The Exoditions of Cynk

Alice was one of the first
humans to visit Cynk.

In my previous blog post, I raised the possibility of writing a science fiction story based on a game of Civilization: Beyond Earth. Below on this page is the first chapter of such a "fan fiction" story, called "Exoditions on Cynk". The story is set in the Exodemic Fictional Universe.

An "exodition" is an expedition that is concerned with one of the key problems in the Exode Saga: creating a Bimanoid Interface that can efficiently function with the human brain and that can be successfully deployed as part of the Trysta-Grean Pact. A functioning Bimanoid Interface can give a person a type of technology-assisted telepathy.

Two other types of imaginary future technology that play important roles in "Exoditions on Cynk" are teleportation and advanced nanotechnology. One use of the nanotechnology is for making artificial life forms that are composed of nanites rather than biological cells.

A pink bioengineered lifeform on Cynk

In "Exoditions on Cynk", the exoditions take place on a planet named Cynk, located in the distant Alastor Star Cluster. The exoplanet where most of the story takes place is called Cynk because it has two major continents that are named Pink and Cyan, names that refer to the major biological pigments found in the bodies of the distinctly different faunas of the two continents.

Deep Time
In the Asimov Reality, Alice Wroke and Kirth Gersen became explorers and visited Alastor Cluster, becoming the first humans to visit the planet Cynk. They landed on one of the few areas of land that was not covered by a dark cloud of nanites.

source

While exploring Cynk, Alice and Kirth soon discovered evidence of a lost civilization that had seemingly been destroyed by a type of "gray goo" nanite catastrophe. After spending several years at their Blue Forest Camp on the east central coast of the continent Cyan, their children began to tell stories of telepathic contact with the alien natives of the planet.

In the Final Reality
"Exoditions on Cynk" takes place several thousand years along the timeline before the time when Alice and Kirth first visited Cynk in the Asimov Reality. Only recently, in the current Reality, have some Earthlings gained access to the technology that is needed to remove "black miasma" nanites from large parts of the surface of the planet Cynk.

Beyond Earth game elements like the rocktopus are
used here in the spirit of fan fiction, for the enjoyment
of science fiction fans, with no intention for profit.

Several teams of investigators from Earth, knowing about the importance of Cynk in past Realities, are now eager to study the hybrid lifeforms of this planet. The hybrid lifeforms of Cynk are partly cellular and partly composed of hierions, a mysterious form of matter only now becoming known to Earthlings. Nanites composed of hierions are key components of the Phari endosymbionts that made it possible for some humans to start using the Bimanoid Interface.
_________________________
The game elements such as "xenomass" from Civilization: Beyond Earth are probably claimed as the intellectual property of 2K Games or other for-profit corporations. The fictional setting of an exoplanet in the Beyond Earth game was borrowed for use here in the spirit of fan fiction, for the enjoyment of science fiction fans and with no intention for profit. Also, "Exoditions on Cynk" is Jack Vance and Isaac Asimov fan fiction; so the disclaimers listed here also apply to the following story...
_________________________

Exoditions on Cynk

source

As I often do, I'd gotten up in the small hours of the morning to brood. I don't enjoy brooding, but I had awoken with the uncomfortable sensation that a woman had been prowling around in my mind. That sort of intrusion inevitably gets me thinking about the past and my earliest experiences with telepathy. Two hours later, I was seriously lamenting the loss of my first great collaborator, Ivory.

Those little hours in the middle of the night are a good time for me to exercise. After a workout I can often grow sleepy and get back to sleep again. Not this time.

A few hours after I had gotten up, just at the first light of day, Zeta (my 'wife') had risen and found me exercising. She looked at the data display on the stationary bike and said, "Seventy one miles! Who are you trying to get away from, old man?"

I stopped pedaling and replied, "Ivory." Zeta shook her head in disgust, went to the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine and for a while she had tried to cheer me up. Then we got into an argument. Now, at sunrise, it was still early in the day, but she was already tired of listening to me talk about Ivory. Zeta sighed and exasperation tinged her voice, "She's on the Moon. You had better forget about her. We need to solve our own problems. Yōd and I are your collaborators, now."

By this time, Yōd was also up early, probably awakened by the sound of Zeta and I arguing. She sat there across the room, her nose stuck to the screen of her tablet computer. She had been trying to ignore me and my grumblings about the good old days of joys of collaboration with Ivory, but now she finally entered into the conversation. "No more."

I looked across the room and blinked into the glare of the rising sun. I asked, "No more what?"

Yōd looked up and replied, "Ivory is no longer on the Moon."

I had suspected that this was the case, having been told a few years previously that Ivory was was dead. However, being dead might not be so bad if your mind has been successfully transferred into a new artificial body. I'd been told that Ivory was now an artificial lifeform and she had been sent to a distant world in the Galactic Core. Did Yōd now have some new information about Ivory's fate? I demanded, "Where is she?"

Yōd shrugged and went back into hiding behind the tablet. "I've only heard rumors."

I got up and went over to Yōd, rudely pulled away her tablet and asked, "What rumors? And why haven't you shared what you know with me?"

Yōd tried to deflect my anger with humor. She giggled and batted her big eyes at me. "I suspected that you would flip out if I told you, so.... well, why spread rumors?"

