Chapter 12: One Big Happy...

Currently in Virtual, Earth local area datasphere

Tuesday, December 28^th, 3115

Serenity and I became aware inside one of the Simulated Reality Project’s standard-looking virtual lobbies. We arrived alone but only had to wait a few seconds before my daughter Kela joined us. My virtual iris’s real-time chronometer indicated that our awarenesses had actually been suspended for the many minutes it had taken for her to arrive. I had set my internals to limit such time sense fiddling but here in the SRP, Kela, and possibly Ohmu or Naomi, would have the authority to override my preferences.

“Father, Niece, welcome to the SRP!” Kela said, stepping close to receive hugs.

“Nice to see you again, daughter. I hope you are well ... especially with all the recent excitement regarding the SRP?” I replied, referring to the recent alien downloads.

“It’s been interesting,” she said neutrally. The grin on her avatar’s face betrayed that she was having the time of her life.

Our reunion was interrupted by a new figure materializing into view near Kela. It was the truncated cone-shaped glyph that Xenius AI typically used to represent its active presence.

“Greetings, human representations. I will be attending your meeting with the reanimated intelligence of Hemru origin to provide translation services as needed,” the artificial intelligence responsible for interactions with the alien said.

“Understand that despite the alien entity’s accelerated learning, there are areas where its familiarity with your language is lacking. In those instances, I will provide the necessary context.”

“Shaka, when the walls fell,” I muttered to myself. Serenity looked at me curiously but I shook the comment away. I felt my simulated nerve endings almost shivering from the excitement my mentality was projecting. I was going to meet a true alien!

“Dad, I would like to bring my ‘friend’ Picket along to the meeting also. Would that be okay?”

At first, I thought that including Picket was a good idea. Even though he was only a severely redacted version of an Assemblage member, the enemy operative would give us an additional point-of-view on the alien and might provide unique insights. It would also be interesting to witness how the Hemru reacted to the presence of the Assemblage agent. Then, how Kela had described Picket finally registered.

“Friend?” I said with the age-old raised-eyebrow look typical of an inquisitive and protective parent.

Kela’s avatar looked almost embarrassed. “Erm ... yes. We’ve become ‘close’ over the past few months of his interment. I’ve, um ... come to have feelings for him.”

I scrambled to come up with an appropriate reply. My first response was one of concern. But rather than grill Kela for details and simultaneously projecting my fears and prejudices, I had a better source for information.

“Naomi?” I subvocalized. “Is it safe for Kela and Picket to be ‘involved’?”

—Yes, John. If by ‘involved’ you mean emotionally bonded. I am thoroughly monitoring the virtual thought patterns of the Picket persona here in the Simulated Reality Project. I conclude he has accepted the reality of the situation here and has indicated no subversive or hostile patterns, — the AI answered in my head.

“Does he—” I started to ask before Naomi continued.

—His template was made human enough that he has developed genuine affectionate feelings towards Kela. I have detected nothing in his thoughts or actions which would warrant intervention. I have therefore respected Kela’s right to privacy and thus far kept you uninformed of their developing relationship.—

Well shit! Hmm ... now how to respond to my daughter?

“Um ... I guess that would be fine Kela,” I replied awkwardly. I was smart enough to quickly add, “I’m happy for you, really! It’s good that you’ve found someone to care about.”

Ohmu chose that moment to appear in the virtual lobby. As always, her image of near-perfection momentarily took my breath away. She grinned at the group and approached to take my hand in hers.

“John would love to have Picket accompany us, Kela. I will attempt to keep him from making too much of an ass of himself,” Ohmu said with her almost-sultry voice. As she had spoken, she’d also patted my hand in hers like a nurse consoling a patient. I was also a bit miffed that Ohmu had known about Kela’s love interest before I realized that she could have also just learned the news and understood my likely responses almost instantly.

The others laughed at the android’s comment ... well, all except Xenius. The icon of the AI remained stoic, passively observing our byplay. It occurred to me that Humanity’s primary AI responsible for understanding alien behavior probably struggled just as much understanding humanity’s own awkward and confusing interactions.

