Synpaz Replicoids

The former replicoid, Artep is instantiated
as an artificial lifeform with the power of flight.

I previously introduced Petra Nicholls as a character in the science fiction story "Time of Theurgency". Petra became the first human test subject for experiments that involved sending a beam of hierions into the brain. Using her hierion probe, Petra learned how to alter the function of her femtobot endosymbiont, allowing her to control the Bimanoid Interface.

Freed from the usual restrictions imposed by human endosymbionts and as the mind clone of the analogue of Isaac Asimov who lived at the Writers Block, Petra was able to communicate with Asimov via technology-assisted telepathy. After that success with the Bimanoid Interface, Petra was ready to explore other types of telepathic communication that might be possible with residents of Eternity.

Mary and Artep in Seelie Port.

Towards the end of the follow-on story, "Foundation Reality Simulator", Petra was eager to undertake additional experiments in which her husband, Sven, would create modulated hierion beams with a new, carefully designed hierion probe. The goal was to establish a telepathic connection to Petra's replicoid inside the Hierion Domain.

Below on this page are parts 1-3 of the story "The Synpaz of Seelie", my attempt to write some science fantasy about Petra's replicoid, Artep. Rather than be instantiated inside a normal sized human body, Artep becomes a synpaz and tries (unsuccessfully, due to a Time Paradox) to join the Seelie community of Eternity. Grean has other plans for Artep. 😉

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The Synpaz of Seelie

Mary and Artep inside the Writers Block.

1. Mary.
When Asimov heard from Petra Nicholls that she was ready to have her replicoid brought into the Writers Block, he complained to Mary, "I'm no good at this."

Mary was busy trying to assemble a new chart of the fundamental particles. She and Isaac had been trying for years to find a pattern, some logical sequence for the many different hierions and sedrons. Their main problem was that they almost certainly had an incomplete list of the hierions and sedrons. Still, Mary hoped her persistent efforts would eventually stumble upon a sensible and unified arrangement of all the known hadrons, hierions and sedrons. She paused her relentless shuffling of the particles and looked at Asimov. "That's why I'm doing it."

replicoids

Asimov was not talking about physics. He told Mary, "Petra asked me to pull her replicoid into the Block."

"Ah, so she is settled in with Sven?" Mary was tracking delicious gossip from Asimov about Petra's sex life. "Is Petra enjoying married life?"

image source

Asimov shrugged, "I've heard no complaints. You know, Sven was created just for her."

Mary giggled and then quietly said, "I know how that goes."

Asimov asked, "What was that?"

"Nothing, dear." Mary thought it was best to allow Isaac to continue believing that their romance was a random, wild thing. Grean had long ago told Mary the truth. "I suppose you are eager to get your hands on Petra's replicoid."

"If bringing Artep here was simple, I'd just do it." Asimov slammed a fist down. "However, these things are never simple."

Mary shook her head. "You are the one who makes instantiations overly complex. Just instantiate her using a plain teleportation duplicate of Petra and be done with it."

Grean

Asimov was not willing to be so heavy handed. "You know I can't do that." Isaac's problem could be traced back to when he had first been sent through Time by Grean, creating two copies of himself on Earth. He resented how that had been done and all the pain and chaos that had resulted. "I don't mind interviewing the replicoids of men and pushing them towards a choice that will be best in the long run." He took deep breath. "But a little girl?"

Mary shut off her coquip. The projected 3D images of arrays of particles faded away, clearing the air between her and Isaac. She walked over to him where he sat at his desk and kissed his cheek. "Poor dear. I'll take care of it...."

"Thank you!" He stood up and hugged her enthusiastically.

"...on one condition." Grean had previously given Mary big hint about what to expect from Artep.

"What?"

"You don't complain about Artep's decision after the fact. No second guessing."

"Very well. I'll keep my opinions to myself." He kissed the tip of Mary's nose and slid his hands inside her robe. "I love you."

She ran her fingers through his hair. "I want to make love with you right now..." For a few moments they shared a wet kiss, then Mary turned away and escaped from his embrace. "Save that for when I get home." Mary changed the form of her nanite-generated clothing, disposing of the silky robe she had been wearing and slipping into a generic shirt and skirt combo. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

Mary went to the door and Asimov followed along. "I'll walk with you to Grean's workshop. I need to visit Relda." They went outside, moving quickly through the common area of the Writers Block towards the entrance that linked to the Observer Base and Grean's workshop.

Mary and Isaac were holding hands. She asked, "Isn't Relda on a search mission inside the Foundation Reality Simulator?"

