Tales of the Vuduri_Year Five

by Michael Brachman

  Have I got a deal for you!

  Yesterday, we found out that within the resort town of Ur, they use money, a coin specifically, as a medium of exchange. The name of the coin is a Deucat and it has a picture of The Hand of Deucado on one side and an image of the planet of Deucado on the other. The size, weight and composition was very similar to a silver dollar, a Morgan Dollar actually (example below). Since this was the first time they ever encountered one, clearly Rome and Rei did not have any. Rei needed to figure out how to get some:

  Rei handed the Deucat back to the merchant and turned to Rome.

  “Let me have your ring,” he said.

  Rome quickly hid her left hand behind her back. “Why?” she asked suspiciously.

  “I just need to borrow it for a few minutes,” Rei insisted. “I’ll give it back, I promise.”

  “Very well,” Rome said unenthusiastically. She used her right hand to gently twist and remove the diamond engagement ring off of her left ring finger. The ring had been Rei’s gift to her on their one year anniversary. It was among her most prized possessions because of what it represented. Reluctantly, she handed the ring to her husband.

  Rei held the ring out to the merchant. “How much will you give me for this ring?” he asked.

  “Rei!” Rome shouted. “No!”

  “It’s OK,” Rome,” he said. “I know what I’m doing.” The merchant took the ring from him and held it up to the light.

  “It’s a four carat flawless diamond with two one-carat diamonds on the sides. Mounted on a pure platinum base.”

  The merchant’s eyes grew wide. “This ring, it is very valuable,” he said. “I would nawt have enough to pay ya. Maybe up top? At the casino?”

  “Not necessary,” Rei said. “Would you say that ten Deucats is a fair price?”

  “Ten Deucats?” the merchant sputtered. “It is worth a hundr’d times that much, a thous’nd.”

  “OK then,” Rei said. “I’ll sell it to you for two Deucats.”

  “Rei?” Rome whined, “what are you doing?”

  “Shhh,” Rei chastised. “Two Deucats?” he asked again.

  “Of course, of course,” the merchant said. He reached into his bag and pulled out two silver coins.

  “So here’s the deal,” Rei said. “You’re giving me two Deucats. I’m going to go away for a little bit and when I come back, I’ll give you ten Deucats to buy the ring back. The way you said. OK?”

  The merchant narrowed his eyes.

  “Look, you’re making back five times your investment in just a few minutes. You agreed it was worth at least ten Deucats. Do we have a deal?”

  “Ya,” said the merchant. “We can do this.”

  “Great,” Rei said and he held out his palm. The merchant dropped two silver coins into his open hand.

  Rei turned to Rome and Bonnie. “I’m going to go down the road for a few minutes. You two stay here and keep an eye on this guy. Make sure he doesn’t do anything funny or take off.”

  Hmm. The world of Deucado has unlimited energy and molecular sequencers. A person can literally have anything they want. Rei wants some Deucats. What do you think he's going to do with his sample?

  Entry 5-229: August 17, 2017

  The Bargain

  Yesterday, Rei gave a Deucadon merchant Rome's engagement ring as collateral so that he could borrow two Deucats, the medium of exchange in the resort town of Ur. We all know what Rei is going to do with his samples. He is going to dash back to MINIMCOM and have him synthesize a boatload. Counterfeit? I'm not sure since they will be made of the exact same material, silver mostly, so in theory they should have the same value as a "real" Deucat, whatever that comes to. So I don't think he's cheating. Let's see what happens when he comes back to retrieve Rome's ring:

  Rome grabbed Bonnie’s arm and pulled her over to sit on a bench that she spotted just behind the merchant’s table. They watched the merchant turn the ring over and over in his hand. He even tried to slip it on one of his fingers but the ring was too small. They just sat in silence for about ten minutes until Rei came jogging back from down the road. In his hand was a leather-like sack similar to the one the merchant had on his hip.

  When he arrived at the table, he took a moment to catch his breath then reached into the bag and brought out ten coins, placing them on the table.

  The merchant picked up the coins and examined them closely. He even tried to bend one. He looked at Rei and his full sack and slid the pile of coins back toward him.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” the merchant said. “The deal is now one hundred Deucats.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Rei growled at him. “A deal’s a deal. You agreed to ten Deucats. Where’s your integrity?”

  “Sorry,” the merchant said with a slightly crooked grin. “The deal is now one hundred Deucats or I keep the ring.”

  Rei started to clench his hand into a fist. Rome’s lilting voice entered into his head.

  “He’ll take twenty five,” Rome said. “He just wants you to bargain with him.”

  Rei turned to look at her. “How do you know?” he asked her.

  “I can read his mind,” she replied, smiling.

  “I thought you had to touch someone to do that.”

  “For deeper thoughts, yes. For something this simple, no. Offer him a few more Deucats and let him fight you down to twenty five. We have to be on our way.”

  “OK,” Rei said. He turned to the merchant.

  “Do you know who we are?” Rei asked, angrily.

  “Of course,” answered the merchant. “Everyone knows who yar. Yar possibly the most famous people on all of Deucado. Ya can certainly afford it, judgin’ by the size of yar bag.”

