Hearing From Tihri

Tyffany.
This image is "Lace" by x3xdx
available under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Below on this page is Part 5 of a science fiction story called "The Frenchyhysur Process". By using synapex connections between telepaths, the Editor has discovered how to make it much easier to exchange information between Earth and Observer Base. Also, the Editor no longer needs to be asleep while telepathically communicating with Yōd, who is inside the Asimov Reality Simulator. Given these successes, the Editor has been able to start move past his misgivings about the possible misuse of telepathy by Nyrtia and Manny (see Part 4).

At Observer Base, Stacy has found an archived story ("The Search for Maturin") that she believes to be from the future, since it seems to have been written by Tihri in middle age. The beginning of Part 5, below, is an excerpt from that story. 

The rest of Part 5 is the Editor's account of how Tihri was able to meet Nirutam's artificial life copy, Maturin, inside the Asimov Reality Simulator. 

Part 5 of "The Frenchyhysur Process" (Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)(Part 4)

The following is an excerpt from the first chapter of The Search for Maturin.

Having been gestated under conditions that allowed my growing brain to telepathically link to other nodes of the Mind Clone Network, it should not surprise you that I experienced precocious cognitive development. I began to speak words by six months... many words. My mother took delight in recording my early verbal performances.

Before my brain could craft real sentences, I spoke a unique style of free association patter: single words, one after another, without the use of any conventions of grammar being imposed. However, don't bother searching for any of my patter videos. My mother did not want to draw public attention to me.

I grew up in rural Arizona, three miles from our nearest neighbor. My parents never tried to become part of the local community and we were viewed as "city folk" by the locals. They were perfectly happy to ignore us. I was home schooled, so don't try to track down my old school chums. For companionship, I always had my fellow nodes.

That's right, nodes... not nerds. I was a node in a Mind Clone Network and in this book I'll try to explain what that means. Short version: half of my brain was identical to half the brains of two other nodes in the network, so the three of us were born with strong telepathic linkages connecting us into the Network. So, even though I never went to school until I as twelve and did not play with the neighborhood kids s a child, I was never lonely.

Nirutam

 My first conscious memory from my early life is from the time when one of the other nodes was visiting Arizona. He and his mother had come from Australia and they spent three weeks vacationing in our house. Not surprisingly, it is an emotion-charged memory of being traumatized. I now understand how that traumatic event happened by accident, but at the time, all that mattered was my sudden realization that a living thing could die.

While outside for a walk through the desert, me and my fellow node were playing our version of "I spy". When we saw something new, we made use of the group mind of our clone network to identify the new object. There was much to see on that early spring day in the desert. After some heavy winter rains, there were glorious wild flowers all around us. The other node who was there with me suddenly said, "Nirutam is dead." I began to weep.

I did not actually get to see Nirutam's grave that day. I did not need to. Because of my connection to the Sedron Domain, I had long been receiving information from the future. With the help of the mind clone network, I suddenly understood that Nirutam was a visiting alien from the Andromeda galaxy who had died inside my childhood home. In a real sense, I was being haunted by Nirutam's ghost.

Of course, Nirutam's ghost was nothing more than a femtobot replicoid, an artificial life-form that had allowed Nirutam's mind to survive after the death of her biological body. After Nirutam's death, my parents had buried her in the desert out beyond our backyard. There was no point in drawing attention to the alien Nirutam, just as my parents did not want the world to know that 25% of my genes are of Neanderthal origin. So, yes, it is no coincidence that my mother is half Neanderthal and we had an alien buried in our backyard.

I was aware of Nirutam because my parents were often thinking about her horrible illness. Stimulated by those gloomy thoughts of my parents, my mind clone network had been sucking in available information about Nirutam from several other sources, including Observer Base and the Sedron Time Stream. With information coming to us from both the past and the future, me and my fellow nodes eventually understood the meaning of death. Of course, after that traumatic revelation, I was eager to meet Nirutam.

