ATTEMPT 7 PLANET 5711
A Science Fiction Short Story
Author's note: I don't remember how I thought of the concept in this story. I may have been looking at my dog Harris and wondered what he was actually seeing. I do remember that when I started to write it, it just started to flow and quicky developed into an SF commentary on Christianity. No doubt when I started writing it, I must have thought of Arthur C. Clarke's short story "The Star" one of my very favorite science fiction short stories. I am a fan of sparse descriptions. Weirdly the early part of the story required a detailed description of things we all know well, but I particularly like how little was needed to describe the alien world. Some readers have suggested I write additonal chapters. I think the point has been made.
Rik van Hemmen
It seems I have made a good jump and locked in solidly here. I am in this animal’s mind and I am sensing all it senses. I hope I can control it a little too.
OK, open your eyes. Dreamless resting does not get me anywhere.
There we go, eyes are opening. Focus. Bingo, definitely civilization. Straight vertical separations, doors, a platform to the right, transparent materials, fan noise. Looks like I can chalk up another one.
Damn, this thing has a long nose. The nose nearly blocks 20 degrees of its field of vision. Good sense of smell too. Nice, a good sense of smell is always useful.
Comfy resting place; soft. Is this thing intelligent? Come on big nose; do something. It is air breathing, like the last one, but that one was not in any type of civilization. This ridden is probably not going to be as boring as the last one.
It is stretching …. licking……, four limbs, hairy. Licking protuberance between legs; distinct ammonia flavor; evacuation feature?
I think there is something else on that platform, can’t quite see. Yep, two other creatures; larger. They are on a higher platform, probably dominant. I hope big nose here is not dominant. If he is, I think I may have to bail. This is definitely developed culture of some sort.
The big ones are moving, sitting up on the platform.
They are getting out of bed. Hmmm, bipeds. They are wearing garments. Oh, Big Nose is getting up. Big Nose is shaking, something is clicking. It is metal sounding. Can’t see it, but it is on Big Nose’s body, somewhere around the neck. Big Nose is going over to the bipeds. Big Nose is a quadruped, about half height to the bipeds. It has black hairy paws. It does not look like the paws can manipulate. The paws are basically pads with harder protuberances along the perimeter. The paws make a clicking sound on the floor.
Bipeds are touching Big Nose on the head. Oh, they are vocalizing …, no, talking: “Good morning Harris. How’s our dog today?”
It would be nice to know what that means, provide more of that vocalizing and things will eventually figure themselves out. Something is going on at the back of Big Nose, I feelshaking, a sense of well being.
One of the bipeds sheds its garment and walks to one of the doors. The biped is mostly hairless. The door has a round knob. The biped turns the knob. It has paws with opposable thumbs. The door actuators are made for the bipeds, not this quadruped. Safe to assume for the time being that the bipeds are dominant and Big Nose is slave, servant or food. No need to bail at this stage.
Big Nose follows the biped into the other space. Biped is not wearing any garments right now. Biped sits on another smaller pedestal. White. This room has a different sense, some shiny fitted objects, mirror up high behind a ledge or a locker. Can I see myself? Nope too short. I could try to maneuver. Let’s see if I can get Big Nose to hop with his front paws onto the ledge. Concentrate. There we go, that was pretty easy. All black animal, eyes forward, distinct carnivorous teeth. Look at the size of that tongue hanging out! “Harris, get down!” Oops, lost control, Big Nose is back on the floor. That was a very strong response to the biped command. Harris. That was a repeat word. Name or curse? Gotta Keep track. Big Nose is not vocalizing, but biped is talking. Biped uses language. Biped is evacuating too. Nice smell of rot. Wonder what it eats. Flowing water in the pedestal biped sat on; decent level of civilization. More flowing water from shiny fitting (Chrome? Nickel?) under mirror. Big Nose is moving back into the other room. Scanning…... To the right that is Big Nose’s resting place. Simple woven material bag filled with something soft. Other biped has shed garment too, there are some differences between the two bipeds. First one shows an additional appendix on its lower torso between those lower limbs. Actually, maybe it is a variation of the Big Nose protuberance between its rear limbs. Biped’s is more pronounced though. Second biped has two larger protuberances on front of upper torso with central darker feature in middle of each protuberance. Wait, first biped has those darker features on its upper torso too, but lesser protuberance. Here comes other biped again, they touch, Big Nose approaches as if to join in. Here come biped hands again, scratching head. It feels comforting. Altogether these bipeds are not too weirdly evolutional. General symmetry. Four main limbs like Big Nose here. Can be described as two legs and two arms. Two eyes. Some central axis features. Nose and a mouth I suppose. Mouth also is vocalizing feature. Breathes through mouth and nose and like Big Nose here has bidirectional breathing. No uniflow breathing. There were two bipeds on the platform. Bisexual reproduction? If Plaxute rules apply, they could be male and female. Single appendix biped went into other room again. More running water, appears to cleanse teeth. Less pronounced carnivorous teeth than Big Nose. Enters booth with running water. It is a cleansing device or a ritual. The biped has an odor, but not as strong as his evacuation odor. Ritual cleansing? Hard to tell.
Let’s assume single appendix biped is male. Darker chest features could be child feeders. Is Big Nose a biped child? Nah, too coordinated as a quadruped, and its teeth are more pronounced and aggressive than the bipeds’. It would not make developmental sense. The other biped enters the cleansing room too. It evacuates too. Less strongly odiferous. Same teeth cleaning, more elaborate rituals in front of mirror. Self-examining, although no apparent idolatry or ritual stasis. Similar odor as other biped, but subtle hormonal odor. This one is female. Female puts on other garments. Seems to protect protuberances. Function? If they are child feeding features, Plaxute rules would indicate they are, or were, low offspring count animals. One or two offspring at a time. “Coming to get some food Harris?” Yeah, Harris is a name. Whatever female said there, Harris likes. I can feel it. What is that rear end shaking? Try to rotate the head. Oh I see, it’s a rear end limb that is flicking back and forth. Man, that thing is whipping. Here we go, right behind the female. Oops, a drop. No it is a sequential drop. A level changer. Primitive. Yup, stairs. Two story dwelling. Kinda scary for this quadruped. Slippery going down head first like that. In a hurry though. Shoots right past the female. More elaborate lower level, more fittings and objects. Decorative, wall decorations, furnishings, many objects. Carpets on …… what? Organic structural material, with some surface finish I think. Damn that surface is slippery for Harris. Female grabs a small object. There is a sound. Where? Oh there, on the wall on a fixture between all those other object. Some type of visual display. Shows more bipeds vocalizing. No, it is talking, not vocalizing. Many scene changes. That is definitely produced content on that display, it is not a viewer.\I follow the female to a door. The door is transparent; glass. I am looking at the outdoors. There are more signs of civilization, but less structured. The female opens door. Out I go. Damn, this Harris thing certainly likes to move at high speed. Smelling, walking along perimeter enclosure. Other animals were here recently. Harris performs liquid evacuation. Hmmm, interesting. Harris is habitual. This is familiar to him. No indication of wariness like the earlier ridden on this planet. No threats here. Vegetation is similar, but more artificial in arrangement. This is an outdoor space that is part of the dwelling, a garden. I can’t see through the fence, but there are other roofs nearby. I am in a community of some sort. There is some vocalization not too far from this perimeter. Harris responds. Short expulsive vocalizations, loud but with little distinction and variation. If it is language, it is very complex. It probably is not language, there is no sense of awareness of a significant message from the other animal. Simply vocalization, possibly related to dominance. I can see some flying animals too. Various plant life. Some are of substantial size much larger than the dwelling. I suppose those supply the organic floor material. Much less large plant life than around the last ridden though. The air and garden surfaces are warming,there is dampness on the ground. It is morning; these bipeds must function in daylight.