"She just got back from her latest mission. She's writing her report, but apparently she was able to find some new information about hierion fields."

"Nice! I'd like to see her report when she has it ready."

"Yes, of course. As soon a Sven heard this news, he insisted that I find out some details. He's still dithering over the type of field modulation to use for the upcoming replicoid telepathy experiments."

"I thought he already had a protocol... that's why we are instantiating Artep."

"As a scientist, Sven always wants to take into account the latest information."

in Grean's workshop

Moving at a good pace, it was still almost half an hour before Mary and Isaac made their way from the Writers Block to Grean's workshop. All along the way, Mary worried that Grean might not be available. She kept trying to telepathically signal to Wendy, just in case. Approaching the workshop, Mary could see that Wendy was there, pruning a bush to the side of the workshop's doorway.

Isaac kissed Mary and went down the garden path that led towards the house that Relda shared with Deomede. 

 Mary called to Wendy, "Is Grean here?"

Wendy shook her head and replied, "She told me to help you." Mary and Wendy exchanged a quick hug of greeting then went into the workshop. Mary went right to the teleportation platform and stepped up on it. "Isaac wants me to instantiate the replicoid of Petra Nicholls. He insists that she be given her choice of new residence."

Wendy nodded. "And I'll give you a choice... where would you like to start the tour?"

"You know me Wendy, I just adore Seelie Town."

"Seelie it is. Let me know when you need anything." Wendy activated the teleporter in its mode that would insert Mary and Petra's replicoid both into a simulation of Seelie, one of the more popular communities of Eternity.

Artep experiments with flight.
The synpaz are about one tenth
as tall as normal humans.

2. Artep.
Mary felt the queer transposition that jammed her into the Seelie Town Simulator. Arriving inside the simulation, she was shocked to find herself so close to some of the synpaz dwellings. She reminded herself to watch her step lest she destroy something. Even if this was only a simulation, Mary did not want to be disruptive and annoy the simulated residents. The nearest synpaz garden was only a step away. Mary wondered: where is Petra's replicoid?

Mary could hear a strange almost-buzzing noise that, upon turning, she identified as synpaz laughter and then there was a high-pitched shout, "Wheeeeee!" Artep came zipping past Mary, looped back around then came to a halt, tipped at an odd angle and floating in front of Mary. Artep said cheerfully, "I can fly!"

"Yes, Grean told me that you would really like that. If you choose to instantiate as a synpaz then you have the advantage of antigravity-facilitated locomotion."

Artep was skeptical. "Is negative mass really possible?"

Mary began to explain how the artificial syspaz and the biological sy'Paz could both fly, "We know that there is at least one negative mass hierion and the Huaoshy long ago learned how to tap into the zero point energy of hierion fields. Even the Phari must have-"

Artep was gazing intently at Mary and had no idea what Mary was talking about. She interrupted, "Wow. I've wondered what you really look like." Artep had her own copy of the memories of Petra which contained a fairly good reckoning of Mary's appearance based on telepathic signals from Isaac. Of course, Isaac adored Mary and in his mind she was quite angelic. "I like your skirt."

Wendy had instantiated Artep already dressed in tight fitting clothing appropriate for aerial acrobatics. Through the years, Artep had grown tired of Petra's preference for dressing like a boy. Atrep liked skirts and Mary's, made of some shimmering hierion cloud, was stunning. Artep could well remember that in the previous Reality, the partial analogue of Petra had been more lady-like. Artep slowly sank towards the ground allowing her hand to touch the shinny fabric of Mary's skirt.

Mary turned and gestured towards the nearby homes of Seelie town. "Petra lives in a city. The synpaz despise city living. Do you think you would be comfortable living in a small town like this one?"

Buffeted by Mary's movements, Artep flipped around 180 degrees then slid down along Mary's left leg. Looking upwards towards Mary's face, Artep got a look up the skirt. Artep decided that Mary was her kind of girl: she was not wearing anything under the skirt. Artep activated her powered flight and zipped off, zooming high over the town. She took a long look at the layout of the half dozen streets. Yes, this little village looked quite pleasant.

Artep dropped back down to Mary's level and asked, "Being able to fly is fantastic, but Isaac told me that I do have other options."

"Since the plan is for you to work closely with other writers in the Writers Block, it would be most convenient for you to instantiate as a normal size human, like me. However, the Writers Block is essentially full. If you lived in the Block, finding a place for you to call home would be tricky." Mary suspected that Asimov had been fantasizing about the possibility of Artep living with he and Mary in their apartment, at least as a temporary option. "Of course, you could always find a nice residence at Observer Base, but the commute is rather long."

