A Missing Hierion

Kate and Artep inside the Hierion Domain.

Here on this page are parts 7 - 9 of a science fantasy story "The Synpaz of Seelie", which takes place in the Ekcolir Reality. Grean the Kac'hin is now experimenting with ways to modify the function of the Bimanoid Interface. In the Final Reality, technology-assisted telepathy will be the only available way to achieve communication between Earth and Observer Base.

Previously, the replicoid of Petra Nicholls (who uses the name "Artep") was instantiated inside the Hierion Domain as a miniature artificial human composed of femtobot components.

alien-human hybrids

Artep's new body is at the same size scale as the sy'Paz, alien-human hybrids that are about one tenth normal human size.

Now Artep finally gets to meet her mother, Kate, who along with Rusan the sy'Paz helps to break the locks on the Bimanoid Interface, allowing Artep to establish a complete two-way telepathic link to Petra on Earth. What else does Grean plan to accomplish with this new communications tool?

7. Kate. (read parts 1 - 3) (read parts 4 - 6)

Kate and Émile: a mission in the past.

Rusan and Artep were approaching the front door to Asimov's apartments. Artep asked Rusan, "Do you know Asimov's wife, Mary?"

Rusan shrugged. "I've never met her, but I've heard talk. She was born on Earth around 1800, but now she's a long-lived artificial lifeform. She's become some sort of scientist..."

Artep asked, "Why doesn't Grean use artificial lifeforms for her agents on time travel missions into Earth's past? I seems dangerous to be sending biologicals like you and Quen to Earth."

Rusan was hovering in front of the door. "All I know is, there are Rules of Intervention that need to be followed, even by Grean. I've heard that only humans are allowed on Earth, and so we sy'Paz were designed as a human variant that was permitted on Earth."

________________

Isaac and Mary had converted two adjacent apartments into a single large suite of rooms. Given the space shortage at the Writers Block, some thought that Isaac and Mary were using more than their fair share of living space, but in their thinking they were justified because of all the multi-author conferences that they hosted in their home.

Today they were expecting only one small guest, so extra space was not on Asimov's mind. While waiting for Artep's arrival, Isaac was occupied with his telepathic link to Petra on Earth while Mary was trying to push ahead her fundamental particles project. She was not having luck and making no progress. Despite an ever-present sensation that she was close to a break-through and should keep trying, she had been stuck in a dead-end for weeks and her growing frustration had her close to a breaking point.

Isaac announced, "Sven and Petra have been eager to begin the experiment for hours."

First thing that morning, Mary had finished reading Relda's incomplete report on hierion fields. She had then told Isaac to pass along to Sven a bit of new information. Isaac had not understood the technical issue that Mary was addressing in the field equations, but he dutifully passed the information to Petra and made sure that she relayed it correctly to Sven. That process of passing precise mathematical detail via Isaac and Petra who did not understand the message was tedious and tiring.

Now, with hours passing by as they waited for Artep to arrive, they were growing quite weary. With each passing hour, it became harder for Isaac and Petra to sustain their telepathic link. Isaac told Mary, "Petra is suggesting that she and I take a break."

Mary giggled. "I bet I know what that means... she and Sven are starting to engage in foreplay."

Asimov sighed and thought about the burning flames of young love. By way of his telepathic connection to her, Isaac could sense the feel of Sven's hands on Petra's body. "You don't need telepathy to predict that."

Mary once again went to the front door, resisted the temptation to look out into the corridor, turned and nervously scanned the great room for potential problems. She wanted Artep to feel comfortable during her visit and Mary could well imagine what it was like for a little person to be crowded in among humans who were ten times larger. She glanced at the small chair she had prepared for Artep and wondered: what else might Artep appreciate having during the experiment?

Isaac wondered why Mary was so antsy. He told her, "Come here and give me a hug." He was still telepathically linked to Petra and she was starting to undress Sven. A bit of sexual play seemed like a good way to pass the time...

Mary shook her head and crossed her arms. "Not now Isaac. I'm far too susceptible... you'd have me undressed and sweaty for when our guest arrives..."

Isaac gazed upon the pretty features of Mary. For the past few weeks, Isaac had been suspicious that Mary and Grean were scheming together on some secret project. Then Mary had made sure that Artep instantiated as a syspaz. But why? What was gained? Artep was needed in the Writers Block, collaborating with other writers. If she took up residence in Seelie then every day would be disrupted by her need to commute. Those disruptions were starting already, with he and Mary (not to mention Sven and Petra) waiting impatiently for Artep to arrive. Isaac muttered, "I expected nothing better from Naj." Isaac knew that little comment would get Mary fired up.

Mary had always viewed Naj as being very irresponsible. Ever since being instantiated as a synpaz, Naj had spent more time playing aeroball than writing. Mary said icily, "She's a poor excuse for a writer." However, Mary had to admit that Naj was a sexy little creature. She was gazing at Asimov and there was no denying that a bit of sex play would relieve her tensions. She dissolved part of her clothing and flashed a breast at Asimov. Walking with seductive grace, she moved close to him and pressed her nipple against his lips.

in the Ekcolir Reality

Isaac chuckled and moved a hand up inside Mary's skirt. While out for his early morning stroll, Asimov had heard from Vance that Hafren Wells and Naj had once again engaged in a public sex act. Such events, while common place in Seelie, were much rarer in the Writers Block. Now Isaac was imagining the adventure of the agile Naj inside Hafren's skirt while others looked on. "You should not be so hard on Naj. I suspect that Grean is using her as a spy. Naj probably has orders to spend most of her time in Seelie."