______________

in the Ekcolir Reality

Zeta, Tihri and I were out for a drive and enjoying views of the spring wild flowers where they decorated the high desert hills. I was telling Zeta all about my recent return visit to the L2 space station community near the planet Numenes. That visit had taken place in the Reality Simulation System and I had spent a pleasant day with Tiffany and her robot. Every time I said "robot", Tihri cried out, "Niaf!" and giggled hysterically as if that was the funniest thing in the world.

After that had happened three times, Zeta asked me, "What is she saying? Knife?"

I was used to Tihri inventing words and saying things just to see how we would react. I was intent on my story, so I did not pay much attention to Tihri. I'd begun my tale by telling Zeta, "I was worried that poor Tyffany might have gotten herself in trouble by speaking to your sister and I."

Due to our telepathic connection, Zeta could sense my emotional reaction to Tyffany. Zeta said, "You sure know how to craft extravagant excuses for why you always find ways to spend so much time with cute girls."

"Please don't allow your jealousy to fire up, my love. Tyf and I were not alone. We had a chaperone. That robot helper of hers."

Tihri said, "Niaf, daddy," and she giggled merrily.

After only a brief glance over my shoulder at Tihri where she sat enthroned in her car seat, I continued, "Tyf did get questioned by Whelm security about her visit to Brynkly Station. However, soon after that, the Whelm announced that Yurahs had been liberated from the space pirate sympathizers who had kidnapped her. Suddenly Tyf was no longer under suspicion."

L2

Zeta asked, "Pirate sympathizers?"

"That's the excuse they used." I explained, "There was no real plot by space pirates, but the Whelm manufactured an excuse for a security crack-down. In the end, they arrested about a dozen residents of L2 who seemed like potential security risks. The Whelm also announced increased security for the L2 asteroid mining stations. Chief Paqt finally got a budget line funding a deputy chief of security."

"Did you see Bey again?"

I thought about Bey Paqt. I knew that Zeta had paid close attention to the story of how Yōd had seduced Bey, within the Chief's office. It was true that I had spent the night in Bey's house, but Bey had been down the hallway with Elyas. Of course, I must confess that Bey was a sexy woman. I could telepathically sense that Zeta was feeling some jealousy whenever she thought about Bey. "No, I did not. Upon activating the Simulation System, I dropped right into Tyf's apartment."

Zeta said, "How convenient."

"Tyf was at work, but I had a good long chat with her robot, Anthony."

Tihri said, "A Niaf, daddy!"

I glanced at Tihri's reflection in the rear-view mirror and waited for her to stop giggling. I was still learning how to navigate telepathically through the thoughts of a young child, but I could sense that Tihri was trying to tell me something about robots. Sadly, I was too stupid to understand her. 

The death of Nirutam.

I told Zeta, "Anthony explained to me that he was Nyrtia's agent within L2 and he had made sure that Tyf had been selected by the Connatic to fill her important position. Anthony proudly told me how brilliant Tyf is and he described Tyf's unwavering commitment to making duplicate backup copies of the royal family members. Also, while listening to Anthony, I began to telepathically tune to his mind and I was certain that he had a sexual relationship with Tyf."

Tihri said, "Oral sex." Again she laughed.

Zeta was also working hard to improve her telepathic link to Tihri. Zeta told me, "She can sense that you are again thinking about the blow job you got from Fortran the robot."

Tihri said, "A Niaf, mommy!"

I had to chuckle. I said, "I'll never live that down."

Zeta reached back towards Tihri and they began to hold hands. I could sense a strengthening telepathic link into Tihri's young mind. Zeta and I were certain that Tihri was not saying "knife"; it was "niaf". But what was "niaf"? Zeta asked me, "So there can be no doubt... Anthony was being used by Nyrtia to maintain control of the teleportation duplication equipment? Under Anthony's watchful eye, nobody was ever duplicated except the Connatic and other members of the royal family?"

"Well, he admitted that he had made a backup copy of Tyffany." I reached a hand over towards Zeta and she took hold of it with her free hand. Telepathically she warned me: Watch your driving. I continued, "After having invested so much effort in her training, Anthony did not want to risk loosing Tyf before he could train her replacement."

