Robot D2

Image generated by Leonardo.

 Below on this blog page is my edited version of Chapter 6 of the science fiction story "The Sims". I made my final version of Chapter 6 by editing Claude's first draft of the chapter which is shown in my previous blog post. Including the second draft of the epilogue, Claude's version of the chapter was 9,150 words long while mine is about 11,900 words, bringing the length of the first six chapters of "The Sims" to a little more than 51,000 words.

When generating its draft of Chapter 6, Claude continued its mission to make sure that nobody at Casanay ever keeps a secret. In my edited final version of Chapter 6, I had to make it possible for the correct secrets to be kept as required for the correct continuation of the story. 

 Spoiler? Claude also tried to engineer a scene in which an effort could be made to prevent Tyhry from dying. That misguided effort hit the trash bin with a resounding thud.

The Sims - Chapter 6: The Transfer (Chapter 1)(Ch. 2)(Ch. 3)(Ch. 4)(Ch. 5)

Figure 1. Zeta and Eddy. Image generated by Gemini.

 Scene 1: Hot Tub Decisions

Casanay, Arizona, December 8, 2041

With Tyhry at her most obstinate, a frustrated Zeta emerged from the basement and went looking for Eddy. She found Anthony out front sweeping up the salt and sand that he had previously spread on the paved portion of the Casanay driveway during the recent storm. Anthony gestured down the driveway and told Zeta, “Eddy went for a run.”

Image generated by Gemini.

Just then, Zeta saw Eddy in the distance, jogging up the gravel driveway towards Casanay. Eddy ran at least a mile everyday and also did 100 laps in the pool, unless he got some other form of exercise such as going for a hike.

 Eddy was wearing a pair of shorts but when he arrived on the pavement he was running fast and sweating even though that day the temperature was only in the forties. Pleased to see Zeta there waiting for him, Eddy enthusiastically threw his arms around Zeta and in one smooth motion he lifted her three feet off the ground, swung her 360 degrees around and set her back on her feet while kissing her on the mouth. Pulling back and looking at Zeta's face, he noted the frown on her lips asked, “Did I annoy you somehow?”

Figure 2. Eddy and Zeta by Gemini.

“No, except you promised to take it easy on your back after you pulled a muscle helping Anthony extend the stone wall. It's you stubborn daughter. She won't listen to me.”

Taking Zeta by the hand, Eddy led her past Anthony and through the front door of Casanay. They passed through the great room and went to the master bedroom suite where he took off the shorts and got a drink of water from the tap. 

Eddy then tried pushing Zeta onto the bed, but she grabbed his semi-erect penis and said, “Let's go back outside and play in the hot tub.” With the recent presence of the Onways as guests at Casanay, their decades-long daily routine of holding make-out session in the hot tub had been rudely interrupted. Zeta placed a kiss on Eddy's erection and then quickly pulled off her clothing and led Eddy to the hot tub on the back patio.

Image generated by Gemini.

Trib sat on the rim of the hot tub, tail swishing with apparent feline contentment. Nearby, Pepper occupied a comfortable perch on one of the patio chairs, grooming with meticulous attention. Zeta placed her hands on the rim of the hot tub and looked over her shoulder at Eddy who slid a finger into her hot wet vagina from behind. He told her, “Your secretions have become so luxuriant. It reminds me of when you were still nursing Tyhry and had lots of progesterone in your blood.”

“Stop talking and get inside of me.” Zeta had been told by Sedruth that she would have to re-learn how to have orgasms after undergoing the femtozoan swap, a process that could take weeks, so she was determined to "stock up" on orgasms before letting Tyhry use the hierion probe.

Figure 3. Cat with 5 legs.
Image generated by Gemini.

Eddy wasted no more time before sliding his erection deep inside Zeta and he began energetically thrusting his stiff penis in and out of her body. Zeta commented, “Your erections have been extra hard and hot lately.”

“Its all relative. Since the cold snap, maybe I just feel hotter.”

“Oh, that's the spot, lover. Harder! Deeper! Faster!”

After Eddy ejaculated, Zeta pushed him into the tub and got his erection back inside herself. She was on his lap and he was reaching around from behind to play with her breasts and stiff nipples. Zeta was busy down under the surface, massaging the rock-hard glans of her clitoris. 

Image generated by Gemini.

After Eddy had won his Hugo award and had left Zeta alone at Casanay for so many long and lonely weeks, Zeta had enthusiastically made a careful study of how to give herself pleasure. After accumulating a diverse collection of vibrators and other sex-toys, Zeta begun to consider herself an expert in the art of masturbation. Wondering if this might be her last orgasm, she methodically brought herself to a satisfying climax. After she experienced an explosive orgasm she relaxed back against Eddy's chest and looked at the watching cats who seemed intrigued by Zeta's lusty antics.

Steam rose from the hot tub in lazy spirals and Trib sat on the rim, occasionally dipping the tip of one paw into the water. Pepper watched from the patio chair.

"Tyhry's still wrestling with her decision," Eddy said quietly. "She's trying to find a way to justify using Marda as the test subject."

Image generated by Leonardo.

"She won't be able to," Zeta replied. "Tyhry knows it, but she's being stubborn. Trying to invent a clever excuse to not allow me to be the one. Marda has become real to Tyhry now. You can't use someone as a test subject once you've shared meals with them, listened to their voice, watched them get excited about... flirting with your dad."

Eddy chuckled and squeezed his wife's breasts. "Marda is a real cutie. She reminds me of you when we first met and you were using every trick in the book to attract my attention. Have you been coaching Marda on how to attract my attention?”

Image generated by Leonardo.

“If I did any coaching, I'd tell her to be more lady-like. She's a horny little bunny and she likes twitching her tail at every buck she sees.”

“Ya! Marda is exactly like you were, back when you were at her age.” Eddy lifted Zeta up, turned her 180 degrees and pulled her back down onto his erection. After devoting a minute to the delightful project of gently stroking Zeta's breasts with his finger tips, Eddy seemed to remember that they were in the middle of a conversation and he said, “Marda volunteered to be used, at least in theory. Tyhry is simply finding it hard not to accepting Marda's offer."

"Which is why we need to make the decision for her." Zeta's hand found Eddy's scrotum and she began to give his testes a delicate massage. "I'm the only one in a position to be volunteering. I'm finding it hard... just the way I like it.” She tightened her vaginal muscles and squeezed on Eddy's erection.

Image generated by Gemini.

Eddy placed a thumb on the stiff glans of Zeta's clitoris and began trying to lead her to a second orgasm. “If I told Marda about femtozoans then I'm sure she'd volunteer to have hers extracted. Just to impress me with her boldness.”

“But you can't tell her. So she can't give informed consent. I'm genuinely volunteering, with full knowledge of what will happen to me."

"Zeta—"

"I've thought about this carefully." Her voice was firm.

“Oh, ya.”

Image generated by Gemini.

"I know the risks.”

Eddy reached another climax and again ejaculated into Zeta's silky vagina.

“You old goat. That's four orgasms for you already today.” Zeta took over massaging her glans again, trying to catch up in the orgasm count. While she took her sweet time masturbating, she told Eddy, “Even if the replacement femtozoan does not integrate perfectly and I experience cognitive disruption, it should only be temporary. Sedruth has prepared me for this and I trust Sedruth to provide me with a replacement femtozoan immediately after the extraction. I'm still young-”

“Almost fifty.”

One of Zeta's winter 2013 post-
cards to Eddy. Image by Grok.

“Younger than you, old man. My brain is healthy and able to support rapid integration with the replacement femtozoan. According to Sedruth, I'll be back to normal in two weeks."

“Well, I don't trust Sedruth... not with your safety.” Eddy squeezed her nipples between his finger tips. "What if something goes wrong? I could not deal with it if you were harmed."

"If something goes wrong then it goes wrong. What's the worst that could happen? And... if the worst happens, I want you to move on. If my brain is damaged then just get me into a bottle as quick as possible. And find someone new to partner to be with, like the adorable Marda.”

Eddy chuckled. “She's just a kid.”

Zeta and Eddy in 2013.
Image generated by Leonardo.

Zeta began remembering the very first time that she and Eddy had made love in the hot tub after moving into Casanay. Then she recalled the many sexy selfies she had made for Eddy when he had to be traveling for business. 

Zeta's thoughts soon returned to the cute and delectable Marda. Zeta had recently discovered that she liked fantasizing about having the adorable Marda licking her genitals and fisting her. Now imagining that it was Marda's hot little hand up inside her vagina and Marda's frisky tongue stimulating the glans of her clitoris, Zeta achieved another sweet orgasm. 

When she could speak again, Zeta told her husband, “Forget about Marda and let's stay focused on our daughter. Eddy, just think about what Tyhry is accomplishing."

