Arek'Jaalan: Project Electric Sheep

Introduction

Many researchers postulate Sleeper civilization included "infomorphic entities." Although the nature of such entities has not been conclusively established, we tentatively envision them as previously human organisms which transferred brain functions to artificial media. Current cloning technology makes use of such media to move a totality of brain functions between clones, which can be considered an application of infomorphism. However, such transfers appear to leverage artificial media for only relatively brief periods.

We therefore propose to study sustained infomorphism.

In this context, "sustained" shall mean brain functions persist on artificial media, without degradation, for arbitrary periods of time. We mean to explore both passive and active infomorphism. Passive infomorphism shall encompass the storage, transfer, and replication of brain functions as static files. Active infomorphism shall encompass conscious interaction with environmental objects, both virtual and real.

Many risks preclude human subjects, and so we propose to use livestock - in this case, the durable high plains Athran Karakul. They're just so fluffy. While such animals may not exhibit the same cognitive functioning as humans (though this is arguable...), the highly adaptable creatures do process information, and their behavior can be compared with a base state. As research advances, progressively more capable organisms may become desirable infomorphic platforms.

Experiment Overview

Because we wish to compare subjects before and after infomorphic translation to ensure degradation does not occur between episodes, flash scans that destroy the central nervous system are not helpful. Moreover, they're just so fluffy.

Consequently, we shall instead infuse the target central nervous systems with nanite markers. These will measure biochemical activity, transmitting data along neural weaves to nodes communicating with external sensors. Modeling software will store data recovered from these sensors. A second nanite family will be programmed to read marker information, and to use such data to reconstruct nervous systems through gel matrix pastes, synthetic synapses, and cloned organic material.

In this way, we will realize mind transfer between clones of Athran Karakul without harm to the original animals. With a basic demonstration in place, it then becomes possible to explore applications such as multiple conscious instances of the same animal; and, extended states of infomorphism, both active and passive. Finally, aggressive techniques might explore adaptation of an animal's central nervous system to control of advanced robotics.

Research Aims

For static infomorphism, there will be no modeled neural interaction. Static infomorphic data will be subjected to transfer and duplication to establish the robustness of organisms moving between infomorphic and organic states; and, to establish multiple organic instances of identical brain function. Successful static infomorphism requires that, upon being "written back" to an organic nervous system, each instance of the organism express voluntary and involuntary responses within accepted deviations from behavior observed prior to infomorphic translation.

By demonstrating static infomorphism, we will show how an infomorphic entity could "survive" in an spore-like state as long as its storage remained undamaged.

In contrast, active infomorphs (and capsuleers) depend upon an industrial apparatus that is significantly more complex than "just" storage for their "immortality." Furthermore, active infomorphs and capsuleers are more vulnerable to environmental threats, such as mutation and infection, as well as the oppressive boredom of passing centuries. Of course, static infomorphs are vulnerable to the destruction or degradation their media. However, less complex constructs present fewer failure points than more complex ones, and static infomorphism would represent an attractive way to "sleep" away thousands of years.

For active infomorphism, software modeling will simulate brain functions. Success requires cognitive functioning at levels within acceptable deviations from the original mind. Furthermore, the karakul must not develop psychological illness while in an infomorphic state, such as depression, paranoia, or psychosis (at least to the extent animal psychology can identify such conditions; at the very least, organic brain functions can be compared on an electrochemical level). When "written back" to an organic nervous system, the active infomorph must exhibit complete involuntary process recovery, and must exhibit cognitive functions consistent with its prior state plus learning gained while infomorphic. Active infomorphs should also demonstrate the ability to adapt brain functions to variations in biological and artificial host structures.

If active infomorphs maintain brain function without degradation or illness, many applications arise - including agelessness, advanced industrial control, and recovery from catastrophic injury or disease.

Methodology

Establish livestock cohorts in a controlled planetary environment.

Develop non-destructive nanite-based neural scanning mechanism.

Develop modeling applications to store nanite scan data.

Develop reconstructor nanites to constitute stored neural data in organic matrix.

Develop organic matrix of biopaste and sythentic synapses to reconstruct nervous system.

Data Assessment

Train cohorts to respond to distinguishable stimuli.