Trysta and Grean (image credits)

Zeta took the tablet from me and handed it back to Yōd. She suggested, "Why not just tell us the facts."

Yōd complained, "It is usually impossible to know if there are any facts in among the rumors that circulate on the Moon. At Observer Base, the general strategy is to spread rumors widely... eventually someone will respond by confirming the rumor or by killing it with facts. Of course, it can be a sad situation when a dead person can't defend herself against salacious rumors."

Reality chain

Yōd smiled mischievously and continued, "The big problem is, now that the Trysta-Grean Pact is in effect, most people don't have much to do at Observer Base... so they just create and spread rumors. It is entertainment." Yōd paused just long enough to make it clear that she would have been happy to stop talking about Ivory, then she went on. "However, if you must know, the most popular story at Observer Base right now concerning Ivory is that she volunteered to work with Azynov inside the AR Simulator." Yōd frowned in distaste, "It is particularly annoying that these rumors have grown to include details about a great steamy romance between Azynov and Ivory." Yōd asked me, "Ivory was a big science fiction fan, wasn't she?"

a story by Anney Fersoni

The idea of Ivory exploring the AR Simulator together with Azynov did immediately make sense to me, not just because of Ivory's interest in science fiction. I am sure that Ivory would have enjoyed the opportunity to work with a replicoid of Isaac Asimov. More importantly, Ivory had spent years collaborating with her clone sisters Anney and Angela in an effort to obtain information about the past Realities of Earth, including the Asimov Reality. Now that the Asimov Reality Simulator on the Moon was back in operation, Ivory could fruitfully apply her extensive knowledge of the Asimov Reality and help Azynov in his on-going effort to explore the Asimov Reality. There was great anticipation of success for Azynov's mission and hope that he might discover the origins and technical mechanics of the Bimanoid Interface. I had a personal interest in Azynov's work because there was a chance that it might just provide me with a means of getting around the block that my nemesis Irhit had imposed on my use of the Bimanoid Interface.

source

Of course, the power of good rumors is that they provide us with what we want to hear. I turned away from Yōd and began pacing back and forth across the room, lost in a web of thoughts. I tried to imagine Ivory at work inside the AR Simulator, actually viewing the recorded events from that Reality, hidden events that she and her sisters had worked so hard to reveal by means of Ivory's little sister Angela hacking into the Sedronic Domain.

see the image credits here

At least, I had been told that Ivory's wealth of knowledge about past Realities had come by way of access to the Sedronic Domain. But now I realized there was another possibility. What if Angela Fersoni had been given backdoor access to the Asimov Reality Simulator? She might have explored the information contents of the Simulator without knowing the true sources of her discoveries. Others, such as Ivory, could have invented the "cover story" about obtaining information via the Sedronic Domain.

I stopped my pacing, turned and looked at Zeta and Yōd from across the room. The crisp light of morning streamed in the window behind them. They both wore black body suits and stood there side by side, looking at an image on the screen of Yōd's tablet. They spoke quietly together using a language I knew to be that of their home world.

I felt like I knew Zeta quite well, even if I had only known her a short time. The inescapable source of that familiarity arose from the fact that she is the clone of Alpha Gohrlay, the woman who I married and had three children with. When I first knew her, Zeta had pretended to be a native of Earth and my wife.

Yōd and Zeta

Yōd has always been a stranger and has never really tried to pretend that she is from Earth. She's another Gohrlay clone, but ever since I've known her, she has used her facial nanites to alter her appearance so that she could be successfully infiltrated onto Earth, replacing an actual Earthling. Yōd can alter her appearance and she could probably make herself look like any human who she was asked to impersonate.

When she was sent to Earth, it was expected that Yōd would impersonate one specific Earthling. Lately she had been experimenting with her nanites and taking on new physical forms, at least when it was only Zeta and I nearby. Each time I look at Yōd I'm not sure what I will see. Worse still, Yōd has become a bad influence on Zeta and she no longer bothers trying to use her facial nanites to adhere to her mission parameters and keep up the appearance of a sixty-year-old Earth woman.

For a moment, as I gazed at the two of them: the single dark shape formed by their bodies took on the appearance of some menacing three-legged alien creature. The fact that Yōd and Zeta had been born on a distant planet has always made it hard for me to trust them.

I longed to return to the old days of working with Ivory, a fellow native of Earth. Even if Ivory wasn't exactly human, at least she cared about the fate of we Earthlings. More importantly, Ivory's personality had been forged in the same fire as my own: growing up feeling like a stranger on Earth and continually wondering why she did not really fit in with her peers. Still, Ivory had come to feel that Earth truly was her planet, even after she knew all about her fantastic origins as part of an extensive alien genetics project taking place over thousands of years on distant planets.

I understand Ivory and her thought processes, but the motivations of Zeta, and most particularly Yōd, have always been a mystery to me. I'm forced to wonder if Zeta and Yōd really care about the future of Earth in the way that Ivory did. It was easy for me to start imagining that both Zeta and Yōd might be here on Earth performing missions that will damage Humanity and seed disaster into the coming future of this planet. It only fed my paranoia when Zeta and Yōd spoke together using their native language, muttering quietly to each other in conspiratorial fashion.

