spread by modern humans. When Manny the bumpha takes an interest in the unusual behavior of the Neanderthals, she Intervenes by secretly providing Neanderthals with key resistance genes.

Back in 2015, I introduced the idea that in a past Reality, Earth might have been intentionally pushed towards having high green house gas levels. Such a Reality could be used as a laboratory for "developing microbes that could efficiently metabolize methane and trap atmospheric carbon dioxide in marine sediments". The climate change mitigation methods developed by humans in such a Reality might then be re-used in another Reality to prevent global warming. In "The Hierozyme Intervention", I explore this strategy. How can a microbial solution to global warming be brought into a Reality without alerting the pek Overseer of Earth to such an alien Intervention? I'm currently writing Chapter 10 of "The Hierozyme Intervention" in which Marda is trying to gain access to Eddy's Reality Viewer. Anthony has been moved out of Casanay and his replacement, Ada B. Catalana, has just been hired. Systolina suspects that Ada is a secret agent for Manny the bumpha, but how can Ada be used to give Marda access to the Reality Viewer that is hidden inside Eddy's computer?

image source

 In 2018, I wrote a story that depicted the Phari as having arrived on Earth before the arrival of the pek. The idea that a Phari facility for evolving new microbes and positioned deep inside Earth survived intact for two billion years seemed a stretch, but more recently I've written stories depicting the pek as having reached Earth about four billion years ago. For "The Hierozyme Intervention", the Phari and the bumpha seem to be collaborating to solve Earth's global warming problem without alerting the pek to the fact that alien technology has been used.

 For "The Hierozyme Intervention", I'm still deciding on exactly what Marda will be able to learn from past Realities by using Eddy's Reality Viewer. Possibly in the Ekcolir Reality, humans eventually engineered microbes by artificial evolution that can be "re-animated" by Marda in the Final Reality and combined with hidden hierozymes. However, it is not clear why the pek would fail to notice the deployment of hierozymes. Maybe after first allowing Tyhry to be punished for using hierozymes, the final solution deployed by Marda will involve zeptites that are not detected by the pek.

This image was made
using Mystique VI
by emden09 available
under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
image source

In "The Hierozyme Intervention", I depict Manny as making an effort to prevent Systolina and replicoid copies of Tyhry at Observer Base from obtaining information about the future of the current Reality. Maybe the end of the story will involve Systolina and the replicoid copies of Tyhry finally Viewing the actions of Marda on Earth, but still being unable to notice her use of programmable zeptites. I'm imagining that Systolina and the replicoid copies of Tyhry can waste decades trying to re-invent positronics. In the end, will they believe that their positronic tools broke Manny's embargo on information about Marda's future or will they recognize that all of their efforts were a waste of time and only a distraction engineered by Manny?

Back in 2022, I read a large number of old science fiction stories featuring doctors and some of those stories involved microbes. One of those stories by Murray Leinster featured a microbe called the "chlorophage" that not only ate chlorophyll and killed plants, but which also had an appetite for hemoglobin. I don't know if Leinster's story was inspiration for the Star Trek episode "Obsession", but maybe the "gaseous Di-Kironium creature" was actually some form of advanced nanotechnology, a kind of femtozoan.

Related Reading: Ooze & Liquid Life.

Related Music: Weird Swamp Protist.

Next: Chapter 10 of "The Hierozyme Intervention".

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Ada Catalana

Ada and Rylla. Image by Leonardo.

  Below on this page is Chapter 10 of the science fiction story "The Hierozyme Intervention", in which Marda and Systolina are trying to discover how to make use of the Reality Viewer that is hidden inside Eddy's computer. 

