Part of MASAL's plan to take over the human race was to reprogram, re-engineer really, the human brain so that it reported to him. Because he was based upon PPT transceiver communication, he was able to become the epicenter of the Onsiras' Overmind.
There are two kinds of Onsiras. We have met both types. The first kind is called a Reonhe, a queen. These are always women, they have one dark eye and one Vuduri eye and a split brain. They communicate with the Overmind of the planet using half their brain and MASAL with the other. We have met Estar and Sussen both of whom are Reonhe. Estar is dead. Sussen, well, we don't really know what happened to her.
The second kind of Onsira is called a Zengei, a drone. These are almost always men and their eyes are flat black, like shark's eyes. They only communicate with MASAL. That is until MASAL was vaporized by Rei and Rome. Now? Who knows?
Tomorrow, the tale of Reema, the first Reonhe and her awakening to the power of MASAL.
Entry 1-048: February 10, 2013
Reema - The first Onsira Queen
Reema was the first Reonhe ever born and is called Ombare (Empress). Her mother gave birth to her in a birthing clinic and gave her up to be raised in the crèche right away. Reema’s eyes were different from the other Vuduri children. One was dark, almost flat black. The other was light blue and had the standard Vuduri optics, complete with reflective tapetum. Like all Vuduri children, Reema was born already self-aware. But the other side of her brain heard a whisper. It was MASAL calling to her. Telling her she was his first-born.
While a regular Vuduri samanda would require many Vuduri gathered nearby to begin building an Overmind, Reema had no such requirements because MASAL was already formed. MASAL's plan for her was to act like a regular Vuduri but to scour the Earth, looking for other Reonhe and eventually Zengei. Zengei children were often abandoned by their parents early on since they could not join the Overmind. Most Vuduri assumed they were mandasurte but they were not. They simply had no mind of their own and answered to MASAL. As soon as MASAL detected one, he put Reema on alert and right after they were born, Reema spirited them away to their nest in Socal.
As Reema matured, her growing hoard of Zengei and Reonhe became vibrant. They organized and built the secret base beneath Kilauea. They organized and sent Estar to accompany the Skyler Base crew. They created the artificial mission and sent Sussen along to Deucado to supervise the internment of the mandasurte there.
We will get to meet Reema in the upcoming novel Rome's Evolution.
Entry 1-049: February 11, 2013
Why did the Vuduri erase our cities?
When Rei first arrived at Skyler Base, he was sorting through the image archives and noticed there was no evidence that our culture ever existed. Not New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, London - all were gone. During their first trip back to Earth in Part 3 of Rome’s Revolution, Rei asked, “Is there anything left of our cities, you know, from my time?” “No,” replied Rome. “I am not sure of the proper word. They were…erased.”
Later, in The Ark Lords, Rome did choose to expound upon this a bit further. Rome said, “You will recall you once asked me what happened to all your cities and I told you they were erased. So, too, it was with the Erklirte’s settlement. What I did not tell you was that this was Hanry Ta Jihn’s dying wish. He was a martyr but he was so revered that every person on Earth tried to honor that wish. It took centuries. It wasn’t until the Vuduri came into being that they finally accomplished his goal. Every trace of the Essessoni civilization was razed, burned or buried. In the end, it was to be as if your people never existed.”
Finally, in The Ark Lords we were provided with a little glimpse into the past. We saw the death of Jack Henry (Hanry Ta Jihn in Vuduri) and in this little vignette, the Battle of Chicago is now over and Jack Henry lies dying on ground. Red June, Jack's most trusted lieutenant, had Jack's head resting on his thigh:
“Did we get ‘em?” Jack whispered.
“Yeah, Jack,” Red replied. “They’re all dead.”
Jack grunted. “You have to…” His voice was so quiet, Red couldn’t hear him. He bent over so his ear was next to Jack’s mouth.
“What is it, Jack?” Jack Henry spoke but his breath barely stirred the air. Red had to strain to hear his words.
“Use their cannon and level this place. Then go back home and get the rest of them. No matter how many men it takes. Bury them and their vehicles and their spaceship and their weapons. Bury every place they’ve ever been on the Earth. They may have other disease weapons stashed somewhere else.”
