Angel in the Laboratory

The American Magazine

Below on this page is Part 3 of a science fiction story called "Edison's Endosymbiont Experiments". In Part 2, Rylla entered into the Ekcolir Reality Simulation so that she could help investigate the technological assistance that was given to Edison by Nyrtia. Now Rylla and a copy of Reynette Cummings must confront the mysterious Angel Suarez, one of the first computer scientists on Earth.

Somehow, Angel was able to put an end to the Edison Intervention and prevent Reynette from building a hierion detector. However, Thomas Edison was left with the belief that living organisms contain -and are animated by- sub-atomic scale structures hidden inside their bodies. 

Manny tries to convince Eddy and Rylla that they have an ethical obligation to develop rules and guidelines for the use of their growing telepathic powers. In an attempt to live up to Manny's high expectations, a copy of Reynette is taken out of the Reality Simulation System and back to Arizona in the real world where she begins a new life, joining Nora as the only two replicoids on Earth in the Final Reality.

Part 3 of Edison's Endosymbiont Experiments (Part 1)(Part 2)

The dinner invitation from Mina specified that we were to arrive at the Edison mansion in time for tea at about 4:00 PM. When Eddy drove us through the gate, we were under the watchful eyes of two soldiers who were stationed there on guard. It was a good reminder for me that we were in a world at war. However, Rey and I were on the guest list for dinner, so we were waved onto the grounds of the Edison estate.

As Eddy slowly drove up the long driveway, we could see that there was a croquet match in progress on the front lawn. It was a gloriously sunny late fall afternoon with fallen leaves blowing across the yard and creating some interesting obstacles for the game play. Rey and I got out of the car and then Eddy went off to park the car by a garage. I saw him get out of the car and then he stood there talking with two men, apparently other drivers.

When we got out of the car, Rey and I were greeted by Angel who had a mallet resting on her shoulder. She called out, "This must be the mysterious Rylla."

Theodore took a shot then came over to welcome us. "I'm Ted." He took hold of my hand and said, "Rylla? Mother told me that you are cute... and how!"

I had a high level of oxypathin in my blood, so my nipples were continually erect. They were jutting out in a provocative way that had Ted's complete attention. I said, "Nice to meet you."

Angel came up behind Ted and poked him with her mallet. "Hey, I suppose now that she's here, you're going to start ignoring me."

Ted introduced me to Angel who, after gazing critically at my plumped up mama's breasts, asked Rey, "I didn't know that you have a cousin. She does not look like a dancer."

"Rylla is visiting for a few days. She just popped in for a quick visit... down from Boston." Rey added, "Big breasts don't automatically disqualify ballerinas."

Ted had his eyes locked on my cleavage. He told me, "I'll be in Boston next year, for college. How convenient."

Angel pulled Ted's hand off of mine and put her mallet in my hand. "Take a shot."

Ted handed me a ball that had a yellow stripe on it. "You can play yellow."

Angel pointed at the course, "I'm black, Ted is blue." She looked at Rey and said, "You're probably too old to play."

Rey said, "Hey, I'm not that old."

Ted told Rey, "You can play if you want. In fact, you're looking quite chipper today."

Rey picked up a mallet and a ball. "You know how it us with us old ladies... after we get a facial then suddenly we look ten years younger."

Ted told Angel, "I've seen Rey's personnel file. She's 31."

Angel said, "You don't really look 31. What's your secret... good genes?"

I could sense that Angel was telepathically pushing at both me and Rey. She must have instantly realized that this copy of Rey was not the "real" Rey. I hit my croquet ball, but never having played before, I hit the ground and the ball did not roll very far.  Then Rey came out onto the course and dropped her ball into the grass. Rey prepared to strike the ball, aiming at my ball, then turned back to Angel and told her, "Like you, I don't rely on anything as primitive as genes for keeping up my appearance. I use lots of expensive makeup." I could sense an antagonism flaring up between Rey and Angel, but then I saw Mr. Edison come out of the house.

Ted laughed and said, "Rey, you've never looked like an old lady. When I read that you are over 30, I could hardly believe it. You really must have inherited good genes from your parents."

Angel said, "I'm not sure that Rey has parents. Maybe she's just an exotic machine that Tom crafted to help in the lab."