After many years of stability, a major change at Casanay that Eddy suddenly has to contend with is the unanticipated loss of Anthony and his replacement by Ada B. Catalana. How Ada is able to position herself inside Casanay is a rather contorted tale (see Chapter 10, below). Ada received a Masters Degree in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology in 2008 and in 2011 her company, AdaGen, was making use of a 5500xl sequencing system for odd jobs like sequencing Tyhry's DNA sample, which had been collected by Marda. Eddy invariable calls her 'ABC' while Tyhry calls her either 'Ada cat' or 'granny' and Marda usually calls her 'Ada' but shifts to 'banana' when communicating telepathically with Tyhry; 'Banana' being what Marda feels is the logical choice for Ada's middle name. 

Ada and Rylla. Image by Leonardo.

Suspecting that Ada is Manny the bumpha in disguise, Systolina refers to Ada as 'MG' (mystery girl). After seeing Tyhry's DNA sequencing results, Ada decides to visits the Henrito site and she meets Zeta (who is now disguised as Rylla). Zeta offers Ada a deal: the opportunity to become director of the Henrito Research Institute's DNA Sequencing Core Facility in exchange for not publicizing Tyhry's unusual genome. Zeta tries to buy out AdaGen and tells Ada that there will be laboratory space available in six months at Ranch1. 

With her large number of Ek'col gene patterns, Ada has some access to the Sedron Time Stream which helped her find her husband, Tynyo. Tynyo is the only other employee of AdaGen and he also has Ek'col gene patterns and a telepathic mind that resonates with that of Ada. Unable to restrain her curiosity about Tyhry, Ada begins work at Casanay as Anthony's replacement. Systolina knows that Ada is trying to investigate Tyhry, so she and Zeta agree that it might be best to "keep Ada close" and make sure she does not try to publish any reports on Tyhry's unusual gene patterns, including the rare NOTCH2NL sequence that is shared by Marda. Once Ada is working at Casanay, Ada and Tynyo secretly try to sequence the genomes of both Eddy and Zeta (now Systolina in disguise). 

The Hierozyme Intervention Chapter 10 - Ada Core (Ch. 1)(Ch. 2)(Ch. 3)(Ch. 4)(Ch. 5)(Ch. 6)(Ch. 7)(Ch. 8)(Ch. 9)  

Ada and Rylla. Image by Leonardo.

There were few things that Zeta enjoyed more than solving a good mystery. The Ada B. Catalana mystery walked into Zeta's life on the day of her second marriage. That day was already surreal with the marriage ceremony taking place at Casanay and attended by Zeta herself (disguised as Rylla Onway) Eddy (Zeta's first husband), Tyhry, Marda, Anthony (Rylla's new husband), Anthony's aunt, Beryl, Systolina (disguised as Zeta) and six cats. Aunt Beryl, claiming to have once served as a justice of the peace, conducted a brief and humorous ceremony that contained several anecdotes and 'in jokes' that seemed to have special meaning for Anthony and his aunt.

Returning to the Henrito site after the wedding, Zeta (disguised as Rylla) found Ada asleep in a rental car that was parked in front of the Ranch0 construction site. Anthony seemed intent on carrying Zeta into the guest house, but Zeta went over and tapped on the window of Ada's car and said, "Hello?" Ada's eyes opened and she looked first at Zeta then at Marda and Anthony who were watching from not very far away. 

Ada opened the car door and stepped out, stretching her long cramped limbs. She said, "I'm looking for Marda Onway."

Hearing what she was pretending was her name, Tyhry stepped forward. "I'm Marda."

Ada seemed surprised. "Can you show me some form of identification?"

Tyhry asked, "Who are you?"

"I work for AdaGen. I have the gene sequencing results you requested."

Tyhry reached into her skirt and pulled out of the inner pocket a slim wallet. She showed Ada the credit card she had used to pay AdaGen and since it was right there and had a photo, also her passport card.  

"Wow. I had no idea I was dealing with a kid." Ada turned, reached into the car and pulled out of a compartment in the door a file folder which she handed to Tyhry. 

Tyhry was sputtering, "Listen granny, I'm not a 'kid'. I paid for your services and I expect to be treated..." Tyhry fell silent when she saw "AdaGen" on the folder. She opened the folder and saw that it contained a report on Tyhry's gene sequencing results. Scanning down the page, she noticed that the first paragraph included: 'As you predicted, the unusual Notch gene sequence is present.' Tyhry looked up and asked, "Who are you, and how did you get your hands on this report?"