Zeta said, "I suppose I'll have to visit L2 and meet Anthony. He sounds like quite a guy."

the fain

Tihri said, "Tony is here."

Zeta asked me, "Do you think Tihri can telepathically link to that positronic robot?" Zeta asked Tihri, "Where is Anthony?"

A man's voice came from the back seat behind Zeta, "Right behind you."

Zeta screamed. I looked over my shoulder and saw Anthony, seated next to Tihri. I pulled my hand away from Zeta and tried to focus on my driving. I shouted at Zeta, "That's Anthony!" Zeta stopped screaming but she was out of her seat-belt and turned around to glare at the robot over her seat-back. I sputtered, "What are you... how did you... what the hell is going on?"

Anthony replied, "Nyrtia asked me to keep an eye on you."

Zeta admonished Anthony, "It is rude to suddenly teleport in like that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Anthony shook his head and explained, "I did not teleport. I'm a femtobot replicoid, a niaf, so I can take on any convenient bodily form. I've been using a microscopic body, but Tihri figured that out. I decided I might as well reveal myself." Anthony flooded my mind with a thought: In the future, Tihri coins the term 'niaf' to refer to an artificial life-form composed of nanites.

I said, "In the future? Tihri can see the future?"

Anthony nodded. "These mind clones are like the Atlantis clones... they have access to the Sedron Time Stream. Tihri receives information from her future self and also Brak."

Atlantis clones

I turned off the road and into our driveway. I asked Anthony, "How long have you been controlling Tihri's mind?"

"Don't use the word control. I've been helping the mind clone network integrate... form a stable configuration, but it was the recent synapex experiments performed by you and Zeta that allowed Tihri to stabilize an adult-style neural network in her brain." I pulled the car into the garage. Anthony added, "Of course, she accomplished that milestone several years sooner than is normally possible for a child, so I'll call it the T2 mind pattern. Your daughter is unique."

I moved to get Tihri out of her car seat. She said, "Nirutam, daddy."

Zeta and Anthony were coming around from the other side of the car. Zeta asked the robot, "You telepathically control Tihri's mind and the other mind clones?"

I carried Tihri into the house. Anthony was telling Zeta, "Not exactly. Mostly I watch to make sure that nothing begins to degrade their programming. Each node of the network has the Laws of Robotics encoded in the structure of their endosymbiont, but now, while their brains are growing so fast, that programming must spread to their synapses, too. Biology can be messy, so I watch for errors."

Tihri asked, "Robotics?"

I have an obsession with washing hands. Anthony took Tihri out of my arms and told her, "The Laws of Robotics prevent us from harming humans."

Tihri said, "Robotics!"

Anthony told me, "This was a condition imposed by Manny: no telepathic humans unless their behavior is constrained by the Laws of Robotics."

Zeta took Tihri from the robot and complained to Anthony, "I don't think Nyrtia should be using the children as her pawns."

I was drying off my hands. I turned away from the kitchen sink and told Anthony, "You are not going to be able to stay here unless you can get along with Zeta."

Tihri told me, "Nirutam, now!"

Anthony explained, "Tihri wants to visit Nirutam... by which she means the selfie copy, inside the Asimov Reality Simulation."

We were all moving from the kitchen into the living room. I told Zeta, "This might be a good time for you to visit your sister."

Zeta sat down and began nursing Tihri. Anthony and I went to my computer in the corner of the room. I asked, "Do you know the space-time coordinates for Maturin inside the Simulation?"

Anthony casually adjusted the Index settings. "Maturin is spending a lot of time watching over Azynov and Yōd."

I told Zeta, "We're going to Zeck. You'll get to meet Glisten."

Zeta asked me telepathically: Why are you obsessed with Glisten?

Tihri popped her mouth off of Zeta's nipple and said, "Oral sex, mommy." Zeta shifted Tihri over to the other breast.

I confess that I'd been thinking about Glisten... a lot. I told Zeta, "I suppose we can never hope to keep secrets from Tihri. Remember yesterday when I telepathically linked to Yōd and she told us that she had been enjoying her sexplay sessions with Glisten?"

