Of Reality and the Future: TimeSaga D8 (All 5)

Of Reality and the Future
TimeSaga:  The Source Story Eight
Chapter One

I could not help but exclaim, “You cannot seriously be considering dropping a nuke!”  The whole room went quiet, so I was glad to see my brother enter the room.  “Clyde, please tell me that the Achilles does not have nukes on board.”

He scanned the room, which had me feel that his answer would fit the situation and not simply be the truth.  “Now, Debra, just because I am trusted with secrets does not mean that I am told every one.  I have no reason to suspect the Achilles has nukes on board.  A nuke would not help us with the okagaki, the verakiy, or the korlocks, so I would say that there was no desire to load the Achilles with nukes.”  I had to smile as he asked, “Why do we need one now?”

General Iasaki of the Iranian Air Force replied, “We need a secure location to drop our people.  There is no doubt that the transforming signal that turned the people of the Nerisus Federation into monsters is below.”

“Now, General, this is not the first time that we have encountered that situation.  This time I believe we have access to more than one robot.”  My brother turned to what appeared as a lovely lady with red eyes and long blue hair to say, “I am certain that I can trust you, FER-RON, to take out the speakers.”

In her usual flat feminine voice, my robot replied, “Yes, Major Clyde.  I have definitely learned how to recognize the speakers and effectively destroy them.  I would also say that the PASSIONs could help me.”

Clyde turned to look at me as he asked, “We have PASSIONs?”

I indicated one of my superiors as I said, “Dr. Beyonce brought two with her.  There are more on the Engendered, as it is a RayWeight vessel.”

“Ah, the toys my sister can play with.  Now, again let me ask why there is a feeling that we need nukes?”

General Iasaki replied, “Just letting everyone know the seriousness of our determination to succeed at this mission.”

“Captain Roy, you have nukes on board the Roland?”

The red-headed youth replied, “Uh, no, and Iran is not supposed to have them either.  General Iasaki however felt that you Americans would have them.”

“As far as I know, he is wrong.  Now, Debra, other than the method of clearing our landing point, what is the reason for this gathering?”

I replied, “The usual planning session, Clyde.  The conclusion is that we take out the source of the transforming signal.  The difference, hopeful difference, is that in this case we will be removing the source of the signal throughout the remnants of the Nerisus Federation.  The Iranians can claim a world for Allah, and others can claim worlds for their own reasons, without worrying about their populations becoming monsters.”

My brother still looked dignified even with hair now beyond military regulation.  While he had the build of someone with European ancestry, his dark hair I felt would give him the samurai appearance he was supposedly trying to obtain.  My brother had been with me on a number of previous missions, and I saw his confidence as he looked about the room.

He asked, “Who all is going with you, Debra?”

I answered, “FER-RON and Mary for certain.  We need Mary, as right now we are uncertain where the transforming signal is coming from.  The protection around the planet is good, and we detect the signal from all fourteen of the large strange satellites.  I have accepted Perry and his companions, as they were part of my advance from the beginning.  That status also applies to you, Clyde, which is why I did not allow General Iasaki to deny your presence.”

The general declared, “But we will have a team descending as well.”

Roy said, “Which is why I am going.  I will need to assure coordination of what Debra does and the Irani military.”

I added, “And I am having Chu and Lenny with me.  With so many robots active, I want some assurance that any problems can be dealt with.”

Clyde commented, “Sounds like the usual group to me.”

“As far as the actual advance is concerned.”

“When do we move out?”

“Four hours.  Clyde, you can have your team in one shuttle.  There will be a shuttle from the Engendered and one from the Roland.  With all three of our vessels now authorized, we should be able to pass down to the planet without any problems.  Oh, well done on gaining that authorization.”

I saw my brother bow as he said, “Thank you, your majesty.”  I smiled allowing that I did use my title as queen against my brother at times.  “Anything else to consider?”

General Iasaki said, “We will be bringing conventional bombs, just to be prepared.”

“I will not be bringing a nuke, even if I learn we have them on board the Achilles.”

“American arrogance.”

“I will not brag on our arrogance, but our competence.  I recommend that the Irani military seeks to do so as well.”

I did my best to hold a pleasant expression as everyone agreed to wait out the four hours while preparing for the descent.  Seeing everyone exit the room, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.  Dr. Beyonce broke her pleasant expression to fully smile, then spoke of her own thoughts of the coming operation.

“Now, Debra, the Irani have been quite vocal throughout our time moving through worlds, but have acted with reason.  Your brother has also not been a problem.  Everything should work out properly.”

“It should, but I am just realizing that success will have me as more than a programmer.  I feel that those in charge of RayWeight will be losing FER-RON, as after this I won’t stay a part of their company.”

“Just continue to keep us proud of you, Debra.  I did not know that I would be creating a monarch when I accepted you along with Jimmy, but you are a marvelous figure to have built my robot.  It is not FER-RON leading the charge to open up the Nerisus Federation to humanity, but Queen Debra.  Those at RayWeight are glad to have you on their staff, and right now there is no one challenging the amount we pay you.”

I knew to be pleased with her words, but understanding my situation had me say, “Well, let me go prepare my team.”

“I wish I was going with you, Debra.”  I turned back to her, so she added, “We are here due to my technology.  I am responsible for the creation of FER-RON.  I also will lay claim to being the mother of Mary.  I really would like to go down.”

I had to admit, “I just never had you pull rank before.”

“I am what I am due to my commitment to my work.  Well, this is it.  I have not just given humanity this wonderful technology, but I have stayed with it.  Having the entirety of the Nerisus Federation open to humanity I feel will allow me to feel that my work is over.  Maybe I will finally retire.”

