Space Force

a famous film of the Ekcolir Reality

Here on this blog page is the conclusion of the science fiction story "Foundation Reality Simulator". Previously, Petra Nicholls had learned how to establish two-way telepathic communication with an analogue of Isaac Asimov who lived in the Writers Block.

in the Ekcolir Reality

That "other Asimov" went into the Foundation Reality Simulator as part of an effort to investigate First Contact between the fain and humans. In order to prepare that story for publication on Earth, the other Asimov arranged for use of a replicoid inside the Hierion Domain to feed story ideas to a writer on Earth, a woman known by her pen name, Sydney J.

Here is the conclusion of "Foundation Reality Simulator"...

8. Danela Steel. (read parts 1 - 4) (read parts 5 - 7)

1973 in the Ekcolir Reality

One year later, Petra had still never met Sydney J. Since having begun to receive financial support from the Foundation for Science Fiction, Sydney had submitted several newly-written short stories for publication and one of those stories had already been accepted by the new magazine of the Foundation, Alien Stance.

Then one day, Petra had received an email from Sydney requesting a video conference. One of the new applications of the WorldNet was video conferencing, but Petra had never used that technology, one of many now being made possible by contact with the alien Fru'wu. Petra went shopping and purchased one of the newer computers that came with a built-in video camera and she also obtained the best video conferencing software available.

Petra tested her new setup by contacting Sven at his lab. He was getting close to completing his Ph.D. and was planning another trip to Perth the following month, but he was pleased to now have the means to at least see Petra electronically on a regular basis by videolink.

Then, Petra got her first look at Sydney.

The two women looked at each other for a moment, then Sydney said, "I had no idea that you are so young."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Petra giggled. "I have to do some delicate juggling to keep clear of the child labor laws. I still live at home with my parents." She adjusted the position of the little microphone she was wearing. "However, I must say that I no longer feel all that young... a few of the Foundation writers are even younger than me."

Sydney shrugged negligently, indicating that Petra's age was of no importance. "I need to ask you a favor."

Petra had been receiving regular updates from O.A., the analogue of Isaac Asimov in the Hierion Domain, and she knew that progress was being made on Robots of the Fain. She'd been waiting to hear directly from Sydney about the story, maybe get a first draft. "I'm here to help you with your writing in any way I can."

"You've kindly stayed out of my hair while I write... for that, I'm very thankful." Sydney smiled rather wickedly. She continued, "My understanding is that Isaac Asimov is a member of the Foundation."

"To be perfectly honest, Isaac has never paid dues, so he is not officially a member of the Foundation for Science Fiction. However, I'd describe him as an honorary member who is closely connected with the Foundation's board of directors."

Sydney got to the point, "I've been working on the new novel that you paid me an advance for. The writing has gone well, but publication of this new story is going to require Asimov's approval."

"The easiest path towards obtaining such approval would be to let Asimov read the novel."

"Yes, but I thought you would like to read it first. As you'll see, some of the characters in my book are people who have also been characters in the Foundation stories that Asimov wrote back in the 40s."

"Send me your manuscript. I will certainly read your story."

"Thank you, Petra. There is one other matter that we need to discuss." She paused and Petra waited patiently. Sydney continued, "I started writing Robots of the Fain in the traditional format of a novel, but I believe it should become a movie, not a book."

Petra suggested, "Our other option would be to first publish a few chapters in Alien Stance, then release the full novel."

"I've made a little video teaser for the story." Sydney touched her keyboard and the video began feeding through to Petra...

The opening shot for Sydney's video was as if a camera was zooming in from planetary orbit towards an island archipelago. The bold text overlay said "Terminus Planet". The surface of Terminus continued to expand and one particular island grew to become a green jungle oasis in the blue sea.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

The view cut to a shoreline where a lone human figure was seen making use of a robotic construction crew to cut through the vegetation and move a large boulder. As the big rock was pulled off the ground and then rolled to the side, glints of shiny metal could be seen down in the dark depression where the boulder had been. The man inactivated the robotic excavation crew and moved a laser scanning device on a tripod close to the depression in order to record details of the archeological site.

Approaching along the beach towards the archeologist's dig was a woman. The man noticed her approach and stopped his work. Drawing near, the woman waved and called, "Dr. Fara! You are a difficult man to find."

Dr. Bulson Fara, seemingly resenting the interruption of his work, asked testily, "What do you want?"

"I'm an historian, Danela Steel. I want to discuss your work."

Fara gestured towards the idle excavating equipment and said, "I explore ancient ruins. There is not much more to say."

Vega Sector

Danela was quite familiar with the primary occupation of the galaxy's archeologists. They wanted to determine the planet of origin for the human species. On what world had humans evolved? Most working archeologists centered their investigations on the Vega sector where the most ancient remnants of past ages had been uncovered. "Terminus seems like a strange place to find an archeologist. Humans first came to this world only about 40 years ago."

Fara shrugged and reactivated the big digger, using it to push some fallen trees out onto the nearby beach. He tried to stir up so much dust and create so much noise that Danela would depart. However, Danela ignored both noise and flying sand and went to examined the sparkling metal fragments that were in the dig. Bulson shouted, "Don't touch that!" He shut down the robots, dropped his remote controls and grabbed hold of Danela, yanking her out of the depression where the big boulder had rested. "I have not had a chance to make my collections."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Danela took hold of Bulson's upper arms and looked directly into his eyes. "This site looks like it must be very old. In your published article of last month, you reported having dated similar finds Terminus as being over a million years old."

Bulson was impressed: Danela's grip on his arms seemed like two steel vices. When first seen, she seemed slim and fragile, but her graceful sculpting deceptively concealed her strength. Relaxing his hold on her, Bulson stepped away from Danela and grabbed a plastic collection bag. Bulson had wondered if anyone would read his article, that he hoped would be the first of many about his discoveries on Trantor. However, with the Empire in collapse and the Periphery of the galaxy fragmenting into independent states, what remained of on-going scientific endeavors was rapidly crumbling. Handing gloves and the sample collection bag to Danela he said, "Make yourself useful." He pulled on a pair of sterile gloves and then bent down and picked up one of the smaller metal fragments. With gloves now on her hands, Danela struggled a bit to open the collection bag, but she held it out towards the archeologist. After briefly looking at the glinting shard, he dropped it into the bag.

Danela asked, "Who could have made these metal objects, Dr. Fara?"

He replied, "I've studied dozens of such sites, on various worlds scattered all across the galaxy. Until I came to Terminus, it was my belief that someone had systematically cleansed the entire galaxy of all useful information about the past. However, here on Terminus, these ancient ruins are untouched! So, now I'm finally making progress... I have found datable artifacts from an ancient civilization!"

Danela rattled off a series of questions, "Someone? Who would bother? For what purpose?"

Ignoring her questions, Bulson took the sample bag away from Danela, turned and walked away from the shore. "Come on. I want to date this." Fara led Danela from the beach and up a slope to where a small small spaceship with surrounding tents were perched on the highest point of the island. Just over the rise was a small aircar and waiting there in the shade of a tent was another woman. As he approached, Bulson called out, "Back again, Lydza."

"Hello, Bulson." Lydza was watching Danela and she asked, "Who is this?"

"Danela Steel, an historian."

Danela held out her hand towards Lydza and asked, "Lydza Crast, of the Journal?"

"Yes, I report for the Terminus City Journal." Lydza did not bother getting to her feet, but she shook Danela's hand. "I try to know everything that happens on this little world. I don't remember the arrival of an historian."

Danela's lips twisted into a grin. "I just dropped in. My spaceship is down there." She pointed towards her landing spot, marked only by a glint of sunlight reflection visible in the distance.

Fara had gone into one of the tents where he was analyzing the composition of the newly-collected metal shard.

Danela asked Lydza, "Who do you think left behind the ancient ruins on this island?"

Lydza shook her head and asked her own question, "Who could have been here two million years ago? Not humans."

"Two million?"

