Memoirs of Kitty Siam Ch. 41

Once the display was up of her brain we were able to walk around the hologram and take notes of the different areas that affected higher learning, but we could see no obvious damage. I have to admit that my medical training was limited to emergency first aid, but one thing that helped was being connected to the Central Core by wireless and I was able to interrogate the medical database to help fill in the gaps in my medical knowledge.

Once I was certain that there was no damage to her brain I asked the Central Core computer to take control of the scan information and play it forward like a movie from start to finish to show the electrical activity in each part of her brain as the scan progressed. The moving hologram in front of the alter drew a small crowd over the thirty minutes that it took for the entire scan to play. I had noticed during the initial playback that several areas of her brain that dealt with long term memory, detailed cognitive processes, and higher levels of comparative thinking were dark and showed no electrical activity other than the minimal amount needed to keep the brain tissue in those areas alive.

The next step was to run the playback again in slow motion and observe these areas closely. This time the playback took nearly four hours and during this time the sun began to set and the lights from the hologram could now be seen flicking in the village below. When the crew tasked to illuminate the shrine came to perform their nightly ritual I asked them not to light the torches and caldrons as the darkness aided my visualization of the hologram. The villagers did not know what to make of what they were seeing so some of them knelt and began to chant prayers to the Great Maker, and even Jobu joined them, as he was also lost as to what he was seeing. I could see that Diya was struggling to understand as well and I did my best to explain what we were looking at and what we were looking for.

Once the slow motion replay was completed I was still confounded as to why certain areas of her brain were showing minimal activity when there was no damage visible. My next thought was to conduct the same scan on a few of the other villagers and when I asked for volunteers similar in age to Diya, both Sneha and Pesha stepped up to be scanned. It took a little over an hour to scan the two of them. Once the scan was complete I had the scan data displayed in holographic form in front of the alter. This allowed Diya and I to look at all three holographic brains at the same time.

I started the slow motion playback of all three scans and as the holographic movie played we were able to look at the function of all three brains. It was clear to see that all three women had suppressed electrical activity in the same areas of their brains. The conclusion that I had come to was that this was something that all of the villagers had in common, and now I was looking for a reason for this disconnect.

I looked in the Central Core for any similar scans that may have been conducted on the Annunaki that had once lived here and found several scans that met my search perimeters. Only two were female and of the same age group as Diya and my volunteers. I set their scans up to display in the holographic group as I did with my three test subjects and as I watched the electrical patterns play out in detail I could see that the Annunaki women had increased electrical activity where the Pa'u subjects did not. This prompted me to ask the Central Core to run a comparison between the five test subjects and report on the differences.

It was close to dawn when the results were ready to display, and by this time the villagers had gone back to the village to begin their preparations for morning prayers and breakfast. Diya had gone too and returned later with breakfast for the both of us. We ate, talked and poured over the data and it was close to midday when I had my answer. The difference was genetic. The Central Core proposed a theory that the Pa'u and perhaps the inhabitants of the other villages had been genetically manipulated to prevent them from using their natural abilities of higher learning. Their DNA was encoded so that minimal electrical stimulation reached these areas of the brain, which would keep them from questioning their role in society.

Thinking back to the carvings that I deciphered in the caves and tunnels on Mars, and on the writings of the temple on Rontara, it was clear that the Annunaki wanted to keep their worker class subservient and the best way to do that was to prevent them from being able think and learn at a higher level. In other words, they kept their slaves as dumb as possible so that they would not revolt once their realized their position in life. This also got me to thinking about the people that I had encountered on Galora and how they had never progressed past Iron Age technology in over 20,000 years of civilization.

With this in mind I quickly had Diya back on the alter and had the medical scanner do a complete map of her genome. Once the scan was complete it was easy for the Central Core computer to identify the areas that needed to be addressed to correct the problem. Next I referred to the owner's manual and read through the second on DNA resequencing and found the process that I needed to reverse the DNA locks that the Annunaki had imposed on Diya through heredity.