I took a deep breath as the image of Picket appeared next to Kela and took my daughter’s hand. The human-appearing avatar of the enemy agent had a small smile on his face as he nodded towards me in greeting. I took another breath to calm myself. I never really understood why that worked in virtual but it did.

Kela falling in love with the sole onsite representative of the ‘enemy of all mankind’ was not optimal, to say the least. I wasn’t sure how the public would react if and when the news leaked. But I suppose it could have been worse. At least Kela had not gone the route that Jonathon had taken and fallen in love with his android companion.

Ohmu chose that exact moment to squeeze my hand. I almost flinched as I looked at her and our joined hands. Her virtual image was smirking at me as if she knew what I had just been thinking. Uugg! No way! No matter how intuitive my companion was there was no way I would accept that Ohmu could know what I’d been thinking!

“I would like to—” I started speaking at the same time as Kela.

“Before we enter— Yes, Dad?” Kela asked.

“I’m sorry Kela,” I apologized. “Before we go in, I’d like to meet the Hemru on my own. I’ll try not to take too long.”

Picket and Serenity frowned. Kela’s expression remained neutral but she was nodding and smiling.

“That is what I was going to say,” she replied. “The Hemru has also requested that ‘she’ be allowed to present herself to you in private before the rest of us enter her virtuality. Also, there will be one additional member joining our party. That person had not yet arrived in virtual but will be along shortly.”

“Oh? Who is that?” I asked.

“Let’s keep it a surprise for now. You will see soon enough after your private introduction with the Hemru is finished.”

I suspected the surprise would be Kela’s mother, Uxe. I could see my former wife being interested in both meeting the alien and in my reactions to it. If it was her arriving late, she was probably delayed waiting on a secured communications wormhole.

“Dad, the Hemru also requested that for your initial meeting, no AI’s attend. I told it that this would be your call.”

Interesting. Was a truly private meeting even possible here in the virtuality of the SRP? This place depended upon the control of Dionus AI after all.

“Naomi? Are you monitoring?” I asked openly.

“Yes, John,” Naomi said with its standard voice. As it spoke her previous Sunflower avatar appeared next to the inverted cone representing Xenius AI.

“Is it possible for me to meet with the Hemru without any AI’s observing?”

“No, John. I can, if you so order it, exclude all others, but at a minimum, I will have to be involved to maintain the simulation.”

Hmm. So be it. I was not sure that I wanted to meet with the Hemru alone anyway. It was not that I was afraid, as it would still be a virtual meeting. No, it was more that I wanted witnesses. And possibly advice from something less emotional and more patient, I realized. Naomi could be a safety check that I did not commit humanity in some stupid way.

“Okay. We will do it that way. I’d like Ohmu to attend with me also, though.”

Xenius AI spoke up, “I have transferred my basic Hemru translation matrix, including the recent improvements, to Naomi.”

With that, its avatar went dull as it took itself offline.

“Kela, I know you and the AIs have already met with the Hemru many times. Do you have any advice?” I asked.

“Just be yourself and remember that although the Hemru is not human, it is a logical thinking intelligent being. You’ll be fine.”

I nodded and after a glance at Ohmu, signaled that we were ready. Instead of walking into a next room, the lobby faded out as we were transported into a completely new virtuality. We appeared on a large rocky outdoor plateau which overlooked a broad valley. It felt unearthly and the visible plant life was strange and unknown. I quickly realized the colors were also off. The sky, plants and even the rocks seemed odd, almost alien.

I chuckled to myself as I looked up to confirm that the sun in this place was different. Its light was harsher and had a strange reddish tint. The skies, while still blue, had a subtly different hue, maybe a slight greenish tinge?

This iteration must be a representation of the Hemru home world! I was not sure why that surprised me but it did. I wondered for a moment if the alien had chosen its surroundings to put me at a disadvantage of some sort but then realized that it was not important.

Ahead of us, a path led into a dome-like canopy constructed of an organic-looking material. The structure had a deep, hooded arched entry which revealed little of its dark interior. Ohmu led the way and started towards the canopy. I was sure she was fully aware of what we would find inside, having already interfaced with the AI advisory group.

