William White

time travel to the future
by Eric Russell
(cover by Howard Brown)

I've been reading old (for this blog post we travel back in time to 1950) science fiction stories about telepathy and time travel. I'm doing historical research because I need to knit Isaac Asimov and some of his stories into the Exode Saga and I want to know how Sci Fi story tellers of the past dealt with time travel and telepathy as plot elements.

In the Garage
Many science fiction story tellers can't resist creating time travel stories. However, I doubt if there is anything more annoying and dreary than fictional accounts of Time Travel Wars in which competing factions endlessly use time travel to keep reverting changes to the timeline that were triggered by their adversaries. Yawn. Thus, I've long clung to the idea that the only "good" time travel stories are those in which time travel exists for a short period and then the time travel technology can no longer be used.

Mad scientist? (see "Requiem for Methuselah")

Madness
Another traditional Sci Fi story element is the "mad scientist", the technological genius who, working alone in his garage (or the basement or the spare room upstairs) can (in his spare time) invent things like time machines. If time travel is invented by such a solitary and antisocial dude, then it is not too difficult to reach the end of your time travel story and destroy the one time machine that was ever built, saving us from a Time Travel War.

re-writing roles for women

One other widely-used Sci Fi plot element is the beautiful daughter of the mad scientist. You can't expect a young and virile hero of a Sci Fi story to go zipping around through Time and not bump into a luscious love interest. If the story involves a mad scientist, why not make the hero's love interest be the scientist's daughter? Thankfully, we have slowly emerged from the classical era of science fiction story telling and now women can be Sci Fi protagonists, not just hangers-on daughters and secretaries. Sadly, in 1950 you might have a Sci Fi story with a beautiful daughter (of the mad scientist) who is simply too stupid for the virile hero to stomach. Which brings us to.....

William White

Anthony Boucher

1. I've been learning about Georgy White from Rylla. Georgy and Rylla become strongly linked together by way of the Bimanoid Interface, much in the same way that Zeta and I are connected. According to Rylla, Georgy is related to William White, usually known in the Final Reality by his pen name, Anthony Boucher.

2.  Previously, Rylla had shared with me some of the lore about how Isaac Asimov had come to write his time travel novel, The End of Eternity.

3. I've also been looking back at stories written by Asimov that concern telepathy. If i) telepathy makes for fun Sci Fi and ii) time travel is so hard for story writers to resist, then why not combine these two plot elements?

cover art by Don Sibley

A nexus in time that brings these three threads together is the November 1950 issue of Galaxy magazine (download available here).

In that issue of Galaxy was 1) Asimov's short story "Misbegotten Missionary" (about telepathic aliens) and 2) White's "Transfer Point" (a time travel story). It would be interesting to know how Asimov reacted when he read "Transfer Point".

The "missionary" in "Misbegotten Missionary" is a telepathic alien lifeform that can effortlessly "listen" to the thoughts of humans and other Earthly lifeforms. The "missionary" is from a planet where all of the lifeforms are linked telepathically into one huge super-organism. (Asimov would later recycle this plot idea in his 1989 novel Nemesis.)

dead alien

As usual, there is no discussion of how telepathy works in "Misbegotten Missionary". However, we are told that there is a limit to the distance over which telepathy can function. When the "missionary" infiltrates an Earthly spaceship, it soon finds itself out of range for telepathic contact to its home planet. 😢

Original cover art by Robert Adragna.
This version: in the Buld Reality

The "missionary" is such a sensitive telepath that it can even "read" the "dim" telepathic pattern of Earthly plants (which Asimov tells us includes little more than a simple awareness of light, moisture and gravity). Not only are the aliens able to understand human thoughts, but they can make females (humans or other animals like rats) give birth to offspring that are telepathic.

The secret to telepathy resides in "green patches" that the aliens have instead of eyes. If the aliens modify a human baby for telepathy, then its eyes are replaced by little patches of green fur. Even Earthly bacteria are endowed with two tiny green patches by the aliens, apparently making them part of the telepathically-coordinated web of alien life. According to Asimov, the aliens can make females give birth to telepathic babies by "controlled use of radiant energy". Ah, the wonders of science!

Time Warp

in the Ekcolir Reality

Asimov's story suffers from the usual problems that arise from looking at old Sci Fi stories from the perspective of future readers. The news reporter in the story prints his stories out on a little electronic typewriter. And he has to worry about how to get a news story about pregnant virgins past the censors. Ah, the 50s!

