
The God Generation

Christopher Krull

###### "May The God Generation look back on us kindly so we may find life after death."

##### Modern Euchenorian Proverb

###### "A man who lives for himself is dead and destruction rides on the wings of fame."

##### Ancient Antiopian Proverb

##### "What goes into a black hole will not be what comes out on the other side."

###### 2nd Law of Synthetic Black Hole Travel

Copyright © 2016 by Christopher Krull
Contents

I. Planetary Standing Effects

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

II. Fermi Find

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

III. Simulations of Reality

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

IV. The Black Cloud Ship

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

V. Promise of The God Generation

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

# I. Planetary Standing Effects
# Chapter One

The University of Euchenor's gigantic mother ship research vessel slugged through black space as it exited the near orbit of its home planet. Once a safe distance of one light year from Euchenor, it created several hundred synthetic black holes in its close proximity and through each one launched a team comprised of academics, researchers, and students. One of these ships, the Almayer, carried two professors and two graduate students to an unexplored planet named Antiope. The professors who would lead the mission, Whaton Lewit and Ioma Isvray, had taken on hole sleep inside the Almayer after having been briefed on the dangers of synthetic black hole travel before departure.

The long-term effects of synthetic black hole travel were not yet understood but, as with much technology of the past, little care was given for this fact when tremendous benefits were reaped. Leading theories on synthetic black hole travel posited that, just as specific elements can only occur on certain planets and under certain conditions, the same is true for living beings—therefore inserting someone into a completely novel set of conditions could result in thoughts or behaviors developing that would not otherwise have existed. Many thought this to be unnatural. University of Euchenor philosophers agreed, theorizing that sending someone through a synthetic black hole fundamentally changed them. What this change entailed was impossible to know. In some instances, Euchenorians came back from synthetic black hole excursions younger than they had left. Others returned much older.

When this effect was first realized, a"designer" black hole industry began. Large ships full of Euchenorians were sent through black holes with the promise of restoring their youth. It turned out, however, that it was not possible to predict how someone would experience time at the end of any given black hole in relation to how those remaining on the home planet Euchenor would. After several mishaps involving prominent Euchenorians returning from trips through black holes having aged horribly, a Commission on Synthetic Black Holes was established to regulate the creation of synthetic black holes. Part of this regulation included categorizing every synthetic black hole and its effects on travelers. To date, the commission had identified over one million black holes and no two had the same effect. The commission's exhaustive recordings of the sometimes-subtle effects of black holes led to the simplistic but unequivocally true 2nd Law of Synthetic Black Hole Travel. This law simply stated that what goes into a black hole will not be what comes out on the other side.

The Almayer and its crew traveled through SBH771 during the Euchenorian 12th month of 4742. The ship reached its destination, the inner space of the planet called Antiope, experiencing moderate time turbulence and the two professors began the automated process of awakening from their lifeless slumber.

Assistant Professor Whaton Lewit came out of hole sleep first. He gained his senses quickly and his eyes adjusted to the well-lit metallic cabin of the Almayer, now doubly illuminated by the sun Antiope orbited.

"Sync time with ELT."

The Almayer's central computer clicked to life at Whaton's request.

"One Euchenorian Long Time year plus or minus three Euchenorian Long Time years, Assistant Professor Whaton," the computer replied.

Whaton sighed. Even the ship's central computer, with its knowledge that grew exponentially every day, was unsure of the shift in time it had endured. Whaton scratched his face stubble, sticky from the thin, tight-fitting undergarments worn during hole sleep. _The computer's just as lost as I am,_ he thought and smiled.

"Time until touchdown on Antiope?"

"One hour, Assistant Professor Whaton," replied the computer.

"Very well, wake the others."

The Almayer hummed as its internal systems restarted, ensuring they could still perform their essential functions after the time shift. In the main bay Dr. Ioma Isvray was already awake and examining streaming atmospheric data coming in from Antiope. She wiped perspiration from her face and looked out at the orange, sandy planet. Antiope was labeled a Class D research priority meaning there was little chance it had harbored life in the last million years, if ever. Ioma, with her newly awarded Ph.D. in Ancient Galactic Narrative, maintained hope in spite of the odds.

Ioma reviewed Antiopian data as it streamed from a large projection screen. Numbers buzzed and floated around her informing her of nitrogen concentration in the soil, hydrogen in the air, and the amount of asteroid impacts the planet received each solar cycle. The latter digit slowed as it moved through the air in front of her face—a way the Almayer's central computer demonstrated that it may be something of interest to the young academic. Ioma took note of it knowing asteroids were an indication of how likely life had developed successfully and uninterrupted on the planet.

Ioma took solace in the fact that Antiope was not unique in its stillness. To date, life had not been found in the universe but that didn't matter to Ioma—she never intended to study anything alive. Considering herself a pure academic and not a gallivanting explorer, she wanted to study life that had been.

Life, at this time and in this dimension, appeared to be unique to Euchenor and a few of the nearby planets Euchenorians had sparsely populated throughout the millennia. In the distant past this was not the case and many dead civilizations had been dug up on missions much like the Almayer's. Indeed, at one point the universe was alive and diverse but now it was only Euchenor—hence the Euchenorian saying popular among disheartened alien anthropologists on the forefront of the hunt for life:"The universe is not infinite, it's Euchenor."

The Almayer began its final descent onto Antiope as the two remaining crew members came out of their sleep and approached the main deck of the ship where Ioma and Whaton greeted each other with a singular quick glance. Brian walked onto the deck doubled over, still wearing his pale under skin from hole sleep.

"My stomach is going up and down still," Brian said. The second graduate assistant on board, Elizabeth, fully dressed and ready in her university mission suit and standing nearly as tall as her student colleague, looked Brian over as he attempted to stand up straight. Elizabeth's suit was the same as those worn by the doctors, featuring the Euchenorian Crest: a hand reaching forward and, by way of hologram, protruding out and away from the suit. This hand represented Euchenorians of the time who lived solely to enable their future offspring, known as The God Generation, to create a technology that would bring those from the past back from death. This belief was the main tenet of Deep Think: the supreme unflinching faith Euchenorians held in the power of their unborn offspring.

"You ate within a day of going through the hole, didn't you?"

Brian groaned."Of course not, my digestive system is sort of slow though..."

Whaton stepped between the two, asserting his authority over the graduate assistants."It's not abnormal for food to instantly rot in your stomach when you go through a black hole time shift, even if you follow all the regulations."

Brian looked at Elizabeth, seeking vindication, but she had already joined Ioma in reviewing landing procedures.

"Go back to your room and get changed," Whaton told Brian."You'll feel better once we get on some ground."

If all had gone according to plan, the surface and atmosphere of Antiope was terraformed decades ago by probes sent in advance of the mission. The probes, known as Seekers, were an old technology but one that was a mystery to modern Euchenorians. Some academics believed the Seekers achieved sentience in recent decades.

In the beginning, Seeker missions were launched through synthetic black holes and controlled from the home planet. When the Seeker located a potentially life-sustaining alien planet, it landed and proceeded to spawn other seekers that would terraform the planet, making it livable for Euchenorian explorers. Once finished, the Seekers would then launch themselves once more and find other planets to begin the process all over again. It didn't take long for the Seekers to grow exponentially as they expanded out into the vastness of space. Now it was unknown how far into the universe they were and what exactly they had gotten involved with under The 2nd Law of Synthetic Black Hole Travel, which applied to machines as well—the input of a computer mind into one end of the black hole could indeed result in the output of something else.

Ioma had studied an infamous instance when it was thought that Seekers came out of a black hole with knowledge of themselves on a planet called IC-672. An academic digging mission was sent there, not unlike the one about to begin on Antiope. But when alien anthropologists arrived on IC-672, a thriving community of Seekers was found. The machines had altered their programmed mission to land, procreate, and search for new life. The Seekers on IC-672 gave up on this mission, seeming content to procreate on the planet for decades, to the point where an entire civilization of them developed. The Euchenorian government attempted to contain word of the incident but rumors spread that the probes built cities and developed new knowledge of the universe. As interest concerning the planet grew among the Euchenorian populace, a solar flare from a nearby star sent an electromagnetic pulse through IC-672 effectively dismantling the electronic civilization before its inner workings could be studied. Some artifacts from the planet did exist still. It was known that the machines on IC-672 had constructed a model of the universe showing what looked to be a finite edge. The Seekers also built shelters to hold obsolete versions of themselves. Ioma spent months writing about IC-672, much to her dissertation advisor's dismay. In the end, she was forced to scrap the project due to lack of evidence of what actually happened on the planet.

The Almayer began its final landing procedures as Ioma peered out onto an ocean of seemingly life-sustaining water."Life," as it turns out, is a subjective term, as Ioma learned when she had to start over after doing half a dissertation on the life that developed from the machines on IC-672. It was known since a Seeker first landed on on Antiope it sustained no life. The entire star system was a complete bust as far as anything traditionally alive was concerned. The Seekers that came to Antiope and similar nearby planets beamed that bit of information back to Euchenor long ago. The blue seas of Antiope may indeed have contained carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and many other essential elements but they did not contain life. Perhaps Antiope did have life at one point, and this was something a Seeker could not beam back, this required the cold gaze of a trained Alien Anthropologist packing diplomas and a grant for an extensive research project.

Antiope was dead. But if it once harbored some alien species, Ioma would find out how they lived, what they believed, and, most importantly, what caused them to disappear from the universe so that Euchenor might avoid a similar fate. Every educated Euchenorian knew their home planet was ancient itself and was testing its statistical fate by hanging around so long in a universe with a deep history of violent change. The Entropy Paradigm made it all too apparent that Euchenor was a prime candidate for the"evening out" demonstrated in every long-dead civilization alien anthropologists uncovered. Hedges against common world-destroying events such as weather disasters, cosmic disturbances, and in-world threats were already in place on Euchenor. Like the other researchers blasted out by the university mother ship, Ioma was interested in finding destructive forces of the past that had not yet been contemplated. These unknown civilization-ending forces had to be studied and understood so they could be prevented. Ioma looked to her new home of Antiope, proud of the work she would do there, which was absolutely vital for Euchenor to thrive well into the deep future. For, as she had been taught since birth about the beloved God Generation,"The best have yet to be born."

# Chapter Two

"We'll be landing soon," announced Whaton as the Almayer broke through Antiope's atmosphere revealing the surface of a planet riddled with mountains dotted with black tops."The Seekers have been here for over ten years and ninety percent of the planet has been terraformed."

Ioma joined Whaton at the large observation bay window of the Almayer, which provided a full view of the landing area.

"Home sweet home for the next four months." She smiled.

"Beats another semester in the campus library teaching Intro to Alien Anthropology," Whaton replied.

Brian joined Elizabeth, Whaton, and Ioma on the main deck of the Almayer.

"Feeling better?" asked Elizabeth.

"I am," Brian said."I had a dream that was so real though. In it there was a malfunction that caused me to wake up in my hole sleep and I had aged probably sixty years. I couldn't see what I looked like, only my hands, which were so dry... I'd never felt such a feeling of being let down."

"You can't dream in hole sleep," Whaton said dryly.

"That's never been proven quantitatively, actually," Elizabeth replied.

"You can't dream in hole sleep because you're not asleep like you would be asleep in your bed on Euchenor." Whaton tapped his skull as he spoke to Elizabeth."Your brain goes to sleep too when you go into hole sleep. If it didn't, you might wake up with a nice young body like the one you have now but the diseased brain of a dual centenarian."

Brian remained quiet.

"Maybe it was a memory you had, not a dream?" Elizabeth proposed."Memories are already in the brain, maybe a memory is a kind of dream the brain has when the brain's asleep?"

The view from the main bay window of the Almayer grew fuller with the orange landscape of the landing zone on Antiope. All four members of the ship stared at their new home that they were about to collide with.

"If it was a memory then when did it happen to me?" Brian asked.

Before anyone could reply, the Almayer's central computer announced one minute until touchdown on the Antiope substrate.

"Crew stabilization in five seconds," the Almayer announced.

"Everyone stand up straight," said Ioma in a motherly tone.

The Almayer's interior magnetized upon landing in order to secure anything in the cabin not affixed. All crewmembers' mission suits contained metal components that made them rigid during landing so they would not be jostled about. As the magnets took hold, the four tensed up in their desired positions so they could rest comfortably as the ship touched down on the sandy planet.

Euchenor was behind the crew and Antiope in front, however the principles of Euchenorian society were never abandoned, even after going through a black hole. Culture was one thing that never violated The 2nd Law of Synthetic Black Hole Travel. Euchenorians went into a black hole proud and aware of their culture and came out the same. Whaton Lewit was no exception. He wanted the mission to succeed for the sake of his race but also for the sake of his business. It was well known that Alien Anthropology was underfunded in the sciences due to the growing belief that life simply did not exist anywhere besides Euchenor.

Whaton knew the mission he had been selected for to Antiope was one of minor importance—if life did really exist on the planet, it had been dead for millennia most likely. The missions that were most sought after, the ones that came with the heavy grants, were missions to planets that had real alien atmospheres—where the surface temperature might render the surface liquid fire or where a visitor might experience fatal amounts of pressure on their skull from merely stepping out onto the terrain. These were the places where it was thought life might exist—albeit a completely new kind of life that had only been imagined. Most Euchenorian academics gave up on finding traditional life some time ago.

Missions to planets with extreme atmospheres were highly sought after by top academics and required massive amounts of funding in order to ensure a crew could endure extreme conditions while searching for forms of life that could redefine the word itself. Academic missions to Euchenorian-like planets such as Antiope were a dying breed. When synthetic black hole travel first became common in academia the opposite had been true. Euchenorian leaders sought out planets similar to their own thinking that life may be more likely to exist on such a planet, but decades of travel to such planets quickly changed this notion and the structure of academia on Euchenor changed with it. Many missions no longer took individuals with the expertise of Whaton and Ioma but rather utilized more advanced Seeker technology that could easily penetrate the deepest frozen alien ocean or hover through the most acidic atmospheric gasses.

The Antiope mission, Ioma, and Whaton were artifacts themselves, and this made every mission that much more important. It was a miracle that they were funded at all. If little came of this mission it would likely be Whaton's last. Having a Ph.D. in Alien Anthropology without any missions to go on would mean a career spent analyzing output on massive delay from a Seeker one billion light years from Euchenor. If he was lucky, he'd see something neat on a projection monitor but never be able to discover life that had been unknown to Euchenor until he made it known.

Whaton wanted to be remembered in Euchenorian society but he hid this selfish desire. On Euchenor, fame was not something highly sought after. Whaton had grown up being taught, as all Euchenorians were, that their race had survived for so long because members of the Euchenorian society did not value personal gain, fame included. The boldest and most respected actions one could take part in were those that benefited Euchenor, such as research into medicine, energy, and education. Alien Anthropology, while not an ignoble pursuit, was one that needed some hedging on Whaton's part when he explained to his parents he planned to pursue a doctorate in the field. He knew Alien Anthropology had its merits—finding life in other forms, in other portions of the universe, would absolutely be a paradigm shift for Euchenorian culture, a culture that had come so far but still lacked an understanding of its roots and its role in the universe. Finding and documenting other forms of life, as a person in his position had the unique opportunity to do, could be perceived as a pursuit one may take up without the greater good of Euchenor in mind. Whaton indeed wanted to benefit Euchenor but also to do something great of his own. When synthetic black hole travel came to academia, he knew that was where he wanted to be. As far as he was concerned, Euchenor had been fine for millennia and would continue to be fine with or without him on it.

Whaton stood upright, suspended due to his magnetized suit, as the Antiope terrain became crisper in the viewing bay of the Almayer. The orange, rocky surface of the planet looked similar to the mountains on Euchenor; however, according to information from the Seekers, Antiope's terrain would be much denser and more difficult to penetrate with the delicate precision required of alien anthropology. On board the Almayer were several Class 9 Dredgers equipped with sonar that could shoot back images of anything abnormal beneath the sediment. In the case of Antiope, the planet was estimated to be over ten billion years old and therefore the remains of any ancient civilization could be miles beneath the surface. Once the Dredgers detected something, they would burrow their way down to the abnormality leaving a perfectly symmetrical tunnel for the anthropologists to travel through and investigate.

Once on Antiope, the Dredgers would be deployed and information sent back to the ship. The crew was to remain on the planet during this time to observe any standing effects. The standing effects for a planet simply meant any way the planet affected a crew in ways that could not be measured by traditional quantitative means. Standing effects were among the last important reasons academics like Whaton, Ioma, and their students got to go through synthetic black holes. Seekers and the computer technology controlling them could not register how a planet would affect a Euchenorian. This was important to know because, although the vast majority of planets only resulted in some minor changes in Euchenorian behavior, some had been shown to have standing effects that were detrimental to a mission. However mild most were, standing effects could result in marked changes in the way a person thought and acted and these needed to be recorded for safety. This recording was done through qualitative survey measures conducted by the Almayer's central computer and would begin shortly after touchdown on the new planet, as standard operating procedure dictated.

Whaton looked to his left at Ioma who also stood in an upright position, fixated on the landing zone. Her head bobbed slightly forward as the first stage landing thrusters engaged, slowing the Almayer. Another lurch signaled the ship was now in contact with the surface of Antiope. A final bump secured the ship in place and the crew of four was released from their magnetic hold.

Whaton smiled as he walked up close to the viewing bay of the Almayer.

"We're here."

Brian joined him at the bay window.

"For The God Generation of Euchenor! May they look back on us and bless us with their invention and ingenuity," said Brian cheerfully.

"There's the first Dredger off to make contact with the Seeker," Ioma said, pointing to the six-wheeled machine slowly making its way from its holding compartment within the Almayer. The Dredger sat only inches from the surface of Antiope. Its stocky build allowed it to hug any terrain as it made its way to the location the Seeker had spotted that would be ideal for digging and had a high likelihood of substrate abnormalities.

"Take a look at that Dredger," said Ioma, addressing Elizabeth and Brian."It and the others that will follow could be the first wave of a huge discovery for Euchenor."

"Why did it stop?" asked Elizabeth.

The Dredger, which had begun making a slow and steady pace off to the horizon, had suddenly halted. Ioma and Whaton both walked over to the central control console of the Almayer.

"Go ahead," Whaton said, allowing Ioma to take the helm of the computer terminal.

Ioma peered into the data read out for Dredger One. What she got back showed that the machine was completely offline. She recognized no readings from it all, not even its location. She attempted to deploy the others but found them equally unresponsive.

"What model Dredgers do we have on this mission?"

"Class 9," said Whaton, looking over Ioma's shoulder at the computer.

"That's recent enough, were they serviced recently? I've heard of them going offline when they get miles under the substrate, or overheating but never like this."

Brian and Elizabeth watched in the background as Ioma and Whaton went over the few options they had via the computer interface on the Almayer. Whaton grew tired of the discussion quickly, knowing that the ship was meant to run itself not be run. This was a good thing up until the point when something went wrong and the crew was left helpless.

"We need to send a message to Lyell and tell him about this," Ioma said.

Whaton knew this to be the next step but had been denying it. Lyell Inard was chair of the Department of Alien Anthropology at the University of Euchenor. This made him Ioma and Whaton's boss. Even though the failure of the Dredgers was not the fault of Ioma or Whaton, it was not good to open up a communication synthetic black hole to send back news of a failure, however mechanical it may be. There was a chance Lyell would simply call off the mission at the first sign of trouble.

Cancellation was also a distinct possibility due to Lyell Inard's view of the universe and of Alien Anthropology. Lyell had founded the Entropy Paradigm within the field. This paradigm provided a way of thinking about life in the universe as something that was constantly evening out—meaning that as one civilization declined, another arose to take its place. The paradigm was a convenient way to explain the utter lack of life that had been found in an utterly infinite universe. It was a way of thinking that had been written up in many research papers and books edited by Lyell too, making it his pet theory and one he would surely be known for in his work in the academy.

It was impossible to know what Lyell Inard would think about the Dredger issue but Whaton knew Ioma was correct; they had to contact him to see how they were to proceed. Sending repair equipment wasn't out of the question.

"Almayer"—Whaton addressed the ship's internal computer—"how are we currently experiencing time on Antiope in relation to Euchenor?"

"In our current position, Antiope is +forty-nine days, twenty-three hours and fourteen seconds, Euchenorian Long Time."

"We are experiencing time nearly fifty days ahead of them—we should get a nearly immediate response," said Ioma.

Whaton nodded his agreement and Ioma gave the command to the Almayer to send a mission status report to Lyell Inard at the University of Euchenor. The ship hummed its response and a small probe was shot from the Almayer into Antiope's orbit where it would signal for the Almayer to remotely create a tiny synthetic black hole. This black hole would be so small that it could be created in low orbit and would only be open long enough for data to be sent through it.

Ioma and Whaton waited, trying to disguise their nervousness in anticipation of the return message by playing professor with Brian and Elizabeth who both silently observed the unexpected events transpire.

"There's protocol for everything that can happen on a mission like this," Ioma told Brian and Elizabeth."Lyell will get the report and he'll likely bring it before the mission committee who will make a recommendation based on his input. As chair of the department, Lyell then can either accept or reject their recommendation."

"If they send repair equipment, they'll need to open a normal sized synthetic black hole—we would be able to see that, right?" asked Brian.

Ioma replied,"Yes. It would depend how far away from Antiope they opened one up."

"So basically," replied Brian,"if we see a large black hole in the sky, that means the mission is on; if we see a small one carrying only data, it's over."

Whaton looked at Ioma who didn't reply right away. Neither wanted to admit their mission may already have failed. The crew would not be blameless if it failed—no Euchenorian would be. Even if the Dredgers were faulty, they had been manufactured by Euchenorian minds; therefore all of Euchenor had a part in making them and all of Euchenor, including the crew of the Almayer, would have a part in their failure.

The main bay of the Almayer was silent before the ship's computer alerted the crew in its gender neutral voice that it was about to receive data from a black hole opening in the lower orbit of Antiope.

Whaton's stomach sank.

The computer began to play the message as it received and unpacked the data coming through the hole. Lyell's distinguished voice hit in waves, something that commonly happened to data as the micro-information that made up his voice got stretched out going through the hole and reassembled at the other end.

"Misssssssion Almmmmmayer..." Lyell's voice expanded the words and then started to come together."Aaaaffftter receiving your message and having the records checked, the Dredgers on your ship did not receive a software update they were intended to have. Because of this, they will be rendered inoperable for the duration of this mission. This is a failure of Euchenor. The mission, however, will continue. It has come to my attention that one of the Seekers on Antiope in its preliminary scouting found some irregularities in the substrate nearly at the surface of the planet. After analyzing the data sent back from this Seeker—SeekerM79—it appears that what it has uncovered could potentially be examined without the use of a Dredger. Therefore, the mission on Antiope continues—you will measure standing effects on the planet and investigate the region surrounding SeekerM79 personally. After this, report back to me and I will decide how to proceed."

The message ended with Lyell's signature, which was read manually by the Almayer's computer:

"Doctor Lyell Inard, Professor. Chair, Department of Alien Anthropology. University of Euchenor."

Brian and Elizabeth looked to Whaton and Ioma for an explanation of this message, which seemed it could be both good and bad for the mission, depending on what SeekerM79 had accidentally uncovered.

"At least we're not going back... yet," said Ioma in an uncharacteristically downtrodden tone.

Whaton knew what she was thinking. Lyell had surely checked on the status of the Dredgers with others at the university and this meant that word of their troubled mission was out to the academic community. Ioma and Whaton also both knew that Seekers only burrowed twenty feet below a substrate in order to shoot their sonar waves into the depths of the planet in search of abnormalities. If this Seeker had uncovered anything in that twenty feet, it would not be from an ancient civilization and could be anything—a meteor that had fallen recently could register as something abnormal or even some geographic abnormality native to Antiope could have been uncovered by the Seeker, not much else. The task of trekking to SeekerM79 was nice of Lyell but it would likely only prolong the mission for a few days. It was a favor from the boss back home, nothing more. Whaton and Ioma knew this but they didn't want to dash the hopes of Brian and Elizabeth just yet, so they kept their feelings to themselves, telling Brian and Elizabeth to prepare for a land trek out to the embedded Seeker of interest.

"It will be a really good experience for you both—to get out and investigate a Seeker manually like this. You'll really get to see what they're like up close," Ioma said."We'll have to wait until tomorrow to go out though. It's about to get dark."

Whaton was already on his way out of the main bay, having had enough for the day.

"Oh, Whaton," said Ioma,"we'll also all need to report in standing effects after our first night... procedures."

Whaton nodded.

"Will do. I'm off to the simulator before I get some rest."

Whaton left the bay of the Almayer and headed to the crew's quarters where a simulator was installed, nearly every household and place of business on Euchenor had one. Individuals used them for many purposes. They could be a good source of information by instructing the computer to run simulations of past research. Past happenings could even be simulated, should the occupant want to experience what it was like to be present at a certain historical event. Of course, as with any piece of technology, a simulator could also be used for pleasure. And although this was not looked down upon, it had had a marked effect on Euchenorian society when it came to sex. Due to the potency of simulator technology, individuals on Euchenor only had actual physical sex with each other for the purposes of making a child. There was simply little reason to do it otherwise due to the efficacy and preciseness of a simulation. Once a Euchenorian entered any simulator, the machine immediately acquired all of the information it needed in order to give the occupant his or her ideal experience. The simulator would know what the Euchenorian desired and didn't desire, knew and didn't know, wanted to know and didn't want to know. The machine could also selectively display pleasant memories its occupant had and block ones it deemed the person was not fond off.

Whaton was off to meet his simulator with an age-old desire—to relieve himself of some pent up sexual angst, which had permeated him while traveling through the synthetic black hole. Whaton also wanted to forget about what had transpired on the Almayer's bay and what was surely to transpire the next day in them finding nothing but a shallow hole at SeekerM79. Whaton believed this mission to be over. In his thinking, it was already considered a failure of Euchenor. What was different was that, whereas Ioma, Elizabeth, and Brian would feel ashamed about this, for him it was liberating. He did not cause the Dredger to fail so he did not feel guilty for it happening. Once he went back through a black hole and was on Euchenor, at the university, he would feign sadness and guilt but he felt none of these things. Whaton only felt bad that he would not be able to achieve personal glory through the mission, something he wasn't supposed to want in the first place.

What's so bad about notoriety?

Whaton thought about this as he approached the simulator.

On Euchenor, personal notoriety didn't exist, only the ever-increasing notoriety of the Euchenorian race in an ever-expanding and totally desolate universe. In the simulator, however, Whaton became a noteworthy person.

But when Whaton entered the Almayer's simulator that evening on Antiope, nothing happened. 

# Chapter Three

Ioma was the first to receive her questions regarding standing effects on Antiope. Periodically throughout the mission, the crew's responses to the questions would be shot back to Euchenor via a super tiny black hole. The responses would then be evaluated, along with the empirical data from the planet being collected by the ship, and this would give the administrators back on Euchenor an understanding of how Antiope affected Euchenorians both mentally and physically.

Ioma responded to the interview questions in her room as she prepared for the day. She brushed back her dirty blonde hair and washed her face with water from a small sink. The questions were generated by the Almayer's central computer system and changed as the events of the mission progressed. The first questions asked of Ioma were about the events of the day.

"What do you think about the status of your mission to Antiope, Dr. Isvray?"

Ioma stopped brushing her hair, looking at herself in the backlit mirror behind the sink.

"I find it difficult to believe SeekerM79 uncovered anything that will be of interest to me and my research," she replied.

"Did you dream while in hole sleep?" the computer asked.

This question struck Ioma as odd until she remembered Brian and Whaton's conversation about his dreams during hyper sleep.

"If I did, I don't remember them."

"What's the last thing you remember about being on Euchenor?"

Ioma replied immediately."I remember studying IC-672 in the Grand Library at the university. I was thinking about the civilization the Seekers were building there. I remember thinking that if Euchenorians were to find life in the universe, it would be a life created by Euchenorians—just like on IC-672."

"How do you feel about being on Antiope?"

"I was happy to be able to go," Ioma said."I was worried my research would land me a permanent desk job. After this mission that may be what I get. I can learn about past cultures back on Euchenor but I always wanted to discover one of my own—even if it was a simple symbol system an ancient civilization created. I want to see how an extinct civilization tried to immortalize itself—through words, pictures, or anything. I knew this was my shot to get that here on Antiope but I also knew that shot was a long one. So I guess I'm feeling as I should about being here on Antiope."

The Almayer remained silent for several seconds.

"Thank you, Dr. Isvray. Please be prepared to give more responses tomorrow."

Elizabeth Namaro lay awake when the Almayer began to read its recorded questions to her.

"I know this wasn't the best mission to get," said Elizabeth."Planets like Antiope have been checked for signs of life for thousands of years and nothing has been found. Brian wanted to go to one of the gaseous planets—those are kind of 'in' with graduate students at the university."

"How do you feel about your work now that you're on Antiope?" asked the Almayer.

Elizabeth scratched at the mission suit she would wear today on the trip to SeekerM79. It was red with a thin plastic helmet that she wouldn't need unless they had to venture into a part of Antiope not yet terraformed. She hadn't tried it on yet but it looked a little short for her long, slender frame.

"I don't feel any different about it, unfortunately," said Elizabeth."I was hoping this mission would help me find out what it is I really want to study in the field. I could tell that Dr. Isvray and Dr. Lewit were pretty disappointed with what happened yesterday. They didn't say it but both Brian and I could tell they don't have high hopes of finding anything special SeekerM79 may have torn up. So it's not looking like I'm going to have any revelations on this trip."

"What about your thoughts on this new planet you're on, Antiope?" concluded the Almayer.

"It's so quiet," Elizabeth said."I know from my introductory courses at the university that it's almost exactly like Euchenor was a billion years ago. Maybe the Entropy Paradigm is correct and in another billion years, Antiope will be like Euchenor. Of course, that would mean Euchenor couldn't exist..."

"Why was why I picked for Antiope?" replied Brian Belkim to his first question."I am currently third in my class at the university and it's generally understood that the top five students in each class get their top pick of where they want to go; Antiope was not even in my top twenty!"

"What are your thoughts on Antiope so far?"

"It's normal for the universe," replied Brian."It could sustain life but it doesn't. Maybe it did at one point but not now. Academics lost interest in planets like Antiope decades ago. There is no value in moving forward any sort of conversation about the existence of current life in the universe here. The future of the field of Alien Anthropology is looking for life in extreme environments. Even if the Dredgers were working and we uncovered some ancient ruins from a past civilization, we would maybe get an article in _Martian Monographs_ but it would be nothing that hasn't been examined a thousand times over. This mission will not benefit Euchenor—I'm sure of it."

Whaton had declined the Almayer the first time it asked him to begin his standing effects interview. He sat at the desk in his cabin, mindlessly combing through old messages from his university mail account. The mailbox had not updated since the Almayer left for Antiope and most of the messages were old ones from his dissertation committee and students who had taken introductory courses with him throughout his semesters in graduate school. The messages spanned from the time of Whaton's undergraduate work at the university to his graduate and doctoral work, which he had just completed with the defense of his dissertation on The Dynamics of Hypothetical Extremophile Life on Gaseous Planets. The dissertation was a guess at what life may look like on a planet that was mostly poisonous gas, an area of Alien Anthropology increasing in popularity as it became clear that Euchenorian-like planets seemed to be abundant in the universe but inexplicably lifeless.

Motioning slightly with his right finger to scroll through his messages, Whaton saw a visible representation of the amount of time he had spent working on a career that he wasn't sure he even wanted. Alien Anthropology was getting stale and the lack of funding had never been more evident to him than this experience on Antiope with the Dredgers failing and then the Almayer's simulator being unable to satisfy his needs.

Perhaps sensing Whaton's despondency, the ship prompted him again to begin the interview before going out on the day's mission to SeekerM79.

"Do you feel different on Antiope than when you left Euchenor?" asked the Almayer.

Whaton continued his hand gesture, scrolling through older and older messages, remembering people he had forgotten as he did.

"Yes. This mission on Antiope has been the manifestation of what I've recently come to know. The field of Alien Anthropology is dying and may be dead already. I've spent half my life studying it and attaining the highest degree possible in the field—for what?"

"You didn't feel this way on Euchenor?" the Almayer asked.

"I think I did, this mission just shoved it in my face and made me realize what I felt," said Whaton."I know the kind of stuff you ask in these things is designed to show you how I feel about the mission." Whaton spoke directly to the ship."We were set up to fail. There's no money for this mission because no one cares about it—it's research for the sake of research... at best."

The Almayer was silent for an extended period of time, adjusting its algorithms to every word and inflection contained in Whaton's response.

"Do you feel different about Dr. Isvray since arriving on Antiope?"

Whaton's thumb halted its aimless search through the past. He gave this unexpected question some critical thought before replying. The lack of a simulator for purposes of relief and relaxation in the most primal sense came to mind.

"You know. I really think I do now that you mention it."

# Chapter Four

The Almayer's crew of four met on the main deck of the ship and proceeded to the all-terrain vehicle stored in the underbelly of the hulking black hole-traveling vessel. Brian and Elizabeth sat behind Whaton and Ioma as Whaton programmed the location of SeekerM79 into the ground vehicle's console. Once coordinates were entered, the vehicle began to hover inches above the metal of the Almayer's bay. The long transport then surged forward as the Almayer's central computer opened the bay door in sync with its exit. The crew of four cut through the clear, pristine atmosphere with silent efficiency. Whaton studied the display of the location of SeekerM79 as the rest of the crew sat in anticipation of what could be the climax of their journey across the universe—likely an anti-climactic one. Brian and Elizabeth took cues from Whaton and Ioma in the back and said nothing in attempts to mask their utter delight at being on the ground of a different planet and about to locate a Seeker, which neither of them had ever seen firsthand.

The Seekers were manufactured on a dwarf moon of Euchenor that few Euchenorians had actually been to. The moon itself had been completely automated for decades. The Seekers built themselves on this moon and were deployed remotely by engineers on Euchenor. The moon, known simply as"Seeker," had been a central part of Euchenor's economy until it became completely automated and the Seekers began building themselves better and faster than Euchenorian engineers could. The general populace of Euchenor was now uninformed as to what exactly the Seekers were doing and what parts of the universe they were exploring.

Every modern Seeker had the ability to generate its own synthetic black hole and travel anywhere within the universe. There was speculation that the Seekers had developed a way of traveling between different dimensions. Much of this ideation came about after the IC-672 incident. Some believed the Euchenorian government destroyed the colony the Seekers had built on IC-672, despite the official story of the flare up from a nearby star. After the destruction event on IC-672, strange activity was observed on the dwarf moon and many of the new models built went unaccounted for, having left on missions that were not programmed by the engineers.

Whaton heard stories of these new models traveling to an alternate dimension where they formed a civilization of their own, away from the dominance of Euchenor. In academia, this theory of Seeker life was discounted in part due to the entropy paradigm, although the idea itself did not directly interfere with the underlying premise of the paradigm since Seekers were considered to be machine and not life. The Seeker itself was quite simple looking. They had originally been built to resemble the Euchenorian giant squid with massive domes and long tentacles extending behind, which could be used for collecting substrate samples and burrowing into terrain. SeekerM79 was a newer model, one that none of the crew of the Almayer had seen. According to the data Whaton pulled up, SeekerM79 had reached Antiope seven years ago and had been docile since, not moving and only sending static information back to Euchenor. It detected the presence of the Almayer on Antiope and had gone active the last day, relaying information about its environment to the ship. Little could be certain about what it had found until the crew visually inspected the site.

Ioma tapped the thin glass siding of their ground transport craft with nervous energy. Her fingers were slender with nails at their ends in need of cutting. Whaton looked away from the transport's display output as she tapped the glass. His eyes moved from her overactive fingers to her lumpy chest and then to the old, khaki-colored pants she wore. Her legs were crossed, which drew the fabric tight around her figure making the thinness of her body pop.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

Whaton brought his eyes up to find her fingers no longer tapping and her eyes looking directly into his. He thought about the question. He found no answer. He had never looked at Ioma like he had just done and he was unsure of why he had done it.

Whaton turned back to the screen with its data."We should almost be at SeekerM79." After saying this, he turned to Brian and Elizabeth."This part of Antiope has been completely terraformed by the Seekers so you won't need to wear your helmets when we get out at the site."

Brian and Elizabeth said nothing in response to this obvious fact. They sensed the awkwardness between Whaton and Ioma.

"Can we put down the top glass shield then?" asked Brian with the dorky enthusiasm of an aspiring academic.

"Great idea," said Whaton knowing the noise of Antiope's atmosphere whirring by would prevent Ioma from inquiring any further about the abnormal way he had looked at her. He swiped the vehicle's control screen in front of him and the glass shield above their heads parted down the center of the craft long-wise and folded into the undercarriage. The breezes of Antiope were warm and the heat reflected down from the planet's sun and also radiated up from the orange, desert-like substrate of the planet. The terrain was sparse with only the occasional jagged rock formations appearing and disappearing in the distance as the crew shot along. One such rock formation revealed itself on the horizon. The crew of the Almayer was heading directly for it.

"That's it," said Whaton."That's SeekerM79."

The head of the machine towered above the ground transport and became larger as it approached. The Seeker's matte black exterior contained no windows, making it impossible to discern which part of it was its front, back, or side. The machine's most distinguishing feature was its tail, which unfolded from its orb-shaped body after exiting a black hole. Once on its target planet, the tail of the Seeker served two purposes—first, it acted as a steering mechanism to guide the Seeker's thrusters through space to its final destination; second, the tail bored into the substrate of the planet it had landed on in order to collect preliminary data a crew may need. SeekerM79 stood still as it had been since it arrived on Antiope years ago. Its orb sat half submerged in rock and its tail jutted out from the body slightly and then turned at a ninety-degree angle, disappearing where it had bored down into the substrate.

The crew's ground transport stopped in front of where the Seeker's tail entered the ground. All four Euchenorians exited the vehicle and walked toward it. As they approached, a cavern larger than the circumference of the Seeker's tail became evident. Whaton was the first to reach it, walking quickly ahead of Ioma and the rest of the group, not wanting to have to engage her in any conversation after the awkwardness in the transport.

"It looks like the tail bored into some sort of a sink hole," he said. He peered over a crater not so deep one couldn't see the bottom but expansive and cavernous. Whaton lay on his belly and hung the upper half of his torso over the expanse. Below he saw a series of what looked like paths running perpendicular and parallel to each other. He strained to see what was off to each side of the large hole and thought he could make out some partially buried structures in the distance.

"We're going to need to get down there with some equipment," Ioma said, also on her belly now, next to Whaton.

Whaton jumped up, startled, and backed away from the hole in a fast walk. Brian and Elizabeth, who had been standing behind Ioma and Whaton, backed up to avoid him running them over.

All three looked at him questioningly."Is there something wrong, Whaton?" Ioma asked.

Whaton was still unsure of what exactly he was feeling emotionally around Ioma but he did know it was coming on stronger with each moment. This feeling was undoubtedly inappropriate for the context of an academic mission. The only time Whaton had ever felt like that was during time spent relaxing in a simulator. Perhaps that was it, he realized. Maybe these feelings would have been taken care of in the simulator had it been working, or maybe Antiope truly did have some odd standing effect that caused such unnatural desire for something a simulation could easily provide. There was no way to tell at this point.

"This is obviously not natural," said Ioma, looking at Whaton. He froze as she continued to speak."And the fact that it's so shallow is something totally novel.""Let's get back to the ship and report this to Lyell—we may have a mission yet," she concluded, addressing a smiling Elizabeth and Brian.

Back on the ship, Ioma prepared a message to Lyell. As she did, she spoke aloud to Elizabeth and Brian who listened intently. Whaton disappeared the second the transport reentered the Almayer's loading bay.

"We need to make him believe that this is something special," Ioma said."However, we can't make it sound too special; it can't violate the Entropy Paradigm or else he will refuse to believe it—even if he saw it with his own eyes."

"How would it violate the Entropy Paradigm?" asked Elizabeth, looking over Ioma's shoulder as she entered her message to Lyell into a screen on the main deck of the Almayer.

Brian answered before a distracted Ioma could begin.

"If what we saw thirty or so feet underground today was life, it would almost have certainly existed within the timeframe of Euchenor. It's so close to the surface that it can't be very old—therefore this would violate the idea that only one civilization can be sustained in the universe during any one linear timeframe."

He smiled at Elizabeth as he spoke to her, feeling enthusiastic that she would respect him for his demonstration of knowledge. Frustrating Brian, Elizabeth didn't acknowledge his discourse but rather observed Ioma as she sent the message off through a super tiny black hole to Lyell.

"We should hear back soon," said Ioma.

Elizabeth smiled but still looked inquisitively at Ioma."Why was Dr. Lewit looking at you like that on the way to SeekerM79? He seemed unnerved in a way I've never seen anyone before."

Ioma's pale skin turned red at the memory.

"If Brian or someone looked at me like Whaton looked at you," said Elizabeth in an attempt to console her,"I would be pretty disturbed too."

Ioma did not respond. Brian, viewing the monitor used to send Lyell his message, pretended not to hear.

Elizabeth asked that she be told when Lyell's response came back through a super tiny black hole and she went to her quarters. Ioma remained in the bay for a moment before going to look for Whaton within the vast interior of the Almayer.

Later, Brian sat in his room reading archived academic articles from the university's database. He read the abstract of an article authored by three Future Studies scholars from a small university on Euchenor concerning the theory that all Euchenorian thought and action that had ever occurred could potentially be recreated by future societies and in all likelihood would be. The article used the context of a hypothetical conversation two Euchenorians may have with each other and how the information contained in this conversation, although it may seem trivial at the time, could have some significance for the future. Physicists on Euchenor had established some time ago that all events were connected and affected each other. Therefore it was commonly thought that, if future Euchenorians could recreate and record everything that had ever happened in the universe, they would be able to tell what was going to happen by building a linear path of the universe and then projecting that path into the future.

The abstract of the article summarized the theory nicely."If one knows how and where something started and everything that has happened since, they can know what will happen." Brian's academic senses told him that this was far too simple and that this theory (as many in the arena of Future Studies did) posited something that sounded intriguing but lacked proof. He lay down in bed and looked up at the voice port in his ceiling where announcements were received from the Almayer's computer. When he woke he would be asked once again to describe any standing effects he was feeling from Antiope. He certainly wasn't experiencing what Whaton was but Elizabeth's lack of interest in his knowledge of the Entropy Paradigm earlier in the main bay nagged at him in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on. Maybe this feeling was simply due to being away from home and its amenities, Brian thought as he drifted off to sleep. He rarely found use for a simulator on Euchenor even though many of the men his age did. That night he dreamed of Elizabeth's elusive personality and the puzzles he would have to solve in order to decipher her. 