Jack coughed and blood spurted out of his mouth but he went on. “Someday, there may be others, more spacemen. Make it so they can’t find a trace, not a hint, that their race was ever here. Swear to me.”
“I vow it, Jack,” Red said. A tear formed in the corner of his eye. “Even if it takes us a thousand years, we’ll erase everything. It’ll be like they never existed.”
Jack Henry was satisfied and then he died. And that is why all our cities were erased.
Entry 1-050: February 12, 2013
Death from above
Deucado is a small world, smaller than the Earth, yet it has received more than its fair share of asteroid, comet and meteor strikes. This is due to the fact that the Kuiper Belt surrounding Tau Ceti is far more dense than that surrounding Sol.
The impact (pardon the pun) of all of this is that death from above has shaped Deucado's development as a home for life, since the beginning.
If a comet strikes the planet, it brings with it a huge amount of ice which is why Deucado has many deep seas. When asteroids hit, the resulting nuclear winter causes the temperature to plummet and all but the most hardy of species die out.
The current crop of animals and plants have adapted to this rain of death. The animals and fish (called swishies) are invertebrates with tough skins and are completely flexible. The trees have evolved to require very little light for long periods of time. Their trunks contain enzymes and cellular structures which allow them to perform "plant transmutation" (discussed in an earlier post). This allows them to make elements and molecules which are required for survival but not available due to environmental conditions.
In the upcoming novel, Rome's Evolution, you will get a glimpse of a time when there was a pause in the pummeling from asteroids and the like. There is even a chapter with the non-published title of "The Blanket's Tale" in which you will learn how the animals deal with the uncertainty that tomorrow brings.
And speaking of tomorrow, you will learn the origin, effect and meaning of Lake Eprehem, the fresh water body that forms the focal point for most of the civilization on Deucado.
Entry 1-???: February 13, 2013
No entry this day
I’d love to say that this day was a Thursday. At least there’d be a pattern. But it wasn’t. It was a Wednesday. Somehow I missed another posting. But this was the last one. After this, I learned how to schedule a posting as a backup, just in case I wasn’t around to post it live. So this is the last time you see those question marks. I posted a new entry for the next nine months, right up until the end of Year One.
Entry 1-051: February 14, 2013
Lake Eprehem
Much of the action in Rome's Revolution and almost all the action in The Ark Lords centers around the large fresh water lake called Lake Eprehem. Eprehem is Abraham in Vuduri.
Lake Eprehem is the largest fresh water lake on Deucado containing nearly 25% of all fresh water on the planet.
The lake was formed when a gigantic comet came down and smashed a deep hole in the western continent. Because it was a comet, not a asteroid as is popularly believed, Lake Eprehem was already
partially filled with water even as it was cooling. The ash, ejecta and sulfur compounds thrown up into the sky lasted many years, blocking out Tau Ceti and causing Deucado to get very cold. It rained or snowed almost continually and Lake Eprehem filled up very quickly.
Within a few years, the sun began to peek out and the world started the long process of healing. Many swishies found their way into the lake, adapting to the fresh water, even thriving. Within 100 years, the world was back to "normal" whatever that means and it now had a huge fresh water lake to shape the environment.
There was one other side effect: The Hand. More on that tomorrow.
Entry 1-052: February 15, 2013
The Hand of Deucado
When the comet came down and smashed the crater that became Lake Eprehem, at its heart was a small iron core that blasted down through the surface until it hit a pocket of magma. The magma rose, melting a cylindrical tunnel straight up. A tube of lava flowed up forming a tower.
Magma continued to bubble up and the whole structure, now nearly a mile tall began bending over, cooling as it went. By the time it was done, the very top lay one half mile above the surface of what would eventually be Lake Eprehem. From a distance, it looks like a hand waving to the far shore and that became its name: The Hand.
It is quite awe-inspiring close up as it is so large and looming. After the lake filled up, the hand stretched over third of a mile over the lake created a platform providing a spectacular view.
500 years later, after things had settled and the lake had filled to the brim, nice, white sand formed a beach along the shore and a resort town, called Ur, sprang up.
