The Transcension of the Naturals — Chapter 5: Starry Plough
A science fiction novel set in Berkeley 100 years in the future
George Orgood gestured towards the door. “Let’s head over to The Starry Plough and have a drink, but first I have to show you how to navigate a gravidoor. Gravidoors are your gateway to traveling around the Universe. Do you see that arrow on the door pointing up and then to the left? As you step out this gravidoor, gravity will rotate 90 degrees to the left and up and you’ll find yourself stepping through a rotating gravity vector, basically stepping out of a hole in the ground right into the middle of downtown Scen City. There’s a little technique to learning the 90-degree step — watch me. I’ll go out first, and then I’ll reach my hand back through the door. You’ll grab onto my hand and then step through and up the door while I steady you. You’ll catch on after a few tries.”
George opened the door to reveal what looked like a sidewalk from underneath like they were in an M. C. Escher drawing looking into a sidewalk in a different plane. Then he took a step through the door and expertly pivoted to a standing position, now looking down on Clark from the sidewalk through the door. He reached his arm through the door, which bent in an impossible way to reach Clark. Nevertheless, Clark grabbed hold and stepped over the door, and up, and around, and found himself standing on Adeline Street in downtown Berkeley, California. Clark looked around slowly and discovered that everything looked just as he remembered it. Pedestrians walked by, oblivious to their sudden appearance on the sidewalk.
“So, George. why does Scen City look just like Berkeley, a few blocks from the Eternity Center? Surely Scen City is not based on Berkeley, right?”
“That’s right Clark, what you’re seeing is based on your memories. This is the first step in transcension. We don’t want to change too many things too fast or you won’t feel a sense of continuity, so every Scendent starts off in a virtual simulation of their hometown. Once you master this world, you’ll be ready to enter The Commons, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s walk over to the Starry Plough, grab some drinks, and we’ll get you going on your tour of the Sun. They’ve got a great classical music ensemble playing at the Plough tonight.”
As they walked down the sidewalk, Clark marveled at how much he felt like he was still in the real Berkeley, California, down to the oppressive summer heat. Since this is a virtual reality, why couldn’t they just lower the heat a bit? Clark wondered. In response, Clark heard a thought in his mind respond to his question, What temperature would you like? The sudden appearance of the question in his mind startled Clark; he was going to have to get used to this. How about 80 degrees? Instantly the temperature dropped to a comfortable 80 degrees.
“Way to go Clark. That’s your first customization to your world.”
“My world?” asked Clark.
“Yes, this entire world is your personal sandbox to play with and learn some skills. You’re the God of Clark’s World.”
“Who are all these people in my world?”
“Aside from you and me, everyone else here is an Artificial Intelligence AI or non-player-character NPC based on combining your memories with those of others who have transcended, and all the historical records we have.”
“Do all these Clarklander characters know they’re a simulation?”
“They all think they’re real humans, living on Earth in real Berkeley, and they’re unaware that you’re running things here. In fact, you may have noticed that when you dropped the temperature, no one seemed to notice except you and me.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that.”
“That’s because when you dropped the temperature, all their memories were edited so that as far as they’re concerned, it’s been 80 degrees all this time. In fact, try as hard as you like, there’s no way you can do anything that will make them think anything’s different from normal. You could fly up into the air but they will perceive it differently. That way you can experiment and play around as you like without messing things up. It’s a safe sandbox for you to start off in.”
As they walked down the sidewalk Clark tried out a few things. He planted flowers on the sidewalk just by imagining flowers in his mind. Flowers hadn’t been able to grow in years due to the heat and lack of water. He jumped off the ground like in his dreams to launch into flight, Superman style, but after getting a few feet up he got distracted by the view and crash-landed in a pile on the sidewalk. The pedestrians on the sidewalk just walked around Clark like nothing unusual had just happened.
George laughed. “When you get back from the Sun, I’ll take you out for some flying practice.” They approached the bar on the corner of the street with a big red sign overhead that read Starry Plough and a guard standing by the door. In his mind, Clark heard George transmit the thought We’re cool to the guard, and together they stepped in. It was just like Clark remembered it, a throwback to an early 21st-century bar. A classical music ensemble was playing 18th-century Mozart. Towards the side of the stage, he could see what looked like an early 21st-century rap group getting ready to go up next. Typical Starry Plough fair.