  Rei took a deep breath. “I’ll give you fifteen,” he said.

  “I will take naw less than fifty,” the merchant countered.

  “Twenty,” Rei said.

  “Forty,” offered the merchant.

  “Twenty five and that’s my final offer,” Rei said. He raised his fist in the air. “Otherwise, I start beating you.”

  The merchant smiled. “Ya drive a hard bargain but twenty five it is.”

  When Rome made the decision to evolve into a true telepath, she thought she would use her new abilities to extract the truth from people. This application is a slight twist but proved to be useful nonetheless. And practice is practice. So good on you, Rome. Tomorrow, the hunt for David Troutman, the would-be assassin, starts up again.

  Entry 5-230: August 18, 2017

  We go up!

  Yesterday, Rei had to bargain with an unscrupulous merchant just to get Rome's engagement ring back. Since he basically had an infinite supply of Deucats, the coins that the people of Ur used as a medium of exchange, it wasn't the number that bothered him but rather the principle. However, Rome counseled him on how to conclude the transaction quickly and successfully so Rei followed her instructions. She wanted her ring back and it was time to get on with the search for the man who tried to assassinate Rei:

  Rei let out a short burst of air then reached in his bag and brought out fifteen more coins. The merchant grabbed the Deucats then handed Rome’s ring back to Rei. Rei gave it to Rome who quickly placed it back on her finger, breathing a sigh of relief.

  “We’re done here,” Rei said and started to turn away. Suddenly, he turned back. Defiantly, he grabbed the fruit that started the whole exchange. “With your compliments, right?” Rei asked, still slightly miffed at the man.

  The merchant shrugged reluctantly. Rei handed the fruit to Rome and they left the merchant’s table to continue the search.

  “Where did you get the money?” Bonnie whispered as they were walking away.

  “I happen to know a magician,” Rei answered cryptically. “He can make anything happen. This wasn’t even a challenge. In fact, it made him laugh, it was so easy.”

  “OK,” Bonnie replied, shrugging.

  “Anyway, from the look of things, we’re gonna need some mone
y regardless.”

  “Why?” Rome asked.

  “Because it’s obvious that we’re too recognizable.” He pulled the hood of his cloak over his hair. “We’re gonna have to find something to cover you ladies up. I don’t want Troutman or Steele to get tipped off before we find them. The less attention we draw, the better.”

  Rei looked around and spotted a stall where an Ibbrassati woman was selling clothing. After a little modeling session, Rome selected a brown cloak. Bonnie selected a beige one. Rei purchased them from the woman manning the stall as Rome and Bonnie donned the cloaks. Bonnie pulled up her hood. Rome was about to do so when she said, “Wait!”

  “What?” Rei asked.

  Rome walked around behind the display and pulled out the new picture of Troutman, the one MINIMCOM had sketched with a beard. She showed it to the Ibbrassati woman but did not say a word. She put her hand on the woman’s shoulder and only then asked her if she had ever seen the man in the picture.

  The woman studied the image for a bit but claimed she did not recognize him.

  “Thank you for trying,” Rome said and she put the picture back in her pocket. The three of them started walking away. It was only then that Rome pulled up her hood.

  “So what’s the plan?” Bonnie asked as they moved through the crowd. “Canvassing the neighborhood?”

  “Not necessary,” Rome said with a smile. “I have discovered there is something in between the truth and lies. Sometimes a person cannot clearly recall something and discards the idea because they are not sure. Even though she said she did not know, I know that she did. She has seen Troutman.”

  “She did?” Rei exclaimed. “Where?”

  Rome pointed to the gigantic stone prominence over their head. “Up,” she said. “We must go to the top of The Hand.”

  How neat! I'm looking forward to the view from the top. Obviously there must be some way to get there but how? Let's find out.

  Entry 5-231: August 19, 2017

  Sweet Spots

  I don't know about you but I think the universe has a cruel sense of humor. There are only seven days a week and since I am asleep about 1/3 of that time, that leaves about 112 usable hours per week. Way early and way late are not useful for getting critical things done but you can stretch that. Plus or minus, the 112 hours should be enough to accomplish crucial tasks.

  The reason I say that the universe has a cruel sense of humor is because for some reason, and I believe it to be the semi-sadistic nature of fate, everybody and everything has a tendency to want to clump demands on your time to a few slots. Like Thursday from 2PM to 4PM. Sometimes Tuesdays. Nobody wants to do anything on a Monday or Friday, weekends are for non-work stuff, and I guess Wednesdays are held sacred to get the only real, private work done.

  People say, can we have a meeting or a conference call or whatever and it is always clumped around one or two slots. Even this weekend, my wife and I poured all of our errands into Saturday to free up Sunday for our all important visit with the grandbaby and sure enough, he is only available today. Damn.

  I find this corollary to be true for TV viewing as well. Instead of a nice, evenly spread distribution of days and times, I find that all the TV shows I want to watch (and it is not that many) all fall on the same days and time slots. Now since I have a DVR, this is not really a life-threatening issue but still, it shows the malevolent intent behind the TV gurus and their counter-programming.

