Tales of the Vuduri: Year Three

by Michael Brachman

  “We keep it hidden,” Rome said, “because we all need something that is for ourselves. Something that we do not share with the Overmind. We keep it hidden in our hearts but the feelings are there. We need them.”

  “Feelings?” Pegus said with a hint of disgust. “They serve no purpose.”

  “That is just what the Overmind says.” Rome leaned over. “Do you feel this?” Rome said, holding his wrist up. She curled her hand around his and squeezed it. “How does that feel? To have another human touch you?”

  “It feels, it feels nice,” Pegus said, staring down at her hand. “Yes, it is nice.”

  “That is something that the Overmind has lost, that humans have lost. Without our own mind, we cannot feel. The Overmind needs to feel. To know what it is to be human. It has grown amoral. A war was fought between humans and MASAL and all the computers, because MASAL could not feel. Now the Overmind is the same as the computers. It no longer cares about the individual, only itself.”

  “Even if I agreed with you, how can I do anything about it? I am just one man,” said Pegus.

  “It only takes one,” said Rome. “A teacher. The rest will learn. This Overmind will become healthy again. It wants to be healthy again. It has told me so. You will lead it. You will go back to being human.”

  “You said you would reconnect me again,” said Pegus. “As soon as I am back in, will not my thoughts become those of the Overmind again?”

  “It does not have to be that way,” said Rome. She squeezed Pegus’ hand harder and harder until he winced. “Remember this. Remember to feel. Remember that you are Pegus. You keep a part of you for yourself. The Overmind becomes your neighbor, not your owner.”

  “I do not think I can do this,” said Pegus. “I am afraid.”

  Like a quivering rabbit, all Pegus wants to do is to go scurrying back to the safety of allowing the Overmind to think for him. He wants to be a living robot. After all, this was MASAL's very plan when he deployed the 24th chromosome. But Rome has other ideas. Tomorrow, she begins putting her final stamp on the act.

  Entry 3-110: April 15, 2015

 

  The revolution begins, part 4

  Yesterday, Pegus got to experience, for the first time, what it would like to be an individual, not one of the Overmind's minions. At first, he really was not interested:

  “I do not think I can do this,” said Pegus. “I am afraid.”

  “Do not be afraid,” said Rome. “You are not losing anything. You are finding something. I did it. You can do it too.”

  “You are different,” said Pegus. “You are unlike any Vuduri that has ever lived.”

  “You are wrong,” she said. “I am just like my mother.”

  “Your mother was this way?”

  “Yes. And where there is one, there must be others. But I think they have been hiding in fear. Maybe fear of retribution, for keeping their own mind. But here, on this world, we are going to do it a new way. This will be a world of joy, for all, for mandasurte, for Vuduri, for Essessoni, for all.”

  “For the Essessoni?” Pegus offered. “You mean your husband.”

  “No,” said Rome. “For all the Essessoni. The ones from Rei’s Ark.”

  “The Ark? You said it was destroyed!” Pegus said. “You said all the Essessoni died.”

  “I lied,” Rome said.

  “Then everything is lost,” said Pegus. “The Erklirte have returned. It will be the end of all of us!”

  “No, you said my husband is Essessoni. He is a good and remarkable man. The ones like him, they will make our world a better place.”

  “Does the Overmind know about this?” Pegus asked fearfully.

  “Yes,” Rome said.

  “How could I not know this? How could the Overmind keep this a secret? We have someone there who should have warned us. We must destroy them before they destroy us. Surely the Overmind would insist on this.”

  “No, we have made our peace, the Overmind and I. No one is going to be destroyed. And making peace with the Essessoni, that part will all work out as well, somehow. It is what comes after that is important. And that is where you come in. You will have to lead the way.”

  “Me? Why me? Why not you?” Pegus asked.

  Rome does not want to lead the revolution. She just wants to start it. She wants all the world and all humans to experience the joy she has found in individuality. Tomorrow, she charts a new path for Pegus.

  Entry 3-111: April 16, 2015

 

  The revolution begins, part 5

  Yesterday, Rome explained to Pegus that she did not want to lead the revolution. Today she explains why:

  “I am going to go be with my husband. And my baby. We have our lives to live too,” Rome said.

  “How do I do this?” Pegus asked, releasing Rome’s hand. He put his hands to his temples and massaged them a bit.

  “I will instruct the Overmind to connect to you. You must keep Pegus in control. Keep a part of you separate. Think of it as a wall. Put the part of you that is Pegus behind that wall. The rest can connect.”

  “How do I build this wall?” Pegus asked.

  “It is a wall of feelings. Those are the building blocks. Just remember. Remember to feel. The rest is easy.”

  “Nothing is easy with you,” said Pegus, sighing. “But I am ready to try.”

  “All right,” Rome said. She opened her connection to the Overmind and informed it that it was time.

  Pegus’ eyes became defocused, then alert. He looked at Rome. Then he smiled.

  “Is it you?” Rome asked.

  “Yes, it is me,” said Pegus. “I am here. I am with the Overmind but I am still here.”

