Making Hay

in the Final Reality

This blog page (below) holds the concluding installment of a science fiction story called "Time of Theurgency". Previously, two copies of Ariel Adler were instantiated inside the Hierion Domain. Now known as Relda and Leira, the two new versions of Ariel pursue a shared mission, attempting to alter the course of Earth's history.

By changing one seemingly minor event in 1939, they set in motion a sequence of increasingly large Changes that echo through Time, mitigating some of the deleterious effects caused by the application of advanced alien technology on Earth beginning in the mid-20th century of the Ekcolir Reality.

Relda learns that her companion in the Hierion Domain, Deomede, is at work on his own Time twisting project. Relda and Deomede must go to Earth in 1972 and help financially stabilize the Foundation for Science Fiction. That new Foundation will become the means to counter the Fru'wu Movement and save Earth's ecosystem from the devastating effects of hierion technology.
______________________

the Final Reality

Editor's note: the dates and other arbitrary cultural references such as names have been altered to conform to Final Reality standards.

           Ekcolir Reality                    Final Reality
            Petra, child of ...................  Peter Nicholls
            Gina, grandchild of ...........  George Hay
            Ariel, analogue of ............. Allen Adler
            Marcia, analogue of .........  Martin Greenberg

7. Gina. (read parts 1 and 2) - (read parts 3 and 4) - (read parts 5 and 6)
Relda awoke with Leira's thoughts again in her mind. Through their shared telepathic connection, Leira could sense that something dramatic had happened to Relda overnight and she pleaded: Tell me all about it!

source

Relda was not averse to providing Leira with an account of her love making with Deomede, although there were some details of the experience that she would not be sharing with her 13-year-old self. However, Relda was puzzled by her inability to sense Deomede's thoughts. She had drifted into sleep wrapped both in his arms and the sweet hum of his mind. She asked Leira: what do we know about the workings of telepathy over long distances?

Not knowing why Relda had asked the question, Leira replied: If we can believe Grean, you and I are physically quite close, but she warned me that space and time don't have their usual meanings here in the Hierion Domain.

This was the second day of Leira's existence and she was in the process of learning that there were no toilets in the Hierion Domain and she no longer had to eat. Relda gave part of her mind to discussing with Leira the practical aspects of existing in the Hierion Domain while she searched the house for Deomede.

Moving systematically from room to room on the second floor, Relda came across the first locked door she had seen in the Hierion Domain. Unable to pass through that one doorway, she went down the stairway and continued looking for Deomede.

Relda was growing increasingly frantic as she hunted through the rooms on the first floor... where could Deomede be?

Wendy the positronic robot appeared and asked, "Do you need something?"

While searching the house, Relda had become certain that she was alone and so she was startled to suddenly find Wendy standing there behind her. At the sound of Wendy's voice, Relda turned quickly and then stared at Wendy, suspecting that she had arrived by teleportation. After a shocked pause, Relda finally found her voice and asked Wendy, "Where is Deomede?"

Wendy had been helping Deomede in Grean's workshop and she had teleported to the cottage. Now she took hold of Relda's arm and said, "Before I answer your question, there is something that I must show you." Wendy took Relda back upstairs and led her towards Deomede's writing room. "For the rare occasions when they were separated, Deomede and Trysta employed a cute low-tech system of passing notes." Wendy had no difficulty opening the locked door. There, on a small table just inside the door, was a brief note from Deomede to Relda.

Wendy pointed at the written note which was nestled among a bouquet of flowers. Relda picked up the small sheet of paper and read the hand-written message out loud: "I've gone to the workshop. 💕"

Wondering about the meaning of the two hearts that Deomede had drawn, Relda gathered up the fragrant flowers and looked around the room. Every shelf and surface was cluttered with a vast collection of printed books and magazines along with magnetic, optical and electronic format films and devices for viewing them. She asked Wendy, "Why was this room locked?"

Wendy explained, "Deomede did not want you to come in here and start looking through his things unless I was with you." Wendy went across the room and stood to one side of Deomede's writing desk, next to a side-table that was heaped with small plastic boxes. Wendy added, "Deomede has a large collection of adult material... he did not want to shock you."

Relda laughed uneasily, "I'm not some blushing virgin."

"Wendy nodded. "True, but Deomede is trying to help you fall in love with him. He does not want you thinking that he is some kind of pervert. Grean asked Deomede to undertake an extensive study of human reactions to humanoid hermaphrodites."

Relda tried to guess why Deomede and Wendy were playing this game and toying with her. Why had Deomede gathered together all of this material from Earth? Were all these books and films collected as part of his research done in preparation for writing the history of the Time Travel War or as part of an analysis of kinky sex practices?

Relda slowly wandered through the room, picking up and glancing through some of the magazines. Most of the books and magazines had been published in years that were still in Relda's future. During her whole life, Relda had tried to imagine the future. It was exhilarating to now be living among people who had actually seen the future. She was moving gradually towards Wendy, who seemed to be gazing out the window into the backyard garden.

1958, 20th year celebration release on DVD.

From among all the clutter in the room, she picked up a small plastic box which seemed familiar; it held a copy of Space Fire, one of her mother's films, but Relda had never before seen a DVD. She opened the box, saw the date 1958 and she examined the optical disk. She asked Wendy, "What is this?"

