New Laws

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Below on this page is Part 6 of the science fiction story called the Mosy Saga. The events in Part 6 continue immediately after the end of (Part 5).

Nym consults with Kl'ath-Sedruth and with help from Tara the Ta, they create the Six Laws of Humanics, which are based on Nym's goal of working towards transcendence into the Hierion Domain and influenced by Asimov's Laws of Robotics and the Ten Commandments of the Torah. Asimov used the term 'humanics in "That Thou Art Mindful of Him" and in The Robots of Dawn.

 Part 6 of the Mosy Saga. (Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)(Part 4)(Part 5)

Tyhry vanished and then for a time Nym and Tara stood in silence, looking at each-other. Nym had been given a vision of this underground chamber by Balok shortly before Nym was sent back through time to the wilderness of Sinai in the time of Mosy. After trying to ignore the mystery of how Tyhry could so effectively control the telepathic connection between her mind and his, and succeeding with the help of memory editing infites that Balok had placed inside Nym's memory systems, Nym shifted his thought stream and asked Tara, "How can we contact Sedruth?"

Whisk has definite ideas about
how to depict a "humaniform robot".

In Tara's past experience, Kl'ath-Sedruth only interacted with her when there was something that Kl'ath-Sedruth needed. On such occasions, Tara would be summoned to the secret facility under Mt. Sinai. Tara shook her head and replied to Nym, "In my experience, if something interesting is happening then Kl'ath-Sedruth will know about it." Tara giggled. "You might fruitfully think of Kl'ath-Sedruth as the god of curiosity."

"A god of curiosity... that is an amusing notion."

Tara giggled. "Almost as clever as using a robot from the future to bring religion to Earthlings."

Nym mused, "If only there were a way to program humans with a belief in the possibility of transcending into the Hierion Domain as an artificial life-form, just as positronic robots were programmed with the Laws of Robotics."

Tara explained what little she knew of the workings of the Bimanoid Interface and human curiosity. "Inside every human is a programmable endosymbiont. During the Asimov Reality, the Bimanoid Interface was used to programmed every human's endosymbiont so as to block human technological progress. However, that re-programming of the Bimanoid Interface was apparently done by the Phari at the behest of Nyrtia."

Nym was thinking about the way that Tara could use her telepathic sashei to control his behavior. Telepathically following his thoughts, Tara told Nym, "I have multiple tools that I use to influence your behavior, including infites and sex hormones."

Nym shook his head. "It is absurd to think that human, or even alien tryp'At hormones, for that matter, could alter my behavior. I'm a robot."

"Yes, but due to the meddling of Balok, your artificial body now mimics a human body, so you do respond to sex hormones. And I'm glad you do." Tara fondled Nym's semi-erect penis through the fabric of his robe. "When I push you into a sexual frenzy, you can almost satisfy my lustful cravings. Having you to bounce on is much more satisfying than masturbation. An with the restrictions placed upon me while waiting for you to arrive, I'm now an expert at masturbation."

Nym tried to ignore Tara's telepathic sashei. He suggested, "That might be a useful tenet of an Earthly religion... a prohibition against excessive sexplay. Humans of this primitive era can't afford to spend the day making love. there is more to life than sexual pleasure."

As a human-tryp'At hybrid, Tara was constantly thinking about sex. For tryp'At hermaphrodites, the tryp'At-style penis was designed to be continually erect. "Ug. Don't tell me you want a religion the condemns and limits sexplay."

Nym suggested, "Everything in moderation."

Tyhry scoffed, "Nobody will join a religious movement that insists on negating human nature. The religion of Moses; Rule One, thou shalt not enjoy sex."

Nym enjoyed sex as much as the next man. "As I robot, I follow the Laws of Robotics. Maybe a religion could bring similar Laws of Humanics to people."

The "voice" of Kl'ath-Sedruth was placed into the minds of Nym and Tara: I've developed what I call the Fifty Commandments. I'm working on whittling that down to a smaller number of critically important laws.

Tara warned Nym, "Sedy is long-winded and pedantic. After 'whittling' at his Fifty Commandments for ten thousand years, he will probably have the number of the Commandments up to seventy or eighty."