Rey told Angel, "Take your turn... I think Ted is trying to judge how well you handle balls."

Tom called across the driveway, "Tea is served. Mina wants you all to come inside, but you can finish your game, first. I think you youngens should make use of what's left of this day's light."

Angel dropped her mallet and went across the driveway. She told Tom, "Thank you for hiring me, Mr. Edison. I'm enjoying the work."

"I hope it does not feel like work. Research should be fun."

"It is, but challenging. I wonder if I can ever catch up with Rey. She's full of surprises."

Abandoning the game, we all went up the walkway towards the main entrance of the mansion. Tom put an arm around Rey's waist and told her, "I trust you are helping get Angel settled in at the lab."

I asked Ted, "What do you plan to study in Boston?"

He took my arm and quipped, "You'll be high on my list of priorities, rest assured."

Tom held open the front door. As I passed by, he asked me, "How long have you lived in Boston?"

"Two years now."

"Then you must be used to the snow storms."

We made our way to a side wing of the mansion where tea was being served. Ted told me, "I'm not looking forward to northern winters. I'll be finding a good way to keep warm... maybe you can give me dancing lessons." He patted my bottom.

Tom was speaking to his wife, "I chased them all inside."

As a trained swimmer and runner, I suppose my glutes impressed Ted. In a whispered aside, I told him, "I sense you already have a great appreciation for... dance."

Mina greeted us and when we all had our cups of tea she asked, "Who won the game?"

"I don't think the game is over." Ted said, "Angel and Rey seem to be sparing over something."

Tom told Rey, "You all need to be pulling together. We have to get that new detector finished and producing data."

Angel said, "Sad to say, some of Rey's ideas about electronics are out of date. She hasn't kept up on the use of computers for data handling."

Tom told Angel, "Get that new Mark V computer running and Rey will come around. This growing importance of computing is why I talked Ted into going to MIT."

Ted spoke to his father, "I'm eager to learn computing. Too bad I couldn't start this fall at MIT."

Mina felt obliged to explain her son's situation to me. "Ted is finishing his time at the military training camp, then he'll be attending MIT as a reserve officer next year." Then she told Ted, "I warn you, don't get your hopes up. By the time you get to Boston, Rylla might be gone."

Ted pulled his eyes off of my breasts and asked his mother, "What?"

"Mikey and I have a vision." Mina said enthusiastically, "Just imagine, a bunch of young dancers who could start a new ballet troop here in New Jersey. Does the idea appeal to you, Rylla?"

I asked, "Where would the theater be located?"

Mina replied, "Atlantic City.

Tom drained his tea cup and sat in the chair beside Mina. "Ted, why don't you give Rylla and Angel the grand tour?"

Ted launched into the task of showing off the mansion and rather than sit down with Mina and Tom, Rey tagged along for the tour. When we reached the laboratory, Ted said, "I grew up in here, pretending to be the man who would perfect television. But now the hot field is computers."

image source

I looked out through one of the windows and could see Eddy still standing there by the car, chatting to a man who had apparently driven Angel to the Edison residence. I heard Angel say, "Now tell me, who are you?" When I turned around I saw that Ted was in a chair, his head and arms slumped over a desk, apparently asleep.

Rey replied, "We're here to figure out how you will block my mission."

"Will block?" Angel laughed. "That was accomplished last week. Nyrtia pulled the plug. Are you here to make sure of it? Can't say I expected Nyrtia to send two copies of you to Earth."

Rey put her hands on her hips. "Let's not try to count all the copies of me. I wasn't made by Nyrtia."

"Then who?"

"Let's trade. I'll tell you where I came from and you tell me how you will terminate the hierion detector project."

Angel shrugged. "Don't you get it? It's all over. When I showed up and gave an unexpected boost to the detector project, Nyrtia could see the writing on the wall. Even she could see that revealing the existence of hierions inside Earthlings would turn out to be a disaster. She had planned to simply reveal the existence of hierions, but now with me here on Earth, it would not end there."

I was beginning to understand Angel's strategy. I said, "So, you did not try to block Rey's work, you amplified it."

Angel nodded. She proudly explained, "After I arrived here, it was just a matter of a few days before Nyrtia reprogrammed Rey. The real Rey." She demanded of Rey2, "Now tell me, who are you?"

