Nanoscopic Nivsaham

"The Qaz Nanotropy"

Azynov and Yōd spent ten days on Triskelion A, but the rest of that story will be told at a later time. The idea that Qaz Nivsaham was a gate keeper for access to Reality Simulators was immediately relevant to the current effort to find Lakum at Observer Base. I'd previously been provided with information about the secretive activity of Qaz at Observer Base and the idea that Qaz was able to make sure that an Earthling (Georgy) discovered physical evidence of alien visitors to Earth. I spoke to Rylla soon after I had the chance to write down what I had found out about the Qaz-Lakum connection.

             Zeta Recreation
After composing my blog post about how Azynov and Yōd had met with Lakum in the far future of the Asimov Reality, I sent an email to Rylla and asked her to read my story about the robot Danni, Dr. Ektenor and Sherylyn and Lakum Taddorra. I then had time to think and discuss the mystrious Lakum with Zeta.

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Zeta read my most recent blog post and said, "This is rather complicated, but there must have been multiple copies of both Lakum and Colleen."

I nodded. "The is not really a surprise. We know that both R. Gohrlay and Grean never hesitated to make spare copies of their useful agents."

Zeta nodded. As one of the as-yet-uncounted clones of Gohrlay, Zeta is a living copy of the original Gohrlay from the First Reality. "And there are also multiple time loops woven into the complex story of Lakum. First, you had your weird dream from the future about Lakum. Also, it seems that Lakum must have been created as a tryp'At right at the end of the Asimov Reality, but then Lakum 'retired' to Alastor Cluster, just at the point in time when the key gene combinations for human telepathy were being assembled."

twitinos: a type of hierion

I rubbed my forehead. "I suppose in the Time Travel Era, there was no reason why a human telepath could not travel back in time and help create the first human telepath. Particularly if the Bimanoid Interface was not available in Alastor Clustor. A tryp'At without access to the interface probably had only weak telepathic ability by means of twitinos." Trying to imagine a great loop in Time by which tryp'At agents from the far future played a role in creating the first human telepaths, I muttered, "I'm getting too old for this."

Zeta said, "You've been working too hard. Take a break. It is play time." She walked off towards the back part of the house, casting one seductive glance at me over her shoulder. With our telepathic connection, I knew exactly what kind of play she had in mind. I quickly shut down my computer and followed her into the bedroom.

                            Rylla Recursion

Nora

After reading the blog post, Rylla then contacted me for a video chat. I saw that Nora and Rylla were both nursing their daughters. Rylla said, "Hello, grampa. We just had a telepathy conference with Georgy. She is going to tell Colleen about Qaz Nivsaham."  Rylla's daughter had fallen asleep and she shifted the baby up onto her shoulder.

Nora asked, "Can you explain the idea that Qaz might best be thought of as a form of supra-hadronic matter?"

I replied, "Don't expect me to provide a coherent explanation. However, we know that the Huaoshy were able to reverse-engineer some of the technology that the positronic robots left behind in Eternity. At least they tried to do so. I've never gotten any details about the physical nature of a Selfie. I've received hints that all of the Selfies of Tar'tron may have been linked by telepathy. If so, it might be best to think of them as an aggregate, a spreading artificial life form that could invisibly infest both Earth and Observer Base, possibly without ever being noticed by the tryp'At Overseers."

The Mind Clone Network

Rylla was gently patting Marda's back. The sleeping baby produced a loud burp and then Rylla shifted Marda into her lap. Rylla said, "If so, then Qaz might still be active at Observer Base."

Nora suggested, "Qaz might be actively guiding the development of the Mind Clone Network." Dysyn had fallen asleep and Nora popped her mouth off of the nipple.

Rylla said, "The question is: where to look? How can we contact Qaz? Any ideas, grampa?" I was distracted by all the breasts that were pointed at me. Neither Rylla or Nora had bothered to cover themselves up. I'd never previously seen Nora's breasts. Rylla said, "Golly, grampa, you don't need to ogle Nora's boobs."

Replicoids

"As you just said, Rylla, the question is where to look. I've wondered if Nora might have her origins on some distant world and might have a big dose of Asterothrope genes. However, she appears to be perfect... that is, she seems to be perfectly human."