The spell of my rising xenophobia was broken when I looked at the feet of Zeta and Yōd. Is there anything more distinctly human than the human foot? During the summers, it was always my family's habit to go around the house barefoot. Zeta and Yōd had readily adopted that practice and their pink feet now demolished the sinister aura that had been created in my mind by the mote of their black clothing. The fact remains, I have never learned to trust Yōd. Suspecting that she was concealing important information about Ivory, and unable to let go of my Ivory obsession, I spoke sharply to Yōd, "Don't tell me that Ivory is now trapped with Azynov inside the Asimov Reality Simulator."

Yōd laughed. "Fine! I won't tell you that. As the story is told, Ivory tried to use the AR Simulator, but she could never even enter into that virtual reality system. However, another rumor suggests that she went to one of the exoplanets that played an important role in development of the Bimanoid Interface in the Asimov Reality. The planet Cynk in the Alastor Cluster."

Anney

I stammered, "Wa- wait a minute. This sounds like one of the stories that Ivory once told me...."

Yōd nodded. "Ya, those old stories by Anney and Ivory are currently all the rage at the Writers Block. Everyone is reading them."

I tried to remember what Ivory had told me about Alastor Cluster and the strange aliens who had once lived there: the Phari. "If I'm remembering correctly, Ivory implied that the location of Alastor Cluster has never been determined... at least not by Earthlings in this Reality."

"That seems to have been one of the reasons why the AR Simulator was sealed up and off limits. The location of Alastor Cluster was well-known in the Asimov Reality." Zeta suggested, "Maybe Azynov has been able to figure out the actual location of Alastor Cluster. Months have gone by since that day he was here. It seems like there has been plenty of time for him to make a few discoveries since he got inside the AR Simulator."

Bimanoid Interface

Yōd had that look about her that said, "I know more about this, but I'm keeping my mouth shut." I said to Yōd, "You are still hiding information about Ivory from me."

Yōd gave a delicate shrug. "Nothing of consequence. I've been told that Ivory departed from Observer Base several years ago, long before Azynov arrived. About the time when the Vance replicoid known as Jaqy stopped trying to gain access to the AR Simulator."

Wondering what other information Yōd was hiding, I went back to my chair an returned to a disturbing line of thought that always crops up when I'm reminiscing about Ivory. I was firmly convinced that I can use the Bimanoid Interface, but my replicoid (Irhit) in the Hierion Domain seemed to be blocking my access to the Interface. Ivory had taught me a few tricks for trying to gain access to the Bimanoid Interface, but when Ivory had been killed and her artificial life copy was exiled from Earth, I had stopped my experiments along those lines.

Now with Yōd apparently settled in for a prolonged stay in my house and with her constantly using the Bimanoid Interface to communicate with residents at Observer Base on the Moon, I had to wonder if maybe it was time to engage in another round of experiments with my own brain. I confess that I was feeling jealous of Yōd and her continual easy access to the people at Observer Base by means of her ability to use the Bimanoid Interface.

Was there some way that I might work around Irhit and regain my own access to the data channels that can be made accessible by way of the Bimanoid Interface? If Yōd was going to play games and not freely share with me what she knew about events on the Moon, then I needed to get busy and regain my own direct telepathic access to Observer Base.

source

Just then I "heard" a voice: I'll save you the trouble.

I spoke out-loud, "Ivory? Is that you?"

Sorry, but no. This is Trysta.

For me, Trysta was a creature of legend; an Asterothrope from the far future, sent back in time to create the Final Reality. I mumbled quietly, "I never expected to hear from you."

Yōd and Zeta looked up from the tablet screen and stared at me. In a hushed voice, Zeta asked me, "Are you in contact with Ivory by way of the Bimanoid Interface?"

I replied to Zeta, "No."

I tried not speaking to Trysta and only thought in her "direction". Why are you suddenly contacting me now?

Trysta replied: Well, I've long monitored your activities and you got me thinking...

I was surprised to hear that Trysta was still monitoring events on Earth. I interrupted Trysta and commented: I thought you had been removed from Earth when the Pact went into effect.

Trysta confirmed that. Yes, I'm far from Earth... I'm here on Cynk with Ivory. I've decided that she's been tricked into going about her work from the wrong direction and with the wrong assumptions. It occurred to me that I could assemble a second expeditionary team here on this planet and work towards the Bimanoid Interface from a different direction.

Yōd and Zeta had gathered around me. I suppose I had a look of wonder and concentration on my face while I silently "spoke" to Trysta. Zeta could not contain herself. She shouted at Yōd, "Has someone activated his access to the Interface again?"

Yōd replied, "I'm checking that possibility, but it is not always easy to find Irhit." Yōd placed a hand on my arm and said, "I don't have a telepathic link to his mind."

source

I decided that Yōd and Zeta should know that I had been contacted by Trysta. I spoke out loud, "Trysta, how can you be far away in Alastor Cluster and still be in telepathic contact with me?"

Trysta's verbal thoughts appeared clearly in my mind: There is an open teleportation link between Earth and Cynk. As far as I can tell, it has been open... forever. Well, ever since the Phari first started having contact with Earthlings. Long ago.

"I see." I was intrigued by the idea that remnants of Phari technology might still reside on Earth. I've long hoped to find some physical evidence that aliens have been visiting our world. "So, you want me to slip through that teleportation portal and join you and Ivory on Cynk?"

