Temptation of the Replicoid

original cover art by Edward Valigursky

I previously described how Rylla's mother, Vendela, seems to have laid the foundation for what is now a growing mind clone network. Also, my colleagues and I have recently been discussing the idea that under carefully controlled conditions, it might be possible to begin reactivating some replicoids. This seems like a dangerous undertaking because of what happened on the day when the Bimanoid Interface was upgraded. A type of positive feedback developed between replicoids and the people with whom they shared a mind pattern. That powerful positive feedback was used to drive the tyrp'At Overseers away from Observer Base. Of more personal interest to me, my own replicoid, Irhit, had to be inactivated. These changes at Observer Base soon led to the establishment of the mind clone network.

Rylla's mother, Vendela.

My colleagues and I have begun to make use of the mind clone network to obtain information from two sources in the Hierion Domain: 1) the Writers Block and 2) the AR Simulator. However, there seems to be nobody remaining at Observer Base who knows how to make use of the advanced technology that the tyrp'At Overseers previously used to control events on Earth. In particular, none of the remaining residents seem to know how to operate the teleportation equipment at Observer Base.

source
(Sedronite, image credits)

Interventionist agents such as Nora and Vendela were teleported in the recent past and it seems possible that their replicoids may know how to use the teleportation equipment at Observer Base. By means of some trickery that I do not understand, a copy of Yōd's mind was able to "live" inside the body of Vendela here on Earth for several years. When positive feedback began growing between the minds of Yōd and Zeta (they are both clones of Gohrlay), Yōd/Vendela was teleported to Observer Base and she then entered the AR Simulator. I now have a weak telepathic connection to Yōd, but the information that I receive from her comes by way of a mysterious and indirect channel.

discovery of anti-gravity hierions

Similarly, Rylla is now receiving information from the Hierion Domain by way of the mind clone network, but the data channel available for her use is also limited. Currently, she can "watch" while Georgy looks at things and while doing so, the Bimanoid Interface provides Rylla with a "copy" of what Georgy sees. In particular, Georgy can read a story that is in the library of the Writers Block, and Rylla can read along with Georgy. Later, Rylla can write out a version of the story.

In my case, the existing link between Yōd and I by way of the Bimanoid Interface is very tenuous. New information (that I believe is coming from Yōd within the AR Simulator) appears in my mind like a suddenly recovered memory. The "return" of those memories often comes while I am dreaming. I seem to have been equipped to access these "memories" by the infites that I received from Yōd when she was teleported off of Earth, however Zeta now suspects that Yōd has also been trying to communicate with her, taking advantage of the fact that Yōd and Zeta have very similar mind patterns and a strong telepathic linkage.

by Izhiun

Dream Time
Last night I had a disturbing dream. After I awoke today I was puzzling over that dream and trying to understand its contents. I was confused and upset and not making much progress when Zeta finally got out of bed.  As soon as I saw her up and about, I ambushed her: "Did you have a strange dream last night?"

Grinning, she came and put her arms around me, "All I remember from last night was you keeping me up half the night, then I fell into a sweet sleep. I'm still a little tired. You were quite spry between the sheets for an old man." Zeta gave me a long kiss.

illegal alien

I had no memory of being awake during the night, but I knew what Zeta was talking about. When Zeta pulled her lips away from mine, I said, "From my perspective, that was a dream."

"Mmm, yes, it was dreamy." Zeta kissed my nose. "Delightful."

"No: I'm serious. My memories of last night are a strange kind of dream sensation. For me, it seemed like someone -a stranger- had taken control of my body and all I could do was watch what was happening."

Zeta looked at me speculatively then said. "Oh, no. I suspected... but, no..." In her mind, I could see that Zeta was thinking about her sister, Yōd.

a report by Zeta

I sensed that Zeta was trying to hide something from me. I started probing deeper into her memories, but could not successfully follow the linkages of her mind past the level of her conscious language-like thoughts. Finally she said, "There are some secrets about Yōd that I don't want to share with you. You know that I have always been jealous of both Alpha and Yōd."

A strange idea popped into my head. I asked, "How could Yōd take control of my body?"