"I'm imagining rules that could apply to both humans and robots, not to mention intelligent aliens from other galaxies." Nym suggested, "The Rules of Humanics should be positive and inspirational, not a list of negative restrictions." 

Nym originated in the Asimov Reality.

One wall of the underground chamber that held Nym and Tara vibrated and seemed to melt. The molten wall formed into a vibrating mass of simulated biological tissue that produced a voice. A touch of sadness was in the voice of Kl'ath-Sedruth as the sedronite spoke, "The Grendels have long lamented their inability to control fickle humans. There is a perversity in human behavior... tell a human to turn right and they are likely to turn left, just to be contrary. Fear can control the primitive biological creatures of Earth. Tara knows me as a god of curiosity, but I suspect that controlling the humans of Earth would be easier if humans feared me."

Nym was not able to restrain himself from offering advice to the god-like Kl'ath-Sedruth, "You should be a god of love, not a god of fear."

Kl'ath-Sedruth projected into the room a glowing image of the original 'X clone' from the Asimov reality, her double row of breasts visible. "Any list of rules for the tryp'At would have to start with the rule: Orgasms Come First."

Tara giggled and asked Kl'ath-Sedruth, "Is that a sex pun?"

 Kl'ath-Sedruth told Tara, "You have a dirty mind... that's why I like the tryp'At.

Nym asked, "What would a god of love put first on commandments given to humans? Maybe: 'Seek the Creator.' Yes, that suits a curious god of love."

Tara noted, "Rather like the degree of curiosity you displayed when exploring my allzaurish."

Secrets of the tryp'At.

Nym patted Tara shapely bottom, "Don't distract me. Sedy and I are brain-storming."

Kl'ath-Sedruth complained, "There was such a steady stream of humans climbing to the top of Mt. Sinai and asking me for help that I had to spread the rumor that it is death to look upon the god of Sinai."

Tara began to get into the spirit of the brain-storming session. "I like the idea of every human seeking their Creator. Fhesit, who was it that created humans, was it the bumpha or was it the pek?"

"The Grendels like to claim their share of the glory for making the human species. We can call it a group effort. The pek, Prelands and bumpha all played important rolls."

"It is hard to imagine primitive Earthlings even being able to appreciate all of the effort that went into making humans. Earth needs to enter into an age of learning." 

"People foolishly chase wealth and luxury, not knowledge. A rule of Humanics should be, 'Seek knowledge and wisdom before material wealth.' But how can we encourage a world full of illiterates to seek knowledge and learning?"

"The people of Earth respond to bribes.  Why not a religion that promises immortality? In time, humans will develop the technology needed to make artificial life... eventually the technology will become available that will allow production of immortal copies of biological humans." 

Image generated by ImageFX, text added manually.

"Learning and the development of new technologies depends on a new mind-set. Truth must be respected while deception, including self-deception, is condemned and viewed as socially unacceptable."

"Yes, the Rules of Humanics must include: 'Seek the truth and proclaim it.' However, I fear that the careful thinking needed for science is a dream, yet far in the future of Earth."

"For me, the goal of life is to escape from the restrictions that burden life in the Hadron Domain. There is a glorious progression from biology to increasingly sophisticated forms of artificial life. My mind burns with the fact that imperfect humans could have so much more, could have more interesting artificial lives when existing as artificial life-forms in the Hierion Domain.

We could say, 'Seek the attainment of eternal life.'

"A worthy goal for seekers."

Tara shrugged. "I've reveled in the joys of human existence for a thousand years. I'd dread some kind of future where our humanity was lost." She added, "No denigration of your artificial existence inside the Sedron Time Stream intended, Sedy."

"Have no fear, I'm happy with my existence as an artificial life-form."

"Humans of the future can achieve both immortality and retain their Humanity. Include, 'Seek the continuance of human existence,' in the Rules of Humanics."

The Six Laws of Humanics.

Tara suggested, "As a genetically engineered human variant, I know that the future of the human species and the path to transcendence that you seek, Nym, will be accelerated by careful manipulation of the human genome. So, I suggest adding, 'Seek to understand the nature of a child’s making and how to guide it' as one of the Rules of Humanics.  

