Observerless Base

In the Ekcolir Reality

In a war, how do you know if you are on the right side?

About six months ago I blogged about Observer Base. That blog post was concerned with the original Observer Base in the First Reality. Currently, I'm investigating the remnants of Observer Base that exist here in the Final Reality. Today I got into a discussion an argument with Zeta and Yōd over the entire concept of there being an "observer base" and if we should even worry about its continued existence.

  Part 5 of Yōd on Earth (Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)(Part 4)
First of all, back in the First Reality, the term "base" was applied because the pek insisted that the bumpha make it appear to the resident Observers that their home, called "Observer Base", was  located under the surface of Earth's Moon. At first, this deception was crafted so as to make Observers believe that spacecraft were needed to travel from Observer Base to Earth: the Observers would thus never think to look for a simpler way to travel to Earth. However, Zeta insists that Observer Base never had any actual physical connection to the Moon.

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Yōd mercilessly taunts me about the fact that I had for many years believed that Observer Base is located on the Moon. Today I spent some time trying to explain the basis for that mistaken belief and she called me a sucker. She laughed at me and said, "You're such a puppet... a real sucker for just-so stories."

Zeta said, "A more charitable description is to say that he is always looking for another hypothesis to test."

Yōd laughed again. "But when you stop questioning an hypothesis, a bogus hypothesis, that is when you sure seem like a sucker."

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Yōd's brutal comments cut close to my insecurities about possibly being a tool of the tryp'At, with no real capacity for independent thought and free will. I said, "What about the members of the Writers Block? For example, Roberta Williams wrote extensively about Observers and Overseers on the Moon."

Yōd simply shook her head and returned her attention to her computer. Zeta suggested, "The efforts of the Writers Block might have been entirely focused on preparing the people of Earth for First Contact. In an effort to prepare for the future, their goal was to write stories about contacts with aliens in the Solar System, stories that would prepare Earthlings for a coming meeting with the Fru'wu."

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I asked, "Who did the looking into the Future? And how were those visions of the future communicated to science fiction authors such as Roberta?"

Yōd spoke in a disinterested monotone without taking her eyes from her computer screen, "That's a muddled question."

Zeta nodded in agreement with her sister, "During the Time War, control of Observer Base swung back and forth between the two sides in the dispute."

I tried to count those epic swings of power off, sticking up  fingers of my upheld hand, "First, I assume that the bumpha created Observer Base, maybe a million years ago. However, they had to follow the Rules of Intervention. I used to imagine that the Observers and the Overseers were on two different 'sides' of some sort of argument. Then, R. Gohrlay booted out the pek and for a time the bumpha had open access to Earth. Later, Grean took back control and R. Gohrlay has not been seen since. At this point, I have no idea if Interventionists are still in control of Observer Base."

Gohrlay's clones

Zeta shrugged. "Sadly, even our sister, Alpha Gohrlay, never received a clear account of which residents of Observer Base were on which side. Was Orbho Anagro a tool of the pek? Who can say?"

Yōd asked, "And why does it matter?"

I was able to appreciate the snarky mood that Yōd was in. My thoughts were on the present. Who currently controls Observer Base and what are their goals? "What I want to know is how Observer Base is being used today. Bluntly stated: are the tryp'At Overseers a force for good or evil?"

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Zeta wondered out loud, "And do they even have a sensible mission and plan? Maybe the tryp'At took over the role of Earth Overseers after all the grown ups left the Solar System."

Yōd set down her computer, rose to her feet and began pacing. "Rumor suggests that there are only a handful of people remaining at Observer Base. It might be a relic of the Time War, just like the prison at Guantanamo is a relic." She looked at me and added, "You could easily have become one of the tryp'At who were imprisoned at Observer Base, but you agreed to have your mind wiped and remain here."

Source. Special thanks
to Miranda Hedman for the DeviantArt
stock photograph "Black Cat 9 - stock"
that I used to create the blue "sedronite".