Artep suggested, "Commuting would be easiest if I had the power of flight."

"Well, there is one other option that might be almost as convenient as commuting to and from Seelie. You can instantiate as a nanoscopic femtobot. There is endless space right in the Writers Block for nanoscopic replicoids."

"But after today, I won't really be a replicoid anymore, will I?"

source

"True. However, due to laziness, we at the Writers Block call our nanoscopic friends 'replicoids'. It is an old habit that's hard to break. Continuing to think of them as replicoids is natural when we can't see them."

Artep mused, "I suppose I should visit both Nanoville and Observer Base."

"Yes, this is an important decision for you. Take advantage of the fact that you are being given a choice. More often, replicoids are just pushed around at the whim of whoever is instantiating them." Usually that meant Grean.

"How rude!" Petra had been forewarned by Asimov that he would not make the decision for Artep. "Asimov is so nice! I'm lucky to be dealing with him and not that mean old Grean."

Judging from the way she spoke about Asimov, Mary suspected that Petra was infatuated with Isaac. For the hundredth time she wondered what intimate thoughts Isaac had shared with Petra by way of their telepathic connection. "Yes, he is very nice. That's why I married him."

Artep asked, "What about you? What would you do if you were in my position?"

Mary shrugged. "I grew up on Earth as a normal human. After I was teleported to Eternity, nobody suggested that I do anything other than continue in my original body form. I've never seriously thought about any of the possible alternatives... not from a personal perspective."

"Oh, come on. Don't you have dreams about flying? I do... well, Petra does." She was trying to separate herself from Petra and develop new cognitive habits. She told herself: I'm Artep... my own individual self!

"Oh yes, I love those dreams. But that does not mean I'd want to be one tenth the size of Isaac. That just would not be the same..."

For a moment Artep fantasized about making love to a man who was ten times taller than she was. Artep was flying in a fast light circle around Mary's head, just for the fun of it. She started getting dizzy and stopped, or tried to stop. She spun out of control and crashed into Mary's right breast. Mary was not exactly buxom and Artep could have benefited from a better cushion. "Oof!"

Mary said "Ow!" She caught the tumbling Artep in her hands."You should wear a helmet if you want to be a daredevil flier."

Artep sat in the palm of Mary's hand. "I can't really get hurt, can I? This isn't real, is it?"

"All this is just a simulation. A chance for you to see Seelie Town before you end your existence as a replicoid."

Artep stood up and proclaimed, "I've decided. The flight feature is irresistible. I'll take Seelie as my new home."

"I can take you to see Observer Base before you decide. If you want to see the nanoscopic city, Wendy can take you into the nanorealm simulator. Take your time, explore a little... wouldn't you like to meet some of the synpaz?"

"No need... Let's get this finalized. However, I am curious about the nanorelm... what it would be like to be a nanoscopic replicoid. I can't quite imagine that! If Wendy could maybe just give me a quick chance to experience that... but I'm not asking to be put into the nanorealm permanently! Please don't let that happen to me! What do I need to do, sign a contract in triplicate?"

in the nanorealm

Mary laughed. "If you are quite sure of your decision then Wendy will take care of it." Mary sent a signal to Wendy and suddenly she was back in the workshop. She stepped off of the teleportation platform, turned and waited.

Mary was also curious about the nanorealm, but not curious enough to have ever used the nanorealm simulator. Mary had never had any desire to be smaller and she was puzzled by people who seemed intrigued by "little people". Part of her attitude could be accounted for by the conditions of her childhood and hearing superstitious people speak about rituals that would prevent mean-spirited little folk from causing them problems.

For some reason, the idea of being shrunk down to the molecular size scale appalled Mary and filled her with a kind of claustrophobic dread. To be lost in a world without trees and cats... or, more precisely, a world what you could only see the molecules of a tree...

After a few minutes in the quiet of the workshop by herself, Mary saw Artep and Wendy appear on the teleportation platform. Artep told Mary, "That was creepy... being surrounded by swarms of jiggling molecules, pushing and shoving at me. Not Nice! Anyhow, according to Wendy, I don't really qualify to become a nanoscopic replicoid."