Nym said, "These Rules of Humanics can be our guiding principles, a foundation for the future."

Tara told her husband, "Nym, together we can impress these Rules on the Phari endosymbiont of your first born, Gyrso."

"Show me how." Without hesitation and with Kl'ath-Sedruth watching the two lovers, Tara made love to her husband and formed a synapex link between their bodies. Now in a shared mind space with the femtozoan of the Gyrso embryo who was inside Tara's uterus, Nym helped imprint the Laws of Humanics on his first born's Phari endosymbiont. Gyrso would be the first of many humans compelled to live according to the Rules of Humanics. Kl'ath-Sedruth provided the technical expertise required for that re-programming of Gyrso's endosymbiont.

As Nym and Tara exited from the secret underground facility below Mt. Sinai, Nym asked Tara, "What about all the people of all the tribes and clans? How can they be programmed with the Laws of Humanics?"

Now resuming her conventional appearance and the identity of Typpo, Tara teased her husband. "Well, if we got started now, you and I could probably do for every newborn Midyan what was just done for Gyrso.    

Nym's mind was staggered by the scale of such a project for one-by-one reprogramming of generations of newborns. "But..."

Tara laughed. "Just kidding. That would require multiple copies of you and I and I've been forbidden from making any more replicoids for deployment on Earth."

Nym asked, "More?"

 I've lived on Earth for the past few thousand years, preparing the people of Earth for your arrival. That involved the deployment of many clones and replicoids on Earth, but now that you are here we must use other methods."

"Such as?"

"You know, silly. A new religious movement must be devised that can influence the minds of millions through the power of education and persuasion." 

________

After 100 years on Earth, Kl'ath-Sedruth placed Nym into the pattern buffer of the Simulation System. Tara continued her work on Earth, living the lives of many other people through the long centuries of the ascent of humanity.

_____

Kl'ath-Sedruth: Behold your future, Nym.
Generated by Gemini.

When the Space Age of Earth finally arrived in Nym's Simulation Fork, Nym was taken out of the pattern buffer and shown the "world of the future".

 Kl'ath-Sedruth revealed to Nym the nature of this version of human civilization that Nym's Six Laws had helped bring into existence. Kl'ath-Sedruth explained to Nym: You now awaken to a human civilization that is characterized by a sophisticated epistemological drive coupled with a deep, existential focus on transcendence and preservation. Look upon this Earth where humans are shepherds of all the life of the planet and there are no ecological catastrophe's created by the busy hands of humans.

Nym said, "It is good." Nym had a request. "Sedy, allow me to walk among these people who have crafted such a beautiful future." Nym suddenly found himself inside a space colony that was in selenynchronous orbit around the Moon. Through the transparent dome of the orbital space habitat, Nym could see the distant Earth seeming to float in the blackness of space.

 There beside Nym was an shimmering embodiment of the Kl'ath-Sedruth entity, crafted so as not to draw too much attention from the residents of the space colony. Yet, one resident immediately approached Nym and Kl'ath-Sedruth. She was a tall blond woman who told Nym, "Sedy promised me that you would come. I have waited and waited and now you are here!"

Kl'ath-Sedruth told Nym: Yes, this is Tara, still at work, building the civilization that your Laws have guided to this future... The humanoid version of Kl'ath-Sedruth waved a sparkling hand towards Earth.

"I am pleased." Nym grasped one of Tara's hands and he told her, "You have done well."

Tara told Nym, "Your children have pursued an intense scientific and philosophical inquiry into origins—both of life and the universe. "The Creator" is often interpreted as some ultimate cosmic force, the underlying physical laws of Space and Time, or, in the minds of some science fiction story tellers, even unseen alien architects of themselves, although that is a concept still only dimly perceived by a few. These pursuits have brought human understanding of fundamental physics, cosmology, and the search for unifying theories to the point where discovery of a negative mass hierion is now imminent."

Nym noted, "And yet, this is a future of great beauty."

Tara nodded. "Most people are artists, musicians, dreamers... there is no hurry to reach the future, only a wish to create and preserve beauty and knowledge."