Yōd told Zeta, "Irhit confirms that someone activated a two-way telepathic link just a short time ago, but he can't imagine who on Earth would have the ability to sneak past the block that he maintains against Earthlings using the Interface."

Zeta muttered, "Irhit doesn't realize that Trysta is using a Phari teleportation conduit."

Trysta was still inside my thoughts: Not just you. I need a team. I need the three of you, and right now. So this was just a warning. Prepare yourself for a jolt.

I said to Zeta who was standing beside me, "Hold on to your hat-"

Suddenly we were not at home, on Earth. I finished my sentence, lamely, "-we are being teleported." I glanced around at our new setting. Yōd and Zeta were there with me, and also Trysta. I said stupidly, "We have been teleported." I'd previously been teleported, so the shock of suddenly finding myself in a new place was simply disorienting, not terrifying. The air of our new location seemed to have the faint scent of peppers and an unrecognizable resin. The gravity felt slightly stronger than Earth normal.

Trysta's helper robot, Cal, shows off a sample of green miasma.

We were in what I would soon learn was the observation lounge on the top floor of Trysta's home, which has a dazzling view of the North Polar Sea. Most startling for us was the replica of a large, multi-tentacular alien creature that Trysta had on display in the room, way up high above us. Yōd, Zeta and I all sank down into the soft surfaces of the chairs that we had materialized above and that we now found ourselves using. Feeling very far from home, I gathered my wits and asked Trysta, "This is the planet Cynk?"

source

Trysta nodded and spoke reassuringly to Yōd and Zeta, "Sorry for the sudden discontinuity. From your cognitive perspective, it feels like you just arrived from Earth, but this is more complicated than mere teleportation. When I first brought you here, I feared that the existence of the Cynk teleportation conduit has been discovered by the tryp'At. I worried that the conduit is fragile and that there was technology at Observer Base that could block teleportation. So, I acted to get you off Earth quickly, and to be frank, I acted quickly so that I could limit the risk of Yōd alerting anyone at Observer Base."

"I don't blab everything I know to just anyone." Yōd complained, "You should have asked us if we wanted to leave Earth before suddenly yanking us away and bringing us here."

Trysta chuckled, "Don't worry, Azynov has been doing just fine without you constantly worrying about him. Think of this as a vacation. You can forget all of your worries and help me with my little research project." Trysta rested a hand on my shoulder and gazed into my eyes, "With luck, we might just learn how to control the Bimanoid Interface rather than simply make use of it when given the opportunity by our masters."

source
(Sedronite, image credits)

The feel of Trysta's long, alien fingers on my shoulder was creepy. And there was something sinister in the way that Trysta emphasized that Yōd was dispensable for Azynov's mission. I assumed that her mention of "our masters" was general reference to the Huaoshy, the aliens who were the creators of the human species.

After having been teleported half way across the galaxy, there was much to think about and many concerns that I wanted to discuss with Trysta, but thoughts of Ivory kept popping up in my mind. I struggled to keep my thoughts focused on what was most important. With Trysta right there beside me, locking me into the steady gaze of her alien eyes, I started probing the many unknowns with a simple question; I gestured to our surroundings, "Where exactly are we?"

Trysta replied, "This is my base of operations on Cynk: Mandira, my little temple of science." She pointed out the window. "Mandira is not a tropical paradise, but this time of year the tundra is in full bloom and the sea ice is melting. My research has centered on a search of the North Polar Sea for clues to the inner workings of the Bimanoid Interface."

Zeta asked, "What sort of research?"

"Our research concerns systems that are at the interface between biology and nanotechnology." Trysta finally removed her hand from my shoulder and walked across the room. "Cynk is one of the exoplanets where the Phari long ago developed their science of nanites." She gestured towards a swirling column of black mist. "This black mist is composed of a nanite cloud. Sadly, the advanced civilization that once existed here on this world is gone. Long ago, the surface of the planet disappeared under a black cloud of nanites, but we now have the technological means to remove those nanites and once more allow the surface of Cynk to receive sunlight. We can now study the alien creatures that still exist on this world and try to learn about the powerful hierion-based technologies of the ancient lost civilization of Cynk."

I asked, "Are you saying that the surface of this planet has not received sunlight for thousands of years, but there is still life here?"

Yōd muttered to Trysta, "He knows nothing about nanites."

Trysta laughed. "It is a fair question. Remember, I'm from a point on the timeline millions of years in your future, so I long ago became accustomed to explaining nanotechnology to primitive Earthlings." Trysta again fixed her eyes on mine. "I agree that for the sort of life that exists on Earth, most lifeforms would go extinct if the planet was shrouded in black nanites. However, all of the existing native lifeforms on Cynk are artificial lifeforms, with a clever mix of biological and nanite components. Now, forget about Earth and think about the possibilities on a world with a nanosphere rather than a biosphere! Maybe the most efficient way to obtain energy for a planet is to cover it in a black energy-absorbing material. That seems to be the primary function of black miasma: obtaining energy for the creatures of Cynk."

I was confused. "But you say there are polar ice caps on this world? If a planet was covered in a layer of energy collecting black nanites, wouldn't it have too much trapped energy and over-heat?"

Trysta explained, "No, these nanites were carefully designed to avoid creating that sort of global warming problem. The black nanites of this planet absorb visible light, but they are very good at radiating waste heat into space... we can list that as the second function of black miasma."