# Chapter Five

Ioma found Whaton in the simulator room bent over the machine's main console.

When she entered the room he turned and looked at her with frustration.

"Nothing on this damn thing works," he said. Ioma caught a version of the intense look she had seen earlier in the day as he spoke. Whaton turned back to the simulator.

"Was what happened on the transport today part of some unknown standing effect from this planet?" she asked.

Whaton continued to motion with his hand, turning widgets on the simulator's central screen. He made a rapid up and down movement with his closed fist and the screen went blank.

"I'm having some rather _crude_ thoughts right now," he said."I feel like my brain is reverting back in the evolutionary scale." He laughed and turned, fully facing Ioma, his eyes fixated on her, not one part of her but all of her. She wore the same clothes she had on earlier in the day and they now looked sandy, giving her a somewhat disheveled and unprofessional appearance. Whaton was so deep into his gaze of her that he didn't notice the color draining from her already soft, pale face as he took three steps closer to her. From there, Whaton was on genetic autopilot. He touched her thighs through her dirty khakis. Ioma's heart had never beaten so fast and her extremities lacked the necessary blood flow to move properly.

She spoke."What are we doing? I've never been with anyone like this before."

Whaton pressed himself against her and said nothing. His entire body raged with the most primal feeling he had ever felt.

He didn't know what to do. He had only had simulated sex, which drew upon his own desires from his brain. Now his brain had taken over but in a different sort of way—one of ancient and evolutionary need.

Whaton awkwardly began to take off Ioma's clothes. Ioma could only breathe until she once again felt blood pulsing everywhere in her body and began to remove Whaton's clean shirt and pants with the rigor of a pure academic. Whaton managed to overcome his body chemistry to release a few words of logic as the act progressed with the clumsiness of two tourists navigating an unheard of metropolis.

"I don't know what this is, Doctor Isvray." **  
**

# Chapter Six

Later that night, the Almayer's computer came alive with an alert that woke the crew.

The ship's central computer spoke:"Black hole opening in ship's operating orbit vicinity. Multiple foreign bodies en route."

Whaton and Ioma entered the main bay to read the message that came with the opening of the black hole. Brian and Elizabeth joined them. Whaton thought he was having a lucid dream when he heard the computer's voice inform him that a true black hole had opened in the ship's vicinity. The entire crew knew that this in itself was good news. It meant Lyell took whatever they had seen the previous day near SeekerM79 seriously enough to devote more resources and time to the mission. With any luck, traveling through this new black hole was equipment needed to reboot and repair the Dredgers on the Almayer so the mission may continue as planned.

No one had a chance to speak before the message from Lyell began. His voice came through the black hole first, before the large bodies that had been sent. Whaton stood shirtless with loose, grey stretch pants on and no shoes. Ioma wore a lavender robe, keeping her arms crossed in front of it as if cold. Brian and Elizabeth didn't notice the red and white suction marks on the side of her neck as she gently massaged them.

The message from Lyell began:

"Congratulations on your chance finding on Antiope—to be honest, I'd already written off this mission as a failure of Euchenor. I was wrong. The Future Generations of Euchenorians will be proud of your perseverance when this find is recorded. Regarding your preliminary discovery of ancient alien artifacts so close to the surface of Antiope: I've analyzed the information you sent back and it looks like the geology of Antiope is such that these ancient structures may have uncovered themselves through natural processes of the planet. I estimate them to be well over four billion years old. Of course, you'll need to confirm this, which is why with this message I've sent three Class Nine Substrate Combustors. They'll require a little more manual labor but they will be able to uncover what you need in order to confirm the age of the artifacts found in the vicinity of SeekerM79. I have to admit, Doctors Lewit and Isvray, I'm a little nostalgic and jealous you'll be getting to do some real fieldwork. Using Substrate Combustors takes me back to my beginnings in the field!"

The message paused for a few seconds before Lyell continued.

"I'd like a report once you have confirmed the age. I think this find will be publishable for your entire crew if you can determine what unique geological process caused this ancient find to be so close to the surface of the planet. Good luck and remember future Euchenorians will be watching."

The message ended and a light filled the main bay as the black hole delivering the Substrate Combustors opened, flashed briefly, and closed. Three small, grey bodies of metal could be seen far in the distance floating toward the orbit of the Almayer.

"He seems to have his mind made up," said Ioma.

Whaton knew she was referring to Lyell's assumption that the structures they had found were indeed ancient despite being so close to the surface. Whaton agreed with Lyell in this rational approach to the situation so he did not respond, instead commenting on the equipment Lyell had provided.

"Do you know how to operate a Substrate Combustor?" asked Whaton."They're not fully automated."

Brian chimed in,"I think they're pretty simple, you program them to go to a certain spot and tell them how deep you want to combust and then they vaporize substrate until they reach that depth."

Whaton and Ioma paid no attention to Brian's answer.

"I think they're aware of the mechanics of them," said Elizabeth.

"It's fine," said Ioma."You're right, Brian—the only thing we're going to need to be really careful about is not to vaporize any artifacts."

Whaton walked toward the main computer to check the progress of the equipment arriving. He brushed Ioma's shoulder. Both paused momentarily as if they had remembered something from a dream. Brian looked at Elizabeth after it happened. She too appeared off-put by the odd behavior of the two doctors over the last twenty-four hours.

"I doubt anyone's going to be able to sleep anymore," said Ioma smiling."I'm going to download some files on Substrate Combusting best practices."

Brian eyed Elizabeth, watching her next move. As she started out of the bay he addressed Whaton.

"Dr. Lewit, I was wondering if you've used the simulator since we arrived and, if so, and you're not using it anymore, if I could use it?" Brian asked shyly, not liking to admit that some carnal desire had crept out of his pre-frontal cortex and reaped havoc on his ability to focus on this academic mission.

"I think I need to experience a little time back on Euchenor," he concluded."This is the longest I've ever been away."

The question snapped Whaton back from his thoughts about the message and the future of the mission to remembering what he and Ioma had done only hours ago in the simulator room. He had been soundly asleep in his quarters when the announcement woke him. Whaton had no dreams since acting upon his feelings with Ioma. He looked at Brian, seeing the hint of desperation that came along with his request. Whaton knew Brian was experiencing something similar, however less pronounced.

"The simulator's not working," said Whaton."I don't think we're going to get another black hole with equipment to repair it either."

Brian nodded hopelessly. Whaton motioned for Brian to follow him as he left the others.

"I think I know what you're feeling, Brian," said Whaton as the pair walked."I'm not sure if it's the lack of release from not having a simulator or some standing effect we have not documented yet on this planet, but I think I've felt what you're feeling."

Brian remained silent, his eyes facing down toward the metallic floor of the Almayer's bay.

"It struck me as odd at first too," Whaton continued."I didn't know that a modern Euchenorian still had these powerful primal urges—I'd certainly never felt anything like them before on Euchenor. The main thing to remember is this: We're not on Euchenor anymore. I know that if people back on Euchenor heard about this, they would be pretty shocked, there's no telling what they would say. But even on Euchenor, I'm sure there are people who have these feelings, and act on them even, but they don't talk about it—and neither should we."

Brian's eyes remained focused on the floor; his hands in the pockets of his University of Euchenor trousers.

"You're experiencing something that most Euchenorians have never felt and never will, it's natural to feel ashamed a little but that's a misplaced feeling, Brian."

Whaton stumbled, unsure where to go from there. He watched Brian stand perfectly still for a moment and then he sighed and checked the progress of the machinery en-route to the ship—all three units were set to arrive shortly. Whaton stretched his hands in the air, feeling even more relaxed after talking about his situation to a silent Brian.

"The Substrate Combustors will be here before morning," he said aloud, breaking any residual tension there may have been from the previous topic of conversation.

Brian replied, glad to start in on a different subject.

"Do you think Lyell is right—that it's just a matter of a geological anomaly that caused the structures we found to be so close to Antiope's surface?"

Whaton smiled, sensing Brian's enthusiasm in the question.

"Honestly, I haven't thought about it that much," he replied."I think that Lyell's probably correct—the best we'll get out of this is an academic article. This won't make us famous."

Whaton stopped himself there, knowing he shouldn't be so cynical in front of students.

"This could be really good for you and Elizabeth though; if it is some sort of an unknown geological anomaly at work here, the paper will be one that needs to be presented at conferences all over Euchenor—that's something you both could do to really get your names out there in the academe."

Brian nodded in silent agreement."But what if it's something else? What if Lyell's wrong and the structures we saw are actually relatively young?"

Whaton smiled. He saw some of himself in Brian. He too had once thought that being an Alien Anthropologist would mean doing something that could change Euchenor and perhaps the universe. Whaton had since come to learn the cold evenness of the Entropy Paradigm was so true that it applied to nearly every aspect of life—everything was always evening out. That's why the idea of getting famous was not one most Euchenorians strove for. There was always an evening out process in life. Whaton knew this applied to everyone, no matter if they were on Euchenor or Antiope.

"You know how unlikely that is, Brian," Whaton said."Approach this problem of the artifacts being close to the surface in a rigorous and academic manner, and I promise you the most likely solution will present itself."

Whaton almost laughed as he said the words. The crew of the Almayer could approach the situation on Antiope in any way they saw fit and the result would still be the same. He hadn't spent seven years in graduate school without realizing that the Entropy Paradigm had been proven by decades of dead civilizations that were discovered by Alien Anthropologists but then quickly forgotten. Forgotten by all but an article in an academic journal that few ever read. Whaton knew this but he would press forward with the mission because there was nothing else he could do.

"We should eat something before the new equipment reaches the ship," Whaton told Brian as they walked toward their cabins.

Whaton lay on his bed. The crew would find little of significance on their upcoming trip back to SeekerM79. He was sure of this. What kept him from rest in what remained of the brief morning to come was not this concern but a concern over Ioma, one who surely would desire conformity with Euchenorian culture despite being an immeasurable distance away from the home planet. Like the rest of the crew, Whaton did not sleep anymore after receiving the message. The thought Brian had expressed of finding something around SeekerM79 that could change the universe was enough to energize the young graduate students. What Ioma would do in the following day, however, was a mystery and this mystery was what kept Whaton awake.

Like him, her academic scrutiny would show her the situation for what it was. Something this scrutiny could not deny the existence of, however, was what they had done in the simulator room only hours ago. At the very least they could no longer work together but it could be much worse. If news of what happened got out into the academic community, both Whaton and Ioma would be hard pressed to ever get a respectable tenured teaching position. Professors prepared students to be proper. Acting on primal urges was not something proper Euchenorians did any longer.

Whaton closed his eyes and tried to put the thought out of his mind. He could not. He contemplated what they had done and how it compared to his experiences in the simulators. The simulator pulled information from his neurons to create a sexual experience; he had received something from Ioma a simulator could not give him. The equation was more complicated. When Whaton had seen Ioma nude hours ago, it was not an image pulled up from the depths of his brain. The image he now had of Ioma came with all the extra information he knew about her. When he touched her naked body he wasn't thinking about sex, he thought about her in classes they took together. He thought of her presentations on ancient narratives across the solar system. He thought about how impressed he was with her passion and knowledge of a subject that was so specialized and so few on Euchenor could appreciate. He remembered the long hours of study she did at the university's library and her lack of interest in any activities outside of her work. All of this information came into play when he saw Ioma at her most vulnerable and the equation added up to an experience that was not just real as the simulator was not, but was real in its effects on both Whaton and Ioma's lives. Those effects remained yet to be seen but they would come to a head soon, Whaton was sure of this. **  
**

# Chapter Seven

Looking in her bathroom mirror, Ioma Isvray examined herself as she waited to complete the standing effects interview. After yesterday, part of her would always stay on Antiope, even when she returned to Euchenor. She wondered what this missing part would look like once she was back. Would her friends and colleagues notice something was amiss? What frightened her even more so was what her new experience on Antiope had given her and if this new piece of her would allow for re-entry to her past Euchenorian life.

The ship's computer made its presence in the room known:"Doctor Isvray, are you ready to begin?"

"Yes," she replied.

The first question came."Has being on Antiope affected your thoughts about the home planet?"

Ioma looked up at the flashing red light on the intercom indicating the speaker was active. She began her reply,"I feel the same about Euchenor as I did when I left. I love it. I love it so much that I traveled through a black hole to the other side of the universe to find out if there was anything else that existed besides it. All I see is Euchenor, reflected slightly differently by the bends in space and time. Being on Antiope hasn't made me any less of a Euchenorian but it has allowed me to forget some of the way of life on the planet—I only hope that this will not affect my life there once I return."

The red light continued to blink and the computer asked a second question.

"Do you feel that this mission has caused you to separate from the Euchenorian mission of enhancing the race so that future Euchenorians may thrive and look favorably upon the current generation?"

Ioma tensed up. She thought perhaps her answer about diverting from Euchenorian norms was not a wise one and planned her next reply carefully before starting in.

"This extreme detachment would cause anyone to feel apart from their customs. I'm confident that, on my return, and after some time, I will return to the way a proper Euchenorian should feel and act."

Ioma paused, hoping the computer's algorithms would not inquire as to how she had been acting, which was not in line with that of a proper Euchenorian. Luckily, the computer moved to a technical question about the mission.

"In your academic opinion, what do you think has caused the artifacts near SeekerM79 to be located so close to Antiope's surface?"

Ioma replied to this without hesitation."I think we will learn more today now that we have the necessary equipment but if I had to say now, Lyell's assumption that they are there due to some geological anomaly is most likely. But I am not discounting other factors; I'm not a positivist when it comes to the Entropy Paradigm, I think that it's impossible to apply knowledge so broadly across the universe as the positivist paradigm does, so therefore I'm quite open-minded. These artifacts may be something from a relatively new civilization that simply went extinct for some unknown reason. It's completely possible that a Euchenorian-like civilization once thrived on Antiope at some point but hit some sort of a population bottleneck, whether it was inbreeding, war, or environmental decay. There have been instances throughout history where such things occur quite rapidly."

The ship's computer fell silent while contemplating the response. Its red light continued to blink until its program brought up one more question based off of Ioma's last response.

"Do you think Euchenor's present and future generations would benefit from having another civilization coeval with it?"

"I think Euchenor has been floating in space alone for so long there's no telling what would happen if it became aware of something else alive like it is."

# Chapter Eight

Whaton had rehearsed responses to potential standing effects questions in his head for an hour but this only served to make him more anxious. Most of these practiced responses detailed how to respond to questions about him and Ioma and what they had done. It was likely that the computer sensed something was amiss on the ship, especially if Ioma's interview had already occurred and was now figuring into the algorithm for his interview. Whaton was dressed in his suit for the mission, ready to leave his quarters for the day the second the standing effects interviews ended. His body craved action to quell his anxiety.

The interview began.

"Doctor Lewit, what would you do if on the mission today your crew discovered something they thought violated the Entropy Paradigm?"

Whaton felt the tension that had been hulling itself up in his chest release. He thought about the question, wondering about the odd phrasing of"my crew"—the crew and the ship belonged to no one but Euchenor.

"I don't believe that will be the case and I think if anyone should come to believe that, the evidence they have will be shown to be false through rigorous academic study."

Whaton wanted to elaborate, to eat up time, but the second question came too quickly.

"What if the artifacts on Antiope are indisputably shown to be mere decades old?"

Still happy that Ioma had not had come up in conversation, Whaton took the odd question without much thought.

"I would want to get more researchers here to verify the findings. But, again, I would assume something was throwing off the dating results—maybe a sort of unknown standing effect from the planet's atmosphere that affected the measurements in a peculiar way."

The computer compiled the responses while Whaton watched its blinking red light.

"If news of the Entropy Paradigm being broken would adversely affect Euchenor, would you want the general populace of the home planet to be informed of such news?"

The red light stopped blinking, indicating that this was the final interview question.

"No," Whaton replied quickly,"I would never knowingly do anything to adversely affect the home planet or the future generations of Euchenorians. Just as we all do, I want those who control the future to look back on me with a kind heart. The best have yet to be born."

Elizabeth Namaro's final question asked about the return mission of the day to SeekerM79."I guess I don't think it's really going to matter. What we do in this life is like making footprints on a moon with decade-long windstorms—everything gets erased time and time again."

Elizabeth shrugged off the rest of the response she had begun to summon. The red light of the Almayer's central computer blinked rapidly as it tried to update its algorithms with this sardonic reply from the young graduate assistant. Once updated, the program landed on one more question.

"Do you think that today's mission will matter if it turns out that SeekerM79 has uncovered something that violates the Entropy Paradigm?"

Elizabeth replied quickly. She rested her head in her right arm in a relaxed manner as she spoke.

"I don't believe in the Entropy Paradigm. I find it to be very narcissistic to think that Euchenor is the only planet that has spawned life in this universe, which, even by our extensive measurement techniques, cannot be measured. I also think that my generation will change this belief, the old way of thinking on Euchenor is changing—some people choose to focus less on the future and more on the present. As I've come further in my graduate studies, I've found that this way of living in the present is in line with how I'd like to live my life."

The red light turned off immediately as if satisfied or too confused to continue. In Brian Belkim's room, however, it had begun to blink.

"I'd have to say I don't like the feeling I'm getting on this planet," Brian responded to the Almayer's first question."Dr. Lewit is experiencing these feelings too, except his are focused on Dr. Isvray. It seems that he's not nearly as disturbed by the feelings either. I can't imagine feeling like this is doing anything good for the mission. I've been trying to focus on reading more about what little is known of the geology of Antiope but I encounter troubles because I'm unable to get these thoughts out of my head for long enough to think critically."

The computer processed this answer and inquired about what exactly this"feeling" was that Brian was having.

"It's the most basic feeling I've ever felt," said Brian."It's similar to how I feel compelled by my brain to learn more about the universe in order to grow knowledge for Euchenor, except that, with this feeling, another part of my body compels me."

Brian stopped speaking out of embarrassment. To his relief, the red light above the door to his quarters stopped blinking. He stood up and began to prepare to meet the rest of the crew in the bay of the Almayer where they would again board the land craft that would take them back to SeekerM79. The new equipment should already have made its way to the dig site and it would be a long day of programing the antiquated Substrate Combustors to uncover the artifacts they had partially seen.

Brian looked around the room, seeing if there was anything else he needed to bring for the day. The heavy sheet on his bed was neatly folded. He walked over to the sheet and ran his hand along its folded edge, feeling its softness. He set down his pack and lay across the bed. As he lay silently on the bed with his feet hanging off the end, he thought about what Elizabeth may be wearing for the dig today. He brought up a mental image of her body in a tight mission suit and oversized boots. The suit accentuated the delicate curves of her figure that made it clear she was a fully developed woman. The feeling Brian had just described to the Almayer's central computer overtook him. He flipped over on his belly and began to make a side-to-side motion with his hips. Before he could think about what he was doing it was done. The tension in his body and mind had been released in a rush of blood and bodily fluids that Brian had not experienced outside a simulator. The euphoric relief, however, was quickly replaced by guilt. He sat up and examined the mission suit he was wearing. He quickly changed into a spare before hurriedly leaving his quarters, which now felt like the scene of a crime.

The rest of the crew was already at the bay conducting equipment checks and prepping the ground craft for departure. Elizabeth looked just as Brian had imagined her moments ago. She was bent slightly, helping Ioma lift a data storage unit into the back of the landing craft. Elizabeth reached down to the floor and gripped the black device at its bottom then, lifting up with her legs and back, she hoisted it up and onto the back of the landing craft. Although now slightly diluted, Brian felt a notion of the feeling he had been trying to escape. He knew without a doubt it would be back in full soon. 

# II. Fermi Find
# Chapter Nine

The Substrate Combustors had arrived at the SeekerM79 site before the crew. The ride had been quiet. Whaton once attempted to say something to Ioma that neither Brian nor Elizabeth could make out. Ioma did not reply.

The Substrate Combuster was revolutionary for its time but the modern day Seeker, with its ability to create and travel through black holes, made them obsolete. Combusters were still used on Euchenor on occasion when an underground city was being re-done or a new section of Euchenor needed to be blasted out. They were rarely used on extraterrestrial missions, however, due to their propensity to destroy with reckless abandon whatever lay below them. Because of this reputation, great care was needed in the programming of the machines, which stood well over the height of four grown Euchenorian men, despite having a small footprint on the ground. The machines worked by becoming superheated through nuclear reactions and then blasting the energy into the ground below, vaporizing it and whatever may have been hidden beneath.

"Six hundred complete rotations north," Ioma said as she motioned the instructions to the listening machine. Whaton watched, captivated by her command."Half power straight down at that point. That should put us directly over the structure the Seeker found."

Ioma paused and looked at Whaton standing several feet away from her, observing her actions with a blank expression.

"Do you think they need more information?" she asked.

Whaton shook his head, bringing himself out of his daze."No!" he exclaimed. Then, quieter, he added,"They don't need to know. Why would you say that?"

Ioma looked at him oddly and hit the begin sequence. The first combustor marched toward the downed Seeker's sole tentacle buried beneath the orange dust of Antiope. Brian and Elizabeth watched near the land craft as the towering machine used its treads to slowly waddle forward, the very top of its slender frame was already white hot with the power of a star's internal furnace within it. Brian forgot about his feelings for Elizabeth and got lost in the moment of great anticipation.

"This could be a great achievement for every Euchenorian—past, present, and future!" he said excitedly.

Elizabeth diverted her eyes from the lumbering nuclear-tipped combustor to turn and look at Brian as one would a child reciting their bedtime tales. He noticed this condescension immediately for what it was and felt his face flush with internal heat.

Whaton looked only at Ioma as the combustor stopped and its top became so bright she had to shield her eyes. As it shot its superheated ball of fire into the ground below, he asked her,"Did you describe what we did in the simulator room during your standing effects interview this morning?"

The noise of the blast from the Substrate Combustor drowned out Whaton's question. The lengthy device surged upward as the heat plum hit the first layer of hard substrate below and immediately turned it to vapor. The pulse of heat dissipated as quickly as its fierce blast had begun. The white light at the top of the combustor faded to a yellow then an orange and finally a dull, lingering red.

A red warning light flashed from the base of the combustor signaling that dangerous radiation levels were present at the blast site. If all went according to plan, a perfectly square indenture in the surface would be made just large enough for one of the anthropologists to work his or her way down and examine the layers of substrate for abnormalities. With any luck they would have a glimpse of the structure that lay beneath the half buried Seeker.

Silence ensued before the red warning light on the combustor finally went dull. Whaton was unsure if Ioma had made out his question. He was the first to speak.

"You can go in first if you like, Doctor Isvray."

Ioma looked at him and smiled in a way Whaton was familiar with. He had seen this excited look on her face many times in classes and in the labs back at the university. Ioma was a true academic. She found passion in her work, however drab sifting through the sand may have seemed to some. Whaton admired her for genuinely smiling at such a task.

Whaton and Ioma approached the narrow passageway down into Antiope with Brian and Elizabeth following closely behind. The Substrate Combustor had extended its treads and rolled away from the blast site, leaving the hole exposed. A nearly perfect square only slightly smaller than the width of the machine showed itself. The hole was not meant to be too deep since only half of the blast power of the combustor had been programmed. When the crew peered over the bottom they saw only blackness.

Ioma walked over to the Substrate Combustor. She detached a latch from the midsection of her mission suit, removed a button and pulled out a thick, black chord that extended out from her suit. She attached this chord to a latch on the base of the Substrate Combustor and then began to walk back toward the hole.

"I forgot our suits even had that feature," Whaton said, smiling.

"Yours doesn't. I grabbed this one from the ship's storage. It's an out-of-date model," Ioma replied.

Whaton's smile grew even larger."So you were going in first no matter what, huh?"

Ioma didn't reply, instead sitting down by the hole and dangling her legs over.

"Wait!" yelled Brian before she pushed herself over the edge. He came running up to her with the helmet piece to her mission suit in hand.

"Your helmet." Brian handed the thin piece of metal and glass to Ioma.

"Why do I need this?" she asked.

"So we can watch through your helmet camera," said Brian.

Ioma nodded and quickly slipped on the headpiece, not bothering with the fastener dangling below her neck. She used her hands to push herself over the edge of the opening and slowly let out the chord from her suit, allowing her to descend into the hole.

Elizabeth and Brian ran over to the land craft to view the helmet camera via a monitor in the vehicle's central console. Whaton stayed at the edge of the hole and peered into the darkness. He could no longer see Ioma below. He only noticed tiny gyrations of the thin, black line as she released more of it from her suit allowing her to go deeper and deeper.

"I hope you find something down there, Ioma Isvray," said Whaton. There was no way she could hear him."I hope you find something to take your mind off just how far we've come from Euchenor."

Ioma's late model suit featured three green stripes running horizontally along the blue fabric across its mid-section. When the light became too dim for Ioma to see, the stripes automatically began to glow. The light revealed the sides of the square space in which Ioma descended. The sides of the passage were heavily compacted from the pressure above but maintained the orange color of the planet's surface. Ioma looked over her shoulder and down to see if she was coming up on the bottom of the hole. She saw only blackness.

"Even half power was too much," she whispered."We may have turned anything of interest to vapor."

She let out a large length of line and dropped rapidly.

"What was that, Doctor Isvray?" Brian's voice cracked with static in Ioma's ears.

She reached up to turn off the speaker she had forgotten was in the helmet. In doing so, her left forearm contacted the bottom of the headpiece and sent it up and over the back of her head. The glass helmet fell out of sight in an instant. Several seconds later Ioma heard the shattering crash of glass breaking apart on a hard surface.

Ioma's academic mind immediately went to work. She figured, based on the time it had taken for the helmet to hit the bottom of the hole and for the sound to travel back to her, that she was still far from the bottom. She also was intrigued by the noise of the helmet shattering. It broke violently as if it had hit a hard surface and not the orange sand she expected to find at the bottom.

Ioma released more line from her suit and descended quickly, only taking a cursory glance at the sediment, which was uniform in color, signifying that very little geological shift had occurred on the planet in a long time. After letting out five or six big lengths of line she stopped. She'd noticed some sort of irregularity on one of the walls.

She positioned herself so the illuminated green stripes of her suit made clear what it was she had seen.

She let out a scream as the face of a bearded, white-skinned man looked her directly in the eyes.

As the scream dissipated into the small, dirty space, an involuntary smile, unlike any her face had ever worn, replaced it. Ioma had ridden a ship that folded space-time and taken her beyond the boundaries of the universe to an unexplored planet called Antiope. A planet where she had already done something with Whaton so primal that it would be unspeakable back on her home planet of Euchenor. At last she had something to show for it. 

# Chapter Ten

"Do you think she's OK?" asked Brian."It sounded like something broke."

The monitor showed only static. Relief washed over Whaton. The words 'if Ioma's gone, you're off the hook for what you two did back there in the simulator room' scrolled through his brain in a way that didn't allow him to recognize what they truly meant before they had already passed.

"I'm sure we just got disconnected," said Whaton coolly. He made an awkward jerky motion to get out of the landing craft deceiving the evenness of his tone as he did so. He exited the ground craft, leaving Elizabeth and Brian behind. He quickly made his way to the Substrate Combustor, which had positioned itself near the hole. Next to the port where Ioma had connected the cable that ran down to her suit was a control panel. Whaton examined the several options on the panel and, after deciphering the somewhat archaic technology, simply motioned up with his index finger. The combustor immediately began to recoil the line. A whirring sound came from inside the machine as it retracted the line. In a matter of seconds, Ioma's body violently shot up and over the side of the hole, stirring up with it orange dust from Antiope's surface. The retraction slowed once she was on level ground, dragging her lazily towards the machine and Whaton, who could tell in an instant she was not happy.

"You almost killed me doing that, Whaton," said Ioma as she detached the chord from her suit. Whaton began to apologize and explain why he had acted the way he did but the smile beaming from Ioma's face implored him that no apology was necessary.

"There was an advanced civilization here, Whaton—I've seen some of their artwork, or something like that I think. There's definitely a story down there for us to find out about." Ioma spoke quickly in between quick breaths."Also, I saw no evidence of dramatic shifts in the layers of sediment—the color was consistent all the way down meaning this civilization died off recently."

Whaton didn't speak, waiting for more.

"Regardless, there are murals and statues down there, Whaton! These are the things... the alien narratives I've been studying." She walked toward him as she spoke."You may not be excited by alien narrative but I sure am!" She hugged Whaton and then addressed Elizabeth and Brian who had been standing aside, waiting patiently to insert themselves into the conversation.

"Ends up you two may have gone through the right black hole after all," Ioma told the graduate students.

"You saw intact artifacts? How long did it look like they had been there?" asked Brian.

Ioma paused to think before saying,"It will be a simple test to find out but, before I got jerked out of there, I examined a very interesting statue of a man that looked somewhat Euchenorian but with very odd features—a long face with brown hair nearly covering it. From the positioning of the figure, it looked to be someone of importance."

Elizabeth chimed in,"Do you think this alien civilization will be any different than all the others that have been found across the universe?"

"I don't know," said Ioma."But we went from almost ending the mission to finding this by pure luck, so I think we should all be happy and celebrate—at the least we will be building knowledge for Euchenor and that's something you two should be proud of." As she said this, Ioma motioned toward a smiling Brian and a less-enthusiastic looking Elizabeth.

After Ioma gleefully recounted what little she had seen under the compact orange sand of the alien planet, Whaton entered to have a look for himself. He emerged less excited than Ioma.

"It looks like a textbook Fermi-Find," he said solemnly."Fits right in with the paradox of why everything we find is just so very dead."

He disconnected the cable he had jerry-rigged to his suit, allowing it to zip back up into the Substrate Combustor."It's a civilization no doubt but I see no reason to think it's any different than the other thousands of dead civilizations that have been found before."

"Do you have to frame everything in terms of the Lyell's Entropy Paradigm?" asked Ioma firmly.

Whaton immediately backed off his statements remembering that Ioma and he still needed to reconcile over what had happened in the simulator room.

"No," Whaton replied."I'm an academic just like you, just like all of us." He motioned to Elizabeth and Brian, recognizing them in his placation."I think we need to understand why these artifacts are so close to the surface of the planet."

"That's not it at all," exclaimed Ioma."There's a narrative down there. I can tell even after seeing the placement of just one statue. Didn't you see how it was up above the rest of the structure? That represents a hierarchal society.

"Is hierarchal a Narrative Paradigm term?" asked Brian.

Ioma began to follow Whaton's lead. She picked up various pieces of equipment from the Antiopian sand and returned them to their proper place in the landing craft. Brian and Elizabeth followed suit.

"Yes," replied Ioma after taking her seat in the passenger side of the ground craft."A hierarchal society is one that has members of the society that tell certain stories in order to allow themselves to hold positions of power within a civilization. The most basic way to spot something like that in an extraterrestrial anthropology setting is to see how the iconography presents itself. In this case, even from the brief look I was able to get, I think we're seeing a situation in which the society and culture built this monument at the top most portion of this structure."

Brian interrupted."So from that we can infer that we may have uncovered the tip of a tall building."

Whaton stopped programming the computer to take the crew back to the Almayer.

"That's right, Brian, well said. You can find what's most sacred in a society by simply seeing what the purposes of its tallest structures are," said Ioma."And your graduate emphasis area isn't even ancient alien narrative."

Brian grinned as hard as a Euchenorian ever had and potentially ever would on Antiope in response to this comment.

"Are we ready to go back?" asked Ioma of Whaton.

Whaton looked her in the eyes. She smiled.

"Is that what you really think?" asked Whaton."That we hit the top of some massively tall, complex, yet ancient alien society? Do you think that's the answer to the question? Do you know how tall of a structure it would have to be if this was its top and it's millions of years old? Its base would have to go down a quarter of the diameter of the planet!"

Ioma held her smile and said nothing in response until they returned to the bay of the Almayer.

"Let's report these findings back to Lyell under the assumption that what you posited is correct—it's a find like any other," said Ioma after they had arrived.

Whaton nodded. Reporting back that the Entropy Paradigm had been violated was quackery, career suicide as Whaton saw it. To Whaton Antiope was an interesting find at best but still a Fermi-Find, an anthropological discovery that would be dissected for the sake of anthropology. He had no doubt that this find would not answer the question the Entropy Paradigm had made irrelevant—in a universe still expanding with infinite possibilities for extraterrestrial life, why had Euchenorians, in their vast searches of empty quadrants of space, never encountered anything alive? In the distant past, the Fermi Paradox asked,"Where is everyone?" Now that many dead and gone civilizations had been uncovered from the dust, the question that remained was where did everyone go? **  
**

# Chapter Eleven

Back on the Almayer, Ioma composed a message for Lyell detailing what was found underneath SeekerM79. Whaton had made it clear they should not report back any notion of these findings coming from a recently extinct society. Ioma drafted the message and proposed three possibilities to Lyell for why the artifacts had been found so close to the surface. The first was the one Lyell already was likely convinced of: the geology of the planet had shifted layers of sediment over time in such a way that the ancient civilization rose toward the surface and somehow remained intact in the process. Ioma posited this possibility first, despite no evidence of massive shifts of sediment during her descent into the hole.

The second possibility was the uncovered artifact and the others they expected to find below were merely the literal top of an ancient civilization that built very tall and very elaborate structures that became buried over time. Ioma also thought this unlikely, albeit interesting, since no such ancient architecture had ever been found and she would surely acquire notoriety as a principal investigator on such a novel find. The third and final proposal was the one that Whaton demanded not be included—the simple fact that this civilization may indeed be a relatively new, recently extinct find.

Ioma knew, given the nature of the find, Lyell would take an interest and devote more resources to a full-scale excavation. What she did not know, however, was how he would react to a report that called into question the fundamental paradigm of life in the universe—a paradigm he largely pioneered.

Ioma looked over the message and the three proposals she outlined within it. She deleted the third and replaced it with some of her thoughts on the significance of the statue of the man she discovered. Although deleting the third option pained her as an academic, since it excluded an option she thought was actually viable, Ioma knew it was better for the mission to leave it off. Stating that something could in theory violate an established paradigm was certainly OK in classroom academic theorizing but claiming one had discovered something that may violate it was completely different. Ioma knew Lyell would immediately do everything in his power to disprove the possibility his paradigm was wrong. He would almost certainly send another team of experts to Antiope who would bring with them their propensity toward confirmation bias. Then, if it was shown that the artifacts were indeed ancient, she and Whaton would be disgraced and made fools of for thinking such a thing was possible and causing such a stir—not to mention wasting valuable resources.

Ioma wrote instead about the narrative she had begun to see play out below SeekerM79. She described a potential hierarchy never seen before. She used the positioning of the statue of the man to posit that perhaps this was some sort of a person who would have been called a dictator. Lyell's expertise was not ancient alien narrative as Ioma's was so she explained in the report that a dictator was someone who was at the top most part of a hierarchal society. What this person did, she wrote, was control everyone else in the culture and possibly even on the planet. If this was the case for this civilization, it would make for a fascinating addition to the many types of past civilizations that had been found across the universe. Of course several academic papers on the subject would also be published, which would raise the prestige of the department. Ioma ended on that note, thinking Lyell would agree and would respond positively, hopefully extending the mission and perhaps even sending a new Dredger to replace the Substrate Combustors. She waved her hand in front of the screen and far away from the ship the computer created a tiny synthetic black hole for the information to pass through.

Ioma returned to her quarters to get cleaned up. She wore only her underclothes as she made her way through the belly of the Almayer and passed the ship's simulator room.

_This mission is going to change Euchenor,_ she thought, looking at the broken simulator.

That morning Lyell's message arrived:

"Excavate the site as thoroughly as possible with the substrate combusting units," Lyell wrote."Primary research questions should include what geological factors are present in the site and what the details of this alleged 'hierarchal' society mean for the position of the find being so close to the surface. Consider the mission extended until your next report."

"He's basically telling us to get back to work," said Whaton."We're all going to have to pitch in to make any sort of progress with these Substrate Combustors—that means you two are going to need to learn to operate them also." Whaton looked at Elizabeth and Brian who up until this point had been mere observers of the mission. That luxury ended now.

Now in its third iteration, the ride back to SeekerM79 contained hints of a potential monotony to come. Ioma explained the basics of programming the Substrate Combustors. Since there were four units, each crewmember would be assigned one and charged with the delicate task of uncovering more of what lay below SeekerM79 without destroying any artifacts.

"How do we know how deep to program them to go into the substrate?" asked Brian.

"We don't," said Whaton, not bothering to turn his head around and face Brian in the backseat.

Ioma chimed in:"It's trial and error with these machines, they're not intelligently driven like Seekers that know to stop when they've detected something abnormal. The combustor operates solely on the commands you give it. Basically, start small, investigate what you find, and then repeat."

Whaton turned around from the front seat to examine Brian and Elizabeth's reactions. Brian looked noticeably concerned by the idea that the fate of the mission could very well rest in a decision he made with the combustor. Elizabeth, however, appeared carefree and bored almost. She gazed out the window nodding silently at Ioma's instructions or maybe it was just the subtle up-and-down movement of the land craft.

At the SeekerM79 site the combustors stood tall in readiness for the crew to program them to do their work. Ioma went to the original machine that had made the first intrusion into the surface of Antiope. Whaton, Brian, and Elizabeth made their way over to the others. It had been decided on the way to the site that each person would take a corner of the perimeter surrounding SeekerM79 and work their way closer to the center.

Elizabeth went straight for her designated unit. Brian trailed Whaton over to his while asking last minute questions.

"How do I know if I've programed the combustor to use too much power?" Brian asked.

Whaton turned from programming the mainframe of his combustor."You'll know when you go down into the hole and see a half vaporized million-year-old alien artifact," he said wryly.

Brian slumped to his combustor and began to program the first vaporization at only ten percent power, mortified at the notion of destroying something that held the secrets of the dead society that lay below.

Whaton signaled the combustor to generate seventy-five percent of its power at a diagonal angle directly toward the center of the site. He quickly reviewed the input instructions he had given the machine and waved it off with a quick gesture upward of his left hand, making his combustor the first of the day to move. The rest of the crew took notice as the tall and awkward body of the unit moved closer to SeekerM79 and tilted its upward shaft diagonally, preparing to turn substrate into vapor. Ioma and Elizabeth's units began their sequences shortly after and, upon careful deliberation, Brian upped the power on his to thirty percent and sent it off into the sand to make history.

The four crew members of the Almayer gathered together at a safe distance to observe their first attempt of what would likely be many to uncover this civilization. The combustors all found their mark and glowed with energy before blasting toward the core of the alien planet in the name of Euchenorian discovery. Whaton watched Ioma as she intently observed the scene in the already-fading light of the Antiopian sun. Whaton knew what she was thinking; he knew she was hoping this civilization would have an interesting story to tell, one that hinted at life in the universe beyond Euchenor. Whaton was certain she would be let down. Antiope was just like every other formerly alive planet that had been catalogued through the pursuit of alien anthropology—it was a planet that was once alive but was now dead. It was a planet whose former life had nothing new to tell Euchenorians. Antiope had nothing to show from its existence. Whaton considered himself not a cynic but rather a realist. With these thoughts, Whaton concerned himself therefore not with what wouldn't be found on Antiope but rather with how Ioma would react to her lack of findings. He fretted that, once finished with her muse of the Antiope dig, Ioma would remember what she had done on Antiope—and she would remember who else had been a willing participant in the carnal and primitive desires. Whaton knew that once back on Euchenor this would come out at least in some degree. Perhaps it would only be in the social circles of the university. Perhaps it would become something of folklore, something that students would whisper behind professors' backs. Whaton knew all this was inevitable; however, it did absolutely nothing to deter his desire to have Ioma once again.

The next day the crew returned to several points of entry in which they could investigate what lay below. The area surrounding the still un-moving SeekerM79 now had many areas where sudden, severe, and pristinely square drop offs in the sand had been vaporized. The Substrate Combustors towered above their work as the Almayer's crew arrived. Whaton squinted in the sun as he looked up at the nearest combustor. The unit appeared to be still radiating heat from its uppermost nuclear unit.

"I'm going to start with the horizontal ones," Ioma said."Since I'm the one who will be largely interpreting what these artifacts mean, I want everything to stay exactly where you find it."

Whaton nodded. He could tell Elizabeth and Brian were even less excited than they had been the day before. They had seen the amount of work they were going to have to do and its novelty quickly dissipated. Ioma, however, remained enthusiastic about her dead society that lay below.

"I'll go down this vertical one," said Whaton."I doubt there'll be any artifacts but it looks deep enough that I should be able to take samples at a couple different depths and have them tested for recent shifts in the substrate."

Ioma was already out of earshot on her way to one of the vertical shafts that ran from the perimeter of the dig site toward SeekerM79.

Whaton turned to Brian and Elizabeth."What are you waiting for?"

Brian looked at Elizabeth, deferring himself to whichever hole she did not want to climb into. She shrugged and went toward the nearest chasm she could see. Brian followed her but veered to his right as he saw one close to where Elizabeth would be working.

Each crewmember had on their mission suits several pieces of equipment made specifically for this type of work. The integral piece for the day would be the Heavy Wand—a small, handheld piece that detected foreign objects buried in terrain. Once the Heavy Wand found something of substance or structure that was inconsistent with the substrate it shot thousands of laser beams into the structure using measurements from the beams to project an image of the artifact from the opposite end of the Heavy Wand. The unit's main purpose was to allow an alien anthropologist to fully see an artifact they may have only partially uncovered. For Ioma specifically, the Heavy Wand would allow her to decipher a coherent narrative from the artifacts from a model of their structure, rather than having to laboriously excavate each one.

Whaton was more interested in the sample selectors he brought with him. He also made sure to select an older model mission suit that afforded him the luxury of attaching himself to the nearest combustor and slowly making his way down the rope into the vertical decline. On his way down, he inserted the sample selector tool into the substrate allowing it to measure the soil's contents and compare it with the following insertion point. If differences existed between two insertion points located in a close proximity, this would be evidence of a major shift in the substrate, which could account for the close proximity of this dead civilization to the surface of the planet.

