FSE

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Chapter 21: Balance of Power

Shortly after the meeting ended Doctor Chand received an urgent phone-call. She spoke curtly into her phone, then turned toward the seven aliens. “A major electronics manufacturer has petitioned General Tolley directly. They have a disaster in progress at a fabrication plant in Indonesia. Urgently need use of a gem-suit. I don’t suppose any of you gentlemen…”

“I’ll do it,” said Fate. “A tiger hero in Indonesia will make damned fine television. Good PR for the now and future project. What’s the location?” He blinked out of existence after Doctor Chand showed him a map.

Silas raised himself on one elbow. “Well… it was great to meet you all but I have inscrutable and unknowable things to be doing.” He also blinked out of existence.

Doctor Chand raised an eyebrow at Chase. “Inscrutable things?”

The Great Dane chuckled, “He means he’s off to shag whales and generally fuck around on camera having a good time until someone needs him.”

“Likewise,” said Braid standing. “I might go give some school kids piggy-back rides.”

“With your dick hanging out?” chided the grizzly bear.

“It’ll certainly get hits on the video,” laughed the horse as he disappeared.

“I fancy skate-boarding in Moscow. They like bears there,” said Zaru and he too faded away.

“Wait!” exclaimed Doctor Chand as the horse creature also stood to leave. “How do we get in touch with you if there’s an emergency?”

“Oh, easy,” said Braid. “Tell Chase what you need, and then we’ll know.” He vanished.

“You have telepathy?” asked Doctor Ash, amazed.

“Heh. No,” chuckled the Great Dane. “It’s more like telephony. Technology, not magic. I can send them a message or talk to them but we’re not sharing thoughts.”

Ikon stood and scratched at his black scrotum with one hand. “You guys need me for anything?” The ebony bull looked almost apologetic. “I’d like to go do some sightseeing. Get to know a bit more about this world we’re saving.”

Willow nodded. “Sure thing, bro. Go see the sights. And don’t be shy about photobombing other tourists’ snapshots. I’m gonna hang out with Chase here and work with the science team.”

The bull faded away with a wave of his hand.

“Right,” said Willow to the remaining scientists. “We’ve got a tonne of work to do and not a lot of time to get through it. Meet Chase and me back at the tech institute and be prepared to put in some long hours.” The deer and canine vanished leaving the officers and scientists to make their own ways back to the laboratories.

When they returned to the main laboratory they found the dog and deer creature huddled around a small microwave oven.

“Ah, great, you’re back,” said the deer. He stood back from the small appliance. “We told you we were going to allow you to discover our technology for yourselves. Well… we need to shortcut the process somewhat due to the time constraints we have. Don’t panic – we’ll go back after the world doesn’t end and lead you toward building one of these,” he waved a hand toward the oddly mundane-looking appliance.

“We, uh, already know about microwave ovens,” said Officer Wright.

Chase raised an eyebrow at the young man. Then he took a sheet of paper, crumpled it into a ball and placed it inside the small appliance. He closed the door and pressed his finger to a touch-pad on the top. A moment later and the machine made an electronic ‘Ping!’ sound. The Great Dane opened the door and removed a small circuit board from inside the appliance.

“Wow. Neat trick!” said the officer. “But does it re-heat soup?”

“This is a universal fabricator,” explained Willow. “It’s a foundational piece of our technology. It combines the atomic ripper and re-combiner with translocation. Our bodies do this at the cellular level. Chase and I don’t have the ability to extrude the entire power generator you’ll be building, and we wouldn’t if we could. But we can give you a tool which will make the process for you much easier. Right now there’s likely a swarm of Minds looking down on what we’re doing with horror at how many rules we’re breaking. Tough shit – we’re skipping over a couple of decades of knowledge for you, but we’ll make up for it later.”

“How do we use it?” asked Doctor Ash circling the desk and staring at the device. “It’s not plugged in!”