  “Very good,” Rome said. “Now, disconnect.”

  “What?” Pegus asked. Rome was not sure if that was the Overmind or Pegus protesting.

  “Not permanently. Just as a test. You can reconnect back right away.”

  “How do I do this?” asked Pegus. Now Rome was sure it was Pegus speaking.

  “You just take more of Pegus and put it behind the wall. That way, there is less of the Overmind. You just do this until the Overmind is gone.”

  “Gone?” Pegus said.

  “I already explained. It is not permanent. You know how to make the connection large. That was your life before. Use the wall. Take the connection and make it so small that it is no more.”

  Pegus closed his eyes then opened them again. “I am Cesdiud,” he said, smiling.

  “No, not Cesdiud,” Rome replied. “Disconnected. Go ahead and reconnect.”

  Pegus nodded once and it was done.

  “Very good,” Rome said. “You have done well.”

  Rome opened her connection to the Overmind.

  “You see, that was not painful, was it?” she asked in her mind.

  “No, I can tolerate this,” thought the Overmind.

  “So can I,” thought Pegus.

  “I think this is what Rei would call a party,” Rome thought.

  And so it is that Rome set Pegus on a path that would eventually lead to the liberation of all the Vuduri on Deucado. But what about Earth? Tomorrow.

  Entry 3-112: April 17, 2015

 

  Rome’s Revolution

  No, I'm not talking about Rome's Revolution, the book. I am talking about the revolution itself. What is it and what does it mean? We saw yesterday that with the Overmind's permission, Rome taught Pegus, the leader of the Vuduri on Deucado, the "forbidden" art of separation. That is the ability to maintain one's individuality even with the Overmind present. What is critical here is that Rome had taught the Overmind why it needed to accept and embrace this practice.

  Unbeknownst to the Overmind of Deucado, Rome had already introduced this technique to Commander Ursay when the Stareater Balathunazar was bearing down on Skyler Base, preparing to consume Tabit. What is critical here is through her words and actions, Rome taught Ursay why he needed to accept and embrace this practice. In Part 3 of Rome's R
evolution, we come to find out that Ursay has learned his lesson well and practices it more and more. In fact, in the novel The Ark Lords, we find out he spends more time separated than connected. The Overmind of Earth is made up of many more minds than the Overmind of Deucado and even it realized this was a healthy course of action. By the time we get to the end of the 35th century, we learn in the novel The Milk Run that Ursay has effectively become President of Earth.

  And what of Helome? The Overmind there was always a little different, mainly because of the overwhelming beauty of the planet. It was not very difficult for the Vuduri there to become "infected" with the desire to be independent when Rome and Rei dumped off the members of the Darwin Project. We see this in the novel Rome's Evolution. Captain Keller has married Virga and they already have two children together. They are building a society in the image of that of Deucado. What is critical here is that Rome provided the Vuduri of Helome an overwhelming argument as to why they had to accept and embrace this practice.

  And so it is that Rome, the little mosdurece (half-blood) data archivist and computer lutteur, who never quite fit in, overturned the entire Vuduri civilization and moved it from a path of self-destruction to one of enlightenment and health. If that is not a revolution, then I do not know what is. I am very proud of her, even though she will not be born for another 1415 years.

  Entry 3-113: April 18, 2015

 

  The Laniakea Supercluster

  I attended a meeting of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society the other night. The guest speaker was literally the second most famous science fiction writer I had ever seen in person. His name is Samuel R. Delaney and if you haven't heard of him, you should have. He wrote science fiction back when the field was not as crowded and there was room to become a superstar. He achieved that status and deservedly so. His most famous novel, Dhalgren, was first published in 1975 and I still remember parts of it to this day.

  Mr. Delaney's talk was fascinating but the reason I bring it up is because he mentioned something that I had never heard of, the Laniakea Supercluster.

  What is a supercluster? It is an accumulation of stars so vast, you have to build up to comprehension before you can absorb its meaning. Let's see if we can step up to it. We live on the Earth which orbits Sol, the Sun. Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is part of a cluster of galaxies called the Virgo Supercluster. Scientists used to think that was it. But late last year, astronomers discovered that the Virgo Supercluster was just an appendage to something even larger. They call it the Laniakea Supercluster which means "immeasurable heaven" in Hawaiian. It stretches over 160 megaparsecs (520 million light-years). It is so titanic that it exerts the same gravitational pull as 10 to the 17th solar masses, or a hundred thousand times that of our Galaxy.

  Here is a screen cap of a video showing how scientists mapped this out:

  If you want to read more about it, here is an article that gives a good synopsis of the techniques used to map this out. If you dare, you can also read the original article but it is rigorously technical. The bottom line is that this thing is so big, it takes up a measurable part of the universe. And there are other superclusters just as large! The whole thing is mind-blowing.

  P.S. The most famous science fiction writer I ever go to see (and meet) was Arthur C. Clarke who spoke when I was attending the University of Michigan. I remained after the lecture and actually got to speak to him briefly!