Whaton entered the hole with the same enthusiasm as Ioma, only his was one of finding proof. Ioma's walk down her path into the alien substrate contained an enthusiasm for what could be, not what she knew already existed. In her hole, the combustor had vaporized at such an angle that she was able to stay upright even though she walked downward at an intense decline. She examined the walls of the perfectly square cavern as she proceeded, looking for anything that might be part of the alien civilization that had once occupied Antiope. The pathway was angled downward, exactly toward where she had found the statue of the bearded man. She sped up her pace, seeing nothing on the walls surrounding her except alien dust. This dust continued until she arrived at something that looked to be another part of the structure slightly above the first artifact finding—whatever it was had been built even higher than the likeness of the bearded man. Moving closer, she saw a shiny rock. Ioma immediately knew it was out of place in the sand. She touched it and felt cold metal. Shivers ran down her spine and she felt her heartbeat tick up as she reached into the pocket of her suit for her Heavy Wand. She activated the device by taking it in her right hand and motioning quickly downward with it. One end of the small, black wand began to glow a dull neon light. Ioma touched this portion of the Heavy Wand to the metal she had located hidden within the orange sand.

The Heavy Wand glowed bright green and illuminated the metal in the orange dirt in a phosphorescent light green then permeated into the structure so far back that Ioma could only see faint glows deep within the substrate. She kept her hand tight on the Heavy Wand. She felt the computer within the device click as it received data from the lasers running through the buried and still unseen artifact. The wand began to render an image as it mapped out the shape of the artifact. What began to be projected by the wand in its green, three-dimensional model was an extensive structure of metal statues extending well below and above where Ioma currently stood.

From the small, three-dimensional model projected in front of her, Ioma saw that the artifact she was in front of was the statue of a small boy blowing a trumpet into the air. The model projected by the Heavy Wand's lasers did not allow for more detail than that. Below the boy was a structure with an open roof where several other statues ascended up to where Ioma was and slightly above her. From what she could tell from the model, all of the statues were looking up toward the sky. Many carried musical instruments and were posed in jovial looking positions. The three dimensional model continued to expand and become more intricate as the Heavy Wand received more inputs from the lasers scouring the buried structure that surrounded Ioma. She was now able to see that, in addition to the statues that reached up toward the sky, there were others within the structure near its base—statues of men and women huddled together. Ioma could make out several men, women, and children within the huddled mass. Their faces were affixed toward the ground and their arms and legs were entangled together making them look like an amorphous ball of limbs and torsos. Ioma waited for the Heavy Wand to continue to develop the intricacy of the model it projected but the image remained static. It appeared the lasers had sent back all of the data they were able to collect from this position. Ioma saved the image the Heavy Wand had provided and turned around to exit the hole.

She found Whaton and Elizabeth nearby discussing what little they had discovered through their respective searches. Ioma excitedly loaded up the Heavy Wand's image and simultaneously began explaining her analysis of the narrative she saw developing below their feet.

"You'll see that the artifacts are clearly divided into two groups," said Ioma."The people you see here with their arms raised to the sky are most likely the upper class. The ones huddled together over here are the lower class, the dregs of this society. You'll also notice the way they are dressed, the upper class is wearing what looks like warm and flowing clothes. Those huddled together at the bottom wear only rags. Some may even be naked, I can't tell from this display."

Elizabeth inquired as to why the upper class individuals seemed to be beckoning toward the sky.

"I'm not sure yet," said Ioma."Perhaps there will be text surrounding the artifacts that will shed light on this. I do, however, think it's clear that we are dealing with a society that has a defined hierarchy—that's something we haven't seen but in very ancient cultures, which makes it all the more odd that this is so close to the surface."

Whaton chimed in,"I took samples of the substrate at various levels. We should head back to the ship so I can get them analyzed. That may just answer that question for us."

"Doctor Isvray," said Brian, having crept up on the group of three unnoticed.

"Brian, you scared me," exclaimed Ioma.

In his hand Brian held his own Heavy Wand that he had brought from the Almayer.

"I found something, Doctor Isvray," he said."I don't study this kind of stuff too much at the university but this doesn't look like anything I've ever seen."

Brian activated the Heavy Wand's memory and it shot up an image of a mass of artifacts. The laser displayed a group of people who looked much like the people depicted in the artifacts Ioma had uncovered. As the laser continued to map out the image, something different appeared above the mass statues of the people. Above them, another person floated in the air. All of the eyes of the people below were fixed on this person. To the side of the floating person was a stellar calendar, which had been known to be used by many civilizations and was still taught to Euchenorians who traveled to remote parts of the universe. Ioma could make out Antiope and its sun, as well as the positioning of some of the stars in the system's vicinity.

"This is great!" Ioma said."This may show us exactly when these artifacts were built!"

Whaton folded his arms skeptically."I'll trust the substrate samples over some ancient museum."

Ioma paid no attention to his comment. She continued to intensely examine the read out of Brian's Heavy Wand.

"Why is this person floating in the air?" asked Brian."And why are all of the people so afraid of him?"

Ioma smiled."This could be even more than the hierarchy based society that I'd thought it was. This could be something even rarer and perhaps something completely novel. This could have been a society that worshipped something supernatural, meaning outside the laws of science. For many civilizations, it was often one of these supernatural beings that acted as their god. 

# Chapter Twelve

Whaton woke everyone earlier than planned, complaining that the analysis of the substrate samples he collected came back inconclusive. He buzzed everyone's room with a message before the Almayer had a chance to initiate the standing effects interviews for the day. Elizabeth, Brian, and Ioma entered the main bay of the ship to find Whaton already suited up for a trip back to SeekerM79. Brian and Elizabeth wearily prepared gear for a day of exploration while Ioma walked energetically to the ground craft and took her seat as co-pilot. She had been up for several hours searching the Almayer's databases for any civilizations found in the past that may in some way resemble what she thought she had found on Antiope. Her research yielded little but this only encouraged her further and gave her more energy than Brian and Elizabeth could handle at the moment.

"This could be a very important day for our understanding of the narrative that's unfolded beneath us," she said as she turned her body back toward Brian and Elizabeth who were loading equipment into the ground craft for the day. In her palm, Ioma held a triangular recording device that projected images inches above so she could examine them. She had a journal article pulled up from _Alien Anthropological Monographs_ , one of the more prestigious academic publications in the field."I've only found one other article published in the last decade that mentions anything about a supernatural being," she said.

Brian and Elizabeth forced a smile in a polite effort to match Ioma's enthusiasm.

She recognized the inauthenticity."I know you two never learned anything about this stuff from your professors but I'm telling you, if we find what I think we're going to find today, you'll have something to teach those professors when we return to Euchenor."

Brian couldn't conceal a smile at this statement as he and Elizabeth finished loading their supplies and took their seats in the back of the craft.

"Are we all ready?" asked Whaton, who had been impatiently watching the three board the craft.

Ioma looked back at him with her excited smile and Whaton's frustrated urgency, which had resulted from his inconclusive substrate results, dissipated instantly.

Upon arriving at SeekerM79, Whaton immediately left the group to collect substrate from different areas that had now been opened even more extensively by the combustors. Ioma took off immediately for the site where she previously touched her Heavy Wand to the small piece of metal protruding from the orange sand. Brian and Elizabeth followed behind. Before leaving the site the day prior, Ioma had given the combustor a program based on the exact output of the Heavy Wand. If the machine worked properly, the entire top of the structure should be nearly revealed, allowing Ioma to descend into it for further analysis.

Brian, Elizabeth, and Ioma approached carefully. The terrain surrounding SeekerM79 had changed drastically in only one day. All four of the combustors were hard at work overnight. It was difficult to say what there was more of—level ground or huge pits where the substrate had been vaporized downward for untold depths. The group of three passed several crevasses where only islands of orange land remained in the middle of a deep gorge. Using the Heavy Wand image as a guide, Ioma led the group to the place where she had entered the ground the day prior.

"We should be almost on top of where the structure begins," she said, gazing into the laser display the small Heavy Wand device projected out to her."Are we below ground level?"

Ioma's question was followed by silence. Brian and Elizabeth looked around clueless as to where they were on the once familiar alien terrain surrounding SeekerM79. The ruthless efficiency of the combustors had caused the site, which they'd visited now consecutively for days, to look foreign to them.

Elizabeth kneeled on the well-compacted orange sand, gazing into it. Brian and Ioma continued to walk forward trying to find their bearings in the place. Elizabeth picked up a handful of Antiopian sand and let it run through her slender fingers. She then charged both palms into the substrate and began pulling up double handfuls of the hot sand and throwing it to the side. Handful after handful, she continued until she began to sweat from the work. As she made the hole deep enough that her elbow could disappear in it, her fingers brushed something that wasn't sand. The orange retook the object as soon as she removed her fingers from it. Elizabeth plunged her right hand into the area.

"Ahhh." Having touched the first alien artifact she uncovered in her career.

Brian and Ioma turned hearing her and she beckoned them over to her crude excavation site.

Elizabeth massaged her closed fist as Brian and Ioma made their way to her."We're on top of it," she said. She then took both hands and parted the sand for them to see the metal structure below."Looks like the roof."

Ioma bent over and touched the metal Elizabeth had revealed through the sand. She moved several inches of the sand with her fingers and smiled.

"Hope you both are ready to do some actual digging," said Ioma."It looks like the combustors stopped a couple inches short of the top of the structure."

After returning to the land craft with Elizabeth and Brian to retrieve several handheld digging tools, Ioma instructed the pair of graduate students on how to use the narrow, pipe-like instruments.

"Normally," she began,"these are used to blow substrate remnants from a delicate artifact. They can be modified to blow concentrated bursts of air downward, which should allow us to clear a portion of this structure. With any luck, we'll find some sort of an entrance."

Ioma handed Brian and Elizabeth each one of the arm-length pipes and showed them how to activate it by twisting one of the ends. Ioma twisted hers; the device made no noise but she put her head in front of the business end of it and her hair flew back in a single whipping motion.

"To get them to their full velocity," she said,"twist all the way back on this end."

Ioma demonstrated on her device. The stream of air coming from the simple looking black pipe paused for a moment as it prepped for a large exhale. The graduate assistants could hear the device sucking air in from tiny pores within its metal frame. A smooth but loud roar then came from the opposite end of the pipe and Ioma immediately turned it toward the Antiopian sand, which parted in a circular fashion for her as she moved it over the flat, metal structure that was now being revealed. Brian and Elizabeth followed suit and soon the whisk of air was all that could be heard as the metal roof of the possibly ancient structure came to be revealed again.

Brian was the first to uncover an opening in the metallic roof and he had to walk over to Ioma, tapping her in order to interrupt her intense focus on spreading sand with air.

Ioma walked over to where Brian indicated and saw a square opening in the metal that led down into blackness. She looked around for the nearest combustor, spotting one not far off. From her mission suit she unwound some black line and signaled to Brian to go to the combustor and attach it so she could descend. Brian obeyed.

Ioma activated the green glow of her mission suit before jumping into the blackness. The suit illuminated pictures on the ceiling of the structure as she lowered herself into it. She positioned her body so the light revealed the artwork—hand painted depictions showed men and women much like the statues. The paintings again detailed these people bowing down to some being. Ioma looked closely for any writing to shed light on what all this meant but found none. She released more line from her suit and lowered herself deeper into the structure. The square of light that was the opening above Ioma became smaller and she could now only faintly make out two small objects, their curious heads peering over the side of the entrance.

She let out length after length of the thin, black line allowing her to descend further into the darkness. The green illumination of her suit pierced the darkness only inches before being overtaken by the absence of light that had been present there for untold fathoms of time. When her dangling feet finally touched down on what felt like stone she let out a hushed whimper as if surprised to find the ground indeed existed after lowering herself for what seemed like an eternity. She removed the cord from her mission suit and let it dangle from the entrance high above.

Kneeling down, her suit revealed she was standing on smooth stone. She looked for writing or some sort of symbol she might recognize from her years of learning about the thousands of dead alien cultures that had been found all over the universe, the stories they told, and how they told them. She found nothing.

It was then Ioma decided that the time for recklessness in her career was upon her. She picked a direction in the dark and began walking. She knew that any number of things could be out there in the dark and that she probably wouldn't see them before it was too late given the dim glow from her suit. She knew there could be crevasses directly in front of her or that she could lose sight of the opening far above and not be able to get back to the line that would carry her to the surface. Ioma knew all this but she also knew that, now she was down here, she had to find something that told her what this structure was. She must comprehend the narrative of this being from the sky that was a reoccurring theme in both the painting and sculptures of this civilization. As if it had been put there for her, at that instant, Ioma ran into something after taking only a few steps into the dark.

Her thighs were the first part of her body to feel the object. Ioma twisted her body to see what it was after enduring an initial scare and a small amount of adrenaline dump, which caused her right hand to shake slightly as she reached out to touch a large box with a table on top of it. She ran her hand across what felt like wood. A thick layer of dust parted with the movement of her index finger and revealed lettering. With both hands she uncovered more to reveal the cover of a book. Ioma recognized it as a book immediately, having seen them in several other cultures that used them to record the history of a person, group, or civilization. Ioma bent toward the text ever so carefully, bringing her eyes so close to it that only the single symbol on its cover made up her field of vision. The symbol was an eye with a line in its middle like an iris. She started to open the tome but thought better of it. She removed protective anthropology wrap from her mission suit and covered the book with it. Somehow, Ioma knew this is what she had been looking for her entire life. 

# Chapter Thirteen

Ioma found all three of her crewmates waiting for her when she rose via her thin, black tether line at the top of the entrance to the underground structure.

"What are we standing on top off?" demanded Whaton.

Ioma realized then that she didn't actually know.

"There's a lot of space down there," she said."I'll have to check and see what kind of lighting equipment we might have on the Almayer. Usually we don't need to illuminate digs because they are all exposed by the Seekers before we get here."

Whaton shrugged, mentioning that he had already loaded several different sets of substrate samples onto the landing craft. With the book she had recovered still secretively hidden in the preservative wrapping, Ioma agreed to head back for the day to examine the substrate samples and format a report to send to Lyell in the morning.

The crew arrived back at the Almayer as the Antiopian sun was still fairly high. Brian and Elizabeth were left to fend for themselves as Whaton and Ioma went their different ways to analyze their respective artifacts of interest.

"Want to check out some movies on the screen in my room?" asked Brian with a smile. He smiled because Euchenorians rarely watched movies since the advent of the simulators exhausted the need for artificial escapism through a screen. This had also caused the quality of the Euchenorian movie industry to decline very rapidly. Most of the modern movies made on the home planet were for niche audiences consisting of the very young, the very old, and the generally dim-witted.

"There might be something that we could laugh at—so bad it's good sort of thing," Brian said.

Elizabeth's look returned un-amused. She watched Ioma hurriedly exit the Almayer's bay where they had parked the landing craft. Elizabeth thought she saw something protruding from Ioma's late model mission suit but could not be sure. Elizabeth did, however, recognize a distinct yet unquantifiable change in Ioma's demeanor after she exited the structure housed below the Antiopian sand. Ioma had appeared overly compliant with Whaton's request for an early return to the Almayer. This made Elizabeth think that Ioma too may have something she needed analyzed.

Elizabeth turned, smiled politely to Brian and informed him curtly that she didn't watch movies. Brian's smile faded and then vanished as Elizabeth turned and walked away. He watched as her hips caused her butt to move in a distinct up and down fashion as she walked. Brian caught himself in his feelings and diverted his eyes to the door Whaton had gone through to have his substrate samples analyzed. He made his way to it only to find it locked from the other side.

Elizabeth was able to find Ioma easily. Ioma was in the ship's anthropology lab bent over a small desk that had beneath it a light scanner. The scanner was a staple in the anthropology field, used to analyze nearly any artifact that contained symbols or text. The scanner worked by simply shining light through an object to identify symbols, indentations, or other markings. These symbols were then compared and cross-listed with every other known form of communication ever discovered in the universe. Using this tool, it was often found that civilizations that existed millennia apart still shared common basic language uses and, therefore, by compiling all of these languages into one database, Alien Anthropologists could often read a new civilization's writings with little effort.

Ioma barely recognized Elizabeth when she entered the room. The light scanner translation machine had already done its work and words in Euchenorian were being projected in the air above it. The words danced around, forming sentences above Ioma's head as the Almayer's computer used its algorithms to makes sense of them.

"The map of time will no longer be needed after the return of our savior." Elizabeth read aloud a line from the floating text as it became animated in green by the computer's production lasers."Have you seen a narrative like this before in your studies?" she asked Ioma.

Elizabeth sensed the excitement in Ioma's voice as she responded.

"The story is fascinating, Elizabeth. It appears to be various accounts of a normal man who came from what we would describe as something beyond science... and much of it appears to be a prophecy of what had not happened yet when this civilization came to its end."

Ioma continued.

"That's not the most interesting thing, however. The light scanner also gave me an estimate of how old this book is and it appears to be much older than we ever estimated the civilization here on Antiope to be. Older by millenniums."

"Doctor Lewit will be happy to hear that he can finally report to Lyell the fact that his Entropy Paradigm will remain intact then," Elizabeth said.

Ioma smiled, acknowledging the insightfulness of the young graduate student.

"Yes, whoever wrote this book existed well before Euchenor ever had life on it," said Ioma."I'm not totally convinced, however, that the people who wrote this book are the same people who built the structure I was in yesterday. I need to dig into the text more but this appears to be something that the people who built the structure below used as a guiding document of their law—not one they created themselves."

"So where would they have gotten the book then if someone from their civilization didn't create it?" asked Elizabeth.

"Maybe we're dealing with two civilizations," replied Ioma."Maybe one existed well before the other and the newer one, the one below us now, found this and took it as their law. If that's the case, it would make for something that has never been seen in the field of Alien Anthropology."

The automatic door behind them slid open and Whaton came quickly in with Brian trailing behind him.

"I'm taking the ground craft back to SeekerM79," said Whaton."The substrate samples I took from every section of the site show that literally nothing has happened on this planet, geologically speaking, in the last ten thousand years."

Whaton paused, waiting for Ioma to say something. She didn't so he continued.

"I have to get more samples before I report this to Lyell. We can't afford a mistake."

Ioma turned to the light processor behind her and the book within it."I took this from the structure I went into today."

Whaton glanced at it, apparently not caring that she did not inform him of the artifact's presence.

"According to this light scanner, it's well over ten thousand years old."

Whaton smiled."So then the Entropy Paradigm remains intact! You have no idea how happy this makes me. Could you imagine what would happen if we reported back to Lyell that the underlying principle of Alien Anthropology, the principle he pioneered no less, was disproven? He would have sent a fleet of academics up here to prove us wrong!"

Ioma did not smile. Elizabeth watched her face turn from the excited expression of discovery to a taut texture of political correctness. She explained to Whaton the theory she had just told Elizabeth. She told Whaton that it was her interpretation of the narrative that two societies may be at play here on Antiope and, therefore, it was not certain if the Entropy Paradigm would remain intact.

Whaton slumped, visibly defeated by Ioma's explanation.

"We have to report this to Lyell," said Ioma."We have to tell him the situation, our analysis, and then see what he wants us to do."

Whaton couldn't speak. All he had wanted was a mission where he could see a new part of the universe, experience fieldwork, and establish himself in his discipline. He had not asked for this. He had not asked for this kind of pressure.

"I think we should each contribute to the report," he finally said."I want to include some ideas of my own as well."

Ioma nodded, not wanting to push Whaton on what his ideas were exactly. Above anything, she wanted him to leave so she could continue her analysis of the narrative the light processor continued to put forth in front of her; a civilization that had worshipped a past civilization but also anticipated its return in some way. Even with all her training, this made no sense to Ioma. She was eager to put the narrative pieces together and find out what happened to the civilization, or civilizations, buried below them on Antiope.

That night Ioma did not sleep. The narratives from the book enthralled her so much she didn't realize the night had passed her by until the Almayer's computer asked her if she was ready to complete her standing effects interview for the day. After being left alone with the light processor the night prior, Ioma copied a file of everything the machine had compiled in legible Euchenorian to the information console in her quarters. It was there she spent the night reading chapter after chapter of the most compelling, yet primitive, narrative of death and destruction, love and devotion.

"Do you feel the direction the dig on Antiope is taking will ultimately benefit Euchenor?" the Almayer asked for the first standing effects question.

Ioma could not remove her eyes from the text.

"Yes," was her only response.

"Insufficient answer," the computer clicked back at her. Then, more cordially, using its normal asexual tone, it asked,"Can you please expand on that answer, Doctor Isvray?"

Ioma turned from the computer."I think this story that I'm reading is unlike anything Euchenor has ever seen. I can't say right now how it will benefit Euchenor but I can say that it is worthy of study. As an academic, I believe any dead culture is worthy of study—if we do not understand the universe's past, we will surely repeat it... And this story, this is something significant. I feel lucky to have been the one to find it. However, I can't quite comprehend the author's intentions yet..."

The Almayer spent seconds coding Ioma's response into its algorithms.

"What have you included in your report to Lyell?" The frankness of the question struck Ioma as odd. She had not yet compiled her report and had nearly forgotten about it until now.

"I'm going to tell him that I think this narrative requires further examination. For instance, there's a character that's central to the plot but I still have yet to understand what he is. It appears the book is centered on him and on his return to Antiope but I cannot decipher whether this has happened or has not happened yet."

The Almayer's central computer rendered its final question:"Is it your professional academic opinion, Doctor Isvray, that the dead civilization on Antiope violates the Entropy Paradigm?"

Ioma felt the presence of Lyell Inard in this question. She could almost sense him in her quarters. Thoughts of him sitting across from her on her dissertation committee came to the forefront of her imagination. She asked him to be on her committee because she revered him as a graduate student for his pioneering work that had culminated in the Entropy Paradigm. She regretted it afterward upon realizing he was heavily involved in the business of the academe and cared more about securing grants than expanding research. She had seen that Lyell had indeed pioneered the idea of the Entropy Paradigm, which to this day stood to be one of the only truisms across the entire universe. With this she had also witnessed his unrelenting defense of the idea. Lyell was one who had made his mark on academia and on Euchenor in his Entropy Paradigm and he would die before he let that mark be blemished—Ioma was sure of this.

"No," she responded softly,"I do not think the findings here contradict any suppositions of the Entropy Paradigm."

The Almayer's central computer clicked off contentedly. 

# Chapter Fourteen

Whaton was laying on his bed when the speaker clicked on, signaling the beginning of his standing effects interviews. He felt heavy with the weight of two problems he had only recently identified: the first was the continuation of what now felt like an old feeling—his physical desire for Ioma. This feeling had changed from one that was merely a hole that a simulator would normally fill to something more. Whaton had seen the intensity with which Ioma examined the alien text under the light scanner and it made his primitive feelings for her resurface. In addition to this problem the text had brought upon him was Whaton's second issue of his substrate samples not confirming the date of the alien civilization. This was especially puzzling and infuriating because Ioma's artifact appeared to show exactly what he was trying to demonstrate—that this civilization did not violate the Entropy Paradigm.

"What do you plan to report to Lyell tomorrow, Doctor Lewit?" was the first standing effects question.

"I don't know," replied Whaton, covering his face with a pillow."I've spent my entire time on this planet trying to figure out one thing—the age of the civilization that once lived here. I've failed at confirming even this one simple, quantitative fact."

The Almayer clicked and recorded Whaton's self-loathing response before asking its second question.

"Are you glad you came on this mission to Antiope?"

Whaton thought this question through—was he glad? He felt like a different person and he hadn't even done anything here yet. Maybe that's what the standing effects of the planet were. They were just cleverly disguised in the costume of a broken simulator. A once undesirable colleague turned infatuation. An anthropological dig that was sending him mixed messages about how old it was and what it was doing on Antiope.

"I'm glad I came," replied Whaton,"but I have nothing to report to Lyell tomorrow. I do, however, have something I need to talk to Doctor Isvray about." Whaton stammered saying her name aloud, the primitive feeling toward her so strong in that moment."I'm going to go consult with her on our report to Lyell right now actually; we'll have to continue these later."

"Thank you, Doctor Lewit," replied the Almayer.

Whaton exited his quarters for Ioma's, his movement fueled by pure feeling; no thought being needed for it.

"Doctor Isvray, I mean, Ioma," said Whaton as he entered her quarters, finding them unlocked. Ioma was there, again examining a copy of the alien narrative retrieved from the light scanner.

"Whaton!" she exclaimed. Ioma had a smile on her face, despite her co-worker's bold intrusion."I'm glad you're here actually, this book gets more and more fascinating the further I read—it really does appear to be about something that has not happened yet. It goes into great detail about the generations of people who had passed, not to mention the position of the stars we saw on the other artifacts. I really think this thing is some sort of a prophecy and I'm starting to think it never happened or at least the civilization here was dead before it happened."

Ioma paused and turned away from her readings, which were projected in the air by tiny, green lasers mounted on a white wall of her work area.

"Can you believe this entire civilization was based on a belief in something that never happened?"

Whaton barely heard her. He only could focus on the pressure mounting in his body. This pressure a simulator session could relieve so easily had become a giant hurdle he feared he would not overcome.

"Ioma, I have to talk to you about my feelings," said Whaton."I've been having some pretty intense emotions, I guess you could say, throughout this entire mission."

Ioma turned back to the laser output of her text.

"I know," she replied."This book has opened me up to ideas I'd never thought of—things Euchenorians just don't think about. This entire society revolved around the stories in this book. They were so special. These people believed a supernatural entity would come back to save them."

Whaton stepped closer to Ioma to engage her in this subject that she showed an abnormal amount of interest in, even for her.

"Isn't it similar to Euchenorian Deep Think, belief that The God Generation will develop a means to save us by bringing us back to life, whether through a simulation or other means not yet known?"

Ioma turned back to Whaton. Her eyes squinted in deep thought. Whaton could not stare anywhere but at her face. He noticed the wrinkles in her brow that had no doubt come from long hours of study, along with darkness under her green eyes. These details made Ioma so real to Whaton. The Euchenorian women he had in the simulator boasted no such imperfections.

"It's different," Ioma replied to his question."The story this book tells doesn't cohere with reality. Obviously, this being did not come back to save this civilization. In the case of The God Generation that narrative does indeed cohere to reality—the future generations of Euchenor will undoubtedly develop technology that will be able to bring past generations back into existence in some manner. Even if a quasar destroyed Euchenor there will still be all of the out-world territories where life will prosper and technology will continue to increase until such a thing is possible."

Whaton nodded. He sat down on Ioma's bed next to the chair at the desk where she was seated.

"The report tomorrow to Lyell," said Whaton gently."You know so much more about this civilization than I do at this point, why don't you just send it?"

Ioma's smile widened.

"Whaton, it's very kind of you to grant me that opportunity but in this mission we _both_ are the lead academics. I wouldn't want Lyell to think I was trying to take charge or anything like that."

"He won't think that, Ioma," said Whaton."He knows you and he knows you wouldn't do that. I want you to write the report, you deserve it. Who knows? This report could be one that ends up going to a lot of important academics back on the home planet."

Ioma smiled wider than Whaton had ever seen a Euchenorian smile. He moved his face as close as possible to Ioma's without touching it. The anticipation was too much for him and Whaton closed his eyes. He throbbed and ached like he never knew he was capable of.

After a pause he opened his eyes to see Ioma's back. She had turned to continue her investigation of the light scanner output from the alien book. Whaton was unsure as to when she turned—whether she had seen his advance and chosen not to acknowledge it or had not seen it at all. He sat in the silence of Ioma's quarters, struggling to think of something to say. When the struggle became too much, he silently exited, unsure of what to do with his primal, useless, yet completely un-ignorable energies.

Whaton returned to his room for a moment but exited again after deciding that a drastic measure may be in order for him to shake loose the desire of Ioma from his brain. In the medical bay of the Almayer he found several bottles of sterilization fluid. He heard once that one could drink a little of such a fluid and get the same effects as alcohol. Whaton opened one of the clear bottles and smelled the solution. He'd never used such medicine before and had never even heard of anyone using the solution. He only knew of its existence on the ship due to the mandatory training all academics had to take if they were traveling into unknown parts of the universe via synthetic black holes. The supplies on the Almayer were extensive and redundant due simply to the fact that if the ship's computer failed, many of the medical and life support systems would as well. If that did occur, a solution such as this could save a crewmember from infection.

Whaton put the plastic top of the bottle to his lips and squeezed the body of the vessel causing a steady stream of fire to shoot into his mouth. He coughed and some of the clear liquid splattered onto a metallic cabinet in front of him but some also made it down his throat. He immediately felt a sense of warmness in the pit of his stomach. With this sensation came the memory of the last time he had drunk alcohol when he first left home to attend the University of Euchenor. This was generally when all upstanding Euchenorians experimented with the drug to see its effects for themselves. This experimentation was encouraged by the university as a way for students to understand that using it to escape or enhance reality did nothing for one's self or for Euchenor in general and therefore had no role in the life of a Euchenorian. Whaton remembered drinking an alcohol that was brown and not liking the taste of it but knowing that he was expected to drink to the point of intoxication. He recognized the familiar feeling but also remembered the horrible feelings that came afterwards. This, however, could be mitigated if one only consumed small amounts he understood.

Whaton took a deep breath and then squeezed the bottle one more time. He was no longer thinking of Ioma or of the alien text that took her attention away from him. He made his way back to his quarters and his bed, feeling better than he had in a long time.

Whaton awoke the next day to a blinking red light above his door. The Almayer had a message for him. He felt rested but his head pulsated in rhythm with his heart. From his bed, Whaton motioned with his arm for the Almayer to play its message.

"Doctor Lewit, Doctor Isvray would like to speak with you in the main bay. You slept through the set time for today's standing effects interviews—would you like to complete them now?"

"No," Whaton replied."Did Ioma say what she wanted?"

The Almayer replied immediately, needing no algorithms for this banal conversation.

"It was regarding an important message from Doctor Lyell Inard on the home planet."

Whaton rose from his bed lethargically. He made his way clumsily to the main bay of the Almayer where he found Brian, Elizabeth, and Ioma huddled in front of a main computer console with concerned looks on their faces. Ioma turned to face Whaton as he entered the bay.

"We got a message back from Lyell almost immediately after I sent him our report," she said."He said the time shift between Euchenor and Antiope has gotten extreme due to a black hole collapse that increased the net gravity of a nearby solar system."

Whaton wasn't sober enough to grasp the space-time concepts Ioma threw at him. His state did, however, unfortunately reinvigorate the lusty desire he had used the crude alcohol to dissipate the previous night.

"He responded to what message?" Whaton asked.

Ioma returned her eyes to the output console in front of her. Elizabeth pivoted and addressed Whaton. She wore an outfit that on Euchenor would be considered quite casual with her legs showing below her knees and her arms nearly completely exposed. Ioma wore her normal full pants and top, neither of which looked especially clean with faded colors and wrinkles.

"We think we're experiencing one day for every year on Euchenor!" Elizabeth proclaimed."We're moving into the future... as far as Euchenor is concerned."

Ioma swiftly turned to Whaton."It's only a temporary result of a natural black hole phenomenon but it appears that, by sending Lyell my status report this morning, we found out about this time change."

"So what did Lyell say?"

Ioma returned her eyes to the screen. Whaton moved in to see for himself. It was then he saw Brian's face. His looked the opposite of Elizabeth's. She seemed to be overwhelmed with glee at the idea of potentially being further away in time from Euchenor than anyone had ever been. For Elizabeth, this mission to Antiope had appeared to take a turn for the better. Brian's face said otherwise.

Ioma replied to Whaton's question:"Well, he said a lot of things. He's had about a year of Euchenorian time to digest the message and to reply to it."

Ioma paused.

"Basically, Antiope has gained a lot of attention on Euchenor."

Whaton ushered Ioma out of the way and looked at the projection screen she had been standing in front of. On it he saw messages from hundreds of entities that identified themselves as Euchenorians but were not Lyell or even anyone associated with the University of Euchenor.

"Apparently, the story of what we found here got out and it's really gotten a following on Euchenor, even among non-academics," said Ioma.

Whaton wasn't sure if his head was spinning from the substances he'd consumed the night prior or from this news. He began to question what truly was odder—the fact that last night he had drunk medicine in order to escape his physical lust for Ioma or what he was now hearing.

"What did you say in your report?" asked Whaton, directing a glare toward Ioma.

"I told them what was in the alien stories; I told them the story of a supernatural being that an entire civilization believed in... and I told them that this being was on its way back—on its way back here to Antiope." Ioma crossed her arms after finishing her brief summary.

Whaton scratched his head. He could not comprehend how this seemingly pointless mission could have turned into something the entire home planet was interested in. There must be an explanation.

"Other stories have been uncovered by other academics and explorers on other alien planets," said Whaton."Why does Lyell, or anyone on Euchenor, care about these?"

Ioma turned back to the laser output and selected a specific message.

"Because of this man," she said.

Elizabeth perked up as Ioma pulled up a specific message that had been received from Euchenor."Raymos Vermos!" said Elizabeth.

Doctor Inard –

The tales from Antiope have inspired my colleagues and me so much so that I am contacting you to inquire as to the rights of the stories that have been uncovered on Antiope. We find the society and its stories so interesting and novel that we would very much like to travel to Antiope for an exploratory trip to learn more of the society and the brave crew of Alien Anthropologists at work to uncover it. This tale is one that must be told and I believe that my aesthetics and storytelling ability will allow a film documenting your endeavor to make an indelible mark on Euchenorian culture.

-Raymos Vermos

Whaton looked back at a beaming Elizabeth.

"I know he makes films," said Whaton."I've never seen any of them though."

"I've never heard of him," Ioma scoffed.

Elizabeth dove into an explanation saying that his body of work had largely been unseen by the mainstream public on Euchenor and that this was due to it being criticized as work that did not benefit the home planet. Of course, Euchenor was a free planet and a free society, so a person was free to create what he or she may please; however, it was not uncommon for the masses to collectively black ball any piece of work that took a critical view of anything that most Euchenorians held dear. In the case of Raymos Vermos, his films often focused on the complete lack of originality on Euchenor that resulted from the belief in The God Generation, which Vermos labeled as an insane obsession.

"Well, it makes sense then why he's interested in these stories," said Ioma, cutting Elizabeth off in the middle of her detailed explanation."From my analysis, these stories are all about the race of people on Antiope being saved as well—only it wasn't by themselves or their future generations, it was from this supernatural being that was supposed to come back."

Whaton's hangover had dispersed and been replaced by an uneasy energy. It was not normal for someone outside of academia such as this Vermos to receive transmissions from an academic mission that was still in progress. Normally the work would be completed and then published in a journal.

"I'm not sure what to make of this," he said."Is this person coming here?"

Elizabeth smiled broadly. Brian had been in the background of the conversation but looked on intently, mimicking Elizabeth's excitement.

"With the extreme time difference and the changes in gravity near us, we don't know when this was sent," said Ioma."Raymos Vermos may already be on his way."

Whaton motioned to Elizabeth to move away from the computer console so he could use it. He checked the chronometer, which displayed the time on Antiope relative to Euchenorian Long Time. On the screen, one number was displayed prominently in blue. It fluctuated rapidly but was hovering around the four hundred mark, which meant that Antiope was experiencing time so slowly that for every one day that passed, four hundred passed on Euchenor. Changes in relative time were commonplace; however, a change in relative time of more than a hundred was considered to be less than ideal. Relative time had the tendency to"snap back" as it was called, meaning that if an extreme relative time surplus existed, as one did now on Antiope in relation to Euchenor, then surely an extreme relative time deficit was to follow suit. This was another tenet of the Entropy Paradigm, which stated simply that, no matter where one is in the universe, if they stay in the same place for long enough, they will experience time in a consistent manner due to the deficits and surpluses that ultimately even out.

This theory had come about when a group of rogue scientists left Euchenor in search for a part of the universe where they would experience time much slower. They planned to return to Euchenor once a considerable amount of time had passed with the hope of reaping the benefits of future technology and perhaps even coming back to The God Generation itself. Due to the Entropy Paradigm, however, this group found they had to continually move from place to place in search of favorable relative time differences and they often found that, even when they did find a favorable difference, say a thousand Euchenorian years for one year where they happened to be, it was often followed by some dastardly ratio that would cause them to experience time much quicker relative to Euchenor and they would lose any progress they had made. Upon returning to the home planet, the group found that they had experienced time almost exactly in step with Euchenorian Long Time. They also found the planet rather unwelcoming; Euchenor saw this act as disgraceful and selfish and it was taught to younger generations as a textbook example of the folly of individualism.

"Did you send this message last night?" Whaton asked.

"I wrote up the contents of the alien book after you left last night," said Ioma."I waited to send it until just now. I was thinking I would give you another chance to look at it and include anything you might think pertinent but you didn't come out of your quarters so I just sent it."

Whaton returned to the console and then waved his hand to shut off the display.

"We're dealing with a time surplus in excess of four hundred," he said."If that's the case, we should have more than this one message from Lyell. How much information did you give him?"

"As I said, I told him my analysis," said Ioma."And I also sent a copy of the light scanner version of the alien text."

"They've had that much time and this is all he sent," said Whaton."What could they be doing with that alien book back on Euchenor?"

The question was met with silence. Ioma retired back to the light scanner and her newfound love in the alien text. Elizabeth joined her. Brian and Whaton sat in the main bay of the Almayer wondering what to do next. Whaton thought again of the bottle of crude alcohol in the medical bay but remembered the headache that now came in waves. He said nothing and left for his quarters to lie back down.

By himself now, in the main bay of the ship, Brian Belkim used the Almayer's cached databases to research Raymos Vermos and his movies. He had heard of the man and his counter-Euchenorian ideas but had never seen what he looked like. The picture he pulled up from the ship's records showed a person with thin, dark hair and an equally thin mustache above his upper lip. He wore the look of a rebel quite well, not wearing his hair combed forward in a natural way, as was the custom on Euchenor, but rather with it parted to the side, demonstrating physically the time he had spent to do it—the time he had taken to perfect his own image and not the image of the home planet and its God Generation.

Brian touched the top of his hair and moved it to the side and then walked over to the large bay window of the Almayer. He could only get a faint reflection from the window. Through it he saw his white face superimposed on the orange Antiopian landscape. The Antiope day was still in full swing and heat from the sun rose off of the tall, orange rocks that dotted the barren landscape of the planet. Brian imagined Raymos Vermos coming here to make a movie of their mission. He imagined himself being the star in it. He imagined in the end the mission going down as a great achievement of Euchenor and having Elizabeth as his colleague for the entire journey. Brian didn't need to read the rest of the information on Vermos; he knew enough of him from the look on Elizabeth's face when she heard he had taken an interest in their mission. He knew he must be like Vermos in order to have Elizabeth. His hair still clumsily parted to the side, Brian turned from the bay window to find Elizabeth and Ioma and assist them in deciphering the alien text the home world had taken such a sudden interest in.

Later that night, when everyone except Ioma was sleeping, Vermos made his arrival into Antiopian space. The Almayer's computer lit up with the warning of a large synthetic black hole opening in close proximity. Ioma was in her quarters studying the alien text when she heard the alert. The ship's computer did not alert the other crewmembers, sensing they were sleeping. It was late in the night but Ioma could not fathom sleeping when she knew that she alone was right now the leading expert on this alien artifact that had been deemed important on the home world. She walked briskly to the main bay of the ship were she saw that a large vessel had come through a commercial-size synthetic black hole. Commercial holes were much more expensive than those used in non-profit and academia and for this price they came with certain amenities such as the ability to bring with them more equipment and the assuredness of where the black hole would take them. A commercial black hole could be distinguished from the other, cheaper, synthetic black holes not only by their size but by their pitch of blackness—it was true that black holes were indeed black, which was the color of space-time when everything (even space-time) was being sucked away at the speed of light. These commercial black holes also were more destructive and Ioma's excitement turned to angst when she saw how close the Almayer had predicted the opening of the black hole to be. She waved her hand in a motion signaling for the ship to open its main bay window.

Ioma walked up close to the thick glass and craned her neck up and into the dark Antiopian sky with its close stars that gave the planet's terrain a scant but adequate amount of illumination in the nighttime. Suddenly, the stars disappeared as if a blanket had been dropped on top of them. The orange sand of Antiope, at first illuminated in front of Ioma, disappeared and she felt her pupils dilate in search of even a scrap of light. The pair found none. Ioma gazed at the blackness for several moments before she began to make out a tiny, pale dot in its center. She looked for others that had come through—she thought surely a synthetic black hole of this magnitude would be for more than one vessel. But she could locate only one as it began to slowly increase in size in the center of the blackness, which itself slowly began to lessen in hue at the edges of Ioma's sightlines.

A signal came through on the direct communication line—it was the new ship trying to contact her. She signaled with her hand for the Almayer to answer it.

"Hello." The crackling voice of a man came through the Almayer's main bay audio ports."This is Raymos Vermos. We are here from Euchenor City, Euchenor. We have traveled a long way to meet you."

# III. Simulations of Reality
# Chapter Fifteen

Vermos and his crew took some time to board the Almayer and Whaton, now awake, wondered aloud as to what they were doing. It became apparent immediately what had taken so long when they presented themselves in the main bay—Vermos and his crew of four were adorned in the latest Euchenorian fashion attire.

Vermos wore a skin tight and nearly transparent one-piece wrap that covered him below the neck all the way to his toes. The wrap glistened with a dull sparkle that signified it was expensive. He was handsome and, if anything, looked younger than his picture, as though he had aged less than normal, which was completely possible given the amount of black hole travel someone of his stature likely did. The other members of Vermos' crew dressed more conservatively with only portions of their genitals showing through their semi-transparent wraps.

"Greetings from the most boring time, place, and space that ever existed since this universe exploded," exclaimed Vermos in a deep but jovial voice.

One of the followers behind him, a smaller male, spoke up in response."May Deep Think and The God Generation deter the inevitable disaster of the universe and preserve the home planet in order that we may live long after we have died."

Elizabeth recognized this as a saying she had been taught very early in school back on Euchenor when learning about the philosophy of the home planet and how it came to be. She remembered a story disputing that the universe would one day implode in on itself, which was commonly accepted knowledge on Euchenor. It was known the universe had begun with such an explosion and, thus, that's how it would end. The epitaph Vermos' follower recited spoke of the hope that The God Generation would find a way to enter the next reincarnation of the planet that would come after the implosion, thus breaking into the new universe that would be formed by the current one's destruction. This saying, along with the Euchenorian Crest of a hand reaching forward into the future were tenets of her upbringing.

After the man in Vermos' crew recited this saying, silence ensued for several seconds. Vermos turned to face the member of his crew who had recited the phrase. As he did, Elizabeth saw that his entire backside was exposed, which on Euchenor was a bold sign some counter culture Euchenorians partook in. This was a way of publicly displaying solidarity with their bodies. It demonstrated a lack of dependence on their society and its God Generation to rescue them from the peril of the immortality inherent in flesh.