Rylla looked at Nora and said, "Yes, she is practically perfect in every way. She never gets a plugged duct or a cracked nipple. There are definitely advantages to being an artificial life form."

Nora made a half-hearted effort to pull at and adjust her shirt so as to cover her breasts. Nora and I share a type of telepathic linkage because of the infites that she once placed inside my brain. However, that telepathic connection is limited by distance. Since Nora and Rylla are on the other side of the planet, I could not sense her thoughts, but judging from the sly smile on Nora's face, I don't think she was offended by my wandering eyes.

Forcing myself to not look at Rylla's odd Asterothrope-like breasts, I managed to get my thoughts back to the question that she had asked. "If Qaz was designed and created by reverse engineering the replicoid system of Eternity then Qaz might have the same problems that faced replicoids when the Bimanoid Interface was upgraded. However, Qaz might have continued working to influence events in the Final Reality by regulating backdoor access to the AR Simulator..." I fell silent, my mind rather boggled by the idea that Qaz might somehow "exist" as a type of Interventionist agent within Eternity's Reality Simulation System.

The Selfies of Tar'tron

Nora nodded in agreement, "Exactly, and we have no indication that replicoids or Selfies have been active at Observer Base here in the Final Reality ever since the change was made to the Interface."

Rylla sighed. "Okay, it sounds like our only hope is to look for Qaz in Deep Time. If all goes well in the Hierion Domain then Georgy will soon have Colleen investigating that possibility."

I said, "Don't ignore the possibility that there might be some more stories about Qaz in the archives of the Writers Block. I'll be expecting your report on what Colleen can discover."

Eventually, I did get a report from Rylla, as shown below. Rylla's account of how Qaz introduced Colleen to Lakum makes clear that there have been at least two copies of both Lakum and Colleen bouncing around in the last few Realities of our Reality Chain.

                  The Quest For Recursive Simulation by Rylla

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After reading about Lakum Taddorra and her use of Reality Simulator technology, I told Georgy about the idea that Qaz Nivsaham had provided Lakum with access to the AR Simulator. Georgy was not impressed by that news. "I've heard plenty of rumors about nanoscopic replicoids, but they seem to have become a thing of the past."

I suggested, "Or maybe there is nobody remaining at Observer Base who can communicate with nanoscopic replicoids. In any case, please have Colleen look for Qaz Nivsaham inside the ER Simulator."

Asimov Reality Simulator

After Georgy told Colleen about Qaz Nivsaham, Colleen visited Observer Base inside the ER Simulator and hunted for Qaz. After two days of failing to find anyone who knew Qaz, Colleen decided to visit the Writers Block since it was the epicenter of Interventionist activity in the Ekcolir Reality. At the end of a day spent speaking to many writers who resided at the Writers Block, Colleen had made no progress and she was quite tired. She knew that she should exit from the Simulator and allow her biological body to re-activate, but she knew she could work for three days straight inside the Simulator without doing irreversible damage to herself.

Colleen decided to stay one more day in the Simulator, particularly since she had received an invitation from Hafren Wells to crash at her place, one of the comfortable homes of the Writers Block. While undressing for bed, Colleen found a small vial in her pocket. She had no memory of when during the day she had acquired the vial.

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Colleen unscrewed the cap of the vial and saw a cloud of nanites emerge. Infites! Almost immediately, Colleen put her clothes back on and went to find Hafren. Hafren was in her den and just settling in for a late night writing session. Colleen said, "I'm going downtown."

Hafren asked, "Why not wait for morning? It is late."

"I can't sleep now. I may have found the key for access to the AR Simulator."

Having spoken to Colleen for several hours that day, Hafren knew that Colleen claimed to be from "outside". Hafren did not believe that she was existing inside a simulated Reality, but she was intrigued by the idea. She was eager to write a story about an adventure inside a virtual reality. "Take me with you."

Colleen was not averse to working with a companion, but her first instinct was not to involve anyone from the Writers Block in her secretive hacking of the Eternity Reality Simulators. Colleen knew how to move herself in and out of the ER Simulator, but would it be possible to extract Hafren from her simulated existence? Did Colleen have access to a hack that would make that possible? "I'm not sure that I can."