The door opens again. Female calls: “Harris come” Holy crap, there he goes! This Harris rips when called. Harris is sitting in front of two metal shiny objects. He appears to idolize them. The female opens a container. She takes some content out with another smaller container. The content goes into one of the shiny objects. Food; they are food bowls. Harris sits and watches, very tense though. Anxious? No, it is anticipation. The female says: “Ok, go”. Harris flashes to the bowl and starts to eat. Well, eating? Pounding it down. Food is dry. Not unpleasant. No sense of decay. Some protein, some animal content I’d say. Harris is drinking from the other bowl. It is relatively clean water and neutral, with a hint of chlorine. Treatment against microbes I suppose. Makes this male and female a stage three, maybe four, civilization. I suppose if the display shows a broadcast, it is four. What is Harris though? Food being raised? This is a carnivore though. Raising carnivores for food like this is inefficient. It’s got to be a protection companion or pet. If it is a pure pet, either this couple is dominant in its culture, or we are dealing with a high end stage four culture. It would be a large pet. Not inexpensive to maintain. How does the couple obtain its needs? So far, there is no visible means of income or trade. The garden does not indicate food production. Stage four would indicate a complex economy. Is this an unlimited energy economy, or still a limited energy economy? The female is staring at a small handheld device. Reading? She is contacting it with her fingertips. She is interacting with it. She is preparing more food. Oh, this food is much more complex. Harris is enthralled and approaching the female. Supplicating? No begging or scavenging. The female issues a terse command. Harris is deeply conflicted. This combination of master, command, and affection makes it a pet. This animal is too docile to be real protection. The male is also downstairs now. The male and female are talking. They are equals, maybe the female is slightly dominant when judging tone of voice and body languages. They are affectionate though. They touch, and also have a common habit of squinting with eyes, opening mouths, and making a repetitive sound not unlike the sound Harris made in the yard. Their sentences are much longer, but the sentence structure appears to be a refinement and extension of the commands to Harris. I am deducing Anne and Rik are most probably their names, too soon to make much sense of the rest. It seems Dog is another name for Harris. Or maybe Dog is the generic term for the animal named Harris. As usual, it will sort out over time. I can’t get over my good fortune though. The odds of entering a non civilized ridden so close to suprasentients are one in thousands. I am really sucking in data here and meanwhile have just about a zero chance of protocol violations. Occupying a flying animal at this stage of planet evaluation is good too, but to get such a close shot so quickly on this planet is too good to be true. These super ridden make it worth it to be a professional mindrider. Although, I could crash out from sensory overload with a ridden like this. We’ll see; I’ll just enjoy the getting while the getting is good. Oh, another biped has entered the food preparation area. Where did she come from? Harris is happy to see her. More tail wagging and petting. Well that is easy; her scent is definitely female like Anne. She more or less looks like another one of the biped species. Her scent is different though. More unique from the scents of Anne and Rik, who appear to have more of a comingled mutual scent. She is talking to the male and female. Her name is Kate, seems like she is friendly but not intimate. By scent and body movement I would think she is younger. Her body movement is smoother; no ….; suppler. Her facial skin tone is suppler too. Rik and Anne’s facial skin show more wear and tear. Now I see that Rik’s facial skin is much hairier. So far Plaxute’s evolutionary rules are fitting pretty well, although I am not sure about the hair. Rik and Kate wear primitive optical devices. Passive optical. I suppose they are simple corrective devices. I have to find out where Kate came from, let’s see if I can get Harris to wander a little. This is too easy, this animal is made for aimless wandering. Even aiming is not too difficult. This is what I missed; there is a side passage at the lower level. Another one of those cleansing rooms and two more rooms with platforms. This dwelling is configured for additional bipeds. I see no other pets. It looks like these three bipeds are the only occupants at this time. Harris is called by Rik. Rik, Anne and Kate are at a door at the opposite side of the door to the garden. Rik touches Anne again and then opens the door. It feels like Harris wants to follow Rik. Yes, Rik says: “Come Harris”. Boom here he goes again. We are outside again, Kate is coming too. These look like transportation devices. There are two of them. One has two doors on a side. The other has one door on a side. That one is more utilitarian and somewhat larger, with fewer shiny decorative elements. The compartment with windows is small and sticks up near the middle. Is it a hover vehicle? What type of propulsion mode? It has four wheels. The wheels are prominent. Kate opens the door and directs me into a smaller compartment behind a seat. She gets into the seat. So I guess I am in the back. I can look forward. There is another seat and some space between the seats. I can put my fore paws on a small ledge between the seats. That provides a pretty good view around. Behind me, on the outside of the vehicle there is an open compartment. It looks like maybe it is a cargo compartment. It is not a hover vehicle, there are no fans in the back and front. In front of the passenger compartment there is a closed compartment. Rik is now in the other seat. He entered through another door on the opposite side of the vehicle. He has control devices in front of him including a pretty prominent steering wheel. It looks like the vehicle is manually controlled. Rik turns a key. There is a start-up sound. This vehicle definitely has an internal combustion propulsor. It sounds like it is reciprocating too. Rik is manipulating other controls too. This is so quaint, rarely do civilizations have this type of manually controlled, rolling, self propelled, stuff for more than five dominant species generations. Such small odds for me to show up at this level of civilization. We are backing down a small road. Here we are on larger road. Very quiet, no other traffic, but dwellings are lined up next to each other along the road. Nice large plants line the street too. We make one turn and pull to the side of the road. Here is that tail wagging again. Harris is happy.