Ada replied, "I'm sorry, but my contract with Marda Onway specified confidentiality." Ada glanced at Zeta and Anthony. "I'm Ada. You paid me to perform this sequencing job." Ada pointed at the folder in Tyhry's hands.

Tyhry looked at Zeta then at Anthony. Zeta said to Ada, "I actually paid for the sequencing. Marda has permission to use my credit account, but I'm the legal entity for the contract." Zeta turned to Anthony and said, "Please take Marda inside. I need to speak to... 'Ada'." Tyhry turned and walked off with Anthony.

Zeta said, "I'm Rylla Onway, Marda's mother." She looked into Ada's car. "I hope you have not been waiting long."

Ada shrugged, "I have only myself to blame. I was foolish to show up here unannounced, but given the nature of my findings, I could not resist the temptation to investigate... personally."

Zeta was giving Ada a careful visual inspection from her feet to her glorious crown of curly red hair that that topped out six inches above Zeta's head. Zeta said, "Sorry, but I need to ask you for identification."

Ada shrugged, reached into her pocket and handed Zeta her wallet. "If you paid for this job, I need to thank you. This is my most lucrative contract ever and the closest I've come to generating a complete genome sequence." 

Zeta examined the photo IDs in Ada's wallet and kept glancing up and watched Anthony and Tyhry until they entered the guest house and were out of sight then she handed the wallet back to Ada and asked, "What's in the report you gave to Marda?"

"I was instructed to look for some particular gene sequences in a DNA sample and I found them." Looking at Zeta's blond hair, Ada asked, "Did your daughter go behind your back to sequence your genes?"

Zeta laughed. "We'll have to ask Marda about the source of the DNA you sequenced. I stay out of her business. She has made claim to being an adult and I try to treat her like one."

Only growing increasingly perplexed, Ada pointed at the Rnach0 construction site and asked Zeta, "What is this place?"

Zeta laughed and explained, "This will become the Henrito Research Institute."

Ada asked skeptically, "In the middle of the Arizona desert?" 

 Zeta replied, "Exactly. Ada, you caught me at a bad time. I just got married today and you interrupted my new husband just as he was going to carry me across the threshold." She gestured towards the guest house."

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I was idiotic to just show up here today."

"Actually, I'm very glad you are here." Zeta handed Ada a hundred dollar bill and said, "Drive into town and get diner for yourself. Come back here in two hours and I'll be able to speak with you at that time." 

__

Ada and her husband Tynyo eating at the Q Diner when Anthony walked in and sat down beside Ada at the counter. The Q Diner was one of the local businesses that Anthony monitored and occasionally visited. A waitress recognized Anthony and asked, "What can I get you?" He shook his head and waved off her attention.

Ada asked, "Are you Mr. Onway?" 

Anthony replied, "Just call me Anthony. Why are you here?" Anthony's eyes flicked past Ada and on to Tynyo.

Ada returned her attention to her plate and tried to imagine what was going on. After swallowing a bite of food and taking a drink of water, Ada said, "Well, Anthony I don't know what to tell you... or why I should tell you anything. You better explain what you want."

Anthony sighed. "Nothing complicated. You show up, trespassing on land owned by the woman I just married today. You must have seen the 'No Trespassing' sign when you came up the driveway."

"I had business to conduct with a paying client. I was not trespassing."

"Business that should have been conducted by mail."

"My professional judgement was that my business should be conducted in person."

"Explain."

"I'm under contract to maintain confidentiality."

