Edgy

Figure 1. Marda and Tyhry
in the Ekcolir Reality simulation

 Last year I had a near-end-of-year blog post in which I discussed story ideas that I had not been able to complete in 2022 (see tHE yEAR inVERSE). Since my science fiction story writing is intended to 1) be fun, 2) allow me to explore the idea that there have long been alien visitors on Earth and 3) I get to pretend that there are always new surprises in Eddy's investigation of the Secret History of Humanity, I don't really care if I begin a story and then get distracted by another story idea... or two or three. I'm in no hurry to complete stories such as City on the Edge of Tomorrow.

This year, I'm planning on two end of the year blog posts that will be concerned with story writing tasks that I failed to complete in 2023. This blog post is one of these and the other is called "The Religion of Mosy". Mosy is a major character in a science fiction story that I call "The Mosy Saga" which traces the origin of the legendary figure Moses to alien Interventionism.

Plans for December blogging.

Back in June, I was making plans for Marda and Tyhry to have an adventure inside the Ekcolir Reality Simulator (see Nanotechnycian). The idea is that analogues of both Marda and Tyhry functioned as secret Interventionist agents in past Realities. While inside the simulation, Tyhry hopes to 1) obtain advanced Fru'wu nanites inside the simulation of the Ekcolir Reality and 2) experiment with providing Marda an opportunity to experience her hermaphroditic tryp'At body form. However, in addition to that busy agenda, Tyhry and Marda also meet a few of their Ekcolir Reality analogues.

While inside the Ekcolir Reality Simulator, Tyhry was experimenting with medical nanites and she already had experience working with her mother on how best to use nanites to reverse the aging process and make a person look younger. In my imagination, Figure 1 is a rather comical situation for Marda and Tyhry in which Marda pretends to be Tyhry's mother.

Tyhry and Marda on Lambda Grus III

By this point, Marda is used to Tyhry getting them into tricky situations while using the Reality Simulation System. Back in May (see this blog post), I imagined Tyhry as actively searching the future of the Asimov Reality for advanced nanotechnology. While in the Ekcolir Reality Simulator, Tyhry tries to obtain advanced nanites from the Fru'wu. In the scene that is shown to the right, as part of Tyhry's search for alien nanites, she has brought Marda to the home-world of the so-called "star king" aliens who have adopted human form.

Star Kings. Vance's story about mysterious space aliens from a distant world who long-ago brought modern humans into existence on the exoplanet Lambda Grus III (then planted them on Earth), was published right at the end of 1963 (see the amazing cover by Ed Emshwiller). Not long after that, Gene Roddenberry wrote a script for a television show called "Seven", featuring aliens who are secretly altering Earth's history. 

Figure 2. Marda and Brak

I wonder if Roddenberry had ever read Vance's "Star King" story and if he was influenced by it. I've read the original script for Roddenberry's 1966 proposed television show called "Seven" (you can download it here). It was a time travel story with evil aliens and even a Hollywood style explosion 💣 (the evil aliens try to kill Gary Seven). I'm not surprised that Roddenberry could not interest anyone in making a television show about Gary Seven's struggle against the evil Omegans. 

Roddenberry's script for "Seven" has some of the good plot elements that ended up in "Assignment: Earth", but also a large amount of dark fantasy. On the positive side, Roddenberry was ready to have the cute Roberta on screen without her miniskirt; first hosing her down when the fire department responds to the explosion and then having her quickly change clothes and appear half dressed... in a slip. When the explosion occurs, it provides a handy excuse for Gary Seven to lay on top of Roberta.

The beginning of the Omegans?

 Overmind Overlords Omegans. Apparently, Roddenberry read fantasy and science fiction stories while he was growing up. I suspect he was also influenced by some of the really bad Hollywood horror stories that were turned out in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Roddenberry mentions Dracula in his "Seven" script.

 1953. It would be interesting to know if Roddenberry read Childhood's End. Roddenberry's description of his evil Omegans in his 1966 script for "Seven" reminds me of Clarke's Overlords.

Roberta's pajama party.