Wendy stepped off of the platform and moved to stand beside Mary. She explained to Artep, "Generally, we only allow those who are natural-born telepaths to convert themselves into nanoscopic replicoids. I suppose we could make an exception for you because you have some control over the Bimanoid Interface, but I'd leave such a precedent-setting decision to Grean. I let you have a peak at the nanorealm simulation both to ease your curiosity and help you appreciate what the nanoscopic replicoids have to deal with. They don't have an easy time of it."

Mary and Wendy were watching the newly instantiated Artep, standing six inches tall on the teleportation platform. Now Artep floated upwards rather clumsily, tumbling backwards and to one side. Wendy warned the girl, "It will take a few days for you to learn how to control your movements. The ZPE force amplifiers in your body are under your conscious control, but your cerebellum has to learn how to gracefully control your movements. The Seelie Simulator is deceptive because it provides artificial flight stabilization. Until you get the hang of it, don't try to move too fast."

Mary said, "Thank you for taking care of this, Wendy."

Grean the Kac'hin; image source

"No problem." Wendy shrugged. "Grean is off dealing with some crisis in the distant past of Ireland. In her absence, I can push a few buttons." She waved to Artep, "Have fun and use caution when around full-sizers. You don't want to get stepped on!"

The three women stepped out of the workshop into the pretty garden that surrounded it. With a nod to Mary, Wendy returned to her gardening chores.

Artep drifted close to Mary and asked, "I'm not really in danger am I? I'm not actually biological."

"You are composed of femtobot components, but you are essentially indistinguishable from a living biological entity. You have blood and bones and you don't want to get flattened, even though you could be un-flattened and repaired. Your new artificial body can experience all the usual human sensations including pain."

Artep was rather overwhelmed by all of her rich human sensations, having only previously experienced sensory inputs in diluted form, indirectly via the Bimanoid Interface from Petra on Earth. Now, her own stronger personal sensations had taken precedence over the weakened sensory signals that were still reaching her by way of the Bimanoid Interface from Petra. Artep was still vaguely aware of what Petra was doing on Earth, but unless she tried to pay attention to that, Petra's existence now quickly faded out of Artep's consciousness.

Mary was dreading the long walk back to the Writers Block. She said, "Do you want me to carry you or do you want to try moving yourself?"

"I'll fly. I need to figure this out."

"Do you want to go directly to Seelie or come with me to the Writers Block?"

"I want you to introduce me to Isaac. After being inside his mind, I have a strong craving to meet him in person."

Half way to the Writers Block, Artep was complaining. She and Mary were moving up seemingly endless flights of stairs that annoyingly switched back and forth at odd angles. "Who is the lunatic who designed this entrance to the Block?"

"The goal was to not make it easy for unwelcome guests to sneak into the Block. We usually blame Grean for having built the Writers Block, but who knows?"

From Artep's perspective, this endless echoing stairwell was almost as bad as the nanorealm. Mesmerized and disheartened by the endless repetition of the stairs, Artep said, "You might as well carry me for a time."

Artep gets a ride into the Writers Block.

Mary adjusted her clothing to make a little harness for Artep. Using her clothing nanites, Mary created a small pocket between her breasts and created small holes for Artep's arms and legs. Mary continued trudging up the stairs with Artep bouncing slightly, like a third breast.

Artep asked, "How much further?"

"About ten minutes." Mary kept climbing the stairs, now thinking about getting back home and continuing her work sorting through the particles.

Artep complained again, "I'm getting wet."

"I'm sweating." Mary felt that she was close to finding a scientifically sensible way to categorize and catalog the many hierions and sedrons. She could picture arrays of the particles in her mind, all sorted and laid out in various arrangements. Her inner vision of the particles was dominating her thoughts as she climbed the endless stairway.

"So am I. You are a furnace!" Artep took control of her own clothing nanites and disintegrated her clothing. Now the silky fabric of Mary's shirt was rubbing the skin between Artep's legs and sliding tantalizingly against her nipples. After a minute of that stimulation, Artep was really getting wet, in a good way. The intensity of her new sensations was overwhelming and after a few more minutes, Artep experienced her first orgasm as a synpaz. It was more delightful than anything she had ever imagined. "Oh, my."

Mary looked down and realized what had happened. She giggled. Mary began thinking about Asimov and fantasizing about how they would make love that evening...

Artep sighed and said, "That was awesome."

Mary asked, "What is it like for you when Petra makes love to Sven?"

"It has been wonderful, but now I realize that during my existence as a replicoid, I never really had access to a fully human sensory experience... and now, well, I'm not as strongly linked to Petra as I once was. However, I am still linked to her and can tell when Petra is experiencing sexual pleasure. Now that I can lead my own life, it could get frustrating for me... just watching her whenever Petra is enjoying herself and making love with Sven back on Earth..."