“You’re the only boss I ever had.”

“I was never your boss, Debra.  Yes, I was responsible for paying you, but you took control from the beginning.  There was originally resistance to your additions to FER-RON, but after the death of Jimmy you had control.  You maintain control, Debra.  FER-RON would not be robot she is without you, and I know the PASSIONs and DARLINGs are selling because people trust what you did.  Right now I accept that you are feeling the weight of humanity trusting in your ability to overcome what the Nerisus Federation left.  Still, you can do this, and I promise you that even if not with you I will be watching.”

Attempting to remain some dignity, I simply told her four hours.  Dr. Beyonce assured me that she would be ready.  Hoping to be able to say the same, I simply turned to report to my own people.

I did not just hear my robot falling in behind me, but some softer footsteps rushed up to come beside me with Mary saying, “It is great having Mommy with us.”

I had to admit, “Well, she might have been speaking of me having control, but your mother has a lot of pull as well.”  We entered the large space where my team had set up, and I declared, “Okay, you told me four hours, and that is what I got the others to agree to.  You better be prepared.”

Chu turned from a seat near some PASSIONs to say, “We’re ready now, Queen.”

There were others present, but it was, Lenny, the other who had worked with me on FER-RON who said, “I did go through the details of the speakers and their transforming signals with the PASSIONs.  You should not have any problem once these ladies get busy.”

I had to say, “Well, I am worried at the moment of just reaching the surface of the planet.  The Iranians are speaking of carrying some bombs with them, and I am worried that the sensors around the planet will detect them and respond.”

Chu asked, “Is the protection around the planet that good?”

Mary replied, “I cannot penetrate it.”

I broke into the conversation to say, “Well, let’s get moving to our shuttle.  I know we have four hours, but no reason to wait until the last minute.  I suspect we might be needed to help others, and who knows what might happen.  If we are simply standing around bored, I consider that better than standing around bored here.”

It would not have surprised me to hear some complaints to that command.  I actually said it to find out how ready my team really was.  While Chu and Lenny had been with me for a good period of time, there were others I had barely come to know.  Not hearing complaints however let me know that there were no troubles being kept from me, and I did what I could to help accepting that I probably would be standing around the shuttle bored.

The PASSIONs really did not look like FER-RON.  I remember it being said that the military requested a less attractive form.  Their personalities however almost perfectly mimicked my robot, as there was a strong acceptance of my code.  I expected their voices to also duplicate FER-RON, but they had a slightly lower register that I easily identified as not being my robot.

It seemed that everyone else was eager to descend to the planet’s surface, as we barely waited half the four hour limit when we set to launch.  It did not surprise me to hear Chu mention that Clyde had his team ready.  My head mechanic had hoped to spend time speaking with his lady who continued to serve with my brother, but with Roy speaking of the Iranians being read to descend I set everyone to their places in the shuttle.

We had to wait for the proper satellites to come into position.  There were twelve of the great gilded panels we called keys, as they looked just like the objects we had originally used to activate the portals.  They were set at a height about a hundred ten miles above the surface, which was not an orbit that allowed them to be stationary.  While waiting, I joined a discussion of the two at the poles wondering how they did stay in place when no orbit would keep them in position.

Mary spoke of a strange resonance as we passed through the two satellites our system identified as those we had permission to pass between, then yelled, “IT’S THE TRANSFORMING SIGNAL!”

Of Reality and the Future
TimeSaga: The Source Story Eight
Chapter Two

While all the robots reacted to what the pink-haired girl declared, I calmly said, “We don’t have the type of speakers to truly reproduce the signal.”

Lenny commented, “Some people are buying them just for the sound quality, but no one is taking advantage of their ability to produce the physical wavelengths.”

Leroy, one of the new hires replied, “Well, the horror industry did think of using them, but came to the conclusion that a good strong bass did enough.”

There were transmissions from the other two shuttles about the strange sounds produced by their speakers. While it was considered disturbing that the satellites were able to overcome our own system to possibly transform us into the monsters that plagued our advance through worlds, we were all glad not to have developed some of technology the Nerisus Federation had. I did speak with those in the other shuttles about what would be required for us to be altered, but spoke with the others of being glad when the threat of humans becoming korlocks would no longer be present.

I worked to focus the robots on handling any actual threat. FER-RON had experience in dealing with monsters in limited environments, but the PASSIONs needed to be shown certain attack styles. I pointed out things about our height and the roof of the shuttle that would allow some shots. The PASSIONs needed to understand not just to avoid shooting at us, which I was glad to find integral in their logic, but to also keep certain parts of the shuttle undamaged in order to assure everyone’s safety. While I kept the robots on alert for any threat, we all relaxed with the feeling that those created to protect us would not be our doom.

We however all became alarmed when the voice of Chaos over the speakers could be heard to say, “Fascination.”

While one might have simply taken the word to mean that he was intrigued by something he saw, I knew the word to be the translation of a name of one of the intelligent entities from the transformation of the Nerisus Federation. Looking at a monitor, I became alarmed seeing a red mist develop around our shuttle. My memories of dealing with Urnaquay, or Fascination, were not horrible, but at this point in time I considered his presence an annoyance at best.

I activated my communicator and asked, “Roy, what are you sensing about Urnaquay?”

There was a possibility that the red mist would block our signals between our shuttles, so I was relieved to hear the lad reply, “I almost want to say that isn’t Urnaquay, although I can tell that it is. There was something that attracted Al, and I am sensing that enticement of wonder.”

“Well, don’t you give into it.”

