2 x 3 = Sha

image source

 I had planned on my year-in-review blog post being the last one in 2023, but... Back in 2012, I outlined some plot elements for inclusion in a fan fiction sequel (called "Departure From Nor'Dyren") to the novel "Assignment Nor'Dyren" by Sydney J. Van Scyoc. Today, during a chat session with Bard, I realized that Sydney J. Van Scyoc died earlier this year 😢.

I'm reluctant to write fan fiction stories as long as an author is still alive, so I never wrote "Departure From Nor'Dyren". In my 2012 outline, I included the idea that the aliens who gave rise to the people of planet Nor'Dyren developed artificial intelligence technology and eventually transformed themselves into some type of artificial life form (replicoids?). Here in 2023, I've been experimenting with "large language model" chatbots like Bard and exploring their utility as collaborators for the creation of science fiction stories. 

the planet Roivah

So, this seems like a good opportunity to both honor the memory of Sydney J. Van Scyoc and get help from Bard for creating a sequel to Assignment: Nor'Dyren (on the title page of my printed copy of the novel, it shows a colon (:) in the title). Read the novel online here.

I was never really comfortable with the idea that homes on Nor'Dyren had four bedrooms, one for each of the four types of Nor'Dyrenese that Van Scyoc mentioned in her story: the Allegon, Berregon, Gonnegon and Qattagon. Would there really be a bedroom for Qattagon if the Qattagon were all infertile, as was suggested in the novel Assignment: Nor'Dyren? For my fan fiction sequel story, I'll follow my imagination and say that there were actually six genetically unique types of Nor'Dyrenese: Allegon, Berregon, Gonnegon, Qattagon, Regregon and Sorrigon (Bard suggested these two new names).

the planet Pes^Cro

 The Sha mating system. In my imagination, long ago on a distant exoplanet (called Pes^Cro) there was a humanoid species called the Ka^Erb. The Ka^Erb developed a sophisticated genetic science and transformed themselves into simultaneous hermaphrodites. Later, the Ka^Erb hermaphrodites developed generation spacecraft and began to send colony ships to other star systems. The Ka^Erb experimented with two methods for exploring the galaxy: 1) robotic ships that carried artificial intelligences and cryo-preserved Ka^Erb gametes and 2) generation ships that carried genetically engineered Allegon, Berregon, Gonnegon as crew. All of the Allegon (agent of service), Berregon (agent of production), Gonnegon (agent of thought) individuals were either male or female. While on the generation ships, the Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon crew members were constantly exposed to a chemical (hermactyd) that rendered hybrid offspring (the children of mixed mating such as Allegon x Berregon) embryonic lethal.

replicoids of Pes

 Interstellar Colonization. However, upon reaching a new planet in a distant star system, these kinds of hybrids survived and developed as simultaneous hermaphrodites. There were three types of hermaphrodites. Matings between a Berregon and a Gonnegon would produce hermaphroditic Qattagon (agent of social and political change). Matings between Berregon and Allegon produced hermaphroditic Sorrigon (agent of invention; scientists). Matings between Gonnegon and Allegon produced hermaphroditic Regregon (agent of imagination; artists).

The Sha mating system.

 Genetics. Each of the sexually dimorphic space-colonizing specialists Allegon, Berregon, Gonnegon had its own unique genetically engineered chromosome. In children of Berregon and Allegon, the un-paired B and A chromosomes formed a special H-chromosome, resulting in an hermaphroditic Sorrigon. The three types of hermaphrodites were all inter-fertile in these combinations:
Qattagon x Sorrigon → Berregon
Qattagon x Regregon → Gonnegon
Sorrigon x Regregon → Allegon

the planet B^Ta

 Politics. The Gonnegon and the Qattagon were the political activists, with the Gonnegon always taking conservative positions and the Qattagon always seeking to move society in new directions. 

2 x 3 = Sha. According to Bard, the Etruscan word for "six" may have been "sha". During the long-duration interstellar voyages of Ka^Erb generation ships, only the Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon were present as crew and they formed a very rigid and stable society. There was no taboo against mixed marriages, but hybrid offspring all quietly died at an early embryo stage. Then, upon reaching the destination planet, the hybrid Qattagon, Sorrigon and Regregon became important for creating a dynamic society that could deal with the challenges of a new planetary environment. Without exposure to hermactyd, the hermaphroditic offspring could survive on new worlds.

Figure 1. Prime Gonnegon
of Justice by Mr. Wombo.

