Chapter 14: Reflections

Three hours after sunset I was on the rooftop patio lounging contentedly near the central fire pit. I was not alone, as the Hemru ambassador was lying next to me on the large, padded sunbathing platform. We were laying on our backs stargazing, as the night was perfect for our outdoor sojourn with velvet black skies ablaze with both natural and artificial lighting. My mood was mellow and reflective. I had no idea what the Hemru was thinking.

Ohmu was kneeling silently nearby. She had played hostess all evening, starting with supper and after, when the party had made our way up here to converse around the fire. Now, with the other humanoids having gone to bed, the android was passing time by scratching Misty’s belly.

Hannah’s dog had chosen to remain on the rooftop patio when my old friend and Alek had departed together earlier. Misty likely enjoyed the perfect outdoor weather or had been instructed to keep clear of Hannah’s bedroom for privacy reasons.

“Do you think Cassius will recover from his revulsion?” Riho asked, disturbing the quiet.

I considered the question for a moment. “Eventually. A lot of this is new to him. He is still trying to understand his own feelings.”

“Was it a mistake to have him demonstrate human recreational reproduction with me earlier?”

I sighed. “Maybe? Probably not. I’m not sure.”

The Hemru was silent after my non-answer. I attempted a better response. “He’s young and probably lacks the detachment required for such a demonstration. If we’d been thinking, we should have arranged to have a touch therapist come and instruct you. But ... being young means he’s also resilient. He’ll get over it.”

The alien was silent after that. I found myself thinking over the events of earlier in the day and evening. After a fun and active afternoon spent on the beach, we’d split up to go about our own business for a few hours. Riho had received too much sun and had suffered a bit of a sunburn so Ohmu assisted the ambassador into a medical unit to repair the damage.

I’d taken a quick shower followed by a nap while Cassius and Serenity caught up on various island chores and duties. Alek had remained with Hannah and Sova as they enjoyed Sova’s last few hours of vacation. From the looks the tall, low-gravity worker had been giving my son all day, Sova might have been trying to wring all the fun she could out of her dwindling time.

We’d rejoined at my main lodge for supper with Alek, Sova, and Hannah arriving as a threesome. My son and former parental companion looked dapper in newly-printed formal dining wear while Sova, scheduled to depart just after our meal, was already wearing her normal vac-capable work coveralls.

The meal itself had been routine. As I had witnessed during breakfast, Riho had handled the task of feeding as a human just fine. She had eaten slowly and carefully but I’d known real humans who ate with the same meticulous precision, so her method was not too out-of-place.

I tried to catch if any of our foods seemed repulsive to the alien but so far she had at least sampled everything served to her. She did keep her portions small and varied, which I suspect was due to Xenius AI advising her on the dietary needs and limits of her new, diminutive shell.

The same came later when after supper we’d taken our leave on the rooftop terrace and distributed a first round of refreshments. The Hemru had enjoyed a single glass of wine and then abstained from sampling anything further.

We’d said goodbye to Sova then and watched as she was transported off the island. It was hard to believe that she was already back on Vesta, already at work on the project to modify the Sarissa installation for the pending offensive.

From the terrace, the remaining group had watched an amazing sunset. As twilight set in, we came together around my fire pit for conversation and more imbibing. We’d also paired up, although the groupings were not quite as they’d been before.

Unsurprisingly, Hannah and Alek were still together. Resembling a long-established couple, the pair had curled themselves comfortably into an oversized lounger. I suspected they had become intimate soon after beginning to train together.

Serenity and Cassius shared a couch, with my great-granddaughter relaxing while the young man massaged her shoulders and neck. Apparently, his brief training fling with the alien ambassador was over, or at least, on hold for the night.

Riho had chosen the recliner next to me, close enough that we could whisper privately if we wished. We’d spent some minutes doing just that as I explained the actions and postures of the others. Later, we’d spoken louder so as to not exclude the others. They had remained mostly silent, listening as the alien and I exchanged questions and shared personal histories.

The topics had been varied and broad, with the Hemru doing its best to make its answers comprehensive and understandable to its captive human audience. Many of my questions were follow-ups to the basic information it had released during the recent public forum. Some of the information was new and we learned many additional details about the strange society and culture of the Hemru.