“I am getting the same advice from the Irani military, Debra. I’m all right.”

Satisfied with that response, I put my focus on another. “Chaos, any trouble in our descent?”

The voice of the pilot of my brother’s shuttle usually was very calm, but I detected tones of agitation as he said, “I don’t believe we are descending any longer, Debra. Fascination is doing something around us.”

“Is he that powerful?”

“The power is in our zonons.”

I had not heard the word zonon in a long time. It was an early word created after the discovery of the active portal in India to identify what we had truly found. As we came to an understanding of the alien technology, we began to use words that identified the processes and not anything that spoke of what we were dealing with to be strange and unknown. I did not know if what I heard was Chaos using our word or simply my mind understanding that word to be the best translation of what he said.

I had to ask, “What can we do?”

“I tried powering through as your brother suggested, but it did not work. I therefore told him the same thing I am telling you, which is to deal with it. If I may offer some solace, you humans have been doing wonderfully at that.”

The voice of Roy came over the speakers saying, “General Iasaki told me to power through it as well, but I have to agree that it had no effect.”

Mary said, “We are becoming part of a simulation.”

Since she was not at a speaker, I spoke to make certain all knew what information she had supplied. “Do not trust the reliability of what you see or hear. Mary says we are entering a simulation.”

“Good!” Roy exclaimed. “I am feeling my second heartbeat, and was thinking Al was back alive.”

“Stay strong, Roy.”

“I am. Ask Mary if it is all right for us to land on that surface ahead.”

Instead of the girl replying, I heard a voice that troubled me say, “No, Roy. Follow that male Saprello.”

It did not help my attitude to hear Roy verify the one that spoke, “AL!”

“You just killed my body, Roy. Those guns you shoot are really not good at harming the transmuted parts, and I was mostly that at the time.”

“I don’t want to kill you again, Al.”

“Good, as you need me at the moment. Follow Saprello.”

I heard Genearl Iasaki ask, “Can we trust him?”

Clyde’s voice quickly returned an answer. “I am in the shuttle with Chaos, and I am trusting him. It is his body down there, and if he wants to be rescued he needs us on the ground.”

I spoke to assure those on my shuttle of my thoughts even as I hoped to encourage the others. “I trust Chaos. Maybe not Al, but I do trust Chaos.”

The voice of the kid said, “Yes, I have been an ass. Mary, to you and all your peaches, I apologize. I actually thought I could learn something, but I know now that it was just my own corruption driving my thoughts.”

I felt some relief in hearing Roy say, “You killed more than some of the Annapolis series, Al.”

“Listen, I’m sorry for those of the Annapolis series. The others, well, they were more casualties of a war. Let me retain some of my illusions, Roy, as I need them at the moment.” I could only guess that some body language, or maybe a mental connection, spurred the next comment. “You’re sweet on Mary?”

“I don’t think I am growing older, Al. I feel Mary and I could relate to each other staying stuck in young bodies.”

“Yes, Father really did wrong in making us, but it seems that we were what humanity needed. Would have me believe in God, or Allah, except that our lives are so corrupt. Still, I guess we are shining examples of humanity, so I am here trying to save you, Roy.”

“Thank you, Al.”

“Hey, just don’t go around saying that I ever liked you, all right?”

Suddenly, Mary said, “That is a secure landing spot! I cannot detect much, but I can tell that no signal comes from below. It’s ground.”

I detected some tension in Chaos’ voice as he replied, “I wanted a spot far enough away from our destination to be beyond the signal. We are still in the simulation, but at least we can be certain of not falling.”

Al commented, “Yes, everyone gets to be disappointed. Still, the first lesson we kids get to learn is that life sucks. There we are trusting in our parents to have everything under control, and we have to realize that they don’t. Further, it did not take me long to realize that I wasn’t going to fix it either. Still, here I am doing what I can to have the human race continue its path. I guess that means I lived a successful life after all.”

Roy replied, “I’m glad to feel your heartbeat again, Al.”

“Well, it really does not mean anything. Land this craft.”

I believe it was Roy crying that had General Iasaki say, “Do not mourn for your brother, Son. He has a multitude of sins to make up for. The fact that he is trying should bring you joy. Now, do what he said and land this craft.”

Having been through a few simulations, I knew the quality of what those of the Nerisus Federation could produce. I had not seen any indication that the technology was prevalent in the society, but I had to suspect it was a recent advancement. My own opinion was that it was used as an enticement to get everyone in the civilization to allow the special speakers into their public and private spaces. The fact that the simulations had been a tool to setup the extermination of those of the Nerisus Federation had me concerned for my experiences, but determined to overcome any barrier I prepared myself for whatever would come.

It did bring us some comfort when FER-RON and the PASSIONs agreed that we had landed. My robot had actually freed me from a couple of simulations, as her intelligence could not be manipulated in the way a regular mind could. The science of the transforming signal, and those of the simulations, were still beyond what we could understand, but it had been shown that we had been able to give our robots very practical senses. When FER-RON and the PASSIONs came off the shuttles to declare that the surroundings were safe, we had the comfort of not dying due to a simple illusion placed in our minds.

Stepping out of the vehicle, I however could not help but wonder about my reality. In the earlier simulations we did not actually move. While our bodies performed actions, we actually stayed within a limited area. Those watching did not see enough activity to entertain them. I therefore could not help but wonder if I was actually stepping out of the shuttle, although looked around knowing how real the situation in a simulation could be.

The sight around us had more relevance should we have still been above the planet. While I saw enough land around us to hold the shuttles, it quickly descended into a reddish-violet haze. Around us at a distance circled large masses that I wanted to call planets. Above was a grand floating structure composed of intertwining cords of some exotic material surrounding a strange yellow glow.

