In this alternate reality, the magnonauts as they exist here would still be magnetic straw men that look like space explorers, but they would have been based on an actual invention called a N.E.W.MAN. Please enjoy now.
THE FACTIONS
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There are three factions of modern symbiot. The first faction resembles mostly what the original exploration missions were: to observe and report things of scientific significance back to earth. This faction is comprised of people of significant intellectual distinction, and these hosts are allowed to exist dually (meaning that they are mentally capable of living simultaneously in space AND on earth without suspended stasis.)
The second faction is the colonists, comprised of a select group of people who maintain the livability on fourteen of the twenty seven planets. Their symbiots live the sort of life that host men and women would if they were capable of traveling to the planets so far discovered. These Hosts live in stasis on earth, that is to say, the host bodies are kept at a secret base in suspended animation while their brains live through the strange conditions of living on a foreign planet. To this faction, their space lives are their ONLY lives, the justification of which being that otherwise they would shrink from planet-conditional difficulties by simply disconnecting from the symbiot. This singular existence is a chosen one and the colonists are quite happy living their natural lives on these foreign planets, each having jobs, relationships, and local governments (as earth government allows.)
While the first two factions are host-bound, the third is a product of unforeseen circumstances that are yet to be fully explained. The second ever colonist transfer (the act of sending a group of symbiots through the G.M.T.P.A. while simultaneously placing host bodies into stasis) produced an unusual reaction: one of the symbiots operated without a host.
This incident was not discovered until a group of host bodies accidentally died on earth while in stasis due to a mechanical malfunction. Naturally, the adjacent symbiots died on their foreign planets without their host brain, with the exception of one, Mr. Robert Wein, an ore minor. It seems that the moment Mr. Wien’s symbiot passed through the G.M.T.P.A., the host body was disconnected. This was not immediately detected because the body was in stasis, the symbiot was obviously unaware that he was any different from the rest of the colonists, and existed among them as he would have, having the same mind and knowledge as his host. Mr. Wein worked as a colonist for ten years before the discovery was made and the world became aware of this occurrence due to the malfunction. The third faction has since separated itself from the other two factions, reporting to no one and considering themselves natives of their subsequent planets. As the colonists host bodies aged and died, more and more singularities were discovered as the symbiot continued to exist beyond. Since symbiots are biological, they can die as easily as a human can, however, the mechanical aspects of a symbiot allow it to have an unnatural long life beyond the host (something that was theorized but not proven until the Wein Incident).
Originally the “third kind” (as they are now known) remained unaware of their condition until the host body died (as in Mr. Wein’s case, when every passenger of his colony transfer unit simultaneously died and brought attention to his situation.) New colonist/explorer arrivals are now tested to confirm perfect synchronization with the host brain upon arrival. Even slight differences in brain pattern indicate a “third-ness” and the host body is brought out of stasis to live a normal life on earth while the symbiot is allowed to defect from the colony if he/she wishes.
Typically, a symbiot will attempt a normal existence in the colony, as all colonists are now aware of the possibility before recruitment, but some immediately defect (leading to the theory that some recruits enlist exactly for this possible eventuality.) Earth’s government has since deemed these peoples independent and not bound by Earth law with the proviso that they maintain the “great lie” for the sake of remaining host-bound symbiots. It is unknown whether a third kind can reproduce at this time.
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THE GREAT MAGNATEMPORAL PORTAL APPARATUS
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The G.M.T.P.A., as it is known, has become the hub of all extra-planetary travel for the planet earth, but its origins are less than unifying. When the theory that a black hole could not only be artificially created, but controlled with pinpoint accuracy, was introduced by the World Science League on international television in 2015, the original response wasn’t a gracious one.
The fears of the public were (debatably) unfounded, but the fact that the W.S.L. had private funding and the president’s favor were lubricant enough to push the project forward without much hesitation. In fact, most of the world wasn’t even aware that the W.S.L. had purchased the entire state of Utah and relocated its citizens to the Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe, as the residents were given a considerable sum to relocate without drawing media attention.
The colossal machine, which houses a electro-magnetic chamber the size of the Empire State Building, was constructed over four years, pushing the walls of the outer complex to the very borders of the state (and slightly over, according to Nevada officials.) When the machine was completed in 2019, a press conference was held to announce that the experiment had been a success, and the power to create and control an artificial black hole had indeed been achieved.