"Bulson keeps getting older and older dates as he moves from site to site along the island. He has systematically been exploring along the shoreline from north to south." She stood up and looked towards the tent. "Let's see what the number is for today."

Danela was looking back towards the end of the island where she had found Bulson at work. "That's the southern tip."

Lydza turned and followed Danela's gaze. "Ya, he decided to stop his systematic search and went right to the hook." The south end of the island was a curved arch, shaped by ocean currents pushing against the island.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Danela followed Lydza into the dim tent where Bulson was at work. He was using a device that counted cosmic ray-induced fractures in metal crystals. Their density in the newly collected metal shard would provide a good estimate of the site's age. He pointed at the data display screen and told Lydza, "This new sample is over five million years old."

Danela said, "So, we must conclude that someone occupied this island for a stretch of at least four million years."

Bulson explained, "It isn't just this island. There are similar sites on other nearby islands... all of them very old, dating to ancient times well before humans ever traveled between the stars."

"All these archeological sites hold artifacts from the same culture?"

"I don't think so, but after so long, not much remains. The objects at this site, the most southern, are different in appearance than the other more recent ones."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Lydza told Bulson, "This is fantastic. Five million! Can I announce this latest discovery?"

"Based on one sample? Please don't, Lydza."

"But-"

Danela laughed and said, "I see why you try to avoid publicity, Dr. Fara."

Lydza looked at Danela with suspicion. "How is it that you showed up today, right when this amazing discovery took place?"

Danela explained, "It is my job to maintain human confidence throughout the galaxy." She leaned close to Bulson and peered at the data on the screen. "Imagine how the people of the galaxy would react if they knew that alien creatures were running around on worlds like this one, millions of years before humans first appeared on the plains of Africa. That would be a serious blow to the collective human spirit and the common belief that humans are unique, the natural rulers of the galaxy."

Bulson felt a hot flush move through his skin. He looked at Danela's finely sculpted face from just a few inches distance. There was something unnaturally perfect about her skin and her eyes glinted; they almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the tent. He jumped to his feet and backed away from Danela.

Startled by his quick movement, Lydza asked, "What's wrong..." Then Lydza felt as if Danela had struck her. The other woman's eyes flashed and bore down upon Lydza. Her vision dimmed and Lydza fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Bulson looked up from the fallen form of Lydza. His heart was racing. "What did you do to her?"

Danela replied, "She's sleeping, now. When she wakes up, she will remember nothing about my visit."

Bulson raised his hands to the sides of his head. He could feel his thoughts and memories being re-wired. "Who are you?"

"It would do neither of us any good if I told you." Danela took a slow step towards him. "You won't be allowed to remember."

Struggling to retain control of his mind, Bulson insisted, "I need to know."

Danela shrugged and eased her telepathic onslaught. "Long ago, about five million years, interesting events took place in the dwarf galaxy that was home to an alien species called the fain. That was in what humans call the Large Magellanic Cloud, which at that time was making a close pass by another little galaxy. At that time, the fain explored a few worlds in that second galaxy, planets such as Terminus. A fain family actually settled here, right near the spot where you found this." She picked up the sample bag that contained the metal shard.

Bulson asked, "How do you know all this?" He was outraged that Danela had assaulted a journalist and wanted to rob both Lydza and himself of their memories. "And why do you want to hide these facts?"

Danela explained, "I long ago made my own study of the ancient fain." She paused and seemed to reflect for a moment on the past. "Anyhow, Humanity is in a dangerous predicament. Aliens want to take control of the galaxy away from us. I'm working on a defense that may allow us to continue to control our own destiny. People would panic if they knew the danger that we face."

"They can't face that danger if they don't even know about it."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Danela nodded in agreement. "Knowledge can be dangerous. Believe me, I know human nature. It is best that you not publicize your discovery in the conventional scientific way."

"I've already published my preliminary results. Other archeologists will come here. Even if you kill me, others will duplicate my work."

"I won't kill you, Dr. Fara. I want you to write a retraction, explaining how you mistook naturally formed metal crystals for manufactured metal fragments."

Bulson laughed nervously. "Fat chance of that!"

Danela insisted, "You will publish the retraction. And even if you dropped dead this minute from a stroke, I'd publish such a retraction in your name."

With a growing sense of panic and terror, Bulson asked, "How is it that I can feel you inside my brain?"

"I'm a telepathic robot. I have long experience adjusting the microstructure of human brains."

"You are an agent for the aliens who want to take control of the galaxy?"

"Quite the opposite. It is my job to defend the galaxy against meddling aliens and protect Humanity. I've been at this for 20,000 years. I certainly won't have my work disrupted by you."

Bulson felt his legs growing weaker. He sank down to the floor of the tent and sat beside Lydza. "Interesting that you took so long to get here. It must be difficult for you to watch over an entire galaxy."

gravitic drive spaceship

"True. I have some helpers, but we are really too few to catch everything just as it happens. And in this case, we are entering into an important new phase of galactic history and I do not want to continue hiding everything that there is to know about aliens. In the near future, I need the Foundation to become a source of new scientific advances such as hyper-relays. In particular, there is one more technical innovation that I need in order to complete my planned defense of the galaxy. For the next few centuries, I'll need help to prevent the fain from interfering with events on Terminus. So, you see, I'm going to be re-purposing your work, not completely hiding it."

"No, I don't understand." Bulson felt very tired. He let his head rest on the ground, but he forced his eyes to stay open, gazing up at Danela.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

"There needs to be an outward-directed Space Force to help defend the Foundation, blocking fain infiltrators. Some fain agents are already on Terminus. It is warnings from you and discovery of a few fain agents that will lead to creation of the secret Foundation Space Force. The meddlesome fain agents will be neutralized and my plans for a defense of the galaxy will move ahead."

Bulson slipped into unconsciousness, his eyes closed, and the video faded to black.

When the video feed coming from Sydney came to an end, the image of Sydney's face again appeared on the screen. Petra sat for a short time in silence then she said. "Well, you are right. We need to ask Isaac if you can use the planet Terminus for the setting of your new novel."

Sydney smiled shyly and corrected Petra, "Film." She insisted, "I want this story to be presented to the world in the format of a movie. I want to make a big impact on how people think about space aliens."

Petra nodded. "I'm partial to the motion picture medium myself, but I paid you to write a novel. Still, I'm impressed with your work on this demo video. In either case, written novel or film, we need to get Isaac onboard. In the past, he has allowed Ariel Adler to make new Foundation stories. And now that I think about it, you've also taken some of Ariels plot elements and used them in your story. We'll have to consult with her, also."

Sydney asked, "Do you really need to involve Ariel?"

"Why not? It was Ariel who first introduced the world to a positronic robot with telepathic powers."

"Yes. The robot Giskard. But I have been careful to not mention Giskard in my story."

"So what? Positronic robots with tel-"

Sydney interrupted, "If you check with Isaac, I'm sure you will learn that he invented the idea of positronic robots with telepathic abilities. That was way back in the late 30s."

Petra was skeptical. "Surely not."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

"I'm telling you it is true."

"How do you know?"

Sydney hesitated. "For the past year, ever since you asked me to write a novel about robots and the alien fain..." Sydney seemed at a loss for words.

Petra asked, "Yes?"

"It is so very odd..." Sydney struggled to explain her unusual experiences. "I feel just like Bulson Fara, as if someone has been inside my brain, influencing my thought processes... altering my memories."

Petra giggled quietly. "Listen to me, Sydney. I know what it is like to feel as if you were given a story idea by your muse. Accept the gift and do your job... write the story. Only a fool questions the source of their imagination."

Sydney complained, "Maybe you are some kind of child prodigy, writing since you were a toddler. In my case, I lived 33 years before I ever felt like a muse visited me in the night and gave me a story idea." Sydney gave her head a violent shake. "Anyhow, that was all too much of a coincidence. You paid me to write the story then the story magically popped into my head almost at once."

mind clone telepathy

"Listen Sydney, after I read your last novel, I knew you were perfect for this project. Let's not mention magic... let's just say that you were primed and ready to write another story about alien archeology."