In my imagination, the elimination of Qattagon from Nor'Dyren society involved two steps: 1) using their political wiles, the Gonnegon weakened the political influences that the Qattagon had over their two natural allies, the Sorrigon and Regregon, and then 2) the Gonnegon imposed social barriers to prevent mixed marriages between Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon. 

Fertility. The mistaken idea (see Assignment: Nor'Dyren) that Qattagon were infertile apparently arose from the fact that pseudo-embroids (see below) produced by Qattagon x Qattagon pairings are not viable. The same is true for Sorrigon x Sorrigon and Regregon x Regregon pairings. Hermaphroditic Qattagon, Sorrigon and Regregon all have both a uterus and two gametophthorae. A gametophthoros is a modified ovary that can produce a tetraploid egg cell (pseudo-embroid) from a diploid sperm cell and a diploid stos cell (see below). 

a gametophthoros

 Pseudo-embroids. Each gametophthoros continually produces stos cells and is receptive to diploid sperm cells from either of two of the three hermaphrodite types. Each gametophthoros has phagocytes that actively recognize and destroy diploid sperm cells from a male of the same type of hermaphrodite. These phagocytic cells will also destroy any embroids that are produced from a sperm of a "forbidden" hermaphrodite sex partner. 

For example, a Qattagon gametophthoros will destroy sperm from any Qattagon, but a Qattagon gametophthoros is receptive to sperm from either a Sorrigon or a Regregon. Once produced by fusion of a diploid sperm cell and a stos cell, a tetraploid egg (pseudo-embroid) is motile and can move to the uterus. During migration to the uterus, the pseudo-embroid undergoes a cell division, producing 2 haploid female gametes arrested early in pseudo-meiosis II. 

Some alien biology of planet Pes^Cro.
Click image to enlarge.

The testes of hermaphroditic Ka^Erb produce a mixture of diploid and haploid sperm (see the AI-generated image that is shown to the right). Upon physical contact with a female gamete in the uterus, a haploid sperm cell will trigger the completion of pseudo-meiosis II by the female gamete. The male pro-nucleus from the haploid sperm cell combines with the female pro-nucleus of the now haploid female egg to produce an embryo (either Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon).

When inventing the sha mating system, I considered the possibility that Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon were haploid, like bee drones. However, I decided that Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon are diploid. 

Berregon version 1.

I also considered the possibility that Qattagon, Sorrigon and Regregon might be tetraploid, but rather than go in that direction, I devised the reproductive system that is described above which involves a brief life cycle phase for the tetraploid pseudo-embroid. 

Berregon version 2.

I'm not fully settled in my mind exactly what the Allegon, Berregon, Gonnegon, Qattagon, Sorrigon and Regregon all should look like. To the left and right are two alternate versions of a Berregon generated by Mr. Wombo using, "a large alien/man who is muscular, with a dark barbered head, heavy shoulders, muscular forearms, muscle-bound, layers of unyielding muscle tissue, the neck was a column, his jaw a lumpy protuberance". Figure 1 (above) shows an AI-generated image meant to illustrate a Gonnegon. Figure 2 (below) shows an AI-generated image meant to illustrate a Qattagon. Figure 3 (below) shows an alternative depiction of a Gonnegon. 

Allegon by DALL-E.

 AI-generated Allegon. After collecting terms that Van Scyoc included in Assignment: Nor'Dyren while describing the Allegon, I used this text prompt with both DALL-E and WOMBO Dream: "an alien Allegon, mild-mannered and weak, born to serve, her head is strangely elongated, two bunches of black strands caught together at the back and pasted forward over the brow. Her eyes were vertical, her nose absent, her mouth large and round". A depiction of an Allegon that was generated by DALL-E is shown to the left. A second DALL-E-generated Allegon with hair is here.

Allegon by Mr. Wombo.

An Allegon generated by Mr. Wombo is shown to the right. For the image shown to the right, I made a composite of an Allegon face that had been generated by Mr. Wombo and pasted that onto the image of a human body. Then I used that composite as a reference image for WOMBO Dream, finally generating the image that is shown to the right.

In my imagination, the Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon should be more alien in appearance than the Qattagon, Sorrigon and Regregon. I can't imagine why both DALL-E and WOMBO Dream made the Allegon eyes so large while ignoring the explicit instruction that the eyes be vertical. DALL-E did make a very small nose, but these image generating models seem to really struggle to make a face without a nose. Van Scyoc suggested that by casual inspection you could not distinguish between male and female Allegon, Berregon and Gonnegon, but I made images for male Berregon and female Allegon and Qattagon.