While it was alien, as was to be expected, there were aspects that seemed all too familiar to human society. I had quickly deduced that the bulk of the differences between humans and Hemru was due to the fact that the Hemru had an extremely regimented and rigid lifecycle as compared to our own.

Unlike humans who lived our lives in a long, linear chain of slow, steady growth and aging, the lifecycle of the Hemru was broken into five clearly distinct and hard-coded physical stages. How they lived and functioned as a society was clearly defined by those stages.

Like Humans, their first stage began at their birth. We’d already learned from the virtual forum that this meant a live birth, not hatched from eggs. Their first larval stage lasted just over four years and was a period of almost steady eating and physical growth with the goal of preparing the larvae for pupation.

At the end of this stage, the well-fed Hemru resembled two-meter-long, bloated grubs. Once the young Hemru larvae had grown to a maximum physical size and possessing sufficient energy reserves, the larvae would stop eating. They were then herded into metamorphosis chambers where hardening body secretions would form a thick, spongy chrysalis around their bloated bodies.

This would begin their second life cycle stage. One where they would lay immobile as their bodies slowly underwent their first metamorphosis. We’d been told that the duration of this chrysalis stage was variable in length and could take as little as six years or be extended by external factors to last well over two decades.

Riho had explained that this was a legacy of their ancient history when their civilization’s growth was dependent upon the variable weather to provide sufficient food reserves for each generation. The dormant period spent in a chrysalis was an adaption to permit their young to wait out any leaner years if necessary.

We’d learned that the pupating Hemru were not truly alone during this time. They were cared for by fifth stage Hemru whose main role was to protect the young, helpless Hemru and also to begin their education.

Riho explained that the stage two pupa period was when the young Hemru began to think and develop a sense of self. It was also when they would first develop true consciousness as before, the stage one larval grubs had been mostly mindless, eating machines.

Serenity had asked how the immobile Hemru could learn while cocooned. Riho had explained that while the chrysalides lacked exterior sensory organs, the young pupa inside was able to perceive the outside world and each other through a common linked system of neural tendrils spun over the clustered pupa by caretaker Hemru.

The shared perceptions worked like a biological computer network but were limited to mostly emotions and crude sensations. The fifth stage caretakers were also linked to this distributed mental web which allowed them to pass on some of their knowledge and life experiences with the younger stage.

Riho had clarified that this linkage was not a true communally linked hive mind or a network like our AIs’ and their partial presences’, but was more of a shared dream space and learning environment. In addition to developing mentally, the cocooned pupa also physically morphed into the next form of the Hemru. This third form closely resembled the mature version I’d witnessed back in virtual, but with slight differences.

At around year ten or eleven on average, with the physical metamorphism and mental growth complete, the chrysalis would fracture and a new “adult” Hemru would emerge. The young stage three Hemru females (all were female at this stage) were reasonably intelligent and educated but not truly independent.

From how Riho described this stage, I was reminded of the common drone workers of an Earthly bee or ant colony. The newly emerged females were eager and hardworking, instinctively taking direction from the more mature fifth-stage Hemru, who remained the main decision makers.

Upon emergence, the young adult Hemru were distributed as needed, sent off to live in nearby communities, or off to distant parts of their world or even to space. With most of their physical development behind them, null gravity or low gravity of space presented no obstacles to this stage of Hemru.

Again, hearing of the groupings of Hemru, I immediately thought of an insect colony. But I quickly learned that there were notable differences. Riho admitted that long ago in their ancient history, the term would have been appropriate but not so much in modern Hemru society, ‘interactive community’ was a better fit.

The first dozen or so years of the new stage three Hemru’s existence was its major personal maturity years. Despite instinctively seeking to follow the direction of the later stage Hemru, the young were not complete drones or slaves. They possessed some free will and were allowed the latitude to develop their own interests.

They were also interactive and cooperative, and when not busy working or learning, they passed the time with social games and various competitions. As they aged, differences in their nature expressed themselves and an even greater sense of individuality emerged.

Groups and cliques emerged, based upon differences in raw intelligence, talents, daring, and even aggressiveness. Some stage three Hemru remained passive and conformal, while other, bolder individuals began their first steps on a long climb to communal dominance and leadership.

