Humans Are Alien Tools

I heard from a reader the other day that my first book, while not especially terrifying on the first read, had made them think about what it would be like for humanity to encounter an alien culture. And then they came to the conclusion that the book had been pretty realistic about that and that aspect was pretty frightening. Most authors wonder at some point where a particular part of their novel comes from. Writing, in its initial stages, is largely an unconscious effort and little epiphanies like this along the way are part of the journey of self-discovery that is an innate part of writing. My self-discovery was the mental root-source of my models of alien encounters: the 1970 British science fiction TV series by Terry Anderson called “UFO”.

I led a relatively sheltered life as a child and when I saw this series, it was very shocking in its realism. Almost every episode ends in a tragedy. We capture a human looking alien and give it truth serum to get their stoic and powerful mind to open up (this alien was an older teen). The serum was incompatible with their metabolism and they die right there in front of you in horrible agony. The aliens come from a dying planet where everyone is sterile. So they view us like cattle — as a source of transplant organs to keep themselves going.  When some random citizen dies at their hands, the forces battling the UFOs keep the death a secret. So the relatives and families of the loved one pine for years hoping that their family member will be found, when actually the relative is simply dead. And then there is the story of the people in the secret SHADOW organization, the ones battling the UFOs. Their family cannot know what they do. So sometimes, family needs are sacrificed as they ignore them to deal with a UFO crisis. A child dies when a dad can’t deliver needed medicine in time because a UFO crisis erupts. As you can see, going from the always happy ending world of childhood TV to this series would be pretty shocking.

This TV series is a wondrous source of ideas in how encountering an alien culture might play-out and the realistic problems that might arise. UFO was a very cynical series because of the fatalistic thought patterns that frequented television during the cold war era. My aliens actually have a great deal of empathy which they learned over the centuries of dealing with humans. Yes, “learned” because empathy is not necessarily required for all life forms as I clearly demonstrate with the lizards in book #4.

But there are a few things that standout about humans that can lead to frightening prospects when we encounter an alien culture. We are a self-repairing, totally autonomous creature that can be very easily molded to fit the needs of aliens. Rather than being solid and unchangeable, like a rock, humans have an editable DNA that controls everything about how they work. We are designed to be changeable. And our mind is very easy to mold too. All one has to do is solve the brain interface problem to where experience and knowledge can be rapidly streamed into our minds, and our brains will rapidly form into a device for the computations presented. In short, we are the perfect tool for advanced aliens. Like UFO, the aliens in the Children of Sophista ruthlessly exploit this. The question becomes, “What alien will control the humans and how will they keep the other aliens out.” When you read the Children of Sophista Series, you learn the frightening yet realistic truth about how this could be accomplished.

Comparison Federation Police Officer Vs. Trisha from 1970's Tomorrow People

I thought it would be interesting to compare Trisha Conway from the 1970’s Tomorrow People Season 4 (left side of picture) with the Federation Police Officer  character on the right side. The Federation Police Officer (FPO) is a major character in The Saeshell Book of Time and she does have a name but revealing it would reveal some of the plot of the book. When I saw Trisha while watching the series, it gave me the idea for the FPO.

Trisha is an interesting study because in the 1970’s, writers  were still having trouble understanding what a woman in a more dominant, driving character role would look like. Trisha started out being the secondary character to Col. Masters of the British military intelligence branch that did research into ESP. Their initial mission was to use ESP as a weapon and thus they attempted to intimidate and blackmail the Tomorrow People into being their weapon. This leads to a seemingly irresolvable conflict in that the Tomorrow People only have stun guns whereas the military has real guns. The resolution is most unexpected and I encourage you to watch the third season story, “Secret Weapon”.

In the fourth season, Col. Masters is killed and Trisha is thrust into a lead position (without a rank or a uniform). The character becomes very interesting because she becomes a mix of the obligatory female vulnerability and the strength of a leader, though the strength she is allowed is not nearly strong enough for such a lead role. Trisha eventually does become a Tomorrow Person and is sent off to be trained to be a Federation Police Officer and is thus dispatched to oblivion in the series.

