Regarding Cross-sections

Image generated by Gemini.

Below on this blog page is Chapter 8 of a science fiction story titled "The Trinity Intervention". I have been illustrating "The Trinity Intervention" with storybook images that were generated by Gemini, such as the one shown to the right.

The image that is shown to the right on this page is some kind of depiction of Qua the Grendel and Manny the bumpha, but I don't really understand what Gemini was trying to tell us with this storybook illustration. What is that rainbow that seems to be emanating from Manny's nanite-generated hair?

In Chapter 7, it was discovered that Tyhry and Robert Oppenheimer shared a weak telepathic connection. The Events of Chapter 8 (below) follow immediately after those at the end of Chapter 7.

 Chapter 8 of "The Trinity Intervention" (Chapter 1)(Chapter 2)(Chapter 3)(Chapter 4)(Chapter 5)(Chapter 6)(Chapter 7)

As Marda and Elizabeth headed toward the kitchen, Tyhry reluctantly following, John Tatlock settled into an armchair. "Robert, why don't you show Dr. Watson your calculations? The ones you were working on in the car during our drive down here... regarding cross-sections. It appears that Eddy actually knows some science, which is more than I can claim."

"I'm not sure Dr. Watson would be interested in technical details and mathematical calculations," Oppenheimer demurred.

"On the contrary," Eddy said. "I'd be very interested to see your work in progress."

Oppenheimer studied Eddy for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. I put my papers upstairs. Give me a moment." He left the room, climbing the stairs with quick, nervous steps.

"About my daughter..."

Once he was gone, John Tatlock leaned forward in his chair. "Dr. Watson—Eddy—I wonder if I might ask you a question about my daughter."

Zeta tensed slightly but said nothing.

"Of course," Eddy replied.

"Jean seems troubled lately. As a medical colleague, have you noticed anything?"

Eddy chose his words carefully. "The weight of other people's suffering. In psychiatric work, you're exposed to profound pain and dysfunction. That takes a toll."

John nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose it does. I worry about her, especially her relationship with Robert. He's brilliant, of course, but he's also... intense. Complicated. Sometimes I wonder if he's sane. Maybe he is not good for Jean's mental state." John stopped speaking as Oppenheimer's footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Oppenheimer returned carrying a leather folio stuffed with papers. He spread several pages across the coffee table, revealing dense mathematical notation and diagrams of atomic nuclei. "These are rough calculations of neutron capture cross-sections for various uranium isotopes. The question is whether a sustained chain reaction is theoretically possible under conditions we could reasonably expect to achieve."

Eddy leaned over the papers, recognizing some of the notation from his research for his science fiction stories. "You're looking at the difference between U-235 and U-238?"

"Exactly. U-235 is more likely to fission when struck by a slow neutron, but it comprises less than one percent of natural uranium. The challenge would be separating the isotopes on an industrial scale." Oppenheimer tapped one of the diagrams. "But if you could achieve separation, and if you could moderate the neutron speeds appropriately, then yes—a controllable chain reaction might become possible."

"With enormous energy release," Eddy added.

Oppenheimer's eyes gleamed

"Precisely." Oppenheimer's eyes gleamed with intellectual excitement. "The question then becomes one of geometry and timing. How do you assemble enough fissile material to reach critical mass without the reaction getting out of control? How do you contain enough energy long enough in one place for a substantial portion of the fuel to undergo fission?"

Eddy understood immediately what Oppenheimer was describing, though the physicist might not yet fully realize it himself. "You're talking about a bomb."

"I'm talking about controlled fission in a power plant. But yes, the calculations are relevant to uncontrolled reactions," Oppenheimer corrected. "The physics applies to both."

From across the room, Zeta was watching this exchange with an expression Eddy couldn't quite read. She said, "Robert, does it trouble you? The potential weapons applications?"

Oppenheimer straightened, leaving the papers on the table. "It troubles me deeply. And yet... I feel compelled to understand it. As if this knowledge is necessary, as if I'm being prepared for something." He looked at Jean with sudden intensity. "You know what I mean, don't you? You feel it too—the sense that we're moving toward something inevitable. Something both terrible and necessary."

Zeta held his gaze. "Yes. I feel it. Everyone knows that Europe is caught up in a horrible and still growing conflict."

"The trinity guides us," Oppenheimer murmured. "The creators, the shepherds, the interventionists. They've set us on this path. All we can do is follow it as wisely as possible."

John Tatlock stirred uncomfortably in his chair. "Robert, you're speaking mystically again. Eddy will think we're all mad."