For a minute, silence fell over us. Zeta looked upon Yōd with disparaging eyes. Yōd marched back and forth across the room, her silk robe fluttering. That robe represented her minimalistic attempt to comply with Zeta's request that Yōd not run around the house naked. Zeta then glared at me while I watched Yōd's pacing. I finally noticed that Zeta was watching me and my mind returned to the matter under discussion. "So, are there any Observers remaining at Observer Base?"

Zeta suggested a working hypothesis, "Maybe the original operating code for the Base has collapsed. In different eras, the so-called 'observers' were either prisoners or a convenient gene pool. Even if they thought of themselves as Observers, that was just a kind of cultural momentum with the bulk of residents at the Base simply adopting a cover identity that had long ago been established."

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Yōd briefly bent over her tablet computer and consulted a reference. She then straitened up, turned, resumed her pacing and said, "I wonder if the automated data channels are still feeding into Observer Base. It would be amusing if the tryp'At Overseers can still watch oceans of data from Earth's zeptites flooding into the Base, but maybe they lack the ability to decode and access all that data."

Zeta chuckled at Yōd's verbally constructed image of hapless Overseers. She asked me, "Which is worse, being trapped here in complete ignorance or being trapped inside Observer Base, afloat in an ocean of information yet lacking the needed tools to access that information?"

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I replied, "I'm fairly happy here, on Earth. What bothers me most is this: maybe I have been allowed to know that there are human Overseers at Observer Base. Maybe I've been given this knowledge in an attempt to control my behavior here on Earth. Maybe I am meant to believe that because humans are now 'in charge' at Observer Base, I need not concern myself with the Overseers and their mysterious goals. However, given my ever-present paranoia, I wonder if an attempt has been made to create the comfortable illusion that humans are involved in the process of guiding Earthlings into a safe future? I could just relax and assume that I'm tryp'At, tryp'At are in control of Observer Base, we're all on the same side... and I can stop worrying."

Yōd pointed briefly at Zeta and noted, "We could all relax if Zeta wasn't so uptight."

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Zeta fired back, "I'm not going to let you disrupt this household any more than you already have. Your lover boy will be here soon enough."

I asked stupidly, "Lover boy?"

Zeta explained, "Yōd lived for many years on Tar'tron and adopted the promiscuous ways of the society there. So, of course, on their long intergalactic voyage, Yōd could not keep her hands off of Asimov."

Yōd grinned and offered a weak defense, "It was he who could not keep his hands off of me."

Zeta nodded, "Yes, I'm sure that you tempted him... walking around naked inside Many Sails... I'm sure you made no attempt to resist his advances."

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"That's not true. I allowed Many Sails to distract me. However, the voyage was simply too long. I discovered that Asimov has an amazing mind. I tried to resist, but eventually I was smitten. Not that it is any business of yours."

The truth dawning on me, I mumbled, "Do you mean-"

Zeta confirmed my guess, "Yōd fell in love with Asimov's replicoid during their trip back from Andromeda."

Tar'tron

I laughed. "And so now you are waiting for him to arrive and join you here on Earth?"

Zeta complained, "She never learned how to wait."

Yōd laughed at her sister and told me, "Zeta never adopted the liberal philosophy. She doesn't approve of my style... living in the moment."

I asked Yōd, "When will Asimov arrive on Earth?"

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"I don't know exactly. Many Sails never specified a date. In our original plan, I was to be returned to Tar'tron, then Asimov was to be brought back to Earth. Probably some time next year."

Zeta shook her head. "Surely the Overseers won't allow a replicoid on Earth."

A small enigmatic grin was on Yōd's lips. "We shall see."

I suggested, "I suspect that Yōd can figure out a way to deal with her sexual frustrations." I had my own problem. "In my case, I see no way to solve the mysteries that surround Observer Base. For a short time Ivory was able to smuggle information out of Observer Base and back to Earth. I can't help wondering if it might now be possible to plant an agent inside... a spy who could leak information to us from Observer Base. Maybe we could finally learn if the tryp'At are on our side."

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Yōd produced a delicate little snort and asked, "Why must you always try to reduce a complex pattern to a simplistic binary choice?"