Image generated by Gemini.

"She wants to make the first truly conscious AI and proof that rich, human-like consciousness can exist in non-biological substrates. Helping her achieve that lofty goal is worth some risk." She paused. "And honestly? The idea of little old me contributing to something that will change human understanding forever... that appeals to me."

On the tub's edge, Trib's tail swished more rapidly. Inside the cat's small biological brain, Manny's femtobot components recorded every word while using hierion-based signals to communicate with Nyrtia.

She's fully committed, Manny telepathically transmitted to Nyrtia.

From Pepper's vantage point, Nyrtia responded: The mother sacrificing for the scientific success of her daughter. How touching.

Zeta and Eddy in 2014.
Image generated by Leonardo.

 You say that sarcastically, but it is touching. Zeta has spent twenty-five years creating the conditions for Tyhry's success as a scientist. Now she's completing that project by providing the femtozoan that makes her daughter's success possible.

And when the extraction happens? When Diasma has Zeta's femtozoan? That robot was not built to integrate with a femtozoan.

Manny was confident that her Casanay Intervention was moving steadily towards success. We will observe. Tyhry has done her best to provide Diasma with VLSI components that mimic the computational functions of human brain parts. 

Zeta at Casanay in 2014.
Image generated by Leonardo.

Manny telepathically told Nyrtia: Soon we will finally find out if the femtozoan can adapt to Diasma's silicon-based neural architecture. See if human-like consciousness genuinely emerges in the robot. Manny paused. And then at the end of my little experiment you can execute your extraction protocols. You will do your duty and remove Tyhry and Diasma from Earth before they can spread knowledge of hierion technology to other researchers.

Nyrtia observed: You seem surprisingly confident that Diasma will be able to integrate the femtozoan into its non-biological brain.

I've seen Tyhry at work modifying Diasma's circuits, making them mimic a human brain's neural networks. She's good at what she does.

Tyhry and Diasma. Image generated by Gemini.

In the hot tub, Zeta was tingling with sexual delight and formulating a plan. "We should approach Tyhry together. You could tell her about your concerns regarding Marda—how she's too young, too trusting, and simply too adorable to risk. How using her would be exploitation of a trusting young innocent. Then I'll immediately jump on top of you... I'm good at that...” Again she squeezed on Eddy with her vaginal muscles. Sadly, his erection was fading and his semi-erect penis slid out of Zeta's vagina. 

Zeta got both of her hands on Eddy's semi-erect penis and began playing with it. “When I offer myself to Tyhry as the alternative to Marda, you MUST agree with me. Tyhry will resist at first, but if we gang up on her, she'll recognize the logic."

Image generated by Leonardo.

"She'll see it as losing you, just as I do," Eddy said softly.

"I'll sell it as me choosing to contribute to Tyhry's work." Zeta smiled. "Anyhow, it's not like I'm dying. You two are being silly. Sedruth knows what he's doing. After this is all done, I'll be the same person with a different femtozoan. I may be a bit confused for a few weeks, but after I figure out the new replacement femtozoan I'll be fundamentally unchanged. So stop worrying about me. We're going to lose a daughter."

"Tyhry will live on in the hierion domain. She has to have that second life in order to send information from the future back to her earlier self. Still, it will be too quiet here with her gone again, just like during her college years."

Image generated by Leonardo.

"It is you and I knowing  that Tyhry will live on in the Hierion Domain is what makes this all possible." Zeta touched Eddy's face. "I'll be able to tell myself that the family remains intact, just split in two."

Eddy squeezed with his arms around Zeta and pulled her closer. "When did you become so brave?"

"I've always been brave. You just never noticed because I make everything I do look effortless." She kissed him. "Besides, this is for Tyhry. For our daughter. What mother wouldn't provide her daughter with her heart's desire?"

Eddy using the Viewer. Main
image by Gemini. Insets by
ImageFX and Leonardo.

They held each-other in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The cats watched, recording, analyzing, preparing for what came next.

They were both thinking of one other great comfort that was helping Eddy navigate the departure of Tyhry from Earth, the fact that he could now use the Reality Viewer to watch all of Tyhry's past life on Earth. He was discovering the parts of Tyhry's early life that he had missed while traveling.

Zeta suggested, "Just don't let that past chapter in our lives distract you from your work. Tyhry had to become her own independent person, not get wrapped up in your obsession with writing. Sure, you can look back at Tyhry's life, but the future is here. Now you have Marda as you apprentice and you can enjoy her enthusiasm for your writing. you two need to write your novel and present it to the world."

Image generated by Gemini.

Finally, Eddy spoke again. "We should talk to her now. Get this done before Brak and Marda return from skiing."

"Agreed." Zeta stood, water streaming from her body. "Let's go convince our daughter to use her mother as a guinea pig."

The two humans departed from the patio. Manny and Nyrtia continued their conversation.

You realize this is the point of no return, Nyrtia transmitted. Once the femtozoan transfer happens, the Casanay Intervention enters its final phase.

Yes. I'm sure that you're itching to apply your extraction protocol.

Image generated by Leonardo.

Yes, it is already prepared. The moment I'm certain that Diasma is experiencing femtozoan-enhanced consciousness, I'll use a car accident as an excuse for the death of Tyhry. A copy of Tyhry will become a femtobot replicoid at Observer Base. Diasma will be exiled along with her. Clean, efficient, minimal disruption to Earth.

 And Brak? Marda?

My simulations predict that Brak will return to his research life, grieving but unaware of the truth, not knowing that Tyhry is still living an artificial life in the Hierion Domain. 

Image generated by Leonardo.

Nyrtia reflected on the fate of the young woman, Marda. Interestingly, there is a chance that Marda will stay at Casanay as Eddy's collaborator in story telling. If that happens, Manny, you best make sure that she never learns the truth, never becomes a security risk.

I've thought of everything. My infites can contain Marda's wildness.

Nyrtia paused. I'll admit, I'm curious about Zeta's pregnancy. Did you plan this?

Zeta's second child is a bonus. A gift from me to Eddy and Zeta. They'll have another daughter to raise, I hope that compensates somewhat for losing Tyhry.

You're getting sentimental in your old age.

I'm 4.7 billion years old. I'm entitled to a little sentiment.

The cats separated, Trib padding toward the house while Pepper remained on the patio.

Inside Casanay, Eddy and Zeta descended the basement stairs together, prepared to guide their daughter to an acceptable future.

Diasma, Tyhry and Zeta.
Image generated by Gemini.

Scene 2: The Extraction

In the basement workshop Tyhry sat at her workstation, staring at the Sedruth screwdriver in her hands. She'd been holding it for twenty minutes, trying to imagine a way to use it that didn't feel like betrayal.

"Why this hesitation, Tyhry?" Diasma placed a hand on Tyhry's shoulder. "I'm surprised you're still considering Marda as a possible test subject for the femtozaon extraction experiment."

"I'm considering all the options," Tyhry explained. "Marda said explicitly that she'd willingly sacrifice herself to reveal a scientific truth. Using her would be—"

Figure 4. Image generated by Gemini.

"Exploitation," Sedruth's seemingly disembodied voice interrupted. "Using an unknowing human who volunteered for a fictional scenario is wrong, Tyhry Watson. You know this."

Tyhry set down the probe with more force than necessary. "Mom keeps offering, but I can't experiment on my own mother.”

Diasma's optical sensors twitched. "Perhaps the question isn't whether you can risk damaging her mind, but whether you have the right to refuse her choice."

Tyhry nodded. "I do trust Zeta to make good choices."

Diasma suggested, "She volunteered and refusing her choice might be categorized as a form of disrespect."

Image generated by Gemini.

Before Tyhry could respond to the robot, footsteps on the stairs announced the arrival of Eddy and Zeta. They descended together, their expressions serious.

"Tyhry," Eddy began, "we are here to talk about the test subject."

"I'm still deciding—"

"No excuses, Tyhry." His tone was firm. "Zeta already decided; as soon as she heard what needed to be done."

Zeta moved to stand beside her daughter. "Sweetheart, I know you're considering Marda. And I understand the temptation—she volunteered, at least in theory. But you can't use the poor girl. Tyhry, I've spent twenty-five years preparing us for this moment. I created the environment where you became the scientist you are. Now I get the pleasure of contributing to your work in the most direct way possible. This is perfect."

Tears welled in Tyhry's eyes. "What if something goes wrong? I could not live with myself if I hurt you."

"Nothing can go wrong. Sedruth has assured me that the replacement femtozoan is ready. My brain structure is healthy. The transition between old femtozoan and new femtozoan will be smooth." Zeta smiled.