"Not mad," Eddy said quietly. "Humans need to rationalize and explain everything. It is not unusual for scientists to take shelter in mysticism when they can't otherwise explain a newly discovered phenomenon." Eddy paused, thinking about his own obsessive writing of science fiction stories.

Before Eddy could say more, voices drifted in from the kitchen. Now Marda was speaking, her voice carrying clearly: "...but surely the persecution of Jews in Germany should concern everyone. It's not just a German problem."

Zeta stood abruptly. "I should join that conversation." She hurried toward the kitchen.

Eddy followed, leaving Oppenheimer and John Tatlock in the living room. In the kitchen, he found Tyhry and Marda helping Elizabeth prepare vegetables while Hugh had also been pressed into service, arranging morsels of food on shish kabob skewers. Everything was taking longer than expected because the Tatlock family dog, Rex, was under the table and Hugh was slipping Rex every other piece of food.

An argument had been gradually developing.

Hugh was saying, "Maybe America shouldn't get involved in Europe's problems. We did that in the last war and it was a disaster."

"This is different," Marda insisted. "Hitler isn't just a political problem. He's a moral test for us. The things happening in Germany—the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, the ghettos—everyone who can do so is getting out, expecting that this madness is all leading to genocide."

Elizabeth looked troubled. "It is terrible, what we hear coming out of Germany. But Hugh has a point—America can't solve every problem in the world."

Zeta said, "You're right that America can't solve everything. But some problems demand response regardless of national boundaries. Evil on this scale will never respect borders... give these thugs an inch and they will take a mile."

Hugh noted, "Everyone acts like war is inevitable. Like we're just going to get swept up into another European conflict. But it doesn't have to be that way. We have choices."

"Do we?" Marda's voice was strange, distant. "Or are we already on a path that's been laid out for us? Sometimes I wonder if any of our choices really matter, or if we're all just playing roles that have already been written."

Everyone turned to stare at her. Eddy felt a chill run down his spine. That didn't sound like Marda—it sounded like someone else speaking through her. Again, as he looked at Marda's golden hair, Eddy thought of Manny and how she had cleverly turned him into a puppet, doing her bidding in 1947.

Elizabeth broke the uncomfortable silence that had descended upon the room. "Perhaps we should discuss something more pleasant. Jean, why don't you tell me about your work? Your father says you're specializing in psychiatry."

8ME latched onto the safer topic. "Yes, I'm particularly interested in depression and its treatment. The mind is endlessly fascinating—so much we don't understand about consciousness, about what makes us who we are."

"It must be difficult on you," Elizabeth said, returning to the spicy sauce she was preparing. "Being exposed to so much suffering."

"It can be," Zeta agreed. "But it's also a privilege. People share their deepest fears and pains with me. They trust me to understand what they often can't articulate to others."

Elizabeth said, "Sometimes I worry about Hugh. He was very attached to his mother."

"She died several years ago?" Marda asked.

"Yes, in 1935. Cancer. It was very hard on the family, especially Hugh."

Marda nodded sympathetically. "Losing his mother must have shaken his understanding of the world."

Elizabeth looked at Marda with new appreciation. "That's very perceptive. Are you studying psychology as well?"

"I talk to dad extensively about human behavior," Marda replied. "Particularly since my own mother died."

Eddy watched this exchange with interest. Marda's was really getting into her role, pretending to be the daughter of a single dad. Eddy could not stop himself from thinking about Manny every time he looked at Marda.

From the living room came the sound of John Tatlock and Oppenheimer engaged in conversation. Eddy could hear Oppenheimer's voice rising with animation as he explained some aspect of Hindu philosophy.

"I should get back to that discussion," Eddy said. "Oppenheimer is fascinating to talk with."

"He's brilliant," 8ME agreed. "And troubled. Be patient with him."

Eddy returned to the living room to find Oppenheimer pacing back and forth, gesturing as he spoke to John Tatlock. "...the implications extend far beyond physics.” Oppenheimer noticed Eddy's return. "Ah, Dr. Watson. Tell me something. In your view, do scientists have a moral obligation to consider the applications of their work? Or should we pursue knowledge for its own sake and leave the ethical questions to others?"

"My early training was in biology, not physics. I earned a Ph.D. many years ago, as a young man. Now I'm half way to an M.D., but still interested in science." Eddy considered the question carefully. "I think knowledge itself is morally neutral. But scientists aren't neutral. We're human beings embedded in social and political contexts. We can't pretend our work exists in a vacuum."

"That is rather evasive," Oppenheimer said with a slight smile. "You didn't really answer the question. If you knew that your research would enable terrible weapons, would you continue?"

