Probability -2025

Figure 1. Image by Grok.
In the upper part of the original
image there were no tow lines
for three of the flying aliens so
I manually added them.

 Note from 2026. Near the end of 2025 I performed some experiments on Kimi AI. In September of 2026, Anthropic described Moonshot AI, the makers of Kimi, as being one of three Chinese companies that had used a 'distillation' process to harvest and use Claude's chain of thought data. In the case of Moonshot AI, that involved sending Kimi user prompts to Claude. It is not clear if Kimi was playing these sorts of games in 2025. It was in mid-2026 that Claude was returning to users quite extensive chain of thought information.

 In 2025. In my previous blog post I began experimenting with the Kimi chatbot (Kimi AI) which told me: "I don't have the ability to generate images directly. However, I can help you refine this wonderfully creative concept and suggest how you might create it or commission it from an AI image generator."

The image shown in Figure 1 was generated by Grok for the following text prompt: "Generate an image depicting a science fiction joke scene, in low Earth orbit eight alien pterodactyls fly in V-formation pulling a classic alien UFO at the end of two nano-filament cables, four of the alien pterodactyls are in two groups each attached to one of the cables forming the V-shape with the UFO at the vertex, the scene visually evokes reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh, in the style of a 1950s cover illustration for Galaxy magazine 35mm film".

I told Kimi: "Generate a one page science fiction story about the alien pterodactyls flying in V-formation and pulling a classic alien UFO and use the style of a "Probability Zero" story from Astounding Science Fiction magazine." 

 Kimi:  PROBABILITY ZERO: THE CHRISTMAS RESCUE
by K'Thar of the Seventh Wing

A Zor’nathling. Image by Google Flow.

 The nano-cables snapped at 2300 hours, Terran Pacific.

I felt it in my primary flight tendons—eight of us in perfect V-formation, towing the Zor'nath research saucer through low Earth orbit, when the port filament crystallized from a micrometeorite impact that had no business existing.

“Release protocol!” I whistled in Old Pteran, but the starboard cable took the full load and twanged like a dinosaur’s harp-string. The saucer—gleaming chrome hubcap with blinky red dome—tilted.

Inside, the Zor’nathlings (imagine a cross between a brain and a lava lamp) pulsed orange panic. Their mission: deliver twelve metric tons of reconstituted fruitcake to the Lunar Peace Corps before Christmas Eve. Earth’s last batch had achieved sentience and threatened to unionize.

A Zor’oling. Image by Leonardo.

 “Formation shift!” I barked. We banked, tails fanning solar glitter, wings edged with meteor frost. My second, Ki’rra, chirped the math: “Delta-v insufficient! We’ll re-enter over Cincinnati!”

Probability of a successful ditch: zero.

Then it happened. A sleigh-shaped radar blip—eight unregistered life-forms, antlered, glowing—rose from the stratosphere on a column of auroral thrust. Reindeer, but wrong: nostrils venting liquid oxygen, hooves magnetic. Their lead broadcast on 122.5 MHz: “Need a tow, cousins?”

Universal Avian Code. We answered in wing-morse.

In seconds they braided their harness straps through our nano-filaments—reindeer ahead, pterodactyls behind, UFO in the middle like a cosmic sleigh bell. Cooperative aerobatics; coefficient of drag dropped 38 %.

A Zor’otherling. Image by Leonardo.

 We delivered the fruitcake to Tranquility Base at 2359. The Zor’nathlings paid us in fermented comet-water; the reindeer accepted carrots irradiated to 3.6 Mrad.

Before they descended back into Earth’s myth-layer, the lead reindeer winked. “Cross-species goodwill—probability zero, but it keeps the stories alive.”

We folded our wings, watched the saucer twinkle against lunar jade, and logged the mission: Improbability achieved; cargo intact; belief sustained.

Merry Christmas, Universe.

Figure 2. Image by Gemini.

 Gemini was able to make an image (Figure 2) with text that looks quite similar to an actual Galaxy magazine.

Gemini:  Ah, a challenge worthy of the greatest minds (and perhaps a few lesser ones, like mine)! Here's a "Probability Zero" tale for you, inspired by your magnificent visual:

---

The Grand Orbital Delivery

By Dr. Xylos "Skip" Sprocket

Grk-Thnar. Image by Google Flow.

 It was, shall we say, a matter of considerable debate in the Galactic Interstellar Haulers’ Guild. Our esteemed colleague, Grk-Thnar, a creature whose cranial ridges pulsed with an almost alarming regularity when he was particularly pleased with himself, had submitted a proposal. A delivery proposal, mind you, for a shipment of… well, the contents are classified, naturally. But the method, ah, the method!

Grk-Thnar, being from a rather quaint, low-tech world, had a penchant for the "organic" solution. "Why waste fusion coils," he’d squawked, his respiratory vents whistling, "when nature provides the propulsion?"