Hafren waved a hand dismissively at Colleen. "Ya, I knew your story about Reality Simulation was just fiction. But it is a great story idea." She pointed to her writerpod. "I've begun my own story about a virtual reality world. I'll be sure to make you a character in the story!"

Colleen quickly assessed her plans for the immediate future. To travel from the Writers Block to Observer Base, Colleen would have to use the hidden physical connection between the Writers Block and Observer Base. She would then exit from the ER Simulator, adjust the Simulator access coordinates at the portal and re-enter the Simulation at a new point in time. Colleen told Hafren, "I'm not sure that my portal hack will allow you to exit the Simulator."

Hafren laughed. "Of course not. Your delusion about this being a simulated world would be shattered if you demonstrated to me your inability to provide proof of your delusion. I knew that you would not even try."

Colleen smiled. "Fine. If you want to try to accompany me, let's go. I'm in a hurry." Colleen took hold of Hafren's arm and pulled her out of her chair.

Moving out of the inhabited part of the Writers Block, Colleen took Hafren down a long dim corridor and then down a seemingly endless stairway. Hafren began to complain, "Where are we going? Do these stairs ever end?"

"Be glad this is all going down. The first time I came here, I climbed up all of these stairs. Luckily, now that I know the coordinates of the Writers Block, I can directly arrive there via the portal. However, I lack a hack for teleporting within this Simulator, so we have to walk all the way back to the portal."

Hafren grew dazed as they continued on and on down the stairway. Everything looked exactly the same: endless identical stairs. Finally, Colleen paused and looked carefully at the wall of the landing. Hafren could not see any difference between this particular landing and the hundreds of others they had passed through. Colleen began rubbing her hands against the wall in fast circular motions. Suddenly one of her hands passed through the wall. "Here is the entrance. You try it."

Hafren tried to duplicate Colleen's hand movements. The two women stood close together. Colleen's hands passed through the wall, disappearing from sight. Hafren asked, "You just walk through this wall?"

Colleen replied, "You have to have faith that there is a connection here that links to Observer Base." One of Hafren's hands slipped through the wall. "Good! You can do it! Follow me." Colleen walked through the wall and found herself in the dim room on the other side. She took hold of Hafren's hand and pulled. After a brief period of resistance, first Hafrens arms then her whole body came through the wall with a little sucking sound. "Congratulations, you have escaped from the Writers Block."

Hafren asked, "Where are we?"

"On the outskirts of Observer Base. Come on, there is a tramline nearby." Colleen kept hold of Hafren's hand and led the way out into a lit corridor. Their footfalls echoing, soon they reached the tramline and a waiting car. As soon as they both sat down in the car, it began to move and accelerated to a high speed. Colleen explained, "There are hundreds of these spoke lines that radiate out from Observer Base. We'll be downtown in about ten minutes. Many of the spokes provide access to recreation facilities, but this one is special. It leads to the secret passage way that allows access to the Writers Block."

"How did you find it?"

Colleen explained, "By using clues provided in a story that Georgy found in the archives of the Writers Block."

The downtown area of Observer Base was very active in the Ekcolir Reality. Colleen led Hafren to Grean's workshop which they entered by teleportation. After being teleported, Hafren was a bit dizzy. She looked around at the odd equipment in the workshop. "What just happened?"

Colleen said sarcastically, "Why do you ask? It is all just part of my delusion."

"No, please don't tease me, Colleen! I really want to know. We were inside some sort of elevator car then I blinked and we were suddenly here in this room. I feel dizzy."

"We just teleported." Colleen pointed at the portal. "Look here; this is the portal to my Reality." Colleen could see that Georgy was on the far side of the portal. As Colleen approached the portal, she triggered the proximity detector and then Georgy looked up from the book she was reading. Georgy helped Colleen exit from the Simulator.

Now back in the Final Reality, Colleen could fully appreciate how weak and frail her biobody was. She resisted the temptation to crumple to the floor. Georgy pointed through the portal at Hafren and asked, "Who is that?"

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Colleen immediately went to the control panel and sank into the chair that Georgy had been using. Colleen saw that Georgy had been using the display screen to read a story from the archives of the Writers Block. She cleared "Death at Lake Dimple" from the display screen and began searching for a transfer protocol that would allow Hafren to exit from the Simulator. While working the data terminal, Colleen told Georgy, "That is Hafren Wells. She's curious about our Reality."

