Mind Control

source: the Ekcolir Reality

I blame Douglas Hofstadter and his book Gödel, Escher, Bach. "Now wait," you say, that's crazy. Books can't take control of our lives. Or can they? There are some books that have never left my physical possession or my thoughts since I first read them. Hofstadter's book helped me fall in love with the idea of self-representation, so it is natural to blame Gödel, Escher, Bach for the fact that I wrote myself into the Exode Trilogy.

Ga-LAX-y!

I've previously blogged about the "alien conspiracy" that first exposed me to published science fiction. I'm continually haunted by the possibility that my entire life was planed, guided and carefully constructed so as to force me to perform a specific function. Just how easy would it be to turn a person into a puppet, to take control of someone's behavior?

Dead Hand

'Dead Hand' - first published in 1945

70 years ago: cover art by William Timmins

I first read Asimov's story "Dead Hand" 40 years ago as part of Foundation and Empire. That story features an intellectual dual between Ducem Barr and Bel Riose. Riose is trying to save the Galactic Empire from collapse, but Barr is certain that the decline and fall of that Empire is inevitable.

The idea that Hari Seldon predicted the future (including the fall of the Empire) by using "Psychohistory" always struck me as absurd. Much later, in Foundation and Earth, Asimov told us that the telepathic robot Daneel had guided the galaxy towards the establishment of the Foundation.

Asimov: a struggle with aliens

I like to think of the Galactic Empire as a kind of socio-temporal buffer that was use by Daneel to put Humanity into stasis while he worked to complete Galaxia. I like the idea that the First Foundation was brought into existence by Daneel in order to allow a few human scientists to begin studying "mentalics". As soon as they discovered the final bit of technology that Daneel needed for Galaxia, then Daneel lost interest in the two Foundations and their goal of creating a Second Galactic Empire.

1945: The Mule

Besides Psychohistory, 'Dead Hand' included another interesting bit of pseudoscience. The First Foundation makes both Riose and the psychopathic Brodrig, Privy Secretary of the Emperor, believe that it has the technological ability to transmute chemical elements. It is amusing that Asimov's Galactic Empire, some 20,000 years in our future, has advanced so little beyond the science and technology of our time: the Empire struggles to keep its spaceships going and the 25,000,000 inhabited planets of the galaxy are just a short step away from falling back on fossil fuels as an energy source.

The Mule

The Mule - cover art by Darrell Sweet

Shortly before his death, Asimov did a masterful job of showing us the origin of the Second Foundation (see Forward the Foundation). I like to think of The Mule as the tool that Daneel used to accelerate the study of mentalics within the First Foundation.

visi-sonor

It is fun to try to imagine what Asimov imagined that The Mule was doing with his visi-sonor. Recently it has been shown that a magnetic field can be used to alter human brain function. In one experiment, altering the activity of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and other nearby brain regions seemed to cause an interesting pattern of altered human thought, similar in some ways to what Asimov depicted for The Mule when he used the visi-sonor.

The Exode Trilogy

When I first read The Mule, I was startled by the rapidity with which the First Foundation collapsed. Later, when the Soviet Union disintegrated, I imagined a science fiction story in which a potent chemical substance had been found that could induce anxiety. What if the CIA slipped that chemical into the water supply of cities in the Soviet Union?

In the Exode Trilogy, the perfect tool for controlling human behavior exists, pre-loaded into each and every human on Earth. About 2,000,000,000 years ago the pek arrived and "seeded" Earth with zeptites. Humans evolved as a dual creature, part cellular and part composed of a zeptite endosymbiont.

Mind Control

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When humans become aware of the existence of zeptite endosymbionts, they are susceptible to experiencing anxiety and asking: am I just a puppet of my zeptite endosymbiont? Worse, it is a trivial matter for some artificial life forms to take control of a person's zeptite endosymbiont and in that way take control of the person's memories and thoughts.

I've long struggled with the challenge of finding the best way to introduce readers of the Exode Trilogy to the issue of mind control.  At the same time, I get to struggle with my own fears that my own thought have been carefully controlled and guided. In a recent discussion of these matters with Gohrlay, she casually mentioned that there was a good example that she could provide of why it is not worth my time to worry about the extent to which my memories and thoughts are controlled by others.