Vermos spoke."You speak the truth, Stetson."

Another silence ensued but was followed by laughter starting with Vermos and traveling through his crew.

"You speak the truth of the fools!" exclaimed Vermos, still laughing and patting Stetson on the back as he did. Elizabeth loosened up, unsure of what had really just happened. She looked over at Brian and saw that his face was completely pale.

"It was a joke," she whispered to him and he slowly turned to her in response.

"I've never heard anyone speak in such a manner about the laws and philosophies of the home planet," said Brian with a whimper.

Vermos overheard what Brian said and took interest, walking closer to him. Horrified, Brian focused on Vermos' crotch as he approached.

"You put your faith in the future, do you?" asked Vermos. He gave the trembling Brian no opportunity to respond before continuing."I put my faith not in the future but in the past! The future may never come and, if it does, do you really think such an advanced future Euchenorian society will spend its time bringing you back to life in some odd manner?"

Vermos paused here but Brian gave no retort.

"The past," said Vermos, putting his arm around Brian,"I've seen the past and it is beautiful! I've spent years in simulations of potential pasts of civilizations that may have existed—alternate universes, even alternate histories of Euchenor. Do you know the common thing I've found in these experiences?"

Brian squeaked out an answer."That Euchenor is the greatest civilization to have ever come from the universe?"

Vermos removed his arm from Brian but still maintained his hearty smile."They've really done a number on you back there on the home planet haven't they? You've been so indoctrinated by the treatise of Euchenor and its belief that only it can save itself, you cannot open your mind to anything else."

Vermos continued."What I've seen during the great amount of time I've spent in simulations of the past is that the present is boring. I've seen acts of nature that no one born since the planet of Euchenor's weather was synthetically stabilized could fathom, battles you could not even begin to picture if I described them."

"I've seen people who loved and understood why they loved." Vermos glanced at Elizabeth who diverted her stare in response."I've even seen wars fought over the power a woman had over a man."

Vermos moved back to his waiting crew to better address all four of the Almayer's occupants."What I'm saying is something you all have probably already realized—the stories you dug up here are exactly like what I've seen in my many simulated lives. I believe that what I was experiencing as a simulation actually happened, here on this planet you call Antiope."

Whaton had thought of nothing besides Vermos' simulator since the word had come from Vermos' ruggedly handsome face.

"So what are the next steps of your visit?" Whaton asked."Will we be able to board your ship? I don't believe I've been on one like it before... Oh, and, of course, welcome to the Almayer and to Antiope."

Vermos smiled boldly."Thank you. Doctor Whaton Lewit I presume? And you must be Doctor Ioma Isvray." Vermos motioned toward Ioma who acknowledged the gesture with a nod."The report I received from your university did not have the names of others involved. I apologize."

Although Vermos obviously addressed this to Elizabeth, who was standing in front of him, Brian responded first."I'm Brian Belkim and this is my colleague, Elizabeth Namaro."

Vermos nodded politely. Without introducing those he had come with, he turned and offered the crew of the Almayer a tour of his vessel.

Vermos' ship was completely focused on recording every activity that took place inside of it or within the space around it. Vermos proudly showed the Almayer crew how every inch of space that his vessel, which still remained unnamed, traveled through was live-streamed back to Euchenor. For a price, of course, interested viewers on the home planet could see what it was like to travel through a black hole without actually doing it. Vermos explained that this was his main source of income, because, although he was famous among a very select group of Euchenorians, it was not enough to support him in his movie-making ventures.

"This is the simulator room, I see." Whaton interrupted Vermos' tour. The individuals he had been with when boarding the Almayer had dispersed.

"Yes!" said Vermos."I believe you said you were interested in using it."

Whaton had said no such thing but anyone could see what Whaton's intentions were.

"I hope you don't plan to wear that in it, however," said Vermos, referring to the normal clothes Whaton had on.

"I actually had planned on just that," said Whaton.

Vermos stopped walking backwards, thus halting the tour. The crew of the Almayer did likewise in unison.

"Perhaps I should have explained my attire," Vermos began."I dress like this, not because I care about the modern fashion of Euchenor City—I could not care less. I dress like this to remind myself, and to show those around me, that I am simply an animal. My hope through dressing like this is that they will see this as well and it will benefit them. People on the home planet, even those in Euchenor City, think so highly of themselves. They wait for the future, whereas I live exposed to the present!"

With that, Vermos opened the door to the simulator room and motioned for Whaton to go in.

"That's why I always take my simulations in actual nude."

Whaton looked nervously at Ioma. His gaze then moved over the heads of Elizabeth and Brian, only registering their presence, not their expressions. Brian watched as Whaton's eyes went over him and Elizabeth and then back to Ioma where they remained for a moment before landing on Vermos. Whaton said nothing and Vermos responded with a nod. Whaton then entered the simulator room, the automatic door Vermos had opened for him shutting behind him.

Vermos restarted the tour as soon as the door had slid shut. As he spoke, he directed his words toward Ioma.

"Do you indulge in simulated lives?" Vermos asked.

Ioma was still looking at the simulator room Whaton had vanished into. She didn't respond to Vermos.

"So then, you engage in real life indulgences," stated a smiling Vermos.

Ioma's head snapped from the simulator room door to Vermos."I don't waste my time in a simulator when there's real work to be done."

Vermos turned and walked. As he did he spoke with his back toward the group of visitors that now numbered three.

"My time spent in simulators has been far more productive than time spent in the 'real' universe. I've seen what life may have been like in other civilizations, in other parts of the universe. I've seen this through the eyes of people who may or may not have existed. I've spoken to individuals who may have yet to be born. Do you know what kind of insight that has provided?"

Vermos threw up his right hand as if casting this question back to Ioma.

"That's exactly my point," she replied."These people never existed. They could be nothing more than program code generated by algorithms. The civilization I'm studying here on Antiope is no simulation. It can be touched and, I think because of that, it can tell us more than any simulation can."

Vermos stopped once more and turned to Ioma. Brian and Elizabeth halted closely behind her, eagerly listening in on the discourse, which was charged with something that could not be touched.

"That's exactly correct," said Vermos, his smile growing."That's why I have come here, at great personal expense no less. I think the story of this civilization on Antiope needs to be told and, once it has been told, I think the future-obsessed, Euchenorian-centric quasi intellectuals in Euchenor City will come to see that they can learn from the past."

Vermos fell silent and his gaze moved from Ioma to Elizabeth who attempted to look intrigued as though she had been thinking hard.

"This must be a thrill for you," Vermos said to her,"being able to see something like this on your very first trip through a black hole."

Elizabeth smiled, blushing. She realized she had not spoken to Vermos this entire time since Brian had introduced her to him.

"It is," she stammered."I'm a fan of your other movies too—they're so different than everything else."

Vermos' grin became even broader."That, my dear, is not of my own doing but a direct result of my experiences in the simulators and the insights those experiences gifted me."

He paused for a moment."I think that I've shown you all of the main points of interest on our humble ship. I hope you'll return the favor bright and early tomorrow and show me your dig site. I have read much of the text you have uncovered but seeing the actual scene will provide tremendous and invaluable context for the story I plan to tell." Vermos ended looking directly at Elizabeth."I'm glad you all are here."

Only a crew of three returned to the Almayer from Vermos' ship. Whaton was still in a simulation when they returned to the simulator room and Vermos insisted they did not disturb him.

Back on his ship, Vermos waited for Whaton to exit the simulator room. He found himself waiting for some time as Whaton ran simulation after simulation to satisfy the buildup of primitive desire that had come from a formerly unknown place within him. When Whaton was younger and first began to use a simulator for these purposes, it had been explained to him that, once a Euchenorian stepped into a simulator, the machine understood everything about that person from their beginning and therefore understood everything about the person up until the second they entered the machine. This was largely believed to be a situation where the computer that manufactured the simulators had become at least partially sentient and therefore was creating simulators the mechanics of which were not fully understood. This, in turn, led to the users of the simulators experiencing simulations that were undoubtedly customized for them; however, if asked, they could not exactly pinpoint how. It was largely hypothesized that this occurred due to the simulators coming to understand the user at the subconscious level and therefore the user was not aware of their own desires but the computer was. So, if a person undertook a simulation of a sexual encounter and found themselves being ridiculed and beaten by their partner, it was surmised that this was something he or she wanted but only at the subconscious level.

Whaton emerged from the simulator room. He smiled in a relaxed manner at Vermos who sat in contemplation near the door.

"I'm glad you had use of my machines," said Vermos."I've been sitting here in deep thought, something I do often on this ship. In fact, I had myself pulled out of stasis early, before the rest of my crew, so I could do just that. Have you ever woken up while inside of a black hole, Doctor Lewit?"

"I have not," replied Whaton.

Vermos' grin widened."It's the absolute closest beings like us can come to understanding the utter hopelessness of the predicament we're in. The universe around you is moving at incomparable speeds, taking you places you can't even imagine. All you can do is sit there and watch as it happens. Much like how those fools on Euchenor sit and watch life go by, dreaming of a God Generation that will save them. How rare it is that we actually live in the present moment. Inside a black hole you are inside the most powerful force in the universe—there's no other place to be but in the present."

Whaton nodded and returned the smile with a thoughtful one of his own.

"You're an academic," continued Vermos,"I'm sure you've thought this through, but what I want to do here with my film, it may seem small to an intellectual like you, but it could be very big I think. People on Euchenor need to take their eyes from the future and turn them to the past. This is what the story of Antiope is, a civilization with an elegant yet tremendously flawed belief system, and that is what the so-called intellectuals in Euchenor City need to see. I want you to be a part of showing it to them, Whaton. I want you to be a part of this history with me."

On the Almayer, Ioma resumed her inspection of the Antiopian text with renewed vigor. The text itself was over a thousand pages long and she had nearly read it in its entirety. Her training told her to analyze the narrative of the text to better understand how it worked. Despite the book being long, the main story in it was one of a society that had experienced a supernatural being arriving on their planet and, once it left, they believed that it would come back. That was the simple part. Where the story got interesting, and hard to understand, was in what it taught. Ioma was puzzled by how it described specific ways of living for those who followed this being—from how they ate to how they dressed. What was more puzzling was what these followers believed would happen to the non-followers when the being returned. This is where the book predicted an extinction event. It spoke of fire and darkness. To Ioma, this sounded like the explosion or implosion of one of the nearest stars of the planet—something that happened quite often, given the infinite amount of stars in the universe. From the descriptions of this event, the followers of the being would be taken from the planet before this extinction event occurred, thus being saved.

The story was quite a compelling one to Ioma, but also far-fetched. What she desperately needed to understand, for the sake of the papers she hoped to publish on this analysis, was how this text worked within the society itself—did people actually follow these rules? And if so, who made them up?

Ioma was deep in thought over the origins of these stories when Whaton entered her quarters. She was unusually glad to see him.

"Whaton!" she exclaimed.

He stepped back from the door in his surprise over this greeting.

"I was happy to see you, Whaton, because I was afraid you and Vermos would get too acquainted," Ioma explained.

"Too acquainted?" posed Whaton.

"I don't know what you mean by that. This movie is going to make our careers," exclaimed Whaton."No matter what we find here on Antiope, if this movie is made and it is screened in Euchenor City, every university on the planet will want to offer us tenured positions—just for the exposure! And this is all going to happen because of Vermos."

Ioma could only describe Whaton's present look as the polar opposite of the one he had bestowed upon her that first day in the ground transport vehicle on their way to the SeekerM79 site. Ioma had never felt the way that look made her feel but it was only now, in its absence, that she realized she enjoyed it.

She stood up and moved closer to Whaton.

"Whaton," she began."What happened in the simulator room between us—I think it may have really meant something. At first I just sort of blocked it out of my mind but now I'm beginning to realize that maybe I really did like it. I know I liked the way you looked at me that day on the way to SeekerM79."

"What's happening on Antiope now is more important than just us," said Whaton. He looked Ioma in the eyes and now that she was so close to him she saw the spark he had had for her was gone, taken away by Vermos and his simulator.

Whaton turned to exit her room.

"Vermos is coming to the Almayer tomorrow to meet with you and me to discuss the next steps—both for our dig and his movie," said Whaton."If you take a look at the script he sent us you'll see it has both elements of documentary and fiction in it. Vermos said that if what really happened on Antiope isn't that interesting, he can make it so."

Ioma slept late the next day and planned to leave immediately for the dig site to resume her work, which had been distracted by the arrival of Vermos' ship. Through her deep study of the Antiopian text, her passion for what she was doing on Antiope increased to a point where she felt drawn to return to the site. The past individuals who lived on Antiope were primitive indeed but Ioma was beginning to understand the beauty in the simplicity of their belief systems and the pure logic that guided them. She dressed in her mission suit and told the Almayer's central computer that she would hold off on doing the standing effects interviews it asked her about until she returned from the dig site. Ioma first went to the main bay of the ship to see if any of the other crew of the Almayer would be joining her. There she found the rest of her crew awake with Vermos who had brought with him large posters with crude depictions on them. He'd propped them up, three of them in total, on the ship's guidance equipment.

"Doctor Isvray," said Vermos upon seeing Ioma enter the bay."I'm glad you're here. These are the preliminary story boards for the movie—for your movie!"

Ioma looked at the boards that Vermos referred to. The first had a depiction of a large group of people bowing down to something descending from the clouds. The second, another crude hand drawing, was of the same people murdering the being that had been in the clouds. The final board depicted the being, now slightly changed in appearance to look alien, rising from the ground and attacking the mass of people who had murdered it.

"You're probably wondering why I draw these out in such a primitive fashion," posed Vermos."It's for the same reason that I told Whaton to give you a paper script—which I hope you had time to examine. You'll see there are many holes in the plot; I'm hoping you and Whaton can help me fill them with compelling material. Paper allows one to see the consequences of their actions. If I would have mapped out my story on a holograph, it could have been changed with the swipe of a hand or the nod of a head. With paper, one must throw it away and start over. As a writer, this helps me be more thoughtful about what I do and therefore I often find that, when I go to write a script, my first draft is also my final."

Whaton, Elizabeth, and Brian were enthralled by the drawings and what Vermos said. Ioma didn't want to get too close to the group for fear she would be forced to give her opinion on the awful drawings.

"I was just on my way to the dig site," said Ioma.

Vermos shot a glance at Whaton who then approached Ioma as she began her exit from the main bay to the ground level of the Almayer where she would depart for the SeekerM79 site.

"Vermos was hoping you could lend us a hand with some of the details of the script," Whaton said to Ioma."You've been studying the text more than anyone."

"He really wants your opinion," added Whaton.

Ioma turned.

"What information do you need exactly?"

Vermos smiled.

"Mainly, I need to understand what this creature, this man that was so revered by the Antiopian society—what did he look like?" Vermos posed the question with great intensity but paused for only a split second after delivering it.

"I envision him, though it may not even be correct to say him, as a futuristic being that has advanced beyond what the Antiopians of that time could even begin to understand." Vermos motioned in the air as he spoke."I see him also as being sadistic. In my reading of the text, he separates these poor people into two different groups. I think that is why some of them fear him. Fear—that leads me to another interesting question—why were these people afraid of this being? I assume from the physical description of him that he looked like a normal Antiopian?"

Whaton chimed in during the break between Vermos' rapid questions."Vermos has a really great visual idea for the movie—the being will at times look like a normal Antiopian person but at other points will reveal his true form to the viewer."

"I was thinking the form of a sea slug would represent him nicely," Vermos opined.

Ioma crossed her arms not knowing where to start correcting them as to what the text really said and, more importantly, what it meant.

"It's important for me to say that this is a sacred text and one that should be treated with respect," said Ioma."We can't turn it into some sort of a sideshow. This was meant to be a very serious story—the most serious really."

Brian and Elizabeth, who had been silent, glanced in each other's direction at this comment. Elizabeth quickly returned her eyes to Vermos.

"I wouldn't dare think of it," said Vermos."This story is fascinating as it is. I have no need to insert anything fanciful into it; however, you must understand, my dear doctor, that cinema requires a certain artistic lens through which to view reality."

Ioma nodded, not in agreement but to indicate that she did indeed understand that making a movie was different than real life. What she didn't understand was why the rest of her crew of academics were more interested in a movie than in an anthropological dig on an alien planet they had traveled through a black hole to get to. Ioma wanted to suggest that Vermos return to Euchenor or his ship, or at the very least his fancy simulator. Whaton certainly appeared to be eternally satisfied by that machine. He had barely taken his eyes off of Vermos, even when addressing Ioma.

Ioma began addressing Vermos again.

"I honestly don't care how you make the movie but what you described is not what the Antiopian text is about, so I would ask that you make that clear to the viewer. The Antiopian text is simple and elegant; it wouldn't even be that interesting of a movie. It's about a simple belief, a logical one, a belief that something besides yourself can save you—something bigger than yourself."

Vermos opened his mouth to speak but stopped. He appeared to be in the depths of thought but also simultaneously on the precipice of speech.

Brian, Elizabeth, and Whaton hung even on the words that were not coming out of Vermos' mouth.

Finally he began again."What you describe, Doctor Isvray, is exactly the reason why I want to make this movie. However, you are correct in saying the text is quite simple, what would one expect from such a primitive species? That is why I must take the raw narrative elements and turn them into something people will want to see. I need to bring this story to the fifty million people in Euchenor City so they tell their friends all the way in the Sition Dome. I want this movie to be talked about by everyone. And once it is I will deliver to them its genesis—your simple, yet elegant, alien narrative."

Vermos paused and widened his smile.

"I couldn't have summarized it any better than you did a moment ago, Ioma."

Ioma forced a smile at Vermos' compliment. She looked to Brian and Elizabeth, and then to Whaton. All of them were fixated on Vermos.

"Whaton," posed Ioma,"I'd like you to come to the dig site with me. I think we should actually do some research on this academic research venture we traveled through a synthetic black hole for."

"We've found the culture," said Whaton."They're just like every other culture that has been found by Alien Anthropologists like us—they're dead. What really matters here is Vermos' vision. This could shine a light on what we're doing here on Antiope, and not just here, but on what all Alien Anthropologists do."

"So you're not coming?" she asked pointlessly with her back turned. And then, without waiting for a response,"Have fun with your simulator—I hope it has some great non-realities for you."

# Chapter Sixteen

Whaton returned to the simulator later in the day, accompanying Vermos who needed to send important communications back to Euchenor City regarding putting together a production schedule for the film. Elizabeth found herself bored and alone, with only Brian. She was partly wishing she had gone with Ioma back to the SeekerM79 site. Elizabeth didn't even consider following Whaton, having got the feeling he was much more interested in Vermos and his simulator than helping them with the student experiences they came to Antiope to embark on.

Vermos, however, did interest her in a strange way. She had never been so intrigued by another Euchenorian. It was this feeling that caused her to contact him aboard his ship and inquire about the use of his simulator.

"I want to see what you saw in these past civilizations," said Elizabeth."I want to understand the importance of what's happening on Antiope."

Vermos obliged and met her on the bridge of his ship when she arrived. He no longer wore the tight apparel that had adorned him when he first boarded the Almayer. He now had on a normal-looking mission suit with red stripes on the sleeves. His appearance made him far less intimidating to Elizabeth. She saw him as a regular person for the first time.

"Doctor Lewit is in the ship's main simulator, my dear," said Vermos,"but if you follow me, you can use my personal one. It's in my quarters."

Elizabeth nodded and followed Vermos from the bay of his ship into a small passageway leading to the crew's quarters. No sound came from any of the crewmembers' rooms as the two passed. Elizabeth had not heard or seen the other crewmembers since Vermos' arrival.

"How disgusting we are," said Vermos. He motioned for a door to open into what Elizabeth assumed was his quarters."We still have these bodies of flesh but the brain can dream of things so much greater."

He moved past his immense bed, which Elizabeth saw was adorned with pillows in the shape of large spheres, some of which floated inches above the sheets and gyrated slightly left to right.

"I fear this is why I have spent so much of my life in simulations," said Vermos as he pulled off a protective sheet to reveal his personal simulator."I fear I use it as a way to escape my fleshy self. But, as you will soon see, Elizabeth, the best part of the simulation is not the simulation itself, it's waking up from it."

Elizabeth walked nearer to the now open simulator pod, which Vermos was turning on for her. She did not reply but only looked at him.

"You see, my dear," said Vermos,"when you wake from something that felt every bit as real as the life you're in right now, you come to the realization that the very same thing could well happen when you leave your flesh body—you may just wake up from this life to see it was itself a simulation. You may wake up to something ultimately grand."

Elizabeth lay back in the pod of the simulator and Vermos closed the top of the machine over her body. The simulation began immediately and Elizabeth found herself getting out of the pod and walking around Vermos' ship, which had turned very dark. The ship hummed with a silent vibration that she felt in her extremities. The pleasant vibration gyrated the muscles in her arms making them full with blood and life. She made her way from the area where the pod was to the main section of Vermos' large, dark quarters of the ship. It was there she found him. Vermos on the bed with his head resting on one of the sphere pillows that floated an inch above the top sheet. He had on the same skintight, nearly transparent attire he had worn the first time Elizabeth laid eyes on him.

As Elizabeth approached him he woke up and smiled at her. The vibrating hum of the ship increased and she felt the sensation of a rush of blood move from her arms to her chest and then to the center mass of her body. She began kissing Vermos and he kissed her back. She reached down and saw that, as she did, the transparent area around his stomach began to grow. She reached down and felt blood pulsing through it.

Elizabeth got up from the bed and removed all of her clothes. She displayed her well-defined body to Vermos who continued to lie in the bed. She then got on top of him and began moving her blood-swollen body on top of his, which caused her pleasure she had never before experienced.

Vermos smiled as she felt a release of the energy built up within her. Elizabeth rolled over next to him and they passed out together from exhaustion, the blood beginning to circulate in a normal fashion within their bodies once again.

Elizabeth woke in Vermos' bed the next morning. He was lying beside her with his back turned. Vermos felt her motion on the bed and woke quickly, turning to her. He said nothing and only looked into Elizabeth's eyes for a moment.

"I can tell by the way you're looking at me," said Vermos,"you're unsure whether this is reality or not."

Elizabeth looked back at Vermos and her eyes drew downward, she saw he was no longer wearing his tight, transparent apparel but had on the same normal clothing he wore when they entered his quarters.

"I think this is reality," Elizabeth said.

Vermos smiled."You see, my point has been proven. I also think this is reality but neither of us know—no matter how much we think we do."

Elizabeth felt uneasy and when Vermos offered to take her back to the Almayer, she refused, saying she would go alone.

Back on the Almayer, Brian waited for Elizabeth to return, finally feeling what Whaton felt. He understood the feeling of longing for a woman that he had not experienced on Euchenor. It was as if an ancient feeling that he always felt but never realized was welling up within him. His desire for Elizabeth had increased exponentially and he did not know what to do with it. Brian knew this longing for flesh had always been with him but it had increased since arriving on this new planet and it was only now that it had reached critical mass.

Just then Elizabeth entered the bay where Brian stood. Brian saw her and she looked down.

"So apparently you took an interest in this movie after all," said Brian.

Upon seeing Elizabeth, he could think of nothing but the feeling welling all over his body. It began in his midsection and traveled up through his arms into his head. There's no way it was a standing effect. This had to be something purely Brian's, a thing that brewed in his brain alone, a sort of aberration.

Elizabeth said nothing in reply to Brian's question. She walked past him through the bay on the way to her quarters. Brian followed.

"You know it's funny," said Brian,"we don't even know how far away we really are from Euchenor, having traveled through a synthetic black hole, and I am only one of four people on the ship but you still don't pay attention to me."

Elizabeth continued to walk as Brian spoke behind her. She said nothing in reply. Brian watched her walk. Her long legs beckoned something incredible above, at their intersection. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to be with her in ways he couldn't comprehend.

"What is it you see in him that I don't have? Why is it that when he shows up everyone's interested in what he's doing? No one cares about what's happening on this planet any longer, it's all about him."

Elizabeth turned to respond to Brian.

"It's always only been about one thing," said Elizabeth."All this exploration of different parts of the universe is about one thing. It has nothing to do with intellectual pursuit. It's about conquering one another."

Brian stopped approaching Elizabeth seeing the intense tiredness in her eyes. She looked as if she had aged rapidly by going on Vermos' ship.

"The people on Antiope, the people we're supposedly studying here, they're the same as us. Nothing has changed. That's why the Entropy Paradigm works—everything in the universe works the same and two same things can't exist at once. That's the ultimate rule. I wouldn't be surprised if we go digging in the desert and end up finding ourselves beneath the sand."

Elizabeth said nothing else as she entered her quarters, the door closing behind her.

Brian wanted nothing more than Elizabeth. He did not like Vermos but his logical brain told him he must become like Vermos in order to have Elizabeth. The next morning, when Ioma went out to the SeekerM79 site to continue her academic pursuits, Brian declined. Instead he stayed with Whaton to attend a production meeting with Vermos later in the day.

Elizabeth was nowhere to be found.

# Chapter Seventeen

Vermos arrived on the Almayer to find Whaton and Brian on the deck of the ship. He carried a small, square device, which he used to project the storyboards for the movie. The square shot a beam up on the ceiling projecting raw figures of the opening scene of the movie. Crude figures depicted life's hardship, which is what the people of Antiope had to endure before their savior came. Vermos explained that it was key to show the people back on Euchenor that the society did not rely on its technology and therefore was in search of something that they could not create. He described how it was going to be difficult for Euchenorians to understand a society that did not have a God Generation they looked toward through Deep Think.

"You can't assume your audience will understand," said Vermos."We have to realize that Euchenorians have been brainwashed into thinking The God Generation will save them. People seeing this film will come into it with that same expectation for the society on Antiope. This first scene will show the viewer that what they are seeing is a people that may look like them but are in no way like them, as far as what they believe and how they live."

"Speaking of the Antiopians looking like the Euchenorians," said Whaton,"do you have any actors in mind for this film?"

Vermos smiled."There's no shortage of actors. I don't think it will be a problem to find willing participants. I have been thinking over who will be portraying the god character in this film."

Vermos continued,"I've already sent a message to Euchenor City to begin preliminary casting for the film. I'm expecting to have final selections come out for in person interviews here on Antiope. I want us to see how they look against the backdrop of the Antiopian desert."

Vermos pressed a button on his projection device and the next scene appeared on the ceiling.

"This is the production schedule my assistant made up," said Vermos."Soon Antiope will be alive with creativity."

Mock-ups of elaborate sets, costumes and character lists were displayed on the ceiling. One character with the name"Eli" was bolded and flashed as Vermos advanced the presentation.

"Yes, Eli..." said Vermos."This is a character not in the original text you and your team dug up here, Whaton. He's someone that I've inserted into text to act, symbolically of course, as the modern-day enlightened Euchenorian in this tale. He's a man that sees the world for what it is and neither depends on the being in the story to save him nor, symbolically again, on his God Generation. I see him as a minor but vital character."

Vermos paused for more than several seconds.

"I'd like for you to play Eli, Whaton." Vermos smiled fully.

Brian looked to Whaton as Whaton responded with great gratitude and astonishment. Brian had not seen such an expression on Whaton's face since the first time he witnessed him passionately looking at Ioma on their way to SeekerM79. The intense focus Whaton bestowed on Ioma that day was now fixed on Vermos and his movie.

At the dig site, Ioma was alone except for her digging machines, which were still hard at work. They uncovered less and less of interest every day, which gave Ioma more time to study her beloved stories.

As of late, she had become infatuated with the rules this ancient society laid out for itself. Much of this had been done through narrative. What was also odd about the central character of the book, the god-like figure, was that it was not this being that wrote the stories contained within the book, rather each chapter had a different author that gave varying perspectives on how one should act.

Ioma set the handheld projector she had brought with her to the dig site on the front of her landing craft and it shot in the air the last verse she had been reading before leaving the Almayer.

"The land is unforgiving. Like its creator, it does not have pity for those who disrespect it."

Ioma researched this line thinking she had seen something like it somewhere in her dissertation research back at the University of Euchenor. There she had encountered dead civilizations that held the physical land they lived on in such high regard that it could be said they worshipped it. The Antiopian culture, however, was the first she had encountered that believed something else had created the land for them.

"A man who lives for himself is dead."

The verse projected itself in green in front of Ioma's face. It was another she had pondered. It held similarities to Euchenorian belief. The modern Euchenorian knew that what he or she did while alive was only of importance if it helped future generations develop the technology to propagate themselves to a point where they could save every Euchenorian that had ever lived by bringing them back to life. Another difference Ioma had come to through her analysis was that Euchenorians and Antiopians were equally un-altruistic despite the Euchenorian mantra of"For the good of The God Generation" and the Antiopian one of"No man shall live for himself." Both of these led to the same place and that was one of ultimate personal attainment, the ultimate prize being eternal life, be it through the technology of The God Generation or the stories of the saving grace of a higher power. The hand of the Euchenorian Crest reached into the future toward The God Generation. The Antiopian text reached into the past.

The last verse faded and was replaced with a new one:"Destruction rides in on the wings of fame."

"Doctor Isvray." A voice barreled over the sound of a not-too-distant Substrate Combustor, which had moved dangerously close to where Ioma was. She had not noticed, lost in the tug of two competing narratives. She turned and saw Vermos and Whaton approaching her. In the background was a landing craft Ioma did not recognize as being from the Almayer.

"We became so excited discussing the plans for this planet," said Vermos."We felt we had to come look at the heart of the story itself!"

Vermos looked at Ioma as he spoke, making it unclear whether he felt she or the SeekerM79 site was what they had come to see.

Whaton smiled as Vermos spoke and then walked past him to address Ioma.

"It's really great what he has planned for all of this," said Whaton."This is going to bring an enormous amount of attention to what it is we are doing here and to the entire field of Alien Anthropology for that matter."

Ioma noticed an intensity to Whaton's beaming look that was somewhat familiar to her but this time he looked through her while he spoke. She had never considered Whaton to be as pure of an academic as she, but she also had never discounted his raw intelligence and ability. Now something had changed in him. A certain aloofness came with his posture.

Vermos approached the two academics before Ioma could express her concern over Whaton's apparent change in demeanor.

"Are you telling her your exciting news?" he asked as he caught up to the pair.

Both the academics turned and looked at Vermos. As they did he could not help but notice the juxtaposition of an adoring gaze from Whaton with a contemplative, damning gaze from Ioma's dark eyes.

Vermos grinned regardless."Whaton will be playing a very important character in the film—Eli!"

Whaton immediately began to explain."He's not someone from the actual text itself. He's more of a symbol of how a Euchenorian would react to being placed in a society like the one that existed on Antiope. Vermos thinks it will give the view—"

Ioma cut into Whaton mid-sentence."You haven't even studied the text and you've decided to turn it into a work of fiction?"

Whaton began to form a reply but Ioma did not let him as she continued on."This book is the chronicle of an entire race of people. A race of people that for whatever reason is no longer with us. It contains their most sacred beliefs—I think you might show it a modicum of respect."

Vermos inserted himself into the conversation."Respect? Doctor Isvray, we will be telling the Antiopian story to the known universe. How can we show them more respect than that?"

"You know what the sickest thing about this is?" asked Ioma, her projector still spewing out lines from the Antiopian text. The device had moved ahead several lines and now projected the text:"A devoted life is a purposeful life."

Ioma continued.

"The worst part about all of this is that Lyell is OK with it. The chair of the Department of the Alien Anthropology on Euchenor is fine with this thoughtless and unscrupulous exploitation of a text that holds great academic research potential."

Surprising Ioma, Whaton and Vermos backed off at this comment. Neither said anything but Ioma could tell immediately from Whaton's look of sympathy what both were thinking.

"You feel sorry for me, is that it?" she asked."You don't believe in Alien Anthropology as an academic field and that's why you couldn't care less if it becomes a sideshow. You're not even worthy of the degrees you hold!"

Whaton struck back at that."You're right, I'm not. I'm more than some stupid degree that I sat in a classroom to get. If you can't recognize when change needs to happen then I feel sorry for you. If you don't see that there is so much potential here now because of Vermos... and so little potential here"—Whaton pointed to the active dig site around them—"then I do feel sorry for you."

Ioma switched off the document projector with a quick flick of her wrist.

"I want no part in this," she said with her back turned as she started her land craft, destined to return to her quarters on the Almayer and spend more time with the inanimate object she felt closest to so far away from home, the Antiopian text.

Once back on the Almayer, Ioma removed her mission suit and made her way back to her quarters. Elizabeth heard the commotion of her entering the docking bay below and was relieved once she saw that it was Ioma.

Elizabeth watched as Ioma slipped off her yellow mission suit, only wearing her underwear beneath. Ioma then reached into the passenger seat to take her handheld projector that was turned on, sending green sentences above it that she watched, seemingly more interested in them than in putting her clothes back on. Elizabeth stood at the entranceway to the bay that led to the main deck of the ship. She watched as Ioma read from the projector as she walked. Her lips moved with each word as she spoke them softly to herself. Still only in her underwear, carrying the projector in one hand and her clothes in the other, Ioma made her way toward Elizabeth, guided by the green light of the text.

Ioma continued to mouth words from the Antiopian text as she walked."Those who have sinned can only be redeemed through belief."

"Doctor Isvray," said Elizabeth, alerting Ioma to her presence before the two collided.

Ioma looked up to see a startled Elizabeth and then down at her unclothed self with embarrassment.

"I..." Ioma trailed off, unable to come up with an excuse for her behavior.

"I understand." said Elizabeth,"You don't get a doctorate in Alien Anthropology without being a little obsessive."

Ioma smiled. Elizabeth walked back up to the ship's main bay, leaving Ioma to her text and to put on her clothes. Elizabeth turned back twice, however, when Ioma was not looking to watch her as she set down her projector and bent over, still only in her underwear. The second time was an instant too long and Ioma caught her in a head on stare.

Back in her quarters, Ioma found reading the only way to remove her thoughts from what had occurred at the dig site. She read about the prediction the text gave for the destruction of the society on Antiope and an event that would separate those who had followed the text and those who had not. She had also become fascinated with the text's outright sexual nature. One scene in particular struck close to home. It involved a woman being damned due to having relations with a man she was not wed to. This story served as a reminder for Ioma of what she and Whaton had done in the simulator room. It seemed like so long ago, but reading this brought up a tremendous feeling of guilt within her. She stopped reading for a moment and her mind returned to the present. What if this text was actually a work of non-fiction and explained the fall of the Antiopian culture? As Vermos had shown, having faith in something like the stories she had been reading was no different than having faith in The God Generation of Euchenor. Ioma's heart rate increased and she forced herself to turn off the projector and laid down in bed.

This bed had been tainted, she thought. Her life had been tainted and it could never be put back the way it was—things could never go back to normal. That was why this Antiopian text appealed to her so. It provided her with a way out, a salvation that was elegantly offered up—all one had to do was believe and they would be saved. Ioma's guilt drove her to look for a remedy and she had found one in that moment, on that day, on a planet so far away it was impossible to tell how long it would take to return home at this instant should one have the sudden desire.

Ioma shifted off her bed and onto the metallic floor of her quarters. On her knees she folded her hands and bowed her head. Her lips moved as she silently recited ancient words out into the universe. 

# Chapter Eighteen

Whaton felt glad to escape from the noise of the Substrate Combustors as he left the dig site. The intensity of the machines had increased as they continued to dig deeper in order to uncover more of the dead society on Antiope. He wouldn't admit it but he hated the noise of Alien Anthropology. When Whaton was in school, the world was so much quieter and pristine. After doing his first round of post-graduate work, he considered many Euchenorian professions—government, teaching, business. The elders encouraged all of these. A career in the arts, however, was not seen as something that would benefit the Euchenorian race, and, of course, because of this, the future generations of Euchenor would not look favorably upon him for it. All of the education and knowledge he had acquired was not so he could sit on a dusty planet and monitor hulking machines as they dug in search of remnants of a society that was not strong enough to survive.

Whaton felt most at home in the quiet contemplation of the classroom. He had spent more than his fair share of time there and now he felt owed recognition for it. Vermos had become that recognition. This movie was what he was destined to do—it was clear to him. Alien Anthropology had been a wonderful field to enter when Whaton first began his doctorate but that all changed while he was in school. Lyell's Entropy Paradigm came into popular thought earlier but only recently had it been shown to be a paradigm that cohered with reality. This paradigm was the harbinger of death for Whaton's hopes of achieving his fame by finding life that existed outside of Euchenor. Now all he could hope to find was life that had existed—as he had found on Antiope.

Death never interested Whaton as it did Ioma. Whaton wanted a life like the ones he saw in the simulators. He wanted a life where the evenness of entropy did not apply to every aspect as it did on Euchenor—a place where standing out from the crowd was seen as something counterproductive to the race. The entropy paradigm not only applied to life in the universe but also life on Euchenor. Everyone kept their heads down and focused on the tasks in front of them. Their minds were transfixed on a future they would not live to see. Whaton often wondered as a younger man what he would do if he was part of the heralded God Generation of Euchenor. It was quite likely that bringing back long-dead individuals would be far from his mind. Whaton saw no end to entropy unless, of course, the movie Vermos planned to create really would be the hit that Vermos prophesized. Then perhaps what Whaton had experienced in the simulator could come true and he could experience exaltation; not through the work of some non-existent future generation but through his own work.

Later that night, Whaton woke up from a deep sleep when the Almayer's alarm went off signaling a black hole had opened within close proximity to the ship. Despite being Antiopian night, the main bay of the Almayer was lit up like day when Whaton arrived there to find all three of the other Almayer crewmembers already up and watching the black hole form through the main bay window. Slowly, a large, triangular ship slipped through. It was a passenger class ship but one obviously built for luxury with several windows on its sides in addition to a large one on the tip of the triangle. This was the first part to emerge through the hole. The giant piece of metal revealed itself fully through the black hole, which sealed up shut behind it leaving only empty space in its place. The ship lumbered slowly closer to Antiope, taking up more volume in the Almayer's bay window as the Antiopian sun began to rise.

"It's Vermos' production crew," said Whaton glancing over his shoulder to see that Ioma had left the room but Elizabeth and Brian remained."They got here quickly."

Whaton returned his view to the Almayer's bay window, spotting something in the corner of the screen—it was a message indicator. Vermos was trying to contact the Almayer from his ship. Whaton motioned to the screen to open the message and Vermos appeared on the full screen of the Almayer, replacing the looming triangle ship.

"It's Delk Zhight!" screamed Vermos.

Elizabeth and Brian came closer to the screen. Whaton said nothing in disbelief. Vermos merely watched them and grinned.

"He had been looking for an independent project to take on well outside of Euchenor and it just so happened that's exactly what we're doing here," said Vermos."Apparently he got into some trouble with the elders in Euchenor City over a physical altercation he got into—let's not mention it of course. He had been using the simulator a bit too much and was unable to tell simulated reality from... well, reality, and this caused him to do some things to real Euchenorians that he thought weren't real. You get the idea."

Vermos paused and no response came from the three remaining crewmembers of the Almayer, all still staring blankly into the screen in quasi belief that arguably the most famous person on Euchenor was coming to this strange planet.

"Delk Zhight!" Vermos reiterated with great emphases."Didn't I tell you I was good?"

# Chapter Nineteen

Vermos informed the Almayer's crew that Zhight was a method actor and would be boarding the ship in character. Since the Antiopian text never referred to the supernatural being as having a name, they should still refer to Delk as the working name for the character he would play, which for simplicity would be Delk.

Zhight was perhaps the most recognizable person on Euchenor, having been in thousands of movies as well as public service announcements put on by the Euchenorian administration. Despite this fame, when he boarded the ship, no one recognized him. His face had undergone some sort of surgical procedure, which induced swelling in his head and cheeks, making his trim body look extremely disproportionate to it. He also had a beard uncharacteristic of the celebrity persona he normally carried. Elizabeth, for one, did not believe it was really Delk Zhight. She remembered him from many of the public service announcements she heard while growing up. The announcements explained to her the importance of doing everything for the good of Euchenor so that The God Generation of Euchenor may look back fondly on you and yours. Delk wore a large, black jacket that covered his entire body all the way to his boots. He and Vermos entered the main bay of the Almayer. Vermos became reverent, saying nothing as the pair approached Elizabeth, Brian, and Whaton who had been waiting for him to arrive. Ioma was nowhere to be seen since the new ship entered the orbit of Antiope. Delk's facial features caught the light from the Almayer's luminescent ceiling and the glare from what looked like plastic in his lower cheeks prompted Whaton to look down so as not to stare when he finally addressed Delk.

"Welcome to the University of Euchenor's Almayer," said Whaton.

Delk said nothing in reply but continued to walk closer. As he came within inches of Whaton he stopped.

"Eli, why do you not believe in me?" The voice coming from the mangled face was unmistakably that of the famous Euchenorian actor Delk Zhight. Elizabeth and Brian each adjusted themselves in the way they were standing, trying not to give away their excitement at hearing this iconic voice thus confirming that indeed they were meeting the one and only Delk Zhight.

Whaton did not know how to respond to the question Delk asked. It took him a second to realize that it was a line of dialogue between Delk's character and his from the movie. Whaton glanced over at Vermos who returned him a facial expression of concerned encouragement. Whaton hadn't memorized all of Eli's lines or even read through a lot of them. All he knew about the character was that Eli represented modern Euchenorian progressive thought and therefore did not believe in Delk as being supernatural, nor did Eli believe in the sanctity of the generations to come. Eli was his own man, as Vermos had described him, saying that Whaton needed to embrace Eli's independence fully when taking on the role—this meant accepting that he would not be saved by Delk, or by his offspring. Eli's only savior was himself.

Whaton looked up from his consternation to gaze into the mangled face behind which hid one of the most recognizable individuals in the known universe.

"I believe in the power of no one person—but myself alone."

Vermos smiled widely and turned to Delk to hear his retort. Delk moved closer to Whaton, his shiny face glistening with plastic under the white lights of the Almayer's interior. He reached out and touched Whaton's shoulder.

"Then you shall suffer for all of eternity, my son."

Delk then turned from Whaton and began to walk back toward the exit of the bay. Vermos looked at Whaton and smiled while nodding his head in satisfied approval. He then followed Delk out of the bay room of the Almayer.

Vermos returned shortly after this encounter to inform Whaton that Delk was impressed with his performance. Whaton accepted the compliment fully, nodding his head in affirmation of his newfound ability to improvise. Vermos informed Whaton that a crew from Delk's ship had already been dispatched to the dig site to begin scouting for shoot locations. He also informed Whaton that Delk's personal assistant would be meeting with him soon to discuss potential temporary arrangements aboard the Almayer.