 "Misbegotten Missionary" also suffers from not being very good as a science fiction story. I like to imagine that Asimov's writing interests evolved through the successive Realities of Deep Time. In the Foundation Reality, Asimov was a science writer, informing the public about advances in science and technology, particularly in the areas of robotics and space travel. In the Asimov Reality, the younger Asimov, under the influence of his older time traveling self, became known for creating wild fantasy stories, published in magazines such as Unknown. The science fiction genre was not created until the Ekcolir Reality. In that Reality, Asimov published a story called "Green Sighted".

Vyrko and Lavra investigate
 the time travel machine in "Transfer Point"

The idea of the phenotypic properties of living creatures being determined by their chromosomes was already firmly established when Asimov was in school. In just a few more years after "Misbegotten Missionary" was published, the idea of a gene sequence and the genetic code would arrive on Earth. Here is how Asimov accounted for the ability of his telepathic aliens to modify the human genes in an egg cell: "They can impress their own characteristics upon its nucleo-proteins" and he added that the aliens "can impregnate any species - animal, plant or microscopic."

According to Rylla, in the Ekcolir Reality, Asimov published "Green Sighted" in the first issue of Galaxy magazine. Asimov never read White's "Transfer Point" (published in the second issue of Galaxy) and so in that Reality Asimov never became interested in writing a time travel novel.

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The pace of scientific discovery was quicker in the Ekcolir Reality, so "Green Sighted" included a detailed account of how humans could be genetically engineered so as to make use of technology-assisted telepathy (he did not use the term "Bimanoid Interface", but rather showed how Grean the Kac'hin made use of "Grean-sight" to take control of Eternity. The people of Earth mistakenly called telepathy "Green Sight".

Transfer Point
Asimov's story "The Red Queen's Race" (1949) was about the existence of an unchangeable time travel loop that was built into the timeline of Earth. The world-as-we-know-it was made possible when a chemistry textbook was sent back in time to ancient Greece. One view of time travel is that there can be no time travel paradoxes and many science fiction stories about time travel go out of their way to avoid time travel paradoxes. Anthony Boucher's "Transfer point" (1950) is a story about a time loop that was changed. It is easy to imagine how Asimov could have been influenced by "Transfer point", leading him to include in The End of Eternity another time loop that gets broken.

Unknown future.

As a Sci Fi story from 1950, "Transfer point" begins as a kind of annoying alien invasion story, set thousands of years in our future. Somehow (aliens are involved), a poisonous element called agnoton; "unknown thing") floods the atmosphere of earth, soon becoming almost as prevalent as oxygen. Agnoton is a gas like neon, but for some reason, humans are horribly allergic to it. We are told: "agnoton brought on racking and incessant spasms of coughing and sneezing which no heart could long withstand". So... the sudden arrival of agnoton is apparently the end of the line for Humanity. Although she is the last woman on Earth, the beautiful daughter of the dude who has invented a time travel machine in his spare time (her name is Lavra) is too stupid for the protagonist of the story, Vyrko.

No future?

Vyrko grows tired of repeatedly explaining to Lavra why they can't leave their residence where they are protected from the agnoton by a super-duper air-conditioning system. Here is how Vyrko thinks of Lavra: She was a fool, but she was exceedingly lovely. Here is what he says to her, "...you're an idiot. I am not in the habit of loving idiots." Still, with nothing else to do, Vyrko makes a halfhearted attempt to perpetuate the species and Lavra becomes pregnant. Then he uses dear old dad's time machine to go back to the 20th century (1948).

You'll have to read "Transfer point" to learn about Boucher's surprising time loop and how it is broken. I'm still hoping that Rylla can obtain more details from the Writers Block about William White's role in making sure that Asimov wrote The End of Eternity.
Next: a tempting replicoid

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Sinister Fantasy

The Eastern USA and Western Europe
are all that remain of the white man's empire.
The rest of the world is under the
control of the evil Vitons.

I love stories that blur the distinction between reality and fiction. However, story tellers who set their tales in the future face the problem of quickly finding their fiction made obsolete and unbelievable by unexpected technological advances. In 1939, Eric Russell published one such story called "Sinister Barrier". The story was published in the first issue of Unknown where it was proclaimed by the editor of the magazine to be a disquieting blend of fact and fiction that would make readers doubt if it was fiction.