Mary told Artep, "I suspect you'll quickly find yourself a boyfriend in Seelie Town who can provide you with a steady supply of orgasms."

Artep asked, "What are the dating and mating rituals in Seelie?"

"Most of the Seelie residents are not typical humans. They call themselves the sy'Paz; they are biological and quite interested in sexual games of all types. I'm calling you a 'synpaz', it sounds similar but there is a distinction. I'll continue calling you a synpaz for convenience, but the true sy'Paz may call you 'human'. They sometimes view the synpaz as outsiders (or even spies) rather than guests in their realm. Some synpaz are quite conventional humans (other than being tiny) and follow Earth-style dating patterns and a few even get married."

"What genes went into creating the original sy'Paz?"

Preland

"That's a mystery. Grean probably knows. Speculation leans towards a mixture of fain and Preland genes in a unique combination with many standard human genes."

"I understand that the sy'Paz are hermaphrodites."

"That is true, most of the Sy'Paz clanspeople are simultaneous hermaphrodites."

"So my body is significantly different."

Mary nodded and explained, "However, as a femtobot lifeform, you can modify your body structure almost as easily as you change clothes."

Artep had already been making some minor modifications to her body form. She was reluctant to make any major changes just yet. "I'm satisfied to be human, although I suppose I might start making changes if I see something in a sy'Paz that I adore."

"And about your name..." Mary told Artep, "Unless you have an objection, everyone is going to be calling you 'Artep'."

"Artep" had an exotic ring to it that did not offend her. She said, "I'm already using that name in my thoughts, but I'm also thinking about alternatives. Maybe I can come up with a better name."

"Take my advice and stick with 'Artep', unless you really can't stand it."

Artep had seen on her official birth documents that Petra's mother had been named Katrina. Artep felt that she would not mind being called 'Kate', but she thought that 'Artep' would serve just as well.

In the Ekcolir Reality

Mary stopped climbing stairs and touched the wall, making sure that this was the location of the hidden entrance to the Writers Block. She pushed through the wall, exiting the stairwell and emerged inside the Writers Block. Artep flew out of her pocket and looked around. Mary watched the naked Artep and suggested, "You might want to reactivate your clothing nanites."

Artep had gotten slightly over-heated and was enjoying the freedom of flying naked with the cool air rushing past. "I love the feel of the air against my skin." Artep flew down a corridor that gradually widened and then opened upon a large cavern. She could see the big central hall of the Writers Block and its radiating residential wings.

Mary caught up to Artep and they moved together towards the Grand Rotunda. Soon they were approaching one of the resident writers and Mary called out, "Hello, Roberta."

Roberta waved and said, "Hi, Mary." Artep zipped over and hovered near Roberta. She smiled at the synpaz and asked, "Who are you?" Clothing with a metallic sheen was currently in fashion around the Writers Block and Roberta was wearing a skin-tight silvery jumpsuit.

Artep replied, "Do you know Petra Nicholls? I'm her replicoid."

Roberta nodded. "I've heard people talking." Roberta was looking intently at Artep's pretty little body. She licked her lips and sighed. "Relda told me that you were going to be working at the Block. I hope you like it here. Some synpaz become enthralled by Seelie and never return to the Block." Roberta looked through an archway into the main chamber of the Writers Block. She pointed across the big hall, "I saw one of our synpaz writers just a moment ago, with Hafren and John."

Mary looked where Roberta was pointing. "That looks like Naj Rackham." She told Artep, "I'll introduce you to Naj. She's the replicoid of Joan Phillifent. Maybe she'll have time to show you around Seelie."

Roberta went on her way. "See you around!"Apparently Roberta was on her way to Observer Base. She went off in the direction from which Mary and Artep had just come.

source

Although she had enjoyed the way that Roberta had ogled her body, Artep finally activated her clothing nanites and quickly crafted a silver skirt for herself that was similar to the one that Mary was wearing. Mary and Artep approached the central lounge where writers on break often gathered and socialized.

Naj was standing on a table. Seated nearby were the analogues of Jack Vance and Hafren Wells from the Asimov Reality.  Mary introduced everyone to Artep then she said, "I'm taking Artep to meet Isaac." Then she suggested to Naj, "If you're available, maybe you could take Artep to Seelie after she's had a chance to meet Isaac."

"Yes, I can do that. I've been worthless today, completely unable to write." Naj was excitedly and repeatedly rising off the table and landing again while staring at Artep. "I think I need some new inspiration."