  I have a wedding next month and it runs smack into an Eagles game. You can't watch football during a wedding and if you "tape" the game, what are the chances somebody isn't going to blab the score before you have a chance to watch? And if you know the score, watching a replay of a game is really just that, an extended replay because you already know the outcome.

  I do use this universal tendency to my advantage. It is so reliable that if I need somebody to get back to me on something, I'll hop in the shower or go to the bathroom and invariably, that induces the phone to ring. I don't know the exact mechanism but I do know it works. A parallel to this is I can have no phone calls for hours but as soon as I jump on a conference call, somebody else calls. Or I am on the phone and that is the exact time somebody decides to text me which cause my bluetooth headset to disconnect.

  My brother Bruce calls it synchronicity but that is just a description, not an underlying mechanism. Me, I call them sweet spots because they are sweet and convenient from the perspective of everybody else and whoever is controlling the universe. For me, they are just a titanic pain in the butt and the source of much angst but such is life.

  Sorry for the grumbling but who ever promised things would be easy?

  Entry 5-232: August 20, 2017

  Truth is getting stranger than fiction

  Yesterday, I provided conclusive evidence that there is intelligence out in the universe and that controlling organization may not be so benevolent, at least from my perspective. It may not be that the universe is cruel, it may just be that we puny mortals cannot comprehend the humor imposed.

  Today I want to explain about my plight as a science fiction writer. Science fiction is speculative fiction about what could be or what might have been using a scientific basis. I prefer spaceships and aliens, others prefer dystopian futures, still others write about alternative pasts. The common theme, and the thing that distinguishes science fiction from fantasy is that story must have a logical basis and cannot be based upon magic or things that we know not to be true. You can have a science fiction book about a vampire but you have to come up with virus or some other plausible explanation as to the vampire's habits as opposed to fantasy where you just say , there are vampires.

  When I write my science fiction, I try to speculate on a future based upon physics and science that we know. If I have to invent something, I take what we know and extrapolate but there is always a clear path back to the known universe. My problem is my speculations are no longer so speculative. Science is coming up with stuff so fast that it is surpassing my ability to make it up.

  Case in point: I invented a teleportation device based up the Casimir Effect and used it to move my characters from point A to point C. Pretty cool, huh? Pretty science-fictiony, right? Well, as I wrote about several weeks ago, I found out that Chinese scientists have been successfully performing teleportation for years now. Uh-oh.

  And I speculated that first MASAL and then OMCOM could perform precision genetic manipulation on their unknowing subjects to improve (or in MASAL's case degrade) the species. Well, as I will write about tomorrow, scientists are already doing this today using a gene-splicing technique called CRISPR to create bacteria that can excrete oil, insulin or remove genetic diseases in human embryos before they begin to develop. Uh-oh on several levels.

  Anyway, I'll continue to write science fiction about other worlds, creatures and cultures but I think I have to up my game when it comes to speculating about scientific development because science is coming on strong and it doesn't appear to be slowing down. If anything, the speed of discoveries is increasing and in some cases has surpassed stuff I came up with even 10 years ago.

  Entry 5-233: August 21, 2017

  CRISPR

  Yesterday, I mentioned that science is developing faster than I can keep up. I thought many of my ideas in the world of Rome’s Revolution were not outlandish but certainly ahead of the curve. Take MASAL's and OMCOM's genetic manipulation of Rome and Rei. I was pretty sure it was way out there but we'd all believe it was possible some day. Well, that day has already arrived.

  Meet CRISPR. No, this is not a thing that makes french fries. The acronym stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats although the name is no longer 100% tied to the technology. The modern name is CRISPR/Cas9 and it is a methodology for directly injecting new genetic sequences into the DNA of living creatures. It can also be used to remove a particular sequence as well. Scientists who use this technology are sometimes called biohackers which is kind of a scary appellation.

  Wh
at are the implications of this? It is astounding. For example, biohackers are working on forcing ordinary E. Coli bacteria to secrete human-injectable insulin. Others are trying to get yeast to secret biofuel. Still others have used CRISPR to inject a moving GIF of a galloping horse in another strain of E. Coli. Why would you want to do this? It is the beginning of an information revolution where data can be reproduced biologically and therefore immortal. I have inserted the Galloping Horse GIF at the bottom of this post.

  Scientists have grander plans for additions to animal DNA using CRISPR. Because pig organs are roughly the same size as human, biohackers are hard at work altering pig organs so they can be transplanted into humans. Can you imagine a world where they can grow you a new kidney or pancreas or eyeball on a pig? It sounds like science fiction but it isn't too far away.

  As I mentioned above, CRISPR can also be used to delete genetic sequences. This is possibly more exciting and more practical than additions. Scientists have created mosquitos that cannot carry malaria and created more muscular and hairier goats. They are also making progress in elimination of diseases like leukemia, muscular dystrophy and HIV infections. Some day, altruistic biohackers may be able to modify a Type 1 diabetic's beta cells to ward off attack by the person's own immune system meaning they would no longer even need insulin.