Scan karakul central nervous systems using nanite markers.

Store scanned nervous systems on diverse media.

Clone original animals with substitute matrix-based nervous systems.

Apply neural reconstructors to substitute matrix.

Test clone responsiveness against previously trained stimuli.

Observe and document animal physiology and psychology.

Some Relevant Materials

Gel-Matrix Biopaste (Oxides, Biocells, Superconductors)
Oxides (Oxidizing Compound, Oxygen)
Oxidizing Compound (Reactive Gas)
Superconductors (Plasmoids, Water)
Biocells (Biofuels, Precious Metals)

Synthetic Synapses (Supertensile Plastics, Test Cultures)
Supertensile Plastics (Oxygen, Biomass)
Test Cultures (Bacteria, Water)

Biotech Research Reports (Nanites, Livestock, Construction Blocks)
Nanites (Bacteria, Reactive Metal)
Livestock (Proteins, Biofuels)
Construction Blocks (Reactive Metals, Toxic Metals)

Hazmat Detection Systems(Polytextiles, Viral Agent, Transmitter)
Polytextiles (Biofuels, Industrial Fibers)
Viral Agent (Bacteria, Biomass)
Transmitter (Plasmoids, Chiral Structures)

Nano Factories (Industrial Explosives, Ukomi Superconductors)
Industrial Explosives (Fertilizer, Polytextiles)
Ukomi Superconductors (Synthetic Oil, Superconductors)

Wetware Mainframes (Supercomputers, Biotech Research Reports, Cryoprotectant Solution)
Supercomputers (Water-Cooled CPU, Coolant, Consumer Electronics)
Biotech Research Reports (see above)
Cyroprotectant Solution (Fertilizer, Test Cultures, Synthetic Oil)

Time Frame

Because of the need to monitor behavior of animal cohorts for extended periods to ascertain impact of infomorphic translation, research will necessarily stretch months or years into the foreseeable future.

Current Status

Several planetary colonies are now producing relevant materials. Over a dozen nano factories (to produce necessary marker and re-constructor nanites) have been developed, as has a parallel array of 28 wetware mainframes (to store infomorphic data and perform neural modeling). Roughly a hundred biotechnical research reports detailing characteristics of initial cohort responsiveness to nanite marker have been generated.

We are in the process of amassing more livestock, increasing reserves of biopaste and synthetic synapses, and fabricating precautionary hazardous material detectors.

No infomorphic translations have yet been attempted.

Evidence Potentially Supporting Shattered Time

Today, my favorite Brutor happened upon a remarkable instance of identical Sleeper installations embedded in very different spatial environments.

Perimeter Checkpoint A



Look for asteroids in the upper left, and take note of the "cool" gas cloud ("cool" in relation to:)


Perimeter Checkpoint B



You see indications of the same asteroids as found near Checkpoint A. Here, however, there exists a "storm" comparable to that surrounding the "rift" above the "active" Talocan Static Gate.

Although many explanations for these storms are possible, there is at least a superficial temptation to assert the "cool" gas follows the "hot" storm in time.

This may therefore be a single pocket, broken into different times and ejected into separate spaces within J132009. Alternatively, the storms may be part of the natural cycle of such pockets. On subsequent visits to both locations, I only saw the "cool" cloud at each, suggesting the storms are temporary. I waited some amount of time to see the storm cycle, but did not detect any variation in the "cool" cloud. Moreover, this temporary nature does not seem to be universal across Sleeper sites, as I have seen many such storms, but this is the first I have seen change into a cooling cloud.

In any event, this site demonstrates Sleeper installations may be vulnerable to the spontaneous eruption of such storms. Because sites found by others show the storms controlled in a ring of thermoelectric converters, the Sleeper civilization - or at least some of its installations - appears to have at one point lost control.

I submit when not controlled, these storms catapult the affected installations across at least space. This conforms to described properties of the spatial rift embedded within the "active" Talocan static gate:

"A natural phenomena that rumor says will hurtle those that come too close to faraway places."

Because space and time are intrinsically related, I further submit the storms may be "spitting" multiple segments of installation time lines across space as well.

Did The Seylin Incident Shatter Time As Well As Space?