 Introducing Roberta and 7Y6006 (Mr. Seven). It is clear from the 1966 "Seven" script by Roddenberry that he had a very clear image in his mind of "Bobbie". Roddenberry wrote: "Roberta has flavor! Although twenty years old, she seems at times a teenager with all that turbulent, changing childwoman vitality. This mixed with assuredness of one who has had to make her own way for years. Honey–haired, her apparel short-skirted Mod fashion – suggesting one who has leaned toward rebellious kookiness only because her intelligence has not yet found a full challenge". In the script, at the instant 7Y6006 arrives from the future, a police Lieutenant knocks on the door and demands to know why the Seven Agency has not completed the proper paperwork to function in Private Investigation... but not before ogling the spicy and flavorful Roberta. I wonder if Roddenberry had seen Teri Garr in films such as Pajama Party and already had her in mind when he wrote "Seven".

Figure 3. The Flower Club.

 Flower Club. Vance's story about the natives of Lambda Grus III certainly has its own dark aspects, which even inspired me to write some sickening violence into a fan-fiction story (see "Dasce's Dead Star"). 

While describing the first murder that is attributed by Vance to his protagonist, Kirth Gersen, Vance includes an interlude at the Jodisei Conversation and Flower Arranging Club of Brinktown. The image shown to the right (Figure 3) is my attempt to get Mr. Wombo to depict the Brinktown Flower Club. These flowers were all generated by DALL-E (see this image and this other image).

 Conversation Piece. Mr. Wombo spontaneously added the lower row of three women that are in Figure 3 while I was trying to make Figure 4 (below). I suspect that this tendency of Mr. Wombo to "double up" elements in images is due to the large number of 512 x 512 images used in the training set and the fact that I routinely use a tall aspect ratio (also see Figure 5).

Mind clones. Brak is the first full telepath.

 Brak. For City on the Edge of Tomorrow, I'm uncertain about how to deal with Marda and her pregnancy. Marda will give birth to a son, Brak, who will be the first fully telepathic human on Earth. Brak is artificially constructed and implanted in Marda's body. Maybe Marda is already pregnant when she and Tyhry enter into the Ekcolir Reality Simulation.

I'm still trying to decide how long Marda and Tyhry should remain inside the Ekcolir Reality Simulator. There may be benefits to making it a long stay, particularly if Tyhry is unable to bring Fru'wu nanites back to the Final Reality from the Simulation of the Ekcolir Reality.

Mr. Wombo's green aliens.

The image in Figure 2 (above) started with two images that were generated by DALL-E (this and this). I fed a reference image from DALL-E into WOMBO Dream and by using "high resolution movie still showing very young Kate Jackson at a futuristic automated factory, Kate Jackson is twenty years old, Kate Jackson has long black hair, Kate Jackson is dressed Victoria's Secret style in glittering satin, Kate Jackson is pregnant, Kate Jackson is smiling, Kate Jackson is holding her bulging belly" as the text prompt I was able to make Figure 2.

 Wombo dreams. Sometimes it feels like an AI-program has a sense of humor. After I made the image in Figure 1, I tried to get Mr. Wombo to add in two aliens to that scene. I was thinking of the Fru'wu when I used a text prompt that included: "high resolution movie still showing two alien visitors on Earth". When Mr. Wombo inserted some aliens with green skin, I went with it and ended up with the image that is shown above, right.

Figure 4. Mr. Wombo's humor.

 Ice. Maybe this is Mr. Wombo's way of telling me that I should plan on Marda and Tyhry planning to be in New York of the Ekcolir Reality during the winter months... I was already planning on the Fall (see Figure 1).

As discussed in "Cosmopolite", Tyhry is able to use Hua technology to shift both her body and that of Marda to their "natural" form. As tryp'At hermaphrodites, it is possible for Tyhry to impregnate Marda, but I believe Brak is a much more complex genetic construct than could be created by conventional sexual reproduction. However, there could be a period of time during which Marda and Tyhry are happy to assume that Tyhry has fathered Marda's child.

I was surprised when the WOMBO Dream "Dreamland v3" style produced a whole series of images like the one shown to the left where the two green aliens were given bulging breasts. 

TER is hot for Marda.

The only alteration I made to this AI-generated image (Figure 4) was to paste in the blue nipples, which seemed more interesting than the white ice crystals that Mr. Wombo pasted on the breasts of the other alien. 