While Deucado itself is rather plain, The Hand is anything but and much of the action in Rome's Evolution takes place within the town center and the casino that was built on the top of The Hand.
Entry 1-053: February 16, 2013
The Vuduri and Money
Ain't got none. The Vuduri have access to infinite free energy. It would never occur to them to come up with a medium of exchange when anyone can have anything they want.
This has shaped their culture halfway. Nobody wants for anything so they do not have the drive to excel. And the Overmind does the thinking for them so they lost the other half, curiosity.
When Rei and Rome first returned to the Earth, they attended a luau on Maui (a scene since deleted from Rome's Revolution). During the luau they had a discussion about money which got a little heated and it was the closest thing they ever got to an argument. Rome thought the whole concept of money was stupid and still does in the upcoming Rome's Evolution. However, they need to get their hands on some to manage in the marketplace that has sprung up in the resort city of Ur, built beneath The Hand.
The currency they acquire are called Deucats, named after Deucado. A Deucat is about the size and weight as a silver dollar. It comes into play later in the story because they need to go to the casino that was built on top of The Hand. Go figure.
Entry 1-054: February 17, 2013
Getting the word out
Today's post is not about the books themselves but rather promoting the books. This is no joke. I have used the following avenues (and more!) to get the word out about Rome's Revolution:
· Two Web Sites
· The Wiki - The Science Behind the Science Fiction
· Posting the books on Goodreads
· This Goodreads blog
· An Etsy store
· Posting the book on Ebay
· Creating a YouTube trailer
· Posting that trailer on Vimeo
· Two Facebook pages
· Listing the books and advertising them on FurnitureFindex
· Listing them on CraigsList
· Posting links on my own web site and my company's web site
· Writing to TV, radio stations and online magazines
· Getting a review in Risingshadow.net
· Donating the books to the Cherry Hill Library and the Rachel Kohl Library in Glen Mills
· Posting them in Google Books
· Getting them listed in Ten Pitches (a blog)
· Posting every day on Twitter
· "Paying" a guy to post about the book on Twitter by buying his book (sucky) and reading it and writing a review on Amazon, aka quid pro quo
· Email blasts (limited)
I have seen other, suckier books, listed on Wikipedia and it took two months but after three editorial reviews, Rome's Revolution got its own Wikipedia page.
My colleague, Carol, wrote a Wikipedia article about me and my scientific accomplishments and after two months and two more editorial reviews, that got published on Wikipedia as well.
Well, today I woke up and found EVERYTHING had been deleted. One editor decided nothing I ever had done in my life and none of my books, journal articles, discoveries or doctoral dissertation were sufficiently noteworthy to take up the precious space in Wikipedia. I am appealing it but I don't have much hope.
Bottom line: if you read this whole article, please take the time to tell somebody about my books. Nothing else seems to work.
Thank you.
Entry 1-055: February 18, 2013
Selected Vuduri phrases
Initially, when Rei first met Rome, she did not speak English and he did not speak Vuduri. So there were some communication issues. I did not want to burden the reader with having to wade through tons of Vuduri gibberish but it was unrealistic to assume everyone spoke English 14 centuries from now.
To solve this, I had Rome learn English very quickly and spread it to the rest of the Vuduri world via the Overmind. During their year-long trip to Deucado, Rome taught Rei Vuduri so when they got there, I was able to co-mingle conversations in Vuduri or English without the reader having to worry about which language was being spoken.
Nonetheless, certain words in Vuduri continue to appear because that is the way they speak regardless of which language. Here are selected words and phrases:
Mau emir - my love
Mea - mother
Grandmea - grandmother
Beo - father
Grandbeo - grandfather
Erklirte - The Ark Lords
Mandasurte - mind-deaf
Ibbrassati - the "Oppressed"
Onsiras - living machines
Sipre - shadow
Asdrale Cimatir - Stareater
Essessoni - people from our generation
Hanry Ta Jihn - Jack Henry
Reonhe - Onsira queens
Zengei - Onsira drones
Ombare - Onsira "empress"
Mosdurece - Half-blood
Onclare - Uncle
I Cimaci - Earth's capital, near the former site of Lisbon, Portugal
Havei - Hawaii
Mowei - Maui
Socal - Southern California
Chee Ka Go - Chicago
Cesdiud - Cast out (expelled from the Overmind)
Tamas - the last month of the Vuduri year
Deucat - Vuduri equivalent of a silver dollar
Entry 1-056: February 19, 2013
The Vuduri and Sex
Ain't got none. Most Vuduri have relinquished most, if not all, of their sense of self. Many use what is called Second Sight where they do not even perceive the world directly through their own senses but rather allow the Overmind to provide them.