Mary could sense that Naj found Artep physically attractive. "Thank you, Naj. Okay, just wait here. Maybe half an hour." Mary led Artep away and through the Grand Rotunda. Soon they reached the exit corridor that led to the suite of rooms that was the home of Mary and Isaac. Artep was flying just over Mary's shoulder and telling Mary how she felt about Vance's writing. "Petra simply loves the writing of Vance."

"She'll be pleased to learn that you met Vance. I think Sven is planning to try to establish a two-way telepathic link between you and Petra tomorrow."

"Yes, that's the plan."

Pausing at the door, Mary told Artep, "One last thing. Don't be offended if Isaac seems disappointed when you meet him. He's been quite infatuated with Petra. He's spent hours watching her from the Earth Observation Room downtown... at Observer Base."

"Petra is also fascinated by Isaac. Their minds really resonate. Why the warning about Isaac's disappointment?"

"He does not hide his feelings. I suspect that he is hoping that you will show up with a full-sized body."

Artep laughed. "Oh! How do you feel about that? I've gotten the impression that while Isaac has an eye for cute women, he has his heart completely devoted to you."

"Yes, as far as I know, Isaac has never dallied with another woman since he married me. However, this is a special situation... telepathically linked mind clones. I'm not really sure what it must be like to share thoughts with another person."

Artep giggled, which coming from a synpaz sounded like a bird singing. "Isaac enjoys being linked telepathically to Petra, that's for sure."

in the Ekcolir Reality

3. Isaac.
Isaac had met with Relda, but she could not imagine how her new information about hierion fields might help Sven. She had quickly talked Isaac through the half of her report that was already written then gave him a copy saved on a datadi. "Maybe Mary will see a connection to Sven's work that I'm missing."

Isaac had returned home and slipped Relda's datadi into his diwrite. As he read through Relda's report, he began writing his own notes and became completely absorbed in the arcane subject of hierion fields. Later, hearing a noise, he looked up from his writing and saw Mary come in through the door, then he noticed the flitting Artep. He stood up and said to the little synpaz, "Welcome!"

Mary had brought Artep in through the front of the apartment, down the hallway and to the writing room that she shared with Isaac. To one side was Isaac's desk and book shelves. He had a collection of print books even more extensive than Deomede's. These were not books from Earth. They were the product of a print-on-demand system that served the residents of the Writers Block. The other half of the room held Mary's workstation. In the center of the room was a love seat that through the years had been used creatively by Isaac and Mary for many delightful afternoon work breaks.

Artep flew in an arc across the room and landed on a shelf near Isaac. As she floated downward, her skirt rose, flashing Asimov with her naked hips and all between. Artep smiled at Asimov and said, "Pleased to meet you, Dr. Asimov." He held out his pinky finger and she took it in her hands in an awkward "hand" shake.

Isaac and Artep were both disappointed to find that they only had a very weak telepathic connection, mostly at the level of their emotional minds. Artep could sense Isaac's humor and vast intelligence swirling in the lower recesses of her mind, along with his disappointment. She wondered: what If I had a hierion probe?

Mary told Asimov, "I think she'll be okay going by 'Artep'." She and Isaac kissed and then stood there near Artep, each with an arm around the other's back.

Asimov nodded. "Good! It helps us all to keep track of things when replicoids simply reverse the order of letters in their names."

"If the name 'Artep' seems too bizarre, you can also call me Kate."

Asimov thought for a moment then recognized the source of that name. "Ah, yes, your mother, Katrina. Did you know that-"

Mary cut him off, "I'm not sure this is a good time to discuss that, Isaac. Let the girl get settled in. Naj is going to show Artep around Seelie as soon as you two have a chance to confirm plans for the experiment."

Artep asked Mary, "Not a good time to discuss what?"

Mary shook her head slowly. "You can't control your curiosity?" She did not want to create distractions for Artep. "You need to know everything about your new life, immediately?

Artep laughed. "No, I can't abide secrets."

Hierion Domain

"There is someone you..." Mary paused. "I was going to say 'someone you know', but I guess you never really knew your mother. And, in fact, I'm not sure if she is currently in Eternity. She may be away, undertaking another mission on Earth." Mary reached up to the shelf above Artep and took down a small nanite vial. It was the vial that had contained infites given to her long ago by Grean, just before her first time travel mission.

"My mother!" Artep nodded. "I should have known..."

Issac explained, "Katrina lives here, in the Hierion Domain. She and your father have a home at the Base. However, it is your father who is currently on Earth... some mission in England, I believe."

