The Reality Assertion

by Paul Anlee

  Timothy stepped closer to the display. “Standard tactics dictate that close quarters—anywhere within easy shifting range—and either narrow energy beams or hand-to-hand weapons are the essential elements of contemporary space warfare. Radar illuminates the battlefield and transponders distinguish friend from foe. When each combatant has enough power in their primary arsenal to destroy a good-sized moon, speed and maneuverability is superior to size and armament.

  “The old-time battle wagons went obsolete at the start of the Aelu Wars. We modeled a variety of those monstrosities in the simulations, anyway. We figured that if you could find a way to move something the size of a planet around as fast as a single battle-Cybrid, it might be victorious in an average skirmish about half the time. But they made too easy a target. Clearly, small, fast, and powerful is the way to go. If we could package an Angel’s power in something the size of a speck of dust, we’d never lose.”

  Mary looked at Darak, half-hoping he had a way to make something like that possible.

  He returned the look with a short laugh.

  “Okay, so that’s a definite no-go. Good to know.” She continued on from Timothy’s last sentence.

  “We found one strategy that gave a clear advantage in simulation after simulation. Apart from miracle weapons, which we don’t have outside of the models, it was the only thing that consistently led to victory over the opposing forces and to sure destruction of the fixed target.”

  Mary scanned her audience, knowing they wouldn’t like what she was about to share.

  “We attacked blind.”

  “No way! That’s crazy,” Darya exclaimed.

  “I know,” Mary said. “It sounds counterintuitive. Up front, it doesn’t make sense to handicap your own combatants. But it worked. We weren’t completely blind. We just shut off our transponders so neither side could tell where our troops were. We left our radar active.”

  Darian jumped in. “You’d need predictable troop movements or simultaneous position reporting via QUEECH after each shift. Otherwise, you’d be as likely to shoot yourselves as the enemy.”

  “We figured the first approach would be easier to implement,” Mary replied. “We loaded a billion pre-selected, randomized, sequential positions into each simulated attacker. Then, we shifted the battle group into a position near the asteroid station and immediately jumped to the first position. They continued to execute their programmed jumps every half second throughout the engagement.”

  “How did you target anything?” Darak asked.

  “We used statistical targeting,” Mary answered. “When an attacker shifts to a new position, they immediately analyze incoming transponder signals and ambient radar pings within the first 300 milliseconds and compare those to known friendly positions in the last two jumps. They target enemy soldiers that won’t overlap with upcoming positions over the next two jumps, and they fire. On average, an enemy fighter is destroyed every five shifts.”

  “And how many of ours get killed?”

  “The lack of transponder signals and the shift patterns make it extremely difficult for the enemy to target our troops,” Mary said, “and almost impossible to focus more than one energy beam at a time on a single attacker. We lose maybe one fighter every hundred shifts.”

  “But how do you compensate for shift-blocking fields?” Darya asked. “If the enemy blocks the jumps, one of our fighters could get trapped in a bad position and targeted by several of the enemy.”

  “That was pretty much the only way they were able to kill any of our attackers,” Mary replied. “Because all of the jumps are timed, we all know where we should be at every tick of the clock. If we miss a jump, we skip ahead to the next position. If we have to make two or three quick shifts in a row because the next move would be outside of our jumping range, no problem. We all get caught up to where we should be.”

  “Is the rate of shifting adequate or can it be sped up so that it’s more difficult to isolate one of ours in a shift-blocking field?” Darian asked.

  “Great question,” Mary said. “It turns out not to add any advantage. We played around with the timing and found that about half-second intervals were optimal. Much faster, and it becomes too hard to target the enemy. Much slower, and it’s too easy for them to find us.”

  “Why wouldn’t the enemy deactivate their transponders, too, after the initial attack?” Darak asked.