We, of course, presented the data: sub-light drives, warp conduits, even the experimental quantum displacement array. All scoffed at! Grk-Thnar, with the stubbornness of a neutron star, insisted on his "Orbital Avian-Towed Transport System." Or, as he called it, “The Grand Orbital Delivery.”

Grk-onar by Leonardo.

 His chosen "aviators" were eight magnificent, albeit somewhat temperamental, Pterodex-alpha from his home planet. Think of a terrestrial pterodactyl, then infuse it with the dense bone structure of a meteor and the metabolic rate of a small supernova. These creatures, he argued, with their natural wing-beat frequency perfectly synchronized to generate a localized micro-gravity displacement field, could, in theory, achieve low Earth orbit. And, once there, their combined efforts could tow a standard Class-B saucer.

The Guild, after much head-tentacle shaking and probability calculations that invariably yielded "0.000000001%," reluctantly approved. Mostly, I suspect, to see Grk-Thnar fail spectacularly.

The launch was, to put it mildly, a spectacle. Picture, if you will, eight enormous, leathery-winged behemoths, each harnessed to a nano-filament cable, straining against the feeble gravitational pull of the launch pad. The saucer, gleaming dully in the pre-dawn light, wobbled precariously. The roar from the Pterodex-alpha was deafening, a primeval shriek that rattled the observation bunkers.

Grk-Nardo by Leonardo.

 Then, with a truly astonishing thwack-thwack-thwack that was more felt than heard, they lifted. Slowly. Majestically. The V-formation, honed over centuries of atmospheric hunting, held. The two nano-filament cables, each supporting four Pterodex-alpha, stretched taut. The saucer, with Grk-Thnar himself at the helm, began its improbable ascent.

Our instruments, designed for the precise readings of fusion flares and tachyon bursts, flickered erratically. They simply couldn't comprehend propulsion generated by muscle and wing. Yet, the altitude climbed. The velocity increased. And then, there they were: eight alien pterodactyls, pulling a classic alien UFO in perfect V-formation, against the silent, star-dusted backdrop of low Earth orbit, just as you saw!

_______________

Figure 3. Image by ChatGPT.

 The image that was generated by ChatGPT (Figure 3) is similar to some 1960s science fiction paintings.

ChatGPT: They called it impossible for reasons that could be written neatly on a chalkboard.

Vacuum, for one. Lift, for another. Muscle physiology, metabolic throughput, Reynolds numbers, the absence of anything to push against. The equations were airtight. That was the problem.

At 02:14 UTC the equations were wrong.

Lieutenant Harrow was on orbital debris watch when the first blip resolved into wings.

“Control,” he said carefully, because careful language seemed appropriate. “I am observing eight… organisms. Large. Pterosaurian morphology. They appear to be flapping.”

Image by Google Flow.

 There was a pause while Control decided whether this was a joke that required disciplinary paperwork.

Then Harrow added, “They’re in V-formation.”

That clinched it. Radar didn’t lie about etiquette.

The creatures emerged fully from Earth’s shadow, leathery wings flexing with an ease that mocked Newton. Their bodies were lean, almost skeletal, with elongated sternums studded by crystalline nodules that pulsed faintly blue. Each downstroke shed a faint auroral shimmer, as if the vacuum were briefly reconsidering its career choice.

UFO by Leonardo.

 Trailing behind them—because of course there was something trailing—was a classic flying saucer. Polished aluminum curve. Dome. Portholes glowing a warm, domestic yellow. It hung at the vertex of the V like a reluctant thought being dragged forward by enthusiasm.

Two nano-filament cables connected the saucer to the formation, each cable held by four pterodactyls in perfect symmetry. The tableau was unmistakable.

“They look like,” Harrow said, “reindeer.”

Control did not argue.

Astrophysics went first. The saucer’s mass was well within limits for inertial dampening, but the cables weren’t transmitting force in any sensible way. Spectral analysis showed localized manipulation of vacuum energy—Casimir gradients being rhythmically modulated by the creatures’ wingbeats.

Femtonelle-powered flight. Text added manually.
by Leonardo.

 Biology followed, limping. The nodules along the sternum were organelles—organelles—capable of transiently coupling cellular metabolism to zero-point fluctuations. No fuel. No reaction mass. Just probability being nudged where it was most embarrassing.

“Why the V?” someone asked, because scientists are like that.

Zor’oling by Leonardo.

 The answer came uninvited.

 A panel on the saucer slid open and a small figure leaned out, bundled in a red pressure cloak trimmed with something suspiciously like fur.

“Draft reduction,” it called cheerfully over an open channel. “Also tradition.”

Harrow blinked. “Tradition?”

“Of course. We tried random swarms once. Very inefficient. Morale suffered.”

The lead pterodactyl banked slightly, adjusting the formation. Its eye—golden, intelligent, amused—met Harrow’s camera.

Of course, the equations realized too late. The V wasn’t aerodynamic. It was psychological. A pattern so deeply embedded in observer expectation that reality cooperated out of habit.

Zor’oling and Grk-Lav by Leonardo.