Zeta nodded and asked me, "Just because Yōd enjoys having sex with Glisten, does that mean you have to fantasize about sexplay with Glisten?"

"Sorry about that." I tried to change the subject, "We should probably contact Yōd and warn her that we are coning for a visit."

I could see in Zeta's thoughts that she wanted my penis inside her for reasons other than forming a synapex connection between our nervous systems. However, Tihri was watching Anthony and she showed no signs of dropping into sleep.

Anthony said, "Tihri and I can play."

Tihri popped off the breast and said, "Play!"

Anthony and Tihri began playing with Tihri's toys. Zeta and I passed over into the Arizona Simulation where we had amplified telepathic abilities. Inside that Simulation of our house, Zeta took me to our bedroom and we made love. After Zeta had a fierce orgasm, she lay in my arms and we established our synapex link. Soon I was able to telepathically link to Yōd's mind. 

Yōd told me: Roxzel is terribly excited. She told me that Tihri is coming for a visit.

I explained the circumstances to Yōd and then asked: Have you seen Maturin lately?

The Mind Clone Network

 Yōd replied: No, but I suspect she is watching over Azynov and I. We've just been relaxing here on Zeck... not getting into any trouble.

Zeta asked: So this is a good time?

We're on our houseboat, anchored in a quiet cove of the Shard Sea. You can drop in anytime.

After breaking the telepathic link to Yōd, Zeta and I briefly returned to the real world. Tihri saw us arrive and cried out, "Roxzel!" 

We had an argument with Anthony who insisted that he should go with us to Zeck. That argument lasted through lunch then Tihri could no longer be distracted. She pulled on my arm and shouted, "Roxzel, now!"

When we arrived on Yōd's house boat it was late afternoon local time on Zeck. Zeta and I were inside youthful bodies that I would estimate to be about 30 years old. After introductions, Roxzel and Tihri jumped off the boat to swim in the warm water. Anthony jumped in and served as lifeguard. Zeta asked Yōd, "How can we attract Maturin's attention?"

Yōd shrugged. "Interesting question. She seems to pop up at the most awkward times."

Zeta said, "You mean..."

"Yes. She seems to enjoy sex and she often links to me while Azynov are in an orgasm trance."

Zeck

"How rude. What about a synapex link?"

"We can try that." Yōd briefly looked at Anthony and the children and than pushed Azynov onto a deck chair. Yōd pulled up her skirt and straddled Azynov.

Following Yōd's lead, Zeta was soon sitting on my crotch and had my erection inside her vagina. The children continued to splash and play in the water with Anthony and soon Yōd was linked to Azynov and Zeta and I had our synapex connection established, too. Yōd told me: I could get used to having a robotic babysitter. 

Roxzel, Tihri and Anthony were there in a shared mind space with Yōd and I. I could sense the telepathic minds of Azynov and Zeta, but their mind patterns were not able to fully exploit that shared mind space. Suddenly, another mind pattern arrived. Maturin told Tihri: You see, I am not dead.

Tihri told Maturin: You are niaf.

Maturin explained: I'm alive, but not like you. Not biological.

Tihri asked: Me niaf?

That telepathic exchange between Maturin and Tihri probably took less than two seconds. I struggled to keep up with their flashing thought patterns. Maturin 'said' something like: In the future you will cross over and become niaf. Enjoy being biological while you can. Your parents are old and won't last forever.

Then Maturin was gone. Whispering in my ear, Zeta asked, "Does she want to scare Tihri?"

We were all coming out of that trance-like shared mind linkage. I muttered, "I think Tihri now understands about death."

Azynov

Anthony was helping Roxzel climb back onto the boat. She said, "Glisten"

Tihri added, "Oral sex."

Zeta pulled herself off of my erection and tossed a towel over my crotch. Yōd did the same for Azynov. Yōd told us, "Janty and Glisten are bringing their two kids out on their boat today. I hope they get here before dark."

After Roxzel and Tihri were dried off, they wanted to nurse and soon Zeta and Yōd were both synapex linked to their daughters. All four of them seemed to fall asleep. I asked Anthony, "Are you like Nyrtia... did you originate as a baby robot with a Nyrtian mind pattern?"