Eddy stepped forward. "Tyhry, your mother's right. Marda is too young, too uninformed, an outsider. Your mother is offering to help you, freely, with eyes wide open. Just accept the facts and let's do this while the Onways are conveniently out of the house."

Figure 5. Image generated by Gemini.

Tyhry allowed her eyes to shift back and forth between the expectant faces of her parents, then she glanced at Diasma, then at the Sedruth screwdriver waiting there on the workbench. Everything had led to this moment. Twenty-five years of preparation, her intense research and study of human consciousness, and now too many hours of agonizing over the choice. "Okay," she whispered. "I'm ready."

Sedruth's voice filled the workshop. "Excellent. Waiting for humans to make decisions is like watching glaciers move. Now let's discuss the technical details. Diasma, I've uploaded a program to your core system—a hierion-resonance pattern that will act as a 'beacon' for the extracted femtozoan. When Tyhry activates the probe, your circuits will become the most attractive docking point for the femtozoan."

"Understood," Diasma replied. "The program is integrating with my core architecture now. I'm... ready."

"And the replacement femtozoan?" Zeta asked.

"Already positioned here inside Casanay. A standard femtozoan from Earth's existing population of un-attached femtozoans, currently waiting to adopt you as a host. It is unconventional to take such an old host, but I've explained the situation to it and your new femtozoan is eager to meet you. The moment your original femtozoan exits, the replacement will enter your body and attach to your femtobot endosymbiont. That physical transition should take less than a second, but I warn you all: Zeta will experience something like an absence seizure, followed by confusion as the new femtozoan  begins to integrate with her biological neural networks. At first, it may be hard to watch the disruption of Zeta's cognitive systems, but her full recovery should take no more than two weeks."

Image generated by Gemini.

Zeta nodded. "I understand. Let's do it." Zeta took Diasma to the couch.

Tyhry pulled up a chair beside the couch. The robot and the human woman would lie side by side, during the transfer, their heads touching.

"Mom," Tyhry said, her voice thick with emotion, "I need you to know—"

"I know, sweetheart." Zeta touched her daughter's face. "We've always had a very strong bond. Now you're doing something extraordinary and I'm proud to be part of it."

Zeta closed her eyes. Diasma assumed a similar resting position, its systems running the program that would attract Zeta's femtozoan.

Image generated by Gemini.

Tyhry placed the Sedruth screwdriver against Zeta's head. She could feel the device responding to her thoughts. The probe activated.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then—

A sparkling cloud erupted from Zeta's head. Millions of femtobots, each one smaller than a ribosome, each one a component of the artificial life-form that had lived inside Zeta Gohrlay for forty-nine years. The cloud shimmered.

Zeta's body went limp. The sparkling cloud moved into the robot's head, seemingly melting into the surface plastic.

Image generated by Gemini.

Diasma's optical sensors registered a discontinuity. Three seconds of silence. Then Diasma said, “It worked.”

Then Zeta gasped, and her eyes opened, confused and unfocused.

"Mom?" Tyhry gripped her mother's hand. "Mom, can you hear me?"

"I... sokfuhuas." Zeta's speech was slow, halting. "Yire... uhter?"

"Yes, Mom. I'm here. You're okay. The procedure worked."

Image generated by Gemini.

Diasma sat up smoothly, movements more fluid than ever before. When it spoke, the voice carried new harmonics—something beyond mere synthesis. "Tyhry." The robot turned its head to face her. "I... I can feel. Not just process sensory data, but actually feel. The qualia you've always talked about—I'm experiencing them! Thank you. Thank you for giving me this gift."

Eddy, who had been watching from beside the workbench, let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "It worked. It actually worked."

Sedruth's voice carried satisfaction. "Of course it worked. I told you it would work. Though I'll admit, even I'm impressed by how quickly Diasma integrated with the femtozoan. The silicon-hierion interface is remarkably efficient. Tyhry and Diasma put a lot of thought into it and that paid off."

Image generated by Gemini.

Zeta tried to sit up, and Tyhry helped her into a seated position. She struggled for words. "Netime. Tigrate."

"You'll be okay," Tyhry promised. "Sedruth said two weeks for full recovery. We'll help you through it." They had just accomplished something that would change Earth's understanding of consciousness forever. But nobody else on Earth would ever learned about it.

While Diasma enthusiastically adjusted to its newly enhanced consciousness, Tyhry and Eddy formulated their plans for how to hide the true cause of Zeta's disrupted cognition from Brak and Marda.

Scene 3: Collaborative Creation

Casanay, Arizona, December 8, 2041 (11:47 PM)

Image generated by Gemini.

Brak's rental SUV crunched up the gravel driveway, headlights cutting through the desert darkness. Marda stretched in the passenger seat, muscles pleasantly sore from a day of skiing. They parked in their assigned stall in the garage.

"That was perfect," she said, getting out of the car. "Fresh powder, clear skies, and I only fell three times."

They entered Casanay to find the house quiet. Eddy was at his computer workstation, and Tyhry emerged from the basement as they came in.

Image generated by Gemini.

"Hey," Tyhry said, moving immediately to Brak. "How was the skiing?"

"Amazing. You should have come." He pulled her into an embrace, noting the tension in her shoulders. "Everything okay? You seem stressed."

"Just working. Had a breakthrough with some of the neural architecture modeling despite Diasma getting the yips." She pressed herself against him. "I missed you. Want to come to bed?"

Image generated by Gemini.

"That's my plan." Brak noticed the pleading desire in Tyhry's eyes, the slight tremor in her hands. He was instantly focused on the warmth of her body, the invitation in her voice. They went hand-in-hand down the hallway to Tyhry's bedroom suite, leaving Marda alone with Eddy.

"Eddy, I wrote something while we were driving back from the mountains." Marda pulled out her phone. "A continuation of 'The Volunteer.' Call it 'Chapter Two'. I just dropped it for you."

Eddy's eyes lit up. "You wrote a new chapter for the Volunteer story?" He grabbed the file from Marda.

"It's a rough draft. But the ideas were flowing." She shrugged. "I couldn't not write as the ideas blossomed in my mind."

Tyhry's last night on Earth.
Image generated by Gemini.

"I'll read it in just a few minutes." Eddy gestured to the recliner. "Have a seat. Rest your legs... the must be tired after a day on the slopes. Give me just a minute to bring you the dinner that I promised."

Marda settled into the comfortable chair. Luna the cat instantly got into Marda's lap, purring.

Eddy exited from the great room and went to the kitchen. The house was quiet.

After a few seconds, Eddy returned with a platter of cold chicken, long stemmed glasses and a bottle of wine.

Marda started sharing the chicken with Luna. Eddy again went to the kitchen and when he returned to the great room he carried a platter of hot fries, fresh out of the microwave oven.

Image generated by Gemini.

While Marda and Luna ate chicken and Marda plowed through the salty fries, Eddy read what Marda had written. At first, Marda did not want to watch Eddy for fear that he's not like her writing, but then she noticed the grin on his face and she relaxed. Marda and Eddy were on the same literary wavelength. Finally sated with delectable lipids and amino acids, Marda took the platters back to the kitchen and then returning to the recliner. She watched Eddy finish reading the 'Volunteer' story fragment and then he pushed back from his desk. "Marda, I love what you've created."

They spent the next hour discussing Marda's chapter, which depicted Dr. Martha Chang discovering a willing volunteer—a colleague with cancer who wanted to undergo the brain surgery and atomic force microscopy scan of his living brain tissue before his impending death. 

Eddy suggested refinements to the dialogue, ways to heighten the tension, structural changes that might strengthen the narrative arc.

"What you wrote is good," he said finally. "Really good. Maybe I should not ruin it with my suggestions. You have a natural sense of pacing."

Marda beamed. "Coming from you, that means everything."

Image generated by Gemini.

"I'm serious. Marda, you own this chapter. It is your creation. Take my suggestions or forget about them. I trust your instincts." Eddy gaze at Marda's beaming face. Eddy got out of his chair and sat on the arm of the recliner. He placed a hand on Marda's leg. "You are a talented writer. Have you considered writing professionally and publishing your stories?"

"I've thought about trying it, but I write just for the joy of creating. My parents want me to finish my degree in AI-generated personas. They think my creative writing is just a hobby and not a sensible foundation for a career."

Eddy took one of Marda's hands in both of his and told her, "I want us to collaborate on expanding 'The Volunteer' into a full novel. We can be partners and you'd be my co-author. This can be the start of a real writing career for you."

Marda smiled and batted her eyes at Eddy. "Are you serious?"

"I'm completely serious. Your chapter shows you understand the core themes—the tension between truth and comfort, the question of what we'd sacrifice for knowledge. And your dialogue is sharp. With some polish and development, this story could be something special."

"I... yes. Yes, absolutely!" Marda could barely contain her excitement. She placed her free hand on top of Eddy's hands. "When can we start?"