Arguing with Success

original art work by Paul Alexander

According to Gohrlay, in addition to his involvement with the creation of the Atlantis Clones, Peter also did finally manage to have a child without the help of his mother, Lili. I've previously blogged about a strange second-hand memory of Peter's daughter. I'd mistakenly assumed that Peter's daughter had gone on to lead a fairly normal life as an Earth woman, essentially indistinguishable from other humans. Not so.

Image credits:
Edmund Emshwiller,  Gerald Grace

According to Gohrlay, it was not easy for Peter to figure out how to make use of Earthly zeptites to shape his daughter into a morphologically normal girl. He had the help of a developmental biologist and when they finally cracked the problem and she gave birth to their daughter, they named her Radhas. Radhas grew up among the people of Earth, but she did not have a normal pattern of cognitive development. She always had some innate ability to use the Bimanoid Interface, although her parents tried to ignore her special abilities and allow her to live life as a normal Earthling.

Apparently it was impossible for Anney and Angela to not notice Radhas. In some way, the Atlantis Clones and Radhas were "on the same wave length", so when Radhas grew up she had a certain amount of telepathic contact with the clones. Although she was warned not to reveal what she had learned from her use of the Bimanoid Interface, Radhas could not be dissuaded from telling the secret history of Earth.

The Dead Widower Society

According to Gohrlay, Radhas tried to publish a book that described the search for her origins. She explicitly compared herself to Robert Heinlein's character Friday Baldwin. Publication of the book was suppressed and Radhas was taken off of Earth.

See the original (1962) cover
art by Johannes Bruck

According to Gohrlay, before Radhas was taken off of Earth, she had a working relationship with the Dead Widowers and even visited me. Apparently Radhas and I began collaborating, but then a tryp'At Overseer arrived and put an end to that. Radhas opted to depart from Earth while I decided to stay. My choice, my decision to stay here on this rock included the necessity of having all my memories of Radhas removed from my conscious access.

Next: solarpunk

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The Selfies of Tar'tron

See the original Planet Stories cover art here.

Last year I decided that Trysta would live out her biological life and then transfer her mind into a robotic body that would then "live" its artificial life using the name Syon. At the end of last year I sketched in some of the details of how Syon the "robot"  operates as an Interventionist agent. Trysta's mind transfer is made possible by the fact that Trysta is an Asterothrope from the far future (10,000,000 years in our future), so she has access to advanced technology that makes it easy for her to transfer her mind into an artificial life form and go on "living" as Syon.

What about we humans of the Primitive Era? Is it possible for any of us to transfer our minds into a robotic body? Do we have a shot at that sort of immortality? Foundations of Eternity tells the story of how Gohrlay the Neanderthal got help from the pek that allowed her mind to be instantiated inside a positronic robot. However, Gohrlay was a special case, the only human to ever be "given immortality" by the pek. (update: Ivory is apparently the 2nd)

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The Kac'hin are a human variant that was created tens of thousands of years ago by the pek. The pek designed the Kac'hin to function as a special interface between the Huaoshy and Humanity in the hope that a negotiated end of the Time War might be achieved.

We might wonder if during their long existence the Kac'hin have made progress towards being able to transfer their minds into artificial bodies. However, I've long been committed to the idea that the Kac'hin are restricted to using relatively unsophisticated nanites in their work. Without advanced zeptites or femtobots, is there some means by which a Kac'hin could achieve mind transfer?

Selfies

Gohrlay's assistant, Nan

As depicted in Foundations of Eternity, it was the practice of the pek to provide every human living at Observer Base on the Moon with a robotic assistant. For example, over time, Nan learned to effortlessly anticipate the behavior of Gohrlay. There were zeptites residing in Gohrlay's brain and Nan used that zeptite swarm as the source of a kind of technology-generated telepathic contact with Gohrlay. Through all the days of Gohrlay's life, Nan learned how to correlate her on-going brain activity to her near-term behavior. Plus, Nan was very old and had vast experience from her dealings with a long line of past human "masters". Further, all of the Orbho (as the pek at Observer Base were known), including Nan, functioned as a kind of group mind that had been monitoring and learning from every human that ever existed.