Having had a chance to place his best femtobot probes inside both Ada and Tynyo and also having a few moments to use his telepathic abilities to probe her mind wile speaking to her, Anthony felt confident that Ada believed what she was saying. However, it was obvious to Anthony the Ada and Tynyo both had large numbers of Ek'col gene patterns and Anthony would have to report to Nyrtia that Ada might be an agent for Manny the bumpha. The worst case scenario was that Ada might be one of Manny's fake persona's on Earth. The surest way to test that possibility was to deploy some of his memory editing femtobots. Anthony said, "I won't be taking the name 'Onway'. I'm Anthony Kasty. Rylla and I were married today, and I feel protective towards Rylla and her daughter." While talking about himself, both Tynyo's and Ada's neurons that were forming memories related to Anthony had lit up and were easy for his femtobots to silence. He told Ada, "Pardon me. I mistook you for someone else." Anthony walked away and exited from the diner and teleported back to the Henrito site.

Ada watched Anthony walk away. She felt slightly dizzy and more than slightly silly for having come to Arizona and driven out into the desert in search for Marda Onway. Watching his back, Ada felt like she knew Anthony, but then she returned to her conversation with Tynyo. "Just wait for me in the Apex, I can't imagine that Rylla will keep my long... not on her wedding night."

Tyhyo was trying to make sense of Ada's plans. "You are going to keep using the rental car?"

"I think I fooled Rylla into imagining that I just flew into Arizona today. I don't think she will notice that the Apex is an AdaGen asset. It is still registered under your name." 

__ 

An hour later, Ada did not have a chance to ring the doorbell of the guest house at the Henrito site. Zeta pulled open the front door of the guest house as Ada approached. Zeta was naked and carrying two towels. "Let's talk in the hot tub." Zeta led the way to the hot tub. "The Henrito Institute is dedicated to solving Earth's global warming problem, but I love these warm Arizona evenings."

Ada found it impossible to stop looking at Zeta's lovely body. "Mrs. Onway, I came here because I'm intrigued by the gene sequencing results. I don't know anything about climate science. It seems odd to build a research facility out here in the desert."

Zeta climbed into the hot tub. "Come on in" She turned on the massaging water jets. "This tub is the place to pound out sore muscles and tensions."

Ada laughed and stared taking off her clothes. "You are already glowing. I trust your husband already pounded out your tensions."

As Ada settled into the tub, Zeta was enjoying the sight of Ada's long lean body and said, "You are a work of art, my dear."

Ada giggled. "Most men find me rather repulsive... too tall and skinny."

Zeta was glad that Ada was so tall that her breasts were above the water level of the hot tub. Zeta reached out and touched Ada's amazing hair and 'accidentally' bumped her hand against one of Ada's cute breasts. "Is this real... color and curls and all?"

Ada admitted, "I have fun enhancing both the color and curl. You appear to be naturally blond."

Zeta shook her head. "What if I told you the blood hair was made to order for the benefit of my first husband?"

"I'm afraid I'd start to wonder just how many husbands you intend to have."

Zeta shrugged. "Sometimes husbands just happen." Zeta finally got her eyes off of Ada's cute breasts and pointy nipples. "But let's get down to business. I want to offer you a job: I want you to direct one of the molecular biology core facilities of the Henrito Research Institute. The Institute is going to specialize in synthetic life, designer microbes, and there will be need for efficient in-house DNA sequencing."

"Director? An impressive job title. I trust it commands an impressive salary."

"I want you. You can name your own salary. And also tell me how much it will cost me to buy you out of your current enterprise, AdaGen." 

Ada asked, "What's going on?"

Zeta laughed. "I was going to ask you the same thing. I tried searching into your background and could not find much. Are you really the adoptive child of an adoptive child?"

Ada shrugged, "It sounds like you may know more about my adoptive parents than I do. My lack of family to the side, I'd sell off AdaGen for a million dollars and if you really want to hire me as you Director of the core facility then I want a quarter million a year."

Zeta said, "That is fine, your starting annual salary will be $250,000 with a $1,000 raise every week for as long as you stay in my employ. However, I want to add one additional clause to the deal. I'll pay you a five million dollar bonus five years from now if you keep secret the sequencing work you did for my daughter."

Ada asked, "So, those weird gene sequences are yours."