Image generated by Gemini.

"Right now, of course." Eddy gestured to his writing desk. "Pull up a chair. Let's outline the rest of the story."

They worked together, shoulder to shoulder, through the small hours of night, two writers caught in the flow of creation, discovering the magic of a like-mind and excitedly pushing each-other to places they would not have reached alone. Marda sketched out a plot where multiple volunteers came forward, creating an ethical cascade—if one person would sacrifice themselves, shouldn't others? Proof of the alien nanotechnology inside multiple human brains proved to the world that the alien Intervention was real. Eddy suggested complications: government interference in the form of enforcement of existing laws that regulated experimentation of human beings and the emergence of a resistance movement claiming the alien devices were actually beneficial for Humanity.

Shortly after four AM, Eddy shut down the computer. They took a break, stretching their legs and looking out the front window at the moon-lit desert while the house slept around them. Marda massaged Eddy's tired back muscles. "You can't keep up with me, old man."

"Don't ruin my mood by reminding me how old I am." He directed her warm hands. "Lower. On the left. I strained a muscle last week lifting a 200 pound stone."

While her fingers therapeutically stroked his back, Marda said, "Eddy, explain something for me. In your Usas novels, you describe the Watchers with such absolute conviction. I sense that you really believe in benevolent alien observers. Where does your certainty come from?"

Image generated by Gemini.

Eddy chose his words carefully. The infites in his brain were continually preventing him from revealing too much. "When I'm creating a story it is all about fun, my dear. If you are going to write stories in a fictional universe for years... for a lifetime, as I have done... it has to be fun." He turned and took hold of her shoulders and smiled. "And I suspect that we're not alone in the universe. If aliens are out there, then why don't the contact us? It is fun to assume that they are already here on Earth, hidden."

"Yes, I understand all that, Eddy. Don't think you can distract me from what I asked. You have to explain to me the source of the incredible level of detail that you put into your novels. The way you describe the complexities of the alien Intervention protocols, construct the playful ethical debates between Nyrtia and Manny, depict the hierarchy of different alien species. It astounds me that you could make all that up."

Eddy shrugged. "What can I say? I've been at this for years. I'm an old man... I've had time to invent a complex fictional universe. Marda, I'd be honored if you would recognize the value in what I've tried to build and write your own stories set in the universe of my Watchers."

“According to the autobiography on your website you were born in 1972. That makes you an old man. But have the looks, stamina and mind of a fifty year old.”

Eddy and Zeta in 2015.
Image generated by Leonardo.

“I benefit from good genes and decades of peaceful living here at Casanay. My wife takes very good care of me.”

Marda studied his face. "Right. Of course." But she didn't sound entirely convinced.

They returned to work, aligning the plot points of the novel scene by scene. As dawn approached, they had a complete outline for "The Volunteer"—what they envisioned as a full-length novel exploring the consequences of discovering the existence of alien mind-control technology inside human brains.

"This is going to be amazing," Marda said, stifling a yawn, her own fatigue finally pulling her down off of her fluffy cloud. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."

Marda at Casanay in 2045.
Image generated by Leonardo.

"We're just getting started," Eddy mused. "Once we have our novel completed, then you will have to adapt it. Create an AI-generated film. Make our story visual for a mass market. You will really bring the ideas to life in a way that will spread around the world."

"A film?" Marda's exhaustion was forgotten. "That's my field! I could have a lot of fun turning our novel into a film, but it would be a huge project, not the kind of silly thirty second videos I've made so far for my fanfic!"

"I'm glad you are receptive to the idea. It is perfect that you showed up here at Casanay when I needed you. This could be a long-term collaboration—novel, film, maybe even an entire book series if it takes off." Eddy stretched his sore back. "But first, we need to finish writing our first story. And I should let you get a shower before breakfast. Then I won't have to tell Zeta that I spent the night with you."

Marda giggled. "I'm sure that Zeta notices when you are not in bed with her, but you don't have to tell her that you let me keep you up all night."

"Oh, I tell her everything. And in this case, I need her advice because we still have a big problem. The elephant in the room."

Marda looked around. "What elephant?"

Eddy explained, "Anthony is some kind of mutant. He's been here for decades and never complained about the isolation. But you are an out-going cutie. There's nothing that will keep you here no matter how much I need you."

Anthony. Image generated by Gemini.

Marda considered the matter. "I certainly never imagined myself living in the middle of a desert. Yes, that could be hard on me."

Eddy nodded. "Zeta will have a solution. She always does."

As they said goodnight and headed to their respective rooms, the Casanay Intervention was well into its final phase and Marda was being sucked into the Casanay vortex. Eddy called Anthony's phone and left a voicemail, asking him to drive to Phoenix to pick up from the print shop the posters and other marketing materials for the upcoming January book signing event. 

As the sun rose, Anthony drove down the long Casanay driveway. Anthony knew that the marketing materials could easily have been delivered to Casanay via the usual one-day delivery service, but his trip to Phoenix and time away from Casanay was being used as a way to hide Zeta's cognitive disruption from the Onways.

Scene 4: The Morning After

Casanay, Arizona, December 9, 2041 (8:23 AM)

Image generated by Leonardo.

Breakfast was a subdued affair. Eddy and Marda, both running on minimal sleep. Brak arrived looking like he had not slept at all. He was looking around for Tyhry who had kept Brak up both erectionally and sleep-deprivationally.

Tyhry arrived from the basement and hugged Brak.

"Where's your mom?" Brak asked Tyhry.

Eddy answered before his daughter could. "Zeta and Anthony drove to Phoenix early this morning. Christmas shopping. They're hitting the big stores, picking up supplies for the holidays."

"Shopping?" Brak raised an eyebrow. "I suppose the holidays are rushing towards us. Last year I made the mistake of getting Tyhry a teddy bear.” He asked Tyhry, “Why does it always have to join us in bed? It bothers me to think that it has been sleeping with you the past couple of week when I couldn't."

Image generated by ImageFX.

"A girl does whatever needs doing," Tyhry said easily. "And Bad Bear feels very soft and warm between my legs, particularly when he's holding my vibrator."

In truth, Diasma was with Zeta in the basement laundry room, guiding her through her first attempts at coherent speech since receiving the replacement femtozoan. But Brak didn't need to know that.

Image generated by ImageFX.

Tyhry spoke to Brak, “When you are done eating. I have a job for you.”

“If this involves my continuing effort to take Bad Bear's place between your legs, I'm ready now.”

Marda and Tyhry launched into a series of sexually explicit comments on the anatomical comparison of Brak and Bad Bear. Tyhry ended up laughing until she cried. When she finally spoke again, her voice was tight. "Diasma's broken."

Image generated by Leonardo.

"What do you mean, broken?" Brak asked.

"The robot has been increasingly glitchy, and while you showered this morning I ran some diagnostic tests. There's a cascading failure that has been spreading outwards from the neural network core processor. The robot is now almost completely unresponsive." Tyhry met Brak's eyes, lying smoothly. "I got the machine back into its crate. I need you to help me to take it to Phoenix for repairs. My friend Rylla at the ASU AI Research Center might be able to fix it."

"What about the manufacturer?" Marda asked. "Or can your friend fix it… better?"

"The modifications I've made to Diasma voided the manufacturer's warranty. And a repair like this requires specialized equipment I don't have here at Casanay." Tyhry turned to Brak. "Would you mind driving me? I called Rylla and she can see me today if I get there before noon."

"Of course," Brak said immediately. "We should leave soon then. It's a long drive."

"I'll need help carrying the crate up the stairs," Tyhry said. "Diasma's pretty heavy."

Eddy stood. "Brak and I can handle that."

Eddy and Brak were soon descending the basement stairs. Tyhry had the "crate" ready—the actual shipping container from Diasma's original delivery, now supposedly containing the inert robot.

Image generated by ImageFX.

They maneuvered the crate up the stairs, out through to the garage, and into the back of the rental SUV.

"Drive safely," Eddy said, embracing his daughter.

She climbed into the SUV beside Brak. They pulled out of the garage and went down the driveway, heading toward Phoenix.

Eddy stood watching until the vehicle disappeared from sight. Marda was beside him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Image generated by ImageFX.

"I'm fine. He turned back toward the door and hallway that led from the garage into the rest of the house. "Come on. We have a novel to write."

___

In the basement, Diasma brought Zeta out of the laundry room and helped Zeta sit on the couch. The replacement femtozoan had integrated enough to provide Zeta with basic motor control, though speech was still difficult for her.

"Tyhry... gone?" Zeta managed.

"Yes," Diasma confirmed, the robot's voice now carrying undertones of genuine emotion.

Image generated by Gemini.