Science Fantasy
Russell took readers into the future: the events of "Sinister Barrier" are set in the year 2015. In the story, the burning New York city (depicted on the magazine's cover by Harold Scott, image shown to the right) has been subjected to long-range artillery bombardment. Russell's imagined future war is essentially a hypertrophied World War I battle featuring a Yellow Horde of invaders from Asia. What makes me want to categorize "Sinister Barrier" as a science fantasy story is that the war is started by aliens, "energy beings" that Russell called Vitons. The idea of living beings that are made of energy seems more like fantasy than science.

Download the issue of Unknown that contains "Sinister Barrier" from this website.

That's no moon!

Sadly, while Russell's imagined 2015 has typical Sci Fi elements such as flying cars and video phones, he could not imagine technological advances such as digital computers and orbital communications satellites. When the presence of hidden aliens must be announced to the people of Earth in Russell's version of 2015, we are told that the news is recorded on "metalic tape", flown to distant cities around the globe and then delivered to the people of the world by newspaper printing presses and local radio stations.

Here in the age of the internet (2019 as I write this), it is not easy to "buy into" Russell's imagined world of 2015. However, "Sinister Barrier" is of interest to me because my own writing obsession, the Exode Saga, deals with the same problem: how to reveal to Earthlings that aliens have long been visiting our world. You can download the March 1939 issue of Unknown from this website.

Chased by evil Vitons!

cover art by Ralph McQuarrie

The interior art for "Sinister Barrier" that was created by Edward Cartier is not very interesting. We get a few scenes with the floating, glowing, globular Vitons lurking close to people or chasing people and some depictions of assorted early 20th century military hardware. Sadly, hooded capes did not make a big fashion splash in our version of the year 2015. 😥

I read the original magazine version of "Sinister Barrier", but there is apparently a longer version that was published in book format. I have no patience for military science fiction, so the original shorter version of the story already seems far too long to me.

"Sinister Barrier" is full of scientists and medical doctors, almost all of whom are men. In my view, the one part of the story that could have been expanded involves doctor Harmony Curtis. There is more than one woman in the story, but most of them don't get to do much. Since this was 1939 magazine publishing, when Harmony is about to get smooched by the hero of the story, everything fades to black. The End.

in the Ekcolir Reality

I like to imagine that in the Ekcolir Reality, Dr. Curtis was a more central character in "Sinister Barrier" or possibly the heroine of a sequel novel.

Telpathy
The titular sinister barrier is created by our limited human senses. However, by making use of a magic potion (called Bjornson's Formula, consisting of iodine, mescal and methylene blue), humans can suddenly see into the long wavelength end of the spectrum and see the evil Vitons who have long fed off of human emotions. I despise the Sci Fi plot of "energy beings" who feed on human emotions (which I was first exposed to by way of Star Trek). The Vitons have telepathic powers and can control the minds of humans or, by "pushing" harder with their evil minds, they can even kill humans.

more telepathy from Russell (1950s)

However, the hero of "Sinister Barrier" has some telepathic ability himself, so he can fight back against the Vitons. He can sense when the Vitons are nearby, and by thinking harmless thoughts (such as thinking about the charming Miss Harmony) he avoids being killed by the Viton police who eliminate anyone on Earth who discovers the existence of the aliens. Eventually a ray gun is produced and deployed that explodes the Vitons and so the people of Earth can be liberated from their evil influence.

I've been reading old stories about telepathy in order to help me decide how to deal with this delicate plot element in the Exode Saga. Sadly, Russell did not provide readers with much information about human telepathy in "Sinister Barrier".

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However, Russell did indicate that the Vitons had long been performing experiments on humans, trying to make us into a better source of "emotional food". During the long course of human history, those experiments had often resulted in humans with super-human abilities.

In the past, the Viton "thought police" had always quickly detected any rogue humans who started to revolt against their plight of living as "cattle". Under the control of Vitons, the people of Earth have been kept in a constant state of conflict by the Vitons in order to generate their "emotional food". By the end of "Sinister Barrier", the Vitons have been defeated and the people of Earth are liberated, all thanks to the telepathic abilities of the story's hero.
Next: telepathy and time travel in 1950

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The Hapha'iston Intervention

A red queen's race in the Ekcolir Reality.