As I heard a voice say, “Hewollor, Losomor, Nalicholl, and Phoshect, the four original homes of those of our great civilization, all threatened by a fifth star spanning race not willing to be a part of our whole,” I finally placed what I felt the central structure represented.

“That’s supposed to be an okagaki ship.”

Roy replied, “Yeah, it does look like the really big one standing on its front. The tetrahedral ones are rather large as well.”

The others stayed quiet as I listened to the voice speak of the dangers of the okagaki, but then I had to speak another fact about the presentation. “He is not listing any actual attacks by the okagaki.”

This time it was Perry that replied, “You know, you are correct. All that is being presented is that the okagaki are not joining the Nerisus Federation, so the threat is only assumed.”

There was some statements of agreement, but we all went silent as images of the humanoid fighters of the okagaki were shown swarming from the central structure to descend upon each of the planets, which had me say, “There does not seem to be any real attempt to speak to the okagaki. I mean, we don’t have any agreement with them either, but my conversations with the okagaki have not had me thinking bad about them.”

Roy replied, “Yeah. They’re just different.”

We then started into a discussion about what we heard in the presentation and our own experiences with the okagaki. Unlike the other simulations, this one just seemed to be a lecture and not a set of situations to interact with. Not having our focus on what was occurring around us did not present itself as a problem. We did listen enough to comment on how things matched our opinions or presented other possibilities, but mostly held a discussion among ourselves of how we felt those of the Nerisus Federation had interacted with the okagaki.

All of us however turned with alarm when the presentation suddenly exclaimed, “Don’t you understand? The threat is real!”

The mass of okagaki images suddenly turned to us. Considering we were in a simulation, I had some concern for them appearing real. I however held my position wondering how far away they were from me, and how much of a physical threat they might present. What alarmed me was hearing the robots yell out an alarm stating their detection of korlocks, and I reacted understanding that they were a much more credible threat than the images of okagaki.

Of Reality and the Future
TimeSaga: The Source Story Eight
Chapter Three

I remember the first time I came out of a simulation, as I was worried about my attacks having an effect upon the reality around me. Previously, the things of the world around me would not be evident, so there was no way to take the surroundings into account. FER-RON and the PASSIONs were however present with the shuttles also visible. I also knew that the world we had come down upon was dead, so I did not bother worrying about my attacks upon the semi-material monsters.

It did hurt the presentation that what I saw coming upon us were the korlocks as I remembered them. In previous simulations the forms of the monsters had been altered as the equipment that operated the altered reality worked to adjust for their presence. Considering that the intent of the simulation was to present propaganda against the okagaki, one would assume the real threat would have been changed to appear as the ones who were supposedly an enemy. Actually having to attack korlocks that appeared as those of the Nerisus Federation had me think of them in an antagonistic manner.

The PASSIONs did have weapons capable of dealing with the monsters. It had been a concern with Dr. Beyonce about the quality of the arms available in her robots. She needed to get special authorization to have her robots able to give her the amount of protection she felt she needed. I found that the ones with us were using weapons as powerful as the one I used, because the PASSIONs supplied to a corporation did not need special authorization to match FER-RON in destructive capability.

There was not only my team, but a group from the Roland and Achilles as well. Only my group did not have members of the military present, although I felt those with me had the most experience in dealing with the monsters. Those leading the others however had worked with me. I did not just speak of tactics with my group, but worked to coordinate attacks with Roy who directed those of the Irani military and Clyde who had authority over American soldiers.

It however disturbed me to hear the voice of the presentation exclaim, “Yes, kill them! Kill those of the okagaki!”

I could not help but replied, “We are not attacking the okagaki! We are attacking those of the Nerisus Federation transformed by your stupid signal.”

Perry added, “Not that we would have to attack those of the okagaki. They would be – what? – a meter tall. Not that much of a threat at all. You could have made your simulated okagaki the same size as real okagaki.”

Roy said, “Yeah, even Mary and I are bigger than them.”

I felt the size of the okagaki were scaled larger than they were in reality, as they were impressive figures to go against the simulations of the home planets of the Nerisus Federation. The orbs were however much smaller than the real worlds. While I could not exactly judge distance and size, I trusted the mechanical perceptions to accurately establish certain facts. What I did was wonder about the processes behind the simulation, so felt a need to see if I could get a reaction.

“We really need to feel sorry for the okagaki. Poor little okagaki.”

I had said my words a little louder than regular speech, so it did not surprise me when my brother caught the intention of my words and declared, “Men, when the small robot people get here, let’s pet them and treat them kindly.”

The one I knew as Freckles replied, “Yeah, they are cute.”

Roy said, “They are not here yet. When are they going to get here?”

Mary answered, “They aren’t. I am getting the indication that they were simply to mass.”

I had to reply, “Yes. I felt this was nothing more than propaganda.”

Clyde asked, “But is that all there is to this? No demand for us to purchase war bonds, vote in a certain method, or even enlist in the military?”

The voice of the presentation exclaimed, “You should fear them!”

That told me what I wanted to know. There was an intelligence behind the simulation. Maybe it was nothing more than an administrator, but I had to allow that it could be someone like the programmer my brother met. With the knowledge that I was dealing with an actual intellect, I worked to know more of my surrounding.

I whispered, “Mary, find the location of this person.” Raising my voice, I then worked at again getting the one handling the simulation to respond. “We have met the okagaki. They are not bad people. Not like us at all, and not like you, but they are all right. We definitely have no reason to fear them.”