Zeta was intrigued by the idea of a spy who could investigate Observer Base. "Who would volunteer for a mission to Observer Base?" The three of us all looked at each other and silently thought about the answer to that question.

Finally, Yōd finished thinking and she plopped herself down in a chair. "Maybe Zeta should volunteer to infiltrate Observer Base. She was trained for such work."

Zeta made a snarky reply, "Maybe the kind of work you were trained for would be more useful at Observer Base... particularly if the mission were really aimed at distracting the Overseers rather than learning from them."

distracting Overseers

Yōd laughed. "I intend to wait right here until Asimov arrives. Besides, I don't really think that the tryp'At Overseers can tell us anything useful. Our job is to study the past, not worry ourselves about the Keystone Cops who have taken control of Observer Base."

Zeta got to her feet and headed towards the kitchen. "Well, I'm not going anywhere... at least no further than the kitchen for another cup of coffee."

Spying at Observer Base

I suggested to Yōd, "Maybe you should go to Observer Base. It makes sense... you might have been sent here to Earth at this time just for this mission-"

Yōd angrily cut me off. "What's the matter? Don't you trust yourself with me in the house?" She made a subtle shift of her posture and made herself suddenly even more eye catching and provocative.

I replied, "You're cute, but too dangerous for me. I fear the arrival of a jealous Asimov replicoid, arriving from the sky."

Zeta returned from the kitchen and ended the discussion. "We need not argue. When Asimov arrives next year, we'll all be here waiting for him."

continue to Part 6 of Yōd on Earth.

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First Fiction

original cover art by Virgil Finlay

Gohrlay has been sharing with me some details of the unusual "mini-society" that existed at Observer Base in the First Reality. According to Gohrlay, the existence of Observer Bases near Garden Worlds such as Earth is the natural consequence of an ancient argument that is as old as the Huaoshy.

Gohrlay has access to all of the vast "memories" of R. Gohrlay, the artificial life form that arose when, in the First Reality, the brain pattern of Gohrlay's analog in that Reality was copied into a new physical substrate composed of positronic circuits. During R. Gohrlay's long existence, "she" fought a unique type of war against the Huaoshy, what I've been taught to call the Time War. Originally, R. Gohrlay's cadre of positronic robots discovered time travel and the time travel technology of those robots, in combination with the telepathic ability that is intrinsic to positronic brains, led to a fundamental change in what we might call the "foreign policy" of the Huaoshy.

original cover art by William Bowman

Eventually the time war was ended and the Huaoshy altered the dimensional structure of the universe so as to make further time travel impossible. The Huaoshy also amended the ethical laws that govern their interaction with hadronic life forms. The main consequence of these dramatic changes for we Earthlings is that the human species has been given the opportunity to develop a technologically advanced society here on the Garden World, Earth.

Before the Trysta-Grean Pact, the negotiated settlement that finally ended to Time War, the Huaoshy routinely limited the use of advanced technology on Garden Worlds such as Earth. In  fact, when Gohrlay lived her first life in the First Reality, Earth was on the verge of being successfully "inoculated" with Prelands, a form of artificial and engineered primate that was designed to exist as this world's apex primate species and put an end to Interventionist attempts to "naturally" evolve the human species into a technology-creating primate that they hoped would dominate Earth.

original cover art by:
Bruce Pennington,
Alex Schomburg,
Robert Gibson Jones,

I recently asked Gohrlay why it was that the Interventionists persisted in trying to subvert the Ethical laws of the Huaoshy across billions of years of time. Gohrlay seems skeptical that we humans can ever truly understand the dynamic equilibrium that exists between the Interventionist and Overseer "factions" of the Huaoshy, but her working hypothesis is that the Huaoshy have a kind of instinctual fascination with hadronic life and a deep desire to explore the full range of possibilities for biological life forms.