Wendy continued looking out the window, but she instantly replied, "That is a digitally encoded format of a movie that your mother originally made on film." Wendy anticipated the next question that was forming in Relda's mind. "Deomede takes little trips to Earth and collects such things."

Leira was still connected to Relda by way of the Bimanoid Interface. Leira was with Svahr and being given a tour of the part of the Hierion Domain where she would now live with Gertrude and the other members of her new 'family'. Seeing the DVD through Relda's mind, Leira commented: I just saw Fire in the theater last year.

Relda could well remember going to the movie theater to see Space Fire, but for her that experience was almost a decade in the past. She could see that copies of her mother's other old films also seemed to all be present in Deomede's collection, but there were many additional movies with her mother's name on them that Relda knew nothing about. Relda picked up a copy of Alien Destiny, which was dated 1941 and on the back side of the box it listed her mother as the director of the film.  Apparently most of these were movies from Relda's future.

Relda closed the Space Fire DVD box, tossed it and Alien Destiny back onto an untidy heap of other films. She told herself: this is not getting me anywhere. Relda turned, exited from Deomede's room and returned downstairs to the first floor entryway where upon her arrival home the previous evening, Deomede had greeted her with a hot mix of his telepathic hedonism, gentle hugs and long-lasting kisses. Within five minutes of stepping into the house, Deomede had undressed Relda and was carrying her upstairs to bed.

Leira was following Relda's thoughts and now she caught fragments of Relda's memory of all that had happened when Relda had returned home and was met by Deomede at the front door. Frustrated by the lack of detail in the thought stream flowing from Relda, Leira complained: I missed all the fun.

Relda looked around the entryway, but her discarded clothing was gone. Wendy, following along behind Relda said, "Allow me to show you how to dress with clothing nanites." Deploying a swarm of nanites, Wendy began creating new clothing for Relda. New clothing quickly assembled from swirling mists of nanites. Wendy soon had most of Relda's body covered in the same kind of jumpsuit that Trysta had worn. "Of course, you can select whatever style you like."

The clothing nanites seemed like a fun toy, but Relda was impatient to get herself over to the workshop. She told Wendy, "I'll play with these clothing nanites later." She rushed out of the house and ran along the garden path all the way to the workshop. As she ran, she began to sense the presence of Deomede and his thought pattern. For a panicky moment, Relda wondered what she would do if she found the workshop door locked.

Bursting inside the workshop, she again felt adrift in the familiar pattern of Deomede's mind. It was a magical pleasure to know that Deomede loved her. He was standing in front of the large display screen, looking at images from Earth; what looked like a scene on a street in England, or possibly Scotland, with people moving and going about their business at fast-forward speed. Now slowing to a walk and slightly out of breath, Relda approached Deomede and shyly put an arm around him.

Deomede stopped the moving image, freezing the street scene in a frame of crystal clarity. He kissed Relda on the forehead the way she had previously seen him kiss Trysta. He asked, "Did you sleep well, lover?"

"Yes, I did... until I discovered that you were gone." Relda examined her own emotions and felt amazed by how quickly she had become attached to Deomede. "Why do I feel like I have known you... forever?"

With a little grin, Deomede replied, "Ah, that's a little trick that I played on your replicoid." Deomede ran his fingers through Relda's hair.

"Wait... you know my replicoid?"

"Well, only in the biblical sense. I only spent a short time with her... there is a separate part of the Hierion Domain for replicoids."

Relda could not peer very deeply into Deomede's thoughts. Their minds seemed to be connected mostly at the level of shared emotions, but Relda could sense the general flow of his thinking and fragments of his memories. "You screwed my replicoid?"

Deomede nodded. "It was a bit of a challenge. Normally replicoids are nanoscopic, but Grean did some of her magic and... actually, I suppose it was more mental than physical. Still, it was as if I was allowed to live with your replicoid in a virtual world..." For a minute Deomede seemed lost in his memories of the past. Finally he spoke again, "Our shared experiences allowed your replicoid to make sure that you grew up... anticipating my existence. And, of course, I've been watching you as you grew up on Earth, so I also feel like I have known you for many years."

Relda did not really understand what he was trying to tell her about being with her replicoid. She brushed her lips across his cheek and then pointed to the screen. "What is this?"

Reality Change

Deomede explained, "Through your actions, you and Leira have caused a Change in Time. I've been observing the new world of 1972 that has come into existence." For comparison, Deomede brought up a view of the previous version of Earth's timeline. Pointing at the display, Deomede told Relda, "Before you adjusted the flow of Time, this was the aftermath of the Perth space elevator disaster..." He fell silent.

Relda looked at the horrifying images on the display screen that showed the smoking ruins of Perth. Having only just arrived in the Hierion Domain, it did not seem possible to Relda that her efforts aimed at changing Gertrude's future were already altering the shape of Time. "You are sure that it was Leira and I who changed the course of Time and prevented this devastation?"

Deomede nodded and gently wrapped his arms around Relda. "You two started a chain of events that saved Perth and many other cities as well. Not bad for one day in the Hierion Domain, eh?" He kissed the tip of her nose and gently traced the curve of her jaw with a finger tip. "I'm particularly interested in Perth because of a project that I'm currently working on for Grean."