Figure 2. Lato (human) and Purn (a Qattagon)

"Departure From Nor'Dyren" begins 20 years after the end of Assignment: Nor'Dyren. The children of Patt are among the first Qattagon and Sorrigon and they discover that Qattagon, Sorrigon and Regregon are inter-fertile as described above. The daughter of Laarica and Tollan (named Lato) and Patt's Qattagon "daughter" (named Purn) leave Nor'Dyren in search of remnants of the Ka^Erb galactic empire. 

Arriving on Nor'Dyren in the year 2107 are Laites and Salguo, two aliens from the planet Roivah (a member world of Civilized Unity). 

Laites

Laites and Salguo visit Laarica and report that explorers from Roivah have found the Ka^Erb homeworld, Pes^Cro, located over 50 lightyears spinward around the galaxy from Roivah, which is located at the outer boundary of the region of the galaxy that is known to the ever-expanding Civilized Unity. The planet Pes^Cro is now inhabited by artificial life forms, but there is another world (B^Ta) that is inhabited by the Slibili who are biologically similar to the Qattagon.  

The image shown to the right was generated when I asked Mr. Wombo for an alien with no nose. I decided that two noses might be better than one for some alien species such as the humanoids from planet Roivah. Compare this image to the ones that are shown at the very bottom of this blog post. I tried explicitly asking Mr. Wombo to generate aliens with two noses, but I never got another such image. Similarly, DALL-E refused to make an alien with four nostrils; see this and this and this and the image below.

Alien by DALL-E (source)

 The Phari Reality. As outlined back in 2012, I'd like to find a way to link "Departure From Nor'Dyren" to 1) the Exodemic Fictional Universe that includes the alien Huaoshy and to 2) advanced technology for moving stars and planets. This project can go on my "to do" list for 2024, but I think there is a place in the Reality Chain of Earth where I could insert "Departure From Nor'Dyren".

Previously, I have imagined that in the Asimov Reality the Phari have some sort of advanced technology that allows them to collect planets that are home to technologically advanced civilizations, moving them all to Alastor Cluster. I've previously depicted the fiction of Isaac Asimov concerning positronic robots as having been based on events in the Foundation Reality. 

Meet the Phari (source)

image source

 Unity. Similarly, I imagine that there was an organization similar to the Federation of Planets in the Ekcolir Reality. Galactic demographics were quite different in the Foundation Reality and the Ekcolir Reality. In the Foundation Reality, the only intelligent species in the galaxy was the human species (as depicted for Isaac Asimov's "all human galaxy"). In the Ekcolir Reality, there were many different intelligent species on many different exoplanets that were "curated" by the Phari and became part of a multi-cultural galactic civilization.

 Earth's Reality Chain. For the story "Departure From Nor'Dyren", I imagine that there was a Reality between the Foundation Reality and the Asimov Reality that I will now call the Phari Reality. This is a change from my past story telling in which I sometimes called the Asimov Reality the Phari Reality.

Reality Chain.

 Before the pek arrive. In the Phari Reality, R. Nyrtia traveled back in time to an era before the arrival of the pek in our galaxy. R. Nyrtia helped the Phari develop hierion-based space travel and a galactic empire. Without this intervention by R. Nyrtia, the Phari would have simply transcended their original biological existence, become an artificial life form and then eventually transmigrate into the Hierion Domain.

In my imagination, that interstellar empire of the Phari was the original inspiration for "Civilized Unity" as depicted by Sydney J. Van Scyoc in the novel "Assignment Nor'Dyren". In my imagination, the galactic empire of the Ka^Erb did not have faster-than-light travel and that primitive empire collapsed before its remnants such as planet Nor'Dyren was engulfed by the Phari Empire (which ended up being called "Civilized Unity" by Van Scyoc).

image source

In 2020, I included the Foundation Reality analogue of Sydney J. Van Scyoc in a story called "Foundation Reality Simulator". The story provides hints about how it became possible for Sydney J. Van Scyoc in the Final Reality to write stories about events in the Phari Reality. I imagine that there was a replicoid copy of Sydney J. Van Scyoc who lived at the Writers Block.