Rey2 explained, "I'm a copy that was made outside of this Simulation, then sent back in... to find you."

"What for? What do you hope to accomplish?"

Rey seemed completely deflated by the simplicity of Angel's explanation for how Nyrtia's Edison Intervention was derailed. Trying to telepathically look into her memories, I moved close to Angel and asked, "So that's it. Your mission on Earth is over?"

"No, not quite. I've been trying to hitch my star to Ted, and I don't need you and your perky breasts getting in my way, girlie."

I guessed, "Ah, so Manny has plans for both you and Ted?"

Angel nodded. "I've seen the future. He and I will have two kids and one of them will help construct the first space elevator going up into orbit from Earth."

Rey asked, "So, are you trying to slow technology development or accelerate it?"

Angel explained, "It is important to block the development of dangerous technologies while also helping Earthlings find new technologies that can lessen the impact of global warming."

I could not penetrate the layers of Angel's unusual and powerful telepathic mind. I turned to Rey and said, "Well, I'm ready to go home."

Angel chuckled and asked. "Are you really going to walk out on a dinner date with the Edisons?"

from the film, Elevator to Paris

I took Rey by the hand and led her out the side door of the laboratory. The sun had already set and the warmth of the day was fading fast. A steady breeze was blowing yellow and orange leaves along the driveway. Eddy was inside the car trying to stay warm. As we walked to the car, Rey muttered to me, "She's so smug. I wanted to punch her leering mouth."

I said, "Let it go." We got into the car and I told Eddy, "Mission accomplished. You can take us home."

Eddy said, "Hmmm... that was fast." He drove down the driveway and out through the gate, giving a mock salute to the soldiers. "Now I wonder... what do we do with Rey?"

Using her powerful telepathy, Rey could see Eddy's thoughts. She told him, "You don't owe me any favors."

Just then a new voice spoke from the back seat. "I told you that you need to start taking responsibility for your actions."

I looked behind myself, into the back seat, and asked, "Who are you?"

Eddy glanced over his shoulder and told me, "That's Manny."

Manny told Eddy, "You and Azynov can't go around duplicating people and then just abandon them."

I asked Manny, "What does it matter? This is all a simulation, right?"

Manny explained, "But this Simulation will continue, even after you depart. This is all part of training you human telepaths in the ethical consequences of wielding telepathic powers."

Eddy told Manny, "So instruct us. You are the expert. What do you recommend?"

"Let's use the Socratic method." Manny said, "Try to guess... what would a bumpha do?"

 Eddy had driven us the short distance back to the home of Ed2 and Yōd. Ed2 was just getting home from work. He came over to our car and saw Manny. He asked Ed1, "What's going on?"

I told Ed2, "We're trying to figure out what to do with this copy of Rey."

Ed2 rubbed his cheek and gazed at Rey2. "You know, there's something wrong with the other Rey. She got weird last week. It is almost like she forgot that hierions exist. Maybe we could swap this copy for..."

Manny laughed and told Ed2, "Nyrtia reprogrammed that copy of Rey last week. Your Rey. And she'll do the same to this copy if she stays here in this Simulation." Manny put an arm around Rey2. "You no longer belong in this Reality, my dear."

Ed2 shrugged and took his eyes off of Rey2. He then shook the hand of Ed1. "Just take her with you."

The Simulation wobbled and suddenly Eddy and I were back in Arizona. I was back in my normal body, with all four of my breasts and wondering what might have ensued had I been equipped with all of them while inside the Ekcolir Reality Simulation. Then I giggled at myself and let go of desire to compete against Angel. That was a hopeless cause, even if I'd had all four of my breasts on display to entice Ted. Zeta was there in the living room playing some kind of hide-and-seek game with Tihri and Marda. Zeta asked, "Who is she?" I could hear Tihri and Marda down the hallway, laughing.

I followed Zeta's gaze and there was Rey. Eddy said, "This is Reynette Cummings, from the Ekcolir Reality."

Zeta seemed tired... or something. Walking stiffly, she waddled over to hug Eddy then she turned to gaze at Rey and asked Eddy, "How were you able to pull a simulated person out of the Simulator?" Later I learned that she had increased her oxypathin level in an attempt to telepathically link to us while we were in the Ekcolir Reality Simulation. All she got for her trouble was a throbbing clitoral erection that would not go away.