  Entry 3-114: April 19, 2015

 

  If aliens come tomorrow

  I live with the irrational fear that aliens will arrive on Earth tomorrow. Now it's not that I'm afraid they will be coming to eat us or conquer us. I'm not worried that they will transform society in a profound way and change the very nature of everything that we know.

  No, my fear is much more selfish. I'm afraid that if aliens come tomorrow, my career as a science fiction writer is over. After all, who wants to read books about other worlds and new life forms if everybody knows you are just making them up?

  At least for now, all of the things I have written about in the universe of Rome's Revolution cannot be known not to be true. They haven't happened yet. Until such time as we get to the future and find out they did not happen, they are possible which is all you want from your science fiction.

  If you write fiction about things known not to be true, it is called fantasy. If you want to write hard science fiction, and I do, then if you are going to violate what is known to be true, you have to provide a valid scientific explanation as to why.

  You probably think I should be more worried about economic disaster or a meteor hitting the Earth or a pandemic. It is true that these are things that should be feared but if they happen, I won't be worried about not being able to write science fiction any more. So for now, I'll just worry about aliens coming tomorrow.

  Entry 3-115: April 20, 2015

 

  The turning point

  Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. There are sound reasons why plays are three acts. Every superhero origin is discovery, learning your powers, solving the crisis. There are reasons why trilogies are trilogies and far fewer tetralogies or pentologies. Obviously, a single novel has no need of a special name. But when it becomes part of a series, it needs a name. Here are the names of the various groupings, or at least according to Wikipedia:

  # Name

  2 Duology

  3 Trilogy

  4 Tetralogy (sometimes Quadrilogy)

  5 Pentalogy

  6 Hexalogy

  7 Heptalogy

  8 Octalogy

  9 Ennealogy (when completed, Star Wars will be a trilogy of trilogies)

  10 Decalogy

  What is the point of all this rambling? It is that buried within every novel, every three act play, every trilogy, before the climax, I believe there is a turning point.

  The turning point is when the various forces coalesce to change the protagonist or hero and point them in the proper direction. It may take another thousand pages but you can draw a line back from the climax, forward from the origin and they meet at the turning point. At least that's my definition. A lot of writers would disagree. Classic literature refers to Freytag's Triangle or Pyramid. It looks like this:

  This diagram is only representational. The number of pages devoted to falling action and denouement might only be 5 pages. The rising action portion may basically the whole novel. But I put an arrow in to show what I think is the turning point.

  Three days ago, I posted the final portion of the middle section of Rome's Revolution where Rome gained the cooperation of Pegus and the Overmind of Deucado to begin liberating the Vuduri. To me, this is the turning point of the entire novel. While it is true that in the original long-form version, called VIRUS 5, it took another 160,000 words to conclude things, this singular act was the turning point of all of human civilization in the 35th century. It was the dawn of Rome's Revolution .

  Entry 3-116: April 21, 2015

 

  The purpose of life

  I'm not talking about the meaning of life, that's a discussion for another day. I'm talking about the purpose of life. And not just human beings. Why does life even exist in the first place? Does it even need to have a purpose?

  I got my inspiration from a novel entitled Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. This is a science fiction book about a mysterious race of creatures called the Overlords who have been sent to shepherd mankind into the next phase of existence and evolve to become part of the Overmind. Huh, I wonder if that's where I got the term.

  While there is certainly a lot of overlap at the most fundamental level, I don't think I copied it from this. It is what I truly believe. I think there is a purpose for life. And while I don't know what the entity is waiting up there for us, I think that is the goal of all life, to transcend the corporeal form and become part of the greater, the eternal.

  Here is (Hanry Ta Jihn)
Jack Henry's take on it from the latter part of The Milk Run:

  The helpful man looked at Aason thoughtfully. “Do you understand the purpose of life?”

  Aason shook his head. “I didn’t know there was a purpose of life.”

  “Of course there is. Surely you didn’t think life was merely a random series of births and deaths. Evolution just there to amuse itself?”

  Aason shook his head.

  The man opened his arms wide, trying to indicate the vast expanse of the land before them. “Since the beginning of time, men, and other creatures, have asked themselves the purpose of life. While each culture may have different specific goals and priorities, the purpose of life itself is and always has been to achieve a mass-mind that can transcend the physical body and remain self-aware. This has happened countless times in the past, both in our galaxy and uncounted others throughout the universe.” The man pointed straight up. “Up there is the place is where they all go once they achieve that state. Your mother’s people, the Vuduri were headed down that path.” The man shook his finger at MASAL. “Their Overmind is merely a detour. Eventually, humans will achieve an Over-mankind and rise up to take their rightful place among the gods above without fear of dilution or absorption.”

  Does this seem comforting to you? Dismaying? All I know is I still have to go to work and earn money to pay the mortgage. I'll leave life to achieve its purpose down the road or at least past the weekend.

  Entry 3-117: April 22, 2015

 

  The meaning of life

  Yesterday, I discuss the purpose of life briefly. Today's topic is the meaning of life which quite a different subject altogether. While the purpose of life is common from bacteria through trees and worms and monkeys and man, the meaning of life is much more personal. The meaning of each person's life is up to them.