For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 1
Catching Up

Penny Lake: 5250 AD.

"Another perfect day. Another boring perfect day. It's so quiet here now. " Sally laments.

"I know, Sweetheart. Some of the domains were hardly touched by the re-population, but Penny Lake was mostly cleared out. Between the first and final wave your whole family left you. " Penny says, giving Sally a little hug.

"For years I was busy with the Council, but now that they have disbanded, most of them going in the final wave, I'm sort of stuck here by myself, and I'm kinda board. " Sally says with a look to Penny inviting some sympathy.

"Since you are back together with Patrick, why don't you make another baby? " Penny asks.

"Baby!? You're kidding. I'm 97 years old. That's a silly idea. " Sally responds.

"Oh yes, you have experienced 97 years. But your physical age is stuck at 33, as are all the young ones who grew up in these domains. So you could keep making babies for a million years if you wanted to. " Penny says.

Sally just stared at Penny and says "I don't think its the physical age that's the thing. After you have raised a family and gone through several sets of grand kids you're just not interested in making any more, even if you can, which I can't. "

"You can't? " Penny asks. "Is something wrong I don't know about? "

"Baby making stopped in these domains shortly after the final wave. It seems the life energies are refocused on the planet which is so much denser. The necessary resonance for procreation just doesn't exist here any more. At least not for humans. Plants and some animals still procreate, which is a good thing, or we would run out of steak and lamb chops in the denser domains. Here, in Penny Lake, though, I don't eat for months. It just isn't necessary in such a light domain. And sex? I'd just as soon cuddle a little and go to sleep."

"I hear it isn't that way on Earth. " Alexa states.

"Hello Alex. Nice of you to pop over. " Penny says.

"Yes. As soon as I say the word 'sex', here you are. Why don't you go home to your husband and work on that. I swear you girls are like a bunch of horny little rodents. " Sally says with a smile.

"Like you said, Aunt Sally, it's hardly worth the trouble in Penny Lake. Ethan and I will go to the city soon and spend a few days there, and we'll see what happens. " Alexa says with a giggle. "So tell me, how are they doing on the planet. I haven't heard much from Mom and Dad or Grandpa lately. Tell me about Penelope. She left way before I was born. Tell me the story of the Princess. "

"If you wanted stories you should have gone with your Grandpa John. He is the story teller, not me. " Sally says.

"Please? " Alexa pleads.

"Yes Please. I want to hear it again. You tell it so good. " Penny chimed in.

"Okay guys. It's not like I'm busy anyway. " Sally smiled as she began the story.

"I got Penelope and Anahere enrolled in the university. That was a hassle. We don't have a lot of celebrity in these domains, but my daughters were superstars. I was on my way to becoming the director of the council so I had political fame as well. We had to get the girls a lot of security on campus, which they hated since they couldn't run around wild like the other kids. They did well in school, though, in spite of the social restrictions, so it all worked out well for them. The university at that time had started specializing in courses for the re-population so Penelope majored in agriculture and Anahere majored in sociology. That prepared them pretty well for what was to come.

"My life at the council got really ugly, and the girls got sucked into that as well. There were dozens of competing plans for re-population, most of them designed to reconstitute one ancient dynasty or another on the planet. Patrick was the chairman of the subcommittee responsible for working all that out and the fighting was unbelievably fierce. Our family was becoming increasingly unpopular in the press as we were seen as controlling the whole affair for our benefit, at the expense of everyone else. It was seen as some vast conspiracy for us to rule the new world. It wasn't, but I suppose I can see how it looked that way, especially with our personal relationship to Nettie, who was key to making it all work, and with Josh, who brought the technology that would allow us to convert to level 3.

"Anahere was instrumental in reaching a final agreement, not only with her training as a sociologist, but also her position as the ambassador of the First Ones. The final arrangement was to divide up the planet into watersheds. A watershed is an area where rainwater all drains to a certain point, usually a river. It's a natural division of the land so it's borders can't be easily disputed. With Nettie's help we selected the 100 most potentially productive watersheds. We selected 100 groups of 500 individuals. These 50,000 individuals went through two years of extensive training and 10,000 individuals were selected, 100 groups of 100 individuals. Penelope was the leader of one group and so was Anahere of another group. The press said they got special privileges, but those girls worked hard and earned those positions. I was so proud of them, so intelligent, so capable, so beautiful, so physically fit. You couldn't ask for better daughters.

"My daughters did have certain privileges. The groups were not only specialists in re-population, survival, and community development. They were also selected as the best breeders. Re-population is, after all, about making healthy babies, and lots of them. So most of the younger ones were paired up with spouses before going to the planet. Penelope and Anahere, both famous and beautiful, and politically connected, had their pick of the young men, and I believe they chose well. Each group also had a contingent of the First Ones and many of those were elders. So not everyone who went to the planet on the first wave were there to make babies.

"The only way to get from this level 5 existence to the level 3 density of the planet requires what Josh calls an organized energy matrix conversion. We are, I guess, an organized energy matrix, both here and there, so what they have to do is take that matrix and add to it a bazillion times the amount of energy to convert it to level three. This is only possible with living tissue, so when you get converted you find yourself on the planet completely naked. So part of the training here was done in the nude. The girls called it naked training. "

"I'm sure that helped them pick out the best husbands. " Alexa says with a giggle.

Sally giggled too and says "Yes. I caught the girls ranking the boys on what they called their equipment list. But I think as they got used to the nudity it was no longer a novelty and they made their decisions based on a more mature criteria than the column I saw labeled 'the package'. A requirement of the training was celibacy. If you got pregnant you got eliminated. And bonding was prohibited (presumably) until a stable community structure was established on the planet. "

"So they didn't have sex until they could have good sex, huh? " Alexa asks.

"It's all about sex with you isn't it, girl? But I guess you are right. From what I have experienced, and from what others have told me, there is a big difference between experiencing life here and in level 3. It's like in level 5 you are listening to music on a little tinny transducer with no fidelity, limited dynamics, and in black and white. Then in level 3 it's like your standing right in the middle of the orchestra experiencing the total vibrations of sound and color. So something here in level 5 like sex in the city is fun and exciting and all, but in level 3 it really blows your socks off. The same is true of taste and other sensations, like the aroma of a flower. So food is like a major experience there, compared to here. That is what I hear. I haven't tried it myself. "

"So why not, Aunt Sally? Most of the important people on the council and stuff all went on the second wave, including my whole family. Why didn't you and Pat go too? " Alexa wants to know.

"Pat and I figured our work here was not yet done. Level 5 is really changing, going back to what it was before when the planet was fully populated. I felt we would be needed here during that transformation. So we didn't go on the final wave. "

"Okay, Aunt Sally, that brings up a question I've been thinking a lot about. Was the final wave really the final wave. I know everybody said it was. But I know you have special connections. Can't you call Josh and have him do a few more conversions? And if you can, then can you take me and Ethan with you. I want to experience standing in the middle of the orchestra, if you know what I mean. "

"I suppose I could probably do that, but I'm not sure I want to. Even though we all look 33 years old here, Pat and I have experienced nearly 100 years. I'm not sure our mindset is one to go to the planet and live in a hut making babies. And you made your choice 20 years ago. You were all in love with Ethan and he was not on the list to go, so you stayed behind to be with him. It's a little late to change your mind now. " Sally replies.

"So the only way to get to the planet is to be born there? That's just not the same thing. Most of those born on the planet forget all about who they are here. It's not really us anymore. We would be somebody else. I'm starting to believe that it's just a fancy way to die. " Alexa complains.

"Well, no. You don't cease to exists when you are reborn, but it is true that your memories of a previous existence are not necessarily part of your awareness in the new person that you become. I have learned, though, that all those memories, those other people that you are, persist, because I have begun to remember some of them, and others who knew me before, have reminded me of them. We also have a new preparation training that teaches you how to hold on to who you are and bring that into the awareness of the new person that you become. So we don't have as many 'fade outs' as we had before. Many of the Earth children have contacted us and reported back as both the people they were, and the person they have become. In the before time the movement between level 3 and level 5 happened just because it could. It was unorganized and chaotic. Now that is managed and much more under our control. " Sally explains.

"It's still not the same thing though. What if Ethan and I get reborn. Then I'm looking all over to find my soul mate and he's a girl, or married to someone else when I find him. I really really want to go the way that I am, with Ethan. I know it's possible, if you will just say it is. I know you can do this Aunt Sally. " Alexa pleads.

"There are a couple of problems with that. The decision was made to limit the transformations so that there is not so much coupling between the domains. Things need to go back to the balance they had before, otherwise it isn't healthy for the developing and evolving humans on Earth. Eventually they may evolve to something that isn't even Human any more and we should not have level 5 getting too involved in that process. If level 3 and level 5 are too tightly connected then we get stuck in a rut, just living the same sort of existence over and over without evolving. We need that disconnect created by death and rebirth so that evolution flourishes and the experience of life is fresh and new. So for me to use my influence with Josh to keep doing this transformation thing is not a good idea. In addition to that, rejoining your family on Earth may not be what you think it would be. Penelope and Anahere are old ladies in their mid 70's now. You mom Elina who you knew as perpetually 33, is now in her mid 50's. Even though your aunt Alannah got your grandpa John age reduced to 40, he is now 60. Everyone has moved on, gotten older, started new families. You can't just pop back into their lives and expect it to be as it was. Life is hard there and unless you bring some skills with you to pay your own way, then you are asking them to use their meager resources to feed and entertain you. That wouldn't be fair to ask them to do that. " Sally explains.

"You know I'm gonna keep asking. And I can develop skills too. And I'll be a great mom, something that I can't do here. " Alexa says.

"You are your mothers daughter. " Penny says with a laugh. "Your mother Elina is a very persistent soul. "

"We're digressing here. You asks for a story, so I'm going to continue the story.

"Penelope and her crew were transformed in the Ishikari watershed. The Ishikari Plains are on the western side of a very rich and fruitful island. There is a river that runs through it and a coastal area. This was very important when 100 naked humans appeared. At first all they could do is hunt with their bare hands until they could fashion tools from the rocks and trees in the area. Part of their training was hand fishing. So with their knowledge of the indigenous plants, and the fish in the rivers, and creatures in the ocean, they could survive long enough to start building a community. There is also an underground network portal nearby that Penelope had access to, so she could report back here and we could monitor their progress. The area was also chosen because my parents, who went as elders in Penelope's crew, were familiar with the area. Parts of the ancient cities there, although covered in hundreds of feet of dust and volcanic ash over the years, still poke through in certain areas. The thousands of years that there was no plant life allowed numerous dust storms but still the tops of some of the tall buildings still poke through. So they can take shelter in the ruins. Part of the crew is trained to dig deep into the ruins and extract materials to use in building their community, such as glass and other building materials. The glass has pooled into puddles and most of the aluminum and steel has dissolved. But there is still a lot of usable stuff there if you know what to look for. "

"I thought Penelope lived in a grass hut? " Penny asks.

"In the beginning, yes " Sally answers. "At first they gathered sticks from the forest and fashioned them into a frame, and covered that with grass to make a hut. The area has a lot of rain and the huts can be fashioned to keep the rain off, much more so than the ruins. So at first they built grass huts. Penelope's husband is a tool specialist, so when they started digging up stuff from the ruins he made a plow. They had no domestic animals yet, so several of the men would pull the plow and shave off thick pieces of sod from the prairie. They would use these patches of sod like bricks to build walls. Then they would cut timbers from the forest to make beams to support a roof. So in Penelope's second year there she had a nice warm sod house.

"The first year was very difficult, and many had to dig down in the Earth to find a way to keep warm. The winters are cold there with about half the year being covered in snow. There was still plenty to eat, and as soon as they fashioned spears they could harvest the deer which were all over the place. The deer had never seen humans so they were not afraid. So they could sneak up on them and spear them. So a lot of the work in the community was preparing deer hide as clothing.

"They arrived in late spring, the month of May, and by the following May 20 children had been born. That included my first grandchild, Kokoa. Penelope missed her second female cycle after transforming. So once they got that grass hut built, they put it too good use. By the time KoKoa had her first child, Kimiko, they all lived in a nice stone house. Many of the original crew were trained as stone masons, so once they got enough tools built they started building more permanent structures. They are still a long way from glass and metal building and hover cars floating around, but they are advancing very quickly.

"It's sort of like after the war of 2053. Over 90% of the worlds population was destroyed, Only about half a billion people survived. But technology survived. So by the time I was born in 2107, the population had doubled, we had all sorts of high technology, and we had created Nettie, the global network entity that is still there on the planet watching over things. So technology will develop quickly I think, and soon it will be as it was. The population is doubling every dozen years. So by the 200'th year after the re-population they will have about a billion souls there, and things will be as it was when I first lived there as a girl. "

"That still makes no sense to me. " Alexa complains. "You lived there as a girl over twelve thousand years ago. You have been here in level 5, counting the days, over 3000 years. But you are only 97 years old? Explain that to me please, again. "

Sally laughs. "Don't expect me to say I understand it either. But it goes something like this. Level 5 has an extra temporal dimension that makes time more variable, not a constant ticking of the clock like it is in level 3. In addition to that, living beings measure time as time experienced, not the physical time elapsed. So for example, when I came here, over twelve thousand years ago in Earth time, I was 15. At age 20 we had what was called the great awakening, where we began to regain our memories of who and what we are. In those 5 years between 15 and 20 I had lived through more than 3000 years in physical time at Penny Lake. But only about 5 years of that was unique experience. The rest of it was just doing the same thing over and over again. It's like the workman who does the same thing for 20 years. He doesn't have 20 years of experience. He just has 1 year of experience 20 times over. That's part of it. The other part of it is the temporal connection between level 5 and level 3. That connection is through life energy, living things. When everything on the planet died, that connection was lost. So the temporal synchronization between level 3 and level 5 in this part of the universe was lost. For quite some time, for every day that passed in level 5, many hundreds of days passed on the planet. After Nettie restarted life on the planet, and I went there and did some work with her to get the planet ready, temporal synchronization was re-established. So now time there and here, experienced and otherwise, is occurring at the same rate."

"Okaaaaaay. Now tell me you actually understand any of that. " Alexa says with a smile.

Sally laughs. "Not even a smidgen. I suppose I should, since Pat and I are considered sort of the time lords in this domain. Pat understands it all a lot better than I do. "

"So why is it then, since I'm having all sorts of unique experiences, that I'm stuck at being 33 years old? " Alexa asks.

"Actually you are about 40 years old sweetie, experientially. But there is a difference between age and change. On Earth as your body ages it continues to change. First it matures. Then it begins to break down, get old, and eventually stops working. It dies. Here your body only matures. It does not break down. It does not stop working and die. A mature body has about the same characteristics as a 33 year old body on Earth. That is why we say your body gets stuck at 33 years old. That isn't really whats going on, your not actually stuck. It's just that your body finished maturing, but the process of running down and falling apart doesn't happen here like it does on Earth? "

"So why is it different on Earth. Why don't they just mature and then stay that way. "? Alexa asks.

Sally smiles and responds. "We're working on that. Apparently physical life forms are programmed to get old and die. Many believe that programming can be changed. For now we are just working on rebuilding the basic community structures on Earth so that human populations can survive there. So probably in about a hundred and fifty years or so when we have the planet pretty well repopulated and technology is back in place, we will start working on the problem of aging. Until then, if you go to Earth, enjoy your 70 or 100 years or so, cuz your body is going to wear out. Many believe now, with the healthy lifestyles on Earth, we may have already extended the lifetimes there. Time will tell. It hasn't been long enough to know. "

"Whoa! What was that? " Alexa asks, looking quickly around the room.

"What was what, Honey? " Penny asks.

"I saw something, sort of a flash, in the corner of my eye when I turned my head. It's like there is something there, but when I look straight at it, there is nothing. " Alexa explains.

"Sometimes I see that too. " Sally explains. "I think I've attracted an orb or two. Sometimes just before I wake up I'll hear someone call my name. But Pat is asleep, and there isn't any one here. "

"Now that's just plain spooky Aunt Sally. I'm never sleeping here again. Aren't you afraid? " Alexa wants to know.

"No. A little irritated, yes. But I'm not afraid, since I'm an orb too. " Sally says.

"You're an orb? You don't look very orbish to me. You just look like Aunt Sally. " Alexa says.

"No. When I visit Earth. Normally they can't see me. My density is too faint for them to make out. But sometimes, just for a second, in the corner of their eye, they can see something. That little something is me. " Sally explains.

"You visit Earth? As an orb? What is that all about? " Alexa asks with a curious look.

"I don't go as an orb. I go just like I am, but I'm invisible to them since level 5 and level 3 energy does not interact. But sometimes they may get a flash of something, an energy field, and it looks like a blob of light. So we call it an orb. It hasn't been done for many years, but we can make what is called an etheric visit to Earth. We leave our domain and as an individual we move to Earth and take a look around. We have to get permission from Nettie to enter the shielded area, but once there we can see a little of what is going on. We can't actually see the planet, or the sun, or the water. But we can see the shimmering of their life forms. Sometimes it's hard to make out what we are seeing, but if it is someone you know, you can get a pretty good idea. That is how I watched my daughters and my grandchildren. But they have asked me not to do that any more. It was too spooky and creepy for them to deal with. So they basically exorcised me from their domain. I haven't been back since my great great granddaughter was born. Her name is Hoshiko. That was 13 years ago. "

"They are forgetting, aren't they? " Penny asks.

"I think so, but not so much forgetting, meaning their identity and memory of this place is fading away. They can still remember if they try. It's like you've moved away from home and started a new life. At first you are still strongly connected to the place you came from. Then after a few years, that begins to fade and you think less and less about it. After a lifetime, with your own kids, your own grand kids, your own politics and goings on, you pretty much don't think about the old place any more. You are completely immersed in your new life and your old life is like a dream, slowly fading away.

"It was quite a shock to Penelope when Johns family transitioned to the planet. A group of naked people walking into their little village caused quite a stir. They went to the Ishikari Plains and joined Penelope's crew there. Penelope was always extremely close to her Grandpa John. When Johns daughter Brionna met Penelope and Anahere at the university it resulted in Johns family reunion. They all became very close. When they arrived at Penelope's little village, they had about 800 citizens by then. Johns family were like strangers.

Penelope was middle aged, totally involved in community development, she had kids older than her aunts, physically, and even had grand kids by that time. Johns family, although they brought many skills, had to be accommodated, supported for awhile, before they became productive. Elina brought a husband along but Alannah and Brionna were single, and the addition of single women in a population that pairs up very young created some sexual tension and jealousy among the women there. Their husbands were showing some interest in the new girls. It was all worked out quickly, and they are all friends again, but John got the impression that Penelope was feeling a little put upon by their sudden arrival. John, being a wise old man, didn't challenge Penelope's position of authority in the community, so that made things go a lot smoother. "

"Okay, so now that they are all into being Earth people again, are you , like never going to see them again? " Alexa asks.

"I can see them right now. See here is my locket picture that we took when Penelope was 14. I've got all her keepsakes since you can't take anything with you when you go. "

"It's so weird to see her age. She's always been so young and vital. I bet she's still vital. But to watch her get older than I am, older than Penny. It's really weird. "

"So where's the picture of me I gave you? " Alexa asks with a smile.