Rome was one of those rare individuals who (although tightly suppressed) maintained her own sense of self and used her own senses which is what made her such an excellent data archivist.
What has this got to do with sex? Most "good" Vuduri have no interests, do not engage in anything resembling fun and would never consider having sex for anything other than procreation.
The Overmind controls which Vuduri women ovulate and when and then commands the Vuduri men to mate with them at the proper time. Conception is almost guaranteed and after the baby is born, many times they are removed almost immediately to be raised in a crèche, a "raising baby factory."
Most good Vuduri children never even know their parents nor do they care. They have de-emphasized human relationships to the point of irrelevancy.
Among so many things, this is what made Rome so unusual: her attachment to her parents, though initially suppressed, was always there under the surface. Her sense of self was exploited by the Overmind (as we saw in Rome's Revolution) during the mission to Tabit. And the Overmind did not control her ovulation which is how she became pregnant during the year-long voyage to Deucado.
Tomorrow: Rome's rape - although it isn't as bad as it sounds.
Entry 1-057: February 20, 2013
Rome's Rape
It isn't as bad as it sounds.
Rei once asked Rome, innocently, about her virginity. Based upon the physical evidence, it appeared she was not a virgin when they first had sex yet everything Rei knew about the Vuduri and Rome in particular told him she had to be.
Shockingly, she told him he was not her first sexual partner. For a good Vuduri, this would be unthinkable. The story goes something like this:
When Rome was 18, she and Signola (who we met in Part 1 of Rome's Revolution) were working in a solvent factory several stories underground. A railing gave way and Rome fell into a vat of pure ethanol. Signola knew if he did not rescue her, she would die so he dove in and dragged her to the edge of the vat and threw her over the edge.
He climbed out as well. He knew that Rome had swallowed quite a bit of the alcohol and 100% alcohol is absorbed by the skin. So he stripped off her clothes, wiped her down, stripped off his own clothes and then passed out as had Rome.
Later, when they were found by other Vuduri, there was evidence that they had had sex. Neither Rome nor Signola nor the Overmind had any memory of such an encounter. There was video surveillance that did confirm the act.
Rome's explanation to Rei was as follows: "The nearest thing that we could figure out was that Signola absorbed just enough alcohol to deaden his reasoning centers, his connection to the Overmind and the only thing remaining was, let us call it his animal self and a naked female was lying next to him and that is what animals do."
Rome never held it against Signola and it did not really affect her psyche. She claimed that the whole incident was more like a story than a memory. She never brought it up again until the day Rei questioned her.
Entry 1-058: February 21, 2013
MINIMCOM and Gunpowder
MINIMCOM has a device called a molecular sequencer. It can be used to make virtually anything since it assembles the target one molecule at a time. However, it cannot create life and there are other times when it fails, not because of the chemical composition but because of mechanical reasons.
For example, there came a time when MINIMCOM needed to make ammunition to restock Hanry Ta Jihn's M9 Beretta. MINIMCOM assumed that he could make gunpowder by simply mixing the chemicals, potassium nitrate, sulfur and carbon in the proper proportions.
However, he was wrong. Traditional black powder, gunpowder, does not just depend upon the chemicals but how they are mixed. You have to use charcoal, not carbon powder. This is because charcoal has pores and the potassium nitrate and sulfur have to fill those pores.
So the charcoal is not just an element of the chemical reaction but also the physical substrate which permits the reaction to occur in the first place. After a frustrating amount of trial and error, MINIMCOM finally synthesized a ball mill (the mixing chamber) and roasted some wood to make living charcoal.