Grean

Relda looked at Deomede with surprise. Trysta had led her to imagine that he was a simply a writer, compiling a history of the Time Travel War. Then Deomede had admitted that he was a special creation of Grean. And apparently he also did "odd jobs" for Grean using the special alienequipment in the workshop. Relda wondered: what exactly was his connection to Grean the Kac'hin? She felt a wave of jealousy.  "What sort of work is that?"

Before Deomede could respond to Relda's question, suddenly, Grean was there with them inside the workshop. She announced her presence with a small joke, "My ears were tingling." She stepped off of the Time travel platform and gave a hug first to Relda then to Deomede.

Relda gestured towards the two images, one of which showed Perth in ruins. She asked Grean, "Leira only just met Gertrude. How can the future already be changed so drastically?"

Grean looked at the "before" and "after" images of Perth and slowly shook her head. "You know, Deomede, I'm not sure that it was wise to show this to Relda."

Deomede shrugged. "Well, Grean, you can't expect me to keep secrets from Relda. She came barging in here while I was working. Relda caught me feeling rather surprised and puzzling over a new path that has opened up though Time..."

Relda laughed and told Grean, "If you want to keep secrets, maybe you should put locks on all the doors."

Deomede took hold of Relda's hand, "I'm sorry that I had to lock you out of my room."

Relda giggled. "While arranging for Wendy to let me in?"

"Since your arrival, I have not have time to clean up that room." He hugged Relda and gently explained, "There are some items from Earth in there that you should not see. Wendy made certain that you only saw a few small pieces of your future that were safe for you to see."

Relda could sense in Deomede's mind that he was trying to protect Relda against the ever-present danger of creating a Time paradox. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

For a moment, Grean gazed upon Deomede and Relda and tried to gauge their depth of emotional entanglement, then she stepped over to her Reality Viewer and said, "Well, speaking of Earth, I suppose I should look at your discovery..." She activated the Viewer and gazed into the future.

Deomede said, "The new causal vortex is centered on the British Isles in the mid 1970s."

R. Gohrlay

Grean focused the Viewer first on 1972 and then axpanded the view and glanced at the temporal landscape of the next few years, checking the differential analyzer so that she could obtain a quick comparison of the Changes to Time that had been caused by bringing a copy of Ariel into the Hierion Domain. "Interesting. I never looked down this rather improbably rivulet in Time..." After a minute she turned off the Viewer and said, "This is an important discovery, Deomede. Somehow a low probability branch in the Time matrix had been selected and amplified. I feel tempted to say 'good work' and congratulate you both, but this has the rich aroma of meddling by positronic robots." Grean was thinking about R. Gohrlay and that robot's often misguided attempts to influence events on Earth.

Relda asked, "Do I get to know what you are talking about?"

"Well, Relda, normally, it is not possible for Earthlings to know too much about their future, but in this case, Deomede needs to make use of you..." Grean seemed stunned by what she had just seen in the Viewer and she paused. She looked back and forth between Deomede and Relda then told the girl, "You must return to Earth... Earth in the year 1972."

"What?" Relda was still adapting to the idea that she would spend the rest of her life in the Hierion Domain. "What about my work here, with Leira?"

Grean replied, "Leira is just getting to know the members of her new family. She does not need you around, distracting her from the task of establishing those important social bonds. In fact, I now see it is all for the better if you not be telepathically linked to her at this time." Grean nodded to Deomede, "Yes, you two should go to Earth. You know what must be done to take advantage of this opportunity."

Relda reached out with her mind, but she could no longer sense the thought pattern of Leira. She asked Grean, "You are now blocking my telepathic connection to Leira?"

Without replying to the girl's question, Grean turned her back on Relda and returned to the Time machine, adjusted its settings and stepped up onto the platform. She said, "Please adjust you priorities, Relda. Work with Deomede. Once his project is complete, you can then start to get serious about helping Leira." Grean winked out of existence, having been sent away to another part of Time.

Deomede re-activated the moving image of the street in Perth. Now the people were moving at slow speed. Deomede pointed to one particular woman who was quite tall and looked like she might possibly be the sister of Deomede. "This is Gina Hay. I was just on my way to visit her. Like Leira, Gina was constructed by Grean."

Relda was not quite comfortable with the idea that, on a whim, Grean could create new people. She asked Deomede, "Does it bother you to know that you were constructed and deployed as Grean's tool?"

Deomede chuckled, "Like you, I feel like I have free will and control my own destiny. In the case of Gina, Grean inserted her into this Reality for a special purpose."

"For what purpose?"

"Grean never told me, but I suspect that Gina was designed for the same purpose that you serve, Relda... we are all trying to lessen that damage to Earth caused by alien technology. The Earthlings fell in love with the wonders of Fru'wu technology. Gina was designed to play a major role in shifting the people of Earth towards a more realistic view of the risks and benefits of using hierion-based technologies."

alien-human hybrids

Relda asked, "Is Gina another one of the fain-human hybrids, like Gertrude?"

"No. Gina is what Grean calls a mind clone."

"What is a mind clone?"

Deomede shrugged. "When I asked that question, Grean refused to tell me anything. She said that it would create a Time paradox if I knew too much about Gina's special brain."

"It seems awfully convenient that Grean can use the excuse of avoiding Time paradoxes anytime she does not want to answer a question."

