"Now let us imagine another place—another world, far closer to the galactic core—where the force of the T-psionic was not weak but immensely strong, where the attributes of this T-psionic force directly influenced the primordial biosphere of an emergent planet. Imagine a world where the impetus of evolution, consistently patterned by the ability of all organisms to generate telepathic linkages, eventually led to the development of intelligence.
"Imagine this strange world where everything communicated, where the distinctions between plant and animal, between herbivore and carnivore, between male and female even, remained of minor import, at least in comparison to our own planet—where inter and intraspecies domination developed as the primary motif. Imagine the ultimate rise of a particular combination of cooperating organisms upon this world—an intelligence composed of a multiplicity of interacting life-forms, telepathically cojoined to achieve common ends. At its highest level, an intelligence consisting of pairs—tways—each telepathically linked half composed of a vast conglomerate of lesser cooperatively existing organisms. Such tways themselves would be untroubled by the necessities of procreation; their individual components would take care of such specific needs, at various paces, in varying styles.
"Let us give a name to this alien master race, these sets of tways made up of mutual conglomerates of cooperating organisms. Let us call them the Os/Ka/Loq.
"We do not know when the Os/Ka/Loq first grew their great organic interstellar vessels. Five thousand years ago? A hundred thousand? A million? Suffice to say that they became a spacefaring species a very long time ago. They sent out many of these massive vessels, filled with not only their own tways but with representative organisms from the entire sweep of cooperative life existing on their home world. Each great vessel, as it were, was a miniature gaia.
"These immense starships scoured the galaxy, navigating not according to any spatial or temporal relationships—as human beings might—but choosing their directions primarily on the strength of T-psionic impulses. The stronger the force of the T-psionic in a particular section of space, the more intensely the Os/Ka/Loq vessel was attracted in that direction. And where an Os/Ka/Loq starship came upon another planet bearing life, whether intelligent or not, they sought to reseed it with their own syntheses of life.
"The Os/Ka/Loq, quite naturally, never developed what we might refer to as a sanctifying respect for intelligent species. That concept simply did not occur to the occupants of a world where the T-psionic force was so inordinately potent. Life-forms on planets where the T-psionic force remained weak were perceived as perversions of what was natural. They were reseeded with what was natural—organisms from the Os/Ka/Loq's home planet. Native populations were either vigorously eliminated or, where possible, coapted. The presence of an intelligent species on a world was never a factor in Os/Ka/Loq plans. Intelligence itself, although admired as a sophisticated evolutionary adaptation, was not the Os/Ka/Loq's guiding factor in what they considered superior life. Alien organisms were graded in importance according to the strength of their telepathic linkages.
"There was a particular Os/Ka/Loq vessel, known as the Biodyysey, which had drifted into our immediate spatial sector, our kascht. Since the T-psionic force remained relatively weak within the boundaries of this kascht—which encompasses our solar system as well as many nearby stars—I can only speculate as to why the Biodyysey came here. Perhaps the Os/Ka/Loq had already reseeded all of the inner galactic worlds. Perhaps they perceived Earth, with its poverty of T-psionic force, as a new challenge. I cannot say precisely. All that is known for certain is that at some time in the early years of the twenty-first century, one of the Biodyysey's probe ships secretly landed on Earth, Or, should I say, landed beneath the ocean, several hundred miles off the coast of South America. You are now, of course, within that probe—this cell of the Os/Ka/Loq.
"There was a solitary Os/Ka/Loq intelligence aboard this probe—a tway—who naturally maintained T-psionic contact with her other tway aboard the Biodyysey. The methodology of Os/Ka/Loq exploration provided for numerous probes, each containing a tway, to be ejected from the mother ship. Each probe was to seek out hospitable planets and prepare them for reseeding according to Os/Ka/Loq principles.