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Tyhry and Marda spending a long time in the Ekcolir Reality Simulator... long enough for Brak's telepathic mind to develop to the point where it can begin to access information in the Sedron Time Stream. Maybe Brak's fetal mind can help put ideas into the mind of the Tyhry analogue who is from the Ekcolir Reality (TER), eventually leading her to develop a plan by which she will smuggle zeptites from Threy to Earth. The AI-generated image that is shown to the right depicts TER in a summer-heated moment with Marda while they are together at the beach.

Tyhry with a synapex link to Brak.

While Marda is gestating Brak, her body establishes a direct neuronal linkage between her brain at the developing brain of Brak. After Brak is born, Marda must continue training his telepathic mind by making use of synapex linkages between her nipples and the neuroplex in Brak's tongue. Maybe it is only with the help of Brak that Tyhry (actually, the analogue of Tyhry) is able to out-fox Manny and find a way to successfully smuggle advanced Yastyn nanites from the planet Threy to Earth.

When I first began to contemplate the telepathic abilities of Brak, I depicted Tyhry as making use of Brak's special telepathic powers even when Brak was very young (for example, see this blog post). More recently, when I was trying to get help from Bard and ChatGPT to develop my thinking about "The Femtobot Smuggler", I could not imagine how Tyhry would be able to smuggle alien nanites past Manny the bumpha. Does Brak play a key role?

Figure 4. The replicoid game. Can you tell which copy is a replicoid or a Simulation duplicate?

Figure 5. A long lower body for Marda.

 How can Marda go to Threy immediately after being in the Ekcolir Reality Simulation if she gives birth to Brak while inside the Reality Simulator? Tyhry has long ago mastered the trick of creating Simulation duplicates of people, so a copy of Marda can remain with Brak inside the simulator. Later, a copy of Brak will be brought into the Final Reality.

Figure 3, above, is an example of an AI-generated image in which Mr. Wombo felt compelled to add three additional human figures to a scene. For the image shown to the right, Mr. Wombo was content to provide Marda with a second belly button (near the bottom of the image). Mr. Wombo got carried away with the draped cloth, and I added some more to cover up some AI-generated anatomical defects.

The nanites of Threy.

In City on the Edge of Tomorrow, Tyhry is making plans to visit Threy and meet Kasty the Yastyn who she has learned about through a report written by Rylla which described the time when Eddy and Rylla met Kasty. Tyhry hopes that Kasty has access to special zeptites, which may be the secret to replicoid technology.

I'll probably have to include as a chapter in City on the Edge of Tomorrow a description of visit that Eddy and Rylla made to Threy, which took place about ten years prior to the events which are described in the first part of the story.

While inside the Ekcolir Reality Simulation, Marda (via Brak) informs the analogue of Tyhry that the Tyhry of the Final Reality hopes to obtain zeptites from Kasty, but it seems likely that Manny will not allow those advanced nanites to be brought to Earth. The analogue of Tyhry from the Ekcolir Reality (call her TER) decides to secretly assist the Tyhry of the Final Reality. Can she access the Sedron Time Stream?

The Replicoid Nanites.

A replicoid copy of TER (an artificial life-form composed of femtobot components) exits the Ekcolir Reality with Marda and Tyhry and becomes the titular "Femtobot Smuggler". 

That replicoid copy of TER actually ends up smuggling zeptites from Threy to Earth, without either Tyhry or Manny being aware of what has happened. The replicoid copy of TER takes the zeptites back into the Ekcolir Reality Simulator and discovers how to use them to access the Bimanoid Interface. 

Marda meets TER.

Another replicoid copy of TER with this knowledge about how to make replicoid copies of people (her knowledge is obtained via the Sedron Time Stream) is able reach the Buld Reality by being inside Eternity when the Reality Change happens bringing the Buld Reality into existence. This replicoid copy of TER represents the "retirement plan" of the Tyhry analogue in the Ekcolir Reality upon completion of her mission on Earth.

The replicoid copy of TER secretly provides assistance to the Tyhry analogue who lives on Earth in the Final Reality. The replicoid copy of TER makes a replicoid copy of Tyhry inside Observer Base. Telepathically inked to Tyhry on Earth, the replicoid copy of Tyhry can secretly guide Tyhry's life on Earth by passing information via the Sedron Time Stream, without Manny realizing why Tyhry is so adept at making use of the Sedron Time Stream.

Marda and TER.