"I did not say that. Let me be clear. If you let me buy you on these terms then five years from now I will have paid you about $8,000,000. Do we have a deal?"

 Ada replied, "Assuming you are not joking, I only have one reservation."

"I'm serious. I'll draw up the contract and we can sign it in the morning."

"Then I only need to know what you mean when you say you are buying me."

"Sorry, my heart is fluttering. I spoke rather ambiguously. Let me be transparent. I'm fantasizing that I might be able to entice you into becoming my lover."

Ada giggled and reached out to fondle one of Zeta's cute breasts. "You have an amazing body. It would be a delight to make love with you, but I suspect your husband would object."

"Anthony? Don't worry about him. He would never stand in the way of my happiness."

"So you say. I need to be clear. If I let you buy me for eight million, I'd do so hoping that I will have the opportunity to play with your sexy body, Rylla. That does not mean that either you or your husband should imagine that you own me or that you can treat me as your sex toy."

"I understand you and you can write that into the contract if you like. Now, with the business settled, I very much want to find out just how much you will let me celebrate our deal here tonight in this tub." Zeta reached our and put her arms around Ada. 

__

In the morning, Anthony cooked breakfast for Zeta, Tyhry and Ada. Ada emerged from the back bedroom wearing one of Rylla's robes that was too short for her, but showed off her incredibly long legs. Tyhry could smell bromine on Ada and guessed that Zeta had played with her in the hot tub. Tyhry, pretending to be Marda, explained to Ada that she had first gotten her own genome sequenced, but the DNA she had sent to AdaGen was 'for a friend'."

Ada asked, "How did you know that you friend would have the same Notch2NL genotype as you?"

"Call it a luck guess based on us having similar phenotypes."

"So those hairs you sent me were not from your mother?"

"No."

Zeta arrived in the dining room and set a pen and a printed document on the table close to Ada. Having over-heard part of the conversation, she asked Tyhry, "What about me?"

Tyhry told Ada, "My mom has never had her genes sequenced."

Ada read through the contract that Zeta had drawn up. Anthony brought food to the table and sat down. Across the table from Tyhry. Tyhry told Anthony, "Based only on the audible squeals of delight, I'm going to thank you for making my mom very happy."

Anthony said, "I'm working very hard to show how happy I am to be rescued from by isolation at Casanay."

Ada had read the contract. Glancing at Zeta, she commented, "You even got my middle name correct."

"I talked to Alfred Nortin, who rents you space for AdaGen. He told me all about you."

Ada signed both copies of the contract and handed one to Zeta. She looked at Anthony and asked, "Casanay?"

Anthony provided a quick summary of his years of employment at Casanay working for the Watson family.

Ada asked, "Casanay is here in Arizona?"

Tyhry explained, "It is quite close. I met Tyhry at school and the rest is history. Anthony swept my mom off of her feet."

"Wow. It sounds like a whirl-wind romance." Ada looked at Zeta and licked her lips, more from memories of the hot tub play session with Zeta than Anthony's cooking.

Tyhry said, "Mom knows how to get what she wants. I'm trying to be polite, but I'm dying to know what these papers are for."

Zeta handed one of the copies of the contract to Tyhry. "Ada is employee number one of the Henrito Institute."

Ada asked, "When do I get my I.D. badge?"

Zeta replied, "That's up to you. As your first task, design the badge and buy the equipment for making badges. Ranch0 has a magnetic keycard door system, but it has not been activated yet."

"What kind of a name is 'Ranch Zero'?"

"It is 'Ranch0'. There will be a whole series of buildings. We break ground on the Ranch1 site next week. That will house the DNA sequencing core facility."

Ada shook her head in wonder. "It occurs to me that I should have asked where all the money is coming from for this new Institute."

Tyhry told Ada, "Mom is the chief financial officer for Simpera."

"Simpera?"

Zeta asked Tyhry, "Are you taking the bus or are you going to let Anthony drive you to school?"

"I don't want to go."

Zeta told Ada, "Marda hates school."