“It generates its own power from the materials it’s ripping.” Chase pointed to a rectangular hole in the top near the finger-pad. “USB port. You can send it CAD files. Get a report from your drawing on the mass of whatever you’re fabricating and use that to match the amount of source material you need. If you don’t have time to draw a component or it’s too complex, explain it to me or Willow and we’ll use the finger interface to send a more comprehensive instruction set to the fabricator. You can use it to quickly prototype small, complex components. Larger mechanical parts will still need to be manufactured with classical workshop equipment.”

“Leon, we need to use your power generator as a basis for the design,” said Chase, turning toward Doctor Karl. “It is critical what we build over the next several days is an iteration of your invention rather than something entirely different. A magic new thing will have far less credibility in the technical press than a major breakthrough on an existing design.”

“Yeah, I completely understand,” agreed the scientist. “It’s the ‘cold fusion in a jar!’ news hysteria if we make something new. Instead ‘scientists improve battery efficiency by fifty percent!’ mundane but credible articles we’re aiming for. What’s our foundation? Do we start from a nuclear fission design?”

“Yes,” said Willow. “We’re going to clean it so there’s no neutron release and make it one hundred percent efficient by incorporating parts of the atomic ripper technology.”

The scientists and two hybrid animals huddled around computers and whiteboards, sketching and refining designs. With the knowledge they’d gained over the previous week from the alien physics tutorials previously unimaginable ideas became possibilities. “… quantum channel guides…”, “…pre-stressed graphene as atomic magnetos…”, “… naked baryon conduit…” phrases and ideas bounced from mind to mind as the science team became entirely immersed in simultaneously discovering and utilizing new technologies. Mathematical models were strewn about the laboratory on crumpled sheets of paper.

Prototypes of novel components emerged from the humming fabricator. Failures were fed back into the machine to power new attempts at a component design.

“Hey, Leon?” interrupted Officer Wright, tapping his partner on the shoulder. “It’s late – I need to get home and feed the dogs. They’ll be thinking we’ve abandoned them.”

“Wha?” the scientist gazed uncomprehending at the young man. “It’s only been a few hours… Oh shit it’s almost midnight.” He stepped over delicate circuits and crystal structures littered around the bench. He kissed his partner. “Thanks, pup. Give them a kiss on the nose from me. I’ll be along shortly – just gotta finish one thing here.”

* * *

A smell of scorched electronics greeted Officer Wright’s nose when he returned to the laboratory. The scientists were clustered around the vented cabinet for hazardous reactions. Through the observation windows Rob could see blue smoke roiling through the interior of the enclosed cabinet. Chase sat on one of the desks laughing. “Well!” announced the Great Dane when he saw the young officer, “your husband has successfully eliminated one theory about isospin and lepton pathways!”

Blearily Doctor Karl turned away from the cabinet. His hair was dishevelled and stubble was visible on his chin. “Shit, is it morning already? Shit. Hey, Rob. I, uh, got side-tracked.” He coughed at the acrid smell of burned plastic and metal pervading the lab.

“Have you eaten anything?” asked the younger man, with concern. “You should take a break and let the smoke clear.”

The scientist cast about noting the detritus of note paper and equipment littering the laboratory. His colleagues appeared similarly fatigued. “How about it, guys? Break for coffee, shower… nap?” Doctor Karl addressed the other scientists. “If we come back at it with fresh minds we’ll make better progress than if we hammer at it half asleep.”

“Indeed,” said Doctor Ash wearily. “I’m going to head home and freshen up. I smell like burnt circuit boards.” He staggered toward the exit. It took him a full minute trying to decide if he should leave his lab coat on the rack or wear it outside. Eventually he gave up attempting to make such a complex decision and wandered through the door wearing the coat.

“Where did Officer Laidlaw go?” asked Doctor Chand looking as dishevelled as the other two scientists. “He was here a moment ago…”

“Kim left around 2:00am,” said Willow over his shoulder as he watched the smoke dissipating in the cabinet as scrubbers filtered the air.