Zeta explained, "Alpha, Yōd and I were trained to monitor your thoughts, not control your behavior, but for the past week or so, you have said that you had started having some kind of telepathic contacts with Yōd."

Zeta Gohrlay

I nodded. "I believe that Yōd has found a way to slip information to me from within the AR simulator." I put a hand on Zeta's bulging belly. "It must be the mind clone network that is boosting the power of the Bimanoid Interface and allowing Yōd and I to begin linking our minds. If Yōd is also pregnant and gestating a copy of your unborn baby..."

Zeta shook her head. "How could that be?" She rubbed her hands across her abdomen. "This is our child. How could Yōd possibly be gestating a clone of our child?"

"I don't know, but I don't like the idea that Yōd can now take control of my body. That must be what happened last night while I slept."

infites

Zeta pointed and accusatory finger at me. "I warned you not to take on so many infites."

I asked, "Could I be carrying an infite-based copy of Yōd's mind inside me?"

Zeta shrugged. "If so, then those infites might have been able to make sure that both she and I are carrying duplicate mind clones."

Startled by that idea, I asked Zeta, "How could that be?"

"As a tryp'At, you probably carry an endosymbiont that can produce desired genomes for zygotes. If your endosymbiont was programmed by the infites that you received from Yōd..." Zeta's voice faded into silence.

the Hierion Domain

Suddenly, I was certain that I understood what was happening. I blurted out, "When your replicoid was active, you could shift your mind off to the Hierion Domain, allowing Yōd a chance to use your body. Now she's doing the same thing with me! Yōd can take control of my body!"

Zeta shook her head, "You don't know that. It might have been someone else." Zeta asked me, "If it was Yōd in control of your body, then where was your conscious mind last night when you lost control of your body? You say you were watching me?"

"Yes, it was frustrating. It was as if I saw you, but all I could do was watch from the perspective of my dream-like state. Could my consciousness have been pushed out of my biological brain and been functioning within my endosymbiont?"

endosymbionts

Zeta suggested, "Maybe you have taken on so many infites that your endosymbiont can now support a conscious mind." Zeta's voice was filled with awe and wonder.

"Yes, I think that is it. There were other... voices." I paused, searching for the correct word. They had not really been voices. "Someone was there in the dream with me... trying to distract me from watching what you were doing."

by Thomas

Zeta asked, "What were these voices trying to say?"

"I don't know." I fell silent and tried to reactivate and capture more of my elusive dream-like memories. After a minute I said, "This is frustrating because the memories of those voices are like jumbled dream memories. There were multiple layers of information, almost superimposed... maybe encoded. The words, what was trying to be communicated to me... they make no sense."

Zeta suggested, "You should have parts of the minds of Izhiun, Ivory, Thomas and Yōd inside you. Could you have been experiencing their memories as part of your dream?"

Original cover art by John Scott

I added, "And not only them... I also carry infites that originated from a few positronic robots as well." Another fragment of my "dream" returned to my conscious thoughts. "Halfway through the dream I did get distracted. I wandered away from you for a time. I was being questioned."

Zeta asked, "Questioned by who? Izhiun, Ivory, Thomas or Yōd?" She ran her hands over my chest. "Or maybe it was me. I was wondering why you were behaving like such an animal."

I asked with alarm, "Animal?"

"In a good sense." Zeta explained, "The way you used to make love to Alpha, decades ago, back when you were a young man."

clones of Gohrlay

"Young man?" I tried to calculate how old Izhiun had been when he passed some of his infites into me. Then a new idea occurred to me and I wondered out-loud, "What would it be like if I started having a telepathic connection to the fetus that you have inside you?"

Zeta laughed, "You think you were being questioned by our child?"

I also laughed. "It seems silly, but I've been wondering exactly how sophisticated the thought processes of a mind clone might become... even before one is born. I wish we knew more about mind clones."

by Rylla

Zeta saw where my thoughts were heading. "No! Absolutely no experimenting on Rylla."

I could not stop myself from thinking about what might be learned by activating a replicoid. Particularly one that might know how to use the teleportation equipment at Observer Base. "But-"

Zeta shouted, "No buts!"