Tyhry, pretending to be Marda, said, "It is particularly hard to go since Tyhry dropped out."

Zeta explained to Ada, "My daughter's friend recently quit school." Zeta told Anthony, "Please take Marda to school. I know it is a thankless task, but attending school is good for her."

Tyhry complained to Ada, "You'll find out quickly, my mom can sweet talk you into anything and then you will pay the price for years."

Ada laughed and said, "That sounds ominous."

Tyhry asked Zeta, "So what is going on? Is Ada moving in with us?" Tyhry made a half-hearted effort to read Ada's employment contract.

Zeta replied, "She has six months to shut down AdaGen. Hopefully she can start having gene sequencers installed inside Ranch1 at that time." 

Anthony and Tyhry departed. Ada accepted Zeta's invitation to celebrate the signing of the contract with a long soapy shared shower. On her way out of the guest house, Ada and Zeta shared a long hot kiss then Ada passed Anthony coming up the driveway.

Ada drove back to town, found the school. Ada went into the office and asked questions about the curriculum and college attendance rates for the students. During a brief break between class sessions, Ada watched the students and almost instantly noticed a girl who appeared to be Marda's age who had long blond hair that appeared almost white under the bright noon sun. Ada followed the girl to the cafeteria and then returned to the Q Diner. Ada learned from the waitress the location of Casanay. Over a long leisurely lunch, Ada tried to assemble what she knew into a coherent story. The young Marda had hired AdaGen for a strange gene sequencing job focused on looking for an almost unknown gene sequence in DNA that Ada had extracted from the roots of three blond hairs shafts. As far as Ada could tell, the Onways had only just arrived in Arizona about the time when the hairs had reached AdaGen. Then there was the Henrito Institute, which the locals seemed to know nothing about. Marda had met Tyhry Watson at school and Anthony had started a romance with Rylla that quickly led to a wedding. Given that concatenation of events, there did not seem to be many possibilities for the identity of the person whose DNA Ada had sequenced.

Ada departed from the Q Diner and went in search of Casanay. Pulling off the state road and into what seemed likely to be the Casanay driveway, Ada hesitated. She had no business at Casanay, only a burning curiosity. A voice spoke through speaker on a pole, "Are you lost?"

Ada rolled down the window of her rental car and replied, "I'm looking for the Watson residence."

"We are not interested in speaking to you unless you are responding to the advertisement."

"Yes, that is why I am here."

"Then come up to the house."

Ada drove slowly up the long driveway, furiously trying to construct an excuse for visiting Casanay. However, with Anthony recently moved out, it seemed likely that the Watsons were hiring staff. Ada parked in front of Casanay and gazed at the home that seemed carefully designed to blend into the landscape, unlike the ugly monstrosity that was Ranch0 Henrito. As she approached the front door, it swung open and a blond woman said, "Please come in."

While Ada's eyes were adjusting to the dim interior, she noticed a man seated beside a computer workstation. While closing the massive door, Systolina (disguised as Zeta) was saying, "The advertisement was quite clear. You were supposed to call if you had questions about the online job application." Systolina had femtobot monitor probes at the Henrito site and knew who Ada was.

"I'm sorry, but I was in the neighborhood. I was curious to see this place."

The man got out of his chair and approached Ada. He said, "And I'm curious. Just how tall are you?"

Zeta jabbed Eddy's ribs with her elbow and told Ada apologetically, "Please pardon my husband, when he see's a beautiful woman his brain stops working."

Ada was running her eyes up and down Systolina's body. Systolina was disguised as Zeta and with both Marda off at school and Anthony moved out of Casanay, Systolina had been trying to entertain Eddy by wearing a very sexy outfit that covered only a tiny fraction of her skin. With her eyes on Systolina's amazing breasts, Ada told Eddy, "My condolences, sir, if I had her to look at, I'd also trade my brain."

Eddy laughed and spoke to the woman who he believed was his wife, "I thought you just placed the help wanted ad." 