Mary showed off the infite bottle that she had taken off the shelf. "Yes, Peter is delivering some infites to a physicist. Putting another patch on this fragile Reality."

Artep shrugged. "Some day I'll have to meet them."

image source

Isaac was in telepathic communication with Petra on Earth. "Petra is amused to hear that you are now a synpaz. She wants to let you have a chance to explore Seelie, but she is eager to try Sven's new model hierion probe in the morning and see if you two can achieve a stable two-way link via the Interface."

Artep asked Isaac, "Do you think the experiment will work? I've gotten the feeling that you are skeptical."

Isaac shook his head and pondered the difficulty of what Petra wanted to do. "The Bimanoid Interface was carefully designed to only allow information to flow in a carefully restricted way, preventing Earthlings from ever becoming consciously aware of their replicoid."

Artep was frustrated by Isaac's scientific attitude. He always wanted to see data before making up his mind. "So you think this experiment is a waste of time?"

"I still don't understand Sven's explanation for how he has designed the hierion modulation pattern that he plans to use." Isaac turned his head and asked Mary, "You're the hierion expert around here. Do you understand Sven's argument?"

Artep jumped off the shelf and flew towards Mary. Mary put out her hand and provided a landing spot for Artep. Artep examined the little infite vial.

Mary told Artep, "Sadly, everything I know is indirect, Sven to Petra to Isaac. No, I can't say I understand Sven's choices. However, the rumor is that Sven was crafted by Grean. He probably has infites inside his brain that provide him with all the information that he needs concerning hierion physics. He knows how to make hierion probes, but he may be blocked by his infites from explaining what he knows to anyone on Earth."

Isaac pointed to his diwrite and told Mary, "You should look at Relda's new report on hierion fields."

Mary glanced at the glowing display screen, "This looks interesting. I wonder who screwed up..." She began to quickly looked through the report and Isaac's notes.

Artep asked, "Screwed what up?"

Isaac told Artep, "My theory is that someone edited the Foundation Reality Simulator, removing information about hierions and sedrons. However, with persistence, we've slowly found hints and clues about hierion physics in stray information caches that were apparently missed by whoever is trying to prevent us from learning about hierions."

Artep sat down on the lid of the infite bottle. Her tight skirt rode up and exposed her labia. "Who would have the technical ability to edit the Simulator?"

Isaac said, "That's a short skirt you are wearing." He added, "With your anti-gravity hierions, you don't need to make any sacrifices in clothing in order to conserve weight."

Mary told Isaac, "You don't have to be peeking up little girls' skirts."

Artep made an adjustment with her clothing nanites and the skirt was replaced by pants. She explained, "Even if he is Grean's puppet, Petra trusts Sven completely. She's happy to just have faith in him and let him deal with all the details of probe development." She told Mary, "Having intimately linked into Isaac's mind, I don't feel like I need to hide anything from him, including my body. I'm not a little girl... I'm a married woman."

Mary sighed. "Just don't encourage Isaac's randiness. The situation for Petra on Earth is rather contrived. I'm sorry to say, Sven must be exercising some sort of telepathic mind control over Petra. But now you are free of that. And remember, you are Artep, not Petra. It is up to you to make new friends and construct a new life for yourself. You don't need to get off on the wrong foot by flashing your cute genitals at other women's husbands."

"I'm sorry I offended you, Mary, but remember, I've already been quite intimate with Isaac, inside his mind. I know that he loves you unconditionally." Artep confessed. "I'm already missing Sven. He's a part of me..." She looked back and forth from Mary to Isaac. "I want to thank both of you for... well, giving me a life. I'm grateful. I hope I can be useful and help with your work here in Eternity."

Neither Isaac or Mary knew quite what to tell the girl. Artep was at the start of a great adventure, creating a new life on top of her memories of Petra's life. Mary asked her, "How old do you think I am?"

"Twenty five."

"I'm well over a hundred, but like you, I'm an artificial lifeform. Isaac likes me in a seemingly young body and looking beautiful and I accommodate him. However, back when I lived on Earth, I had my own... Sven."

"Sven?"

Wyn the Ek'col.

"He was not called 'Sven', but he was an Ek'col, genetically programmed and trained to..." Mary tried to find the best way to explain it to Artep. "I only knew Wyn for a single weekend, but I fell in love with him... almost instantly..."

Artep grinned. "I liked Sven immediately, but it took me almost a year to fall in love and reach the state of mind in which I needed to be with him, could not live without him..."