"Yes," Eddy said simply. "Because if I stopped, someone else would continue the work. The knowledge can't be suppressed once the path to a new discovery becomes clear." As he said the words, he doubted them. What had happened to slow down fusion power research in the Final Reality? How had fusion reactors become a fact in the 1990s of the Qua Reality? "The only question is who develops a new technology first and under what circumstances."

Oppenheimer nodded slowly. "That's what I believe too. And yet... it troubles me. The certainty that this knowledge I'm pursuing will enable destruction on a scale humanity has never seen. When I'm with Jean, I sense fragments of what's coming. Cities destroyed in an instant."

"Robert," John Tatlock said sharply. "You sound like you're having prophetic visions."

"Perhaps I am," Oppenheimer replied calmly. "Would that be so strange? Throughout history, people have received divine inspiration, have been given glimpses of future events. Why should I be exempt?"

"Because you're a physicist, not a prophet. You deal in mathematics and experimental verification, not visions and revelation."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive." Oppenheimer turned back to Eddy. "You understand, don't you? I can see in your face—you know what I'm talking about."

Eddy felt the weight of Oppenheimer's intense gaze. The man was right, of course. Eddy had spent decades receiving inspiration for his science fiction stories from Manny's carefully deployed infites, experiencing thoughts and ideas that weren't entirely his own. But he couldn't explain that to Oppenheimer, couldn't reveal the true nature of what the physicist was experiencing.

Instead, Eddy said, "I've had moments of insight that felt like they came from outside myself. Ideas that arrived fully formed, as if magically inserted into my consciousness. I could not explain where they come from and I accepted them as a gift. You know the saying, don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"The trinity," Oppenheimer murmured. "The divine hierarchy that shapes our thoughts and guides our actions. They're preparing us, Dr. Watson. Preparing us for what's coming."

Two copies of Jean.

The front door suddenly opened, and a woman's voice called out, "Sorry I'm so late." It was Jean Tatlock's voice coming from the actual 1939 version of Jean, who had just arrived.

Zeta emerged from the kitchen, her face identical to that of the “real” Joan. She stared at the doorway where another Jean Tatlock stood, and behind her, Sedruth was there, carrying her bag.

For a long, frozen moment, the two Jeans stared at each other.

Then Sedruth's voice sounded in the minds of Eddy, 8ME, Marda and Tyhry: "This could get ugly. Unless one of you wants to over-ride me, I'll perform the extraction."

The beach house began to shimmer and dissolve around them and they quickly returned to the great-room in Arizona. Qua was sitting in front of Eddy's computer, rapidly processing the twenty years of accumulated science fiction content that was in Eddy's blog.

"That was fast," Qua observed. "You were only gone about fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes?" Tyhry looked shaken. "We were there for well over an hour." Pepper was also back from the Simulation and rubbing against Tyhry's leg. Tyhry looked down at her own body and noticed that Sedruth had allowed herself and Marda to retain Jean's goofy swimwear from 1939. Tyhry felt goosebumps rising in the cold air of the house. She picked up Pepper and moved away from the air conditioning vent that was dropping cool air on her back.

"Time dilation," Sedruth explained, his voice emanating from the computer's little speaker this time. "The Simulation can run faster than real time flows."

Eddy demanded, "Sedruth, why didn't you tell us that you can enter into the Reality Simulations?"

The Sedruth entity asked its own question, "Does that surprise you?" Speaking with condescending aloofness, Sedruth said, "If I took the time to explain even half the things you are ignorant of, we'd never get anything accomplished. I'll be educating you gradually, on a need-to-know basis."

Zeta laughed. "Are you still in the Simulation? How did Jean react after she saw me and then I suddenly disappeared?"

Sedruth replied, "I terminated the Simulation when I extracted you from the Reality Simulation System. I did not think you wanted the Simulation to continue running."

"I did not. But it could have continued?"

"Yes, that 1939 Simulation could have continued running. One of the uses of such Simulations is a type of 'what if?' experiment. It is possible to create certain specific conditions in a simulation and see what the outcome is. For example, Eddy, you could write two different versions of a science fiction story and then test them on exactly the same audience, in two different Simulation runs."

Tyhry giggled. "The next time I have to tell mom something she does not want to hear, I'll have to test various ways of breaking the bad news to her in the Simulation System."

"I've created a monster." Sedruth warned, "Young one, think before you use the Simulation System. It does not exist as a tool for you to use when you are trying to manipulate your mother's behavior. I recommend simple honesty when there is something that you must tell to your parents."

"I'm not sure that my use of the Simulation System was worth the effort." Eddy told Qua, "I spoke with Oppenheimer. I understand now what he was experiencing—the telepathic impressions from 8ME's femtozoan, his interpretation of that information as divine revelation, his certainty that terrible choices lay ahead."