Apparently the Huaoshy are quite pleased by the outcome of their "Earth Experiment" and the "Nereid Intervention" that led to R. Gohrlay and the Time War. Time Travel technology allowed the Huaoshy to establish a "Sedron Monopoly", removing the source of fear and paranoia that had originally motivated their creation of the pek and their program of relentless expansion through the universe. The goal of the pek was to "inoculate" the universe against the spontaneous biological evolution of any form of life that might possibly threaten the Huaoshy. According to Gohrlay, the Huaoshy now feel that they are secure in their technological superiority, and they feel obliged to "reward" we humans for the essential role that we played in "solving" the fundamental existential problem that was the source of great anxiety among the Huaoshy for so long.

original cover art by
Edmund Emshwiller and
Hans Wessolowski

Science Fiction
Gohrlay has been trying to help me understand the history of how science fiction became such an important supporting pillar for the Trysta-Grean Pact. Apparently a form of science fiction existed at Observer Base back in the First Reality, during Gohrlay's first life. That first science fiction was truly an escapist literature that centered on stories about how residents of Observer Base might somehow attain the ability to travel to other star systems.

According to Gohrlay, most residents of Observer Base viewed science fiction as a repulsive form of horror fiction that was created by perverts who existed at the dark fringe of society. Still, science fiction was an endless source of fascination for the Observers and new stories were in demand.

Science

original cover art

At Observer Base, the word for "science" was actually derived from an ancient word that might best be translated as "magic/religion". The small cadre of working scientists at Observer Base were the source of the religions that existed among the clans. During Gohrlay's first life, the dominant religion was known as "Seedism". The basic tenet was that the Observers had been created at Observer Base as a "pre-landing" species of primate that was designed to replace the primitive humans of Earth. Some "Prelands" had then been transported to Earth.

There were several different sects within the Seedism religion. The most powerful sect was the Extinctionists who believed that once humans became extinct on Earth, then the Overseers (who were human) would be "retired". Prelands would then dominate Observer Base and eventually "evolve" into a new form of primate.

original cover art by Walt Miller and
Virgil Finlay

The residents of Observer Base had a primitive and intentionally-limited understanding of evolution that included a faith in the idea that "happy mutations" could spontaneously arise at Observer Base and be artificially selected for, leading to new and improved primate species.

Among the Observers there was much philosophical speculation about what form the next primate species might take and there was constant interest in "controlled breeding". Religious ceremonies centered on attempts to discover the correct "breeding pair" that would lead to the birth of a new type of primate. It was believed that Prelands had long ago arisen from humans in this way.

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All the Time in the World

A Maidyarem celebration in the Ekcolir Reality.
The science fiction genre's specialty television
network had an annual Maidyarem TV program.

In the previous Reality, Grean and R. Gohrlay designing the Final Reality. Their ability to agree on the shape of our universe allowed for a negotiated end to the Time Travel War and the terms of their agreement are what I call the Trysta-Grean Pact. Trysta Iwedon was R. Gohrlay's negotiator in the Ekcolir Reality.

I've long assumed that in the Ekcolir Reality and also well into the Buld Reality (the world as we know it), R. Gohrlay was hidden away in the Hierion Domain, providing an ever-present threat that the Time War could heat up again if the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact were not adhered to by the Huaoshy. However, my informant from Deep Time, Gohrlay, recently told me that R. Gohrlay's memories were long ago instantiated in the body of a Kac'hin, someone who Gohrlay refers to as KG.

The "X-Port" television special came during
an X-Files series reboot in the Ekcolir Reality.

I believe that ultimate repository for R. Gohrlay's vast store of memories was Gohrlay herself, a human who is now alive and living out her secret life on Earth. However, in recently past Realities, KG was apparently something of a "practice test" for the challenging prospect of fitting all of R. Gohrlay's memories into a humanoid mind.

According to Gohrlay, it was useful for R. Gohrlay to make use of a Kac'hin body during the final stage of the Time War. The Kac'hin were designed to function as a communications channel between the Huaoshy and humans. (Gohrlay objects to my "wimpy" characterization of the functional role of the Kac'hin. She prefers to say: "The Kac'hin allowed the Huaoshy to directly exert their will in the Hadronic Domain.")