Eddy shook his head in dismay. "It wasn't me. This must be a Manny trick. Maybe it is possible for the bumpha to copy a replicoid out of the Simulator and into a new body here in the real world."

Tihri and Marda came racing through the living room, possibly wondering why Zeta had abandoned the game and not gone down the hallway looking for them. They were both naked. Zeta told me, "I just got them out of the tub. They've been running me ragged ever since you left."

I said, "Luckily it did not take us very long to solve the mystery of what ended the Edison Intervention."

Zeta was looking carefully at Rey. Rey could telepathically see what was on Zeta's mind. Rey told Zeta, "Yes, I know how to change diapers. You can go play with your husband."

Zeta took Eddy to their bedroom and I did not see them until the next day. Rey told me, "I see Zeta's not too tired for sex." Rey then efficiently diapered the kids and helped me get them to bed. Using her femtobot components, Rey even managed to produce milk and nurse Tihri to sleep. Tihri seemed quite content to be with Rey, and I imagine they had a strong telepathic connection.

Later, as I was trying to get to sleep and telepathically I could sense that Eddy was still engaged in sexplay with Zeta. Still under the influence of high levels of oxypathin in my system, I took one of my favorite vibrators to bed. Before I could switch on the vibrator, Rey came into my bedroom and made herself useful. I still don't know if Rey originated as a positronic robot, but I'd like to thank whoever developed the programming that she uses to power her tongue.

The next morning, I woke up alone in bed. I could telepathically sense that Marda was playing with Tihri. I took a leisurely shower and then walked down the other end of the house. I saw Zeta and Rey in the dining room. Eddy was out in the back yard, watching Marda and Tihri play in the sandbox. I went into the dining room. I stopped and starred. There at the far end of the table was Manny, apparently mid-conversation with Zeta and Rey. I sat down at the table and Manny said, "Good morning, sleepy head."

Rey popped up out of her chair and asked me, "What can I get you for breakfast?"

I said, "I was hoping for breakfast in bed, but I guess I over-slept." Rey was just being polite, she could see in my mind what I wanted, food and otherwise. She went off into the kitchen. I asked Manny, "Tell, me, why all the games? Why a silly dance just to get Nyrtia to pull Rey off of her project?"

Manny explained, "Nyrtia is the master of the Hierion Domain. Even I could not over-ride Nyrtia's programming of Reynette."

Rey brought me a cut-open grapefruit. She asked Manny, "What about this idea that I'm a positronic robot? Is that true?"

Manny shrugged. "You and your various analogues have had an interesting journey through Deep Time. Maybe Rylla could investigate."

"Must you play games with us, Nyrtia?" I suggested, "Just tell us as much as you know."

"Nyrtia is secretive." Manny paused and seemed to be deciding exactly how much to say about Rey's mysterious origins. "My guess is that Rey originated in the Foundation Reality, possibly on Gaia, where Nyrtia was trying to prepare for the Galaxia super-mind. Does it matter?"

Zeta said, "I've long worried about Nora being on Earth in violation of the Trysta-Grean Pact. Now you've dropped Rey into our laps."

Manny said, "There is no way for Earthlings to detect the difference between either Nora or Rey and an actual biological human. Their femtobots perfectly simulate a human biobody."

I asked, "But won't nanotechnology eventually progress and make it possible for people to detect femtobots?"

Manny laughed. "I can no longer view the future. Your guess is as good as mine."

Eddy came inside with Tihri and Marda. For five minutes there was a flurry of chaotic activity and then Rey led the children down to the other end of the house. Zeta said, "I could get used to having a live-in cook and babysitter."

Eddy sat down in the chair where Rey had been sitting. "But would she be happy in that role? She's been in charge of the hierion detector project for years. I can't see her being content as your maid."

I told Eddy, "I was asking Manny about Rey's background." I asked Manny, "How was Nyrtia able to insert Rey into Earth's timeline?"

"There was a biological Rey in the Ekcolir Reality. Nyrtia teleported her to Observer Base. The artificial Rey had been well trained to take over for the biological Rey."

Eddy asked, "What will happen to the other Rey, the one that's still there in Menlo Park?"

"She'll resign from her position with Edison and become a science fiction story writer."