Sydney shook her head. "I won't try to convince you... you don't know what has taken place in my mind. All I need is to hear from you whether or not you are willing to send my screen play for Robots of the Fain to Asimov. I'd hate to be forced to delay while I re-write everything in the form of a novel."

"Go ahead and begin work on the novel version. Even if your story does go direct to film, we will want to publish the novelization. I'll pass the screen play on to both Isaac and Ariel and let you know how they react."

Sydney sighed. "I wish you would leave Ariel out of it. Check with Asimov. He'll tell you that he created the idea of positronic robots."

9. Giskard. Marcia, Petra, Gina and Ian Mott finally found time in their busy schedules to all meet in person. During that meeting in Perth, they made important decisions for how to deal with some of the growing pains that were effecting the Foundation for Science Fiction. When the business matters had all been settled, Ian departed, eager to communicate key decisions to other members of the Foundation for Science Fiction.

The three women walked out of the offices the Foundation for Science Fiction and got into Marcia's luxurious rented aircar. Marcia asked the autopilot to take them to a nice restaurant for dinner. Turning her pilot's seat to the side, she told Petra, "Isaac told me about Sydney's story... Robots of the Fain."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

"I got his email." Petra shook her head in wonder. "I was surprised to learn that Isaac was writing about positronic robots back in the 1930s."

Marcia nodded and explained, "I read his story about Giskard when we were still in college, but it was never published. It was only much later that Ariel asked for permission to write her own positronic robot stories. That got Isaac thinking about robots again and in 1953, he wrote a rough draft of a new robot story, inserting positronic robots into the life of Hari Seldon. Sadly, he was then too busy with lab work to complete the project. He let Ariel develop the idea."

Petra sighed. "And he let Ariel take all the credit." Petra opened up her bag and pulled out a hierion probe. "Marcia, I want your opinion on an important matter... I've decided that my work is being hindered by Gina's reluctance to use the Bimanoid Interface."

Gina growled, "Put that nasty probe away. Let's have some fun and relax this evening. I'm in the mood to celebrate the successes of the Foundation."

Petra told Marcia, "The other Asimov, in the Writers Block, often tells me about Relda's frustrations that arise from being unable to collaborate with Gina. We have to put an end to this."

Marcia smiled indulgently. "I hear you, Petra, but Gina has a mind of her own. I think she is truly afraid to drop her defenses and open her thoughts to another person."

Gina nodded. "I'll blame Deomede for that. I'm ashamed of how he inserted... his thoughts into my mind... how he used me."

Petra giggled, "You resent how Deomede used you to make the Foundation a success? That seems unlikely at best..." Petra suspected that many women would volunteer to have Deomede insert into them his thoughts and anything else he had. "I suspect it goes deeper than that. I think you miss Deomede."

"Even if I did, which I don't, he's in the Hierion Domain. I doubt if I'll ever see him again."

Marcia told Gina, "Tonight you can drown your sorrows. I'll get tipsy along with you."

The aircar was tilting downward for a landing. Petra put the probe back in her bag. Upon landing, Marcia and Gina were quickly out of the aircar. Petra lingered inside for just a moment then followed.

The night progressed as Marcia had suggested. Petra watched the two older women drink considerable wine and they became increasingly relaxed and informal. After dinner, they migrated from the dining room into the adjoining bar. Marcia entertained everyone within ear-shot with tales of Isaac's most famous public exercises in telling obscene jokes at inappropriate times.

When it was quite late and they were returning to the aircar, Petra asked Marcia for the key. "I'll fly."

Marcia complained, "You don't have a license."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

"I just got my learner's permit."

Gina told Marcia, "Let Petra fly. All she needs to do is blow the tube and turn on the autopilot." All the aircars automatically checked their drivers for intoxicating levels of alcohol in their breath.

Petra activated the aircar and entered into the computer a flight plan. Once again she brought out the hierion probe. "Now is the time Gina. You've delayed and delayed to the point where I won't have it any more. I don't have time to keep dealing with all the information that Relda is trying to send through to Earth from the Hierion Domain."

Gina stuck out her tongue at Petra. "You can't make me do it."

Perta turned on the probe and pointed it at her own head.

Marcia asked, "What are you doing, Petra?"

Petra remained silent. The aircar flew on through the night. Gina complained to Marcia, "I can't stand it when she does this."

in the Ekcolir Reality

After a minute, Petra set the probe down on the seat beside her. "I just told O.A. to alert Relda. The folks in the Writers Block have been eagerly anticipating  this link-up. Now, all you need to do, Gina, is relax. When you are linked to her, Relda will tell you about her plans to get both you and Ariel involved in creating a new series of positronic robot films."

Gina objected, "I have a company to run. I don't have time to be producing movies."

Petra's hand slipped into her bag and she switched on a remote control device. Behind Gina, a second hierion probe was activated and it sent a beam of hierions into Gina's brain.

Gina stammered, "I don't have... have time..." Then she fell silent.

Marcia looked first at Gina then turned towards Petra in alarm. "What just happened? Did she pass out? I didn't think she was that drunk!"

Petra explained, "She's fine. I just linked her up with Relda"

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Marcia looked at the big hierion probe that Petra had used on herself. It was resting in the seat to Petra's side. "How..."

Petra picked up the probe and stowed it away in her bag. "This isn't the only hierion probe in the world, you know."

"Sure, but..."

"There's another probe, right behind Gina." Petra pointed.

Marcia giggled. "You little sneak..." After a few minutes of quiet, Marcia thought to inquire about the flight plan. "Where are we going?"

"I put us in a high altitude loop. We're going nowhere. I'm waiting to see how Gina does when she tries to use the Bimanoid Interface." Petra and Marcia both watched the motionless Gina. "We'll know when Relda is done with Gina."

Marcia rubbed her head. "I'm trying to remember that robot story you had me read about a year ago. If memory serves, it had similarities to Robots of the Fain."

Petra nodded. "As far as I can tell, all of these stories are coming from the same source... they are fictionalized accounts of actual events that happened in the Foundation Reality. Really, Isaac did not invent positronic robots as a plot device, he was just the first person to write a story about them."

Marcia nodded slowly. "Okay, but I don't quite understand the link between robots and the fain."

"There is still much to be sorted out. Someone went to a lot of trouble to obscure that connection. The fain were at risk of getting in trouble with the pek for having helped the humans of the Foundation Reality."

"Helped how?"

"Just what you said. The fain, or at least their legacy, some form of artificial life that was created by the fain before they themselves became extinct... they inserted the secret of positronic telepathy into Giskard, using the girl Vasilia as a cover story, making it look like an accident." Petra looked at the look of dismay on Marcia's face. "Danela never knew about the role played by the fain in giving Giskard telepathic powers."

"What about the pek? Why were the fain afraid of them?"

"Good questions. I've learned a little about the pek from O.A. Apparently they are a very ancient type of alien that has been spreading from galaxy to galaxy for hundreds of millions of years."

Marcia found it hard to imagine such long time spans... what might an advanced alien species like the pek accomplish in a hundred million years? She whispered, "And the pek are still here with us."

the Trysta-Grean Pact

Petra nodded. She noticed that there were some beads of sweat on Gina's forehead and her respiration rate had increased. "The fain, or at least the artificial life remnants of the fain, feared the pek. It was important for the safety of the fain remnant bots that Danela be allowed to make a big deal out of humans going to war against the fain robots. I suppose the pek were fooled by that fake war. Eventually, they even re-instantiated the fain as a biological species, so now, here in our Reality, we have fain-derived genes being inserted in to the human gene pool."

Marcia asked, "About the pek... if they are still around, are we safe? Maybe it is not wise to publish the truth about events from the Foundation Reality, even now..."

Petra shrugged, "According to both the other Asimov and Relda, the pek have had to step back from affairs on Earth. Under the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact, Grean the Kac'hin is representing pek interests on Earth."