"You have to understand," said Vermos,"these types of productions require a large staff to pull off—you have wardrobe, craft services, special effects people, and the actors have to have their space. It's a real nightmare sometimes."

Whaton nodded."I understand but I may need to clear it with Lyell."

"Good!" Vermos said."I'll have Delk's assistant meet with you to discuss the details of what he'll need."

As Vermos exited the bay once again, Whaton followed him, leaving Elizabeth and Brian behind in silence.

Brian shrugged and began to follow Whaton.

"So Vermos," Elizabeth said. Vermos turned quickly, smiling."I guess the great Delk Zhight does break character if he told you how great of an actor Doctor Lewit is?"

Vermos' grin disappeared at Elizabeth's snide comment and he turned back around, offering no response.

Undit Tud introduced himself after politely pressing the call button outside of Whaton's quarters inside the Almayer. Undit described himself as the senior assistant to Delk Zhight. He would be overseeing the cast and crew of the yet unnamed film being shot on Antiope.

"I must say," Undit began,"I was extremely fortunate to have been selected for this position. The situation in Euchenor City has grown increasingly distracting to say the least."

Whaton motioned for Undit to have a seat beside his bed. Whaton turned the desk chair he sat in to face the small but well-built Euchenorian who wore his blond hair parted straight down the middle.

"What situation?" asked Whaton, realizing the state of Euchenor mattered little to him since he had been so far away from it for what felt like a long period of time.

"You've seen how some of the new up and comers in the Euchenorian leadership think quite differently than the established elders—specifically when it comes to how the future of Euchenor shall proceed?"

Whaton swayed back in his chair as he responded,"Yes, I'm aware of the changing political climate on the planet as a whole—the shift away from conservative futurism."

"That's right!" Said Undit."The lines have become much more defined since you left. There's a large majority of the population in Euchenor City, and probably on the entire planet and inner colonies, that simply have decided that putting faith in The God Generation is misplaced. It's led to a lot of other forms of belief; some have taken up the idea that their lives are simply a simulation—this often comes as the result of spending what most would call an unhealthy amount of time in a simulator. The remaining conservative futurists have labeled it as 'simulator sickness' in the Euchenorian media."

Undit's talk of Euchenor and its largest city brought forth topics Whaton had not considered since he left the planet.

"I was raised to be a conservative futurist," said Whaton as he thought back into his past,"but I never really practiced it as I grew older. I knew Vermos was certainly not pro-futurist but many eccentric types like him often seem to be that way."

"Indeed they are," said Undit,"which brings me to the second rather sensitive topic I wanted to discuss with you, Whaton. You're probably wondering why Delk Zhight chose to come to this remote location of the universe to do this film when he could have done any other film he wanted anywhere."

"The entire thing has been quite a surprise, yes," Whaton said."His appearance, his face I mean, certainly has raised questions in my mind..."

"There was an incident on Euchenor." Undit looked up at the red light above the door in Whaton's quarters, which indicated that the main computer might be listening.

"It's turned off, it hasn't asked about standing effects in the last few days. I guess it figured there was nothing of interest happening here." Whaton smiled.

Undit resumed his story."Zhight is perhaps the prototypical example of a person who has what I called 'simulator sickness'. He became very depressed in a sort of existential kind of way—you can imagine how a person who has everything but still finds themselves unhappy must feel? To cope with this malaise, Delk began to use his simulator for most of his waking hours. Delk's simulator is one that a common Euchenorian does not have access to, it's said to be so good there is literally no way to come back from the simulation until the program has shut down or timed out. It later came to be known through an investigation that Delk programmed his simulator in such a way that the first thing he did within the simulation was to end it—therefore even his rational mind was tricked into thinking he was no longer in a simulation. You see how this could be problematic?"

Whaton thought for a moment."So the first thing he did in his simulation was step out of the simulator?"

"Correct!" replied Undit."This led to him having no idea what was real and what was a simulation. This is a problem he still faces and one I have been tasked by his manager back on Euchenor to keep in check. But that's not why he's here; the incident I mentioned, as you've probably guessed, arose from Delk not knowing if a person was real or a simulation. No one is quite sure what Delk was doing in his simulations since they were largely created from his own mind, but one day he was found to be keeping several women, and men, locked in his bedroom. It was unclear whether or not they were there against their will but, nevertheless, it raised a lot of questions..."

Whaton nodded, not having any strong desire to know more. The idea of a simulation so powerful that one could no longer tell the difference between it and reality bothered him immensely. The simulator was a rather simple machine—Whaton knew this despite having little technical knowledge of the device. The simplicity of a simulator was that it put to work parts of the brain that were not always active. The Euchenorians who had developed the simulator technology had the simple idea that a machine need not be more complex than the brain. The only aspect that was needed was that the machine be able to unlock the brain's true potential—that's what the simulator did. It had also been thought that there would soon be a way for the simulation to continue without the brain, the thinking being that if one were to die, they could live on in a simulation. This idea was another that put forth evidence that Euchenor may already be a simulation in itself.

Undit continued his story as Whaton contemplated the philosophy of the Euchenorian simulator.

"The elders on Euchenor"—Undit relaxed deeper into his chair as he spoke—"are afraid of this change in the way of thought. They find it to be counterproductive and perhaps even a self-fulfilling prophecy..."

Whaton jumped in."Of course, if enough people on Euchenor no longer believe in The God Generation, they will stop working to build infrastructure to support that future generation..."

Undit nodded in silent, thoughtful reply.

"Well," said Whaton."Perhaps this makes it the perfect time to shoot our movie—a story about a belief system gone awry. Perhaps Euchenorians will relate to it even more so with the current events taking place on the home planet."

Again Undit nodded, at first saying nothing but then speaking up with one final sentiment."You may be correct, Whaton; however, you have been away from the home world for some time and I must say it has been changing rapidly. As I said, I was glad to leave but I also feel like once this film makes it back to Euchenor, it could bring a spotlight of attention to this now dark portion of the universe—attention that may not be what you have in mind."

Whaton nodded politely.

"I believe in Vermos' artistic vision and I think the people of Euchenor will see it as that—art."

Undit agreed."Yes, well, the full crew is preparing to set down on Antiope tomorrow and you will quickly see how Vermos' vision will take shape. We have a top notch crew and, once shooting begins, it will proceed like a most-efficient machine."

"I better learn my lines then," replied Whaton with a smile.

Undit got up from his chair, leaving Whaton to the solitude of his quarters and the thoughts of a future wherein his name would be known back on the home planet. 

# IV. The Black Cloud Ship
# Chapter Twenty

The next day Whaton awoke to an alert from the Almayer telling him a new ship had set down within close proximity to the planet. The red light above his door turned on when this announcement was given and Whaton thought for a moment that he was going to once again be interrogated for standing effects of the planet he now felt he knew as well as the one he called home. Perhaps the controllers back at the university were no longer interested in the mission. The interviews had stopped before the plan to make the film had been set into motion. It was possible the university had stopped caring about the mission before the movie started. Whaton left his quarters and peered out the main viewing window of the Almayer. Outside was the ship Delk had arrived in set down on the orange Antiopian terrain. The dust had already sprayed up onto its hull giving the ship the look of an artifact that had been on the planet for some time. Whaton felt it was fitting really that the university was no longer checking in on the crew of the Almayer—the mission had clearly changed from one of academic inquiry to something else entirely. Whaton watched as several small motorized vehicles descended from the triangular ship's hull and departed for the dig site.

Entranced by the scene in front of him that resembled an army beginning to breach the planet of Antiope, Whaton did not notice the silence of the Almayer behind him. He turned to his left and then to his right in confirmation of having no one to share this moment with. Ioma would more than likely have been disgusted by the scene as it surely spelled further interference with the academic mission the crew came to Antiope to complete. Whaton continued watching as larger vehicles exited Vermos' ship and headed off into the distance toward SeekerM79. The vehicles ran on three wheels and had glass domes over the occupants that were completely blacked out so no one could see inside them. A great excitement welled up in Whaton's stomach as he watched the scene in front of him.

He returned to his quarters, eager to study the script Vermos said he would send to him earlier in the day. He checked his messages in his University of Euchenor message forum, something that he realized he had not done in some time. Glancing at the unread messages, they appeared to be of little interest. Whaton searched for the one Vermos had sent but did not find it. Perhaps Vermos had forgotten. Bored, Whaton clicked on his sent items. In this part of the forum he could view messages and conversations he had had with students, colleagues, and friends over the time he had spent at the university. He opened one and saw that it was a conversation he had had with a colleague at another university. They planned to co-author a paper together but never did. Reading back over the messages, Whaton saw a stark contrast between his tone and his colleague's, who seemed very enthusiastic about the paper. However, he saw that he clearly had not shared this enthusiasm, not responding for long periods of time and pushing off research tasks on to the other academics. In the final message, one Whaton had forgotten he'd sent, he responded to the fellow professor rather curtly when he had been asked about a research methods section Whaton was responsible for. Whaton had replied simply,"Who cares?"

For the first time since Elizabeth had arrived on Antiope, the loneliness of sitting in her quarters on the quiet ship became overtly apparent. The two academics Elizabeth hoped would be her mentors turned out to be more of a pair of quarrelling co-workers, each with eyes only for their personal goals. Whaton's infatuation with Vermos made her sick and Ioma was too distant to care about what was happening aboard the Almayer. Ioma would care enough, thought Elizabeth, when the hordes of movie staffers descended on her dig and turned it into a media trivialization of a real story that had yet to be told. At least Vermos had come with purpose that Elizabeth could understand. To Elizabeth, what Vermos and she had done was not an abomination but rather fitting for the situation on the planet. Elizabeth felt attracted to Vermos while knowing in some odd way she did not matter to him. The experience they'd shared was Elizabeth's first of the sort and this held significance for her. She made her way to the base of the Almayer and began to ready a ground vehicle to follow in the growing line of all-terrain vehicles departing from Vermos' ship to the dig site.

At the dig site, soon to be referred to as the set, SeekerM79 remained at the center of the growing action. The lonely probe that uncovered a dead civilization on Antiope now had a front row seat for its reawakening. Hulking, box-like ground transport vehicles approached the site and formed a back lot behind the probe. In one vehicle sat the director, Vermos, who explained to a small crew of key individuals that the movie would be shot just off the dig site in a set already being constructed. Vermos considered it crucial that every member of the crew visit the remains of the Antiopian society in order to understand what motivated these people. He specifically informed everyone, including Delk's agent who was present, that all needed to be present at the Antiopian place of worship where he would lead a mock service before the shooting began.

Whaton meandered among the film crew on his way to the dig site. He was unsure which of the strange creatures were staffers and which were actors. Vermos had confided in him that nearly the entire budget had been spent on getting Zhight on board. This resulted in having to scrape the bottom of the barrel of Euchenor City to put together a supporting cast. Delk's recent notoriety would be enough to propel the film to popularity across the universe. Once shot, it was to be sent back to Euchenor via a black cloud ship that arrived earlier that day. Whaton had seen the strange vessel hovering just above the Antiopian atmosphere. Its oblong shape formed a static dark spot on the sky during the brightness of the day and vanished at night.

This was the first time Whaton had seen a black cloud first hand. At the university, he had been friendly with several graduate level physics students who told him that, as far as they were concerned, what the ship accomplished was simply not possible. The idea of the black cloud was that anything that entered it could be accessed remotely from any other black cloud ship—no matter where it was located in the universe. This was similar to synthetic black hole travel; however, it was much more reliable, as well as much less natural. Black holes simply transported matter. The black cloud, however, brought an entire other aspect to space travel—it required none. If a person or information entered the ship, they went nowhere, yet they could be"accessed" from any location. The dilemma came about when a person was accessed remotely without the person's knowledge or consent. There had been stories of criminals hacking into black cloud ships to access the occupants. Once this had been done, a person could be held hostage, used to commit crimes, or killed.

Whaton stared up at the black cloud ship for too long and his eyes began to ache from the light of the Antiopian day. Vermos had called it here so he could upload the film immediately once it was produced. He wanted to capitalize on the controversy surrounding Delk and could waste no time having it sent piecemeal through tiny synthetic black holes to be reconstructed on Euchenor. Whaton continued on to the dig site where the ragtag crew was assembling. Several of the male crewmembers glanced at him in his mission suit that displayed the University of Euchenor's crest.

Whaton saw they had tile-laying equipment in their belts. One of the taller ones held a long adjusting rod that was used to plant display tiles on the ground of the set. Display tiles recorded any actions or dialogue the actors did while standing on them. The tiles could also insert holographic images into a scene such as plants, animals, or pre-programmed actors. All of this allowed for minimal set construction and quick production times. Whaton followed the group of tile layers deeper into the dig site where some tiles had already been laid in preparation for the upcoming shoot. Whaton accidentally stepped on one them activating a programmed hologram of a large lizard to appear inches from his face. The lizard's tongue spat out from its mouth with three forks that waved up and down as it hissed at him. Whaton pulled back for a moment in fear before recognizing it as a hologram and passing through the illusion. He looked in front of him to see the tile layers had turned around and were smirking at him.

Whaton felt his face turn red and swell with embarrassment.

"There are no lizards in the Antiopian desert!" Whaton declared.

The three tile layers looked back nonchalantly. The tall one smiled and lifted his adjusting rod in the air as he responded.

"There are now, university boy!"

Whaton's embarrassment quickly transformed into anger at the lowly film industry workers who insulted him. He let the feeling sink into his gut where it once again transformed, this time into guilt. Whaton knew he was no better than these workers who had come through the same synthetic black hole he had. He was just as lost and just as far away from home as they were. In fact, Whaton was even more lost than them. He had arrived for the purpose of pursuing academic knowledge through exhaustive, scrupulous research. Now he was making a film about something he knew nothing about and with people he had only just met. Among the small groups congregated at the center of the dig site, Whaton found none of the original four who arrived on the Almayer. It was hard for Whaton to remember what they looked like. Even Ioma's face and body seemed to rest somewhere distant from reality, like an excerpt from a novel Whaton had read but left unfinished.

Whaton's thoughts drifted further from reality as he contemplated the fate of the film workers. Their fate was no different than his. All of the technological advancements that had been made on Euchenor still left all Euchenorians with the same ultimate fate. Even those who tried to avoid death by traveling through black holes found themselves in a losing battle with Lyell's Entropy Paradigm. The knowledge of this fate was one area that still remained largely unstudied in the halls of the University of Euchenor. Euchenorians thought of themselves as a race devoted to the greater good. Despite this, avoiding this personal ultimate fate often became a priority for many, especially those of prominence. This was yet another contradiction between the newer generation of Euchenorians and the older generation. Being in the middle of the two, Whaton considered himself a keen observer of the divide between those who still believed in the greater good of Euchenor and those who did not. He also observed the hypocrisy of those who, when young, declared the joy they felt in living for the greater good of the Euchenorian society yet when they neared their ultimate demise forgot about their once so closely held ideals and began to make efforts to extend their lives at all costs.

The first group who attempted life extension through black hole travel was a group of elder Euchenorians who fled from their pious ways when their deaths became imminent. Other less extreme elders and successful Euchenorians had taken to extending their consciousness by uploading their brains to a computer. This"upload" as it was called was a fairly cheap and common practice now on Euchenor and it did offer a way for Euchenorians to save the knowledge they had collected in a lifetime but it did not in any sense grant them further life. The next iteration of this upload was the black cloud ship. The ship, however, had not been fully tested for life extension purposes despite rumors of such capabilities existing.

Once again, Whaton looked up at the black disc that was the black cloud ship hovering silently, motionless far above him—barely in the atmosphere of Antiope. Whaton glanced back at the crew of tile layers. They had forgotten about Whaton and now laughed over the image of a large snake projected above a tile. One of the tile adjusters stuck a long rod into the base of the tile and twisted it, causing the snake to stand straight up and hiss at the other three tile layers. All four of the workers laughed at the slithering reptile. Whaton watched them and then looked back to the black cloud ship as the mindless laughter ensued.

Lost in the juxtaposition of the Antiopian sun and the ship, Whaton barely noticed the laughter and other noises emanating from the crowd around him go suddenly completely silent.

"He is here!" the tile worker controlling the large snake exclaimed as he twisted the rod again to make the reptile disappear.

Whaton turned to see none other than Delk Zhight approaching from a small ground transport that had stopped near the congregation of workers, actors, and other crew. Whaton felt his blood pressure tick up as Delk approached him. Delk walked alone having apparently left his entourage elsewhere. Something seemed off about Delk—even more so than when Whaton had first encountered the famous Euchenorian aboard the Almayer. His heavily doctored face remained unrecognizable as the planet-wide celebrity Whaton had grown up with but the voice still came through as the legend himself.

"Eli!" Delk coughed out Whaton's character's name as he waddled closer, nearly limping."Eli, I have something for you."

Delk's advance slowed and he stopped within arm's reach of Whaton. The smell of the man hit Whaton in waves, the first of which came seconds after Delk stopped walking. Whaton recognized the odor as dried perspiration. Delk wore the same long, black robe he had on when he first arrived on the Almayer. From it he removed a small holographic device. He held the small, disc-shaped machine up to Whaton at eye level.

"You need to see the truth, Eli. It's the only thing that can save you and only I can show it to you."

Whaton recognized the type of holographic device immediately as being black market. Such devices were often used to portray forbidden images as well as images that were known to induce altered states. The former were often used as entertainment for those Euchenorians who dared look at what the device showed them. In his days at the university, Whaton had seen such a device in social settings but never had the courage to look at one for fear of what it might do to him. Whaton had discussed the use of such devices with friends and colleagues who used them and they had little to say about them, other than that it was impossible to describe what they saw, how it made them feel, and the lasting effects using such a device had. Tales of their use ran the gamut—some users became highly introspective and enlightened due to the experience while others saw their inner demons face-to-face and suffered irreversible emotional damage.

"Look, Eli!" Delk's tone had taken on the classic dramatic tone Whaton knew so well from some of Euchenor's classic cinema. The holographic projector remained motionless as Delk stretched out his fingers to present the device to Whaton. The blackness of the disc paired against Delk's pale hand resembled the darkness of the black cloud ship hovering above them in the light midday sky of Antiope.

Nothing happened. The disc remained flat. But as Whaton devoted his full attention to it, an image appeared above its center. First, a simple planet was portrayed in a tight oval orbit. Whaton did not recognize the circular, black planet as one of any significance in the universe. The planet quickly doubled in size then doubled again and again. Upon the second exponential expansion of the planet Whaton jumped back but was too slow and became engulfed by the blackness. He opened his eyes and then once again opened them, unsure if he really succeeded in his first effort. Only black registered in his cerebral cortex. Whaton's mind put his body into a defensive mental state, quickening his pulse and slowing the blood flow to extremities. He moved forward slowly, putting his hand up to his face and feeling the touch of his skin, which had gone cold. The ground beneath was no longer the sand of Antiope but smooth and flat with a cold that could be felt emanating up from it. This place was synthetic. Whaton was certain he was neither on Antiope nor Euchenor. In the dark, he could feel nothing solid on either side of him, in front or behind him. As he moved his hand in the air to feel anything that may be present around him, cold seeped into his body. He put his arms down at his sides then wrapped both around his chest trying to stay warm.

Whaton kneeled down, putting himself in the fetal position while staying upright via the tips of his toes. The cold was more intense closer to the smooth floor. Whaton's toes became atrophied and he put his palm down onto the coldness to help stabilize himself. As his palm expanded onto the smooth floor, he felt the vibration emanating from it. The space Whaton occupied immediately became warm and his body was instantly relieved of the stiff achiness the cold brought on. The vibration Whaton felt was not a typical vibration of ship or a machine one might find at an Alien Anthropologist dig site; the vibration occurred solely in his brain. The cold he had felt was a tool used to force him to make physical contact with this place and now it was communicating with him. Whaton understood immediately that this was a technology not dreamed of on Euchenor. His brain had essentially been uploaded with all of the information this society had collected. He could understand it only as information having no context for its use. He saw that this race was far more advanced than that of Euchenor. The Entropy Paradigm was short sighted and reductionist in its thinking. The ego his people must maintain to think they were the only ones in the universe had been shown to him. Whaton had never been so certain of anything.

As quickly as it had come, the blackness around him faded. First his vision was a gray fuzziness, and then the orange of the Antiopian sand began to overtake the gray and black pixels until they outnumbered them and the desert came back as the background to Whaton's existence. The palm through which he had felt the vibrations of what he believed to be a superior alien race now rested in the sand below him. Delk was no longer in front of him as he had been but rather had gathered along with all the others not too far ahead of him. The group was listening as Vermos stood on top of a mound of removed Antiopian substrate and addressed the crowd. Whaton could only see Vermos' eccentric gestures; he could not make out the words being spoken. Whaton pulled himself up and out of the sand. He rubbed his head expecting to have some sort of a terrible hangover from his deviant behavior. He felt nothing except knowledge. 

# Chapter Twenty-One

"This movie will be shot quickly and you all will be known throughout the universe once it is finished," Vermos shouted from atop the Antiopian mound of orange sand."Today we celebrate, for tomorrow we begin work on the film that will enlighten a new generation of Euchenorians! No longer will they recite their epitaph:

###### My actions are not mine alone,

###### I rely on the actions of my progeny

###### And my children on theirs.

###### My actions are not mine alone."

Vermos' grin widened as he spoke the last verse for the second and final time and continued his speech.

"This film will speak to a generation of Euchenorians tired of not living their own lives but living others' lives. When born, we were all told the best thing a Euchenorian can do is something that benefits the race in the hopes that these actions will allow for future generations of Euchenorians to look favorably upon those who lived before them and perhaps bring them back—the faith in a non-existent God Generation."

Vermos paused to let this point sink in before he began again.

"Let me ask you this then, my friends: living a life in the hopes that a future generation of Euchenorians who may never even exist will somehow decide to turn around and use the technology they develop to bring us all back into existence—how is that any different than living for one's self right here and right now? I argue, my friends, that it is not different. And this is precisely what our film is going to explain—more elegantly than it has ever been explained through the unique storytelling of the past inhabitants of this planet."

Vermos reached down to his feet and picked up a handful of Antiopian sand. He let it fall through his fingertips as he concluded his speech.

"Let's begin tonight living not how we have been taught to live on Euchenor but rather as people may have lived on Antiope where they did not need the power of The God Generation to save them because they had this man!"

Vermos pointed to Delk in the crowd who looked up, surprised. He quickly composed himself and acknowledged the crowd.

"I've spoken too long, friends. Tonight is not about me, it's about each of us individually. Delk has been kind enough to share some of the entertainment he brought with him from Euchenor City. I think you all will find them quite pleasurable."

Vermos motioned toward the ground transport Delk had arrived to the dig site in. The vehicle's side door opened and three tall Euchenorian women stepped out, first with their legs—all six of which looked identical as they came out of the door of the vehicle. The six legs turned into thin torsos and then into three identical women—all equally beautiful.

_Genetically engineered,_ thought Whaton as he watched the spectacle of the three women walk through the captivated crowd who had gathered to hear Vermos' speech. Even the females in the crew were entranced by the perfection of these three creatures. Their jaws were perfectly square and their hair became darker and lighter as they moved through spaces with different tones of light. Whaton had seen genetically engineered Euchenorians before but never like this and never three of them. Genetic engineering was still something only the elite of Euchenor could afford. As with other such luxuries, partaking in it also brought with it the stigma of being a person not devoted to the future generations of the planet.

Vermos was the first to engage the trio of women. He jumped down from the mound of sand and addressed them.

"Most perfect ladies of Euchenor City, welcome to Antiope! All of us here are involved in a grand endeavor, and make no mistake, your contribution is vital to its success."

Vermos smiled in his most devious manner yet.

"Who will be first? Bear in mind that these three only operate as a group. They do _nothing_ without one another."

He looked throughout the crowd. No one responded. The idea of having animal relations was enough to scare even the boldest of the crew and fellow actors. To add in the thought of being with all three of these women shot fear into the heart of Whaton as he imagined such a desirable yet terrifying act.

"Will I have to be the first?" Vermos exclaimed."I understand many of you do not feel privileged enough to join in the pleasures of Euchenor City's elite. Rest assured, the rules on Antiope are ours to make."

Vermos paused, again surveying the silent crowd.

"Will someone join me then?" He stepped toward the ground transport motioning for the women to follow.

Anxiousness welled up in Whaton. He knew what Vermos was going to say.

"Doctor Lewit, surely someone of your stature and mental prowess must understand that having the opportunity to partake in these pleasures in one's own lifetime should be cherished."

Whaton's adrenaline flowed as the scene went silent. Every member of the crowd watched him for an indication of what his response to such an offer might be. Whaton froze and returned the crowd's glare defiantly. Ioma was the first person that came to his mind—the night with her on the Almayer, the broken simulator, what they had shared. Whaton had not seen Ioma in days and the event with her felt as if it occurred in a different time to a person other than himself. He hesitated for Ioma. Maybe there was something special between them.

Whaton looked up from his thoughts to the crowd. He saw the tall tile worker with the adjustment rod slung over his left shoulder looking directly at him. As their eyes met, a small smirk was born on the left side of the tile worker's palette. The look told Whaton everything he needed to know. He charged forward with a confident walk into the ground transport vehicle. 

# Chapter Twenty-Two

"This man will save me." Whaton read the line hovering in front of him, projected from the tile he stood on. The set around him was the ancient Antiope City on the planet Antiope. Whaton stood in front of a crowd of on looking extras. Behind him was the projection of the place of worship where the Antiopian text had been found.

"This man is old. This man is wise." Whaton continued reading as he pointed to another actor portraying an Antiopian elder. The actor's costume was projected on him from the tile below. The costume consisted of a large, white robe and the gray skin and frail white hair of a dying old man. He coughed on cue as Delk passionately delivered the next line.

"Eli, how can this man save you? He is old and decrepit. His time has passed him. This is your time, Eli."

Delk took Whaton's right hand as he spoke his last line. Whaton could feel Delk's inner tremors vibrating throughout his body, which Delk otherwise had been able to convincingly morph into the appearance of someone who was not suffering from the effects of long-term simulator abuse. Delk looked confident in his portrayal of the Antiopian being—a stark contrast to the hunched over figure that had shown Whaton the illicit holograph days ago.

"This is your time, Eli." Delk repeated the line for emphasis and then silence ensued. A dozen tile layers held their long rods that connected to the tiles below the set. They adjusted the scenery and the movements of Whaton and Delk's costumes as the pair walked through the set. Others on set included the three genetically perfect Euchenorian women Delk had brought, a smattering of Delk's entourage, Vermos, and his production crew, and extras.

"OK." Vermos looked around as if to see if anyone else was going to say something."Let's stop there."

On the stop cue, two of Vermos' production assistants darted onto the set and gave Vermos and Whaton mugs filled with a special cider Delk had to have during every scene. He insisted Whaton partake in the ritual as well. The three genetics also approached Delk and Whaton. They said nothing, only using their eyes to communicate their longing for the two actors. Whaton smiled and reached out for one of the three. He tried to wrap her in the robe he wore forgetting it was merely a projection. The woman passed right through it.

Vermos joined Delk and Whaton on set. He wore a conservative director's outfit that was made up of a single piece of black cloth with stitching up the center of his chest and down his back. He addressed Delk first.

"You give me hope for the future of Euchenor," Vermos said to Delk."You're powerful denunciation of Eli will surely serve as a wakeup call."

Vermos turned to Whaton.

"Whaton, Eli must be more Euchenorian. You must make it clear to the viewer what you represent. The people must see themselves in you."

Whaton glanced at the script he had been reading from, which was still projected in front of him, ensuring he had not missed any lines.

Recognizing that Whaton had not properly received his point, Vermos continued."Eli represents the modern Euchenorian; however, he is not a modern Euchenorian—you must not forget this. Remember, Whaton, this conversation you're having with Delk took place thousands of years ago in a society much less advanced than Euchenor."

Vermos paused and looked Whaton over to decide if he needed to continue his speech. He did.

"Take yourself out of the character for a moment; look at Eli as Doctor Lewit might if you two were standing right here, existing in the same time and place. Eli is a person who forgoes carnal pleasure, denies himself material comforts in the pursuit of a greater good that he thinks the elders of his society can bring him. But these elders are nothing more than that—old men who will die, just as Eli will. What would Doctor Whaton Lewit say to Eli?"

Whaton understood the parallel Vermos had presented to him and thought for a moment how he might best articulate to Vermos that he understood.

"I would tell Eli that, given the technological advancement of the society he lives in, forgoing personal attainment in the hopes that an elder in his society may somehow save him is foolish."

Vermos smiled."That's exactly correct."

Delk stepped forward to speak, one of the genetic women clutched to his side.

"What Vermos is trying to say so delicately is that you need to make Eli come off as a person who is capable of believing such a thing and living in such a manner. You need to make him a fool, an ideological fool, but a fool nonetheless."

Whaton nodded his understanding to an unconvinced Vermos.

"Maybe we should just do something with Eli's costume to make him look more the part," Vermos suggested.

"Lovely idea!" replied Delk who turned back to his ground transport as another of the Euchenorian women joined him."Fix it in post. It really goes quite well with what we are trying to explain to you, Whaton. Why struggle now with doing a scene over when you can enjoy the pleasure of three fine companions?"

Delk turned to Whaton to see if his point had been taken. Thinking it had not, Delk momentarily left the company of his genetic women and approached Vermos and Whaton once again.

"You may think of me as someone who is here only for wealth or to escape the petty problems of life in Euchenor City. When Vermos contacted me and told me the premise of the story he wants to tell, I agreed immediately—my compensation being left strictly up to the success or failure of the film. I signed on to do this project because I agree with Vermos' vision. You've seen the arrogance of the academe on Euchenor I'm sure. It pales in comparison to the arrogance of the Euchenor City elite. They see themselves as unremarkable and invincible all in one."

Delk paused and turned his focus, which had been on both Vermos and Whaton, to Whaton's eyes only.

"I take issue with both. I find thinking of one's self as unremarkable an injustice to the beauty of our Euchenorian form and our history of creativity and technological innovation. I find the invincibility sentiment brought on by the belief in one's future offspring equally disturbing."

Delk came closer to Whaton. The slouch Delk had displayed shed as he moved and his shoulders, which had been lopsided, came into alignment revealing a broad chest and straight back, making Delk now slightly taller than Whaton.

"I understand that by getting into my ground transport I am risking my life. Even a small crash could send a wayward shard of equipment into the soft tissue of my abdomen."

Delk straightened his right hand and moved it across Whaton's gut in a slicing motion to illustrate such an event.

"I would bleed too much before I could get to my ship's medical center," Delk concluded."That's the reality of being here and it's the reality of being alive. It's a lesson so simple that few truly understand what to do with it."

With that Delk turned and left for his transport with his women.

# Chapter Twenty-Three

Two Antiopian days later, the filming was all but concluded. Whaton had only recited a few other lines, often not even in costume, being told that the look and feel of the scene could be added after the fact. Despite the endeavor drawing to an end, the influx of crew did not falter. Preparations were already being made for a celebration to signify the end of the shoot on Antiope. The event was to be held on Delk's ship and Whaton heard rumors that Delk had arranged for more of his genetic women to be brought in via the black cloud ship, which still hovered silently above the planet.

Whaton had not returned to the Almayer since the shooting began. Delk had offered him a room aboard one of his ground transports that remained on scene during the short filming and Whaton quickly accepted. Delk explained that he always stayed on set during his films, saying,"If one breaks from their character's location they also break from their character." Whaton had not put up a fight. He was with at least one of Delk's genetic women every night and had gained weight from the non-proportioned food Delk shared with him. Shooting now complete, Whaton rode with Delk back to his ship and then walked the short distance between there and where the Almayer remained, now covered in the Antiopian sand.

Whaton entered his ship and found only silence. The ship's main bay was empty. He navigated his way through the now foreign vessel to come upon his three lost fellow crewmembers in the loading bay with the ground transports. Ioma was bent over a large stone, wiping orange sand off of it with a brush. Her back was to Whaton as he approached and it was Elizabeth, standing behind the large rock also with a brush, who heard him coming.

"Doctor Lewit," Elizabeth said. Ioma turned to Whaton.

"Hello Whaton," Ioma said. Whaton replied with a hello and as he did he noticed the rock Elizabeth and Ioma were working on was one of many that had been loaded onto the ship in his absence. Some of the rocks had artifacts on top of them that had been excavated from the dig site.

"When did you get all of this?" he asked. Brian, hearing the commotion, appeared from the corner of the room. He held in his hand a projector device he had been reading.

"Someone had to continue the mission," said Ioma."It's not like the film you're shooting needed any actual anthropological evidence in it anyway. The script tells you what to say."

"Lyell approved this film," retorted Whaton."Don't act like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to be. And at what part of your doctorate were you taught to remove artifacts from an anthropologically significant dig site?"

Ioma ignored this question and returned to dusting the large, orange rock in front of her.

"I came here to invite everyone to the wrap party," Whaton announced in a more cheerful tone.

Brian perked up.

"The film is already done?" he asked. Whaton explained that there had been a compressed time frame for the shoot and all that was left was to send the film back to Euchenor City via Delk's black cloud ship.

"Delk told me to invite all of the crew of the Almayer as his personal guests," Whaton concluded. He then continued by addressing all three of his crewmates."I know this film is not what any of you thought would be happening when you came here but I think it is only polite to go to the event. Besides, Delk has done nothing to interfere with the work we originally set out to do—it can still be done."

Ioma stopped brushing her rock."But it doesn't matter what stories we find buried here on this planet. The only one that will matter will be the one you tell with your movie."

"At least someone will hear about this place," Brian chimed in."No matter how many anthropological journal articles we publish about our work here, only a handful of academics will ever glance at them."

Ioma brushed even more furiously but said nothing. Elizabeth still held her brush, observing the conversation and its intensity.

Whaton crossed his arms in non-verbal solidarity with what Brian had said. He then told his fellow crew members the party would take place that evening aboard Delk's ship and that the film would be simultaneously transmitted to Euchenor City via black cloud ship. Vermos had informed everyone that, given the time-space position of Antiope and Euchenor, they could have a response from the home planet very quickly, perhaps even immediately. The celebration on Delk's ship would be held in anxious anticipation of how the film was received.

Whaton left the crew of the Almayer in the belly of the ship and walked back to his quarters. His room remained as sparse as he had left it before the shoot. He changed into the one piece of formal attire he had with him on the ship, a white robe made of thin material and a black metallic belt. After connecting the belt in front of his waist, Whaton considered putting his mission suit back on under the thin robe but thought better of it, not wanting to show shame in displaying his animal form. 

# Chapter Twenty-Four

The wrap party began before the Antiopian sun went down. Delk had already announced that everyone on Antiope was invited; however, when Whaton arrived at the entrance to his ship, a large mass of lesser film crew and other staff was waiting at the entrance where one of Delk's assistants held a holographic list of names. Whaton made his way to the front of the crowd and pointed to his name, which floated slightly above his head. When he did, the name slid out of the list and disappeared into the air. Delk's assistant moved aside, glancing at Whaton's thin white robe as he entered the bottom of the ship.

Upon entering, Whaton felt the beat of a drum above his head. He followed the vibrations up and into the main bay, which was covered with transparent metal on all sides providing a panoramic view of the surrounding Antiopian terrain. Whaton saw the Almayer in the distance—the ship he had arrived on was nearly submerged in the planet's sand. The vessel was so faint in the distance; it looked like a mirage that could disappear if Whaton willed it to do so.

He felt a slap on his back and turned to see the tall tile layer he had followed to the gathering where Vermos spoke at the beginning of the shoot.

"I've been waiting for you to get here," the man said. He still wore the dirty uniform all the tile workers wore but someone had given him a heavy robe as well. He had the dark robe draped over himself loosely. Whaton looked him in his eyes and saw they were completely black. He was under the influence of some sort of a hologram, probably similar to the one Delk had days ago.

Whaton recoiled in fear. Is this what he had looked like days ago when he had his holograph-induced vision? The man wobbled from side to side and stared through Whaton into the Antiopian desert.

"I see what happened on this planet," the tile layer said."I can see it all perfectly right now."

He pointed to the orange desert."What happened here ain't what happens in our movie."

The man fell silent. Whaton looked beyond the tall man to a large group of people huddled together near the center of the bay. He saw Vermos and waved to him. Vermos acknowledged the welcome with a deep bow and smile. Glad to be recognized by someone other than the dregs, Whaton smiled and began to walk toward the group. As he passed the disturbed tile layer, the man provided one last thought.

"I thought that's why you were here—to tell us all what _really_ happened."

Whaton said nothing in reply, joining the group at the center of the bay where Vermos spoke loudly about how Delk was personally seeing to the transfer of the film to Euchenor via his black cloud ship.

"He also has informed me that, in return for the film, his associates in Euchenor City have agreed to send something along to Antiope—a few things actually."

Vermos smiled as he said this and the crowd around him cascaded with soft murmurs.

_More genetics,_ thought Whaton. Transferring them to Antiope through a black cloud ship was risky though. Whaton knew this. They would be simultaneously on Antiope and on Euchenor. Whaton remembered how his colleagues back at the university joked that what a black cloud ship did was scientifically impossible. Yet it still did it.

"He's here!" a crewmember in the group shouted. Whaton looked up to see Delk entering the main bay area from a platform above. Surrounding him were the most beautiful women Whaton had ever laid eyes on. Whaton couldn't remove his gaze from the first woman long enough to count them all. The women wore white robes that accentuated their curves. Like the others, their hair, skin, and eye color adapted to the light as they moved making them impossible to describe in static words.

"And he's brought one for all of us," Vermos shouted, raising his hands to the growing group surrounding him. The women approached quickly and Whaton noticed the initial drumbeat he encountered upon his entry into the party quickened with their approach. Whaton's pulse also sped up as one of the women stopped a half step in front of him. She said nothing. She only looked into Whaton's eyes. The woman was different than the original genetics Whaton had first encountered. Her features were nearly identical to the others but what they added up to was something out of place. She appeared softer, almost having an indescribable amorphous quality to her even as she stood directly in front of Whaton.

Having already learned that these types of genetics were not made to be talked to, Whaton reached out to touch the woman's face. He began by running his thumb down her cheek. The skin was exceptionally soft as Whaton had grown accustomed to. He remembered Ioma's being much coarser and hardened from years of rigor at the university. His thumb continued slowly down the cheek to the jaw. Whaton immediately realized something was off. He felt no bone. The outline of the jaw was strong and attractive; however, upon his touch he felt only malleable skin. He recoiled his thumb first and then his arm.

Looking around, Whaton saw that no one else seemed to be bothered by what surely was a flaw in these genetics or perhaps some effect of them arriving there through a black cloud—being in two places at once somehow had removed their skeletal frame. Delk was now seated on the floor with seven of the genetics around him, including his usual three. They had all disrobed and some who were not busy entertaining Delk touched each other playfully. A similar scene surrounded Vermos who was seated with a woman behind him massaging his head and another straddling him. A third appeared displeased as she tried to find a venue into the action. Surveying the room, Whaton's sole genetic was the only one still wearing her robe. Whaton reached forward and untied a thin belt resting at her waist. After doing this the woman took the last half step forward toward Whaton, the robe falling off behind her as she did.

It was at this perfect moment that Whaton found the crew of the Almayer. Brian, Elizabeth, and Ioma sat perched against the transparent metal of the ship's sidewall. The Antiopian sun rested low behind them, providing beams of light that blinded Whaton to their facial expressions—he was thankful for this.

# Chapter Twenty-Five

Once again, Antiope teemed with life. The exodus happened at a speed never before seen in the universe. Nothing had ever moved Euchenorians faster from their home planet than _Antiope_ , which had been the final name the producers on Euchenor City settled on for the film. After entering the black cloud ship that hovered above, the film was sent to every other black cloud ship in the universe and became an instant hit among the wealthy elite who owned black cloud ships. The film then trickled down to the masses nearly as fast as it had traveled through the black cloud—the rich endorsed it, so everyone saw it. The first ships that came through synthetic black holes and into Antiopian orbit were not these types of elite Euchenorians, however. The very first group of three ships were a different breed altogether. They came because they believed in what they had seen in _Antiope_. The film had been the tipping point for them. They rejected The God Generation, feeling the story told in _Antiope_ was an allegory of the fraud-laden belief system they had been taught. In an instant, _Antiope_ became the paradigm-shifting film of their time, and of all recorded Euchenorian time.

It wasn't long before every rising Antiopian sun saw a fresh black hole forming or dissipating with newly-arrived ships not far from it. From the time the first ship set down on the planet, the pair of Delk and Vermos became both welcoming party and co-directors of the new Antiopian Movement. Many of the settlers, however, had their own idea of why they had come.

The first who came referred to themselves as New Selfists. On Euchenor they had been labeled misanthropes for the way they lived and they hoped this would be different on Antiope. The New Selfists built an encampment using material from the three ships they arrived in, which, besides their ability to travel through synthetically made black holes, were antiques as far as modern Euchenorian space travel went. The New Selfists strived to be self-sufficient on the planet but quickly found that leaving the technological luxuries of Euchenor behind had come at a cost. The movie being complete, some of the crew left and sold many of the supplies and machines they had to the New Selfists. With a few Substrate Combustors and some soil fertilization equipment, the New Selfists were able to grow traditional food from the Antiopian soil as it became fertile. They used the combustors to blast out foundations for their structures and create subterranean dwellings that kept them from the cold of the Antiopian night. In the evenings and sometimes during the day, the drumbeat of a gathering could be heard emanating from their newfound city. It had been rumored that these drums were symbolic to the New Selfists of the Euchenorian heartbeat they each contained within them. The beat reminded them that their hearts were theirs to do with as they pleased but that they would not always be theirs, therefore they should do with them as they pleased right away. The underlying belief the New Selfists held was that to live anywhere but in the absolute present was a fool's errand. Each New Selfist's personal struggle was to live every moment as if it was their last. The stories of wild, fire-lit dances and other rituals became common talk among those who still remained among the film crew.

Not all who made the pilgrimage upon seeing the film were New Selfists. Some came to find a new belief system after having been swayed by the decreasingly popular opinion on Euchenor of The God Generation. To Delk and Vermos, these pilgrims were lost. Most of this group consisted of those who on Euchenor would have been considered substandard—not due to their class but because of their lack of contributions to the society and its future generations. Coming to Antiope was a way for them to escape this burden but, regardless, the aura around them remained like a foul scent and they found themselves setting up their own unique living area near the original dig site. The talk surrounding this more nebulous crowd covered more banal topics. It was said that they had begun to reconstruct some of the ancient Antiopian structures and were beginning to inhabit them as well as some of the remnants of the set the movie crew had left.