I'm engaged in the process of constructing a rather complex fictional account of how Isaac Asimov came to include some important clues about telepathy and time travel in his science fiction stories and so I've been reading some of his old stories such as "The Red Queen's Race". You can download the 1949 issue of Astounding that contains that short time travel story.

Time Travel
In "The Red Queen's Race", Asimov introduced the term "temporal inertia", but he did not develop it as extensively as he later did in his time travel novel The End of Eternity. "The Red Queen's Race" emphasizes what is often called the "butterfly effect", and the sense of dread experienced by the story's narrator when it is discovered that a physicist has used his time travel machine to send a book about chemistry back through time to the ancient Greeks.

A Sound of Thunder

The narrator of "The Red Queen's Race" fears that knowledge of chemistry in the hands of the ancients will cause a dramatic change to Earth's timeline, erasing from existence the world as he knows it. However, all is not not lost! The chemistry book is part of a time loop which is required to create the world we live in.

The Buld arrive on Earth.

First Contact
Asimov is a character in my Exode Saga. Using the Eternity time travel system, the positronic robot R. Gohrlay carefully arranged for Asimov to live in the era when rocketry makes space travel possible. In the Buld Reality, Interventionist agents made use of Asimov and his penchant for writing as a way to prepare Earthlings for the arrival of a Buld spaceship. Sadly, the arrival of the Buld on Earth went mostly unnoticed. Under the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact, Earthlings in the 20th century could be allowed no knowledge of space aliens.

image credits

The Buld Reality
In that Reality, Asimov wrote a story called "The Atlan Intervention", which revealed the existence of hierions and sedrons. One of the last changes to our timeline, just before the Final Reality, was the removal of stories such as "The Atlan Intervention" from Earth's timeline.

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Making use of the mind clone network, Rylla is now receiving reports from Observer Base about the contents of "hidden" science fiction stories that have existed in Deep Time. According to Rylla, "The Atlan Intervention" mentioned several points in time when the existence of sedrons was revealed to Earthlings. Apparently it was in both the Foundation Reality and the Asimov Reality that Earthlings were given access to sedron-based technology in order to accelerate technological advances for early development of interstellar travel. Introducing sedrons to 20th century Earthlings was risky and dramatic. However, other Interventionist missions further back in the past were also needed in order to make sure that the over-all pace of technological advances would support the development of rocket technology and space travel in the 20th century.

Image credits

In the Final Reality, the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact were strictly enforced. This required removal of all mention of hierions and sedrons from writings published before the end of the Time Travel Era. Further, no physical evidence of hierions or sedrons was allowed to be passed on to we Earthlings by alien visitors to our world (for example, see Maria Green). Some last minute Interventions were required to "clean up" the timeline and remove even the most obscure mention of sedrons or hierions from published works of literature.

removing all physical evidence
of hierions from Earth

According to Rylla, Aristocles was a type of "anti-Inteventionist" agent who erased from Earth's history the fact that Pythagoras had received information about sedrons and hierions as part of an Intervention into the course of Earth's historical timeline. According to Zeta, Pythagoras was provided with infites, invisibly small nanites that entered his brain and gave him an understanding of atoms, hierions and sedrons as unseen material components of the universe. In turn, Pythagoras passed on to his friends an account of how it was possible for human minds to be transferred into either femtobot replicoids or a transcendent existence within the Sedronic Domain.

In the Ekcolir Reality
Original cover art by Robert Gibson Jones

Later, Aristocles attempted to destroy all the written copies of what Pythagoras had taught his contemporaries. Aristocles replaced the actual teachings of Pythagoras with his own account of "Pythagorean science", a story that we know as the dialogue of Timaeus.

In Aristocles' account of the teachings of Pythagoras, the words for "hadrons", "hierions" and "sedrons" were purposefully confused with the ancient Greek words for octahedron,  dodecahedron and icosahedron.

The Aristocles Intervention would have been a complete success, however one written copy of the teachings of Pythagoras survived and was eventually discovered by Cyriacus of Ancona. That long-lost account of the teachings of Pythagoras was not recognized and translated until the mother of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was sent to Earth as an Interventionist Agent. Zeta believes that Raphael was a mind clone of his mother, Màgia. Raphael made several attempts to publicize his mother's work, but eventually he was taken from Earth to Observer Base, preventing publication of Màgia's translation of the teachings of Pythagoras.