"Oh, Isaac, don't make excuses for her. After she was instantiated, not five minutes passed before she had crafted a penis for herself. She just likes to search for new lovers in Seelie. She's more interested in her sexploits and conquests than her work here in the Block. She's a bad influence on other writers." Mary did not like to distract Isaac with gossip, but she said, "I heard that yesterday afternoon Naj had sex with Hafren right in the middle of the Grand Rotunda."

Isaac had a finger inside Mary."They must really like each other. I wonder... has there ever been a marriage between a human and a sy'Paz?"

"Not that I've heard of, but the sy'Paz are not interested in marriage or exclusivity in sexual relationships." Now the door was signaling the arrival of a guest. She excitedly told Isaac, "Finally, Artep is here!" Mary pulled herself away from Isaac, reassembled her clothing, took a few quick steps across the room and pulled open the door. It was not Artep.

In the doorway stood Petra's mother, Katrina. She said, "Hello, Mary. When I heard that Petra's replicoid had been instantiated... well, I had to-" Noticing Mary's flushed cheeks, Kate could well imagine what she had just walked in on. After a slight pause, she continued speaking, "...come..."

Isaac called to Katrina, "Kate! Come in. We expect Artep at any time." He had his handkerchief out and was wiping Mary's vaginal secretions off of this hand and wishing that his penis was not protruding so dramatically, pushing outwards against his clothing.

Mary brought Kate into the room and closed the front door. "I was not expecting to see you today. Isn't your husband on Earth?" Mary waved her hand towards a chair.

Kate shook Asimov's hand in greeting and then sat down. "He is, and I am working backup from the fishbowl, but he's sleeping right now, so I had my chance to come on over here."

Mary was too nervous and sexually aroused to sit still. It did not help that Kate was dressed in a low cut top that drew attention to her perky little breasts. Mary paced around the room, trying not to stare at Kate's chest or Isaac's crotch. "I really don't mind you being here, but I do not want to cause any extra agitation for Artep."

Isaac said, "Well, you can't keep a mother away from her chick." Issac held his handkerchief in his lap but was failing to conceal the bulge where his penis refused to deflate and still pushed gallantly outwards against the fabric of his pants. Isaac had never previously met Kate, but her appearance was strangely familiar to him.

Politely ignoring Asimov's erection, Kate was relieved that Isaac was so understanding. "If I'm causing any problem by being here, just tell me to leave." Neither Isaac or Mary said a thing. Mary opened the door again and impatiently looked down the corridor towards the Grand Hall. Hafren walked past and said "Good morning". Mary waved and closed the door, wondering if Hafren was on her way to rendezvous with Naj.

Mary had to admit to herself that she would not mind giving Hafren a tumble in bed. Thoughts of Hafren having sex with Naj suddenly sent Mary's mind down an odd, speculative avenue... She told Isaac, "You know, Grean never leaves anything to chance..."

domains of life

Pulling his eyes away from Kate's cute breasts, Isaac glanced at Mary, again wondering what Grean had instructed Mary to do with Artep. Isaac said, "With her access to the sedronic domain, Grean can out-think and out-maneuver all of us."

Kate nodded. "But we are all on the same side. I'm wondering if the particle physics Intervention taking place on Earth... my husband, Émile, is in the year 1916... might be relevant to what Petra is trying to accomplish right now."

Mary was shaken out of her sexual fantasy involving Hafren and asked, "What about particle physics?"

Kate laughed uneasily. "Don't start asking me science questions. However, it seems likely that the information being provided to Earthlings by Émile was used to make possible discovery of the Clarke-Brunner effect."

Isaac was startled by that idea. "Are you sure?" The Clarke-Brunner effect was a mysterious anachronism, the first application of hierion technology on Earth, it had been discovered even before the arrival of the alien Fru'wu.

Kate shrugged. "I'm not certain of anything." She glanced again at the bulge in Isaac's pants and told herself: well, I'm certainly interrupting Isaac and Mary. I should step outside, go for a walk and give them a chance to finish up. However, Kate had felt a strange compulsion to visit the Writers Block, today, and now she was feeling strangely drawn to Mary, for some mysterious reason that went beyond being greeted at the door by Mary's flushed face and erect nipples. Kate told Isaac, "I wish Émile was here... and he could discuss the mathematics with Mary. It is way over my head."

Mary suggested, "Independent of the Clarke-Brunner effect, Sven is using some mysterious algorithm to calculate how to modulate hierion fields so as to control the Bimanoid Interface. This experiment with Artep is far trickier than just linking mind clones... at least they are designed to link telepathically in both directions."

Kate asked, "There is some mystery surrounding Sven?"

Mary explained, "Sven is now Petra's husband, you know. He's a scientist."

"Yes, I keep myself informed about Petra's life. And I know Sven is related to Isaac."

"He's the son of the current Asimov analogue in Earth, but he seems to have a mysteriously deep understanding of hierion physics."

Grean

Kate nodded. "I see." She looked at Asimov. "Do you have any insight into where Sven is getting his ideas? It does seem miraculous that he so easily figured out how to hack the Bimanoid Interface."

Isaac shook his head and replied, "No. Sven is a real mystery. Almost certainly he is Grean's tool, crafted and deployed in order to carry out these hierion beam experiments. Sven is tight-lipped... even Petra does not know the source of his scientific knowledge and technical skills."

