The Teleportation Trilemma

 Manny and Naj

Below on this page is Part 3 of a science fiction story called "The Frenchyhysur Process". Nora makes use of the Reality Simulation System to go back into Deep Time, to when teleportation was still being used to move people between Earth and Observer Base.

Using the Ekcolir Reality Simulator, Nora visits her analogue in Perth, not long before she was to be teleported back to Observer Base at the end of a mission on Earth. Nora takes the place of her Simulation duplicate and tries to meet with Grean. In an attempt to reach Grean's workshop, Nora first contacts Naj, who is working at the Writers Block, disguised as a synpaz. 

While approaching the workshop inside Eternity that holds the teleportation equipment, Naj and Nora are met by Wendy the robot. Wendy explains that Grean is not inside the workshop, so Nora is forced to wait for Grean's return. When Grean finally appears, she refuses to share with Nora the activation codes for the teleportation system. Just then, Manny the Bumpha arrives from outside the Simulator.

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

Nora had become fascinated by the fact that Zeta's husband now had the means to enter into the Reality Simulation System. With Zeta and the Editor out of the house, she sat down at the Editor's computer. She could see that the Index was set for the Final Reality Simulation and the temporal selector was hard against the upwhen limit of the scale: PRESENT. Nora changed the settings and selected a particular time and place in the Ekcolir Reality that she was familiar with. Nora picked up her son and then activated the portal that gave access to the Simulation System. In order to help precisely target her to the correct destination inside the Simulation, Nora was thinking about her analogue in the Ekcolir Reality.

Nora

Nora and Dysyn arrived in the Ekcolir Reality, inside the home of her Ekcolir Reality analogue. Her analogue also had a young child named Radhas. Nora's first order of business was to establish a telepathic link to her analogue, but almost immediately Radhas awoke and began to fuss. Radhas stumbled out of bed, pulling herself off of the sleeping body of her boyfriend, Peter.

Nora got to the bedroom of Radhas first and set Dysyn down on the bed. She began changing Radhas' diaper. When Nora's analog saw Nora bent over Radhas, she almost screamed, but already her waking mind was telepathically linking to that of Nora and she recognized 'herself'. "Who are you?" By the time those words were spoken, she already knew that she was looking at a version of herself who was about five years older.

Nora glanced over her shoulder at her analogue and said quietly, "I'm your analogue, from a future Reality."

Nora's analogue grabbed a clean diaper and put it on Radhas. "The future?"

Nora closed the door and then explained, "We are inside a Simulation. Like the one you used for training."

"Why are you here?"

"That's complicated." Nora sent a swarm of infites into her analogue. "I want you to take care of my son, Dysyn, while I make a quick trip to Eternity."

The infites from Nora quickly entered into her analogue's endosymbiont. Feeling a bit dizzy, she sat down on the bed between Dysyn and Radhas. Dysyn leaned against Nora's analogue and put his little arm around her back. Nora said, "Give me your recall nanites."

"But-" Nora's analogue was processing a flood of memories from the infites.

Radhas

Nora explained, "I want to speak to Grean. I'll be back soon."

"You better be." Nora's analogue held out her hand towards Nora. Nora touched her analogue's hand and extracted the recall nanites. "How can I explain Dysyn to Peter if he..."

"You'll think of something. Just say anything. Telling the truth is always a good option. This is a simulation and nothing that you do here can alter my life in the future."

"In other words, you don't care what happens to me."

"Don't be silly. Of course I care. You are me. See you soon." Nora activated the recall nanites and she was automatically teleported to Observer Base. Nora's analogue was working on a project for Mary, the director of the Writers Block, so Nora found herself in the office of the Director. Nora briefly looked around the empty office, then went out into the public square, the social hub of the Block. Several small groups of residents were at a few of the tables. Nora's knowledge of the Ekcolir Reality was rather limited and mostly derived from stories she had read... stories from the Archives of the Writers Block, in the Final Reality.

A synpaz saw Nora, flew over and said, "Welcome back."

Nora said uncertainly, "Naj?"

Naj tried to link telepathically to Nora. "Who are you? I thought you were..."