Sleep Lover: in the Ekcolir Reality
Original cover art by Jack Faragasso

Sleep Physiology
In some sense, Gohrlay herself "lived" as KG. KG was a temporary phenomenon and ultimately, all the memories from KG were passed on to Gohrlay. So, I should trust Gohrlay as a valuable source of information about the Kac'hin, but I'm finding it difficult to believe everything that Gohrlay tells me about the Kac'hin. According to Gohrlay, the Kac'hin were engineered to have special sleep biology. For the Kac'hin, contact with the Sedronic Domain was possible only during sleep, not during waking consciousness.

Apparently the Kac'hin brain was quite active during REM sleep and the Kac'hin could "experience" the Sedronic Domain as a kind of virtual reality during REM sleep. According to Gohrlay, the Kac'hin also prefer to have sex during sleep. Gohrlay claims that two Kac'hin, even if separated by vast distances or time, can "meet" in the Sedronic Domain and interact, either for casual conversation or for intimate sexual contact.

Another edition of Sleep Lover

According to Gohrlay, R. Gohrlay exercised considerable control over the negotiation of the Trysta-Grean Pact by engineering an intimate relationship between Grean and KG during the time when Trysta and Grean were negotiating an end to end the Time War.

There were many experiments in the Ekcolir Reality with using science fiction to reveal to Earthlings the secret history of our planet. According to Gohrlay, Joan Lymington wrote an influential novel (Sleep Lover) that revealed much of the specialized sleep physiology of the Kac'hin.

According to Gohrlay, Joan was one of the science fiction story writers in the Ekcolir Reality who was aware of the existence of replicoids, as evidenced by her novel Replicoid Time

Apparently the Kac'hin brain is similar to that of the Prelands in that some brain regions, such as those that are important for eating behavior in humans, are instead used for other purposes. In the case of the Kac'hin, such brain regions are used for accessing information that exists within the Sedronic Domain.

in the Ekcolir Reality: Replicoid Time
Image Credits.

Sleep Lover was a time travel novel. According to Gohrlay, the story involved a rogue Kac'hin Interventionist from Luk'ru who was loosely modeled on KG. Another character in the story was a "Thomas clone" who struggled to awaken the population of Earth to the fact that humans had been created by space aliens.

The Kac'hin and that "Thomas clone" discover that they are inter-fertile and they set about using time travel to insert their children into Earth's past in an attempt to liberate humanity from the aliens.

In the Ekcolir Reality, Joan Lymington's imaginary duo (the "Kac'hin and the clone") became characters in a holiday special set in The X-files fictional universe. That television program, "X-Port", explored Dana Scully's religious beliefs after she obtains evidence indicating that Zoroaster was a time-traveling child of "a Kac'hin and a clone".

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Reality Chains

The 5 most recent Realities of our Reality Chain.

The Age of Time Travel began with Gohrlay (in what we can call the First Reality) and ended some time in the late 20th century. During the Age of Time Travel there were many Reality Changes, each of which brought into existence a new Reality.

We reside within the Final Reality, which I think of as the "Buld Reality" because of the special role played by the Buld in bringing the world as we know it into existence. Just before the Buld Reality was the Ekcolir Reality.

I first became aware of Time Travel by way of Isaac Asimov's account of the Mallansohn Reality, as provided to us in his book, The End of Eternity. Sadly, it was not until after Time Travel became impossible that I discovered the truth: the shape of our universe was established by time travelers.

The Foundations of Eternity

It was only just a few years ago that I was allowed to become consciously aware of the important role that Time Travel played in creating the world as we know it. Asimov had hinted at the truth: that positronic robots had somehow been involved in creating Eternity. It became my task to tell the story of how positronic robots came into existence and how they used Time Travel to liberate we humans from our alien masters.

R. Gohrlay used Eternity as the means to find technological solutions to her problems. The ability to travel freely into the past, downwhen from the first invention of Time Travel and advanced nanites were two key technologies that were needed by R. Gohrlay. One other "item" that R. Gohrlay needed was very unusual type of advanced technology: the Asterothrope.