Eddy nodded. "And then in the Buld Reality, the next analogue for Rey was male... Ray. I've never understood the reason for those kinds of sex changes from one Reality to the next."

Manny shrugged. "Maybe some day Nyrtia will explain how she set up the Bimanoid Interface so as to provide Earth's Temporal Momentum. Choices like allowing sex changes might seem random to you, but she must have had a good reason for that feature."

Zeta said, "So you and Nyrtia were collaborating in the Ekcolir Reality."

"I would not use that particular word to describe the situation. Nyrtia played an important role in shaping the Final Reality. Most of her Interventions into the course of technology development on Earth were useful, even if they often had to be reverted or re-directed. All the time travel that was involved created vast amounts of temporal energy that was needed to create the Final Reality." Manny added, "And of course, Nyrtia was always trying to help Humanity... to the best of her ability." Just then, Manny vanished.

Eddy and I started sharing our experiences from our visit to the Ekcolir Reality Simulator. When I finished telling him about my time inside Edison's house with Rey, he said, "I may be getting too old for this. It felt pretty useless being relegated to the motor pool while you and Rey did all the work."

I said, "It is something that old men need to figure out. You should always let the younger women do all the work."

Eddy was unable to keep his eyes off of my erect nipples... all four of them. He commented, "I think you and Zeta better back off on the oxypathin dose. She had me up half the night and each time we slipped into an orgasm trance, I could telepathically sense that you were having a wild time with Rey."

"Well, she was thrilled to learn about modern vibrator technology. Maybe with her technical expertise there is a new career in that area for her... designing better ones."

"So you intend to stay with Rey?"

"We'll see. Right now I'm totally infatuated with her. You don't mind her being here in your house?"

"It's up to Zeta, but I think she is truly glad to have some helping hands around, at least for the duration of this pregnancy. She keeps saying that a woman in her sixties should not be pregnant."

"With her medical nanites and good genes, she's biologically in her thirties.  She's just always fishing for your sympathy and trying to prevent you from going off on another adventure inside the Simulation System."

"Speaking of which, I'd like to make a quick trip into the Buld Reality, to investigate a strange bit of Thomas Edison lore."

"What's that?"

"In 1920 he started talking about a mysterious device that he was making... a way to... well, listen to this..." Eddy looked at his phone and quoted: "Take our own bodies. I believe they are composed of myriads and myriads of infinitesimally small individuals, each in itself a unit of life."

I commented, "It almost sounds like he was talking about femtobots."

Eddy asked, "How could Edison have learned about femtobots if not from Ray Cummings?"

"Rey's analogue in the Buld Reality?"

in the Buld Reality

"The original 'Rey' from the Ekcolir Reality ended up at the Writers Block and was feeding story ideas to Ray Cummings. While working for Edison, he must have mentioned some of those ideas... I suppose it got Edison thinking about nanites."

"There was copy of Rey at the Writers Block?"

"Yes. I learned about that from the Atlantis Clones. The Reynette at the Writers Block even wrote an autobiographical book: An Unthought Thing: My Life in Science Fiction. You might enjoy reading it."

"That's a weird title. How could she write about something that was 'unthought'?"

Eddy chuckled at my bewilderment. "Ray Cummings wrote stories about a kind of alternate universe, a place for all the things that we humans have not thought of, yet. Ivory Fersoni thought that was a pretty good description of the Sedron Time Stream."

"You really think Edison knew about the Sedron Time Stream?"

1920 in the Buld Reality

"Maybe not by that name, but Ivory suspected that Edison was one of the rare humans who could tap into the Sedron data stream. Listen to this..." Eddy read some more from the text that was displayed on the screen of his phone: "...these infinitesimally small units live forever. When we 'die' these swarms of units, like a swarm of bees, so to speak, betake themselves elsewhere and go on to function in some other form or environment."

I said, "I admit, it sounds like he might be describing the way that some humans, like Ivory, have been taken from Earth to the Hierion Domain."

"And Ivory lived on as a femtobot replicoid... Yrovi. Edison claimed to be developing a device that might allow him to communicate with his hypothetical 'other environment' of the nanites." Eddy put his phone back in his pocket. "It makes me wonder if some Interventionist agent once showed him a hierion probe."