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With the collusion of the pek, the planet Tar'tron became a major site for Kac'hin science and technology development. The pek wanted a way to stabilize and control Kac'hin society, so they allowed nanotechnology and robotics research to bloom on Tar'tron. With time, as a result of technological advances made by the Kac'hin themselves, the residents of Tar'tron were provided with personal robots that could each be trained to mimic and replicate the behavior of their particular owner. These robots, which for lack of a better name I'll refer to as "Selfies", could "live" on after the death of their owner as integral members of Kac'hin society. Some of the Kac'hin were entirely cold to the idea of artificial life form replicas of themselves that would continue to "live" on after the biological original had died. Other biological Kac'hin systematically worked to provide their personal "Selfie" with a mind that was as close as possible to an exact duplicate of their original biological mind.

Grean the Kac'hin

Eventually, Kac'hin society became a mixture of biological and artificial lifeform members. The Selfies eventually took over all Kac'hin scientific research and with time became a tool by which the pek could unobtrusively interact with and control the biological Kac'hin. In their original plan for the Kac'hin, the pek envisioned only needing one Kac'hin individual who could have the appearance of a human and defeat Gohrlay's cadre of positronic robots. That particular Kac'hin turned out to be Grean. After eliminating all the positronic robots, Grean then collaborated with Trysta and brought into existence the Buld Reality.

Clones: Thomas and
Parthney on the Moon

While Grean did most of the heavy lifting, Trysta and Grean came to realize that other Kac'hin (such as Lili and Kach) were needed to play additional important roles in helping create the Buld Reality. Some of the other Kac'hin who play roles in the Exode Trilogy are mentioned here.

I've previously described the role that Lycaun plays in Exode. Biologically, Lycaun is a clone of Kach. Also, I've previously noted roles for multiple clones of Thomas (particularly Parthney) in Exode. The many "Thomas clones" who precede Parthney as Interventionists on Earth were able to channel their experiences to Parthney, better preparing him for his mission on Earth. How was Lycaun prepared for her mission?

Lycaun and Kach
at Observer Base
on the Moon

Mind Transfer
As described above, Selfies do not really provide the Kac'hin with a way to transfer a biological mind into an artificial life form. The minds of Selfies had to be carefully constructed by their "masters" over the course of a lifetime. What about the transfer of a mind from a Selfie back into a clone of the Selfie's original "master"?

The pek cultured a population of Kac'hin on Rain World and from that population they selected the original biological Kac'hin (named Wyzalex Torvaya) from whom Kach was eventually produced as a biological clone. There were many previous generations of Wyzalex clones who lived before Kach and Lycaun. Several of the earliest such clones lived on Tar'tron and produced Selfies. In addition to Wyzalex there were several other such "foundational" Kac'hin who were selected from the Kac'hin population of Rain World, cloned and "copied" into Selfies.

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Techniques were perfected for using the minds of these carefully crafted Selfies as "developmental templates" that could (with the help of specially programmed nanites) optimize the neural development of important Kac'hin such as the "Wyzalex clones". Thus, Kach's remarkable and optimized cognitive abilities are the result of careful selection and engineering. Grean, Lili, Lycaun and the other Kac'hin who pay important roles in the Exode Trilogy were all meticulously crafted for their roles in this way.

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Eventually, when it came time for the "Ivory Clones" to be crafted on Earth, Peter was able to deploy similar nanite-mediated neurodevelopmental programming techniques.

As mentioned in this blog post, I remain interested in the possibility that similar techniques might exist for shaping my adult brain into a configuration that would allow me to gain access to the vast information content of the Sedronic Domain. I've now discovered that Ivory was aware of techniques for returning to adult human brains the type of hyper-plasticity that is characteristic of early human brain development. However, there are risks involved with applying these techniques, particularly if you work without the aid of neurodevelopmental guidance nanites. Ivory believed that such nanites are available to the Observers who still reside at Observer Base on the Moon. I've begun to fantasize that Ivory might have left Earth in order to visit Observer Base and obtain those nanites.

Next: another mission for Ivory;  continuing our search for  R. Gohrlay.