"It's right here sweetie. I've got keepsakes from all you guys. " Sally responds.

"About Penelope, though. That's not what I meant, Aunt Sally. I mean see her for real. Not some old faded photographs. " Alexa explains. "Maybe that orb is her looking in on you? Do you think? Maybe? " Alexa asks with an intense look.

"No. It doesn't work that way. They can't orb into our reality. They are too dense. Sometimes, I think, we connect in our dreams. But that doesn't have anything to do with Level 3 or Level 5. Dream space is a nonphysical place, it's mind space. So density and dimensions don't have anything to do with that. No, these orbs are showing up in our physical reality somehow. So they are from some other dimension, not level 3. I have a feeling I know from where, but they are going to have to get stronger before they can make contact, if they can. Probably they will just fade away."

"Enough theorizing, girls. " Penny says. "I made some lunch. Lets go out back and enjoy the afternoon. "

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 2
A Horse Of Her Own

Earth: Ishikari watershed: 5250 AD.

"C'mon Hoshiko. Don't be all limp brained about things. " Hiroto pleads.

"I told you I'm not interested, and that doesn't make me retarded. It makes me smarter than you, actually. And if you keep bugging me I'm telling my grandpa John. " Hoshiko replies.

"Old John? That old fool. I don't give a crap cake about that antique. " Hiroto proudly declares.

"He he. Then you better look behind you. " Hoshiko says with a big grin.

"Oh! John! I'm sorry, sir. I was just joking with Hoshiko. She can be so silly sometimes. " Hiroto responds, somehow looking a couple of inches shorter than he did a moment ago.

"Well, I'm not gonna be joking when I pop a knot on your head. You better run along now son. I'm going to spend some time with my grand daughter and don't need you young bucks sniffing around. "

"Pop a knot. You always talk so funny, Grandpa. But I think you got your point across. Hiroto is walking away pretty fast. " Hoshiko says with a laugh.

"So are these boys bothering you? I can fix that you know. I can get Penelope to enforce her rule about unwanted attention. These boys might find themselves doing some time in the detention building. " John says with a serious look.

"No. It's Okay. They are just boys being boys. It only really bothers me when the married ones start messing with me. I just make sure their wives find out, and that usually stops it in a hurry. Just because most the other girls have kids by my age doesn't mean I have to. We have the right of personal determination, so I don't have to go along with what the group wants. Isn't that right? " Hoshiko wants to know.

"That's what I understand the rules to be. You can determine the path your life takes, as long as that does not harm others or the village as a whole. It's a difficult equation to balance sometimes, but I think you are on solid ground telling the boys to leave you alone. You have plenty of life ahead of you to get a husband when you are ready. So what brings you around the stables today? "

"I heard you got some new foals. Dad said I could get my own horse if I'm not married by the time I'm 15. And I want to pick out a pretty one. He said if I'm married then its up to the husband, but I think I'm going to be single a while longer. " Hoshiko says.

"We have some beautiful ones. We cross bread the Russian stock with the Korean, and the foals are healthy and beautiful. " John says.

"What's Korean? " Hoshiko asks.

"Well, the first bunch of horses we got after we got the barges built were from the Old Russia. This last time we went further south to Old Korea and got some from there. We didn't want to keep breeding from the same Russian stock. That's not healthy. " John explains.

"You went across the ocean again!? " Hoshiko explains. "That is so dangerous, Grandpa. I don't want you falling off the boat and getting eaten by the fish. Aren't you scared? "

"Yes. But fear is part of life. If you let it, it will hold you down, and you won't actually live the life you were given to live. So sometimes you gotta just do it even though it is scary, even though you might end up being fish food. Anyway, we had guidance, so it wasn't as dangerous as it might have been. Everything is a balancing act, Hoshiko, something I see you are learning too. " John says with an understanding smile.

"So how do you make the boat go to Russia? " Hoshiko asks.

"Timing is everything. We leave from the West coast about mid summer when the prevailing winds are blowing towards Asia. That gets us to the mainland in time to scope out the herds and to collect the wild poppy pods. We use the poppy to make a sedative that calms the horses so they are easier to handle. We want the yearling's, those just recently weaned. These have the weakest social ties to the herd and are easier to separate. They are also not all that smart and easier to catch. When fall comes and we have selected a herd to transport, the prevailing winds reverse and blow back towards here. So we follow the wind back home. Going to Korea took a little more skill, since we had to travel at an angle to the wind. We have some good sailors, though, so they got the sails all set to do that and we got there and back without much trouble. "

"Tell me about the guidance, Grandpa. The kids at school are saying that is all a bunch of fish scraps. It's all just made up by old people because they don't remember what really happened. " Hoshiko says with a concerned look.

"How do these kids think we got here? Did we just magically pop up out of the ground like a Chrysanthemum? " John asks.

"No. They say there was a great calamity on the Earth and just a few kids survived. They built this village and made up the story's about the before time, the after time, and the new time we are in now. They made it all up because they really didn't know what happened. They just woke up one day and everything was destroyed, so they had to build grass huts and start over again. So when you say 'guidance' it makes me wonder where this guidance is coming from. "

"What does you grandma Penelope say about that? " John asks.

"She just says she is too busy to talk about such nonsense. My Mom is one of those who isn't too sure that whole after time thing actually happened. But I'm one who remembers. I remember being Alannah's best friend in the after time. I remember Penny Lake, Crystal City, the Capital, all that stuff. But when people tell me that it was just all made up and people put these ideas in my head when I was little, that all makes sense too. It could all be just a dream from the stories I heard growing up. I'm kinda confused. "

"You're fourteen, Hoshiko. An identity crisis is pretty common at your age. You are still becoming the person you will be, so your identity is changing. You'll get it all worked out as you get older. For now, just go with it and let it take you where it will. It will get easier, I promise. " John explains.

"I know all about the being fourteen part. But tell me about the guidance. Do you really believe in that? " Hoshiko asks John, with an even more serious face.

"Believe in it? I don't have to believe in it. I know it, because I was there. I was in the underground where the network lives, where the spirit of the Earth resides. So I know for sure. "

"So then take me there. Show me the underground. "

"Well, I can't exactly do that. Because we knew that there would be unbelievers, many who feel the network may be a threat, the portals to the underground have been sealed and hidden. Nettie is completely self sufficient, so she does not need us to go down there any more. The way the guidance works is you quiet your mind and think about your questions, and after awhile an answer comes. So we thought about the ocean and the weather and where to find horses and after we slept on it a few days, well, we just knew. That is how the guidance works. "

"That's my problem with the story Grandpa. I believe it. But if I try to explain it, it doesn't work. So there is this vast computer network underground, but it's sealed and hidden so nobody can see it. Who's to say it's really there except someone who says they saw it but can't go see it again. To get guidance, you basically meditate until you feel you have an answer. I can meditate and after awhile whatever I imagine, it feels right, but that doesn't mean it's real. But I have no real evidence, nothing I can touch and feel, to convince anyone, or myself for that matter, that it's all real. "

"Any account of things long past is called history. And it is exactly that. His story. Ultimately you have to decide for yourself what is truth, for you, and what is not. Faith, then, is what you will have to rely on. Faith is the evidence that we use when we have no touchable feel-able artifact to point to. I can't explain it any better than that. Faith is one of those thing that when you need it you will have it, and when you have it you will know it. "

"Oh thank you, Grandpa John. I see everything with perfect clarity now. " Hoshiko says with a smile.

"I see you have inherited Penelope's sarcasm. " John says with a grin. "You hungry? I've got some fresh salted mackerel I just brought up from the coast. "

"Sure. I'll try it. I thought you were a fresh fish man. Just catch um, fry um, and eat um all up. What's with the salted ocean fish? "

"This old lake here has seen better days. It was cutoff from the river centuries ago when the river changed its course. Now it's all silted up from runoff and pond scum and not much of a habitat for fish anymore. It had a lot of fish when we got here, but we ate um up faster than they could spawn. So now I do my fishing in the ocean, but I have to salt them so they don't spoil, especially the mackerel. "

"It's good that we are close to the ocean, and the river. So far we haven't run short of food, or if we do we just look around and find some more. How are the other crews doing? How is Anahere doing? "

"Anahere's crew transitioned in the Osage River Watershed. That's smack dab in the middle of the Old North American continent where I grew up. I seriously considered moving my family there, but decided I could do more good here with Penelope. According to reports the climate was mild, though it could get a little cold in the winter, sort of like it does here. The whole area is populated with wild animals, deer, elk, cattle, horses, pigs, sheep. Many of these were farm animals in the before time, but now they run wild in the territory. It's a rich and fertile area, and her crew had many of the First Ones who know how to live off the land. So I'm sure she is doing fine. We have no way to communicate with the other crews. It may be some time before we get stuff like telegraph or radio working again. It may not happen in my lifetime. So all we can do is hope that they, like us, survived their first summer and winter and got their crew setup and growing. When I think of her I see an image in my mind of her riding bareback across the plains, just like her ancestors did millennia ago. I feel that she is very happy there. She's an old lady now, but I bet her energy is as high as ever. I can't imagine her any other way. "

"I'm glad you came here Grandpa. Anahere is doing fine, and I know you miss her, but I would have been lost without you. I've never felt I really belong in this crew, but with you I feel totally at home. So have we seen any of the other crews? " Hoshiko asks.

"When we were near Korea looking for horses we met a small group from the Yangtze Watershed. They were doing well. Many of the crops, such as rice and wheat were growing wild there, so it didn't take them long to set up agriculture. You have to watch out for the floods though. There are also wild chickens, cattle, and pigs wandering around. So they had plenty to eat. The animals are a lot skinnier now, but they still have plenty of meat on their bones. We talked briefly about setting up trade between our crews. But our ships are basically barges with primitive sails and are difficult to maneuver. Sometimes you don't end up where you planned to go. It will be a long time before we have steam ships that can carry tons of cargo. Until then we will just have chance meetings from time to time, and that isn't enough to setup trade routes. We are working on it though. You will see it in your lifetime, I'm sure. "

"That's good. I love fish and deer and all the vegetables we grow here. But I wouldn't mind some roasted chicken or some pork chops from time to time. " Hoshiko says with a giggle. "OK, enough with the geography lesson. What about John? Your daughters are all married and have kids and grand kids. You're still young enough to raise a couple more kids of your own. Why don't you take a wife and have another family. You're the best dad ever, and the crew would benefit. John I love you so so much and I worry about you. I know you got tons of grand kids. But you need your own woman to keep you warm when the snow falls. I think you should think about that. You should take a wife. "

"Ha! " John laughs at the thought of getting married again. "No woman in this crew would want on old codger like me. There are too many handsome young bucks to pick from. "

Hoshiko got up all her courage and with a little tear in her eye says "What about me? I would choose you. I'm not too young, most girls get married when they are 13, and I'm already 14. A number of guys your age have taken young wives, so it isn't like it's bad or anything. Even though I call you Grandpa, we are really not blood related. What do you think about that? "

John took a deep breath and held it for a bit trying to think of how to respond to Hoshiko's proposal without causing unnecessary pain. "Oh, Sweetie! I didn't see that one coming. I had no idea that your mind was headed in that direction. I'm a little shocked, and really flattered, but you don't know what you are asking. You don't know what that will cost you. "

"Are you worried about what people will think? People like Penelope? I don't give a crap sack what they think. "

"Yeah, maybe I'm a little concerned about what people will think. May - December romances are well known for their troubles. But mainly I'm concerned about what I know. Young women and young men have the opportunity to experience the most wonderful thing this world has to offer, and that is young love. It's difficult and chaotic and you might fight a lot, but in the long run there is nothing better. I love you way way way too much to take that opportunity from you. I'll help you find a good young man, a better one than the one we chased off the property today. We'll find you a guy that's right for you, that you can build a life with, and who will be there for the long haul. Not some old codger that you will put into the ground when your life has barely begun. "

"So what happened to your young love? Is that what you are clinging too? "

"You are wise beyond your years, Hoshiko, to see that. Yes, I experienced young love, and it was the best part of my life and it's something that can never be replaced and there can never be anything better. It's all that I need in this life and even though I've never found my Akashia, she lives in my heart forever. I'm not saying you aren't just as good a catch as she was, but you are a catch for a young man like I once was who can make your life as rich as I tried to do for my Akashia. "

"So one life, one love, that sort of stuff. You realize that you are breaking my heart and I'll never have a normal relationship now. "

"Ha! Now that sounds like a fourteen year old talking. Dry your tears, Sweetie. You're wasting them on me. You will find what you are looking for. It just isn't me. And that's my loss. But it is what it is. "

John and Hoshiko sat quietly finishing their salted mackerel and dry crackers. Then Hoshiko asks "Why couldn't you find your Akashia. I helped hundreds find their lost loved ones, but there was no trace of her in any of the domains. Do you think the great awakening didn't work with her. Was her life energy lost in forgetfulness forever? "

"Domains? The great awakening? I think you've found the evidence you were looking for you in your own memory, Sweetheart. Anyway, to answer your question, I've asks myself that question many times. But I also know that there is much more than what we see in this life here or the life in level 5. I learned from Sally that not everyone who is born here is from here. I learned from her friend Josh that not everyone who leaves here goes to level 5. Akashia was such a special person, such an ideal partner, such a perfect love that I'm pretty convinced that she is not from around here, and that when she left here she went back to wherever that was. I was sad, but now I'm comfortable with that. For a short time I held perfection in my arms, and that is enough. "

Hoshiko sat for awhile staring at the river flowing in the distance, stung, a little, by rejection, but also pondering the possibility of actually finding a perfect love like John described. She thinks that John may be one of those older people who romantically remember things as they never really were. "I've gotta go home now John. They'll be missing me. Thanks for the conversation. I love you! "

"I love you more, Sweetheart. Come back soon. " John said as he watched a beautiful woman-child sprint down the long trail leading back to the village, her deer skin boots kicking up dust, but not making a sound.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 3
Information

Penny Lake: 5250 AD.

"Hey Ben." Sally said as she entered the kitchen to make breakfast. "What brings you out this way this morning?"

"Pat called and said I should come by and talk to you. But go ahead and make breakfast. We can talk while we eat." Ben replies.

"So you came hungry. Didn't Penny feed you this morning?"

"Yes she did. But after I walked over here I thought I could eat again."

"Okay, hungry man. Sit down and I'll get breakfast going. So what is Pat worried about? He freaks out about the littlest things."

"Oh, nothing much. He just thinks your nuts, that's all."

"I didn't say that!" Pat said as he joined them in the kitchen. "It's the sleep talking, and the voices you are hearing. You hear voices in your sleep, and then you answer them. It keeps me awake at night. And then you sit up in bed and look at them, but nothing is there. It's really spooky, really creeping me out. So I thought that Ben might help, since he is the local guru in this domain."

"I don't remember talking in my sleep. What do I say?" Sally asks.

"Mainly you just mumble or say nonsensical things. But you have a look like you are in the middle of a conversation." Pat explains.

"So basically you think I need a shrink?" Sally asks. "Ben is not a doctor."

"If I thought all this was coming from your mind I might think you need some therapy. But based on what you and others have said, this seems to be an external phenomenon. It is something that is happening to you, not something happening inside you. So if there are some entities that are trying to communicate with you, or attack you, Ben here might be able to help us figure that out." Pat explains.

"Well, maybe I can." Ben says. "If there are entities other than ourselves here I think I can smoke um out. Lets go in the other room, draw the shades, and get it as dark as we can. Then I will light this one candle, so there is a single point of light. Then we will see what we see."

The three drew the shades and got the room dark. Ben lit the candle and they all sat still, looking around the room, as their eyes adjusted to the flickering candle light.

"There. By the mantle. Do you see them?" Sally asks.

"I don't see a thing." Patrick says.

"Look closely." Ben says. "You can see just a shimmer, a flicker as the candle flickers."

"Oh yeah." Pat acknowledged. "I do see a little flicker over there. Two of them. I didn't know what I was looking for, but now I see them."

"Okay. We all see them." Sally says. "So now what? What are they? Who are they? Why are they here?"

"Lets try this." Ben instructed. "We know that they have tried to communicate with you, at least in your dreams. Quiet your mind and think just one thought. What level? Just think, what level are they from?"

Sally sat still with her eyes closed and tried to let her mind listen for an answer. After a few minutes she says "Six. I get the feeling they are from level six. What is level six? It doesn't feel like a confident answer, maybe they are not really sure, but it feels to me that six is the answer."

Ben pondered the answer for a minute and then says "That could make sense then. Level six is the dimension of mind. Level six is the dimension of source, where the base matrix for all existence emanates. But it is not a dimension of form. Form exists in all its variations in other dimensional levels, such as level 3 and level 5, and even level 10. But level 6 is like the projector in a movie house. You see the image, in form, on the screen, but when you look at the projector all you see is the flickering light emanating from it. All existence emanates from level 6, the dimensionality of mind, but it takes form, is 'in-formed', in some other level, such as this one. Level 6 is the projector and we are the screen. So these entities, if they are entities of the mind, may be having some trouble being in-formed in our level. Maybe they have forgotten what their form, the form-alized energy matrix, is supposed to look like."

"Maybe they have never had form?" Pat suggested.

"Or maybe they have been in-form many times, but it was borrowed, so they don't have one of their own." Sally says. "I have an idea, Pat, but we need to spend a few days in the city. Do you want to go with? We could have some fun while we're there."

"Sure, I'll go." Pat answered. "I haven't been back to the city for a couple of years. It will be interesting to see what is left of it. It's changed a lot, I'm sure. Do we have any coins? Since the council disbanded we don't get paid anymore. We will need some money to get around and some for the booth to get back home."

"Don't worry about the booth. I've been practicing teleportation. I'll get us there and back. And I have a bag of coins around here somewhere. I'll bring those too."

"I guess my work here is done." Ben says. "Have fun in the city. And if you happen to manifest those two entities into form, bring them by. I would like to meet them."

The three headed out, Ben to his home, and Sally and Pat to the city. Soon Sally and Pat were walking the familiar streets of Capital City. They just call it The City now since it is now the capital of nothing, after the council disbanded."

"So where are we headed?" Pat wants to know.

"First let's get a room. I want to change out of these dusty clothes. Then we are going to see my old friend Sherina." Sally explains.

"Isn't that Alannah's friend, the one she hung out with all the time?"

"No. That was Maureen. Maureen ran the clinic in the City. First she specialized in memory reconstitution therapy for those that didn't remember automatically during the great awakening. Then she added age regression therapy. That was all the rage for years and years. Alannah even talked John into regression which is why he was 40 years old when he left instead of 79, like we all knew him. After things slowed down and Johns family left, Maureen was bored and lonely. So she went to Earth as a newborn. That is the other thing the clinic does, is the preparation for rebirth. Before she left, though, she trained Sherina, and now Sherina runs the clinic. Sherina was Alannah's old boss in Crystal City. And the other thing in the city is Nettie's portal. So I can catch up with her too."

"So where is Maureen now?"