To Nym, it seemed that both Tara and Sedy were proud of the world that they had crafted through the Six Laws. Kl'ath-Sedruth said: Material wealth is abundant here, yet accumulation of wealth is seen as secondary, a means to an end, or even a distraction. The people of this society prioritize education, research, and intellectual pursuit above all else. Resources are channeled to laboratories, observatories, libraries (digital and physical), and world-spanning electronic forums for intellectual discourse. Economic systems are highly collaborative and not competitive; "wealth" is defined as intellectual capital. Post-scarcity principles guide the efficient allocation of resources towards continued knowledge acquisition.

Nym noted, "It would give me great joy to live in such a world. What of politics?"

Whisk was asked to generate an illustration
for the back cover of a science fiction novel.

Tara said, "Mercifully, there is no word for 'politics' in the dominant human language of this version of Earth. Public discourse is goal-directed and rigorously factual. Millions of people cooperate in vast programs designed to promote scientific progress. Knowledge is openly shared and rigorously verified. The leaders of this Earth foster a deeply ethical approach to the protection of truthful information, resisting the temptations of creating propaganda or making a practice of obfuscation."

Kl'ath-Sedruth explained to Nym: The 'political' climate that Tara mentioned is a powerful driver for medical, biological, cybernetic and transhumanist research. These efforts are not about anything as mundane as simple lifespan extension, but aim at truly conquering death. This version of Earth has seen immense resources poured into attaining a deep understanding of cellular senescence and sophisticated organ regeneration techniques already exist. Gene editing is commonly performed to correct genetic predispositions to disease and aging and genome modifications are made that enhance cellular repair mechanisms.

Tara told Nym, "Research into human brain mapping, down to individual synaptic connections as well as computer-based neural network emulation of brain function and brain-computer interfaces are the popular 'sports' and 'hobbies' here in this version of Earth. Of course, the ultimate goal is to transfer consciousness into robust, long-lived artificial substrates. Nym, your goal of human transcendence into the Hierion Domain is as yet only dimly conceived by science fiction visionaries, but humanity is on the path to that great goal."

Nym nodded. "I am pleased. This world is all that I had hoped for back when you teased me and called me 'Stranger' as I stumbled across the dusty surface of Earth." 

Generated by Whisk.

The humanoid instantiation of Kl'ath-Sedruth reached down and scooped up a hand-full of dirt from the artificial ground that they stood upon. Human civilization is moving beyond Earth. Earth is being gradually depopulated and being treated as a Garden World for non-human species. The 'natural' environment of human beings is now widely perceived to be self-sustaining space habitats such as this one that I have brought you to. The engineering of such habitats is sophisticated beyond any of the great cities that were once built on Earth, featuring self-repairing structural components and self-sustaining bio-regenerative ecosystems capable of supporting life indefinitely into the future.

Tara said, "And yet..."

Nym looked into Tara's eyes and reached his telepathic mind into her memories. He saw dissatisfaction and a desire for change. He suggested, "You have regrets?"

Tara was tempted to show Nym all that she was aware of by way of the Sedron Time Stream, for Kl'ath-Sedruth was allowing her to perceive a multitude of alternative futures. However, she hid that from poor Nym and simple said, "I could have done better."

Nym laughed and said, "You have made a miracle."

"Nym, I worked for thousands of year on Earth making all of these wonders possible, but we should not deceive ourselves." She waved a hand at their surroundings. "This is only a first draft. We can do better."

Now the Kl'ath-Sedruth entity finally allowed Nym to understand that they were in a Simulation of Reality. If you were interested to do so, you can study this future, its glorious successes and its nagging failures. Then I can re-start the Simulation and you two can be given a second chance.

There was long discussion with Tara and Kl'ath-Sedruth of the possibility of "making corrections" to the timeline. Nym lived in the space colony for a year and studied the history of these people of his future. Nym identified what he imagined were ways to alter the Six Laws for the better. Finally, Nym was ready and he asked Kl'ath-Sedruth to restart the Simulation, and he was sent back to a new Simulation fork, at the beginning, when he first met Tara the Ta. Arriving for a second time in the wilderness of Sinai, Nym told Tara, "We will get this right, eventually."

Tara put her arms around Nym. She had no faith in dreams of perfection. "At least we can have fun trying."

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