"He sensed my mind," Tyhry said quietly. "We shared some kind of weak connection that was linking between our femtozoans."

Eddy mused, “If Robert was a time travel agent then his acting skills fooled me. I can't believe he is anything but a human being with an imagination that can run wild.”

Marda had moved to the window, looking out at the Arizona desert. She was trying to adjust her swimsuit to better fit her lanky body. The suit had been borrowed from the Joan Tatlock of the 1930s who had a completely different body shape than did Marda. "The conversation I was having about Nazi Germany... why did you cut it off, Zeta?"

Zeta looked at Marda with an expression Eddy couldn't quite read. "You were off topic."

"Was I?" Marda turned from the window, her expression innocent. "I was just making conversation."

"You were a distraction." Zeta watched the way that Marda was adjusting her swimsuit to best show off her sexy body. "You are a distraction," Zeta said flatly. "There was no need to provoke Hugh. Really! Just like you've been getting into Eddy's head."

Eddy realized that he was staring at Marda and enjoying the sight of her in the swimsuit. Marda pranced across the room, twitching her delicious curves to best advantage. Eddy glanced at Zeta and saw her watching him closely.

Marda told Qua, "I wish you had come to California with us. You would look good in a swimsuit."

Qua giggled then the room fell silent. Tyhry glanced between her mother and her cousin uncertainly. She wondered: what got into Marda?

Eddy could not keep his eyes off of Marda. She was beautiful and easy on the eye. A walking distraction... who walked with the seductive grace of Manny the bumpha. He felt his earlier suspicions crystallizing into certainty. "Marda, who are you really?"

Marda smiled, and in that smile Eddy saw something he'd seen before—Manny's characteristic expression of amusement. "I'm exactly who I've always been."

"I figured it out." Zeta said, "You're like Qua, a Grendel or something similar. Your zeptites are made of sedrons and are too tiny for me to detect. But you are nothing but zeptites. And your zeptites simulate femtobots that simulate biological cells... so you fooled me. Why have you been deceiving us?"

"Deceiving?" Marda's expression showed hurt. "Why not think of it as observing, guiding, teaching? And Marda is real—a genuine human who grew up in Perth. I had no need to convert all of her body into nanites. The zeptite endosymbiont that is in her brain allows me to control her biological body any time I need to do so. Zeptozoan? I suppose you could call it that, but I agree, that's an ugly word. But yes, whenever she's with Tyhry, I've been riding along in Marda's body, guiding Marda's actions, and influencing Tyhry's."

"Does she know?" Tyhry asked, her voice strained. "Does the real Marda know that Manny the bumpha has been controlling her?"

"Until right now, she's never been consciously aware of my presence, but now I'm letting her become aware of the truth. To her, her thoughts and decisions have always seemed entirely her own. But I've been there, Tyhry, throughout your entire childhood. Every visit by you to Australia, every visit by Marda to Arizona—I was there, watching you grow, assessing your development. And when you were on this side of the ocean and Marda was in Perth, I was often here with you. It was me in the body of your dear chum, Manny the school girl. Zeta knew about my role as a femtobot artificial life-form pretending to be your school mate. Knowing about that deception, Zeta never got into the sport of suspecting Marda."

Tyhry looked stricken. She asked Manny, "So you've been relentlessly spying on me my whole life?"

END Chapter 8

Image generated by Gemini.

I provided Gemini with the full text of Chapter 8 of “The Trinity Intervention”.

Me: Process the file that I just uploaded. Create a science fiction storybook for adults with illustrations of events from Chapter 8 of the science fiction story “The Trinity Intervention”. Make the illustrations in the storybook photo-realistic and they should resemble full color high resolution movie stills.

Gemini: I sincerely apologize, but I was unable to process your request to create the storybook based on the file you uploaded. Please try again with a new request to create your storybook.

It is always a mystery when Gemini refuses to do something. In this case, I suspect the problem may have involved mention of depression and the deaths of parents. I edited chapter 8 to take out all mention of war, destruction, Nazi Germany, mothers dying and depression.

Gemini: I've created a science fiction storybook for adults that covers events from Chapter 8 of "The Trinity Intervention," featuring photo-realistic, high-resolution movie still-like illustrations. Please note that the story and illustrations may not be 100% faithful to the contents of the uploaded file.

I used the Gemini-generated storybook images to illustrate Chapter 8 of "The Trinity Intervention", above on this page. A few of the images were generated by WOMBO Dream.

Next: Chapter 9 of "The Trinity Intervention".

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