Marcia closed her eyes. "Grean? Another alien?"

Petra was now watching Gina with growing interest. She had some telepathic contact to Gina which operated mostly at a subconscious level. However, with the hierion probe switched on, that link seemed more robust. Gina had a film of sweat glistening on her face and she was breathing deeply. Just watching Gina, Petra was becoming sexually aroused.

Just then Gina said, "Okay, turn it off."

Petra shut off the hierion probe and Gina was cut off from the Bimanoid Interface. Gina's face was flushed and she was running her finger tips over her lips. Petra said, "Welcome back." She then set instructed autopilot of the car to set a new course and take her home.

Marcia asked Gina, "Well, was being under the probe as bad as you feared?"
                                                                                               

"First Encounter Summer 1982"
by Davian-Art.   
Alien-human hybrids.
Image license: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Gina replied, "I'm glad I can control the link to Relda from this end... she's a very determined girl..." Gina was caught up in her memories of what had just happened. "She'd have me working full time collaborating with her if she had her way. She was excitedly spouting all sorts of nonsense about human-fain hybrids..." Gina opened her purse, took out a cloth and wiped the sweat from her face and neck.

Petra laughed, "It could get interesting if you start naming the hybrid agents who are on Earth."

Gina said to Petra, "So, the idea amuses you..."

"That and the fact that you look like you just-"

"Well, unfortunately, I didn't. Not that I didn't want to. It was frustrating. While I was in communication with Relda, she kept thinking about Deomede. I swear I could feel his penis inside me, or her... Relda." She put the wet cloth back inside her purse. "Telepathy brings new meaning to the threesome."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Marcia asked, "What did Relda say about human-alien hybrids?"

Gina replied, "That's a topic that seems close to the surface of Relda's mind, even when she's talking about other things."

Petra said, "Deomede is very unusual. I suppose the Ek'col are some sort of alien-human hybrid."

Gina said, "Let's forget about Deomede." She again wiped her brow. "If we can. Let's start closer to home... Marcia, tell Petra about your son, Sven."

Petra asked, "What about Sven?"

The aircar was dropping down towards Petra's house. Marcia said, "Back when Sven was born, Isaac and I were told that he..." She fell silent. It was clear that Gina knew the truth, but Marcia could not say the words with Petra there. Svahr had put some kind of lock on her memories.

Gina had no memory-blocking nanites in her brain. She told Petra, "Sven is part human and part fain. He's an artificial construct, designed to have the ability to make you trust him. That's why you so quickly volunteered to have yourself subjected to the hierion probe experiments."

mind clones

The aircar landed. Somehow Petra had always suspected as much... that Sven had almost magical powers. Now she knew that it was not magic, just alien technology and clever alien planning. She picked up her bag and said, "Goodnight, ladies. May your hang-overs be mild." She got out of the aircar and went up the walkway to her house.

Glancing back at the aircar as it lifted into the night sky, Petra was thinking about Sven. Sven was scheduled to be in Perth the following month. Petra was in love with Sven and she was tired of their long distance relationship and ready to suggest that they get married. She'd already begun looking at possible locations for a new femtobot research lab in Scotland, close to Perth and the headquarters of the Foundation.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Petra was ready to get more story writing help from the Hierion Domain, and she was thinking about ways to expand her telepathic network. The other Asimov was ready to bring Petra's replicoid into the Writers Block. She needed Sven's help to learn how to modulate her femtobot endosymbiont and give her a chance to take control of her replicoid and put it to work for her. Slipping into the house of her foster parents, Petra told herself that she would be very happy to move out and not have to continue hiding her secret life from her well-meaning but clueless parents.

10. Piero. When Gina was disconnected from the Bimanoid Interface, Relda muttered, "Well, it is about time." She had long expected Gina to start making use of the Bimanoid Interface and now it had finally happened.

Deomede had been following along, using his non-verbal telepathic link to Relda to monitor her emotions. He asked, "Now can I take Piero to Earth?"

Relda had been in the middle of riding Deomede to a sweet climax when Gina had linked in. Through her telepathic conversation with Gina, Relda had remained linked physically to Deomede. Laying there in his embrace, she had become a bit over-heated. He was still hot and hard inside her. Relda whispered into Deomede's ear, "One minute, please." She hurried things along, but it took more than a minute for her to achieve her orgasm. Mission accomplished, she unhitched herself from Deomede and sprawled on the bed beside him. She wiped some sweat from her brow.

Interventionists

When Relda was done with her little workout, Deomede immediately sat up, grabbed his comsec off the side table and called Piero. "Relda finally linked in with Gina. I'll meet you in the workshop." He ended the call and glanced at Relda.

Relda provocatively spread her legs and asked, "You don't want to finish the job?"

Deomede gave his head a sad shake. He bent across the bed, kissed her wet labia, then moved away and stood beside the bed. "I have to run. I have a job on Earth..."

Relda asked, "Job? Is it that waitress? No? Don't tell me you're going to screw Gina one last time?"

Deomede grinned. "Not a bad idea, but the time constraints don't allow it."

"Then you must have the old stand-by at the book shop in your sights."

Deomede said, "Her name is Iona."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Relda had learned to manage her jealousy. In her view, three or four high quality orgasms was quite enough for each day. Deomede had explained to her that as an Ek'col male living with an Asterothrope female, things had been different. Trysta was designed to be a baby factory and she was always eager for another orgasm. Also, Grean considered it part of Deomede's work to spread his special gene combinations around on Earth, so it was unreasonable for Relda to expect Deomede to resist the charms of other Earth girls. Relda suggested, "If Iona is so much fun, maybe you could bring her home sometime."

Deomede laughed. "I'll have to ask her if she is happy on Earth. She's a successful business woman with two small children... I suspect she would not volunteer to move to Eternity, no matter how nicely I asked."

"How many of Iona's children are yours?"

"Just the oldest one, Ann. And don't ask for details. Grean already has her in preparation for her own mission, scheduled to begin in about twelve more years. I'm restricted from looking into Ann's future due to a Time paradox." He blew Relda a kiss and walked out of their bedroom. As he walked, his erection began to fade and he activated his clothing nanites. Knowing the current conditions in Perth, Deomede dressed in several layers including a close replica of Earthly thermal long-johns. Soon he was out the front door and on his way to Grean's workshop.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Fifteen minutes later, Deomede finished looking into the immediate future. He shut off the Viewer. Piero had arrived in the workshop and he asked Deomede, "All set?"

Deomede replied, "Yes, I'll go with you and keep you company. The ideal time for you to make contact with Gina is still a few hours in the future."

Piero gazed at the nearby time machine and suggested. "Just give me a quick flip into the future."

"No, I have a few..." As usual, lurking time paradoxes prevented Deomede from telling Piero too much about his future. "...last bits of advice for you. We'll make good use of the available time." Deomede and Piero teleported to Earth.

Arriving in Perth, they watched Marcia's aircar land near Gina's apartment building. Gina and Marcia got out of the car and went inside.

Deomede had no trouble opening the locked aircar. He quickly slipped inside while Piero stood on the sidewalk. At 3:33 AM, the street was quiet. Deomede emerged and closed the door of the car. "There's a little pub just around the corner." He led Piero down the street.

Settled in at a table inside the pub, Deomede ordered breakfast. He told Piero, "When we teleported, all the feeding nanites and such were stripped out of you. I hope you like eating and..."

The waitress brought a pot of tea to their table. She told Deomede, "You better like eating, the both of you... making me cook in the middle of the night..." With mock ire, she exclaimed, "Men!"

The waitress went off to cook their meal. Piero said, "Yes, I've had plenty of practice eating and pissing and..." He noticed a middle-aged man at the next table, behind Deomede, who seemed to be listening to their conversation. "I suppose I need to watch my mouth."

Deomede chuckled. "Don't worry about it. The locals can't do anything even if they notice you are acting strangely."

Piero complained, "It will take me a while to get used to the cold. Gertrude forgot to prepare me for that."

