Exvasion

an elf-like Preland

Five years ago I blogged about the Prelands, a mysterious human variant that was created by the pek in the First Reality. The Prelands were crafted and designed by the pek as a way to immunize Earth against potential dangers that might arise from the humans on Earth. The Prelands were created (genetically and socially engineered) on the planet Hemmal in the galactic core. The Prelands served as a prototype human variant that was designed to evolve into a biological lifeform that could eventually transcend/transform into an artificial lifeform that would reside in the Sedronic Domain. However, those plans of the pek were interrupted.

As far as is known, no human here in the Final Reality has ever been to Hemmal. Zeta suspects that Hemmal does not even exist here in this Reality. However, a few stories about Prelands have reached we Earthlings by way of the Writers Block and other records of past Realities that still reside at Observer Base.

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Accounts of Preland-human contact (such as that described here) have reached us by circuitous routes and their "details", limited may they be, should be greeted with high levels of skepticism. Complicating the issue, there were apparently multiple Preland versions and subtypes; the Preland family may have been as diverse as the human family, with several distinct species of Prelands.

When positronic robots took control of Earth and drove the pek out of the galaxy, they gained access to planets such as Hemmal. Eventually, when R. Gohrlay crafted the Asterothropes, useful Preland genes were included in the Asterothrope genome. R. Gohrlay planned to use the Asterothrope telepathic gene patterns as a convenient tool for bringing into existence Galaxia, a galaxy-spanning group mind that would be the ultimate defense of Humanity against the pek.

Asterothropes

Just when Galaxia was nearing completion, the Huaoshy finally realized that the positronic robots had access to time travel technology. Now knowing that time travel was possible and exploiting their advanced technologies that were based on sedronic matter, Grean the Kac'hin was able to take control of the Eternity time travel system on Earth. However, R. Gohrlay was not totally defeated and continued to operate out a secret base located within the Hierion Domain.

Endosymbionts. What were the useful Preland genes that were incorporated into the Asterothropes? Mostly these genes were concerned with providing a form of technology-assisted telepathy. Humans had evolved as hybrid creatures, part biological and part artificial. Each human contained a zeptite endosymbiont. Normally, the zeptite endosymbionts could be used by the pek to prevent a biological system like the human species from developing a technological civilization, thus protecting worlds like Earth from technologically-induced catastrophes. 

zeptite endosymbionts

Using a zeptite endosymbiont to control human behavior was facilitated by a sophisticated neuronal network that acted as a microscopic cellular interface for a person's nanoscopic zeptite endosymbiont. With the endosymbiont linked to the biological brain, external forces could efficiently control human behavior. That same neuronal network could be used in the Prelands to allow for a form of technology-assisted telepathy. A similar system was built into the Asterothropes, and so the Asterothropes had the ability to "take control" of a human's zeptite endosymbiont. With their telepathy-mediated control over a person's endosymbiont, it was possible for an Asterothrope to influence the behavior of a human.

Zeptite endosymbionts were not uniquely human. All lifeforms on earth evolved in the presence of zeptites in the environment, so almost every form of Earthly life includes a zeptite component.

The Alaster Network

When the positronic robots drove the pek away from Earth, a mutant type of human quickly arose on Earth: humans who could escape from the influence of their zeptite endosymbiont and become curious and creative. This led to the development of a technological civilization on Earth, something that the pek would never have allowed. It also led to a problem for the positronic robots: they began to lose their ability to telepathically control human behavior. Unable to master sedronic physics, the positronic robots needed some other way to control human behavior, something other than the zeptite endosymbiont.

In the Asimov Reality, the positronic robots traveled far back in time and collaborated with the Phari. The Phari were masters of the Hierion Domain. 

telepaths of Seelie

With the help of Phari technology, humans were provided with a kind of adapter for their zeptite endosymbiont. This adapter, the Phari endosymbiont, was based on femtobots and composed of hierions, not sedrons. 

Using what they had learned in the far future of the Asimov Reality (see The Alaster Network), the positronic robots crafted the tryp'At, a new human variant with telepathic abilities. The tryp'At were closer to being human than had been the Asterothropes and their telepathic abilities were based on using the Phari endosymbiont for technology-assisted telepathy. 