Mary added, "In cases like this, it is likely that Sven's scientific brilliance and his understanding of hierions is artificial. He must have been provided with infites by Grean and they probably prevent him from discussing his work with anyone else on Earth."

Isaac complained, "It is as if Grean is trying to play with us, tease us with advanced knowledge that is just out of our reach."

Kate shrugged. "Knowledge about hierions is dangerous. I'd not be surprised to learn that Grean is hiding some facts in order to prevent Earth from acquiring some disruptive hierion-based technology."

Mary asked Kate, "You've been watching Émile on Earth?"

"Yes. He is teaching some hierion physics to Charlotta Barkla."

"In 1916?"

"Well, not actually physics, it is new mathematics that will eventually find applications in hierion physics."

Mary knew that Grean never left anything to chance, so she was thinking furiously about possible reasons for why Grean might want Kate in the Writers Block on this particular day. Assuming that Kate was in the Writers Block for some purpose in addition to seeing her daughter..... Mary wondered: why was Kate talking so eagerly about hierion physics if she knew nothing about the subject? Taking a chance, Mary asked Kate, "Would you mind taking a look at something I'm working on?" Mary gestured down the hallway towards the room where her workstation was.

"What?" Kate got to her feet and followed Mary towards the back of the house.

Mary explained, "Isaac and I have collected all the available information on hierions and sedrons. There seems to be a symmetry between fundamental particles in the three domains of matter..."

Kate said, "I don't understand the math, but I know that Émile's current mission on Earth deals with group theory."

Mary activated the display screens of her workstation and showed Kate the three-dimensional array of particles that she had been constructing. "Most of these particles have not yet been discovered by Earth's scientists. Many of them have been identified by Asimov's efforts... searching through the Foundation Reality Simulator. My problem is, I can't predict which particles are still missing."

Kate looked at the diagram for a long minute. Finally she asked, "Is there a way to rotate this array?"

Mary handed Kate a control wand. "Move this through the air."

Kate turned the network of particles and shook her head. "I've seen a similar diagram, when Grean was preparing Émile to meet Charlotta. Your diagram is different in these two layers of particles. Grean's diagram was not this symmetrical. She had these two groups of hierions pushed off to the side."

Mary complained, "But if you break the symmetry, I'll have even less predictive power." She went ahead and made the changes suggested by Kate, pulling the two subsets of particles off to one side. "Like this?"

"I'm not sure. Your notation and all the details of this diagram look different than what Grean showed Émile. I'm just thinking about the overall pattern. My memory is suggesting that her chart had about twice as many particles."

"I'd expect that. I'm trying to predict the properties of the particles that I don't know about." Mary noticed that the two isolated groups of hierions almost fit in like a puzzle piece when aligned with the other hierions. However, there was one odd hole. She pointed, "If there was another array hierion, right there, then the symmetry would be conserved." Mary could hear Isaac inviting in more guests. "This looks promising. Notice that here on the mass axis, this is predicting a negative mass particle. Did you know that we have no idea how the synpaz can fly? It must be some anti-gravity physics... maybe with a particle like the one suggested here."

Artep came flying into the room and zoomed up to Kate. Kate said, "Petra!"

Artep cried out, "Katrina!" and smashed against Kate's chest and Kate gently rested a hand over the tiny body of Artep.

Mary said, "We've been calling her Artep."

Artep had tiny tears running down her face. She pulled back from Kate and told Mary, "We have a weak telepathic connection."

Fru'wu: Our Alien Prometheus

"The two of you look like sisters."

Artep asked Kate, "You really are my mother? You look so young!"

"I've had the advantage of medical nanites inside my body for the past fifteen years. I am aging, believe me. Please call me 'Kate', I prefer that to 'Katrina'."

Looking down the hallway towards the front of the apartment, Mary saw that Isaac was waiting impatiently, ready to start the experiment. She said, "Well, Petra and Sven are waiting. Come on, let's get the experiment started." Mary led the way back to the great room at the front of the house.

Isaac was talking to Rusan who was seated in a tiny chair on top if the table in front of Asimov. He was asking her, "So you are a natural telepath? You don't use the Bimanoid Interface?"

Rusan shrugged. She asked, "What is the Bimanoid Interface, anyhow?"

Asimov laughed, "If you were a telepath then you'd know!"

Artep landed on the table beside Rusan. "Petra is ready to start the experiment." Artep gazed at Rusan and felt a strong urge to reach out and touch her. All morning her interest in Rusan had intensified, reaching a feverish level of... what? Interest? Desire? Artep wondered: why does Rusan so entice me? She felt it was not just Rusan's amazing set of breasts. It was as if something was shoving and pushing at her, forcing her to crave physical contact with Rusan. Not knowing the source of that compulsion, Artep resisted it.

some of the sedrons and hierions

Mary said, "Grean keeps the sy'Paz ignorant of science. Apparently the sy'Paz telepaths use twitinos, just like the Asterothropes did."

Asimov raised his hands. "Let's hold off on all discussions... now, I was only expecting Artep to be here today... Rusan, would you mind giving up your seat?"

Mary sat down on the couch and told Rusan, "You can sit here, beside me."

Rusan flew over to the couch and sat on the middle of its three cushions. Kate sat on the opposite end of the couch from Mary. Artep took her place in the synpaz-sized chair and announced, "I'm ready"

Asimov said, "I just told Petra to start the experiment. Artep, if you could, tell us what you are experiencing."