Colleen quickly read through a protocol for extracting someone from a Reality Simulator. The critical part of the process was providing an appropriate body for the mind of the person being extracted. The written protocol called for the use of a replicoid. Colleen looked helplessly through the portal at Hafren, then she had an idea.

Colleen took the nanite vial out of her pocket and again unscrewed the cap. A big cloud of nanites formed as they exited from the vial and then that cloud solidified, taking on the form of Hafren's body. Colleen pressed one more button on the control panel and she watched as the Hafren inside the Simulator blinked out of existence. The new Hafren that was composed of nanites stood there, looking around the mostly empty room.

Colleen said, "Welcome to the Final Reality."

Her head spinning, Hafren's legs folded and she sank to the floor. "What... what just happened?" From her perspective, most of the equipment in the workshop had just disappeared and at the same time Colleen and Georgy had suddenly appeared in the room.

Colleen gestured towards Georgy, "This is my friend Georgy White. Georgy, meet Hafren Wells. She's a bit disoriented."

Georgy helped Hafren get back to her feet. "You can expect some dizziness; you just got placed inside a new body." Georgy looked at Colleen and asked, "Where did you get those nanites?"

Colleen put the nanite vial back in her pocket and replied, "Good question! That is an interesting mystery, but I have an idea for how to get some answers. Hafren and I are going back into the Simulator, to a point far in the future."

Georgy walked the still dizzy Hafren over to Colleen and handed her over, dumping Hafren into Colleen's lap. Georgy turned towards the control panel and checked the biomonitors that were reporting on Colleen's physical status. "You are in worse shape than Hafren! You need to rest."

"No, I'm good for another day." Colleen tested her muscles and she managed to get to her feet, letting Hafren slip into the chair. Colleen stumbled and grabbed onto Georgy for support. "Thanks for keeping me fed."

Georgy complained, "That artificial feeding does not care for your muscles. You need to get some exercise. You can't even stand on your own two feet."

Colleen let go of Georgy and stood there swaying. Her knees were quivering with fatigue, but she could stand unassisted. Barely. "Listen Georgy, I think it was Qaz who gave me a set of infites... I'm not sure. It does not matter where the nanites came from. The important thing is, I now know how to access the AR Simulator!"

Georgy put an arm around Colleen's waist in an effort to stabilized the poor girl. "What are you talking about?"

Placing an arm around Georgy's shoulders and leaning on her, Colleen declared, "I'm going back into the ER Simulator. I should be able to find a point in time, in the far future when Observer Base has been abandoned... I believe that's when I can use the Qaz infites to enter the AR Simulator."

Georgy complained, "I don't know what you are talking about. Spend a few days resting. We'll talk. After a week of rest and recuperation, you can return to the Simulator. In the mean time, maybe Hafren can help answer some of our questions about the archives of the Writers Block."

"No! Hafren and I are going back in, right now. I have to find out if this backdoor access to the AR Simulator is open."

Georgy sighed and uttered a sarcastic summary of the situation. "What a fine plan. Hafren is too dizzy to stand and and you're blathering like a crazy person."

Hafren told Georgy, "I feel better now. I'll be fine once I get back to my world." She glanced through the portal.

"Once I'm back in the Simulator, my simulated body will be strong enough for the task!" Colleen pulled Hafren out of the chair beside the control panel. For a moment it seemed like Colleen and Hafren might topple over. Georgy put her arms around the two of them. Colleen was looking through the portal, "The only question is, how far into the future should we go. In my mind, something keeps whispering 'Prelands'."

Georgy said, "According to Rylla, there is evidence that Preland genes from the far future were used by the Nereids... and the Fru'wu... and the Grendels to craft the human species."

Colleen muttered, "That does not provide me with a date. I'll have to take a guess. Maybe a round number... a million years-"

in the Ekcolir Reality

Hafren asked, "Did either of you ever read the story 'Colleen's Quest' by Evylyn Hamilton?"

Georgy and Colleen looked at each other and then back at Hafren. Georgy said, "I recall a story that I saw in the archives of the Writers Block by Evie Hamilton. It is called 'Asterothrope: Seven Million Years Ahead'."