There are all sorts of interesting things that were left on the floor in the series surrounding Trisha. Roger Price, the series creator, was facing the Zombie Apocalypse at this point as this one season series had failed to die. Now he was in season four and wondering where the story was heading next. Luckily, I have yet to reach that point.

So I approached my FPO a bit differently. She was born in the Federation as the privileged daughter to a leader of the Federation and her vulnerability as a prized (spoiled child) starts there. Daddy dearest decides that in the “violence free”, dystopian Federation, a soft daughter might have a limited lifespan. So he sends her off to the Federation Police Academy, which is the equivalent to Earth Special Forces. Her two tools are a stun gun and a device for sterilizing people against reproduction (covertly). So it’s only her toughness and infiltration skills that allow her to survive trips the uncivilized words, such as Earth. When she encounters the very emotional, sentimental, and overwhelmingly powerful Children of Sophista, her emotional side begins to reemerge. This turns the 1970’s problem with the Trisha character upside down, with my FPO having to rediscover her soft humanity while maintaining her capability as a Special Forces officer.

Childhood Betrothal: First Meeting

"I sense, Dad," thinks Tova, "that you have more than books on your mind as you take me into this store. I dreamed of the enchanted store across the ocean every time you read a new book from it.  When you invited me to fly to the UK with you, I thought we would share a wondrous father-daughter moment at this special store and browse it's magical shelves together. My empathy tells me that is not the case. It tells me that you have not brought me to meet your unusual friends either. 

  

“It's so strange. When I see your and Mom's friends, I sometimes can imagine them not dressed how they are, but as wearing clothing like they are in some magical fairy tale. I don't understand why I do that. I guess it's just my weirdness surfacing.

"The statues on the front of this store are so strange. I am surprised, Dad, you entered a store which has such bizarre decorations displayed. I thought you would be worried about what your colleagues in the financial industry would think. I feel I should know these creatures displayed at the entrance — that they are more trustworthy than human beings."

Inside the bookstore, first-grader Stefan sits in a quite nook downstairs, fidgeting with his fairy doll. He combs the doll's hair in the rhythmic fashion that seems to calm his ever wandering, fragmented mind into a single line of contemplative thought. His thoughts are focused on the section of "The Saeshell Book of Time" his mom read last evening. He quietly whispers to the fairy doll in melodious tones, "Soon you will be here. Soon you will visit me, princess; I can tell. What will I say? Will you know that I am the prince? I am just a little boy. How can you know? Do I dare let you know now? I want you to know, but the book says you can't know yet. The book says I must wait. The book is mean. I want my princess to know me now. But if I don't obey the book, I will break time. That would be too scary." His eyes open wide as he begins to frantically move the fairy doll's wings, making them appear to be flying. "She is here. She is here. What will I do? What will I say?"

He clutches his fairy doll tightly and runs up the stairs to the loft, darting into his private reading cube. He ducks under the table, shivering violently enough to make the table rattle slightly. "The princess and her father are here! What shall I do? I must see her!"

Let's Shoot an Alien Kid

“What are we doing here, Serg?”

“Protecting our planet, even if our country is reluctant to.”

“Yeah, but he’s just a kid. I can’t believe the fate of the planet could be altered by a kid.”

“There’s probably more than one, idiot. Look at the number patch on his arm. We know that there are at least twenty-seven of them.”

“But he’s just a kid. What could he do?”

“Shoot lightning at us, for one thing, like he did just a minute ago.”

“My kid could do that with his science kit. That bolt he shot wasn’t any stronger than that. I think he can’t shoot anything stronger. He just wanted to make us think he is strong so he could scare us away.”

“He scared the Colonel. Switch the damn thing on and aim it before the Colonel uses us for target practice.”

“’Ed’. Ed is an arrogant asshole. He always finds ways to name his toys after himself.”

“It’s not a toy. Someone had to give Ed a lot of gold to get it ready ASAP. How much power does it say your ‘kid’ is generating?”

“I can’t tell. The thing’s not working. The output display is all stars. Typical Ed. He gave us a half working piece of crap. It’s probably his way of asking for more money. Maybe he will tell us where the secret button is that makes it work when we pay him his blood money. He thinks like that, you know?”

