The Reality Thief (Deplosion Book 1)

by Paul Anlee

  “No,” Larry answered, a little uncomfortable talking about such things so openly. “I can show you the field I used, but I don’t think you want to be anywhere near where I project it.”

  LaMontagne quickly took position just behind the desk where Larry sat. “I’ll make it big enough so you can see it, but not as big as the one I used to hold Darian. It has very strong boundaries against the matter in this universe so once I’ve set it up, you’ll be quite safe. You can even touch it if you like.” He pushed a few buttons and the little blue bubble disappeared, but was soon replaced by a one-meter gray sphere.

  LaMontagne rushed over to examine the new globe. He glanced at Larry, curiosity burning in his eyes.

  “Go ahead. It’s safe to touch,” encouraged Larry.

  The Reverend extended a finger to poke the bubble. The surface resisted depression where his finger prodded. He pushed a bit harder then tried to shove it, first with one hand, then with both. It wouldn’t budge.

  Larry laughed. “The field is referentially locked to the entire planet. You would have to be able to literally move the Earth to budge it. Its boundary is made up of the difference in natural laws that exists between our two universes. Except for what the equations allow to pass, it’s impenetrable.

  “A force field,” gushed the Reverend.

  “Well, I hadn’t thought of that use but, yes, it could be,” replied Larry. “Right now, it’s set to allow light and sound to penetrate so it wouldn’t be a very good force field but we could probably adjust that.”

  “Amazing! But how did you use this to do away with Dr. Leigh?”

  “The sphere was just the trap. I set up a series of equations to slowly reduce the size of electron orbitals inside until they collapsed completely, and chemistry became impossible. The microverse that held Darian shrunk until it stopped supporting the chemistry of life and then even farther. As far as I know, it still exists; it’s just smaller than a proton.”

  “Did he suffer? Or did he just…disappear?”

  “For the way he treated me—all because I chose not to take his lattice virus and become something inhuman—and for his arrogance toward God’s Creation? Yes, he suffered,” Larry confirmed. His defiant chin and indignant tone challenged the Reverend to fault him.

  “May his soul find peace,” said the Reverend.

  Larry frowned for a second but backed down, subdued by LaMontagne’s humility. “Whatever is left of his soul.”

  LaMontagne waited for Larry to continue, expecting there to be more, but that was all Larry would say. He set the RAF generator back to INACTIVE and closed the lid.

  “I hope you’re satisfied; I’ve done what I said I’d do. I trust I will be properly compensated.”

  “Mmm,” replied the Reverend moving toward the door, “indeed you will be, Dr. Rusalov. Although one might argue that upholding God’s laws in the universe and vanquishing those foes who would seek to irresponsibly change the natural way of things might be reward enough.”

  Larry brows furrowed and he was about to respond when LaMontagne laughed. “Fear not, Dr. Rusalov. Larry. We deeply appreciate what you have done on behalf of our Lord and His People. You will be suitably rewarded, as we have discussed, with a tenured position.” He called “Jeff” back into the room.

  “Please take Dr. Rusalov to the Private Guest House so he can clean up,” he instructed. “See that he is comfortable there until lunch is served.”

  Larry picked up the laptop back in one hand and his backpack with the other.

  “Why don’t you leave that here?” LaMontagne suggested. “We’ll have a chance for further demonstrations after lunch.”

  Larry stopped mid-action, “Sure, why not?” He set the laptop back down, zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. Following “Jeff” out of the study, he turned back to LaMontagne. “See you soon.”

  The Reverend smiled and nodded but said nothing. He returned to his desk as “Jeff” escorted Larry to back to the car.

  The gray sedan stood in the driveway where they’d left it about an hour earlier, but someone had popped the trunk. “Jeff” opened the driver’s side door and started to get in. As he did, he asked Larry, “Would you mind closing that for me?” Larry walked around to the back of the vehicle.