"Ask Gina to take you shopping. Buy a warm coat and some gloves."

Piero lowered his voice and said, "So, I suppose you've watched me and Gina..."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Deomede warned, "I can't give you any details about your future with the girl." He examined his own mind. "Well, I'll say this, she really likes back rubs." He grinned and held up his index finger, pointed at the ceiling. "Just be yourself... everything should go smoothly. If not, we'll make adjustments as needed. Remember, you'll have Relda working in parallel from..." He did not want to mention the Hierion Domain. "...the other side."

"Just wish I'd gotten to know Relda better. Where is she always hiding?"

"If you were literate, you'd know."

Piero shrugged. He spent most of his time playing music at dives around Observer Base and he was not particularly interested in Deomede's hobby: exploring the literature of Earth. Deomede explained, "Relda practically lives at the Writers Block. Well, I suppose much of the time she's snooping around inside the FRS." Deomede knew that Relda had made important discoveries inside the Foundation Reality Simulator. She was eager to send large amounts of information to Gina by means of the Bimanoid Interface.

Piero lamented, "Wish I knew what Relda finds so fascinating about that past Reality. It is all over and done with... so who cares?"

"Don't fret. You'll learn that along with Gina. Suffice it to say, the Foundation Reality was when the positronic robots lost control of Eternity... one of the most important events in all human history."

The waitress returned and placed plates of steaming eggs and cakes in front of both men. Fascinated by Deomede, she tried to pick up the thread of the conversation. "You two robot men? I could use one of those new domestic robots here on nights like this, washing dishes and cleaning."

Deomede picked up a fork. "Thank you for cooking... smells great." He picked up his knife and cut a strip of bacon in half. "No, we don't work in the robotics industry."

She asked Deomede, "I've seen you in here before, haven't I? Six, Seven months ago. Hana was on duty... she waited on you that day."

"You have a good memory." Deomede reflected on Hana. It had been nine months previously. He'd told Relda all about Hana's kinks and, intrigued, Relda had begun experimenting with non-missionary methods of achieving orgasms.

"I wouldn't forget a pretty face like yours."

Deomede handed her a 20 pound note. "Keep the change. Just keep the hot tea coming. Its a cold night out there."

The waitress glanced at Piero and tried to judge his reaction to Deomede's generosity. She was stuck by his exotic appearance, but she felt none of the hot volcanic sexuality that seemed to emanate from Deomede. She turned and went to check on the needs of her other customers. Piero asked, "How often do you visit..." He silently mouthed the word "Earth".

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Deomede did not really like the food, but he buckled down and forced himself to eat. He had no interest in drawing attention to himself and wanted to blend in with the patrons of the pub. "I visit Perth fairly frequently. When we're done here, I'll go down the street and pick up a couple of items from a bookstore."

Piero knew of Deomede's hobby of collecting books and movies. "How do you know that just by... I mean, you buy a book, the last copy on the shelf. Then someone else does not have the chance to read it... that changes the whole pattern of their life..."

Deomede laughed. "Don't worry about such things. You never had training in temporal dynamics, so it is hard to explain..." Deomede noticed that Piero kept glancing over Deomede's shoulder at something. Deomede looked over his own shoulder and smiled at the man sitting at the next table who seemed interested in what Deomede was saying. Suddenly, Deomede recognized the man. It was Dani, Ariel's partner. "Care to join us?"

Dani moved his chair over and sat with Piero and Deomede. "Piero, this is Dani. Once you meet Ariel, you'll not be able to avoid bumping into Dani occasionally."

Piero and Dani shook hands. "I don't expect to see much of Ariel. I understand she's some sort of recluse."

Dani shrugged, "She works with her film crews, but you are right. She seldom socializes. It is a full time job for me to keep her entertained."

"I can imagine."

Dani offered, "So, you are starting your new life? It should be a fun adventure. If you ever need any help with Gina, just let me know." Dani handed Piero his business card.

Piero looked at the card and then asked, "Think?"

Deomede tapped the side of his head with a finger, "Dani is like Wendy. He'll know when you need him."

Piero was surprised. "I thought all..." He nodded towards Dani, "It is my understanding that they were all removed from Ear-" Again he mouthed "Earth".

Dani explained, "Well, if Grean wants something done, it gets done. She felt bad for Ariel, so... I was the solution to that problem. As they say, there is an exception to every rule. Anyhow, with Fru'wu technology spreading so quickly, robots are becoming common."

Deomede told Piero, "So, you see, Dani's situation with Ariel is just like your situation Gina."

Piero had spent the past ten years anticipating his mission on Earth, knowing he was expected to become Gina's close companion. He asked Dani, "How long have you been at it?"

"Next month it will be 25 years." Dani and Deomede proceeded to share with Piero their advice for how to get along on Earth. Eventually, the conversation turned to Gertrude. Dani said, "I suppose you will be tempted to visit your mother."

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Piero shook his head. "Grean gave me a rather stern warning about that. Apparently there are still some lingering antagonisms between Gertrude and Marcia. I'm to stay clear of Gertrude... not stir up that hornet's nest."

As the sun began to rise, the two men -one an Ek'col, one a fain-human hybrid- and the robot stepped out onto the sidewalk. Deomede invited Dani to visit the book store. Dani said, "I'll walk with you a while."

Deomede shook Piero's hand, "Have fun!" He handed Piero two small items: the hierion probe that he had taken out of Marcia's aircar and the key to his own aircar. Deomede pointed down the street to where the aircar was parked.

Piero glanced at the aircar, which he had previously viewed from the workshop. He nodded and put the little probe and the car key into his pocket, turned and went to find Gina in her apartment. Deomede and Dani walked the other direction along the street. Dani asked, "Does he get 20 years?"

Deomede laughed. "You make it sound like a prison term."

"Oh, I don't mind living on Earth. But someone who grew up in Eternity? It could be tough on the kid. You have seen his future, I presume."

"He and Gina will have a long happy life together. Piero becomes a rather famous underground musician in Scotland." They had reached a dark alley way that branched off of the street.

Dani gazed into the dim alley. "Okay, I should be getting back to Ariel before she notices that I'm out of place."

Deomede nodded. "See you around." He watched Dani walk away down the alley. Dani finally turned and looked at Deomede. There was a rule against daylight teleportation in public. Deomede looked both ways along the sidewalk and then nodded to Dani.

Image by WOMBO Dream.

Dani activated his teleportation return code and disappeared from Perth. Instantly he was back in New York.

Deomede continued his stroll through the now bustling city and arrived at the book store an hour before opening time, just as the owner of the shop arrived for the day. Iona smiled at Deomede, "I have those books that you ordered." She took him inside. Iona was very glad to see Deomede again. She managed to get in two orgasms before opening time.

About dawn, Marcia left Gina's apartment and returned to her car then flew back to her hotel. Her flight back to New England would be an orbital, and her scheduled upwhen via space elevator was at 9:30 that morning.

Piero watched Marcia's flashy aircar rise into the sky and then he rang at the door to Gina's apartment. Over the intercom system, Gina said, "Marcia? Did you forget something?"

Piero pretended to be a paid messenger. "Telegram from Relda."

Gina asked, "What?"

"I have a message for you from Relda. Open the door, Gina."

When the door opened, Gina looked at Piero. "Who are you?"

He handed her a note from Relda. Along with the note, a cloud of infites crossed over and entered into Gina. Piero watched her carefully, trying to judge if she noticed the arrival of the information nanites. Gina read about half of the note and then turned. She said quietly, "Come in, Piero." He followed her inside. He closed the door and then went up the stairway to her bedroom. Gina set the note down on her desk and continued her morning routine, getting ready to go to work. Walking like a sleep-walker, Gina got into the shower. She was thinking furiously, processing the contents of the infites.

Piero went into the closet and took out Gina's old guitar. He sat down on the corner of the bed and quietly played a tune while Gina showered. Gina was mostly dried off by the time she came and sat next to him on the bed. "This is so weird."