Yōd asked, "How can an energy-absorbing cloud assist the alien lifeforms of this world?" For a moment, Yōd seemed lost without her tablet computer. "In her report on Cynk, Ivory suggested that there was a functional link between black miasma and and the creatures living on the planet's surface, but I don't recall that she ever provided any details."

At Yōd's mention of Ivory, I was swept up in rush of emotion. It was almost as if I could feel Ivory's body, warm at my side. A flash-like image of Ivory rippled through my mind and I turned quickly to glance behind me. Nothing. My heart was racing. I kept trying to push those strange, intruding thoughts of Ivory out of my mind and focus on the here and now.

source

Just then, a robot came into the room, carrying a container full of green mist. Trysta pointed to the green mist and said, "This is another example of the Phari nanotechnology innovations: green miasma. It was named 'green miasma' by the first humans who lived on this world and who had to learn how to survive here under primitive conditions and handicapped by their almost complete ignorance of nanotechnology. Even without an understanding of nanotechnology, those early settlers discovered a link between green miasma and xenomass."

Zeta reached out and tried to touch the green miasma, but there was a transparent boundary that contained the miasma. The swirling green mist responded to the movement of her hand, but she could not come into physical contact with the green nanites. Zeta rose to her feet and for a minute played around with the seemingly living mist, making it jump and swirl in response to her hand motions. She asked, "Did you say 'Grean miasma' or did you say green"?

source

"Green. You can see the green color of these nanites." Trysta pointed at the container full of miasma that Cal was holding. "But why do you ask about Grean?"

Yōd glanced towards me and explained, "I've heard a rumor suggesting that Grean took Ivory into deep space on a special mission. Most of those at Observer Base view that as a boring rumor compared to other stories about Ivory and Azynov."

Trysta chuckled. "Ah, rumors! Yes, you are an integral part of the Observer Base rumor mill, aren't you, Yōd? Tell me, what is so boring about space travel?"

Zeta suggested, "I suppose most Earthlings believe that interstellar travel is impossible, so they seldom think about deep space unless they are imagining some science fiction scenario in which a fantastic new technology makes it possible to travel between the stars."

Yōd added, "The residents of Observer Base are obsessed with sex. They always prefer the rumors that involve romantic entanglements."

Trysta laughed loudly. "Now I understand what you meant."

I was watching Yōd from an angle that afforded me a view through the gap in her tight-fitting top at her left breast. I'd long since become accustomed to the rather provocative way she dresses. Turning my head, I found Zeta's eyes fixed upon me. Still watching me, but speaking to Trysta, Zeta suggested, "As an Asterothrope, you might not be able to understand the human obsession with sex."

Trysta shook her head. "Asterothrope females were designed to be baby factories, capable of producing dozens of children. Originally, it was planned that we would function as a device for quickly spreading human genes across the galaxy. Believe me, the human instinct for sexual adventure was not bred out of the Asterothropes. If you don't enjoy sexual fantasies, Yōd, then you are missing out on an important part of the human experience."

"I'm no prude." Yōd complained, "I just get annoyed when gossip and rumor and fantasy sexcapades have the power to disrupt a real love affair."

"Well, you now have a chance to step away from all that destructive gossiping. We have important work to do on this world, so you won't be sitting around endlessly chatting with your friends." Trysta gestured towards the outside and the rolling tundra. "This world will challenge you and test your survival skills. For one thing, green miasma is pretty, but it is lethal to humans if you breath it in. When out on the surface of the planet, you have to follow strict safety precautions."

Trysta seemed restless and she strode back across the room. With her back turned towards us, she gazed out the window towards the sea. "Rest assured, Yōd; Grean and Ivory are both here on Cynk. However, when I realized that they were confused and bungling their mission, I decided to get your help and salvage the situation." Trysta turned towards us and made a sweeping gesture with her long arm, indicating the three of us as a group.

I was having trouble listening to Trysta. I had a blurry image of Ivory in my mind. No! It was an image of me as seen through the eyes of Ivory. I closed my eyes and tried to strengthen my connection to Ivory, using some of the tricks that she had taught me for how best to use the Bimanoid Interface. I felt like I might have only been hallucinating, but I seemed to hear the sound of Ivory's voice. For a few seconds could almost hear Ivory speaking, but the words, if there were words, made no sense. I could not avoid the suspicion that someone was trying to prevent me from having telepathic contact with Ivory. Or, alternatively, maybe the planet Cynk generated a type of telepathy-disrupting field that prevented a stable link from forming between Ivory and myself via the Bimanoid Interface. I heard Zeta's voice and that seemed to break Ivory's spell. I returned to the here and now.

A xenomass seep. Most xenomass is underground.

Zeta was asking, "Are you saying that green miasma is lethal to humans, but essential to the lifeforms of Cynk? What was it you mentioned... xenomass?"

Trysta continued, "Yes, xenomass; one of the unique features of this planet. Green miasma takes energy from the black miasma and molecules from the planet and creates xenomass, a universal nutrient that supports all life on Cynk. The production of xenomass has been going on here for millions of years and now large parts of the planet are bulging with xenomass deposits. Some of the lifeforms here on this world can harvest nutrients directly from green miasma nanites, but most feed on the readily available xenomass deposits."

