The Lakum Intervention |
Last month I began writing a new science fiction story called "Telepaths of Site Q". Obviously, this new story concerns my obsession with telepathy as a science fiction plot element, but so have several other recent stories including Old Time Gaming, The Alastor Network, "The Olivine Intervention", Grean's Hack, and The Yerophet Experiment. So, what is special about "Telepaths of Site Q"?
The Origins of Irhit. I love recursive science fiction fiction stories. For the Exode Saga, I imagine that the science fiction genre originated as a devious alien plot and was created by space aliens as a tool for preparing Humanity for First Contact with the alien Fru'wu who planned to reveal themselves to Earthlings during the 20th century. Many of the characters in the Exode saga are themselves science fiction story tellers.
Manny the bumpha |
The origins of the tryp'At are rather mysterious. I imagine that both the Ek'col and the tryp'At were crafted as telepathic human variants in the far future of the Asimov Reality. The Ek'col were designed and deployed by the bumpha as part of an effort to create a Final Reality in which humans from Earth would have a great adventure exploring the galaxy. Some tryp'At ended up being deployed by R. Gohrlay as part of a rather misguided effort to protect the integrity of the Trysta-Grean Pact.
Olyv. Image made with Emi06 by Eclesi4stiK available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 |
When Grean the Kac'hin took control of Eternity, R. Gohrlay slipped away and took refuge in some other part of the Hierion Domain. The positronic robots of Earth who were not quickly captured by Grean, allied themselves with the Phari who were experts in the field of hierion physics. In contrast, the Huaoshy (and the bumpha) are the masters of the Sedronic Domain and sedronic matter. It would be a great embarrassment for Many Sails if she can't capture R. Gohrlay and use her as a character witness before the watchful Huaoshy.
The Story So Far (parts 1 - 6)
Yenti the Asterothrope (image source) |
Given Manny's access to advanced technology for time travel, teleportation and zeptites, you might suspect that she exercises almost god-like control over the fate of humans. However, Manny is constrained by three things. First, temporal momentum powerfully shapes the Final Reality.
R. Oliveene Nhevrix |
The bottom line: Manny is a pragmatist and she knows that she must prepare Irhit for his surprising encounter with Yenti the Asterothrope. Still, briefly teleporting Irhit out of Observer Base and into Many Sails and meeting with Irhit in person is a choice made my Manny who simply enjoys meeting new people.
R. Nyrtia |
the cats of Lusz |
In the case of Miss Olyv, Manny has no need to physically enter into Observer Base and risk being seen while meeting with Olyv. Olyv is a replicoid composed of zeptites and was designed to be efficiently remotely controlled and directed by Manny. As a secret agent for Manny inside Observer Base, Olyv can alter her physical structure so as to take on any convenient physical form. Olyv has gotten into the habit of usually adopting a female body form while working among humans.
Olyv and Dani both originated as positronic robots. During the time when Grean captured Eternity, Manny made several copies of R. Daneel Olivaw. Manny tried to use one copy of Daneel as a tracer, but that effort failed to reveal the hidden location of R. Gohrlay. The technology used for making copies of Daneel involved using his original positronic robot body as a template for a set of newly constructed zeptite replicoids who could be deployed by the bumpha.
Zeta with an infite bottle. Image (Zetana) made using "shadow hunter portrait 6" by Gretchen Byers |
At the start of "Telepaths of Site Q", Olyv is playing the role of a teacher at the Core School, which is located in the high population density downtown district of Observer Base. However, Olyv is a versatile agent. She has the ability to control two physical bodies at the same time, so Olyv is also playing the role of Catski, a close childhood friend of Betty.
