Free Gold

morale is high

On this blog page is Part 6 of the science fiction story Old Time Gaming. In Part 4, Rylla was teleported back to the coast while her Interventionist partner, John Smith, continued to mine gold in the Outback. Rylla is using the body of Sophie, a school teacher in Parramatta, not far from the Port of Sydney. At the mine, Manny the bumpha has adopted the bodily form of Elizabeth. Using her advanced technologies, including teleportation and nanites, Manny began accelerating the rate at which gold was accumulating in the horde at the mine. Neither John nor Max was aware that Manny was in control of their thoughts and memories, so the rapid growth in their gold stockpile did not seem strange to them. 

native Australians

John's morale was particularly high because at the end of each long day of mining, he was able to spend the long night in his tent with a second copy of Rylla. Sophie's younger brother, Max, had made friends with the native children who lived near the mine and he was quickly learning the language of the local people.

You Gain Gold. Old Time Gaming was inspired by the computer game Civilization VI and the Outback Tycoon scenario. In that game, sometimes players are suddenly rewarded by the gift of treasure. 💰 With Manny providing "free gold" that does not need to be obtained by laborious mining, the gold mining expedition soon has as much gold as their camels can carry. In fact, there are not enough camels...

Part 6 of Old Time Gaming. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

John did an experiment, testing how deeply a loaded camel would sink into the rain-soaked ground. After that test, he told Rylla, "With all the rain, we need to load less gold on each of the camels. Making the needed adjustment, we now have too few camels. If we want to take all the gold to Sydney, the horses will have to carry some. That's possible if we off-load some of our body weight."

Rylla said, "My horse is artificial, made from nanites. We can really load it up with cargo."

John nodded but warned, "You'll have to artificially broaden the hooves to keep the beast from sinking into soft ground."

John and Rylla gathered together their mining team and explained the camel situation. John said, "The broad feet of the camels will help with the problem of rain-softened ground, but I underestimated the persistence of these rains. There is a practical limit to how much weight each camel can carry over mushy ground. We might as well call an end to mining operations and start back... today."

Max said, "I'm not going back. That gives you another camel to carry gold on."

Liza said, "I'll stay here with Max. We'll continue mining."

John was tempted to offer objections and say that they all needed to stay together. Before he could speak, Rylla said, "I think Max has established a good relationship with the locals." More importantly, Rylla knew that Manny could speak the languages of the natives and would be in no danger. Disguised as a copy of Liza, Manny could take care of Max and allow him to remain at the mine, collecting more gold from the diggings.

trade goods

Max said, "Word has spread among the natives. Folks from far away are coming here to obtain gifts of tools and cooking pots. When you return from Sydney, bring more of these items such as wool clothing that are popular with the natives."

By noon, the caravan was loaded and began the journey back towards the coast. As the afternoon wore on, John and Rylla decided that as long as there was no rain, they would keep traveling. With only a few fair weather clouds in the sky, they pushed on after dark under a bright moon. Finally, with the camels tiring, they stopped and made camp about midnight.

In the morning, there were rain showers and they let the animals rest and graze. John and Rylla had a rather rousing love-making session then lay sprawled on the ground, their limbs tangled together. In their artificial bodies, they had not bothered to even bring along a tent. Laying in the wet grass under a light rain, Rylla began thinking about how their eventual return to Sydney had been anticipated by Manny. She told John, "Manny was rather enigmatic when she made me as a second copy, but she warned me to be ready to meet the other Rylla who is back in Parramatta. I wonder how that other Rylla has been preparing for our arrival."

John playfully caressed the sleek contours of Rylla's body and struggled for a minute to turn his mind away from the joys of their sexplay. "Manny likes to play these games. She could easily tell us what to expect, but she wants us to have a great adventure discovering for ourselves everything that she has planned for us."

"I'm sure that Manny does not want us to get lazy." While she spoke, she lazily played with John's penis. "She expects us to keep thinking and solve our own problems."

John gently rubbed the stiff glans of Rylla's clitoris with his finger tips. He let his finger tips begin to vibrate. Rylla moaned with pleasure and climbed on top of him, taking his erect penis into her vagina. His penis began to vibrate with mechanical vigor and he placed his vibrating fingers of one hand back against her glans and with his other hand he stimulated her nipples. After achieving another stupefying orgasm, it took Rylla fifteen minutes to get her thoughts back in order. "It is almost as if Manny does not want us thinking too much. She's arranged things that we spend much of our time lost in the pleasures of our delightful sexplay."

"I think you are correct about that. We don't want to over-think the details of our mission. If we seriously mess things up, Manny will take action to set things right. She can always travel back in time and make corrections. I have to believe that your copy back in Parramatta has been diligently making arrangements for our return... in the role of Sophie McKnight, possibly she has already made plans for selling the gold."

Eventually, the sun broke through the clouds and Rylla reluctantly pulled herself off of John's still vibrating penis. "Let's start re-loading the camels. We can continue our sexplay during the ride." Using their telepathic mind link, they could enter into a world of their imaginations where they could sexually stimulate each-other by means of thought alone. With that ever-present distraction, neither of them devoted much thought to what would happen when their caravan returned to civilization.

As the days went by, the rains periodically arrived and departed and the trails became increasingly soggy and progress was slow. Every low spot in the valleys was puddled with standing water and every little stream was flowing. John and Rylla discussed the possibility of digging a hole to the side of the trail and leaving some of the gold behind, to be retrieved later. However, the next morning was clear with a fresh breeze and they continued on, as before after loading all of the gold onto the animals.