Trysta gave a signal to the robot, "Return that green miasma sample to the mud room, Cal. And tell Spica to lock the new litter of baby scarabs in the nursery; we'll soon be going down to the lab. Bring us suitable clothing for the lab and my ranger gear."

In a rather mechanical voice, Cal the robot said, "Yes,  master," turned and departed, still carrying the green miasma.

I'd never seen a robot of that design before and I wanted to question Trysta about the bot, if only to ask about the origin of its name. Both Yōd and Zeta seemed to find nothing unusual about interacting with the robot, but as an Earthling it was a novelty for me. I asked Trysta a question about Cal and how robots were used as helpers on Cynk. For a few minutes Trysta and I discussed robots.

Zeta had opened a thick book that was on the end table next to the couch where I was sitting. She turned pages of the book, looking at the images printed there. Pointing at one page she said something to Yōd in their native language. Yōd got out of her chair and looked down at the book. I glanced to my right and saw that now Yōd had begun turning the pages of the book. I was briefly distracted by the sight of her left breast showing through a strategically placed gap in her shirt. For a moment I could sense that Yōd was trying to link to my mind via telepathy, but she was only succeeding in drawing my attention to her rather flamboyant sexual playfulness. Yōd glanced at me, winked and then returned to the book. She stopped turning pages and pointed to an image of a blue-colored creature, "What is this?"

Trysta replied, "We call that a scarab. It looks like a beetle, but scarabs can grow as tall as I am."

Yōd said, "It seems strangely familiar to me."

Trysta explained, "They almost seem to function as scouts for the natives. In fact, my first encounter with a native creature was with a pack of scarabs. Some of Grean's first experiments aimed at creating modified and domesticated forms of native creatures were performed with scarabs."

I again noticed that Zeta was watching me closely. I asked her, "What's wrong?"

Zeta shook her head and looked away. She asked Trysta, "What is Grean trying to accomplish on this world?"

Telepathy Time

Trysta paused and seemed to think for a time, perhaps trying to imagine the best way to explain Grean's plans. She looked out the window at the rolling tundra. "As you know, Grean placed Earth in the care of the tryp'At. The tryp'At now function as the eyes and ears of the pek here in this era when aliens are not allowed on Earth. However, the tryp'At have begun calling themselves the Overseers of Earth. Now Grean is having second thoughts and is worried that the tryp'At might abuse the power that they have to use the Bimanoid Interface."

Trysta still had her back turned towards us and she gazed out towards the Polar Sea where giant icebergs floated and sparkled in the sunlight. "It has become important to know the history of how the Interface was developed and made to function with the human brain... something long thought to be impossible. A Phari endosymbiont is involved, but we know very little about that key alien technological wonder. So here we are on Cynk, trying to learn the secrets of the Phari and their advanced nanotechnology."

Yōd asked, "What is Grean doing wrong?"

Asterothrope

Trysta turned and strode past me. She towered over Zeta and I was impressed by the dramatic difference between Asterothrope and human body size. I briefly wondered how Trysta had lived for so many decades on Earth without attracting attention, but then I remembered her ability to telepathically implant thoughts into a human mind. I wondered about the extent to which Trysta could control my mind and my thoughts. Was she preventing me from telepathically communicating with Ivory?

For a moment my mind merged with that of Ivory and I knew that she was trying to find me. The feel of her wonderful thought pattern soothed me and suddenly I was reminded of one of her stories; a story about Trysta and her Early life as Skaña. Yes, Skaña was technically an Asterothrope, but her body had been carefully crafted to resemble that of a human. Via our telepathic link, Ivory told me: Don't let Trysta fool you!

I tried to ask Ivory: Why has Trysta reverted to the bodily form of an Asterothrope? I got no telepathic reply to that question from Ivory.

Trysta had opened the big book that Zeta had been looking through. The book now lay open to a particular page that showed a brightly colored creature. Trysta pointed at the image of the alien lifeform, "This book is our encyclopedia of all the forms of life that we have found on Pink and Cyan and in the ocean of Cynk. We have barely begun to catalog the many additional variants that exist on the thousands of islands. We have tried to find a lifeform that is evolutionarily related to the species that long ago built a great technologically advanced civilization on this world. Grean's theory suggests that the original alien intelligence of this planet long ago devolved into a Remnant Species. It is our hope that the Remnant Species will provide us with clues to the key technology that was used to create the Phari endosymbiont that gives the tryp'At their ability to use the Bimanoid Interface. I recognize the general correctness of Grean's theory. We must find that Remnant Species and study its hierion endosymbiont."

femtobot endosymbionts

I looked at the page in the book that Trysta had selected. The odd alien creature depicted there meant nothing to me. It looked like a collection of pink pancakes. I mused, "So, is this like searching for a needle in a hay stack? According to Ivory, it took thousands of years of research by humans in the Asimov Reality before it finally became possible for them to understand Phari nanotechnology. And that didn't do Earthlings any good. The Asimov Reality was terminated and the secrets of Phari civilization were lost; locked up in the AR Simulator."