Artep tried to clear her mind of a persistent fantasy of touching Rusan. She said, "I have my usual telepathic connection to Petra. She is following Sven's protocol and not reporting any change in her connection to you, Isaac."

Isaac said, "For the record, I also feel no change. Sven is moving on to a new hierion field modulation pattern."

Artep said, "No change." She was having trouble concentrating on the experiment. She kept thinking about Rusan's rather amazing physical tributes and her offer to have a sexual play session with Artep. Artep looked over her should at Rusan. Artep asked herself: is it possible that Rusan is putting thoughts into my mind? Artep resolved not to blame Rusan for what might be her own sexual cravings. She looked back at Asimov and said, "I may be imagining things, but..." She fell silent.

Asimov asked, "What is it?"

"I know that Rusan is a telepath. She told me that. Now I'm imagining that I can feel her touching my mind."

Asimov looked over at the couch. "I also feel like there is... yes, I think it is Rusan. At first I thought I was simply fantasizing about the possibility that she might take off her shirt. I confess that these kinds of thoughts always cross my mind when I see a member of the Bobry Clan. However, in this case, I'm going to ask that all natural telepaths in the room please restrain themselves. We are trying to perform a technology-assisted telepathy experiment with Artep." He looked searchingly at Kate, "Are you a telepath?"

Kate replied, "Grean told me that I have some telepathic sensitivity, bit nothing that effects the conscious part of my brain. If my unconscious brain processes are interfering with the experiment, I can leave." She stood up, moved towards the door and told Artep, "Let's get together sometime, dear."

Rusan flew into the air and also headed for the door, "I'm curious about the Bimanoid Interface, but Grean would probably not be happy to see me here, particularly if stray telepathic signals from my mind are causing confusion."

Artep flew out of her little chair and went to hug her mother. Flying with less than 100 percent precision and not paying attention to Rusan's flight path, Artep bumped into Rusan.

Rusan grunted, "Ooomph!"

Recovering her equilibrium and turning in the air to face Rusan, Artep asked, "What just happened?"

Asimov told Artep, "Petra is asking if you are okay. She felt that collision!"

Kate put out her hands, Palms up. "Come here, girls."

Rusan and Artep each landed on one of Kate's hands. Kate brought her hands together and Artep reached out to grab Rusan's arm. After a second she let go. Artep said, "No! Further contact is not important." She flew back to the small chair. "This is too much... I'm in..." She could not keep speaking.

"Success!" Asimov explained, "Petra and Artep are telepathically linked. Full two-way exchange of their higher brain functions... language."

Mary asked Rusan, "What did you do?"

Rusan thought for a moment. "I don't know, unless..."

Kate asked, "What?"

Rusan suggested, "When we go on missions to Earth, we often take along infites, information nanites. We can provide an Earthling with knowledge just by touching them and sending invisible infites into their bodies."

Mary asked, "Grean sent you here... to give Artep some infites?"

Rusan shook her head. "No." As if speaking quietly to her self, she muttered, "However, if infites did just pass from my body to Artep..."

Asimov was busy trying to keep his telepathic link to Petra while she tried to strengthen her new telepathic link-up to Artep. With only part of his attention on Rusan, he had missed most of what she had been saying saying. He asked Rusan, "You sent infites into Artep?"

"No... not intentionally. No, I'm sure not..." Russo flew near to Artep who was leaning back in her chair and looked like she was mentally off in another world.

Artep was caught up in the flow of a feedback loop that now linked her to Petra, allowing their conscious thoughts to fuse and resonate and amplify. At the same time, Artep could sense a weaker telepathic link to Rusan. Artep wanted to thank Rusan for making possible the two-way link to Petra possible, but she could not exit from the positive feedback loop she was trapped in.

Rusan went on, "But there are many kinds of nanites. Listen... when I'm on Earth,on a mission, some of my nanites, as a sy'Paz, must be able to make adjustments, make corrections for the large size of Earthlings..."

Mary picked up the thread of that idea and continued, "I think you are on the right track, Rusan. We know the Bimanoid Interface was designed to link two identical copies of the same mind, allowing the replicoid to fully control a human's behavior. Petra, as the mind clone of Isaac, can connect to him telepathically because they share the same brain pattern. Artep should be a good mind pattern match for Petra, certainly worth experimenting and investigating if a full two-way connection is possible, but Artep was instantiated as a syspaz... Petra is still her normal size."

Rusan suggested, "What if my body contains-" She paused. "I don't know what to call them. Scale-transformation nanites? When I use my telepathy to influence the behavior of humans on Earth, what adapts my small femtobot endosymbiont so that it efficiently resonates with the larger ones inside humans?" Feeling confident that she was onto something, Rusan now spoke more confidently, "I must carry scale-transformation nanites inside me! When I touched Artep..."

Finally, Artep was managing to pull her mind away from Petra. She flew out of her chair and threw her arms around Rusan. While she hugged Rusan, Artep said, "Your theory fails. Yesterday I touched Quen. Why didn't I get these magical scale-transformation nanites from him, when I touched him?"

Rusan shook her head and told Artep, "I'm quite sure that you took the infites from me. Extracted them from my brain. It was an active process... I felt you reach into me and..."