Piero set aside the guitar. "Sorry to spring this on you so abruptly."

"You can keep playing. You're good." She reached out and touched his beard with her finger tips. "I'm... a bit of information over-load..."

He apologized, "Sorry to just show up this way, but Deomede said you like surprises."

Gina observed, "You are not like Deomede, but... you're not exactly human are you?" Relda's note referred to Piero as a hybrid, the son of Gertrude. An idea popped into Gina's head, apparently triggered by some memory encoded by the infites that Grean had prepared for her use. "Who is your father?"

"My other parent is Leira."

"The copy of Ariel?" As she asked the question, the mystery sorted itself out, with the help of her new infites. Gina realized that while Leira had started out as a copy of Ariel, Grean had gone ahead and converted her into a human-fain hybrid, complete with testes and penis.

Gina giggled and said, "Incest?"

Piero replied, "Gertrude and Leira grew up in the same household, but they were not actually sisters."

"So, you are supposed to be my man Friday?"

Image by WOMBO Dream.

"Your helper, maid, cook, lover... whatever you need."

Gina shook her head and looked again at the note. "What is it with Relda? She describes you as my 'reward'."

Piero laughed. "You nearly drove Relda crazy the way you delayed using the probe. I suppose now that some of your time will be spent using the Bimanoid Interface to communicate with Relda, she wanted to find a way to make it up to you. Relda even expects you to find time to start writing again."

"Ha! Sure I will, in my 'spare' time." Gina was so busy with work, she could not even contemplate taking time to write a story. It was her job to manage the publication of other people's writings. Still, she did regret not having time to create her own stories.

"We'll work on your schedule. First priority is getting you fed and to work in time for your first appointment today."

Gina began thinking about that appointment. It was a meeting to discuss plans for a possible new movie deal. Marcia had not had time to finish reading the script, but there it all was, now suddenly available in her memory. She whispered, "A gift of the infites!"

Piero said, "I hope you are not upset that I slipped some infites into you."

There were years of memories in the infites that were slowly emerging into Gina's consciousness as appropriate. Gina discovered that she had a whole biography about Piero in her mind. "How is it possible... it is as if I've lived your entire life..."

Piero explained, "Grean probably just transferred everything available from my replicoid into the infites. Replicoids never forget. You might now know more about me than I do myself!"

One thing that Gina knew was that Piero had inherited some fain genes and had an interesting mix of human and fain anatomical features that were going to require some investigation. "Okay, Piero, make me breakfast... a fruit smoothie... I'll eat on the way to work." She started getting dressed.

He put the guitar back in the closet then headed for the kitchen while saying, "Take your time. I'll fly you to work. I'm your chauffeur."

Gina asked, "You just arrived on Earth and already you own an aircar?"

"It was a gift, from Deomede." He went down the stairway and into the kitchen. He found a space on a high shelf to store the hierion probe. As soon as Gina adjusted to having him around, Piero would suggest that Gina check in with Relda and get the latest news from the Writers Block.

Related Reading: robots of the fain

Next: a bit of backstory

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The Hierion Probe

another mind clone network

The story below on this page is a continuation of "Terminus Planet" and "Time of Theurgency", Foundation saga fan-fiction set in an alternate Reality. In the Ekcolir Reality, Isaac Asimov had a long career as a research scientist. The story "Terminus Planet" described the origin Sven, the son of Isaac Asimov and movie-maker Marcia Greenberg. Sven follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a graduate student doing research on the mystery of how hierions can control brain function.

While a young man in his 20s, Asimov published a few science fiction stories and he became famous for his Foundation saga. Working with script writer Ariel Adler, Marcia produced a film version of Isaac's Foundation stories. As told in "Time of Theurgency", with help from Ariel, Marcia and Isaac, two youngsters, Gina Hay and Petra Nicholls established the Foundation for Science Fiction, a new organization dedicated to funding writers of science fiction stories. Their goal is to shake the people of Earth out of their infatuation with the alien Fru'wu.

image source

Below on this page, is the beginning of "Foundation Reality Simulator". While working in his father's lab, Sven discovers how to provide Petra with a two-way telepathic link to the Writers Block. In the Hierion Domain, Relda (a teleportation duplicate of Ariel) is recruited to use the Foundation Reality Simulator at Observer Base to investigate how the alien fain first interacted with humans in the Foundation Reality. The story begins immediately after the events at the end of "Time of Theurgency".

___________________________

Foundation Reality Simulator

1972 the Ekcolir Reality

1. Telepathy. After the meeting with Gina and Petra, Marcia and Isaac returned to their suite on the 23rd floor of the Edinburgh Grand Hotel. Marcia closed the door and asked Isaac, "What was going on with you and Petra?"

Isaac and Petra had chatted for almost ten minutes in the hotel lobby while Gina waited impatiently to return to Perth and Marcia talked to Dani and Ariel by the elevators. Isaac explained, "She was telling me about a science fiction story that she wants to get published."

Marcia began to undress Isaac. "But you never listen to other writers who want to discuss their unpublished work."

"True. However, there was something strange going on..."

A few minutes later they were undressed and in bed. Marcia picked up the conversation, "So, what was so strange about Petra's story idea?"

Isaac replied, "Her story is set in the Foundation fictional universe.

"Fan-fiction?"

"I don't think she saw the connection between her story and my old Foundation stories. Anyhow, the strange thing was, nothing in the plot of her story was new to me."

the planet Atlam

"She copied one of your stories?"

"No... this is a story that I never wrote, yet it was familiar to me. I could have written it... thirty years ago."

"That's weird."

"Tell me about it. Spooky. The more she talked, the stranger it got."

"I could tell there was some connection between you two from the moment when she arrived."

"I was so freaked-out by Relda that it took me a while to notice what was going on. Eventually I discovered that Petra and I are cognitive twins, we operate on the same wavelength. In tune. By the time Gina dragged her away, I swear I could tell the next word that was going to come out of her mouth."

Marcia asked, "Telepathy?"

Isaac fell silent and seriously considered that possibility. "I've never really believed in the possibility of telepathic communication between people. Sure, it is a fun topic for science fiction stories, but..."

source

Marcia said, "I'll check Petra out at the business meeting tomorrow. I can usually detect telepaths. Tonight I was severely distracted by Deomede."

"What do you mean?"

"He's got a strange power over me. I don't understand it... I can't even describe it."

Isaac suggested, "You were distracted by his pretty face."

"It is much deeper than that. I'm quite sure that he has telepathic powers. He was trying to target Ariel with his hypnotic powers, but they spilled over on every woman in the room."

Isaac laughed. "If you were sexually attracted to him, I'm not surprised. You don't have to blame your feelings on magical mind powers."

"I'll not try to convince you. In the morning I'll be able to test Petra without any interference from Deomede."

"Test her? How"

image source

"Nothing amazing. The same way I tested you the day we first met."

Issac suggested, "That was the day when I had my vision of the future... I saw -in a flash of dream-like vision- the cover art for Terminus Planet. I wonder if I got that image from you, by telepathy."

"If so, it was not by design. All I was doing that day was trying to find out if you were attracted to me. I'd been sending out telepathic probes and prods to you for a week by that point."

Isaac laughed even louder. "You have quite an imagination. Is that why you let me help with 'Out Foxed', your telepathic probes told you to do so?"

"Maybe. That was a long time ago and I might be misremembering. Maybe I was just horny that day and wanted to screw you. You know, I've never forgiven you for screwing Gertrude instead."

Asimov laughed, "I know. I've been working hard to make it up to you for the past few decades."

"I'm still not satisfied, but you seem nice and hard right now, so you better get back to work."

"You seemed pretty satisfied this morning, dear. Was that one or two orgasms you grabbed before you even gave me a chance to get out of bed and pee?"

"I don't want you wasting time counting my orgasms. All you have to do is provide me with them."