Anthony replied, "Yes, sir. But I was created in the Second Reality... long after Nyrtia."

Azynov asked Anthony, "So, did you know Daneel?"

Anthony shrugged, "I know a robot named Dani. Your stories about Daneel are based on one of Dani's missions in a past Reality."

I complained to Anthony, "I'm still worried about helping Nyrtia assemble a team of telepathic mind clones. How about you? Zeta and I worry that Nyrtia will treat Tihri and the other children like puppets."

Anthony chuckled quietly then produced a human-like sigh. "There is nothing I can say that will set your mind at ease. However, I trust that Tihri herself will take care of this problem."

Just then, I saw Zeta's eyes flick open and I heard Tihri and Roxzel pop off their nipples. I told Anthony, "I can't really communicate with Tihri. Yer mind seems quite alien."

Jantiff on Wyst

The children ran to Anthony and he began taking turns, lifting each child high above his head then setting them back down on the deck. "Don't be in a hurry." Anthony told me, "As Tihri grows, her telepathic link to your mind will stabilize and you will work together to tell the story of human origins to the people of Earth."

Azynov had gotten his penis to deflate and he was now pointing off towards the mouth of the cove. "Here they come!"

Yōd said, "That's Janty's house boat."

Zeta was still recovering from the trance she had shared with Yōd and the children. She staggered out of her seat and came to sit beside me. "I just linked to Stacy and Amiante. Stacy found an interesting story in the Archives of the Writers Block. A story called The Search for Maturin. It seems to be another story from the future."

Tihri said, "Maturin is niaf, mommy."

Zeta asked Tihri, "You are friends with Maturin in the future?"

"Yes, mommy."

The other house boat pulled along side. Yōd called across to Glisten, "We have guests, from outside of the Simulation." After introductions were made, Glisten's children were getting their turns being lifted up high by Anthony. Tihri pointed towards Anthony and announced, "Nyrturian!"

Zeta asked me, "Weren't all the Nyrturians female?"

I replied, "I think that changed in the Second Reality, but at some point there was a transition from the Nyrturians to the Asterothropes."

Asterothropes

Yōd asked Anthony, "So, do you have giant Asterothrope genitals?"

Anthony replied with a question of his own, "Why do you ask?"

Yōd said, "Call it scientific curiosity. I'm here in this Simulation for a reason... trying to understand the origins of human telepathy. I've already run across some people in Alastor Cluster who have many Asterothrope gene patterns."

"Yes, I originated from a Nyrturian pattern. However, when among humans I like to use a human appearance." Anthony told the children, "Now, Janty is going to help you toast marshmallows." All the children went over to where Janty activated a gas fire pit at the back end of his house boat. 

Glisten came onboard Azynov's boat and approached Anthony. "You can alter your body structure?"

"Yes. I am what Tihri calls a niaf, an artificial life-form composed of nanites."

Yōd grabbed one of Anthony's arms and Zeta the other. They pulled him towards the boat's cabin. Yōd told Glisten, "Come along. You can see with your own eyes."

Zeta told me telepathically: I want to see this myself.

I told Zeta: You've seen it all before.

The three women and Anthony passed through the doorway into the cabin and out of sight. Azynov asked me, "What's going on?"

Yōd

I told Azynov, "We might as well roast a marshmallow. They might be a while while they make a full inspection of Anthony."

We went across to the other boat and Tihri, speaking with a mouth full of gooey marshmallow said, "Oral sex." All the children giggled.

Janty said, "Glisten led a rather sheltered life on Wyst."

I told Azynov and Jantiff about how developmental control nanites had been used to alter Zeta's and my bodies. Azynov said, "So you personally experienced the enormous Asterothrope genitals?"

Roxzel said, "Oral sex." All the children laughed.

Gazing at the cabin of the other house boat, I said, "I suppose Anthony is putting on quite a show." I could telepathically sense that Zeta was quite amused by Anthony's performance.

Jantiff asked me, "How long will you be here?"