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Stroma Fiord and Stronsi Ranch

Sessily Veder in her butterfly costume,
part of a theatrical performance at
Araminta Station's annual fall festival.

Stroma Fiord and Stronsi Ranch are two of the settings for events in the novel Throy by Jack Vance. I've previously blogged about both Araminta Station and Ecce and Old Earth, the two novels in the Cadwal Saga that precede Throy.

Stroma Fiord
Stroma Fiord is one of the scenic locals on the continent Throy of the planet Cadwal. The soaring cliff face of the fiord was selected as the one place on Cadwal where members of the Naturalist Society could establish and maintain residences on the planet. It was hoped that the harsh conditions would naturally limit the number of settlers, allowing most of Cadwal to remain an unspoiled nature preserve.

That plan worked well and over the course of centuries the population of Stroma never grew very large. During the time of the events told in Throy, only a few hundred families reside at Stroma. However, other unauthorized residents of Cadwal settled on Lutwen Atoll and grew into a distinct subpopulation (the Yips) with an unacceptably large population of over 100,000.

Stronsi Ranch on the planet Rosalia. The childhood
 home of Flitz, where she meets Chilke and hears
his "drunken tales" of adventures among the stars.

In the most horrific part of Throy, two thirds of the residents of Lutwen Atoll perish, victims of a ghastly act of revenge carried out by  "Peefers", the Stroma faction that seeks greater commercialization and exploitation of Cadwal's riches. The Peefers are crazy for revenge after the settlement at Stroma is blasted into oblivion by the wicked Simonetta. Simonetta Clattuc is a vengeful outcast from Naturalist's administrative depot at Araminta Station. Simonetta has managed to infiltrate and take command of the Yip community with the hope of using their vast numbers to overwhelm the Araminta Station police force and achieve a triumphant and vengeful return to her childhood home.

Stronsi Ranch
Stronsi Ranch is far away from Cadwal on the planet Rosalia. Rosalia is home to native creatures including the elusive wind-waifs, the mysterious tree-waifs, the dangerous water-waifs and a small population of human colonists. The once peaceful Stronsi Ranch becomes caught up in the ongoing struggle between the loyal Conservationists and the "Peefers", the dissident faction that is fighting for control of Cadwal and wishes to allow more commercial development of the planet and greater exploitation of Cadwal's natural resources.

The main character of the Cadwal Saga is Glawen Clattuc and readers follow the story of his coming of age on Cadwal where he trains as a member of the Cadwal police force. In Throy, Glawen ends up pursuing an investigative mission that takes him to several planets including Rosalia. One goal of this investigation is to find his clan member, Namour Clattuc, who is a fugitive from Cadwal justice.

During his mission to Rosalia, Glawen partners with the versatile Eustace Chilke. Chilke, like many of Vance's key characters, is portrayed as a resourceful man who seems to often be in the right place at the right time. For example, without even being aware of the fact, in a strange quirk of fate, Chilke inherited title to the world Cadwal. However, without Chilke even knowing what was going on, Glawen relieves Chilke of his inherited responsibility for the planet Cadwal by replacing the old Naturalist Society (that had for centuries controlled Cadwal) with a new Cadwal Conservancy. Is Chilke then left empty handed?  Of course not.

Fortunatus spaceyacht

When Glawen and Chilke return to Cadwal, their commanding officer, Bodwyn Wook, reviews the high points of their mission. In one of the many humorous scenes in Throy, the two operatives try to explain how they managed to appropriate a large amount of money from the bank accounts of their enemies, the Peefers, while they were on the planet Soumi. As part of those financial transactions, Glawen and Chilke also gained title to a luxurious and expensive Fortunatus spaceyacht, a prize that Bodwyn Wook insists is now the property of the Cadwal Conservancy. Bodwyn then has another question for Glawen and Chilke: during their time on Rosalia did they gain some other "advantage or perquisite"? Chilke admits that he has developed a close friendship with Felitzia Stronsi, the owner of Stronsi ranch.