"The particular tway who landed here on Earth urged her brethren to consider our kascht as the place of their next reseeding. Despite the fact that our kascht reeked of the lacking—that is, its T-psionic force remained exceptionally weak—this tway was able to convince her fellow Os/Ka/Loq explorers that the Earth was their best choice. Far from the galactic core, with reseedable planets likely becoming harder and harder to locate, the Os/Ka/Loq aboard the Biodyysey came to an agreement that the Earth would be their next target.
"And so the Biodyysey steered a course toward the solar system. And here on Earth, far beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the tway aboard this probe set about making the necessary preparations for the mother ship's arrival.
"Her Os/Ka/Loq name is unpronounceable—just as the word Os/Ka/Loq itself was coined for the benefit of humans. But by now, you must certainly know who I'm talking about."
"Sappho,” murmured Empedocles.
"Yes ... Sappho.
"She set about studying the life-forms on our planet. Rather quickly, I presume, she came to the realization that our world offered some unique hindrances to the reseeding. That low-level T-psionic force that dominated our spatial neighborhood had led to the development of life on Earth where the concepts of domination/submission had been carried to extremes. From the Os/Ka/Loq point of view, the Earth must have looked like one crazy place, with nearly every species on the planet fighting for survival. Instead of the basic Os/Ka/Loq notion, which might be aptly expressed as cooperation of the fittest, our world boasted something quite different."
"Survival of the fittest,” offered Empedocles.
"Indeed. Survival of the fittest. Our planet lacked what the Os/Ka/Loq perceived as even the basic stabilizing influence of a moderate T-psionic force. On Earth, millions of years of intense rivalries among countless species had produced a wild continuum of plants and animals, all at odds with one another, all fighting for a piece of the pie. Individuality carried to extremes."
Empedocles adopted twin frowns. “These Os/Ka/Loq must have had some notion of individuality? If this tway of Sappho was here on Earth alone, she must have been making at least some of her own decisions."
"That is correct. The Os/Ka/Loq, although maintaining telepathic alignments with all life-forms that developed upon their world, still existed as individual conglomerates of entities. It is the degree of the T-psionic force that distinguishes us from them. The T-psionic force is extremely weak here on our planet, but it does exist. On the Os/Ka/Loq home world, it is far stronger, but even there it has limitations. Individuality exists in both places. Like most facets of the universe, the process ultimately comes down to a matter of relativity.
"I once came across a monograph Theophrastus did on the subject of T-psionic field strengths. He postulated that there might be an ultimate place of T-psionic interaction, where the force would be so strong that no possible individual distinctions could ever come into being. Only one life-form would ever exist there—one entity composed of everything, a cell unto itself.
"At any rate, here on Earth, this tway of Sappho began the secret exploration of our world. She sent out small robotic probe ships, which gathered numerous life-forms to return to this cell for analysis, for genetic experimentation."
"The things in the cages,” said Empedocles, through the mouth of Susan.
"Yes. Early experiments, for the most part. Later, of course, as Sappho became more skilled working with our genetic material, her results improved remarkably. But in the beginning, there were numerous bizarre mutations. Some of the more unusual ones were preserved."
"A museum for their aberrations,” said Empedocles.
"Yes, a museum of sorts. But Aristotle always assumed that from the point of view of telepathic ent
ities like the Os/Ka/Loq—themselves composed of a multiplicity of awareness-linked organisms—the idea of aberration would not have been a well-developed concept. No matter how bizarre the mutation, the Os/Ka/Loq would remain telepathically linked with it. Therefore, it would be a part of their consensual consciousness, no more alien to them than your arm or leg might be to you. But here on our planet, within a kascht that reeked of the lacking to such a high degree, such mutations could have proved inordinately fascinating. Twinhead, for example. An utterly unique individual for two reasons. First, twinhead possessed little or no telepathic consciousness. And second, his actual appearance placed him a great distance from the genetic prototype. He was a true one-of-a-kind. A true museum piece.
"Anyway, the tway of Sappho made good progress with her experiments. Within a few years, she was successfully recreating ‘normal’ human beings, at least normal in appearance. Many of these humans were later used in Thi Maloca, enslaved to Sappho's will via mnemonic cursors."