Rik gets out and I squeeze myself between the seats and jump out. Rik has something in his hand and Harris is quite happy about that. Where is Kate? She remained in the vehicle and is manipulating a device similar to the one Anne was using earlier this morning. I can barely turn Harris’ head to see what Kate is doing. He is completely absorbed by the thing Rik is holding. It is a bright green stick about 1/3 the height of Rik. It has a handle on one end and a round protuberance on the other end. Rik whips the handle and a round object detaches from the end. Harris tears after it. It is a sphere. He is entirely intent on following it. We chase it down a field. He grabs it in his mouth and runs back to Rik. Harris drops it and Rik picks it up with the stick and whips it again. Harris goes after it again at full speed. He returns it again. What is this about? Harris feels pure joy. Here we go again, and again and again. How long will this go on? Wait, he ignores the ball. Oh, he engages in solid evacuation. Rik comes over with a bag. He picks up the waste and ties it into the bag. He throws the bag with the waste in the vehicle’s cargo compartment. I wonder why Harris does not use the biped evacuation system. As a pet he seems to have some level of training. Although that biped evacuation pedestal must be uncomfortable for this animal to balance on. The bipeds do build and manufacture, and it would not be hard to make an indoor evacuation system that is suited for a pet. Strange, the dominant animal collects the waste of the pet. Maybe there is some value to the pet’s solid waste? More chasing the sphere. There is an overhead noise, it is some mechanical flying object. It is difficult to figure out how large it is. Is it biped occupied or a drone? Rik calls me now and the door to the vehicle is open. I jump back into my compartment. The vehicle is rolling again. I need to observe. There are wires that probably transmit electricity. I see a dish on one of the dwellings; that has to be an antenna. This civilization does transmit electromagnetic waves. I wonder how many years away their transmissions are? How long have they been transmitting? We are over 200 light years away. There is a sound transmitter in the vehicle too. Is it radio transmission or stored sound? There is a buzzing sound in the vehicle, and Rik manipulates a control. There is Anne’s voice. There is a greeting and she is requesting something. Rik consents, and then he signs off. That had to be a radio transmission and point to point too. That is technically difficult, but right now the range for this transmission still has to be short. How far have we traveled? This planet rotates fully in about 6 panstels. That means a day of 3 panstels. So far I have occupied this animal for, at most, a quarter panstel. I need to get a local time reference, or I am going to crash out trying to convert all this. How fast are we going? Faster than Harris can run, but not a lot faster. Traffic is busier now. There is a great variety of vehicles. All biped occupied; all biped controlled. Hey, that two wheeler is pretty neat. Is it biped balanced? That would take some skill. So a red light ahead means you have to stop. Green is go, and yellow means prepare to stop. A lot of sensory input for those bipeds is needed to run these vehicles. That could be deadly if you make a mistake.
Rik can still talk to Kate while he operates it and Kate is still checking the small device. I can now see over her shoulder it displays images and symbols, and she can rapidly manipulate it one handed with her fingers. Those are pretty good hands on those bipeds. Only a single opposable digit though. You lose it and the hand is much less functional. Do they regenerate digits if they are lost or damaged? These bipeds can multitask pretty well. They must have evolved as omnivore hunter gatherers. These bipeds are an acme species. They are the civilization developers. No sign of idolatry, rituals, shrines or abstract symbols so far. There is a larger dwelling. Is it a shrine? No pentarts, no foltons, no quintons, so far. Where are Rik and Kate going? Are they going to a religious service or are they going to work? The vehicle stops. Rik and Kate are getting out. I am supposed to come too. What does this vehicle run on? Hydrogen? That looks like an exhaust. Smell it. Definitely organic compound residue. This thing runs on an organic fuel. This civilization still has to be a limited energy economy. These bipeds still have to work. Rik takes my evacuation product from the rear of the vehicle and transfers it to another container near where the vehicle is parked. That still is not clear; is it a collection device where other dog waste product is collected? The container is large and it has a smell of rot, but not just dog waste. Another door, another set of stairs, and we are in a larger room, I smell the same liquid that Anne was drinking, the place smells more random, there is a small enclosure and it contains another biped. It knows me. Tail wagging again. Female, she smells much closer to Rik than Kate. She is closer to Kate’s age. They all converse and it is clear her name is Hannah. Is Hannah offspring? I follow Rik. Rik is in a somewhat more ornate area of the building. He sits down and starts to interact with a device, similar to Kate’s, but larger. Other bipeds arrive and they interact briefly with Rik. One biped enters a room that smells of organic combustion products, he closes the door. It seems Harris knows them all. I can move around freely. This is useful, I can nudge Harris around easily and everybody briefly interacts with Harris. They all seem to occupy a specific space and interact with their own display devices. There are noises and people respond in similar fashion to the way Rik responded in the vehicle, but I can’t hear the other person engaged in the conversation since they use an earpiece to listen to the other person. So what do we have here? I am betting it is a place of work. What type of work? The walls are covered with illustrations. They appear to be vehicles. Interface vehicles mostly, they appear to be moving on water, some are wind powered, others must have submersed mechanical propulsion devices. Assuming all bipeds are similar sized, some are very large. Some are damaged, I suppose. No sign of flying vehicles, but maybe this place of work has no specialization in them.Any idolatry? Any symbols. Any rituals? Time to listen in.
Look at that picture; it is an expanded photo of what appears to be this planet from space. Pictures from space. This has to be a stage five civilization. ………………………………………………………. This is as pleasant a mind ride I have ever had. This pet has no function whatsoever here. There are tons of discussions in this office and tons of script references and Harris is rarely distracted. Rik even occasionally lets me put Harris’ paws in his lap so the dog’s head is elevated close to the display and the input device. The input device shows a simple alphabet and it is quite easy to work out. This is an engineering office. No idolatry whatsoever. It is rational. They interact with other commercial interests at long range. People and humans are the terms I am coming across for these bipeds. Midday Rik took me for a walk, he took me to a river and I followed that ball into the water and did the same thing as this morning, but did it by swimming. Harris seems to like this even better. Nothing unusual during the walk. People going about their business on a commercial basis. I see exchange of products and money. I see younger humans congregating, but they must be getting training. The day is divided in 24 hours. From that I conclude that Harris woke up around 7 hours after midnight. It is now 17 hours from midnight, and people in the office are starting to leave. Rik leaves too and I go with him into the vehicle. We are driving back to his dwelling. Harris slips past Rik when he opens the front door. He rushes headlong into the dwelling, Anne is in the back. Harris grabs something in his mouth and runs around with it. Can’t quite understand what Harris is doing, it just seems like a weird urge. Anne laughs, she touches Rik. Anne and Rik talk. They are reporting to each other. Kate will be home late. Something about Hannah and other offspring. I have loads of info, should I bail or hang on? Their day is 24 hours, they sleep at night, if I hold on till they go to sleep I’ll have an easy disconnect and less chance of cracking Harris, although I doubt he is sufficiently bright to have to really worry about that. How much sleep do they need? Dull, dull. Harris received more food. Anne and Rik eat much more complex and attractive food. Harris simply aches to have some of it. Anne feeds him some ice cubes she took out of her drink. Interesting flavor; smoky ethanol. I am sent into the garden again, and, now, around hour 22, Anne and Rik go upstairs and Harris follows. This is almost the reverse of the morning routine. Harris is on his bed and Rik and Anne are on their bed. The lighting is reduced. There is a rutting sound from their bed. Harris is not interested. Neither am I. Go to sleep Harris, I want to bail. ………………………………………………..