As hoped, I got the voice to make a statement. “If they are not with us, they are against us!”

Keeping my voice strong, I replied, “This is a grand universe. There will be others. Submission and integration should not be expected of all, although common courtesy and a means of trade should be possible with all intelligent species. The okagaki have shown us courtesy, and we are speaking of possible trade.”

“There is more to trade than a simple exchange. There needs to be a common language and currency.”

“No, there does not,” I shot back. “We can learn the language of the other, and a system of barter can be established.”

“Those are barbaric!”

“Those are simplistic, yes, but sometimes that is all you can do. We want to be good aliens. We want to rise above what we have been, and show ourselves to be a good people. If learning a language and managing basic trade is all we can do, we will do it! We will be the good aliens, and not spread the evil of the Nerisus Federation!”

As the voice replied, “You don’t know what you are speaking about!” Mary softly let me know, “I found him.”

Clyde said, “We got to take out the signal first.”

I asked, “Can we just leave this simulation? It does not seem as immersive as the others.”

Mary replied, “I believe we can. It is controlled by the satellites, but I believe only the two are authorized to let us pass are active.”

“Is the source of the transforming signal within the area of those satellites?”

“No. It should be outside their effective range.”

“Then let’s leave.” I then raised my voice to say, “We’re coming for you! We need to have a conversation.”

The voice replied, “I’ll be waiting.”

It shocked me to suddenly have the view around us shift back to reality. What I saw was a large paved expanse possibly once used for space vehicles to arrive and depart. One of the tall structures actually had a circular glass structure on top that appeared as an observation station found at almost any airport on Earth. I looked at the view around me, then made an observation.

“It seems that we landed where we should have. Now how about getting where we need to be.”

Mary said, “It’s over a thousand miles away.”

Clyde asked, “Any reason we cannot get back in the shuttles and fly there?”

“Our shuttles are not recognized on their network. I am sensing that their defensive programs are still active.”

I had to ask, “How about the people? Surely there were a percentage unaffected who have managed to keep offspring alive.”

“I cannot sense them. Wait. Ooh.” Mary had a hand go to her head as she groaned, and as we went to her she said, “I sense something, agony. I can now sense Saprello calling to me.”

Clyde rushed back to his shuttle, but heard his men mention that their pilot was no longer on board. Mary regained her composure, although told us we needed to go. I saw the looks on those around me with it obvious that none wanted to start a thousand mile march. Some of Clyde’s men looked to the Iranian soldiers and mentioned seeing if they could get a native vehicle working, and they began pointing out possible options.

Roy asked, “Couldn’t we just go into the airport and authorize our shuttles for flight the way we authorized them for landing?”

I had to admit, “It could help us in other ways to see how those of the Nerisus Federation handled personal travel. Mary, can you access their network?”

She replied, “No. It timed out. I however sense that we could pick up the keys, or whatever device would reactivate the network. That is just a hunch on my part, but a system that needs regular authorization surely has a method for someone to perform an emergency or circumstantial access.”

One of those with Roy, who appeared to be an officer in the Iranian military, said, “I would agree with Dame Mary. Men, work with the Americans to assure that what technology they learn we learn as well. In the same manner I will go with Queen Debra, Dame Mary, and Captain Roy.”

Without any display of being offended, my brother commanded, “Men, work with the Iranians. Hopefully one of us will come up with a solution.”

We gathered our packs wanting to be prepared for whatever we might encounter, although became alarmed when sirens went off and distant lights started flashing. Thoughts of korlocks or our authorization timing out came to mind. What I did not expect was seeing Mary grimace. What I then heard over my communicator let me know that the fear those of the Nerisus Federation prepared for had come true.

The translated voice of an okagaki asked, “Humans, could you authorize us?”

I replied doing my best to display the anger I felt. “Why did you have to appear? Don’t you know that you are the reason the Nerisus Federation destroyed themselves? You have the capabilities of monitoring us. You should have just stayed away.”

Another translated voice said, “Ah, yes, Queen Debra, we are noticing the reaction to our presence. We really did not think they would recognize us, but assume we were just another foreign vessel.”

“It should have been obvious that we had not yet gained control.”

“Well, while gaining permission for yourself, we felt you could gain permission for us as well.”

It was Clyde that replied, “You could have waited. Since when have we refused a request?”

“We apologize. Could we help?”

I did my best to continue to sound angry as I said, “Don’t destroy anything! Let us see what we can do to handle things. We are not the bad aliens here. I am sorry, okagaki, but it is obvious that you are perceived as the bad aliens. Stay away.”

Looking around, I felt some relief to not see any aggression coming upon us. While the strange sound of the sirens and the odd color of the flashing lights spoke of danger, nothing was threatening our groups. I thus looked to Mary and spoke what I felt others would consider some words of relief.

“Hopefully, whatever overrides we can find will allow us to continue with our mission.”

She replied, “I hope so as well.”

Of Reality and the Future
TimeSaga: The Source Story Eight
Chapter Four

It did bring me some relief to make the main building without us facing any threat. The sirens and lights continued to speak of danger, but we rushed across the pavement without facing any trouble. Coming to the building, we feared the doors not opening or other trouble, but all breathed sighs of relief as we safely came inside.

Mary stopped us in the foyer, although the robots moved forward. Just as on Earth, there were walls of clear material, and it alarmed me to see the robots firing weapons. Seeing the blasts go up had me realize that they were only destroying the speakers broadcasting the transforming signal. I however felt the need to move forward seeing bodies disturbed by the robots.