Deomede chuckled. "We have to trust Grean." For amoment he wrapped an unrully strand of Relda's hair around his finger. "She really is trying to help the people of Earth."

Thrilled by Deomede's touch, she could not prevent herself from slipping into a sexual fantasy of again making love to Deomede. Relda suggested, "Maybe we should think carefully about this and discuss options before rushing-"

"No. Grean does not want us thinking too much." He firmly took hold of Relda's hand. "Come on, let's go to Earth. Now!" He again froze the display and pulled her towards the teleporter.

Relda protested, "I'm not dressed for Earth." She held her arms out to her sides. "Wendy dressed me up in one of these futuristic suits, like Trysta liked to wear."

Deomede looked at Relda's clothing and then touched himself. He was dressed in flashy nanite-generated clothing. "True, our clothing will be unusual for 1970s Earth. However, I know that Gina will not care about our style of clothing. More importantly, if we dress like conventional Earthlings then the other people who we meet might not believe what we have to say. So, no delays." He got up on the teleportation platform and pulled Relda up into his arms. He kissed her cheek and then kissed her more thoroughly on the lips.

After a long, deep kiss, when Relda pulled back to catch her breath, Deomede activated the teleportation device and suddenly they were on Earth. They arrived in a dark room, near a wall. Deomede opened a nearby set of window blinds and some rays of ruddy evening light flooded into the dim room. Glancing through the window, Relda could see that outside it was early evening on the Perth street they had just been watching from the workshop.

Looking out into the growing darkness, Relda felt a strange telepathic presence in her mind. Deomede was there in her thoughts, tickling her libido and making her feel alive and excited to be close enough to feel the heat of his body. The presence of Deomede in her mind filled Relda with a wild tingling desire for his touch. However, there was also something else there in her mind, something new that she had never experienced before. At first Relda imagined she was once again feeling the mind of Leira, but there were differences... she reached out tentatively with her mind, trying to strengthen this new telepathic connection...

Suddenly, Relda heard a door slam closed and then the sound of running on the stairway. A young woman, close to Relda's age, came rushing into her bedroom, already half undressed in preparation for taking a shower. The girl turned on the room lights and then, upon seeing Deomede, she stopped moving and asked, "Back again, Dee? I hate how you just pop up at the most incon-" Her eyes shifted to Relda as she moved out from behind Deomede. "And with a friend?"

Deomede said, "Gina, this is Relda. She is going to help with the endowment."

Petra's school

Gina had just arrived home from attending classes at Perth College of the Arts. She tossed her backpack and her school shirt onto a chair. Feeling the eyes of both Deomede and Relda on her breasts, she reached into a bureau drawer and pulled out a clean tee shirt. "Help how?" She pulled on the shirt, which clung snugly to her perky breasts. 

Deomede explained the situation, "Relda is well connected to big money. I think she can convince the Adlers to significantly increase their donation to the Foundation."

"Is that so?" Gina approached Relda and took her hand.

Relda felt a jolt move through her. There was some kind of deep telepathic link between herself and Gina. Relda imagined that she could guess what Gina would say next....

Gina said, "That would be marvelous." Gina turned to Deomede and placed a hand on his shoulder then kissed his cheek. Turning back towards Relda, she asked, "Exactly what is your connection to the Adlers?"

Relda did not know what to say. She looked at Deomede, but he was staring at Gina's nipples where they pushed out from the smooth fabric of her shirt. Relda sensed that Deomede was giving Gina 'the treatment', guiding her emotions via telepathy. Relda was not immune to the waves of hyper-sexual stimuli being generated by Deomede's mind and directed at Gina. Relda could tell that Deomede was trying to relax Gina and move her into a mental state where she would agree to anything that Deomede suggested. Relda could also sense in the girl's mind that Gina was feeling sexually stimulated by Deomede's presence, both his telepathic touch and his physical appearance. Relda felt an uncontollable hot burst of jealousy, but knowing what Deomede was doing, she calmly said. "I've been associated with the Adlers for over 20 years."

"You don't look a day over 20..." Gina looked carefully at Relda. Gina's eyes widened and she seemed to recognize Relda. "Wait... Aldler... Relda... what kind of trick is this, Deomede?" She went to her desk and made use of the bulky personal computer that she owned. After a minute of hunting on the WorldNet, she pulled up a digitized copy of a 1941 issue of Movie Times magazine. She muttered, "Ariel Adler is a very reclusive writer, but when I knew that I would be meeting Marcia and Ariel tonight, I wanted to see a picture of Ariel. I searched online and found this..." She paged through the magazine and found a picture of an awards ceremony at which Relda's mother had won a Best Producer award for the film Alien Destiny. There, caught to one side in the picture was Ariel Adler, looking only slightly older than Relda. Gina turned her computer so that the image of Ariel was pointed towards Relda and she asked, "What the hell is going on?"

Deomede laughed. "You are too clever for your own good, Gina."

Just then there was more noise from the first floor of Gina's apartment. A voice called up, "Let's go. We're late."

Gina said, "It's Petra." She stepped to the bedroom door and called down to Petra, "Come on up. I'm not ready to go."

Petra shouted, "I came right from school. I did not have time to change."

Gina had turned back towards Relda and then, bending over the computer keyboard, she hit a few keys and zoomed in on the image of Ariel Adler in the magazine. Glancing at Relda, she asked, "Are you Ariel Adler?"