Ok, open your eyes. I am Pantor again, four limbs, two eyes, hairless, biped. Orientate. “Hi Pantor.” Jaksel had been waiting for me to bail. She helps me off the mindrider bench. Her skin glows in the late afternoon light. What a pleasant way to return. Nice light, nice Jaksel, no return trauma. “How did it go?” “You won’t believe it.” “Try me.” “No, this needs to be a council report.” “You violated protocol? No, that can’t be; your ride was too long. You would have bailed earlier.” “Patience my dear. Let me collect my thoughts and take a leak, my bladder is ready to explode. Will you call a council please?” ……………………………. Tont, Joosje and Trev were waiting in the small council room. Jacksel followed me in. On the way over she tried to get some hints from me, but I was not going to get ahead of myself. It was late afternoon and I suspect that all of us had wanted to go home by now, but today they would not mind the delay. Joosje opened the conversation before I was seated, “What have you got Pantor? A virgin planet?” “What if I said I found one?” “Well you would be a celebrity once we figure out how we can keep it from being ruined by wrecriders.” “Well Joosje, I am not guaranteeing anything, but I think you and Tont better do some hard thinking and makes some plans.” “No shit!” Now Tont started to pay attention too, “Ok, lay it on us.” Jacksel had just pushed a cup of tollie in front of me. I took a sip for dramatic pause. There is no guarantee of success, but this might only happen once in my lifetime, I might as well ride it a little. When I took a sip, my mind briefly flashed to that smoky ethanol ice cube. Did I expect the tollie to taste like that? That was a deeper ride than I expected after all. Did Harris like the flavor, or did he like it because the humans liked it and do I like it now because of the humans? If this works, we’ll finally get a chance to figure out some really basic stuff. “Here is what I have. The planet was found at 230 light years by Planet Search using conventional means. We have no radio emissions for this planet. The planet characteristics were suitable for life so we investigated. This was attempt 7. All of this has been 100% protocol. Not a hint of a ride on a suprasentient being on the prior attempts, but no sign of civilization either. I started very low and spent some time on slowly working up the chain. A few minutes at what I now think is microbial level. The next rides progressively higher. The prior ride I was attacked and killed by a carnivorous air breathing predator. I figured I would randomly upride and started to match to a level higher than the prey, but also knew I was close to suprasentient so had to be careful. I locked in and ended up riding the pet of the acme species.” Joosje jumped in: “Rational or supernaturals.”? I grinned: “Not a hint of super.” Jaksel and Trev both jumped in: “Stop, stop, record it. We need to record this.” Trev introduced the recording: “Date and time are verified correct, active and embedded. This is senior mindrider Trev7463. This is a small council called by mindrider Pantor4421. Additional attendees are recorded as Joosje2433, senior protocol designer, Tont5572, protocol designer and Jaksel2579, mindrider and Pantor’s riderminder on his most recent ride. Mindrider Pantor has started exploration of a Tarr similar planet at a Kontal solar system at 230 light years. This exploration is part of the virgin planet search as directed by prime council. The planet is numbered planet 5711. Mindrider Pantor has indicated that he observed suprasentient species and has not identified any supernatural or delusional behavior. This is the first mind ride of a planet with culture where there is no evidence of prior wrecriding. As such, this is the first prime candidate for a virgin planet. Pantor will provide his report and this small council will make recommendations as needed.” I provided a longer summary of the planet and a detailed description of the ride with very few interruptions by the council. When I came to the end, there was a short pause. Trev looked me in the eye: “Nothing? No rituals, no symbols, no supernatural behavior, no superstitions? I looked right back: “Nothing.” “And you had a smooth break? You can get back to this uhhh, Dog? “Should not be hard at all to lock in again.” “Well, this was the purpose of the program; to look for a planet that is suprasentient but that has not been visited by wrecriders and has not been affected by their influence on suprasentients. Now it looks like we finally found one, and I suppose we should step up our efforts. We will report this to the large council and I am sure they will have plenty to contribute. Meanwhile, Jaksel can also mind ride this planet and I will assign additional rider minders to you both. By transitioning rider minders to mind riders on a daily basis we should be able to expand this program exponentially over the course of a few days and I’d say in a week, if we do not find any evidence of prior wrecrider involvement on this planet, we should be getting pretty good odds we have a virgin planet.” Trev looked around the room, “Anything else? …… Ok, We’ll meet again tomorrow afternoon.” Trev got up and left to file the report. After a brief planning discussion Tont and Joosje left too. “So where do we go so you can brief me on my ride tomorrow?” Jaskel asked. “The Plaxute Club?” “You think it is safe?” “I’d say that we don’t have to worry about wrecriders there and even if they hear us discuss the ride, they still don’t know which planet it is.” “Alright, it will feel good and appropriate and we can get something to eat and drink.” Plaxute Club was only a short walk. Plaxute Club was the social center of the campus. It was comfortable and fitted out as a club for the scientific mind riders at the institute. It was quiet when Jaksel and Pantor arrived. They found a booth not far from the fire, ordered food and drink and shut down all distractors. Jaksel and Pantor toasted to the virgin planet and after her first sip, Jaksel, in her typical fashion, became all business. “So if I co-ride where should I hook in?” “There are flying animals out there, birds, if you co-ride with me there will be a moment Harris goes outside and we’ll try to jump to one of those birds. That will give you a chance to scout the area and get a feel for geography. So far, my impression of the place has been egalitarian, but we know that planets that have been contaminated by wrecriders have stratified very heavily, so if you do an overflight you can see if there are any ornate buildings that have religious functions. When you get back you can take your rider minder on the next ride and jump to another pet that looks good.” “Funny how you call delusion “religion.” Pantor shrugged, “All of life is symbols. I managed to give you all a decent report by invoking symbols for animals, humans, and everything else, and I have seen so much of this delusion in so many forms on so many planets, we might as well call it what contaminated planets call it.”