“Okay,” she replied wearily. “I think I need a break too. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Or so.” Doctor Chand followed Doctor Ash through the exit.

“What about you, Leon? You wanna head home for a nap?” asked Officer Wright.

“Ah, I’m a bit hyped up to sleep,” replied the scientist. “I’ll grab a shower in the locker room and join you for coffee in the cafeteria.” He draped his lab coat over a chair and wandered toward the corridor.

“How about you two?” the officer addressed Chase and Willow. “Do you need a shower or sleep?”

“It’s like food,” replied Chase. “It’s not necessary but we enjoy it. Hey Willow, do you want me to grab you a bagel?” he asked the deer.

“Sure bud. I’ll stay here and make sure the cabinet doesn’t explode,” replied Willow absently.

As they walked together to the cafeteria Rob peppered the alien with more questions. “Why are you walking? Can’t you just teleport there?”

“I could, in the same way you could to cartwheels all the way,” said the Great Dane. “Walking is easier and takes much less effort. And I get to chat with a sexy guy while we stroll.”

“Heh. Thanks. I think you and your siblings are pretty damned sexy too,” chuckled Rob. “That bear guy – man I’d love to bury my face in his fur.”

“Zaru. Yeah, he’s a good-looking monster. I’m quite sure he’d enjoy having your face buried in his fur while he buries part of his anatomy in you too,” chucked the Great Dane in reply. “When the initial crisis is over I’m sure we’ll get time to explore more intimate relationships with humans while we work on stopping you killing your entire planet again.”

“Do you have sex with each other?” asked the officer.

“We haven’t. You’re aware we’re all related? Braid is my immediate offspring. Zaru would be my Great-great-great-grandson. Mind you…” he considered, “I think Willow has the hots for Fate. I’d be completely unsurprised to find out they were boffing on the side.”

“Deer and tiger… That seems such an unlikely pairing,” mused the young man. They arrived at the cafeteria, selected food from the servery and ordered coffees then sat at an empty table. “Why did you choose these animal forms? Will other species get ambassadors?”

“My shape is a personal choice. I could be anything at all,” said Chase. “I chose Great Dane because your partner, Leon, is aligned with dogs. I admire the noble shape and musculature of the Great Dane dogs and it helped me form a connection with Leon while he was mating with Stellar. Braid chose his horse form for the same reasons – to be attuned to the horse lover, Tucker, while he mated with Kalina. And so on with my other progeny. Our shape was a choice that brought about the consequences that made our existence possible. At the same time the human qualities allow us to be sitting here, now, having a conversation with only a few people staring.” He waved to another table where a curious technician hastily looked away.

“You said there will never be any more of your kind here. Can’t you reproduce more of your species?” asked Rob.

The dog shook his head and his jowls made a wet, slapping sound, “No. Our minds were reproduced where there were more numerous dimensions. It is impossible for another of our minds to be created here. Your assistance with our crystal orbs was a conduit for the reproduction that happened elsewhere. So we seven are all there will ever be of us here.”

Rob nodded, “I see. Leaving your home must have been difficult.”

Chase shrugged. “This is home now. There are good minds here. We will lead fulfilled lives.”

“And you said you spent last week impregnating dogs to make ambassadors,” said the young officer. “What about primates? Birds? Our native kangaroo? Who speaks for them?”

The Great Dane chuckled, “Ah, I wasn’t just shagging dogs. There were a few foxes and other canids as well.”

“Foxes!” exclaimed Rob. “I’m surprised your knot didn’t split them in half – it was a challenge for me!”

“Ha! No, I didn’t tie with them,” reassured the giant canine. “Zaru impregnated skunks, weasels, racoons as well as more than a few bears. I think he used a turkey-baster rather than his cock on the smaller animals though. Think of our scrotums as a factory that can synthesize semen appropriate to the species we’re having sex with.”

