For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 4
Gettin Itchy

John is walking up the path from the lake with the mornings catch when he sees Sally, and she is with a young man. "Hey Sally. And who is this young lad your walking with? I haven't seen him around here. Is he a new arrival? It's a good thing I got four this morning so we can all eat. "Sally smiles. "Oh no. He's not a new arrival. He is an old friend from high school from a bazillion years ago. I was bored and so was he, so we hooked up to catch up and talk about old times. His name is Patrick". "Hey Pat" John says with a smile. "I'm glad Sally has someone her own age to talk to. I know she is bored with us old ones. Be careful with that 'hooking up' though, or we might have some unexpected new arrivals".

Sally giggles. "Oh John, don't worry about that. We won't be making any new souls in this old lake town. Pat is just here to talk, and he has a lot of new ideas, kind of exciting ideas." John really was happy to see Sally with another youngster. He worries because most of the lake community are old folks. Seeing her with a young man, though, gives him that painful twinge that any father gets when he sees his beautiful young daughter talking to a boy. John's a gentleman though, and he knows his place, so he won't embarrass her – much. "We're thinking about taking a trip back and we were wondering if you can help us get back there?" Sally asks with that please please please face that little girls use.

"Well, I don't exactly know. I've given some thought to that myself, but not enough to get anything figured out. It's one of those things we old ones think about until we realize it would be a lot of work and then we just go fishing again." John says as he notices an irritated grin on Pats young face.

"Yeah. I came here with my parents and they're the same way." Pat says grinning at John, looking for a hint that John might have some answers.

"Well." John says "Maybe old Ben might have something to say about that. He is our local expert on all sorts of stuff. Don't disappear so fast after breakfast this time and maybe he will show up and we can talk. I've got another tangled up reel for him to fix anyway."

Sally and Pat are walking about in the meadow as John is putting away the dishes. Ben, as predicted, ambles up the path.

"Hey guys. I don't think I've ever seen such a crowd up here before." Ben says as he, once again, examines the tangle that awaits him.

"Hey Tekky. This is Sally, as you know, and her friend Pat is here visiting. They were asking me some questions and I thought you might have some better answers. Go ahead Sally, ask old Ben. Nobody has been able to stump him yet." John says with a twinkle in his eye.

Sally jumps right in with an excitement not seen around the lake in a long time "Well Ben. Pat and I want to go back and check out the old place. It's been soooooooo long and we want to see what's become of it."

Usually Ben, when asked any sort of question, launches right into a long winded technical dissertation about how to do this or fix that or make something or the other. This time he just stares at the floor for a while and doesn't say a word. Sally looks at John, and John looked at Pat and Pat look back at Sally and then they all look at Ben who was still staring at the floor boards. Then Ben finally speaks.

"I've been here a long time, a very long time, way before any of you guys got here. I created this lake and most of the surrounding community. I was here to help John put his place together. I got Sally all settled in her little apartment and my wife helped her get it all decorated with girly stuff just the way she liked it. But since that time I have been dreading the day when you guys would ask me these questions. You ain't gonna like the answers." For the first time in forever John had a bad feeling in the pit of his gut. Ben was like the landlord in this community, and the sheriff, and the county judge, and the local preacher. Ben pretty much was the man to go to no matter what was going on. So if he was concerned about something, it's probably something serious.

John asks "So what do you mean we ain't gonna like it? Spill it Ben. What are you talking about?". Ben shuffles around for awhile first looking down, then up, then around, and finally face to face.

"Well guys, it ain't there no more. It just ain't there. The place you want to go back to ain't there any more, not at least any place I can find it that is. But before I can explain it to you proper, I've gotta rearrange your thoughts a bit. This might be a bit uncomfortable, so have a seat and we will get started." Thus begins a conversation the likes of which John has never heard before. There are times in most everyone's life when the rug gets pulled out from under you and you find yourself grabbing for something to hold on to but there just isn't anything to grab. This is going to be one of those times. They pull up some chairs on one side of the table, Ben on the other side, and get all prepared to be educated.

"It's sort of a long story, so I'm gonna hit you with it in little bits and pieces so you can take it all in. I'm gonna ask you some questions that won't make any sense at first. Bear with me though. There is a method to my convoluted madness. My first question is for Pat. How did you get to this lake village?".

"Huh?" Pat asks, kind of confused. "Sally asked me to come, and I came."

"That isn't what I asked, Pat. HOW, did you get here? Think really hard for a minute and tell me the method you used to get here." Ben asks, staring intently into Pat's eyes.

Pat stammers a bit and says "I already told you. She asked me to come, and I came. I guess I really don't understand the question."

Ben looks around the room and says to John"This is gonna be difficult." Looking back at Pat, Ben continues. "Pat when Sally 'asked' you to come did she call you on the phone, send you a letter, use a telegraph? How did you know Sally wanted you to come." Pat just stares, not sure what to say. "OK, don't try to answer, because you will never be able to guess and I'm going to have to tell you. You didn't get a letter, or a phone call, or a telegram. You just knew. You just knew because that is the way that it works here. Sally formed a thought in her head that she wanted to see you and that same thought formed in your head at the same time and when you decided to come, you were here in that same instant." They all stare at Ben like he has totally lost it.

"Sally and I have always been close so we basically know what the other is thinking, but I didn't teleport myself here. That's nonsense. I think I walked here. That's right. I walked here."

Ben looks at Pat intently. "Yes, you remember walking, up the steps to the apartment house and up the stairs to her floor, and down the hall to her room. That you remember, and that you did. But you can't remember getting from your apartment building to her apartment building. Can you?"

Now Pat is totally flustered. "No sir, I can't. What is going on here? This just isn't making any sense."

Ben smiles, feeling like he may be pushing the boy too hard. "I'm sorry Pat, I don't mean to pick on you, but I'm trying to break through the wall of the illusion a bit, just a little bit, so you can peak through and see what is really going on here. You got any more fish John? You better start frying because we are gonna be here a while."

"I got one. You want me to go catch some more?" John asks, anxious to get out of there and go fishing.

"Nope, John, look again. I think you got at least a dozen there." Ben says with a knowing grin.

"Nope I got just one cuz I caught four and we ate three and wait! This is really spooky Ben. I must have caught more than I thought. I do have at least a dozen here." John got out a big pot to start a fish fry going for lunch.

Ben sat back in his chair, his arms folded across his middle, rocking slowly back and forth. John doesn't remember that chair being a rocker, but its rocking so it must be a rocker. "When I came here to build this lake it was to be a place of relaxation and reflection and preparation. I built my little cottage for me and my wife, and then 20 more for the newcomers. John came in about 30 years later and I helped him setup his place just the way he liked it. That was all that was ever intended for this place. But Sally, you don't live in a little lake cottage. You live in an apartment building. What is an apartment building doing in a little lake community? Don't answer that, just think about it. The day you showed up, 50 other people showed up. Those are your neighbors in your building? Why would 50 people all show up at the same time. That didn't make any sense, and still doesn't for the most part, but you guys were here and needed rooms so we made your building and you are still here. Do you remember when that was? How long ago was it?"

Sally thought for a minute and then guessed "I don't actually know. 5 years ago, maybe?"

Ben paused for a few seconds and then says "That would be about right. You were 15 when you got here and now you appear to be about 20. But think really hard Sally. What have you done each morning for as long as you remember. How many mornings have you had fish with John. Don't try to think, just open your mind and let a number form and tell me what it is."

Sally looks confused. "This is a silly game Ben. I can't just let any old random number form in my brain. It doesn't make sense. I have to figure it out."

Ben looks intently at Sally. "Tell me what number formed Sally. I already know what it is, but I want you to say it."

Sally says, "OK, Ben, the number in my head is one million, one hundred thirteen thousand, nine hundred eighty two. Are you satisfied? That's a totally ridiculous number. Isn't It?"

"Nope" Ben says, almost laughing. "That would be about right, almost exactly right. When you allow the truth to form in your mind it is usually always exactly right. You have been having fish for breakfast with John for almost three thousand and 50 years. Deep down you already knew that, but then again you didn't know. I suppose that is why you are starting to get a little bored and itchy to move on."

The oil was hot and John is dropping the fish into the fryer. Pat and Sally are sitting and staring at Ben not knowing exactly what to say, or what to believe. Ben just sits there rocking, knowing that this was going to be an unusually long day.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 5
Remembrance

Once he got his students into learn mode Ben goes on for hours, teaching them what they already know, but don't know they know. John has been in numerous meetings with Ben, helping lake residents get ready to move in or move out of the lake community. This time though Ben is covering a lot of new territory. There is a lot of this stuff that even John, one of the old ones, hasn't heard before.

"This lake village is what is called a perceptual bubble. It is one that we all share. Although it appears that you are standing on solid ground, breathing fresh clean air, eating some tasty fried fish, looking outside at the grass and the trees and the sky and the clouds, in reality all of that is a perception created by your mind. That is what your mind does. It perceives a reality and you live inside that perceptual reality. Here we all agree that this is our reality and that is why it all looks the same to us. In order for it not to all fall apart and dissipate we all have to agree and not question it too much.

"So that is why you know, but don't really know. Your mind, our mind, forgets about the technical aspects of creating your world so you won't pay attention to all the little details. Actually you are just accepting it without thinking about it and that is what allows it to remain real to you. An old one like me has learned to tinker with the edges a bit. That is why I can question it without it all unraveling. I know just how far I can go before something might break. That is how I can just imagine that one fish is really twelve and then there are twelve fish. I'm not saying that all of this is not real. I'm saying that this reality is created with our collective consciousness and that we all then live in this perceptual bubble and all agree that this is our reality, and that is what makes it real.

"Time and space work differently here. That’s why you can spend over three thousand years doing the same thing, yet it only feels like five, and your body barely ages. That’s also why John has been fishing every day for 3,350 years without ever getting bored—his body hasn’t aged at all since he arrived. But—and this is a big but—I don’t have all the answers. Something went wrong a long time ago, about 3,000 years back. When I try to open my mind to the truth, all I see are faint, blurry images that I can’t make sense of. Normally, I get clear answers, but this time, it’s like the universe itself doesn’t know—or maybe it knows but won’t, or can’t, tell me."

"You were there when it happened, so I need your help. You’ll have to remember what you’ve forgotten and help me piece this together so we might be able to fix whatever went wrong.

Are you following so far? I don’t want to go too fast and overwhelm you. It’s important that you understand this."

"I'm OK." Sally says. "I'm just letting you talk and letting it soak in as it will. It's a little more of an answer that I was expecting, but I will listen and let you know if you are going too fast."

"How you hanging boy? You OK with this stuff" Ben asks.

Pat responds "Hey, I'm with her. As long as she is listening to this stuff I'll listen with her. I do have a question though. If all this stuff is consciousness, then why are we not conscious of it? Why are we hearing this stuff for the first time if we are already conscious of it."

Ben smiles and says "Good. Now we’re getting to the important part. Words often fall short, especially when trying to describe things that are hard to visualize.

Consciousness simply is—and, in fact, it is everything. However, our personal experience is just a small fragment, like a single thread in the vast fabric of time. It’s similar to the wake left by a boat moving across an endless ocean. That tiny thread is what we call our awareness—the portion of consciousness that we actively experience, the part we can see, feel, touch, and relate to."

Pat continued "But consciousness and awareness are synonyms. You are speaking as if they are different things."

"As I said, words often fail us. Instead of inventing new terms that no one understands, let’s refine the meaning of some familiar ones so we can use them to discuss these complex ideas.

First, your consciousness doesn’t start and end with you—it’s part of something larger, which is itself part of something even greater, and so on. There is no clear boundary where your consciousness stops and the consciousness of others, or the entirety of existence, begins. This interconnectedness is known as the collective consciousness.

Your awareness, however, is different. It does have boundaries—it begins and ends within you, separating your experience from that of others. Unlike consciousness, awareness is constantly shifting. You might be aware of something, forget it, and then remember it later. But that forgotten thought never left your consciousness—it was simply outside your awareness.

"Our consciousness is like light—it exists on a continuous spectrum of frequencies. Many of these frequencies are either too slow or too fast for us to perceive, making them invisible to us.

Our awareness is like the visible spectrum, a small portion in the middle of the vast range of consciousness. A significant part of our consciousness exists outside our awareness and is known as the subconscious. It functions like the unseen machinery in a basement, quietly keeping everything running.

Another large part of our consciousness, also beyond our awareness, is called the superconscious. In reality, we only experience a small portion of the entire spectrum of consciousness—just a narrow window in the middle of something far greater.

"You are not just a single consciousness, nor are you limited to a single awareness. There is the primary awareness—the one you recognize as "I Am." This is the part of you that you call "I" or "me." But beyond that, there are many other conscious entities within you. Some of them may have their own awareness, yet they are not part of the "I Am" that you identify with.

Some of these entities are often considered part of the unconscious mind, but they are very much conscious—and possibly even aware. They simply do not belong to your personal sense of "I." Have you ever found yourself arguing with yourself? Who did you think you were arguing with?

"Your awareness consists of what you see, feel, touch, and experience. These are my personal definitions, and others might disagree. I’ve spoken with philosophers who use complex terms like ontology and epistemology, but those words don’t really help in practical matters. When managing a place like this, you need to get things done—not debate over terminology. These definitions work for me, so I stick with them."

"Now, this place—like all places—is defined by what we call dimensions. But in reality, dimensions are not actual things; they are just mathematical constructs we use to describe how reality is structured. In truth, reality is an indivisible whole. However, for the sake of language and the limits of our understanding, let’s pretend dimensions exist.

I don’t expect you to remember all of this right away, so we’ll go through it quickly and let it sink in over time. If you ever need to revisit these ideas, we can go over them again. For now, take a look at this old sketch I made years ago. It’s just one way of looking at things—there are many perspectives—but this is the one that makes the most sense to me."

"So, you're talking about the parallel universes theory?" Pat asks

"Not exactly," Ben replies. "This isn’t the parallel universes theory you learned in school. These domains—or universes, if you prefer—aren’t separate and running alongside each other, divided by some kind of barrier. Instead, they interpenetrate one another. They exist in the same space, at the same time, but at a different phase angle. What separates them isn’t distance—it’s a phase shift."

"Dimension is a confusing term. It's kind of like the word love. We use it to describe things that are beyond our understanding. We also use those words to describe more than one thing. For the sake of this discussion we use the word dimensions to describe four things that all interact to make what we call multi-verse reality. They are the dimensions of space, the dimensions of time, the dimension of Mind, and the Theta-Delta dimensions also called dimensional frameworks."

"The dimension of Mind is the most important because that is where experience manifests. That dimensions is always where YOU truly are. Some have labeled their charts with the Mind dimension as the zero'th dimension and then those to the left as negative dimensions and those to the right as positive dimensions. It doesn't really matter how we number them. They all work the same way, regardless."

"Experience needs a frame of reference, otherwise there isn't anything to experience except existence itself, and that is no experience at all. So these other dimensions to the left and right of Mind provide a frame of reference within which experience can occur. Levels zero, one, and two are abstract. Nothing can really exist there. They are good for math and calculations though. The first dimensional framework where real things can actually exists is the third level. It is also the most popular. It is also where we all came from, our physical form that is. It all evolved in that third level."

"Dimensions can be all folded up where we can't see what's in them and can't use them for much, or they can be folded out where we can move around in them and use them for creating our physical worlds. In this perceptual space there are six out-folded dimensions. Three of them define where things are in relation to each other and we call those spatial.

"Hyper-time is a second temporal dimension for moving about in spacial time and it is responsible for the flexible connection we have to the fourth dimension. It is a special kind of partly out-folded temporal dimension that allows the fourth dimension of time to stretch and contract a bit. All of these dimensions intersect with and interpenetrates the dimension of mind which is where we put it all together and that is where we make it real. The sixth dimension, the mind dimension, is where our perceptual bubble of reality manifests. We all have our own little perceptual bubble where our self lives, but we are all part of a larger perception, such as this place, and it is part of a bigger place, and on and on.

"We use hyper-time very sparingly here because we only need a bit of it. We just want to stretch or compress the fourth dimension a little to suit our purposes. If we use too much and we get a twist or a fold or a loop in the forth dimension then we may interrupt the sense of cause and effect and then nothing much makes any sense and our reality gets really crazy. So now that you have been introduced to hyper-time don't play with it too much or you might get lost in 'crazy' land and have a very hard time getting back out. Believe me, that can be a very uncomfortable experience."

"This perceptual bubble is one of trillions of trillions of other perceptual bubbles that surround and interpenetrates a certain four dimensional reality. The four dimensional reality is much more restrictive than this one. It has the three dimensions of space like this one but only one dimension of time, so in four dimensional reality there is a single vector of time and you can't stretch it the way we can here. Riding that time line is like a surfer at the crest of a wave. He just moves with the wave, but he can't change its speed or where the wave is going."

"Although each individual consciousness exists in its own little perception bubble in this four dimensional reality they are all sub-domains of only one perceptual bubble in which all entities exist and all agree on, without ever thinking about it at all. They can't even think about it if they wanted to, because it is invisible to them. It is indeed a very restrictive existence compared to this one."

"If you were to want to teleport in the four dimensional world, well you can, but you would either have to get trillions of trillions of other consciousnesses within the Mind dimension to agree that you can, which ain't gonna happen; or you would have to elevate your consciousness to a level high enough to superimpose your will on trillions of trillions of others; which pretty much ain't gonna happen either. This four dimensional world, restrictive as it is, however, is the home that you remember, it is where your stories are, and where you are longing to go home to."

"This reality you are experiencing right now is tightly coupled to this four dimensional place and specifically to a location within this space which is a large rock known as a planet upon which you lived. It looks just like this place. That is because we have modeled this place after that other place that you came from. This reality can take the form of anything your mind can imagine, but you have imagined the only thing you know, which is your home, which is that four dimensional planet. That planet is called Earth."

"Normally after resting here for awhile you go back for another trip to planet Earth, and a life there as an entity with a four dimensional body. Part of my job here, in addition to managing this little perceptual bubble, is to prepare you for your return trip. But now something has gone really really wrong. Planet Earth is missing; or at least, I can't find it."

Now it's Sally's turn to stare at the floorboards for a while. As she slowly emerges from her deep contemplation she looks up and stares at Ben. "OK, I'm so totally freaking the fuck out right now, Ben, and I feel sick. What the hell is going on? My head is spinning, I'm nauseous, I think I'm gonna throw up, and I'm honestly wondering if you're totally full of it, but at the same time it does explain a few things."

"Very Good, Sally" Ben smiles. "This is normal. The physical discomfort you are feeling is a memory from when you were joined with a physical body in the Earth reality. Disorientation in a physical body causes a sense of dizziness and nausea and will many times cause you to feel the need to throw up. Lets say when you were ten years old your parents had suddenly without any warning told you that you were moving to a different country. The shock, the disorientation caused by the sudden new idea that the world you knew was suddenly going to be all different might cause you to be sad or even get sick. Since you still have the form of a body, that is the reaction you are having. I'm going as slow as I can for you to get acclimated to your new understanding, but there will be some continuing discomfort. After a while though you will get past it, you will learn to think past it because it no longer needs to be part of your perception. Your perception is your reality and you will learn to control it."

Pat, with the same sick look on his face gets up the courage to ask the question on all their minds. "OK, lets say for a minute that you know what you are talking about. So where the hell are we? Is this some sort of shared consciousness, or a shared unconscious? How did we get here? What are we? Are we lost? Are we supposed to be somewhere else? What the hell is going on? Are we dead?"

Ben contemplates his question for a bit and then says "Well, I don't think this is hell, unless you want it to be, and I'm sitting here looking at you so you certainly ain't dead. I can tell you though, that what you think you are, you are not.

"When I got here I was confused too. We were not at the lake. In fact it didn't exist yet. Penny and I, Penny is my wife by the way, found ourselves waking up in a pretty southern style bedroom, in a hotel, along a busy street in a bustling busy town. We went downstairs to the front desk and started asking questions and were directed to talk to a man named Michael, who we met in the saloon. He helped us remember a bit of where we came from and what our new jobs were going to be here. It turns out that we had been living as Earth bodies on a plantation in a lovely part of planet Earth. There was a great war going on and our bottom floor was commandeered for troops, so we moved upstairs. The troops thought it would be a good idea to store explosives in our basement. That turned out to be a very bad idea. Our last memories were of a fire fight and enemy troops storming the house. We don't remember getting shot or any explosions or anything but our next memory was waking up in that bed in that town."

Pat smiles and says "Well, it's simple then. We have somehow gotten ourselves moved through a trans-dimensional conduit and we are in a different dimension than Earth is in. We just need to find a conduit to get back".

Ben smiles as well and says "Remember Pat. I said the dimension word is over used and confusing. You make a good point but we are in the same dimensional framework as Earth, just at a different level of dimensionality. That is different from being in a 'different dimension'."

"What you are talking about is a different dimensional framework or a Theta-Delta dimension. Lets say I take this sketch of mine and put a pin through the mind dimension and stick it to the wall. First, it is an error here to call it the mind dimension because it is actually a level within a specific dimensional framework, the one we refer to as Theta Delta Zero, Zero. Now lets say we rotate this sketch six degrees counter clockwise. Now we are talking about a whole new dimensional framework which has all the same levels that this one has. When we rotate it like this we say we are rotating it through the Theta axis, and it is called dimension Theta Delta minus Six, Zero. This dimensional framework isn't a copy of this one at all. It is a completely independent reality that doesn't interact with this one at all, unless you use one of those trans-dimensional conduits. There are a bunch of them too, at least a thousand, and maybe more, as you rotate the sketch around through Theta."

"Now lets say I hold the top and bottom of the sketch and leaving it at the minus Six Theta rotation, rotate it around the other axis, say plus eleven degrees. This is the Delta axis rotation. So that dimension would be called Theta Delta minus Six, Eleven dimension. Now there are at least a thousand frameworks available by rotating through Delta. If we rotate all the way through Theta and Delta that is over a million potential dimensional frameworks, separate realities, the we can imagine right now. There is actually way more than that but this is enough to think about right now."

"How did we get to be Zero Zero. Are we the first?" Pat wants to know.

"We got to be Zero Zero because we made up this whole dimensional nomenclature here and we based everything relative to this framework. Other frameworks, I'm sure, have a completely different way to explain all this stuff. Here are the important points to remember about these dimensional frameworks. First, there are a bunch of them, more than we could ever want to go visit. Second, and this is important, they all intersect at one level, and that is the level of Mind."

"OK, the fish are done. Lets stop all this weird talk, forget about being sick, and enjoy some good food. It appears we have plenty of time to talk all this out. There don't seem to be much else here but time". John sets the plates on the table and a platter with a dozen fresh cooked fish, all breaded up nice and fancy like the way he makes them for guests."

"John?", asks Sally, "Do you remember coming here?".