  “That would be a good defensive tactic,” Mary admitted. “Then, we’d have to rely on radar only. If they also shut down their radar, it would reduce battlefield illumination considerably. We ran that test in simulation and the battles dragged out for weeks. We still win, just a lot more slowly.

  “But,” she said quickly. “We can make a simple hiding strategy ineffective for them. Remember, they’re defending a relatively fixed target, the array element. Every shift, we move fifty different attackers into a position where they can focus their energy beams on the asteroid. Because we move so often, our individual energy bursts are short. In the simulations, it took about 132 hits on average to overwhelm the asteroid’s energy absorbers.

  “If the enemy is dispersed and hiding, it’s hard for them to have good positions to defend the asteroid. But without a proper defense, we kill a fixed target at an average of one about every ten-to-twenty seconds.”

  “Wow!” The word escaped from Stralasi’s lips unbidden.

  “With active Angel or Archangel defense of the asteroids, it takes two to three times longer,” Mary added. “But we also kill over half of their defenders at the same time, and that’s taking into account the more powerful Archangel weaponry.”

  “So, with ten million battle-Cybrids in groups of ten thousand, we can destroy a thousand array elements every four or five hours,” Darak calculated. “That’s not a lot, but it will make a good distraction for our other attacks.”

  “Actually,” Mary corrected, “this new approach is most effective with a more widely distributed attack force. We estimate that groups of around two thousand are optimal.”

  “I see,” Darak nodded. “Okay. Yes, a little better.” He clasped his hands behind his back and paced a few steps, thinking out loud. “So, maybe…five thousand array elements every…four or five hours. I’ll still need to find a way to drag out discussions with Alum. Maybe I should take Him up on His offer.”

  “To join Him in Heaven?” Darya was incredulous.

  Darak chuckled. “No, just to visit. The tour will distract a part of Him and buy you and Darian some time to work.”

  “I think we can build on Mary’s and Timothy’s plan,” Crissea said. “The Esu will join the battle at the Deplosion Array.”

  Stralasi’s jaw dropped. “What? No! Absolutely not,” he stated firmly. “I don’t want you fighting.”

  Crissea let go of the monk’s hand and angled toward him on the bench.

  “If we don’t take the battle to Alum, He’ll bring it to us, eventually. By then, we’ll be defenseless. If it were possible, I think every Esu would join the attack. As it is, our simulations suggest we’ll only have time to equip about a billion of our Familiars with QUEECH comms and weapons before the battle. Still, I imagine that will help.”

  She smiled at Mary, and raised her eyebrows to convey the implicit question.

  “Clearly,” Mary answered. “A billion more attackers will be sure to get Alum’s attention.”

  “How about an additional billion on top of that?” Darak asked.

  “How?”

  Just then, a member of the Aelu, a solitary Aelo, appeared in their shared inworld.

  Darak changed his avatar representation to Aelu, and the two briefly touched upper manipulators. He stepped back and his avatar resumed its human appearance.

  “Thank you, Fal sek Troal,” the Aelo said to Darak. He turned to the others.

  “Greetings. Fal sek Troal has allowed us to listen in on your meeting,” the Aelo explained. “In the hope that we may offer to be of service in your confrontation with Alum.”
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br />   “We are honored to have one of the Aelu among us,” Darya said. “Even if only an inworld projection. In addition to Darak...er…Fal sek Troal, that is.”

  “The honor is ours,” replied the Aelo. “I am called Gal sak Lahn. My people on Eso-La elected me to represent the Aelu perspective in these discussions. I have heard much today that will please those who sent me. Almost equally, there is much that is disturbing.”

  The group was silent a moment, as each attendee reviewed what had been revealed and discussed.

  Gal sak Lahn continued, “Over a billion Aelu are prepared to join you in battle, all of our people except the very young, the very old, and the minimum of required caretakers. Our nature is such that we can quickly modify our bodies and minds for the kind of battle you envisage. If you will have us as part of your attack force, we would be honored. Alum’s plan must be stopped.”