“Oh I think about your scrotum quite a lot,” sighed Rob wistfully.

Their coffee arrived and the Great Dane dog lifted the diminutive cup to his nose, breathing in the heady vapours. “Mmm… See this is why I choose to eat and drink.” He waved at the cafeteria entrance, motioning the newly arrived Doctor Karl to join them. “Here comes your lover looking a bit lest crusty and wrinkled.”

“Hey Rob, Chase,” said the scientist sitting down. “Oh, shit, I’d better grab coffee.”

“Ah, have mine,” said Chase offering the scientist his small cup. “You need it more than me.”

“Ta. You’re a life-saver. Oh, actually a world-saver too, I guess.” He gratefully took the macchiato coffee and sipped. “So what’re we talking about?”

“Chase was just bragging about how he and his kin have been fucking anything with a pulse,” said Rob nonchalantly.

“Um. I see. Not just dogs then?” asked the scientist.

“I was explaining how we can impregnate any species,” said Chase. “And our new offspring will share our ability to mate cross-species as well. So you asked about kangaroos… in a few years some randy wolf-hybrid son of mine is going to shag a flyer and make a cute joey. Except it’ll grow into a hybrid kangaroo/human hybrid without any wolf attributes at all. That will be one of the ambassadors for the kangaroos. And the kanga hybrid will go and shag a wallaby and the wallaby hybrid will shag a koala and the koala hybrid will shag an emu… Or other combinations. Every species on this planet will have ambassadors to represent and protect them.”

“That’s going to be quite the upheaval for society,” mused the scientist. “I expect politicians will want to treat the hybrids as less than human or freaks. Religious people are going to scream about Leviticus and sodomy. It’s going to be an interesting ride.”

Chase nodded sadly. “Yeah, there are significant challenges ahead. As the first hybrids, we’re trying to lay a foundation of tolerance and respect so our later kin will be treated as equals. That’s part of the murky future I can’t quite determine. It’s possible an extreme backlash to human/animal hybrids will doom this world to extinction anyway.”

“Damn. You really do care about us, don’t you?” said Rob, patting canine’s arm.

“Yeah. More than you can imagine,” said Chase. “It’s baked into my genetics. I care deeply and passionately about every mind on this planet.” He gazed lovingly at Officer Wright and Doctor Karl. “And I care passionately about you two. Both of you share my affinity for canines – I feel completely attuned to you. I’m incredibly grateful to have met you.” He clasped Rob’s hand.

“We’re very grateful to have met you as well,” said Leon. “It’s like you’re the perfect blend of everything I love about people and dogs.”

“We are much alike,” said Chase.

“Ha. I wish I shared your ability to make pups with bitches though,” mused Rob.

“Funny you should say that,” said Chase. He opened his hand and a small pill-shaped crystal sparkled with gold and sapphire lights. “If I said you could take this pill and you would gain the ability to impregnate your dogs would you take it?”

Rob’s eyes practically lit up. “Fuck yes! I’d take it without hesitation.” He turned to his partner. “What about you, hun? Wanna be a dad to a litter of tiny Chases?”

Leon smiled, but declined. “I’m getting a bit old for changing diapers on a litter of ten babies. If you asked me a few years ago I would have leapt at the chance to be a daddy.”

“Well, for one thing not all the pups would be hybrid,” reassured Chase. “There would probably only be one or two in the litter who bore hybrid DNA. Also the hybrid pups would develop as normal puppies until about two years old. At that point they’d go through a second rapid development and emerge looking much like me, but also being fully educated and talking fluent Australian.”

“Wait… you were all speaking English at the meeting but Zaru and Ikon spoke Russian and Hindi respectively,” said Rob. “How many languages do you know?”

“All of them. Literally,” the dog chuckled. “Jih jatlh Tlhingan je!” he exclaimed gruffly.