Artep thought about it. Just before crashing into Rusan, when she saw that the collision was going to happen, she had been rushing to seek contact with her mother, she had been seeking comfort. She was open and vulnerable and pleased to have finally seen her mother. Then, on top of that, when the chance came, Artep was happy to have a chance to touch Rusan and had felt the softness of her breasts. Now she held Rusan tight and snuggled against her. The warm feeling she felt towards Kate and Rusan were completely the opposite of the experience she'd had with Quen: Artep had been apprehensive about the way he had pushed his lecherous thoughts into her mind and repulsed by the sight of his hairy body. Shocked and startled by his sy'Paz sexual aggressiveness, Artep had tried to defend herself against his advances.

Asimov had briefly recovered his telepathic contact to Petra, then it blinked off. He reported, "Sven just shut down the hierion field modulator. He wants to analyze the data he recorded from Petra's brain during this experiment. He is proposing that we try another run tomorrow. Same time as today."

Kate giggled nervously and asked, "Can someone tell me what just happened?"

Mary muttered, "Grean is never around when you need her. She could probably clear up this whole mystery..." Even as she spoke those words, Mary imagined that Grean must be watching them remotely, from her workshop.

"I should get going." Rusan pulled away from Artep and said, "Quen and I are starting a new mission tomorrow. I wish you luck on the experiments."

Kate was also ready to leave. She opened the door and told Artep, "Come visit us at Observer Base. Your father will be back in the Hierion Domain next week."

Mary asked Artep, "Would you like Rusan to take you back to Seelie?"

Artep replied, "No, I want to rest here for a bit. My telepathic link to Petra was intense and a bit over-whelming. We got sucked up into some weird feedback that amplified our brain activity." After one last brief mid-air squeeze of Rusan, Artep flew across the room and sank back into her small chair. She sighed and quietly said, "Anyhow, I now know the location of the tunnel that links to Seelie... I can find my way back..."

Kate and Rusan went out into the corridor and Mary closed the door after them. She turned and asked Asimov, "Do you think that was just a lucky collision between Artep and Rusan?"

Asimov shook his head. "This stinks of Grean. I bet she planned the whole thing... getting Rusan to be here at just the right time to transfer the needed adapter nanites into Artep..."

Mary added, "And Kate." Mary told Asimov about with Kate's help she has found the missing negative mass hierion.

"Are you serious?" Asimov had given up on the search for insights into the particles months previously, leaving Mary to soldier on alone, sifting through all the jumble of data. "You identified the anti-gravity hierion?"

Mary took Asimov to her workstation and showed him the fundamental particle diagram as modified by Kate and the position of the mission particle. After about fifteen minutes of excited discussion, Mary said, "The more I think about the expected properties of this hierion, the more I feel that this particle might both explain synpaz flight and the Clarke-Brunner effect."

Asimov was delighted at the apparent progress towards finding a negative mass particle and now he was startled by this new possibility. "The Clarke-Brunner effect?" That way of tapping into the Bimanoid Interface had been discovered and reported in the physics literature of Earth decades earlier. "But if you only just discovered..."

In her mind, Mary connected the dots. She pointed at the position of the previously missing hierion in the diagram, "This discovery will be sent back through time by Grean, using Kate's husband to insert the key information into the physics community on Earth. Émile is doing that right now..."

Asimov laughed. "How does Grean knit together all these time strands?" After a moment's thought, he added, "In this case, Grean seemingly went out of her way to make sure that we could figure out what happened."

Just then, Mary remembered Artep. "We've forgotten about our guest!" Mary and Isaac returned to the great room where they found Artep asleep in the little chair. It was a perfectly functional and comfortable little recliner and Artep was resting happily, her head turned to one side.

Asimov could hear some high-pitched synpaz snoring that came from Artep. He whispered, "Let her sleep." He pulled Mary into the back room. At that moment, both Isaac and Mary were thinking that Grean had revealed to them certain knowledge of a future in which the hierion physics of the Clarke-Brunner effect would be worked out and understood, allowing for human control of the Bimanoid Interface. Grean had sent that future knowledge back in Time, making it available in the form of adapter nanites that had just allowed Artep to establish a full two-way telepathic link to Petra.

Their minds dazzled by Grean's orchestration of the linked time threads, just then, neither Mary or Isaac could think deeply about the sleeping Artep. Neither of them could foresee that Artep was not just napping, that she would permanently take up residence their in their home. Luckily with their double-sized apartment they had plenty of space,  not that Artep needed very much. For the moment, the big apartment was convenient: in the privacy of the back room, Isaac and Mary resumed their previously interrupted sex play with no worries about disturbing Artep's sleep.

8. Earth.

On Earth, Sven dove into the brain activity data that had been collected from Petra. Petra sat close to Sven, reviewing in her mind all that she had learned from Artep during their brief but powerful telepathy session.

During the experiment, when Petra's telepathic powers had been amplified and at their peak, it had seemed as if she was in contact with more than Artep. Both the minds of Asimov and Sven has been there, within reach, and accessible to Petra. From Sven's mind she had felt a sweet emotional rhythm of his love for her. That emotion was so pure and bright that Petra had almost experienced an orgasm during the experiment. And Asimov was in that shared telepathic universe, his intense scientific curiosity searching for answers.

It had seemed to Petra that she could simply drain the information out of Artep, but in order to fully understand that information, she needed to process it and make it an integral part of her own memory network. Petra wondered: was the raw data from Artep stored in her endosymbiont, awaiting off-loading into her biological brain?