  As Larry reached up to close the trunk, “Jeff” hesitated and held up an index finger as if he’d just remembered something. He stepped out of the car. “Do you see a leather bag in there? Could you bring that up front for me, please?”

  Larry could see the bag pushed to the back of the trunk. “This black one?” he asked. “Sure.” He put down his backpack and reached for the other bag. He heard footsteps behind him and turned. A gloved hand held the biggest pistol Larry had ever seen, and it was pointed directly at his head. A shot rang out.

  The Reverend Alan LaMontagne gazed out the window of his study in time to see Larry’s lifeless body slide down the back end of the car. He watched as Jeff–that was, indeed, his real name—bent down and lifted the body into the trunk, tossed the gun in after it, and slammed the lid closed.

  He continued to watch as Jeff started the car, backed up a couple of meters, turned off the main driveway, and headed toward the lush gardens at the rear of the estate.

  The Reverend sat down at his desk and opened the lid of the laptop. He replayed his lattice recording of Larry’s fingers as they moved over the keyboard to enter the password. The display stopped at the RAF generator control program, ready to accept his command.

  The Very Reverend Alan LaMontagne smiled as he loaded a file with a simple set of equations into the generator’s parameters. He pressed ACTIVE, and a small blue sphere appeared in the air a few meters in front of his desk.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank YOU for reading this book. If you enjoyed it, I hope you’ll leave a review. For independent authors, like me, reviews are the best way of telling others the book is worth a read.

  Leave a review on Amazon, click here.

  Leave a review on Goodreads, click here.

  Thanks to Lee for being the most patient editor imaginable, and to my great team of beta readers: Joel, Abby, Craig, Ed, Eric, Gary, Lorraine, Mike, Jeff, Kathie, Leanna, Scarlett, Barbara, Susan, and Rachel. This is a much better book for your insightful and invaluable feedback.

  A special thanks to the members of Cuenca: Writing Our World for all your support and especially to our dear friend, Scarlett Braden, for your energy, enthusiasm, and guidance along the way.

  All science fiction writers owe a debt to the giants who have gone before us, many of whom still produce prolifically. I have been influenced by many of the best, though none bear the responsibility for any of my errors. Isaac Asimov, Iain M. Banks, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Ray Bradbury, David Brin, Arthur C. Clarke, Peter F. Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Sheri S. Tepper, and John C. Wright, you have all been great inspirations.

  The scientific community crosses many borders and intellectual boundaries. My career in biology has been guided by great scientists like David Bailie, David Pilgrim, and David Wishart (I don’t know why I always worked for guys named David). My love of developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics was inspired by Bruce P. Brandhorst in my undergrad years at Simon Fraser University. I also owe a deep debt of gratitude for the exciting and inspiring researchers in synthetic biology, including: Drew Endy, George Church, Tom Knight, Pam Silver, Chris Voigt, and Jay Keasling.

  I built upon a great many ideas in coming up with the speculative science, philosophies, and sociopolitical economics in the series. The following have all been sources for ideas, but none of them can be blamed for where I ran away with the inspiration: Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins, Andrew Thomas, Matt Strassler, John Mauldin, John Hussman, James Rickards, and Thom Hartmann.

  Further Reading

  This book contains a lot of real science and speculates heavily on possible advances in several fields. If you’re interest
ed in learning more about some of the areas discussed in this book, I suggest you pick up the following:

  Lawrence Krauss, A Universe From Nothing.

  An excellent review of cosmology and the possible origins of the universe.

  Andrew Thomas, Hidden In Plain Sight.

  A great series of five books at the time of this release, covering everything from gravity, relativity, quantum mechanics, time, space, and the particles that comprise all matter.

  Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion.

  A powerful analytic indictment of religious belief that applies logic and reason to spirit and faith.

  Francis Collins, The Language of God.

  A famous scientist’s perspective on reconciling belief in God with scientific studies of evolution.

  Jerry Coyne, Why Evolution is True.

  A fact-filled romp through the scientific evidence in support of evolution.