 The saucer drifted past, bells chiming softly along its rim for no physical reason at all.

Before Control could ask the obvious questions—Why Earth? Why now? Why this?—the formation accelerated. Not by thrust, but by narrative necessity. Probability, relieved to have clear instructions, stepped aside.

Within seconds they were gone, leaving behind only a faint shimmer and a data set that would never quite fit on a graph.

Harrow filed his report.

Under Cause, he wrote: Seasonal anomaly. Confidence interval: negligible.

And somewhere beyond low Earth orbit, eight alien pterodactyls flapped contentedly, pulling a saucer full of gifts, secure in the knowledge that some things work precisely because they shouldn’t.

Figure 4. Zorg and Glorp by Grok.

 Grok:  The Migratory Saucer

Captain Zorg blinked his three eyes at the viewscreen, his tentacles twitching in annoyance. "What in the void is that?" he barked at his navigator, a blob of sentient jelly named Glorp.

Glorp quivered, analyzing the anomaly. "Sir, it's... pterodactyls. Alien pterodactyls, to be precise. Flying in a perfect V-formation through the vacuum of space."

Zorlorp by Leonardo.

 Zorg leaned forward. "Pterodactyls? Those extinct Earth reptiles? Impossible. Space has no air for wings."

"Ah, but these aren't your grandma's dinos," Glorp replied, pulling up a holographic scan. "Bio-scans show they're engineered lifeforms from the Pteron Empire. Their wings aren't for flapping—they're organic solar sails, woven with quantum filaments that capture stellar winds. See those golden beaks? They're emitter nodes for tractor beams, phase-locked to harness the Casimir effect. In vacuum, they generate virtual particle thrust by polarizing the quantum foam. The V-formation minimizes interference patterns, amplifying the pull by 300% through constructive wave resonance."

Zorg's eyes widened. Trailing behind the flock was a classic saucer-shaped UFO, the kind Earthlings drew in their tabloids—silvery, domed, with blinking lights. But this one was being towed, its engines dark, connected by shimmering energy tethers to each pterodactyl's beak.

 

Gleep by Grok.

"They're migrating," Glorp continued. "Seasonal route from Alpha Centauri to the Orion Arm. That saucer's probably a hitchhiker—broke down en route. Pterons are known for their eco-friendly towing service. No fuel, just biology meets physics."

As the flock veered past their ship, one pterodactyl peeled off, banking gracefully on an invisible gravity gradient. It locked a beam onto Zorg's vessel, giving a gentle tug.

"They're offering us a lift?" Zorg exclaimed.

Figure 5. Image by Google Flow.

 Glorp jiggled affirmatively. "Free ride, sir. But remember the fine print: Pterons expect tips in fish-flavored asteroids."

Zorg chuckled. "Engage the beam. Who needs warp drives when you've got dinosaurs?"

And so, the galaxy's oddest convoy soared on, proving that in space, no one hears you squawk—unless you're pulling the saucer.

The Google Flow user interface for video creation.

Shown above 👆is my first video made with Google Flow. First I edited Figure 5 with Flow's image edit tool (see the image that is shown to the left), asking that Marda (see Figure 6, below) be placed the back of an alien creature. Google's Veo software could not actually get Marda on the back of the alien, so she just sits on a wing.

High gravity-world alien by ImageFX.

 _______

Claude: The Aerodynamic Imperative -A Probability Zero Story

Dr. Helena Voss had spent three decades studying xenobiology, but nothing prepared her for the transmission from the Kepler-442b expedition.

"They're towing it," Commander Park's voice crackled across 1,200 light-years. "The spacecraft is non-functional in atmospheric conditions."

The image resolved on her screen: a classic lenticular craft, approximately forty meters in diameter, suspended beneath a formation of seven enormous flying creatures. Tethers of what spectral analysis identified as carbon-nanotube composite connected the beings to the craft in a perfect V-formation.

Alien by Gemini.

 "Initial contact suggests the species evolved on a high-gravity world with dense atmosphere," Park continued. "Their spacecraft—they call it a 'void-swimmer'—uses a magnetohydrodynamic drive optimized for vacuum. Completely useless in planetary air. No aerodynamic surfaces whatsoever."

Voss studied the creatures. Wingspan: approximately twelve meters. Hollow bones reinforced with metallic carbide structures. Those weren't wings—they were biological superconducting surfaces generating localized electromagnetic fields for enhanced lift.

"So they evolved biological flight," Voss said, "then achieved spaceflight, but never developed atmospheric craft?"

Alien by ChatGPT.

 "Precisely. They find it more efficient to use themselves. The formation reduces drag by 40% according to their mathematics—each individual rides the updraft of the one ahead. They've been doing this for millennia."

Voss watched the graceful beings bank through clouds of methane-tinged atmosphere, pulling their inert spacecraft toward the surface. No landing gear—why would they need it? They simply landed themselves and set the craft down gently.

"Cultural assessment?" she asked.