I started to follow and immediately felt myself growing lighter as I walked. The sensation of change stopped after only a few meters leaving me feeling roughly twenty percent lighter than normal. The Hemru home world apparently had less gravity than our world.

I had a sudden thought and took a deep breath. The air smelled the same as it always did which meant the Hemru home world had a similar atmosphere as the Earth or this simulation (or my perception of it) did not distinguish atmospheric differences. Either way, it seemed normal and I dismissed my worries about suffocation.

We reached the entry to the canopy where a dark, organic-looking, iris barrier opened permitting our passage. Its motion had been silent and more than just a little spooky. Inside the domed chamber was an illuminated central circle surrounded by a darker outer perimeter. Standing at the far edge, just beyond the circle of light was a humanoid figure which must have been the Hemru.

The dim lighting obscured its features but I was able to make out that it had a feminine-looking shape. To each side of the figure were the faintly glowing icon representations of the various human-controlled AIs. There were five present and as I scanned them, I realized they were the five I’d expected to have an interest regarding the alien.

First was Eudaimonia, the AI responsible for general human development. Minervus, our defensive AI was next. It was followed by Praxcia, our warlord AI responsible for offensive operations against the Assemblage. Next was Dionus, the AI who ran the Simulated Reality Project, and last, Xenius, the AI tasked with all things Hemru.

All the AI icons were dull and static, indicating that they were currently offline. I wondered if they were normally constantly active and interacting with the alien. Maybe that was why it requested that I meet it without their presence. I knew I’d be tired of the attention if it were me.

“Naomi, you’re still online? If so, please show yourself,” I whispered.

The sunflower image of my arch-AI revealed itself. The icon was a brilliant yellow and green and its leaves shimmered slightly betraying that it was fully active and present.

The still-shrouded Hemru noted the arrival of the new AI and stepped forward into the circle of light to more closely examine Naomi’s icon. Its obvious curiosity over the animated sunflower made me suspect that this was the first time Naomi had revealed itself to the Hemru. Its movement into the light also allowed me to finally see its features clearly.

I almost laughed out loud! Standing in the circle of illumination was a nude feminine-looking very-human-like figure. What was amusing to me was that there were two notable differences. The first was that it was bald and had a clear gray-green pallor to its skin tone. The second difference, and the one that had caused my near-gaffe, was that the figure had two large antennae sprouting from its head. And I thought I recognized the antennae!

At first, I thought they were antennae like the character from that old show, My Favorite Martian. But, upon looking closer, they more resembled the Andorrans from that old Star Trek TV show.

“Ohmu!” I subvocally whispered. “What’s up with the antennae? Did the Hemru really look like this in reality?”

I’d heard from the early reports that they were an insect-like species. Even with the antennae, this pseudo-human was nothing like an insect. It was also nothing like I’d expected.

—I imagine that the entity wanted to present itself as human-like while maintaining clear distinctions. You will have to ask it for its precise reasons.—

I assumed Ohmu already knew exactly why the alien looked like it did. Her deferral was a not-so-subtle way to push me to begin conversing with the Hemru. The Hemru had finished examining Naomi’s avatar and turned towards me. Well, here we go!

“Hello! I am John Abrams Prime. Welcome to the Earth,” I said formally as I stepped to face the alien.

The greenish-skinned humanoid stood higher for a moment before dropping to the floor of the chamber and prostrating itself. As it did, it began emitting strange whistling noises interspersed with a series of clicks. What the hell!

—The reanimated intelligence of Hemru origin’s words translate roughly to, “Prime Queen. I submit to thee.”— Naomi interjected directly into my thoughts.

Beside me, I heard Ohmu emit a small snort. I glanced at the android’s virtual image which rolled its eyes at me. I sighed. Somehow I expected this wouldn’t be the last time I heard this new designation.

I returned to studying the alien as I considered how to respond. I noticed that despite the prostrate alien’s forehead remaining in contact with the ground, the two antennae swiveled as if tracking me. They must be functional and providing some data to the alien!