“It sounds like you were teenagers!” I’d commented as the Hemru continued describing the personal growth obtained during this period of their early development. The other humans nodded at my interpretation while Riho had paused, cocking her head, and considering my conclusion.

Eventually the alien had agreed that there were many similarities between the human teenager ‘stage’ and younger stage-three Hemru but that it would need to study human teenagers more before confirming this for certain. I’d avoided calling attention to Cassius as I know how sensitive the young man was to his age and early foray into adulthood.

We then learned that the third-stage Hemru also had the job of bearing their young. In ancient times, this process began almost immediately after emerging from the chrysalis. But, with technology, modern Hemru civilization delayed larvae gestation for many decades. Now, Hemru would typically begin having children well into the third or fourth decade of their third stage existence.

Serenity had asked if the young Hemru females used contraception to achieve the delay.

“No, all stage three Hemru females already carry a full clutch of fertilized embryo larvae,” Riho explained. “We simply use a medical implant to delay the onset of larval quickening until a time of our choosing, typically later in our third stage when we are better established and conditions are more favorable.”

We had all looked confused at that explanation so Riho had gone on to explain further details about Hemru biology. As I remembered, it was also when the mood of the evening began to go awry. Riho backtracked by reiterating that all Hemru who left the second stage chrysalis did so carrying fully fertilized embryos and thus, was capable of quickening offspring at any time.

We were told that each Hemru female carried an average of six viable offspring with some being barren while others carried up to a dozen. Once a larva was allowed to quicken, gestation would take about six months.

After delivery of the larvae, two weeks were needed for the Hemru to recover before the next gestation could begin. We learned that Hemru only gestated one new larva at a time and that twins or other types of multiple births did not happen with their species.

Riho had not mentioned mating up until that point which had prompted my great-granddaughter to ask, “So, you reproduce by parthenogenesis?”

I’d almost forgotten the meaning of the term as it had been a long time since high school biology.

Riho had replied, “No, that is not correct. The Hemru species utilizes sexual reproduction similar to most species on your world.”

At our puzzled look, the alien had gone on to further explain. “We have specialized fifth stage Hemru who provide the required genetic material required to fertilize our females. The correct designation for these Hemru would be ‘males’ although the role of such a gender is vastly different than is common on your world.”

I’d recalled my early education and remembered a certain species of frog. “These males are females who change to become males?” I’d guessed.

“Yes, that is correct, John.” Riho had confirmed, looking almost pleased.

She’d continued, “A small percentage of Hemru become male during the final fifth stage of Hemru existence. They become physically much larger and develop the sexual characteristic typical of many of your world’s males. The number of Hemru who undergo the change to male remain low enough that they are required to spend all of their remaining life actively breeding the younger Hemru female population.”

“Sounds like a dream job!” Cassius had quipped.

Riho had quickly dispelled this notion. “The Hemru males are driven to mate by instinct alone. The changes they have undergone reduce their mental capacity drastically and they have to be cared for by other specialized fifth-stage Hemru. I have observed that this reduction in the intelligence of breeding males is common to many species on both our worlds.

At that point, the ambassador’s explanation had been interrupted by snorts from Serenity, Hannah, and surprisingly, Ohmu! Alek and I had rolled our eyes at the women’s reactions while Riho had looked puzzled at our byplay. We got the girls under control and urged the alien to continue her narration.

She continued by explaining that after a long period existing at stage three, typically over a century, the Hemru females would enter another metamorphosis period. This fourth stage was similar to the second, pupa stage, even including the formation of a second chrysalis.

Riho had gone on to explain that entering the fourth stage was treated almost as a death of the third stage Hemru. While not a true death, the personality of that Hemru would undergo such drastic changes that the new fifth stage being was almost a new person. Even the memories of the Hemru were affected with most having been lost or rendered as vague impressions.

The length of this period varied greatly as we learned that the Hemru species branched at this point with three major outcomes. The first and most common, happening to around ninety-six percent of all Hemru, was the change to a fifth-stage caretaker Hemru. These caretakers lost a great deal of their individuality and existed only to care for the younger stages, especially the larval and pupa stages.