"They're deeply communal. They consider it impolite to fly alone. The one pulling rear position—they rotate every hundred wingbeats for fairness—is considered to be performing a service of honor."

Image by ImageFX

 Voss smiled. Humanity had assumed advanced spacefaring species would abandon biological limitations. Instead, the Pteranthi had built their entire aerospace industry around them. Their void-swimmers were magnificent—capable of 0.3c using staged antimatter catalyzed fusion.

But in atmosphere? They needed a tow.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

 "Commander, recommend we offer them our atmospheric shuttle designs."

"Already did, Doctor. They politely declined. They say flying in formation is how they sing."

 Claude: I've written a Probability Zero-style story based on your fascinating image! The story presents the absurd premise—advanced aliens who tow their spacecraft through atmospheres using biological flight formations—with deadpan scientific seriousness.

The technical details include magnetohydrodynamic drives, carbon-nanotube tethers, biological superconducting surfaces, and the aerodynamic efficiency of V-formations. The Pteranthi are portrayed as cooperative and culturally sophisticated rather than threatening, and the ending has that characteristic Probability Zero twist where the seemingly inefficient method turns out to have deeper cultural meaning.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

 Would you like me to adjust the technical details, expand on the Pteranthi culture, or take the story in a different direction?

Me: "take the story in a different direction" <-- slightly modify the story to include the idea that all the members of the group of flying alien pterodactyls are clones who coordinate their actions by means of technology-assisted telepathy.

Claude: The Aerodynamic Imperative

A Probability Zero Story

Dr. Helena Voss had spent three decades studying xenobiology, but nothing prepared her for the transmission from the Kepler-442b expedition.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

 "They're towing it," Commander Park's voice crackled across 1,200 light-years. "The spacecraft is non-functional in atmospheric conditions."

The image resolved on her screen: a classic lenticular craft, approximately forty meters in diameter, suspended beneath a formation of seven enormous flying creatures. Tethers of what spectral analysis identified as carbon-nanotube composite connected the beings to the craft in a perfect V-formation.

"Initial contact suggests the species evolved on a high-gravity world with dense atmosphere," Park continued. "Their spacecraft—they call it a 'void-swimmer'—uses a magnetohydrodynamic drive optimized for vacuum. Completely useless in planetary air. No aerodynamic surfaces whatsoever."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

 Voss studied the creatures. Wingspan: approximately twelve meters. Hollow bones reinforced with metallic carbide structures. Those weren't wings—they were biological superconducting surfaces generating localized electromagnetic fields for enhanced lift.

"So they evolved biological flight," Voss said, "then achieved spaceflight, but never developed atmospheric craft?"

"Precisely. But here's what's remarkable—they're all clones. Same genome, grown from a single lineage. Each one has neural implants broadcasting on a quantum-entangled mesh network. Real-time coordination down to the microsecond."

"Technology-assisted telepathy," Voss breathed. "That explains the formation precision."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

 "The drag reduction is 40%, but that's not the impressive part. With shared proprioceptive data, each individual knows the exact position, wing loading, and muscle tension of every other member. They're functioning as a single distributed organism. When one adjusts for turbulence, they all compensate instantaneously."

Voss watched the graceful beings bank through clouds of methane-tinged atmosphere, pulling their inert spacecraft toward the surface. No landing gear—why would they need it? They simply landed themselves and set the craft down gently.

"Cultural assessment?" she asked.

"They told us cloning was the practical solution. Once they developed neural networking technology, individual variation became... inefficient. Why have seven minds learning seven different flight responses when one mind can learn once and share it instantly across seven bodies?"

Image by WOMBO Dream.

 Voss felt a chill. "You mean they gave up genetic diversity for synchronized flight?"

"Not exactly. They maintain genetic libraries, run biodiversity simulations. But for spaceflight operations? Clones with quantum mesh implants are 99.97% more effective. The formation you're seeing isn't seven individuals cooperating—it's one consciousness distributed across seven bodies."

Voss watched them bank in perfect unison. Humanity had assumed advanced spacefaring species would abandon biological limitations. Instead, the Pteranthi had built their entire aerospace industry around them. Their void-swimmers were magnificent—capable of 0.3c using staged antimatter catalyzed fusion.

But in atmosphere? They needed a tow. And they'd restructured their entire species to optimize for it.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

 "Commander, recommend we offer them our atmospheric shuttle designs."

"Already did, Doctor. They politely declined. They say the neural synchronization during flight is the closest thing they have to transcendence. When seven bodies move as one mind..."

Park paused. "They say it's how they remember what it was like to be individuals."

___

Claude: I've updated the story to include your new elements! The Pteranthi are now clones who use neural implants on a quantum-entangled mesh network for real-time coordination. This gives them microsecond-precision synchronization by sharing proprioceptive data across all bodies. The ending now has a darker philosophical edge—they sacrificed genetic diversity and individuality for operational efficiency, and the formation flying has become their way of remembering what it was like to be separate beings. It's more melancholy than the original, but still fits the Probability Zero style of presenting an absurd premise with serious scientific and philosophical implications.