I laughed. "So you want to go back into the Simulator and ask him?"

"It's a possibility." Eddy shrugged. "But I want to think about it first. It is rather disconcerting to think that every time I use the Simulator, I bring into existence a whole new world where people will have to live with the consequences of my actions."

see image info at Hierion Crossing

"Yes, that certainly puts a new spin on the importance of our research." I told Eddy, "Zeta wants to take me to see the twins, Alpha and Beta. I'm surprised she named one of her children after her sister, Alpha. Alpha and Zeta had quite a bitter rivalry."

"Frankly, I'm a bit afraid to expose Gamma to Alpha and Beta." I could see in Eddy's mind that he was a bit afraid of the mind clone children. "Maybe we should wait until Gamma is born before making another 'in person' visit. Zeta found out last night that with a high dose of oxypathin and a synapex connection to me, she can telepathically link to the twins from here."

I suggested, "You can't back out now. I suspect that Alpha and Beta can already telepathically link to Gamma. We've gone down the path towards human telepathy. There is no turning back. We have to learn how to make this work... make sure that telepathy is not misused."

Eddy muttered, "Sure, nothing to it." He sounded distracted and daunted by the task ahead of us, but I could telepathically sense that he was planning to ask Rey to take me and the kids into town to go shopping, just so that he could get Zeta into the hot tub for a bit of sexplay.

Before he implemented his plan, I had one more thing to say. I was eager for another adventure inside the the Reality Simulation System, but not sure if I could control the Index and targeting system. I said, "I want to go back to Menlo Park and check on one little detail."

Eddy could see the surface layer of my thoughts. "After all you saw inside the Simulator, and you wonder about that old car?"

I explained, "I want to go back, just before the time when we arrived in Menlo Park... and watch, see who put Ed2's car there in front of the Suarez mansion. Someone must have made sure that were able to quickly find a way to meet Angel."

Eddy waved a hand in dismissal. "It must have been Azynov. He looked ahead in time and arranged for us to use Ed2's car."

"He might have sent us there, placed us in the car, but he must have gotten help from Nyrtia."

Eddy told me, "Don't get paranoid. We can't start blaming everything that happens on either Nyrtia or Manny. Although, I must say, Nyrtia is devious. While Yōd was inside the Ekcolir Reality, she seemed to be experiencing normal physiological responses to hot and cold environments, which may have been Nyrtia's way of hurrying her back to the Asimov Reality Simulation."

I told Eddy, "And you saw what she did to my breasts when I was in the Simulator." I was glad to be back in my usual body. "Well, we can return to the ER Simulation together. You can talk to Edison and I'll try to catch Nyrtia in the act of helping us." I giggled. "If I embarrass Nyrtia enough, maybe she'll tell me where her secret headquarters is located."

Eddy laughed. "That's an amazing concept... I'm not sure it is possible to embarrass Nyrtia... or Manny, for that matter. No, if Manny never learned Nyrtia's secrets, what chance do we have?"

I took that question seriously. "If the children continue improving their telepathic abilities, it might be possible to turn the tables on Nyrtia. She's had the upper hand against humans through all of Deep Time, manipulating people with her telepathic powers and her control of the Bimanoid Interface."

Eddy muttered, "Even Manny can't out-fox Nyrtia when it comes to hierions."

I was not intimidated by Nyrtia. "And now that I've learned how to use oxypathin to boost my telepathic powers..." I fell silent. I was thinking about the possibility that I might be able to form a synapex link to Rey.

Eddy could follow my thought. "I'm going to have to impose a rule limiting the use of oxypathin in this house. That hormone is turning both you and Zeta into wild women."

I knew there was no point in trying to rush Eddy back into the Simulator. I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Oh, fine. I'll get Rey and the kids out of the house for a few hours." I could telepathically sense that he really did not mind that Zeta was so horny. And I knew that later in the day, he'd pull Zeta into the hot tub and then Rey and I could get back to the important task of playing with my vibrator collection. It was convenient that Tihri and Marda could telepathically link to the other mind clones and entertain themselves for hours in the sandbox... or wherever it was that they went off to in their minds.

Related Reading: Part 4 of "Edison's Endosymbiont Experiments"

Next: plans for the next story in the Nyrtia Cycle.

visit the Gallery of Book and Magazine Covers