"The so-called Ash Ock scientists,” mused Empedocles. “That's why you couldn't locate histories for them. The scientists all were born and raised here, within this cell."
"Precisely. But the scientists themselves represented only the beginningg of Sappho's plan. What she ultimately sought was a foothold on our world, a way to transplant stronger aspects of the T-psionic force into earthly form. By the mid-twenty-first century, she had succeeded. It was Sappho who actually was responsible for the astonishing breakthrough known across the globe as the McQuade Unity. The famed Scottish lab credited with discovering these primitive telepathic masses merely had served as a front for her efforts.
"It was Sappho who made possible a limited form of direct T-psionic prowess for the human race: for the artificially grown McQuade Unity, when injected into a pair of dissimilar fetuses, caused those fetuses to grow and develop as one.
"It was Sappho who designed and introduced the binary variation of telepathic wholeness that became known as the Paratwa."
Empedocles had always considered himself immune to astonishment, seeing it as an emotionally based reaction to a rapid overload of fresh information, something that could be overcome through concentration and analysis. But when both of his mouths dropped open—when he experienced genuine surprise—he realized that, under the right conditions, any parameter could be exceeded.
Timmy continued. “And it was Sappho who first transferred her own genetic material, her own consciousness, into a female fetus, thus, in a way, serving as her own creator, making herself into the first and only Paratwa of mixed species. One tway human, one tway Os/Ka/Loq. Firstborn of the Royal Caste. The human portion—the plenary—endowed with a T-psionic field capable of extending her lifespan far beyond the limited boundaries of human beings."
"Six hundred years,” whispered Empedocles.
"Yes. Well in excess of what pre-Apocalyptic science was capable or granting, despite transplants and regenerative techniques. Aristotle always suspected that six hundred years was only a fraction of an average Os/Ka/Loq lifespan. But six hundred years was a most impressive achievement, nonetheless, considering that the genetic material used to create Sappho's plenary was strictly Earth-based.
"When she was still a small child, the plenary tway, who was fully iconically conscious, arranged for the Ash Ock scientists to produce three more Paratwa. Those three were to be trained as specialists in disparate fields.
"Codrus would be the financial expert, Aristotle the political master, and Theophrastus the research scientist. A bit later, it was decided that a fifth Ash Ock would be necessary. But I'll explain the reasons for your creation in a moment.
"Sappho also fabricated her partial ‘tway,’ building the android from nanocellular components readily available within this cell. In fact, the form of biochip technology found in the partial, which had earlier mystified Aristotle, forms the basis for almost their entire scientific attainment. The Os/Ka/Loq grow most of their tools—the massive seed ships, these smaller probes, many of their weapons."
"FTL transmitters?” asked Empedocles.
"No. The FTL was a true invention of Theophrastus. And although he based it on Os/Ka/Loq technology, I believe he specifically designed it so that it could be manufactured instead of grown ... which explains how and why the FTL was able to be replicated by colonial scientists.
"The basic genetic structures of all Paratwa utilized earthly DNA. But for the Ash Ock fetuses—including Sappho's plenary—the particular McQuade Unity injected to produce the telepathic interlace differed substantially from the type used in the creation of the other breeds. This McQuade Unity had been endowed with an invisible aspect of sorts ... an undetectable distillation of what the Os/Ka/Loq possessed naturally, yet a variation specific to our kascht."
Timmy released a sigh. “I confess my scientific inadequacies here. My explanation does not do justice to the phenomenon of the Ash Ock. But I'm afraid that only Theophrastus—or the Os/Ka/Loq—could define the depth of our existence more clearly. Suffice it to say that we of the Royal Caste have nothing in our genes that makes us the way we are. This should clarify something that you certainly must have been curious about over the years."
Empedocles gave a double nod. “No medical exam ever detected evidence indicating that my tways had greatly extended lifespans."
"Precisely. Just as your very existence as a tway of a Paratwa remained unfathomable, so too did your extraordinary life expectancy, for both concepts have nothing to do with DNA and everything to do with the T-psionic. And this fifth force of nature still remains basically immeasurable by the methodologies of earth science.