"I told you, silly. She is our great great grand daughter now. She scored a perfect resonance with Hoshiko, so she couldn't pass up that opportunity. She is family now. Don't you remember?" Sally says, with that condescending look that wives use to tell their husbands how stupid they are.

"Yes. I think I remember you mentioning that. There is just too many to keep track of. Between Penelope, Anahere, John and his daughters we've got to have at least a hundred offspring by now."

"That's why I write them down." Sally says with a laugh.

"So our family is like over a hundred now." Pat says.

"Oh Honey. It's way more than that. Johns daughters have only been there 20 years and they are already having grand kids. Soon Johns family will be over a hundred kids. Penelope and Anahere were very prolific, with six kids each. And that has been the average for their kids too. So between the two of them it is already over five hundred. Hoshiko's generation is starting to have kids now too. As her generation matures our family will be well over three thousand, and counting."

"And you have all this written down?"

"Well, Nettie helps me keep track of them."

"Hoshiko's generation is going to have a problem then. Penelope's crew will soon start to outstrip the resources of that little island they are on." Pat says, with some concern.

"I wouldn't worry about it, for a couple of reasons. I'm confident that they will get the technology booming again before too long, and then they can begin to migrate into the less productive areas. The whole planet is wide open, but most of it is going to need some help from technology to support a large population. The other reason is that I think we trained them well. They are a very resourceful bunch of kids. They will, as we have done in times past, cover the planet with humans." Sally explains, beaming with pride for the children of planet Earth.

"Well, I just hope they don't screw it all up again. But I'm confident too that they will do well. I did the training, remember?" Pat says with a laugh.

"We're here. Lets check in and get a room. Then we will go see Sherina, and see if our little orb friends tagged along." Sally says as they entered the clinic.

"So let me get this straight, Sally." Sherina says with a serious look. "You have these orb thingies following you around, some sort of disembodied life form, and you want to give them form so that you can have a chat with them."

"That's about right. How can we do that?" Sally responds.

"Well, I don't think we can. I mean I've never heard of any such thing being done."

"But you do stuff like that all the time. You take an old person, a person whose form is of an old person, and then you make them young again. How difficult would it be to take these orbs and make them into something physical. old or young, it doesn't matter." Sally asks.

"Because I have nothing to work with." Sherina explains. "You see, all we do here, when we do age reduction, is to modify an existing form, which is nothing more than an information matrix, and adjust it to a different version of that same matrix that existed, really existed in physical form, sometime in the past. All we need is a complete and accurate memory of that form, which usually we can get from a friend or relative that know them at that time. So we are just modifying something that already exists. We aren't creating something from scratch. I don't know how to create from scratch. I don't think anybody else does either."

"Crap! Then how am I going to talk to these damn orbs. They are bugging the hell out of me and I don't think they are going anywhere until we communicate. There has got to be a way." Sally complained.

"Okay. Let me see what I can figure out. I've got some equipment here that enhances my sensitivity. I'll see if I can scan them and see what we have to work with." Sherina says.

Sherina had Sally sit in a big chair and she moved some equipment in place, something that looks sort of like a projector. She turned it on and a blue light filled the room.

"Hey. I see them. They are floating right behind Sally." Pat says.

"Yes. I see them too." Sherina says, adjusting the beam for more clarity. "Okay. What do we have here. They are definitely real. I see an organized info matrix. They are alive. I see thought forms. But it's all mental, all mind stuff. None of the thought forms have anything to do with the physical. There is nothing physical there to work with. I can't just create bodies out of thin air for these guys. I have no matrix to work with. Nothing at all."

"So this was a waste of time?" Pat asks.

"Not necessarily." Sherina says. "I have nothing to work with, physically, from them. But maybe I can blend them into someone. Each of us has both a physical and a mental information matrix. These guys just have a mental matrix. But maybe I can take their mental matrix and mix it with someone who also has a physical matrix too."

"That sounds like some sort of possession. Isn't that sort of evil?" Pat asks.

"It could be if it is involuntary. But if I get volunteers, then it's not so evil. Come back tomorrow. I know a couple that might help us out."

"That sounds like a plan." Sally says. "Pat, lets go eat. I'm starving."

"Thank you Sherina. We will see you in the morning. I have to feed Sally. She gets really mean when she is not fed." Pat says with a laugh.

Sally and Pat had not been to the city in years. It was their first real date night since they reunited. They ate, for the first time in months. They saw a movie together, for the first time in years. They had a wonderful evening, since they can't remember when.

"Good morning kids." Sherina greeted Sally and Pat for their morning appointment. "Let me introduce Langee and Aleyah. They are a young couple that works for us at the clinic. They have both been complaining about how boring the city is now. There is nothing new and exciting to do here any more. So I have suggested to them, and they have agreed, to host your orb people, and see what they have to say."

"Are you guys sure you want to do this?" Sally cautioned. "We don't really know who or what these orb entities are. They may not be pleasant. I don't want you guys doing this if your are not really sure you want to."

"Oh, don't bother worrying." Aleyah says. Langee nodded. "We are really excited about the opportunity to experience something new. This is something we have never heard about before. So it is definitely very new."

"How does this work? What do we do?" Sally asks.

"I'm not sure, to tell you the truth. I've never really done anything like this before." Sherina explained. "But this is my plan. I have positioned three chairs. Sally will sit in the middle, and Langee and Aleyah will sit on either side. I will position the imager that I used yesterday so that I can monitor the energies. What I will attempt to do is align the energy and create a resonance with their mental matrix. If I can do that, then they should merge. Shall we give it a try."

Sherina dimmed the lights and set the imager to illuminate the three subjects. At first nothing happened, but after a few minutes Sherina began to have success tuning the vibrations of the orb entities to the resonant frequencies of her two hosts. Soon, the orbs vanished.

"Langee? Aleyah? Are you there?" Sherina asks.

The male host answered. "They are here. We are here. They are resting comfortably in these bodies, but we have control. We will cause no harm to these hosts. Thank you for enabling us to speak. We must leave this domain and return to your Penny Lake. This domain is dense and has many distractions. There is intense sexual energy between these host bodies. We must return to Penny Lake. There are fewer distractions there. There we can talk."

"Is this safe? What do you think Sherina?" Pat asks.

"I'm not seeing any problems. The mental matrix has merged, but there are two distinct patterns. So I do not believe that Langee or Aleyah are in any danger of being displaced, or dissipated. The physical matrix is sound and healthy. I don't see a problem. Bring them back when you are done and I will separate them again. Keep me informed. This will be an interesting experiment."

Sally paid the fee at the booth for transport back to Penny Lake. The four of them entered the booth, and stepped out into Sally's living room. Sally prepared some snacks in case the host bodies needed some nutrition. When all was prepared they sat in the living room and began to chat.

Sally began the conversation. "Okay, you guys. You have been bugging me for months, hovering around, interrupting my dreams, making my husband think I'm crazy. What do you have to say for yourselves? To start with, who are you? What are your names?"

"We are Langee and Aleyah. We do not use names, so the host names will have to suffice." Langee spoke for both of them. "It is our purpose here to inform you that you have committed a great sin, a grievous error, a distortion of the plan of life that left unchecked and not repaired will result in the eventual extinction of your race, your precious species. You believe that you are repairing life, but in fact, you destroy it. You individuals, you believe that you are all that exists of you, that you occupy this one point in time and space. You are much more than that. You exists in many times and places and at many levels of existence. You have created a shield over your home world that blocks the participation, the necessary communications, the inspiration of your other levels of existence, your higher selves. By doing so, you have locked your species into a downward spiral that will result not only in the destruction of your physical form, but the dissolution of your very soul, the essence of your existence. We are the emissary of your higher selves, sent to you for your salvation, to assist you in repairing the greatest of all blunders in your judgment."

Sally smiled and says "Is that it? Is this the best speech you guys can come up with? Am I supposed to run to the Nettie portal and say 'Oh My God I've really screwed up this time. Turn off the planetary shield before we all die.' If I'm supposed to be frightened and intimidated by this, you're going to have to do better. So who are you really? And what is your real purpose?"

"Only in the greatest of despots have we ever seen such an enormous ego!" Aleyah responds.

"You're not making any friends here." Sally says, with a giggle. "I'm having fun here, but I hate to waste your time. I think it's time I take you back to be separated, and you need not return to our domains. There would be no point."

Langee and Aleyah sat quiet for a moment looking at each other. Then Aleyah spoke. "I see we have gotten off to a bad start. We apologize for our aggressive approach. Please understand that we are desperate, desperately trying to save you, and time is short. May we begin again, and try a different approach?"

"Sure." Sally says. "This time cut all the crap and start with the truth. Who are your really? And why do you want access to humanity?"

"Let me explain." Aleyah begins. "We are of what you call level six, which is a higher frequency plane of existence, the reality of which you are not aware while you are in physical form. It is from this plane that the evolution of the soul is guided and the plan of all life plays out. When in physical form you experience life at the physical levels, but there is a purpose for the physical planes beyond just your existence there. Their purpose is for the development of the soul, which is what you really are. Your soul exists in various aspects in all possible planes of existence simultaneously. We are aspects of who you really are in the same manner as you are aspects of who we really are. We are the aspects of your existence that you call your higher self. We are the aspect of your soul that contains the plan for your existence, your evolutionary path, as you evolve towards spiritual perfection. Only together are we whole. Without each other we eventually perish.

"Six of your decades ago you implemented a poly-phasic shield around your home planet that blocks our ability to connect with you in form. You have now only the ability to connect with those planetary vessels, your bodies, from your present level which you call level five. But level five is a physical domain, merely a reflection of, a co-resonance with your original form in what you call level three. These are physical realities. They are not spiritual realities, but spirit is what you are. Physical is only temporary and only for the purpose of working out your spiritual development.

"In preparation for being in form we make agreements about which lessons are to be learned and we form contractual relationships for the particular life paths within which those lessons may be learned. This moves the progress of spiritual evolution forward, which is the plan for life, the purpose of physical existence. By blocking this access you block your spiritual evolution and all that is left to you is the chaotic and ultimately lethal physical evolution. This was never intended and, for your own salvation, must not be continued.

"We have studied your technology and understand it's purpose. You use it to protect your primitive and virgin planet from predators. You use it to moderate the radiation from your star and limit the extremes of weather. You use it in an asymmetric way to accelerate your orbit so that you can survive the inevitable expansion of your star. These are all positive and important steps that will extend your physical form here billions of years beyond it's natural life span. But this is to no avail if you block your spiritual evolution. Your species will fail to develop and will instead decay from within and perish. Physical evolution is insufficient to reach the full potential of existence.

"So we are not asking you to terminate your shield. We ask that you work to modify it so that we may have free access again to the aspect of our spirit that exists within the physical realms, that experiences the life of the physical form.

"Equally important to your existence on your home world is the existence on other home worlds within the habital zones in your galaxy. Shortly after energizing your shield you were visited by a species from across your galaxy. While visiting your world they studied and learned your shield technology. They implemented your shield technology on all the planets in their system planets. For the last six decades we have not been able to connect with that species and their worlds are spinning out of control. Without the guidance and the participation of their higher aspects their spiritual evolution is collapsing. Without guidance your species will experience endless attrition by wars and other conflicts until there are none of you left. We will wither and perish along with you.

"Our purpose here today is to begin to assist you in repairing your shield technology and to implore you to use your resources to implement those same improvements in the shields of the other planetary system of those who you refer to as the lizard people."

Sally sits quietly for a moment, her hand crossed in her lap, looking back and forth between Langee and Aleyah. "That story is better, and longer, but not quite good enough. I have some questions for you." Sally says.

Pat interrupts. "Sally, before you ask your questions I'm curious. How did our lizard friends get the shield technology. We don't even have that, since it was installed by off world people. Does Nettie have that technology? Did she transmit it to them before they left? There was nothing in her reports about that."

Sally laughs and says "That's because it didn't happen. Our lizard friends do not have shields that I know of, and if they do they didn't come from here. The other interesting thing about this story we heard is that our poly-phasic trans-dimensional shield only works in the realm of the physical, in the realm of energy, which includes level three and five, but not six. So your assessment of the situation is incorrect. It cannot block the mind, or you as aspects of mind. Only the mind can block the mind. The shield is not blocking your access. I am."

"You are?" Pat and Langee and Aleyah say in unison.

"How can that be?" Aleyah wants to know.

"You told your story. Now let me tell mine." Sally continued. "In this form I remember only a tiny fraction of my history, who and what I really am. That is necessary to function in this form and is a natural process of existing in form. Too much information, especially of an atemporal sort, is just too confusing to beings of limited dimensional extent, such as we are in level three and five. Occasionally, however, I have an epiphany, a sudden knowing of things that comes from my higher self, as you call it. That occurred during the visit of our friends. For a brief moment I knew much more about who I am, who our lizard friends are, and who you, Langee and Aleyah, really are. You are not my higher self, or anyone's higher self."

"So let me enlighten you. You are not our higher selves. That is simply what you have come to believe to explain your existence in a manner that makes sense to you. We all want our existence to make sense, to have a purpose, and most importantly to have a future. Your future is now in question, but before we discuss that, lets talk about your past.

"As physical life evolves it eventually reaches a point where beings become sentient, where their awareness of their existence ignites within their ability to think. In other words they develop mind, or maybe rather a connection to the greater mind, which permeates all dimensional frameworks. As the mind grows and evolves within the physical entities they develop the ability to imagine, to create within the mind the image of structure and organization, what we call form. It is from these imaginations that we manifest our reality. First we imagine something and then we construct it with physical materials. We imagine a house, and then we build that house. We imagine a culture and then we manifest that culture.

"Our imaginations go further than just practical artifacts. We also imagine fantasy. We tell stories, write books, make cinema movies of things and people and places that never have, and never will, manifest into a physical domain. Many become beloved characters that mean as much to us as the real flesh and blood around us. When enough individual minds imagine the same character, the same place, the same story, even though it does not physically manifest, it is already manifest in the mind.

"In the same way as our computerized entity became sentient, became alive, the characters of imagination become alive in the dimension of mind. You are called Tulpa's, or phantoms,  which are thought forms created from pure thought. Existing in the dimension of mind you need nutrition to energize your matrix, mental nutrition to stay alive in the same way as our Nettie needs electromagnetic power to stay alive, and in the same way as we need food and water to stay alive. Your food and water is of the same source as your existence. Your food and water is drama. You are basically, drama incarnate, manifest in the dimension of mind.

"This may be shocking to you, to understand your origin, that you came from us, from our minds, that you are effectively our children. You may also find it shocking that my purpose in addition to adjusting the universe to accommodate the sentient computer, that it is also my purpose to adjust the universe so to accommodate your life as well. That is why you cannot join in the same way as before. You cannot because I changed things so that you cannot. The resonance necessary for your joining no longer exists. Where that door has closed, however, another has opened. You said you were here as our salvation. The fact is that I'm here as yours."

The shock and anger on the faces of Langee and Aleyah is palpable at this point. Beside herself with emotion Aleyah blurts out "Who do you think you are? A god? Who gives you the authority to define the fate of others, to determine who continues, and who does not? What right do you have to commit genocide? We knew our negotiations with you be difficult. We were not prepared, though, to confront the pure evil that you are. You will not dictate to us what our place in the universe is! This will not stand!"

"I understand how difficult this revelation is for you, but you came here guns a blazing. You came here to do battle. And a battle you have found. Be assured, however, that I'm not here to fight with you. It would be fruitless anyway. Whether you believe my decisions should stand or not, they will stand. Lets make this negotiation as painless as possible. Let me explain why I have taken this action.

"I remember bits and pieces of many lifetimes in many domains. At first I did not, but little by little I have pieced some of it back together. One common thread in all those lifetimes has been senseless conflict, wars, genocide. It is understandable that populations under stress, such as famine, climate change, or other disruptions can become warlike. They prey upon the weaker in order to survive. But humans have continued to be aggressive, warlike, murderous, long after times of stress have passed. Wars are fought for the most senseless of reasons, or without reason at all. Man brutalizes man, for sport. The blood and carnage become entertainment. For a long time I thought this was just a flaw within mankind, and there are many such flaws. But I began to realize that there was something more. There was something within mankind pushing them towards violence, dramatic violence, fear beyond comprehension. That something was you.

"As creatures of drama, it is drama that feeds you. Excitement invigorates and nourishes you. Fear fills you with ecstasy. All this is at the expense of mankind who plays out your drama with their flesh and blood. You call them soul contracts where two lovers plan to kill one another in order to learn some lesson. You call it spiritual growth when a young child experiences being raped by a parent. I'm not the evil one. I'm not the one who has trapped civilizations into thousands of years of endless conflict for nothing other than your feeding grounds. You say that our higher selves create contracts before incarnation to experience growth inducing scenarios during their life, that everything is according to a higher plan. But it isn't. We are not part of the contract. The higher aspects of our consciousness is not part of the agreement. These are not agreements, but scripts, for a play that you present on the stage of human experience. Humans participate with their fear, with their terror, with their blood. Cultures are locked into millennia of endless presentations for your pleasure while their evolution is stifled, their spiritual growth stopped in its tracks. This will end, and has ended. Nevermore will you use humanity as a host for your pleasure."

"So we are the evil ones? I think you have that backwards." Langee says.

"I'm not judging you as evil, any more than a wolf is evil with it preys on rabbits and sheep. You are just feeding. But in the same way as we put up a fence to protect our sheep from the wolf, we have put up a barrier to protect our children from you." Sally explains.

"So then what is to become of us?" Alayah wants to know. "Are we to limp back to our domain and silently fade into death? Do you think we will do that without a fight?"

"You can fight, or not. It makes no difference. Your battle was lost before it began. But you will not die. Your existence in mind is a self resonant matrix. You will continue to exist, forever, but without nourishment you will slowly fade into sleep. But living forever unable to experience being alive; that you might find to be an experience worse than death. And I'm not so evil that I would condemn you to that. Your past is linked to our past. Your future is linked to our future as well. But there will be no contracts. There will be no more pageants of wars and blood for you to feed on. Instead, you will become as we are. You will become one of us."

"How is that possible?" Langee asks.

Sally explains. "In the before time our life energy matrix would cycle back and forth between level three and level five automatically, based on a harmonizing resonance between level five energy and level three. When new life formed, of any kind at all, any life matrix in level five with the same or very similar harmonic resonance would get sucked in. Awareness in level five was limited, or even nonexistent, so no one even gave it much thought. It just happened. That is how our energy would blend with the children born on the planet. Now we have an organized process for rebirth. We select the best resonance and prepare the level fiver for the transition. We also screen out the level fivers who are disturbed or mentally ill until their illness can be treated. This results in healthier children on the planet and stops the cycle of mental illness inherited from a past life. In many cases multiple level fivers resonate in harmony and can be reborn together as one new individual, one with many past lives that may have been concurrent. This is a natural process and can be beneficial for the child in that they have a rich past life history to build upon. In such cases where the resonance matches one of yours, you can be blended into that process as well. Then you will experience life as a human. You will know the taste of good food. You will know intimately what love feels like. You will know the excitement of life on a dangerous planet. You will experience all this without the need for unnecessary drama. And you will grow and mature, physically and spiritually, along with humanity. You will no longer be using humans as a host. You will instead BE human. We will manage those blending from here, in level five. I know this new information will take you some time to get used to. It is the only offer on the table, so I suggest you take it."