Trysta sat down next to me. "Azynov has obtained important clues from his exploration of the AR Simulator. We now have the advantage of his confirmation of the idea that a key discovery in the study of Phari nanites was made on Cynk, and that narrows the search for the origins of the Bimanoid Interface. So, in a sense, we have a large head-start over the bumbling humans of the Asimov Reality. To them, Cynk was a low-priority world, all too easy to ignore given the challenge of dealing with the clouds of miasma that envelope this world. The explorers and researchers of the Asimov Reality investigated every other planet of Alastor Cluster before finally returning to Cynk and doing the hard work that needed to be done to penetrate the secrets of the ancient civilization that once existed here."

Yōd impatiently repeated her question, "What is Grean doing wrong?"

Trysta turned to squarely face Yōd and replied, "Grean believes that the Remnant Species is the nanoshrimp." She activated a hand-held holographic display device and showed we three visitors from Earth a map of Cynk. We gathered around the display as she zoomed in on the southern end of the continent Cyan. "This planet has large ice caps. Grean has been following evidence and clues suggesting that the Remnant Species might inhabit the South Polar Sea."

"According to information obtained by Azynov in the AR Simulator, the most advanced lifeform of the south polar sea is the nanoshrimp, a hybrid organism composed of about half cells and half nanites.  This map shows the approach to the South Polar Sea via the Chilke Peninsula, which has only recently been cleared of black miasma."

I was surprised to hear the name 'Chilke'. I asked, "Why is it called the Chilke Peninsula?"

Trysta explained, "The first humans to reside on Cynk were Kirth and Alice. That was in Deep Time, in the Asimov Reality. Hundreds of years later, two human explorers named Eustace Chilke and Felixia Stronsi came to Cynk and found descendants of Kirth and Alice still living on this world. Eustace and Felixia became residents of Cynk, and according to legend, their descendants colonized the southern part of Cyan."

Persisting, Yōd asked a third time, "What is Grean doing wrong?"

Trysta put an arm around Yōd's shoulders, "Patience, child." Trysta, an Asterothrope, stood a good half foot taller than Yōd, but Trysta showed no outward sign of her great age. I've heard rumors to the effect that the natural life span of Asterothropes is several centuries. Still, in a strange way, seeing the two of them there together, I could imagine that Yōd might actually be Trysta's daughter. It occurred to me that maybe some Asterothrope genes had gone into crafting Yōd, giving her a special talent for telepathic communication via the Bimanoid Interface.

source

But no... as soon as that thought crossed my mind I corrected it. That was the wrong way to look at the situation. More likely, it was that R. Gohrlay had crafted the Asterothropes so that they had phenotypic features similar to the original Gohrlay, a woman who had been born all the way back in the First Reality. I fell into a train of thought that got me thinking about all the past Realities of Earth. Of course, that again got me thinking about Ivory and all I had learned from her about past Realities. I shook my head and tried to force myself to stop thinking about Ivory.

Trysta was speaking: "Back before the Asimov Reality, there was the Foundation Reality, and there were many other Realities before that in Earth's Reality Chain. The Phari were also known to Earthlings far back in the Reality that saw the creation of my own people, the Asterothropes." Trysta flexed the long, spindly fingers of her right hand. I suddenly realized that Trysta had a habit of keeping her fingers folded up into fists, probably so as not to disturb her visiting human guests. Her fingers were creepy and spider-like.

Trysta continued her explanation, "Based on information from my own homewhen, some seven million years further into the future, I believe that the Remnant Species of this world devolved into a form of life that now inhabits fresh water, not the salty sea. However, I regret that I did not pay more attention to alien biology when I was a child. Still, I do recall being taught the importance of freshwater for the world of Lysdarb. In my Reality, Cynk was known to the Asterothropes and known as the planet 'Lysdarb', part of a vast alien stellar empire that effectively crowded out Earth and limited human expansion into the galaxy." She fell silent and for a moment, Trysta once more seemed lost in thought.

Seemingly with an effort, Trysta returned her thoughts to the present. She looked into my eyes and continued, "I brought the three of you here to help me investigate the fresh water lakes of Cynk and find the Remnant Species that holds the secret to the Bimanoid Interface. We have made good progress. I believe that I now know the best single lake for us to search."

I asked, "Why should we believe that the life forms of Cynk that exist here in the Final Reality are the same of those that were found on this planet in the prior Realities of deep time?"

Trysta replied, "Do you imagine that R. Gohrlay invented the temporal momentum system of Eternity? No. Grean has studied this world for decades. She discovered that temporal momentum was a side-effect of Phari technology that they routinely used to link the Hierion Domain to the Hadron Domain. Apparently, there has always been significant temporal momentum acting on all the worlds that were colonized by the Phari."

Yōd asked, "Do you expect to be able to carry out your search of Pink right under Grean's nose?"

Trysta shrugged, "It would not be possible for anyone to hide their activities here on Cynk from Grean, nor need we try to do so. Grean believes that I am just investigating and exploring an alternative hypothesis and she approves because it would be silly to pass up the opportunity to explore Pink even if she is certain that the Remnant Species will ultimately be found by her research team that is based on Cyan. But forget about Grean! Grean is the least of our concerns. I must warn you: this is a dangerous project, and that danger has nothing to do with Grean and her Huaoshy masters. In fact, our work is so dangerous that it has already killed us all!"