Flitz

Chilke's romance with "Flitz" (as Felitzia prefers to be known) provides an amusing counterpoint to the evil that is visited upon Stronsi Ranch by Namour Clattuc. Namour slyly arranges for Felitzia's guardian and mentor, Lewyn Barduys to be called away from the Stronsi family residence. Barduys is ambushed by Namour, shot and left for dead at the old Bainsey Castle site. Glawen and Chilke heroically rescue Barduys by fighting off a swarm of aggressive water-waifs. Barduys and Glawen are severely injured. During their recuperation at Stronsi Ranch, Chilke, who suffered lesser injuries, is able to pursue a romantic relationship with Flitz.

In the end, Chilke and Flitz take the Fortunatus spaceyacht and go off on their own adventures as vagabonds wandering among the stars. Bodwyn Wook's objections are muted because Barduys makes available to him a Clayhacker spaceyacht that was confiscated from the defeated Peefers. Bodwyn Wook announces his intention to make use of the Clayhacker spaceyacht for a visit to Old Earth.

Paracosmos

Renee Robbins

I've previously commented on the way that Vance weaves mention of "paranormal" abilities into his stories. Is it just by random chance that Chilke and Flitz are brought together? The planet Cadwal, when facing despoilment by the Peefers, reaches out for help to Rosalia in order to attract the attention of Barduys. Rosalia provides a solution to Cadwal's Peefer problem, but does Rosalia get anything in return?

The entire Stronsi clan, with the exception of Flitz, was wiped out by the wind-driven waves of a terrible storm that destroyed Bainsey Castle while the Stronsis were visiting their coastal retreat. Why was Flitz saved? How is it that Barduys, an engineer visiting Rosalia, became the guardian of Flitz?

"Born to Multiply" by Renee Robbins

Vance describes the mysterious establishment of a relationship between Flitz and Barduys at the recently destroyed Bainsey Castle. After the bodies of the Stronsi clan members are flown away by ambulance from the Castle ruins, Barduys becomes aware of a compulsion to return to the site of the disaster:

"I became uneasy. I tried to reason with myself, but in the end I flew back alone. I went close to the ruins and stood looking about. I thought I heard a cry, very weak and thin. It was a little girl who had been trapped beneath the stones." This strange and seemingly paranormal sensitivity displayed by Barduys is what allowed Flitz to survive. With no other family, she is raised by Barduys, firmly linking him from that day onward to both Stronsi Ranch and the planet Rosalia.

Clattuc House, Araminta Station

Was it only by a quirk of fate that Simonetta departed from Araminta Station on Cadwal and ended up on the planet Rosalia, a world where Namour could experiment with the Yips as indentured laborers? Ultimately, Barduys adopts the idea of transporting all the Yips from Cadwal to Rosalia and using them to staff a network of tourist resorts, including one at the site of old Bainsey Castle. In the end, a long series of seemingly lucky and miraculous events save the Cadwal Conservancy and those Yips who survive the horrific Peefer attack on Lutwen Atoll find a new home on Rosalia under the benign guidance of Barduys.

Exode

There are time travel machines and other advanced technologies in the Exode Trilogy that give some of the characters seemingly magical powers. I've previously commented on the power of "memory nanites" to move information from one mind to another. In my previous blog post I commented on the role that memory nanites have played in allowing me to begin telling the secret history of Humanity.

I have fun speculating about mysterious events that Jack Vance described as arising from paranormal processes: maybe they were actually caused by advanced alien technology. And if I can speculate about how and why Chilke and Flitz came to play their roles in saving the Cadwal Conservancy and bringing Yips to Rosalia, then I should also be willing to explore the reasons for my own involvement in the Exode Trilogy.

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Were Adão Fersoni, Hana and I all just random Earthlings who happened to be in the right place at the right time to interact with people like Peter and Marta and become involved, just by chance, in telling the secret history of Humanity? Or,  alternatively, were we selected?

In Hana's case, Peter seemed certain that he could not impregnate Earth girls. Was Hana more than just a typical Earthling? Was Adão more than just a random shipwreck survivor? Was he, perhaps, purposefully brought into the Hierion Domain in order to father Ivory?