_____________

In Parramatta, it had not been a trivial matter for Rylla to convince Abigail to become her assistant at the school. When Abigail first accepted an invitation from Sophie and visited the school, she said, "I don't want to spend my days teaching kids how to read. I'd rather have that precious time for my writing."

Rylla took Abigail into Sophie's cottage and Rylla said, "I suppose the only reason you came here today was to get me in bed."

Abigail laughed, "I'm not really the sex-obsessed wild woman that people like to gossip about. However, the moment I saw you, I knew that..." She fell silent.

Rylla asked, "What?"

"I liked your smile." Abigail moved close to Rylla and examined her ears. Nodding, Abigail said, "My mother taught me how to identify people who can be trusted."

Rylla laughed. "By stroking my ears?"

Abigail explained, "I knew when you smiled at me. But to answer your question, yes, if you are gentle with me, I'd like to make love to you." Abigail shyly took hold of Rylla's hand and said, "I know that I can trust you."

Suddenly Rylla could see a fragment of Abigail's mind. "You have a regular lover?"

"I've been having sex with my girlfriend Patty for about six years now. Sadly, her family moved out of town and we don't get to see each other very often."

Rylla could feel the girl's hand trembling. Rylla made tea and they played some word and poetry games and eventually the two women were in bed together, providing demonstrations of their favorite sex games to each-other. Relaxing after a most pleasing orgasm, Abigail said, "You have the world's greatest and..." The young writer was at a loss for words. "You can keep right on wielding your amazing tongue... silky soft but endlessly strong... please give me another orgasm."

Rylla hesitated. She was trying to think while also trying to sexually entertain Abigail. Rylla felt there was something that she should remember from her training as an interventionist. She had been trained by the tryp'At for a mission in the 1800s and at the age of eleven, she had undergone a surgical procedure to remove her supernumerary nipples. She'd been told, "It is not unusual for some humans and most tryp'At to have more than two nipples, however, for your mission on Earth, you must appear to be a normal human." Now, Rylla was staring at Abigail's four nipples and was also amazed by the copious stream of vaginal secretions flowing out of Abigail. Rylla playfully slid her fingers around the girl's labia and then slid a finger into her hot vagina. Abigail said, "I love your gentleness." Rylla put a second finger in then all her fingers. Abigail moaned and breathed on Rylla's ear, "I love where you are going with this." Rylla got up on her knees and pushed her fist up inside of Abigail's vagina. The girl cried out, "Oh, that's the spot!"

For a minute Rylla methodically fisted Abigail and said, "If you move in here and help at the school, we can play these kinds of games every night."

"But then I'd..." Abigail bit her lip an tried to suppress a small yelp of pleasure. "I'd never get any writing done."

Rylla pulled her hand out of Abigail and rolled out of bed. She went to Sophie's chest of drawers where Rylla pulled out a spectacular artificial penis that she had "inherited" from Sophie. Rylla brought the sex toy back to bed with her and rubbed it against Abigail's wet labia. "Only the glans of your clitoris is where my tongue can reach it. With this little helper I can fully stimulate you, the way nature intended."

Abigail stoked the fake penis with her finger tips and said, "The only thing un-natural about your fist is how silky soft your skin is." Rylla proceeded to make use of tongue, fingers and the pretend penis and half an hour later Abigail cried out, "Yes! Alright! I'll move in here with you and teach at the school."

Rylla chuckled and said, "The job comes with fringe benefits." She told Abigail about her maid, Elizabeth. "So when you grow tired of my tongue, you can move on to Liza's. The girl is a real oral sex master."

Abigail sighed contentedly. She was now playing with Rylla's breasts. "Does Liza have big breasts like these?"

"No, not quite so large." Rylla had inflated her breasts (Sophie's breasts) slightly, just to excite and please Abigail.

Abigail said, "Sometimes I imagine what it must be like to jiggle when you walk. And what about horseback riding? How do you do it with your big breasts bouncing around?"

"I often experience orgasms while riding. You just want the right kind of silky fabric next to your nipples when they are wildly bouncing up and down."

"Mother says that my breasts will grow when I get pregnant." Abigail kissed Rylla's stiff nipples and briefly sucked on her right nipple. "Mother has big breasts now, but tells me she was like me when she was young."

"Really Abigail, simply enjoy yourself the way you are. I like the way you make love, and you don't need floppy breasts to satisfy me, or a man." Rylla could not stop herself from asking, "Does your mother also have four nipples?"

Abigail giggled and touched one of the little nipples that decorated her upper abdomen. "Not only that, she has four breasts! The lower two are tiny, but cute little swellings, nonetheless. She does not advertise them widely, since some would call them a devil's mark."

After Abigail departed from the cottage, Rylla was left wondering about the weak telepathic contact she had experienced with Abigail. Rylla felt certain that Manny had not been playing some game of disguising herself inside Abigail's body. Rylla guessed: Abigail must be genetically similar to me, so much so that our minds are especially well suited for establishing a telepathic linkage. Rylla felt the tip of "her" (Sophie's) ear and the little notch that was there. Abigail had the same feature and upon close inspection, during their love making, Rylla had noticed that both Abigail and Sophie had unusual dentition, with canine teeth that were morphologically flat, like incisors. Rylla had not previously noticed this feature in Sophie's mouth, but after discovering it, she could easily see that Abigail had unusual teeth. Rylla tried to remember what she had once learned about the special features of Neanderthal teeth, but she had never really been interested in that subject and now, living there in 1814, Neanderthals were as yet unknown to science. All Rylla could remember was that there was something different about Neanderthal incisors.

A week later, Abigail had grown comfortable with the school children and eager for her regular sexplay with Rylla and had also by then experienced a pleasant love making session with Liza. Then, after a boisterous two hours of making love, Rylla told Abigail that she was going out of town, but provided no details. "Take care of the school until I return."