Relda laughed nervously and suggested, "Maybe you should think of me as a cousin of Ariel."

Petra came into the bedroom, stopped short and said with surprise, "Deomede!" She had met Deomede once, six months previously, when he had paid dues and became a member of the Foundation for Science Fiction. Petra asked Gina, "Why is he in your bedroom and who is she?" Petra pointed at Relda.

Gina beckoned Petra towards the computer screen displaying the image of Ariel. Petra moved closer to Gina and Gina put her arm around the girl and she kissed Petra's cheek. "See anyone familiar?" Now hurrying to get dressed for the evening, Gina turned away and went into the adjoining bathroom where she turned on the shower.

Petra looked carefully at the photograph in the magazine and read the legend. "Ariel Adler?" Petra now looked at Relda in amazement. "But..."

Gina pulled off her tee shirt, said, "Bingo!" and not bothering to close the door to the bathroom, took off her skirt and stepped into the shower.

Backing slowly away from the computer, Petra locked her eyes on Relda, nearly stumbled then sank down on the corner of the bed. "This picture was taken twenty years ago. You have not aged at all..."

Petra Nicholls and Gina Hay.

Deomede told Relda, "This is Petra Nicholls. Last year, she and Gina formed the Foundation for Science Fiction, an organization devoted to breaking the Fru'wu Movement."

Relda asked, "Breaking?"

"Countering. Replacing." Petra made a fist and struck the bed. "I'd like to smash and obliterate the Movement, but millions of people have been brain washed... they cling to hope that Fru'wu technology can solve every problem facing Humanity." She looked carefully at Relda's face. "Are you Ariel's daughter? If you know Ariel, then you must know all about the struggle against reliance on Fru'wu technology."

Deomede told Petra, "Relda should be able to get the Foundation a much larger donation from the Adler family. I suggest you take her with you to the meeting tonight."

Relda could sense that Deomede was not directing his telepathic charms towards Petra, however, the girl seemed fascinated by the physical beauty of Deomede and she batted her eyes at him. "What about you? Won't you come..." Just then Gina turned off the shower and opened the frosted shower door. Petra turned and glanced at Gina's wet and glistening body.

Deomede explained, "I'll do what I can to help influence Ariel's thinking tonight, but Relda is the key to our success."

Gina came out of the bathroom, smelling of perfumed soap and tentatively dressed in a silk robe. She was vigorously drying her hair with a towel.

Petra jumped up and grabbed a hair dryer. Switching on the dryer, Petra aimed the hot air stream at Gina's wet hair.

Gina handed Petra the towel. "There's no time." She pulled the plug of the hair dryer out of the electrical socket. "We need to go now." She spoke rather accusingly to Deomede, "We are late for the meeting in Edinburgh."

Deomede said, "Relax, Gee." He picked up a comb from on top of a chest of drawers and stepped towards Gina. "I'll get you..." He ran the comb through Gina's hair. "I'll take you and Relda to the meeting... I'll have you there on time. I have an aircar waiting."

Petra announced angrily, "I refuse to use Fru'wu technology!"

Gina threw her arms around Petra and hugged her. "Calm down, girl!"

For a minute a quiet calm came to the room. Finally, Deomede was satisfied to have mostly de-tangled Gina's gorgeous hair. He set down the comb and said, "As soon as Ariel sets her eyes on Relda, I think she'll start developing a completely new assessment of the viability and power of the Foundation."

After a few more seconds, Gina released Petra and the girl seemed noticeably calmer.  Gina glanced over her shoulder at Deomede and commented, "Nobody can stay angry with Deomede for very long."

Petra looked at Deomede and said, "I never really understood the meaning of being undressed by a man's eyes until I met Deomede."

Deomede chuckled, "Some people have a green thumb... In my case, well... women bloom under my attention." He winked at Petra.

Gina let go of Petra and continued to quickly get dressed, seemingly unconcerned to have the others watching her. "Nothing seems particularly risque or outrageous when Deomede is in the room. However, I remind you, Deomede, Petra is only fifteen. And she's a writer, so anything you say or do tonight might well end up in print."

Deomede said, "I'll be on my best behavior." He muttered quietly, "Petra faces more danger from Asimov."

Gina pulled a white outfit from her closet, a stylish business suit that she had recently purchased just for this occasion. After tossing the suit on the bed, she took off her silk robe and asked Relda, "What do you think, Relda? Isn't there something wild and primitive about Deomede that makes your heart pound?"

Relda took hold of Deomede's arm, wondering just what kind of relationship he had with Gina. Petra was staring at Deomede and she seemed slightly flushed, her eyes glistening. Not wanting to admit even to herself how quickly she had surrendered to Deomede's telepathic powers and his physical charms, Relda shrugged and replied, "I've only known Deomede for two days. Perhaps you know him better than I."

Gina pulled on her pants and slipped on a pair of shoes. "I've known Deomede since last year when he first got a small donation for the Foundation from the Adlers. Now I wonder if he is responsible for Ariel and Marcia being here in Scotland tonight, although they claim to be on a long-planned promotional tour for the new Asimov film."

Gina was now dressed for the business meeting and they all went downstairs and then out into the street. Deomede pointed to a sleek aircar, the latest model Rolls-Royce Sky Phantom. Gina told Petra, "I suggest you compromise your ideals, Petra. I'm going to let Deomede fly me to the meeting."