The world also learned that an early initial accident had informed that the ratio of black hole to planet mass had to be exact (roughly the size of a converse shoe box in diameter,) and once public media was allowed to visit the complex, it was discovered that the early incident had been an incorrect attempt at this ratio. Two of the four construction years had been spent reinforcing the enormous hole that the initial too-large black hole had dug (or more accurately, enveloped, reportedly in under ten minutes) beneath the patch of the earth that had once been Utah. The portion of earth that was usurped into space has since been discovered to be orbiting Calypso, one of Saturn’s smaller satellites.
It is estimated that the bottom of the hole (or Folly’s Canyon, as it is known) is a mere eight hundred miles above the planets core, and had Dr. Thomas Gross not attempted a hither-then untested maneuver to close the portal on October 4, 2017, the world may have been curious as to why every volcano on earth had suddenly started violently erupting, but it wouldn’t have had long to ponder even the basic human need to stockpile eggs and bread before the entire planet exploded seventeen seconds later.
So it was that the world followed the initial unveiling of the G.M.T.P.A. and the tragic maiden voyage of the astronaut mice Max and Ira in 2021, whose life-tether burned in two in front of billions on national television. This incident concluded two things: that the artificial black hole was a kinetic creation, meaning any matter not traveling at least 35 mph through its surface would super heat and melt, and that every town in America would have at least one street named “Max and Ira Drive.”
The World Science League DID succeed in gathering knowledge of far-off space by sending battery-powered robot cameras through the portal and “catching” the apparatus with well-placed “receiver holes,” but as far as the public was concerned, they had achieved not much more than a glorified Hubble telescope, and interest in the whole project was tepid and historically academic after the first year.
In 2030 Rosalyn Gross’s famous experiment with her own N.E.W.MAN made headlines.
Suddenly the possibilities for the G.M.T.P.A. were endless, and in 2035 the course of human history was changed forever with the launching of the “ZUES” Extra-planetary Analysis Vehicle. The first five people to visit the far reaches of the universe: Dr. Thomas Gross, Prof. Melvin Braindridge, Derek Banner, Madeleine Ho, and the controversial singer/songwriter Clarita Herrera (chosen for the project reportedly because of her extraordinary talent for metaphorically describing the beauty of nature in song, in addition to having a master’s degree in astrophysics,) became international personalities for their contributions to the advancement of the human race, and also enjoy near world-wide post-mortem street signage.
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THE ZEUS PROJECT or, THE ART OF HITTING A BUMBLEBEE WITH A SNIPER RIFLE AT 500 YARDS
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The ZEUS project was the first attempt at sending symbiots into space, and the early exploration and discoveries of the “ZEUS 5” planted the seeds for the 14 colonies now (symbiotically) inhabited by a sixteenth of earth’s population, but it was no mean feat to develop the science behind that first successful voyage, even with seemingly impossible leaps in technology like the N.E.W.MAN and the G.M.T.P.A. bracing the potential fall.
“Controlling where an artificial black hole will appear on the other side is like hitting a bumblebee with a sniper rifle at 500 yards,” said a noticeably perspiring (and excitedly manic) Dr. Thomas Gross to the camera during the first “televised walking tour” of the G.M.T.P.A. “Fortunately,” he winked as he prepared to demonstrate the delicate process to a handful of world leaders and media titans, “I have a steady hand.”
In 2030, the G.M.P.T.A. was no longer a scientific novelty with no clear path; it was the tool with which humanity was preparing to touch the farthest stars. The two most important people in that series of events where the doctors Thomas and Rosalyn Gross, then newlywed in 2029, and the foundation they laid with the Zeus program was indispensable. “We are working close with the architects of the original lunar space missions to create a miniature exploration vessel that will allow four or five symbiotic passengers to exist comfortably in outer space,” said Mrs. Gross of the ZUES development, “The craft must be able to maneuver in space as well as land and take off from a planet’s surface.
Theoretically, we could just open a portal directly on a planet’s surface, but without the electromagnetic chamber on the other side, the result would be similar to the Folly’s Canyon incident, and we’d be ripping holes in every planet we encountered.”
The final craft was simplistically designed to sustain the miniature lives of five miniature astronauts, most of the non-scientific equipment being collaboratively designed and donated by the Tiny Lives Corporation, the original textile subsidiary of HANSCO that specialized in miniature clothing/dietary supplements and accessories for the independent N.E.W.MAN enterprises.
Replicas of the original Zeus 5 jumpsuits (though not technically functional for space travel) have been a perennial gift for countless personal N.E.W.MAN wardrobes over the years, the most popular (predictably) being the Clarita Herrera edition “Tijuana Yellow” jumpsuit that made her symbiot the center of media attention in a Time magazine photo shoot three months before the first launch of the ZEUS. Not to be upstaged by her symbiot, Ms. Herrera demanded that she have a human-sized version of the suit made for her to wear on the day of launch, though she had it taken in considerably.