Abigail complained, "You are a sneak, Sophie. You hired me to be your assistant, knowing that you would run off and abandon me."

"Sorry about that. However, I also know that you enjoy both the children and Liza. Just don't continue trying to turn these children of shop-keepers into poets. That's not going to happen."

"What about Clara Boyd? I think she has some artistic talent."

Rylla shook her head. "Fine, help Clara write poetry. Some day you can open your own school of the arts." 

Rylla and Captain Doones rode out of Parramatta in the middle of the night, trying to attract no attention. Taking only occasional breaks, they rode right on through to the following afternoon when they got caught in a rain storm. After dark and after becoming thoroughly soaked with rain, they approached a rancher's home. Doones knocked on the door. A woman opened the door and said, "Some people don't know enough to get in out of the rain."

Doones ignored her sarcastic barb and said, "Sorry to bother you, madam, but could we sleep in your barn tonight? We'll be gone at sunup and will cause you no difficulties."

The woman looked at the uniform that Doones was wearing and asked, "What kind of soldier are you? A deserter?" She looked skeptically at Rylla, and asked, "Sneaking off with your sweetie?" Not waiting for an answer she said, "Come in and eat." A man appeared behind the woman.

Rylla said, "We have our own food, thank you. We just want to use your barn so we can get out of the rain."

The man went to a chest and pulled out a stack of blankets. "There's no stove in the barn and these rainy nights get cold. Take these blankets." He pushed the blankets into Rylla's arms. The woman handed Doones a lamp that was burning whale oil. "I hope you two have enough sense not to catch the barn on fire."

In the barn, they took off their wet clothing and wrapped themselves in wool blankets. Doones chewed on a piece of jerky and suggested to Rylla, "We should snuggle together under the blankets and keep each-other warm."

In her artificial body, rain and cold did not bother Rylla, but she felt sorry for the Captain. Figuring that she could warm him up by showing some skin, she took off her blanket and stood up. "I have a surprise for you." He looked at her naked body with wide eyes. "Close your eyes." Reluctantly, he closed his eyes. Rylla bent down and kissed the tip of his nose, then she went to her saddle and pretended to pull a can and can opener out of her saddle bag. However, she simply used her nanites to make the can of salmon and the can opener. Returning to where Doones sat beside the lamp, she started opening the can. 

Not sure what he was hearing, he said, "When can I open my eyes?"

When he smelled the fish, he opened one eye and said, "Canned fish?"

Rylla said, "You can open your eyes. This is from the Appert factory in France. Atlantic salmon." She handed him the opened can. She started nibbling on a piece of pumpkin bread.

He set aside the jerky and began eating the fish and then asked, "Don't you want any fish?"

Rylla shook her head, "We've been gifting items such as this to the natives, but it is a nice surprise for you. Enjoy." She sat down on her blanket.

Rylla had not bothered to cover up her body. He asked, "You are not cold?"

"I don't mind a cool evening after a hot day. The cool air and your admiring gaze feel good on my skin." He looked at her crotch and her pink labia and licked his lips. Rylla said, "I'm still not inviting you into my vagina, soldier." 

They did snuggle up together under the wool blankets that night and the Captain had some trouble falling asleep. Rylla commented on the pleasing proportions of his erect penis and wrapped the fingers of one hand around its hot shaft, "Very nice! This should keep us warm tonight."

He laughed and put his arms around Rylla. "Now that you are nice and dry and warm, aren't you afraid that I'll splash all over you?"

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

Rylla giggled, "If you need to ejaculate, please turn the other way. I'm trusting you to remain a gentleman no matter what hardships I subject you to." She began quoting poetry to him. "Ce qui est bien conçu est clairement énoncé Et pour un homme, les mots viennent facilement."

Doones asked, "Is that Boileau?"

"That's me, warning you that if the touch of my fingers causes you to ejaculate, be polite enough to not stain these fine wool blankets. Get up and go splash your sperm on that hay stack." Rylla desisted from touching his erection, but they played a little kissing game for a time, placing little warm kisses on each-others skin.

Eventually he fell asleep and Rylla again took hold of the Captain's penis, thought about John Smith and wondered how things were going at the gold mine. Rylla tried to use her telepathic abilities to look into his sleeping mind, but she had no luck with that.

_______________

Agujero Caliente mine, 1614

Towards the end of a long day, John and Rylla were traveling through a light rain as more storm clouds moved in from the south. They were close to where their trail would link up to the Blue Mountain Highway and trying to reach the ridge line before dark. Rylla was linked to John's mind as he recalled one of his adventures in the Andes Mountains during the time when Spanish explorers were first in South America. Suddenly, Rylla began experiencing a strange disorientation, as if a third visual image was competing with her view of the Outback and her imagined view of the Andes. Then, looking ahead towards the ridge-line, she saw two figures on horseback. "Look!"

Pulling himself out of the remembered past, John looked into the distance. The had occasionally seen natives in the distance during their journey, but these were Europeans. "Two riders. They are coming this way."

Rylla said, "That's Rylla! The other copy of me..."

"Who is she with?"

Rylla closed her eyes and tried to use the telepathic link to her copy. You are already returning?

Yes... we have a full load of gold.

The other Rylla was greatly relieved that the gold caravan had not reached the Highway. When the two parties reached each-other, the two Ryllas jumped off of their horses and hugged each-other. Rylla experienced in her mind a flash-like memory of Sophie holding the Captain's penis. The copy of Rylla who was making use of Sophie's body form could sense that her other copy had happily been John's lover for the past two weeks.