Petra complained weakly, suggesting that the maglev commuter rail line would get them to Edinburgh almost as quickly, but she finally yielded to the practicality of flying to Edinburgh rather than traveling by ground transport.

Gina said to Deomede, "Actually, Petra is a bit afraid of heights, so please, no wild maneuvers. I suspect she knows quite well that the new maglev lines are also using Fru'wu technology."

Deomede said, "There are now thousands of applications of Fru'wu technology all around us. I could let this aircar's artificial intelligence autopilot do all the flying, but what's the fun in that?"

Soon they were in the air and on their way to Edinburgh with Deomede rather too quickly lifting them up into the skyway traffic. The two dozen space elevators of Scotland glowed in the evening sky, pointing up towards space where the array of gigantic orbiting space cities glittered among the stars. Gazing at the space elevators, Gina said, "I'm not afraid of simple tech like aircars and robots. The big danger from Fru'wu technology is the rapidly growing infrastructure of space cities in Earth orbit. The actual Fru'wu technology making possible the expansion of Humanity into space might be sound, but fallible humans are carrying out all of the construction at a breakneck pace. We've already seen the failure of space elevator safety features, and who knows what's next..."

After merging into the fast lane of the skyway, Deomede finally activated the autopilot. Gina asked him more directly, "Well, did you arrange to have Ariel here in Scotland today?"

Deomede continued visually scanning the traffic radar display, but he admitted, "I timed my visit to-" He paused and glanced at Relda, briefly nodded in her direction then continued scanning the traffic. "Our visit to Perth was timed to coincide with the schedule previously established by Marcia for the promotional tour of Europe.... marketing of the new Asimov robotics film." Deomede decided that he should info-bomb Gina. "I've long followed the careers of Ariel and Isaac, but I've never met them... they do not know me personally. I did speak to Ariel and Isaac by phone last year when we closed the deal on their initial donation to the Foundation." Deomede did not bother to describe the sultry details of how he had used his special charms to influence Marcia and talk her into meeting with Gina to discuss the idea of creating a Foundation for Science Fiction.

Gina wondered out loud, "... if Ariel knows my father or my grandfather... they are both fairly well known in the science fiction field. Marcia's after something... why else would she place any trust in the Foundation... a fledgling dream run by two kids?"

"Marcia is like us, we all have the same goal."

"She's a business woman. She thinks in terms of money and power."

Deomede continued blasting Gina with information, trying to get her into the correct frame of mind for the evening. "Marcia thinks she will be meeting two naive girls who are begging for money. Forget about her. Marcia was just the means to reach Ariel." He commanded the autopilot to start exiting from the skyway. "Ariel and Isaac are more sympathetic to the financial needs of the Foundation than is Marcia and you are correct, they both are familiar with your grandfather's body of work in the science fiction genre. I'm counting on an element of surprise tonight and I'm particularly hoping to shock Ariel by suddenly revealing to her the existence of Relda. If we play this right, we can win Ariel's continuing and expanded support for the Foundation."

Gina placed a hand on Relda's arm and asked pointedly, "Who are you, really?"

Relda giggled nervously and asked, "Do you expect me to reveal all my secrets just because you bat your beautiful eyes at me?" Minute by minute, Relda was better synchronizing her thought pattern to that of Gina. Relda suspected that with time, it would become impossible to prevent the other girl from looking deep into her own thoughts. However, for the moment, Relda could still conceal her thoughts from Gina and she did not want the other girl to know that she and Deomede were visitors from the Hierion Domain. There was not time to explain that before the meeting.

Gina locked eyes with Relda. "I can't believe that your appearance is just some strong family resemblance... you are the spitting image of Ariel." Mostly at a subconscious level, Gina was beginning to notice her telepathic connection to Relda.

Petra added, "The resemblance is spooky. Maybe this is an application of the facial nanites that the cosmetologists have been developing." Petra gasped as the aircar turned and shot rapidly towards the ground.

Her eyes fixed on Relda, Gina proclaimed, "I believe you are Ariel, as crazy as that seems. This all reminds me of one of Ariel's stories about the Hierion Domain."

Relda asked, "Which story is that?"

Inside the Writers Block

The aircar tipped to one side. Deomede was guiding the aircar down towards the Edinburgh Grand Hotel where Marcia, Ariel and Isaac were staying that night.

Gina replied to Relda, "Her story Ghost Writers. Do you know Ariel's theory of the Writers Block? How its members were responsible for starting the Fru'wu Movement..."

Deomede now had them back on the 'ground'. Actually, they were on the roof of the hotel parking garage. He activated the robotic parking routine of the aircar and while they were automatically moved towards a parking space he replied to Gina, "That is no theory. I'm friends with many of the residents of the Writers Block. Most of them have already switched their allegiance away from the Fru'wu Movement and they are now ready to support the Foundation."

Staring at Deomede in amazement, Gina asked, "You are from the Hierion Domain?"

Petra was skeptical, "Are you serious? Isn't all that mumbo-jumbo about the Writers Block just science fiction?"