An important question swirling around "Departure From Nor'Dyren" is: why were the Ka^Erb so biologically similar to the humans of Earth? I prefer to blame this on the meddling of R. Nyrtia. In the Phari Reality, the Phari never tried to organize a monolithic galactic empire until just that era when species like we humans and the Ka^Erb were developing their technological civilizations. This allowed for a galaxy with a galactic empire including many alien species, the so-called "Civilized Unity" as depicted in Assignment: Nor'Dyren.

Nyrtia in the First Reality

 Phari Endosymbionts. The mystery of the surprising biological similarity between species that evolved on different planets in widely separated star systems is the main interest of Lato when she goes from Nor'Dyren to Pes^Cro. In my imagination, R. Nyrtia could have obtained advance hierion-based technology from the Phari and it may have been R. Nyrtia who crafted the femtobot endosymbiont that is inside we humans. Similarly, the Ka^Erb could have been provided with a "Phari endosymbiont" about ten million years before they developed a technological civilization on Pes^Cro. The "Phari endosymbiont" could have guided recent human and Ka^Erb evolution, forcing a type of convergent evolution and causing both we humans and the Ka^Erb to approximate the original physical appearance of the Phari.

A Phari of the Phari Reality.

In my imagination, it is not very productive to try to make a visual depiction of the Phari in their original biological form. It suffices to say that they were very similar in genetics and in appearance to we humans. This is no coincidence. The Phari were selected by R. Nyrtia as the alien species that was most like the humans of Earth as they evolved under the influence of the pek in the First Reality.

In the Phari Reality, the biological Phari were very close to extinction when they were contacted by R. Nyrtia. The image to the right illustrates one of the last remaining Phari. By that point in Deep Time, the Phari had already developed a sophisticated hierion-based technological civilization. The Phari had been using nanites for millions of years leading up to the time when R. Nyrtia began to interact with them and persuaded a sub-branch of the Phari peoples to work towards creating a galactic empire. The Phari had advanced nanotechnology and seldom existed in their "natural" form.

Four humans of the First Reality.

 Phari Nanotechnology. After millions of years during which the Phari were using developmental control nanites and powerful medical nanites to alter their bodies, there was nothing natural about their appearance. In this case, I imagine that this Phari individual (above) was reacting to the appearance of R. Nyrtia and trying to adopt a human appearance.

 Telepathy. During the period of Deep Time when the Trysta Truce was in effect, humans were allowed to spread through the Galaxy. The galaxy was a giant bioreactor, allowing for many experiments in how to develop a human-like animal with telepathic abilities that were at least as good of those possessed by the telepathic Asterothropes.

The Trysta Truce.

Both R. Nyrtia and Grean the Kac'hin had complex research programs that were designed to result in the creation of human variants with powerful telepathic abilities. Previously, the Asterothropes had been designed and deployed by R. Nyrtia, but they were not inter-fertile with conventional humans.

In the Phari Reality, efforts to make telepathic humans were all based on the use of T-particles. This was not a permanent path to human telepathy because the Huaoshy were making plans to alter the dimensional structure of the universe so as to make time travel impossible. A side-effect of that change would be that T-particles do not exist in the Final Reality (the world as we know it). Eventually, new forms of technology-assisted telepathy would have to be developed for humans in the Final Reality.

Figure 3. Alternate Gonnegon.

 One More Gonnegon.
The image shown to the left was generated by a collaboration between Mr. Wombo and DALL-E using a text prompt that included terms that Sydney J. Van Scyoc used to describe the Gonnegon in Assignment: Nor'Dyren; "high resolution photorealistic movie still showing an alien Gonnegon, pedantic and prim, born to rule, deep-bodied, high-browed, deep-chested, high-domed, heavy head arrogantly erect, eyes sunken and unpleasantly damp, imperious". 

Lato variations

 Biornn to Rule. Compare the image shown to the left to the one in Figure 1, above on this page that was made by Mr. Wombo alone. An even more alien version of a Gonnegon that was generated by DALL-E is shown here. 

There is a depiction of Lato in Figure 2, above. I explored variations in the appearance of Lato using various "styles" in WOMBO Dream. For the animated GIF shown to the right, the same text prompt was used to generate each image. It would be interesting to know how each of the WOMBO Dream styles was trained/programmed to give different types of output. When not sure which of these possible versions of Lato is the best for depicting a young woman who has grown up on Nor'Dyren, this kind of animated GIF is useful.

goddess of heat (see also)

 Alien Virus. I imagine that there is a close biological similarity between humans and the Ka^Erb because soon after arriving on Nor'Dyren, Tolan is stricken by an infectious disease. While he is ill and feverish, Tolan has a vision of a goddess of heat (see a depiction of this vision that was generated by Mr. Wombo, to the left). On Nor'Dyren there is even a name for this affliction of visitors to the planet: "second day illness".