John shook Captain Doones' hand. The Rylla who was still using Sophie's body looked at the heavily loaded camels and asked, "How did you mine so much gold so quickly?"

John shrugged and said, "The gold is there for the picking. The rains have helped. With all the water, we have four sluices in operation now."

Sophie introduced John and Rylla to the Captain. Doones said, "John and I met on the Tripple B." He looked at the long line of heavily loaded camels. "I should have known that you had a plan when you brought these camels to the colony."

The copy of Rylla who was using Sophie's body form looked towards the end of the caravan. She sent a telepathic question to John: Max and Liza stayed at the mine?

He replied telepathically: Yes. They get along well with the natives, so we let them stay and they are continuing to mine more gold.

The other Rylla asked Doones, "You are a Captain in the navy?" 

Doones was giving Rylla's tall, slim body a careful visual inspection. With a grin he replied, "My military training is in artillery, where I attained the rank of Captain."

Rylla could not keep her eyes off of the fine bulge in one leg of the Captain's riding pants. While gazing at his crotch, she mused, "So, you are an expert of the big guns."

Doones laughed. "I've had some experience against the French." He provocatively held up a finger pointed to the sky.

Rylla said, "J'aimerais te voir au travail."

"Cela peut facilement être arrangé." Doones was looking at Rylla's horse and wondering about its origins. It was unlike any other horse he'd seen in Australia. He glanced back at Rylla, who stood as tall as he did. "However, when the war ended, I became an engineer and learned how to build bridges."

Sophie/Rylla telepathically told John: Don't mention Max and Elizabeth by name. The Captain has met the other copy of Liza, who is back in Parramatta.

Speaking out-loud, Sophie explained, "We need to be careful. The Governor wants to prevent word of the gold mine from spreading. We are going to have to disguise the gold shipments as wool shipments."

Captain Doones suggested. "I can requisition wagons from the sheep ranchers. This time of year they have many wagons that are not being used. If we are careful, we can transfer gold from the camels to wagons and pretend that the wagons are carrying wool to the port. Maybe nobody will notice the gold if they can't see it."

Rylla looked off across the hills. "We should select a good location for a transfer camp. We need a location just off the highway where the loaded camels will never be seen by anyone but us. We'll pretend that wool shipments are arriving from the west... by mule train?" 

Doones nodded. "I can have some troops here in two days with their supply animals. We'll construct a fake wool trading post beside the Highway, where it crosses the Nepean River. That's where I'm supposed to construct the first stone bridge in Australia."

John nodded. "Very well. When your soldiers are not hauling gold to Sydney, they can be hauling stone for your bridge. We can make temporary camp here and scout the area in the morning... we'll locate a nice grassy area that be a permanent camel resting station."

Doones looked at the darkening sky. "I'm going to start back. The sooner I depart, the quicker I can have some troops out here."

Rylla told John, "I'm going with the Captain." Telepathically she told him: I need to move on to the next phase of my mission.

Doones went riding back up the trail at a good pace. Rylla's artificial horse had no trouble catching up to him. As darkness fell, they reached the highway and continued slowly in the moonlight. Rylla asked, "Isn't your horse tired?"

"Aye." He wondered why her horse still seemed fresh. "There is a place where we can stop for the night, not too much further along the road."

Rylla and Doones spent the night in the same barn where Sophie and the Captain had stayed the previous night. When the rancher and his wife came to the door, the woman looked at Rylla and said to Doones, "Now you have another woman?"

Doones shrugged. "Sorry to bother you again, but I'd like to impose on your hospitality once more."

The rancher handed over the wool blankets again. Doones said, "Yesterday I noticed that you have quite a stock of wool stored in your barns."

"Yes, I'll sell my wool at the port when the price goes up later in the year."

Doones passed a sheet of military script over to the rancher. "I'll buy all your wool, both that in the big barn and also that stored in your old barn, down in back. I'm offering you double the current market price."

"We're a long way from Sydney." The rancher asked, "You'll haul the wool away on military transport and not charge me a transportation fee?"

"Yes, no fees. Sell to me and you don't have to worry about transportation." Donnes added, "The colonial military needs your raw wool, but I don't really want to explain why. As long as my offered price satisfies you, then we can make the deal."

"I'll gladly take your offer, friend". The two men shook hands. "I'm just wondering how and when you'll move the wool."

"That's my concern, now. I can gather wagons from all the region's ranchers. It may take a few weeks to move all this wool out of your barns, but it will be done."

"Fine." The rancher passed over the whale oil lamp to Doones through the open front door. "I don't suppose you'll come in tonight for a bite to eat?"

"Thank you kindly, sir, but no. I don't want to further disrupt your evening. I'll even apologize for our muddy boot tracks on your porch. Thank you again for the use of your barn."

In the barn, when Rylla took her saddle off her horse, Doones heard a thump as she lowered the large saddle bags to the ground. Thinking about canned fish, he kicked one of the bags and said, "What is so heavy?"

Rylla had placed a blanket over her shoulders, but she was making no effort to hide her long athlete's body from his appreciative eyes. She picked up the saddle bag and explained, "I'm going to have some big expenses in Sydney during the next week. Can I trust you to keep your mouth shut?"

He shrugged and began taking off his muddy boots. "I make it a point not to gossip about a lady's private... business."

Rylla said, "I'd prefer placing our dealings on a firm business basis. Give me your promise, and I'll make it worth your while." She opened up the bag and pulled out a large glistening nugget of gold which she tossed to the Captain. 

Rylla watched the Captain carefully. She had been told by Manny that it was up to her to entice the Captain into going with her to western Australia, but what motivated a man like Doones? Rylla wondered if her other copy had already begun to manipulate the Captain's emotions. All she knew about Sophie's relationship with the Captain was what she had seen in that one mental image of Rylla/Sophie holding the Captain's penis in her hand.