By now there were things about the architecture and furniture of the Nerisus Federation that I had become very familiar with. I had come to appreciate the larger doors and corridors for a race of beings about half the size more than humans. Strange designs to accommodate physiques that did not evolve on Earth I accepted as a recent fashion in architecture. I had also seen the carnage from the event that eradicated the Nerisus Federation, but I had to stop as what I now saw was something I was not familiar with.

The previous experience and images of corpses long past decomposition had been in closed environments. My first encounter had been in the weightlessness of space above a planet of the okagaki. I had watched the pictures Clyde sent of his advance into an enclosed community. All of the scenes up to now had shown common citizens forced to endure the transforming signal. What I saw around me were signs of those in the building with the freedom to get away, but had still found themselves suffering. The previous experiences with the moment of transforming was one of doomed prisoners, but I felt the weight of the true expanse of the crime done against those of the Nerisus Federation as I looked around the interior of this building.

Wanting to somehow resolve the problem, I rushed to a business stall and activated a microphone to demand, “DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS DONE? These were your people! This was your world! YOUR CIVILIZATION! Why are you fighting us, or even the okagaki? We were not responsible for this. I have dead around me speaking of the crime done. Why aren’t you the one asking for forgiveness? Honestly, we humans or the okagaki are not the ones that can give it, but surely you seek to at least hear certain words.”

As the reverberations of my words faded through the building, Mary said, “I cannot say whether you were heard or not.”

Frustrated, I spoke again into the microphone. “SAPRELLO, WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!” I then said to Mary, “I actually believe she might have been listening. The other entity stopped being responsive long ago.”

Coming from distant speakers I heard, “Shame will guide you if you need her, but she is not alone. Welcome, humans. It has been long in coming, but you are now part of the Nerisus Federation.”

As Mary’s head made little jerks letting me know that she was picking up new transmissions, Clyde said, “I know that voice. That was the programmer.”

The pink-haired girl nodded while saying, “Yes. He has updated the system with things about us. Our forms will now be recognized as citizens of the Nerisus Federation.”

“Us specifically?”

“No. We all know that the Nerisus Federation came to Earth long ago, so they did know about us. The information was not much, but it was in the system. They built Mission as an outpost for our inclusion, so there were things for the programmer to access. Humans, in general, will be recognized.”

I said, “Not that it matters. This all needs to stop.”

My brother replied, “Now, Debra, let’s not perform our own destruction. The Nerisus Federation has a number of planets, and a few different races. There has to be some good there we should keep.”

Evidence of the robots destroying the speakers could be recognized as a voice sounded from a distance, “NO! I don’t know what you did, humans, but this will be corrected!”

I said, “I am willing to cut as deep as possible to remove that which is not good.”

The Iranian officer let his opinion be known. “I agree with Queen Debra. We cut as deep as necessary.”

I saw Mary’s small body go erect, and with a worried expression she said, “The planet’s True Gun network has been activated.”

While I recognized it as a concern, I still had to reply, “Not around an airport.”

“Where else would aliens land?”

“Ah,” I more groaned than spoke, although I then remembered something and said into my communicator. “Those in the shuttle, the True Gun network has activated. That is not an unknown, but do any of you know what to do?”

I heard a voice I did not expect, that of an Iranian soldier, saying, “Queen Debra, the Americans know. They are out waving their arms, and the machines are standing down.”

“I am glad that the machines are able to see. The fault in the True Guns is that their visuals could be disrupted, especially over the passing centuries, so that they could not tell friend from foe.”

“Well, these are responding. Anything else we should know about?”

“It seems that we as humans are now recognized. It is the presence of the okagaki that alerted the True Guns. Give us time to find out just how much authorization we humans have.”

Hearing an acknowledgement, I closed the communication. I then walked away from the console to step into the middle of the room. I turned hearing a question from my brother.

“What are you looking for, Debra?”

I replied, “Just knowing that it would be wise to wait for our robots to finish with the speakers. Wondered if I could find a café or vending machines.”

“The food would be thousands of years old.”

“Everything around us should be thousands of years old. These buildings should be overgrown with rust and decay showing on everything.”

The Iranian officer said, “Maybe there is something good in the transforming signal.”

Clyde replied, “We will let you take it to Iran and play it for your people.”

“No,” I quickly said. “I’m sorry, Clyde, but that is no joke. That signal sends people to Hell, and I don’t wish that on anyone. If the Iranians are going to Hell, they can get there in another manner.”

The Iranian officer replied, “I agree with Queen Debra. You Americans can go to Hell in the usual way.”

“But out here we work together. Out here we are good aliens. I don’t care what your nationality or religion is; you are good aliens.”

“Yes, Queen Debra, we are good aliens. Allah be praised.”

I felt it good that there were no more comments. Only chuckles sounded. Roy moved about as a lad would, attempting to make sense of the things in the building. I felt that he should have some familiarity with the furniture and devices, although had to admit that some things even I did not recognize. Feeling that any terminal should have certain features due to a common set of tasks and objectives, I made my own observation of the things around me. My inspection was done quietly, as none made comments.

Mary tended to watch Roy. She however did not show a fascination in the exotic things around her. I suspected she would be inquisitive and move with Roy, as she retained some of the alien furniture for her apartment. Mary however stayed still, and only after I watched her for a time did she react to my observation.

She asked, “Debra, how much do you know of the language of the Nerisus?”

Not really liking the topic, I calmly replied, “I had to learn quite a bit.”

“Same here. I really however do not have to learn the code. I just want the information.”

“I have worked with the code.”

Mary lifted a finger to point, although slowly turned before she truly showed any indication of what needed to be singled out. “That terminal there should be the one we want.”