"This is very pleasant. I can understand why Azynov and Yōd like to vacation here. We came into this Simulation at Tihri's insistence. She wanted to meet Maturin, but she seems to be having a ball with the kids. As long as we are not in the way, I suppose we could stay for a day or two."

Zeta and Glisten came over and joined us by the fire pit. Glisten sat down beside Jantiff and put an arm around him and said, "I can't imagine that such a big penis could serve a useful function."

Zeta plopped down in my lap and said, "For a time, I had a vagina that was deep enough to hold that kind of giant erection. It was fun, but I'm just as pleased to be back to normal, now. She held one of her breasts and wiggled it at Glisten. "You should have seen how big my breasts got."

Nyrturians

Glisten asked, "What was the point of giving the Nyrturians big breasts and giant genitals?"

Azynov suggested, "It was all part of the positronic robots learning how to control human behavior."

I added, "And there is an ancient link between sex and telepathy that goes all the way back to the Neanderthal mind." I told Glisten, "Zeta is half Neanderthal."

Glisten told Zeta, "You look like a normal woman."

"When I was a fetus, my body was carefully shaped into a form that would allow me to live on Earth."

"Ah, and the same for your sister, Yōd."

"Well, yes, but Yōd is no longer in her biological body. Like Maturin and Anthony, Yōd is in a body composed of nanites."

Azynov got to his feet. "What happened to Yōd?" He went over to his boat and into the cabin.

I asked Zeta, "You left Yōd in there... alone with Anthony?"

"Yes." Zeta explained, "It is a good thing Anthony is tall. Yōd was making him clean all of his semen off the ceiling of the bedroom."

Jantiff asked, "The ceiling?"

Tihri said, "Oral sex." All the children giggled merrily.

 Glisten giggled and told Jantiff, "Yōd gave me a guided tour of Anthony's huge genitals and then she had him ejaculate. I don't know how high those spurts can actually go... they ended up hitting the ceiling."

Azynov returned and joined us by the fire pit. "Yōd claims that Anthony owes her an orgasm."

We spent two enjoyable days on the Shard Sea. After that first evening, I never saw Anthony again, although his genitals were frequently mentioned by both Yōd and Glisten.

________________

When Zeta, Tihri and I got back to our home in the real world, I began writing down an account of our visit to Zeck. I had not gotten very far when Rylla opened up a vchat connection to my computer. Zeta and Tihri were there with me in the living room. Rylla called to Zeta, "Welcome back."

Zeta said, "It is good to be back, minus the sunburn." While in the simulation Zeta had managed to get a sunburn. But now we were back in out 60+ bodies. 

For a time the three of us chatted about Maturin, then Rylla told us, "I've been reading that story that Stacy found. "The Search for Maturin" is a long... well, I'm not sure how to categorize it. It is half biography and half science fiction story."

Tihri told Rylla, "Not fiction!"

Rylla said, "It reads like science fiction for someone from Earth."

Of course, as soon as I could, I also read "The Search for Maturin". I'm not sure that Tihri wrote the version that I read. My guess is that sometime in the future Tihri will write many accounts of her journey's into the Simulation System. Someone else in the Ekcolir Reality (possibly Angela) tapped into the Sedron Time Stream and wrote "The Search for Maturin".

The Grean Guidance System (image source)

Tihri's message from the future convinced me that 1) Tihri will have a good life, 2) after I'm gone, she will take over the task of explaining the Secret History of Humanity to Earthlings and 3) Nyrtia will not abuse her powers. 

Yes, Nyrtia will use powerful telepaths like the twins to guide human behaviors on Earth. Nyrtia's agents will use the Bimanoid Interface to link into peoples minds, but only when needed to keep Earth from getting off track. Nyrtia will function as part of Grean's guidance system for Earth's technological trajectory into the future. 

And Manny the bumpha will always be there, making sure that the Huaoshy rules of Intervention are not violated. Well, at least not very much.

Related Reading: Edison's Endosymbiont Experiments - another R. Nyrtia adventure.

Next: another perspective on Asimov's robots.

visit the Gallery of Book and Magazine Covers