Doones caught the gold piece and repeatedly hefted it up and down, gauging the weight of it. Suspecting that her saddle bags were all crammed full of gold, he told Rylla, "The Governor wants to keep control over all the gold and not start a wild rush into the hills. Following my duties and obligations as a soldier, I should confiscate all your gold right now."

Rylla dropped the bag to the ground with a load thud and let the wool blanket slide off of her shoulders. She walked quickly towards the Captain and forcefully pushed Doones over onto his back. She quickly proceeded to open up his pants, liberate his penis and make love to the Captain. He was so startled and pleased by her behavior that he almost forgot about the gold and his duty. 

Rylla's memories of climate patterns

Rylla felt some frustration from not being able to use her telepathic abilities to look into the Captain's mind. Hoping to captivate Doones and put him into a frame of mind where he would help her with her secret mission, she worked hard to give him some pleasing orgasms. After Doones fell asleep, Rylla tried to remember details of how wind patterns could change when low pressure moved up from the south, bringing rains to New South Wales. However, during the long night, Rylla was distracted by the snoring Doones and could not stop wondering if her other copy had also made love to the Captain.

Next: Part 7 of Old Time Gaming.

Quoriston

cover art by Michael Whelan

If there were aliens who could telepathically control human thoughts, would we ever notice? If there were a science fiction story about aliens who could control human thoughts, would readers notice that? I ask because in this commentary on the works of Robert Rohrer, there was this:

"Greendark in the Cairn" is a fairly straightforward story of the Captain of a spaceship who becomes convinced he is being driven mad by enemies. His ship is encountering a ship of the enemy (who apparently destroyed another ship with 1500 civilians aboard) and the Captain must make the decision to attack, but his mind is losing it. I have to say I didn't see the point, really -- so, he's going mad, for whatever reason, and as a result he fails to perform his duty. There seems nothing more to the story, to be honest."

cover art by Stephen Youll

Upon reading the above commentary on the story, I read "Greendark in the Cairn" in which Rohrer included the following: "A rumor had spread through the ranks that the enemy was able to control minds. Stanley had scoffed at the rumor. Now he believed it." Stanley is Captain of a spaceship and for the first 4 pages of the story he is having bizarre thoughts. He finally realizes that his mind is being controlled by the Evil Aliens™. Realizing what has happened, and knowing that because the enemy control his brain he will be prevented from destroying the enemy spaceship during the coming battle, he waits to the last minute, kills himself, and then another member of his crew takes over and destroys the enemy spaceship.

I suppose readers who are not particularly interested in telepathy as a sci fi plot device could read "Greendark in the Cairn" and say: "The dude went mad and killed himself. So what?" For my stories (such as "Meet the Phari"), it is important to make it clear to readers that the human characters can be subjected to sophisticated mind control without them ever noticing. Or, if they do notice, their memory of having noticed can be efficiently erased.

Grean (image credits)

In "Greendark in the Cairn", while being telepathically controlled by the aliens, Captain Stanley can say and do certain routine things, but he is unable to warn his crew mates that his behavior is being controlled by the aliens. This kind of selective mind control was deployed by Isaac Asimov in his story The Robots of Dawn. Baley realizes that Giskard is a telepathic robot, but Baley is not allowed to tell anyone else. Giskard tells Baley: "...you need not fear the responsibility of having to remain silent. I will allow you to remember, but you will never have the urge to repeat the matter..."

For my stories set in the Exodemic Fictional Universe, I make use of nanotechnology to precisely control human memories and behavior. I imagine that Grean the Kac'hin has access to "infites", a type of nanotechnology that can transfer information into a human brain or selectively hide memories of past events. However, I don't set out to write horror stories, so nothing really bad ever happens in my stories when humans are subjected to alien mind control.

image source

My tastes in Sci Fi were established when, at a young age, I read storied by Isaac Asimov such as Second Foundation. In that novel, the space fleet of the First Foundation has a confrontation with the enemy fleet from Kalgan. Right in the middle of the Battle of Quoriston, who shows up but Preem Palver with a spaceship full of potatoes for Terminus, the capital world of the Foundation. Nobody notices, but Palver is a powerful telepath of the Second Foundation and he uses his telepathic abilities to help the First Foundation fleet defeat the Kalgans. Up until that moment in the war, the First Foundation forces had been in full retreat from the Kalgan forces. But now, with Palver's help, the Kalgan fleet is utterly destroyed, ending the war. Nobody notices that Palver's telepathic meddling changed the course of galactic history.

Kwenslo

In "Meet the Phari" Delpha had devised a plan for how to allow humans to telepathically contact the Phari. Then something derails the plan. Delpha is surprised when Eynta does not arrive at Kwenslo with Kwystyk. How does the expected course of history get derailed? On Yrinna, Glinnes and Duissane are trying to investigate the starmenters of Yrinna. When Duissane meets Lady Gensifer, the course of events is altered, leading to Lady Gensifer being captured along with Lord Gensifer.

Lady Gensifer and Rupert are taken off of Yrinna and they get to interact with people such as Sally Lanting and Jenny Ebernal who eventually come in contact with Eynta, leading to changes in Eynta's behavior.

Next: Daz Studio animation, lighting and surfaces.

See also: Chapter 11 of "Meet the Phari".

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PoCo Dreams

Dr. They: "Reggie is William's father."

I was blissfully dreaming of a rational post-conspiracy Sci Fi wind-down of The X-Files, then we got chemtrails in episode 6 of Season 11.

Previously on The X-Files... we had Chris Carter's fantasy about bees that would cause the end of civilization by spreading a virus (or alien DNA, or something).