Through the years, Catski has telepathically created and then guided Betty's obsessive interest in aliens and, particularly, hermaphroditic aliens. This is all part of Manny's plan to make sure that the tryp'At become so intrigued and alarmed by events at Observer Base that they make a mistake and reveal the location of their own hidden base of operations inside the Hierion Domain.
cat and mouse games |
More Backstory; Events taking place before the start of "Telepaths of Site Q"...
the tryp'At Council |
Dani |
Readers of the first chapter of "Telepaths of Site Q" might wonder why the story begins with a peak at characters such as Brak and Zeta in the Final Reality. This is a reminder that all of Manny's efforts in the Ekcolir Reality are directed towards creation of a Final Reality that will satisfy both R. Gohrlay and the Huaoshy.
Grean the Kac'hin |
Manny warns Grean about the imminent arrival of Yenti and asks Grean not to interfere with Manny's carefully planned romance between Irhit and Yenti. After her meeting with Manny, Grean gets help from her robotic assistant Wendy to begin an investigation into Betty's telepathic abilities and the possibility that Betty might have a shared telepathic link to Irhit.
Wendy |
In chapter 3 of "Telepaths of Site Q", readers can imagine that Grean is trying to understand the unique telepathic abilities of Betty and her family. When Yenti first walks onstage, Betty's parents quickly notice the unusual girl. With Yenti is Manny the Bumpha. Manny being seen in public inside Observer Base is a technical violation of the Rules of Intervention, but Manny plans on erasing the memories of everyone who sees her with Yenti. Manny is there in the dance hall in order to make certain that Irhit meets Yenti and dances with her before anyone else (such as Betty's father, Allyn) can approach Yenti on the dance floor. Yes, Manny could have assigned this task to an assistant, but she selfishly decides to have a little fun by visiting the Serothic Dance Hall herself. Given the advanced memory-editing nanites that are available to Manny, she has no doubt that she will be able to cover-up and hide her violation of the Rules of Intervention.
In chapter 3 of "Telepaths of Site Q", readers are also introduced to Betty's two older sisters, Hana and Lany. All three of the Dryswyn sisters have inherited from their parents the ability to enter into long-lasting orgasm trances. These pleasurable states of mind are a feature of normal Asterothrope physiology, and some tryp'At have a limited ability to enter into brief orgasm trances. With the help of body-altering nanites from Yenti, Irhit is able to shift towards a more Asterothrope-like pattern of orgasms.
Irhit is amazed to meet a girl like Yenti. She tells him that her full name is Yenti Klandrosheikevk and she is from Siteq. That has little meaning to Irhit, but Yenti also begins introducing Irhit to the ancient customs and rituals of her people. The Asterothropes were originally designed for the purpose of rapid reproduction and quickly spreading human genes through the galaxy. Asterothrope culture is thus centrally concerned with the efficient production of children and the important role of parents in helping shape the minds of new Asterothrope individuals so as to maximize their full telepathic potential.
Wysy |
In chapter 5 of "Telepaths of Site Q", readers are given more insight into Grean's investigation of Betty's telepathic abilities. Betty's mind can establish unconscious resonance with a few special individuals, one of whom is her friend Catski. For many years while growing up, Betty has cultivated Catski as a close friend because simply being in close physical proximity to Catski can cause Betty to slip into an altered mental state: a long-lasting orgasm trance.
Artep; a synpaz |
Intrigued by Betty's unusual telepathic abilities, Grean makes direct contact with Betty. As far as Grean can determine, Betty has never had a conscious telepathic linkage to Irhit. Betty goes to the fishbowl, the facility at Observer Base from which Observers can monitor events on Earth. Even with help from Irhit, Betty cannot trace Henry or Richard to a previous existence on Earth before they suddenly appeared in the records of Observer Base 15 years previously. However, Irhit's mention of the synpaz of Seelie sets Betty to thinking about the small pet that her sister Lany once had.
another synpaz intervention (source) |
The other synpaz who is already known to Betty is Treba. Suspecting that Treba might be "Albert", Betty visits Treba. Treba admits that he is "Albert". Treba also tells Betty that Henry and Richard did come from Earth, originating as an Earth-"woman" (actually an hermaphrodite) named Hedy Wolcat.