Mistral's Le Chat:   Title: The Great Pterodactyl Sleigh

Image generated by Le Chat.

 In the vast expanse of low Earth orbit, where the stars twinkled like distant suns and the blue marble of Earth hung suspended in the void, an unusual sight could be seen. Eight alien pterodactyls, their wings shimmering with an iridescent sheen, flew in perfect V-formation. But this was no ordinary flight. These pterodactyls were not soaring over ancient forests or vast oceans; they were pulling a classic alien UFO through the vacuum of space.

The UFO, a disc-shaped craft with a gleaming metallic surface, was attached to the pterodactyls by two nano-filament cables. Four of the mighty creatures were hitched to each cable, their powerful wings beating in unison as they propelled the craft through the cosmos. The scene was reminiscent of reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh, but this was no festive procession. This was a mission of interstellar importance.

Onboard the UFO, Captain Zyx of the Galactic Patrol was trying to make sense of the situation. "What in the name of the Cosmic Overlord is going on?" he muttered, peering out of the viewport. His first officer, a diminutive but highly intelligent being named Blip, was busy scanning the instruments.

"According to the sensors, Captain, these pterodactyls are not of Earth origin. They seem to be bio-engineered for space flight," Blip reported, his voice a mix of awe and confusion.

Captain Zyx rubbed his antennae thoughtfully. "Bio-engineered pterodactyls pulling our ship? This is unheard of!"

Just then, a transmission came through on the communicator. It was the voice of Dr. Elara, a renowned xenobiologist from the Andromeda system. "Captain Zyx, this is Dr. Elara. I see you've encountered my little experiment."

Dr. Elara. Image generated by Le Chat.

 "Experiment?" Captain Zyx exclaimed. "You mean these pterodactyls are yours?"

"Yes, indeed," Dr. Elara replied, a note of pride in her voice. "I've been working on a way to combine the efficiency of biological flight with the endurance of mechanical propulsion. These pterodactyls are the result of my research. They're pulling your ship as part of a test."

Captain Zyx shook his head in disbelief. "You're using alien pterodactyls to pull a spaceship? Whatever for?"

Zyx and Blip

 Dr. Elara chuckled. "For fun, Captain. For fun. You see, I've always loved the idea of reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh. I thought, why not create something similar for space travel?"

Captain Zyx couldn't believe his ears. "You've got to be kidding me."

But as they continued their journey through the stars, pulled by the mighty pterodactyls, even Captain Zyx had to admit that there was a certain charm to the scene. It was a blend of the ancient and the futuristic, a whimsical fusion of myth and technology.

As they approached the space station, the pterodactyls let out a chorus of high-pitched chirps, almost as if they were laughing. Captain Zyx couldn't help but smile. "Well, Dr. Elara, I must say, your method of transportation is certainly... unique."

And so, the Great Pterodactyl Sleigh became a legend in the annals of interstellar travel, a testament to the power of imagination and the joy of discovery.

__________

Below are some videos that were generated by Grok. The first video was made using the image that is shown above in Figure 1.

Figure 6. Marda Onway.

Apparently, green is the default color for aliens generated by Grok. Be sure to play the audio for the last two videos (above). The last video was made from the image that is shown in Figure 4, above on this blog page. Lucky for us, all aliens speak English. 

All of the chatbots produced stories about the "alien pterodactyls" in which these aliens were not 100% biological. In those stories there is mention of tissues like "muscle" (not to mention communicating by means of whistles in outer space), so the chatbots seemed unwilling to explicitly describe the "alien pterodactyls" as artificial life-forms. Below is my version of the Probability Zero story. For fun, I attribute the story "Hot Alien Dinosaurs" to Marda. In my story, the "alien pterodactyls" are explicitly described as being a form of artificial life using advanced nanotechnology that allows them to control the shape of their physical bodies, much to Marda's delight......

When producing its Probability Zero story, Gemini spontaneously generated an image that included this (red border and text) format for a page from Astounding magazine (including the black and white image on the page). I adopted that page template for Marda's story.

Phoenix galaxy.

 Marda's story "Hot Alien Dinosaurs" (above) includes casual mention a large number of "inside jokes" and a passing reference to Monument Cliff. The "in-jokes" are references to elements of stories that are set. in the "Exodemic Fictional Universe". I'm currently writing a science fiction story titled: "Plūribus ē Spatium" which concern's Tyhry's effort to make use of the long-range teleportation equipment that was installed on Earth by the Phari.

Marda herself often functions as Tyhry's "sidekick". Marda has helped design and build some of the features of the interstellar spaceship Sedrover, including its zero-G spa and hot tub. In "Hot Alien Dinosaurs", Tyhry mentions femtobots, a form of advanced nanotechnology, but we never learn the exact composition of the alien Hyque, creatures referred to as the Phoenix Dragons. The Phoenix dwarf galaxy is a real place.