"However, there was an unexpected side effect involving the creation of the Ash Ock. The tway-sets were endowed with a certain ... weakness. The Os/Ka/Loq creature known as Sappho, with one tway on the Biodyysey and one tway on Earth, had been a solitary consciousness—up until that moment when the tway here on Earth transferred her consciousness into human form. From that instant, Sappho was able to exist as a pair of distinct halves. This side effect gave rise to the most unique aspect of the Royal Caste—the ability of the Ash Ock Paratwa to live in both worlds, to be either one or two, to be able to split into separately conscious tways or unite into monarchy."
Empedocles shrugged his Gillian/tway. “I always suspected that having conscious halves was a flaw. The natural perfection of monarchy was forever being interrupted by these lesser awarenesses, these side effects...” He stopped abruptly. Fresh comprehension filled him with excitement. He smiled, allowing both faces to express his triumph.
"Ahh, my good student,” said Timmy, grinning also. “I see now that you finally understand. Be of good cheer, Empedocles. From now on, your problems in this area will be notably diminished."
Gillian steeled his emotions, using every bit of willpower at his command to prevent an undercurrent of devastating terror from bursting out of him and entering their monarch's field of vision. I know why I'm afraid, he projected.
Susan waited.
Gillian drew what he imagined to be a deep breath; he tried to induce those mnemonic aspects that had once been his lips to propel the terror out of him. But the words refused to come.
What is it? asked Susan, perceiving his reluctance, his growing fear. Whatever it is, Gillian, you have to say it. Even if he hears you. Just say it.
Gillian imagined himself nodding his head. The words came. I can't go back again. He imagined his breath coming in short palsied spurts. He imagined himself hyperventilating.
Susan projected bewilderment. What do you mean?
I can't go back again, he repeated. I can't return to my body. I'm trapped here.
I ... don't understand. You said that we just had to wait for the proper conflux of circumstances. You said that under the proper conditions, we could dissolve the interlace...
I was wrong. He sensed bitter laughter rising from his guts. I was so afraid of the alternative—becoming like Timmy, Gillian and Empedocles melding together into a
new consciousness—that I lost sight of the truth.
What truth? demanded Susan, not worrying whether or not Empedocles sensed her emotions—frustration mixed with a growing fear.
Gillian forced himself to continue. Here, within this cell of the Os/Ka/Loq, where the purities of the T-psionic force have been maintained, Timmy was able to correct arrhythmia of the whelm. But that was not all he was able to do. Besides incorporating you, Susan Quint, into the wholeness of Empedocles, thus bringing back a fully dualistic Paratwa, Timmy also arranged it so that I could never escape this amalgamated state of consciousness.
Susan found herself refusing to accept his conclusions. How do you know?
The mnemonic cursors! They've put some kind of a hold on me. I can feel it! Within my body—within the consciousness of Gillian—these control cursors have been configured to prevent me from ever attempting to dissolve the interlace. Timmy must have issued specific commands to the cursors while I was in one of my dream states. He arranged for me to be subsumed forever to the will of the monarch. I can't break free!
Susan forced resolve into her words. If Timmy issued those commands to your mnemonic cursors, then he must also know the counter phrases that would reverse their effects. We just have to figure out a way to persuade him. Or else, we have to gain access to that control language.
How? We're trapped in here as amalgams! And we need more than just access to that control language. Remember, my particular mnemonic cursors must first be armed by Timmy's wetware eye. Gillian felt a wave of defeat pour from consciousness. It's no use. Timmy is the only one who can bring me back. And he won't do it willingly!
Susan understood. A chill escaped her. And now Empedocles knows all of this. Our monarch now realizes how important Timmy is to you.
Empedocles's triumphant feeling produced a new sense of resolve. “Why was I created?” he demanded. “Why did Sappho need a fifth Ash Ock?"
The Paratwa (#3 in the Parawta Saga) Page 29