“Can your paranoia. The Target Power Output Level does work. I’ve been playing with the ED for the week before you got trained. I aimed it at the power plant near the base repeatedly. It was amazing. I could see how much power everyone in Phoenix was using at different times of the day. Whatever you say about Ed, he is a genius. The regular forces would be foamin just to get the remote power measuring device. You could get a lot of intel with that device alone.”

“Then why does it show all stars when I point it at that kid. Could it be because he is just a kid?”

“Didn’t you listen to what Ed said in his briefing? He said that ‘kid’ of yours is probably a nuclear powered robot. He’s got more power than the city of Phoenix. It’s why Ed had to make such a sophisticated weapon. He wanted something that would switch him off without putting us in the middle of a mushroom cloud. The bastard is on the radio. He says switch it on now. Be sure to aim it carefully before you do. We don’t want to take out the Colonel’s truck.”

“Serg, the kid is screaming. We’re torturing him. What kind of a force are we that we torture kids?”

“The kind that does whatever unpleasant thing is necessary to keep our country on top. Look at your kid now. Wings are appearing on his back. Does he still look like a kid?”

“Yes. Look at his face. He’s a little faker. If he was intending on hurting us, he would take that nuclear power and barbeque us. He looks like a soldier that wants to surrender.”

“So now he’s a soldier, Einstein? Keep your trap shut and listen to the radio. Do your job or you’ll get us all killed. The Colonel is running out to get a closer look at your kid. Be ready to act. You don’t want the Colonel to die, do you? His kids and your kids wouldn’t have a father. Maybe you should pay more attention to the here and now. Listen to the radio and be ready to act!”

This is a story in the world of book #3, “The Saeshell Book of Time Part 3: Paradise Lost”, which will be released Oct. 1^st, 2013. The four books of the serial story are tightly coupled. Get started by reading book #1, “The Saeshell Book of Time Part 1: The Death of Innocents”.

The Pain of Immortality

This illustration, by Matt Curtis, is from chapter 16 in book #3, “The Saeshell Book of Time Part 3: Paradise Lost”. In this scene, Paul25 is showing someone the memory of him being a 1600’s sailing ship cabin boy to prove he’s been alive for one-thousand-years. His captain, who he was been taking care of, was dying of Tuberculosis. Here is an excerpt from book #3 of the story surrounding this illustration. Do you like this?
{
The scene changes and the captain is sitting up against a mooring post of the dock in the deserted darkness, gasping for breath. A little finely made wooden box is next to him. Paul25 is sitting on the ground, tearfully wiping the captain’s forehead with a damp handkerchief.

A rough-looking man walks up to the captain. “Let me see whatcha got in that there box.”

“Be off, ye scoundrel” yells the captain, gasping and coughing afterwards.

The man pulls out a knife; Paul25 points his finger at the man—a lightning bolt with the intensity of the core of Zeus burns its way through the air, plummeting into the assailant’s heart. His body erupts with thousands of tiny sparks, sizzling and crackling like the hairs of death; he wails in a cracking voice as the terrified child within dies in a searing fit. He leaps into the air, slamming the ground, and begins to flop around like a freshly caught fish until the stillness of the North Atlantic cold overtakes him.

“I’m dun fur lad,” groans the captain, in agony. “Now I know why ya been such a good cabin boy. Ye’s a sea fairy. I always hoped I’d see one. When I’m dun, ye take my box. Git some good man to show ya how to use it. You can sail the seas. I’d know you’d be a good captain, you would.”

Paul25 says, “You can’t die here now, alone.”

The captain takes Paul25’s hand with his shaking hand. “I’m not alone. Ye’s always been me faithful sea fairy. Ye’s the best cabin boy I’d ever have. If I’d a married some fine wench, I’d wish I’d have a son like you.”

Before the captain can get another sentence out, he collapses, coughs one last burst of blood, and is dead. The link ends and Paul25’s eyes are wet. … is just standing there staring at Paul25. He looks at … with the tears of a begging child—a child begging not to be soiled by the public revelation of his grim deed of reaping. He doesn’t want to be known as ‘the Paul that killed’.

“He was a really nice man,” sniffles Paul25. “I didn’t want him to die. It was so terrible. He had no family, no one. I had to stay with him. He would have been so lonely.”
}