Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two

by Michael Brachman

  Rei lowered his hand and turned and looked at the totality of the dome. The number of pellets stored here must be immense, he thought to himself. The pellets were emitting a humming or buzzing sound, very low, that permeated the whole room. Rei imagined that it sounded like something you’d hear inside of a beehive. The whole place gave him the creeps.

  The reference to the clear memrons was later linked to rogue memrons, a computer within a computer, placed there by Estar to spy on things. Here is a picture of the "aquarium tunnel" in New Orleans. OMCOM's core was similar except that outside was filled with memrons rather than fish.

  Entry 2-064: February 28, 2014

 

  OMCOM’s infection, part 2

  Yesterday, I reminded you that Rei discovered that OMCOM was infected by the rogue memrons, placed there by Estar as we later found out. In fact, in this article, OMCOM admitted as such. But we all know that the Vuduri suffer from psychic tunnel vision. The Overmind could not fathom a world in which it made a mistake and this attitude permeates all elements of their society.

  Here is the exchange, taken from the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution, where Rei presents his findings:

  “They are specialized versions of molecular sequencers along with micro-assembly equipment. This is where OMCOM was built. The memron units are assembled here and transported to wherever they are needed.”

  “I saw a gazillion of them,” Rei said, “over there.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

  “Yes, as I said, that would be OMCOM’s core,” Rome said, looking where Rei was pointing.

  “What are the colored ones?” Rei asked. “I saw some black ones and some clear ones.”

  “The black units are effectors. They have piezo-electric filaments that allow locomotion. Similar to cilia.”

  “Ugh,” Rei said. He shivered.

  “They also have actuators,” Rome said. “Like pincers.”

  “What are they used for?” Rei asked.

  “They are for maintenance,” Rome said. “They can go anywhere and repair or replace or even dispose of malfunctioning units.”

  “I get it,” Rei said. “What about the clear ones?”

  “What clear ones?” Rome asked. With her IR vision, it was easy to watch his expressions. Rei could barely see her.

  “They looked like they were filled with water or a clear liquid.”

  “OMCOM does not use clear memrons,” Rome said. “Are you sure they were not just gaps between units?”

  “I’m pretty sure,” Rei said. He shrugged. “So all these memrons? How do you wire it all up?” Rei asked.

  “Wires?” Rome replied. “Oh, we do not use wires. I thought I told you that. OMCOM communicates using electromagnetic radiation. In the exahertz band.”

  “I figured the wireless connection was just to your head. I didn’t realize that his whole thing was wireless.”

  “Yes,” she said. “With the number of units he maintains, the wiring would be too complex. It would be impossible to manage.”

  You can see that Rome rejects the ideas of the clear memrons out of hand, as does OMCOM and the Overmind. If they would just take the time look, have an open mind, a lot of suffering could have been avoided. It was because the Onsiras hid in plain sight that all the travails of Rome's Revolution and the misery in Rome's Evolution came to fruition.

  Entry 2-065: March 1, 2014

 

  The deed is done

  For the last view days, the focus of these articles have been about OMCOM's core, the rogue memrons and the fact that Rome was about to commit the ultimate Vuduri crime. Here is that crucial scene, taken from the original, long-form version of Rome's Revolution:

  Rome smiled and turned to examine the diagram in front of her. She slid the whole virtual diagram over until a certain part was centered.

  “Here we go,” Rome said. “OMCOM, you do know what you are doing? We are clear, correct?”

  “Of course,” replied the computer.

  “And you will not take advantage?”

  “Rome, you have been like a mother to me. You know that I would never do anything to endanger you or even compromise your potential.”

  “You didn’t exactly answer the question,” Rei said.

  “Rei, I assure you, my mission is to collect data and analyze that data to improve and protect the human species. To my own detriment if necessary.”

  “We will monitor this, Rei,” Rome said. “We will know what is going on.”

  “OK,” Rei said.

  He watched as Rome’s fingers flew over the touch screen. Even though he could not read Vuduri, he could see that with each step, a warning box came up which Rome would then key in an override code. This went on for a long time. Rome stopped several times and wiped her arm across her brow. At last, Rome stopped typing. In front of her was an inquiry box on the screen, awaiting input.

  “What’s the matter?” Rei asked.

  “This is the final step. Once I key in the last override command, OMCOM will be allowed to build Casimir pumps into his basic memron unit.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Rei asked.

  “OMCOM, this is the only way?” Rome answered.

  “To accomplish all of our goals, yes.”

  “Very well,” Rome said. She took a deep breath and typed in some more keys then said, “It is done. OMCOM, proceed with the first unit.”

  You will remember, I told you that OMCOM was not to be trusted. You can see from his words that even though he didn't lie, he purposefully said words that he knew the humans would interpret one way when he actually meant them another. Normally I put OMCOM's speech in bold but today I just highlighted the one critical sentence. "Accomplish all of our goals" means OMCOM's goals, too. Sound ominous, huh? You will find out what he meant when The Milk Run is released later this year.