“So what do you think the protocol managers will come up with once we establish we have found a virgin planet?” “I would guess we would have to mindride those humans in relative large numbers and express ourselves to them clearly and simultaneously so they will not trip into a religious reaction. I am afraid that wrecriders like God, Suva, Odin and others will sooner or later find this planet also and manage to start various religions with the usual disastrous effects of loss of equality, peace, free speech and rational behavior. I just have to believe that if we mindride a number of high level and mentally stable suprasentients, and if we carefully reveal ourselves, that they can figure out that they are not subject to supernatural revelations but instead are being contacted by suprasentients of another planet. Once we do that, hopefully, we can establish two way communications and then wrecriders will have no influence.” Jaksel showed disgust, “God is such a travesty. Hard to believe that he was Plaxute’s first student. Once he realized he could establish power over other worlds, he could never be reasoned with. I wonder if today he just returns to planets that he has already wreced to make the hole deeper or if he every now and then still finds a virgin world to wrec.” Pantor showed a faint smile, “Well, he is only one of a few, the project shows that Plaxute’s suggestion is working. They can only go for so many rides. We have access to many more mindriders today than God and his friends, so hopefully we can figure out a way to beat God to the draw, and hopefully, if we can figure out how to do things with this planet, we may even be able to reverse the wrecing of other planets.” “Christ showed that reversing a wrec is far from easy, when he came back from that one planet in total overload, he never managed to coherently tell us what went wrong.” Pantor and Jaksel both ate and retreated into their own thoughts for a moment. Then they both spoke the standard response at the same time, “Christ was a hero, poor guy”. “I often wonder what happened to that planet, I think he ended up having some type of mind rider shoot out with God and his cronies on that planet”, Jaksel said. “We might never find out. There are a lot of planets out there.” Pantor finished his drink and got up. “Time to rest a little, we’ll be busy tomorrow and if things hold, we will be really busy for quite a while. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Big Nose follows the biped into the other space. Biped is not wearing any garments right now. Biped sits on another smaller pedestal. White. This room has a different sense, some shiny fitted objects, mirror up high behind a ledge or a locker. Can I see myself? Nope too short. I could try to maneuver. Let’s see if I can get Big Nose to hop with his front paws onto the ledge. Concentrate. There we go, that was pretty easy. All black animal, eyes forward, distinct carnivorous teeth. Look at the size of that tongue hanging out! “Harris, get down!” Oops, lost control, Big Nose is back on the floor. That was a very strong response to the biped command. Harris. That was a repeat word. Name or curse? Gotta Keep track. Big Nose is not vocalizing, but biped is talking. Biped uses language. Biped is evacuating too. Nice smell of rot. Wonder what it eats. Flowing water in the pedestal biped sat on; decent level of civilization. More flowing water from shiny fitting (Chrome? Nickel?) under mirror. Big Nose is moving back into the other room. Scanning…... To the right that is Big Nose’s resting place. Simple woven material bag filled with something soft. Other biped has shed garment too, there are some differences between the two bipeds. First one shows an additional appendix on its lower torso between those lower limbs. Actually, maybe it is a variation of the Big Nose protuberance between its rear limbs. Biped’s is more pronounced though. Second biped has two larger protuberances on front of upper torso with central darker feature in middle of each protuberance. Wait, first biped has those darker features on its upper torso too, but lesser protuberance. Here comes other biped again, they touch, Big Nose approaches as if to join in. Here come biped hands again, scratching head. It feels comforting. Altogether these bipeds are not too weirdly evolutional. General symmetry. Four main limbs like Big Nose here. Can be described as two legs and two arms. Two eyes. Some central axis features. Nose and a mouth I suppose. Mouth also is vocalizing feature. Breathes through mouth and nose and like Big Nose here has bidirectional breathing. No uniflow breathing. There were two bipeds on the platform. Bisexual reproduction? If Plaxute rules apply, they could be male and female. Single appendix biped went into other room again. More running water, appears to cleanse teeth. Less pronounced carnivorous teeth than Big Nose. Enters booth with running water. It is a cleansing device or a ritual. The biped has an odor, but not as strong as his evacuation odor. Ritual cleansing? Hard to tell.
Let’s assume single appendix biped is male. Darker chest features could be child feeders. Is Big Nose a biped child? Nah, too coordinated as a quadruped, and its teeth are more pronounced and aggressive than the bipeds’. It would not make developmental sense. The other biped enters the cleansing room too. It evacuates too. Less strongly odiferous. Same teeth cleaning, more elaborate rituals in front of mirror. Self-examining, although no apparent idolatry or ritual stasis. Similar odor as other biped, but subtle hormonal odor. This one is female. Female puts on other garments. Seems to protect protuberances. Function? If they are child feeding features, Plaxute rules would indicate they are, or were, low offspring count animals. One or two offspring at a time. “Coming to get some food Harris?” Yeah, Harris is a name. Whatever female said there, Harris likes. I can feel it. What is that rear end shaking? Try to rotate the head. Oh I see, it’s a rear end limb that is flicking back and forth. Man, that thing is whipping. Here we go, right behind the female. Oops, a drop. No it is a sequential drop. A level changer. Primitive. Yup, stairs. Two story dwelling. Kinda scary for this quadruped. Slippery going down head first like that. In a hurry though. Shoots right past the female. More elaborate lower level, more fittings and objects. Decorative, wall decorations, furnishings, many objects. Carpets on …… what? Organic structural material, with some surface finish I think. Damn that surface is slippery for Harris. Female grabs a small object. There is a sound. Where? Oh there, on the wall on a fixture between all those other object. Some type of visual display. Shows more bipeds vocalizing. No, it is talking, not vocalizing. Many scene changes. That is definitely produced content on that display, it is not a viewer.\I follow the female to a door. The door is transparent; glass. I am looking at the outdoors. There are more signs of civilization, but less structured. The female opens door. Out I go. Damn, this Harris thing certainly likes to move at high speed. Smelling, walking along perimeter enclosure. Other animals were here recently. Harris performs liquid evacuation. Hmmm, interesting. Harris is habitual. This is familiar to him. No indication of wariness like the earlier ridden on this planet. No threats here. Vegetation is similar, but more artificial in arrangement. This is an outdoor space that is part of the dwelling, a garden. I can’t see through the fence, but there are other roofs nearby. I am in a community of some sort. There is some vocalization not too far from this perimeter. Harris responds. Short expulsive vocalizations, loud but with little distinction and variation. If it is language, it is very complex. It probably is not language, there is no sense of awareness of a significant message from the other animal. Simply vocalization, possibly related to dominance. I can see some flying animals too. Various plant life. Some are of substantial size much larger than the dwelling. I suppose those supply the organic floor material. Much less large plant life than around the last ridden though. The air and garden surfaces are warming,there is dampness on the ground. It is morning; these bipeds must function in daylight.