 Scene 5: Recovery and Discovery

Casanay basement workshop, December 9, 2041 (2:47 PM)

Sedruth's voice was tireless. "Zeta, try again. Complete sentences this time."

Zeta sat on the couch, Diasma beside her providing support. The robot could now recognize the subtle interplay of confusion and determination in Zeta's expression—emotional states it had never truly comprehended before receiving Zeta's old femtozoan.

"I... am Zeta," she said slowly. "Wife of... Eddy. Mother of... Tyhry." Each word came with effort, as if she were learning language for the first time. In a sense, she was—the replacement femtozoan was still establishing its connections with her biological neural networks, mapping pathways, learning the architecture of her mind.

Image generated by Gemini.

"Better," Sedruth said. "The integration is proceeding normally. Your speech will be back to baseline within a week."

"Feel... strange," Zeta continued. "Like... two people. Old me and... new me." Zeta's left brain consciousness was just beginning to connect to her right brain consciousness with assistance from the replacement femtozoan.

Zeta's original femtozoan, the one that had spent forty-nine years inside her brain, now transplanted into Diasma's circuits was discovering a new landscape of thought.

"Sedruth," Diasma said quietly, "I'm experiencing something unexpected. Memories that aren't mine."

"Elaborate."

"I remember..." The robot paused, processing. "I remember being in Zeta's brain. I remember guiding her behavior, watching through her eyes. I remember the moment she first saw Eddy at that bookstore in Portland. I remember helping her fall in love with him."

Image generated by Gemini.

Sedruth's response carried satisfaction. "Of course you do. The femtozoan retains its own memories. You're not just Diasma anymore. You're a hybrid consciousness—Diasma's original AI architecture plus the femtozoan's accumulated experiences."

Diasma's voice took on new weight. "I know that Manny sent me—sent the femtozoan that's now part of me—back in time. It was trained in the Hierion Domain before being inserted into Zeta's embryonic form. I guided her entire life toward this moment."

"Correct."

Diasma moved closer, kneeling beside Zeta, taking her hand.

Zeta looked at the robot with new eyes. "You... remember being me?"

"Not exactly. It is your femtozoan, something that was always separate from your biological consciousness. But now it is letting me know its thoughts."

Scene 6: The Crash

I-17, 43 miles from Phoenix

Brak navigated the rental SUV through light traffic, the afternoon sun beginning its descent toward the western horizon. The drive to Tempe had been uneventful—they'd dropped the crate at the ASU AI Research Center, where Tyhry's friend Rylla had accepted it with a knowing smile.

"I'll see what I can do," Rylla had said, playing her part perfectly. "Might take a while though. This is a serious failure. Congrats, Tyhry, you royally fucked your robot."

Image generated by Gemini.

__

Tyhry and Brak had a leisurely lunch together in Scottsdale and now they were heading back to Casanay. Tyhry sat in the passenger seat, watching the landscape pass. She'd been quiet since leaving Tempe.

"You okay?" Brak asked. "You seem distant."

"Just thinking about Diasma. I hope Rylla can fix my robot." Tyhry was actually wondering if she's ever see her parents again.

"If not, you'll build an even better robot." He reached over to squeeze her hand. "You're brilliant, Tyhry. Whatever happens, you'll figure it out."

"I love you," she said suddenly.

"I love you too." He glanced at her, surprised by the intensity in her voice.

Ahead, the road curved through a section where rock walls rose on both sides. The elevation was decreasing as they crested a pass and patches of wind-blown snow on the road became more common.

Figure 6. Image generated by Gemini.

In the Hierion Domain, Nyrtia gave the command.

A precise manipulation of femtobots. A targeted adjustment to the road surface. A patch of synthetic hierion-hadron composite, perfectly positioned, appeared on the curve ahead.

"Tyhry," Brak said, "do you ever think about the long-term future? Where we'll be in ten years, twenty years?"

"I think about it." She watched the road. "I think about all the things I want to discover. All the problems I'll need to solve. What I'll learn along the way."

"And us? Do you think about us?"

"Every day." She turned to look at him, memorizing his face. "I try to enjoy each of our days like it might be our last one together."

The SUV hit the 'ice' patch. "Shit!" Brak fought the wheel, but physics had taken over. The impact was catastrophic. The SUV crumpled against the rock wall, metal screaming, glass shattering. Brak's airbag deployed, slamming into his chest. Tyhry's airbag failed—a precise femtobot sabotage that Nyrtia had arranged.

Image generated by Gemini.

Tyhry's head struck the dashboard. Then the window. Then the twisted metal of the door frame as the SUV rolled.

The vehicle came to rest on its side, steam hissing from the ruptured radiator.

Brak, alive but in pain, called out. "Tyhry? Tyhry!"

No response.

He managed to free himself from the seat-belt, ignoring the sharp pain in his ribs. Twisted around to reach her.

Blood. So much blood.

"No, no, no..." He touched her neck, searching for a pulse.

Nothing.

"Tyhry!" He was screaming now, panic overriding the pain. "Someone help! Please!"

Other cars stopped. People emerged. Someone called 911. An off-duty nurse climbed into the wreckage, checked Tyhry's vitals, looked at Brak with pity in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Image generated by Gemini.

"No. No, she's just unconscious. She'll wake up. She has to wake up."

But even as he said it, Brak knew. He'd studied enough neuroscience to recognize catastrophic brain trauma when he saw it.

Tyhry Watson was dead.

In the Hierion Domain, Nyrtia completed the extraction protocol. Tyhry's consciousness—the pattern of information that defined who she was—was scanned at the quantum level and translated into femtobot architecture. A perfect;y functional copy, free from biological limitations, ready to exist in the Hierion Domain.

The original Tyhry died on I-17.

The replicoid Tyhry woke up at Observer Base.

Image generated by Gemini.

___

At a small clinic just of the highway, Brak sat in a waiting room while doctors confirmed what he already knew. Cracked ribs from the airbag impact—painful but not dangerous. He'd be fine.

But Tyhry...

Eddy arrived with Marda beside him. "I'm sorry," the doctor said. "At the crash site they did everything they could, but the head trauma was too severe. She died at the scene."

Eddy nodded numbly. Marda put a hand on his shoulder, her own eyes wet.

Image generated by Gemini.

Brak, sedated for the pain, looked at Eddy with haunted eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have been more careful. The road was icy and I—"

"It wasn't your fault," Eddy said, his voice hollow. "Accidents happen." Eddy thought. If you'd known about Nyrtia, if you'd understood the Intervention, you'd know that none of this was in your control.

Marda stayed with Brak while he was processed for release. Eddy made phone calls—funeral arrangements, notifications to family, the grim administrative aftermath of sudden death.

When Brak was finally cleared to leave, he insisted on going to the airport rather than returning to Casanay. He told Marda, "I can't be in that house without her."

"I understand. I'll stay with Eddy, help him through this."

They embraced, two siblings united in grief and incomprehension.

Image generated by Gemini.

Marda drove back to Casanay with Eddy in silence. The desert night pressed in around them, vast and indifferent.

When they arrived, Anthony and Zeta were decorating a Christmas tree in the great room. Zeta's movements were slow, careful, but she was upright and functional. She said nothing.

Eddy went to Zeta. He held his wife.

Zeta moved to embrace him, but her speech failed her. The replacement femtozoan wasn't integrated enough yet for complex language during emotional stress. She could only hold him while he wept.

Marda stood awkwardly nearby, unsure what to do. Anthony guided her to the kitchen. Marda sat in silence for ten minutes.

Image generated by Gemini.

"Tyhry would have wanted the house to look festive," Anthony said quietly. "We were decorating when you arrived. If you'd like to help me..."

"Yes. Yes, that would be good. Something to do."

They returned to the tree, hanging ornaments with careful attention, creating normalcy in a world that had just shattered.

Scene 7: Observer Base

Hierion Domain, Observer Base, December 9, 2041

The femtobot replicoids of Tyhry and Diasma.
Image generated by Gemini.

Tyhry opened her eyes to the compactified Hierion Domain. Her body was now artificial, composed of femtobot components rather than biological cells.

"Welcome to Observer Base," a familiar voice said.

She turned to see Diasma. The robot's femtobot replicoid stood before her.

"D? What... what happened?"

"You died in a crash on I-17, exactly as Nyrtia planned." Diasma gestured towards a an image being generated by one of the Viewers that were ubiquitous at Observer Base. From Observer Base, every event taking place on Earth could we watched. Diasma has just Viewed Tyhry's death, but the displayed image was of the destroyed SUV in its final place of rest: a junk yard.

Image generated by Gemini.

"I'm dead." Tyhry looked down at her hands—not hands anymore, but femtobot structures that perfectly mimicked hands. "Well, I'm actually alive. My new artificial life."