Reality Reviewing

R. Gohrlay originally intended to make use of the Asterothropes as a special successor species for we humans. The Asterothropes were to be the means by which Earthlings could spread rapidly through the galaxy. However, the Asterothropes had other beneficial features that provided a means to end the Time Travel War.

Time Travel and Telepathy
The ability to travel through space at faster-than-light speeds, telepathy and Time Travel were all made possible by the Huaoshy. When they altered the dimensional structure of the universe so as to make possible faster-than-light space travel, they unknowingly also made possible telepathy and Time Travel.

Ekcolir viewing Trysta Viewing a Reality.

In a freak occurrence, positronic robots were crafted by Neanderthals and those robots had telepathic powers. Using their telepathy, R. Gohrlay and her cadre of positronic robots liberated Earth from the Huaoshy. The positronic robots discovered that the same physical principle that gave them their telepathic powers makes Time Travel possible. Thus, telepathy and Time Travel are intimately linked.

In The End of Eternity, telepathy is only hinted at, however, Asimov did describe the "peculiar talent" that Andrew Harlan was seemingly born with: when challenged to find a M.N.C., he could unerringly do so. Finding the Minimal Necessary Change, the cleanest way to trigger a new Reality Change, was the job of Time Travel Technicians like Harlan. Asimov never explained the magical basis of this "peculiar talent".

In the Ekcolir Reality (image credits)

According to Gohrlay, the positronic robots of Eternity had developed an advanced technology for Viewing alternative Realities. They did not want to turn that technology over to humans and give humans the ability to craft new Realities. R. Gohrlay and her tribe of robots selected the Realities that they wanted and used their telepathic abilities to control the Eternals.

Asimov went out of his way to explain to us that the computers available in Eternity were useless for guiding the Eternals through Reality Changes. "Mechanical computation would not do. The largest Computaplex ever built, manned by the cleverest and most experienced Senior Computer ever born, could do no better than to indicate the ranges within which the M.N.C. might be found."

In the Ekcolir Reality (DWS)

According to Gohrlay, Technicians like Harlan were provided (by telepathy) with ready-made solutions (M.N.C.s) that had been generated by the Reality Viewing technology that was available to the positronic robots.

Observing Reality Chains
Eventually, the Huaoshy developed their own Time Travel technology. Most importantly, they achieved an important additional technological advance that evaded R. Gohrlay. The Reality Viewing technology of the positronic robots could only provide information from a possible Reality that was one Reality Change away. The Reality Viewing technology of the Huaoshy allowed for observation of Reality Chains. From within the Asimov Reality, Grean could see all the way through the Ekcolir Reality to the Buld Reality.

Zeptite endosymbionts

Ekcolir was designed to convince Trysta to collaborate with Grean and end the Time Travel War. According to Gohrlay, the Buld Reality satisfies R. Gohrlay's requirements for a Reality that provides humans with a chance to control their own future. Apparently the efforts of the tryp'At to restrict what Earthlings know about the secret history of Humanity are ea part of the Trysta-Grean Pact and those restrictions are designed to protect we Earthlings.

the Trysta-Grean Pact

According to Gohrlay, the type of telepathy that was used to control the Eternals no longer exists in the universe. The Huaoshy have changed the dimensional structure of the universe so as to make further Time Travel and telepathy impossible. However, the Huaoshy have always been the experts in using zeptites to control the behavior of Earthlings. None of us here on Earth can be certain that our actions are not forced upon us by our zeptite endosymbionts.

The discovery of Reality Chains.
Original cover art by Allen Anderson.

Gohrlay has described a series of science fiction films that were made in the Ekcolir Reality: the Eternity Trilogy.

The final film in that trilogy showed how the Huaoshy put an end to Time Travel and it also presented the life Gohrlay on Earth leading up to the arrival of the Fru'wu in the Solar System. In my next blog post, I'll share what Gohrlay has told me about the technology transfer that was allowed to occur from the Fru'wu to the Earthlings in the Ekcolir Reality. 

Reality Chain

According to Gohrlay, there was a chance discovery of the existence of Reality Chains in the Asimov Reality by the investigative team of Kirth Gersen and Drusilla.