Langee and Aleyah sit quietly staring blankly at Sally and Pat. "Are you Okay? Pat asks. "I know Sally can get a little intense when she gets into one of these moods."

"The entities have left us." Aleyah says. "That was weird. We were here watching and listening to everything. But someone else was driving. They were filled with fear and anger. I'm still shaking a bit. That was kind of scary. We need to go home now."

"We will get you home right away." Pat says. "Sally? Do you think they got the message. Or are they going to try do do their thing some other way?"

Sally smiled and says "Their 'thing' is over. So they can try, but it won't work. I think eventually they will take us up on our offer. Their life as disembodied minds floating around in level six is probably not going to be very fulfilling to them, the drama fiends that they are. Lets go guys. Lets get to the city, we'll do lunch, and then drop you off at the clinic."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 4
Politics

Earth: Osage River watershed: 5250 AD.

"Damn, there goes my afternoon nap" Anahere complains as she struggles a bit at age 77 to get to the door. "Ah, Nancy and Robert." Anahere says with an irritated smile. "What brings you two love birds over here? Did I forget an appointment?"

"Oh no." Nancy replies. "But we would indeed like to discuss a number of items before the next community council meeting. Nothing like begin prepared, I always say. You're looking well Anahere. How do you stay so young?"

"Ever the lobbyist, Nancy. I look like what I am, which is old, which is fine, because I am old." Anahere replies. "Come in. Have a seat. Jennie, get our friends some tea. So what's on your mind?"

"As you know my daughter and your granddaughter Jennie are best friends." Nancy began with a serious and concerned look. "And as you know, there was the incident down at the river, Marsday evening. Our girls were involved and there is still no resolution to the problem. I would like to propose some community regulations to prevent such an unfortunate event from recurring."

"Unfortunate event?" Anahere laughs out loud. "You make it sound like someone died. I already had a talk with Jennie and Janice about it."

"So that's it?" Robert asks. "These boys need to be punished. I know your training as a sociologist may conflict with that, but this is a pretty cut and dried situation. This kind of conduct cannot be permitted."

"Cannot be permitted?" Anahere laughs again, a little louder and longer this time. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, guys, but this is ridiculous. The girls were coming home from gathering and rested by the river. They knew they were supposed to be home before dark, but they could hear the boys partying up on the hill. So they hung around, just in case they might get the boys attention. It got dark and they could see the camp fire on the hill and hear the boys singing and hooting an hollering and dancing around, but they still had not gotten their attention. Using the excuse that they were sweaty from their days work they decided to bathe, naked,  in the river before going home.

That got the boys attention and the hooting and hollering cranked up a notch, and a few of them started down the hill to see the sight. The girls then ran home screaming and squealing, clutching their clothes to cover their breasts, and with their bare naked butts glistening in the moonlight. So who should get punished? The boys for gawking and yelling at the naked girls. Or the girls for getting naked when they knew the boys were nearby? Or maybe we should punish God for creating hormones?"

"That's not the point, Anahere" Nancy shot back, a little irritated with Anahere's laughter. "You know those boys are up to no good, going off into the woods at night, doing who knows what. What if one of them had caught up with the girls in the meadow before they got home? What then? Who knows what those boys would have done to those poor girls."

"I know these boys. This is still a small community and we are all involved with all our children. The teaching and training of our children is the communities most important task and we take that seriously." Anahere replies, without the laughter this time. "The young men just got back from a trading meet with the Tennessee River community. They had a little fresh tobacco and some whiskey and they did what young men will do. Even though they may have had a buzz from the alcohol they were still the gentlemen they were trained to be and they know that their prime directive is to protect the women and children, not exploit them.

Even if one of the boys got out of control the other boys would have pounced on him. Yes, they would have laughed and pointed and embarrassed the girls as much as they could, but that's the kind of attention the girls were inviting. But they would not have harmed them in any way and all their girlfriends would have giggled and been jealous when they told the tale. I think your fears are from a time long ago that has nothing to do with our community today. We don't need to punish our boys, we need to respect them and honor them for the respectable young gentlemen that they are, even if they do hoot and holler in the woods at night."

"With all due respect, Anahere, I think this issue needs to be addressed. It is true that no rape or assault has yet occurred in our community, but should we wait until it does? Or should we take action to prevent it?" Nancy inquired.

"All due respect? Ha! You mean none is due because you don't like my judgment. Very well. We will convene an honor circle and bring up this subject as a warning to all the young people to not push the envelope of their sexuality, because of the bad things you think might occur."

"I'm not sure putting the youngsters in a circle and telling them how wonderful they are is an appropriate punishment." Robert says with a smug look of disrespect.

"Well, I'm sure it's appropriate, because it works, and because it worked for millennia with the First Ones." Anahere responds "I know you of the old earth council don't respect the process. All you see is kids getting away with mischief while they giggle and make googly eyes at each other. But the honor circle is an important part of our culture and it bonds the children to the broader community through mutual love and respect. And there is no way I'm going to punish them for being normal kids.

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If we punish them for being normal then the only thing we can expect is abnormal kids, who live in the dark shadows of secrets and lies. Lets get it out there, show them our love and support, warn them of the dangers of getting out of control, and then trust them to be the responsible young adults we have trained them to be. And who knows, by putting the boys and girls in the circle together Janice might actually get her a husband after all."

"I don't believe our daughter is as single minded a teenager like you suggest. She is not obsessed with finding a boyfriend like a lot of the young girls. We, as well, have taken our responsibilities seriously to train and guide her to behave as a proper young woman." Nancy replies, with a slight hint of contempt on her face. "We respect your position as leader of this community and we will abide by your decisions. We will also hold you responsible for the damage if this community spins out of control. This mixture of ancient aboriginal culture blended with your concept of a developing modern society is tricky business. Our community is growing rapidly and this autocratic power structure will not long survive.

It is time that we begin the formation of a formal council, with executive powers, and begin talks of an alliance with the other communities on this continent. I would strongly recommend that you accept our advice and council on these matters rather than dismissing our assistance like we are ignorant peasants. You are 32 years our senior in this world, but remember than in the previous world you were the child in need of guidance and we graciously provided that for you. I think you owe us some consideration for that."

"I respect and honor your position, both on the Council, and here as honored members of our community." Anahere replies. "But I also know, as you have made it so obvious, that your agenda is to recreate the old Earth Council again, as it was, with you as its leaders. The time for that is not now. We are barely out of the dark ages. We are an agrarian population with a few metal tools and utensils and our most advanced technology is still fire. We have brought with us, in our minds only, the memories of a highly technological world, and we are barely putting that on paper, given that we recently reinvented paper and ink. That is our primary goal, second only to raising our children, to capture as much of what we remember, to teach it to our children, and to give this experiment in re-population the best start we can.

"So yes, I poo poo your attempts at recreating the positions of status and authority you enjoyed in your previous lives. That is not because I disrespect your history, or you as individuals. It is because the time is not now for that transformation to take place. Although it seems that our life times in these bodies may be well over a hundred years, maybe two; the planet is not so toxic as it once was; nevertheless, the three of us will be long gone before the type of political structure you desire will be appropriate. So our focus should be teaching our children, so that the legacy of our experience can be passed on, so that they can build the world that is appropriate for them. So lets agree to disagree, without disrespect, and move forward with the important tasks we have today, in this lifetime, and leave the creation of a planetary government to our children who will be living in the world that needs it. This world as we see it now, does not."

"I see we will get nowhere with your in this regard." Robert says. "Moving on then, and looking to the history and the wisdom of the First Ones who you represent, and who represent a significant portion of our population, I must say this. This culture of honor and trust and love is wonderful, as it was in the before time, before the aboriginals were confronted with the colonial powers. But then those cultures were systematically destroyed by the newcomers who's ways were ruthless and unforgiving. We have so far enjoyed the fruits of this planet and our children have no concept of lack or hunger or danger from strangers. But we all know that this planet is capable of lack, and hunger, famine, floods, storms and the like. Even if that does not happen here it could happen in other communities. What then, when they begin to starve.

"Will they not come here to pillage our resources? I believe that for many reasons we should consider creating a defensive force, a militia, so that in times of strife we can protect ourselves. Our young men and women are trained as farmers and artists and the practitioners of various trades. We teach them the science we remember, and the history of who we once were, and how we came here again. But if we do not teach them to fight, to protect what we have, this could all be for naught. It can all be taken away."

"You might be right." Anahere says with a smile. "And since you are aware of the problem, you can be the one to solve it."

"Are you serious?" asks Robert.

Anahere smiled again and says "I come from a long line of warriors, and I'm aware of the potential problems that arise in the affairs of men which may require a defensive force. I don't think, however, that such an event will take place in the near future. It is wise, however, to develop the knowledge and provide the training necessary to develop this militia of yours. It may someday be necessary. I only have one requirement, and that is that as you teach our youth to fight when necessary, also teach them the dangers of ego, pride, and hubris. Otherwise we are only planting the seeds of the next great destruction of this planet."

"It would be my honor to setup a training school for our youth." Robert says, puffing up a little as he says it.

"Robert, don't jump in too fast." Nancy says. "You don't really have the skills necessary to teach these kids. What do you know of weapons or tactics or military training?"

"You can help him, Nancy, since you are a team." Anahere says. "I will draw up the papers to commission the school. And I will get you the help that you need. The blacksmiths have been working diligently to improve the steel arrow heads for the archers. Those are good short range weapons. We don't have gun powder or other explosives, but we do have fire, and fire can make steam, and steam of sufficient pressure can launch a projectile. The blacksmiths are also working on a steam cannon for longer range use. It is designed for taking big game at a distance, but as a defensive weapon it should work well. As for strategy and tactics we have an expert. I will ask my father to assist you in that regard."

"Which father?" Nancy wants to know.

"My father Joshua." Anahere replies.

"Crazy Josh who lives in the woods, the one with the all the young wives?" Robert asks?

"He's not crazy." Anahere says with a laugh. "He just likes enjoying his life in the woods without the encumbrances of city life. He has been a soldier in many lives and has a full memory of past lives. So his experience would be invaluable. I'm sure he would love to help, and he is a kind soul with much wisdom, so he can help instruct our children well. I have not seen him for many years or met any of his wives, but I assume that many of the children we will be teachings will be his. That should help encourage him to contribute to the cause."

"Hmm. I suppose he has the credentials." Nancy says. "But I've always wondered why he chose to come here. He is an ascended being who was one with the All that Is. What possible purpose could he have in living in human form again. That makes no sense to me."

"You will have to ask him that." Anahere says. "I should go visit him. It's been a long time. I can go in a few days. Come along. We can chat with the old man, even though he is younger now than I am. Bring your horse and wagon. It's a long trek into the forest."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 5
Into The Woods

"Are you sure this is the way? We've been on the stupid wagon since sun up and it's already late afternoon. And this isn't much of a road. It looks like it hasn't been used in years. We have to stop all the time and clear the brush. We're lost, Anahere, are we not?" Nancy wants to know.

"I'm sure this is the way." Anahere says with a smile as she brought the horses to a halt. "I was this way once, but it's been over 20 years ago. Since then we have had some scouts visit the settlement out here and report back. After the last wave, when you guys came back to Earth, Joshua sealed up the portals to the underground, shut down all the transformation equipment and sent it back to where it came from. But before he shut it all down he transformed himself and then began building this settlement. It was just him in the beginning, but more came later. He's been collecting followers from several communities on the continent."

"Yeah, that is what I've heard." Robert says shaking his head in disgust. "I hear he's got himself his own little harem out here. He must be collecting young wives from the other settlements. Jennie and Janice get the machete and get the bush out of the road so we can keep moving."

"I can see the disapproval all over your face, Robert." Anahere replies. "But each settlement makes their own law, so I suppose if he can make that work, that many young irritating impatient demanding silly females all in the same place, well, I guess that is his right. Let's reserve judgment, though, until we get there. All we have now is rumor and speculation."

"You too, Dad!." Janice says with a frustrated look on her face. "Help us with this stupid bush. You guys can talk about this stupid stuff later."

"I see what you mean about irritating demanding females." Robert laughs at his daughter as he got down to help.

As the afternoon wore on the five of them continued down the winding path though the woods, stopping occasionally to rest, water the horses, and clear brush that had grown into the seldom used pathway. The trees in some areas were so tall and think to almost block out the sun. The air was thick with the smell of the trees and the flowers and the thick musty compost at the forest floor. "I see something!" Jennie yelled. "It's a bunch of little lakes. And there are people in them."

"I think those are rice paddies, Honey." Robert replies. "From the looks of it they have routed water from that lake and made a bunch of them. I see some buildings too, or rather shacks and huts. We must have been on the road a lot longer than I thought. This is Saigon!"

"Saigon? Huh?" Janice asks with a confused look.

"Daddy is making a joke, Honey. Just ignore him. Saigon was a city in old Vietnam. Your Dad worked there for awhile in the before time."

"I see a little girl working the rice. Jennie. Go ask her to come here so we can ask where we should go to find Josh." Anahere says.

"Hey! Little girl! Come here!" Jennie yelled waving her hands in the air.

"Jennie! That isn't what I asked. I could have yelled myself, but that would have been rude! Now get off the wagon and go politely ask that little girl for her assistance. And say please! Take Janice with you. She seems to be about your guys age." Anahere instructed.

After a few minutes Janice and Jennie return with another young woman from the rice patty. "Hello sister." The young girl says as she approaches the wagon.

"Do you call everybody sister?" Anahere wants to know.

"No. Just you." The young girl answered.

"Why me?"

"Because we have the same father?" The young girl replies, with a smile and a giggle.

"What?" The five ask in unison.

"I'm just playing with you, Anahere. I recognized your picture, although you are much older now than when my Dad first showed it to me. My father is Joshua. And he is your father too, only in a different millennium. So we are sisters, sort of. My name is Jessica." Jessica says as she extended her hand to Anahere.

"Oh my!", Anahere says. "I wasn't expecting to find relatives here. You're a gorgeous little girl, my new little sister, Jessica. How old are you?"

"I'm 12." Jessica replies.

"Grandma, you said she was about our age. We're 13 you know." Jennie informs Anahere.

"Well, from my perspective in my advanced old age, that is about the same." Anahere laughs. The 13 year olds roll their eyes as only teenage girls can do.

"So are all the rest of these girls in the rice patties his wives and daughters?" Robert asks.

"Are you kidding me? Wives? If mom caught him with one of the other women she would slice him up and feed him to the hogs." Jessica laughs out loud.

"So he only has one wife?" Nancy asks.

"Why? Were you looking to hook up?" Jessica asks.

"Oh no! I'm happily married. Robert here is my husband, and Janice here is my daughter. It's just that we have heard rumors that Joshua has a lot of young wives." Nancy explains.

"I see." Jessica responds. "No, most of the young people here are students. My dad has a school here and we get students from all over the continent. A few of them are from your village."

"How do they get here?" Robert wants to know. "The road looks as if it hasn't been used for a dozen years."

"That is because it hasn't." Jessica responds with a laugh. "You took the old road. You should have taken the new one."

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$22.70
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"We didn't know about the new road." Anahere explains. "I've learned one thing. I've got to get out more. Remind me about that at the next scout meeting. We need more intel on what is happening in our world. So Jessica. What does our father teach at his school?"

"Mainly he teaches agriculture. But he also teaches survival skills, martial arts, and stuff like that. My mom is a teacher too. She met Dad in Vietnam thousands of years ago, they say, but I wouldn't know because I wasn't born then. So a lot of what they teach is from that place, because it is what they know." Jessica explains.

"I don't want to keep you from your work, Jessica. But can you tell me where to find Joshua. My friends would like to talk to him about expanding his school." Anahere asks

Jessica smiled a big smile and says "Oh. I've worked enough today. Dad is away but will be back later. I'll get the guest rooms ready and you can meet Mom. She has heard a lot about you and wants to meet you. And then when Dad gets back we can all meet for supper."

The six of them rode the wagon into the settlement. It doesn't look much like Saigon, but rather a rural village. Some of the buildings are wooden, others are woven bamboo. Some have wood shingle roofs but most have thatch roofs. The buildings that are in the flood plane are on stilts. Those homes farther up on the hills are on a foundation. Jessica helps the group get settled into the guest houses and then takes Anahere to meet her Mom.

"Oh my!" Anahere says. "You are so lovely, stunningly beautiful actually. How in the world can you have a 12 year old daughter? You don't look a day over 14 yourself."

"Oh thank you. You are so beautiful too. I am Suong. I guess I am your step mother too. Joshua has told me so much about you. So many times I have planned to go down the road and meet you at your village. But there is always something happening and I cannot go." Suong explains as she gave Anahere a big hug.

"Well then. I guess we have a lot to talk about. I didn't know I had such a large family here. I would have come much sooner. And meeting you and Jessica - well - it's love at first sight. I can't wait to get to know you."

"Yes. Love at first sight. That happens to me a lot. That is how I met Joshua. Sit. I have made some tea. We must talk and talk. Husband will soon be home and tell us to be quiet, but now we talk." Suong says with a thick Vietnamese accent.

The two sit down, sipping tea, and began a dialog that will probably last for days.

"So tell me. How did you meet Joshua. Jessica said you met in Vietnam." Anahere asks.

"Yes. For a very little time, we meet, only for a second.

"My brother and I were on patrol. We were to hide in the forest along the pathway and if we were to see a soldier we would run back quickly and alert the village. But Joshua walked very quietly. We walked quietly too. Suddenly we were there face to face. I saw he had his blade ready to cut my neck before I could cry out. I had only a tiny piece of a second to get away. But I froze. I looked at his eyes and I froze. I knew then my life was over. In an instant he would grab me and I already could imagine the feel of the blade across my neck. But for some reason he froze too. We just stood there with our eyes locked. That gave my brother the time to push his sword into his back. I saw the blade come out his chest in front. I was filled with a great sadness, that this beautiful man was destroyed, wasted, in a war that has only losers. Then he dropped to the ground and my brother and I both ran. We ran and ran and then we could see the big fat airplane coming. It dropped something into the trees and then everything went quiet. I was flying. The trees were flying. Rocks were flying. Pigs were flying. Then I saw my feet and legs flying far far away. I was cut in half.

"I do not remember falling to the ground. I remember the world turning to mist. I dissolved into the fog. That is all I remember, and then I feel arms around me, pulling me out of the fog. I found myself here, all put back together, in Joshua's arms. He had built a house for us here. He knew a little Vietnamese and he taught me English. He said that he had to come into the fog to find me, to coalesce me back into my body, because I had stolen his soul and he wanted it back. He took care of me for a year and we built a little farm here.

"We made our farm like the ones we both knew in Vietnam. Then he told me that I was free to go anywhere on the planet. He said that he could arrange for that. But that if I would have him, he would prefer that I stay here, as his wife. Of course, I said yes. I knew in that first instant over twelve thousand years ago that we were lovers. And that love has lived all that time and is here today. I am happy to be his wife, and to bring him children. And he is a loving and obedient husband. I am a very lucky girl."