  George M. Church and Ed Regis, Regenesis.

  A look inside the mind of one of the world’s leading synthetic biologists. Includes the origins of the field, current practices, and some stunning visions of the future.

  James Rickards, The Death of Money.

  Analysis of how modern currency wars will be fought among the major countries of the world, resulting in the collapse of the international monetary system.

  Websites:

  Matt Strassler (https://profmattstrassler.com/), Of Particular Significance.

  Insightful and informative website from a theoretical physicist with essays on a variety of topics in physics.

  http://igem.org/Main_Page

  iGEM is the International Genetically Engineered Machines annual competition. This is *the* place to go to learn about the exciting research done every year by university undergrads from around the world.

  Study Questions

  The Deplosion series is not intended to be just a story. In addition to providing a thrilling read, it is meant to be a vehicle for discussing a variety of deep philosophical, religious, scientific, and social issues. Following are some questions to help stimulate further thought. Additional discussion can be found on the Paul Anlee Facebook page and science and philosophy blog (www.paulanlee.com).

  1) Sharon Leigh used a genetically-engineered virus to grow a semiconductor lattice in her brain. That lattice made her smarter than any human alive but it also led to her accidental death. If such a treatment were offered to you, would you take it? What about an implanted device that gave you internet connection? What about the DirectVR briefly described in Chapter 11 that allows you to more fully experience movies, as if you were dreaming?

  2) The dendy lattices were developed using synthetic biology. The “ceraffices” described in Alumston are all grown buildings, with the basic structure a genetically-engineered tree. What kinds of limitations, if any, should we place on such research and technology?

  3) Two different “origin stories” are presented, one in the Prologue (natural evolution of the universe) and one at the start of Chapter 2 (Alum and Yov’s Creation). Which resonated more with you? Which seemed more reasonable to you? After reading Darian’s lecture at the Philosopher’s Café, did you change your mind about these?

  4) The idea of preserving a brain-dead mother’s life so she can bring a baby to term is a controversial one, both from an ethical and legal perspective. Should the mother’s wishes (say, to be removed from life support) supersede that of her unborn baby? How does this issue relate to the controversy around abortion?

  5) When Darya needed to escape the Lysrandia inworld, her acolytes sacrificed three of themselves so she could get away. She left without much argument, seeing the rationality of preserving herself as leader of the rebellion. Compare and contrast human and Cybrid ethical reasoning in similar situations. For example, movies often portray a moment when a hero needs to choose between saving a loved one and a city of thousands or millions. Such choices cause some people great anguish. How would a Cybrid evaluate such a dilemma? Is one approach “better” than the other?

  6) Teenaged Darian dismisses the notion of God, the Creator, on what he sees as rational grounds, then provides an evolutionary argument for why faith is so powerful in humans. Are these two notions at odds with each other? Can a rational person dismiss God yet find reasons for faith? Is religious faith something that can even be discussed rationally and logically, or does it belong to the realm of spirit, emotion, and feelings only?

  7) Darya is first introduced as if she were human, and only later revealed to be a machine. Does the notion of an electronic brain thinking of itself as a person, with feelings and self-awareness, seem conceivable? Is there an ineffable “something” about being a biological human that cannot be implemented in computational machinery? What does it mean, then, to be human? How much of our bodies or brains can we lose and maintain our humanity? How much can we enhance or replace with synthetic devices?

  8) Almost everything in Darian’s Philosopher’s Café lecture was scientific fact. To the best of my knowledge, everything up to the first mention of “resonance” between virtual particles is factual. That’s where I slip into speculation, which may or may not prove to be correct some day. How much of what came before or after that point, did you find believable?

  9) Darya reveals that Alum’s true intention with the Deplosion machinery is to re-create the universe according to His own version of Heaven. His Heaven would be perfect; there would be no uncertainty in it, no struggle, no pain. Why would anyone oppose such a thing?