Systolina nodded. "I thought we would get applications by email. It did not occur to me that someone local would figure out that we are trying to replace Anthony."

Eddy managed to get his eyes off of Ada and he looked outside. "That looks like a rental car."

Ada said, "I just got to town I'm moving closer to my grandmother. She's not able to drive any more. I need a job."

Returning his gaze to Ada's fantastic tumble of red curls, Eddy said enthusiastically, "I'd hire you right this moment," Eddy added as a kind of after-thought, "but I suppose my wife will ask you to cook a meal first."

Systolina told Ada, "My husband can't say no to a pretty girl. Are you over 21?"

Ada giggled and told Systolina, "You are sweet. I'm 29. I'll be thirty in October." 

 Ada explained, "I was at the Q Diner. I mentioned I was looking for work and I was told some confused  story about a wedding someone called Anthony." She shrugged, "Anyhow, I just need a job. I'll do anything that needs doing."

Systolina had pushed her telepathic tendrils deep into Ada's mind and had already decided to hire Ada. She reached out and touched Ada's amazing hair. "Anything?"

Ada laughed and said, "Within reason." She reached out and felt Systolina's long silky hair. She slid her hand down and touched one of Systolina's big breasts. With her gaze on Systolina's breasts, Ada asked, "Are those real?"

 Eddy laughed and threw up his hands. "I must get back to work. You two are distracting me." Eddy went back to his workstation and his new novel.

Systolina took Ada by the hand and led the way to the kitchen. She put her free hand under one of her breasts and bounced it up and down. "I'll let you judge for yourself. And Eddy is right. I want you to cook dinner for four this evening."

They passed through the dining room. Ada said, "This place is fantastic. These statues and paintings are amazing. You were the model for most of them?"

Arriving in the kitchen, Systolina explained, "I suppose most of the art should follow Anthony. He worked here for fifteen years and often carved and painted female forms that might have been inspired by me, back before I got old and fat."

Ada looked in the refrigerator and the freezer. She told Systolina, "You are not fat."

"When I was pregnant I gained ten pounds of fat that that I never managed to lose. Eddy seems to enjoy bouncing it around in our bed, so I've learned to live with it. There is a larger freezer down the hallway." Systolina pointed deeper into the west wing. "Anthony always kept several several month's worth of food in the house."

Ada ran her hands along her slender sides. "I've never been able to put on weight."

Systolina suspected that Ada had Ek'col gene patterns or might even be Manny in disguise. "And the world is pleased. You have the body of a fashion model."

 

  

 

 

Tyhry was waiting impatiently for Zeta and Systolina to get out of the shower. Systolina was telepathically sharing with Tyhry her joy and pleasure from a slick and soapy shower play session with Zeta. Tyhry was looking out the window at the Ranch1 construction site and marveling at how quickly its walls were going up. Having seen the plans, Tyhry knew that Ranch1 would become a ten story high sparkling glass and steel laboratory research space.

Finally, Zeta and Systolina burst out of the shower and began dressing, which by their rules meant they had to dress each other. Through Systolina's eyes, Tyhry could see the lovely body that her mother was now using, that of Rylla Onway, now chief financial officer for the Henrito Research Institute. Tyhry knew the basics of how Zeta was channeling profits from Simpera into the non-profit Research Institute and using those contributions to science research as tax write-offs for Simpera.

Zeta and Systolina were talking non-stop about plans for the weekend and the fact that Eddy and Anthony were going skiing. First, they had gone to Phoenix to shop for new skis, Eddy's old boots and bindings having been worn out. Tyhry barely listened and was fantasizing about what she and Marda would be doing together in bed that coming night.

The three women took the elevator down to the ground floor of ranch0 where Zeta was intercepted by the architect who was designing Ranch5. Systolina and Tyhry went to the garage and stood looking at the big Jeep that belonged to Rylla and Zeta's sporty little car, which Tyhry loved to drive. Sometimes Tyhry had dreams of flying, and the closest she could actually come to those dream experiences was by driving her mother's car too fast. Tyhry opened up the driver's side door of Zeta's car and told Systolina, "See you at Casanay."