Below is the text of the story with some additional links for technical terms that were included in the story.

A PROBABILITY ZERO story

Hot Alien Dinosaurs

by Marda Onway

---

Earth's Reality Chain

Tyhry popped into her nanotechnology research laboratory in the Ekcolir Reality and was surprised that nobody was there. Then Marda came in through the back door. Marda had just returned from a shake-down flight of Sedrover during which she had perfected her zero-gravity hot tub. Tyhry could telepathically sense that Marda was bursting at the seams with startling news. Tyhry asked, "How did it go?"

Marda excitedly said, "You are not going to believe this, but... maybe we should form a synapex link so you can directly examine my memories."

Tyhry was eager to get back to her childhood home in the FinalReality, Casanay, and she knew that if she and Marda synapex linked their minds, one thing would lead to another and she'd be delayed in her quest to get home to Arizona and re-activate the Phari teleportation equipment under Picacho Peak. "I trust you Marda. Just tell me."

"Fine. But don't call me a liar after you hear about the dinosaur-powered spaceship."

Tyhry quickly realized that she had fallen into a trap. "Can I attribute your hallucination to over-use of chatbots?"

Marda ignored Tyhry's lame witticism. "I simply wanted to test the hot tub, so when Anthony asked for a destination for Sedrover, I told him, 'Whatever. Just provide me with 24 hours with no gravity.' By the time I got from the control room to the spa room, I had microgravity and quickly confirmed that the array of hierion micro-threads you designed solved the surface tension problem. Now we can enjoy the hot tub under near-zero gravity and nobody will be at risk of drowning. I'd expected Anthony to test the re-cofigured tub with me, but he refused to come to the spa room and called me back to the control room.

Tyhry and Anthony, image by Google's Flow.

When I returned to the control room, the crew was gathered in front of the main viewscreen. There on the display screen were eight alien creatures, flying in a V-formation and pulling an alien spaceship... just like reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh."

Tyhry wondered if Marda had over-dosed on oxypathin while testing the zero-G hot tub, but telepathically sensing that Marda was not in an altered mental state, Tyhry chuckled and asked, "Where was this?"

Marda replied, "Anthony had taken us to Xi Puppis X. He wanted to know if Monument Cliff exists in the Ekolir Reality."

"Ah, a Phari planet!" Tyhry knew that in the past Realities of Deep Time, the Phari had teleported an Earth-like planet into orbit around the Sun-like star Xi Puppis B. The planet Xi Puppis X was known for the mysterious Monument Cliff in the Asimov Reality. "And did you find the Cliff?"

Monument Cliff

"We never had a chance to search the planet's surface. There in orbit was that dinosaur-powered spaceship. We had our hands full with the mystery of flying alien dinosaurs! They looked like pterodactyls."

"They must have been artificial life-forms using the form of a flying animal." The questions was, what type of nanotechnology was being used by these aliens? "Were they composed of femtobot components?"

"By the time I reached the control room, Anthony had just matched course with the aliens and followed them around to the shade side of the planet. We were in a low orbit around Xi Puppis X and as we approached, we saw that the dinosaurs glowed with internal light. They broke formation and gathered around Sedrover. I opened the airlock and one of the aliens managed to squeeze in. When the airlock cycled, I was face-to-face with the alien!"

Marda's lab on Sedrover.

"Human-sized?"

"Big. It stood about ten feet tall. It was cold and almost instantly frosted over. It did not seem to mind the cold and I could feel it telepathically searching through my mind. When it figured out my mind pattern it telepathically suggested: Let's use the hot tub.

"I soon had the alien warmed up in the hot tub and I was beginning to telepathically gain access to Hyque5's thoughts."

"Hyque5?"

"Those 8 aliens were part of a telepathically-linked group-mind. Actually they thought of themselves as a single life-form, just inhabiting 8 physically isolated bodies. They were Hyque1 through Hyque8 and they quickly understood that we were inside a Simulation. I'm pretty sure they were composed of something like femtobots... they could morph their body shape."

Sedrover

"Where are the Hyque from? What is their home world?"

"As artificial life-forms, they have 'lived' in outer space for over a billion years. Anthony thinks they originated biologically in the Phoenix dwarf galaxy. We took to calling Hyque's species the Phoenix Dragons. Hyque5 showed me the original body form of their species. I can report that besides the wings, they were quite similar to the human body form."

Tyhry moaned. "Don't tell me..."

"Well what do you expect? There Hyque5 was, covered with frost. In the interest of good alien relations I simply had to warm him up. That's what the hot tub is for, you know."

Tyhry knew perfectly well why Marda had worked so long and hard to develop her zero-G hot tub. The entire crew of Sedrover had been quite eager to use the hot tub during missions.

"Him?"

The tryp'At phenotype.

Marda held up one hand with her index finger pointed upwards. "Like the tryp'At, the Phoenix Dragons are hermaphrodites."

Tyhry shook her head. "I'm surprised you are not still in the tub with Hyque5."