They walked over to the bar and the bartender came right over with a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m Jenna. What can I get you?”
Clark replied, “I’ll have a double shot of 50-year-old Yamazaki Whiskey, neat,” said Clark, having just used his God-like powers in Clarkworld to stock the bar with the rarest and most expensive whiskey in the world, just by intending to see it there.
“I don’t think we have that. Here’s our menu…”
Clark interrupted Jenna. “I think you’ll find the Yamazaki right on that shelf there,” said Clark pointing to the whiskey. Jenna turned around to look at the shelf, walked over to look closely at the bottle, and picked it up. “Yup, you’re right. Coming right up.”
Clark turned with a satisfied expression on his face towards George and said, “It’s good to be Clark!” George laughed and ordered a beer.
“So let’s talk about your trip to the intelligence at the center of the Sun. Unlike Clarkworld where everyone is an AI, you will be interacting with the real universe, the real Sun. We’ve taken to calling him Saul. Since we made contact with him, we’ve been learning quite a bit more about the history of our Solar System than we ever dreamed, more than Naturals imagine.”
Clark took a sip of his Whiskey and smacked his lips. “Wish they stocked this stuff at the real Starry Plough! So what about Article One, the prohibition against communicating with Naturals or their environment? Isn’t Saul part of their environment? Did you get clearance from Charrington?”
“You do have to be careful about that Clark, especially when you first transcend so it’s good you asked. The definition of environment in Article 1 is meant to include anything that can be detected by Naturals. Since the Naturals are incapable of communicating with Saul, or with the Enceladans, or distant parts of our Galaxy — those are all safe places for us to go.”
“So when and where do we leave to see Saul?”
“Well, I’m not going with you Clark — just you. I’ll see you when you return. You can go whenever you like. You start your trip by changing a normal door into a gravidoor somewhere handy — like the restroom door over there — and using it to transfer to Sol Station. I’ll create the gravidoor for you this time. All you have to do is form the intention to create a gravidoor to Sol Station.” George paused for a moment and then continued. “Ok, I just made the door for you over by the restrooms. It’s ready whenever you want to depart. No rush though, take your time; enjoy the whiskey.”
Clark took another sip. “So where is Sol Station exactly, and how come the Naturals don’t know about Saul?”
“We’ve got a quantum computer orbiting the Sun using a force field to divert the solar radiation around it to keep it from burning up. It’s still a good five million miles or so from the Sun, so there is a short speed-of-light delay when you’re communicating with Saul. You’ll get used to it. The Naturals know about Sol Station, but they don’t know about Saul.”
George continued. “When you get there, Harlan will show you around. Harlan’s a good guy. I was his mentor when he transcended too. You’ll like him. He’s developed quite an attachment to Saul. Tell them both I say hello.”
“How long will this tour last?”
“Stay as long as you want Clark. When you’re ready to return, Harlan will help you create a gravidoor that leads you back to me, and we’ll resume your training from there. Maybe we’ll practice flying together.”
Clark raised his whiskey glass and said, “Here’s to Saul!”. George raised his beer too, and then Clark downed the remaining whiskey in one shot. An appreciative ‘ahhh’ escaped from his mouth as the complex flavors lingered. He felt the whiskey warm his belly, and then stood up. “Ok, I’m ready,” he said.
“Before you go, why don’t you make a backup of yourself right now just in case something happens while you’re out there? Just a good habit to get into whenever you venture out somewhere new.”
Clark thought the command make a backup of myself now, and a moment later he heard the thought in his mind backup confirmed. George nodded towards the restroom door.
Clark walked over to the gravidoor and saw an arrow bending up and to the right, and opened it up to reveal a large, spherical room behind the door. Clark took a step through the gravidoor and pivoted with the turn in gravity to turn up and right. He stuck the landing too, and feeling like he’d just nailed an Olympic vault, he looked behind him, back to George, for the judge’s score. George was down below with a big smile on his face. “Well done, Clark,” he said.