 Telepathy, too. When Tolan reaches the sealed entrance to the underground chamber of the Qattagon, he is subjected to a series of "dreams". This is how Van Scyoc described them: "Dreams beyond mention. Dreams wild with possibility. Dreams that seemed, almost, to come to him from behind the door." For "Departure From Nor'Dyren", I imagine that these dreams were actually Tolan experiencing information flow to his brain from the Sedron Time Stream with the assistance of his Phari endosymbiont.

Lato's vision on Nor'Dyren.

 Sedron Time Stream. Previously, I've depicted R. Nyrtia as attempting to develop human telepaths in the far future of the Asimov Reality, while also suggesting that some individuals of the early space age in that Reality (such Sessily Veder as Gersen) might have had some limited telepathic abilities, so the same should be true in the Phari Reality. 

In my imagination, Tolan, Lato, the Ka^Erb, the Qattagon of Nor'Dyren such as Purn and the Slibili of B^Ta might all have had some weak link to the Sedron Time Stream. In the image shown to the right, I imagine Lato is studying alien biology on Nor'Dyren when she links to the Sedron Time Stream and has a vision from the future time when she goes to B^Ta and meets a Slibili who has a weak telepathic linkage to Lato. It is on B^Ta that Lato learns the truth about Qattagon telepathic abilities and realizes that Purn has long influenced and manipulated Lato's thought processes.

Lato on B^Ta

Among the Allegon, Berregon, Gonnegon, Qattagon, Regregon and Sorrigon, I imagine that the Qattagon had the most functional linkage to the Sedron Time Stream and some weak telepathic ability which they used to influence the behavior of the Regregon and Sorrigon. Not understanding the basis of Qattagon influence over the Regregon and Sorrigon, the Gonnegon of Nor'Dyren eventually implemented their plan for removing Qattagon from Nor'Dyren. They could devise no way to selectively eliminate Qattagon, so all three of the hermaphroditic hybrid types were eliminated from society at the same time.

The Phari nanite network.

 New Life. Also, while on B^Ta, Lato discovers that she is pregnant, having been impregnated by Purn. The mystery of how humans and Qattagon can be inter-fertile must be addressed and Lato's training as a biologist is useful, however the existence of a nanoscopic Phari endosymbiont guiding the evolution of intelligent life forms through-out the galaxy is beyond the realm of solutions to the puzzle that Lato can contemplate. 

I provided Mr. Wombo with this text prompt: "nanoscopic Phari endosymbionts guiding the evolution of intelligent life forms through-out the galaxy" and ended up with the image shown to the right. The fates of Lato and Purn have been linked by the Phari network of endosymbionts that reside inside the life forms of the galaxy. 

Lato studying tree waifs.

 Exobiology. As a Qattagon, Purn seems to have an instinct for politics. From an early age, Lato in intrigued by biology. The image shown to the left was generated with the help of WOMBO Dream. The basic tree image was decorated by pasting in additional strange creatures that were also generated by Mr. Wombo using a text prompt that included: "green sentient tree creature and a human woman, the tree creature has green leaves that look like human hands, the tree creature likes to grab unsuspecting humans, the tree creature has glowing eyes and a head with branches instead of hair". On Jack Vance's imagined world of  Rosalia, visitors must deal with pesky alien creatures called tree-waifs and water-waifs. I expect that Lato will have to deal with some equally difficult aliens in "Departure From Nor'Dyren" when she visits B^Ta.

a Slibili of planet B^Ta

In my imagination, the Slibili of planet B^Ta are quite similar in appearance to Earthlings. This is due to a combination of factors. Firstly, the Slibili have evolved in parallel with humans over the past two million years, constantly under the influence and guidance of their Phari endosymbiont. Secondly, the Slibili have advanced nanotechnology that allows them to modify their appearance by means of both developmental control nanites and medical cosmetics nanites. 

As shown in the image to the right, the Slibili of planet B^Ta are quite tall and have sharp teeth.

Related Reading: my discussion of the alien "2 x 3 = Sha" reproductive system with Bard.

Next: The Lost Machine.

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