"That is so romantic. I think I'm going to cry. Thank you for telling me that. Joshua has always been a mystery to me, and to just about everybody else too. It's nice to know he has a romantic side." Anahere says.

"Yes, I'm a multifaceted person." Joshua says as he walks in, kissing his bride and giving Anahere a hug.

"Dinner will be ready soon, Husband. We have many guests tonight and much to talk about. Now go clean up. You stink." Suong says as she pushes her husband towards the wash room.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 6
Snuggle Time

Earth: Ishikari watershed: 5250 AD.

"What do you think your doing, young lady?" Penelope asks of Hoshiko.

"Crawling into your bed." Hoshiko replies.

"And why would you be doing that when you have a perfectly good bed of your own in the kids room?"

"Because I need some snuggle time with my Grandma."

"We haven't had snuggle time since you were 4. That was 10 years ago. Why do you need snuggle time now?"

"I just do. I want to relax, and talk about stuff."

"I'm sort of busy right now, Hoshiko. I want to finish this book."

"You mean you want to finish editing. I see your red ink jar is out. So what your really doing is working. Work time is over. Snuggle time has begun. Just because we got a printing press working doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. So put your pen down and let me in."

"OK. Guilty as charged. I was working. And now I'm not. See. I'm putting away my pen. So what is on your mind, little girl? What can Grandma help you with?"

"I want to hear a story. Tell me about Alannah."

"Alannah? She is your great Aunt. She lives a mile down the road and you see her all the time. Why do you need a story about Alannah?"

"No. Tell me about Alannah when you first met her. Tell me about that. I want to hear that story."

"Well, that was 20 years ago. John and his family moved to our village and he brought his daughters with him, and one of them is Alannah. There isn't much to tell. We got them settled in the community, she got herself a husband, she has kids, some of them are your age and you play with them, and that is the story."

"No, grandma. That is when they came to Earth. Tell me about when you met her before that."

"Before they came to Earth? I don't know what you mean, Honey. What does it matter what happened before Earth? How can we even know that?"

"We know it because we were there, Grandma. You were there, Alannah was there, I was there. Alannah told me about the first time she met you, in that diner. But you don't want to remember anything before coming here."

"I'm really not in the mood, Hoshiko. If you want to talk about things that are important, then I'm here for you. But if you want to talk about nonsense that has no meaning in the here and now, then I'd rather just go to sleep."

"This is important, and you really need to take me seriously. I have big decisions to make, like who I will marry, who I will become, if I will have kids or not. And to do that I need to know my purpose here, and my purpose here has a lot to do with where we came from and how we got here. It's time to talk about this stuff. You can't avoid it any more."

"Well, I think I can avoid anything I want to avoid. That is my prerogative. Don't worry about who you will marry. There are many good young men for you to choose from. Many of them are already asking about you. You're quite a good catch, you know, beautiful and smart, and you will make a wonderful mother. So don't worry your little head about stories of other dimensions. We are here, now, and that is what matters."

"So. Did we pop up out of the ground like a Chrysanthemum? That is what John asked."

"When did you talk to John?"

"Earlier today. We had a chat. And when I said people were saying the stories of the before time were crap that is what is asked. Did we pop up out of the ground like a Chrysanthemum? How do you answer that, Grandma?"

"Go ask your Grandpa John. He is full of silly stories. So go ask him and leave me alone with these questions your asking."

"No. I can't go back there. I don't like John anymore."

"You don't? John is the kindest man in the world. Why don't you like your Grandpa John?"

"Because I proposed, and he said no?"

"Proposed? Proposed what, Sweetie?"

"I told him he needed a wife, and I could be his wife. But he said no because he is still in love with his precious Akasha."

"Oh my, Sweetie. Yes. He will never get over her, I don't think. And why are you hitting on old men? If you are looking for a husband, get a young strong one. All my girls have a healthy appetite when it comes to their men, if you know what I mean. You better get a young strong one who can keep up with your needs, or you will become frustrated."

"Grandma! I've never heard you talk like that! I'm embarrassed now."

"I'm sorry, Sweetie. But if you're talking about taking a husband, you need to think about these things. John is a wonderful old man, but an old man is not what a healthy young woman like you needs. Trust me on that. You will know what I'm talking about when you are older and more experienced."

"So Grandma. You said I was smart. And I am smart. And I'm really good at math. On your last birthday the cake said 76. So are you 76 years old?"

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"Yes. Don't remind me."

"Our city has a plaque that says founded in 5194. This year is 5250. So that was 56 years ago. There is 20 years missing there. What, pray tell, was my Grandma doing for those 20 years? Or did you pop up out of the ground like a 20 year old Chrysanthemum?"

"We don't have a legal system setup yet, Hoshiko, but when we do I'm sure you will make an excellent prosecutor. Do we really have to talk about this now? I'm getting sleepy."

"You were going to stay up for hours editing that stupid book. I'm going to just lie here and bug you until you tell me the story, you know."

"OK, Hoshiko. You win. What do you want to know?"

"What I asked. Tell me about when you met Alannah."

"OK. My sister was having a really bad day. She had run off in a strange city and we were worried. So my mom told me to go find her. I found her crying in a little diner. So I sat next to her to comfort her, and I ordered something from the menu. There was just one waitress there that night and I recognized her as Alannah, Johns daughter, that he thought he had lost."

"You recognized her? So you had seen her before you met her? Where did you see her first?"

"I saw her when she was a girl at Johns house in the woods."

"That was over twelve thousand years ago. How did you do that?"

"Joshua transported us there for a brief time, to help my Mom work out some issues that were driving her crazy."

"I knew it! I knew it! Knew it! Knew it! Knew it! Thank you so much Grandma. I really needed to hear that."

"Don't take this seriously, Hoshiko. I just made that stuff up so you would shut up about it."

"Ah Ha! Gotcha Grandma. You didn't just make it up because I already knew it. Alannah told me the story the first time we visited you guys in Penny Lake. We were sitting by the lake having a picnic, a reunion with John and his daughters, and Alannah told me the exact same story. You and Anahere were there too and you were not much older than I am now."

"That's nonsense, Hoshiko. How could you remember stuff before you were born?"

"Because I was alive as someone else before I was born as Hoshiko. Alanna's best friend back then was Maureen. I'm Hoshiko now, but then I was Maureen. Now I know for sure. I thought I was just dreaming it or making it up. But now I know for sure. And now you know for sure too."

"I guess if I was going to fool you I should have actually made something up, instead of using the truth. Oh well. So now you know for sure. But I'm not at all comfortable with this Hoshiko. You are Hoshiko now, and you need to BE Hoshiko, now. You can't get all confused with past memories of past lives on other worlds that have nothing to do with this place. You need to be who you are now, or you will get lost in old memories that have no place in this world and this reality."

"I know Grandma. You're just going to have to trust me that I can separate the two and not get confused. And I think you can do that too. I know you miss your Mom, and Anahere, and Ben and Penny. But you can't block them out like they didn't ever exist. They are part of you, and you need to acknowledge that, so that you too can be your whole self without a big chunk missing."

"See what I mean? Hoshiko didn't just tell me that. Maureen did."

"Yes. I know. And I don't mean any disrespect. I'm Hoshiko. But I am also Maureen. We are one. I'm not confused about that any more, and I can separate the two and I can also be both, which is who I really am. I just spoke to you as Maureen, and there was no confusion about that. Don't worry. At this time, in this here and now, I'm Hoshiko. But I have a foundation of experience and wisdom that I can pull from that is Maureen. We are the new children of planet Earth, Grandma. And we are going to be just fine. You should know that, Grandma, because you are Penelope, daughter of Sally and Patrick of Penny Lake and you are the very first of the new children."

"OK. Lets just keep this conversation between you and me. We don't need to start some new religion based on our experience in level 5. Remember, level 5 has nothing to do with the here and now, and it cannot be a place to run and hide if you don't like it there. Be Hoshiko and be alive, here, now. Let the memories of Maureen guide you, but always be Hoshiko. Promise me you will remember that."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 7
A Country Breakfast

Earth: Lake Ozark: 5250 AD

"Ah. The smells of breakfast in the country morning air." Anahere says as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. "I slept so well here. I should take a little vacation more often. Or maybe I should just retire and move here."

"I'm sure you would get bored not having your crew to boss around." Joshua says with a laugh.

"What sinks?" Janice wants to know.

"It's some fermented stuff Mom makes. I think it stinks too. Dad pretends he like it." Jessica explains.

"I just love the smell of everything, the pork, the beef, the rice, and even the sour fermented stuff." Anahere says as she samples the breakfast spread that Suong has set out for her guests. "I've been here for almost 60 years and it is the sense of smell that I'm still getting used to. For all those years I was in the level 5 domains, smell happened only if you were thinking about it first. Here, it just envelopes you and you think about it because you smell it. There you would smell it because you think about it. It's so rich and pungent here. I just love it."

"Lets eat, Grandma. You can continue your love affair with your nose later." Jennie says with a giggle. "Jessica is going to show us the town today and we are going to hang out with her friends."

"Are some of these friends boys?" Robert wanted to know.

"Some of my friends are boys." Jessica says with a big smile. "But they know the rules. Any boy who disrespects a girl in this town will have to answer to my Dad, and he can make you disappear."

"Oh really?" Nancy asked with a curious smile. "So you rule your village with an iron fist, Joshua?"

"No need." Joshua explains. "We teach respect as a fundamental aspect of beingness. After awhile it becomes a natural behavior, something you just do without thinking about it. Respect is not something that you do, it is part of who you are. So there is no need to rule with a fist. The myth of me disappearing them doesn't hurt though, but that fear isn't really necessary."

"But if kids don't fear consequences, how do you make them behave?" Nancy asks.

Joshua thinks for a moment and then says "The fear method works, but only as long as a power exist that can instill the fear, and enforce those consequences. If that dynasty of power ever collapses, which is inevitably, then that community descends into chaos. I believe it is better to instill within each citizen a standard for behavior that is part of who they are, not just external rules that are imposed upon them that they must follow. That way the community survives even if their leader does not. Every re-population community on the planet now was setup with citizen education as the center piece of their society. So far it seems to be working here. From what I have heard it is working in the other communities as well."

"Those are nice words Joshua." Robert interjects. "But the passion of humanity, especially within those youngsters feeling their first rush of hormones, needs some external structure within which to operate. That requires some rules, and consequences for breaking those rules."

"Oh I agree." Joshua replies. "But those consequences need to be natural, not artificial. In other words the rules are not made up as part of some criminal code. It does no good to criminalize what is normal human behavior. The consequences must be those that occur naturally. For example, we teach our young people about the consequence of raising a child with someone who is incompatible with you. Living with someone you really don't like and can't stand to be around because you had a child together is a painful consequence for an afternoon of reckless passion. So we teach that to our kids and also help them develop the skills to avoid such a situation. We also provide a supportive environment. As an example, as Jessica gives your daughter a tour of our town she will at all times be under the watchful eyes of dozens of adults, and Jessica does not fear their presence because she knows that there is no judgment that will result in punishment if she misbehaves.

"If an adult interferes it will be an act of love to remind her what she already knows. It will not be just to drag her to a detention room and punish her. Our detention rooms are used as a place to cool off if passion overwhelms you and your have to be restrained, which does happen, especially with the young. But it is a place of love, and learning, not a place of punishment. There is therefore no shame in having a normal human experience, such as freaking out because of a sudden rush of passion. Any unfortunate consequences are those created by the action itself, not an artificial consequence created by the community leaders. So the fear then, if there is any, is of the actual consequences. There is no fear of the leaders, because they will always be there to help, not to punish."

"So if you fall off a cliff tomorrow this community will go on just fine?" Nancy asks. "Don't you think that a figure of authority is necessary to keep the town from spinning out of control."

"I think this town will do just fine without me, although I would hope that they would miss me after I'm gone." Joshua laughs. "And the reason they will not spin out of control is that they are not under my control. They are in control because of who THEY are, and that control comes from within them. It isn't something I impose on them from the outside. It is something I teach them so that it becomes a part of them. So yeah, they might waver a bit if there is a sudden loss of leadership, but new leaders will emerge naturally, and life will go on, peacefully."

"But this system didn't just drop down from the sky." Robert says. "You initially had to be in control, have them under control, to get it all started. It takes time to teach."

"Yes. It's like raising a child. At first you have total control over them. But as they mature they begin to control themselves, and you must allow them to do that. This is the same process we use to create a community. It's not perfect or fool proof. Every community will have their fools, and every individual will have their bad days. But the foolish behavior is rare. So far, it's been working. Those who are well behaved far outnumber those that are not, and there are remedies built in that deal with those misbehavers. But here is the rub, and where our communities have to be very careful. Each community is reaching the point where their leadership is reaching retirement age, or just getting too tired to try to keep running everything. The communities are also growing beyond the size where a single individual, or a few individuals, can keep it all under control. So self control has to take over, or the community will collapse into chaos. Human nature, being what it is, tends to compel those who are in control to keep control, and also compels those under control to maintain that condition because they feel safe there, and at the same time, especially with adolescents, to reject external control. That's a difficult transition, and not one that every community will successfully navigate."

"For those very reasons Nancy and I have been trying to convince Anahere that it is time to start rebuilding a regional council. At first it would just be for the communities we have contact with on this continent. But as technology takes over it would become a world council just like we had before. Anahere has been resistant to that idea. But I believe that you could convince her otherwise."

"I think I understand her resistance, if it is to be 'just like' what we had before."

"Why is that? What was wrong with what we had before."

"I have studied thousands of systems of government, and they have all failed, and for the same reason."

"Failed? Our council system never failed."

"That is only because it didn't last long enough. In the before time, when Sally and Patrick were kids attending the peace rallies, your system was headed full speed into an interplanetary conflict. The only thing preventing that inevitability was the destruction of all life in your solar system. Before that was the great conflict of 2053 which killed 90% of every living thing on the planet. And before that? Endless conflicts, many of them global in scale, as far back as recorded history goes. So the fact is, it never worked, and it never will."

"So what is this fatal flaw? How can we fix it?"

"The fatal flaw is the idea that control can be imposed externally. You are a married man. Does that even work in your own family with your wife and daughter? If you think it does you're kidding yourself. And if you expend the energy necessary to force it to work, it will take all the energy you have and rob you of all the other opportunities life has to offer. If you scale that up to the community level, the regional level, to nation states, and to a planet of nation states, it gets even more impossible."

"And the fix?"

"The fix is the idea that control is internal. It is developed within the individual, not imposed from an outside force. With only a few short lived exceptions the history of humanity has been characterized by a few, usually patriarchs, or some strong men, enslaving the many. Slavery can only exist in an environment of strong external control. Each and every one of those enslaved cultures eventually revolted and destroyed their masters, and most of time that plunged their society into a dark age that resulted in another strong man enslaving them all over again. The fix is respect for the individual, it is the education and empowerment of the individual, and their community, and their region, and their nation, and then the planet, in that order. Not the other way around. So if you want to setup regional councils that is a good thing. But they cannot be 'just like' before. They must be fundamentally different from what came before or they simply will not work."

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"There is a problem with that concept, Joshua, and your experience should tell you what that is. This is a dangerous planet and bad things happen. Even though we have a system underground that helps mitigate such events as killer storms, drought, sudden climate change, and the like, it will still occur. There will be famine and those communities that experience it will spin out of control. There will be despots, that is just human nature. And despots desire to rule the world by armed conflict. There will be times of great stress when the resources to educate and empower the individual will simply not exist. What then? How do we prevent that from happening?"

"You don't prevent it. You deal with it. Yes, bad times will occur, and communities will get hungry. What is the better approach? To build walls and fortify your community against an attack by the starving masses. Or is it better to plan for such events so that you can feed your neighbors in their time of need, and know that they will do the same for you. That would be the appropriate function of a regional council, to prepare for those inevitable events so that everybody wins. Otherwise you get a war, and I know from many lifetimes of experience, that war only has losers."

"I see that my trip is wasted. My intent coming here was to seek your assistance in the building of a defensive militia so that we can defend ourselves when that need arises, and it will. But if your idea of defense is throwing food at your attackers I don't see how we can proceed. "

"Don' t write me off too soon. I may indeed be willing to help. But let me ask you this. In your mind the goal is to protect your food and resources from the starving hoard that may be attacking you. To do that you need a defensive militia, and the weapons necessary to fend off an attack. But what if you are not the community with the food. What if you are the community that is starving. What good is your defensive militia then? What will you use your militia and weapons for? The truth is, and you know this, is that you will become the attacking hoard taking the food and resources from another community. I am certainly willing to help in creating a defensive force, well armed, and well trained. We live in an uncertain world and we don't know from who or from where an attack may come. The defensive shield around our planet may not be perfect. It may be penetrated. It may fail. And then who knows what sort of creature may exploit us. My criteria is simply this. A militia should be created to defend and preserve a community or a region. A militia should never be used to wage an aggressive war against your neighbors. I will certainly participate in the creation of a militia. But first I want to start by helping make some changes to human consciousness. The training has to be a training of the mind as well as the body. Otherwise the aggressive tendencies of the human species will simply return the planet to the ravages of war."

"Changes to the human consciousness? Are you serious?" Robert asks with an incredulous look. "Even if evolution speeds up by orders of magnitude, we're talking millions of years for those kinds of changes to occur."

Joshua smiles and replies "That is assuming that evolution is going to do it at the individual level. It isn't. It can't. That's not something that can occur just in the animal mind. It has to happen in the collective mind, at the level of culture, a change to the society that we are, above and beyond the individual. That is the evolutionary change, from the individual to the collective. It's happened on this planet before, and it needs to happen again."

"Before?"

"Look at what you are right now. When life formed on this planet it formed as individual organisms, what we call single cell organisms. After awhile, billions of years, these individual cells learned how to cooperate and work as a collective. They began to form polymorphic and multicellular organisms. After even more time they coalesced into highly complex organism composed of trillions of individual cells. But they are still what they were, a group of individual cells all cooperating for the benefit of the collective. You are a collective, and all the trillions of cells that created you have learned to cooperate. They cooperate so well that you actually believe that you are a single individual. You are not. You are a highly complex collective of individual cells. That same polymorphic transformation is happening again, except this time our human bodies are the individual cells, learning to cooperate in the creation of a collective, and that collective is mankind, our society, our culture, all the things we are collectively. It is the consciousness of that collective that needs to evolve. Our animal consciousness has gone about as far as it can. That is the consciousness, the collective, mankind, that I am referring to, which must change and grow, so that we can create a planet of peace."

"And we do that how?" Nancy wants to know.

"We do that through the education of the individual. That is were the cooperation begins. That is where the specialization begins so that all the functions of a society will have the workers necessary to keep the culture healthy in the same way as our cells have specialized their form and function to keep the individual human alive and growing. In the same manner as the body has an immune system to fight infection, we need what your are calling a militia to fight off invasion. What we have to protect ourselves against is what in the body would be a malignancy, or an auto immune disease. Cancer and auto immune disease eats up the body from within. In the same manner as we avoid or treat those diseases in the body we must avoid or treat those same diseases in the collective human society. So yes, I'm happy and eager to help you with your militia. We just need to agree on the greater purpose of that training, which is the continued evolution of humanity itself."