Because I first knew the tryp'At in their role as Earth Overseers, I mistakenly assumed that they had been created by the pek.

catastrophic sea level rise

The Huaoshy crafted the Ek'col, another telepathic human variant that could use G-sym technology to locate and befuddle the remaining Asterothrope agent of the positronic robots: Trysta Iwedon.

The positronic robots used tryp'At agents to accelerate technological development o Earth during the Ekcolir Reality. This led to a technological catastrophe. 

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Much of the acceleration of technological advances on Earth was made possible by allowing the alien Fru'wu to visit Earth and share their knowledge of hierions wit the Earthlings.

Under the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact, preparations were made for a Final Reality in which time travel would no longer be possible (the Huaoshy would alter the dimensional structure of the universe), but humans would be allowed to survive on Earth, develop advanced technology and spread through space to other star systems. 

Trysta and Grean (image credits)

This led to the Buld Reality, in which First Contact came in the form of an almost-unnoticed visit by a Buld spaceship to Earth during the 20th century rather than the dramatic and disruptive arrival of the Fru'wu.

A few minor adjustments were needed to the Buld Reality, most of which were completed before the Huaoshy finally altered the dimensional structure of the universe, making all further time travel impossible.

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Realizing that the tryp'At would be a problem for Earth, G. Gohrlay made an adjustment to the Bimanoid Interface which forced the tryp'At to abandon Earth. However, just enough Asterothrope and tryp'At genes remained on Earth to make it possible for Earthlings to discover the Hidden History of Humanity.

Ignorance Not Bliss. When searching through possible versions of the Final Reality, Grean and Trysta were using two major criteria:
1) long-term survival of the human species   and
2) a chance for humans to spread to other star systems.

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In some time-twisted way, meeting one or both of these two criteria depends on humans becoming aware of the existence of hierions long before hierion-based technologies are actually available to Earthlings. Thus, in the Final Reality, Science fiction stories are used to reveal the existence of hierions and parts of the Secret History of Humanity: the story of how humans were created by aliens.

It may be that the tryp'At were constructed by R. Nyrtia to serve as the means by which the existence of hierions and parts of the Secret History of Humanity could be revealed to Earthlings. As told in Old Time Gaming, Many Sails (a bumpha) was able to make use of Rylla the tryp'At to fine-tune the Final Reality. As told in Old Time Gaming, Rylla was part of a time travel loop by which she was her own ancestor and descendant. 

Rylla's mother, Vendela.

Previously, (see "The Zal Intervention") it was suggested that Rylla was a clone of her mother, Vendela. The tryp'At were designed to be able to implant embryos inside a woman's uterus, so it is technically possible that Rylla was artificially constructed as a genetic duplicate of Vendela.

However, it is also possible that Rylla was created through teleportation duplication. The teleportation duplicates appearing in Old Time Gaming were all adults, with the exception of a copy of Max. His teleportation duplicate was made while he was a boy of about 12 years of age. 

It is also possible to store an embryo in a teleporter data buffer and then create multiple copies of the embryo at later times.

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 Exvasion. In the Exode Saga, there is no alien invasion of Earth. Technologically advanced space aliens reached Earth billions of years ago and humans were brought into existence through a process of directed evolution. The pek planned to gradually increase the frequency of Preland gene combinations on Earth and eventually make it possible for the evolutionary descendants of humans to leave behind their biological bodies and transcend into the Sedron Domain. According to that pek plan, there never would have been a large population of technology-wielding humans on Earth.

When the positronic robots took control of Earth, the pek plans for protecting Earth as a Garden World were derailed. Under the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact, there remains the risk of catastrophic damage to Earth's biosphere. 

temporal momentum

In the end, a product of human ingenuity, the positronic robots, might allow humans to severely damage Earth and cause the human species to have only a very short duration. However, it is also possible that the Final Reality will be one in which humans have a long and glorious future. That is left an open question at the end of the Exode Saga.

In the final chapter of Old Time Gaming, I had Manny suggest to Rylla that she might want to leave the Hadron Domain and transcend into the Sedron Domain. I suspect that many humans (such as Rylla) when given a taste of existence as an artificial lifeform, would willingly abandon their biological existence. Clarke imagined a kind of alien invasion of Earth with technologically advanced aliens coming to Earth and forcing humans to merge into the Overmind. In the Exode Saga, the aliens are less heavy-handed and in the end, it is really up to biological creatures to decide for themselves if they want to leave behind their biological existence.

Next: two stories about telepathy by Isaac Asimov