So, Davey, what's your dad been up to?

Look Ma, No Teeth
"Kitten" could be meaningful if it is leading to an end-of-Season 11 showdown between 1) William and his ability to make people see things and 2) some dark government/Syndicate/whoknows? conspiracy to spray evil yellow gas from airplanes and make everyone see monsters/die from the Spartan Virus/whoknows? yada yada...

Hiatus

Really, officer, I lost my boss... Bald Eagle.

The Good. In preparation for the Grand Finale of The X-Files, we now have Skinner, Mulder and Scully all united and working together in their struggle to find the TRUTH™. Thankfully, we did not even have to suffer through another lame pushing match between Skinner and Mulder in episode 6.

The Bald Bad. I am so ready to be done with Chris Carter's endless conspiracy mongering. I wish episode 7 would arrive quickly (yes, I'm welcoming what looks like some absurd drone army chasing Fox and Dana, but I'll take anything just to get the disgusting flavor of episode 6 out of my mouth), but Dr. They is going to make us wait three whole weeks for the next X-Files episode.

Mitch finally learns the backstory of Skinner

The Ugly. I had a horrible thought during episode 6: what if "My Struggle IV" is not going to be about William's struggle, but rather, it turns out to be Skinner's struggle?! Eww. I hate the idea that Skinner is an essential element of the entire X-Files saga. I had no desire to learn more about Skinner's past as some sort of special operations grunt during the Vietnam War.

The Annoying. Of course, in "Kitten" nothing is explained about the idiotic chemical/biological warfare mission that Skinner and his buddy "Kitten" are given while in Vietnam. Don't ask questions, just go along for the conspiratorial fear mongering. All you need to do is set off enough explosions and kill enough extras and you have successfully satisfied the requirements for making a Hollywood television program.

The Anti-William

The vampiro monster, that can only
be killed by a bamboo cheek piercing

There's the perp, wearing a silly animal skull costume and looking into the surveillance camera that happens to be out in the middle of the forest right where it can capture the images of a murder and advance the plot of episode 6. Nothing need make sense because we are in Mud Lick, where anything can happen, such as everyone failing to care if their teeth are falling out.

Golly gee willikers, now that you mention it,
my wife and I were just discussing how everyone around
these parts has been loosing teeth.

It all started long ago when Skinner was ordered to carry an LSD-dispensing M44 generator cluster deep into the jungle of Vancouver, BC. The local Canadians objected to being used for chemical warfare experiments, so the experiments were moved to Mud Lick, Kentucky.

Project MKUltra
Apparently, vast numbers of documents related to U.S. government research and development of chemical and biological weapons were destroyed in order to hide illegal human subjects research carried out by the CIA. I would not be surprised if some research into psycho-active chemicals (such as anxiety-inducing drugs) remains classified. The murky history of such research and government use of chemical/radiological/biological warfare agents provides a good starting point for Sci Fi stories with a government conspiracy plot line.

X-Files: the next generation?

Somewhere between William and Davey is Tommy, a young boy who can put monsters into the thoughts of people and even his pet cat. I suppose Gabe Rotter was involved in writing "Scary Monsters" and he waited years for a chance to write "Kitten".

"Kitten" was a jumbled mess that excelled in the Chris Carter tradition of a plot that makes no sense. The severe sloppiness of this episode might simply arise from inexperience on the part of the writer and director, but it does not bode well if this was some sort of audition for new show runners who might bring us an X-Files the Next Generation.

Absurd and not explained.

Episode 666. This steaming pile strikes me as what you get from a producer who is too young to know anything about the Vietnam War and a writer who went to Wikipedia in an attempt to create a backstory for Skinner, and a writer who could not resist splicing into their X-File various gruesome scenes from old war movies like The Green Berets and Apocalypse Now.

What, me worry? (original)

Move Along
Mr. "Kitten" is experimented on for 40 years and then he finally gets released by his tormentors? And he then sends an ear through the mail to Skinner? Or was it Davey who sent the Ear? Never explained and it does not matter. "Never explained and it does not matter" is the motto for this kind of lame Hollywood dreck that simply rushes along from one disgusting scene to another. Skinner is pinned at the bottom of the hole by a stake through his abdomen, then he is unpinned, then he is trapped at the bottom of the hole, then he gets out, then Scully applies a band-aid and Skinner is ready to go back to his office. Davey gets shot by Scully then Davey is running around and fighting with Skinner then he falls into his own booby trap. Don't even try to make sense of it.

Next: telepathy in 1927

Season 11, Episode 7

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Picohieronics

In the Ekcolir Reality
Original cover art by John Richards

I'm endlessly curious about the forms of technology that were provided to Earthlings in past Realities. When sedron-based space travel technology was provided to humans during the Asimov Reality, that allowed Earthlings to spread among the stars, but there was very little progress made towards developing other types of technology.

Zeta suspects that human cognitive processes were carefully restricted during the Asimov Reality to such an extent that technological innovations of all types became quite rare. Many observers have blamed the Institute for suppressing new technologies. We should be open to the possibility that technological stagnation was imposed upon humans by the Huaoshy.

Special thanks to Miranda Hedman (www.mirish.deviantart.com) for the DeviantArt stock photograph "Black Cat 9 - stock" that I used to create the blue "sedronite" who is in the image to the right.

Temporal Momentum

In chapter 6 of A Search Beyond, the Asimov replicoid receives a demonstration of how it is possible to use infites to insert new information into the mind of a replicoid. Asimov is not happy to learn how easy it is for others to manipulate his thought processes, but he agrees to make an attempt to help Yrovi gain access to stored information about the Asimov Reality that lies locked away inside Eternity.