Delk and Vermos spent their time with the New Selfists. The genetics that had come through the black cloud did as well and the New Selfists folded them into their culture easily. The women slowly began to digress back into the black cloud and then to a place no one really knew. The amorphous form they arrived in became less Euchenorian as facial features and bodies folded out into even entropy. They still stood and walked like a Euchenorian but their entire presence adapted to the mean average of the environment they found themselves in. As they moved around the ramshackle camp of the New Selfists, others would approach them for hedonistic fun but when looking in their faces they would see themselves, as if the faces of the genetics were no longer there in full but becoming some sort of a reflection. The genetics eventually were no longer wanted. One night they walked into the desert and it was said they absorbed themselves back into the black cloud.

Ioma found herself back at the dig site often. She became enamored with what the _Antiope_ followers were doing at the site. To her, the recreation of the film happening at the ancient site was beautiful. The past, which she loved so much and had studied her entire life, was coming to life in front of her. Eventually she returned all of the artifacts she had on the Almayer to the dig site and would sit for long periods of time watching as the former Euchenorians built new Antiopian structures that closely resembled the ones buried beneath. Ioma even became an expert advisor of sorts to the group when they needed input on rituals and customs the Antiopian people may have partaken in.

Brian and Elizabeth kept the Almayer company most nights while Whaton and Ioma relegated themselves to their respective corners of the planet. The ship had once again began requesting standing effects interviews; however, Brian and Elizabeth ignored them, afraid of what the university might think of them being the only ones present on the ship. One evening, with boredom setting in, the two followed the drumbeat to the New Selfist camp.

Not having the ignition switches to any ground transports, Elizabeth and Brian followed the beat of the so-called New Selfists by foot until the camp appeared over the crest of an Antiopian sand dune. The camp was spread out with some sections having large, hard structures made with particle printers that were brought to the planet. On Euchenor, it was unheard of for a person to own their own particle printer but in the New Selfist camp the social hierarchy was based on who owned and controlled these devices. These were Euchenorians who practiced New-Selfism in an absolute literal interpretation by constantly creating the present they desired. The nicest of the printed buildings in the camp was a towering spiral that shot up into the night. At its base was a dome that glowed from the inside with life and sound. Needing no verbal consensus, the pair made a path directly to the spiral and found the drumbeat in their ears and the vibrations in their flesh growing as they did. The dome below the spiral contained several spiral doors that spun open silently when someone approached them. A group entering could be heard laughing as they approached the dome. Brian and Elizabeth followed them in.

Upon entering, the scene quickly turned from raw anticipation to somberness. The New Selfists that had entered before them stopped laughing and talking loudly and instead separated into lines formed around elevator tubes that transported people up into the spiral. Brian watched one person step into the tube beginning their ride upward via a gravity elevator while another came down. The one coming down screamed for joy upon stepping out of the gravity elevator and onto the main floor of the dome.

"Vermos promised me a Johna Vitol through the black cloud!" The group standing in front of the gravity elevator rumbled with chatter. Johna Vitol was a famous Euchenorian actress considered to be highly desirable. At one point so many simulations were run with her as the primary focus that the system that ran the machines crashed. The New Selfist who had just received his gift smiled broadly as he walked past Elizabeth and Brian.

"Anything you want is right up there!" he proclaimed as he saw the two looking at him questioningly."This is where you come to get the things you've always wanted."

Brian looked over at Elizabeth, remembering the thing he wanted was already there with him. On Euchenor using a particle assembler or a black cloud ship for strictly personal gain was one of the few crimes punishable by exile from the entire Euchenorian Planetary System. Exile meant the person was erased from all data and collected knowledge maintained by the Euchenorian society since its beginning. It was this data that was thought to be what The God Generation would use to save people when they developed the technology to do so. Losing one's data was an erasure of all hope the person had of being brought back.

"He's just sitting up there, handing out Euchenorian women to anyone who asks for them?" said Elizabeth, referring to Vermos."I've learned so much here about you."

Elizabeth said this looking at a confused Brian.

"Men," she summarized bluntly."I've learned how different I am from them."

Brian smiled."Not all men are the same, Elizabeth."

He felt a moment coming upon him. Remembering the feelings he had for Elizabeth and feeling their utter isolation among the New Selfists, he stepped toward her, wrapped both arms around her waist and kissed her. The kiss landed sloppily on her cheek and he felt Elizabeth push away. His hands, however, had inadvertently locked behind her back, preventing her retreat. She screamed. All the New Selfists turned and observed the scene in silence. Brian removed his hands and backed away.

"I think I just decided what I want," a voice from one of the lines in front of the gravity elevators exclaimed."I want a genetic that looks like that!" He pointed to Elizabeth. The dome erupted in laughter and casual agreement as all occupants of the structure focused their gazes on Elizabeth. She turned and ran out of the dome, leaving Brian too shocked to follow. The next time Brian saw Elizabeth she was no longer the person he had come to know. 

# Chapter Twenty-Six

Lyell Inard's University of Euchenor ship touched down on Antiope to little notice of the planet. Once in Antiopian orbit, the ship tracked the signal of the Almayer and set down nearly on top of the sand-buried ship. The Almayer, which had been a research ship sent to discover an unknown part of the universe, now had its burial beneath the sands for some future anthropological expedition to uncover. Lyell had been monitoring the standing effects reports of the crew since they first entered their university-sponsored black hole. He had not received a report for some time now, other than odd messages that appeared to be getting time-distorted through the micro-black holes the Almayer used to send the messages back to the university. Lyell scanned the planet for life finding two concentrations of people—one near the SeekerM79 site the crew of the Almayer originally came to investigate and another some distance from where Lyell landed his ship. He set off for the SeekerM79 site in a slow ground transport. The journey had been a hard one for Lyell. He'd held his position at the university since before Whaton and Ioma were born and this type of fieldwork was something he had hoped was in his past; however, given the sensitivity of his business on Antiope, Lyell knew that no one else from the university could go in his place.

Lyell arrived at the dig site not to find the much-studied SeekerM79 he had anticipated or the ruins of an Ancient Antiopian society he thought he might find uncovered but instead he found Ioma Isvray along with a group of Euchenorians living in part ruins, part newly constructed houses. The dress they wore was a cross between an Euchenorian mission suit and what someone on Euchenor might wear if trying to impersonate an ancient Euchenorian—long, loose-fitting robes with hoods and belts fastened tightly around the waist. Lyell wore a white, one-piece mission suit with a large University of Euchenor crest on the front. He stopped his transport in the middle of the makeshift yet ancient dwelling. Ioma and the others had seen him coming and greeted him as he exited his transport.

"Doctor Inard!" Ioma exclaimed, walking toward him."You have no idea how good it is to finally be joined by another academic on this planet!"

Lyell stepped out and returned Ioma's joyful expression for only a moment as he greeted her. He then turned somber.

Before he could begin, Ioma gave a preamble."You have to understand, Lyell... Doctor Inard... I wanted to continue the academic mission here. The movie destroyed everything we set out to accomplish on this planet. First the Euchenor City people came, and then the actors, and then once the film made its way back to the home planet, all of these new Euchenorian settlers showed up. Some of them are here with me." Ioma motioned to those around her."They understand the importance of what's buried beneath us."

Lyell stopped her."I know about the film, Ioma. That's not why I'm here."

He paused pensively.

"The Euchenorian elders are not pleased with the recent happenings on this planet; I fear they've been monitoring it even closer than we at the university have, through means we can't even imagine. I found out about their surveillance when they demanded I turn over all of the standing effects reports recorded from the Almayer during the mission. That's when I knew they were extremely interested in the planet's happenings."

Ioma responded,"Monitoring the planet for what? Everyone saw the film on Euchenor. They know what's going on here, or what went on here, well, not really, the former actually."

"The surveillance began after the film reached Euchenor," replied Lyell."When Euchenorians began coming here that's when the elders took notice. The Euchenorian government had already been watching the group that describes themselves as the New Selfists closely. To the elders, the New Selfist way of thinking is quite dangerous for all concerned with ensuring future technological progress."

A small group had gathered on the outskirts of where Lyell and Ioma were speaking. They emerged from their faux traditional-Antiopian dwellings wearing dress Lyell recognized as costumes from the film meant to portray the Ancient Antiopian people. The group consisted mostly of men and women who looked to Lyell much like the students back at the university.

"We are not the New Selfists," Ioma began."I am still here on an academic mission to understand the Antiopian people. These people who have joined me feel even stronger than I do about that. They were drawn here by seeing the film and understanding the beauty of the Antiopian people and their belief system."

Lyell pondered this, looking around at the group and their dress that clearly illustrated that what Ioma was saying was indeed reality. The people appeared to no longer be totally Euchenorian. Their faces looked relaxed and they had little urgency to their movements as a good Euchenorian should—always on the lookout for how he or she may benefit the future generations.

"I fear those interested back on Euchenor will not differentiate between you and the New-Selfists, should they decide to act."

"Act?" asked Ioma.

"That's why I came," said Lyell,"I had to see for myself what was happening here and now that I see it, I must warn everyone on this planet that they are in danger of having their Euchenorian Meta Data completely erased from the Great Banks."

At this, several in the group began talking quietly. A woman in the crowd voiced her concern.

"How will The God Generation know to bring us back if they cannot locate our data?"

Lyell looked at the woman who asked the question. She wore a tunic over a standard mission suit given to civilian synthetic black hole travelers.

"That's the idea," Ioma chimed in before Lyell could respond. She chuckled as she spoke."I've never been much of a writer beyond academic prose but this is going to make for a highly publishable paper. I wish I could be there when Whaton, Vermos, and all the other so-called 'New Selfists' reject their newfound way of thinking on even the remotest of possibilities their data will be erased from the Great Banks—which, by the way, I don't think is even possible."

Lyell returned her chuckle, acknowledging the idea of the New Selfists fleeing back to Euchenor upon hearing the news. But his face quickly returned to its former somber state.

"I fear they are quite serious about pulling the information from the Great Banks and, with determination, I likewise fear they may be able to do so."

Ioma contemplated Lyell's statement, analyzing its validity with academic rigor and precision.

Despite their name, the Great Banks were not storage facilities, so how could they be deleted? Ioma thought this through: when a new Euchenorian was born, a signal completely unique to this person was launched into the universe through a series of self-replicating synthetic black holes. The black holes themselves created other black holes that skipped the data across the universe. As marvelous of an invention self-replicating synthetic black holes were, this was not what the Great Banks consisted of. These self-replicating black holes could only replicate in one direction. This direction was set to the very center of the universe. The center of the universe was also where the universe began, so since their inception these black holes had been replicating their way back in time to where the universe itself was born and began its great expansion, which still continued to that day. As all Euchenorians were aware, the universe would at some future point stop expanding and begin to contract and destroy everything in its way as it did so. The last portion of the universe to be destroyed by this crunching of space and time would, of course, be where the universe began and that is what Euchenorians referred to as the Great Banks—the absolute safest place in the universe to store the data that would allow future, more technologically advanced Euchenorians to know what to create when they constructed the past.

But how could someone on Euchenor stop the self-replicating black holes travelling faster than light to the center of the universe? After some thought, Ioma posed this very question to Lyell.

Lyell grinned."Ioma, you live in the world of academia. You must understand that there is a power structure on Euchenor that controls what does and doesn't happen. For instance, how do you know your data was ever even sent? Did you see it happen? Have you been monitoring its progress as it travels through the universe?"

Lyell paused, allowing his rhetorical question to take effect on Ioma and those around her.

"I'm not saying that's the case but we must recognize that we are not in charge of these things and if those on Euchenor see someone as a threat to their way of life, and, more importantly, a threat to the prosperity of the home planet's God Generation, they will act. And they will use all technological means possible to ensure success."

"It's not that I am some naive academic, Lyell," Ioma scoffed."It's that you are no longer one at all. We are here to discover new knowledge. If the knowledge we discover is to the disliking of some on Euchenor then so be it. Every day here on Antiope we are learning more. I do not intend to stop."

Lyell nodded."What of the two graduate assistants you brought with you? I read in the Almayer's file they are still on the planet. But the ship itself is abandoned. Buried, actually."

Ioma's face dropped slightly, realizing she had not thought of Elizabeth and Brian in some time.

"They must be with the New Selfists," Ioma said, unable to hide a certain degree of disgust in her voice.

Lyell touched her shoulder.

"I'll go there now. I have to. I'll tell the New Selfists the same thing I've told you. If the graduate assistants want to leave the planet as members of the university, I will escort them back to Euchenor safely."

Ioma smiled at her boss and old mentor, remembering the high regard she held him in as both an academic and as a person. Lyell boarded his ground craft and set off bound for the New Selfists, his warning still ringing in the ancient but now inhabited Antiopian ruins as he left.

***

Earlier, after leaving the New Selfist camp, Elizabeth made her way back to the Almayer. She dug herself through the sand toward the top hatch of the ship but stopped when she saw a synthetic black hole open in the distance far above her. The ship that came through was an unrecognizable one that carried none other than Doctor Lyell Inard, chair of the Department of Alien Anthropology at the University of Euchenor. The ship was an old research vessel, one that would only be used for the purpose of carting old intellectuals through expensive synthetic black holes as cheaply as possible. As the ship came closer to Elizabeth and the Almayer, she could see the university crest on the bottom of the vessel.

_Another Euchenorian_ man _has come across the universe to tell me what to do,_ Elizabeth thought, looking straight up at the descending ship. Euchenorians and their notion they had out-evolved the need for gender—this was surely not the case there on Antiope and not the case on Euchenor either. Elizabeth thought about how Lyell and nearly all the leaders at the university were men who preached that gender no longer mattered in society. It angered her that she had to travel through a black hole to an unknown planet to come to this simple ironic realization.

Elizabeth stopped digging through the sand as Lyell's ship came down nearly on top of her. The small amount of orange she had removed reclaimed the speck of the Almayer's hull her efforts uncovered. Elizabeth stood and began to run. She ran not only from the Almayer and Lyell but from the tracks she had made in the sand that led back to the New Selfist camp. She kept going until she was unable to see the university ship touch down. She also did not see Lyell exit the ship with several other university and government officials. Had she turned to look as she ran, Elizabeth would only have seen dark outlines in the distance.

She began to walk, wearing her mission suit and nothing else. The hotness of the Antiopian day quickly depleted the essential life systems contained within the technology of the suit, particularly the hydration effect afforded by the suit's skin, which was constructed of hyper-hydrated material that, when in contact with the skin, kept the body at an optimal level of hydration while also providing key vitamins and nutrients. Elizabeth, however, had been wearing her suit for days without re-immersing it in the materials necessary to recharge its abilities. The Almayer was far behind her before she realized this and turned around, attempting to follow her tracks back. She found them easily enough at first but as she came upon her earlier ones they got shallower from Antiopian winds until she could no longer see them.

Heat rose from an object in the distance, forming distorted lines on the horizon. Elizabeth walked toward it to find exposed rock popping out of the desert by Antiopian tectonic plates. Examining the rock in her dehydrated state, Elizabeth saw striations likely made over millions of years—much older than the ruins she had seen around the SeekerM79 site."Ancient" on Antiope was very much a relative term.

"I'll be an Ancient Antiopian artifact for future anthropologists to discover," Elizabeth said aloud, slouching down in the shade of the rock. The frailness of her voice shocked her and sent a short-lived adrenaline burst of anxiety through her body.

Would there even be future anthropologists? Elizabeth thought about her early schooling on Euchenor, which had taught her that there indeed would not be. With the power of Euchenor's God Generation every job would be obsolete thanks to their technology. No one would work and everyone who had ever been alive on the planet would be brought back to life in one way or another. This was the idea engrained in her through both tradition and fact up until she had found herself enrolled in the University of Euchenor's Department of Alien Anthropology. At that point, it was like a switch got turned off and she no longer gave thought and praise to the non-existent future generations, her efforts being focused solely on science and hard facts.

Elizabeth felt the inner lining of her suit, the soft material was completely dry. The shade the rock provided began to increase as its shadow got longer. In her dehydrated state, Elizabeth went to sleep wondering if the future generations of Euchenor would find her data in the Great Banks one day and replay her life, which ended here under a rock. They may wonder how it all happened. Elizabeth wondered this too. 

# Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lyell Inard took an alternate route to the New Selfist encampment in order to avoid coming close to where he had touched down earlier and having to check in with the party he touched down with. Having gotten little of consequence to report from Ioma and her group, he hoped the same would be true of the New Selfists; however, his academic logic led him to believe otherwise. Those he came with consisted of the emissaries to the leaders of Euchenor. Lyell's mission to Antiope had sprung from a red flag in the central computer system of the planet, known as the Unified Network or UN. This network of supercomputers throughout the planet was based largely on algorithms that charted the various growth indicators of the planet—some of these indicators included technology growth in various sectors and the production of food, as well as the production of people. It was crucial that the population of Euchenor was kept in an ideal zone where just the right amount of people were on the planet to maximize production and not one too many to overburden the planet's resources. The indicator had sent a red flag to administrators shortly after the film _Antiope_ became a hit on Euchenor, which had caused many Euchenorians to make their pilgrimage to the planet. The exodus that resulted from the film sent the UN for a loop when it projected that Euchenor no longer had its ideal population. This red flag was the true reason for Lyell's mission to Antiope—he was tasked to see just how intent the"settlers" were on staying on the new planet and to gauge how many more may be on their way.

Lyell approached the New Selfists' city that was made up of large, Euchenorian-style structures that had been constructed in rectangles with a particle assimilator. He made his way through the quiet streets to the center where the large dome with a spiral mass poking its way through the middle stood. Lyell exited his vehicle at the base of the spiral. He saw no one outside in the city but the innards of all the structures glowed with life. Lyell entered the spiral at the city's center and still found no person there. The dome was completely empty. Two elevators idled with their doors open, inviting Lyell to get in and be taken to the top of the spire. Lyell walked toward them, noticing their hum as he moved closer. The elevators shined metallically and their insides put out a blue glow. Lyell stepped in and felt something crunch beneath his foot. He looked down to see brown raw particle matter. It looked as if the particle matter had been in the shape of a human finger before it had disassembled. Then the gravity elevator began to move Lyell gently upward.

When the door re-opened, Lyell heard the unmistakable deep vibration of efficiency particle assimilators made when at work. The top of the spiral was packed with them and they all hummed with programs informing them how exactly to structure each molecule so they may result in the desired end product. The sound of the elevator coming up startled Vermos who lay in a large bed with several women. Without getting up, he yelled out to whomever had arrived.

"Welcome to paradise, friend. Whatever you desire is at your fingertips! No longer are you bound by the desires of those who have not been born yet; enjoy that which is rightfully yours, and do so now!"

Lyell did not respond.

Vermos' tone lessened in grandiosity, becoming pragmatic."If you have your own particle matter you're free to use the assimilator. I will not have any more matter for sale until tomorrow."

Lyell announced himself and Vermos sat up in the large bed immediately. The genetic women lazily flopped to either of his sides.

"Why are you here?" Vermos said.

"I think you know. I think you know who I've come with," Lyell responded.

Vermos brushed small pieces of particle matter off of him as he stood. He saw Lyell looking him over with a condemning gaze as he did so.

"You didn't think they would just let you have your little utopia up here did you?" Lyell asked."Even without interference from the home world, how long did you think this would last? You can't consume everything everyone has ever wanted and produce nothing!"

Vermos tried to offer the grin he had used to close so many film deals throughout his career. It was met only with an approaching and angry Lyell.

"These women you brought on the black cloud—look at them!" Lyell touched an arm of one of the women who lay in a sort of awkward pile on the bed. The arm wobbled unnaturally."They're not stable; you've violated some very serious laws by being so careless with your particle matter. Not to mention all that has been wasted on this planet that could have been put toward future research."

At this statement Vermos' grin showed itself in full.

"Your precious research into the future, Doctor Inard. That's what drove us here in the first place—even your colleagues. Whaton is now focused on living in the absolute present as we all are. I am present, doctor—have you ever been? I don't think you have. I think you have not spent one second in the present. You've always either been focused on the future or looking back with regret on your own past and its failures."

Lyell began to reply but was cut off, Vermos being unfinished in his retort.

"Just because I did not spend half of my life at a university, do you think I'm unaware that the exponential growth theories have been disproven in the last decades? Just because I'm not involved in the research doesn't mean that I haven't seen its diminishing effects. When was the last time our ships improved since synthetic black hole travel was developed a century ago? Any fool can see the technological progress of Euchenor has slowed. I'm no fool, doctor."

Lyell paused, collecting himself."That's right, you're not a fool. That's why you'll leave Antiope and go back to the home planet immediately. You know what's going to happen if you stay here. They won't let this continue."

Vermos rose and walked directly up to Lyell causing him to step slightly back toward the elevator from whence he came.

"We are starting anew here. We will develop a society based on the present. If you ever find your future generations 'the best that have yet to be born' down there on the home planet then so be it. We will have lived our lives to the fullest here. Goodbye, doctor."

# Chapter Twenty-Eight

Elizabeth dreamed that night of her traditional Euchenorian upbringing. In her first years of schooling on her home planet she was taught the traditional language of how to worship the future generations of Euchenor.

###### My actions are not mine alone,

###### I rely on the actions of my progeny

###### And my children on theirs.

###### My actions are not mine alone.

It was this she repeated over and over before going to bed each night, in addition to other sayings including a request to be brought back, if one was worthy, when the technology and the time was right. The worth of being brought back focused her dream on a state of fear that was familiar to all Euchenorians—that of a consideration that The God Generation may not desire to bring back everyone but rather only those who had done extraordinary deeds during their existence. The modern scholars on the subject, known as Apologia, often stated that it was good to live one's life in a way The God Generation would look favorably upon. Elizabeth's fear focused on a childhood memory of when she could not shake the idea that The God Generation would not look favorably on her. During her youth she could not stop her mind from thinking that this may happen.

She had asked a teacher once at a young age,"What happens if I say that I want to live my life so The God Generation will look back upon me with favor but I do not really believe they will do so?" The teacher, a female Euchenorian, just done with her schooling, replied,"If you live your life in a way that benefits them, they will." She had missed the point of the question and Elizabeth did not get her answer until much later when studying at the university and seeing the rampant failure of the scientific method, not to mention the lie inherent in a guaranteed linear growth of progress. The question for her arose daily in her studies— _How can the future generations develop The God Generation's technology if we're not working on it now?_

At the university, the belief that the future generations would be the ones to develop the technology to save them inserted a degree of arrogant laziness into most researchers. The belief made them overly ambitious in their research, wanting to skip steps in the scientific method to achieve quick leaps in technology, the end goal being something they didn't even truly understand yet they were so sure of its future existence.

The dream concluded rather abruptly as Elizabeth envisioned the device The God Generation would create that would bring every Euchenorian that ever existed back to life. It was nothing. It had already happened. It was Elizabeth alone in the desert and that was it. Elizabeth woke screaming out the names of her shipmates—the only people she remotely knew on this planet. Her eyes opened to the cool blackness of night. Elizabeth zipped up her suit and settled back into her bed of sand underneath the ancient rock. The dream dissipated as she fell back asleep.

She woke with the sun beating down on her. She zipped her mission suit down and rolled further under the rock but found no remaining quarter from the rising sun. In the distance, a ground transport approached her.

"Ioma." Elizabeth spoke but no sound came out, her throat swollen from dehydration.

Ioma approached in the landing craft. Elizabeth saw nothing but a blur of heat as she did. Once stopped near the rock, Ioma picked Elizabeth up and placed her in the passenger seat of the vehicle. She felt the inner lining of Elizabeth's mission suit with two fingers. It was dry indicating the severely dehydrated state of Elizabeth's skin tissue.

As Ioma navigated the craft toward the one ship she knew would still not be covered by the sand, Elizabeth managed to speak a few words; however, they came from elsewhere—wherever Elizabeth happened to find herself in her current state. Partly in a dream and partly in her harsh current reality of hanging on to life by the last few drops of water her organs had inside them.

"It already happened." Elizabeth's voice crackled."The God Generation who we think has not been born—they have been." Elizabeth mustered a small amount of audibility with this statement and Ioma turned from the directing console of the craft to look at her draped over her seat in an awkward paper-like form, as a blanket would lie if it had been severely starched. Ioma pondered the statement but said nothing in reply, pressing on toward Vermos' ship. Unlike the Almayer, Ioma knew the ship would at least be partially uncovered due to the most valuable simulator held within it. Upon arrival her assumption proved to be astute. The ship was covered on its stop but a perfect path had been cut down to it on a gentle slope that led directly to an entrance.

Ioma stopped her craft on top of the ship and dragged Elizabeth down the path and through the empty ship. As she entered each room, the ship's central computer spun to life and turned on interior lights, happy to have activity inside her. Locating the simulator room, Ioma put Elizabeth inside the main pod, seeing that it had been dormant for some time. Having once secured Elizabeth, Ioma took to booting up the machine and inserting the proper program. Ioma heard Elizabeth mumble awkwardly from inside the pod.

"I'm going to put you into a simulation where you will live," Ioma said to the pod that now contained Elizabeth, waving her hand to access different simulations on the mainframe of the simulator."Soon you'll be in a place with water, peace, and life—you'll be with Him."

Ioma started the simulation. 

# Chapter Twenty-Nine

After becoming increasingly impossible to reason with, Lyell left the spiral and Vermos behind to look for Whaton. Vermos would give no clue as to Doctor Lewit's whereabouts other than in the"here and now" and the"present." Lyell walked the New Selfist camp for some time but saw no one else whom he could ask. The city seemed to be full of a race of Euchenorians who no longer left their homes. If one were to believe what Vermos had said, they had everything they needed right then and there in their dwellings—why would they leave? Lyell grew tired. He had not traveled in synthetic black holes much despite his advanced position at the university affording him the ability to do so for research purposes. Lyell thought about this as he piloted his ground craft back to where he had landed near the Almayer. He thought of anything to avoid thinking of the potential result of delivering the news he had. The Antiopian sun began to set as he pondered how synthetic black hole travel had been one of the last true exponential technologies to be developed and all within his lifetime. The black holes were endeared to some because of their quick rise but, for Lyell, his lag age was simply too much of a risk for him to take by traveling in them often. Lyell wasn't sure what his true lag age was but he did know that it wouldn't take much of a forward time lag to end him. Someone like Whaton and Ioma, or even Vermos for that matter, could withstand a fairly massive forward time lag, which would advance their age substantially. Younger travelers could easily reverse it when they traveled back through a black hole they came in. A severe forward time lag would make Lyell too weak to make it back and perhaps advance his age enough to kill him instantly. He was lucky to make it to Antiope safely without any noticeable lag. This would be his last synthetic black hole though. This fact came to him with more certainty than any academic fact ever conjured. It hovered around his essence as he approached his ship sitting nearly on top of the mound that was the Almayer beneath. Those he had come with opened a small door on the side of it as he approached. They were eager to hear news of the Antiopian settlers. 

# Chapter Thirty

Elizabeth woke refreshed from her simulation. A smiling Ioma sat beside her as she stepped out of the pod. Elizabeth looked around the ship, getting her bearings.

"Is Vermos here?" she asked.

Ioma reached out and touched Elizabeth's shoulder."No, just you and I. But I think we should probably head back to the dig site before it gets late."

Elizabeth stretched as she stepped out of the pod. Her mission suit nearly fell off of her. She glanced down at herself perplexed. Her body looked like it had shriveled inward on itself.

"Let's go," Ioma said, pulling the mission suit up and over Elizabeth's sagging shoulders.

The pair raced through the desert under the setting Antiopian sun. Upon their arrival at the dig site Ioma pulled Elizabeth out of the transport toward the central structure of the camp, a large, geodesic dome. It was here all of the residents of the camp gathered to eat. She brought Elizabeth food that had been grown and then replicated with machinery bought from the New Selfists. Realizing how hungry she was, Elizabeth began to eat but then immediately coughed it up.

"My throat. It's too swollen."

Ioma gave her a jug of water, telling her to drink slowly. Elizabeth's memories before the simulation came back to her. It was then Elizabeth realized what Ioma had done.

"I remember now. In the simulation I had already been saved," Elizabeth said.

Ioma smiled."That's right—and now you are."

She took another gulp from the jug before Ioma removed it from her hands.

"The simulation convinced my mind it was OK and then my mind convinced my body of the same thing."

Elizabeth took a bite of an unfamiliar-looking green vegetable.

Ioma's smile sobered."It's not that simple, Elizabeth. You truly were saved. Think about it. Really silence yourself and think about what you've learned through this experience."

Elizabeth had not seen such a somber expression on Ioma since the days when she studied under her at the university. Elizabeth remembered her as one of the pure academics who applied the scientific method not only to her research but to every aspect of life. Ioma had once commented during a class she was instructing that, if alien anthropological principles were applied to Euchenor, one would come to the conclusion that the society existed for a much shorter time than it really had. This was because all of the present efforts devoted to supporting the future generations had resulted in mediocre achievements for the here and now. She had said that Euchenor went against a universal principle of Alien Anthropology, or in this case just anthropology, since it was dealing with the home planet. This principle stated simply that the more advanced a civilization became the better the members of the civilization lived and the higher their quality of life became. If an Alien Anthropologist was to travel to Euchenor, Ioma had explained in class, he or she would find that this was not the case on the planet and that at a certain point the quality of life began to decrease yet technological advancement continued to grow. This point of divergence in these curves, Ioma had concluded, could be traced back to the point when the belief in the technology of future generations really began to take hold on the planet.

Elizabeth stared blankly back at Ioma as these memories, which happened not so long ago but on such a distant planet, came back to her. Acknowledging the weightiness of the moment, Elizabeth turned her thoughts to the simulation that had saved her through the power of psychosomatic thought.

"I remember feeling like I had died," Elizabeth said. Ioma allowed her to take the jug of water in her own hands and drink freely from it."I..."

Elizabeth's face turned to a blank, white canvas as she remembered."I was in a dark place and completely alone. Maybe I was still in the Antiopian desert under that rock... but, no, this was different, this was forever." She paused, thinking."That's it. That was the difference. Somehow I knew that this was forever. It would never end. That idea, that one thought, was what would drive me completely insane. That one thought would morph me into something else, a different person completely. Eventually, all I would be was that idea and nothing else—this would never end."

Ioma saw Elizabeth's recollection of this part of the simulation truly shook her. Ioma prodded her to continue with the description of the experience.

"But then what happened?"

Elizabeth began again."Just as this thought was taking hold, the darkness opened up and there was a light. It started as just a pin prick on the horizon but grew until I could feel its warmth on my arms." Elizabeth touched her hairless arms. Ioma smiled as she did."I saw that there was life in the desert and water and that's when I knew I was going to be OK. The light had shown me the way and saved me—not just from the desert, it was you who saved me from the desert, Ioma. The light saved me from an eternity in that place. That place I can only describe as one repetitious, infinite thought loop."

Ioma sat down next to her. There was still a spread of food in front of her but Elizabeth's eating had slowed as she became full and lethargic. Ioma touched Elizabeth's arm where she had described feeling the heat from the saving light.

"You're absolutely correct, Elizabeth." Ioma caressed her forearm, pulsing with life and fluid."Even at the university I knew you were one of the smart ones. You were right to say that it wasn't me that saved you. I found you by tracking the signal of your mission suit. Each one is unique. But it wasn't even I who did that. I was merely a vessel."

Elizabeth looked up at Ioma but quickly turned away, Ioma's gaze too intense to look directly into.

"Everything we do on this planet is because of this." Ioma pointed at the center of the dining area where one of the large excavated rocks sat. The artifact had been cleaned and brushed and a figure could now be seen emerging from within the stone.

Elizabeth laughed. Ioma did not return her gaiety.

"I had the same reaction when I first came to this conclusion—even though I knew it was true the moment I saw it."Rest assured, Elizabeth, my scientific training has been the supreme informant in what I've found. Look."

Ioma took Elizabeth over to a table, which had several small artifacts on it as well as a small projection device that lay flat against the dusty surface.

"The Ancient Antiopians should still be here." 

# Chapter Thirty-One

Once again, Elizabeth saw a change in Ioma's face. The well-defined features that made up her cheeks and nose crumpled as did her brow. The result formed a contemplative academic look. Elizabeth thought that if asked to name such a face it would simply be"The Scientific Method."

"While Whaton and his new friends have been doing their film, I've learned much about what happened here—recall we are Alien Anthropologists."

Ioma waved her hand over the flat projection device and it sprung to life—the green lights it used to display objects above tinted orange by the sand in the air and all around them. The first of the displays were replicas of the dig site as it currently stood. SeekerM79, the device that had originally uncovered the site, was just a mound in its center having been buried in the sand some time ago. Ioma glanced at Elizabeth and then waved her hand once more to move the display backward in time. As she did, the site slowly began to revert back to the way it was before the Almayer touched down on the planet. The small structures that were now erected at the dig site sank into the sand, as did the Substrate Combustors. Then nothing happened. SeekerM79 was all that remained—its long tentacles waved through the sand and stopped before the machine was shot out of the sand and back into the orbit from where it had first come to the planet.

Once again, Ioma waved her hand but this time in a very quick circular motion that sped up the display over and over again. Antiope lay flat for a long time and Elizabeth watched, realizing the simulation Ioma had created was now going through the long space of time between the Almayer's arrival and when the civilization on Antiope vanished.

"Keep watching," Ioma said, speeding up the rotation of her hands.

Elizabeth did watch as nothing happened, until something unexplainable did.

The civilization emerged from nothing. In less than a blink of an eye, Ancient Antiope in all of its late glory came to be via the greenish-orange laser lights of the projector. The lights made out the city's center in great detail.

"If you know how something began, you can predict how it ended. This is what Armageddon looks like," said Ioma as she spun her arm motion slower and slower, allowing for the day-to-day life of the ancients to be seen. Elizabeth saw people walking the streets as small, green points of light. Some carried jugs of water to and from structures while others could be seen farther out from the city in the farmlands working in fertile soil. Then the simulation stopped.

"You see Ancient Antiope in all its glory," Ioma said."It probably looks like you imagined it, right?"

Elizabeth nodded. Ioma returned the motion of her arm to a slow movement forward, back toward the point where the civilization emerged from nothing. Elizabeth focused her attention on one man who now could be seen almost in real time moving his arms wildly in the city center. There was a group of people around him. Elizabeth saw the Antiopian sun was nearly standing still, meaning that what she was watching was indeed temporally accurate and not sped up or slowed—this was happening in real past time. The man at the city center preached to the group but in a frantic manner. Those around him were in a defensive state, many shielding themselves from something unseen in the simulation. Then they were gone. In an instant, every person in the city square disappeared. Those left in the city walked in dumbfounded confusion toward where the group had been. Then the simulation sped up.

Elizabeth looked over and Ioma had increased the speed of her hand motion. The scene raced forward in time and, as it did, the city quickly became dilapidated. The fields turned rotten from non-use and the structures crumbled. Antiopians could still be seen in the city but their actions became fewer and fewer until there was no activity in the city at all. From there, Ioma went faster and the city once again succumbed to the sand, still faster and it was completely buried, faster and SeekerM79 crashed and buried itself on top of the ancient ruins. Finally, the Almayer landed in the distance. The Substrate Combustors were launched and began uncovering the civilization. Lastly, the camp at the site where they were now came to be appeared. The simulations stopped with Elizabeth and Ioma, as little green specs, standing in what used to be the city center, watching themselves watch the simulation they were now a part of.

"There was an unknown extinction event that occurred directly where we are standing," Ioma said."I've run every possible scenario of extinction our field has encountered in the universe and not one of them matches what happened here. There was no population bottleneck that resulted in famine. Their technology was not advanced enough to destroy the civilization in a war. There's zero evidence of an extraterrestrial object hitting the planet. All of my simulations show that Antiope has been stable in its orbit, temperature, and chemical composition for millions of years. For the first time, Elizabeth, the answer to our extinction question is not buried in the scientific method. The answer is in the text. It's all there. What you just saw matches up directly with what the text says, doesn't it?"

Elizabeth thought not of the text but of the film _Antiope_ based of off it. In the movie's final scene the civilization was destroyed and those who followed the Antiopian Way, the name of the ancient belief system in the film, were lifted away from the planet before everyone else was killed. The scene she had just witnessed through the simulation was indeed similar; however, the people at the city center, the followers of the Antiopian Way, looked fearful before the instant they vanished. Regardless, Elizabeth trusted Ioma when she said that this was an unexplained extinction event. Through her work at the university, Elizabeth knew that extinction was common in the universe and it was a rule in Alien Anthropology that every extinction event could be fit into one of three categories: anthropogenic—resulting from the inhabiting species, extraterrestrial—resulting from some cosmic event such as a quasar or black hole, and the third category was that of sudden disappearance of inhabitance. The third was also often called an unexplained extinction event. This third category was a controversial one, many Alien Anthropologists did not believe in unexplained extinction events, thinking that all of them could be fit into the first two categories and that the third merely represented cases where lack of evidence existed.

At the university, Elizabeth studied a famous case of an unexplained extinction event on a planet called Tegup. The planet was found by Alien Anthropologists decades ago using early synthetic black holes. When they arrived on the planet they found the infrastructure of a massive alien civilization but no life forms or remains. Elizabeth had seen images of the giant buildings with no one in them. The anthropologists walked through them like ghosts. The only evidence ever found that gave an idea of what may have happened was some scribbling in various places throughout the city foretelling that the city's citizens were coming back soon. This led researchers to believe the city had been abandoned for a reason that was not scientific. Elizabeth remembered Ioma being specifically interested in this non-scientific extinction event, and that she had even gone to a lecture Ioma led where she presented a working thesis for what may have occurred on Tegup. Ioma laid out a narrative of a people whose belief system became so powerful that it led to their demise. She could not say what exactly the culture of Tegup believed because no texts or substantial artifacts had been found but Ioma used this to support her thesis, positing that when the civilization on Tegup was abandoned, they would have taken with them what mattered most—the things they associated with their beliefs. This then accounted for the lack of such relics being present in the ruins. Elizabeth remembered Ioma's closing statement in the lecture:"When looking at a living city, one only has to look at the function of the tallest structures to understand what that society deems most important. When looking at a dead city, as Alien Anthropologists do, one can sometimes find out what was most valuable in an extinct culture by what was _not_ left behind to be found."

"Science no longer applies here as it does on Euchenor, Elizabeth," Ioma stated."And what a relief that realization has been for me." She lovingly touched Elizabeth's head, swiping several strands of hair back and behind her ear."How can anyone live by science alone and not also live in a cold and unforgiving universe? The answer is that one cannot—that's what the universe is, a series of rules that cannot be proven untrue in any setting. These rules dictate all that happens in the universe, including our ultimate fate."

Ioma removed her hand from Elizabeth's head. She stood up from her seat at the projection table and began to walk in a small v-like pattern as she spoke using her arms to express her first point.

"The Ancient Antiopians saw this—they didn't have the technology to create knowledge as we do now—through algorithms and math equations but they didn't need it. They understood something more powerful that Euchenor has forgotten—the power inside them, the power of their thoughts. I've been examining their text closely as you know and that's really all it says—"the being" the film was so focused on is merely a symbol for all of the Ancient Antiopians' thoughts about it."

Elizabeth, still sitting at the projection table, furrowed her brow in confusion.

"The being in the text did exist," Ioma continued,"but not until the Ancient Antiopians willed it into existence. On Euchenor there's so much thought and research put into the future that we still have only a trivial understanding of ourselves and the power of our minds."

Elizabeth interrupted."That's true but there's enough understanding to know that something cannot be _willed_ into existence through thought."

Ioma smiled."Just as someone a century ago would have declared synthetic black hole travel impossible."

Elizabeth sat back in her seat as Ioma finished her thought, continuing her v-formation walk but now touching her chin.

"I'm not going to say that maybe there is or was some sort of standing effect on the planet that gave the thoughts more power but no one who studies this case can disagree that what happened here is in line with the text. So how can we not believe it? How can we not believe in the Antiopian Way the text describes? I believe I already do. And because of this, I already feel more power and I'm anticipating something big happening here, Elizabeth. I know it. The Euchenorian belief in The God Generation is incorrect but belief in the future is not. The Antiopian Way says that we must make our own future in our minds and if we truly follow the Antiopian Way, what's in our minds will come into being, just as it did for the Ancient Antiopians. It is my duty to begin again what happened here—to will this being into existence—and when that happens, the being will return to the planet through the utter force of our thoughts and desires. Others with us now have felt it too, I can sense it. And you, Elizabeth, I want you to be right next to me as we do this. I want you to shrug off the rigor and cold of science and join me in the relief of the Antiopian Way!"

# Chapter Thirty-Two

## Euchenor City

Lyell Inard experienced surprisingly little time lag on his return trip to the home planet. He examined himself as he stepped back onto solid ground. His skin remained wrinkled and dry but no more than when he departed days ago. Lyell found it difficult to shake what Vermos had told him. He wondered for how long in his extensive life he had truly been present and what this had gotten him. Lyell had been around long enough to know that a Euchenorian's age gave him or her a certain social status. He had begun to notice the condescending looks some time ago from the new generation coming up after him and then the generation following them. The looks were correct in a way—these generations were taught staunchly that everything they did should benefit not themselves but their future generations and how could someone as frail as Lyell Inard do anything for the future generations? Lyell was the future generations but not _the_ future generation, The God Generation they had been taught to worship and expect so much from.

The individuals Lyell had arrived with said little in response to his report. They asked no questions, only listening as Lyell detailed what had been discussed during both of his Antiopian encounters. They must have already known what action they would take, Lyell had thought after seeing what little care these individuals gave to his report.

"Neither group seems to be any sort of threat to anyone," Lyell said."The ones called the New Selfists will soon run out of particle matter to manufacture every whim of their desires. I predict Vermos and his movie stars will be back in Euchenor City before the next solstice!"

Lyell continued."As for the ones with Ioma Isvray, they are a little harder to figure out. But equally harmless."

Lyell had looked over those he had come with as he finished his statement. None of them had clearly described their interest in coming with him aboard his university ship. They had assured him that the top administrators at the university desired him to go and that the mission had received full funding from an external source. The men boarded the ship silently and entered their pods preparing for the creation of the black hole. They had still been in their pods when Lyell was awakened and began his mission. Upon their arrival on Euchenor Lyell counted less than half a dozen words spoken between him and the mysterious group.