I heard the footsteps of the men follow us as we moved to a station near a wall. She actually turned to the guys to get their help in handling the remains of one of the larger citizens of the Nerisus Federation. While the body had almost completely disintegrated, the clothes and other items still had size and weight. It took finding a pocket, then reaching into it to gain what Mary wanted. She then went to the station to set the item in a slot.

She said, “Debra, this should be more of an interface than any real programming environment. Still, I really cannot make out the command structure. I feel this should give us access to some systems if we can figure it out.”

I then heard my brother bark, “Sack! Come help these ladies!” Clyde then came close to say, “If he is not able to supply you ladies with some help, hopefully he will learn.”

Actually, I had studied files on most of those with my brother. I guess Mary had as well, as she spoke kindly to the man when he moved up. He stepped where he could see between us two females, then mentioned something I felt was obvious.

“It is not like the other interfaces.”

I let him know what I could make out. “This is an emergency clearance terminal. The Nerisus Federation was a very authoritarian society. You did not buy a ticket, and definitely did not compare prices. You applied for a ticket, and hoped it was granted. In case you really needed to get somewhere on short notice, and could pull strings, this is how you gained permission to travel.”

“So they were socialists?”

“From what I can make out, they were just beyond our competitive system. They found the better way, and did it that way. There was no new-and-improved, so none of the commercializing we have. We would call them socialist, but they really had no reason not to be.”

Mary added, “They seemed more relaxed about things than socialist governments on our world, but it set them up for the horror that we know happened to them. The government did provide for them. They trusted their government, and had no reason not to until they all became subjected to the transformation signal.”

I was used to allowing my mouth to chat with others while I worked. One of the traits I learned while working in a group environment building a robot. I however was used to things going quiet when the work got serious, but I heard the mouth of the soldier speak even as I started figuring things out.

He asked, “What is that gibberish, Queen Debra?”

Instead of speaking to him, I activated my communicator to speak to another. “Roy, can you have one of your men start up one of the vehicles? I need to see if I can recognize an identification signature.”

The voice of the lad replied, “I believe I can do that. Give me a minute.”

I then gave another command. “Mary, you might need to access one of their regular stations to read the signature.”

She had the one Clyde assigned to us start up another terminal. Roy moved over to us as he spoke to one of the Irani soldiers over his communicator. I also heard Chu’s voice, so suspected there was a mix of talents attempting to start up one of the ancient vehicles. When Mary and Sack spoke of seeing the registration on the screen, I had the information I needed.

Before I could speak, the pink-haired girl turned to ask me, “What did you do, Debra?”

“Me?” I replied. “Nothing that should have been disrupting. I know what to do.”

“Oh.” She tapped the side of her head while saying, “He’s mad because he can tell our robots have disabled all the speakers. He wants to rant, but knows we cannot hear him. Oh, trouble. He is speaking of having the True Guns just fire at anything that moves.”

Of Reality and the Future
TimeSaga: The Source Story Eight
Chapter Five

I had to ask, “Can he do that? I thought safeguards had been built into the True Gun system.”

Mary replied, “I believe they are beyond his ability. They were closed systems to prevent outside interference. He is however trying to come up with some method to retaliate against us.”

I believe most of us showed shock when my own communicator activated with a strange voice saying something. While I had dealt with the language of the Nerisus Federation in working with their computer systems, I really had not spoken to anyone. Those who did use the language spoke a form that had developed over the centuries. The entities that dealt with us had a method of sending their messages into our minds, which enabled the meanings to be translated. Luckily, some who had worked with the actual language were able to translate what we heard over my communicator.

Sack said, “It’s the programmer, Queen Debra. He is asking what you are attempting to do with the system.”

I replied, “What it should be obvious I need to do. I am going to have our registration on the shuttles changed to the proper frequency and format that I can authorize them for travel.”

Some more words were stated, letting me know that the programmer could still understand our language although really could not speak it, which Sack translated. “He asks if you can do it.”

“Considering what we have done, I am not thinking it to be difficult.”

Sack pulled a notepad out to write what was said next, although looking over his shoulder I heard my brother identify the coordinates. “Tell me, Programmer, that you are having us go to Mergistry.”

While I really had not worked with the spoken language, I had been active enough to recognize the simple answer, “Yes.”

“I am interested in how well you duplicated it in the simulation.”

As something was said in reply, suddenly the building lost power. It actually disturbed me, as I could not help but believe the power had been on all these centuries only to finally fail on the day of our arrival. All of our equipment ran on the time-loop generators, so I was surprised that the buildings of the Nerisus did not.

Mary said, “Magnificent believes that with the power off, when it gets dark the True Guns will fire at us because they won’t be able to see our arms waving.”

Clyde asked, “If they can see us to fire at us, why can’t they see our hands waving?”

“I’m just telling you what I am picking up.”

Sack translated the words I heard over the communicator. “The Programmer says that he can turn our power back on. He still advises us to move as quickly as possible.”

Roy said, “Debra, Mary, we already have the font for the Nerisus Federation in our system. What frequency should we broadcast our registration on?”

Mary could supply that information. She actually had some understanding of all the data her body was able to receive, so could tell Roy things about obtaining certain signals. It took turning the power back on, but by then Mary’s terminal was able to show the registrations sent by our shuttles. With those properly being displayed, I could use my console to recognize them as valid vessels along with authorizing them to travel to the coordinates given by the Programmer. Mary smiled and nodded with agreement when Sack supplied the translation to the next thing said over the communicator.

“We are locked in. We need to stay on the beacon, but our journey should be without problems.”