The door opens again. Female calls: “Harris come” Holy crap, there he goes! This Harris rips when called. Harris is sitting in front of two metal shiny objects. He appears to idolize them. The female opens a container. She takes some content out with another smaller container. The content goes into one of the shiny objects. Food; they are food bowls. Harris sits and watches, very tense though. Anxious? No, it is anticipation. The female says: “Ok, go”. Harris flashes to the bowl and starts to eat. Well, eating? Pounding it down. Food is dry. Not unpleasant. No sense of decay. Some protein, some animal content I’d say. Harris is drinking from the other bowl. It is relatively clean water and neutral, with a hint of chlorine. Treatment against microbes I suppose. Makes this male and female a stage three, maybe four, civilization. I suppose if the display shows a broadcast, it is four. What is Harris though? Food being raised? This is a carnivore though. Raising carnivores for food like this is inefficient. It’s got to be a protection companion or pet. If it is a pure pet, either this couple is dominant in its culture, or we are dealing with a high end stage four culture. It would be a large pet. Not inexpensive to maintain. How does the couple obtain its needs? So far, there is no visible means of income or trade. The garden does not indicate food production. Stage four would indicate a complex economy. Is this an unlimited energy economy, or still a limited energy economy? The female is staring at a small handheld device. Reading? She is contacting it with her fingertips. She is interacting with it. She is preparing more food. Oh, this food is much more complex. Harris is enthralled and approaching the female. Supplicating? No begging or scavenging. The female issues a terse command. Harris is deeply conflicted. This combination of master, command, and affection makes it a pet. This animal is too docile to be real protection. The male is also downstairs now. The male and female are talking. They are equals, maybe the female is slightly dominant when judging tone of voice and body languages. They are affectionate though. They touch, and also have a common habit of squinting with eyes, opening mouths, and making a repetitive sound not unlike the sound Harris made in the yard. Their sentences are much longer, but the sentence structure appears to be a refinement and extension of the commands to Harris. I am deducing Anne and Rik are most probably their names, too soon to make much sense of the rest. It seems Dog is another name for Harris. Or maybe Dog is the generic term for the animal named Harris. As usual, it will sort out over time. I can’t get over my good fortune though. The odds of entering a non civilized ridden so close to suprasentients are one in thousands. I am really sucking in data here and meanwhile have just about a zero chance of protocol violations. Occupying a flying animal at this stage of planet evaluation is good too, but to get such a close shot so quickly on this planet is too good to be true. These super ridden make it worth it to be a professional mindrider. Although, I could crash out from sensory overload with a ridden like this. We’ll see; I’ll just enjoy the getting while the getting is good. Oh, another biped has entered the food preparation area. Where did she come from? Harris is happy to see her. More tail wagging and petting. Well that is easy; her scent is definitely female like Anne. She more or less looks like another one of the biped species. Her scent is different though. More unique from the scents of Anne and Rik, who appear to have more of a comingled mutual scent. She is talking to the male and female. Her name is Kate, seems like she is friendly but not intimate. By scent and body movement I would think she is younger. Her body movement is smoother; no ….; suppler. Her facial skin tone is suppler too. Rik and Anne’s facial skin show more wear and tear. Now I see that Rik’s facial skin is much hairier. So far Plaxute’s evolutionary rules are fitting pretty well, although I am not sure about the hair. Rik and Kate wear primitive optical devices. Passive optical. I suppose they are simple corrective devices. I have to find out where Kate came from, let’s see if I can get Harris to wander a little. This is too easy, this animal is made for aimless wandering. Even aiming is not too difficult. This is what I missed; there is a side passage at the lower level. Another one of those cleansing rooms and two more rooms with platforms. This dwelling is configured for additional bipeds. I see no other pets. It looks like these three bipeds are the only occupants at this time. Harris is called by Rik. Rik, Anne and Kate are at a door at the opposite side of the door to the garden. Rik touches Anne again and then opens the door. It feels like Harris wants to follow Rik. Yes, Rik says: “Come Harris”. Boom here he goes again. We are outside again, Kate is coming too. These look like transportation devices. There are two of them. One has two doors on a side. The other has one door on a side. That one is more utilitarian and somewhat larger, with fewer shiny decorative elements. The compartment with windows is small and sticks up near the middle. Is it a hover vehicle? What type of propulsion mode? It has four wheels. The wheels are prominent. Kate opens the door and directs me into a smaller compartment behind a seat. She gets into the seat. So I guess I am in the back. I can look forward. There is another seat and some space between the seats. I can put my fore paws on a small ledge between the seats. That provides a pretty good view around. Behind me, on the outside of the vehicle there is an open compartment. It looks like maybe it is a cargo compartment. It is not a hover vehicle, there are no fans in the back and front. In front of the passenger compartment there is a closed compartment. Rik is now in the other seat. He entered through another door on the opposite side of the vehicle. He has control devices in front of him including a pretty prominent steering wheel. It looks like the vehicle is manually controlled. Rik turns a key. There is a start-up sound. This vehicle definitely has an internal combustion propulsor. It sounds like it is reciprocating too. Rik is manipulating other controls too. This is so quaint, rarely do civilizations have this type of manually controlled, rolling, self propelled, stuff for more than five dominant species generations. Such small odds for me to show up at this level of civilization. We are backing down a small road. Here we are on larger road. Very quiet, no other traffic, but dwellings are lined up next to each other along the road. Nice large plants line the street too. We make one turn and pull to the side of the road. Here is that tail wagging again. Harris is happy.
Rik gets out and I squeeze myself between the seats and jump out. Rik has something in his hand and Harris is quite happy about that. Where is Kate? She remained in the vehicle and is manipulating a device similar to the one Anne was using earlier this morning. I can barely turn Harris’ head to see what Kate is doing. He is completely absorbed by the thing Rik is holding. It is a bright green stick about 1/3 the height of Rik. It has a handle on one end and a round protuberance on the other end. Rik whips the handle and a round object detaches from the end. Harris tears after it. It is a sphere. He is entirely intent on following it. We chase it down a field. He grabs it in his mouth and runs back to Rik. Harris drops it and Rik picks it up with the stick and whips it again. Harris goes after it again at full speed. He returns it again. What is this about? Harris feels pure joy. Here we go again, and again and again. How long will this go on? Wait, he ignores the ball. Oh, he engages in solid evacuation. Rik comes over with a bag. He picks up the waste and ties it into the bag. He throws the bag with the waste in the vehicle’s cargo compartment. I wonder why Harris does not use the biped evacuation system. As a pet he seems to have some level of training. Although that biped evacuation pedestal must be uncomfortable for this animal to balance on. The bipeds do build and manufacture, and it would not be hard to make an indoor evacuation system that is suited for a pet. Strange, the dominant animal collects the waste of the pet. Maybe there is some value to the pet’s solid waste? More chasing the sphere. There is an overhead noise, it is some mechanical flying object. It is difficult to figure out how large it is. Is it biped occupied or a drone? Rik calls me now and the door to the vehicle is open. I jump back into my compartment. The vehicle is rolling again. I need to observe. There are wires that probably transmit electricity. I see a dish on one of the dwellings; that has to be an antenna. This civilization does transmit electromagnetic waves. I wonder how many years away their transmissions are? How long have they been transmitting? We are over 200 light years away. There is a sound transmitter in the vehicle too. Is it radio transmission or stored sound? There is a buzzing sound in the vehicle, and Rik manipulates a control. There is Anne’s voice. There is a greeting and she is requesting something. Rik consents, and then he signs off. That had to be a radio transmission and point to point too. That is technically difficult, but right now the range for this transmission still has to be short. How far have we traveled? This planet rotates fully in about 6 panstels. That means a day of 3 panstels. So far I have occupied this animal for, at most, a quarter panstel. I need to get a local time reference, or I am going to crash out trying to convert all this. How fast are we going? Faster than Harris can run, but not a lot faster. Traffic is busier now. There is a great variety of vehicles. All biped occupied; all biped controlled. Hey, that two wheeler is pretty neat. Is it biped balanced? That would take some skill. So a red light ahead means you have to stop. Green is go, and yellow means prepare to stop. A lot of sensory input for those bipeds is needed to run these vehicles. That could be deadly if you make a mistake.