Petra soon found herself thinking about Quen's furry penis and Rusan's glorious array of ten breasts. She giggled.

Sven looked up from his work, "What?"

Petra said, "Artep has decided not to live in Seelie." She reached out and caressed his cheek.

It took Sven almost a minute to get his head out of the data, then he reached out and took hold of Petra's hand. "She's not happy with the choice she made... becoming synpaz?"

"Oh, not that... she adores having the power of flight. It is not that... well, you know, she... we are young." Petra pulled Sven's hand into her lap.

Sven grinned. He could imagine the uncomfortable situation that Artep found herself in. "Ah, she's not comfortable with sy'Paz sexcapades?"

Perta nodded. "I can't blame her. Artep and I are rather naive and shy. Just think how long it took you to get me out of the missionary position..."

For a moment Sven thought about just that. He leaned over and kissed Petra, "Don't distract me from the data." He pulled his hand away from Petra and pointed at his display screen. "I have not tabulated all the results, but it is starting to look interesting! It is as if each and every one of the different beam modulation patterns can work, with the differences being only that they each seem to optimize the activity of one cortical brain region or another. Nothing that I did during the experiment was particularly meaningful." Although, he thought, after getting the message relayed from Mary, he had, on a hunch, changed which field modulation pattern to begin the experiment with. "The key variable was at the other end, tuning Artep's synpaz-scale endosymbiont to resonate with your larger one. I wish I knew how that was done."

Petra shook her head and placed a hand on Sven's crotch. "I doubt you'll ever know. That part of the process is likely to remain Grean's secret." Petra pulled open the fly of Sven's pants. "It is how she will keep control of the Bimanoid Interface and who can use it." Petra got her hand around Sven's penis. "Forget the data analysis. The experiment was a success. Let's celebrate."

Now quite happily distracted from the data, Sven grabbed one of Petra's favorite sex toys off his desk. He let the toy briefly vibrate against Petra's little erect nipple where it pressed outward towards him. Then he started unbuttoning Petra's shirt. Earlier, they had begun making love while waiting for word from Asimov that Artep was ready to start the experiment, but they had been interrupted. Sven and Petra were both eager to get back to that unfinished business. But then the phone rang and they were delayed again.

Gina was calling Petra to find out how the experiment had gone. "Well? I expected to hear from you long before now. How did the experiment go?"

Petra began to explain the delay, "The experiment... started late...." Petra spread her legs and Sven slid inside her. She gave an audible little gasp.

Gina asked impatiently, "Well, how did it go?"

Petra sighed. "Its perfect!"

Sven was nibbling on her left nipple. "I got a few minutes of two-way linguistic exchange with Artep. We'll try again..." She took a deep breath as Sven switched on a little vibrator and pressed against her clitoris. "umm...  tomorrow."

"You sound drunk. There were no side effects from the modulated hierion beam, no cognitive disruptions?"

Petra knew that Gina was being cautious about using her own probe, fearing that it might damage her brain. "Stop worrying about your brain. I'm sure the procedure is safe, although it may have worked too well. There was a positive feedback effect that almost..." She pushed at Sven, indicating that he should ease off. Petra did not want to have an Earth-shaking orgasm while on the phone with Gina. "We are going to have to make plans to instantiate your replicoid and get you involved... in these experiments." Sven reached towards the phone, threatening to break the connection.

Petra tried making up an excuse for ending the phone call. She told Gina, "Sven wants help with the... data analysis. I'll send you the details later this evening. But prepare yourself... you and your replicoid need to be the next test subjects." She ended the call and gave her full attention to Sven and the clever little experiment he was performing with the vibrator.

9. Test Subject Two.

Hierion Crossing

In the Hierion Domain, Relda was resting comfortably in Deomede's arms. He was still fully erect and eager to continue his pursuit of another orgasm, but Relda needed to catch her breath. Even with the sweet sensation of Deomede hard and hot inside her, she started thinking about making a visit to the Writers Block so that she could get an update on progress towards improving the telepathic link between Asimov and his mind clone, Petra.

Deomede gently touched Relda's face. "You seem distracted, my love."

"Sorry! I never want to bring work frustrations to our bed."

They were on the floor in the kitchen where they had been overtaken by lust. Deomede said, "I'll carry you up to bed if that will help..."

"You know what I mean, silly. Just let me rest for a moment... that orgasm almost blew my mind." She tried to keep her thoughts on Deomede, but it was increasingly hard for Relda to stop the flow of Gina's thoughts through her mind. After initially showing rapid improvements in the quality of her telepathic linkages to Gina, in recent days they seemed to have reached a plateau of diminishing returns. Further practice with the hierion probe made for little improvement in their efficiency of information exchange and Relda was growing impatient to move on to a new experiment with Gina's replicoid. She'd put through a request to Grean...

There was a knock at the front door. A moment later, Wendy stepped into the kitchen. Deomede asked Relda, "Did you call in the reinforcements?"

Wendy said, "Grean is here."

Deomede was still hard as a rock, but Relda pulled herself off of him and jumped to her feet and went to talk to Grean. Passing Wendy, Relda told the robot, "Be a good girl and keep him warmed up, I'll be back."

Grean watched as Relda finished using her clothing nanites to cover herself. Grean reported, "The replicoid experiment worked. Petra just got a full two-way link to her replicoid."