  Entry 2-066: March 2, 2014

 

  The Flux Capacitor

  You will remember the Flux Capacitor from the Back to the Future movies as being the crucial piece of technology permitting the DeLorean car to travel through time.

  Well, in Rome's Revolution, I needed a similar, magical device to power the PPT projector. Here is OMCOM's description of the process:

  “That reflective coating is how the Casimir pump works. You are looking at the outer sheath. There is an inner layer as well. The Casimir pump depends upon quantum fluctuations to create regions of positive and negative energy. The inner coating transmits positive in one direction only, trapping the negative inside. In your day, you would have called it a diode. The positive energy in channeled down to the outside to one end where it can be dissipated or used to accelerate matter or even be converted into matter that provides thrust. The negative energy is directed out the front to create the PPT tunnel itself.”

  This was OMCOM's explanation as to how the PPT drive worked, channeling negative energy to the front pushing positive energy to the back. However, in this case, the diode he is referring to is literally a magic diode because in real life, even if there were such a thing as negative energy, how would you trap it?

  Hey, wait a minute? What if the "magic diode" was made out of dark matter? That'd be cool, wouldn't it? I'll have to think about it. Nobody could prove me wrong, that's for sure.

  Entry 2-067: March 3, 2014

 

  The nature of life

  In the universe of Rome's Revolution, we meet several entities/creatures that stretch the boundaries of what is defined as life. One definition might be:

  "The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death."

  There is nothing within this definition that says life has to be carbon-based or mimic our biology.

  Consider the VIRUS Units. Are they alive? They certainly consume inorganic matter, reproduce, change, provide functional activity and eventually die. Are they aliv
e? I don't think any of us would say they were but then that simply means our definition of life is incomplete.

  What about the Stareaters. Are they alive? Again, they meet the test of the above. They consume stars, they grow, they reproduce (we don't know whether it is sexual or asexual) and provide functional activity. But if they were merely sophisticated machines, like the VIRUS units, would they be alive? I can't even tell you if they die. They have not shared that with me.

  Finally, we have the two computer-based entities OMCOM and MINIMCOM. Are they alive? We know that they both started out as man-made computers but both mutated, in their own way, using VIRUS units to become something else. In the case of MINIMCOM, he "reproduced" Junior although I claim Junior is a clone rather than a child. Does that make MINIMCOM any less alive? Will he die some day?

  These are questions I cannot answer without getting metaphysical. We could say that only things that have a soul are alive. But do planaria (flat-worms) have a soul? Do plants have a soul?

  I (or rather OMCOM) will be addressing this again in a few months. In the mean time, if you know the answer to this, you could leave it in a comment.

  Entry 2-068: March 4, 2014

 

  Is the Overmind entangled?

  From the very first time we meet Rome in Rome's Revolution, we are told about the Overmind and how it controls every aspect of a Vuduri's life. We also quickly learn that an Overmind arises as soon as there are sufficient Vuduri in communication with another.

  We are told that the direct mind-to-mind communication shared by all Vuduri is due to a phenomenon called PPT Resonance. Rei is informed that a PPT tunnel does not remain stable within a gravity well. This confuses him because PPTs are required for the Overmind to exist. He finally comes out and asks Rome about this:

  “Well, what about the PPTs in your head? There’s no vacuum there, is there?”

  Rome frowned.

  “Sorry,” Rei said. “Sore subject, huh?”

  “No matter,” Rome said. She shook herself and forced herself to smile. “No, it is the very lack of vacuum and the fact that they occur within a gravity well that causes the PPTs in our heads to disappear which is a good thing. It is the oscillations of the PPTs that cause the resonance which is the basis of the direct connection.”

  But is all of this gobbledy-gook? Is it just hand-waving to get past the need to explain the substrate that underlies the Vuduri's ability to communicate mind to mind?

  The answer is no. There is a quantum phenomenon called entanglement which means that two particles (or waves) can interact over immeasurable distances using a method which no one understands. It is as if the two particles are one and the same and just happen to be far apart. The information imparted due to entanglement travels essentially instantaneously (speed of gravity, anyone?).

  So it happens like this: a PPT tunnel forms within the head of a Vuduri and winks out again nearly instantaneously because it is in a gravity well. However, if two PPT tunnels open in different people's heads and are part of the same PPT tunnel, entanglement occurs and the rate of collapse slows and synchronizes. Add in billions of PPT tunnels constantly winking in and out, all at the same time and you have, voila, an Overmind.

  Simple, huh?

  Entry 2-069: March 5, 2014

 

  Computer-enhanced resolution

  In Rome's Revolution, OMCOM's first attempt at building a virtual camera is severely limited by the number of star-probes. He resorts to using algorithms to clear up the image after the fact by computing what it ought to look like rather than just taking the images as they appear:

  Rei watched the large view screen and saw some pixelation on the forward surface of the tug. “Is that it?” he asked.