The aircar was now parked and at rest. Deomede popped open the doors and led the way towards an elevator. He told Petra, "I assure you, the Writers Block is quite real. The problems is, during the past few decades, almost all funding for writers of science fiction stories has been agglomerated under the pro-Fru'wu Movement. Earth needs something like the Foundation as a way to provide financial support to a new generation of writers who can think rationally about the dangers posed by Fru'wu technology."

For a moment they were all quiet within the elevator. This was a new anti-gravity transport system that could move smoothly both horizontally and vertically. Gina was now imagining that Relda had arrived from the Hierion Domain. She placed a hand on Relda's arm, "Can you legitimately help us obtain funding or are you planning some kind of trick? I don't want you doing something tonight that will discredit the Foundation."

Relda was far from certain about what would happen when she met herself -the older version of herself who had been living on Earth for the past 30 years. Relda knew almost nothing about those decades of Earth's history and she wondered why Deomede had rushed her into this situation with no preparation. She could hear in her mind Grean saying: Humans cannot know too much about their own futures.

The elevator door opened and Deomede pointed across the lobby towards the lounge. As they walked through the hotel lobby, Relda told Gina, "I'll help in any way I can. I've long wished that there was a way to deflect the force of the Fru'wu. Your Foundation sounds like it is exactly what Earth needs. Now is the time..."

8. Dani.

in the Writers Block

As they entered the lounge, Relda told Gina, "Let me explain why there are four of us."

Gina gave her head a shake. "I'll handle this."

Relda could sense what Gina was going to do. "You are making a mistake," She warned.

Waiting attentively at the entrance to the lounge was a cute young receptionist. She immediately locked her eyes onto Deomede and smile warmly at him. Relda was growing accustomed to seeing that reaction of women to the beautiful face of Deomede.

Failing to warn the poor girl about the extra members in the group, Gina told the receptionist, "We are here to meet the Marcia Greenberg party."

The receptionist was immediately flustered. She quickly checked the computerized reservation list and asked. "All four of you?"

Gina was up on her toes, scanning the crowd and looking at the people already seated at tables in the lounge. "Yes." Gina saw Marcia and Isaac and pointed towards a table. "There they are."

The receptionist said, "I was only expecting two more... Gina and Petra. The rest of your party is already seated at a table for six. I must have messed up the reservation! I'm so sorry! Allow me a moment to bring two more chairs to the table." She hurried off.

The manager of the lounge stepped forward and told Gina. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience." He went off to help bring the two extra chairs to the table.

With edgy exasperation in her voice, Gina told Deomede, "Already your tactics of surprise are creating troubles."

He smiled calmly. "Relax. It will all be worth it when we get to see the look on Ariel's face when she first sees Relda."

Relda scolded Gina, "You should have warned the poor girl immediately that Dee and I are late additions to the group rather than make her take responsibility."

The receptionist returned and led them to their table. She spoke over her shoulder to Deomede, "If you like, I can move you all to a larger table."

Deomede placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "This table will be just fine, Sandy"

Almost instantly the girl, Sandy, felt herself swimming in Deomede's eyes. She smiled with relief and licked her lips. "Let me know if... anything..." Deomede took his hand off the girl and broke eye contact. After a moment of dazed silence, Sandy shook her head and turned away, returning to her station at the entrance.

                                              Gina          Dani

                    Deomede                                               Ariel

                     Relda                                                    Isaac

                                            Petra           Marcia

As they squeezed in around the table, Deomede made sure that Relda ended up directly in front of Ariel. When Relda sat down, Ariel said, "Oh, my."

His eyes fixed on Relda, Isaac Asimov asked Ariel, "Is she... your cousin? Daughter..."

Gina performed introductions, "I'm Gina Hay and this is Petra Nicholls, secretary of the Foundation. And I'd like you to meet Deomede and Relda, two supporters of the Foundation."

A waiter appeared and quickly took drink orders then went away. Seated next to Ariel was a man who said to Gina, "Nice to meet you. I'm Dani. Ari and I are both surprised by the... appearance of Relda."

Ariel asked Relda pointedly, "Who are you?"

Relda took a deep breath and decided that she could not lie to herself. Relda also felt like she was floating in a bubbling pot of thought fragments coming at her from Deomede, Gina and Ariel. She was telepathically linked to each of them, to varying degrees, all at the same time. Somewhat shocked to see an older version of herself seated across the table, she stammered, "Ari... Ariel.... do you remember the reception 30 years ago after the debut of Elevator to Paris?"

Ariel thought back through the years. "That was 33 years ago... when Joey caught me after I..." Ariel shifted her gaze from Relda to Deomede.

Relda explained, "I was created at that moment, right when you lost consciousness. We lost consciousness. Alien technology was used to teleport me off of Earth. I'm a teleportation duplicate of you."

time travel

Ariel nodded slowly. "Of course, now I..." She gave her head a confused little shake. "But you are so young!"

"For me, in my timeline, that reception took place just a few days ago."

Isaac asked Relda, "Time Travel?"

Petra said, "Alien technology is fantastic, but I've never heard that the Fru'wu can travel through time."

Deomede explained, "The Fru'wu don't have time travel technology. Remember: there are other aliens besides the Fru'wu." The waiter returned with drinks. Deomede spoke on, "All of us here at this table know that fact. It is our shared goal to make it possible for the people of Earth to look beyond the Fru'wu and think more broadly about how to move Humanity into the future."