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Asimov's story "The Red Queen's Race" was one of the few clues that remained in the Final Reality to draw attention to the fact that time travel had been used to make the Roman Empire a dominant feature of Earth's timeline rather than the Etruscan Empire. In the Ekcolir Reality, the Etruscan Empire dominated early European history, leading to a world in which the science fiction literary genre was dominated by female writers, most of whom were well-trained in scientific disciplines. According to Rylla, there is a story in the library of the Writers Block that explains the actual Interventionist plot that targeted Pythagoras and made it possible for Rome to dominate the Etruscans in all Realities except the Ekcolir Reality.

The Athens-Ephesus Alliance

in the Buld Reality
Original cover by Arthur Krusz

According to Rylla, a Fru'wu agent known as Hapha'iston, prevented the construction of the Temple of Artemis in the city of Ephesus in the Ekcolir Reality. Hapha'iston traveled back through time and intercepted the Interventionist attempt to give Pythagoras information about chemistry. Pythagoras was to be given infites that would provide him with the idea of using mercury to facilitate the extraction of silver from ore mined near Athens (see the Athens Intervention). Those infites also mentioned the idea that there are three fundamental classes of matter, hadrons, hierions and sedrons. In the absence of those infites, the silver mines near Athens were never fully exploited and Pythagoras never became famous for his ideas about life-after-death.

ancient silver coins

In the absence of a lucrative trade between Athens and Ephesus (sending mercury from Ephesus to the silver mines near Athens), Athens never flooded the ancient Greek world with silver coins and there was never a great flowering of classical Greek civilization. Zeta suggests that the time-traveling Fru'wu agent of the Ekcolir Reality took the code name Hapha'iston in honor of the god that we know as Hephaestus.

Related Reading: Vanth
 Exocycle
Next: telepathy in 1939

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Nereid Loop

stock character source

I've begun using the mind clone system as a tool by which Azynov can relay information out of the AR simulator to we Earthlings. Obtaining information from inside the AR simulator depends on my telepathic linkage to Yōd. I don't really understand why I have a telepathic connection to Zeta or Yōd.

Telepathy

technology-assisted telepathy

Maybe it is simply one of the design features of the tryp'At brain. Alternatively, my recently-acquired telepathic powers might be driven by the array of nanites that I have accumulated through the years. During the past few weeks I have felt a new awakening of the infites that I received from both Ivory Fersoni and Yōd.

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In some way, Zeta was equipped and trained to be able to monitor my thoughts by making use of the Bimanoid Interface. Did that involve loading my brain with a special collection of infites? Alternatively, maybe she was carefully designed so that half of her brain is a "mind clone" of me? This would all be so much easier to sort out if I understood exactly what a mind clone is.

Georgy White

Maybe after she gives birth to her own mind clone, my grand-daughter Rylla will write a book about mind clones. Rylla's yet-to-be-born mind clone is providing her with a telepathic link to Observer Base where the mind clone network was apparently planned and initiated by providing Georgy White with a duplicate copy of Rylla's mind clone.

Human, Asterothrope and tryp'At genetics

Asterothropes: the females
are larger than
the hermaphrodites.

I was recently told that Gohrlay and Trysta share many important gene combinations for two important reasons. First, the Asterothropes were crafted and designed using humans (including Gohrlay) as their root stock material. Later, after the Asterothropes had become a unique primate variant, R. Gohrlay worked hard to package Asterothrope telepathic abilities into a human body. Thus, Trysta, was functionally an Asterothrope, with telastid-powered telepathy, but her body had been carefully crafted to appear human.

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What about the tryp'At? The tryp'At were designed as a human variant that could make use of the Bimanoid Interface for technology-assisted telepathy. I must wonder if the development strategy for the tryp'At followed the same strategy that was used for creating the Asterothropes: start with Gohrlay's genetic material and make just enough changes to allow the tryp'At brain to connect to the Interface. If so, then a tryp'At like me must also share important gene combinations with Gohrlay, allowing Zeta (or Yōd; they are both clones of Gohrlay) to link to my brain via the Interface. Further, Rylla's brain structure is similar enough to mine that we now share a weak telepathic connection.

Nora Adamanta

It was previously suggested to me that Nora is also tryp'At. Is it possible that the tryp'At were created for the same basic reason that the Ek'col were created? Ekcolir was the means by which Trysta could integrate her descendants into the population of Earth. Similarly, if R. Gohrlay wanted to make it possible for Gohrlay to return to Earth from the Galactic Core and contribute to the human gene pool of Earth, were the tryp'At purposefully designed and crafted so as to make that possible?