"It worked?" Relda had worried that it might be impossible to use the Bimanoid Interface for two-way telepathy. "On the first try?"

Grean admitted, "Well, these techniques were all worked out long ago. However, this was the first attempt to apply them under field conditions, with a link to Earth. Everything went along quite smoothly, as had been foreseen."

With some resentment in her voice, Relda asked, "Why is it that only you gets to know what is going on during these experiments?"

Grean smiled sheepishly. "The basic principle is 'need to know'. We are dealing with dangerous knowledge. I can't let any one person know too many pieces of the puzzle. I certainly can't allow Sven to even begin thinking about what he is doing. Even limited knowledge of hierions had done enough damage on Earth."

Relda commented. "But you gave Sven his knowledge of hierions."

"And I did it carefully, so it's no real problem. He was carefully designed to follow his infite programming without even being curious about the source of his technical knowledge."

The sound of Wendy's laughter could be heard coming from the kitchen. Relda was thinking about the special design work that had gone into Sven as well as both Deomede and Wendy. She glanced again towards the kitchen and wished she was still there with Deomede. She asked Grean, "So, we should go ahead and instantiate Gina's replicoid?"

Grean also glanced towards the kitchen. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Thank you for the interruption and letting me know about Petra's success. I was actually quite distracted by my worries and doubts about the replicoid problem. It is great to know that we can re-purpose the Bimanoid Interface to meet our needs." Relda continued to gaze down the hall, towards Deomede. She could sense that he was having a very good time with Wendy. She took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on business. "What I really need is a full-time helper for the huge task of searching the Foundation Reality."

Grean smiled and suggested, "My guess is, you just don't like spending time in the Simulator, time away from Deomede."

"Okay, fine, I'm addicted to Deomede. But even if I wasn't, how can I possible explore an entire universe by myself?"

Grean had little sympathy for Relda's concern. "Asimov explored much of the Foundation Reality even before you started helping."

Relda asked, "Why can't I now get the help of replicoids for this project?"

Grean warned Relda, "Well, the next experiments, with replicoids inside the Simulator, might not unfold in quite the manner you are imagining."

"Well, of course, we might discover that a replicoid is no better than I am at transmitting telepathically from inside the Simulator. We have to do the experiment and find out."

Grean told Relda, "Again, the groundwork has already been done by my pilot team. I can tell you that the means has been found to efficiently transmit telepathic signals in and out of a Reality Simulator."

"That's great news!"

Grean continued, "Our problem -a looming problem that over-shadows everything- is that we are now very close to the Final Reality."

Relda knew abstractly that eventually the Ekcolir Reality must Change into the Final Reality, but she had no idea when that would happen. "How close?"

"I can't say any more without crashing us into a Time paradox. My point is, you don't have the luxury of being able to embark on a long leisurely cruise of discovery through the Foundation Reality Simulator, with or without the help of replicoids."

Relda did not like the look in Grean's eyes, as if she was scheming something horrendous, something so sneaky and objectionable that she dared not tell Relda about it. Relda said, "You're creeping me out, Grean. What else have you been hiding from me?"

the Asimov Reality

Grean put her arms around Relda. "With all my gazing into the next Reality, I've been unable to avoid contemplation of a radical idea. I'm talking about an idea that makes no sense here in this Reality, but which will be very important in the Final Reality."

Relda asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Have you ever asked yourself why so much attention is being paid to investigating the history of the Foundation Reality and not, say, the Asimov Reality?"

Relda knew intellectually that, as a Kac'hin, Grean had telepathic abilities. Wrapped up in Grean's embrace, Relda felt herself relaxing; now Relda wondered if Grean was manipulating her mind. "Humans made first contact with aliens in the Foundation Reality..."

"There was alien first contact in the Asimov Reality also... Billions of years ago, with the Phari. The problem is, R. Nyrtia wanted to hide the advanced hierion physics knowledge of the Phari so she put a lock on the Asimov Reality Simulator."

"A lock?" Working with Asimov to explore the Foundation Reality Simulator, Relda had never given any thought to the AR Simulator. "You can't hack in?"

"Not so far. I want you to consider letting me use a Gina replicoid for an experiment that might get us into the Asimov Reality Simulator. I believe you already are aware of the fact that to provide flexibility in the Momentum of Time, R. Nyrtia allowed for the existence of multiple replicoids simultaneously linked to a single Earthling. A fixed point in time like Asimov or Vance probably has millions of replicoids in the Hierion Domain."

"Millions? That many?"

Grean shrugged, "Well, I could bring them out, one at a time, but otherwise I have no way of counting them." Unlike Reality Simulators, the Domain of Replicoids had never been designed so as to make it possible to go in. Replicoids could only be taken out of the space-time bubble.

Relda shook her head in wonder. She had imagined that each human on Earth only had one replicoid inside the Hierion Domain. "That's pretty wild... to think of multiple replicoids all working together to guide the behavior of a single person."

Down the hallway, Wendy let out her own rather wild cry of pleasure.

Grean ignored Wendy. She explained to Relda, "The replicoid system is really a form of quantum computation, built around computing modules, many of which pertain to a particular person. But don't let my problems distract you. If you are busy right now..."

Relda insisted, "I want to understand your plans." Relda re-doubled her efforts to push Deomede's erotic thoughts out of her mind. She sent a telepathic message to Wendy: you are distracting me, girl.