Nora said, "Allow me to explain. I'm from the future. We are now inside a simulation."

Hafren

Naj said, "Wait. I want Mary to hear this." Naj took Nora to the table where Mary was seated with Hafren Wells. Mary and Hafren both greeted Nora, but Naj warned, "This is not who you think she is."

Nora sat down at the table and spent ten minutes explaining who she was, where she was from and the fact that they were all inside a simulated Reality. Not certain that she would be believed, Nora said, "I need to speak to Grean."

Mary said, "You can see if Grean is in her Workshop."

Hafren added, "Sometimes she is not there, but Wendy is usually hanging around, in the gardens close to Grean's workshop."

Mary looked at Naj and asked, "Why don't you take Nora to the workshop?"

Naj said, "I don't think Grean likes me."

Mary laughed. "Your problem is, your vagina is too small. Grean can't fit her penis inside you."

Naj said, "Oh, you's be surprised, Mary... I'm quite flexible. The problem is, her Kac'hin features creep me out. When Grean invited me to engage in sexplay, I had to say no... that seemed to enrage her."

Hafren said, "Your loss. You really should be open to sexplay with aliens, even if they smell bad."

Teaching a friend how to hunt synpaz.

"I'm liberal minded. I've had sex with all sorts of sy'Paz." Naj reflected on her dislike for Grean. "Grean is different... I don't like the idea that she can take control of my mind. Aliens should not be doing that to either you humans, or we synpaz."

"Grean is a force of nature, with friends among the bumpha... don't try to fight her." Mary suggested, "Just get Nora over to the workshop... you don't have to go inside.""

Naj gave in to Mary's request. "Oh, very well."

As soon as they exited from the Block, Nora began to run. She told Naj, "I'm in a bit of a hurry. I need to get back to my son." On the way to the workshop, Naj asked questions about Nora's life and learned about Dysyn and Nora's husband in the Final Reality. As they were approaching the Workshop by way of the path through the gardens, Wendy called to them, "Naj, hello! Hi..." Wendy tried to identify Nora telepathically. "Who are you?"

Nora did not want to spend time explaining everything about her origins to Wendy. She cut to the chase and asked, "Can I see Grean?"

Wendy replied, "I'll let her know you are here, but she is not in the workshop right now." Wendy began leading the way along the path towards the workshop.

Naj asked, "Where is she?"

"I'd rather not say. She's busy... Grean has many responsibilities, you know."

Nora said, "I'm in a bit of a hurry."

Wendy asked, "What's the rush?"

creating the sy'Paz

"I could get pulled back out of this simulation at any time." Nora knew that the Editor was planning to return home before Nora went to the airport. She was counting on him to pull her out of the simulator, but hopefully not before she'd spoken to Grean.

Wendy was skeptical about the idea that they were in a Simulation. "You'll just have to wait."

"How long?"

"I can't say"

Naj asked Wendy, "Who is Grean screwing now?"

"That's none of your business."

Naj told Nora, "I think Grean spends half of her life having sex."

Wendy explained, "As a Kac'hin, she's horny all the time. With no fellow Kac'hin around, she does remarkably good restraining herself." Wendy gestured towards the entrance to Grean's workshop, "You can wait inside. I have work to do in the garden."

Naj and Nora went inside the workshop and wandered among the devices that were scattered across the floor. Naj flew over to the upwhen time machine that had a glowing green light on its control console. "It looks like Grean went into the future." Nora impatiently went to look at the teleporter that had been used to send her to Earth. She asked Naj, "Do you know how this works?"

Naj landed on the control console for the teleporter. She pointed at a display screen that listed recent activity. "There's the record of you being teleported from Australia to the Block."

Grean (image credits)

Nora asked, "Could you send me back?"

"Do you have to be getting back already? Wendy could do it, but I don't have the access code."

Just then the time machine activated and Grean returned from the future. "Naj! And a friend?" Grean approached Nora and asked, "What is this?"

Nora quickly explained to Grean where she was from then said, "I want you to do me a favor. In the future, the Huaoshy alter the Dimensional Structure of the Universe and this teleportation equipment is no longer used. Tell me, why should that be so? Will all teleportation become impossible?"