I turned from looking at the console to things around me. My mind actually considered using some time in cleaning up. It was not the realization that I would need to disturb corpses, but the reason they were present. I turned back to the console looking at my options as I voiced something that suddenly I felt to be very true.

“We don’t need this.”

Mary replied, “At the moment, we do.”

“No. If it did not exist, we would simply move on. Because it exists, we had to go through these steps. Because it exists, horrors are potentially possible. We know it for a fact, as we are fighting the results of this. The korlocks exist because of this. These bodies around us died because of this. We humans have enough horrors in our past. Those evils we committed. This is not our evil, and we do not need this.”

Clyde asked, “Debra, what are you saying?”

“We shut this down. We don’t just shut down the transmission sending the transformation signal, but the entirety of the Nerisus Federation.”

“Can we do it?”

“NO!” I turned to point at my brother, but I saw a lot more than just him looking at me. “We do not need this evil! Can we shut this down? OF COURSE! We are human. There is an immensity of death and destruction in our history. If we can do anything, we can destroy. We do not need this!”

Roy said, “But we will then need to rebuild it.”

Clyde nodded while saying, “And then the evil will be ours.”

I replied, “We are not here due to the Nerisus Federation. I mean, we are, but only because of the trail of breadcrumbs they left for us. That is our portal technology we are using to cross the distances between places. These are our robots destroying the speakers and preventing us from being subjected to the transforming signal. WE ARE THE GOOD ALIENS! We need to stay that way. We do not need the leftovers of the Nerisus Federation to add evils to our history. We have our own bloody history, and adding more blood will not make us better.”

The Iranian officer said, “We of the prophet will stand with Queen Debra on this.”

I now had someone to focus on, so stepped up while pointing at him while demanding, “And we don’t let it happen! We can agree among ourselves that this is evil. I am saying we shut it down. We still learn from it! Those of the prophet, those of Christian beliefs, those of other beliefs, we all work together to assure that we go into the future having learned our lesson.”

Clyde said, I believe attempting to break the seriousness of my train of thought, “We humans are really not good at learning lessons. We tend to repeat our history.”

“NO! Those who do not learn from history tend to repeat it. Let’s learn from this. We are coming from this with the entirety of the universe open to us. I am sure there are crimes we can perform. Let’s not do them.”

Roy said, “Really, Debra, I can say that the Solomon Foundation will support you on that.” I then heard Roy declare as if to assure that he was affecting policy, “The Solomon Foundation will stand behind you, Queen Debra!”

Clyde said, “The U.S. government be damned. I am behind you, Debra, and I will drag our military behind you as well.”

A voice over the communicator, not really certain who, assured my brother that he would not have any resistance. I believe we all then turned to look at the Iranian officer. He seemed to understand our gaze, because after a moment more of silence he activated his communicator to say some words.

“Allah is God, and Mohammed is his prophet, but at the moment I believe both would hold forth the words of Queen Debra as good. I will however add that we still get a world of our own.”

I replied, “Just don’t leave the rest of us. We will need you. I will need you. I cannot do it alone.”

There was another period of silence, then the Irani Officer admitted, “Yes. God is God of all. You certainly cannot do it alone. The world will be ours, but you will ever be free to come to us for guidance.”

Feeling that things were where I wanted them, I had to admit, “There will be more to it than simply turning everything off. We cannot have those huge keys crashing to the surface of this planet.”

My brother replied, “Glad you understand that. Surely there is some good here. If you will acknowledge that, I believe you will not have any problems with getting rid of the bad.”

“I’m not leaving, Clyde. Mary and I have a building on Lechinell. RayWeight is there as well. I will be working to rebuild, but I am not kidding about feeling that we need to bring it all down.”

“I doubt anyone here or listening would challenge your sincerity, Debra. Let me however point out that all of us trusts you because you have brought us here. Your robot is keeping us safe. Your decisions have kept us as the good aliens. You have established yourself as our queen. The responsibility is there on your shoulders, but you placed it there. We are trusting you to continue to carry it.”

I looked to the other female present and asked, “Mary, is there any reason we cannot leave?”

She pointed while saying, “The robots are returning. We were really waiting on them.”

Starting to move out of the building, I said, “We are the good aliens. Sorry about the Nerisus Federation, but they failed. May God bless us, as I know how easily we could have been in their shoes.”

I heard Clyde speak behind me, “Now, Debra, if there is one thing we need to keep, it is the name. I honestly believe we would go to war if you allowed us to try and name this new society.”

The Iranian officer said, “It will certainly not be named America or United anything. As for my own opinion, there are many Islamic countries, and we would probably war among ourselves about what to name this society among the stars.”

I heard Perry say, “And let’s not call it the new Nerisus Federation. That name will get old quick, hopefully.”

Roy replied, “It will however probably be called the human Nerisus Federation.”

“Yes, it will probably become the human Nerisus Federation, but let’s stand proud as it gets called that. As Debra said, let us work to stay the good aliens.”

Charcoal said, “Mankind has ever spoken of going into a good future. It has never happened, but we will have our names dragged through the mire of history if we do not attempt to at least lay a good foundation.”

I moved back into the building to activate a microphone on one of the consoles before saying, “We are coming. We are coming to make things good. I would hope you think that to be a good thing. If not, well, maybe we will name our civilization something else.”

I did not hear anything, although Mary let it be known that she could. “He is just ranting. I suspect we will have some trouble.”

Over our communicators came the voice of the programmer. “Shame is here crying. She wants you to succeed. I do as well. Of the two of us, I have more control over things. Will help however I can.”

With a smile on my face I gave the command, “Let’s go.”