Again Grean looked towards the kitchen and smiled a sly little smile. With her telepathic ability, she could tell that Wendy was now leading Deomede outside, into the garden. "What I've been imagining is the possibility of instantiating a large number of replicoids and letting them all try to access the Asimov Reality Simulator. Thinking along those lines, I began to wonder... how many replicoids might someone like Gina have?"

Relda was astonished by the idea. "You want to instantiate multiple replicoids of Gina?"

"Well, let's think about that idea, at least." Grean wondered if Relda had become even more distracted now that she could no longer hear what Wendy was doing. "The other thing that happened today over in the Writers Block was a new break-through in hierion physics. With help from Kate, Mary found the negative mass hierion. I have a second team at work, building on that discovery. That effort might soon give us the computational power that we need to hack R. Nyrtia's lock."

Relda was surprised to hear Grean speak about making a new discovery in Hierion Physics. Around Eternity, most people imagined that Grean already knew everything. "I'd have guessed that the Huaoshy long ago learned everything there is to know about hierions."

Grean giggled. "Then you would have guessed wrong. The Phari went far beyond any other species in study of the Hierion Domain. The Huaoshy skipped over most of hierion physics and went right into the Sedronic Domain."

Relda complained, "I don't know much about the Phari."

"None of us do. That's why I need to get access to the Asimov Reality Simulator. R. Nyrtia learned things about hierions from the Phari that we are still trying to uncover. Today, Mary got a new datum which I sent on to the future. Useful results may percolate back to us as early as tomorrow, allowing us to try to enter the AR Simulator. If those results turn out as I suspect they will, we might finally get into the Asimov Reality Simulator. For me, that's a higher priority than continuing to mine the Foundation Reality Simulator."

"Why do you want to use Gina's replicoid?"

"The problem is, if we do manage to hack in, it might not be possible to get back out."

"Gina's replicoid could be trapped inside the Simulator?"

Grean nodded. "That's why it makes sense to send in someone who can telepathically link to us -to you, specifically- from inside the Asimov Reality Simulator. It is for this project that I created Gina as your mind clone."

Relda though she could see an evil glint in Grean's eyes. "It sounds dangerous, getting trapped forever in a Simulator. How long can someone survive in there?"

"Look, duration is no problem for a replicoid. I've already tried sending other replicoids in. Either they died trying to enter the AR Simulator or they were trapped inside, I'm not sure which. All I know is I could not bring them back out."

Relda had learned to think of replicoids as immortal. "They died?"

"Nyrtia may have set a trap that kills anyone who enters the Simulator, even artificial lifeforms."

Relda shuddered. "And in your plan, I would be expected to maintain telepathic contact to your test subjects as they try to enter the Simulator?"

R. Nyrtia

"Yes, exactly. Actually, both you and Gina will need to try keeping a telepathic link to the Gina replicoids that we send into the Simulator. It is not clear which of you has the best chance of receiving telepathic signals from inside the AR Simulator."

Relda said, "We'll have to think about this. Gina has been listening in to us while we have been talking and she's as skeptical as I am."

Grean laughed, "You know my view; I never want to allow you too much time to think. You'll talk yourselves out of trying."

Relda asked, "Are you telling me, without really telling me, that you've looked into the future and you already know this is a good use of Gina's replicoid?"

Grean corrected Relda, "Replicoids. This hack will probably require that we expend many replicoids. Most will die in Nyrtia's trap, unable to pass into the Simulator. But all we need is one success... then we'll have the access code."

Relda said, "So Gina's replicoids are disposable? You'd spend a million of them on this hack, regardless of the cognitive and emotional cost to Gina and me?"

"Yes, I think you understand the situation. This entire Reality is going to be disposed of, but in the Final Reality, I'll make good use of the access code for the AR Simulator."

Relda sighed. "Grean, did anyone ever tell you that you are a heartless bitch?"

"Sure. We should all be honest with each other, those of us who are giving our lives so that Humanity can spread among the stars. Through the years, I've heard many blunt opinions from my operatives. I ask much of my assistants, but I also reward you." She glanced down the hallway in the direction of where Deomede and Wendy were still playing in the garden.

"Well, when you put it like that, I feel petty. However, give Gina and I a chance to think this through. And I want to consult with Deomede. He's known you a lot longer than I have. He knows your tricks."

Grean laughed. "I suspect you've already done more tricks with Deomede than I ever have, but who is counting?" She moved towards the front door. "Okay, Relda, I'll expect your decision tomorrow, but remember, I'll probably go ahead with this ARS hack no matter what you and Gina decide."

Relda pointed to the door, "Get out." The idea that an entire Reality was expendable offended her sensibilities.

Grean reminded Relda, "The journey is the reward. I work hard to keep my assistants happy and entertained. Enjoy your play time, then we need to get back to work. Remember, Time is pressing us." Rather than use the door, Grean teleported herself away.

Mission in Time

Relda was simmering and unable to decide what irritated her more, Grean's insufferable smugness or the fact that she was always correct. Heading towards the kitchen, Relda once again resigned herself to the human condition, then reminded herself that without Grean's meddling, she never would have met Deomede. She decided to ignore Grean's enormities and try to relax and enjoy herself for the next few hours. Grean the Kac'hin was Grean and nothing could change that.

With the help of Wendy's enthusiastic cheer-leading and sexual antics in combination with Deomede's telepathic massaging, their group play time came close to making Relda forget all about Grean, if only for one night.

Next: part 10 of "The Synpaz of Seelie".

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