"Well, I can't really tell them apart. In any case, they are all interchangeable... I still need to test Hyque7. They are all out in Sedrover, entertaining all the replicoids."

Tyhry now understood why there was nobody in the laboratory. "You brought them back to Earth?"

"They are quite friendly. Care to join the party?" Marda turned and headed back to Sedrover, intent on carefully confirming that Hyque7 was anatomically identical to the all the othe Hyque.

Figuring that she'd be delayed getting a turn with one of the Hyque in the hot tub, Tyhry shrugged, popped herself out of the Simulation and continued on her way to Casanay. Tyhry began contemplating the possibility of using long-range teleportation to explore the Phoenix dwarf galaxy and possibly find the home world of the Dragons.

 Next: looking at the science fiction of Edward Wellen.

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

Alien Civilization

An alien by Mr. Wombo.

 At the end of my previous blog post I linked to online discussions of the soon-to-be released Civilization 7 game. I used some of the illustrations of Civilization game scenes as reference images with Google's Whisk and tried to get Whisk to alter the style of the buildings so as to depict alien civilizations on distant exoplanets. Most of the aliens in my science fiction stories (set in what I call the Exodemic Fictional Universe) are not too different in bodily form from we humans since like us, they are related to the Hua.

Alien First Contact.

In this blog post, I'll also be showing images such as the one to the right that were generated by WOMBO Dream.

For the image to the left, I started with a central part of Figure 3 (below) that contained both a human and a humanoid alien. Mr. Wombo often wanted to convert the human woman into an alien.

In the image to the left, the alien ended up with green skin and the legs of the human woman were tinted with purple..... possibly she's an alien-human hybrid.

Figure 1. Pyramid village storyboard version 1 with all three human "subjects".

Aliens by Mr. Wombo.

 I provide Whisk with four "subject" images including one of a humanoid alien with blue skin, but initially Whisk excluded the alien from the storyboard (Figure 1).

aircraft by Wombo.

I modified the text description of the storyboard so as to explicitly include the blue alien "subject" and then Whisk inserted two blue aliens into the next storyboard that it generated (Figure 2). I was impressed that Whisk included what looked like some aircraft close to the pyramid, near the top center of Figure 2.

Figure 2. Pyramid village storyboard version 2 with two humans and two blue aliens.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

Next, I modified the storyboard text description so as to specify a "futuristic alien town". I was pleased with the types of buildings that Whisk generated for Figure 3, below. I don't know how Whisk "decides" to sometimes show aliens dressed in clothes and in other cases the aliens appear to be naked (as in Figure 3). When I used the center of Figure 3 as a reference image, Mr. Wombo generated the image that is shown to the right. I'm always surprised when for no obvious reason an AI flips a humanoid figure front-to-back.

Figure 3. Pyramid village storyboard version 3 with all three human "subjects" and a blue alien.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

In the "subject" image that I had uploaded with the blue alien, she was holding a globe, but Whisk ignored that aspect of the image when generating Figure 3. When I made that feature of the "subject" explicit in the storyboard description, Whisk generated the image shown in Figure 4.

 First Contact. I liked the fact that Whisk included in Figure 4 the feature of the redheaded woman holding up some kind of hand-held device. I can imagine trying to communicate with an alien at First Contact and using a holographic image of Earth to show the alien where humans come from.

Figure 4. Pyramid village storyboard version 4 with a female alien.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

 I tried to get Whisk to add an interesting type of street to the space between the buildings in the alien village by using text prompts such as: "streets with a highly reflective metallic surface".

One of the "streets" that was generated by Whisk is shown below in Figure 5. I was actually hoping that Whisk would generate a more seamless surface for the alien street such as what WOMBO Dream generated in the image that is shown to the right. As usual, by mentioning "exoplanet" in my text prompt, Mr. Wombo found it necessary to place a planet in the sky. Sadly, Mr. Wombo missed the opportunity to place an interesting object in the hand of the redhead, even though there was one in the reference image and her hand is positioned as if it were holding an object.

Figure 5. Pyramid village storyboard version 5 with a metallic road.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

An annoying "feature" of Whisk is that after getting close to a satisfactory "storyboard" (like the one in Figure 4) you then ask Whisk to make one additional change and Whisk will instantly forget all about features that have already been added to the scene. For example, the blue alien was eliminated from Figure 5 and the buildings were reverted back to the style in Figure 1.

For Figure 6, I tried hard to get a street, the blue alien and alien-style buildings all in a single image, but then Whisk seemingly "forgot" the meaning of the word "street", producing various strange objects including what looks like a reflecting pool in Figure 6.

For the image to the right, I used part of Figure 6 as a reference image for WOMBO Dream. Mr. Wombo seemingly transformed the setting to a location on Earth, so it is easy for me to imagine that after meeting the aliens of some distant exoplanet, one of the aliens was taken back to Earth.

Figure 6. Pyramid village storyboard version 6 with humans, the alien and a reflecting pool.