Alien Stance, the magazine of the
Foundation for Science Fiction

2. First Draft. Marcia, Gina and Petra met in a rented room on the second floor of the Edinburgh Grand Hotel. Their business meeting was long and productive, nailing down the details for how the Foundation for Science Fiction would convert Ariel's big monetary donation into a corporate entity dedicated to producing books, films and a new magazine.

After it had been signed by Marcia, Gina tucked the contract into her portfolio. Gina had shaken Marcia's hand and was ready to end the meeting.

However, Petra was not done with Marcia. "Isaac asked to see this. Could you give it to him?" She held out a chipdisk towards Marcia.

Marcia took the storage device, turned to Gina and said, "Please give us a moment."

Gina left the room, casting one last glance over her shoulder at Petra.

Image by Wombo Dream.

Marcia touched her head with her finger tips and muttered, "Gina is powerful force..."

Petra laughed. "Don't I know it. Would you like to know how we met?"

"Sure." Marcia welcomed the chance to listen to the girl speak without anyone else nearby.

"I was at the College... Perth College of the Arts, where Gina takes classes... using the library. This was two years ago, when the WorldNet was just being switched on. I was on a graphics terminal using the image rendering power of a mainframe... she saw my images for a story. Gina came right up to me and started telling me about her idea to start the Foundation. After ten minutes, she had appointed me as acting secretary."

Marcia laughed. "Gina is pushy, but she does know how to get things done. That's why Ariel is willing to give her money." Marcia was unable to establish a telepathic link to Petra. "The question is, how did Gina pick you out of the crowd? Somehow she knew that there is something special about you."

Petra glanced at the door. "Thank you for everything, Marcia, including being my messenger."

Marcia suggested, "No problem." She waved the chip memory device in the air. "Next time, just send Isaac an email."

Petra shook her head. "That's one of the new 1Gb chipdisks. My story is too big to send by email attachment."

Marcia's eyebrows rose. "Just how large is this story?"

Petra explained, "Over the past six months, I've been making a video mock-up of the story by CGI. The video files are quite big."

"Okay, I'll hand this to Isaac, but I hope you don't mind if I take a peak at your stuff. Video is my business."

in the Ekcolir Reality

"I don't mind." Petra turned and went through the door and found Gina in the hallway.

Marcia tucked the chipdisk into her briefcase and then used the telephone that was in the room to initiate a call to Isaac in Ireland. He and Ariel had flown on to Dublin that morning.

"Dubhlinn Hotel, how may I help you?"

"I'm trying to reach Isaac Asimov."

"One moment, that line is ringing."

"Hello."

"Isaac, it's me. I just signed the Foundation deal."

"Wonderful news, dear!" Isaac complained, "I wish you'd gotten them to change the name." He did not like having two Foundations in his life. "Are you going to be able meet me for dinner tonight?"

"No, I'll see you in Paris for lunch tomorrow, my love. I wanted to let you know that I have Petra's story. Apparently she has created a draft video format version."

"Ya, I forgot to warn you about that. She told me that video is her preferred medium."

"How did the marketing go today?"

"We got almost fifteen minutes on local television. It seemed to go well. People must have watched. I got asked for my autograph twice while crossing the hotel lobby."

"Wow. Enjoy your fame. I'm going to the airport. See you in Paris, ma chérie."

"Call me when you get to your hotel room in France, sweetie."

_ _ _ _ _ _

from the Emerald Island

Marcia took a long bath and she almost fell asleep in the warm water. She dried herself off then fell into bed. She again called Isaac at the Dubhlinn Hotel. He picked up after one ring, and Marcia said, "I'm in Paris, mon amour."

Isaac said, "Tráthnóna maith."

"What's that?"

"Some of the locals were teaching Ariel and I some Irish phrases during dinner."

"Sounds like fun."

"It was." He sighed and leaned back on the bed. "It is late."

"After my flight, I went to a computer shop and took a look at Petra's videos. I wonder if she made them all by herself."

"Kids these days are amazing. I wish there had been PCs when I was young. It is all I can do to use a word processor. So, how was Robots of Atlam?"

"Pretty wild looking. I'm not sure what was going on, but her aliens could never be filmed using actors in latex masks. They are artificial life-forms who constantly use some sort of body morphing nano-technology."

source

"Yes, Petra told me about that plot element. Those nanobots were created by the alien fain, then, in turn, after the fain transcended to the Sedronic Domain, the nanobots made humanoid robots to take the place of the fain in their culture."

Marcia asked, "Is that what was going on? I got confused when humans showed up."

"By then, the nanobots had come in contact with humans. The fain nanobots started making robots in human form."

Marcia said, "Thanks for explaining. I tried to call you about an hour ago but you were on the phone."

"I was talking to Sven."

"Oh, how is he?"

"Just fine. He had news from the lab. He's ready to move his experiment to the next phase."

"Human test subjects?"

"Approval came through from the IRB."

"Hm... I thought the rule was that as PI you need to be there in the lab for these experiments."

"Yes, I'm the responsible party, and since the results with mice were so bizarre, I've been told that I must be present to supervise the tests on humans."

"This tour of Europe is going to last two more weeks."

"And Sven does not want to wait for me to return to New England. He is hoping that you can meet him at the airport... his flight arrives 7:00 AM, your time."

from the film, Elevator to Paris

"He's coming to France on the red eye?"

"He told me that he took one of the new sub-orbital shuttles across the Atlantic."

 "That's so expensive!"

"But fast."

"Sure, I'll meet him, but those shuttles land at Lyon spaceport."

"His shuttle flight was from Virginia to the Dundee spaceport. He called from Perth."

"What's in Perth?"

"Petra."

"What are you talking about?"

Isaac explained, "I was so freaked out by my telepathic link to Petra that I suggested her as a test subject for Sven's experiment."

"You what?"

"And Sven met her in Perth this evening. They'll see you, 7:00 at de-Gaulle."

"Sven is bringing Petra to Paris?"

"He's bringing the equipment for the experiment."

"You can do that? You don't need to be in the lab?"

"It is convenient to be in the lab, but the hierion probe is portable."

3. Sven. By the time Asimov reached the hotel in Paris, Marcia, Sven and Petra were already in the restaurant just off the lobby. Isaac joined them and Marcia said, "I ordered for you."

Isaac asked Sven, "You have the probe?"

"It is upstairs in my room."

Isaac told Petra, "Sorry to get you into this."

"I don't mind. Just tell me that you two are not crazy."

Sven laughed. "Petra does not believe that I can modulate hierions inside brain tissue."

Asimov shrugged, "I'm not sure that I really believe it either. I don't really want to believe. It is rather unsettling to think of the possibilities..."

Marcia added, "I can't believe you'd experiment on a child. I thought that was against the rules for human test subjects."

Petra shook her head, "Not if I volunteer."

Sven told Marcia, "Petra has signed the release form. Gina was none too happy."

Petra asked Sven, "You are sure that there is no danger?"

Sven launched into a detailed description of the strange phenomena that were observed when the lab mice were subjected to the hierion probe. He said by way of summary, "It is almost as if the mice became smarter. More intelligent."

Image by Wombo Dream.

Petra chuckled nervously, "I would not mind a brain boost."

Marcia complained, "This is crazy." She asked Petra, "Why would you let these two mad scientists play with your brain?"

"Somehow I'm linked to Isaac. And I feel like I have known Sven all my life." She shyly reached out and placed her hand on top of Sven's. "If there is a chance of removing hierions from my brain and releasing the full power of my mind-"

"What if the hierion probe damages your mind?"

"Well, that would suck."

Marcia said, "Petra, I think you should think very carefully before you subject yourself to the probe. Did you discuss this with your parents?"

"I don't have any parents. Not real parents. They are dead. I'm an orphan. Gina was afraid, just like you, Marcia. I'm not afraid." She smiled at Sven. "Something is telling me that I need to do this."

UltraServe

Isaac asked Sven, "What is your plan for data collection?"

"Now that funds for this phase of the project are available to spend, I think we should go ahead and get one of the new UltraServes."