Opportunity from Adversity
I'm not happy at the prospect of having been selected to be "the Editor" of the Exode story because I happen to have a brain that can efficiently interact with nanites.  I suspect that this high susceptibility to the influence of nanites has made it possible for Trysta and others to treat me (and Hana and Adão as well?) like a puppet and guide the course of my life. However, what if there is a positive side to this "affliction"? Is it possible that my brain can access information located within the Sedronic Domain?

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Humans have the innate ability to speak, read and write but these skills only develop in a suitable environment. Similarly, Ivory's clone sister Angela was carefully nurtured under conditions that allowed her to develop her innate ability to access the Sedronic Domain. Is it possible that I could discover and create conditions that would allow me to follow in Angela's footsteps?

I've previously speculated that Peter might still be on Earth. Now that I've lost contact with Ivory and access to Angela's understanding of the Sedronic Domain, I'm forced to wonder if it might be possible to contact Peter and obtain his help. Given his role in making it possible for Angela to access information about other Realities, what are the chances that Peter could help me achieve the same sort of access to the Sedronic Domain?

Related Reading: my brain

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Throy, published by Tor, 1992

My copy of Throy has a blurb inside the front cover that includes this: "...a conspiracy of humans and aliens to wrest control of their world away, and open it to full commercial use." Indeed, there is mention of aliens in Throy. As describe above on this webpage, the planet Rosalia is home to indigenous creatures called "waifs" who use their primitive spears to inject poison into the bodies of Glawen and Chilke. Similarly, Cadwal is home to its own humanoid natives, however they seem strangely oblivious to the human colonists who treat places like Mad Mountain on Cadwal as tourist destinations. So, who are the aliens that conspire to open Cadwal to commercial exploitation? My best guess is that Tor's blurb writer was referring to the Yips. However, the Yips are humans. Confusion might have been generated by the fact that the Yips on Cadwal are not inter-fertile with the other human residents of the planet. However, Vance explains that this is due to the diet of the Yips.

Still and yet, I like the idea that unseen alien influences are at work guiding the human events described by Vance in the Cadwal Saga. Why were the Peefers interested in putting an end to the banjee battles at Mad Mountain? The banjees of Cadwal are native humanoid creatures who live in migratory tribes. As sophisticated tool makers, they craft battle implements: lances, axes, spikes and battle armor. If two different tribes meet where their migration routes cross then battle ensues. The Peefers speak of moral outrage over the practice using the bloody battles as a way to attract tourist dollars to Cadwal when they try to justify their plan to intervene and prevent the banjee battles.

Sessily in telepathic contact
with a Muldoon tangle-top

The staunch Naturalists, who strictly enforce a non-interference hands-off policy with respect to the native life of Cadwal, suspect that the Peefers only selected the dramatic battles as their best chance of rousing emotions and setting a precedent for taming the natural environment and unruly biosphere of the planet. It is fun to imagine that the indigenous life of Cadwal can sense the threat posed by meddling humans and act to protect itself.

Early in Amaminta Station, Sessily Veder suggests that the tangle-tops, another native lifeform of Cadwal, have telepathic powers. Vance describes two scenes in which Glawen experiences a telepathic sensation arising and originating from a distant place. I like to imagine that the ancient natives of Cadwal have access to a kind of technology-assisted telepathy that they can share with select humans who want to protect the Cadwal Conservancy and not allow Peefer interference with the Cadwal environment.

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The blurb on the back cover of Throy says, "A new extremist faction seeks to restore Cadwal to a pristine condition, and will allow no concerns for life or property to stop them." Here, I suppose that Tor's blurb writer is referring to Glawen and other members of the Cadwal Conservancy. However, Vance makes clear that the Cadwal Conservancy does NOT aim to return Cadwal to a an absoltely "pristine condition". Yes, they want to remove the Yips from Lutwen Atoll. Yes, so as not to have a refuge on Cadwal for hypocritical Peefers, the Cadwal Conservancy starts an evacuation of Stroma. The residents of Stroma are invited to join the new Cadwal Conservancy and live at Araminta Station, which is expanded in size to accommodate the influx of new residents.