"Vendela's replicoid might be able to provide Rylla with-"

"No. It is too dangerous. You did not experience what I went through with Yōd before she slipped into the AR Simulator.... the positive feedback that built up between me and my sister. It was no fun. Actually, it was dangerous. I won't put Rylla through that."

Ivory Fersoni

I kept pushing my case, "I got a taste of that feedback effect, just before Irhit was inactivated. We both survived. And besides, Rylla is not actually a clone of Vendela."

"They are almost genetically identical. No, it is too risky. Don't even mention this wild scheme to the poor girl."

"You know she would be willing to try it."

"So don't mention it to her. Just because nothing bad has ever happened to her, she thinks she is invincible."

I had to add one more push against Zeta's defenses. "It is interesting that you did not simply make the point that we don't have the means to activate Vendela's replicoid."

source

Zeta shrugged, "I suspect that Eustacia could activate all of the replicoids if she thought it was safe to do so."

"Interesting. Was it Eustacia who inactivated them in the first place?"

"No, I think that was done by the Tryp'At Overseers, but Eustacia had been waiting and watching for years, anticipating that the tryp'At would be driven out of Observer Base. It might have been Eustacia who teleported Georgy to Observer Base."

I complained, "I don't like collaborating with Eustacia if she can keep such secrets from us."

At Observer Base

Rylla arrived, looking sleepy and looking for breakfast. She asked Zeta, "What were you shouting about?"

Zeta replied, "This is what you have to look forward to when you get married. We were just arguing about what happened in bed last night."

Rylla laughed, "I heard you two going at it last night."

At that point, Zeta and I shifted our private discussion over into our shared telepathic channel.

Eustacia Pasimov

The Pasimov Project

Back in 2013, I started thinking carefully about the implications of including Isaac Asimov in the Exode Saga. Eventually (in 2016) that line of thought led to the idea of including in the Exode Saga a story about the origins of science fiction in Deep Time: First Reality.

In 2018, a new Asimov-related character appeared, Eustacia Pasimov. For some reason, no female analogue of Asimov ever existed in any of the Realities of Earth's Reality Chain. However, Eustacia seems to be proof that it was possible to create a female analogue of Asimov. Created in the Ekcolir Reality, Eustacia was unable to penetrate the AR Simulator. Later, in the Final Reality, Eustacia played a key role in creating the mind clone network.

The Escapist Clan

Here in 2019, I've been trying to construct an account of how Asimov came to be interested in time travel. I suppose it is natural for a young man who is interested in both science and history to begin thinking creatively about time travel. But what about the analogue of Asimov who existed back in the First Reality?

And it was not just Asimov's analogue. What about the First Reality versions of Vance and Clarke? There was a small group of scientists at Observer Base, highly constrained in their investigations by the Rules of Intervention. Many Sails had created the conditions by which a quirk of human biology might be explored. The Phari endosymbionts inside humans had become entangled with mitochondria, creating a new intracellular organelle, the telastid. Telastids conferred upon Neanderthals a weak type of telepathy, resulting in a unique type of social cohesion. Might it be possible for such a hadron-based creature to successfully develop technology, spread among the stars and not destroy itself?

Gohrlay's Brain

"By accident", a human brain was copied into positronic circuits, leading to discovery of a powerful type of telepathy and, ultimately, to a practical method for time travel. R. Gohrlay attributed her ability to recognize what was happening to her prior exposure to the fiction of her "first family". I wonder if the original analogue of Asimov in the First Reality had shared with Gohrlay his thoughts about time travel. Eventually, R. Gohrlay and R. Nyrtia arranged for a Reality in which Asimov, Vance and Clarke lived in the era when space travel became possible.

I've been investigating how it was possible for Asimov to pass on to me some hints about hierions and sedrons, telepathy and time travel in his science fiction stories. Who were the Interventionists that made that possible? The answers to many such mysteries remain to be revealed. I can't help thinking that Vendela's replicoid, if re-activated, might boost the functioning of the mind clone network and help us reveal more of the Hidden History of Humanity.

Next: LaCy the replicoid

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