"Don't those take a day or two for the technicians to set them up?"

"Not the newest model." Sven asked Marcia, "You'll be in Berlin for the next stop on the tour?"

"That's right."

"Then I'll tube on over to Berlin and set up a data recording studio." Sven told his father, "I'll have everything ready for our first test run when you arrive."

Marcia muttered, "This is madness."

Isaac told Marcia, "We'll start with the probe set to a low intensity. If there are any adverse reactions from Petra, that will be the end of it. The approved protocol calls for a series of experiments with increasing fluxes of hierions over the course of weeks. We won't reach intensities that altered the behavior of mice until after we get back to New York."

4. Berlin. Sven and Petra went via the high speed maglev from Paris to Berlin. In Germany, they went shopping for the latest in computer equipment and discovered that they both knew vast amounts about the latest computer technologies that had been made possible by the Fru'wu.

After setting up the equipment, they did a test run in their hotel suite. Sven showed off the devices that he had brought with him from New England and explained to Petra, "With this network of electrodes, I can capture a detailed recording of your brain activity. Just watch the computer screen and follow the instructions. Today we will capture your baseline brain pattern."

It took three hours for Petra to complete the preliminary protocol during which she wore a big array of recording electrodes on her head. After returning from lunch, Sven started examining the recorded results. "That three hour run filled up all of our memory space. We really need the server that we ordered this morning."

Image by Wombo Dream.

Petra made a phone call to check on the delivery schedule for their file server. The terse answer from the vender was "it will be there soon". Sven suggested, "If you are bored, maybe you should read the article describing what happened when I used the hierion probe on lab animals."

Petra pulled up a copy on her laptop and read the article, frequently asking Sven questions about scientific jargon. Never having read another article about mouse behavior, she had little basis for evaluation the article's claim that the mice exposed to the probe since birth were more intelligent. She read the comments of the reviewers who felt that Sven's conclusion was a stretch, but they felt the article needed to be published because it was the first evidence that hierions could alter the behavior of animals.

After reading the article, Petra was pacing around behind Sven while he worked. They were still waiting for delivery of the high capacity file server that they had ordered. She decided to call Gina in Perth.

Gina was still not happy that Petra had gone to the Continent when there was so much work to be done launching the Foundation. Gina told Petra, "I hired your replacement for the position of general secretary, but I still want you to recruit writers."

"I can do that while traveling."

"Where will you be going next?"

"Copenhagen."

(credits here)

"And when do they start blasting your brain with hierions?"

"Tomorrow morning, as soon as Isaac arrives."

"Check your email. I had Raul send you his contact information and the form letter that we crafted. Keep him in the loop as you reach out to your writer friends."

Petra and Sven had purchased a half dozen computers when they reached Berlin. Petra accessed her email using one of the new laptop computers. After glancing at the email, she asked Gina, "You don't feel a bit dishonest saying that Isaac Asimov and Ariel Adler are members of the Foundation for Science Fiction?"

Gina chuckled. "Well, Ariel essentially owns the Foundation and here's the email reply I got from Asimov." She forwarded the file to Petra.

Petra read what Asimov had written: "I have not written any fiction in decades, but if you think my name will help attract new writers, knock yourselves out. Ariel has been doing that for many years."

Image by Wombo Dream.

After she had finished chatting with Gina on the phone, Sven asked Petra, "How did you make such a big impression on my dad?"

"I don't know. I'm wondering if there is some special telepathic connection between us. I feel a bit of it when I'm with you, but not in the same haunting way." Petra reflected on what she had experienced in Asimov's presence with his eyes seeming to look right through her. "After talking to your dad for ten minutes, it almost seemed as if I could anticipate his movements and his next words. Then in Paris, the cognitive harmony effect was quite smooth and stable, as if our brains were made to merge. I don't think it is my imagination."

"No, dad told me the same story. And I'll gladly admit, I feel a special connection to you, although I suspect it is mainly that you are the cutest and smartest computer geek I've ever met." He reached out and touched her hand.

Replicoid Time

Petra laughed ran the tips of her fingers along the palm of his hand. "Gina is very jealous. I would not be surprised if she flies in to join us, just so she can act as my chaperone."

Sven stepped close to Petra. "Do you know what I'd like to do?"

Petra felt herself slowly leaning closer to Sven. Her heart started pounding.

"I'd like to test to see if the probe can alter your connection to my father. It would be useful to do the same test with Gina." He turned and picked up the hierion probe.

Petra winced and felt disappointed that Sven had pulled away and turned his back on her. "I don't feel nearly the same strength of connection to either Gina or you. Your father is a ten while you are both ones. But there is something else. Now that I've been in contact with Isaac and know what that feels like, I now know that there has always been another link to someone else... at about a three on this scale."

"Who might that be?"

"Do you believe the stories about replicoids?"

"I'm a scientist. I'll believe anything supported by strong evidence." He started testing the new power modulation circuit that he had recently attached to the probe. "Replicoids are science fiction."

"They say that every person has a replicoid. Maybe I can feel mine."

"Well, I'd like some physical evidence that replicoids exist." He used one of the new computers to run a diagnostic routine on the probe's electronic elements. "Tell me, Petra... you were there the other night. Dad told me that he met a copy of Ariel Adler, a woman from the Hierion Domain."

Image by Wombo Dream.

Petra nodded and moved close behind Sven, carefully watching what he was doing with the probe. "There were two of them, a man and a woman. And if it is true, that they live in the Hierion Domain, then why not believe that there are also replicoids there?"

"As I said, I need evidence."

"Well, you can test your probe and see if the beam of hierions disconnects me from my replicoid."

Sven chuckled. "What if it is the other way around?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if the hierion beam boosts your connection to the replicoid?"

"Why should it do that? It would be like exposing a computer to some random magnetic field and having that increase the efficiency of the CPU."

Sven asked, "Why would people -and even mice- have these endosymbionts inside their bodies?"

Petra voiced the conventional answer that had been widely believed since the early days of the pro-Fru'wu Movement, "They were used to prepare Earth for First Contact. The endosymbionts are some kind of communications device... providing a form of technology-assisted telepathy."

Image by Wombo Dream.

Sven complained, "That's a science fiction plot, for sure." He flipped open his laptop and pointed at a copy of the journal article that he had published with results from the mouse experiments. "What is the evidence? So far, all we know is that the hierions inside mouse brains help shape rodent behavior patterns. Look at the altered brain activity caused by the probe." He pointed at the second figure in the article. "With prolonged exposure to the hierion beam, the mice had improved motor skills and memory."

Influenced by the opinions of the reviewers, Petra had reached a less optimistic conclusion about the experimental results described in the article. "Maybe you just handled the probed mice more often and enriched their environment. You were so desperate to get a behavioral result, you forced the mice to change their habits. No, I suspect that when you zap me with the probe, we will be testing for disrupted telepathy."

Sven shook his head. "Well, who knows? Nobody knows and that is why we must do the experiment. I'm going to play the skeptic." He glanced over his shoulder at Petra. "I've never experienced telepathic communication. What I really want to see is how the probe alters your brain function. Reproducible change in the ECG patterns of the mice was the really solid part of my previous study. It will be that kind of objective data that I can publish and that will allow me to get my Ph.D."

Petra sat on the arm of Sven's chair and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Is that all I am to you... a source of data? A stepping stone to your graduation and career?"

Svahr in the Ekcolir Reality

He turned back to the computer display and scanned through some more of the brain activity data that he had collected from Petra that morning. After a few seconds he finally replied to her question, "If you really had telepathic powers you would not have to ask."

Petra grinned. She could sense that Sven liked her, either by telepathy or by other means even as prosaic as body language. She was satisfied either way. She liked him, too. Just then the phone rang. Petra picked up, "Hello."

"We just got your delivery at the loading dock. The porter is bringing a big box up to your suite."

Petra hung up and told Sven, "The UltraServe is here!"

Next: parts 5 - 7 of "Foundation Reality Simulator".

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