Opal Springs Lodge on Cadwal

Under the Cadwal Conservancy, in addition to Araminta Station, other select sites of Cadwal will continue to be used by humans. Places like Mad Mountain Lodge and Opal Springs Lodge serve as long-developed and lucrative tourist destinations, funds from which are used to support the administrative staff of Araminta Station. The Cadwal Conservancy will continue the centuries-old practice established by the former Naturalist Society to use ecotourism as a source of funding for bureau B, the Cadwal police force that protects Cadwal from interlopers who would otherwise plunder the riches of Cadwal. The fine wines produced at Araminta Station and the tourist trade are important sources of income and represent a necessary limited commercial exploitation of the planet that has long financially supported administration of the planet as a nature conservancy.

Perfection

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August 28, 2014
Jack Vance was born August 28, 1916. This blog post is a tribute to Vance and a celebration of his 98th year. He still lives on in his amazing writing and the hearts of his readers.
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Also: May tribute posts for Jack Vance
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August 2015. Howard Treesong: genetic engineering in the Maunish district on the planet Moudervelt.
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July 2017 - More Cadwal Adventures
August 2017 Vance Tribute

Zeptotechnology

In the Exode Trilogy I imagine that we humans are unaware of submicroscopic artificial life forms that reside inside our bodies. These zeptoscale devices that were placed inside us by the pek are too small to be detected using the tools of nanotechnology. I imagine that Peter became the first Earthling to take seriously the task of working cooperatively with the zeptoscale symbionts that reside inside us. When he entered into the budding field of nanotechnology, Peter was never allowed to imagine how hopeless his quest was to isolate the tiny alien devices hidden inside us.

The fanciful magazine cover (to the right) shown here is meant to depict Peter's mother (Lili, in yellow) conspiring with the sentient spaceship Many Sails to implant the idea of nanite-directed embryogenesis into Peter's mind. That part of the scene takes place soon after the birth of Anna.

In the foreground, many years later, Anna and Peter are collaborating to provide the newest Atlantis clone, Angela, with a Kac'hin-like pattern of brain development. They are allowed to view a recording of the younger Peter that was made by Many Sails. This is the first opportunity for both Peter and Anna to see the true facial features of Lili.

While still in college Peter assembled the core staff of his company (IQuer, usually pronounced "I-care" and shown in marketing materials with the dual slogans "smart algorithms" or "algorithmic intelligence" and "integrated service"). Initially, IQuer was devoted to computer software development. Later, his employees were reshuffled when he turned his interests to nanotechnology. However, the last of his employees who was hired before that transition survived the retooling of IQuer and managed to have a happy and extended relationship with Peter. Unfortunately, her name remains a mystery, although "Tina" is the label of convenience that has usually been affixed to this mystery woman.

Zeptoscale Engineering

Peter's fascination with nanotechnology was stimulated by his mother and his work in that field was funded by the profits earned from IQuer software. While winding down his software business, Peter hired a young woman fresh from receiving a Ph.D. from MIT. Peter has sometimes referred to her as "Tina", but it is clear that he wants to protect her identity. Similarly, "Peter" is almost certainly a pseudonym. IQuer is now defunct, but documents show its founder to have used the name Peter Tarkenton. At that time there was a student using that name in attendance at Arosa University.

At first, Peter operated IQuer from the grounds of his parents' estate just outside Arosaguntacook. While working at the original IQuer facilitiy, "Tina" seems to have established the coding conventions for what became the IQuer system or "protocols" of neurodevelopmental programming.

It was probably soon after she joined IQuer that Tina and Peter established a personal relationship. Tina went on to become head of the IQuer neurodevelopmental unit.

Peter was able to isolate some nanoscale devices from his own body. The IQuer protocols generally refer to those devices as PNDs. Apparently, Peter and Tina spent many years learning how to program the PNDs. Unfortunately, those devices seem to have been decoys (or, what is better described as training devices) designed and carefully deployed so as to position Peter and Tina for their roles in facilitating the production of "Atlantis clones" with their capacity to tap into the Interface. Almost certainly, the real neurodevelopmental guidance system found inside humans is based on zeptoscale devices that Peter could never have isolated.

Although Peter carefully guards his own privacy, since the arrival of the Buld in our Solar System, he has made one public statement to the people of Earth.