"Slow down, girl!" Grean laughed nervously. "I've looked into possible future Realities, but I'm not sure that I've ever seen the specific one that you are describing."

Nora began describing more details of the Final Reality, but then said, "Look. I don't have much time. Can't you just help me? Give me the code for activating the teleporter."

Grean said, "I could get in trouble if I made teleportation available to an Earthling."

"I'm not really an Earthling. I'm a replicoid copy of the biological me. A replicoid that you, in the future, recruited and trained for a mission on Earth."

Grean suggested, "And in the future, I did not give you the teleporter access code. Why should I do so now?"

"Look, in my Reality, I get trapped on Earth after I've already completed my mission. Something is wrong. I have friends at Observer Base, but nobody can use the teleporter. Give me the code and I'll give it to my friends."

"How will you do that?"

"I'll use telepathy."

"I see. This is an interesting tale. I've never seen a Reality quite like the one you have described." A new telepathic mind pattern appeared inside the workshop... Grean turned her head and cried, "Manny!"

Manny had suddenly appeared in the workshop, arriving from outside of the Simulation System. She went to Grean and the two women hugged and shared a rather passionate kiss. Nora was surprised by Manny's appearance: she looked like a large-eyed Kac'hin, possibly Grean's sister. Still with her arm around Grean's waist, Manny turned to Nora and said, "This is not going to work."

Nora could feel Many's telepathic mind pressing on her. "You're from... outside?"

"Yes, just like you. You triggered my alarms. Please believe me, in the Final Reality, it is for the best to not have people teleporting to and from Earth."

Nora sighed and now gave up on her attempt to obtain the teleporter activation code. "Why is that?"

"Oh, the usual reason. You Earthlings always find ways to get into trouble."

"But you've given the Editor access to this Simulation System. What would it hurt to let us use this teleportation equipment, to?"

Manny chastised Nora, "You should not have entered into this Simulation. How do you plan to return to your home?"

"The Editor will pull me out of here."

Manny disguised as a Kac'hin

Manny laughed. "Oh, ya? He's back home, sleeping. When he returned home, he saw that you had used the Simulation System and he did not pull you out. He went to bed."

Nora had expected the Editor to follow her into the Simulation. "He'll be curious. He'll come looking for me."

 Manny continued, "He's avoiding you."

"Why would he do that?"

"He's afraid of being alone with you."

Nora had not thought that through, but now she realized that Manny was right. "Well, what about Zeta?"

"She wanted to spend time with her twins. The Editor returned home alone."

"I see. I had not anticipated that happening. How long will it be until Zeta returns home?"

Manny replied, "I'm not here to serve as some kind of oracle. I can't tell you the future. How do I know what will happen in the future?"

Nora said, "Sorry, I suppose I think of the bumpha as knowing everything."

Manny explained, "We bumpha are certainly quite capable, given the advanced technologies that are available to us. However, Earth presents us with unprecedented problems, so I ask that you not expect miracles from me. Sure, for a while I got used to being able to see the future, but those days are over. Earth's Final Reality has diverged from the expected course of temporal development, so now we will all get to discover the future together." She asked Nora, "It is more of an adventure this way, don't you agree?"

Grean said, "In my experience, we are dealing with a hopeless cause. Typically, the technologically sophisticated life-forms of the galaxy face a solvable trilemma: don't destroy the ecosystem of their planet, don't cause their own self-destruction as a species and accomplish those first two goals without losing individual freedoms and free will. But in the human situation, there is a fourth requirement; that humans be able to have a great adventure, spreading to millions of planets throughout the galaxy. It is crazy!"

Naj said enigmatically, "Why call it a crazy situation? I for one enjoy a good challenge."

Nora insisted, "My goals are much narrower. I'm happy to leave the galaxy-level problems to the bumpha. In my case, I was shocked when I completed my mission on Earth only to discover that I was trapped on a primitive world with no chance to escape. Your talk about Humanity spreading through the galaxy means nothing to me. Humans can't even get to Mars."