  10) One of the major differences between our universe and Alum’s Heaven is that the natural universe is filled with uncertainty and risk. Do you think the universe is deterministic or probabilistic? That is, do you think it’s possible (even hypothetically for an omniscient being) to know everything about the universe at any time and to predict what will happen next? Which kind of universe would you prefer to live in? If you were God, which kind of universe would you create?

  11) In justifying her decision to hack her fellow Cybrids’ belief systems, Darya says, “Rights are a luxury the universe can’t afford right now, and free will is just an illusion based on complex decision trees with non-controlled inputs and experiences.” Do you believe there is a rational basis for a “rights-based” society? Do you think “free will” is an illusion as she described?

  12) Alternus is modeled on the real Earth of the near future; it faces many similar problems to those we face today. Are we smart enough to make good choices for the future of humanity and the planet? Why do you think I made “growth” such a major factor in the discussion? At one point, one of the Davos delegates—a Cybrid—decries the need for humans in the universe, and the need for Cybrids to serve and support them. Do you agree with Darya’s response, and the role of “sloppy evolution” as a factor in favor of the importance of biological beings?

  13) Larry states that Darian, Greg, and Kathy are arrogant and filled with hubris to think they have a right to the God-like power of changing the laws of nature. Is this adequate reason for him to kill Darian and take the RAF generator? Did the Reality Assertion Field push past the limits to places where science should not dare to go? Do you think there should be such limits to research? Why or why not? Discuss specific examples.

  The Reality Incursion (preview)

  Deplosion: Book Two

  Coming: Summer 2017

  When a mysterious anomaly threatens the destruction of Earth, who will save humanity? With the help of Cybrid engineers, Greg Mahajani and Kathy Liang rush to complete the asteroid habitats before the Eater grows beyond its containment. Is Reverend LaMontagne’s help genuine, or does he have other motives for cooperating?

  Darya's Cybrid revolution set back Alum's Divine Plan but also caught the Living God’s attention. Now she and her team have their own troubles, trying to figure out how to save Alternus, while dodging Shard Trillian who will stop at nothing until he’s destroyed them. Will they be able to escape before his deadly attack traces their avatar personas
back to their trueselves?

  Darak and Brother Stralasi are working their way toward the Center of the Realm. Little do they know, the Angel Mika and his Wing of ten thousand lie in wait. Will they thwart Darak’s journey to confront the Living God? Or will the rebels of Eso-La and the last of the alien Aelu help Darak stop Alum’s plan to remake the universe in the Living God’s own image of Heaven?

  Chapter 1

  “WHAT WAS THAT?” GREG CLUTCHED HIS HEAD WITH BOTH HANDS.

  “I think something’s happened to Darian,” Kathy croaked. “Something bad.”

  An hour earlier, before the uninvited flood of their mentor’s memories overwhelmed them, before they lost control of their minds and landed their car in the shallow ditch, she and Greg had been at home, sound asleep.

  Darian had called them through their private lattice network, jarring them from early-morning dreams.

  It works!—was all he said at first.

  It works? What works?–Kathy had replied, dragging herself toward consciousness. Her sluggish mind worked out the meaning of his simple utterance, and its significance hit like an electric shock.

  “It works!” she squealed and shook Greg awake. Greg activated his lattice, joining Kathy and Darian online to share in the excitement. Darian was on his way into the lab to compile better data with the vacuum chamber and laser interferometer. Can you meet me there?—he’d asked after apologizing for the early hour.

  Can you wait 'til we get there before you run it again?—Kathy requested. Darian promised to hold off with further testing, but she didn’t believe him. Were the situation reversed, she didn’t think she’d be able to hold off on playing with the most important discovery in physics this century.

  After the call, Kathy sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the starry sky, remembering the image of the Milky Way Darian had shared. You are here—it said, an arrow pointing to Earth’s solar system about half way in from the outer edge of the galaxy. It always made her feel small. But the invention of the Reality Assertion Field generator would more than compensate for that. “Wow, can you believe it? It finally worked.”