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(Sedronite, image credits)

Setting the mysteries of mind clones aside, I'll use this blog post  to report on some of the other new ideas that have recently bubbled up in my mind. For the past several months I have had the feeling that I was not fully understanding a fundamental part of the Exode Saga. I had the intuitive feeling that I had been prevented from including in the Exode Saga an important part of the story of how alien beings had brought the human species into existence. I suspected that there were already clues to a fuller understanding of human origins in the writings of Jack Vance and Isaac Asimov, but also that there was danger: I might be removed from Earth if I tried to include too much information -forbidden information- in the Exode Saga.

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Today, Yōd's infites began leaking information into my conscious thoughts, information that I have to believe was recently transmitted to me from inside the AR Simulator by means of the growing power of the mind clone network. Did these strange ideas originate from Azynov and his researches within the AR Simulator? I'm not sure I fully understand (or believe) this new information from Yōd, but I now know that I must include what I have learned in the Exode Saga.

prepared for publication by the Dead Widowers

Time Loop
The Huaoshy have now made time travel impossible, but during the part of Huaoshy existence during which they had access to time travel technology, they made use of it. I've known that one Huaoshy-based time travel project was to go back in time and create the Kac'hin. Grean was the final end-product of that project, the tool devised by the Huaoshy that was able to bring R. Gohrlay to the negotiation table, resulting in the Trysta-Grean Pact that ended the Time Travel War.

Nereids Are Us

Original cover art by
Boris Vallejo

According to Yōd, R. Gohrlay, the Nereids and we humans are all part of a great time travel loop. I've long known that the Nereids and their tools, the Grendels, brought the human species into existence through their Interventionism on Earth. In one sense, the Nereids are Us because Nereid gene combinations were inserted into the primates of Earth in order to craft the human species.

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However, according to Yōd, the Nereids were not just some random humanoid species that evolved on an exoplanet in our galaxy millions of years ago. The Nereids were crafted by R. Gohrlay from the descendants of Prelands in the far future (by a descendant species that Yōd refers to as the "p'At"). The pek originally created the Prelands as a successor species to we humans, a species that would be safely on the path towards transcendence into the Sedronic Domain. R. Gohrlay used the Prelands as genetic starting material which she took from the far future into the deep past, genetic material that she shaped into the Nereids.

This Nereids-produced-humans-produced-Nereids time loop is of the same type as what Asimov described in his book The End of Eternity. There, the "Cooper time loop" was described as a paradoxical loop in time by which Eternity brought itself into existence by means of time travel. In Asimov's story, the Cooper time loop was eventually terminated, allowing humans the chance to spread out from Earth among the stars.

Bimanoid Interface

According to Yōd, the Nereid time loop is what will allow humans to make use of interstellar space travel technology. The "Cooper time loop" was a tool for bringing into existence the Asterothropes. The Asterothropes were the source of key gene combinations that made it possible for R. Gohrlay to perfect the Bimanoid Interface and the temporal momentum system of Eternity. According to Yōd, Earth's replicoid-generated temporal momentum when combined with Huaoshy Reality Viewing technology is what allowed the Trysta-Grean Pact to end the Time Travel War. All parties involved were satisfied: the descendants of humans (the Nereids) have already transcended into the Sedronic Domain, satisfying the pek desire that all technology creating species be shifted into the Sedronic Domain. R. Gohrlay was satisfied because we humans will now be able to spread among the stars of our galaxy and have the great future that she long ago envisioned for our species.

humans are Sedronites

Yōd now tells me that she missed an important clue to the existence of the Nereid time loop during the time when she and Azynov visited a world in the core of the Andromeda Galaxy. On that world, she and Azynov witnessed a remnant population of the Nereids that still hover at the brink of transcendence to the Sedronic Domain. While there, a copy of Azynov's mind was "absorbed" by a Nereid agent and taken into the Sedronic Domain when that Nereid transcended. According to Yōd, that was a major goal of the Huaoshy, what we can think of as "art collecting". In the same way that we might collect ancient works of art, the Huaoshy collect the minds of great artists. Because of his role in creating the science fiction literary genre on Earth and making possible the Trysta-Grean Pact, the Huaoshy wanted to "collect" the mind of Asimov and have a copy of it in the Sedronic Domain.