Riho explained that during pre-technological times, the duration of this final stage would last perhaps fifteen human years, during which their bodies lost the ability to self-regenerate. This meant that they aged rapidly, becoming slower and weaker physically and suffering a long gradual decline in their mental capacity. In effect, they became much like the drones I’d imagined earlier.

Riho had explained that now, with modern technology, the fifth stage lifespan could be prolonged almost indefinitely with artificial rejuvenation. Most fifth stage Hemru, however, chose to not have their lives extended greatly, either from reasons of tradition, or from a reduced will to live, or a combination of both.

Some were kept healthy against their wishes in order to maintain sufficient numbers required to provide proper care for the young. Such decisions were made by the rulers of the species on a periodic basis. Riho explained that modern Hemru technology even had the means to fully revert stage five Hemru to a younger stage if population needs required it.

Of course, this included the mental manipulation required to adjust the minds of these ‘elderly’ Hemru to regain their ... zest for life, for lack of a better word. Part of the process involved overlaying composite mental templates onto the subject. I had frowned thinking of how this resembled what the Assemblage had planned on Earth. Riho explained that the process was rare and had only been utilized extensively during their long war against the enemy.

The second possible outcome for Hemru entering the fifth stage, and one that happened to about two percent of the species, was to become a ruler. When Riho began describing this small group, I’d immediately wanted to think of these as queens, but I soon learned that they were more like our human Directors.

This group was made up the mental elite of the stage three Hemru. Those with the highest intellect and certain other mental characteristics followed this path. Somehow, a deep genetic encoding caused this group to be reformed as fifth-stage supreme Hemru. Their fourth-stage metamorphosis lasted longer (about two years) and left the Hemru with an increased intelligence along with a distinct physical appearance.

They also possessed secondary ‘ruler’ characteristics which included hormonal markers and dominance colorations which make the younger Hemru receptive to their leadership. The rejuvenation ability of these ruler Hemru remained intact and if anything, was enhanced, allowing them to live at least four decades beyond their emergence.

I was impressed when I learned that these rulers self-imposed ‘term limits’ on their own rule. While they had technology that would allow them to rejuvenate themselves almost indefinitely, they mandated that their term of leadership could never exceed their original normal span.

Riho explained that this ‘churning’ of ruling members allowed new thoughts and ways of thinking to enter the ruling group from following generations of Hero. It was amazing that these rulers cooperated as well as they did instead of competing for absolute rule.

They seemed to act as an ideal distributed collective leadership. Again, I was reminded of our directors and grudgingly had to accept that maybe we’d come up with a decent system of our own. I have to learn more about both systems and see if there was room for improvements on ours.

The third and final outcome for Hemru undergoing stage-four metamorphosis was conversion (or reversion, to hear it described by the women) from female to male breeder. This happened to about two percent of the total Hemru population.

Riho explained that the main triggers resulting in this outcome were aggression, dominance and competitiveness. They were likely a holdover evolutionary-wise from when the Hemru were wild. Survival of the fittest or some such. As with other aspects of their species, technology had allowed the Hemru to alter and tailor the selection of those to become male.

The benefit to those Hemru so selected was the extension of their genetic line although we were told that with their current technology, genetic alterations were introduced into these males so that the aggressive and dominant tendencies were not the only genetic characteristics passed onwards.

We also learned that with so few males, they did indeed have to spend the rest of their fifth-stage existence breeding the females. It was a full-time job and it ended when they died. Again, to prevent stagnation, no rejuvenation was permitted. And as the males had been rendered mostly stupid, they were in no position to argue with that decree.

Riho had finished the explanation by confirming that she was not a ruler Hemru. When her mind was recorded to be sent along with the probe, she had been a typical independent ‘adult’ Hemru and nearing the end of her third stage. I’d already suspected as much from her submissive attitude.

After Riho had finished explaining the five overall stages of the Hemru life cycle, including the three final derivatives for the fifth-stage, Alek had asked a very insightful question. “Do the older stage three females who were most competitive and dominating know that they are likely doomed to become simple male breeders?” he’d asked.

“Yes,” Riho had answered. “Although such Hemru feel an instinctive need to dominate and the ultimate way to do that is to see your genetic line carried forward. They also know they lack the intelligence to rule and consider the common option of becoming a caretaker Hemru as being beneath them.