After churning the substances together, in the right ratios, for the proper amount of time, MINIMCOM was successful and the Baretta was reloaded. It is used in Rome's Evolution but you will have to wait to see when and how.
Entry 1-059: February 22, 2013
Rome's Nightmare
I wrote this back in June of 2007. I didn't know what it meant at the time. It was just important that Rome have a nightmare when she first arrived at Deucado, before Aason was born. Now I'm writing Rome's Evolution and I'm choreographing the action in the climax and it turns out, it is nearly Rome's nightmare. But back in 2007, I had no clue I would be writing this new book. The whole thing sort of creeps me out. It's like these stories really are true! (But just haven't happened yet).
Anyway, here is Rome's Nightmare from Part 2 of Rome's Revolution:
Rome tossed and turned, vaguely discomfited. She was dreaming that she could see Rei running in a thick forest, lost. She called out to him but he could not hear her. He was running away from something. Rome tried desperately to get to him but she could not. A stranger was blocking her way. He wore black clothing and a hood that hid his face. He radiated malice. Standing by her side was a beautiful child, dressed all in white. It was Aason. He held his little hand up to her and she took it in hers. She marveled at how tiny it was.
A noise drew her attention away. Rome looked back at the black-clad stranger. He tilted his head back and shouted. He shook himself and began to grow. Larger and larger he grew until he filled the sky.
“Ta-ma sue croence,” he said with a voice that caused the earth to tremble.
“Never,” Rome shouted in English.
“Mea, au essusdetis,” said Aason who tried to crowd behind her.
The stranger made a guttural chant and lifted his arms to the heavens then drew them down so quickly that he made a wind of titanic force. The gale knocked Rome over but her child remained standing, unprotected before the thing.
“Fica taoxe sau sizonhi,” Aason said. Aason held his little hand up and the stranger evaporated.
“Ossi da pim, baby,” Rome said, raising herself up. She bent over to caress her son’s head. Aason turned to her but he had no face. Where his eyes, nose and mouth should have been, there were only slits.
Rome screamed. She sat bolt upright in bed, totally awake. She was shaking. She looked down at her abdomen and could see it was still fully distended. Hesitantly, she probed and found Aason there, resting quietly.
“Mother?” Aason asked from within her womb. “What is it?”
“It is nothing, baby. I just had a bad dream.” Rome said reassuringly.
“What is a dream?” Aason inquired.
“It is a picture in your mind. It is not real.”
“What was your bad dream about, Mother?” Aason asked her.
“I was trying to get to your father. And someone came along who wanted to take you from me,” Rome said, shivering at the remembrance.
“That is a very bad dream. I want to be with you, always,” said her fetus.
“You will be, little Aason. We share a bond like no other. You will always know where I am and I will always know where you are.”
Vuduri phrases:
1. Ta-ma sue croence [Give me your child]
2. Mea, au essusdetis [Mother, I am frightened]
3. Fica taoxe sau sizonhi [You leave her alone]
4. Ossi da pim, baby [That was good, baby]
What does it all mean? Now you and I will both find out!
Entry 1-060: February 23, 2013
Rei's Magic Pill
As a by-product of the 14 centuries in cryo-hibernation, Rei's back suffered from fissured disks and caused him a lot of pain. This condition affected many of the would-be colonists but Rei was the first awakened.
OMCOM decided to cure his condition by creating a 25th chromosome, gene therapy, to reverse the trend. While he was at it, he decided to make a few "enhancements" to Rei without Rei's
knowledge or permission. The pill fixed Rei's back and gave him remarkable healing capabilities.
OMCOM started with the 24th chromosome as a base. He was able to modify the gene responsible for the Vuduri's bloco (tablet) and stilo (stylus) which they used to communicate electronically. This was altered to create Rei's (and eventually Rome's) "cell phone" in the head.
OMCOM also took Rei's auditory cortex and added a neural net which mapped the spatial cues to Rei's visual cortex. He also improved the range and sensitivity of Rei's hearing. It is only activated when Rei shuts his eyes. The net result is a sonar-vision which allows Rei to see in pitch black using only his hearing. But in order for Rei to sleep, OMCOM built in a level detector so that the sonar-vision (or bat-vision as Rei likes to call it) only works when Rei's head is vertical. You saw Rei discover this in Part 2 of Rome's Revolution.