"In my case, it was only later that I learned that an Ek'col male can telepathically control a woman's emotions... make her fall in love." At the time, when I was with Wyn, I felt like I was under a magic spell."

Artep asked, "Are you saying that Sven did that to me?"

"Something like that. He was designed to win the trust of Petra. And, as you say, the two of you fell in love, as Grean had planned it. Petra and Sven. The question is, now that he is no longer in your mind, will you still continue to love him?"

"I don't know. Anyhow, he is still in my mind. I can't stop thinking about him. And I wonder.... is there any limit to telepathy imposed by distance?"

Isaac rubbed his hands together. "An excellent question. We are poised to become the first people with a chance to study such things."

Mary said, "It is frustrating... some of the sy'Paz are talented telepaths, but they have no interest in studying the physical basis of their abilities."

twitino telepathy

Asimov told Artep, "Grean keeps the sy'Paz ignorant of science. When they go into the past, to ancient times, they need to describe their abilities to the people of Earth in terms of magic, not technology-assisted telepathy."

Mary suggested, "The synpaz probably use twitino-mediated telepathy."

Asimov shrugged. "Who knows? Grean knows, but she's not very talkative. We may be the first humans in this Reality who have been given a chance to start learning how telepathy really works."

Mary told Artep, "We'll have to investigate all these mysteries, but for now, Naj is waiting for you in the Rotunda. Come back here in the morning. We'll be your support team during the telepathy experiment."

Mary took Artep back to the front end of the apartment. "I hope things go well for you in Seelie." She opened the front door.

Artep asked suspiciously, "You have doubts about that?"

Isaac stood behind Mary with his arms around her waist. "Mary is from the seventeenth century. She can't accept the rather wild social practices of Seelie."

Mary added. "Don't concern yourself with my hang-ups, Artep."

"Okay, I'll see you and Isaac in the morning." Artep departed and flew off to find Naj.

Mary closed the door and turned to face Isaac. The fundamental hierion field equation flashed in Mary's visual memory. She knew that she would have to finish reading Relda's report, but now she was not in the mood for work and critical thinking.

Asimov put both arms around Mary and hugged her. "Thank you for handling the instantiation."

Mary kissed Isaac then rested her head on his shoulder. She could not push away from her thoughts the images of Artep's cute little body that flitted in her mind. Mary could feel that Isaac was semi-erect, but when she reached into his pants she remembered that she still held the small infite vial. Again, a stray and annoying thought about hierion field equations passed through Mary's mind. There was a small flash as a tiny cloud of infites passed from the vial into Mary. Neither Isaac or Mary noticed the flash. Mary tossed the little infite vial into a chair and said, "Pretty little thing, isn't she?" She ran her hands over his body and leaned against him, pressing her erect nipples against his chest.

"I'll say nothing. I promised not to critique your work with Artep." He started trying to slowly slip a hand up under the hem of Mary's skirt, sliding his finger tips along her thigh.

"I left the decision completely up to her."

"I bet you took her right to Seelie and did not even show her Observer Base."

"Is that a guess or..."

Isaac gently stroked Mary's labia and found them slippery with vaginal secretions. He pushed her up against the back of the big couch that was near the front door.

source

Mary used a little trick with her clothing nanites to open Isaac's pants and liberate his penis from confinement. "Artep loves the power of flight. She made the choice to become a synpaz."

"It will be awkward."

"What problem do you foresee?" Mary's mind was still half on Artep and half on Isaac's erect penis which she held in her hands.

Isaac had little more to say. He muttered, "Petra is too nice for the sy'Paz." He'd been seriously distracted by the presence of Artep, but he was eager to show Mary that he was her devoted lover. Pushing Mary towards the couch from this unusual angle, he was now balancing Mary against the back of the couch and trying to impale her without causing her to tumble over backwards. His attention on Mary and her beautiful body, he wasn't consciously thinking of Artep when he said, "You are very limber, my love." But he was thinking: great inventions can arrive serendipitously, drifting on the wind.

The Telepaths of Seelie

Ever since being informed by Grean that she had been selected and designed just for Asimov, Mary had never really doubted her ability to captivate Isaac and hold him in a web of desire and love. What worried her was the recent warning from Grean, suggesting that it was Mary who would become emotionally entangled with Artep. For the moment, Mary relaxed a little. With Artep instantiated as a synpaz, there would be some distance between them. But she was thinking: Artep is so very cute.

Next: part 4 of "The Synpaz of Seelie"

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