Yōd, Zeta and I looked at each other. Were we dead? Other than the continual distraction arising from my inability to get thoughts of Ivory out of my mind, I felt perfectly fine. We all smiled uneasily. I wondered if Trysta was joking.

Trysta continued, "It is now almost five years since I first brought you here to this world. In that time, we have made significant progress in clearing black miasma from the continent Pink. We have begun exploring the four largest fresh water lakes of Cynk and we have already made some major discoveries. Look!" She displayed another map, this one showing the southwest part of Pink.

"This was the point of telepathic contact, the place where a search of the deep hot waters of Stroma Lake had begun." Trysta pointed at a jagged blue feature on the map, the waters of Stroma Lake. "Something was contacted, some form of alien life, and as a result, all four of us were killed by a powerful telepathic blast."

Zeta asked numbly, "We all died?"

"Yes, quite suddenly. But when we died, we left behind a clear record of mental turmoil that struck just before we died." Trysta looked around at the faces of her research team. It was plain that none of us believed what we were being told. None of us had any memory of dying. Trysta pressed on, "Something had invaded our minds telepathically. Then we died. I had long known that there was danger in our work, so I had my teleportation equipment on stand-by, ready to instantiate new copies of us. So, here we are, re-created from our structural patterns that are stored inside the teleporter data banks. I am ready and eager to continue our mission, but sadly you three lost your memories of the past five years. I'm not as severely effected, but my most recent backup copy was over a year old."

I looked at the displayed map and asked, "How do you know that the problem, this telepathic attack, originated from Stroma Lake?"

Trysta explained, "Stoma was your project site. Before the attack, you had just reported discovery of a living colony of nanocoral. Then your mind was ... well, I'll say... drained. First your mind was drained then, soon after that, Yōd then Zeta were also incapacitated. I went down last, my mind sucked out of my brain, powerless to save even myself. When I felt my mind slipping away, I tried to get a warning off to Grean, but I don't think that my message was actually sent."

Trysta grew quiet. For a minute she seemed to be searching through her fragments of memory. Slowly, she again resumed her story, "When I... when I was re-created, the new copy of me that was produced from the databanks of the teleporter... well, of course I was confused and I had to reconstruct what had happened to us. After a while I discovered that the comsystem buffer here at Mandira shows a composed message, but no 'sent' record. That message, that I composed just before I died, provided useful information to me that aided my attempts to learn what had gone wrong and killed us. In any case, it has been three weeks since we died and Grean's team is still at work on Cyan. They are busy with their own exploration of that continent, and they may never have noticed the disaster that struck our team."

"Three weeks? And you still have not told Grean?"

"I was reinstantiated first, and I spent the past three weeks studying what happened to us. When I thought it was safe to do so, I reinstantiated you three. Now we must continue our research project."

"Or return to Earth." Yōd seemed dismayed. "Five years have past?"

Trysta was brutal about the facts. "There is no returning to Earth. The teleportation conduit has been blocked."

"We can't return to Earth? Then what is the point of continuing?" Yōd jumped to her feet and shouted. "Even if we learn something useful here, it won't make any difference for Earth!"

Trysta continued calmly, "Grean and her team was brought here by Many Sails. We will simply have to hitch a ride aboard Many Sails when it is time to return to Earth. For now, we continue our search for the nanocoral. We must find a way to safely study it. Clearly, it has strong protective reflexes."

"Reflexes?"

image credits

"Nanocoral is very devolved, very simple. It seems to have no real mind or complex behaviors. I remember this from what I learned about Cynk in my childhood: the leading Asterothrope theory was that each individual creature of this world is just a part of a giant network that is linked into the Hierion Domain, and that is where the true mind and thoughts of the Cynkarians apparently reside."

"Why continue with this investigation?" Yōd nervously proclaimed, "We'll simply be killed again."

"No! This time, we know what to expect. All four of us will go to Stroma and be watching for trouble." Trysta pointed to the map. "We can send out a robotic probe into the deep lake waters. We will watch remotely while a nanocoral sample is collected. When we get a sample back to the lab, we will continue to take precautions, shielding ourselves against telepathic attacks-"

Zeta interrupted Trysta. "Wait. Now, wait. How can we shield ourselves against an alien attack? I've heard the rumors about telepathic contact and coordination between the creatures on Cynk, that was something that Kirth and Alice and their children had to learn how to deal with. However, in her descriptions of Cynk, Ivory never explained the physical basis of that telepathy. All the tales and rumors about Cynk that Ivory described are disjoint and confused, like old Earth legends of dragons and sea monsters."

Trysta took a deep breath. "I keep forgetting how much you three don't know. Let's step into my lab and I'll catch you up on what we have learned about the lifeforms of Cynk during the past five years. The creatures on this planet use their own version of the Bimanoid Interface to make possible a special method of telepathic communication that-"

Cal had returned and Trysta stopped speaking. Cal was carrying a silver serving tray that held slippers for us all and also Trysta's special lab equipment, which I would soon learn allowed her to have some limited telepathic contact with the alien creatures that she was studying in her laboratory. Trysta slipped on her equipment which was wearable and embedded in a set of bracelets and thick metalic rings. Trysta said, "Everyone should wear shoes in the lab; you'll be thankful if you do. Some of my little friends are not house trained and they seem to take delight in depositing their waste right where I'm going to step...

Next: in Trysta's lab. Chapter 2.