  The Aelo bowed in a peculiar imitation of a bipedal bow, two of its three legs bending while the third remained straight.

  “Thank you, Gal sak Lahn,” Darak answered for all. “When Alum sees we have joined with His ancient foe, I am certain it will be a great distraction to Him.”

  “Distraction?” Timothy exclaimed. “We’ll reduce His Deplosion Array to space dust!”

  Darak held up a hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The additional billions of attackers will have a much greater impact than a few million battle-Cybrids alone. But don’t underestimate Alum. He’s brilliant and devious. His defeat is anything but preordained.”

  “We may be able to offer more,” Gal sak Lahn said.

  “More?”

  “If these Archangels of Alum’s are releasing beams of singularity matter, perhaps we can match their power.”

  “How would you do that?” Darak asked. “Do you have a supermassive black hole hidden away somewhere? Something you haven’t told me about?”

  “Nothing is kept secret from Fal sek Troal,” the Aelo replied. “But perhaps there is a solution, one you would normally consider too heinous to contemplate.”

  Darak made the connection himself. “No, Gal sak Lahn. That is unacceptable.”

  The Aelo said nothing.

  “What?” Darya demanded. “What is unacceptable?”

  “The galaxy you know as M87, the Aelu home galaxy, has a supermassive black hole at its center,” Gal sak Lahn answered. “We shifted entangled particles inside for research purposes long ago. We continue to maintain the connection.”

  “The black hole might not survive the outpouring of matter-energy if we did this,” Darak said. “It could become unstable and explode. The resulting radiation could sterilize the galaxy and many others along the orbital axis.”

  “Our galaxy is already devoid of intelligent life,” the Aelo said. “In any case, what price is too high to save the universe?”

  The meeting went silent, and the mood went somber again.

  “Let us reserve this weapon to the last,” Darak said. “We will discuss it more and attempt to refine our models of the exotic matter at the heart of M87. Maybe there’s some way we can use it without destabilizing it.”

  “As you wish, Fal sek Troal.” The Aelo dipped all three legs and took two steps back.

  Darak acknowledged him with his own short bow and the Aelo faded away.

  “We will need many more discussions around our plans. We have to consider the ways in which Alum will prepare for our attack, think about the defense strategies open to Him.”

  He scanned the others’ faces. All seemed in agreement.

  “For now, I’ve completed my deep scan for tracking or communication devices that might have been placed on my person. I think I can safely return us all to Eso-La to continue our discussions.”

  He flourished a hand and the ship shifted. It arrived over Eso-La and floated down to ground level. Everyone exited the inworld, and returned their consciousness to their bodies.

  Walking down a short ramp to Crissea’s garden patio, Darak turned to Brother Stralasi.

  “I have to leave now.”

  “Where are you going?” the monk asked.

  “I need to revisit the planets and stations I have seeded with the lattice virus.”

  “But that will take months!”

  Darak laughed. “It’s true that Alum’s Realm is enormous, and the few human habitations you and I visited together are an insignificant portion. Even the millions I seeded are hardly more than representative. But they’ll have to do.”

  “Millions? We never visited more than a few thousand,” Stralasi said.

  “I have a confession to make. You and I traveled together at a wonderful, leisurely pace that was well-suited to its purpose,” Darak replied. “But for every place we stayed, I slipped away and visited a thousand more while you slept.”

  “That’s no better. If you have to visit millions of different systems, you’ll be gone much longer.”

  “It might seem so but it won’t be so bad. The lattice virus contains two parts: a genetic program to extend standard lattices into concept-processing parts of the frontal cortex, and software to download new knowledge into the affected concepta.

  “I began the physical infections months ago. By now, billions of citizens will have new, enhanced lattices. I’ll only need to activate the new software, which should take no more than a few milliseconds at each location. Once the software’s activated, the information will spread rapidly between enabled lattices. I’ll be back before morning.”