“Hello ... err, ambassador,” I said, less smoothly than I’d have liked. I stepped forward and knelt, gently grabbing the prostrate woman’s arm and encouraging her to stand. “Please stand. I would have us be equals and friends. I am known as John Abrams Prime but please call me John.”

The Hemru regained its footing. I noticed it did so rather awkwardly and unbalanced. I remembered that the Hemru were supposedly a multi-legged species. This bipedal form must be strange for it.

“jjjohn ... John,” it said slowly as it tested its pronunciation of my name. The alien’s voice was definitely feminine; surprisingly throaty and rich, almost a singer’s voice. After stating my name correctly, it continued, “Equals ... Friends ... Incongruities! I am powerless. You wield planetary rule. Truth? Explain?”

The alien figure remained with her head bowed, not quite meeting my gaze. The antennae remained fixed on me though. I wondered if they were light receptors or maybe sound. Could they be radar?

“Yes, that is true. But you are not powerless. I respect your knowledge and the species you represent. This grants you limited power out of proportion to your actual circumstance. I would treat with you as equals out of mutual respect and friendship,” I replied.

The Hemru looked up slightly and angled its head this way and that as if it were a dog listening to a whistle. Finally, it spoke, “Doubt. Hesitation. I will proceed with this premise without commitment until a pattern is confirmable.”

Ah... ‘trust but verify’. Well, despite my flowery words, I’d probably do the same.

“Agreed. What is your name?” I asked.

The Hemru responded with a long series of whistles and clicks. This was followed by, “ ... but as I understand this full designation is unpronounceable by most humans, ‘Xeo’tyle’ is an acceptable derivative. Another acceptable alternative is ‘Riho’, a designation bestowed upon me by Kela Uxe-Abrams.”

Some of the alien’s response had sounded different. I was about to ask when Naomi spoke into my mind.

—I am actively augmenting and translating the alien’s speech in an attempt to reduce discontinuities. This should lessen as it better learns our language.—

Ah, that explained it. I considered the alien’s choices of names. It had vocalized the first alternative name with a click in the middle. I tested the word silently and was unsure how to articulate the click. The second choice, ‘Riho’, was simple and easy to pronounce. I wondered how Kela had arrived at that nickname.

“Riho?” I whispered out loud towards Ohmu.

“Reanimated Intelligence of Hemru Origin, John,” Ohmu replied, loud enough for the Hemru to hear. “Kela started calling the Hemru that early on in their interactions. The designation apparently is still in use.”

“Riho ... I like it,” I replied before turning back to the Hemru. “Ambassador Riho, I am glad to finally meet you in person ... err, I mean, here in virtual.”

I held out my hand. The Hemru... ‘Riho’, I reminded myself, studied my offered palm for a moment before returning a single, precise and exaggerated handshake motion. Its grip was firmer than I expected considering the alien’s smaller female form and its previous submissive posturing.

Next, I introduced Ohmu. “This is my android companion, Ohmu. I know you asked for ‘no AIs’ to join us but some are required to keep the simulation operating.

Riho turned and inspected my friend. “A virtual representation of an independent artificial intelligence?” it asked.

Ohmu confirmed Riho’s questioning statement. The Hemru then started speaking to Ohmu with a rapid series of whistles and clicks. After a moment Ohmu answered using the Hemru’s language. The back-and-forth exchange continued for half a minute before the alien finished and returned its focus to me. I was about to ask Naomi why it had not translated but Ohmu beat me to it.

—The Hemru was verifying the control limits of both my ability to self-replicate and my inclination towards self-preservation. Apparently, my responses sufficiently negated many of its concerns. The species appears highly aware of the risks involved with self-replicating and self-determining AIs. A full translation will be available for your review later.—

Riho then gestured towards Naomi’s sunflower avatar. “Another virtual representation of an independent artificial intelligence?” It asked me, this time in my language.

“Yes. This avatar represents Naomi, an AI which was created early on to aid me in overcoming the Assemblage,” I explained.

Ambassador Riho tilted its head at Naomi’s icon. “I have heard of it. Since I was made aware in this place, this intelligence has avoided interacting with me?”