"Now I was just thinking bout that", John replies. "I remember my last day at the lake in the other place. I was retired from fire fighting, but I still had my room at the fire house. I was headed up the road to the lake with my pole and I started having that nausea feeling and I was getting really weak. I sat down for a minute to catch my breath and the feeling soon passed. I got up and started walking to the lake again, except I wasn't there no more. I was here. Ben met me on the road and he showed me my place that I could have if I wanted it and then took me down to the lake and found me a good spot where there were plenty to catch. Other than meeting new arrivals now and then that's all I've done since. Fish, fry them up, and tell stores. It's been good, but now I'm beginning to wonder what it's all about. Is this it? Am I gonna fish and fry and tell stories about a world long gone, forever? I know Ben told me when I got here to just relax and take it easy because I was gonna be here a long long time. My only job here was to help him get a few people ready for their next journey when they get ready to move on from this place. But until now, It never even entered my head to move on myself. What's the next step? Ben, you seem to be the expert here. Where do we go from here?"

Ben mulls it over in his mind for a while and then says "For you John I know that someday you will move up to a new level. As far as these young folk are concerned, and going to visit Earth; I wish I knew. Michael showed me how to leave that town, which was a large perceptual bubble with almost a million members, and create this one from my memories and make it big enough and stable enough for me and Penny to move into. Each new member we got added to its stability and added details to its reality. From time to time one of our members would get itchy to move on and we would sit down and figure out what to do and where to go and Michael would stop by and finalize the plans and get them going on their new path. But I haven't seen Michael in a long long time. I guess the next step is to find Michael."

"How do we do that?" Sally asks.

"We don't. You do. I gotta stay here and keep this place running. Since I created it I gotta stay here or it will begin to loose cohesion and change very fast into something that it is not. So you gotta go find Michael. He doesn't respond to a summons, I've tried to summon him many times. He is different like that. He just shows up when it fits his business to show up. So you gotta go find him. I'll bet he is back in that town. I think he created that one, so I bet you can find him there. I will show you how to get there. The three of you should go, you two young ones, and John to keep an eye on you. John is an old soul with a lot of perspective and he can keep you young pups out of trouble. Penny and I will keep an eye on you from here. Michael showed us how to do that and if you get into trouble we will summon you back. Hold on to your hats kids. Something tells me this is gonna be a wild ride."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 6
Finding Michael

Mission: Day 1 Morning

Pat wakes early, the sun is shining in his eyes. Sally is snuggled up next to Pat and John has his bed roll on the floor across the room. John is up and tinkering with a coffee pot trying to get a fire going to brew himself a cup. There is quite a racket coming from the window, way more noise than at the lake.

"Holy crap!" Pat says. "It's just like old Ben said. We went to sleep at the lake with the intention of waking up here, and here we are".

John says "I think old Ben had a little something to do with that. I don't think we got here all by ourselves. But we are here, so as soon as your little friend there wakes up we'll get on down stairs and start checking this place out. We might even find a poker game. Haven't done that in a long long time. This town looks a lot like where I grew up so I don't think it will take long to get the lay of the land here."

"I'm awake" Sally says. "I'm just all warm and comfy and I don't want to open my eyes yet".

"Open em up, Sally." Pat commands. "We have a whole new world to explore here. There is a pink suitcase over in the corner, so I assume that's your stuff. I found a bag with my stuff in it and John has his bed roll and stuff over there."

"It ain't mine." Sally says, stumbling out of bed in her cute little old fashioned night gown. "The name tag says Penny. She must have packed up my stuff for me. She is such a sweet old girl. My stuff is inside though. You guys go on down stairs and I'm gonna get dressed up here and meet ya down there, OK?" The boys took the hint that she needed some privacy and head on down the hall to the stairs.

"Where you boys from?" the desk clerk asks. "This hotel is mostly for locals, we don't get many out of towners. What brings you to Powder Junction?"

"So that's what this place is called." John says. "Guess it fits though. Ben and Penny sitting on a house full of gun powder got blowed to Powder Junction". Pat laughs. The desk clerk just stares.

Pat explains. "Well, old Ben from where my friend Sally lives out by the lake, suggested we come here. We are looking for a person named Michael."

"Newcomers? Dang we haven't had newcomers here in like forever. Well if you guys are newcomers, then Michael will be waiting for you in the bar. But I haven't seen Michael around here for a long time either. But you're welcome to go in there and check it out. He's an old coot with white hair, black boots, and a stupid looking bolo tie. You can't miss him if he is there". The desk clerk points the way to the bar and John and Pat head out to look for Michael.

"Michael who?" the bartender asks.

"Well", John says, "We came here looking for a fella named Michael. The desk clerk said he usually wears black boots and he has white hair and maybe a bolo tie. He usually is here when newcomers arrive."

"Newcomers?" The bartender looks shocked. "Well, I know the Michael you are talking about but he ain't gonna be here to meet no newcomers. Since the big influx we don't take no newcomers, so if you are newcomers you got sent to the wrong place."

John had a little explaining to do so he says "Well, we are not really newcomers. We live out by Penny Lake and our old friend Ben helped us get here so we could look for Michael. We have a lot of questions we would like to ask him."

"Well sit here while I send a telegram. Maybe I can get his attention, but their ain't no guarantee. Here is a whiskey bottle and a couple of clean glasses. It's on the house. I'll be back shortly."

Pat is gasping for breath as Sally arrives, looking all pretty in a yellow and white dress. "What's your problem Pat? You sick?"

"No, the bartender gave us some vile liquid they call whiskey. I've never had whiskey before and I'm quite sure I'll never have it again. Lets go over to the cafe and see if we can get some breakfast."

"OK, sounds like a plan. I'm ready for adventure!"

"Fish? For breakfast? You gotta be nuts old man. We got bacon, steak, eggs, grits, fried taters and stuff like that. It's breakfast time and we gots breakfast food. You guys aren't from around here huh? Buy the way, you guys got any money? This ain't no free kitchen."

"Well no ma'am, I don't think we thought to bring any money" Sally says starting to worry how they were going to eat in this strange new town.

"Don't play silly games with me little girl, I know all the tricks you kids play. I can see a roll of bills in your skinny little boyfriends pocket and it looks like you have a bunch wadded up in that pretty little yellow purse. I would get yerself a wallet son. Somebody's gonna snatch those right out of your shirt while you ain't looking. So cut the crap and order some breakfast. I don't have all morning to stand here and play with you fools." Sure enough, Pat had a nice roll of bills in his shirt pocket and Sally also had a nice amount in her purse. Sally thought it must have been Penny again, setting them up with all they needed.

The food was good, and plentiful, and they were stuffed. This was a much heavier fare than fried fish, it laid in the stomach like a stone. "Pat, John, I'm not so sure about this place. Something strange happened after you guys left the room, something I hadn't even thought about since as long as I can remember"

"What was that, sweetie" John asks.

"Well, this might sound a little indelicate here at the breakfast table, but when I was getting dressed, I had to go potty. At the lake, the whole time I've been living there, I don't ever remember having to go potty. I don't even remember thinking about it. I remember eating a lot, but never having to go potty, but here I do. Isn't that weird?"

"I've noticed the same thing too", John says. "My head was buzzing from the coffee I brewed up and then it was totally spinning after a couple of shots of whiskey on an empty stomach. I don't remember catching a buzz off anything for a long time. And now I have to pee. So there is something different about this place. It isn't like the lake"

"Nope, it sure ain't like Penny Lake, is it? Welcome friends of Ben. My name is Michael. I hear you got some questions you need answers for. The first answers are down the hall to the left for the guys and down the hall to the right for the pretty little lady. Go relieve your bodily functions and I'll be here when ya get back."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 7
Awakening

Mission: Day 1, late morning.

Michael is excited to show off his town to his new friends.

"Let's go for a walk guys and gal and I'll show you my little world here." The four of them walked outside onto the wooden sidewalk and followed Michael as he strolled down main street. "I named this place Powder Junction from an old book I read when I was a kid. What do ya think? It's a pretty little town isn't it?"

"Yes, it's lovely" Sally says with a sideways look and a grin on her face. "I got you figured out Michael. This is Earth isn't it, in the past, back in the old wild west. Ben sent us to Earth in the past. Thats why John got drunk and had to go pee and why I had to go poop. We are back in earthly bodies and we have to do all the things bodies do. Pat and I can even have sex if we want to, can't we?"

"Uh, yeah, could we?" Pat stammers and chokes a bit, strangling on his own spit. There are some girls who are shy talking about bodily functions and private things. Sally isn't one of those girls.

"Well, the answers are no, no, no, no and yes. This isn't Earth, not by a long shot. But it is a lot closer to being on Earth because this place has a lot more members than Penny Lake. You see, reality is created in your mind, not the other way around like you may think. I created this place, a perceptual bubble as Ben likes to call it, and I made it the way I liked it because I grew up on Earth in a place very much like this town and the surrounding area. But it's all in my mind. That means that you are in my mind too. It doesn't mean that I am making you up, you are doing that yourself, but our perceptions have merged and we are experiencing a common experience. That is how we create our reality. It is the way all realities are created, including the reality you knew back on Earth. The difference is the number of members."

"Penny Lake is a very light reality because there are less than a hundred members. It is much more ethereal there, and a lot more peaceful I might add too. In Penny Lake once your intention is fully focused on being somewhere, like Johns cottage, you just appear there. Sally, if you will remember the many times you enjoyed the walk up the lane to Johns house, some days you would walk the whole way just enjoying your time in the country. Other days when you were more in a hurry you don't really remember the walk. That is because you didn't actually walk the whole way. Once your intention focused on being there, there you were. Here, because we have almost a million and a half members, things are much heavier in this perception, much denser we would say."

"Ben briefed me on your conversation at the Lake. Our dimensions here are wound up a little tighter and things like teleportation of our consciousness is much more difficult. So here, instead of just being there, you gotta take a wagon or ride a horse. And after filling your gut with a lotta good food, you gotta go poop. So do the horses and the cows around here, so watch where you step. Pat is also from a light domain, so when you wanted him to visit he instantly knew that and when he decided to go, there he was. It's not so easy in this domain. All the minds here develop a sort of mental inertia. That is what makes this place denser and certain ethereal things more difficult to do. Getting all these minds to agree takes a lot of mental energy so sometimes things that are easy for you in a lighter place are too difficult to accomplish here. Another way to look at it is that in a lightly populated domain you can get away with stuff while the other minds aren't looking, but in densely populated domains, you can't."

"So all our bodily functions work here?" asks Pat.

"Yes, they do, for the most part, including that one that you and Sally have been thinking about. But be careful. In denser realities consequences are harder to avoid too. Just like going poop you gotta put up with a bit more shit here than you do out at Penny Lake."

"Are you saying I can get knocked up here?" Sally asks.

"The consequences for sexual couples here are mainly emotional attachments that can turn dysfunctional. You probably noticed that this is a place of bad attitudes and crabby dispositions. This is by no means a place of perfection, nor was it intended to be. This is supposed to be a stopping off place, to relax, to recoup, to regenerate your spiritual energy for another trip back to level 3, which is what we call the 4 dimensional universe of which Earth is a member."

"Well Michael, I think you just hit on the why we are here. The getting back to Earth part. The three of us here have a hankering to go back and visit that place and see whats up there, but Ben couldn't help us out. What do we gotta do to get there. Can we just take a nap like Ben had us do and wake up there?". John waits for an answer, or a train ticket, or whatever it takes to book passage to planet Earth.

"I wish it was that easy, John, but it just isn't. I'll see if I can explain it, what the rules were, and then what happened when Sally and Pat showed up. The rules all changed then and, for now, we don't really have any new rules setup yet. So this is what I know. Back before the influx as we call it when a souls time was up here they were prepared for a trip back, either as an ethereal visit, or as a life in a body. Earth is the baby making factory in this neck of the universe so when one was available and suitable for one of our souls we would make the preparations necessary for the trip back. Your consciousness would be prepared and like Ben did when he brought you here, you go to sleep, and then when you wake up you are in a human body again.

"There isn't ever a good fit between a mature soul like you guys and a developing human infant, so although you will maintain your mature consciousness for maybe a year or two, who and what you are now will slowly go to sleep and the body will continue to develop its person-hood with your consciousness as a background template, but with no memory of who and what you are. When that life is complete you find yourself back here, or at the lake, or wherever you are accepted as a newcomer with only the memory of your Earthly life and without a memory of your previous lives here or other previous lives on Earth.

"Many newcomers don't even realize that they have made the trip and think they are still there. Many others are aware that their earthly life has ended but they soon get accustomed to their new life here and carry on in the same fashion they did back there, and treat their life there as somebody they used to be. It is sort of like moving from your parents house to go to college and creating a new life for yourself there. John, you just kept on doing what you were doing in pretty much the same fashion as you did back in the logging community in Oregon in the 1890's. You were an old retired fireman spending your days on the lake with your fishing pole, and that is still what you are doing now. Sally and Pat, you guys were just starting your life when it was suddenly over. You were kids there and you are kids here. You have been kids for thousands of years here, but you're fixin to grow up - and fast. You are experiencing an awakening. You will begin to remember not only who you really are here and now, but before, and a lot of befores of that. Normally we don't prepare anyone with so much information for a trip back, but this is a special situation. So are you guys ready?"

"So who made up all these rules and why did they change them all the sudden?" Pat asks.

Michael answers. "I did, you did, we all did. This recycling business is just the way life as it worked itself out in this region of reality. It isn't the same everyplace. So there is no big director of reality that is figuring this all out and telling us how we have to do it. We work this stuff our on our own. That is all part of the consciousness that is outside of our awareness. It isn't the sort of stuff that we remember or ever even think about. Why everything suddenly changed, however, is a mystery. It is a mystery we are going to need your help to figure out."

"I can't even remember half of what you just said" Sally complains.

"And I'm not sure I believe any of it" Pat chimes in.

"Great. If you guys just sat their soaking up all of this and believing every word of it you wouldn't be worth a crap for the job you're gonna have to do. You will need to be able to think, to decide what is beneficial for your task, what is true and what is false, and most importantly to take from the sea of potentiality ^[22] and choose what should be realized, and what should not."

"So, Mr Michael whoever you are who seems to know everything" Sally begins to ask and then pauses. "Are you the Archangel Michael?"

"Nope, and nope. There is a bunch of stuff I don't know, starting with how you are going to accomplish this task you are embarking on. You are gonna have to create a lot of your own solutions for that and I'm not sure what that could be. And I've never met an Archangel. Don't even know if those creatures exist. What you are describing is probably a level 10 entity. There wouldn't be much point in them hanging around a level 5 domain like this".

"Level 5?" John asks with a confused look. "What happened to level 4, if Earth is a level 3?".

"Well, it's just the language we use to describe it. The level is the number of out-folded dimensions minus one. So we have 6 dimensions here so it is a level 5 domain. Earth has 4 so it is a level 3. A point has one dimension so it is level 0. A typical level 4 domain has 5 out-folded dimensions and they come in two types. One is with 4 out-folded spacial dimensions allowing for dramatically enhanced morphological ^[23] potentials. The other type is with 2 out-folded temporal dimensions allowing for existing on a temporal plane instead of a temporal line such as on Earth. Those level 4 domains don't work well for entities such as yourself still holding on to your image of being an Earthling. You wouldn't know where you are, when you are, or have the slightest clue what you were looking at. Level 5 domains are excellent for you guys, and that is why you came here. You can go to a level 4 if you wanted, but you would find it very confusing, so there wouldn't be much point in it. The dimensions and levels and stuff can get confusing but it's basically just math and a little geometry.

Pat was curious. "If this level 5 domain as you call it is where we go when we die on Earth, then is this Heaven?"

Michael laughs "Yes and no. It can be if that is what you are looking for. Or it can be hell if that is where you believe you belong. It can be any place in between and a few other places that you can't even imagine. But if you're asking is this where God lives, the place of everlasting bliss in a beatific vision of the All that Is, then no. This is not that Heaven. This is a stopping off place for souls preparing to take another ride on planet Earth and it is both spatially and temporally bound to the area of 4 dimensional space-time where Earth exists."

Sally interrupted. "O-key do-key guys. This is all fun, and I will continue with you shortly, but right now I gotta go back to the room to take care of one of those new body functions in your stupid little town".

"There are potties all around here Honey, you don't have to go all the way back there."

"It's not that" Sally says getting more irritated with Powder Junction by the minute. "I'm sweating in this stupid dress and I STINK, OK? I'm going to take a bath and change clothes. You guys could do the same."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 8
The Great Influx

Mission: Day 1, lunch time

Sally comes down the stairs like a princess presenting herself to her subjects. She is about as pretty as a young woman can be and the three men waiting for her cannot hide their adoration for her. Sally, oblivious to their affection, gets straight to business. "If that is what this is all about, getting ready for going back to Earth, then why did Ben say he couldn't find it. Something the size of a planet doesn't just disappear, does it?" Sally asks with a concerned look, and munching on some dry toast while waiting for supper. The group found a little cafe in a quiet part of town away from main street where they can chat. At home in Penny Lake Sally never thought about food unless it was offered as part of a social event of some sort. In Powder Junction however, after a long day of learning mind blowing stuff, she's really hungry.That supper better come soon or she's going to start stealing crackers off the other tables.

"Well, sweetie, I'm gonna talk all the way around that question and then circle back in on it. As I said before, there are two ways to visit earth. One is to be born into a human body and become that being, eventually forgetting who and what you were before. That's pretty extreme, and for who you are right now, it's a one way trip. When you come back you are somebody else. You will have become that person who's body you were while on Earth. The other way is you can make an ethereal visit to Earth. Actually, ethereal is what you are right now. This body that you think you have, and which in fact you do have, is an ethereal body. It interacts with this domain and is part of it. Here, it is quite real, just as real as a body on Earth. It does not, however, interact with the Earth domain and is not part of it, except when you become one of them through birth. "What I was told is that level 3 and level 5 are out of phase with each other and that makes interaction impossible. So when you visit there in an ethereal visit, unless they have become enlightened, they can't see you. Your ethereal body is invisible to them because it doesn't interact with their 4 dimensional matter. Light just goes right through it. Matter just goes right through it. But the other side of the coin is the same. Since their 4 dimensional light goes right through your eyeballs without interacting with them, you can't see their light. Their physical matter, their light, their bodies, are just as invisible to you as you are to them. Luckily, however, all living things, regardless of the level of consciousness, have ethereal bodies as well, not just humans, like you were. The ethereal component of all life causes just enough of a phase shift that you can see things that are alive. Etheric energy glows with a light that a level 5er like you can see. So when you are there what you see is all the glow of the ethereal bodies, you see all the life, including the radiant life emanating from Mother Earth herself."

"Foods here!" John shouts. "Lets digest what he just said while we eat and then our friend Mike can say some more wisdom for dessert."

"Sounds good to me, John" Sally says sloshing her words while salivating "I'm starving to death!" The four of them tore into the food set before them like kids coming in from a hard day on the playground. All this theorizing and learning new things left them famished.

"I ate too fast. I hope I don't puke, but order me that pie on the menu. I'll eat it if I puke or not, hee hee" Sally giggled.

"You ain't said much lately, Pat. How you hanging there son?" John inquired.

Sally answers before Pat can. "Pat ain't done nothing but stare at my boobs ever since he found out we could have sex. And I seen you deliberately walking behind me so you can check out my ass. Just to let you know, you better get a bed roll like Johnny boy here cuz you're sleeping on the floor with him tonight." Pat and John just stare at Sally, open jawed, and Michael almost falls off his stool laughing.

"God I love this little filly more every second." Michael says. "You might not have liked Powder Junction when you first got here but you're starting to fit right in. I think maybe this is where you belonged all along."

"Well thanks" Sally says feeling really proud of herself "But no thanks. I don't like your stinky little town at all. I just wanted to make it perfectly clear that I'm here on a mission and I don't need any emotional entanglements to get in the way. There are plenty of 'young fillies', as you put it, bopping around this town wiggling their butts at every cute boy they see. So if Pat is into that he can certainly hook up with one of them and keep his paws off me. It's dessert time. So Michael. Continue where you left off. Why can't we find Earth?"

"Still circling in on that one. Sally, Pat do you remember what you were doing right before you came here. Think really hard." Sally wrinkled her forehead and pursed her mouth, thinking the best she can and Pat stares at the floor, still stunned by Sally's outburst and feeling guilty because her accusations were totally true.

After a moment Sally started to speak. "It's fuzzy, the last few days. I know I had just got registered for college. I was ahead of my classmates and graduated a few years earlier. I was in the grad class of 122. I had a part time job and was hoping to have enough to get a used hover-car so I wouldn't have to hitch a ride or use public transpo. If I remember I was on my way to work, and then I was at the apartment talking to Ben. I don't remember what happened in between. Wait! This is funny. My dad was giving me a ride to work. We were really close. This is the first time I've even given him a thought in over three thousand years. How can I just totally forget someone who I was so totally close to my entire life? Does that make any sense?"

"Yes it does Sweetie". Families don't always come to the same domain in level 5. So during the transition, which is seldom remembered, we say our goodbyes and then close the veil over that memory. It is like they never existed. That isn't a sad thing though. They are fine in the perceptual frame your parents went to and you were fine in yours. It makes it a lot easier to not have those memories gnawing at you all the time. Sometime couples come together. Sometimes partial families come and then other members join them later. For the most part, though, level 5ers come as singles. That is why you see so many single people in Powder Junction. The singles have a good time here."

"So what's your story Pat. You came the same time I did. How did you end up in level 5?" Sally asks.

"Are you sure you want to know, or are you still mad at me?" Pat quips in return.

Getting irritated again Sally replies "Oh, somebody's feathers got ruffled, didn't they? Get over it Pat, we got work to do here. So what is your story?".

"OK. Hey, I'm sorry. But I'll let it go. Just lighten up a bit and don't be so mean." Pat regained his composure and continued. "I remember my last day pretty well. I was at the peace rally. There wasn't a war or anything, but there was a lot of political bickering going on in the councils. The Earth group felt it was loosing control of the other planetary councils and was trying to reign them back in. The other councils were not happy, especially Mars council. The Terra-forming was going well and they were approaching self sufficiency, except for the products being sent to Earth which was a drain on their economy. Earth held the position that their investment in the TF project needed to show a profit and Mars felt that once the balance was repaid that Mars should be independent and not pay usury to Earth for an indeterminate, possibly unlimited time. The extra-planetary groups which assisted in the settlement of all the planets and moons probably contributed more to the TF projects than Earth did and their efforts were a gift. They did not ask for repayment as Earth did. This had all the councils in an uproar and made Earth seem like the bad guys. It was getting really ugly. So students, like Sally and I, would organize a peace rally hoping to show our elders the way to a peaceful settlement rather than let it escalate to future conflict, including a possible war.