  Stralasi thought about the many hours he’d spent wandering gardens, forests, and fields on various Integration Lab asteroids waiting for Darak to complete whatever mysterious task he had set himself. Had Darak left him on his own all those times? It seemed so!

  “So, you’ve decided,” the Good Brother stated, more than asked. “It’s time to put your special project into play.”

  “Yes,” Darak confirmed. “It’s time to spread knowledge, enhanced intelligence, and discord throughout the Realm. Time to ready representatives among the newly enhanced to hear the case and deliver judgment. I hope the few billions of beings we’ve prepared will be enough.”

  He bowed deeply toward Stralasi and shifted.

  32

  “OH, ONTRO,” CRISSEA EXCLAIMED. “It’s such a big step. You would do that for me?”

  Brother Stralasi shrugged nonchalantly, feeling rather gallant.

  “Everybody around here seems to be changing. Maybe it’s time I changed a little, too,” he replied.

  There was some truth to that. Timothy had been elevated to Full. Darya had gifted Mary her own quark-spin lattice. And now, Darak had promoted both Darya and Darian to God status, pushing their intelligence and understanding of the universe to levels that Stralasi, a mere monk, couldn’t imagine.

  “I’m tired of being in the dark all the time. Having one God explaining the mysteries of the universe to me was bad enough. Now, I have to deal with three!”

  The monk huffed in exasperation.

  “It’s almost unbearable. I feel like a gnat!”

  Crissea tilted her head in sympathy.

  “Oh, my sweet, sweet man. Even I can hardly follow when they’re in high speed discussions. Imagine how Timothy feels. When it gets too much, he wanders off and plays with the dogs.”

  “Maybe, but Timothy’s Cybrid CPPU understands much more than my puny brain,” Stralasi muttered, “and he’s only been Fully instantiated for less than a year. Not to mention, his knowledge base is grounded in practically prehistoric times.”

  She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “Come on. You know Darya upgraded his concepta,” Crissea reminded him.

  “I do know,” he sighed. “I want to experience things the way everyone else on Eso-La does. I want to share your life. I want to be strong, and smart, and capable. Like you. Like everyone else here, Crissea.”

  She soothed him with her loving, indulgent smile.

  “I didn’t want to influence you in such an important personal de
cision but, now that you’ve made up your mind to take on a Familiar, I can tell you.

  “I’ve been secretly hoping you’d make this choice. I’m really excited for you, Ontro. You’re going to find it a little strange at first but I’ll be here to help you through it. I promise you, once you get used to it, you’ll love it. Our Familiar selves never tire, never sleep, and never die.”

  Stralasi thought about that. What will it be like, to have a part of me that never dies? When my body finally gives out, will something of my essence live on inside that machine? When my days are done and I finally join the others in Eterna, will that be like heaven?

  His Alumit training, still deeply ingrained, made him cringe at the thought. Ever the optimist, old monk—he thought. Maybe the universe won’t survive long enough for me to see that day.

  The couple rehearsed what they wanted to say a dozen times before taking the proposal to Darak. When they could stand it no longer, they approached him and laid out their case.

  “Mm-hmm, yes. I see. Uh-huh,” Darak muttered as they explained their reasoning.

  When they finished, they looked at the man-God expectantly and settled into silence to wait for the answer that could change everything for them, that would allow the two of them to share life and love not only as body-to-body but as mind-to-mind-to-mind-to-mind.

  “Okay, first, you have to understand,” Darak began.

  His tone was more somber than the couple would have hoped.

  “You see, normally, a young Familiar would be instantiated in Eterna from a fairly basic design. The persona would spend years learning and growing in virtual reality before being matched to a compatible six-year old human child. The pair would spend months playing together inworld and getting acquainted before their merger. The point is, neither one would be mature at the time of integration; they would grow and develop together. I don’t believe we’ve ever joined a mature human with a Familiar on Eso-La.”