After placing their drink glasses before them, the waiter looked first at Deomede and then glanced back and forth between Ariel and Relda, noticing the similar appearance of the two women. Somehow, Ariel had established herself as the spokesperson for the group and he asked while looking at Ariel, "Can I bring you anything else?"

Ariel shook her head. Receiving no further requests, the waiter departed. Ariel sipped her wine and then said, "I'm reminded of a story that I wrote long ago. Ghost Writers."

Relda said, "I've been living in the Hierion Domain for the past few days and I've been promised that I will be able to work with members of the Writers Block."

For Ariel, the existence of the Writer Block had always been a part of her life, being present within her memories like a living dream. Now, with Relda providing confirmation of its reality, Ariel wondered if Deomede and Relda could also confirm if the specific details in Ariel's stories about the Writers Block were also accurate. Ariel got to her feet and walked around the table. She held out her hand towards Relda. Relda put her hand in Ariel's hand. Ariel pulled Relda to her feet and guided her away from the table. "Quite a trick to pull on..." Ariel laughed. "On yourself. I don't even know how to talk about this." Feeling an instant rapport with Relda, Ariel asked silently: Need we talk?

While they were waiting for the elevator, Relda sorted through the strands and currents of Ariel's mind pattern then replied telepathically, "Our minds are quickly synchronizing. She switched back to speaking in order to achieve more semantic precision than she could generate with her flashing thought patterns. "You are three decades older than I, but our brains are still very similar."

They got into the elevator car. Ariel said, "Telepathy. It makes me a little dizzy!"

Relda explained, "What just happened there at the table is a bit like telepathic over-kill... there was another mind mixing with ours. Gina..." The elevator slowed and the door opened again.

They walked out of the elevator onto the observation deck at the top of the hotel. Ariel said, "Yes, I sensed another mind... a wild, pushing swirl of fears and apprehensions. Gina, you say?"

"She is a mind clone. I suspect that she was designed to have a brain pattern similar to ours."

"Why? What is this all about?"

Bimanoid Interface

"I'm just figuring it out myself." They leaned against the railing and gazed out at the sparkling lights of the city. "I think it will probably work like this... I'll see to it that the needed stories -stories about the fain and other aliens- are written by members of the Writers Block. Then I'll be able to send those stories to Gina, using technology-assisted telepathy. We can use the Bimanoid Interface. You'll make sure that the stories reach the people of Earth, either in print or in the form of movies. That is the system we can use to turn the tide on the Fru'wu Movement."

"Yes. With a new counter-movement, made possible by the Foundation." Ariel noticed that Dani was standing nearby. She waved to him and he approached the two women. "You followed us."

Relda looked carefully at Dani while he smoothly slipped an arm around Ariel. Relda could sense that Ariel was in love with Dani. Relda told Ariel, "I'm glad you found a man. When I was... before I arrived in the Hierion Domain... somehow I imagined that I would end up living with a partner who was a woman, not a man."

Ariel asked, "But you met someone special in the Hierion Domain?"

"Deomede. Well, he's almost a man. He is a human variant, an Ek'col, with special telepathic powers."

"I could not see into his mind, but when Deomede looked at me, I felt a strange flame burning inside me." Ariel took hold of Dani's arm and said, "And you should know, Relda... Dani is also not really a man. He is a robot."

Relda tried to telepathically signal to Dani: You are like Wendy?

Dani smiled and replied, "Yes, I am a positronic robot."

Relda told the robot, "Thank you for... taking care of Ariel." Dani winked at Relda.

Ariel said, "Well I suppose we should get back to the rest of the group before they think we got lost." They went back to the elevator. Ariel asked, "How much money does Gina need for the Foundation?"

Relda shrugged. "I have no idea. I only just met her an hour ago."

Back at their table, Asimov was telling a rather ribald story and trying to shock Petra. Arriving back at the table, Relda heard Asimov saying, "...and so it is funny, even if you would not really want to make love on the head of the Sphinx."

Petra complained, "Or anywhere nearby. Just think of the nasty sand getting in your-"

Ariel told Asimov, "Cool it with your dirty jokes, Isaac, this is a business meeting."

Isaac asked, "Is it called business when you slip off for a quick little threesome with Dani?"

cover art by Gabriela Freeman
in the Ekcolir Reality

Ariel told Gina, "Ignore Asimov, he has no idea how to behave. After speaking to Relda, I've decided to increase my donation to the Foundation. You and Marcia can meet in the morning and arrange for the funds transfer. The new funding is contingent on a book and film deal." As if an afterthought, Ariel added, "Oh... and Gina, I want you to also launch a new science fiction periodical. You and Marcia will hammer out the details."

Gina said, "You are so generous. Thank you for your support of the Foundation."

Ariel continued, "Your life is no longer your own. From now on, you'll be very busy. I suggest that both you and Petra abandon your academic studies and begin working full time for the Foundation. As far as thanks go, wait and see if you still want to thank me ten years from now when you look back at your life and think about how insanely busy you have been. We have a lot to do."

in the Ekcolir Reality

Dani said, "Ari, it sounds like you can see the future."

"I've had visions of the future my whole life, but it was not until I met Relda that I understood where those visions come from.... that the Hierion Domain is a place where some special humans actually get to go..."

Related Reading: more adventures of Petra and Sven

Next: the origins of Ariel

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