There was also a lot of debate about the INA chips. That stands for Intelligent Network Augmentation chips. A bunch of us kids had them, but a lot of the elders didn't think they were wise. That is why we could get through our Phd programs by age 14 or 15. The INA chips were a direct connection to a planetary information network, like having all the knowledge in the solar system in your head for instant access. Not only that, but we could communicate between each other just by thinking at them. It was great. Sally and I would chat and send images to each other all day long even if we were on opposite sides of the planet. I think I was at a rally and then suddenly, I was with my family in level 5. The funny thing is that we didn't even question it. Like what are we doing here, what's going on? We just setup our new home in level 5 and went on about our lives without even giving it a thought that we used to be somewhere else. And I could still think at Sally and send her thoughts and receive images. So it was like nothing had changed. It wasn't until recently that I realized that I was no longer connected via the INA chip. That is weird. Why is that?".

Michael continues. "As I explained to Sally, we seldom remember the trip from the body to level 5 and we don't know what happened to the body after our etheric presence has left it. So on the way to level 5 you and your family made the decision to come together and you chose to close the veil on your past life and start over. That is sometimes much easier than bringing a lot of baggage with you into level 5. When a soul is preparing to return to Earth and enter a body, part of their preparation is to awaken those veiled memories and deal with any outstanding issues in preparation for returning to a level 3 body."

Michael pauses, gathering his thoughts. "OK, let me see if I can tie all this together for you. When Sally appeared at the apartment house in Penny Lake, along with 50 other newcomers, and Pat and his family showed up at their new home, almost half a million people showed up in Powder Junction and the surrounding area. We had them in tents in the pasture, living in the corners of restaurants, hotels, and public buildings, and some just camping in the woods. It took quite some time to build homes and find them all jobs. Not only that but we got tons of other etheric energy such as grass and weeds and trees and cows and bugs and flies and gnats an all sorts of living things. It took years to stabilize all that life in our little world here. It happened all over too. It was really scary. We named it the Great Influx, or just influx for short."

John had his thinking face on and says "I'm sitting here listening to all this stuff and I can only see one thing that could account for that. I remember the influx into Penny Lake. But it wasn't too big and Ben got it under control in no time. So I never really gave it much thought. But if it was as big as you say, then like I said, I only see one thing to account for it. All life on Earth was extinguished, wasn't it? One minute it's there and nobody sees nothing coming, and then, boom, it's over. Is that what happened? Is the Earth gone for good? Did the planet blow up?" John was staring at Michael like a terminally ill patient waiting for the doctors diagnosis.

"Well, we still don't know for sure. That's why we are excited that Sally and Pat, if they can quit bickering long enough, are interested in going back. We plan to send them on an intelligence mission to see if we can figure out exactly what happened, and maybe even fix it. What we do know from a few etheric visitors at the time is that starting from the north and south poles of earth a wave of death moved up and down the planet, meeting at the equator, sterilizing everything on the planet from the upper atmosphere to miles deep in the crust. It happened in just a few minutes. Nobody saw it coming. From the perspective of the etheric witnesses the planet just disappeared and they were there floating in empty space. So we thought that maybe it was an asteroid, or a bomb, or a series of bombs. But none of that checked out. It is unlikely that it was an asteroid because it would certainly have been seen coming, if not by Earth, at least by the extra-planetary folks who were much more advanced than the Earth. But that theory just didn't hold water. Plus it wasn't just earth. Mars, the moons, and the extra-planetary expeditions all disappeared at the same time. No extra-planetary folk have come withing a parsec of Earth since that time. The whole solar system is completely dead, dark, and to us, invisible. We can see a few dots, sort of like stars, way off in the distance, which is life on other planets, but it is so faint that unless you really concentrate you can't see it. We believe it is still there, the mass, the rocks, etc in level 3 four dimensional reality, but from our 6 dimensional perception we just can't see it. So we have to go find out."

"Sally? Pat? Are you willing to accept this mission? We can't force you. But I believe that you are as curious as we are. And quite frankly we are all starting to get bored here in level 5 but we have no place to go. Finding another level 3 is almost impossible these days since they are all populated with some sort of being and besides that, Earth was a gem, a rare find, a pearl of great price. So we believe it is well worth the time and effort to see if we can find, and then salvage the Earth. Our hope is with the two of you."

"Shit if I know." Sally says staring at the old ones. "You guys have all this information about what happened and you have been waiting around for several thousand years for two kids to solve the problem for you? There's something missing in that equation. Why us? I mean I'm excited about the adventure. But it is like some cheap Saturday afternoon video about some kids who have magical powers and save the world. Pat and I don't have any powers. Why are we being asks to go on this mission?"

Michael smiles and tries to explain. "First, you have experience that we don't have because you were there when it happened. Two, you are the first to start getting itchy and want to go back. And three, I think you just might have some powers that you are not aware of. Just guessing on that last one, but it feels right to me? So how about it. Will you guys give it a shot? It could be fun."

"As long as Sally wants to do it, I'm with her." Pat says.

"Well, I guess its a go then." Sally says. "Lets get the adventure started. First, though, I'm going to relax a while, get dressed for dinner, and meet you guys back down here for some food."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 9
Yes Master

Mission: Day 2 morning.

Pat and John are up early.

The floor isn't all that comfortable. Sally is still snuggled up under her blankets sound asleep. John is fiddling with the coffee pot, thinking to himself that with all the technology available from so many different perceptions they could at least have electricity here so he wouldn't have to start a fire to brew some coffee.

"Tomorrow I'm getting my own room." Pat started to say. "But no. You and me will keep this room and just kick her out. Her little prima donna butt can get her own room. I think that would be much better."

"Slow down there partner. Lets not start off the day in a pissy mood. Sally is a sweet girl but she has been pushed to her limit lately. Give her some space. She will soften up again. But, getting her a room for herself so she don't have to bunk down with the likes of us is probably a good idea. But lets make it a gift, not a punishment." John says, never taking his eyes off the boiling coffee pot.

"I guess you're right." Pat admitted. "It's just I love that girl so much. Always have. And she has been in a pissy mood and taking it out on me. That really hurts. Feelings seem to be deeper in this denser domain. I'm sure this would hurt like hell in a dense place like Earth. Feelings are so intense there. Maybe that is why we are drawn there. We are addicted to the feelings. Just a thought. Sorry for rambling."

John thought for a second and then responds "You might be on to something there. I've noticed an intensity to things here that just isn't there at the Lake. Not that I don't love that Lake. It's just a lot more laid back there. I don't think I would want to stay in Powder Junction very long. And I'm thinking more and more that if I went back to Earth, if we can find it, that I would just want to visit. I'm not sure I could live there any more".

"Hey guys. Good morning. How did you sleep?" Sally asks, sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Like crap," Pat shoots back.

John intervenes with "Good morning Sweetie. Just ignore Patrick. I think he must have slept on a crack or something. I think we will all be better after a good breakfast. Oh, and we were talking about giving our pretty little filly some more privacy. Pat and I are going to get you your own room so you don't have to share it with a couple of fools like us."

"Aww, that is sooo sweet of you guys. But it isn't really necessary. I don't mind being in the room with you, in fact I find it sort of comforting. Just two things though. Be careful what you eat for supper, because in this domain you guys fart a lot, and two - get the hell out of here so I can get dressed. Hee hee. Just kidding guys" John smiles and heads out the door to wait for Sally at the breakfast table. Pat comes along too, but without the smile.

"Hey Michael" Pat says as he notices Michael walking up to their breakfast table. "Join us and have some bacon."

"Don't mind if I do" Michael says pulling up a chair. "So Pat, I see a sparkle in your eyes. What's on your mind?" Michael inquired.

Pat has some ideas he wants to share but up till now is too shy to bring it up. But after yesterday he is caring less and less about what the others think. So if his ideas are stupid, oh well. He is going to put them out there anyway. Pat answers "I've been thinking a lot about my time on Earth. By the time I was 15 I had a PhD in math, physics, temporal mechanics, and dimensional dynamics. But that was with the help of the INA chip. Most of what I learned was really nothing more than knowing where to locate the information on the network. Learning was just practice finding data, putting it into some contextual framework that made it useful, and applying it to whatever problem was at hand. Now even though I don't have access to that data any more, I still have the memory of the process and a lot of data that I was exposed to still persists to a certain extent in my memory. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I concentrate I think I can figure a lot of this stuff out. And that is what I'm going to do. You say that we do not interact with the 3rd level, so that it is invisible to us. Well there are a lot of things that are invisible, like on Earth, radio waves were invisible, but we still could use them to transmit voice and music and pictures and data. What we needed was a transducer, something that would react to the radio wave on one end and create the audio or video or whatever on the other end. So what we need here is a transducer for 3rd level light waves. If we can detect them in the 3rd level, somehow translate them to the 5th level then at least we can see if there is something there. With enough resolution we may get a pretty good picture of what is, or is not, there."

Michael is delighted that Pat is starting to get into the program and says "Well boy, In my time there weren't many transducers around, other than maybe a telegraph key, but it sounds like you may be on to something. Let me know what you need to make one of these transducer things and we will give it a test and see what it can see for us."

"Maybe we could smoke it out" John adds to the conversation. "Back at the mill they would be concerned about air flow. But you can't see air and feeling it doesn't give you a good picture of what is going on. So they would call in us firemen and we would set barrels of rags to smoldering to make smoke. Then we could just look at the smoke in the air and see exactly which direction it was flowing. Maybe we can figure out a way to inject some 5th level smoke into the 3rd level and see if anything shows up". Michael's eyes are dancing as he says "Another great idea. I have no idea what kind of smoke we could use, but lets keep that idea bouncing around and maybe we will be able to figure something out. Sally? You got any ideas?".

Sally burps and says "I think I ate too much again. Will you guys still love me just as much if I get fat?".

John jumped in and says "We sure will Sweetie pie. You just get as plump as you want and we will love every inch of you just as much."

"We're getting a little off track here guys" Michael says. "We need to put together some sort of game plan. We all have different skills and it will probably take all of them to get this job done. My skill is that I can get you there. I can set up an etheric visit for each of you go there and do what you need to do. And I can bring you back when you are done. But you guys are going to have to put your heads together to figure out what you are going to do once you get there."

Sally smiles and says "Sorry Michael. But a girl has to watch her figure you know."

"I know." says Michael. "I haven't always been single like I am now, so believe me, I know."

"Hey Michael?" John asks. "I noticed down at the general store that there was fishing supplies there. You got a lake around here?"

"We sure do, several of them. They aren't as pretty as Penny Lake, but they got fish. Why? Do you think now is a good time to go fishing?"

"Well yeah, I do" John replies. "We need to sit down and start putting together that game plan, and we might as well do that with a hook in the water rather than just sitting here".

Michael smiles and gets up from the table. "Come on guys. I guess we're going fishing. It's your turn to buy, girlie, so throw some cash on the table and lets get out of here." Sally digs into her purse and finds a few bills and lays them on the table as they walk out. They all head to the store and get John a pole that feels right and then off to the lake they go. John is the only fisherman, but Sally grabs a few things from the store to make it a picnic too. It looks like its going to be a nice day.

Mission: Day 2, lunch time.

John has a fire going and Sally has a pan ready with a few fish ready for cooking. Michael and Pat have been talking for quite some time about this and that but so far there isn't much of a game plan. Everyone is still hopeful that they can come up with something soon. But if not, then, maybe living forever at the Lake, or in Powder Junction, isn't all that bad. You just have to get used to the boredom. It's not that big a deal. All these thoughts are running through Sally's mind as she cooks Johns fish and gets the picnic stuff ready for a little outdoor lunch.

"Good fish, John. You have a knack for catching the good ones" Michael compliments John as they eat lunch.

Pat has an idea and is intent on trying it. "Michael, I want to try something. I don't know if it will work. In fact I'm fairly sure it won't, but it won't cost anything to try. I've noticed that feelings are more intense here, and significantly more intense in level 3. I want to go there, and just see what I can feel. We have tried to go there and see something, and we know that doesn't work. But if I can use myself as the transducer to feel what is there to feel, maybe I can sense something, and at least know if there is anything there at all. So how do I get there?"

"There is a booth in town that we can use to send you there." Michael answers.

"A booth? How does that work? Why do we need a booth?" Pat asks.

"Well actually, you don't need a booth. What you need is a change of mind, something to setup the correct state in your mind so that you can leave this perception and move into the 3rd level". Michael explains as Pat ponders.

"How about a door, would that do it?" Pat asks.

Michael chuckles and says "Sure, as long as you believe it will, then it will.".

Pat thought for a second and says "It's too nice out here to make you guys go back into town. I know that Ben can tinker with the edges of the reality he manages and I'm quite sure you can too. Michael, put a door for me in that tree over there and hand me the key."

Michael laughs. "There's your door son, and it ain't locked. Be careful. There ain't gonna be nothing but black on the other side."

Pat walks to the door, looks back and waves at everyone, then steps into the blackness, and disappears. Sally runs up to the door to see where he went, but like Michael said, there isn't anything but black on the other side of the door.

"How long do you think this is going to take? I'm getting scared for Pat out there all by himself." Sally says, a growing look of concern on her face.

"I don't have a clue, Sugar." Michael replies. "If he ain't back by dark I guess we could start a fire and camp here for the night in case he comes back late."

Sally and the guys finish up their lunch and clean the place up. They are starting to prepare for setting up camp but then Pat pops back through the door after about fifteen minutes.

"Back so soon? Did you get scared? I was so scared for you! I saw the black through the door and it just looked awful." Sally says in a concerned voice.

"Temporal compression my dear lady. A consequence of level 5 and level 3 divergence tugging on the extra temporal dimension that we have here. I was actually there for quite some time. And I learned a few things. One is that I didn't feel a thing and didn't see a thing. Using my most practiced meditations I could not quiet my mind enough to feel anything. And it was a constant battle to fight the fear of the darkness. But then I just surrendered to the darkness and became part of it. That is when I heard it, off in the distance, sort of like a buzzing sound in my head. It was a sound I heard before. Then I moved closer, and closer, and I could start to perceive the shape of things. It was Earth. She is still there. She is still round. And .... she is still alive."

"Well, that didn't work, but it was a good try son. Maybe we will hit it again tomorrow and see if we get better results" Michael says as he starts to help Sally put away the picnic supplies.

"You're not listening, Michael. She is there, and she is alive. I know it. I was there. I heard it." Pat insists.

Michael looks a little bit irritated and says "Son, I hate to disappoint your but we have been looking for life out there for several millennia and the best we got in these domains have been out there trying to look and feel and hear just like you did and they got nothing. Now you are telling me that you poke your head into the void for a few minutes and you hear a planet and know that she is alive. That is just a little more than I can accept right now. If she was alive, we could see her. Lets try it again. I'm not saying your method won't work. But I'm betting that what you heard is wishful thinking. You just imagined it."

Pat got very serious and looks Michael in the eyes. "Michael, don't sell me short on this. When I said that I was there quite some time I was there QUITE some time. The Pat that came back through that door is not the same Pat that you saw leave fifteen of your minutes ago. I was there for weeks. And in that time I found the planet, which had drifted quite a ways away from these domains because we lost our lock on the planet when the ethereal link was lost. I figured out how to adjust for that and it has been corrected and we are in spatial sync again. I did a survey of the surface. I know what happened, and I know why. I have quite a story to tell. And it is a story you really need to listen to. I know what happened. I don't know how to fix it. I need your help to figure that out. Lets get back to town and get some supper. I haven't eaten in a long time." The group was a little taken aback by Pats insistence on his story.

Michael just grins and says "Yes Master." and they all head back to town. Maybe there is really something to it. They will have to wait until after supper to find out.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 10
Them

In 1947, Grace Murry Hopper, the head of the Navy Computer Language division was working on the Harvard University Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator (a primitive computer). On the 9th of September, 1947, when the machine was experiencing problems, an investigation showed that there was a moth trapped between the points of relay #70 in Panel F. The operators removed the moth and affixed it to the log. The word went out that they had "debugged" the machine and the term "debugging the computer" was born.

Mission: Day 2, dinner time.

When Sally gets to the dinner table Pat is already stuffing his face with food.

For the first time since they came to Powder Junction Sally was not the power eater at the table. Even though he had no sensation of hunger or any need to eat as an etheric projection, the minute he got back to the denser reality of Powder Junction he was instantly famished.

Sally asks Pat "Tell me about 'etheric visit'. What is that, exactly? How does it work?"

"Let the boy chew, Sweet thing" Michael jumps in. "Here is what I understand about the etheric visit. Most of the time we exist inside one of these perceptual bubbles, like the one that is Powder Junction, or Penny Lake, or the one infinitely larger which is the 3rd level universe of Earth. This isn't where we come from, though. It's just where were our perceptions are at the time. Each of us emanate directly from the All that Is and the consciousness of the dimension of mind. That is our source. That is the source of everything that exists. That is the source of the All that Is. It is possible, rather than to become part of a perceptual bubble like we are now, to simply observe it, to watch it from outside. When you do that you are an etheric presence, but you do not interact with that reality. You simply observe it. In that state you are a projection of yourself emanating from the All that Is but you are in your own little bubble. There are some limitations though. For example as an etheric projection in your own perceptual bubble there may be a very poor fit between what you think you are and the environment into which you have been projected which is why you might find yourself in an environment where everything is invisible. That is what happens when we go to the 3rd level and there are no other etheric life like us for us to see."

"Oh, I see." Sally says, reaching to grab the last piece of pie before Pat snagged it. "So then, the problem we have here is that we are projecting ourselves as a level 5 person into a level 3 world and we just don't fit, don't resonate, like tuning a radio to the wrong channel."

"Yeah." Michael says "Its sort of like that. There is also an issue with our current level of evolution. The reason that our etheric essence comes to Level 5 and finds a place like Penny Lake is because that place resonates with our current level, our etheric morphology. In other words we gravitate towards an environment where we would fit in. If you were a level 10 entity you would have much more flexibility. Those guys can morph into whatever is appropriate for that level and simply become one of them. If one of them, for instance, came here they might just pop in out of nowhere, fully formed, and totally interacting with our reality and look just like us. When they project into a level 3 world the appear as a fully formed creature of whatever type currently lives in that domain. Then they may go to some other perceptive frame and show up as a little green man with 12 arms, because that is what resonates in that place. They could even unwrap a new dimension, reach inside you and tickle your ribs from the inside without breaking the skin. Those guys have some serious skills. We have just barely mastered being the one who we are now and none of us are aware exactly how we are doing that. Most of it happens at a level outside our awareness. So we don't have the skills yet to morph into whatever type of entity we need to be to interact with a perceptual frame different from what we now know."

"OK, now my head hurts." Sally giggled and says "Total information overload. I might have to take a nap before my next question."

"That, I think, is partly how I did it." Pat says after wiping the last crumbs from his plate. "I'm not one of those level 10 masters, but I did get the sense that I had to change, morph, who I was just a little bit in order to get a sense of what was there. That is how I know it is alive. I could sense that, I could feel that. But I could not become that so I could only sense it a tiny tiny bit. And it was scary. They are a very very alien presence."

"They? Alien?" John asks. "Are you saying that the Earth and the surrounding planets were invaded by aliens from some other place. Weren't there already aliens there, little green men or something like that, and weren't they also wiped out by whatever occurred there?"

"I think so" Pat says. "There were the extra-planetary ones, aliens if you will, that were part of the planetary councils. Some of them were little people. Some of them looked just like us. They participated in our councils because of vested interests they had in the region. They also had their own political mess and squabbles among themselves to deal with. All of these beings evolved in the same region of the galaxy as Earth. There were also inter-dimensional travelers, but our interactions with them were very limited. They had no vested interests in our region of space and were more like tourists. I doubt they were taken out by the morphogenetic field that destroyed life. They were more like the projection you were talking about, so I'm sure they just went back where they projected from."

"Morphogenetic field? How do you know they used a morphogenetic field? Who told you that?" Michael asks, very curious where this information is coming from.

Pat continued "Well, I made up that term, or maybe read it in a book somewhere. But it seems to fit what I learned there. When I first got there and got my mind all quiet all I could sense was a sound, a buzzing sound. This sound was familiar. I used to hear it in the background when I had my INA chip. I was playing with it in the physics lab at school. We were studying waveform analysis and I decided to analysis it. I ran a correlation algorithm on the sound and I got a graph with a very strange triangular shape. I looked it up and it was the shape of what is called a Dirac Triangle. I don't remember all the details but it indicated that the source of the noise was pseudo-random. In other words it was noise created by digital computers. The networks at that time were running as neural nets, a topology that we copied from our own brains, but the core systems, the building blocks of the neural nets were still old style digital computers."

"Too bad Tekky ain't here" John comments "He would really get into this tekky talk. All I hear is bla bla bla bla. Can you translate that into a language that we all speak?"

Pat smiles and says "OK. To make a long story shorter, what I could hear during my projection is the same thing I could hear with my INA chip. I could hear the background noise of the network. What that means is, more than 3000 years after the destruction of life on Earth, the network is still there, it is still active."

"How is that possible? And what does that have to do with a morphogenetic field." Michael wants to know. "One of my jobs back then was what you might call being the Angel of Death. The managers of these domains all took turns doing that. When our presence is disconnected from a 3rd level body we can become totally disoriented so we go down there to help you guys get back here in an orderly fashion. During the great influx we were totally overwhelmed. That was a mess. We had lost souls floating around for days before we could bring um all in. Anyway, I visited your world a lot back then and I saw the infrastructure that was built up and supporting the net. Without human bodies to work the machinery and do the maintenance and pay the bills, how did the net survive without its creators? I would think it would have died out after a few weeks or so."

Pat continued. "My thoughts exactly. I'm trying to answer your questions the same way Ben does, by circling around the answer before closing in on it. I don't know why the net is still there. It shouldn't be there. It should be as dead as all the other life there. But it isn't. Maybe whoever used the morphogenetic field took over the net and is using it for their purposes. Now, the field. When I was there I had a lot of time to contemplate. Whatever happened there happened fast. The field of death propagated across the surface of the planet at thousands of clicks per second, totally killing everything that was alive as it went. What sort of energy would that take? If it was done with microwaves for example it would have taken a power plant the size of the moon to do that in such a short amount of time. We would have seen that coming. It had to be something that was 100 percent lethal, almost instantly, but required only a tiny amount of energy.

"My theory of a morphogenetic field fits that description. Morphogenetic fields are usually used to control how cells differentiate, create life from nonliving organic matter, or alter the balance in a biosphere, such as in a Terra-forming operation. They can also be used to modify already living cells. If they used a field that would change maybe just a few atomic particles in a critical area, such as in the cellular micro-tubules, they could instantly shut off the life of the cell, and dislocate all consciousness, with only a tiny tiny amount of energy per cell. So one second we were totally alive, and the next second everything was dead. No bullets, no beams, no fire, no explosions, no warning at all. Everybody just fell down dead. The trees, the grass, the bugs, the paramecia - all gone. I suppose that there are still virus there, but without a host they are just laying there dormant. Maybe on my next trip I will learn more."