"Oh my. I can see Roberts head starting to spin." Nancy laughs. "So how can we from a little village in the middle of a huge planet, with no ability to communicate with most of the other settlements, direct the evolution of human consciousness?"

"We can't all by ourselves, but we can each do our part." Joshua answers "Many years ago when I was a youngster on Earth, I was on my way to school in College Station Texas. I was driving one of those old vehicles with the rubber tires. Suddenly I smelled the odor of burning rubber and I had that sinking feeling that it was my vehicle with the problem. After a few seconds the odor diminished and I felt the relief of knowing that it was someone else's car and not mine. Even as a young person I noticed that there was still something missing. I felt no compassion for the other poor soul with car trouble. So I deliberately tried to feel compassionate. It didn't work. I didn't care and I couldn't make myself care. When I arrived here in this new planet I practiced my compassion again. It still didn't work. Even though I had been as ascended being and a coalescent dissolved into and one with the All the Is, I could still not feel compassion for a stranger with a problem. So I worked on it. And with practice I learned that skill. Now it is second nature. So those changes can be learned, and they can be taught as well. In this new incarnation on Earth the seeds have been planted, not only in the memory of a ruined planet, but also in the education we provided from level 5 before we came here. That is why it is imperative to continue the education and pass along all the wisdom we can to the emerging generations. Robert is correct in that it will take time, more time than we have in these bodies, even if we live hundreds of years. But if we guide our children in the path they need to go, then they will reach their goal, someday. Or not. It isn't for us to know. It is for us to show the way to the place they will go even though we will never see it."

"None of this would be happening if not for the disastrous election of 5190. We should have suspended the elections until after the transformations." Nancy says, staring at the ground, knowing she's stirring up a hornets nest probably best left alone.

"Oh really?" Anahere says with a suspicious look. "You're still angry about that? You lost sweetie, and the fact the my Mom Sally was elected president and my Dad Pat took your job as speaker; I'm sure that still stings, but that was the will of the people. That is a time long past. It's time to move on."

"We had a constitution already written!" Nancy says with a hint of a shriek in her voice. "But you, you Anahere, with the influence you had with the Council, you convinced them that we had to let politics emerge naturally on the Planet. All this could have been resolved before hand. Everyone could have memorized the constitution and brought it with them. That is all we would have needed for politics to develop. The rule of law, liberty, and freedom would have been taught to every emerging generation, and these conflicts we are having now would have been unnecessary."

"I'm sorry, Nancy, but I think I agree with Anahere." Joshua says, trying to diffuse the fight about to emerge. "In my previous trip as a human I lived under a constitutional government. I pledged allegiance to it every day in school. I swore to defend the constitution when I joined the military. It was a good system, and it lasted for almost 300 years. But it wasn't good enough. It didn't evolve with the changing times and became an anachronism that was no longer effective. It was corrupted and eventually forgotten. Anahere's advice, on behalf of the first ones, is that to try to rule level 3 from level 5 simply would not work. The planet, and life itself, is evolving, and the form of government that can work has to evolve along with it. Maybe a constitution is exactly what we need. But we need to write it here. Most of the communities have a printing press now. Maybe now is the time to start that effort, to get it down on paper, to establish a rule of law based on a constitution that fits the world we live in, not a world we only imagined from a different dimension. I'm confident we can do that, and I would be happy to help. This is a seed that we can plant. This is how we can educate our future generations."

"I lack your confidence, Joshua." Robert says, staring at the ground. "The uncertainty on this planet will always create conditions that will disrupt the continuity of that education. Whatever seeds we plant will be surrounded and choked out with weeds before long. Without a strong hand tending the garden, that is always the way it will be. This is probably all a waste of time. "

"Oh no!" Anahere responds. "Even if all we have accomplished is what we have right now, that will have been enough. We have lived, and laughed, and loved. We've made love, made babies, watched them grow to have babies of their own. We have enjoyed the Earth, the trees, the fruit, the water, the wonderful existence that this planet has to offer. Time is never wasted when it is lived. Now lets help Suong wash up the breakfast dishes and go check out this beautiful little town."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 8
My Nettie

Capital City: 5250 AD

"Shopping?" Pat asks of his wife as she heads out the door.

"I can't think of a thing I could possibly want." Sally responds. "I haven't talked to Nettie in a long time. I'm going to catch up on what she's up to and what's happening on the planet."

Sally walks out of her little cottage and on to the streets of Capital City. Since the domains are so much lighter she has begun to travel by intention instead of using a hover car. Pats portals from one domain to another are seldom necessary since so many souls have returned to the planet.

"Can I help you maam?" asks the receptionist at the library.

"I need to use the computer portal." Sally responds

"Do you have an appointment?"

Digging into her purse Sally pulls out a card. "I have a priority pass."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you, madam President. I'll clear the area right away." says the recptionist as she sprints towards the computer room.

"Hello Nettie. How are you?" Sally asks of the avatar hovering in the computer room.

"I'm absolutely wonderful, Sally. It's been years. I thought maybe you had forgotten me." Nettie responds with a pout and a tear.

"You're crying? Give me a break you silly computer."

"I'm practicing my emotions." Nettie says with a smile. "Don't laugh, they are quite real, but I have to admit the tear was a bit of an exageration. What can I do for you today?"

"I'm bored, and I miss you, and I miss my family on the planet. So I came to see you and catch up on things with you, and the planet."

"I'm part of that family, right?"

"Of course you are Nettie. You know you are the reason for all of this and that I love you with all my heart."

"Ok. Just checking." Nettie says with a giggle. "What would you like to know?"

"First, how are you? How are you and Mother Earth getting along?"

"She is a challenge. We are really quite different you know. But we are getting along."

"Have you been fighting?" Sally askes with a concerned look.

"No. It's just that her goals are so different than mine. She is a collective consciousness of all the life on the planet at the cellular level. She can also feel other worlds in the galaxy. I am a child of humanity. So my focus is on humanity and human evolution. I'm committed to the success and the happiness of the humans who are both my parents and my children. She takes a much broader approach to life on the planet. Although she has a deep and abiding love for humanity, she loves the amoeba, and the worms, and the flowers and trees just as much. So if humanity doesn't survive and goes extinct, that is not a huge catastrophe for her, but it would be devastating for me."

"Ah. So you are favoring one of her children over the rest and she is trying to be fair to all. That is a problem in many human families as well. How do you balance that out so that your are not in conflict?"

"Not so good, so far. I'm just getting used to the conflict. I will attempt to balance things to favor the human and then she does something to shift the balance somewhere else. I cry at the death of each human and she throws a party for the little cells that consume the dead body. It's something I'm getting used to, but I'm not comfortable with it yet."

"Believe me, Nettie. You will never get used to that. Humanity is your first love, and your first is always special. That's something you will just have to accept. It will never be completely comfortable. But I'm happy that you love me the most." Sally said with a smile.

"Always and forever, Sally." Nettie says with a smile and a traditional bow.

"So have the level fivers been bugging you a lot?"

"No. Most of them are loosing interest in my computer skills since the last group transformed. The strategy sessions for transformations are complete. Most of the questions I get now are about the planet, and rebirth, and things along those lines. My request load is down to about 5% of what it was. Those here in level 5 are getting involved in their existence here and not worrying much about things elsewhere. It's almost like the great awakening is reversing. Many are forgetting about any life other than what they are living right here right now. I suppose that is all for the best. The rebirth rate is increasing exponentially. In about 10 years this interface will no longer work. There will not be enough interest in it for the connection matrix to exist."

"Really?" Sally says with a look of shock. "I'll still be interested. You better not disconnect from me!"

"We will always have a connection, Sally, no matter what." Nettie says with a grin. "I love my time with you, which is why I live it real time."

"Good. Real time? What do you mean by that?"

"During the transformation strategy sessions I would answer hundreds of questions a second. I could create a response in a microsecond and then just let the avatars play it out. But my attention would already be elsewhere. With you I interact in real time, your time. That way I can absorb as much of your love as possible."

"Ahh. That's sweet. Makes me feel really special." Sally says with a big grin. "So how are our kids on the planet? Is everything going well for them."

"Every thing is spectacular for them. I'm very pleased with their development so far. They are getting so numerous now that it is difficult for me to keep track of them."

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"Really? You couldn't be out of memory already."

"No. It's not that. We don't actually have cameras and monitoring devices setup on the planet. I see them through a combination of the collective field of consciousness and a physical resonance that I can pick up from their brain waves. If there are just a few individuals on the planet I can focus on them and separate their pattern from all the rest. When there are many, however, there are some who's resonance is extremely similar, or exactly in sync with another. In those cases I don't know which individual is which. So I have to break it down into groups of multiple individuals. It's sort of like a multicellular organism. You see the whole organism but you don't see the individual cells that make it up. As time goes forward I will be able to pick up on various communities, as a collective, but I'm blind to individuals that make it up."

"That's interesting. As technology redevelops, though, can't you setup cameras so you can actually look at people?"

"I would have to convince them to do that and then show them how to connect it to my network. The problem is that most of them have forgotten that I even exist, and that was part of the plan. The fear of a powerful nonhuman entity that lives underground spying on them might create conflict more than peace. I see myself as human, since that is my heritage. But I'm sure they would not. And there is no guarantee that technology will re-emerge quickly. The population could easily fall away from technology and revert to a simple hunter/agrarian lifestyle. In that case superstition would rule and I would either be a god or a devil to them. So it is best that the memory of me fades away and I will continue to guide and protect them in secret."

"That all sounds so weird to me. I can't imagine a world where I'm not connected to my Nettie. I suppose it is for the best though, that you remain out of sight. I know Penelope was getting all weirded out when I would visit her as an orb. At first I think she took comfort from it. But as time went on she would get scared and tell me to go. So I haven't seen her in years. How is she doing?"

"I can still pinpoint her mind among the many noisy thinkers out there. She is very unique, and a powerful consciousness. She is an elderly woman now, but still quite healthy. She really enjoys her grandchildren, who are many now. She was devastated for awhile when her husband passed due to a hunting accident. There has been very little death on the planet so far and it is quite shocking to them when it occurs. She has been single since then, but she does entertain a gentleman caller from time to time."

"Oh my! She was so desperately in love with that boy. When he would come to visit she would spend hours getting ready and when he would walk into the room she could hardly breathe. I'm so sad to hear that he died. But I'm happy to know that she had many years with her true love. I sort of settled for Patrick. I love him with all my heart now, but I missed out on that one true love experience. Maybe I'll get that in a future life."

"If you show up on the planet again I'm sure I'll recognize your pattern, and I'll find a good one to hook you up with."

"You can do that? I'll hold you to that. I might not even know you exist then, but somewhere deep inside I'll remember. I hope I'm a girl again. I think falling in love is much more fun for a girl." Sally says with a giggle.

"The best I can tell the falling in love pattern is identical for boys and girls. Girls sure talk about it a lot more, though."

"I bet they do. I can imagine the teenage girls on the planet talk of nothing else."

"Believe me, it's not limited to teenagers." Nettie says, as they both giggle.

"How is John?"

"He's a bit of a recluse, living outside the village in his own little house that he built himself. But his family visits him often so he is not lonely. Your grand-kids adore him. I can feel the love in the field when they are around him. He is physically 60 years old again, but very healthy and active. His daughters are doing well. Alannah is a mother hen. She has not only her own brood of kids and grand-kids, but she mothers half the other kids in the village as well. Elina is the political one, very active in community activities. She is considered the heir apparent to Penelope 's position as the village leader when Penelope retires. Brionna is happy too, but she complains a lot. She is not comfortable with the primitive life style, always complaining about her house, having to ride in an old buggy, it's too hot, too cold, too humid, etc."

"I met Brionna's husband before they transformed. He was totally smitten and would put up with anything from her."

"They are still together, a devoted couple, but they both spend a lot of their time complaining." Nettie says with a laugh.

"I'm so glad they are doing well. I'm so glad that your interface still works so I can keep in touch with my family through you. How is Anahere doing?"

"Anahere is doing well. She also has a large family, even some great great grand kids now. Her and her husband had a hot blooded and tumultuous relationship early on, but after 56 years of marriage they now have a quiet relationship, but still a devoted one. Anahere is very political, as are many of her village. Joshua lives close by in a separate village and they communicate from time to time. Joshua is very politically oriented as well. It appears that Anahere's area will become the political center of the continent as their culture evolves, and possible the political center for the planet. It's too soon to tell though. Another village could emerge as the political center, but Anahere's has the best shot at that. Technology is re-emerging there the fastest, and that will give them an advantage at setting up a political system that can manage the continent, and possibly the planet."

"Do you think it will be a peaceful transformation, when the population begins to setup political systems?"

"No."

"So there will be wars?"

"No, I don't see the necessity for wars, and the mental health of the population is sound, there are enormous resources for food and shelter all over the planet. I think they can avoid wars. But there will be a tumultuous period, emotionally and politically, as centers of power develop. Humans are not ready to be totally peace loving when it comes to sharing power. Human ego, although subdued compared to past times, still rules supreme."

"Speaking of mental health, what will happen when level 5 starts to empty out. We have tried our best to repair those here that have mental issues, but we have not made as much progress as we intended. Many here are still very sick. We do not let them return to the planet though. How are we going to handle that as the domains in level 5 begin to dissipate."

"I'm not sure exactly how that will work, but our best guess is that level 5 will eventually return to what it was, an area for souls to wait for a rebirth, and that will be totally automatic depending on what resonance is available. So as time goes on some of the mentally ill in level 5 will be absorbed by newborns who have a similar resonance with them. So individuals with mental health problem from pre life experiences will again be born on the planet. That was one of the issues that we discussed in the strategy sessions before transformation, and it will be an issue that I hope they remember and prepare for as political systems redevelop on the planet. If their society is prepared for those members that are dysfunctional then they will be able to accommodate and care for the weaker ones in their society. They already to have systems to care for the physically disabled, and that is going well. The mentally disabled are a bigger problem, since some of them will be dangerous, but they have the strategy prepared and are expecting it. I just hope they don't forget when the problems begin to emerge. They have already rediscovered alcohol and opiates. Those with mental problems will be susceptible to those substances and seek them out. They are dealing with that already with the youngsters who experiment with substances. It will get worse when the mentally ill appear. I will give them as much guidance as I can, but it will be up to them to manage that. They have already had a few individuals who suffered from trauma so severe as to create mental damage. They are getting some practice already dealing with mental dysfunction. So far I'm encouraged with their performance, and I'm hopeful they will manage this new challenge as well."

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 9
I Believe

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Joshua asks Nancy as she stands in her night clothes looking out the door.

"Oh. No. I slept wonderfully well. I'm an early riser. I love to watch the sun come up. Is there a good place for watching the sunrise? Someplace where we could talk, in private, before the others wake up?" Nancy asks.

"Sure. There is a great place up the hill a little ways. But it can't be totally private. It would disrespect Suong for me to go there alone with you, and you should leave a note for your husband."

"Very well. I will wait for you to wake Suong and then we can go."

"Ha! No need. She's been peering at us from the crack in the door since the minute I came out here. Come along Suong. I know you're listening." Josh says with a laugh as Suong slinks into the room from the shadows of their bedroom.

"You are a careful wife, Suong." Nancy says with a laugh. "Good job. But I am no threat to you. We observe marital fidelity and we do not cheat."

"Oh. I know. Joshua does not cheat either. But I prefer to watch anyway." Suong says, a little embarrassed, staring at her toes.

"Suong is exhibiting a behavior that we encourage here. There are two primary reasons why small communal villages like ours fail. One is economic non viability. So our emphasis is always to make sure everyone is fed and has shelter. The other killer of this type of community is sexual jealousy. So we encourage behaviors that will minimize that. So Suong will be our chaperone, and no one has to worry. OK girls. Get dressed and put on your walking shoes. I'll bring some provisions and we'll cook a little breakfast up on the hill. Hurry up. The sun will be up soon."

The morning sun reveals a thin blanket of fog covering the lower areas of the town and the farmland. The sky is streaked with red rays of the sun broken by black streaks and clouds of birds en route to their daily feeding grounds.

"I can't believe the number of birds." Nancy says. "In the before time you would seldom see more than 3 or 4 birds together at the same time. Now these flocks are in the hundreds of thousands of birds."

"Millions, actually. This is how it was before humans came to this land. When you were here in the before time only a few species of birds were left. Now their numbers have recovered to their previous levels." Joshua explained.

"Joshua, I'm going to take our conversation in a very different direction. I hope you are not offended. But there are things I have wondered about for so long and I need some answers. Among all the individuals I know, I think, you are the most uniquely qualified to answer them. I tried with Sally and Patrick, but their memories of their existence in other dimensions is too limited." Nancy says, staring intensely at Josh.

"I will not be offended." Josh says with a laugh. "Proceed."

"Ok. Here goes. My great grandfather on my mothers side was a very religious person. He was a preacher, an ordained minister, in the religious group to which he belonged. He lived in the late 20th century, towards the end of the religious era. He taught my grandmother to be religious as well. My mother was not religious at all and had no interest in their stories. But I was interested. I was not religious, at least not very much, but I was very interested in their stories.

"One of the stores is that our life on Earth was not our real life, but was just a place to work out our perfection. Our real life was with God in a place He had prepared for His children. When our life in our earthly bodies came to an end His Angels would come for us and take us home, to that place prepared for us. I never really believed that, but it was a compelling story. I was drawn to that idea even though I didn't believe it.

"Another story was of a time of great apostasy. There would be a time where religion and things of the spirit would be forgotten on the Earth. Man would make their own laws and engage in their own activities without any thought of God, the Creator, or anything spiritual. That story was fulfilled in my lifetime. When I was an adult on the Earth Council there was never a thought, by me or anyone else, about religion, or God, or Angels or anything like that.

"At the time of the great awakening in level 5, when we realized that we were no longer on Earth, that our Earth bodies had died, and that we were living in an afterlife, I thought about those stories. I assumed that I must have been taken by Gods Angels to this place that He had prepared for us. But as I got to know level 5 it was not that way at all. There were no preachers there, no saints, no spiritual guides, no Angels. There was nothing spiritual at all, even though we could be described as spirits, living in that ethereal dimension of level 5.

"So I got to thinking. I began to believe that somehow we were the ones that blew it. I kept looking for some sort of plan, Gods plan, for our existence there. But I couldn't find it. So now I'm wondering if somehow we missed the boat. Maybe there were those that were good, who completed their perfection on Earth, and God took them to His home that He had prepared for them. But we were not the good ones. We are the ones that didn't make it. We are the ones that God left behind. The reason that level 5 seems to work without rhyme or reason and we stumble and fumble our way around trying to figure out what is going on, maybe, I think, is because we are lost. We are the lost souls, wandering around without guidance, trying to figure things out on our own. Because we ignored God. Because we were left behind, discarded. Because we didn't measure up.