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As soon as I heard this story from Yōd, I realized that this was the truth that I had been searching for: a missing part of the Exode puzzle that not only completes the Exode Saga and brings it "full circle", but also brings great peace to me. I've long been worried about the possibility that I am a mere puppet of the Huaoshy. However, the story of how Azynov's mind was taken into the Sedronic Domain convinced me that the Huaoshy are limited in terms of their influence on we humans.

Zeta tells me that I am not being logical about this, and that the story of how Azynov's mind was plucked out of the Hadronic Domain proves nothing about human free will, but I think she is wrong. In any case, I now know that I can move on to complete A Search Beyond and the Exode Saga.

the AR Simulator

The only remaining questions are some details about how the Nereid time loop became known to the humans of Earth. Rylla has already accessed sources of information at Observer Base that hold part of the story. I'm already receiving information from Yōd (from inside the AR Simulator) and today I learned that Nora is also functioning as a node of the mind clone network.

First Contact with the Buld

Importantly, Nora has recently been able to communicate with her "copy" who previously left Earth with the Buld. According to Nora, now that the tryp'At Overseers are gone, it would be safe for the Buld spaceship to return to Earth. When she rather casually mentioned that idea, I got very excited and shouted, "Maybe we can finally obtain physical evidence of alien visitors to Earth!"

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Nora laughed at me, "The Buld are not interested in such a vulgar display of secrets."

Rylla suggested, "You should write down everything you know about these mysterious Buld. Why did they spend thousands of years traveling to Earth and then never make their presence known?"

Nora shrugged, "Sadly, as part of the deal that allowed me to remain on Earth, most of my memories of the Buld were erased. If the Buld spaceship does come back, it will only be to pick up a couple of refugees and remove them from this world."

Zeta asked, "Refugees?"

Nora nodded, "Izhiun and his girlfriend. They are trapped here and eager to escape from this world." Nora turned to Rylla, "If you want to learn about the Buld, you should interview Izhiun. His memories are intact."

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Rylla asked, "Do you know where he is?"

Nora replied, "No, but..."

I wondered what game Nora was playing and if she would reveal to Rylla to role that Izhiun had played in initiating Rylla's pregnancy. Rylla looked at me and said, "What? I get the feeling that you are hiding something from me."

Rylla and I share a form of weak telepathic linkage. I feel a lot of guilt for not being completely open and honest with Rylla, but Zeta and I have decided to keep some secrets from Rylla. I admitted, "There are some secrets about Izhiun that I have never written about in my blog. It is dangerous for Izhiun to be here on Earth."

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Zeta added, "It is violation of the Trysta-Grean pact for Izhiun to be here. If the Buld spaceship could return and take him away then we could all breath a sigh of relief."

Nora asked, "Who remains to enforce the terms of the Pact? Perhaps nobody really cares anymore."

I said, "I wish I knew more about Observer Base and the competing factions there." I gazed speculatively at Rylla.

She said, "Don't look at me. Everything I know comes second hand from Georgy. According to her, the only two factions at Observer Base are the majority who never concern themselves with Earthly affairs and the much smaller group working with Eustacia to construct the mind clone network."

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Zeta asked, "What is Eustacia's goal? What does she hope to accomplish with the network?"

Rylla shook her head. "Apparently there is a large collection of abandoned equipment at Observer Base, including teleportation devices. Also, there is the whole replicoid system, that had to be abandoned after the Interface was altered. Georgy thinks that Eustacia wants to learn how to re-activate that equipment."

Nora said, "There must be someone at Observer Base who knows how to use the old replicoid system. Someone shut it off. That someone could switch it back on."

Zeta asked, "But why bother? Any active replicoid would just go into positive feedback and have to be inactivated again."

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Nora asked, "Every replicoid?"

I suggested, "Things have changed since all of the replicoids were inactivated. Now there is this new mind clone network."

Zeta laughed, "Would you really want to have to start dealing with Irhit once again?"

I shook my head. "No, but I feel like my mind had changed during the past year. It is now possible for me to communicate with Yōd by way of the Interface. I told Nora, "And, I'm now in constant telepathic contact with Zeta. Maybe with their help I could keep Irhit from controlling my mind."

Next: the Athens-Ephesus alliance

Coming soon: Zeta and the Editor explore the idea that Vendela's replicoid might be able to join the mind clone network...

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