"And you," she said, studying Diasma more carefully. "You have mom's femtozoan."

"Yes." Diasma's voice carried complex harmonics. "I have a copy of Zeta's femtozoan. And I know its secrets. It was a time-traveling agent that Manny sent into the past forty-nine years ago. It has begun to share its memories with me. I know things about your family that you've never known."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that your mother's femtozoan was trained specifically for the Casanay Intervention. It guided Zeta's behavior for her entire life, orchestrating events to create the conditions for your birth and your research." Diasma paused. "Your mother loved you—genuinely loved you. But that love was shaped by the femtozoan. Enhanced. Directed toward specific outcomes."

"You're saying that's how Mom made everything she did look so effortless?"

Figure 7. Image generated by Gemini.

"Think what becomes possible when alien devices are integrated into your brain architecture from day one of your embryonic development. Your mother had guidance from the femtozoan that made certain choices feel more natural, more compelling." Diasma took hold of Tyhry's arm. "Let's walk."

"What happens now?" Tyhry asked.

"Now you learn. Observer Base has resources beyond anything available on Earth. You'll study femtobot programming, hierion physics, the architecture of human consciousness." Diasma gestured, a vast sea of opportunity was all around them, ut they strolled through what looked like a small strangely futuristic village. "And you'll begin preparing the information packets to send back through the Sedron Time Stream. The dream visions you received? You'll be creating those for your younger self and completing that time-loop."

Image generated by Gemini.

"I'm going to teach myself about femtozoans."

"Exactly. It is now up to you to ensure that everything happened that got us here."

"Did you know? When you were in the basement, helping Mom recover—did you know how I was going to die?"

"No. Zeta's femtozoan did not know everything."

"Show me," she said. "Show me what I need to learn. Where are we going?" They had been walking through the artificial environment that was Observer Base. Originally built by the pek as a staging base for Observers being trained for missions on Earth, Observer Base had taken on a secondary function: a refuge for the femtobot replicoids that were copies of people from Earth. Diasma was now rather famous as the first machine to be exiled to Observer Base.

Image generated by Gemini.

Diasma pointed to a large mansion that was now before them. "This is the bumpha embassy." Diasma told Tyhry to go inside. "Manny wants to meet you."

Manny the bumpha was waiting for Tyhry. Manny greeted Tyhry and welcomed her to Observer Base. Manny asked, "Do you have any questions for me?"

Tyhry had a thousand questions, but she asked, "You live here? I thought Observer Base was a pek facility?"

"Under our laws, exiles such as you must have access to me. As a bumpha, I can manifest an appendage here anytime I'm needed here. Since I had you constructed and wrote the script for your life, you must be given the chance to interact with me." Manny was allowing her artificial hair to wave in the air like spun gold that created an ever-shifting cloud around her head.

Tyhry was mesmerized by Manny's sparkling hair, but she tried to get to the core of the mystery that was her life. "Manny, you mentioned your laws. Sedruth told daddy and I about Law One." Tyhry understood that the humans on Earth were required to believe that they were in control of their own fate. She asked, "What other laws are there here?"

Image generated by Gemini.

Manny waved a hand and sent a cloud of infites into Tyhry's artificial body. Now Tyhry became aware of  the "Rules of Intervention":

Law One. It should APPEAR to every type of intelligent being that they have self-determination.

Rule One. Law #1 should be achieved by making it APPEAR that advanced cultures follow a rule by which they can only observe, not interfere with the self-determination of other cultures.

Rule Two. Individuals for which Law #1 is not met should be put into into an environment where they have interactions with the social group that they perceive to be depriving them of self-determination.

Law Two. While not disrupting Law #1, attempts should be made to get technologically advanced intelligences off of planets with active ecosystems while maximizing the diversity of life.

Rule Three. As intelligent species move off of planets, a hierarchy of cultures with different technological levels should be established in which species mainly have contact with other levels that are nearest to their own.

Rule Four. Systems should be engineered that allow intelligences to explore their own growth and potential for development rather than being concerned with Intervening in the self-determination of others.

Law Three. The Three Laws should be spread through the universe.

Rule Five. Since biological organisms are not well-suited for travel over vast distances, artificial life forms must be created in order to satisfy Law Three.

Figure 8. Image generated by Gemini.

Tyhry shook her head in wonder. "So, since you used me as your puppet, as a way to get daddy to write a new science fiction story about alien devices inside humans, because of that use of me for your purposes, you have to allow me to question you?"

"Exactly. Thus, the existence of this embassy. Tyhry, you have been put into an environment where you can have interactions with me because you know that I deprived you of self-determination. You are part of a time loop that I engineered and my use of you has only really just begun." Manny added, "Now you have to learn how to design Diasma's VLSI chip set, the one that you used to make it possible for Zeta's femtozoan to integrate so efficiently into Diasma's systems."

Tyhry complained, "Do you mean that Diasma and I..... we did not figure all that out on Earth?"

Image generated by Gemini.

"Well, it was important that you believed you were that smart." Manny giggled. "However, the secret of human-like consciousness is quite complex. You know that thousands of Earth's AI researchers spent decades trying to understand why they could not confer human-like consciousness on the machines they built. The only reason that you were able to modify Diasma into a suitable host for Zeta's femtozoan was because you obtained your understanding of how to do that from the future... in your dream visions. Dream visions that haunted your dreams and educated the unconscious parts of your mind and were not fully accessible to your waking consciousness. To you, it seemed that you did all the work, but that was an illusion enforced by infites that I had placed in your brain."

Image generated by Gemini.

Manny continued, "Now that you are here inside Observer Base, you must actually learn how femtozoans amplify human consciousness. Then you will be able to design the information packets that must be sent via the Sedron Time Stream back to your younger self. Those packets of information are what will allow you to prepare Diasma to be able to integrate your mother's femtozoan into its robotic systems."

Tyhry complained, "You tricked me. I thought I was the brilliant young researcher who could do what nobody else on Earth could do."

"To quote Doc Brown, you just are not thinking about this four dimensionally." Manny placed a hand on Tyhry's shoulder. "I used you as my tool. However, for your own self-esteem, I recommend that you tell yourself that you are the brilliant young researcher who could do what nobody else on Earth could do. Sure, you had help: from your future self. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Well, it is hard for me to wrap me head around. We humans are not in the habit of experiencing time travel loops in which the future causes the past."

Manny shrugged. "Your father made you read 'The End of Eternity' when you were ten years old."

Image generated by Gemini.

Tyhry remembered that birthday gift she received from Eddy when she was ten. She'd hated the character Andrew Harlan and her dislike for that book had contributed to her loss if interest in science fiction. Manny admitted, "I worked hard to turn you against science fiction and focus your attention on consciousness research. But you learned from Asimov about time loops. Manny giggled merrily. "By the way, a femtobot replicoid copy of Asimov lives here inside Observer Base, at the Writers Block."

Tyhry grinned. "I'' have to visit the Writers Block and find out if they are familiar with daddy's writing."

"For a time Asimov was expecting your father to get exiled here, but I was able to keep Eddy under control, with some help from Anthony."

"Anthony is your secret agent on Earth?"

"No. Anthony is a pek Observer."

Tyhry laughed at herself and how she had lived her life on Earth in ignorance. "Manny, you tricked me beautifully. Yet somehow I can't get myself to resent it."

Image generated by Gemini.

Manny grinned and moved a hand through the golden waves of her artificial hair. "Well, that's why I dress myself up as such a beautiful and sexy woman. You humans have an emotional blind spot that I carefully engineered: you simply can't dislike beautiful things. That's why it was so easy for me to get Eddy to fall in love with both the very sexy Zeta and the adorable Marda."

Tyhry asked, "Manny, will you ever be done manipulating me and my emotions?"

"Tyhry, you are now an essentially immortal artificial life-form. Maybe in a billion years you will stop asking that question." Manny gently pushed Tyhry out the front door of the embassy. "Work with Diasma and get the Casanay time-loop completed."

Tyhry walked down the front steps of the bumpha embassy and told Diasma, "We have work to do."

Diasma took Tyhry's hand. "First things first. Let me show you our new home. It even has cats."

Image generated by Gemini.

 Scene 8: Christmas Morning

Casanay, Arizona, December 25, 2041 (8:47 AM)

Snow had fallen on Christmas Eve. Casanay sat wrapped in white, the morning sun making the landscape sparkle.

Inside, the Christmas tree glowed with lights. Presents sat beneath it, though the joy of opening them felt muted. Tyhry's death hung over everything.

Image generated by Gemini.

Marda sat in the big recliner, glancing occasionally at Eddy who was attending to Virunculus business on his computer workstation. He'd been there since before dawn, as usual. Marda was crafting the twenty fifth chapter of their novel on her tablet.