I initially considered conspicuous similarities between disparate Sleeper and Talocan installations merely evidence of efficient fabrication processes. However, industrial standardization poorly explains similarities in natural landmarks. While a site may benefit from such formations, it rises into high improbability the ancients manufactured them to precise order.

For some time, even natural similarities provoked only idle curiosity in me. However, flying between three instances of perimeter hangars in J103619, I began to feel the experience resembled that of deja vu. As I have been documenting descents into rabbit holes more carefully recently, the resulting imagery has now built into something of a coherent story. With respect to the hangar instances, while the time of image capture I had not developed notions of temporal shattering, identical landmarks do begin to emerge from the imagery.

Perimeter Hangar A



Perimeter Hangar B



Perimeter Hangar C



The formation behind the hangar in particular triggered my sense of repeating the same experience as I warped between sites. It was, however, the Outpost Frontier Stronghold that led to a belief these were not separate constructs, but the same construct shattered into constituent pieces of its time stream and reassembled in our present age (or, perhaps, some age we perceive as “ours” upon entering W-space). An enveloping energy storm, and a huge asteroid embedded within its own storm, stand as the most notable features of Outpost Frontier Stronghold:

Outpost Frontier Stronghold A



Outpost Frontier Stronghold B



Outpost Frontier Stronghold C



Beyond the coincidence of an identical giant asteroid paired with it in every instance, the physical relationship between the stronghold and the asteroid remained consistent across sites.

Tantalized, I took great care documenting the next installation, which possessed features particularly well suited to comparison. The Fortification Frontier Stronghold consistently appeared with a crescent asteroid belt; and conveniently, J161854 included a distant event horizon. It was therefore possible to line each stronghold and crescent up with that distant point. I centered camera drones on the main installation, backed out, and rotated the field such that the event horizon remained in the same part of the image.

Fortification Frontier Stronghold A



Fortification Frontier Stronghold B



Fortification Frontier Stronghold C



The spikes of each facility line up with the event horizon and asteroid crescent. The slightly different appearance of the asteroids and plasma orbs may be attributed to their individual rotation cycles at image capture time. Though I have imaged only three sites, there were in fact seven in J161854 at the time of documentation.

With these new insights, I thought back to a Talocan quarantine installation I encountered some time earlier. One particular feature of that site now stood out in my mind: the static gate. I have encountered two versions of this gate: one which appeared inactive, and one which appeared embroiled in an energetic storm very much like that around Outpost Frontier Stronghold.

Talocan Static Gate (In-Active)



Talocan Static Gate (Active)



A space-time rift appears embedded within the storm of the quarantine site's "active" gate. Such a rift was not present in the storms engulfing Outpost Frontier Stronghold, leading me to believe the effect was stronger in the Talocan site. However, it was also far more contained, and so perhaps the Talocan Disruption Tower limits the spread of these storms:

Talocan Disruption Tower



Attempts to approach the space-time rift came to naught. As a ship (in this case, the pod of a faithful Lupe Sebiestor) closed with the rift, forward velocity slowed until further progress became impossible roughly 65 meters from target.



I submit a cataclysmic event fragmented space-time for these ancient installations. Rather than being separated by moments in time, and contained within a consistent space, they are now contained within a consistent time – but separated by space. Imagine entering a room, and happening upon a version of yourself returning from later in your own journey. As a candidate for that cataclysmic event, I point to events surrounding the Seylin Incident. Space and time are closely related.

Shattering one will shatter the other.

How might this work? The explosion in our present made use of an infrastructure built in the distant past. The blast was so powerful, it traveled not only through space, but back to the moment of its creation. Indeed, perhaps the detonation we witnessed was the doom of those ancients who enabled it. I cannot help but see parallels with myths my Faith, where God destroyed Babel for building too far, too fast.

Tangential Post Script
The Drake I used to extract archaeological samples from a coronation platform during one of my investigations has begun exhibiting strange behavior in many virtual reality interface processes. “Liquid” filaments slip in and out of renderings unpredictably, now. However, there has been no adverse impact on system performance (other than the distraction caused by observing their “playful” antics). Although my electronics and computer skills are reasonably developed, I am at this time unable to isolate or otherwise identify the source of these “virtual jellyfish.”