“Um ... Yes. Naomi works mostly behind the scenes. Its primary responsibility is safeguarding me.”

“Will you permit me to question it?” Riho asked, again with a tilted head. I noticed she also made strange hand gestures when she spoke. Almost insect-like gestures. I noticed that unlike with Ohmu, the alien asked for my permission before grilling Naomi. It must think Ohmu a lesser intelligence.

I gestured that she could proceed and added subvocally. “Naomi, please cooperate with Ambassador Riho. If you have any concerns, let me know privately.”

The Hemru faced Naomi’s sunflower and started whistling and clicking. Naomi responded when appropriate using the same form of speech. This time, the grilling went on for over two minutes. Occasionally the Hemru would look towards me and gesture as they conversed. I was apparently part of their discussion. I glanced at Ohmu.

—Apparently, the method used to impose limits on Naomi’s freedom of action is a cause of concern for the Hemru. They have never tied the continuity of an artificial intelligence to the continuity of a living person in such a manner. Ambassador Riho is asking a series of detailed questions probing the limits of Naomi’s self-determination in the event of your ... um, demise, — the android explained subvocally.

The back-and-forth chittering eventually came to a stop and the Hemru turned its attention back to me. I waited for a moment but it just remained standing there silently. I capitulated and spoke first. “Are your concerns about Naomi and Ohmu sufficiently addressed?”

“Partially. A unique solution to a persistent threat. One that will require further study and contemplation. I thank you for allowing my questions,” It responded neutrally.

“I’ve been told that you have spent your time here learning of my race and of our abilities?”

Riho bowed her head a moment. “I have learned much. I commend you for your advancements in spatial transport. My species has no similar technologies.”

“And you know of our plan to use our discoveries against the enemy?” I probed.

“A logical utilization of such technology. It is likely you will sink your mandibles into your foe while it remains unaware. We have found no data in any Assemblage archives we have recovered thus far which indicates that the enemy is aware of such spatial piercing technology,” Ambassador Riho stated.

“What if we wipe the Assemblage out completely?” I probed.

“Improbable. All previously-established Assemblage colonies will need to be discovered and eradicated for such to come to pass. Our efforts in back-tracing the route of the enemy to discover such colonies have proven difficult. The distances are vast and the colonies develop quickly and quietly.”

While not directly saying it, I got the impression that humanity’s plan to genocide the Assemblage didn’t disturb the Hemru in the slightest.

“How will the Hemru species react to Humanity if we physically reach each other?” I asked.

The greenish-skinned woman stiffened slightly. Both its antennae swiveled and seemed to lock onto me.

“Hemru reactions will vary depending on your intentions if such an occurrence comes to be,” it deflected.

I considered the Hemru’s response. I sensed it was being carefully truthful rather than evasive.

“Will your species see us as a threat?” I probed.

This time Riho reared back as if I had slapped it. It shifted and tilted its head far to the right and to the left for a long moment. Finally, it answered.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. I apologize if my response is incorrect. I am having trouble understanding the interrupted defense mechanism humans refer to as humor.”

It then leaned forward as if relaxing slightly. “Since any rational being would immediately grasp that the only logical way to consider a species possessing the ability to quickly eradicate your mortal enemy as a possible threat, I deduce that your question is an attempt at humor.”

I guess my question was somewhat ridiculous when considered in that way. “Umm, yes. But in all seriousness, how will the Hemru respond to Humanity, assuming we destroy the Assemblage Ark vessel?”

“Logically, the Hemru species will be cautious. If what you describe comes to pass, you would have demonstrated your specie’s power and potential. Even more so if humans manage to bridge the vast gulf of space between our worlds and make actual physical contact.”

“If we manage to do both, can there be peace between us?” I asked carefully.

The alien again considered me for a long moment. I had a feeling that my simple questions were confusing it for some reason. It was clear that the Hemru species, or at least this member of it, was less emotional and more logical thinking than the average human. I was worried about our own response for a moment before I remembered that we now had AIs to help guide and direct our impulsiveness.