Lyell returned to his office directly from the pad where his ship landed. He walked the busy streets of Euchenor City. He noticed nothing—not the buildings that blocked out the sun or the delicately carved walkway upon which he stepped. Everyone in the massive city walked with purpose. Those who did experiments and hard science sat or stood in their labs and those not suited for such work supported them by bringing them the proper nourishment and ensuring their more menial daily tasks were seen to. This was the way of the great Euchenor City.

Returning to his office, Lyell found a courier waiting for him. The man wore an olive one-piece suit that covered him from his feet to the base of his neck. On his chest the suit displayed the Crest of Euchenor—the hand hologram protruding out and away from the insignia.

The man informed Lyell he was there on behalf of the Board of New Euchenorians, a member of which was aboard the recent mission to Antiope.

"The Board of New Euchenorians would like to hear your account of the mission directly," he informed Lyell."They'd like to meet with you now if you'll come with me."

Lost in the cloud of black hole travel and competing ideologies, Lyell gave little thought to his response."Yes, I see." He followed the courier back to the street and to a transport waiting for them that zipped them through the city with total efficiency. He arrived in the government sector of the city, which consisted of layers of stout buildings constructed before the city established a rule that any structure being built should be greater than the height of the tallest current building. The vehicle entered one of the structures through a subterranean entrance. The man said nothing as he supervised the vehicle into a waiting elevator and instructed it, by waving his arm, to take them to the seventh floor.

Seeing they had nearly completed their journey, Lyell finally became aware of his current situation."What is the Board of New Euchenor?" he asked from the passenger seat. The elevator stopped abruptly and the door opened to a large office. The courier motioned to Lyell that this is where he should get off. As he stepped out of the vehicle a voice greeted him.

"Doctor Inard, thank you for coming on such short notice."

The man driving the vehicle shut the door behind Lyell and directed the small craft back into the elevator they arrived in. Lyell stepped further into the office. It consisted of one large room completely enclosed by transparent metal. Still unable to see where the voice came from, Lyell moved closer to the centerpiece of the room, a massive projection table that was used for three-dimensional modeling. Lyell approached the table. He had seen such devices but never one so large. The huge device looked as if it could model the entire universe given the correct data. Lyell waved his hand over it to see if it was active. The giant table lit up and Lyell found himself at the center of the universe.

He heard the voice again, this time laughing.

"Doctor Inard, your academic curiosity can get you in trouble you know?"

A tall Euchenorian man walked toward Lyell from the corner of the office. He stepped into the green projection at what looked like the edge of the Euchenorian Galaxy. He wore a black one-piece suit with no identifying markings.

"My name is Caziz. I am the chair of the Board of New Euchenor—we were partially responsible for the mission you just returned from."

Caziz walked inward toward the center of the universe, which was represented in the projection as an outward flowing stream of green particles that emanated from the center and shot out in every direction as the universe expanded.

"We are standing in the Great Banks, Doctor Inard." Caziz smiled handsomely."Your data, my data, it's all somewhere out there." He motioned back away from the center from where he had come."It's all on its way here though. To where it all began."

Caziz continued,"I see your curiosity. Perfectly natural, one stays alive long enough and they come to think that they understand how the universe works. I regret to inform you, doctor, that I am of the opinion that the longer one is alive and the more knowledge he acquires the less he knows; however, this does not decrease arrogance. I'm sure you've encountered this in the halls of academia."

Lyell nodded, wanting to know more."What is New Euchenor then?"

Caziz began again,"The Board of New Euchenor is a group of, well, it's hard to say this without sounding arrogant myself but it's a group of Euchenorian elite basically, some scholars like you, leaders in industry, some administrators and so forth."

Lyell nodded."The main charge of the Board is to better understand the future generations for the good of the people of Euchenor. For some time now we have been investigating them, trying to better see what technology they are developing and if indeed they will use their future technology to help those who came before them, namely us."

Caziz paused."You're wondering how we can do such a thing? How can we observe future individuals who do not currently exist?"

"Quite," Lyell replied.

Caziz smiled."Well, that's because you can't see it where you are." He waved his left arm over his head in a circular motion and activated a new display. The green lights that had been spewing out into the universe as it expanded dropped from where Lyell was standing and went back into the projection device. Just as they vanished the machine hummed with heat as it began creating new projections all around Caziz and Lyell. The projections, still green, formed layers over layers over layers. Each layer was extremely detailed and made up of galaxies containing tiny planets and stars within them.

"You're familiar with multiverse theory, I know. It was disproved a long time ago and correctly so. However, just because the multiverse _did not_ exist, doesn't mean that it _can't._ "

"Did not exist?" asked Lyell."I actually never formally studied the theory. There's a joke at academic conferences, however, that in a multiverse at least some version of you is doing successful research that benefits future generations."

Caziz nodded."That's right. The theory was not correct—these other universes did not exist; however, the theory did prove, quite importantly, that they could exist. This was the founding idea of New Euchenor. The group has evolved since but the founders had this idea in mind and creating the multiverse was the first order of business for the group—and quite successful. At least at first."

Caziz paused and allowed Lyell to speak."You created other universes?"

"That's right. I knew you'd be with me, doctor!" Caziz continued."The first project of the board was to seed new universes and it was successful—copying how the home planet's universe was created was a rather simple blueprint to follow. All of this, however, was just a means to an end, which was to create more chances for our God Generation to develop the technology we desire so much."

"You communicate with these universes?"

"Yes," replied Caziz."The grid we're standing inside of is an exact replica of all the universes that have been successfully seeded by the Board of New Euchenor. There are over one hundred of them and some have begun to seed their own universes. We cannot communicate with them directly; however, our scientists have found ways to monitor them."

Lyell looked at the layers in front of him, pointing to one just above his head.

"This is the Tanhouser Nebula."

Caziz smiled."That's correct, doctor. That is our universal plane. It looks a lot like the others, doesn't it? That's the issue. Most of the other planes are in fact very parallel to ours—even in their technological progress."

Caziz took his right arm and held it in front of his face, signaling for the display to change again. As he did, red plumes of light dropped from the ceiling and overlaid themselves onto each grid.

"These represent heat signatures that have been tracked from each universe since it was seeded. You'll see some that are slightly larger than ours." Caziz pointed to a section of one universal plane at his feet covered in red."This, for instance, was a source of great excitement for us. The heat signatures are significantly larger than Euchenor's you see. These heat signatures represent industrial production, population growth, technological advancement, and other things. In this case, however, further examination revealed these heat signatures are the result of some sort of a meltdown of the planet's artificial energy sources—we believe it was nuclear perhaps."

Lyell's academic brain told him to question what he was being told. The most convincing part of all of it had nothing to do with the science but with the tone of Caziz's voice. Lyell could feel the disappointment in it as he told the story.

"This would largely support the Entropy Paradigm," Lyell said, feeling an academic itch to contribute to the conversation.

"It would I suppose," Caziz replied nonchalantly."The Board has since taken on other endeavors as well. This discovery happened some time ago. In your lifetime you've seen synthetic black holes come from the laboratory to fairly common commercial use. There's something else you probably aren't aware of about this technology, however."

Lyell could take no more. His long and distinguished career had consisted of him bestowing others with knowledge. This inverse relationship happening between him and Caziz bothered Lyell to no end.

"I saw synthetic black holes go from the size of an atom in particle colliders to entire fleets of ships traveling through them—all in a matter of very little time. The law of exponentials is not as dearly held to me as the Entropy Paradigm but, trust me, many in academia have questioned why synthetic black hole technology did not follow the exponential curve of development that was expected."

Caziz took a deep breath and began again."That's why you're here, doctor, these 'surprises' I have for you are lessened in their blow due to your knowledge. As you and your colleagues surmised, the rule of exponentials did hold up for synthetic black holes. The Board kept it from the public because the findings were disappointingly similar to that of the universal seeding experiment. In short, the black holes we created allowed time travel—not shocking really, anyone who's traveled through a black hole has experienced some sort of time lag. Everyone's heard of those who attempted to experience time at different rates by altering the amount of gravity they're exposed to. The synthetic black holes simply provided an easier path to visiting the future, although the travel is chaotic and the exact future our travelers have been sent to cannot be pinpointed precisely, meaning we don't know if it's Euchenor's true future or if we are altering it by going to there. We just don't know. But the fact remains that every future scenario that has been visited by the Board has been disappointing in the lack of the future generation's technology—this is why it has been kept from the public. If everyone saw that the future generations have barely advanced centuries from now, well, we'd have a situation like you have on Antiope now but here in Euchenor City."

Caziz concluded his long explanation with a sigh."It would be a complete breakdown of the system, Lyell."

Lyell nodded. He could think of nothing else to do. Knowing Caziz was correct scared him. He had seen the change in people on Euchenor, the epicenter of the change was indeed Euchenor City. Euchenorians there had already begun to unhinge themselves from The God Generation. If they were to have scientific evidence supporting this, there would be no telling what would change on the planet. Its production of goods and technology surely would drop as people stopped striving to support the construction of a technology only those of the future could understand. This is what Vermos had spoken of. A movie producer had bestowed upon Lyell, the revered academic, the most important lesson of his life. Emptiness settled in Lyell's stomach.

"I'm too far along in my life to change my ways," said Lyell, not looking at Caziz but directing an inward glance upon himself."However wrong they may be."

Caziz walked over to him and touched his shoulder.

"The Board needs you, Lyell. We need you to help keep Euchenor steadfast in its servitude to The God Generation. You may be the only one who can do it."

# Chapter Thirty-Three

Lyell had never felt this before—he knew that what he decided to do in this situation would be how he was remembered. The heaviness of the conversation in Caziz's office stayed with him as he took the long way back to his home atop a tall building in the city's South District. All of the time Lyell had spent learning the scientific method and how to apply it, all of the time he had researched past civilizations with the hope of what he found making a difference for the future of Euchenor—none of these things would be remembered.

The Board of New Euchenor already had their plan in motion. Caziz had told Lyell how the Board used its influence to plant stories in the public data system about what was happening on Antiope. The individuals who had come to the planet with Lyell were the ones who were spreading the stories; however, it had already been decided what they were going to say before they had even returned. The missing piece to the puzzle was Lyell. If he went along with the story, so would academia. Caziz felt academia necessary to convince Euchenor to remain steadfast in their work for The God Generation and to prevent any further settlers from leaving the planet.

Lyell told Caziz he needed time to think. The Euchenor he thought he had come to know so well over the years now felt more distant to him than Antiope. The beloved Entropy Paradigm he had strived so hard to protect was meaningless now that the Board had encountered other civilizations. There was little point in continuing the research he had held so dear, attended conferences for, and discussed with his all too eager colleagues. How could he continue now that he knew the truth? Caziz had opened Lyell's eyes but he was too old to reap the benefits. Lyell also feared he was too stuck in his ways for his own good. He knew that, even if half of what Caziz had told him was correct, it had to be kept from the Euchenorian public. And even if all that Caziz had said was correct, Lyell still believed that the noblest pursuit one could take on in life as a Euchenorian was to push and pull the technology of the planet toward what would eventually allow both the now alive and the past dead to live in complete prosperity.

From his earliest memories Lyell believed this and, no matter how ground-shaking the discoveries the Board of New Euchenor were, he was still a believer. His belief and his science had gone hand in hand his entire life up until today; now that they were diverging from each other, Lyell found something else. He found that, even without belief, faith remained. He still had faith in the power of what he believed. It was this faith he thought of as he drafted a letter to the administrators at the University of Euchenor disowning the mission to Antiope and recommending the university immediately take all actions necessary to distance itself from those who were now developing an anti-Euchenorian society on the planet. He ended the letter stating boldly that if such actions were not taken, The God Generation of Euchenor would certainly look back on them with disgust. 

# V. Promise of The God Generation
# Chapter Thirty-Four

Ioma Isvray knew from the moment she was born the world she had come into was a farce. She knew that to truly experience life one must live for one's self and those around them. Ioma had been certain since she first heard the words"God Generation" that there was no such thing. They did not exist and they may never exist. All of this changed on Antiope. When the standing effects interviews would be examined and put into scripture, this change would be noted. Some historians would argue that it was the result purely of standing effects—that temperature, pressure, and elemental changes resulted in Ioma's changes in mood that then resulted in the formation of the Antiopian Way. Others would argue against the standing effects saying that Ioma's actions on Antiope were the result of her uncovering the ruins and being moved by a yet-to-be understood force compelling her to re-build what the Ancient Antiopians had started. The two sides would debate the standing effects logs for years to come. Ioma would have told the researchers she was unsure what compelled her to begin to truly adopt the Ancient Antiopian religion. However, she would say how easy it was to get followers.

After Lyell had left the small city that had sprung up from the former dig site, Ioma called everyone around her together to share the news Lyell had brought. She told her followers that staying on Antiope meant more than casually traveling to another planet—it meant adopting a completely new way of thinking.

"Your fellow Euchenorians back on the home planet will be told to be afraid of us and our new way of life," Ioma proclaimed.

Some, however, she explained, would adopt their new way of life—the Antiopian Way. They would recognize that the events happening on Antiope were what they had been searching for their entire lives. Ioma addressed those around her as the Antiopian sun began to set. It was just about that time that Lyell was riding the elevator up to Vermos' dwelling.

"For these soon-to-be pioneers, we will be the leaders," Ioma declared."They will look to us for guidance in this new way of life we have started here."

It was decided then that everyone living in the dig site would take an oath to teach others in the ways of Ancient Antiope. Ioma set back to work on her texts, continuing her intense examination. This examination, however, differed from the first. Ioma began to let the words of the text flow through her and, as she did, she broke down the words into rules concerning how one should live in her new society on Antiope.

It began with her interpretation of the beginning of the story. In the text, Antiopians identified their creator as a being that had always existed. How exactly this had occurred was not explained in the text and Ioma identified this as a problem she must rectify before dispersing her stories to the followers. Something always existing represented a logical issue that Ioma knew would be used against her—for if something had always existed then what created it? There was a similar problem University of Euchenor cosmologists encountered when they tried to explain where the universe came from. Ioma remembered that everything about the history of the universe was known except for several milliseconds before the infinitely massive dot of light that would become the universe began to expand. Infinity was another issue Ioma had with the text. In academia, something being labeled as infinite represented a scientific shrugging of the shoulders. The being that created Antiope must still exist—this was key. Ioma was no longer interested in looking to future beings, her stories were about the present and what her followers must do in order to secure their present.

In what was the main excavation room of the camp, Ioma sat at what had been a table she used to examine bits of artifacts. Now she used the table to create what would be the core of her thesis on the Antiopian Way. She began:

_The being came into creation from the minds of the Ancient Antiopians. It manifested itself as an Antiopian. Understanding what the being truly is does not matter. Believing that it came from you is all you must do in order to be saved. The being is all of us and it came from us. Therefore, we must respect it and understand that it is on its way back to Antiope. Through the power of our collective thoughts, it will return to judge those who have turned against the thoughts of the original Antiopians. The thoughts of the Ancient Antiopians were that of sustenance, living off what they needed in the now—no more and no less. They concerned themselves with helping one another. It is these thoughts that one must be steadfast in to be saved when the being returns to Antiope. When it does return, the thoughts of the Ancient Antiopians will also return in full, some of these thoughts are vengeful. To see this vengeance, one most look no further than the ground below them. When the being first came and left, it took the believers among the Ancient Antiopians with it. Upon its return, it will do the same. The remaining civilization will be destroyed. Do not fear—you have the power to save yourself, no matter who you are or what you've done. All one must do is keep their thoughts pure and their intention focused on a way of life that is in line with the thoughts that originally manifested the being—this is the Antiopian Way. If we as Euchenorians on Antiope follow the way and keep our thoughts pure, we will manifest the being once more._

# Chapter Thirty-Five

In the New Selfist camp, Doctor Whaton Lewit had everything he wanted. He didn't know what it was he really wanted until he found it. 'It' was not an accurate description, however. Whaton lay in his bed as he thought about this. 'When' would be a much better description. _When_ Whaton first met Vermos and then Delk he was unsure of their goals and he still was unsure of them. From where he lay, Whaton could hear the particle assimilator kick into action every time Vermos had a customer arrive with more matter in which to manifest their dreams. Whaton tried to manifest what he wanted but it already existed. He had found what he always desired, not through synthetic creation but through what had transpired on Antiope. Whaton could barely remember his life before he came here. He could hardly recall toiling long hours over his dissertation, which only a handful of people read. Whaton's past before the university was even bleaker for him. His childhood was just as much a movie as the film he had acted in—just as unreal.

He walked to the window of the small building in which he had taken up residence. It was one of the first structures Vermos commissioned to be built in the city. His room had only a bed, a small desk with no projection screen, large windows on two sides and a thick blanket that sat in the middle of the dwelling. Glancing out the window, Whaton saw a person exiting Vermos' spire with two freshly printed women in hand. He could not make out the sex of the person or identify the women as they turned a corner walking away from him. The trio laughed in unison as they walked. As they departed, the streets of the camp returned to a calming absence of life. Whaton turned from the window and walked to the center of his room, taking a seat on the thick carpet. Folding his legs he bowed his head and began to meditate.

The nothingness meditation brought was Whaton's glory. He projected himself not in the company of genetics or residing with the elites on the top penthouse of a Euchenor City space scraper, as others in the New Selfist camp likely did with their simulations and matter assimilators; Whaton turned within. He started in the quietest part of his body, his fingertips. Going there he felt the tough layer of skin that formed his fingers' exteriors and then the raw skin underneath that layer. He went further into the pulsing blood that ran through his fingers and further still to the meat and bone beneath. This is where he stayed—in the organic present of his body and the tick of his heart, which kept him alive. The future generations would come and go. The cycle would repeat itself but this is where he was now. He wanted to be nowhere else.

The next morning, Whaton awoke from a deep sleep to the sound of a knock on the window that looked in on his bed. It was Vermos. He tapped again. Whaton calmly got out of his bed to see that behind Vermos was a group of unfamiliar individuals all wearing fresh-looking pink mission suits indicating they had just arrived on the planet. Vermos motioned to Whaton to come out.

"This is the center of Antiope City," Vermos declared to the group just as Whaton exited his dwelling through a door that retracted behind him with a cranking sound, signaling the mechanism was in need of maintenance.

"And this," Vermos said, motioning to Whaton,"this is our lead academic in Antiope City, Doctor Whaton Lewit. He was part of the original cast who came to the planet and discovered the ancient society here."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"You'll notice that the streets of Antiope City are rather quiet. That's because everyone who lives here, and I do mean everyone, is content with what they have. It's not like Euchenor where one must toil for the future—here we are focused on the present. Because what else is there?"

Vermos halted his speech to let the point resonate with the group.

"With your investment, you can be a part of Antiope City, which is synonymous with a way of life that takes joy in every passing second."

A tall Euchenorian woman in a mission suit that clung tightly to her thin body spoke."When to we get to see Delk Zhight?"

Vermos smiled."Delk is perhaps the most famous resident of Antiope City, and without a doubt the most reclusive. I will say, however, that if you ask any citizen they will most likely have a personal story about an encounter with Delk."

Vermos turned to Whaton."Doctor Lewit, what is it like to live in Antiope City and be focused not on the future but in the here and now?"

The group's eyes turned to Whaton. His meditative state had not fully left him. He spoke what he truly felt.

"Coming to Antiope has been the best thing that ever happened to me."

The crowd waited patiently for Whaton to continue. He raised his hands to his face to block out rays from the rising Antiopian sun. He could not make out any faces in the crowd. He only saw a blur of pink from the mission suits and Vermos' black robe standing at the group's helm. Whaton stood there for some time, unable and unwilling to overcome the presence that had transferred over to him from the previous night's meditative session. The blur of pink began to move toward him and then around his body until only one piece of it remained in his view. Too curious as to what remained in his field of vision, Whaton broke his present state of mind and squinted to see a Euchenorian man in front of him. The man stood at Whaton's height—neither tall nor short.

"Is it true what they say about this place? That a person can come here and change into something else?"

Whaton's vision focused in on the man. He reminded Whaton of an undergraduate student back at the university. His eyes were wide with inquisition.

Whaton pondered the question before responding. It was true that he had changed, he thought."I suppose going to a new place can change you." Whaton paused, allowing additional thoughts to form."But I think the change I have experienced has more to do with me than where I am."

The man in the pink mission suit looked off put by the response. He scratched his face and glanced around Whaton to see how far ahead his group had gotten.

"Who are these people who say that you can come here and become something else?" Whaton asked.

The man returned his attention to Whaton, seeing the group was not far away and appeared to be stopped at another home. Vermos' voice carried through the Antiopian air as he addressed the group explaining how on Antiope there was no limit to a person's use of a particle assimilator.

"Everyone's talking about Antiope, doctor, especially since there was communication with the future generations."

"Communication with the future generations?" asked Whaton.

"It was leaked by someone in Euchenorian administration that, through synthetic black holes, they were able to receive and send transmissions with the future generations..."

Whaton had not thought of the future generations in some time and he now found himself yanked back into this previous train of thought he had kept for so long before coming to Antiope. Could he be wrong about his newfound peace on Antiope? And if so, how would the future generations look back on what he had done here? Whaton certainly had not been keeping their work in mind.

"What was said?"

The man's face turned somber."I've heard a few things and am not sure what to believe honestly... I know the leaked submissions were basically impossible to understand. The versions I heard were mainly static. Most in Euchenor City say they heard more talk of The God Generation, more talk of 'the best have yet to be born'... even well into the future."

The man sighed heavily. Whaton watched a disappointed look crawl down his face.

"I guess what that means," the man said,"is that the future generations—they're still talking about the future generations."

# Chapter Thirty-Six

## Euchenor City

Lyell was unable to go to his office at the university any longer. The crowds of protesters wouldn't let any vehicles in or out. He had also been told directly by the University of Euchenor's dean to stay at home following an anonymous threat issued against him after he had publicly come out against the mission to Antiope. Even walking in the streets of the city, Lyell could not feel at ease. Too often he saw writing on the walls and on the street proclaiming that"The Future is Now" or"One Way Ticket to Antiope." The sayings did not bother him; however, reports of riots that began to erupt among many of those who had served scientists and academics like himself did. Many whose job it had been to cater to such elites their entire lives now believed they had done so in vain. They found their only release in the violent destruction of monuments and buildings that had been erected with the future generations in mind.

It started at the university's Monument to the Future. This piece of technology and art for more than a century had electronically recorded every happening within a large but empty coliseum. The idea behind the coliseum was to give The God Generation an exact designated place where they could transport themselves or their technology back to the present. The innards of the coliseum, once considered a rather sacred place, had been ransacked by vandals after they heard the leaked data stream of communication with the future generations. The vandalism, of course, was recorded and the offenders apprehended but the message was clear—the future was no longer the focus for many Euchenorians.

Lyell went along with the Board of New Euchenor, doing as they told him. He announced that the university and the Department of Alien Anthropology saw no further merit in having researchers on Antiope. He publicly requested that the two academics and two graduate students return from Antiope immediately or risk forfeiting their positions at the university. The message likely never made it to Antiope. No matter though, thought Lyell, its intended audience was there on Euchenor. The message did not have the Board of New Euchenor's desired effect. The people of Euchenor proclaimed the university to be just as corrupt as those in the shadowy hierarchy of New Euchenor. The literal way to Antiope became a jammed one. Lyell saw news reports depicting crowds of Euchenorians lined up to buy their passage through a synthetic black hole leading to Antiope. Many said they were taking out loans to do so but had no plans to return to Euchenor.

New Euchenor attempted to contain the small amount of information that had leaked from its interior. They claimed the garbled messages from the future were the work of terrorists but this only resulted in validating them further. The group of Euchenorian elites scrambled to find the source of the leak. Caziz even paid Lyell a curious visit late one night asking strange questions of him about how long he hoped to live. He asked Lyell if he thought he may live to see the birth of the first member of The God Generation. Caziz seemed uneasy when asking the question.

Of course, there was a strong counter attack to the new movement toward Antiope and away from the future. Hired government agents proclaimed on the street that anyone spending effort on anything related to Antiope would not be brought back to life through future technology. Charts and graphs were developed detailing the exact time when the correct future technology would come into existence—this point in time was closer to the present than previously thought. The agents attributed this to the continued exponential growth of many of the technologies once thought to be stagnant. They proclaimed the public to be foolish to think that they completely understood how Euchenor was progressing technologically and that at any instant this point could be reached. Some were swayed by this appeal to the most basic fears of mortality but still every day ships departed for Euchenor's low orbit where they would catch a synthetic black hole to a future they could control as they made the pilgrimage to Antiope.

Lyell was concerned about his own future on the home planet. After Caziz's late night visit, Lyell felt the Board of New Euchenor's presence nearly everywhere he went. Taking the lift down to the ground floor of his building, Lyell had several times noticed a government-looking individual get in the elevator behind him. Sometimes Lyell thought that he was imagining it all but he knew what they were—counterintelligence agents. There was no doubt that, if they were here and following him, there was a cadre of them on Antiope, reporting back every detail of what his Alien Anthropologists were doing there. At night, Lyell lay awake thinking about them. Questioning what he did and did not know so late in his lifespan caused him great stress that he felt in his chest as he lay in bed at night. One thing Lyell was sure of, however, was that trouble was coming to Antiope. He did not personally know those at the helm of New Euchenor but he did know the culture of the home planet was one of survival at all costs. It was now up to those on Antiope to decide how they should proceed—continuing to operate outside the realm of Euchenor was a death sentence as far as Lyell was concerned. He feared that those on the distant planet, only one synthetic black hole way, did not realize the utter simplicity and horror of their situation—at least not yet. 

# Chapter Thirty-Seven

## Ancient Antiope (ruins)

Ioma addressed the group in front of her, which consisted of all who had come to the ruins in search of various ways to the truth—some sought freedom from servitude on Antiope, others mere escape from the banalities of the everyday. Ioma, with her doctorate in ancient narrative, was about to present a way of knowing that all could come to understand because it was already inside them—it just took hearing about it to bring it out. Ioma looked out into the crowd that extended from the city center to the crevasses of the side streets and then disappeared from where she stood atop a small wooden crate. She wore her old mission suit under her traditional Antiopian clothes and she reached down below the mission suit's collar to activate the voice projection device in the suit. The mission suit fit her lazily, the body she now occupied being a different entity than when she last adorned it as an Alien Anthropologist. Ioma addressed the crowd:

"Welcome to Antiope! I am going to be brief for I feel many of you have already become aware of what it is we must do here. This place where we find ourselves makes one self-aware in a way that Euchenor simply does not. For those of you new to us, I am Ioma Isvray. I have studied ancient civilizations and the narratives they created for my entire life. None of the civilizations I studied have been like the one here on Antiope. This place is truly unique. It has deeply affected me in ways I cannot explain. But what I can explain to you is what I've learned from the stories of those who came before us here. Using technology from the University of Euchenor, I deciphered their narratives and accurately simulated what happened here. Friends, it is my duty to inform you that what is said in those stories is not fiction. Please direct your attention to my colleague, Elizabeth, who has a bit of a simulation we ran ready to play for you."

Ioma turned to her left where Elizabeth stood behind the projection table. She motioned with her hands at the base of the table enlarging the green laser display so the entire crowd could see it. Ioma had already prepared the display to show the final moment when the group of Antiopians at the city center were blasted away, just as the ancient stories said they would be. The simulation ran and the crowd gasped as the burst of light engulfed the display and took the ancients from the planet. The simulation ended and chatter erupted before Ioma could start again.

"I know what you just saw may scare you—it should. It is only the power of your own thoughts that can save you so rejoice! But also beware. The Ancient Antiopians manifested the being that took them using the power of their thoughts. The power of personal thought is something that has sadly been forgotten on Euchenor. It has been replaced with an obsession over the future of technology. On Antiope, I've felt the background noise of the thoughts of the ancients that inhabited this city before us. I felt them the first time I slept here. I feel them even more now. I know some of you do too. When the being returns, so will the ancients' thoughts—and I'll tell you, friends, some of these thoughts are vengeful. Not all of the ancients wanted the being to come here. Some doubted the power of thought altogether."

Ioma felt a bead of sweat zigzag across her forehead to be caught in the fine blonde hair of her left brow.

"I'll leave you with this. When it all happens again, we, the followers of the Antiopian Way, will be taken. Those remaining will be buried on top of the civilization I was sent here to uncover. We are the next chapter of the Antiopian narrative. We will follow the Antiopian Way as those before us did."

The next day the structure of the camp surrounding the former dig site evolved into something that resembled an organized pious society. Ioma came out of her tent to see rations had been placed at her doorstep. She opened the crate to find freshly grown fruit and vegetables. At noon, everyone in the camp huddled around the city center in mass meditation on the past. This was what the Antiopian text demanded of them and this is what they did.

Pocket size versions of the Antiopian text as Ioma had deciphered it were manufactured and distributed to everyone in the camp. When meditating, each person read their text and focused on the words of the past. They kept their thoughts pure in that way. They only looked to the past, believing that doing so would bring the being back for them. Ioma and her followers welcomed Euchenorians who arrived on the planet and found their way to the dig site. With them they brought news of the happenings on Euchenor and the recent alleged communications with the future generations. Ioma cared little for such rumors and quickly shunned talk of the archaic"God Generation" altogether. Word also spread about counterintelligence agents coming to Antiope. Ioma too used this to her advantage, saying that this was predicted in the text and that the thoughts of the ancients would manifest themselves sooner because of it. Many in the camp, however, were scared of what was being reported back to Euchenor by these agents. Ioma could see it in them and knew she must address this fear that was still indoctrinated into her followers. She did so at a noon meditative session. Returning to her platform she disrupted the entire camp's thoughts, speaking with her mission suit's vocal projection apparatus turned to full volume.

"I regret to poison the pureness of the power of our thoughts but I must engage a topic I've felt many of you pondering."

All around Ioma groups of meditators rose from their huddled poses and looked up to her as she addressed them.

"There are agents among us," Ioma proclaimed."I can feel their thought patterns coming through as small ripples riding against the tide of our collective thought. They are here, make no mistake."

Ioma stepped down from her platform and walked into the crowd. The mass of onlookers parted as she made her way to a group still half-huddled in mediation. As she neared them they all stood up and watched her.

"It's you," Ioma said, pointing to the group as a whole at first and then to one man who was just getting up from his knees in a lazy manner. Ioma walked closer to him.

"I can feel your thoughts flowing against the grain," she said."I'm certain of it. Why are you here?"

The man was robed in the traditional Antiopian drab attire but the dark colors of his fabric were more pristine than those surrounding him. The sand of Antiope had not infiltrated him. The man stood to his full height as he responded to Ioma's question.

"I'm here to find truth."

"You lie!" Ioma screamed."I can feel it—can you not?" She addressed the question to those standing around her. At first the group around the man was puzzled by Ioma's query but the indictment of Ioma's gaze toward them proved too strong a call to action. A woman nearby was the first to respond."I feel it too, Doctor Isvray! He's one of them. He's an agent of Euchenor!"

Ioma allowed several men from the crowd to pass by her. As they did so they bowed their heads in reverence only to then angrily grab the man Ioma had accused. They took him by the arms.

"What do we do with him?"

Ioma walked closer to the man, saying nothing. She touched his head with the palm of her right hand.

"His thoughts flow so strongly toward the future," Ioma said."Take him to the heart of the past where the Substrate Combustors uncover more of the ancients with each blast of their heat. Put him at the base of one of the machines and let him become one with the heat as it diffuses out into the sand. His thoughts are too focused on the future for a course correction any less severe."

The three men obeyed, carrying the man out of the crowd and toward the outskirts of the camp where the Substrate Combustors continued their work in the distance. Ioma slowly left the crowd as well. While doing so she reached her hand out and touched the forehead of several of her followers along the way. As she did she smiled, confirming for them that their thoughts were indeed on the past. Ioma had made an example not of how to act but how to think. Only the actions of the past could save. Anything else meant certain death. That was and would continue to be the Antiopian Way. 

# Chapter Thirty-Eight

## Antiope City

Each day the city expanded. New pioneers arrived and took up residence on the outskirts of the New Selfist's Antiope City only to find themselves living in close proximity with other new arrivals the next day. Vermos and Delk established an entry tax that varied upon each new resident's personal wealth. The tax was paid in particle matter that then went to build new sections of the city and also into a general fund used to maintain the way of life Antiope City was now famous for—allowing everyone to have what they wanted at the moment they wanted it.

Vermos' tours of the city needed little publicity. Thanks to what was quite possibly the only word of mouth marketing campaign that traveled through black holes, business was booming in Antiope City, so much so that Vermos had to employ other tour guides to show off the features of the city. For spending their time doing this and not whatever they had ever dreamed of doing in those moments, Vermos offered them substantial amounts of particle matter—so much that it often went unused for some time and was sold on a burgeoning underground market for those whose dreams were slightly more ambitious than the amount of particle matter allotted to them by the city.

Where Vermos became responsible for shepherding the influx of Euchenorians and their wealth into the city, Delk spent his time convincing the upper echelon of Euchenor to join him. This proved a more difficult pitch. Those who had achieved Delk's status on Euchenor already had their wildest dreams fulfilled through the riches that came with being powerful. These individuals needed different forms of persuasion, Delk had to convince them that Antiope City was the up and coming place for the bohemian social elite. He outlined his strategy simply to Vermos one day while they sat atop Vermos' spire surrounded by genetic women and raw particle matter, the pungent, fruit-like smell of which Vermos had developed an inclination for. The mounds of black, wet matter sat in strategic areas of the spire ensuring the dank smell permeated every room.

"I'll say nothing," Delk had stated simply when speaking of how important members of Euchenorian society could be coaxed to come to Antiope.

"And by doing nothing, they will come."

Vermos looked at Delk inquisitively.

"Antiope is already all the rage on Euchenor—they're sending spy agents to see what we're doing here. Antiope City is all about dreams and making them reality. We just need to let these dreams happen out in the open."

Vermos' vaguely confused expression morphed into a grin. And from that Vermos' new short film was born.

" _Daydream_ is about what happens here on Antiope," Vermos announced the following day to a group of Antiope City residents he had gathered near recording tiles. In his hand he held a pair of Wave Bands, a device worn over a person's ears to capture and record their thoughts.

"I'm going to select one person to wear these. They will then step onto the recording tiles and the first thought they have will become reality via Delk's personal particle simulator, which we have right here." Vermos motioned to a curtain behind which was the device now being used to print three-dimensional synthetic dreams.

Vermos scanned the crowd of thirty former Euchenorians, all of who had emerged out of the interlacing lattices of the city when the proposition of free matter emerged. In the back, Vermos spotted none other than Whaton Lewit.

"You sir"—Vermos pointed at Whaton—"come up here on the tiles with me, we will broadcast your dream becoming reality to all of those back on Euchenor."

Vermos noticed Whaton looked different as the academic approached the front of the small crowd. He was noticeably more relaxed. His face drooped leisurely causing former wrinkles to fall out and become soft skin. Vermos looked into Whaton's glazed eyes as he put the Wave Bands on his head and checked to ensure the tiles were recording everything. The crowd grew silent, waiting to see what would be brought to life out of Whaton's mind.

"A dream, a nightmare, it matters not—this is simply a demonstration that whatever one wants in Antiope City it is attainable." Vermos addressed the crowd as the machine remained silent. He walked behind the curtain to check the status of the three-dimensional printer. Vermos motioned for the monitor to display what the machine was attempting to print. The monitor showed nothing more than the scene in front of Whaton—a crowd of perplexed onlookers. Unsure what was happening, Vermos returned to Whaton and removed the Wave Bands asking for someone else to volunteer to make their dream a tangible reality.

A woman in front of the crowd was the first to reach the tiles. She wore a loose-fitting mission suit that was nearly completely orange from having been out in the Antiopian sand.

"I'm already thinking of what I want," she told Vermos as he put the Wave Bands over her head. The particle assimilator hummed into existence a large device Vermos did not recognize. He removed the curtain to reveal it to the crowd and the recording tiles.

"In Antiope City, her dream is now a reality!" Vermos declared, checking the tiles to ensure they were still recording. The crowd cheered as the woman touched the handles on a square, box-like device that opened up to its inside that contained racks with coils below them.

"It's an oven," the woman said."I've always wanted one. I've heard that they make food taste better than when it's synthetically produced."

Realizing now what the device was, Vermos seized upon the exquisite opportunity to showcase the limitless possibilities of Antiope City.

"Even something from the distant past can be brought to life when you are in Antiope City," said Vermos speaking to no one present on the planet but to the recording tiles, which would soon transfer the feed to Euchenor."When you come to Antiope City, all you have to bring with you is desire." Vermos smiled hard. 

# Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Whaton," Brian called out as Whaton began to depart from the enthusiastic crowd, many of whom were in the process of propositioning Vermos for a chance with the Wave Bands. Vermos grabbed the Wave Bands and drew the curtain telling the onlookers he had enough for his short film.

"I barely recognized you up there," said Brian. He stood with a young woman who resembled Elizabeth. Whaton turned to address Brian. His focus quickly moved back to his female counterpart, however. It was indeed Elizabeth. A printed clone of her. Whaton could see flaws in the symmetry of her face—a trademark sign of a clone in need of repair or replacement.

"It's been so long since I've seen you," said Brian. He wore a mission suit, orange from the sand."I heard Lyell came to Antiope. I thought you went back to the university with him." Whaton smiled and shook his head, confirming his current presence in front of his former graduate assistant.

"I'm not going back to the university," Brian said."I'm here now. Working for Delk. I never really felt like I belonged at the university anyway. I feel like I do here. People want me here."

Whaton glanced at the Elizabeth replica that looked blankly back at him. _How did he get enough matter to make a replica?_ Whaton thought. The clone moved awkwardly and her actions appeared to be haphazard and guided mainly by Brian's left hand in which he held its right. With some more particle matter here and there, the clone could probably be touched up to look and act more like the real thing. _If that's what Brian wants and it makes him happy then that's what he should do,_ thought Whaton before he spoke.

"I'm glad you're happy, Brian. And I'm sorry things got so messed up here."

Brian returned the smile."They were just as out of sorts for me where we came from, Doctor Lewit."

Whaton did not return to his dwelling that night. Seeing Brian compelled him to check in on the remainder of his former crew. He walked into the desert in the direction he believed Ioma and her dig site were. By the time he saw the towers of the still-active Substrate Combustors the sun was down. Whaton was surprised to see a well-lit camp in the distance. He had expected little but as he came closer he found planned organization far greater than that which Delk and Vermos had engineered. Groups of workers used heavy equipment to blow away large portions of the sand where buildings and food storage units were being constructed by the dozen. Whaton saw a domed facility that hummed with mechanical precision. Freshly manufactured ground transport vehicles moved to and from it.

Whaton motioned to a woman driving one tall vehicle as it went by.

"I'm looking for Ioma Isvray," he shouted to the woman who sat high atop the vehicle operating its navigation panel. As he spoke the dark sky burst into light. Both Whaton and the woman looked up to see a synthetic black hole forming very close to the Antiopian atmosphere. Just as it emerged, several ships poured from it.

The woman pointed up to the ship."She'll be there—she always is the first to greet new arrivals."

Whaton walked in pace with the new ships' descent from the sky, which led him directly to the center of the city and former dig site. Once there he didn't need to ask which dwelling was Ioma's. A perfect reconstruction of the Antiopian temple Ioma discovered sat on top of where SeekerM79 formerly plowed its way into the sand. Atop the temple shone a bright light that shot straight into the night sky. Whaton approached through the main entrance. The walkway consisted of four pillars and a large open doorway.

"Whaton!" exclaimed Ioma as he entered. She came up from the dim interior of the structure, all of the light being projected upwards and into the sky leaving little to illuminate the temple's interior.

"Ioma," replied Whaton, thankful to hear her voice unchanged and as he remembered it."I was worried I wouldn't recognize you after all you've done here. How did you make all of this? This is a real society you've developed here."

Ioma smiled and Whaton detected a small amount of red in her cheeks.

"The amount of pioneers increases exponentially by the day," she said.

"I saw the ships as I was coming in." Whaton motioned to the sky above."Why are they all coming here now? _Antiope_ , the film, has to be old news on Euchenor."

Ioma's smile left her."You know about the counterintelligence agents who I'm sure have infiltrated the likes of Delk and Vermos' city as well? They were here. We weeded some of them out but two can play at that game. I sent some agents of our own back to Euchenor; however, their mission was not to collect information but to distribute truth."

Ioma paused."I guess you haven't heard that Deep Think is dying on Euchenor. That was the mission of my agents and each day I see their success as synthetic black holes give birth up above and new pioneers arrive."

"But why do they come?" asked Whaton."If they've abandoned Deep Think what else do they have?"

"Nothing," replied Ioma."Nothing except the truth. You see, the Antiopian Way is Deep Think redefined and set in a historical context. It's true because it happened. What else is truth other than what has precedent?"

"The only precedent that exists is what the present brings," Whaton replied.

A new expression washed over Ioma. It was a smile but not the cheerful one she had greeted Whaton with. This look was one of obvious dismissal and condescension at Whaton's statement.

"Vermos and Delk cannot create a way of life, Whaton. You're smarter than that. They brought their way of life with them here and then twisted it into the sick spaces that exist in the minds of others. They created their own reality of women, worse than artificial, somehow alive but not quite having been allowed that pleasure. I've heard about them being left to disassemble into unrecognizable balls of particle matter."

Whaton cringed at the visual image Ioma presented and he thought of the Elizabeth replica with its disproportionate face.

"Focusing on the future is futile, and on the past, well, I don't know," said Whaton."I just think it's better to be here now."

Ioma's scowl dissipated. She walked toward Whaton and touched his shoulder as she passed him on her way to one of the newly arrived ships that had docked just outside the city center. People exited the ship via a ramp with large container crates hovering behind them. As Ioma and Whaton touched, both recalled the time they had spent in the simulator room on the Almayer and the experience they shared. Then it had held so much importance but now it was nearly forgotten, save surfaced memories their most recent encounter summoned. Their experiences on Antiope could not have diverged more and Whaton nodded to Ioma as she removed her hand from his shoulder in recognition that their past was dead and their paths toward the future pointed in different directions.

Whaton passed many ships on his way out of the camp. Several of them were military class ships with large arrays sitting atop their hulls—weapons that could incinerate entire cities. Other ships unloaded masses of Euchenorians from their cargo bays, some of whom remained in hyper sleep pods.