Rik can still talk to Kate while he operates it and Kate is still checking the small device. I can now see over her shoulder it displays images and symbols, and she can rapidly manipulate it one handed with her fingers. Those are pretty good hands on those bipeds. Only a single opposable digit though. You lose it and the hand is much less functional. Do they regenerate digits if they are lost or damaged? These bipeds can multitask pretty well. They must have evolved as omnivore hunter gatherers. These bipeds are an acme species. They are the civilization developers. No sign of idolatry, rituals, shrines or abstract symbols so far. There is a larger dwelling. Is it a shrine? No pentarts, no foltons, no quintons, so far. Where are Rik and Kate going? Are they going to a religious service or are they going to work? The vehicle stops. Rik and Kate are getting out. I am supposed to come too. What does this vehicle run on? Hydrogen? That looks like an exhaust. Smell it. Definitely organic compound residue. This thing runs on an organic fuel. This civilization still has to be a limited energy economy. These bipeds still have to work. Rik takes my evacuation product from the rear of the vehicle and transfers it to another container near where the vehicle is parked. That still is not clear; is it a collection device where other dog waste product is collected? The container is large and it has a smell of rot, but not just dog waste. Another door, another set of stairs, and we are in a larger room, I smell the same liquid that Anne was drinking, the place smells more random, there is a small enclosure and it contains another biped. It knows me. Tail wagging again. Female, she smells much closer to Rik than Kate. She is closer to Kate’s age. They all converse and it is clear her name is Hannah. Is Hannah offspring? I follow Rik. Rik is in a somewhat more ornate area of the building. He sits down and starts to interact with a device, similar to Kate’s, but larger. Other bipeds arrive and they interact briefly with Rik. One biped enters a room that smells of organic combustion products, he closes the door. It seems Harris knows them all. I can move around freely. This is useful, I can nudge Harris around easily and everybody briefly interacts with Harris. They all seem to occupy a specific space and interact with their own display devices. There are noises and people respond in similar fashion to the way Rik responded in the vehicle, but I can’t hear the other person engaged in the conversation since they use an earpiece to listen to the other person. So what do we have here? I am betting it is a place of work. What type of work? The walls are covered with illustrations. They appear to be vehicles. Interface vehicles mostly, they appear to be moving on water, some are wind powered, others must have submersed mechanical propulsion devices. Assuming all bipeds are similar sized, some are very large. Some are damaged, I suppose. No sign of flying vehicles, but maybe this place of work has no specialization in them.Any idolatry? Any symbols. Any rituals? Time to listen in.
Look at that picture; it is an expanded photo of what appears to be this planet from space. Pictures from space. This has to be a stage five civilization. ………………………………………………………. This is as pleasant a mind ride I have ever had. This pet has no function whatsoever here. There are tons of discussions in this office and tons of script references and Harris is rarely distracted. Rik even occasionally lets me put Harris’ paws in his lap so the dog’s head is elevated close to the display and the input device. The input device shows a simple alphabet and it is quite easy to work out. This is an engineering office. No idolatry whatsoever. It is rational. They interact with other commercial interests at long range. People and humans are the terms I am coming across for these bipeds. Midday Rik took me for a walk, he took me to a river and I followed that ball into the water and did the same thing as this morning, but did it by swimming. Harris seems to like this even better. Nothing unusual during the walk. People going about their business on a commercial basis. I see exchange of products and money. I see younger humans congregating, but they must be getting training. The day is divided in 24 hours. From that I conclude that Harris woke up around 7 hours after midnight. It is now 17 hours from midnight, and people in the office are starting to leave. Rik leaves too and I go with him into the vehicle. We are driving back to his dwelling. Harris slips past Rik when he opens the front door. He rushes headlong into the dwelling, Anne is in the back. Harris grabs something in his mouth and runs around with it. Can’t quite understand what Harris is doing, it just seems like a weird urge. Anne laughs, she touches Rik. Anne and Rik talk. They are reporting to each other. Kate will be home late. Something about Hannah and other offspring. I have loads of info, should I bail or hang on? Their day is 24 hours, they sleep at night, if I hold on till they go to sleep I’ll have an easy disconnect and less chance of cracking Harris, although I doubt he is sufficiently bright to have to really worry about that. How much sleep do they need? Dull, dull. Harris received more food. Anne and Rik eat much more complex and attractive food. Harris simply aches to have some of it. Anne feeds him some ice cubes she took out of her drink. Interesting flavor; smoky ethanol. I am sent into the garden again, and, now, around hour 22, Anne and Rik go upstairs and Harris follows. This is almost the reverse of the morning routine. Harris is on his bed and Rik and Anne are on their bed. The lighting is reduced. There is a rutting sound from their bed. Harris is not interested. Neither am I. Go to sleep Harris, I want to bail. ………………………………………………..