Other, lesser effects include slowed growth of facial hair (the Vuduri have none), improved immune system, continuous self-repair to Rei's back.
There was one other side effect that I'm not even sure OMCOM was aware of, but knowing him, it was probably on purpose. Anybody having the 25th chromosome (or even the top portion) would be immune to conversion to the Onsira phenotype and the ability to resist being absorbed into MASAL's samanda even via prosthetic PPT transceivers.
The 25th chromosome is actually a triple helix with a protein interlace making more like PNA rather than just DNA. It reproduces using mitosis rather than meiosis so all of Rei's descendents will have it even if their mating partner did not. That is why Aason has this gene. Lupe will have two! Heaven help us all.
If this gene were spread to every human being on all worlds, it would mean the end of the Onsira phenotype forever. Perhaps that would make them unhappy to know this.
Entry 1-061: February 24, 2013
Why did Rei recognize Rome?
In the first scene in Rome's Revolution, Rei awakens and sees Rome for the first time. Here is the exact paragraph:
Rei took a deep breath. Looking up, he was startled to see a face staring back at him. He jumped back and once again, pain shot through his spine. The face on the other side of the porthole was female with long dark hair. She looked familiar and exotic at the same time and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear her eyes were glowing.
I just wrote the words. Sometimes I write things because I need to. Other times, I write them and I don't know why. So why did Rome look familiar to Rei? It is a question that has haunted me for 7 years.
Up until last week, my operating theory was always that I have been working on these books for so long (coming on 40 years) that the characters, in my mind, have been together so long that when they finally got to see each (in print), it was a reunion of sorts.
Of course, that makes no sense from a literary standpoint. Well, last week, as I was writing Rome's Evolution, I finally found out the answer. From the Overmind of Earth, no less.
It turns out, as the Vuduri scientists were researching the genetic tree of the Vuduri as part of project Slayer, they were able to trace most Vuduri back to one or two or three of what we would call the "Genetic Eve." This is because mitochondrial DNA is passed directly from mother to child unchanged through the mitochondria of the oocyte, the egg.
And as it turns out, Rome's great, great, great, great grandmother was none other than Sally Reynolds, the great love of Rei's life who he left behind to travel to the stars. Of course Rome's bloodlines had been mixed in with other Vuduri (Hanry Ta Jihn included) and her father was of Polynesian descent. So Rome was both familiar and exotic.
Wow.
Entry 1-062: February 25, 2013
The Casimir Pump
The Casimir Pump revolutionized Vuduri society.
Hendrik Casimir was a Dutch physicist. His 1948 experiment proved that when two uncharged plates are placed very close to one another, there is an attractive force between them where there should be none. Casimir theorized that neutral space, with zero energy, has quantum fluctuations which spontaneously split into regions of positive and negative energy then recombine going back to a zero energy state. The experiment has been replicated several times. When the distance between the plates is very small (sub-micron), the force is very strong.
Nobody knows what would happen if you could actually collect negative energy. The first thing I came up with in Rome's Revolution was the PPT drive which allows you to go much faster than light. The FTL drive postulated assumes that you can collect enough negative energy to "punch through" the fabric of space. Since there is no space where there is no energy, it takes zero time to go from point A to point C thus allowing you to go (mathematically) faster than the speed of light without violating relativity.
The next use of the Casimir Pump was the PPT transceivers that are built into the Vuduri because of the 24th chromosome. These tiny devices use gravitic modulation to allow the Vuduri to communicate mind-to-mind and was responsible for the creation of The Overmind.
Another use of the Casimir Pump was the PPT Thrower. These are tiny tunnels which allow you separate matter at the atomic matter. In other words, they are the world's sharpest blade.
If you are collecting all this negative energy, what do you do with the byproduct, positive energy? An amazing concept: unlimited, positive, free energy. Think about how that one single element would transform society.
More tomorrow.
Entry 1-063: February 26, 2013
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