  “Yes.” OMCOM said.

  The view rotated until the virtual camera was now facing Skyler’s World. The detail was fuzzy at first, but then it improved until it was fairly clear.

  “What’s going on?” Rei asked.

  “Since the human eye can only resolve 30 frames per second, I am interleaving larger dispersal jumps to simulate higher resolution below the level of detectability. I am also using an interpolation algorithm to further increase the apparent resolution of the virtual camera,” OMCOM said.

  Suddenly, the image began to zoom in at almost dizzying speed until they could no longer tell that they were looking at a gas giant, but instead just a crazy patchwork quilt of colors.

  “What’d you do?” Rei asked.

  “I increased the separation of the units by an order of magnitude,” OMCOM replied. “This increases the apparent magnification of the instrument ten-fold.”

  So, am I making this stuff up? Can a camera really change the focus of an image after the fact? Answer: yes. The camera is called the Lytro camera and it records images in a different way. It stores the entire field of view rather than a 2D image. This means you can focus on a section or refocus on a different section whenever you want. Lytro calls them "living pictures". You should click on this link to see the camera in action. It is pretty cool!

  Entry 2-070: March 6, 2014

 

  The beginning on the end

  In every disaster story, whether it is global or just an individual, you can always trace back to the exact moment in time when things begin to head South. In Rome's Revolution, it is the same way. Normally in novels, the characters do not realize that the fateful moment has passed until it is too late. After all, if they knew it, they would stop it.

  Such a moment occurred right after OMCOM produced the first star-probe lens-less camera. He showed the disappearance of Winfall but the detail was not much better than the image produced by the telescope they hastily launched aboard one of the space tugs. This is the "first bag of heroin" metaphorically. The humans wanted more. Here is the exact exchange:

  “Hey OMCOM,” Rei said more loudly. “What do we need to do to get more resolution?”

  “I need more units,” OMCOM said. “Many more units.”

  “So build more,” Ursay said angrily.

  “I cannot,” OMCOM replied out loud. “My memron fabricators are already producing more units at top speed. For the quantity I require, it will take them weeks.”

  “You are limited by the number of memron fabricators you have?” Rei asked.

  “Yes,” replied OMCOM.

  “So why don’t you just build more memron fabricators?” Rei asked.

  No one spoke for a moment. “Som,” said Ursay, which Rei recognized as yes. But somehow, he didn’t think it was in answer to his question.

  “What is it Romey?” Rei asked.

  “My blece…OMCOM, the Overmind. They are discussing building…”

  “Probe foundry builders,” OMCOM interrupted. “Special purpose molecular synthesizers which build probe foundries. Once each foundry goes on line, it can just keep building probes. The numbers should increase arithmetically.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Rei said, trying to sound cheerful.

  Rei shouldn't have been so cheerful. Without knowing it, Ursay had just opened the flood gates and given OMCOM all he needed to begin producing more PPT-enabled memrons at an incredibly high rate. OMCOM knew where it was all going to lead but he had to let the humans think it was their idea. That was his genius. He had figured out how to escape the destruction represented by the Stareaters and he did it in plain sight. The humans had no one to blame but themselves.

  Entry 2-071: March 7, 2014

 

  Are the Vuduri beautiful?

  Other than their white jumpsuits and the fact that they are fairly short, I don't spend much time telling you about what the Vuduri look like. Are they beautiful? Are they ugly?

  We get a small hint in the beginning of the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution when Rei spots Rome for the first time. He thinks to himself that her face was familiar and exotic at the same time. We know Rei falls in love with her almost immediately so of course he thinks she's beautiful. And quite f
rankly, as an author, I really don't want to write a novel about a man falling in love with a woman who is repulsive. So we can assume Rome actually is beautiful.

  But digging deeper, we can glean the fact that people from our age would truly find all of the Vuduri beautiful. Here is the interaction between Rome and Rei in the airlock just after Rei's first training mission:

  Rome wriggled out of her pressure suit and was pulling on her jumpsuit when she turned to look at Rei who was sitting there, half stripped down. He was staring at her, his head tilted slightly to the side.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Did you know that you are absolutely gorgeous?” he opined.

  Rome smiled. “You are just saying that because you are in love with me. I am actually quite ordinary.”

  “You are wrong and I can prove it,” Rei said.

  “How?”

  “Have you ever heard the expression ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’?” Rei asked.

  “No,” said Rome.

  “Do you understand it though?”

  “Of course,” replied Rome. “It means that beauty is subjective and measured according to the perception and parameters of the observer.”

  “Exactly,” Rei said. “So, that means you don’t get to be the judge. I do. If I say you’re beautiful, then you are beautiful. Case closed!”

  Rome is right. Of course Rei would find her beautiful. I always describe her as beautiful. But she claims she is quite ordinary. If this is true, that means that half the Vuduri race is even more beautiful than her.