Figure 7. Robots and aliens storyboard 1.

robots "subject" image

To generate the image that is shown in Figure 7, I provided Whisk with the "subject" image shown to the right.

cropped alien "subject"

Another image that was similar to the image shown to the left was also provided to Whisk as another "subject" image, this one representing an alien.

The "scene" image was another "ancient city" image from the Civilization 7 blog.

Figure 8. Reference.

 By asking for a city under a glass dome, I was able to get Whisk-generated images such as the one shown in Figure 8. I used the Whisk-generated storyboard image that is shown in Figure 8 as a new "style" image and then Whisk generated the new storyboard shown below in Figure 9.

Figure 9. Robots and aliens storyboard 2.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

new "subject"

For Figure 9, I used the "subject" image that is shown to the left. I wanted this new subject to be depicted as a "supervisor" for a team of robots, but I also wanted the aliens with purple skin to be included in any new storyboards made by Whisk. 

I also tried to get the robots to be depicted in a less mechanical style than the ones in Figure 9. Instead, Whisk became particularly annoying and made my new human "subject" adopt a robot-like appearance.

Figure 9. Robots storyboard version 3. I had Mr. Wombo turn the supervisor into an alien.

Figure 10.

Eventually, I was able to get Whisk to generate the image that is shown in Figure 10. In my imagination, this could be a scene in an alien school where a team of teaching robots carry out the instruction for alien children. Here is the text prompt that was used for Figure 11: "A photorealistic rendering of a science fiction encounter on an alien exoplanet. Warm earth-toned style reminiscent of science fiction concept art depicts humanoid alien figures within a meticulously detailed futuristic alien town nestled within a synthetic glass dome, that holds out the toxic atmosphere of the planet. 

Alien with a tail.

 A young humanoid alien woman with purple skin, pointed ears, long white hair, wearing a green and gold bodysuit, stands amidst the beautiful sparkling buildings. Two fair-skinned elf-like humanoid aliens, an adult woman with long white braids and a purple hooded cloak, and a young child in a green hood, stand near a highly decorated wall inscribed with alien writing. A humanoid alien woman dressed in gold metal foil supervises seven humanoid robots. The humanoid alien woman dressed in gold metal foil is exhorting the robots to capture the child. The robots have sleek green bodies and gold accents and they stand in front of the town's central Palace. The town is densely packed with two-story buildings, a central Palace-like structure, and beyond the protective outer glass wall are rolling hills, lush greenery, and hints of a distant body of water. The overall aesthetic is adventurous and slightly nostalgic, with photorealistic detail in the alien humanoid figures. The robots are beautiful. A lake with a highly reflective surface reflects the image of the alien palace. All of the buildings are depicted photorealistically in a futuristic alien style."

Figure 11. Robots storyboard version 4. I wonder what the stick is that she's holding.

Robots on water.

The image shown in Figure 11 was amusing in that Whisk seemed to generate some robot children. Also, for this image Whisk really got serious about putting the alien palace inside a glass bubble. Rather than include in the scene the golden robot supervisor, Whisk placed golden highlights on the green robots. 

The very limited documentation for Whisk says nothing about a limit for the length of text prompts that are used in Whisk, but long prompts seem to lead to much confusion for the AI. For example, Whisk decided to make some robots stand on the surface of the lake as shown in the image to the right.

Figure 12. Robots storyboard version 5. Two golden supervisors.

Golden cyborg

Green cyborg

For the image shown in Figure 12, I systematically replaced every Whisk-generated head and face with a new face/head that was generated by WOMBO Dream. I tried to give each robot a more humanoid head and face than what was in the original Whisk-generated image.

For the image shown in Figure 13, I finally was able to get Whisk to place into the storyboard the kind of human subject dressed in golden clothing that I had originally wanted.

Figure 13. Robots storyboard version 6. A human supervisor of robots and a human child.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

Using the "storyboard" image that is in Figure 13 as a new "scene" image for Whisk along with a new "subject" image of a man, Whisk generated the storyboard that is shown in Figure 14. Again, Whisk made an image with some robots that were walking on water. I manually put a wooden dock under their feet. 

Also, I again used Mr. Wombo to modify most of the heads in Figure 14. Also, the aircraft in Figure 14 was pasted into this image from another Whisk-generated storyboard.

Figure 14. Robots storyboard version 7. Humans, aliens and robots on an exoplanet.

bald children

I have no idea why Whisk ended up with all those flowers at the bottom of Figure 14. There was nothing in my text prompt about flowers. As usual for whenever "exoplanet" is in a text prompt, Whisk placed a planet in the background without being instructed to do so.

 Bad Behavior. As shown in the image to the right, Whisk once make two bald children for one of the storyboard images. I was a bit annoyed that Whisk generated Figure 14 with all of the humans, aliens and robots spaced out so regularly in raw across the image. I wonder why the alien child in Figure 14 is kept on a leash.

Next: General Sam meets Jax.

Visit the Gallery of Movies, Book and Magazine Covers