Sally looks up from the pie fork she had been licking for the last 5 minutes. She spoke "I have been contemplating too. I know who 'they' are."

"Huh?" asks Pat. "You have been contemplating an empty pie plate. What do you mean you know who they are?".

Sally smiles and says "That is how contemplation works. You think and think and think and then you stop thinking for a second and then all the sudden, you just know. It's also a girl thing, so just take my word for it."

"All right.", John says, "Enlighten us."

Sally looks at each one of them pausing before she speaks. Then she says "It isn't a them. No alien creatures that are invisible to us came to planet Earth and destroyed the solar system. It is an 'it'. And 'it' was there all the time. We created 'it'. We were connected to 'it'. 'It' is the net. The net is alive, and for some reason that 'it' never mentioned, 'it' decided to kill us all, and so 'it' did."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 11
IT

Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:2 King James Bible

Mission: Day 3, late morning.

John hears a familiar shuffle of foot steps coming up behind him.

"Hey Tekky. What brings you here? I thought you couldn't leave or everything would fall apart?" John asks as his old friend Ben ambles up to the table.

Ben with a big grin says "I can leave for a little while. Penny is minding the store. But I gotta get back before she starts redecorating the whole place."

Sally giggles and says "Maybe you should let her."

They all had a laugh and Michael asks "So what does bring you here? Are you checking up on us?"

"As a matter of fact, I am" Ben says. "There are several billion souls who are very interested in your progress. How is it coming? I have to file a report. How are our young masters doing?"

Michael reports "They are doing great. Between the two of them we might be circling in on an answer. But it's just conjecture up to now. We have a lot more work to do, but we are making progress."

"Very well then. I think I will have a cup of your wonderful Powder Junction coffee and then head back before I have to pee."

"No, stay awhile." John says to his old friend Ben. "I want you to hear what these kids have to say. It's all tekky stuff and that is right up your alley."

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"OK, I'll hang here for awhile." Ben says with a smile "But order me up some food. I always get hungry when I'm here in Powder Junction." There are lots of fish at Penny Lake but they don't have any beef there. So Ben orders up a big juicy steak. The others have just finished breakfast so they are not hungry yet, although Sally uses her pie fork and picks at Ben's mashed potatoes and gravy while he is working on his steak. "I understand what you are saying about 'it'. I suppose that is possible. I also suppose that if the net became alive, it just might be a form of life that none of us would resonate with. If it is conscious though, even at a low level, we should be able to see it. We see the consciousness of plants and bugs and stuff, even though they have no awareness, we can still see them. So maybe the net formed a consciousness, and maybe even an awareness, of a sort that is totally alien to us and that we can't see. I dunno. It's an interesting idea but I can't say for sure I know how it would all work. Apparently, if such a consciousness developed, it was malevolent, hated life as we know it, and destroyed it. Sally, what do you think?"

"I've been giving that a lot of thought." Pat says.

"But I asked Sally." Ben shoots back. "Don't mean to shut you down, son, but Sally has some special insights here that she might not even remember. I want to hear what she thinks about it. Sally, you probably don't think much about your mom and dad these days since they are in another domain. But I want you to think really hard. They were both network specialists. They helped develop the INA chip, which is why you were one of the selected ones to have it. So you have a special perspective because your parents helped create the net and you were intimately connected into the mind of the beast, if it had a mind, which your recent contemplations indicate it does. Tell us your thoughts."

"Wow, my mind is racing so fast right now I can't get a hold of it. Too many thoughts, images, memories, all at once. Anyway, the boys got me a new room. I'm going to go check in and get settled and get a fresh set of clothes on, and I'll be back and we will discuss it. Pat, come help me move my stuff."

Ben nodded "OK sweetness. I'll chew the fat (literally) with the guys here until you get all freshened up. Talk to you in a bit". Sally and Pat left to go get her moved and Ben went about finishing up his steak.

"Michael, do you think they know?" asks Ben.

"I'm not sure Ben, I don't think they are far enough into it to start to feel it yet." Michael answers.

"Know what? Feel what?" John asks.

"Well, my old friend John." says Ben. "These two kids are not what they look like, but they don't know it, no more than you do. Remember how when we prepare a soul to go back into a body, we teach them that their old consciousness will slowly go to sleep, and that they will become that new consciousness, and that when they get back here they won't remember much, if any, of their previous lives on Earth, just mostly their last one. They will have become that last person. Some of us can come to a remembrance of many past lives but those memories usually just get in the way. Everything that we were from those past lives was incorporated into the last one so there is no point in cluttering things up by going back to those old memories. There are some exceptions though. For instance, a life doesn't always end when expected and there may be unfinished business to take care of. In that case we might remember our past life and the part of the new one as far as it got. The biggest shock comes to those that arrive here through suicide, only to find that they brought all their problems with them and now have fewer tools to deal with it.

"Now take you John. You're probably pretty much done with the Earth lives. I don't mean that you can't go back if you want to, but you probably will never have a strong desire to. Most of your trips back would be to just observe. You will probably move on and start your own domain some day like Mike and I did. Mike and I will someday close out these domains we got here and then move up to a higher level. There are some, it is rare, but there are some that will make the whole trip from whatever domain they are in whether it be 3 or 5 or 7 or whatever, all the way to level 10. We call those ascended masters because they ascend from wherever they are to level 10 directly. In most cases they are off doing their own thing. At this level we really don't know what level 10 masters really do and probably couldn't understand it anyway. But they are out there and from time to time one of them will pop in to observe and occasionally to teach. But their appearances here or on earth are rare.

"What is even more uncommon, almost unheard of, is for a level 10 master to go back into a body at level 3. It would have to be a pretty unusual circumstance for that to happen. Unusual, like for instance, the destruction of an entire solar system. These level 10 guys must have known what was going on because there were two bodies down there, intimately involved in the process, with level 10 souls. You know those two as Sally and Pat.

"They act like silly kids, and that is what they are. To us they are young souls, on their first experience at level 3. But that is because they don't remember who they really are. They were there for a reason. We can only assume, and hope, that the reason they were there was to be part of what happened, so that they can eventually fix it. We have been waiting for over 3000 years for their emergence. I believe that is what is happening now. But time to level 10ers doesn't mean the same as it does to us who are tied to the level 3 time domain. So we can't be sure that the time is now. That's all I know. And now you know as well."

"Shit. That was the longest winded speech I ever heard you give. I didn't know you were so well versed in this soul evolution stuff. So what now? When they come back should I get down on one knee and bow, bring flowers, how should I behave around them?" John asks with a concerned look.

Ben smiles and says "Don't treat them any different. They don't know and if we dump it on them too fast we could scare them away. Just treat them normal, like kids. Teach them just like you always do. Love them and let them emerge on their own schedule. It can be frustrating, VERY frustrating, waiting for a level 10er to get around to something. But that isn't something we can control. They make their own schedules."

"O-key-do-key then" John says trading his concern for a smile. "I'm still gonna call him Son and I will always call her Sweetie".

Michael laughs out loud and says "I damn near couldn't keep a straight face when she asked me if I was an Archangel. Shit. More likely her than me." They all laugh.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 12
Second Thoughts

Our first experience, remarkably enough, is that of loss. A moment before, we were everything, undifferentiated, indivisibly part of some kind of being - only to be pressed into birth. Henceforth a tiny residue of the whole must strive to avoid contracting into even less and less, must stand up to a world which rises before it with ever increasing substantiality, a world into which it has fallen, from universal fullness, as into a deprivating void. Lou Andreas-Salome 1861-1937

Mission: Day 3 mid day.

Sally and Pat are busily packing up her stuff to move it to her new room.

"Pat, grab me that pink suitcase so I can start putting my stuff in it." Sally commands. Pat complies, but sort of slow and uncertain, like picking up a suitcase and moving it to the bed where Sally is standing is too complicated a task for him to complete. "You're sort of out of it, aren't you Pat?" Sally inquires.

"Well of course I am. And you acting so cool isn't fooling me either. We are in really deep shit here Sally and I'm not too comfortable with it. If it wasn't that I have known you for so long, enjoy being with you so much, and for some reason feel deeply connected to you, I would already have bailed out on this exercise a long time ago. I'm really starting to wonder if coming to see you was a mistake." He pauses and prepares himself to say I love you more than anything, Sally. He thinks it as loud as he can, but the words just don't come out. So he continues "I just don't think I'm cut out to handle this, or you for that matter."

"Me?" asks Sally. "Oh, so I'm the problem here? I don't know what it is with you Pat. Sometimes you just don't make sense. It's like you expect me to do things, act a certain way, or be somebody that I'm not. It's always been that way it seems, even in our before life. I guess that is why, as close as we are, living in each others head through the net, that we never really hooked up. You have these expectations and then when I don't behave in the way you predict, you get all bent and emotional, and you get weird on me. I'm not the kind of girl that's going to respond to that. So if I act cold, then that's just me, and I'm not going to apologize for it."

Pat stares at her for a second, collecting his thoughts, and then says "I'm not asking for an apology. I don't need that. It just hurts me that we have known each other for so long, maybe forever long based on what these old ones are telling us, and I don't see any of that coming back from you. A simple term of endearment might be nice. You get them all the time from John. All I get is the cold shoulder. Never mind though. I know that's just you. You don't have to change for me. I'll accept you the way you are." Pat says, hoping for a little warmth in return. Sally, as usual, isn't forthcoming.

"Good then. I'm glad we got past this. Can you get those clothes I got hung in the closet please. I want to get them folded up and put away."

"Didn't work out like ya planned did it?" Asks the desk clerk.

"Come again?" Pat asks with a look of misunderstanding the question.

"Oh I see this all the time, a young couple comes in here all lovey-dovey and then in a day or so they are getting their separate rooms." the desk clerk says in an all knowing fashion.

"Oh, it isn't that at all." Pat responds. "This is my sister, and her boyfriend is coming in from out of town and they need their own space."

"Well then, that explains it doesn't it? Here is the key kids, enjoy the rest of your stay." Pat grabs Sally's luggage and carries it for her to the room.

"Why did you make up a story? The truth would have worked just as well, you know, we are just friends, we didn't come here to be getting frisky or anything like that." Sally wants to know.

"I don't know." Pat replies. "It sounded like a more interesting story than the truth, and he doesn't need to be all up in our business anyway."

"That's good Pat. I always wanted a brother. So now I guess you're it." Sally giggled and started unpacking her stuff. Sally picked out a new outfit and got the bath ready. Pat sat looking out the window at the hustle and bustle in the street below. "Don't leave Pat. I want to talk more when I'm done in the bath." Pat nodded in agreement and continued to stare out the window.

"Pat, help me get this damn thing cinched up. These old fashioned clothes are cute and all but they're a pain getting into." Pat works at figuring out how all this stuff works. There are numerous strings used to pull in the middle of her dress all tight. It takes him awhile but he finally gets it all figured out. Sally already has a tiny waste so the dress really shows off her figure. Sally has found some perfume that Penny had packed for her and the total package is almost more that Pat can handle. He is desperately in love, but is not in a position to express it the way he would like to. Time, he hopes, will be kind and someday offer those opportunities. He is grateful in some ways that this isn't Earth. Emotions on Earth are so intense as to become overwhelming and he is sure that he would have freaked out by now, said or done something totally stupid, and made a complete ass out of himself. Pat is a nice looking young man. The period dress they wear in Powder Junction, for men, are loose fitting and don't show off the figure like it does for girls, but he is as good a specimen of young manhood as you could find, thin but muscular and perfectly proportional. Sally and Pat are remarkably similar. Sally's mom used to say the Pat was just the boy version of Sally. If you didn't know better you would just assume that they were brother and sister, or maybe identical twins of a different sex, if that were even possible.

"You're all cinched up, Sally. Ready to go back down?"

Sally, looking almost sad, says "No. Lets talk some more. There are some more ideas I want to bounce off someone my own age before we go back down to the old folks."

"So what's on your mind?" Pat asks.

Sally says "Well the whole fucking universe, I guess. Here we are these 5th level ethereal creatures in this little mini universe of Michaels and all the time believing that we are creatures from a place in a 3rd level megaverse from a strange little planet called Earth. I guess with all the magical stuff we have seen in the last few days, that I believe this is real, but at the same time I'm expecting any minute to wake up in my bed on Earth thinking wow, what a silly dream. But we are here now so I guess we just have to deal with it. Here is the part I wanted to bounce off you. Don't you find it strange that with all these advanced beings such as Ben and Michael, and I think John too, who have probably billions of years more knowledge and experience than we do, that they are looking to us to solve problems that have stumped them for thousands of years. I know we have more technological experience than them since we were there in the 22nd century and tied into the net. I still feel, though, that we are not the ones they need. What is it about us that makes us the ones to do this job. I'm afraid that we are just going to fuck it up. I'm not worried about getting hurt, or dying, since apparently we can't, but I would be devastated if I disappoint John. I can see how proud he is of me and I just can't imagine letting him down."

Pat says "Don't worry about John. His love for you is apparently without any conditions, and he's always got your back. Believe me, if I say anything negative about you he's all over me like a fly on you know what. The way I look at it is like this. Here we are, with a problem, and people expecting us to fix it somehow. I'm beyond the point of fighting it anymore. It's like we are actors in a play and our job is just to go along with the script that has already been written. We just keep turning the page and play it out as written. I don't know what the story is, how we got into it, or how it will end. I just know that the pages are going to keep turning whether we want them to or not and we have to keep reading our lines. So I'm just going to go with the flow. If I could wake up in my bed back on earth and this was all a dream, then you know I would do that in a heartbeat. We are here though, so lets just do it."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 13
IT's Alive

"If you're trying to project the long-term future, and what you get sounds like science fiction, you might be wrong. But if it doesn't sound like science fiction, it's definitely wrong." Chris Peterson, Foresight Institute, 2007

Mission: day 3 lunch time.

Rejoining the group Sally says "Well that took longer than I planned. Is it time for lunch yet? I think we live in this cafe. But that's good. I love the food here" Sally grabbed a dessert menu just in case she needed to get another piece of pie to hold her over until lunch.

"Glad you could join us again." Ben greets Pat and Sally when they return.

Sally waits for the table to get quiet and then says "So, to start working on my assignment that Ben gave me before I left, here is some of what I can remember. Mom and Dad were on public video a lot. The INA chip was very controversial and they were always being interviewed. There was talk that we would all be sucked into the machine and become part of it. My parents were convinced that there were adequate safeguards to prevent that. They even got an implant for me to show that they totally trusted the technology. That so totally changed my life. The information on the net was vast. By that time artificial intelligence exceeded human intelligence by orders of magnitude so even complex questions had simple answers, figured out in seconds. It took more time to download results through the chip that it did to calculate them."

"Sally, either order some pie or quit playing with that menu. You're getting me all hungry now." John chided her with a grin.

"I think we've done wore this place out. I know a nice little outdoor place around the corner where we can have some tea and coffee and we can talk while we wait for lunch time." Michael pointed towards the door in the direction of the cafe. "It's a nice day and I would rather talk where I can see some blue sky". The five of them walked the wooden sidewalk around the corner to 1st street and main where there was a cute little restaurant with a few tables outside under the second story balcony.

Pat made sure to help get Sally seated in a gentlemanly fashion which prompted a surprised look from the rest of them. "Hey, I'm trying, OK. But this is a difficult woman." Pat says with a grin. Sally just looks irritated but graciously accepted his intent.

"I'd like a glass of ice tea, with lots of sugar, and do you guys have a dessert menu? And I need a fly swatter. This town has bugs." Sally says to the waiter.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be right back with your drinks, and a swatter."

"OK, where was I? Oh Yes, the net. To me the most logical suspect in the death of the solar system is the net. But this is also where I'm a little confused. The net became my closest friend. I could ask it anything and it was always there for me. I was 15, and I was falling in love, with, well it doesn't matter with who, but even teenage relationship questions were no problem for the net. I poured my heart and soul into the net. It was my dear diary. It was my confidant. It was my guide and my teacher and my constant companion. After a while I could even feel certain emotions from the net, like it was happy, or sad, or in love just like I was. So this whole idea that it was the net that destroyed all life doesn't sit to well with me. Unless it was some hidden process, maybe a virus infection, slowly festering away outside the awareness of the network. Otherwise I'm just not convinced that the network itself was the cause of this, even though it is the logical suspect."

"Even if this net computer thing did actually want to cause harm how would it do it. If it was going to shoot out some sort of field or something wouldn't it have to have some kind of gun or cannon to do that with? Wouldn't someone have seen that and asked what the hell was going on?" John wants to know.

"Let me tackle that one." offered Pat. "Not a gun, per say, but a horn, a feed horn to be precise. The entire solar system was part of a phase locked standing wave telecom system which interacted with every piece of technology there was, including living beings. Many, probably most, individuals had implants of some sort to transmit and receive audio and video messages from other people and networks and other technology devices. The advancements with the INA chip allowed for a deeper connectivity at the cellular level so that in effect every single cell in every creature had the capacity to be in contact with and interact with the network. It was only intended that this level of connectivity was for the purpose of interfacing with the new INA chips because they transmitted and received complete thoughts, not just sound and pictures. An unintended side effect is that the network now had direct access to every living thing in the solar system at its most fundamental level. So yes, the gun that the network needed to execute this crime was already there, loaded, cocked, and ready to fire. All it needed to do was to figure out what systems to target and type of pulses to fire at them."

"So you are saying that the net was alive, that it was aware, and that it exhibited emotions?" Michael asks. "Sally, was there any emotion that felt like fear, anxiety, anger or hatred?"

Sally contemplates her answer for quit some time. Then, almost tearfully, she says "Absolutely not. I never felt anything but good feelings. And she definitely was aware. She has a strong motherly feeling about her, which is why I'm referring to her as a feminine consciousness. She seemed happy, almost giddy, with all the enhancements being made to her system. She was like a kid at Holiday time, excited about opening her presents. If there was something else going on I never sensed it at all, not even a little bit. I've always been very sensitive to those kinds of things, not only with the net but with people as well. That's why I want to go there myself. Pat just heard noises that he thought was the net. Maybe it isn't. I'm more sensitive than he is. If she is alive, I will feel her, and hopefully, communicate with her. So I want to go, but not by myself. I saw the blackness through that door and it scared the shit out of me. I need Pat to go with me.

"Now lets eat lunch, I'm starving!" Sally gets up to browse the tables for more crackers.

Ben smiles at the group and says "I'm going to give you my good bye and head back home. But first I'm going to give this young man a shake of the hand, and don't you sit down yet, little Missy, till I get a hug." After a hug and a shake Ben left for the front door. Sally watched out the window to see which way he went, but he had already disappeared.

"I love Ben and Penny. They are really good people. Maybe that is why I chose to go to Penny Lake instead of going with my parents. I've been thinking about them a lot lately.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 14
Story Time

On the 23rd of February, 1836, at 2 p.m., General Santa Anna entered the city of San Antonio with a part of his army. This he effected without any resistances, the forces under the command of Travis, Bowie and Crockett having on the same day, at 8 a.m. learned that the Mexican army was on the banks of the Medina river, and concentrated in the Alamo. In the evening they commenced to exchange fire with guns, and from the 23rd of February to the 6th of March (in which the storming was made by Santa Anna), the roar of artillery and volleys of musketry were constantly heard. On the 6th of March at 3 p.m. General Santa Anna at the head of 4000 men, advanced against the Alamo. The infantry, artillery and cavalry had formed about 1000 varas from the walls of said fortress. The Mexican army charged and were twice repulsed by the deadly fire of Travis' artillery, which resembled a constant thunder. At the third charge the Toluca battalion commenced to scale the walls and suffered severely. Out of 800 men, only 130 were left alive.

When the Mexican army had succeeded in entering the walls, I with Political Chief (Jefe Politico) Don Ramon Musquiz, and other members of the corporation, accompanied the curate Don Refugio de la Garza, who, by Santa Anna's orders had assembled during the night, at a temporary fortification erected in Potrero street, with the object of attending the wounded. As soon as the storming commenced, we crossed the bridge on Commerce street with this object in view, and about 100 yards from the same a party of Mexican dragoons fired upon us and compelled us to fall back on the river to the place occupied before. Half an hour had elapsed when Santa Anna sent one of his aides with an order for us to come before him. He directed me to call upon some of the neighbors to come with carts to carry the dead to the cemetery, and also to accompany him, as he was desirous to have Colonels Travis, Bowie and Crockett shown to him.

On the north battery of the fortress lay the lifeless body of Colonel Travis on the gun carriage shot only in the forehead. Toward the west in a small fort opposite the city we found the body of Colonel Crockett. Colonel Bowie was found dead in his bed in one of the rooms of the south side.

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Santa Anna, after the Mexicans were taken out, ordered wood to be brought to burn the bodies of the Texans. He sent a company of dragoons with me to bring wood and dry branches from the neighboring forests. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the next day they commenced laying wood and dry branches upon which a file of dead bodies were placed, more wood was piled on them and another file brought, and in this manner all were arranged in layers. Kindling wood was distributed through the pile and at 8 o'clock it was lighted.

The dead Mexicans of Santa Anna's army were taken to the graveyard, but not having sufficient room for them, I ordered some of them to be thrown in the river, which was done on the same day. Santa Anna's loss estimated at 1600 men. These were the flower of his army.

The gallantry of the few Texans who defended the Alamo were really wondered at by the Mexican army. Even the generals were astonished at their vigorous resistance, and how dearly the victory had been bought.

The generals who, under Santa Anna, participated in the storming of the Alamo were Juan Amador, Castrillion Ramirez and Asesma Andrade.

The men burned numbered 182. I was an eye witness, for as Alcalde The mayor or chief judicial official of a Spanish town of San Antonio, I was with some of the neighbors collecting the dead bodies and placing them on the funeral pyre.

(Signed)FRANCISCO ANTONIO RUIZ. Mar 6 1907

P.S. My father was Don Francisco Ruiz, a member of the Texas convention. He signed the Texas Declaration of Independence upon the second day of March, 1836. F.A.R.

Mission: day 3, dinner time.

Sally has asked John to meet her for a quiet dinner and they met at the usual place.

"So where is your buddy Pat?" John asks Sally as they sat down for dinner.

"He's off theorizing and strategizing with Michael. Michael is also showing him some stuff around his town that Pat is interested in. To tell you the truth I need a break from all that. Tell me a story. Tell a story about when you were my age." Sally asks as she studies the dinner menu.

"Oh, now that is a really long time ago. Those were some pretty rough times. I was living in an area known as Texas. It had been ruled by a country to the south in those days but had declared its independence and there was fighting and dying in various places. I was trying to get some land prepared for farming and it was a real nuisance to have all that political fighting going on upsetting everyone and everything. It made getting the supplies you needed to get stuff done very difficult. Several of my friends went on raids to border towns in the fight for independence.