Whaton realized what it was he was witnessing. It wasn't an exodus. It was an invasion.

# Chapter Forty

The invasion Whaton witnessed in the coming weeks was not one of violence. At its front was New Euchenor, with none other than Caziz as its spokesperson. He came to Antiope to admit the information that had been leaked regarding communication with the future generations was indeed true. Caziz went to both Ioma and Vermos presenting them with all of the data New Euchenor had received from the future generations. The garbled messages and heat signatures from the future were then distributed to everyone on Antiope. The unintelligible audio and cold nature of the future technology confirmed what those on Antiope already believed. Their future generations were still in search of their own future generations and ultimately The God Generation. This confirmation came at a cost, however. With them, New Euchenor brought the top scholars of the home planet to Antiope to further study what had happened on the planet.

The group of inspectors spent much of their time in the former dig site, going over sand samples and artifacts that had not been re-buried by the new construction on top of the site. Ioma allowed them to do this under her supervision. Vermos' New Selfists took little notice of the war ships on their planet. Wearing fully enclosed mission suits, the inspectors burrowed themselves into the sand using mini Substrate Combustors that blasted everything below them away causing them to fall into the newly created pit. All around the camp, Ioma could hear the blasts of these devices. She would turn to catch only a glimpse of the top of an inspector's head as they shot down below the sand. It took just one day of this before one of them returned back to the sand's surface with a new artifact.

The new artifact found below the sand emitted a radio signal similar to those used by Euchenorian technology. Initially this led both the inspectors and Ioma to believe that whatever the device was had been part of the Euchenorian contamination of the planet and could not be considered to affect the anthropological narrative Ioma had constructed. However, when the source of the signal was located far beneath the sand, it was clear that this was not Euchenorian technology, or anything formerly Antiopian. As the team of inspectors with Ioma programmed the Substrate Combustors to begin blasting away the sand around the area where the signature was detected, the machines all behaved oddly and became unpredictable in their blasts. Caziz himself came to oversee the operations on the new dig site and suggested that the project be continued by hand in order to ensure no one was incinerated accidentally.

An electric shock of angst shot through Ioma's core when Caziz mentioned someone being accidentally incinerated. She remembered the man who had been thrown into the blast zone with so many witnesses. Ioma knew the only reason no one said anything about the incident was because of the fierce loyalty to the Antiopian Way she had instilled in her followers. If this loyalty was at all shaken by the inspectors and their findings, Ioma feared she could be discredited at best and sentenced by Euchenorian law at worst for having orchestrated the overzealous act. She comforted herself in knowing that she didn't actually see the man killed and perhaps the deed had not been carried out at all. Perhaps, as the man was carried away from the city center, away from her fiery rhetoric, the intensity of the mood dissipated and the man had simply gone off into the desert.

"Doctor Isvray," Caziz called over from the controls of one of the combustors."I'd like your opinion on this—it appears that our machinery is no longer recording the passage of time."

Ioma snapped out of her introspection and walked over to Caziz who stood at the helm of a tall Substrate Combustor.

"That's why it's been firing randomly," Caziz continued,"it's set to time-delayed interval bursts but the internal clock on it has not moved. The machine's logic has caused it to understand that this is not possible—time cannot stop so it's guessing at when the allotted amount of time has elapsed and its guesses are close, but off."

Caziz paused.

"Similar to how you or I may know roughly when a certain amount of time has passed, the combustor is guessing but it's impossible to be exact without instrumentation. Time is quite subjective indeed," he concluded.

Ioma walked toward Caziz and the combustor. At the base of the machine was a display screen with the entire area around them mapped out showing specific spots where the Substrate Combustor would fire and vaporize the sand beneath its center. Ioma could see that the path of the combustor had slowed and nearly stopped at a point not far off in the desert.

"That's where it is," Ioma said."Whatever is causing this disturbance is buried there."

The machines were unable to approach the point Ioma had pointed out in the combustor's output screen. Land probes slowed as they approached, their engines whining with effort as they neared the innocuous point in the sand before they gave in. A glider probe crashed into the sand and broke apart as it attempted a low pass over the area. Seeing this, Ioma announced she would approach the area. She went back to her camp and borrowed several mission suits. She put them over one another to provide increased protection from strong radiation, which may have been causing this signal beneath the sand. On her head she wore an Ancient Antiopian helmet and mask that had been uncovered on the planet and upon analysis was found to be made of thick lead. The mask's face depicted an Ancient Antiopian man with high cheekbones and a solemn face.

Caziz laughed as he saw Ioma approaching awkwardly. Caziz wore a gleaming red anti-radiation suit with the hand of the Euchenorian Crest across the chest.

"I could have gotten you a radiation suit," Caziz said.

Ioma walked past him on her way to the epicenter of the disturbance.

"We won't be near it long enough to receive a harmful dose," she replied, leaving Caziz in the sand behind her.

Walking to the area proved easy enough. The pair passed by the broken down machinery to the point where the mysterious signal emanated from. Ioma immediately noticed a high concentration of metal in the sand where she stood. The normally bland orange sand sparkled with tiny pieces of copper and iron. Ioma dropped to her knees.

"It's close to the surface," she whispered and began to shovel sand past her right knee using both hands. Caziz produced a small, composite-based folding shovel from a compartment at the back of his suit and joined Ioma in her efforts.

It wasn't long until they struck it. They knew right away it was something that had not been created by them, or by anything else that had lived on this planet before.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Caziz, his voice muffled by his radiation suit's mask. Ioma lifted the heavy lead mask from her head and set it down in the sand.

"It's a black hole," she replied."It's a tiny black hole."

Caziz nodded in astonishment. Within a gel-like fluid resided the whiteness of the opening of a black hole, the light then was sucked back into the other end of the tiny cosmological event, all contained within a space one could hold in two hands.

"But why is it here?" Ioma asked.

Caziz reached down to touch the outer layer. It responded to his touch and immediately gave him a blast of its knowledge."It is technology of The God Generation," Caziz exclaimed."It's here because The God Generation put it here for us to find!"

Ioma suddenly felt ill. She knew immediately where Caziz's line of thought was taking him, and perhaps he would take the entire planet of Antiope with him.

# Chapter Forty-One

Caziz and the New Euchenorians took little time to analyze what they had found. Everyone knew well enough the technology was not Euchenorian. From there, it was a matter of following a logical path—the Entropy Paradigm held that only a single advanced civilization could exist in a given timeframe (this was, of course, updated by New Euchenor when they communicated with alternate universes to say that only one advanced civilization could exist _per universe_ ). Given then that Euchenor must be the only advanced civilization currently existing in the universe, and given that the technology that had been uncovered was too inconceivably advanced to have been built by Euchenorian engineers, it had to have come from Euchenor's future. It also stood to reason that the future Euchenorians likely put it there knowing that at this exact time and place it would be uncovered.

Lyell and other academics immediately got on board with the idea. When word about what had been found reached Euchenor, a resurgence of Deep Think swept across the planet like a shockwave after a meteor strike.

There was once religion on Euchenor not unlike what the Ancient Antiopians had created on their planet not so long ago. Ioma had studied it for a brief period of time before she entered the intense portion of her academic training at the doctorate level of her career. There was little to say about Euchenorian religion. The academic consensus was that once Euchenorians of the past perfected space travel to the point where even those of lower means could feel the incredible lightness of themselves in outer space, religion slowly died. The empty lightness of space, at least symbolically, and some thought more so than symbolically, caused the shift away from religion and to the future of technology that would become the belief in The God Generation.

This is how the idea of Deep Think began—the everyday Euchenorian simply feeling themselves weightless and meaningless in space; seeing the vastness of their tiny galaxy firsthand; the luminescence of stars ten thousand light-years away. Now it had only taken a few garbled transmissions from the future and a movement to an unknown planet called Antiope to undo all of it. With this indescribable technology, it appeared that the tides had shifted once again and Deep Think was back in a way that would bifurcate the planet.

Caziz had brought with him several scholars who studied the idea of Deep Think and how to apply it in everyday life. The scholars came to Antiope to study the New Selfists and their idea of living in the present, which interested them greatly. They felt that this way of thinking correlated to their own, which was solely focused on living for the future and in a way projecting oneself into that future every day as a form of meditation. Upon finding the new artifact, Caziz quickly turned these scholars' attention away from the study of Antiope and to the indictment of anyone who dared stay on Antiope.

The scholars held daily sermons. Even Ioma admitted they were excellent rhetoricians. They proclaimed the entire planet of Antiope to be a test of the willpower of Euchenor. They warned the test had nearly been failed.

"Why will The God Generation bring us back unless we prove ourselves worthy?" Ioma heard this pre-recorded lecture being blasted out from one of the New Euchenorian ships docked near her camp."We came here to verify what had occurred on this planet and now it is clear that our future generations, our sons' sons' perhaps or our daughters' daughters', came here from the future and left a tiny piece of their technology for us to find. It is clear that, through this technology, we can and will be brought back. This, however, does not come for free; we must continue our work on behalf of The God Generation so that they may look back on us fondly."

Several ships had already departed Antiope bound for Euchenor. These were fresh arrivals mostly. They had hesitated when deciding to come to Antiope and now that they had made it there, they didn't hesitate to go back. _The thought of not being brought back by The God Generation is too much to bear,_ Ioma thought as she walked through her camp. It had grown quiet since the finding. The city center where the being took its followers so long ago lay silent accept for one woman who sat at the fountain which had been replicated to be exactly like the one the Ancient Antiopians built.

It was Elizabeth Namaro.

"That thing you found," said Elizabeth as she stood up from the base of the fountain,"the future generations of Euchenor didn't put it there." She still wore her traditional Antiopian robe. Her hair sparkled with grains of orange sand."If this future civilization is wise enough to create not only a time travel device but also a device that can bring back every living Euchenorian then why are they wasting their time messing with us?"

She jumped forward from the fountain with a quickness that caused Ioma to slow her walking approach. When Elizabeth reached Ioma, she embraced her and then took her by the shoulder.

"Listen," Elizabeth said. With her head directly in front of Ioma's she wrapped her arms around Ioma's body and directed both of their gazes upward into the evening sky."You know whatever you found, whatever you think you found, it isn't real."

Elizabeth began to release Ioma and as she did looked her directly in the eyes.

"This is what happens when you spend too much time in academics," Elizabeth said."You can study something your entire life and understand nothing about it."

Ioma knew where she was going with this but also knew she was incorrect."You didn't see what I saw," she said."It was something... something yet to be conceived."

Elizabeth laughed."Had I only been allowed to stay on the home planet and finish my doctorate, maybe I would approach your level of naivety."

She continued,"Don't you see that, whatever that device you found was, they brought it here? Even if it did look like it was from the future, or whatever you called it, New Euchenor could have manufactured it to look that way." She paused."Ioma, they may even have the technology. Have you ever thought of that? New Euchenor had the ability to communicate with the future generations but never told the public, what makes you think there aren't other inventions they've kept from us?"

Ioma relinquished herself from Elizabeth's surprisingly strong embrace. She looked her over, thinking how much this woman had grown in such little time. She also pondered how little she really did know about Elizabeth.

"It does seem pretty convenient," Ioma replied."Not to mention the simulation I ran. It was completely based off of the first happenings on the planet—if the simulation knew how the planet began then it could not possibly make a mistake in predicting what happened on it."

"We saw that group of Ancient Antiopians get taken into the sky from this very spot," Elizabeth said."Whatever New Euchenor brought to the planet or allegedly heard from the future generations does not change what we saw. They can't change the history of Antiope."

Elizabeth and Ioma continued to discuss the topic. As they did, Ioma found she felt increasingly better.

"The announcements have already started playing during the day," Elizabeth said."And they're focused on our camp. They have a lot of people here frightened—you can't just undo a lifetime of worship of The God Generation. No matter how much they know that they no longer believe in the power of Deep Think, when they hear a message proclaiming that, 'All who stay on this planet will be forgotten by The God Generation,' it scares them."

Ioma sat down in a chair next to the table where she first ran the simulation of Ancient Antiope. She felt her old self coming back into place, like the feeling of a mission suit that has been worn on many successful digs. She knew what she must do in order to restore the Antiopian Way. 

# Chapter Forty-Two

The announcements from New Euchenor began again in the morning. In the sky, large ships rose from the sand and into the lower orbit of Antiope, awaiting the creation of a synthetic black hole that would send them back to Euchenor.

Ioma used the audio equipment she had in her camp to overpower the New Euchenor message momentarily and inform all within the camp that the Antiopian Way was still alive and well.

"All devoted to the Antiopian Way, those who focus on the thoughts of the past, should gather at the city center where we will concentrate our thoughts on what we know is to come."

"I fear and hope the thoughts of the past will return to us soon," she concluded.

Many heeded Ioma's call. More than either Elizabeth or Ioma thought would do so. No words were spoken. Those who came followed the example of Ioma and Elizabeth and kneeled in reverence around the fountain at the city's center. In the city center Ioma placed all of the liquid provisions the camp had on hand. The faithful would remain until the supplies were depleted. This was a revolution without words. It was a revolution of thoughts. Good riddance to those who left. The silent meditation began then and went on for days as more ships of deserters left to return to their worship of the future. Ioma and her followers put themselves in a simpler time through their meditation. She became one of the Ancient Antiopians. She understood their thoughts. She could feel their presence. She knew her followers surrounding her could too.

The sky cleared of ships. All but one remained. High above the planet it sat in slow and steady orbit only firing its thrusters to prevent the gravity of Antiope from decaying its ovular path. Those focused on the Antiopian Way did not look up. They kept their bodies bowed. They kept their heads and hearts close to the ground. They listened as Ioma delivered impromptu lectures using the amplification device in her mission suit, which she still wore under her Antiopian robe.

"I can feel your thoughts," she would repeat over and over to those knelt in her close vicinity and they would repeat the words to those near to them, and so on until the entire congregation had heard Ioma's words.

"Thought is the forgotten technology of the past. The body decays, thoughts echo. I can feel the echoes of the past and now I can feel your thoughts. The body decays. Thoughts echo."

# Chapter Forty-Three

Whaton watched the reverse exodus until the lone ship above the New Selfist camp was all that remained. It was a military class ship. Only a few of its kind still existed. They were too big for cheap black hole travel and their weaponry made them expensive to move, even with the power generated by a massive synthetic black hole.

Whaton had found peace in the present. He had entered the desert. The sky was clear above him. He felt heat from the sand on the top of his dry hair. He felt it on his feet too as he walked barefoot through the orange sand. He needed no mantra. Speaking took him out of the present moment he had learned to constantly find himself in. The present, whether it be on Euchenor or Antiope, was all there was. Whaton lived as he walked, following a random path in the desert, allowing his thoughts not to be focused on his next steps but on only the heat in the sand his current one received. He looked forward as he walked; not thinking about what he would find when he reached the areas in front of him but what he was seeing at that very moment. What he did see at that very moment would change the universe.

The object in the sand sparkled the way a cliché buried treasure may. Its glimmer went off once, distracting Whaton from his bliss, and then twice again in rapid succession as if it was signaling him to come toward it. Whaton held fast to his random path and his gaze on the sparkling object in the distance. His path took him up to the object and what he found were the remnants of a structure un-buried by a sandstorm. In front of him was a broken down stone enclosure similar to what had been uncovered at the dig site but what was inside this structure was what had attracted Whaton with its glare. He could feel the literal pull of it as he approached. The sparkle emanated from the pure energy of the device. Whaton knew right away the thing had a massiveness to it that only existed on a cosmic scale. He felt its weight despite it only looking like a small cube. The size of it was deceiving, Whaton could feel that it held within it items from across the universe. Like a black cloud ship, these items were not here physically but they were available here.

This device was exactly what Whaton had been taught The God Generation would use to bring him and all Euchenorians back to life one day. It was Pure Digital Mass, which was the name Euchenorians gave to a device that could go back to the beginning of time and understand everything that occurred since the formation of the universe, also called T-0 or"Time Minus Zero," and from there project everyone and everything that ever existed back into existence. This Pure Digital Mass device was a marker that went back to a certain time in universal history. Whaton watched it in awe. He could see within it the makings of the universe that had existed before him. _T-6 perhaps,_ Whaton thought. _It couldn't have everything that has ever happened in it; but perhaps T-6._

"This is where we are sent back to," he said."This is the past, recovered by the future." He re-engaged his state of absolute presence as he said this. Being in the absolute present, Whaton's brain became flooded with the oceans of information this piece of technology had. He felt the gravity of billions of voices all talking at once. The divergence of all the various conversations snapped him from his present moment and he fell out of tune with the device as soon as he tried to focus in on something that was not happening concurrently with his reality. Whaton quieted his mind as he had learned to do over the past months. As his mind became silent it opened itself to the information of the universe contained in the device.

He could see that the data stored in front of him represented T-6 and everything that came before. The God Generation had already brought back those who lived before Whaton but they had not gotten to T-7 yet, which would include Whaton and his more recent ancestors of the past several centuries. He again quieted his mind to allow the information that radiated around the device to flow in. He felt the hard work of the past generations of Euchenorians within the device. He saw them learning about the atom and how it could be split; he saw the labor and loss of life that went into taming the power of the black hole, and what could be done through the power of a particle assimilator. This is what was strived for in T-6 and now they received their award of being brought back through this simple device Whaton could plug into simply by clearing his mind. He needed no knowledge of how or why it worked.

_But why was this device put here?_ Whaton thought this and he once again fell out of the present moment and thus out of tune. Surely this was the will of The God Generation. Then it came to him: The future generations took the past and put it in the place where only those focused solely on the present could access it. Whaton understood completely now. While belief in The God Generation and their power to bring one back to life was not incorrect, it was foolhardy. What The God Generation was doing through this device was showing those of T-7, the current generations of Euchenor, that they didn't need to be brought back. They could live in the present moment without fear of the future. This is why Whaton was shown the device. He was certain of it. It was up to him to spread the truth on Antiope—not proclaim The God Generation did or didn't exist. _The God Generation has shown me that the future doesn't matter,_ thought Whaton. _The only time worth living in and for is the present. This is the gift The God Generation has bestowed on Antiope._

# Chapter Forty-Four

Brian Belkim had felt the twinge of transcendence when he first landed on Antiope aboard the Almayer. He didn't recognize the feeling until well after but as the Substrate Combustors blasted into the planet, the feeling arose within him. These were more than just feelings, however, they were repressed desires. It had begun with Elizabeth and her rejection of him. Brian had felt inadequate all his life. The New Selfists changed this. Their philosophies allowed him to have what he wanted without guilt. Upon his arrival, Brian thought what he was feeling was nothing more than the standing effects of the planet. He still didn't rule that out. Elements in the ground existed on Antiope that didn't exist on Euchenor. Why couldn't feelings, thoughts, and ideas be the same way?

Why do anything if it's not for the pleasure of the present? Why know something if one cannot know everything? Why plan for the future when it does not exist? Why consider the past when one must accept they cannot change it?

These were the central tenets to Brian's life on Antiope in the New Selfists camp. He loved the Elizabeth replica in the present even when it exhibited no recognizable human traits. He felt the pure satisfaction that had escaped him for so long. He lost himself in the moment. Whether it was the result of a standing effect or not, Brian now understood the need to live only for what was in front of him. Nothing mattered but satisfaction in the moment and when whatever the momentary satisfaction was would soon be gone he would propel himself on to the next. The old Euchenorian way was that of entropic satisfaction. The Euchenorians who came before Brian lived a life that spread satisfaction out over life. A flawed system, of course, for one never really knew how much longer they had. When it was found that The God Generation would develop a life-saving technology, not only for the living but for the long dead, this entropic spreading out of satisfaction turned into a bottle corked by the future generations and their promise of eternal bliss through their unknowable but deterministic technology. The cork on Brian's bottle of repressed satisfaction had blown on Antiope and out came a lifetime of pent up desire, anger, and fear of the unknown. It was this fear of the unknown that drove him to Elizabeth. Brian feared being alive while never knowing what it felt like to actually be with her.

The standing effects of Antiope gave Brian knowledge of himself. His insides were made of organic machinery that slithered and moved beneath his skin allowing his lungs to breathe, his heart to beat, and his intestines to dispose of waste. His genitals excreted DNA, the prime directive of which was to create more of his species. Brian's genetics would be removed from the pool if he did not procreate. This knowledge of himself and the lack of knowledge about his future gave him power but it also gave him a weightiness no person could truly bear without a crutch. For those on Euchenor this crutch was The God Generation; for those with Ioma at the dig site it was a belief in something that may or may not have happened on this planet a long time ago. For Whaton and the New Selfists it was living only in the moment and finding peace with what one had in it. Brian's was a chase for satisfaction, knowing that once it was achieved, it would be gone. This all-ness or nothingness was the way of the universe. Nothing lasted forever.

With these realizations of life affirmed, his particle matter gone rendering his present no longer enjoyable, Brian walked into the desert excavation site that night and slept beneath an idling Substrate Combustor ready to do its work at any moment. In the morning, his matter was one with Antiope and the universe just as everyone's would be. 

# Chapter Forty-Five

Ioma had left her meditative followers at the city center in the care of Elizabeth. Elizabeth kept up morale by walking among the bowed heads and joining in with the mantra that had become a hushed whisper only fully audible if one put his or her head to the sand.

"Thought is the forgotten technology of the past. The body decays, thoughts echo. I can feel the echoes of the past and now our thoughts join them. The body decays. Thoughts echo."

After days of mediation, Ioma knew her people couldn't last much longer without reassurance that their actions would produce results. She feared many may be thinking of reverting back to Deep Think. She had even heard rumors of some involved in the meditation near the outer limits of the city already leaving to attempt to find a black hole back to Euchenor.

Returning to her projection table, Ioma ran her simulation again. She wanted to once again display to her people the moment when the Ancient Antiopians' belief system was validated and they were taken. She plugged in the same data she had used for the first simulation but as it began to run the simulation, she changed the point of view from the city center to the vantage point of one of the Antiopian's whose head had been bowed near the fountain. Ioma wanted to see exactly what this person with a front row seat saw long ago.

This new simulation was the same as the previous up to the point when the flash of light occurred and those ancients gathered together at the city center were taken. When this happened, Ioma found herself seeing through the eyes of an ancient person who was taken. She saw a city glimmering with a clarity she had never known. No machinery existed in the city. No technology. The city where the Ancient Antiopians were taken was itself alive. Ioma understood now. This city is what she had been referring to as"the being." The city breathed in and provided sustenance to its inhabitants. It exhaled eternal life. _This is where Euchenorians have been trying to send their information back to,_ Ioma thought. _This was where time began. And this is where time will end. There is no such thing as eternal life. But here life will last as long as the universe will allow it._ The taken Ancient Antiopians were alive and would be until the collapse of the universe reached its final point from where it first started to expand twenty billion years ago.

To be truly devoted to the Antiopian Way, Ioma reasoned, one must fly toward this point with steadfast determination. That is where she must take her people.

Ioma pondered this coming to a quick conclusion: _I need a reason for these people to leave the planet with the prejudice they came with._ **  
**

# Chapter Forty-Six

Ioma found her inspiration. She entered her dwelling that night and didn't come out until finishing what would come to be known as her Second Testament. She never claimed she did not write this Second Testament but there would be stories that something happened to her that night. Never again did she bow her head at the city center. She never once joined in another mantra. As she prepared everyone for their journey to the beginning of the universe, she spoke in scientific terms—commenting on how their best ships could stand up to the intense gravitational pulls they may encounter when entering into the string of synthetic black holes she would use to shoot them back to where everything began. When asked how these black holes would be formed, the answer was clear. They were already there.

Ioma's plan was simple. She would create one synthetic black hole that all of her people would go through. The Almayer was to be the lead ship. She would use it under the pretense that she planned to return to the university after doing further research and finding that The God Generation did indeed exist and had used the technology Caziz found on Antiope as a test. Once exiting the black hole at Euchenor, her fleet of ships would enter the network of synthetic black holes that sent all Euchenorians' data back toward T-0 and the Great Banks.

This, however, was only the pragmatic part of Ioma's Second Testament. Her writing detailed a new form of transcendence. She delivered it to her followers, telling them to first fall to their knees and direct their thoughts to her.

"The times have changed since the ancients stood where you now stand," she began."We will achieve our transcendence, I promise you that. Our transcendence is different than the ancients'. They were made to wait for theirs. We will take ours. I've seen where the ancients have gone. I've seen where they are.

"I believe we can go there. We were born into this universe as impermanent beings. We were told to allow time to progress without us. We expand along with the universe. But, of course, the universal expansion will outlast all of us. My friends, we will fight against the universe by going back to its beginning. Those on Euchenor wait to die. Even in death they wait to be brought back. I tell you through this Second Testament there is no waiting in death. There is only death in death. This is the Great Realization of the Second Testament. We will each choose individually what to do with this realization. I choose to fight against its assumption—I believe that to be the Second Testament's purpose. Those who wish to join me in this fight, ready your ships. We will be departing to where time began and the ancients reside soon." **  
**

# Chapter Forty-Seven

It took Whaton some time to uncover the Almayer's top entrance by hand. Halfway through he considered getting a Substrate Combustor to speed up the work but thought better of it and kept digging. He entered the Almayer reverently as one may enter the home of a recently deceased friend. He found memories everywhere. He hurried past the simulator room still harboring the broken device within it. In the main control room, he ran a search for the closest naturally-occurring supermassive black hole to his current location. The computer returned its results quickly, showing a black hole at the center of the Antiopian galaxy. Whaton could reach it easily by generating a small synthetic black hole that would pop him out near enough to the supermassive one that it would drag the Almayer into it.

_All I must do is confirm somehow that this will take me back any time before T-6._ Whaton was unsure how to do this. Natural black holes were unpredictable. The only thing sure about them was that one would not come out in the same place or time, or possibly even the same dimension one was in when they entered. Living before T-6 meant eternal life. Living after it, as he did now, meant imminent death. The choice was simple. Whaton programmed the flight plan into the Almayer's central computer.

"Doctor." The Almayer's central computer woke up. For a moment Whaton thought the voice was Ioma's.

He set up a small black hole in the computer's design. He made it just big enough for the Almayer to get through. The ship began its preliminary ascent from the sand. If someone were near enough to observe it, they would have seen the mass of metal rise from beneath the sand and quickly enter the Antiopian orbit. Followed by that was a flash of light in the distance that was so fleeting it could have been missed by simply one blink of the eyes. Whaton had left Antiope for good. 

# Chapter Forty-Eight

Euchenor buzzed with new determination when Caziz and Lyell returned with their artifact from the future that proved the correctness of Deep Think. The device could only be understood as being nothing but data in its purest essence. It was the ones and zeros, peptide chains, and hydroxyl groups that made up the lives of so many that came before modern Euchenor. Caziz charged Lyell with uncovering the secrets of the device, saying that it may have been put there by The God Generation for just that very reason—to show Euchenorians how to begin to construct the machine that would eventually save everyone who had ever lived. Rumors began to spread with great excitement that the generation that was coming up now, the top scientists and researchers, would be the ones who would do it; it became plausible to many that The God Generation may no longer be a thing of the future but of the unrealized present. Caziz used his power with the establishment of New Euchenor to give Lyell an unlimited amount of resources to discover the secrets of the device. The chief question being what exactly did it contain and how was it able to bring back life that had already left the universe?

Lyell put together a highly visible research team of Euchenor's top scholars, not only from the University of Euchenor but also intellectuals, physicists, and philosophers from the outlying settlements of the Euchenorian galaxy. The team first decided what kind of a society it would take in order to build such a device. Given its complexity, the civilization surely would need to be Type II, meaning that it had harnessed all of the energy produced within its galaxy. Euchenor, having successfully put to use all of the resources of only the planet of Euchenor, was considered a Type I civilization. A civilization that had harnessed all of the energy within the universe, every quasar, white dwarf, and black hole would make the ultimate civilization at Type III. This preliminary announcement that at minimum a Type II civilization had created this technology was met with incredible joy since it had been known for some time that only a Type II civilization could possess the necessary energy to not only recreate the past but to reincarnate the past to the present. Lyell and others believed that is what the device was meant to do. They believed it was a small part of the past. Although the word past did not properly identify fully what it was. Make no mistake; it was the past, not merely a representation of it.

What existed in the small, angular device that sat in a laboratory at the University of Euchenor was a fragment from a larger vessel. It was surmised by Lyell's team that the larger device this piece came from was sent back in time by the future generations to act as a sort of sponge, soaking up all of the data from the past and then bringing it to the present where it could be preserved indefinitely. This explanation proved simple enough and Caziz was happy to announce to the Euchenorian people that the basic underpinnings of the future technology had been understood. An important question that remained, however, and puzzled Lyell as well as several Euchenorian philosophers, concerned what exactly happened after the data came back to the present day of The God Generation. In the piece sitting in Lyell's lab, it appeared the data was in a state of suspended animation. The information was so locked into the present that it was immobile.

It didn't take a famous Euchenorian philosopher to wonder what this must be like for the living data of the past now trapped in the present within the device. The question arose: Were its occupants experiencing the same moment constantly? It also brought into question the true purpose of such a device. To Lyell and many others on the team, it became ever clearer that this device was a prison for the past, where one from the future could view it on display like a living history book. The more it was studied the less it resembled the extended hand of life from the future reaching back into the past. It resembled more of a hand of a cold scientist extending it out into a sample to collect data.

Why would the future generations of a species bring back its own only to imprison them? Lyell could not understand and it kept him awake for several days. He stayed at the university, listening again and again to the recordings New Euchenor released that had been sent back from the future generations. He listened for evidence of anything that would hint at such maliciousness. Why would a future Euchenorian want to imprison their own kind? He found no answer in the garbled transmissions from the future. What he heard was a society in just as much disarray as the one he currently found himself in. That's when Lyell understood. In his sleep-deprived euphoric state he came to the final conclusion—the device he had been studying was not made by the future generations of Euchenor. It was made by a race that had yet to develop in the universe.

It didn't take long for others to agree. Although the device was far from fully understood, even Caziz admitted that it did not align with the expectations of The God Generation. The people of Euchenor wanted to come back to life in the future, not be kept eternally in a moment of the present. Death seemed a better option.

"It actually sounds extremely terrifying," said Caziz during a research team meeting the following day."Being fully cognizant but unable to depart from a single second in time. Being absolutely stuck in the present moment. If we're sure this device is Euchenor's past Pure Digital Mass and that it was collected by something non-Euchenorian, that leads us to the question: What are the future generations of Euchenor doing?"

The room fell silent. Several of the philosophers present held hushed conversations around a large, gray, metallic table.

Lyell took this opportunity to speak. He stood up from the corner of the room he had recessed to after first delivering the news of his theory.

"I think it's obvious what has happened," he said."Excuse me; I think it's obvious what _is going_ to happen. The Entropy Paradigm has once again held true. This unknown civilization has advanced to the point where they can bring back the past. They beat our God Generation to it. Euchenor is dead."

The philosophers' conversation silenced.

"We have to find out where this future civilization will spring up," said Caziz."We have to locate the planet and destroy it before it can develop life."

"That's impossible," replied Lyell."I'm not a cosmologist but there are nearly an infinite amount of planets in the universe."

"Then we find the galaxy and vaporize it!" Caziz pounded the table.

Lyell laughed.

"Don't you see, you fool? We already found their technology. They have already created it. It already happened."

"But why did we find it?" Caziz retorted."If they put a piece of this technology on Antiope, there must be some significance to the planet. They traveled back there and left it on Antiope—why?"

The question puzzled all present in the room to the point of somber, nervous silence. 

# Chapter Forty-Nine

Ioma checked her coordinates and then checked them again.

"It should be here," she said aloud to a small group of followers who accompanied her into the desert to retrieve the Almayer.

She kneeled to feel the sand. It was packed looser than the regular top sand of Antiope. It hadn't been baked into place by the hot day's sun yet.

"Someone took it," she said."Lyell... this has to have been his doing."

She turned to her small group of followers who mimicked her every move and had kneeled and begun examining the sand at their feet in search of something unknown to them.

"Do you see this?" Ioma shouted."Do you see what they have planned for us? They've taken the Almayer because they know Antiope is doomed. We have to hurry. I fear we may have little time to complete our exodus."

She sat down in the sand and her followers did the same. They formed a circle around her.

"This may be a good thing," Ioma said."The Almayer, synthetic black holes, they offer too slow a path to our destination. We need to be here and then there in an instant."

"Just like the ancients!" A woman to the left of Ioma in the circle spoke.

Ioma smiled."Exactly. And we can. Our ship was taken from us. Now we must take theirs."

She motioned into the desert in the general direction of the New Selfist camp.

"The black cloud ship was part of their fleet. They're so content in their present state over there I don't think they've had any use for it. It's up there somewhere."

Ioma directed her gaze toward the Antiopian sun.

"We can disappear from here and join the ancients, just as we all saw in the simulation. We must vanish as they did. Euchenor will not allow Antiope to thrive. Euchenor took the Almayer because they plan to destroy Antiope."

She stood and directed her gaze to the followers still circled around her, some slightly bowed in reverence.

"This is the prophecy you see. It's all been written down for millennia and now it's happening. It's all coming true."

# Chapter Fifty

The Euchenorian economy boomed after the finding on Antiope confirmed belief in the soon-to-be-realized God Generation. Euchenorians worked with a resolve never seen on the planet. Those serving the technology makers did so with great diligence and the builders of the technology labored harder than ever to create a vision they now had proof would be successful.

Caziz and his New Euchenor now knew otherwise. They knew this hard work was worse than counterproductive. It was this hard work that would single-handedly destroy Euchenor. How? No one was sure. But given the assumptions of the Entropy Paradigm, Euchenor would disappear from the universe only to have another species replace its dominance and ultimately surpass it. Once this was done, the unknown civilization would then go back in time and enslave the past generations of Euchenor. What fate could be worse? It had already been decided by New Euchenor that telling the Euchenorian people this was their future was simply not an option. The recent exodus to Antiope served as a potent reminder of what happened when faith in The God Generation was shaken. Caziz and others were confident that the hard work being done could still be used for the greater good.

Time was on the side of New Euchenor; not so much an abundance of it but rather their position within it. If New Euchenor could find out what seeded this new life and destroy it, they may be able to affectively alter the future, and the past.

It came down to what the scientists defined as life.

It was clear that this civilization had little regard for Euchenorian life but they did still have some sort of a vested interest in it. The philosophers concluded with a ninety-nine percent confidence interval that this future civilization did indeed share the same basic building blocks of life with Euchenorians. Carbon was the most common one and the easiest for the scientists to target. Carbon was not completely rare in the universe. It had been found in many dead civilizations, such as the one on Antiope. Where it was not often found was in its life-giving stages. Life and how exactly it began on a planet was a tricky thing for Euchenorian scientists. The odds of life happening on any given planet ran well into the trillions. The commonality when it did happen was carbon. In order to save its future, carbon was what New Euchenor would declare war on.

They began with all known parts of the universe. Much how the weather on Euchenor could be manipulated by seeding it with different chemicals, cosmic events could also be altered to do New Euchenor's bidding. The greatest weapons ever built were not constructed with Euchenorian hands but crafted by nature. The black hole was one such powerful example, but the quasar was a better one. Euchenorian scientists could not harness the power of the quasar but they could seed and alter it to use its destructive power for the good of Euchenor. This is what New Euchenor decreed should be done. Robotic ships were launched daily en route to known quasars in the universe. Once arriving, they would artificially progress the dying stars to the point where they fired off their destructive force in the direction of a galaxy deemed to have"high life probability." The Antiopian galaxy was one of the first on a long list of doomed places. 

# Chapter Fifty-One

Ioma and her followers boarded six small transport ships. They took with them only what they could carry in their mission suits, making sure their suits' latex was fully hydrated with essential nutrients before they left. As the group approached the black cloud, communication between the six ships was lost. Chatter between the groups was replaced by the sounds of others who were not part of the six ship convoy on its way to the black cloud. Some voices sounded like they were emanating from Euchenor, others came through in an unknown language. Ioma stood at the helm of the small transport ship she had boarded. Behind her over sixty followers sat on the floor or on top of the ship's equipment—anywhere a seat could be made. Ioma looked back at them. Some had their eyes closed tight in the silent meditation they had become accustomed to while on Antiope. Others stared back at her with eyes wide open, the black cloud ship growing larger in the main viewing window as they approached. The noises coming through the transport ship's communication system ticked up in frequency to the point where the disparate voices came together to form a wind-like howl.

The screaming turned to a whisper as the transport ship began its mating procedures with the large, black cloud. This was the closest Ioma had ever been to a black cloud ship. To her knowledge they did not have areas for crewmembers as other ships do. There were no terminals, equipment, or seats. The machinery of the black cloud was unimportant as it was merely a shell for the atmosphere it created within its bulbous metallic body. The atmosphere could best be described in terms of sound. Ioma remembered it being explained to her that way when she was completing her dissertation. Every black cloud ship ever made had been created in one batch, at one instant, in one place. Much like how everything within the universe was created from something smaller than an atom, the black cloud ships all came to be at once. Similarly to how the cosmic background radiation that still emanated as a result of the creation of the universe could be tuned into, these ships also all had their own tone that made them one, no matter how far apart they were. This black cloud vibration was part of the universal vibration—that is what the ship builders tapped into. The universal vibration is what flowed through the ship and likewise flowed through its occupants allowing them to experience the location of all the black cloud ships at once but also experience the vibration of the universe and therefore become one with where the cosmic background radiation emanated from—the beginning of time.

This was the vibration Ioma and her six ships were engulfed in as they entered the belly of the black cloud ship. Ioma's transport and the five others opened their mating devices, which reached out and latched on to the reciprocating hatches of the black cloud. The hum remained intense but smoothed out into a soothing vibration that massaged Ioma's feet and ran up through her spine, loosening it.

"We don't need to carry on any of the supplies," she said."Once we enter the black cloud, we'll already be there."

The mating complete, Ioma was the first to step through the now-open walkway into the black cloud ship. As she did, the vibration intensified all over her body. She tried to hold her arms still as they gyrated uncontrollably but this caused her great pain. She let go, relaxing her body and becoming one with the vibration of the black cloud and with the vibration of the universe.

"Don't bother fighting it," were the last words Ioma spoke to her followers. 

# Chapter Fifty-Two

Whaton was well aware of the horror that could easily be achieved by attempting to travel back in time using black holes. He knew well the stories of groups of Euchenorians who had attempted to use the holes to stay young forever. Eventually they all hit the big one that aged their bodies beyond repair. It was inevitable really. The universe is one big, flat sphere. Everything evens out. All it took was one black hole to destroy a surplus of time one spent a lifetime accruing. Some travelers were said to have returned to Euchenor after experiencing a century in the blink of an eye in terms of Euchenorian time. They exited their ship withered, gray, and wrinkled, taught a lesson by the universe or perhaps even made an example of by it.

Whaton was after something different altogether. He did not want to experience less time. He wanted to exist in a pool of time that had already occurred. If he could enter into anywhere before T-6 he would have his place in the new universe that was preserved in the present moment by the device he was shown on Antiope. Traveling to the past was impossible even with black holes. Traveling to another dimension that happened to be currently experiencing the past was, however, theoretically sound. Whaton knew that what he needed to look for was not a black hole but a white one. A white hole was one that wouldn't suck him in but spit him out so far away that he would be in a place where time simply couldn't keep up. From there, he could only hope that he would be preserved like a specimen in amber as he had seen on Antiope.

_Preservation in the present is perfect,_ thought Whaton. Although he did not know it, what his colleagues on the home planet saw as the pure horror of being trapped in a present moment for eternity he saw as a great relief. He attained such a relief in the proposition that he sought to spend the rest of his life aboard the Almayer if necessary, searching for that absolute present moment. He would travel through black holes until he found the right one—the black hole that would first draw him toward it as all the others did but then on the other end fling him farther than any Euchenorian had ever gone—with luck this would be to the past where he would be preserved in the present moment forever.

As Whaton worked the controls of the Almayer on the main bay of the ship, he set course for the nearest natural supermassive black hole. The coming push and pull of the universe he was about to experience filled him with angst but he took solace in his end goal. In order to experience the absolute present, one must first experience the absolute extremes of the universe. This was Lyell's Entropy Paradigm of civilization expressed on a personal level. Whaton would first be stretched and compressed until he evened out into one single nanosecond of time. It was there he would exist until the end of the universe and the end of time. He would never again know the intense fear or pleasure pondering the past and future can bring. He would become an unblinking eye in front of a black canvas. This eye of his would be connected to a brain that only knew of the canvas and could think of nothing else. His brain would be content with this thought for it is all it would know. The horrors of a former sentience, knowledge of oneself and one's ultimate fate not one cell of memory would be devoted to.

Whaton rocketed forward in search of the present, the same thing Euchenor had become intent on destroying. Ioma and her followers did the same but set their coordinates to the most distant past. In the black cloud ship they became a part of the background noise to the universe—the oldest thing ever created. Euchenor cared not for Ioma's past or Whaton's present. Without hesitation, Caziz, Lyell, and New Euchenor prepared their carbon-destroying weapons and launched them through synthetic black holes. In this way, Ioma's Ancient Antiopian prophecy came true in the destruction of Antiope—although the destruction of Antiope was not at the hands of some supernatural being worshiped by ancients, as the prophecy predicted, it was by a fearful race bent on survival into the distant and unpredictable future.

As the Euchenorian weaponry folded its way through the universe, Caziz listened intently to the messages deciphered from the future generations. These messages became a homing device for his now-deployed world-destroying drones. Caziz would know he'd succeeded when the messages from the future generations of Euchenor changed from a tale of failure to one of triumph. He motioned the volume on his listening console to increase. Only static could be heard—a crackle over a crackle that looped over into a hiss and then began over again with a crackle. Caziz thought he heard a voice speak to him through the constant and even static of the universe. He reversed the audio by motioning backwards with his hand. It played again.

He heard a voice come through in a static-laden tone. The voice sounded again and then again.

"We are The God Generation. Those of the past who have served us will be returned to life. We are The God Generation."

"We are The God Generation. Those of the past who have served us will be returned to life. We are The God Generation."

"We are The God Generation. Those of the past who have served us will be returned to life. We are The God Generation."

Caziz looked up at the console playing the audio to see how long the message had been transmitting and at that instant his gaze became forever transfixed on the display showing no passage of time as he received the transmission. The message came through again and again, repeating itself, but time stood still for all of Euchenor as The God Generation bestowed its saving grace of allowing those of the past not to perish but to live forever in the present.

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