Ok, open your eyes. I am Pantor again, four limbs, two eyes, hairless, biped. Orientate. “Hi Pantor.” Jaksel had been waiting for me to bail. She helps me off the mindrider bench. Her skin glows in the late afternoon light. What a pleasant way to return. Nice light, nice Jaksel, no return trauma. “How did it go?” “You won’t believe it.” “Try me.” “No, this needs to be a council report.” “You violated protocol? No, that can’t be; your ride was too long. You would have bailed earlier.” “Patience my dear. Let me collect my thoughts and take a leak, my bladder is ready to explode. Will you call a council please?” ……………………………. Tont, Joosje and Trev were waiting in the small council room. Jacksel followed me in. On the way over she tried to get some hints from me, but I was not going to get ahead of myself. It was late afternoon and I suspect that all of us had wanted to go home by now, but today they would not mind the delay. Joosje opened the conversation before I was seated, “What have you got Pantor? A virgin planet?” “What if I said I found one?” “Well you would be a celebrity once we figure out how we can keep it from being ruined by wrecriders.” “Well Joosje, I am not guaranteeing anything, but I think you and Tont better do some hard thinking and makes some plans.” “No shit!” Now Tont started to pay attention too, “Ok, lay it on us.” Jacksel had just pushed a cup of tollie in front of me. I took a sip for dramatic pause. There is no guarantee of success, but this might only happen once in my lifetime, I might as well ride it a little. When I took a sip, my mind briefly flashed to that smoky ethanol ice cube. Did I expect the tollie to taste like that? That was a deeper ride than I expected after all. Did Harris like the flavor, or did he like it because the humans liked it and do I like it now because of the humans? If this works, we’ll finally get a chance to figure out some really basic stuff. “Here is what I have. The planet was found at 230 light years by Planet Search using conventional means. We have no radio emissions for this planet. The planet characteristics were suitable for life so we investigated. This was attempt 7. All of this has been 100% protocol. Not a hint of a ride on a suprasentient being on the prior attempts, but no sign of civilization either. I started very low and spent some time on slowly working up the chain. A few minutes at what I now think is microbial level. The next rides progressively higher. The prior ride I was attacked and killed by a carnivorous air breathing predator. I figured I would randomly upride and started to match to a level higher than the prey, but also knew I was close to suprasentient so had to be careful. I locked in and ended up riding the pet of the acme species.” Joosje jumped in: “Rational or supernaturals.”? I grinned: “Not a hint of super.” Jaksel and Trev both jumped in: “Stop, stop, record it. We need to record this.” Trev introduced the recording: “Date and time are verified correct, active and embedded. This is senior mindrider Trev7463. This is a small council called by mindrider Pantor4421. Additional attendees are recorded as Joosje2433, senior protocol designer, Tont5572, protocol designer and Jaksel2579, mindrider and Pantor’s riderminder on his most recent ride. Mindrider Pantor has started exploration of a Tarr similar planet at a Kontal solar system at 230 light years. This exploration is part of the virgin planet search as directed by prime council. The planet is numbered planet 5711. Mindrider Pantor has indicated that he observed suprasentient species and has not identified any supernatural or delusional behavior. This is the first mind ride of a planet with culture where there is no evidence of prior wrecriding. As such, this is the first prime candidate for a virgin planet. Pantor will provide his report and this small council will make recommendations as needed.” I provided a longer summary of the planet and a detailed description of the ride with very few interruptions by the council. When I came to the end, there was a short pause. Trev looked me in the eye: “Nothing? No rituals, no symbols, no supernatural behavior, no superstitions? I looked right back: “Nothing.” “And you had a smooth break? You can get back to this uhhh, Dog? “Should not be hard at all to lock in again.” “Well, this was the purpose of the program; to look for a planet that is suprasentient but that has not been visited by wrecriders and has not been affected by their influence on suprasentients. Now it looks like we finally found one, and I suppose we should step up our efforts. We will report this to the large council and I am sure they will have plenty to contribute. Meanwhile, Jaksel can also mind ride this planet and I will assign additional rider minders to you both. By transitioning rider minders to mind riders on a daily basis we should be able to expand this program exponentially over the course of a few days and I’d say in a week, if we do not find any evidence of prior wrecrider involvement on this planet, we should be getting pretty good odds we have a virgin planet.” Trev looked around the room, “Anything else? …… Ok, We’ll meet again tomorrow afternoon.” Trev got up and left to file the report. After a brief planning discussion Tont and Joosje left too. “So where do we go so you can brief me on my ride tomorrow?” Jaskel asked. “The Plaxute Club?” “You think it is safe?” “I’d say that we don’t have to worry about wrecriders there and even if they hear us discuss the ride, they still don’t know which planet it is.” “Alright, it will feel good and appropriate and we can get something to eat and drink.” Plaxute Club was only a short walk. Plaxute Club was the social center of the campus. It was comfortable and fitted out as a club for the scientific mind riders at the institute. It was quiet when Jaksel and Pantor arrived. They found a booth not far from the fire, ordered food and drink and shut down all distractors. Jaksel and Pantor toasted to the virgin planet and after her first sip, Jaksel, in her typical fashion, became all business. “So if I co-ride where should I hook in?” “There are flying animals out there, birds, if you co-ride with me there will be a moment Harris goes outside and we’ll try to jump to one of those birds. That will give you a chance to scout the area and get a feel for geography. So far, my impression of the place has been egalitarian, but we know that planets that have been contaminated by wrecriders have stratified very heavily, so if you do an overflight you can see if there are any ornate buildings that have religious functions. When you get back you can take your rider minder on the next ride and jump to another pet that looks good.” “Funny how you call delusion “religion.” Pantor shrugged, “All of life is symbols. I managed to give you all a decent report by invoking symbols for animals, humans, and everything else, and I have seen so much of this delusion in so many forms on so many planets, we might as well call it what contaminated planets call it.”
“So what do you think the protocol managers will come up with once we establish we have found a virgin planet?” “I would guess we would have to mindride those humans in relative large numbers and express ourselves to them clearly and simultaneously so they will not trip into a religious reaction. I am afraid that wrecriders like God, Suva, Odin and others will sooner or later find this planet also and manage to start various religions with the usual disastrous effects of loss of equality, peace, free speech and rational behavior. I just have to believe that if we mindride a number of high level and mentally stable suprasentients, and if we carefully reveal ourselves, that they can figure out that they are not subject to supernatural revelations but instead are being contacted by suprasentients of another planet. Once we do that, hopefully, we can establish two way communications and then wrecriders will have no influence.” Jaksel showed disgust, “God is such a travesty. Hard to believe that he was Plaxute’s first student. Once he realized he could establish power over other worlds, he could never be reasoned with. I wonder if today he just returns to planets that he has already wreced to make the hole deeper or if he every now and then still finds a virgin world to wrec.” Pantor showed a faint smile, “Well, he is only one of a few, the project shows that Plaxute’s suggestion is working. They can only go for so many rides. We have access to many more mindriders today than God and his friends, so hopefully we can figure out a way to beat God to the draw, and hopefully, if we can figure out how to do things with this planet, we may even be able to reverse the wrecing of other planets.” “Christ showed that reversing a wrec is far from easy, when he came back from that one planet in total overload, he never managed to coherently tell us what went wrong.” Pantor and Jaksel both ate and retreated into their own thoughts for a moment. Then they both spoke the standard response at the same time, “Christ was a hero, poor guy”. “I often wonder what happened to that planet, I think he ended up having some type of mind rider shoot out with God and his cronies on that planet”, Jaksel said. “We might never find out. There are a lot of planets out there.” Pantor finished his drink and got up. “Time to rest a little, we’ll be busy tomorrow and if things hold, we will be really busy for quite a while. I’ll see you tomorrow.”