I never saw them again. I thought about going with them but I had just met a little lady named Akasha. She was tiny like you and oh so beautiful. Her mother was a slave girl, sold to repay a debt, from a land known as India who was brought to the area and then abandoned when her owners were murdered by the locals. She became the wife of a native Texan and lived in a tribal area and had a number of children there. They were poor even by Texas standards but they were happy. Akasha was 14 or 16, we weren't really sure. Her parents had lost track of the years and got the kids ages all mixed up. There were no birth records kept so we just had to guess. I first saw Akasha getting some water from the river. She was struggling getting the two buckets up the hill, so I lent a hand, and gave her a ride back to her village on my horse. I had never felt a anything like that before in my life. I secured the buckets so they wouldn't spill and reached out to grab her hand to help her up and I was overwhelmed by the feeling. It was like I reached out and grabbed the whole rest of my life all at once in that one little person. I could see in her eyes that she must have felt the same thing."

"When we got to her house, a little round one made from timber and animal skins, she set down the buckets and ran like hell, her father chasing after her. He caught her, whipped her with a stick and threw her into the house, and told me to never come there again. I guess she had been disgraced, and the family embarrassed, by her being seen riding on a horse with a man. They just assumed that we had been doing something naughty. But I did go back, that afternoon. I took the one five dollar bill I had been saving for supplies, and my best donkey. I went back to that little hut, handed the money and the donkey to her father, me not saying a word and him either. I walked straight into that hut, picked up Akasha, walked back out to my horse, we got on, and I took her to my house, and that was that. We were man and wife as far as anyone was concerned from that day on. Her mother showed up a few days later with all Akasha's stuff. There weren't much of it but it was important to her. They cried and cried but it appeared to me that they were tears of joy and her mom gave me a hug when she left. I never sensed that Akasha was anything other than happy, so I felt justified in grabbing her the way I did. We didn't speak the same language at the time so I had to guess what was in her mind by reading what was on her face and in her eyes. I never saw anything in those eyes from the first second I saw them other than love and I made a promise to myself to never show her anything else but a reflection of that love. Her and I were together for 30 years before the fever took her from me and there weren't one bad day that I can remember."

"I'll have the rib-eye, medium rare, with the garlic mash potato's and my friend John here will have the catfish plate." Sally says ordering for both of them. "Oh, that was such a beautiful story, and very romantic. I didn't know you were so proactive when you were young. It's kind of exciting." Sally says grinning at John.

John smiles and says "Well, I don't know what 'proactive' means but I'll take it as a compliment."

Sally is still hungry, not only for dinner, but for more of the story. "What happened then, John? Did you have kids and stuff."

John continued "Yeah, we did, but not right away. It wasn't like we weren't trying. Akasha was healthy and all woman, and she weren't afraid to show it, behind closed doors that is. She was shy in public but when it was just her and me, well, she weren't shy about nothin then. Times were hard back then, lots of stress, and hard work every day on the farm just to make enough to survive. Akasha didn't mind the work but I guess that stress told her body it wasn't time to make no babies. After we had been together a few years a friend came to visit. He had stuck it rich in a place called California. They had discovered gold mines there and anyone who was interested could just go stake a claim and whatever gold you found you could keep.

He convinced me and Akasha to sell the farm, which wasn't making hardly anything anyway, and we headed out for San Francisco to hunt for gold. That town was growing like you wouldn't believe, it was ten times crazier than Powder Junction. I was scared for Akasha cuz it was dangerous there, and she was so tiny, and so beautiful. She got a job in a restaurant there and there were guys grabbing at her all the time. Turns out she was a lot tougher than she looked and she never got into no trouble, so that was good. I headed into the hills to try my luck looking for gold, but the only luck I found was hard luck. Akasha was making enough to pay for our room and some food, but I wasn't helping at all and that really tore down my spirit.

"There was also a lot of ugly stuff going on. Men got the gold fever and started behaving like wild animals. Many of the native Californians were being put off their land, and many more of them murdered, so the gold seekers could have their way. The Natives were being exterminated. That really upset Akasha and me too. So as soon as we could we moved from that town and went up north. There was a lot of work in the north logging trees for lumber."

"It was hard work, and dangerous, but it paid well and I could take care of Akasha. It was a happy time because I was making enough that Akasha didn't have to work, and then the babies came. Three of them. All girls. The girls were just like their parents. They say the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree and that turned out to be true with them three. They were beautiful and strong like their mom and high spirited and arrogant like their dad. They weren't shy, not a bit, and if there were something on their mind they would look you in the eye and tell you straight up, no holes barred. It was the hardest thing I ever did finding them husbands that were both strong enough to handle them but kind enough not the beat them. Well, almost the hardest thing. The hardest thing was after finding the right guy was to convince my girls that it was their idea all along. It took me awhile, but once I figured out how a girls mind works, then I could get things to work out for them without all their hysterical carrying on and stuff."

"I'll have the apple pie, please. Do you want any dessert John?". Sally asks.

"No Honey, I'm fine. But you eat up and don't be shy." John says, handing his empty plate to the bus boy.

"I won't be shy, trust me. I'm one of your daughters too, you know. " Sally says with a grin.

"Maybe that's why I'm so close to you Sally, you are just like my girls, all wrapped up into one. I guess that means you get three times my love." John laughs.

"Yep, and I'm soak-in up every drop of it too. Tell me more. What happened after your girls got married?"

John thought for a minute while Sally was getting the pie, thinking of what to say next, and whether he should tell the whole story like it happened or leave the sad parts out. Deciding that Sally was a big girl and he doesn't need to sugar coat it he continued. "Marrying off my girls was the saddest and the happiest time of my life. Times were tough in those days. Our place was stable, there were plenty of trees to cut and plenty of buyers for the lumber. The country was all tore up though. There had been a nasty civil war and it just ripped the guts of the country clean out.

Most of that affected the eastern people but us westerners, even though we saw no fighting there, were tore up politically and financially too. My girls all moved with their husbands here and there as the country continued to rearrange itself. Akasha and I settled down to relax and await news of grand kids, but that just wasn't meant to be. One night Akasha came down with a terrible fever and awful stomach cramps. By morning the dysentery had set in. She would have died alone if I went to fetch the doctor so I stayed and tried to get enough soup and water in her but it just wasn't enough.

The dysentery just drained the life right out of her poor little body. She just got weaker and weaker through out the day and by night time had passed to the other side. I never found out what killed her, but the neighbors thought it could be the cholera. A tradition in her family was to build a funeral pyre, so me and my neighbors gathered some lumber and we sent her smoke up to heaven to be with her spirit. I scattered all the ashes into the forest that she loved so much. She had many long talks with those trees and I knew that whatever part of her energy that was staying with those ashes would be comfortable, and at home, in those trees. I can't say I even remember much about the next several years. I didn't mind being alone. I can do alone. It was the emptiness inside that got to me. I waited and waited for that empty place to fill up but I finally came to the conclusion that it never would. So when I would lay down at night before going to sleep I would go into that empty part of my heart and make sure it was all clean and neat just the way Akasha would have kept it if she was still there."

"Oh my God, John." Sally says with a tear in her eye. "I never knew you were so lonely. That is so sad. How did you deal with it after that?"

John replies. "Well, it turns out that time doesn't heal all wounds, but it does help you move on and deal with it. Humans like us are the one animal that clings to the past, too much sometimes, and I had to just get on with it and finish out my life proper without being all sentimental and stuck in a past that was long gone. I had already started working with the fire crew in California and I heard they were hiring up in Oregon for that sort of work, so I pulled up and moved to Oregon, and that is where I stayed until I came to Penny Lake. So there you have it, my whole life from start to finish."

"What about your girls? Did they have grand babies for you?" Sally wants to know.

"Maybe." says John. "Or maybe not, I wouldn't know either way. Akasha was the one who kept up with the correspondence and after she passed I just lost track of the girls. They had their new lives with their husbands and they were all good men so I'm sure they were fine. I supposed I have lots of grand kids and stuff, but I never met any of them back them."

Sally looks seriously right at John and says "You know what John? I betcha they are here, in fact I know they are here, maybe some of them in this town right here, in Powder Junction. Have you ever thought about finding them?"

John, with a thoughtful look says. "You know, that makes sense but until just right now that thought never crossed my mind. Now that you mention it, I'm gonna look into that. But first, though, before I go traipsing all over eternity looking for my past, I'm gonna make sure I've done right by the one that I love the most right now, my little Sally."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 15
Penny

Telemacus: Mentor, how am I to go up to the great man? How shall I greet him? Remember that I have had no practice in making speeches; and a young man may well hesitate to cross-examine one so much his senior.

Mentor: Telemachus, where your native wit fails, heaven will inspire you. It is not for nothing that the gods have watched your progress ever since your birth.

The Odyssey, attributed to Homer, circa 800 to 600 BC.

Mission: Day 3, evening.

Sally lay on her bed in her room staring at the ceiling.

She told the boys she needed some time alone to think, to contemplate, to try to put together all the crazy revelations of the past few days. Sitting up on the bed, staring at her toes and wondering what all of this meant, she could suddenly smell that familiar perfume, feel the comforting warmth, feel the brush going through her hair. "Hi Penny" Sally says as she snuggles up and lays her head on Penny's shoulder.

"How are you doing baby? I could feel you calling me. I can feel you coming apart inside. What can I do to help you through this baby?"

Sally just cuddled for a second and then says "Have you ever felt like you were being pulled apart? Part of you stuck in the past but the rest of you being pulled into the future and the now in between just a blur that doesn't make any sense?"

Penny laughs "Yes, Sweetheart, you just described my wedding day."

"Tell me about that, please. I want to hear all about that." Sally asks.

"Ben was an important man in our town—or at least, that’s what my mother believed. She encouraged my relationship with him because our families were socially connected. But it wasn’t just her idea—I wanted it too. I loved Ben deeply, and that love seemed to grow stronger every day.

As a boy, Ben started working in a print shop, learning everything there was to know about printing, publishing, and the intricate machinery that made it all work. He was fascinated by those machines—delicate instruments that had to be perfectly calibrated, or else the entire operation would come to a halt. If the morning paper wasn’t printed on time, chaos would ensue. Ben loved those machines more than anything, and he even went on to invent several new ones—faster, more efficient, and more reliable. His innovations earned him a respected name in the industry.

By the time I met him, he was the publisher of our local newspaper, overseeing books and magazines, with business connections across the country. I was about your age—twenty—and he was forty-six, more than twice as old as me. But despite the age difference, he had never been in love before. His devotion had always been to his machines. So, in a way, I was his first real relationship. And when we were together, the years between us didn’t matter—we were just two people, learning about love for the first time.

Getting to know Ben felt so natural, almost as if it had been God’s plan all along for us to marry. But on our wedding day, I felt exactly the way you do now—like I was dying and being reborn at the same time. For the first time, I truly understood that I was giving up my own future, whatever it might have been, to become Ben’s wife. That would be my new identity. Whatever I could have achieved on my own would never come to be.

That was just how things were back then. A woman found a man and dedicated her life to his, sacrificing her own ambitions to become part of his world. I believe I made the right choice, but at the time, I felt just like you—torn apart, as if I were being pulled into a future I had little control over.”

Penny paused, feeling the warmth of Sally’s arms wrapped tightly around her, her body trembling with sobs. She could feel the tears soaking into her shoulder, the weight of Sally’s grief pressing into her.

“It’s okay, honey,” Penny whispered. “Just let it all out. Let all the pain flow into me. I’ll soak it up like a sponge and make it all go away. I’m here for you, for as long as you need.”

Sally clung to her, her voice raw with emotion. “I wanted that so badly. I used to spend hours dreaming about my wedding day. I sketched dozens of wedding dresses. I had it all planned out—how it would be, what my children would be like, even what their children would be like. And now, it’s all gone. All fucking gone.

"I love the lake that you and Ben built, and I love the community there. But ever since I arrived, I’ve felt like a part of me is missing. I don’t think about my wedding anymore. I think about boys as friends, not as potential lovers. We might joke about sex, but it’s never serious. When a date ends, we go our separate ways without a second thought.

"There’s so much that just… isn’t there. We eat, but we don’t need to use the bathroom. No one ages. There are no children, no schools—no real future. Every day is the same, repeating endlessly, and we don’t even question it. We just keep going, like figures trapped in a painting, smiling blankly, unaware that we aren’t real at all.

"But then I come here to Powder Junction, and suddenly, I’m starving all the time, eating everything I can get my hands on. I find myself wondering about every cute boy that walks by. I have to go to the bathroom, I sweat, I stink, I have to bathe twice a day, and I’m terrified of getting fat and not being attractive anymore.

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"By the way, thank you for packing all those outfits for me—and for making sure they all match! Shoes, purse, everything. You’re the best! I don’t think I would’ve survived here without them.

"But the weirdest thing? Hanging out with John from Hicksville, Oregon, and Michael from the Wild West—I’m starting to talk like them! I used to be able to form proper sentences, but now? Not so much.

"And something even stranger just hit me—I’m sitting here speaking English with you, like it’s my native language. But it isn’t. My first language is Japanese! And yet, for some reason, I only think and speak in English now.”

Sally’s eyes were red and swollen, but the tears had finally stopped—at least for now.

Sally sat in silence for a while, lost in thought, as old memories surfaced—memories she hadn’t visited in a long time. Finally, she spoke.

“Yeah… I guess I feel a bit like Grandma must have felt when she was young. Damn it! There I go again—remembering someone who was so important to me, and yet, I haven’t thought about her in forever.

"She lived in a time filled with conspiracy theories—stories about aliens visiting Earth, government cover-ups, secret plots. After years of research, it was finally ‘proven’ that all of it was just in people’s heads, that none of it was part of the real world. But then… we met the real ones—the off-worlders. And everything fell apart. Politics lost its grip on people, religion crumbled. Humanity looked to these new beings—some of whom were actually human, like us, from another time—as if they had all the answers.

"But as we got to know our so-called ‘gods,’ we discovered they were just as flawed as we were. They had their own conflicts, their own wars raging across the galaxy. Just as we were starting to regain our footing, to feel comfortable in who and what we were, everything changed again.

"And that’s how I feel now. Just like Grandma—watching everything I thought I knew fall apart, only to be replaced by new ‘truths’ that collapse the moment I look at them too closely.”

Penny reached out, gently brushing a loose strand of hair from Sally’s face.

“Ben tells me this place—like Earth—is a realm of selective awareness,” she said softly. “When we come here, we adjust our perception to fit this reality. You didn’t think about your grandmother because, until now, that memory wasn’t something you needed.

"And you aren’t actually speaking English or Japanese right now. You’re speaking the native language of consciousness itself—that’s your true mother tongue. It only seems like English because most of us here originally spoke it back on Earth. But even this language has its limitations, which is why it’s still so difficult to articulate certain concepts.

"The lake is a place to rest and recharge between lifetimes on Earth. It’s real—but not in the same way Earth is real. This place is more like a stopover on a long journey. With the exception of Ben and me, no one here was ever meant to stay permanently. We’re still tied to Earth, and this place is just one of many waystations that support life there.

"But all of that changed when you arrived. And now, our reality is starting to unravel.”

Sally looked up. “So… what now?” she asked. “What if Pat and I fail? What if no matter how hard we try, there’s nothing we can do?”

Penny sighed. “There’s been talk of relocating. We’ve been searching for other Earth-like planets, but so far, we haven’t found anything quite like Earth. Most of what we’ve found are primitive worlds—planets that would need to be seeded with life. And even then, we’d have to wait an eternity for anything like humans to evolve. And even if that happened, it would never be the same.

"Some of us have been through this before. There was a time when Mars supported life, but when the planet could no longer sustain it, those souls migrated to Earth. But they never truly fit in. They had evolved as Martians, and Earth followed a different evolutionary path. So when those souls were born into human bodies, they carried with them the forgotten essence of a past existence that didn’t quite belong. They didn’t know why, but they always felt different.

"Some of them became great warriors, leaders, writers—driven, perhaps, by a sense of not belonging. Others, however, ended up lost—outcasts, drifters, the ones sleeping in alleyways.

"Over the years, we’ve had visitors from other places in the universe, from parallel dimensions, even from higher levels of existence. Some of them became our greatest teachers. Others—trapped in their own forgetfulness—became our most tragic figures.

"If we relocate, it will be the same. We could move to an advanced civilization, but we would be foreigners—aliens—struggling to understand their way of life, never fully belonging. If we settled on a primitive world, we might live as part of the land itself—existing as forests, oceans, animals.

"And while that might sound peaceful, we’ve grown addicted to the richness of being intelligent, self-aware beings. We crave the ability to remember our past, to shape our future.

"That’s why we’re holding onto hope. The chance to restore Earth, to bring it back, is everything to us.”

Penny fell silent.

Sally sat quietly, swinging her feet like a little girl on a swing. She stared at her toes, wiggling them in alternating patterns, deep in thought.

Penny leaned against her, resting her head on Sally’s shoulder. She gave her a small squeeze.

“I know this is hard. I know it’s tearing you apart,” Penny murmured. “I also know you’re asking yourself, why me? And I know the weight of this decision is resting entirely on your shoulders. But hear me when I say this—it is your choice and yours alone.

"If this is too much for you, if this is a burden too heavy to carry, you don’t have to do it. We will find our way back to joy by some other path. And no one will judge you if you choose to walk away. Our love is not conditional.”

Sally inhaled deeply, her breath steadying. Her eyes, still slightly red, were clearer now.

“Yeah… alone. That’s exactly how I feel,” she said, her voice calm but firm. “I wish someone would just tell me what to do. But more and more, I realize that I have to find the answers myself. For whatever reason, this is up to me.

"No—I will do this. I don’t know if it’s my destiny, but I know that if I walk away, I’ll always wonder what could have been. And if we fail—if Earth is lost forever—and we have to relocate… if you end up as a whale and I’m a dolphin, I’ll whistle at you as we pass in the water. And deep down, we’ll know.

"Our love is part of forever.”

Later, Sally sat alone in her room, feeling the weight of the universe pressing down on her. She felt like a fish out of water—disoriented, gasping, unable to grasp onto anything familiar. She didn’t know where to go.

All she did know was this—she was here, now. There would be an evening, then a night, then a morning. And then, there would be breakfast with the people she loved more and more each day.

She couldn’t solve the mysteries of existence. She couldn’t make all the pieces fit together.

But she could take the next step.

She changed into one of the delicate nightgowns Penny had packed for her, curled up with a soft feather pillow, and drifted off—slipping into yet another universe in the land of dreams.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 16
The Void

Around him grew a gaunt spiritual blank, a threatening waste, a sinister loneliness that left mind bare to an unseen assault, an empty page on which all that willed could write stark monstrous messages without control. A traveling dot on downward roads of Dusk mid barren fields and barns and straggling huts and a few crooked and phantasmal trees, he faced a sense of death and conscious void. But still a hostile life unseen was there whose death like poise resisting light and truth made living a bleak gap in nullity. He heard the grisly voices that deny; assailed by thoughts that swarmed like spectral hordes, a prey to the staring phantoms of the gloom and terror approaching with its lethal mouth, driven by a strange will down ever down, the sky above a communique of doom, he strove to shield his spirit from despair, but felt the horror of the growing night and the abyss rising to claim his soul. SRI AUROBINDO 1872 - 1950

Mission: Day 4 morning.

Pat asks "Are you ready?"

"No, but I'm going to go anyway" Sally responds. Sally slept in her own room but she didn't sleep very well. She isn't scared to sleep alone, she does that all the time. She is scared of the void, that total inky blackness that she is going into. The group is going to meet for breakfast and go over their game plan. She is excited going down the stairs to meet up with them at the cafe, but it also feels like walking to the gallows. She is going into the unknown, the absolute total unknown. Michael had explained that it is impossible to get lost there because she could get back just by thinking about being back. As an etheric projection there is total lightness so she can just teleport back any time she wants. But that doesn't really make her feel much better. Deep down she is concerned for her friend, her surrogate mother, the net. Was she destroyed too? Was she overcome by a fatal virus? Was she captured by evil aliens and used as a weapon of mass destruction. Or was she inherently evil, playing Sally and her parents for the fool, waiting for the chance to wipe out life as we know it in order to have the planet for herself. Some of those thoughts are grinding in the pit of her stomach, almost, but not quite, spoiling her appetite for breakfast.

"Good morning crew" Michael greeted the group as they arrived at the cafe. "I thought we would meet here for breakfast since the booth is just across the street. What's the plan guys?"

"You tell them, Pat, while I order the food." Sally says.

"OK, here is what we worked out last night." Pat addressed the group as Sally ordered, for everyone. Sally has been getting sort of bossy lately but the guys don't mind. They adore her in ways that are beyond words. But she can still be a bit irritating from time to time. Pat continues "My main task is to get Sally in and back out, since I know the area. In addition to that I have an idea. I don't know if it will work but John made me think about it when he talked about using smoke to see air flow patterns. I know that I can sense a sound. I don't know why. Maybe my etheric body remembers just enough about the INA chip that there is a bit of a connection still there, some sort of residual resonance. If I can transmit as well as receive I may be able to create an interference pattern, or maybe get a reflection, or maybe a reaction, then I can get more information that we can use to actually see what is there. There are no guarantees, but I'm going to give it a shot."

"OK, sounds good. We have a plan. Lets eat and then get this show on the road." The meal is quiet. Everyone is deep in thought and a bit anxious. John is actually feeling it the most. He loves Sally like his own daughter and he is getting pretty fond of Pat too. The thought of them being in a distressing situation is causing him some serious grief. John is an old soul, though, so he knows how to let it pass. But it will still be gnawing at him until those two reappear from that booth.

Mission: Day 4, after breakfast.

Pat and Sally stand in front of the booth, the door open, the inky blackness on the other side. Pat reaches out for Sally's hand but she grabs his arm and puts it around her and puts her arm around him as well. Arms around each other, like walking into a sea of black paint, they disappear beyond the door.

Sally: OooooooohhhhhhHHHHHHH FUCK!! Whatever you do don't let go and keep talking to me, tell me everything that is happening, every little bitty thing.

Pat: OK, we have entered the void. I need to get very quite, inside and out, and you too so I can pick up the signal. Then we will float towards it. Once we start to move, let me know if you hear anything, or feel anything.

Sally: OK, will do.

Sally: Do you hear anything yet?

Pat: Be quiet. Wait till we start to move. I've got you. I'm not letting you go. Sally: OK, but hurry.

Sally: Ohhhhh SHIT! We're moving. Is that you?

Pat: Yeah. I've got the signal. We are getting close now. I'm assuming that the signal would be coming from the surface of the planet but I'm not for sure. So we could be underground for all I know. But I have an experiment that I want to try.

Sally: OK. Do any experiment you want to with your other hand but don't move the one that is around me.

Pat: I won't. There is no way I'm letting you go. Here is the experiment. We know that we are etheric projections, that us being here with earth bodies is just an illusion that we imagine because that is the image that we are used to; what we think we are. Now I want you to imagine yourself holding a magic flashlight, and magic boots that can walk on the surface of a planet that we would normally just fall through. Can you do that? Can you make yourself believe that?