I'm still concerned that chapter 6 is too talky, with too much jargon introduced too quickly. For example, Asimov is told about the basis of Temporal Momentum. I guess I will have to put Yōd to work making a glossary for A Search Beyond.

In chapter 7, readers are told about new information from the Asimov Reality that is leaked to the Editor. Behind the scenes, the Asimov replicoid has successfully bypassed the data interlocks that were preventing access to information about the Asimov Reality. Asimov is able to pass his newly obtained information to the Editor by way of the replicoids of Yōd and Zeta who reside in the Hierion Domain. For their part, not wanting to alert the Overseers to the fact that a new data channel has been constructed, Yōd and Zeta pretend that they have recovered a story that had previously been prepared for publication by the Dead Widowers.

The demise of the Earth Observation Program.

A Chapter Beyond
I'm thinking about inserting an additional chapter that was not included in Yōd's original outline of A Search Beyond. Chapter 7.5 could return readers to Observer Base and show Asimov and Mahasvin meeting a member of the Dead Widower Society who is being held prisoner by the Overseers.

In that proposed chapter 7.5, I'd like to have some more (telepathic) discussion between Nivsaham, Asimov and Mahasvin of the fact that the tryp'At Overseers seem to only have a very tentative control over the facilities at Observer Base. Also, there could be follow-up discussion of a little task that was completed by Nivsaham: experimental analysis of the "tracking nanites" that Asimov obtained from the Overseers.

Sachiz and Dockmon

Sachiz

Within chapter 7.5,  there should also be some rather hysterical reaction from Overseer Sachiz when the Editor is found to suddenly be in possession of new information about the Asimov Reality. It might be possible to frame this in terms of the bumbling attempts by Overseers to control the information about the Dead Widowers that exists on the internet.

Chapter 7.5 could also be some incidental discussion about Ivory, Yrovi and Irhit. The basic idea is that the tryp'At Overseers have been using Irhit to prevent the Editor from using the Bimanoid Interface. However, it might be possible for the Interventionists (particularly the technologically privileged Nivsaham) to further apply the Overseer's  "tracking nanites" in such a way that would allow the Interventionists to take action against Irhit in the Hierion Domain, returning to the Editor some control over the Bimanoid Interface.

Next: fictional forms of matter.

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Zeta Gohrlay

A whimsical depiction of some Gohrlay clones (source).
Image credits.
The copyrighted "Mortal Instruments"
photographs provided courtesy of Gretchen Byers.

Three month's ago, I finally realized that I had been interacting with several clones of Gohrlay. These ladies had always been quite careful to only visit with me one at a time, until today.

Alpha Gohrlay told me that she had read my recent blog post about distractions and decided that she agreed with me. Alpha found it impossible to refute the proposition that she was distracting me from my task. She said sadly, "As long as I'm available to you as an almost limitless source of information about the past, you will keep finding excuses to delay your work."

Secret History of Humanity

Gohrlay believes that my assigned task is to tell the Secret History of Humanity, the story of how humans were created and given a chance to spread among the stars. Gohrlay has her own fish to fry, so she has never had much interest in the details of my work. I believe she resents my greedy desire to steal her time and endlessly question her about Deep Time.

In the Ekcolir Reality.
Original cover art by Lloyd Rognan

Ignoring the thrust of her words, I began questioning Alpha Gohrlay about the First Contact event that occurred in the Asimov Reality. She shook her head in dismay and said, "You really are hopeless. I must say farewell and go about my own business. You will never see me again."

Zeta Gohrlay
My mind was fixed on the hope that Alpha was joking, but right then another Gohrlay clone walked into the room. I felt a chill and gave a shudder as I watched the two twins. With a sly grin, Alpha Gohrlay assured me, "Zeta will be good for you."

Alpha Gohrlay

Zeta approached me with confidence and shook my hand. "I'm pleased to finally meet you." Zeta glanced at Alpha Gohrlay and said, "I'll take things from here." Alpha Gohrlay nodded, took a step backwards and disappeared through some sort of teleportation portal.

I was shocked by Alpha Gohrlay's sudden and dramatic departure. I began cursing myself for having driven her out of my life with my endless questions about the past. However, Zeta Gohrlay had no intention of letting me mope.

Zeta wore a shimmering synthetic cloak that generated its own light. Her dark hair floated in a cloud around her head, each strand moving under its own power, their movements synchronized like a flock of birds.

Zeta's outline

Zeta pulled up a chair, sat down beside me and directed my attention to the ultra-thin and flexible display screen that seemed to grow out of her hand. "Here is my proposed structure for the saga. I recommend that the events be told in five sequential volumes..."

I was not really listening to Zeta. At first, I was staring at her and trying to detect any physical features, no matter how small, that might distinguish her from Alpha Gohrlay. Zeta had a slight twang in her speech, as if she has spent many years living someplace exotic. Then my attention was grabbed by her morphing display screen. I reached out and touched it and felt its structure quickly solidify into the shape of a standard tablet computer. I asked, "You have access to nanites?"

the Trysta-Grean Pact
Special thanks to Miranda Hedman
(www.mirish.deviantart.com) for the
DeviantArt stock photograph "Black Cat 9 - stock"
that I used to create the blue "sedronite"
who is in this image.

She shook her head and replied, "No, I'm now trapped on this world with you. Under the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact, I had to give up all the conveniences of life. Ug! I'm even going to have to start brushing my teeth every day. I really don't know how Earthlings put up with their grungy and dreary lives."

I laughed and asked, "So this is your first time on Earth? Where are you from?"

