A Story of Unoriginal Sin in a Topsy-Turvy Parallel Universe
Upon seeing an image of Earth from Voyager 1, Carl Sagan wrote, "To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
"Mixing one's wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably." Bertolt Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
PREFACE
Humanity has many skeletons in its closets. That's what History is about—the inside of crowded closets.
AMARANTHINE HISTORICA brings odd schisms to orthodox dystopias, through a cyberpunk quilt of all things and non-things—all ages, epochs, and eras. No closet, nook, or cranny of existence is left unsearched. Tragedy or farce, farce or tragedy, the chronological order doesn't matter! What matters, in this farcical fantasy, is the bones of everything!
AMARANTHINE HISTORICA takes us on a big dreamtime journey through a small Emerald Tablet. The author of the original Emerald Tablet is Hermes Trismegistus, also known as Hermes the Thrice-Greatest. Below is my adaptation of Isaac Newton's translation.
'Tis true without error, certain and most true.
That which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing.
And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
The sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth is its nurse.
The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.
It ascends from the earth to the heavens and again it descends to the earth and receives the force of things superior and inferior.
By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world
And thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
Its force is above all force. For it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.
So was the world created.
From this are and do come admirable adaptations whereof the means (or process) is here in this. Hence, I am called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.
Thus, as Hermes the Thrice-Greatest instructs, the road must be travelled 'sweetly with great industry' until truth and lies become unglued, leaving Truth standing where it must. Remember always: Truth is never in the middle. Truth is in freedom!
MAIN CHARACTERS
Astellaria aka Aria - a creature made from the remnants of a star.
Dorion Technon - scientist with a Bioneer Award from the Society for Ecological Restoration.
Eleni Makinti - scientist with a Nobel in quantum mechanics for her space-time warp analysis and an EPSO Plant Scientist Award regarding floral scents.
Georgia Genix - scientist with a Nobel for her work in protein engineering and an Isaac Newton Medal of the Institute of Physics for her 'string theory'.
Jane Darkstorm - scientist with two Nobels for her work in regenerative medicine and in quantum teleportation enabling the quantum Internet.
Lucy Ferr - three Engelberger Awards from the Robotic Industries Association, professor of biomedical robotics and director of The BioRobotics Institute, founder of SkEyeClops, head and senior engineer of the Soldier Support System Centre of SkEyeClops.
Pharaona aka Ra - creature made of the same rock as the Sphinx.
Victor Ferrett - Olfus' mind control advisor, with a Nobel in cognitive science and brain-to-brain technology.
Warwick Olfus aka Wolfie - Nobel laureate and President of the State of Amarantis.
GLOSSARY
AEONIOS - project in regenerative medicine.
ARC - Amaranthine RenaisScience Complex.
Bion - humanoid intuitive robot.
CRISPR - genome-editing method altering the germline of humans, animals, and food crops.
D-Day - Day of Destruction or Day of Deliverance, depending on the context...
EmotMems - tailored memories based on the CRISPR biomolecular recording method.
Engelberger Award - the Nobel of robotics.
Euman - eugenic human.
Genome editing - genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted or replaced in the genome of an organism, using engineered nucleases or 'molecular scissors'.
GROM - genetically re-organised mutant.
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) - reprogrammed adult cells to embryonic-like state.
Kill-Switch - safety mechanism used to shut off a device in an emergency.
Life Ark Reserve Vault (LARV) - Amaranthine bank for stems cells.
Membrane Dome - radiation and electromagnetic interference shielding membrane dome.
Nobel - international prize awarded to the best achievers in Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Peace, Economic Sciences, Literature.
Ouroboros-Gates or O-Gates - circular gates depicting the snake eating its own tail.
O-Zone - Amarantis comprises eight concentric and intersecting canals. Each ring has a zone number, starting from central O-Zone 1 to outer O-Zone 8.
Post-Datory - post-D-Day (after the Day of Destruction).
Pre-Datory - pre-D-Day (before the Day of Destruction).
PURE - People's United Revolutionary Eugenics.
SEAI - Social Emotional Artificial Intelligence.
SkEyeClops - SkEye Cyclops Surveillance Society (name derived from the Eye of the Cyclops).
SNS - Synthetic Nervous System.
Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) - enzymes that can be engineered to cut specific sequences of DNA.
'Ω' - ō mega, mega meaning 'great'. We pronounce the Ancient Greek Ω in the same way as the British English raw.
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AMARANTHINE HISTORICA (EXCERPT)
FantasyHumanity has many skeletons in its closets. That's what History is about-the inside of crowded closets. "AMARANTHINE HISTORICA" (long title, "AMARANTHINE HISTORICA-A SECRET HISTORY") brings odd schisms to orthodox dystopias, through a cyberpunk qui...