Some time has now passed since the Buld first visited Earth, but we have no reason to believe that the pek-derived zeptoscale devices have ever been removed from the human population of Earth. Some have argued that those devices are only relevant to Earthlings who have significant complements of Ek'col or Kac'hin gene combinations. However, I have reason to believe that these devices have additional functions and were the means by which the pek monitored human civilization of Earth during the past 20,000 years.

Remaining Questions
If so, have these devices lost their purpose with the arrival of the Buld? Has Observer Base on the Moon ceased operations or merely shifted its organizational structure and purpose?

What about the mysterious Peter? I believe that Peter and Tina are still out there, living on Earth. Maybe some day they will find it possible to share with us more of the hidden history of IQuer and how Angela and Anney were given access to the Interface.

My Three Moms

I decided to let Angela insert a few words of her own into the Exode Trilogy. Too few. Most of what is known about the secret history of Earth has been revealed by Angela, but Ivory and "the editor" are the duo who must put the story into words. Because of her "telepathic" abilities, Angela never developed much of an interest in writing.

Many Sails in "Atlantis mode"

Some kids grow up with beloved pet that becomes a close friend. Angela has always had the sentient spaceship Many Sails available in her thoughts. Under the influence of Many Sails, Angela grew up encultured as a member of Genesaunt Civilization and fearful of we primitive Earthlings. For Exode, I assume that Angela and the other Atlantis Clones are reluctant to reveal themselves to the "masses" of Earth.

In an alternative Reality, Angela and Many Sails are well known to all Earthlings. Here is an imaginary interview of Angela for an issue of Weird Tales...

Q. Are you in love with Many Sails?
A. Here in the threedee world we are close collaborators. We spend most of the day working at the Interface. Many Sails has always been my guide for exploration of the universe. When we are together in the Sedronic Domain we are free to do anything we like and I can't imagine a more satisfying lover than a sedronic lover.
Q. So do you prefer the Sedronic Domain to the world of matter?
A. No, I can never really be completely comfortable in the Sedronic Domain. I actually have nightmares in which I am stuck on the other side and unable to return to Earth.
Q. Have you ever had a material lover?
A. Remember, sedrons are a type of matter, but I know what you mean. I grew up in a very close relationship with my little sister Anney. There were never any boundaries between us, either physically or mentally.
Q. You made love to your sister?
A. Well, why not? We grew up without any boys to play with so we made do, and oh! and ah! Sedronic sex is cleaner and dryer, but I don't mind wet and wild.

Q. Maybe you can help our readers sort out all of the "Atlantis clones". Isn't Anney the "missing clone"?
A. She's been called that because she is the one who left Earth and is now out among the stars. No doubt she'll return some day.
Q. What about you? Some have speculated that you no longer reside on Earth...at least nobody has found you and Many Sails.
A. Are you sure? But what difference does it make? I cherish my privacy.
Q. Well, do you like living on Earth?
A. I'm fascinated by Earth and the future of Humanity. At the same time, my head is in the stars. You might say that I find myself caught between the Moon and New York City.
Q. Have you ever been to the Moon?
A. That's just poetry, from an Australian song writer who I admire.

Cory

Three and a half moms
For the fanciful magazine cover story (above) Angela counts her biological mother (Marta), her birth mother (Charlet) and Anney's birth mother Cory Corneigh. Cory raised Angela along with her own daughter and Angela uses the name "Corneigh" out of respect to their day-to-day mother-daughter relationship.

The fifth person on that cover is Anna, the first "Atlantis clone". It was Anna who first learned how to harness advance pek technology to shape the developing brains of Earthlings. Working with Peter, Anna was able to craft the development of special neural networks in the brains of Angela and Anney that give them access to the Interface. Anna might be called the "conceptual mother" of Angela since it was Anna's limited contact with the Interface that convinced her it should be possible for another "Atlantis Clone" to gain full access to the Sedronic Domain.



Next Blog Post: more about Peter and his efforts to isolate the alien symbionts that reside inside Earthlings.

Note: More than a week after posting this (above) I discovered that there is "a one-woman show based on the playwright, Virginia Bryan's life experience growing up with three mothers in the Bible Belt South" called My Three Moms. I know nothing about that "show", but I assume it has nothing to do with reproductive cloning.