“Klingon! Seriously!” marvelled Rob while Leon looked on confused.

“How would they be educated if they’re in the wilds?” asked the scientist.

“Our sperm carries an additional organelle with extra-dimensional DNA,” explained the alien. “When a hybrid matures the information becomes memories of learning and a databank of vast amounts of knowledge. Additional experiences are encoded into the DNA and passed along to the next generation of pups.”

“But you’re seriously saying I could impregnate a dog?” asked Rob, earnestly.

“Any animal,” said Chase rolling the pill between his fingers. “Take this pill and you could mate with an emu and bypass that whole chain of cross-species boffers to make the emu ambassador. And do you think your horsey friend Tucker would be keen to get his Kalina pregnant? I’m certain he is. Think about the thousands of people who would leap at the opportunity to produce offspring from their animal partners. There’s a fuck-tonne more than you’d believe. I hope, to the core of my being, we seven emissaries have paved the way for human society to become accepting of hybrids in their midst. Because for the planet to survive it needs an intact, diverse ecology. There are no people more dedicated to the welfare of animals than the people who mate with them and produce their offspring.”

“Will hybrids supplant humans?” asked Leon.

“Of course not,” scoffed the Great Dane. “If anything the exact opposite is true – they’re born with the innate desire to uplift and sustain human and all other life. Their DNA is all about being a collaborative rather than competitive society.” He paused, considering. “Really there are only two human traits dooming this planet: Lack of empathy, and dishonesty. Many humans don’t understand the consequences of their selfish actions and how it affects others. And they’ll lie and cheat to bring about their selfish goals.”

“That seems to be an innate human trait,” sighed the scientist.

“Well it actually is,” mused the alien. “Around a million years ago the species that would become humans almost went extinct – like only a thousand or so adults left; incredibly close to extinction. It’s written there in your DNA. The tribes that survived had genes which were most suited to surviving that catastrophe. The attributes of ‘Do what you’re told by authority and survive or be wiped out’ gave humans a propensity for religion. ‘Consume whatever you can find and survive’ gave humans a propensity for plundering resources without consideration for the long term. ‘We can only support strong people, people like us’ made the species lack empathy. It’s not a failing of humans that they survived a near extinction event – more than one event, actually. But it did leave scars on their species. And those genes for surviving where population is sparse and exploiting resources without consequence are absolutely inappropriate for the world you’re in now.”

“But your species didn’t have the same pressure?” asked Leon.

“Not so much,” said Chase. “Collaborating and cooperating, being forthright and considering the consequences of our actions helped our species grow. And there was no pressure to breed under urgency – our population has slowly grown but never outpaced our resources. Our genetic makeup gives us an imperative to help and consider others rather than to exploit them and horde resources. Your oil executives would break down in tears if they truly empathised with the human suffering they were causing, and if they could see how their actions now are damning future generations. There wouldn’t be a single billionaire in the world if they had an iota of empathy. A consequence of being able to intuitively see the future means we aliens passionately care about every action we take.”

“Most of us care about the future of the species,” countered the scientist. “It’s why I got into science originally – to save the world.” He sighed. “But you’re right. We’re fighting selfish lying bastards every day.”

“Salmon thrive by swimming upstream, but even they can’t leap past a hydro damn,” mused Chase. “If the human species solved just their two issues of dishonesty and lack of empathy the world would be utopia.”

“You and your kin speak in analogies quite a bit,” observed Rob amiably.

Chase startled and considered, “Your reality is so very different from ours. How our minds perceive the now and the future consequence is foreign to you. It’s like someone trying to explain colour to…” he paused, looking at the bemused humans, “Why are you smirking? Oh! I’m being allegorical again, aren’t I?” he chuckled. “Now, shall we get back to saving the planet from the first apocalypse and we can deal with the next great extinction after we’re done.” He stood and returned to the food cabinets to retrieve a bagel to take to the laboratory for Willow.