"I grew up on Tar'tron. I've previously had just a few brief orientation visits to Earth. I even met you once previously, before you had reason to suspect that there are multiple Gohrlay clones."

I could discern no physical differences between Zeta and the other Gohrlay clones. While I watched and examined her, the material of her clothing stopped glowing and became indistinguishable from standard Earthly garments. Her hair settled into an unruly mop of curls and stopped writhing.

Zeta waited patiently while I inspected her. She seemed to be examining me just as carefully. Dozens of questions came to mind, but I was amused by the idea that she felt annoyance and anxiety about the prospect of living on Earth. I had to ask, "So why now? Did Alpha Gohrlay order you to move here to Earth?"

Zeta giggled. "My, my. Egrosū̆ did not exaggerate." Zeta shook her head slowly, "She warned me that it is impossible to keep you on task."

"I've been told that my entire life. If you plan to keep me on task, you better be prepared for frustration and disappointments. Egrosū̆? That is an odd name." When spoken, "Egrosu" ended in a strange warbling sound.

Zeta shrugged and shut off her tablet. "I'm in no hurry. I've waited for decades, often wondering if I would ever be given a chance to work directly with you." She seemed to reflect quietly on her past for a moment, then she continued, "My sisters and I all have real names. Egrosū̆ is a traditional name from an ancient and now dead language of Tar'tron."

"What is your real name?"

"Another word that would mean nothing to you. It is best if you simply call me Zeta."

I complained, "Fine, Zeta, but it bothers me that you have been watching me for decades. I suppose you know me so well that you expect to be able to trick me and bend me to doing your will."

Zeta laughed rather loudly. "Your psychological profile indicates that you despise being told what to do. That's okay, I don't mind continuing to indirectly manipulate your path through life."

Irked, I warned her, "If you've been watching me for years then you should know better than to admit that you've been trying to manipulate my behavior."

The Final Reality Change

Zeta took me by the hand. "Let's walk."

Five minutes later we were outside and in a calm and peaceful place. I was content to walk and listen to the noisy insects in the trees. My own speculations about Zeta and her mission on Earth buzzed in my thoughts.

Finally she spoke again. "Sure, I know you resent being controlled, but what I've done is nothing less that build and shape your life. Knowing the depths of your resentments, I'd hoped never to be forced into direct contact with you, although I had been warned that there was a high probability that I'd be forced to live out the end of my life on this primitive planet. However, I do agree with Egrosū̆." She corrected herself, "I really should call her 'Alpha'. Anyhow, you left us no choice but to move me onto the playing field of Earth. We might have tried to make do with one of my clone sisters, but that would have simply frustrated you. Since you and I have shared interests, we can work together, so this is for the best."

We walked for more than an hour and Zeta told me about her childhood on Tar'tron. She'd grown up enjoying stories and from among all of her clone sisters she had become the obvious choice to guide my development as a science fiction fan.

By the time she had completed the story of her life on Tar'tron, we'd returned home and settled back down at my writing desk. Zeta pointed to the screen of my computer and my recent blog post mentioning the possibility of a Final Collaborator.

With Zeta's eyes fixed on mine, a strong feeling of déjà vu came over me. I wondered, "Did you put the idea of finding a Final Collaborator into my head?"

She nodded, "I've spent decades preparing you for your task and frequently used the Bimanoid Interface to insert thoughts into your mind. During the past few years, I've been moving you along from one collaborator to the next, allowing you to learn about Deep Time. You now have all the knowledge that you need about the past. We will be able to work together and finally tell the Secret History of Humanity in the way that has been planned."

I had to ask, "Planned by you?"

"No." She giggled. "No, I'm only playing my assigned role, just like you. As you know, Trysta and Grean long ago anticipated and planned out the shape of the Final Reality as a universe in which you would tell the History of Humanity as a science fiction story."

Zeta sounded so confident and self-assured that I wondered if she had been shown the future. Was it possible that she knew how our lives would turn out? I asked her, "Why do you need me? Can't you write the Hidden History of Earth yourself?"

The Bimanoid Interface

Zeta seemed shocked by my suggestion. "Of course not! It is you who carries the memories of Parthney and Izhiun as well as Ivory and Thomas. And you still have your access to the Bimanoid Interface. Besides, it was specified by the Trysta-Grean Pact that the Secret History of Humanity must be told by a tryp'At."

"You know, nobody has ever explained to me why the Secret History of Humanity must be told at all."

Zeta shrugged, "Don't expect me to provide any deep insights into our predicament. I think we both understand and accept that telling the Secret History of Humanity will be beneficial for Earth. If nothing else, we can provide descriptions of past Realities in which things did not turn out well for Earthlings. I have to believe that when Trysta and Grean peered into the future they could see that by providing information about past Realities, you would help Humanity towards a better future here in the Final Reality."

I nodded, "Yes, that is what I tell myself, but I am haunted by doubts. There is a danger that I might tell people something that will alter the historical timeline, change Earth's future for the worse and lead to a new sort of catastrophe, maybe even an early extinction of the human species."

Planet of the Gods

Zeta gave a tiny nod of her head, but tried to dismiss my fears. "Well, I must trust that you and I would not be here today unless we could do some good."

"I don't think you share my background and training in science. Still, I suspect that you can appreciate the fact of my training in skepticism and the existence of my ingrained habits of thought that prevent me from trusting my hopes and wishes. I prefer to have my actions guided by evidence and reason."

Zeta gave my hand a reassuring pat. "We are now in possession of all the evidence that has been made available to us. Between us, we have plenty of reasoning power. Now, let's get busy." She turned on her tablet and we began discussing her plan for how to organize the story of how humans were created and then sent to the stars.

Next: Yōd, another Gohrlay clone.

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