Grean teleports Hedy to Observer Base |
Without explaining what he is doing, Treba also begins the process that will cause a remodeling of Betty's gastrointestinal tract. Returning home, Betty tells Lany about her little adventure with Treba and Lany agrees to go to Yaddo where she will try to entertain and distract Richard.
chapter 6 |
human pheromones in Deep Time |
image source |
After Catski runs off to compete in her race, Olyv tells Irhit that she saw him with Yenti at the Serothic Dance Hall. Then, without him noticing what she is doing, Olyv provides Irhit with some infites which include the name "Hedy" and the suggestion that "she" was a human hermaphrodite on Earth. The next time that Irhit is working in the fishbowl, he begins to compulsively search the Earth databases for information about the mysterious "Hedy". Manny is feeding information to the tryp'At Council through Irhit, hoping to provoke the tryp'At into a rash act.
Original cover art by Paul Alexander |
Arriving in Yaddo, Betty and Lany are met by Wendy. Wendy offers Lany her help in the task of distracting Richard while Betty investigates her telepathic connection to Henry. Betty and Lany soon confirm that Henry and Richard are human hermaphrodites. Wendy is preparing for the imminent arrival of Dani inside Observer Base. Irhit experiments with the teleportation equipment in Yani's apartment and manages to teleport Dani to Observer Base from the hidden location of the tryp'At Council.
Temporal Non-linearity. Starting right in Chapter 1, readers of Telepaths of Site Q quickly notice that the story does not follow a linear temporal progression of events. The two preludes, set in 2051 and 2021, respectively, are set in our universe, the Final Reality. Site Q and its community of telepathic Asterothropes existed in Deep Time, in the Ekcolir Reality. When Irhit the tryp'At walks on stage in Chapter 1, it is November 16th, 1971 (although, in the Ekcolir Reality the calendar is different; I'm providing the Final Reality equivalent dates here). When Manny shares some photos of Yenti with Irhit, they are images from his future. Both Manny and Grean have access to time travel technology.In Chapter 2, Grean is shown using her Viewing equipment to peer into the future of the Final Reality and she also looks into the past, investigating the relationship between Irhit and Betty. Manny warns Grean that the robot Dani will soon be teleported into Observer Base. The return of Betty from Yaddo that is depicted at the start of Chapter 3 takes place on the day (the 17th) after Irhit meets Manny, but the events right at the end of Chapter 3 are during the following morning (November 18th).Chapter 4 slips back to November 17th to follow the meeting between Irhit and Yenti from his perspective, but by the end of Chapter 4 it is morning of the 18th. At the beginning of Chapter 5, readers are finally provided with an account of Betty meeting Catski on the 17th before Betty is shown meeting with Irhit inside the fishbowl on the 18th.
Replicoid Games "The Arrival" |
As told in Chapter 9, Grean takes a time travel trip from November 18th back to November 10th in order to telepathically observe Irhit and Betty while they make love. Grean confirms that Irhit and Betty did begin to establish a conscious telepathic connection, but they both had secrets they wanted to hide from each-other and they broke off their relationship.
On November 19th Betty and Lany arrived in Yaddo. Five days later, Dani the robot is teleported into Observer Base. Manny makes use of Susan Wolcat as "bait" to lure Dani into a trap and soon Manny is able to reprogram Dani's loyalties. Now working as an agent for Grean, Dani goes to siteq and investigates the human telepath breeding project at "Site Q".
The last section of Telepaths of Site Q takes place in December of 1972 after Yenti has given birth to twins and returned to siteq. In Chapter 11, Grean and Dani visit Earth and meet Irhit's sister Cellebelle. Irhit's parents take that opportunity to "hitch a ride" to Observer Base, but Manny is waiting for them and the take-over of Observer Base by the tryp'At Council will be delayed until the Final Reality.Related Reading: Part 7 of "Telepaths of Site Q"
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