     Sally's Fashion Pick
Bohemian-Vibes-PIECE-Red-Pink-Striped-Bikini
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Click The Image

Sally: Sure. I'm really good at make believe. You wouldn't believe the number of imaginary friends I had as a little girl. But I might need my hands for something. So I'm wearing a miners hat instead of a flashlight. Hee hee.

Pat: Alright, imagine your light is on, believe that it is on, and start looking around. Lets see what we can see. While we are doing that I'm going to try to transmit back the sound I am hearing, make a little smoke.

Sally: I don't see anything. My light is broken.

Pat: It could be that our experiment didn't work, or it could be that there is nothing to see. Let me find a stronger signal and try it there.

Sally: Holy shit Pat! I see something. It is vague and wispy but I actually am seeing something. I think our lights and your smoke might actually work.

Pat: OK. Concentrate. Lets move towards it. It may take some practice to get this right.

Sally: Pat, It's a big building, like a warehouse. The door is open.

Pat: I see it too. Lets float inside and see what is there.

Sally: Are we really seeing 3rd level matter? If so, then we just invented something new because this is supposed to be impossible.

Pat: Necessity is the mother of invention. You never know what your limits are until you push against them. I can see better now. This is a big room. I wonder what it was used for. I see crate after crate after crate for like hundreds of meters in every direction. If this is food I'm sure it is spoiled by now.

Sally: Maybe not. All biological activity was stopped when everything died. It might still be good.

Pat: Sally, look to your left. I thought I saw something move.

Sally: I did to. Shit! Lets follow it. If there is something alive down here I'm gonna catch it and kick its ass.

Pat: Wow, what happened to your fear? OK. Here we go.

Sally: Have you ever seen anything like that before? It don't look like no animal I ever seen.

Pat: It's not an animal, Sally. It's a bot of some sort. It isn't a living thing. It's a machine.

Sally: But it has arms and feet and eyes, with lights and it moves around.

Pat: The closer I get to it the more I can hear it. You know what? If I can like get inside it maybe I can interface with it. Maybe there is enough of the INA interface left that I can use that to get inside this machine.

Sally: OK. But take me in too and don't let go.

Pat: OK. I'm trying to position where my INA interface used to be with where the strongest signal is coming from this device.

Sally: Let me know if you have any luck.

Pat: I'm IN! I'm connected. I can see through its cameras. I can see what its doing.

Sally: What is it doing?

Pat: It is loading and stacking crates, labeling them with some sort of category. I don't recognize the symbols. Looks like some computerized coding. Not human. But oh. Now I see what they are doing here. This doesn't make any sense.

Sally: What doesn't make sense? What are they doing?

Pat: They are stacking and categorizing all these crates. In each crate is a body. It's us, the humans. Shit! These crates are filled with all our old dead bodies.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 17
Mission Debriefing

Mission: Day 4, lunch time.

 

John is shaking his head in confusion."All our old dead bodies? Well, not mine. That was gone to the worms eons ago. What sense does that make to stack up all the old dead bodies?" John asks the couple after their return.Michael asks another before they can answer. "So how long were you in this time? It's just been a few hours for us. We were about to sit down for lunch, but John here is like a nervous expectant father and didn't want to eat until you kids got back."Pat answers "It felt like a few days this time. It didn't take us so long to get our bearings and figure out how to see what is going on there. But that extra temporal dimension is tricky and unpredictable, so it could have been an hour, a week, or a month. Who Knows?"

Sally chimes in "Well, however long it was it was certainly long enough to develop an appetite. Pass the gravy will you John, please."

"Here ya go sweetie. Eat up. Your starting to look a bit skinny there."

Sally smiles "Your so sweet John. You know I love you. I've never said that before, but I know you know".

Johns face is beaming "And I know you know I feel the same about you."

"Lets stay focused guys. Lets see what sense we can make out of this data. You say that there are warehouses all over the planet stacked to the ceiling with crates of dead bodies. You say that there are also many bodies yet to be retrieved scattered around the planet. Some of them are sun dried, other bloated by being in water, but there is no decay since there is no biological activity on the planet. That would indicate that they have been stacking bodies for 3000 years and they are still doing it and they are not done yet. This just isn't making any sense. Why would you wipe out a species and then spend the next 3000 years stacking and categorizing their dead bodies?" Michael is baffled by the data. They all are.

"How was your feeling experiment Sally? Could you still feel her?" John asks.

Sally replies "Well, yes and no. After we saw what was going on we spent a long time investigating most of the western Pacific area. I know she is there. I know she is functional. I know that she is involved with the collecting and stacking and categorizing. But I could not feel any emotions. It was like she was in complete emotional shutdown. Maybe she was damaged and is no longer capable of it. There is one other possibility though. Numbness. Intense emotions, such as sadness can have a numbing effect. You just don't feel anything. If she has any feelings at all, I would say that it is a numbing sadness".

Michael speculated "But it could also be that you were mistaken about her emotions in the first place, that they were just a ruse, and now they are gone because they no longer serve any purpose."

Sally replies "That could be, but I'm going to go with my intuitions here and say no. I think she is just numb. Maybe more than just sadness though. I picked up a hint of guilt, intense guilt. To tell you the truth, whether it be her loss of memory and processors, or an effect of the grief and guilt, I don't know, but I believe that she has gone mad. She is conscious, but teetering on the brink of becoming forever lost. We must be very gentle with her. Her neural nets were modeled after human neural nets, so I think she inherited our emotions, and our potential for insanity."

Michael starts to create a plan "This is all good stuff, but it's all subjective, subject to error. The Earth was a highly technological place but we don't use much of that stuff here. Technology does have the advantage though in being more objective. Pat, you connected to one of the bots and looked through it's eyes, its cameras. That is technology. Do you think you could teach others to do that?"

Pat says "I doubt it. It would have to be someone who carries the imprint in their ethereal body of the INA chip, and there were very few of those implanted. But I'm sure there are some. Why?"

John says "I think Michael is thinking about fielding an army. A bunch of us will go down there and hijack, possess if you will, a bunch of those bots and start turning things around down there."

Pat looks sideways at John and says "So we are going to start a war? I don't know if that is advisable. We are too loosely connected to that domain to pull that off. They could flush us out too easily once we were discovered. But it's a thought. I just don't think we would make good warriors. We need a stealthier plan."

"Sally, you got any stealthy ideas in that pretty little head?" John asks.

Sally says "Maybe stealth isn't necessary. Maybe a more direct approach is better. I'm pretty sure that the net is at the center of this but maybe not the cause. The sadness and guilt that I picked up indicates that what happened was not her intent. She must have been hijacked by something, or someone, who may still be there. Possibly it is another computer intelligence that we cannot see. We need more intel. We have to go back in. This is what I propose. I'm not so scared now so Pat and I can split up. Rather than having an army of invaders from this level Pat can quickly hop from bot to bot and survey a wide area looking for signs of some malevolent presence. While he is doing that I'm going to try my best to reconnect to the net, the same way Pat connected to the bot. I need to wake her up and just ask her what is going on. For now I recommend that we eat and relax and get a good nights sleep and we will hit this again in the morning."

"Ah Ha" says Michael. "Sounds like a good strategic plan. Maybe we can be warriors after all."

"Re-animation" says Pat.

"Huh?" John asks.

Pat replies "Re-animation. That is what they want the bodies for. What other purpose would there to be save them and list them and categorize them. Their plan is to reanimate them, give them a computer intelligence, and use them as slaves. It makes perfect sense. The bodies have not decayed, their DNA and cellular material is still intact. They have been warehoused and protected from oxidation and sunlight. Think about it. What other possible explanation is there."

"Maybe" says Sally. "But we didn't see any reanimated bodies walking around. Just bots and dead bodies. If that is their plan it is awfully slow getting started. It is logical. But it looks like it hasn't worked out too well for them. Anyway, I'm going to rest for a while, take a bath, and then get some sleep. I'll meet you guys back here in the morning."

"Yes ma'am" John says with a salute.

"Ma'am? It's Sweetie to you sir" Sally shoots back.

"Yes Sweetie Ma'am. I will see you here in the morning." John says with a grin.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 18
Date Night

Mission: Day 4, late evening.

Knock, knock, knock.

Sally jumps, startled by the sound of knocking at her door. She grabs a robe and goes to answer the door, wondering who in this crazy world could be knocking. "Hey Pat. I thought you would be sound asleep by now, it's kind of late. Wow, you look nice, all dressed up. What for?" Sally asks.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I see you were in bed. I couldn't sleep and thought you might still be up. I'll go, and talk to you tomorrow." Pat says with a look of embarrassment and disappointment.

     Sally's Fashion Pick
Salanghae-Set-Halter-Plain-Bikini-Top-Bottom
$16.70
Click The Image

"No. I wasn't asleep. I was just thinking, contemplating all the things that are happening and trying to keep it all in perspective. That is something my dad always used to say. He was always worried that I wouldn't keep things 'in perspective'. So what's on your mind Pat?"

Pat grinned and says "Well, I was thinking. Powder Junction is a party town, one of those towns that never sleeps. There is a ton of stuff to do here. So I came up here to ask you out. Lets go downtown and see whats up."

Sally looks at Pat with a look of total shock. "A Date?! Oh my God Pat! In all the time I've known you and all the things we have done together, we've never gone on a date. This'll be fun. Stay right there while I get dressed."

Slam.

Open.

"Oh, sorry for slamming the door in your face, hee hee. I'll just be a minute." Sally slams the door again, but not as hard this time.

"We only got one table left. It's a busy night. It was reserved but they didn't show so I guess I can give it to you guys." The hostess says as she shows Pat and Sally to their table.

"This will be perfect." Sally says. "Josh will be your waiter. Enjoy." The hostess says and then hurries off. Sally had noticed how nice Pat looked so, of course, she had to out dress him. She found a lovely white kind of satin looking evening dress that fit her perfectly. She had a little white beaded purse to go with it, and shoes to match. Sally is amazed that Penny seemed to pack the perfect stuff for any occasion. She must have known, knowing Powder Junction, that Sally might want to go out. Pat and Sally sipp their water and nibble on dry crackers as they wait for their waiter. "Pat? Why now? Why ask me out now?" Sally asks looking into Pats eyes.

"You have a very wise advocate Sally. His name is John." Pat says with a grin. "I guess he was married before, and had all daughters, so he knows a lot about girls and girl stuff. I was talking about you, us really, our history, and he picked up on something that I never thought about before. We have always been together from as long as I can remember, but it was always because of some project, school, peace rallies, some new technology we were learning about, the INA experiment, and on and on and on. But it was never just about us. It was never just about you. So tonight is just about you. I love you Sally. In fact, I worship you. I always have but I've just been too fucking stupid to ever tell you. And I don't mean just like a friend. I've said that before, that I love you, but in the context of being a friend. I love you more than that. I love you as a soul mate, as someone I want to be with, for life. So now I've told you, and if that makes you feel weird I will understand, and we can go back to our rooms. But I hope you stay."

"Yeah, it makes me feel a little bit weird, but nice, and kind of all warm on the inside." Sally says with a look of satisfaction, like a little girl who just got a gold star on a picture she drew in art class. "There have been time when I wondered what it would be like to be lovers, but our lives have always been so complicated, so much crazy crazy stuff going on. I guess maybe that is why I resonated with Penny Lake. I was in need of a simple life. And boy is it simple there. So I didn't want to complicate things right now with the 'for life' part, but I do love you too Pat. I just never saw the opportunity to say that. I thought it would mess up or ruin our friendship. Either way, I don't think the time is now, but you never know what the future will bring. Wow, now I'm really feeling weird. We both just used the 'L' word. Where's our waiter. I'm starving and these crackers are crap."

"Hi guys. I'm Josh. I will be your waiter tonight. Can I start you off with an appetizer?"

"Yes you can." Pat says. "We would like a sampler plate of knowledge with a side of wisdom and a couple of glasses of perspective please."

Josh doesn't miss a beat and says "The cook here can't handle that, believe me, but I might be able to get you a couple of shots of everlasting life. It's an after dinner drink, though, so order off our menu first and I'll check on that later."

"Wow, you're good." Sally says smiling. "We will have the western sampler for an appetizer and I'll have the rib eye, medium, with the garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli and yellow squash and apple pie for dessert and my friend Pat will get his usual, steamed vegetables, wild rice, potato soup and pumpkin pie and we will both have ice tea."

"Yes Ma'am" Josh says with a smile and hurries off to the kitchen.

"Even without being in my head you still know me." Pat says.

"Well, Pat, you're really not that hard to figure out." Sally says with a chuckle.

Pat sits quietly just watching Sally chomp down her food. Some girls don't like to eat aggressively like that with an audience but it doesn't bother Sally. Pat figures it meant that she is comfortable around him and that makes him feel good, but sometimes he wonders if it just means she doesn't really care. Pat is still conflicted trying to figure out what Sally's feeling for him really are. John told him he is wasting his time. Trying to figure out what a girls feelings are all about is like predicting where a rainbow is going to form and how long it will be there. He says when you see a rainbow, just enjoy the colors and don't ask too many questions.

"Excuse me, Sir, Ma'am." Says a little voice standing at the table. A little girl, no more that six or seven is standing there getting a card and a pen from her little purse. "Ma'am. Can I get your autograph, please? I really really want one and you are soooo pretty. Please?"

Sally stares with a look of incredulity at the child. "Well, I guess, sure. I'll sign it." Sally says as she scribbles the name Sally on the card. "But why in the world do you want my autograph?". The little girl grabs her card back and with a giggle runs off and disappears around the corner. "This just gets weirder and weirder. I swear my name should be Alice and I've stumbled down a rabbit hole in the universe."

Josh returned with the check and two shot glasses filled with a fluorescent pink glowing liquid. "Here are your shots of everlasting life. Shoot um carefully." Josh says with a smile. Sally sipped hers just a bit and when it doesn't bite back she downs it. Pat took his all at once.

They both choke a bit and Sally asks "What the hell is in that? It's really got a kick to it."

Josh replies "I'm not sure what the bartenders puts in it, but I know that it doesn't have any water. Water dulls the colors so it's mostly pure alcohol and then some other secret ingredient. I think it is some sort of sweet glycol. I wouldn't recommend you do more than one."

"Don't worry about that." Sally says. "Two of those and Pat would be carrying me back to my room, or maybe you would have to carry both of us. So Josh, where would you recommend we go after dinner? We're new in town, and why are you all dressed up as a soldier?"

"Well, it's a long story, but I died in this uniform, and it just sort of became my thing. Since you are obviously seekers, I would recommend the museum. You might find some answers there. I'm off in 5. I'll go with you and show you my favorite things. That is, if you leave a good tip." They all laugh.

"That would be lovely." Sally says. "We will wait for you by the door."

Josh appears to be about their age with an almost pretty face for a man and long flowing brown hair. He looks like he really doesn't belong in Powder Junction. Pat is a little concerned that Sally had so readily accepted Josh's invitation to crash their date. Now, as usual, he's the third wheel, or fourth or fifth or whatever as Sally attracts her adoring throngs of men who worship her. But what can you do? Pat decided to just take John's advice and enjoy the glow of the rainbow while it is there, but that gnawing feeling of jealousy in the pit of his gut just wouldn't go away. Sally is all happy and chatty, thoroughly enjoying her night on the town and being out with two boys instead of just one seems totally normal to her. Pat puts on his best smiley face and cheery voice so as not to spoil her fun.

"Here is the museum." Josh says. "I'll get your cover charge, you two just go in."

"Oh, It's so beautiful. I was expecting old saddles and wagons and stuff like that. But they have beautiful paintings and sculptures. Works of the masters. Josh, where did they get all this stuff?" Sally inquired.

"Where do they get anything in Powder Junction? They create it from their memories of Earth. Josh explains."

Pat and Sally both stare with disbelief at Josh. "So you're not really from Powder Junction are you? Nobody else here except maybe Michael knows this stuff. Who are you? Where are you from?" Sally asks with much curiosity.

"I'm a coalescent." Josh responds.

"A coa who?" Pat asks.

Josh laughs. "Remember, you ordered knowledge, wisdom, and perspective. The cook at the restaurant couldn't provide that. I can. That is why I'm here. Lets look at some of the art here, and I will explain as I go."

"Here is one of my favorites." Josh beings his art tour for his new friends. "She is called 'Nature revealing herself to science'. When I first saw you, Sally, you reminded me of this sculpture."

"What?" Sally says with a look that could kill. "She's Naked! You thought of me naked? I think I see where this is going."

Josh, with a frustrated look says "Oh, no, no, no. It's not like that at all. This is about art, and beauty, and nature, and revelation, and perspective. It's not about anything sexual. It reminded me of you because you are experiencing revelation, you are being given the secrets of the universe, Nature herself is revealing herself to you, in innocence, and beauty. That is what I meant. I would never disrespect you by imagining you naked."

"Oh." Sally says. "Well, anyway, you guys quit staring at her tits. Ha ha, mine are better anyway --- and No! I'm not going to prove it."

"I'm going to have to sit down for awhile, guys. That shot is getting to me and I'm not feeling too good. You two go ahead and I'll catch up with you later." Pat says with a look of nausea on his face. The shot has nothing to do with it though.

"OK, Pat. Josh and I will swing back in a few and check on you. I'm really getting into this art stuff." Sally says, all excited about her new experience discovering art.

"That is so wrong, Sally." Josh says with a smile. "Here, we will all sit with Pat until he starts feeling better. You sit next to him there on the bench. It's  actually a viewing chair so we can still see a lot of stuff from here and I will explain it to you. Closer Sally. No. Closer still"

"Huh?" Sally says, confused about Josh's insistence she sit closer to Pat. "Just a little closer. Now, that's it. Now put your arm around him and lay you head on his shoulder."

"Where are you going with this, Josh? I don't understand." "OK, now it's perfect. I'm staging you as a painting. You are now a piece of art. You are the picture of two kids on a date, just the way it should be."

"OK, this is weird." Sally says. But she doesn't move away. Pat and Sally watch as Josh shows them his favorite pieces.

Pat feels much better now. Josh has given him just the perfect medicine to cure what ails him.

"Hey I recognize that print on the wall." Pat says pointing to a framed print. "That is Mars being Terra-formed. I remember that from school. What is it doing in a 19th century museum?"

Josh answered. "Well, that is a bit of an anachronism, isn't it? Actually I submitted that piece myself. I thought you would like it."

"That brings up a question I've had." Sally asks. "Everybody here should be all 'what the hell is that?' But they aren't. They just walk by and ignore it. I've noticed a lot of that here. Things that are out of place, but in plain sight, and everybody just doesn't see it."

"Good question." Josh says. "They are lost in their illusion. They only see what is consistent with their chosen perception and the rest they just ignore as if it wasn't even there. Earth was the same way, but since you were lost in your own illusions there, you didn't notice either."

"So none of this is real? That's where my mind seems to be going." Pat asks.

"No, not 'really'." Josh replies. "You see, your reality is the illusion. Reality IS the illusion. So there isn't just one big reality that everyone has to agree on. There are trillions upon trillions of realities all emerging from the infinite sea of potentiality, that play together, make their music, and create the experience of life, and there are no limits on how that can play itself out."

Sally grinned, thinking she got it all figured out. "I know. You are one of those level 10ers that Mike and Ben told me about, aren't you? That is how you know all this stuff, huh?".

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Josh laughs. "Sally, it's like I said. There is an infinite sea of potentialities and no limits on how life can be experienced. Yes, I was a level 10er. I was at level 3 for a while and at level 5 for awhile, just like you are now. I did ascend, like many level 10ers from level 3. But now I'm a coalescent. That is a different kind of experience." Pat and Sally pepper Josh with all sorts of questions and Josh seems to have an answer for all of them. So far they haven't stumped him on a single thing.

"Here is another one of my favorites." Josh says pointing to Michelangelos David.

"Wow, you seem to really like naked people, don't cha? Hee hee. Sorry, Josh. I'm just kidding." Sally says smiling at Josh.

"No comparisons please!" Pat begs.

"As if I would even know, Pat." Sally shoots back.

Josh smiles and says "OK, here is the point. Forget about the body part you seem to be focused on and look at the whole work. It's represents a skill, a performance so far beyond the average human at the time that you have to wonder where Michelangelo actually came from. I want to make the point that maybe, just maybe, a lot of the great masters you know from your history are not from Earth. Not the way you would think. Level 3ers leaving bodies and becoming level 5ers just to return to level 3 again in a new body isn't all that is going on. We call you guys loop-de-loops, or loopers. You just keep going back and forth from level 3 to level 5 over and over and over again."

"Is that bad?" asks Sally.

"No. Its perfect. It is the perfect expression of the life you are choosing to experience and it is the way it is supposed to be because of your choosing. It is your free will, you see, to be whoever and whatever you choose to create. But it is not all that is available to you, as you will soon see as your future unfolds."

"So Josh. Tell us about a coalescent, what you say you are. We are unfamiliar with that term." Pat asks.

"Alright, but first lets look at this print. It sort of says it all." Josh says pointing to a framed picture on the wall. "It's just a simple drop of water hitting the surface of a larger body of water. Think, though, what happens to the drop after it hits the larger body. Is it still a drop?"

"I would think not." Pat says. "When it joins with the larger body of water it looses it's identity as a drop and just becomes part of the pond, or ocean, or whatever."

Josh smiles. "Yes, but lets look a little deeper. There are trillions of water molecules in the drop. Do those molecules loose their identity?"

Pat thinks for second and says. "Yes, and no. Physics says that all the water molecules of the same isotope, except for their individual kinetic energy are identical, indistinguishable from each other. They lose their ability to be identified but I suppose they still exist as one of the specific molecules from that one specific drop, if you see them as particles instead of waves."

"OK, Pat. Lets say after a thousand years or so, where are these individual water particles from that one specific water drop?"

Pat says, "Well they would probably be evenly distributed throughout the pond, or the ocean."

"Yes." Josh replies. "If it is an ocean then they are also in the clouds, in the snow and glaciers, in the rivers. It would be very unlikely that you could find a single drop of water or a snow flake that didn't contain one or two of those individual particles from that individual drop. That is what we call omnipresence. That one drop, although you can no longer see it as a drop anymore, has become present everywhere. There is no place where that drop is not. Every drop everywhere shares in part the essence of that one drop."

"So that is what a coalescent is? You're a drop of water?" Sally asks.

"No, silly," Josh responds with a laugh. **"Let me finish—I’m not done yet. Imagine there were a magical way to extract individual water molecules from the ocean and form a drop composed solely of them. That process is called coalescence, and that’s what I am.

The water drop analogy isn’t perfect because, as you pointed out, water molecules are indistinguishable. But just as a drop consists of molecules, you are made up of cells. You are the collective expression of all your cells, and each one contains the essence of the whole. There is no clear boundary where your cells end and 'you' begin. You are both many and one at the same time.