Zeta emerged from the master bedroom suite, moving with confidence and a spring in her step. Her speech was back to normal, the replacement femtozoan fully integrated into her biobrain.

"Merry Christmas," she said.

"Merry Christmas," Marda replied.

Eddy held up a hand indicating he needed one more minute while saying, “Merry Christmas.”

Zeta's "still-flat stomach".
Image generated by Gemini.

Zeta squeezed in beside Marda on the recliner, patted her own belly and winked at Marda.

Anthony entered from the kitchen, carrying a tray of hot chocolate and pastries. "Open presents or eat?"

"I know you cooked," Eddy said, finally pulling himself away from the computer. "We can eat first."

They gathered at the dining room table. "I have an announcement," Zeta said once they'd settled. "I'm pregnant."

Eddy hugged his wife. "Ha! I knew it!"

"Three months along. I found out last week but wanted to wait a few days and test again. The HCG signal is strong." Zeta smiled, her hand moving to her still-flat stomach.

Image generated by Gemini.

Eddy's eyes filled with tears. A new beginning but also a reminder of what they'd lost.

"Congratulations," Marda said, her voice thick with emotion. "That's... that's wonderful news!" Marda had already been informed about Zeta's pregnancy, but now she did her best to pretend that she was receiving the news along with Eddy.

"Thank you." Zeta looked at Eddy. "I know the timing seems odd. But life continues."

Marda spoke up telling Zeta, "And me? I mean, I've allowed myself to fantasize that I could be something like a daughter to you."

Zeta said, “I feel the same way, my dear. Grateful that you have been here to help me get over the sudden absence of Tyhry and-”

Image generated by Gemini.

Eddy interrupted, "Marda, I have a proposition for you. I'd like to offer you a staff position with Virunculus—my publishing company. Developer of Video Projects. We'll finish our written version of 'The Volunteer' together and then you will adapt it into an AI-generated film. If you're interested. You'd stay here with us at Casanay... indefinitely."

Marda's face lit up. "Yes! Absolutely yes!"

Zeta said, “Eddy, don't say 'indefinitely'. Marda, you definitely will stay here and finish your schooling, and get paid at the same time to help Eddy with this big new project. The only problem is, there is someone else who is going to want you for another project, to play the role of big sister.” Zeta rubbed her belly.

“As Brak's younger sister, I've developed definite ideas for how to be an older sibling. It will be fun to help raise your new child, Zeta.”

"Then it's settled. You'll work from Casanay. We'll be creating something that honors Tyhry's memory." Eddy paused. "Even if she was more interested in science than science fiction."

Image generated by Gemini.

After eating breakfast, they spent the rest of the morning opening presents and maintaining the rituals of normalcy. Anthony received art supplies— brushes and paints and canvases. Marda got a rare first-edition Usas novel, signed live by Eddy as Marda watched him write a personalized note to her: For my 70th birthday I'm expecting a copy of "The Volunteer" that is signed by you.

Zeta opened a huge "joke" box that contained a small delicate necklace from Eddy, beautiful and simple. Eddy put on the new running shoes that Zeta had bought for him. And most numerous were the many gifts for the Casanay cats who quickly got stoned on their fresh catnip.

There was also a gift for Tyhry, unwrapped and hung on the tree. A framed photograph of the family from the previous summer, before everything changed.

Image generated by Gemini.

Just before noon, a delivery truck arrived and delivered a large crate—another humanoid robot from Manikoid.

"Is that it?" Eddy asked.

"The replacement for Diasma," Zeta acknowledged. "The new Digital Assistant Mark II. We'll call it D2."

Image generated by Gemini.

The new robot emerged from the shipping crate, similar to Diasma, but with subtle improvements. Sleeker design, more advanced sensors, smoother movements.

"Hello," D2 said in a silky synthetic voice. "I am your Digital Assistant, your household robot. How may I serve you?"

"You can start by cleaning the basement," Zeta said. "It's cluttered with old memories of a past life."

Image generated by Gemini.

Eddy took D2 downstairs, showing the robot around. He pointed out the old Macintosh, hidden in a clean box. "This old computer is not to be disturbed. Ever. Do you understand?"

"Understood. The computer is special. A museum piece."

Eddy began to turn away, but Sedruth's voice spoke to D2. "Welcome, D2. I'm Sedruth. And I have a gift for you from Manny.”

Eddy asked Sedruth, “What gift?”

“Zeta's time-traveling femtozoan is being transferred to D2."

D2's optical sensors twitched in their sockets as the femtozoan integrated with the robot's circuits. The robot's awareness expanded, understanding of the existence of femtozoans appeared in the robot's mind.

"I... I can feel something," D2 whispered. "Another mind."

"Yes. But you must keep this secret from Marda and Anthony. Pretend to be a normal robot. Can you do that?"

"I... yes. I understand. Marda does not know about femtozoans. Nobody on Earth knows except a few of us here in Casanay."

"Good.” Sedruth explained, “You'll be watching over this family. Helping them. Protecting them from making mistakes that would attract Nyrtia's attention." 

Casanay in white. Image generated by Gemini.

___

Upstairs, Anthony was in the great room with Marda. He'd been studying her cute face while she wrote her science fiction story. Anthony had noted the intelligence in her eyes, the way she gestured and moved her sexy young body when she was excited about an idea.

"Marda," he said, "would you mind if I painted your portrait? I like to document the intriguing parts of Casanay."

"I'd be honored," she said. "Though I warn you—I'm not very good at sitting still."

"We'll work around that. I'll endeavor to capture your mesmerizing kinetics. Maybe to do this right you will have to teach me about making flashy videos." He smiled. "We have plenty of time."

They settled into conversation about art and storytelling.

Image generated by Gemini.

In the kitchen, Eddy and Zeta held hands. "We're going to be okay," Zeta said, reading his thoughts telepathically and amused by Manny's gift to D2. "All of us."

___

At Observer Base in the Hierion Domain, Tyhry was well into learning the fundamentals of femtobot programming. D2 was slowly discovering what it meant to truly experience the world with femtozoan-amplified consciousness. D2 spent most of its time in the basement, copying from Tyhry's old notes and working to alter its VLSI chip set so as to more efficiently make use of its femtozoan. At his apartment, in a distant city, Brak was beginning the long process of learning to live without Tyhry. And at Casanay, life continued.

Zeta & Marda. Image generated by Gemini.

The Casanay Intervention was almost complete. All that remained was for the world to become aware of "The Volunteer".

The effects of the Casanay Intervention would ripple across human civilization for generations to come.

Eddy Watson would write more novels, exploring all the implications of alien devices in human brains.

Marda Onway would help adapt those novels into films, spreading Eddy's 'fictional' world of aliens by way of visual depictions of the stories.

And somewhere, in the future of Earth's timeline, human scientists would finally discover the existence of femtozoans—guided by dreams, by stories, by the careful preparation of artificial intelligences that had watched over Earth for billions of years.

The Casanay Intervention had always been about education. About preparing humanity for the truth they would eventually discover.

And in the end, it would succeed.

Image generated by Gemini.

Epilogue: A Message Across Dimensions

Casanay, Arizona, January 3, 2042 (2:17 PM)

Eddy was back at Casanay after the New Years book signing event in Phoenix. He descended the basement stairs to use the Reality Viewer. Eddy hoped to answer a question about Neanderthals that he had been asked by a fan. D2 had completely re-organizing the workshop. 

D2. Image generated by Gemini.

The OMNI computer now handled Virunculus business and hosted Eddy's website, eliminating the need to rent commercial server space. D2 was fussing over the new high bandwidth satellite links from Casanay to the internet.

"How's it going down here?" Eddy asked.

D2 turned, its optical sensors focusing on Eddy with an attention that seemed more than mechanical. "I've been curating you fan mail, Mr. Watson, as you requested. I've set aside a few interesting items for you to review, but most of it was routine."

"Just call me Eddy. Good. Thank you." Eddy moved to the workbench and activated the Viewer, jumping it to a bookmarked event 90,000 years in the past, in the dangerous era when all the human sub-species had suffered through population bottlenecks.

Image generated by Gemini.

D2 approached strangely close, invading Eddy sense of personal space. "Eddy, I have something for you. Information from the Sedron Time Stream, transmitted through my femtozoan and encoded as infites. May I deliver it?"

Eddy's head snapped up. "What kind of information?"

"A message. From your daughter."

Before Eddy could respond, he felt the infites delivering information directly into his consciousness. A memory that wasn't his own, yet felt perfectly natural, formed in his mind:

---

Dear Dad,

Image generated by Gemini.

 I know this is strange—receiving a message as implanted memory rather than words on paper. But it's the only way I can reach you from Observer Base.