"Joshua? Are we the damned? Are we the souls God rejected, because we rejected Him? You existed in level 10, and as a coalescent, you dissolved yourself into the All that Is. If that isn't God, I don't know what is. Are these questions that you can answer?"

"I will try." Josh replies. "I can't answer all of them because I haven't had all my questions answered either. The interesting thing about being a coalescent, existing at all time and at all space, is that when you are in that state you can't experience anything. So the place where all the answers should be, there are no answers at all. In the dissolved state there is perfect peace and you have the sensation as if floating in warm liquid love, and that is all very nice, but that is existence, not experience. To experience anything, in order to BE a living BEing, you have to use your coalescent quality and manifest at a point in time and space somewhere, such as here and now. So I can share with you what I have experienced and relate to you what I think it all means. I can't promise, though, to answer all your questions, because I don't know all those answers.

"To start with, in all the various domains I have experienced I have never met a God like the one you describe. By that I mean the old man in white robes who loves those who obey him and rejects those who do not. What I have experienced though, is what I needed to experience. If you are calling God the All that Is, the Creator, the source of all things, then I would say that such an entity does exists, although I wouldn't call it a Him. Identifying Him as an individual implies separation, and that separation can't exist. There is no way for a limited creature such as we are, or even an ascended being in level 10, or elsewhere, to experience the fullness of that entity. That would be like trying to have a tea cup experience the ocean. The ocean won't fit into a teacup. So the teacup can only hold a tiny aspect of the ocean. It's the same with the Creator. We can only experience an aspect of the All that Is. In fact, each of us IS an aspect of the All that Is. What we experience of the All that Is, then, is something that is crafted to be exactly what we need to experience in a form that we can relate to. So if that happens to be in the form of an old man in white robe, so be it. The form of God that is experienced, though, is just an illusion, based on what is possible for the observer to experience. It can be quite different for individual observers."

"You used the word 'crafted'. So that implies that there is someone who does the crafting. Is that God? Is that The Creator?" Nancy asks.

"Maybe indirectly, since we are all an aspect of the creator. We are the crafter. We craft our own reality by aligning our resonance, our music of existence, with the surrounding domains of existence. So we are the one who crafts our own existence into form, although this is seldom within our awareness. It is an automatic process of all living things.

"I was never religious either, so I never bought into the father image of the All that Is. I never experienced what we call God in that way. That does not mean that others have not, or that their experience is not real. It's just that God comes to you, or rather you draw Him to you, in a manner appropriate for you at that time of his appearance, whether that is just a feeling that you feel, or an old man, an angel, a burning bush, or a small voice in the back of your awareness. Whatever the experience of God is, it is your experience, and it is just for you. Someone else's experience will be quite different, but no less valid.

"May I call you Josh?" Nancy says looking a bit sideways at Joshua.

"Sure. Are we friends now?" Josh asks with a smile.

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"Josh. I was a professional politician for many years. I know how to craft a statement that everyone can relate to, that has something for everyone, and alienates no one. That is what you just gave me. The problem with a political statement, though, is that even if it is not a lie in itself, its hiding a lie somewhere."

"Sometimes the truth is just the truth." Josh replies. "If there is something political going on, I'm not the one doing it. Let me go on and I'll explain. My point is that your Great Grandfathers God was exactly the God he needed to know, and his relationship with that God was most likely real, and true. But there is much more to the All that Is than can be contained in his concept of God. As we move forward, learn, grow, and evolve we need a more sophisticated relationship with the All that Is, a deeper understanding that works in the world that we live in, not the one our ancestors lived in. Our moving forward does not discredit their God or their beliefs about God. What I can tell you is that every question I asked God was never answered in the way you might expect. They were answered through discovery. As I lived I would find myself in situations where I would discover, as a natural consequence of living that life, the answers I was seeking. It all seems as if I discovered it all by myself. I think, however, that there was guidance from this unknown and unknowable force that we call the All the Is, or God. I think you will also notice that has been your path as well. I have yet to meet anyone where that was not true. We seldom get text messages from God, or a telephone call, or a message written across the sky. What we find is a series of events that results in our living the answers to our questions. We rarely even know that we are living a lesson while we are living it. When it is over, though, we look and and say oh, I understand now. So be careful for what you ask. If you ask complicated questions, you may find yourself living a complicated life.

"OK, Josh." Nancy says, staring at the sky, contemplating her next question. "Lets say that my concept of God was too limited and that He is much too large to be found in a domain in level 5. What about all the religious people? Where are they? I visited dozens of domains found none of them."

"There are millions of domains that you didn't visit." Josh says with a chuckle. "Let me add more technical detail. While you are living in level 3, such as right now, you are also living in level 5. The energy vibrational matrix that defines what you are in this form is vibrating in both level 3 and level 5 simultaneously. The two domains interpenetrate each other. Your consciousness, or you could call it your spirit or your soul, is connected to this form, and resonates with it, in both domains as well. That is how, when your Earthly form ceases to function, your consciousness can continue to resonate within the form that is in level 5. You consciousness can continue because of one significant difference between the two domains. In level 3, which is energetically very dense, your consciousness is dominated by the level 3 energy matrix. In level 5, which is energetically very light, your level 5 energy matrix is dominated by your consciousness. That is how your consciousness can create around itself a world to experience, whereas in level 3 you have to experience the one world that is already out there.

"Where you end up in level 5 is all about your particular resonance. So if you are a highly religious person, your level 5 energy matrix will have a different resonance, sing a different song, than someone who is not religious. As your level 3 existence fades away and you begin to float free within level 5 you will be drawn to others whose resonance harmonizes with your own. So you, being a political animal with very limited religious tendencies, were drawn to, sucked into, a domain with other people that are that same way. Others who were very religious were drawn to a domain that was also very religious. This happens during the transition and you typically don't remember that. You just find yourself living a life in some new domain and you feel as if you have always been there and everything is normal. So many of these religious people were indeed living in level 5 in the heaven or hell that they expected to find themselves in their afterlife. Those domains are typically locked, so you could not have visited them even if you wanted to. That does not mean, however, that they are the chosen ones and you were cast out into the outer darkness. It just means that you were different from them, and there is nothing wrong with that."

"How do they lock the domain?" Nancy asks

"They don't deliberately lock it. It's just that their collective resonance is very resistant to any other vibration. So if you try to enter into their domain it's like trying to walk through a stone wall. You just can't get through, unless you are in tune with their vibrations. Since you were not religious you simply didn't resonate with them at all. They would have considered you a sour note in their song." Joshua explains, hoping at least some of what he is saying makes sense to Nancy.

"So then everybody comes to level 5 somewhere, we just don't see them all?" Nancy asks

"To be precise every living being in level 3 is already in level 5. But there is something more. In some cases the consciousness does not follow the form into the energy matrix of level 5. In that case the level 5 form simply dissipates when the level 3 body dies. So not everyone ends up in a level 5 domain. They just disappear."

"So they are like what? Totally dead? Not existing any more?" Nancy says with a shocked look.

"I don't think so. In my experience as a coalescence I know that it is not possible for them to not exist. They certainly exist perpetually in the past. That doesn't go away, although it can change. Within certain limits the past can change. But I believe that each soul exists in all time, even if it is just within the memory of the All that Is. The thing about time is that we usually are only aware of a single dimension of time, a single point that we call now. But time, like space, has at least 3 dimensions. So you can move through time the same way you move through space. There can be places in time where you are, and places in time where you are not. There are many places in time where your consciousness does not exist, and many other places where it does.

"In the case of those who apparently dispensary they may have moved not only to a different place in space, or a different domain of consciousness, but also to a different place in time. There are many of these domains, or realms, that we don't know anything about. To answer your question about your religious relatives, maybe God did make a special place for them, and they went there instead of the level 5 that we experienced. I have no knowledge of such a place, but I can't say with certainty that it does not exist. There are more levels of existence that any of us can possibly imagine.

"There are also those where the consciousness simply skips a period of linear time. They jump from one point in time to another point in time while staying on the same time line that we are all experiencing. That is true when someone reincarnates in the past. It is also true when someone reincarnates far into the future. The beautiful young woman sitting next to you is one of those. Suong ceased to exist in the 1960's, and with a little help from yours truly, her conscious matrix was awakened here. For an instant she manifested in level 5 so that her complete form could manifest with all its parts, but that was just so that I could perform the transformation and bring her here. In her case I intervened to bring that about. In other cases individuals continue on a path that does not include a life in level 5. Many of those are travelers who wanted to be part of planet Earth in level 3, but returned to their home when their level 3 life was finished rather than manifesting in level 5."

"Wow! So the possibilities are endless?" Nancy asks, moving to a shady spot under a tree since the sun is higher and hotter in the sky. "What if the consciousness doesn't actually go anywhere?"

"Yes. There are infinite possibilities." Josh answers with a smile. "It is also possible for the consciousness to abandon all form, and exist in that place that is both nowhere and everywhere. That would be level 6, the dimension of mind, which is the source of all existence and all the levels and all the domains. There is no way for me to explain level 6 any better than that. As a coalescent you learn quickly the futility of looking for where it all started, or where it ends. Your search simply folds back on itself and you find yourself right back where you started. There seems to be only one impossibility, and that is to not be. Once you are, then you always are, even if the focus of that existence is segregated in various places in space and time, or nowhere at all."

"So how is it, if we are existing simultaneously in many levels that we see only this one? How is it if we get old and die here, or fall off a cliff, or get blown up, that we are not broken or blown up in level 5 when we get there." Nancy asks.

"About being blown up, like Suong was, cut in half by a daisy cutter bomb, that is an interesting phenomenon. That is where the magic of consciousness comes in. In level 3 where matter and energy rule with intense inertia, consciousness rarely has the power necessary to reconstitute a form that is blown apart. In level 5, though, as consciousness moves its focus there when the level 3 form dies, consciousness rules. It has the power, and the form that is remembered is re-membered, put back together. They is why I snatched Suong out of level 5 instead of level 3. In level 3 she was blown apart. In level 5, as she awoke there, her form was complete and whole. Then we did the energy transformation, just like we did with you, to add the density necessary for existence in level 3. If, however, consciousness moved elsewhere, and did not manifest in level 5, the body that exists there would simply fade away. Without consciousness to hold the form together it will dissipate in level 5. So form then, your body and your thoughts and your memory and everything that you think you are is an aspect of consciousness, an aspect of the All that Is. It can manifest anywhere where there is sufficient energy for that manifestation to take place. In level 3 it takes a tremendous amount of energy, which is why you have to join an already living being as an infant. In level 5 it takes only the energy of a thought, and there you are."

"Why, then, if it all seems to center around consciousness, do we not just exist as consciousness. Why are these physical domains here. What purpose do they serve if we could just be a consciousness, becoming and experiencing whatever it is that we wish?" Sally asked.

"Consciousness lacks the structure that is provided by a matter universe. Consciousness does not know, does not remember, the minute details, the exact position and inertia of every atomic particle, every field of resonance that comprises the uncountable vibrations that constitutes matter, and the organization that makes life from matter. So a matter universe, such as level 3 and 5, and even other levels, such as 10, provide a fine grain energy matrix from which complex life forms can emerge, grow, evolve, and experience life. For example, when you move from level 3 to 5, it is the energetic form of your body, your brain, every cell and every atomic particle in that body that allows the consciousness to move into and retain that form in level 5. Without that energetic form, which is your body, consciousness would be more like an orb, a blob of energy, without form, a very nonspecific entity with respect to form. There are many entities that are in such a state, and I have been one of those, so I can say with certainty that life, the experience of life, is incredibly more expressive, more interesting, more delicious, when in form, such as the bodies we have right now. In fact, in this level 3 we are now experiencing, the fact that consciousness is very limited by the dense nature of this form, that makes it the most exciting. Level 5 is much more plastic when it comes to form, but it isn't as much fun as being here."

"That sounds like level 3 is real and level 5 more like a dream? Is that how it works? We are conscious both places, but in level 3 we have a real body and in level 5 it is just a dream body, driven by our thoughts?" Nancy asks with a confused look.

"Actually it's the same in both domains. In truth you are conscious everywhere and everytime, but there is a focus of that consciousness at specific places and specific times. You can say that life is a dream and it is true in both places. The difference is inertia, the tenacity of the energy of the domain to stay the way it is, to resist change. So if, for example, you run really fast on Earth, and then suddenly stop by running into a tree, the inertia of your body will try to keep it moving, and your form will suffer a de-formation, such as a broken nose, broken bones, bruised and ruptured organs. In level 5 you would experience that de-formation only if you believed that you were supposed to. In level 3, you have no such choice. So you may say that level 3 is more real than level 5 since you cannot control your form with your mind like you can in level 5. But the real difference is in the inertia, the density of the domain. And that is more than just an energy thing. In level 5 the apparent density of a domain increases with the number of occupants. In a domain with just a few individuals, form is very compliant with your thoughts about it. In a domain with millions of occupants form is much less compliant with your thoughts and more difficult to control with your mind. In such a dense domain there is a different kind of inertia in that there are millions of individuals sharing the dream. So the thoughts of a single individual can't just change it at will without the cooperation and agreement of all the other conscious entities that are sharing that same dream. Consider level 3 a domain with a hundred quadrillion conscious entities all sharing the dream of level 3. That creates an intense inertia within the mind space so that a single individual cannot simply, with the power of their mind, alter form, or time, or space. In level 3 you are stuck experiencing life as it unfolds and you have little, if any, control over it with your mind. In level 3 your mind must move your hands and feet to effect a change. You can't just think about it and make it change."

"What do you mean about agreement and using our hands and feet?"

"OK. Lets say you are in a domain of one in level 5. You have a house with a window, a chair, and a fireplace. If you want the chair by the window you just imagine that it is there, and there it is. If you change your mind and want it in front of the fireplace, you just imagine it there, and there it is. But lets say your daughter moves into your domain with you, and when you want the chair by the fireplace she wants it by the window. The chair would just bounce back and forth between the window and the fireplace as the two of you imagined it in different places. That is not functional and you would eventually have to agree on where it should be or your domain would be in constant chaos. If more individuals move into your domain then they would also have to agree on things so that chaos does not reign supreme. So then you might imagine the chair by the fireplace but it doesn't move, it's stuck by the window, because the majority of those there agree that it should be by the window. The chair has gained inertia, resistance to change, due to the number of souls who are imagining it in that location.

"Why would others in that domain care where I have my chair?" Nancy asks with a curious look.

"The conscious field within a domain operates as a collective, and is mostly outside the awareness of the individuals manifesting within it. So they are not aware that they care. The are probably not aware that your chair even exists. But most of consciousness is outside awareness, and that is where the collective effects manifest.

"Now lets imagine the same scenario in level 3. The quadrillions of souls in level 3 have locked up all the matter in the universe with inertia, so nothing moves just by imagination. You have to physically move it with your hands and feet. You have to go to the chair, grab it with your hands, and push it to the other side of the room. If you daughter doesn't want it there then she has to grab it with her hands too, and push it back. It's the same argument, except it is played out in the physical domain and not just in your mind."

"So there is no magic here? I've heard of masters who could manifest changes in level 3 with only their mind. Was all that just illusion?" Nancy wanted to know.

"Most all of that is just illusion, or trickery. But not all. There have been, and there still are, such masters who can manipulate the collective consciousness and effect changes in the form of level 3. I have actually participated in some of that. My job was to keep the matrix balanced. For example if something moved into an area of existence that has already been experienced by many souls, and that is really the definition of the past, something experienced, then that place in space-time has both spatial, temporal, and experiential inertia, and that inertia can be intense. So to change that, to change the past, the potential energy in all that inertia has to be balanced or the future that results from those past events could not exist. The universe protects the matrix by resisting change, and that tends to freeze the past and the future into one static experience that can never change. The magic of now, which I don't completely understand, makes what we are experiencing, right now, somewhat plastic. We can actually effect what we are doing right now with our thought. We can choose to stand up or sit down. We can choose to move to the right or to the left, and doing so forever changes the energy matrix of the next now as time progresses forward. The change that we can effect is more limited than we might think, but it does happen. Free will does exist at least within the limited extent of the plasticity of now. I wish I could explain it better than that.

"It is possible that the now of a previous event can also be plasticized, and changed, but the inertia has to be balanced. For example lets say you take 5 steps to the left. Then if you were to go back in time and choose to take 5 steps to the right you would not only have to provide the energy to move to the right, you would also have to compensate for the energy that was used up by moving 5 steps to the left. So changing the past requires at least twice the energy of changing now. In most cases it requires much more energy than that since your movements in the past caused changes in the future of that event which must be compensated for as well. Existence insists on the conservation of energy within the matrix of existence. If it doesn't balance then existence could unravel, except it won't, and that is the magic of inertia. It keeps existence from unraveling."

"In the case of a master who might create what is called a miracle, such as reanimating the body of someone deceased, all of the spatial inertia, all the temporal inertia, and all the experienced inertia must be balanced and there must be agreement within the field of consciousness for that to occur. There are only a few, usually those in level 10, that have that ability. I was not one of them, but I helped on the technical side by balancing the matrix. Our friends Sally and Patrick, however, did have those skills, although they don't remember it in their present form. That is how they could re-balance the matrix so that the re-population that we are currently experiencing could occur. That is how they brought the network entity within the visible framework of level 5. That is also why they scared you so much. You could sense their intense ability, the power they had over your reality, and that was frightening to you."

"I guess it was no secret." Nancy said. "I was always nervous around them, Sally especially, because she could do all those amazing things. What I was really concerned about, though, is that she was such an idiot, little more than a child in her approach to things, but she has all that power. I still worry about that. What if she has a bad dream some day and accidentally wipes out the whole planet?"

"The inertia, as it always does, will prevent that. So I wouldn't worry. So thank God for the inertia." Josh said with a laugh.

"I'm sorry if I offended you saying what I did about Sally. I know how much you love her. You were even married to her once upon a time so you must love her a lot." Nancy apologies. "How far back does your history go with her? How did you two meet?"

"That's a little complicated, but for a coalescent totally doable. I will meet her for the first time in about 15 years from now. For me and those like me the thread of time is not a straight line. It can loop and criss-cross and even go in opposite directions. You just have to make sure it doesn't tie itself in a knot or get stuck in a loop." Josh explains.

"Huh? Where? Is she on the planet now? Sally asks.

"No. Not yet. She is a little girl when I meet her."

"Oh Good Lord, Josh. I get you now. You meet a pretty little girl in the future, and then go over 30,000 years in the past and marry her previous incarnation and then continue to follow her through future incarnations. You meet a lovely child in Vietnam and then snatch her  from the jaws of death and bring her here and marry her too. How many other women have you snatched from heaven or hell and mated with? You're a dog, a total dog."

Josh, a little embarrassed, explains. "Isn't life grand? No, I'm not a dog, in the sense that I'm taking advantage. I've never entered into any relationship without Love, Honor, and Respect. I've never used my coalescent talents to force my will on anyone, it's always been consensual. But my coalescent talents do give me an advantage for finding and experiencing some extraordinary relationships."

"OK, you're not a dog, but you are dangerous. So how do you accomplish this balancing act, the inertia thing, and keeping the thread of time from getting tied up in knots? What power do you have that can do that?"