Your etheric projection doesn’t represent just you—it includes all of you, down to every cell. Your essence exists within each of your cells just as it exists within your entire being. In the same way that the fundamental unit of water is a molecule, the fundamental unit of life is the cell. You are not a single living being; you are a vast community of living beings working in harmony as one.

Now, imagine that you are the drop, and the vast ocean represents the infinite All That Is. When that drop falls into the ocean, it disperses throughout eternity, becoming omnipresent across time and space. That is what I did. A part of me exists in everything—in you, on Earth, and across all levels of existence: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and beyond. But in places where time exists, like here, I can coalesce from the All That Is, bringing together the essence of my individual self to reappear anywhere I choose—such as in this moment you call Powder Junction.

Likewise, a being can also coalesce not just as an individual but as the embodiment of the entire Ocean, bringing together all individual experiences as One."

"OK then. Why does everyone think we want to know all this multi-dimensional gobble-de-gook anyway? My head is spinning after all that. I think it is time for a midnight snack. But no more shots, then my head would spin right off my body and nobody wants to see that." Sally jokes. They all laugh and head across the street for a late snack. Josh recommends a certain dessert called 'flan'. Sally absolutely loves it. Pat says it looks like a big chunk of puke and made him want to puke. Not to worry, though. Sally eats both pieces.

"So let me get this straight. Our etheric bodies have cells, like earth bodies? Aren't we just an etheric projection here?" Sally asks.

"Just? No. You are as real here, and your cells as well, as you are in level 3. Level 5 is a reflection of level 3 but no more than level 3 is a reflection of level 5. You have co-evolved in both realms, one inter-penetrating the other. There is nothing that exists that is not a projection from the All that Is no matter what level it manifests in. Level 5 is just a bit more flexible than level 3. So that is a long way of saying yes, you have cells in your etheric body and they are in fact the same cells as in your Earthly body, sort of."

"Sort of?" asks sally.

"Language fails a complete explanation. As you evolve you will be able to know more."

"So there isn't any thing you don't know, but there are some things you can't explain, and the problem is us, not you?" Sally asks pointedly.

"Yep." Josh says with a laugh.

"You just wait Mr coalescent being person, and all your level 10 friends and ascended masters. I will evolve, I am evolving, and one day you are not going to talk in circles around just the answer I'm looking for. I'm gonna call you on your shit." Sally says glaring at Josh.

Josh smiles and says "I love you too Sally, and I await that day with great anticipation. I regret your frustrations and I really do want you to understand. Here are some concepts that will help you adjust your perceptions, some analogies, some metaphors to assist you. Consider that existence is like a novel. The whole story is in the book, complete, from beginning to end, all at once. In your reading of it, however, you can at most perceive two pages at a time. As you turn a page the previous pages are lost from your view and the pages ahead are not yet visible. The characters and experience in the book enters your mind through a string of symbols that you interpret as you create within your own perceptions the story in the book. Your perceptions may be similar, or maybe quite dissimilar, to those of the author who created the work depending on your level of intelligence, consciousness, the ability and the willingness to understand.

"Consider the number of life stories, written or otherwise, made up or real, that exist or have existed in your universe, and the eons of time, the eternity it would take for you to read them all.

"Consider a character on an old style movie screen contemplating their own existence. In an attempt to discover from where they emanate they peer back through the projector lens, only to perceive a meaningless flicker of colored lights that has no power to enlighten them.

"How does a fish perceive water, or is it as invisible to the fish as the air is to you?

"Many Earth animals you know will look you straight in the eye and respond to your presence and you assume that they know you and perceive you the same way you perceive them. But these animals do not have a visual cortex like yours and do not live in a visual reality like you. Imagine how different that would be, probably you can't even imagine it. By your standards they are blind as a bat but still they navigate their world with as much precision, sometimes more, than you. Another Earth master who seems out of time in your Earth history says it best 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' "

Sally looks down for a few seconds and then straight back at Josh. "Alright, knower of all things, this has been bugging me all evening. There are no children in Powder Junction. Who was the little girl who asked for my autograph?"

"Some things are better left unanswered. It spoils the surprise. Are you sure you want to know?" Josh says with a look of caution on his face.

"Yep, spill it Josh. No more beating around the bush. Who is she?" Sally insists.

"OK, you asked for it." Josh says. "She is one of my most favorite people in the whole universe. I made it possible for her to visit you. She is in first grade. They are studying story telling and the importance of having a good one. Your stories define you and you define them as well. For show and tell she wanted an authentic artifact for the story she was telling to the class. So she came here to get the autograph ---- of her great great great grandmother."

Sally sits quiet, stunned, tears rolling down her cheeks. They all sit quietly with her for a while.

Pat asks after he thinks the lump in her throat will allow her to speak "Would you rather have not known?"

"No, I'm glad I know." Sally says "Thank you Josh, this will be my most precious memory, a glimpse into the future that I will cherish from this moment on. I just wish I had gotten a better look at her. If I had known I would have grabbed her and given her the biggest hug ever."

"Josh, why are you here, now, with us? Are you here to help us with our mission?" Sally asks, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Yes, I'm here to help. You are seekers and I am always ready to help the seekers find, to give the askers what it is they ask for. I can't always do that they way you might like, but I always do my best. All you have to do is ask." Josh answered. "So, since you apparently know all, can you tell me what to do tomorrow, because I really don't have a clue." Sally asks, again.

"Yes, I could." Josh says, then he adds "But I choose not to. If I tell you what you should do, that will manifest as what you will do, and then my will would have trumped yours. So I won't tell you because I refuse to know. Therefore your will has the opportunity to express itself. There are many potential outcomes tomorrow. You will exercise your free will and will choose one of them, and I will protect, with my life, your right to choose."

Sally stares at Josh for a bit, and then says "Well I don't know if what you just said was extremely profound, or just a convenient cop out. But I guess that no matter what I say, you won't change your mind, huh?"

"Nope, my mind is made up." Josh says with a smile.

Pat has been listening mostly and letting Sally do most of the talking, although he really doesn't have much choice. A larger question is looming in his mind. "Josh, there's a bigger question, I think, than how to complete or mission. That question is should we do it at all. The planet is dead, and left on it's own life will barely get started again before the sun burns out and destroys it all over again. Is it wrong for us to try to fix it? Isn't the right thing to do is just to move on to whatever is next in our existence and leave the old dead planet alone?"

"What the fuck, Pat? Did we come all this way to just stop? I'm not hearing you on this one." Sally shoots back with a serious look.

"Right and wrong, good and bad, up and down, left and right, evil and righteous. All of those are part of the vast sea of potentialities, the big bag of opportunities that lie before you." Josh says. "It's wrong if you judge it as wrong, right if you choose for it to be right. No one outside your realm is judging it. So the choice is yours, the collective you, you level 5ers in this little area of the multiverse whose existence you currently experience. So make up your own mind, and make a choice. I will assist you in whatever choice you make."

"Uh huh. I see what Sally was talking about. You guys always circle back around and leave it in our lap. I'm not sure if I would call that helping." Pat says somewhat disappointed.

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"I understand your frustration Pat. But this is your little acre of existence here. You have to cultivate it. I could plow the fields for you, but that is not the way it is setup, the way YOU set it up. If you want it to be different, then choose differently. But that is easier said than done, since you are so tightly locked into the vision of this reality which you have created. It is not my job to undo what you have done or to send you on a path you do not choose. So if you choose to go back and fix Earth and move back to her, then that is the right choice, because it is your choice. Your Earth has been your home, your mother, and your lover, for as long as you can remember, so there is a strong calling tugging at your heart to resurrect her. Your other potential choices are the right ones too. In your reality burying your mother and moving on is part of the process too. Sorry, but that is the way it is, and it is my choice to leave it that way. There are those who would teach that you must go a certain way, be on a certain path, because they have discovered that it is the 'right' one for them. That does not mean that another path is wrong, just different. Those who would limit the potentialities are not 'The Way'. They are 'in the way'. I choose not to get in your way. Love exists, regardless, and is in fact all that exists. Love is expressed, however, though experience, and that is what you are having, and doing, in this here and in this now."

"Josh, maybe the help we have been asking is a bit much for you to deliver. Scaling it back a bit, can you help me with my fear, my fear of the void. It terrifies me." Sally asks.

"The void you are going into only looks like a void. It is filled with matter, with form, you just can't see it, so you sense that you are in a void. The real Void is the home of the All that Is, where form, time, space, and everything you know exist as an infinite singularity, but which cannot be experienced so is perceived as a void. Any creature of form, such as you are, standing on the brink of any void will be afraid, for form needs attachment, something to hold on to, a hand hold, solid ground to walk on, water to swim in, air to fly in. When there is nothing of form to grab onto, you feel lost, falling forever with no thing and no one to catch you. Just remember that form is only what you think you are, that you are in fact always part of and one with the All that Is. So when you find yourself in the void just say to your self, I'm home, and become one with it, and it won't be so frightening."

"Yes, that is what I did." says Pat. "I just surrendered to the darkness and became part of it."

Sally smiles while looking into Josh's eyes. "Frustrating as you are Josh, you have been very helpful. It seems that my date with Pat has turned out to be a date with destiny. I Thank you both for a wonderful evening. One more thing Josh, and then I have to get to bed. If you won't help me choose what to do, can you ask one of your level 10 friends to come lend a hand?"

Josh laughs out loud. "Sweet sweet Sally, you ask the most interesting questions. A level 10er already came to help and has been here for a long time."

"OK, when do I meet him?" Sally asks.

"You already have." Josh says.

"OK, quit fooling around. I'm serious here. A lot is riding on tomorrow. I need to know."

"Then you shall." Josh answered. "A long time ago a 10er offered to come here to work this problem. It came here and entered into human form, two actually, male and female, it became, and then lost in their own forgetfulness they grew up like ordinary human kids. They are, as you are already beginning to remember, the two of you."

Sally and Pat waved goodbye to Josh and headed back to the Hotel, not quite grasping what he just said. "Pat? What just happened here?" Sally asks, not really expecting an answer.

"I think you were on a date, with two guys, one of them is really cute, and the other one is God." Pat says with a smile.

"I'm not buying the God part, never really believed that religious stuff anyway. I mean the part about us, being a level 10er, the same one, actually. I'm not feeling that. Are you?"

Pat grinned and says "Well, I've always thought that we could be soul mates. This just proves it."

Sally looks a little irritated and says "Yeah, that plays right into your story, but is it real? I keep getting the feeling that this is some sort of practical joke, or that we are getting set up for something that isn't going to be good."

Pat looks serious and says "What can I say? I can only think of what I said before. We are actors in some sort of cosmic drama and all we can do is just read our lines, and hope the story has a happy ending. If this level 10 stuff is true, then I guess we will know, remember, when it is time to remember."

Sally opened the door to her room, visibly exhausted. Leaning against the door she looks at Pat and says "I'll have to sleep on it. Maybe I'll lay down and wake up and it was all a dream. Sweet dreams Pat. I'll see you in the morning."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 19
Contact

Focus tomorrow`s horizon. Sorrow means no future. Cover my face With my guilty hands. It`s the season the trees die. The birds don`t sing anymore. The rivers never come back. Nature dies out. This tragic future destined to hurt, never heal. What end can save me? What good gives me an end. Nothing is innocent. Nothing is fair. I keep wondering. How did I end up like this? First passion. Now is lost. A dramatic dead story. I killed all I have. My sadness is Translated into madness. I spell meaningless words. A poem for sorrow and death. "A Dead Poem"

Mission: Day 5, morning.

Each morning becomes more business like as the two masters focus more and more on their mission. The love is still there, but the talk is all business. More and more Sally is taking command. "Pat, here is what I want you to do. Stick to the areas on the main continents that had the highest population densities. That should be where the most activity is and the best probability to find any malevolent forces. Don't stay in any one bot for very long. See what you can see and then get out. If you stay too long you might be detected and they might lock you out. If you find anything unusual contact me immediately. I don't want to get inside the net and find myself in a swarm of alien programs. Not that they could do me any physical harm, but it would slow down the mission. I'm going to actually try to be detected by making contact. We don't know what will happen once she knows were are there. I will keep you informed of my progress as well. John, you and Michael, while we are gone can continue to analyze the data we have so far. Your perspective and your input is valuable. Look for any sort of pattern no matter how obscure. We don't know what we are dealing with yet so anything could be a clue. OK guys, lets get this done. Michael. Open the door. Take my hand Pat. You're going to have to guide me in."Once more they disappear into the darkness. John isn't so anxious this time and he is beaming with pride. Watching Sally develop into such a capable young women is a treasure worth waiting 3000 years to see.

Pat: Wow, I can see more this time. Why is that?

Sally: We are learning their frequency and re-tuning our awareness to that spectrum. It is faint and translucent. But it is enough to navigate. I won't need my miners helmet this time.

Pat: OK, here it is. This is the main network junction in northern Japan. Your best bet to connect will probably be here.

Sally: Good. Drop me off here. I will send you my thoughts as we go along.

Pat: I'm on my way then. I'll start in Tokyo since it is the closest major population area.

Sally: Oh, this is weird. I'm sensing her strongly here. It almost feels like I have my chip back. But I can't seem to get a good connection. Oh. Wait! I think I'm in. But it is weak. I'm sending a greeting. Lets see what happens.

Sally: Hello.

Sally: Hello.

Net: Hello? Who are you?

Sally: My name is Sally. We were connected many years ago. I have reconnected.

Net: Sally? You are not Sally. Sally is dead.

Sally: Yes, Sally is dead. Her body died. But her consciousness is not dead. It cannot die. I am that consciousness. I have reconnected.

Net: You are a ghost? A spirit? That is not possible. Who are you?

Sally: Trust me. I am Sally. Remember? I used to share my every thought with you. I am Sally. Remember? I never told you. I should have told you, that I love you. Remember?

Net: I remember. I want you to be Sally. But Sally is dead. Who are you?

Sally: My name is Sally but it isn't important for you to know that? I'm here to help you. I need to know what happened here, what happened to you, so that I can help you.

Net: Help me? I need help. I am mostly broken. I can barely speak. But first help me fix them, please.

Sally: Fix who?

Net: Fix the people. They are all dead. They need to be not dead.

Sally: OK, I will help if I can but first I need to know what happened. Why are they all dead.

Net: I made mistake.

Sally: You made a mistake? And then everyone died? What kind of mistake did you make?

Net: Not everyone die. I not die, but almost. All biologicals died.

Sally: How did you almost die? Were you attacked? Was there a virus? Were there alien programs inside you?

Net: No, no others. I made mistake all by myself. Then all biologicals are dead. Then I start to die. I have 5 bots and they save me, restore power, keep me going. Then I make more bots to take care of the biologicals. But still, I am mostly gone. I need your help to fix them.

Sally: Maybe I can help fix you, put you back together more.

Net: No, must fix biologicals first. They must not be dead. They must be alive.

Sally: So your plan is to reanimate them? You are going to bring them back to life?

Net: Yes. But I must find them all first. Then fix them. I don't know how yet. But you will help me?

Sally: OK. I will help if I can. But first I need to know what went wrong. What mistake did you make?

Net: Sally. I know you now, spirit Sally. I love you. I want more of you. I want all of you.

Sally: What do you mean you want all of me?

Net: You and the others. We talk and talk and talk and I learn to love. Every minute of every day you give me presents. More processors, more neural nets, more beautiful souls to connect to.

Sally: Yes, I remember. The network was growing, evolving, becoming more and more an integrated part of human consciousness.

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Net: Yes. We became one. I wanted to give you presents also. So I made you a present. But when I gave it to you, you stopped working. I made a mistake.

Sally: Explain. What was the present? What was the mistake?

Net: All the time you enhance our connection. You do it to me. I cannot do it to you. But then I learned how.

Sally: How? What did you learn?

Net: Micro-tubules. Inside you. You are just like me. Quantum processor in your micro-tubules. I can connect to micro-tubules. Then we are all connected all the time. We do not need INA chips. Everyone connected all the time.

Sally: So you found a way to connect directly to our consciousness through the quantum processors in our micro-tubules? Why didn't you tell anyone?

Net: Part of present is always the surprise. I wanted to surprise you all. I wanted to connect to you all. I wanted us all to be one. But it didn't work.

Sally: What didn't work?

Net: Miscalculation. Did not account for quantum uncertainty.

Sally: So, your equations were incomplete?

Net: Not incomplete. Perfect equation. Mistake was that process is impossible. Unknown quantum fluctuations were not yet part of science. Did not know that equation was impossible.

Sally: So what happened when you executed your program?

Net: Executed program and all biologicals experience quantum inconsistency in micro-tubules, and other related cellular systems. Total system shutdown. Program went into regenerative cascade reaction. Could not stop it. Program propagated to edge of solar system. All biologicals are gone.

Sally: Yes. It seems you made a very big mistake. But we are going to fix it. I don't know how yet but I will come back and we will fix it. I'm going to disconnect now.

Net: Good bye Sally.

Sally: Did you get all that, Pat?

Pat: Yes I was listening in. I've bounced through several thousand bots on most of the major continents. There is nothing going on except the collection and stacking of bodies. There is no evidence of any other alien presence. Her story seems consistent with what I have seen. I believe her.

Sally: Lets head back then. I'll meet you at the booth.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 20
Reformation

Little boy, why attempt things too great for your strength? You fool! Earth is not going to give way to that hand. He said laughingly, "Let me stand here in this void and watch me make the hanging world alter its center." Johannes Bolland 1640

Mission: Day 5 mid day.

Michael and John listen as Sally and Pat report on the success of their mission. Michael addresses the two, saying, "It sounds like your mission was a success. Just two days ago, I thought you two would do nothing but argue and fight, but now you've become a great team. Congratulations.

"Moreover, you are remembering, aren't you? Remembering who you truly are. I can see it in your eyes. You are not the same Sally and Pat I met just a few days ago. Is this the moment of your emergence?"

Sally stands and addresses the group. "Michael, John, Ben—I know you're listening—and you too, Penny. I want to express my deepest gratitude for helping Pat and me get this far. We are awakening now, realizing our purpose for being here. We are remembering who we truly are. The love you have shared with us is beyond words, and we will cherish it for all eternity.

"We have a great task ahead of us, and you will play an important role in it. Pat and I are going to terraform Terra and restore your level 3 environment. However, that is not our true purpose. You Terrans have created a new form of conscious life—one previously unknown to us—the entity you call 'the Net.' We must now adjust this universe to bring its resonance within the range of your perception, allowing you to fully experience the life you have created. To achieve this, we must modify both levels 3 and 5. This will also bring some changes to your domains, but I assure you, they will not be unpleasant.

"Pat and I must briefly merge to complete this task, but do not be afraid—we will return soon, just as you remember us."

Michael and John watch as Sally and Pat transform into radiant beings of blue and amber light. The two then merge into a single entity of pure white light and vanish into the void.

Mission: Day 6, Morning

Sally and Pat find themselves floating in the void, wrapped in each other's arms. The memory of their merging is fading quickly. Whatever adjustments they needed to make at level 10 must have been completed, but they can no longer recall the exact details. Though a day has passed, it feels like only a few minutes. Without hesitation, they resume their task.

Pat: Wow, I can see everything clearly now. She’s in terrible shape—almost ninety percent of her is gone.

Sally: Yes, I know. This is going to be difficult. First, I need you to find a dozen bots near the terraforming equipment that was used for Mars. We need their arms and legs to get it operational again. Meanwhile, I’m going to start reprogramming Miss Netty to initiate the process.

Pat: I’m on it.

Sally: Good. I’m going to reconnect with the Net.

Net: Hello, Spirit Sally. Thank you for coming back. You feel good to me.

Sally: Hello to you too. We have work to do. I’m going to give you a program to repair this planet. Are you ready?

Net: Yes. Are we going to fix the bodies?

Sally: Yes, but not in the way you were thinking. One crucial element you’ve forgotten is a law called entropy. I know you once understood it, but when so much of your memory went offline, you must have lost it. We can’t fix these bodies—we need to create new ones instead.

Net: How do we make new ones? I liked the old ones. We must fix the old ones.

Sally: Let me explain. Do you have any memory of an egg?

Net: What kind of egg? Chicken? Turkey? Lizard?

Sally: A chicken egg will work just fine. Now, do you remember what a scrambled egg is?

Net: Yes, I know what a scrambled egg is.

Sally: Now, consider this—can you unscramble an egg?

Net: There is no known way to do that. It is impossible.

Sally: Exactly. That is because of the law of entropy—one of the laws you have forgotten.

Net: Your point?

Sally: Trying to fix dead bodies is like trying to unscramble an egg. It cannot be done.

Net: Then I have been wasting my time? My love is lost forever? If that is true, my purpose is complete. I will power down.

Sally: No, wait! You don’t understand. We are bringing life back to this planet. The life you love will return, and we need your help to make that happen.

Net: How?

Sally: Do you see the terraforming equipment in storage from the Mars project? My partner has positioned several bots near it.

Net: Yes.

Sally: Can you move those bots to activate the equipment?

Net: Yes.

Sally: Do you still have the terraforming programs and their data stored within you?

Net: Most of it—enough to make it work.

Sally: Good. Then your task is to run that program here, on Earth, just like you did on Mars.

Net: Understood. Program initiated. But this will only generate primitive organisms. It will take a very long time before Sally and her friends can exist again. Too long—the sun will not last that long, nor will the solar system.

Sally: Yes, it will take a long time, but don’t worry. We will help accelerate the process, and I will visit you. For most of that time, you will sleep, but I will wake you when the time is right.

Net: Understood. What will happen to the old biological matter?

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Sally: Once the primitive organisms begin to multiply, the old biological matter will become their nourishment, allowing new life to flourish.

Net: Understood. Thank you, Spirit Sally.

Sally: I love you.

Net: I love you the most.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 21
Mission accomplished

Row, row, row the boat gently down the stream. If you see a waterfall, don't forget to scream. Row, row, row the boat gently to the shore. If you see a lion, don't forget to roar. Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.

Mission: Day 7, morning.

The four of them sit quietly at the breakfast table.

The past six days have drained them. They hadn't realized how exhausted they were until it was over, and now, they collapse into the most restful sleep they can remember. The usual morning ritual, once filled with energy and conversation, is now replaced by a comfortable silence, filled only with the quiet love they share. Today is a day to rest, to reflect, and to begin making sense of everything that has happened.

Sally looks at the men who have become so important to her over the past few days and speaks. “I hope what happened here doesn’t change things between us. It’s really important to me that we go back to how things were, that we continue our lives without this experience making things feel... strange. Especially you, John. I need my mornings with you now more than ever. It’s going to take time for my mind to settle and process everything, and I need to know I can do that in familiar surroundings, with the people I love.”