Hafren chuckled, "Ya, that's another good one, but I just remembered that 'Colleen's Quest' mentions a world in the Galactic Core that is home to the Prelands."

Colleen Liscan asked, "Did the 'Colleen' that Evie wrote about have a last name?"

"Hm, I don't recall. Anyhow, in that story, the Prelands were all shifting from the Hadron Domain into the Sedron Domain. As Evylyn told the story, that process had been going on for two million years. However, not all of the Prelands wanted to abandon their biological bodies." Hafren then remembered the last name: "Taddorra. It was Colleen Taddorra. She traveled into the future in order to meet the last remaining Preland. That was 'Colleen's Quest'."

As had happened several times in her life, Colleen had the feeling that a series of crazy coincidences were all coalescing to help her achieve a goal. She set the controls of the ER Portal to give access to a point in time two million years in the future. She told Hafren, "Let's go investigate the future." The two women walked, none too steadily, through the portal.

Georgy sank down into the chair and watched through the portal as Colleen began using the control console that was on the other side of the portal, inside the Ekcolir Reality. Suddenly the portal became opaque. Georgy muttered, "Great."

______________

Inside the ER Simulator, some 2,000,000 years in the future, Colleen and Hafren found that the artificial gravity field of Eternity was now producing a gravitational field close to that of Earth. Inside Grean's workshop, other changes had been made; several new pieces of equipment had been installed and the room now seemed crowded. There were several new manual control panels of an unfamiliar design. However, after some experimentation, Colleen was able to access the control interface for the Reality Simulator System. She tried to activate the AR Simulator, but the display flashed an error message: Encrypted Access Key Required. Watching over Colleen's shoulder, Hafren asked, "What are you doing?"

Colleen explained, "Checking to see if Qaz gave me the key for hacking into the AR Simulator. The story of the origins of human telepathy were hidden away... until now, only Azynov and Yōd have been able to enter the AR Simulator." Colleen pulled the nanite vial out of her pocket, but when she opened it, nothing happened. The message on the display screen was unchanged: Encrypted Access Key Required. Colleen got to her feet and tried to push her hand through the portal and into the AR Simulator. The portal was a solid wall. She worked at the control panel for five more minutes, trying to get past the system interlocks, then Colleen said, "No luck! I've made a wrong assumption."

Hafren said, "Let me make sure I understand what you are trying to do... you claim that we are inside a virtual reality simulator. You are trying to use that virtual reality simulator to access another simulation? Has that ever been done before?"

"Yes, I've been told that it can be done... that it was done by the Retrofuturians." Colleen retraced the steps of her logic and leaps of faith that had led up to this attempt to slip into the AR Simulator. "It seems like such a beautiful idea!"

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I still don't want to believe that that this is a simulation. I feel completely alive. Actually, I feel exalted. Here we are, two million years in the future!" Hafren made a little skipping motion. Her dance-like motion across the workshop had brought her next to the time machine. "What are Retrofuturians?"

"A rag-tag band of Interventionists. You could say that I'm a Retrofuturian, although the group was actually defined by their struggle against the tryp'At Overseers."

Colleen was plagued by doubts. Why not try 20 million years in the future? Or 200 million? Suddenly a new idea appeared in her mind. Now Colleen was eager to get rid of Hafren. "I'll send you back to your time." She walked over to the side of the workshop where Hafren was standing. Colleen adjusted the controls for the downwhen time travel device that was there in that end of the workshop. She told Hafren, "Just step into that chamber."

Hafren asked, "You are going to stay here, by yourself?"

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"No, this is not a good time... for anyone. At this point in time, Observer Base is abandoned. According to the logs, we are the first ones to use this equipment in the past million years. After I send you home, I'll return to Georgy, to my Reality. She was right. I should rest for a while and recuperate. I'm probably not thinking clearly." Colleen just wanted to get rid of Hafren. "Do you remember how to get back to the Writers Block?"

Hafren nodded and replied, "Yes, I just need to take spur line 736f. However, I may spend a few days at Observer Base... it looks like a more dynamic community than the Writers Block." She stepped into the time machine.

"Suit yourself. Maybe some day I'll drop in and visit you again." Colleen sent Hafren back to her place in time and then she exited from the ER Simulator, now ready for some rest and relaxation.

Next: Colleen meets Lakum

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