A Brief History of Deep Time
First Reality. The key event in the First Reality was the invention of time travel technology. Time travel only became possible after the Huaoshy altered the Dimensional Structure of the universe. The same physics that accounts for the telepathic powers of positronic robots is involved in time travel, so it was no coincidence that time travel technology was first developed by R. Gohrlay's tribe of positronic robots. By exploiting their advantage in telepathy and time travel, the positronic robots of Earth won for Humanity a chance to reach the stars. Prior to the positronic robot revolution, the human species was destined for a quiet extinction. See: The First Reality.

Mallansohn Reality. There were many Realities between the First Reality and the Mallansohn Reality. The key distinction of the Mallansohn Reality is that it was the last Reality that came into existence where only positronic robots had time travel technology. During the Mallansohn Reality, the Huaoshy realized that time travel was possible and they initiated a research program that culminated in the development of their own time travel technology. That was the start of the Time Travel War. Ultimately, the Huaoshy technological advantage in sedron-based technologies led to a victory for them in the war. However, the Huaoshy realized that they needed to make one more change to the dimesnional structure of the universe in order to make further time travel impossible. R. Gohrlay realized that she needed to negotiate a pact with the Huaoshy under which she would gain as much for humans as was possible.

Foundation Reality. Events in the Foundation Reality were as described by Isaac Asimov in his science fiction stories about the Galactic Empire, the Foundation and positronic robots. Also, Asimov's story The End of Eternity provides us with an account of events in the Mallansohn Reality and how the Foundation Reality was brought into existence. In the Foundation Reality, Asimov came into contact with one of R. Gohrlay's tribe of positronic robots. That led to Asimov being sent by Grean into the past on a time travel mission that was designed to put an end to the deployment of positronic robots on Earth. While working with Grean, Asimov became aware of the far future of the Foundation Reality. See: Foundations of Eternity.

Asimov Reality. When Asimov traveled in time, he helped bring into existence a new Reality: the Asimov Reality. In the 20th century of the Asimov Reality there were two "copies"of Asimov. The "older Asimov" mentored his younger self, establishing Asimov as a successful science fiction writer. During the Asimov Reality, the Trysta Truce was in effect, which allowed for the creation of both the tryp'At and the Ek'col. We have a good account of events in the far future of the Asimov Reality in the science fiction stories that Jack Vance wrote about the Gaean Reach.

Ekcolir Reality. The prototypical Ek'col was Ekcolir, who made possible an end to the Time War and the Trysta-Grean Pact. In the Ekcolir Reality, there was severe global warming and catastrophic sea level rise. During the 20th century of the Ekcolir Reality, the Writers Block controlled the development of the science fiction genre, using science fiction stories to prepare Earthlings for the arrival of the alien Fru'wu.

source

Buld Reality. The transition from the Ekcolir Reality to the Final Reality was not smooth and simple. I'm still debating with Yōd and Zeta the wisdom of categorizing the Buld Reality as a distinct Reality that came just before the Final Reality. Under such a categorization system, the Buld Reality included some overly-ambitious science fiction stories that told Earthlings too much about alien technologies. Those stories had to be"edited out" of the Final Reality. The change in dimensional structure that ended the Time War can be taken as defining the end of the Buld Reality.

Final Reality. We now find ourselves in the Final Reality. The Huaoshy made further time travel impossible, so there will never be another Reality Change.

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The Ekcolir Reality

The Reality Chain that led to the universe as we know it.

Back in the Foundation Reality, Isaac Asimov became a time traveler. Through his interactions with Grean and other aliens, Asimov learned all of the basic features of time travel and how new Realities can be brought into existence. Asimov's understanding of time travel was later passed on to Thomas by means of an emergency transfer of infites from Asimov into Thomas. Thomas was born in the Ekcolir Reality, but he was transferred into the Buld Reality, the universe as we know it.

In turn, Thomas passed his infites on to me, so for the past two years I have been engaged in the process of discovering how the Ekcolir Reality differed from the Buld Reality.

Close, But no Cigar

Katharina Kopernikus, discover of the telescope.