Manny told Nora, "I could provide Earth with teleportation technology that would allow people to instantly travel to Mars, but there would also be problems. The costs would far surpass the benefits."

Nora asked, "What costs? It would take too much energy?"

"No, that's not it. Think about it. Humans are mischief-makers. If Earthlings had access to teleportation technology, the duplication problem alone would shatter society."

"Duplication problem?"

"If they could, humans would make teleportation duplicated of people. Imagine a thousand Putins or a thousand Trumps." Manny turned away from Nora and ran her fingers through Grean's hair.

Naj told Nora, "Or take your personal situation for example. You were teleported to Earth and now you can't get yourself off of Earth. There is a serious return problem with teleportation. It is far to easy to send people to a destinations, but they have no easy way to return."

Grean said, "Even more fundamental is the human crime problem. Human criminals would not hesitate to commit murder by teleportation." Grean had her hands on Manny's hips and the slid the palms of her hands around behind Manny to cup her cute bottom.

Nora said, "Well, it is an ethical issue. I was sent to Earth, and the person who sent me to Earth should take responsibility for getting me off of Earth."

Naj said, "By being here at Grean's workshop today, I believe that you have demonstrated your ability to get off of Earth."

Nora complained, "But this is only a simulation."

Naj insisted, "You're too picky. That's another fundamental problem with the human species... people are never satisfied with what they have."

Nora looked around the workshop. Grean and Manny were nowhere to be seen. "Where did they go?"

the synpaz "little people"

Naj took hold of one of the fingers of Nora's hand and led her out of the workshop. "Well, you tried. Now we need to get you home."

Out in the garden, Nora could see Wendy in the distance tending to a copse of lilac that was over-growing the trail that led to Trysta's house. Naj guided Nora in the opposite direction, back towards the Writers Block. Nora asked Naj, "You have no sympathy for people like me who are trapped and can no longer move between Earth and Observer Base?"

Naj was impatiently flying ahead, down along the path though the garden. She came back close to Nora and flew circles around Nora's head. "Even if you had the understanding that you would get off of Earth, you need to accept the fact that plans sometimes need to change and be adjusted. Nyrtia is hard at work creating an alternative to sending agents to Earth... what you know as the mind clone network. Your son Dysyn has now become an important part of that project."

Nora tried to focus her eyes on the flitting Naj. "You suddenly seem to know a whole lot about the Final Reality." 

"I'm also from outside. I function here as Manny's assistant in this Reality. She was just giving me a briefing on your life and the situation that you now find yourself in. I do have sympathy for your plight, but it sounds to me like you have a husband and a son and a very good life."

"So, you are telling me that I should forget about leaving Earth, even if I'm there in violation of the Rules of Intervention?"

mind clones

"You are in a gray area. You are not human and you are not an alien. As long as you are serving a useful purpose, not even the pek will take you off of Earth. Oh, I suppose Many Sails will consult with the Huaoshy back in their home galaxy and they will make a final decision about Earth's special status, but until then, just chill, girl." They were approaching the edge of the gardens. Naj added, "Really, I'm in the same situation as you. I keep my true identity hidden from humans and all is well." 

Nora was approaching the archway that was the exit from the gardens and thinking about the legal status of the synpaz. Naj activated her Simulation System control nanites and suddenly Nora was thrust out of the Simulation System and returned to Arizona. She turned her head and saw a woman walking out of the living room and heading towards the back of the house. Nora only knew that the woman was not Zeta... and who else would be there? 

Nora briefly glanced at the computer that held the Index to the Simulation System. She wanted to go back into the simulator and find Dysyn. Then, distracted by the telepathic signals that were reaching her mind, Nora followed the woman down the hallway and called out to her, "Hey!"

The mystery woman went quickly into the master bedroom. When Nora caught up and looked inside the bedroom, she saw Zeta's husband sit up in bed. Now the woman looked over her shoulder at Nora. Suddenly, Nora realized that the woman was Naj, now in a normal sized human body rather than a small synpaz body. "Naj?"

Next: Part 4 of "The Frenchyhysur Process"

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