Soon after Marda meets the Tyhry analogue of the Ekcolir Reality, medical nanites transform Marda's body into its hermaphroditic tryp'At form and Marda becomes pregnant. The Tyhry analogue of the Ekcolir Reality is delighted by Marda's tryp'At features including her second row of breasts and her penis.

Figure 6. The Zeptites of Threy.

There are some more AI-generated images of Marda in her tryp'At body form at the bottom of this blog post. Mr. Wombo could not decide if the tryp'At should have larger breasts in the top row or in the bottom row. 

the Ekcolir Reality analogues
of Marda and Tyhry.

 Facial Nanites. When Eddy and Rylla visit Threy, they might have some trouble finding the location of Kasty's secret nanite research laboratory. I'm thinking that Eddy and Rylla will have to do some detective work on Threy before they get to visit Kasty at his laboratory. The book cover image in Figure 6 was generated by Mr. Wombo.

Tyhry and Marda discussing
fashion and disguises while inside
  the Ekcolir Reality Simulator.

I've been experimenting with having Mr. Wombo generate versions of Marda and Tyhry showing them "in disguise" and making use of facial nanites to alter their appearance. Also, I'd like to be able to provide the Ekcolir Reality analogs of Tyhry and Marda with their own unique and recognizable styles. The image above and the one to the left were generated by Mr. Wombo using a text prompt that included "Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd".

Image by Mr. Wombo.

When I continue writing City on the Edge of Tomorrow in 2024, I'll have to decide on how far back into the 20th century Tyhry and Marda will go in the Ekcolir Reality Simulator in order to maximize Tyhry's chances of getting her hands on Fru'wu nanites. Previously, I've imagined that the Fru'wu arrived on Earth in the 1950s, but that may have simply been when the "public" announcement of the existence of the Fru'wu was made. Possibly there were Fru'wu visitors and advanced scouts on Earth at earlier times. In 2024 I'll have to settle such issues and also decide who will be joining Tyhry and Marda in the hot tub (see the image to the right).

1923 in the Ekcolir Reality

With full access to the past eras of the Ekcolir Reality, Tyhry and Marda need to slip back in time in order to facilitate their investigation of the early stages of Fru'wu Interventionism. The image that is shown to the left depicts Marda and Tyhry during a visit to the University of Perugia in the year 1923 of the Ekcolir Reality.

In the Ekcolir Reality, the University of Perugia's Department of Molecular Archeology becomes famous for the discovery of alien DNA on Earth by Professor Velimna Tiberini. In 1923, one of Dr. Tiberini's environmental genetic diversity scans is able to detect some Fru'wu DNA, suggesting that alien visitors to Earth were preparing humans for first contact, which officially came in the 1950s. 

quantum AI

The pace of scientific advance was faster in the Ekcolir Reality, but cities such as Perugia had strict urban development rules that preserved the ancient Etruscan structures and made new construction conform to ancient Etruscan urban styles.

 City on the Edge of Tomorrow is about Tyhry's efforts to obtain advanced nanotechnology, so I'm always on the lookout for ways to depict invisibly small nanites. Mr. Wombo was busily generating images such as the one to the right for a text prompt that included "a quantum computing artificial life form that is holding a red quantum amplifier and dressed Victoria's Secret style in glowing silk filaments".

Figure 7. clothing nanites.

Mr. Wombo then generated the image that is shown to the left, which looked to me like an experiment with clothing or hair nanites.

hair and clothing nanites

 Nanite experiments. Using the image that is shown in Figure 7 as a reference image, Mr. Wombo was able to generate additional images such as the one to the right. Usually, the safe-for-work WOMBO Dream either puts clothing on a woman's breasts or find some way to hide her nipples.

nanite-generated jewels

However, sometimes Mr. Wombo gets confused and starts adding nipples to reference images. The image to the left is a composite image with her head and hair from a second image. 

In this case, the WOMBO Dream "styles" Whimsical v3, Baroque v3 and Dreamland v3 all could add nipples to this reference image (the one shown in Figure 7) without being derailed by the WOMBO Dream NSFW filter. This image seems like a realistic depiction of a clothing nanite experiment being conducted by a novice like Tyhry. Even Mr. Wombo might agree: if there are valid science fiction reasons related to a story plot element, then why not bare a breast or two?

Next: the religion of Mosy.

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