Systolina could telepathically sense that Zeta was deep into the details of the astronomical expense that was baked into the extravagant design of  Ranch5. With each successive building she helped design, Zeta found more ways to make the research spaces and the associated living spaces more luxurious. The staff and researchers of the Henrito Campus would mostly be housed on site, either in more of the modular prefabricated homes or in apartments in the upper floors of the research laboratory buildings. The architect and his family had moved into the modular homes as soon as Zeta and Tyhry had moved out.

Systolina felt obligated to give Tyhry that warning that was usually given by Zeta. "If you get stopped by the police, only flash your fake driver's license if asked."

"I don't drive that fast, auntie." Tyhry got in the car and drove off."

Systolina watched Tyhry driving too fast as she disappeared down the Ranch0 driveway. Systolina reflected on Tyhry and Marda had both adopted the habit of referring to Zeta and Systolina as 'auntie' whenever they felt they were being treated like children. Systolina got into the Jeep and started it up, knowing that Zeta would appreciate the heater. Tyhry and Marda took every opportunity to assert that they were now adults and deserving of being treated like adults. Marda had explained to Zeta, "The gene sequencing is clear. Tyhry and I are tryp'At and be are biologically adult tryp'At."

Finally, Zeta reached the garage and got into the passenger side front seat of 'her' Jeep. "Sorry about the delay. I see Tyhry took off." Zeta used an app on her phone to check on Tyhry and saw that her daughter was traveling at close to 100 MPH going up the strait highway through the valley. "She seems determined to get stopped for speeding."

Systolina knew that Marda had used her zeptite programming skills deploy a network of detectors along the roads between the Henrito site and Casanay. If there were any police in the area, Marda would have let Tyhry know. "Don't worry about Tyhry. She has a guardian angel." Before arriving on Earth, this copy of Systolina had been shown Phari Simulations of the future that left Systolina believing that nothing bad would ever happen to either Marda or Tyhry. Under heavy overcast, as the last light of day leaked from the sky, a few snow flakes were swirling in the air. "Some day she fill get a surprise from a patch of ice and then we will learn how that array of airbags in your car work."

 Eddy and Anthony arrive after shopping in Phoenix. 

show a session of first Eddy, Marda and Tyhry at Eddy's computer. Then just Marda (disguised as Tyhry) and Eddy when Tyhry (disguised as Marda) goes to join Zeta, Systolina and Anthony in the hot tub. Marda (disguised as Tyhry) shows Eddy a story she wrote about Tim, naming him as an Ek'col. Marda (disguised as Tyhry) reveals to Eddy the gene sequencing results that she has obtained and asks Eddy to explain the unusual gene patterns that he shares with Marda. Eddy is unable to admit to what he knows. Marda (disguised as Tyhry) demands to perform an experiment: a bioessay test Eddy's semen for the tryp'At hormone klytykynyn. Marda (disguised as Tyhry) claims that she has already had chemical analysis done and found a peptide in his semen sample (provided by Systolina) that corresponds to an unusual gene on his Y chromosome. The truth is, Marda has been using manufactured klytykynyn to boost her telepathic abilities, but she needs Eddy to reveal how to activate the Reality Viewer, which is done telepathically. Marda needs to be within her telepathic range when Eddy activates the Viewer. Eddy refuses to let Tyhry perform the bioassay. Systolina (disguised as Zeta) arrives and tells Tyhry to "go join the party in the hot tub". She sits down on Eddy's keyboard and says she just has to watch Anthony and Rylla making love in the pool during a snow storm and she is horny; she will post for his fans as a puzzle what she writes with her butt while Eddy gives her oral sex and an orgasm. Marda remains close to Eddy (on the other side of the wall) and takes a huge dose of klytykynyn. Marda is able to see in Eddy's mind how to access the Reality Viewer.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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Next: mid-year Search for Interesting Hollywood Aliens.