The launch took place at 12:45 AM on New Year’s Day, 2035. At one end of the 1,500 foot long electro-magnetic chamber was the tiny ship, armored with every precautionary measure that could be predicted on a trip into the unknown. The world watched as the ZEUS slowly started moving on its long single-rail track headed towards the artificial black hole in the center of the chamber. Upon impact, the vehicle had reached sixty eight miles an hour (predicted to be the safest speed at which to approach the portal at that time, versus the now standard seventy-two mph,) and exited the other side of the black hole in space one thousand miles above the surface of Jupiter.
The Earth-bound ZEUS 5 hosts reported their mission as their symbiots attempted a “fly-by” of Jupiter’s surface (upon the atmospheric entry of which miss Herrera’s host body and symbiot simultaneously became nauseous, leading to the more-popular “Space Vomit” limited edition of the yellow jumpsuit accessory.)
The initial trip lasted ten hours, and the crew of the Zeus returned safety in the return portal that could now be accurately triangulated due to the natural advantages of a symbiotic relationship. The modern space program was born.
As Mankind delved deeper and deeper into space, far beyond our galaxy and into amazing new territories, it was deemed not only feasible but prudent that colonization should begin on some of the habitable planets that had been discovered. The second faction of space explorers, the colonists, were carefully selected and transported over the next three years to the first habitable planet, Toles IV (the second transport trip resulting in the strange case of Mr. Robert Wein and the accidental creation of the third faction,) acting through their symbiots as they learned to live on a foreign planet while their bodies stayed in stasis on earth.
It has been discovered through extensive space travel that there is a round-about standard to proportions throughout the universe. Despite early pipe-dreams that man might discover a “tiny planet” for the symbiots to thrive on, Earth-like planets all seem to have Earth-like proportions, putting colonists at a natural disadvantage.
Newmen comfortably live on Earth in an artificial world constructed and protected by their hosts, however, outer space forcefully demands a new level of problem solving skills, most of which are directly related to the (hitherto unshaken) fact that nothing naturally proportionate to symbiots think as we do.
While the stature of the colonists is observationally advantageous, the flora/ fauna of the wildest depths of unknown space can be extremely dangerous for miniature people.
The technology initially developed for the earliest colonies was designed to protect against mid-size earth-standard beasts, as it seemed larger animals typically ignored a symbiot the way a average man might be unaffected by an field full of insects. Of course precautionary measures were always taken, but few significant incidents were ever reported until the discovery of the BAS HAREEM, or “lizard folk” in the desert region of Toles VII in 2049.
The Bas Hareem are typically the size of a Labrador by earth-standards, and are most commonly compared (culturally at least) to being the Aztec people of their planet. The parallels in these comparisons primarily reference the technological level of achievement and the unexpectedly warm reception received by the symbiots from the highly religious and superstitious lizard people (referring to the reverence that dwarf humans were lauded in the Aztec culture.)
Colonists on Toles VIII receive treatment most similar to the Newmen of Earth as curiosities to be enjoyed and not feared. The hierarchy of the Bas Hareem have allowed mankind to learn and be taught by their native people, and are considered important allies by the World Government.
It must be noted, however, that symbiots have never been allowed into the religious or political sanctuaries of the Bas Hareem, and some of the practices that produce certain “miraculous” demonstrations performed by the native peoples wont (or possibly cant, it has been theorized) be taught.
Regardless of complications that might arise should the Bas Hareem ever discover that their little friends are actually controlled by creatures they would consider giants, our beneficial relationship with the lizard folk expanded our collective interest and lessened the fear of alien culture exponentially until the next intelligent creature, the Rostmen, were discovered.
The Rostmen were not officially given the label of “intelligent being” until an incident concerning a meticulously planned ambush that cost the lives of three dozen colonists forced scientists to acknowledge their cunning and ability to organize. Information on the Rostmen has typically been classified as “need to know” by the World Government, and besides their savage tendencies and physical appearance, very little information has been made public.The Modern Space Program was adopted by the World Government shortly after the success of the Zeus 5 and has since become its primary benefactor. Working with the World Science League on all space-related endeavors, it follows that technical information and media coverage of any modern advancement has decreased dramatically as the G.M.T.P.A. and the three hundred and seventy five million colonist’s host bodies must be kept protected in stasis, a much more complicated and serious process which requires the secrecy and order that only the world government can efficiently manage.
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End of Part Two, part three will include some fake ads I made as part of the alternate universe.
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