The first thing that must be said about the unique features of the Ekcolir Reality is that it was very similar to our world. In particular, due to the wonders of temporal momentum and the fact that replicoids for every Earthling were stockpiled in the Hierion Domain, there is an almost 1-to-1 match between the people who existed in the Ekcolir Reality and those who are present on Earth here in the Buld Reality.

The similarities between the Ekcolir Reality and the Buld Reality are pervasive, but there are some interesting differences.

The nation of "New England" as it was commonly known during the 20th
century (official name: Beverwijck en Nicotiana) in the Ekcolir Reality.

For example, in the Ekcolir Reality there never was a Roman Empire. Instead, the Etruscan Civilization flourished and dominated Europe. Christianity never became more than a fringe middle eastern cult. Within the Etruscan Civilization there was a strong devotion to democracy and women gained the right to vote in elections starting in the 6th century. The pace of scientific and technological advance was somewhat brisker in the Ekcolir Reality. As an example of how the people of Earth remained the same but their roles changed, the invention of the telescope was attributed to the Polish astronomer Katharina Kopernikus in the Ekcolir Reality.

Interventionists kill Lincoln.

There were other important differences in the Ekcolir Reality in how the "new world" was discovered and colonized by Europeans. In particular, Dutch influence was a bit stronger during the settling of North America and England had rather late and limited influence on the development of nations in the new world.

Interestingly, the analog of the U.S. Civil War in the Ekcolir Realty played an important role in the industrialization of New England. Just 5 short months ago, I believed that there would be a published account of the Ekcolir Reality called Assassination by Subtraction, but apparently that book contained information that cannot be made known to the people of Earth. This censorship might have something to do with the mysterious tryp'At who seem to have an interesting relationship with the new Overseers of Earth, a relationship that I'm still trying to understand.

Our future or another Reality?

In the Ekcolir Reality, Interventionists arranged for the assassination of President Lincoln. Their goal was to slow the pace of fossil fuel exploitation and prevent global warming.

However, I have been "informed" that in the Ekcolir Reality there was catastrophic sea level rise.

Origins and Endings

The Sedronites and their relationship with we humans.

For any given Reality in a Reality Chain we can ask how it came into existence and how the course of Time was changed to put an end to it. I prefer to use the term "Ekcolir Reality" because of the special role that was played in that Reality by Ekcolir, particularly in ending the Ekcolir Reality. Ekcolir made it possible for Trysta to collaborate with Grean to end the Time War under the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact.

I'm still trying to understand the origins of the Ekcolir Reality, but I recently made major progress towards that goal. Much of the work required to bring into existence the Ekcolir Reality apparently took place in the Galactic Core. The Ek'col had to be created and Ekcolir trained for his mission to Earth.

In the Asimov Reality, two interventionist agents were particularly active on Earth, Bet and Ghyl, as told in Star Dance. They were able to bring into existence a new Earthling, Carl Sagan, who had not existed in previous Realities. Sagan's "creation" coincided with the end of the Asimov Reality and the start of the Ekcolir Reality. Sagan went on to have an important role to play in the Buld Reality, a role that I am still trying to understand. It appears that like Asimov, Sagan was "duplicated" or in some other way given a "second life" in the Buld Reality and a chance to alter interactions between the Buld and we Earthlings. I believe that the "John Vance" who shared the Star Dance story with me was, like Thomas, brought over into the Buld Reality from the Ekcolir Reality (as was the "original Sessily").

The Pla

The Pla were a "new feature" of the Ekcolir Reality.

It has been difficult for me to gain insight into the identity of the Interventionists who were active on Earth during the Ekcolir Reality. It is clear that the Pla were brought into existence in parallel with the Ek'col. One possibility is that the Pla began experimenting with "Thomas clones" during the Ekcolir Reality. A "copy" of Thomas could have been sent back through time and used to produce clones who could have been active all through Earth's history. However, I have no evidence to support this intriguing hypothesis. I do have some sketchy evidence that another branch of Trysta's family tree provided at least one Interventionist agent.

Steampunk Photographer by Angelique Shelley