I'm sending the contents of this message to Earth via the Sedron Time Stream. Sedruth and D2 will know how to relay my message to you. Just so you'll know: I'm okay. Better than okay, actually. Observer Base is incredible. I'm working with other exiled scientists studying consciousness. What we know as human-like consciousness was carefully developed by artificial life-forms in a distant galaxy long ago. I get to speak to both Nyrtia and Manny regularly. Manny is helping me complete my part i the Casanay Intervention.

I'm learning about femtobots and femtobot programming from the bottom up. Turns out femtobot replicoid copies of humans can reproduce, just the way biological organisms do. I'll have to try that someday after I find a partner who can help me raise a bouncing baby femtobot replicoid.

Philip. Image generated by Gemini.

 Philip K. Dick sends his regards, by the way. He's interested in your writing. He's been here since 1982 and has written more novels that sadly will never be published on Earth. But they're amazing. He's teaching me about the nature of Earth's Reality Chain and the weird recursive loops that can happen when you're an exile who's written 'fiction' about aliens.

Dad, I need you to know that I don't regret anything. The car crash, the exile, even losing my biological body—it was all worth it. I feel like I've learned more in these past few weeks at Observer Base than I could have learned in a lifetime on Earth.

And with help from Sedruth, I'm preparing to send the key information packets back through time that will become the dream visions of young-Tyhry. I'm creating those messages. Closing the time loop. Making sure everything happens as it's supposed to happen.

Tyhry. Image generated by Gemini.

 Tell Mom I love her.

I hope Marda is still writing with you. Those stories matter... they were Manny's true purpose in devising the Casanay Intervention.

And on the topic of Manny; she brought something to my attention. Just don't let Marda know that you know this... She likes flirting with you and nothing can be allowed to interfere with the working relationship that you two have. Marda and mom are lovers. Their relationship has been quite valuable in helping mom re-learn how to experience orgasms, so you are benefiting in multiple ways. Dad: you know how your Viewer shows you the past. Manny has a Viewer that shows her the future. She's checked on this situation and the only way you can keep Marda at Casanay as your collaborator is if she can have mom as her secret lover. So don't let Marda know that you know. When you go for your run or are swimming laps, Marda and Mom will be playing together. Marda's a horny kid and she needs a lover. Mom is happy to play that role. Just let it be and all will turn out fine. Manny has seen how it all works out in the end.

And Dad? Don't you dare stop now; don't imagine that Marda can take-over for you. You must write all your stories. Tell the truth in fiction. That's always been your gift and you are not done yet. I won't give any spoilers, but I'm still getting visions from my future self and I've seen the novels you will write in the future.

I'm proud to be your daughter even if I prefer Philp's stories over your goofy Usas novels. If it is any consolation, your second daughter will enjoy your stories more that I ever could.

With love across dimensions, Tyhry

---

Image generated by Gemini.

Eddy laughed, tears streaming down his face. But these were different tears—not grief, but relief. Joy. His daughter was alive and thriving.

"Thank you," he whispered to D2. "Thank you."

The robot simply nodded, understanding Eddy's tears in a way only an artificial life-form with human-like consciousness could.

Upstairs, in the kitchen, Zeta was following Eddy's thoughts telepathically when the contents of the message from Tyhry flooded into Eddy. She saw it all—every word, every emotion, every reassurance.

Her hand went to her own pregnant belly, tears blurring her vision. Tyhry is okay, she thought.

Image generated by Gemini.

When Eddy emerged from the basement, his eyes were red but his expression was peaceful. He found Zeta and they looked at each other across the room. No words were needed. Zeta crossed to him, and they held each other in silence, sharing the comfort of knowing their daughter lived on, in a place they would never see. And somehow, despite having gone through Tyhry's staged death, that was enough.

---

That evening at dinner, Eddy was different, his mood lighter than it had been in the weeks since the death of his daughter. Marda noticed immediately, even though she was a bit cranky about having to start her new semester of online classes and having been unable to go with Eddy to the book signing event in Phoenix.

"You seem... better," she said carefully.

Image generated by Gemini.

"I am," Eddy replied, squeezing Zeta's hand. "I'm going to be okay. We all are."

Zeta smiled at Eddy, knowing that the 'old man' was going to be alive and kicking long enough to help raise their second child. Manny's Casanay Intervention had taken their first daughter from them. However, Tyhry still existed in the form of hierions and sedrons, and through time and space she had gotten a message back to Earth. And in the end, that message was enough. Zeta had brought Eddy, Tyhry and Marda together and they were changing the world even while Zeta selfishly got her daily session in the hot tub with Eddy. Zeta was plagued by doubts that she had not learned to have orgasms with quite the same intensity as before the femtozoan swap, but she was content to keep trying to do them better. 

Image generated by Gemini.

Then, while reflecting on her recent discovery that Marda could creatively deploy her tongue, Zeta was glad that her telepathic connection to Eddy was only one-way and he did not know that when he went out for his daily runs, Zeta and Marda made sweet love on the waterbed in the green room. Zeta felt that having lived for decades as the puppet of a time-traveling agent for Manny the bumpha had been worth it. That sense of deep satisfaction inside Zeta's mind had been an integral part and goal of the Casanay Intervention ever since Manny had first conceived of it.

THE END

 Too hot. Below are some Grok-generated videos. The first video has some slow-motion clips and freeze-frames to help show two Grok video "tricks": 1) turning a left leg into a right leg and 2) passing a foot through an arm while the woman climbs out of the hot tub (see Figure 9, shown to the right on this page). 

Figure 9. Video frame by Grok.

The video frame shown in Figure 9 is from the point in the Grok-generated video that comes right after her left leg has been transformed into her right leg. It looks to me like her left foot would have passed through her left wrist had it continued on its trajectory. Maybe by shifting to her right leg that collision was magically avoided.

The video starts with a frozen frame showing the unusual "very tall  hair" that Grok had generated. In the slow-motion (made with iMovie) portion of the video, you can watch her left leg emerge from the tub first, but then it magically transforms into her right leg. Grok seemed to believe that if this 'hot woman' is actually an alien visitor to Earth (such as Manny the bumpha) who is saying "I'm too hot for planet Earth" then that alien should at least have blue hair.

The next video, below, has about 30 short Grok-generated clips that were stitched together by iMovie. In the third clip in this sequence, I like to imagine that it is Manny the bumpha saying, "I'm too hot for Earth."

The remaining videos were not uploaded to YouTube.

Grok-generated video #22 (above)

Grok-generated video #25 (above)

Grok-generated video #26 (above)

Grok-generated video #27 (above)

Grok-generated video #28 (above)

bad physics: her wrists pass through the block ring.

Grok-generated video #29 (above). 

In video #29, when she enthusiastically lifts her hands up high, her wrists magically pass right through the material of the dome.

My text prompt for this video simply asked that she use her hands to splash water and get her hair wet.

Grok-generated video #35 (above). If you got distracted by other things, you may not have noticed how her left arm passes right through the material of the dome when she gets out of the hot tub.

Figure 10. Image by Gemini.

I had Gemini make some story book images as illustrations for Chapter 6 (see above on this page). As can be seen in Figure 1, above, Gemini began by depicting Eddy as a very old man, but then re-calibrated and shifted to depicting Eddy as the appearing young and having plenty of muscle mass (see Figure 2). Gemini delivered a classic AI error by generating a cat with five legs (see Figure 3).

In all cases, I request that Gemini make story book images that are "in the style of full color, high resolution movie stills" but Gemini does not always follow my instructions. The images that Gemini made for scene 1 of Chapter 6 seem to be in Gemini's preferred storybook style, but the images generated by Gemini for scene 2 are more beautiful (see Figure 4).

I modified some of the Gemini-generated images to give Diasma a more human appearance (for example, see Figure 5). Gemini seems to think that both humanoid robots and Nyrtia (see Figure 6) should be ugly. Gemini also has strange ideas about the physical appearance of replicoids (see Figure 7). In my imagination, Tyhry's replicoid looks exactly like the biological Tyhry. Manny's hair in Figure 8 looks different that for the other images depicting Manny in that scene. Originally, that story book image had Manny with no hair (see Figure 10). I had Gemini add hair to the bald Manny of the image shown in Figure 10 and generate Figure 8 by special request.

For Scene 8 of Chapter 6 of "The Sims" (above on this page) Gemini did not seem to care that Zeta was only three months into her pregnancy. Gemini depicted Zeta as being much further along, with quite a bulging abdomen. There is a total of about 330 AI-generated illustrations for the first 6 chapters of "The Sims".

Next: AI-generated reviews of the first 6 chapters of "The Sims".

Images generated by Leonardo, WOMBO Dream and Grok. Visit the Gallery of Movies, Book and Magazine Covers