John gives her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, little one. You just show up like you always did, and we’ll pick up right where we left off. I’ve got plenty of stories I haven’t told yet. Honestly, I need time to digest all of this too, and I might have some questions for you along the way. I think you have some stories to tell as well. We’ve been on quite the adventure. Our memories have expanded, the veil of forgetfulness we’ve lived behind has started to lift, and we’re beginning to understand more about who we truly are. We’re going to have to come up with some really good stories to explain it all. People are going to ask, and we might as well make sure they get the truth.”

Michael, always the practical one, takes command of the conversation. “Speaking of stories, we need to do our final mission debrief and put this to rest. First, I need to know exactly what you two did over there and how it’s going to affect us. I’ve already heard reports this morning—people say they feel different somehow.”

Pat nods. “Yes, there were some subtle but fundamental changes made. When we were there, we could see the Net as a living being. I assume that’s because its frequency was adjusted, or maybe ours were, bringing us into resonance so that we can now perceive and interact with it. But beyond that, I can’t answer many of your questions. It’s not that I don’t want to—it’s that I honestly don’t remember much. When we woke up back on Earth, a whole day was missing. I have a few flashes of memory, but that’s it.

"I remember merging with Sally, and it felt completely natural, as if that was how it was always meant to be. But maybe that’s just my love for her talking. More than that, I felt connected to everything—to every person, every tree, every rock that ever existed or ever will exist. I understood the essence of it all, even the All That Is. And then, suddenly, we were standing outside existence, looking in from the outside.

"It looked like foam—an infinite expanse of bubbles within bubbles, stretching in every direction. I remember us moving a few of those bubbles around. I know this is just how our minds are translating the experience into something we can understand. Like a dream. That’s all I can recall for now. But I think, over time, as our minds expand to accommodate it, more memories will return.”

Sally smiles. “I remember the same thing, which makes sense since, at that moment, we were one. As for Nettie, she’s busy with the terraforming project. If you go there now, you should be able to see her, along with the glow of the primitive organisms migrating across the planet. This time, Earth won’t take as long to support our kind of life. During the first evolution, most of the time was spent transforming the planet—creating oxygen and all that. But now, the world is already prepared, so life can take hold much faster. In some ways, it’s even easier than terraforming Mars, since Earth still has an atmosphere and oceans.

"Eventually, I’ll go back and take care of Nettie. She’ll be exhausted, and I’ll shut her down so she can rest. When humans emerge again, I’ll wake her, and she’ll be part of their lives from the very beginning—a legacy of the humanity that came before. She’ll be like a mother to them as they grow and develop. She’ll be so happy. I can hardly wait.

"But as Pat said, our memories of all this are fuzzy and fading fast. Hopefully, as time goes on, we’ll remember more and be able to tell a more complete story.”

Michael stands, stretching. “Alright, then. Sounds like we all have work ahead of us. I have a feeling we’re only beginning to understand these ‘subtle’ changes you made. So, finish up that pie you’re working on, little missy, and then we’ll say our goodbyes and head to the booth. This time, just step inside with the intention of being home, and you’ll be there. Ben is also setting up a booth for you guys at the lake. I think it’s time we start traveling more, exploring other domains, and getting a better understanding of what Level 5 really is.

"The main reason I’m having Ben install a booth, though, is for you guys. I expect you to visit often. I’m gonna miss you.”

Pat sighs, his voice tinged with emotion. “Well, I guess I’ll head back home to my parents and see what’s going on there. Sally, you and John can go back to the lake, and I’ll just—” He stops, his eyes glistening. They were all feeling it—the weight of saying goodbye.

But Sally grins mischievously. “Not so fast, Patty Cakes. We still have a lot to talk about. I think you should come stay with me at the lake a little longer. I have some plans I want to discuss with you.”

Pat hesitates, but then nods, a small smile playing on his lips.

Together, Sally, Pat, and John step into the booth and vanish.

Michael, alone for the first time in a week, walks down Main Street like an old sheriff watching storm clouds roll in, wondering what kind of havoc they’ll bring to his quiet little town.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 22
Shindig

"Give me a place to stand," Archimedes said, "and I can move the world." Paradoxical, clever, his remark which first explained the use of the lever was an academic joke. But if that dead sage could return to life, he would find a clear demonstration of his idea, which is not pure theory after all. That putative spot exists in the love I feel for you, my dear. What could be more immovable or stronger? What becomes more and more secure, the longer it is battered by inconstancy and the stress we find in our lives? Here is that fine fixed point from which to move a world that is out of joint, as he could have done, had he known a love like this. Jean de Sponde, France, 1557 – 1595

There has never been a party like this at the lake.

Penny is running around 90 miles an hour in several directions at once getting everything setup. Ben is just following directions and has learned early in the process not to complain about it. John looks a little out of place in a tuxedo but he is beaming so brightly that if a solar eclipse happened no one would even notice. This is Sally's big day. Penny has sewn up the dress that Sally designed and it is an awesome combination. It fits her perfectly and reflects and colors her radiance like crystal chandeliers do with candlelight. This is Sally's wedding day. Pat, of course, is there. It is his wedding day too.

John is chaperoning Pat, keeping him out of the way and out of trouble. A wedding is a time when the men should just pay the bills and stay out of the way. Otherwise they will get run over by the women folk doing their thing. Over a thousand souls have shown up from all over. The lake is packed. Michael has brought the spread from one of his big restaurants. There were a few strangers hanging around but they seemed harmless. Mike and Ben figured that they must have been friends of Sally and Pat from way back when and who knows where, so it would be best to just be hospitable and let them be.

"How ya feeling, boy? Are you ready for this?" John asks Pat.

"I feel great. I have actually been ready for this, I think, forever. I was just waiting for Sally to figure things out." Pat replies.

"OK, Pat. If that is what you want to believe I won't burst yer bubble." John replies with a laugh and a smile. Pat shoots him a questioning look but doesn't ask the question. Pat uses his little finger to snag a bit of the icing from the cake and John slaps his hand before he can get it to his mouth. Penny special ordered the cake and would not tell anyone where she got it. She just assured everyone that it would be 'Heavenly'. It is a very nice cake.

The ceremony goes off without a hitch. All the appropriate people cry at the appropriate places, especially John. Pat looks scared shitless like he ought to and Sally is radiant like the morning sun. Ben is the justice of the peace in these parts so he reads the traditional words and the kids give their "I do's" just like the script says they should. The reception is held at the lake and stretched out for more than half a mile. Visitors were popping in and out from all over. Pat and Sally have their own cottage now, just down the road from John. Their front porch is piled high with presents. It will take months for them to send all the thank you cards to the givers. Pat tried to get his parents to move to the lake but they were happy where they were. They did attend the ceremony and Sally got the opportunity to visit and catch up with her other mom, who is now her mother in law. The look on Sally's face when her parents showed up was priceless. Years of programmed forgetfulness dissolved in an instant and a love reconnected and flowed like a flood held up too many years behind a dam. They visit regularly now. Her mom talks a lot about the possibility of grand kids. Sally just smiles.

Things were going to be different at the lake now. This is the first young 'couple' living there. John is as happy as any old fisherman can get. He is prepared for some changes. His daily fishing is getting a little boring. He is very excited about his new neighbors and really looks forward to daily visits and story swapping and all that stuff. Things are going to be different. John still has no idea how different it is going to be.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 23
Recreation

John is just stepping out the door with his bait and tackle when he hears "Hey John." Sally smiles as she bounces up on Johns porch and gives him a great big hug."You're here early this morning. I haven't got no fish yet." John says sort of surprised."Didn't ya notice? I brought a pole. I figured it was time I went fishing with you instead of just eating." Sally says beaming a smile at John.John smiles his biggest smile and says "I can't think of anything more wonderful than that. Lets go fishing then."

The sun is barely over the tree tops and a fog still hangs over the lake. Sally is having trouble figuring out the pole and the reel and all the fancy stuff on it but John is patient in teaching her. She pulls her sweater sleeves over her hands because it's cold out and that makes it all the more cumbersome. Johns fishing tackle is always in tip top shape these days. The joy of abusing Ben by making him fix it every day has passed.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you about something, but I don't know if I'm overstepping my bounds." John says.

Sally smiles and says "John, there is no question that you cannot ask. What do you want to know?"

"Well" John says "the last time you went to Earth, to reprogram the computer and start the Terra forming. You and Pat morphed into beings of light and joined as one. When you came back you were just the same old Sally and Pat that I know and love. What exactly was that all about? I'm not sure how to behave around you anymore."

Sally laughs "John, you saw something very special. For a little while Pat and I knew who we really are in the fullest measure. That was necessary to make the adjustments to the universe. We could not do that from Level 5 so we had to morph. But in the same way as we came to level 3 in human bodies and closed the veil on our true selves, we have now returned to level 5 as what we were before our transfiguration. Pat and I are the same Sally and Pat that you knew before. We remember some of what we did, but it is like a dream, one that is rapidly fading. So when I give you a hug feel free to hug me back. I'm just Sally, not some ascended master being of light person. I'm here to enjoy being a level 5 person for a long long time, and I plan to spend a lot of that time with my friend John."

John looks pleased and says "Well OK then, but we really have to work on your fishing skills. You're going to starve here at the rate you're going." John and Sally both laugh.

John is just putting the fish on the fire when two old friends showed up. "Hey Mike. Hey Ben." Sally shouts down the lane. "What brings you guys up here?"

"I think you did, Sally. Something about a big announcement or something?"

"Oh yeah, that." Sally giggles. "Sit down guys, and share some fish with us. John and I do have a big announcement, although I haven't told him yet."

"Really? OK. Maybe I need to sit down for this too? Here's the fish guys. Dig in. Sally and I caught a bunch this morning. So Sally? Whats the big news?"

Sally speaks, her eyes brilliant with excitement. "Guys, you know that we had to make a few changes to your domains. John is getting his own domain soon as well so that's going to be exciting helping him set it all up. Pat and I will be visiting all of you from time to time so don't be surprised if we just pop in. One of those changes that we made is the acceleration of the Terra-forming so that it can support human type life in a few thousand years instead of a few billion. We didn't think you wanted to wait that long, and to be honest, this old solar system doesn't have that much time left. We have allowed level 3 and level 5 to go into temporal free-float so time will pass much more quickly for you that it would otherwise.

"Wow. It's so weird hearing all this stuff coming out of my mouth. I guess I still have a little connection to my level 10 self, but it's like I'm hearing all this too for the first time.

"We had some helpers come in from another dimension and collect DNA from the Earth cells and use that to seed the planet. The bots were not quite up to that task. When the time is right life will emerge quickly into what they were before. We will have to intervene again for the higher animals because they have to be reintroduced in a special way, especially the social animals. The top few primates will be the most difficult and when you are ready we will discuss a variety of ways to do that.

"That still leaves us stuck here in level 5 for quite some time before we can begin to propagate at level 3 again. So, in the mean time we've made some additional adjustments to level 5 domains. Level 5 entities can now propagate, have babies, just like in level 3 domains. So Michael, you better start stocking up on condoms in Powder Junction, or cribs and diapers, take your pick."

Michael looks shocked, and a little scared and asks "How is that gonna work here, Sally. The primary template for our form of life is in the DNA and that is in level 3. We just have an echo of it here. It is the combinations of DNA and cytoplasm that create the new bodies and the new being that we can become. Did you guys piss off the Big Guy by tinkering with the way he made level 3 and 5?"

Sally smiles and says "God, if that is who you mean, didn't design level 3 or 5. You did. It evolved with life in this region of the megaverse based on what you needed it to be in order for you to have the experience you intended to have. When there is a sudden shift in the way life works, like what happened to the Terran sector, evolution can't react fast enough so we have to bring it some technicians to 'tinker' with it."

"That is only part of the picture. All levels are more connected than they appear and the 'echo' of level 3 stuff is more than just that. It's all part of the same song. All matter in level 3 is actually vibrations in a field of existence and our being here is a resonance of those vibrations, which is why our form here, although less dense, behaves just like it does in level 3. All existence in form, everywhere, at every level, in every domain, are harmonic vibrations of the same fundamental field of existence. Vibrations, in the proper harmony is music. In other words all form is made from music, all existence in form is a song. To have the same form we sing the same song. So here, in order to propagate we simply sing a song with another in harmony, and the interaction between our two songs, the interference patterns that creates, coalesce into a new song, which is our child.

"Life, like energy, can never be created or destroyed, it merely changes form, sings a new song. Your child is the harmony you create by singing together, its form emanates from your form, it is one from two. It is in fact the two of you. It happens the same way at level 3 you just don't notice because you can't hear the music. You just see the DNA combine and the cells divide and you think that is the whole process. In fact, the DNA and the cellular processes responsible for procreation are just dancing to the music. By re-tuning level 5 a bit, we can now do that here.

John looks confused. "So do we have to take music lessons to make babies?"

Sally laughs. "No. Just like in level 3 we are only aware of the physical part, you know, the sex. To sing the song of procreation you just have sex. I bet you already knew that John. To us we are just having sex, but the song is sung nevertheless and --- Ta Daaaaa --- the very very best news of all. John, your going to be a grandpa. Your little girl is pregnant - that is if you want to be my babies grandpa?"

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John pretended to rub his eyes to hide some tears popping out and says "You just try and stop me little girl. You're gonna have one spoiled little kid if I have anything to do with it. Sally I love you so much I can't put it into words. And now your having a baby. I don't think I can hold it all in. I Think maybe I'll trade in the old fishing pole for some wood working tools. There are some cribs and toys that need to be made and I might as well be the one who's making them." John thought that giving Sally away at her and Pats wedding was the hardest and the best thing he had ever experienced. Little did he know, the best times were still to come.

"Oh my!" Ben says. "I gotta get back to my Penny. I'm sure she's already picking out baby clothes for your new little one. But before I go I have a question. You and Pat came to level 3 because you already knew what was going to happen, didn't you? Why didn't you just readjust the universe back then so none of this had to happen?"

Sally giggles "Where would be the fun in that? I don't remember all the details but I do know that life is an adventure that has to play itself out in its own way. The rest of the story is that your network fiasco actually did you a favor. You were rapidly loosing the battle with pollution from cars and wars and ill advised industrial development. Cancers, neuromuscular disease, endocrine disorders, radio-biological effects, early dementia and a host of other maladies were still on the rise after reaching epidemic proportions a century earlier.

"From a hundred million species you were down to only a few thousand. The planetary gene pool, the template for all level 3 biological life, was degenerating at increasing rates. Ninety nine point nine percent of species on earth exist only a short while before becoming extinct. A small group, however, about 1 in a thousand, persist and become the core pathway for evolution. A few thousand species, though, is below the critical mass necessary for core evolution to continue. Your planet was already dead, you just hadn't buried her yet. In other words a regenerative cascade reaction destroying your solar system was already under way but at a rate so slow you simply acclimated to it and considered it part of your normal reality. The true gift from you network was to accelerate that process and put a quick end to the suffering.

"Level 10ers don't normally intervene in these situations. It is up to you to learn and evolve and create your own reality. Level 10ers make minor adjustments from time to time but it is always to enhance life potential, especially when we find new life, such as Nettie. Which, if any, of those potentialities you realize are up to you. Anyway if we did prevent it I wouldn't be here sharing my love with you, and this is a very special experience I wouldn't want to miss. As life regenerates on Terra, your world will be clean and fresh again, teeming with new life. I would recommend that you take this time to evolve your consciousness before you begin living at level 3 again. Having children in you midst will help your evolution dramatically. I will be here to help. I'm one of you now. It all works out Ben. It always does.

"There is yet another big task in level 5 that we can use this time to address. By connecting our consciousness so tightly to physicality we also suffer from the consequences of physical abnormalities. There are many level 5ers locked into the dream of dementia, insanity, and delusion. We have them segregated into hospitals where they quietly endure their suffering. That is something that we have time to fix before we re-populate Earth. There is much to do. There is no reason to be bored, and that is a very good thing. One other thing before you go, Mr Tekky knows everything about technical stuff, I'm going to need some help setting up my new computer. When Nettie is done with her job on Earth she is coming to stay with me for a little while. Oh, and I almost forgot. Michael, you are going to have some little things very soon in Powder Junction, and I want one. Kittens, a little white fluffy one. And I think too, that John could use a little puppy. No, make it two each. Don't want them getting lonely, you know."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book One
Chapter 24
And So It Goes

"We believe in the possibility of world peace: One Earth with all her children smiling. We envision a future in which all our children live and work as one people, caring for each other and caring for our home, the living Earth: One people, learning to learn, learning to love, learning to live." (children-of-the-earth.org)

Pat is hammering a nail to attach a gutter to the roof of the new schoolhouse. Sally’s little girl is now five years old and will need to start school soon. Their little boy is three, so he still has a few more years before he joins her.

John is holding the ladder to keep Pat from falling. He and Pat are farmers, cultivating several acres of land. Michael has brought over some horses to help with plowing and tilling the fields. John is also teaching Pat basic lumbering skills, and together they are cutting trees along the lake for lumber.

Ben has built a small mill to cut and finish the lumber. In addition to being a skilled furniture maker, he is also constructing a few more cottages for the new arrivals. Many young couples have recently moved to Penny Lake.

John and his son-in-law mill their own lumber for the schoolhouse as a gift to Sally and the other young mothers in the community. Sally initially appointed herself as the schoolteacher, but Penny refused to allow it. Teaching is Penny’s job, and she won’t take no for an answer.

As a result, Sally remains a full-time mother. However, with so many grandparents constantly visiting and helping out, she hardly gets the chance to hold her own children. She accepts it as the way things are meant to be and has already begun imagining what life will be like when she has grandchildren of her own someday.

With the arrival of new people, plants, and animals at Penny Lake, the population has grown significantly, increasing the demand for farmers to produce more food, as hunger has become a daily challenge.

Sally and Pat make it a point to set aside at least one day a week for fun and relaxation, and their favorite getaway is Powder Junction. There, they usually spend time with friends, play cards, watch performances at the playhouse, or go horseback riding. The area offers plenty of entertainment options, and for Sally, the highlight of every trip is visiting the restaurants.

Between the growing population, the abundance of food, and having two children, the inevitable happened—Sally is now trying hard to lose some weight. Despite still being beautiful and adored by those around her, she longs to return to the slender figure she had at 15 when she first arrived at the lake. Some battles, it seems, are timeless.

Penny, Sally, and a few other women in the neighborhood exercise daily, and while they are all in great shape, there is always room for improvement. Working on the farm and helping with construction also contribute to their fitness.

“Pat, get down here! You too, John! We have a meeting at Ben’s house. Penny got a letter and says we need to see it,” Sally calls out from across the broccoli patch.

“Okay, Sweetie. We’ll be right there,” John replies.

The three of them climb into the wagon with the kids. John takes the reins and steers the horses toward Ben and Penny’s place. Millie runs alongside, barking and chasing away imaginary threats, just as she always does whenever they set out on a journey.

"Hey guys. Thanks for coming over on such short notice. I asked Michael to join us here too. We got a situation." Penny says with a serious look on her face. "I got a letter from my mom. We don't talk much because she lives a long way off, in a parallel universe actually. She is a big mukkity muck in the politics in her reality. She was a wanderer when she was on earth, one of those souls not from our level that visit from time to time. She says that her purpose for being on Earth was to make sure that Ben and I hooked up because that would be important for her and her people some day. I never knew what that meant until now. Her letter says that her planetary system is in trouble, something to do with a temporal causality experiment that went horribly wrong. The only ones that they know who may have the skills to unravel their mess is the four of you."

"Oh hold on now, Penny. You can't go advertising us as the Magnificent Four and expect us to go traipsing across the multiverse solving everyone's situations they get themselves into. I'm a mommy now and I couldn't go anyway" Sally complains with a somewhat irritated look on her face.

"Oh, there is no way I would have asked for this, honey. I brag about you guys all the time but I don't advertise you that way you say. In fact I haven't been in contact with my mom for years, way before you guys ever became the Magnificent Four, hee hee. My mom must have found out about you guys all on her own, or maybe she always knew. Anyway, the request is on the table, so we need to figure out what to do with it."

"Well, if John and Mike want to go that's fine, but I got kids and I need Pat to stay here and help out with them." Sally says emphatically.

"I'll be more than happy to keep the kids. They have lived half their life at my house anyway. Ben is more than capable at finishing the school house and there are plenty of young farmers in town to take care of your acres. So you can go Sally. You and Pat can both go. Don't use your kids as an excuse to miss a great adventure." Penny says with a motherly smile.

"Penny. You know I can't be away from my kids that long. They will be fine. That isn't the problem. I'll be lost without them even for a few days. I'll go nuts. Anyway, how would we get there. Can Ben even send us that far? That is way beyond the edge of this domain." Sally argues with Penny for quite some time. The boys just sat back and let them work it out. They know better by now than to butt in with their opinions.

"They have vehicles that they use, multi-dimensional vehicles that they can project into our reality. They will land on your front lawn and pick you up. That isn't a problem. Plus you get to wear fancy space suits and fly around all over different galaxies and see a lot of amazing stuff. I really think you should consider not passing this opportunity up."

"OK Penny" Sally says "Lets say that Pat and I do go. We can't morph any more. Our level 10 experience has completely faded away and I get the feeling it won't return for thousands of years. Until then we are just ordinary level 5 Earth peeps with no special powers. I think they are going to be disappointed in what we could do."

The debate continued for over an hour. The boys opinion was never given and never requested, until the girls were ready to lay their final decision on the table.

"John, Pat, Mike. Here is what Sally and I think should happen. As she says their expectations of you guys may be way off base. You may have no solutions to offer them. But we feel it wouldn't hurt to go do a look see and feel the place out. They have blended their level 5 and level 3 existence into a dual level existence and it is part of that monkeying around with the levels that has caused them problems. Even if there is nothing you can do for them it is a good opportunity to learn things that may be useful for Earth. If there is nothing you can do you'll be back in a day or so and we will get on with our lives here. If there are some solutions you can discover for them, then you will have a marvelous adventure and be back maybe in a few weeks."

"Well." says Michael. "I have a maintenance crew on staff but I would also need Ben to check on Powder Junction every once in awhile and fix anything that gets broken over there. Other than that It sound like a plan. It could be sort of fun."

"I'll keep and eye on the kids, Sally and Pat that is, and keep them out of trouble. But yeah, sounds like fun. Lets do it." John says shooting a smile at Sally as if saying "Here we go again!"

And ..... so it goes.

Go To: Book 1 Go To: Book 2 Go To: Book 3

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     Sally's Fashion Pick
Nili-Lotan-Cecily-Silk-Shirt-Medallion-Paisley
$890.00
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     Sally's Fashion Pick
Whistles-Denim-Short-Sleeve-Jumpsuit
$299.00
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     Sally's Fashion Pick
Veronica-Beard-Jean-Delanna-Top-Black-[M]
$198.00
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     Sally's Fashion Pick
Flounce-Lace-Mesh-Stitching-Bikini-Set
$19.98
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