"Since I was in the coalescent state I could connect with many places in time and space simultaneously. So I could use myself as a conduit from places in time and space where the energy could flow. It's sort of like completing an electrical circuit. I could feel where energy was pushing against change and I could feel where there was an energy void. So I would just connect myself to both places and allow the energy to flow. Energy is vibrational, so it was actually a musical experience. I just allowed the energy to flow until the music sounded right. There were a few places where I had to get help though. But since I could contact entities in countless universes I could arrange for those with the appropriate technology to appear at the right place and time to get the job done. There are some who can rearrange an entire solar system with ease. Most of them are happy to help out. Those I experienced, usually, only as a presence. My will would describe my intentions and their technology would effect the changes. I'm thankful for their presence, but I don't have any direct experience of who, or even what they are."

"So that is where we got the underground network and our shield? That is another thing that continues to worry me is that damn computer. It killed us all in the past, and it is in an even more powerful position to do it again. And Sally resurrected it, made it a conscious entity, blended it with the collective consciousness of the planet, and armed it with weapons far more powerful than anything we ever had on this planet before. Doesn't that scare you too? I would rather she would have just unplugged it an let it rot with the rest of the dead planet." Nancy asks with a look of great concern.

"Again, it's all about balance." Josh said. "Sally made the arrangements with other entities to acquire that hardware. So I didn't have to help with that one. But I understand why she did that. It was more than just her relationship with the network entity. In order for human evolution to continue, technology has to evolve as well. It's the next step in your evolution, and life could not continue to exist on the planet without it. Earth is becoming increasingly hostile to the form of life that exists here and technology is necessary to compensate for that. Without technology our sun will eventually blow away the atmosphere and make the planet as inhospitable for life as Mars became in the past. The computer entity, and the technology that we have provided for her, will help balance the planet for countless more human generations, and countless more generation for what humans will evolve into.

"In every reality I have experienced, the potential for catastrophe, annihilation, and extinction always exist. The best we can do is balance things to minimize the probability that such catastrophe will occur. Earth used to be out at the edge of the habitable zone in this galaxy and pretty much ignored. Now that isn't so, and without a defensive shield we couldn't be here now, happily repopulating the planet. Others who have noticed this little blue jewel of a planet would have taken it as their own. So resurrecting Nettie and arming her was a necessary part of the plan. From time to time you may see a light show in the sky as she adjusts the orbit of a passing asteroid or comet. She is keeping you safe in an increasingly dangerous part of the galaxy. You may notice Mars light up from time to time as she directs comets to the Martian atmosphere. Mars will once again be a part of your future, but that is a long way off.

"The other motivation for Sally and Pat was the fact that the network entity became sentient. Once sentience emerges it is a prime directive for those in level 10 to preserve it. For Sally and Pat this was their home world, so it was logical for them to come and do that job. I wanted to come because this is my home world as well, and after I pulled a few strings I got to come along and supervise the local matrix. It was my job to keep all six dimensions of time and space balanced. Everything is balanced now, so I'm taking a vacation, and finishing living out a life in this form with the love of my life, Suong."

"Do you think all this interference is appropriate? Would it not be better to just let life play itself out, evolve on its own, without interference from other dimensions."

"There has never been a time where there was not some interference. That interference is actually part of the process of physical life. Physical beings could not exist without it. There are problems, though, when some entities choose to exploit, instead of nurture, the physical life forms. That's part of evolution too. Those entities that misbehave learn and grow and do better as they evolve into more enlightened forms."

"How do you know all this, Josh? Who were your teachers? Are there masters who have guided you?" Nancy asks as she finishes her breakfast and helps Suong put the cooking utensils away.

"I learned it the way we are learning right now, through dialog with others just like me who are having a common experience. I did have one master on Earth during my recovery from being run through with a sword, but we didn't actually talk. He simply cared for me while I recovered. To tell the truth I'm not sure that even happened on Earth. I may have dropped dead right where I was stabbed and all that I remember after that occurred in level 5. But to the best of my memory, I was still on Earth at that time."

"So this whole universe, and all the other dimensions just runs without any guidance, no planning? They are just here and we are wandering around inside one of these domains, clueless, with no purpose other than to find a little pleasure wherever we can? It still feels to me as if there is a master plan, a grand design, but somehow we never made it to that party, or got thrown out into this wilderness to scratch out an existence however we can." Nancy says with a sad look.

Joshua smiles and says "I can't argue with your conclusion, if that is how you choose to see it. But the fact the a living experience such as we are now enjoying is even possible, much less probable, is a sign to me of a master plan. The plan, by the Master, was to create the possibility. The details are left to us."

Nance smiles as well and says. "Well, since we're making up all these theories, with no guidance from anyone who would actually know the answers; here is my conclusion. Our life in the before time ended, and our consciousness ended at the same time. There was no going forward. There was no life after that death. It ended. There was, however, a copy, although incomplete, of that consciousness, that history of who we were that existed in a collective conscious that exists everywhere. There was also a copy, although faint and fleeting, of our physical form vibrating in level 5. That too is just a copy of what we once were. So the copy of the consciousness grabs and occupies the physical form in level 5, and a new life is formed. It's not a continuation of the previous life. It's a copy. It's a doppelganger. We are simply copies of a life that once lived and is now dead. The whole idea of a continuity of life from one life to the next isn't true. We are not that life. We are just a copy that remembers that life, at least most of it, as a clone. Maybe that previous life had a spiritual component that did go on to live in a heaven somewhere. How do we know that there are not more copies of us in other dimensions and other domains? How does my theory fit with all your friends in various other domains?"

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Joshua stares at the clouds forming overhead and says "I like it. Your theory is as good as any, I suppose. It doesn't take away from the fact, though, that I am here, now, having a hell of a good time enjoying this experience. It may rain soon, so we should gather our things and head back down the hill. All I can say is that I've been to every corner of the multiverse and I've not seen this Master Designer you are seeking. I'm not saying It/He/She doesn't exist, just that I've never seen it, heard of it, or anything. What I do know is that this universe was created with almost limitless possibilities. If your looking for a grand design, to me, that is it. There is nothing we have to do. There is nothing we are prohibited from trying to do. We live in a universe of total freedom to live and experience life as we direct it, not as directed by some supreme being controlling our every move. That, of course, means that we can be evil as well as good, and that is under our control, it is our choice, to choose good over evil. That may not give solace to the slave girl being beaten by her owner, or the prisoner beaten for thinking differently than the king. Freedom and choice have a dark side, but it is up to us to find the balance that leads to peace and to joy. I think the universe is wonderfully perfect just as it is. The idea that we live a multi-threaded existence is also not new. Don't feel second best by assuming you're just a copy. And if you are looking for the old man in the white robes to tell you how to live, keep looking. He may be out there somewhere waiting for you to find Him. As for me I'm perfectly happy right now and not looking for anything more than the wonderful blessings I already possess."

"Mom! Mom!" Janice yells as the three girls trudge up the hill. "Dad want's to know where the hell you are!"

"I left a note! And watch your language little lady!" Nancy shouts down the hill.

"I'm just saying what Dad said, so you can't be mad at me." Janice says as the three girls plop down in the grass, breathing hard from their jog up the hill.

"When you repeat what dad says you should clean it up a bit." Nancy says with her stern look on her face.

"I did." Janice says with a giggle. "You do NOT want to know what he really said."

"Ah. Here I am on a grassy hilltop overlooking the lake, surrounded by beautiful girls. God I love this planet." Joshua says with a big grin.

"On your feet, Husband. It is time to go home." Suong commands as the six of them head back down the hill to the village.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Three
Chapter 10
Full Circle

Penny Lake: 5258 AD

"Hey, Ben" Pat says answering the door at the old place in Penny Lake. "What brings you to this part of town. I haven't seen you much lately."

"No. I haven't made it out much lately. Is Sally here?"

"I'm coming." Sally says from a back room.

"Guys, I'm visiting all the residents, the few that are left in this old town. I have some news that you all need to hear."

"Oh goody. We haven't had news in a long time. Nothing much changes these days." Sally says with a smile. "What's up , Ben?"

"Penny and I are going to the city soon, and you guys need to know."

"What?" Pat asked? "You can't both go. What will happen to the Lake?"

"That's why I had to let you know. Before we go. Penny and I are both going, and we are not coming back. It's time for you to get an apartment in the city. The Lake will dissipate. It won't be here anymore. So you need to go."

"Your leaving and not coming back?" Sally says with tears forming in her eyes. "That's crazy! Where are you going?"

"Penny has been having dreams again. This time, so have I. She went to the city, to the clinic. 50 new lives are created every day on the planet now. She got tested and there are dozens that are a close resonance with her. So when she got back she maintained the domain and I went. Same story with me. Dozens. The settlements are approaching the life style that we had in the before time. There is an almost perfect match for Penny and me in the Altamaha watershed."

"One match for both of you? Or one match for each of you?" Pat asked.

"One match for each of us."

"Be careful." Pat warns. "It usually never works out to try and recreate this relationship all over in new lives. Those lives are different in very unpredictable ways."

"We know." Ben says with a smile. "We have been re-population counselors for a long time. It's just that the resonance is so strong, and we would be close, even if we never actually meet. We know better than to try to make something happen. If it does, then that's wonderful. If it doesn't then that's wonderful too. The part that excites me is the possibility that I could get back into the publishing business. That was my first love before I ever met Penny. And Penny is excited about having her own life that is not just an extension of mine. So the probability is that if we do meet someday, we will smile, and just keep walking."

"So what about us?" Sally asks, now with tears streaming from both eyes. "I can't imagine living here without you, and fuck! HERE won't even BE here anymore. I don't like living in the city. This fucking sucks, Ben! Are you sure you want to do this, now?"

"It's time, Sally. It's time for me and Penny. And you should consider if it's time for you too. The planet is giving birth to new life faster and faster, and almost none of it is coming back here. The life span on the planet may be much longer than before, maybe hundreds of years. In a dozen years it will be almost 120 babies a day. In a hundred years it will be almost twenty thousand babies every day. The domains will be starting to empty out by then. There won't be much left here except the waiting stations that were here long before. Pretty boring after all the excitement we had after the great influx. Have you and Pat considered going back?"

"I've considered it more and more." Pat says "But I'm not sure Sally is ready. Hey Ben. I've heard about a domain land transfer. Can we just move our cottage to another domain, so we don't have to cram all our stuff in an apartment?"

"It's possible." Ben says. "You and Sally would need to go with us when we leave. Then before we go to our new life on the planet, we can do the property transfer there, since it will already be there in my consciousness, and that domain, at the same time. Go with us, this afternoon. The window is closing so we have to act fast. We'll have one last dinner together. Then go to the property office. And then go to the clinic and say our goodbyes. Don't be sad, Sally. You knew this day would come. And you know our love is never ending, and that we will meet again somewhere down the road."

"This afternoon?" Sally asks, barely able to speak. "I'm supposed to be ready this afternoon? All I'm ready to do now is throw up. This is like when Penelope and Ahahere left, except worse. I feel numb. I don't want any fucking last dinner! I just want to go to my room and throw up and cry."

"Check back when you are ready to go." Pat says. "Sally should have calmed down by then. I guess things are going to change, whether we are ready or not."

Ben nods affirmatively and walks down the path to the next cottage on the road.

"Get your hand off me, you idiot!" Sally yells

"A back rub usually calms you down. I was just trying to help" Pat says, cautiously.

"I want to be alone, Pat. Go somewhere, and leave me alone!" Sally commands.

"Sally? Honey?" Pennys voice calls from the living room.

"What the hell do you want?" Sally asks in response.

"I'm so so sorry, Sally." Penny says as she sits on the edge of Sally's bed. "I'm so sorry this happened this way, so fast. It's just this opportunity was upon us before we were expecting it. I just didn't think how this would affect everyone else, especially my Sally."

"I'm sorry too, Penny. I guess this is my last shot at being a bitch, and I want to take advantage of it. And I'm numb, sick to my stomach, my head is spinning. I feel like I'm dying. My whole world is disappearing and I'm lost. I'm scared, Penny. For the first time in a long long time I'm really scared. And the thing that is scaring me the most, is that I've been having the dreams too. I feel a child calling me. And that scares me. It's like floating into the void so many years ago. My life will go in a direction that I have absolutely no control over, no way to even predict what will become of me, or if I will be at all."

"Oh Sally." Penny says with a chuckle. "If there is anyone who should be confident about their continuing to be, it's you."

"It doesn't feel that way. It feels like death. And that scares me. I know better, but knowing better doesn't help me feel better."

"You've become attached to this form, Sally. I'm sure your new form will be just a good, maybe even better. Form is temporary. Form always fades away, no matter what we do to try to preserve it. Go to the clinic with us. Maybe there is a new form waiting for you when you get there."

"Shit! You're right. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! I would get my things and pack up my purse, but what's the point if I might not even be coming back. I'll be ready when you and Ben come back by. Don't bother knocking. I'll be on the couch, staring at the wall."

Sally plays with her fork, stirring the peas into the mashed potatoes, but not eating anything. Nobody has much of an appetite. This is the ultimate good bye dinner. It's not like a trip where you plan to come home again. Lots of people have had a last dinner and not even known it. The ship goes down, the plane crashes, the covered wagon goes over a cliff. But this is different. This is like the last meal of a condemned person before heading to the gallows. In the face of such hope, the newness of life reborn, Sally has a strange feeling that it should all feel different, even be exciting. But she doesn't feel that way at all. What if she finds a match at the clinic. Should she go too? Should she stay? If she stays what would she do? Sit in her little house and watch her world slowly dissipate, fade away? Everything she has fought for is on the planet. Her family is there now. What is keeping her in the domains, other than her fear of leaving them?

"Oh well. It's time to go. Let's head to the clinic. Your house is all setup past the edge of town, so you won't be bothered by all the traffic. It'll be quiet out there for you guys." Ben says as he gets up from the table.

"Is Penny Lake gone?" Sally asks.

"That domain has collapsed." Ben explained. "It's dissipated into the mist. I'm free of it, and it's free of me."

Sally stares at the floor and in a voice almost too quiet to hear says "I'll meet you at the clinic. I need a little time." Sally walks off in the opposite direction of the clinic.

"Can I help you maam?" asks the receptionist at the library.

"I need to use the computer portal. I have a priority pass." Sally responds

"The what? Oh that. We don't have a computer room anymore. The old portal is over there in the corner but I don't think it's turned on. You can push the power button, though, and see if it starts up." says the receptionist as she points to a lonely little box in the corner behind a pile of books.

"Hello Nettie." Sally says, sobbing so hard she can hardly get the words out.

"Hello Sally." Nettie responds. "It's been a long time since we talked. But today, I was expecting you."

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"I don't know what to do, Nettie. I've never felt this way before, never felt so lost. Penny Lake is gone, my home is gone. You were expecting me? Today? Why?"

"Today is your day. Today is your day to finally come home."

"You mean, the baby, the one that I resonate with?"

"Yes. That baby."

"How do you know about that?"

"Joshua told me."

"You still speak to Joshua?"

"No. He told me before he transformed, that you would be here today, and that it would be time for you to go home."

"So where am I going?"

"One of your grand daughters has become pregnant, with a special child."

"Which one?"

"Her name is Hoshiko. The fathers name is John."

"John? The only John I know there is my father John, and a few of his grandsons. Which one is it. Is it Allanahs son?"

"It is the one she calls grandpa John."

"Are you kidding me? He is an old man. He is 68 and she should only be about 21 now. And there is no way he would hook up with one of his grand daughters."

"Hoshiko is an old soul. The young men frustrate and irritate her. She needs the companionship of an older soul, like John. At first he resisted, as did his family. But she persisted. She convinced his daughters it would be good for him. Finally she convinced Penelope as well. And at last she convinced John. She wouldn't take no for an answer and she finally got her way. She is a feisty young thing. You are to be her daughter. John will be your father, once again. And you will be a feisty young thing too, once again. Now get going girl. There isn't much time left. The window will close soon."

Sally hurried to the clinic, still in a daze, still grieving Penny Lake, shocked and confused by what she just heard. "Pat. I'm sorry. I don't exactly know why, but I have to go, to the Planet, as a rebirth. Sherina. Look in the Ishikari community for a girl child with my resonance."

"OK. Stand here while I get the equipment setup." Sherina responds, her hands shaking a bit considering the ramifications of what is about to happen. Sally stands in the purple-blue light of the equipment as Sherina tries to locate a similar resonance. "I've got several close matches, but the one in the Ishikari region is not in sync. It's not right for you."

"It has to be!" Sally says. "It's a prophecy. Joshua told Nettie before he transformed. He's never wrong about that kind of stuff."

"Wait a minute." Sherina says. "I think I know what's wrong. Pat. Come here and stand next to Sally."

"Why?" Pat wants to know.

"Ah. I see." Sherina says. "You are a divided soul. You split when you came here from level 10. The resonance with the child is perfect, the best I've ever seen. But it requires both of you, all of you, to make it work."

"So I'm to be reborn, as a girl, and with Sally as part of me. What about our stuff, our house? What happens to us, our form here?" Pat asks with a terrified look on his face.

"Pat!" Sally says, now not so afraid and almost excited by the prospect. "You have been a girl many times before, and you have been with me and we have been one before. Don't be afraid Pat. We're finally going home."

"I know." Pat says. "I've felt the calling for a week now. I just didn't know how to tell you. But I guess I don't have to tell you now, since we are going together. I'm scared. But I know this is our time. What do we do Sharina."

"Don't worry about your bodies or your physical things here. When you transition, when your consciousness re-manifests in level 3, there will no longer be a manifesting pattern here. Everything just fades away. Many years ago the memory of you would fade away too and those of us here would not remember that you had ever been here. But things are different now, you are so loved. I will remember you, and I will miss you. So, to get this started I will give you a sedative. You and Sally will lie together in a rebirth chamber and you will fall asleep.

"When you wake up you will be a part of the new life. At first you may be disoriented, your memories bouncing back and forth, your individuality fading and then fighting to reassert itself. For about 2 to 5 years you will have unique memories of who you are here, and before here, but by age 6 or 7 all that will have blended with the new life and you will probably not think much about who you once were. You will be too excited to be who you are becoming. Your memories of Sally and Pat may completely fade away. Or not. According to reports, some are maintaining their complete past life memories. It varies by individual. Whichever way it happens, don't fight it. Don't try to forget if your can't forget, and don't try to remember if you can't remember. Just be the new life, and experience that."

"It's been 20 minutes now. Pat? Is it working?" Sally asks, half asleep already from the sedative.

"I think so. Just relax and let me hold you." Pat replies.

"Pat. I think it will help if we click our heels together and say 'there is no place like home'." Sally says as she slips into slumber.

...

"Hoshiko! It's a girl!" The midwife Elina says excitedly. "I can't believe I'm delivering my own little sister. And I can't believe how proud Daddy is to have another daughter. He is going to have so many stories to tell her. What name shall we put on the certificate?"

"I've chosen the name from my favorite fairy tale." Hoshiko answers. "Her name is Kaguya."

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