Finding what I needed I keyed in the proper sequence to allow the healing beam to activate, but instead of the beam streaking towards Diya, what I got was a big red flashing security warning. It seems that the Annunaki took steps to prevent anyone from doing what I was attempting to do. This prompted me to review the security settings on the console to see why I could not do this operation and then it occurred to me that the default access level for the console was for someone of Jobu's rank and status. There was no way that the Annunaki would let a lowly monk undo what their genetic engineers had created over 80,000 years ago.

As the security warning flashed I keyed in the logoff command and terminated the monk level access, then issued the command to accept a logon scan from the rectangular security pad mounted into the wall behind the alter. Once I pressed my hand to the reader I felt the familiar tingle as my DNA was scanned and was rewarded with an acceptance tone and the familiar, "Greetings Princess Maew." Having authenticated properly the console would now accept my commands to reprogram Diya's DNA. While I was setting up the DNA probe within the healing module, I also found and changed the DNA programming that would allow Diya's new DNA sequence to be passed along to her offspring so that their thought processes would not be limited.

Reprogramming the DNA for the entire village would be a monstrous task that I planned to avoid, not to mention the chaos that this might cause in the village once everyone was able to think and reason at a higher level. While I was logged into the console I did a little reprogramming of my own and added a few lines of code to the operating system that would make the DNA adjustments necessary to each villager that was scanned and treated at the shrine. The changes would only unlock the portion of the villager's DNA so that the mental locks would only be removed on their offspring. This would allow the local population to gradually regain the power of higher level reasoning and learning. I also transmitted these changes to the Central Core with instructions that this new programming be sent to other shrines and temples that were still online so that the future generations in other villages would also be free thinkers. I knew that once I sent these instructions out that I would have to visit the other shrines and temples to make sure that they were still connected to the Central Core and received the new updates.

Once my changes were submitted and compiled, it took the healing beam forty five minutes to conduct three full passes over her body to reprogram her DNA. The remapping left her a bit wobbly for a few hours as her body and mind adjusted to its new programming. We took the next few days off from shrine maintenance and her education to let her body recover and regain its strength. I have to admit that after that marathon session I too needed some time away from the technology of the shrine.

I was concerned that Diya would suffer some ill effects of the reprogramming but over the next few days I observed none. As she got her strength back she became more inquisitive of the world around her. As we conversed with others I found her asking more questions of them and of me and I could see that she was retaining the things that she had learned. I was not quite ready to start teaching her more about the shrine and its systems so we took it easy and kept away from anything technological.

During our little technological vacation, Diya and I spent a lot of time at the river and walking about the village. I met many more of the villagers and learned more about their lives and their culture. When made our way to the shop owned by Diya's aunt we made an attempt to help her with her daily chores and I found that not only was I escorted away from anything work related, Diya was as well. During the day we made several attempts to join in and help with community projects and we were both escorted out of the way. It seems that Diya was being seen more as my apprentice and perhaps a future Priestess, and like me she was ushered quickly away from manual or demeaning labor that was beneath the status of a holy woman.

The two of us became inseparable and where I went she was right beside me. On the final day of our self-imposed banishment from anything electronic, I took my usual dinner seat with Jobu, Pramunkha, and the village elders, but on this night there was an extra seat at the table for Diya. I knew then that the village leaders had accepted her as my apprentice. As we ate several questions came out about the light show that Diya and I had put on with the holographic representations of the humanoid brain and I did my best to answer most of their questions. What surprised me was when Diya out of the blue began to answer questions from the elders that I thought were way above her level of understanding. This was confirmation that I had successfully reprogrammed the genetic locks that had suppressed her ability to comprehend complex subject matter. Unfortunately the elders had not been reprogrammed and they were incapable of understanding what we were saying but they nodded in agreement as if they did. I suppose it was their way of saving face.

I watched Diya for a while and checked her answers, and only on several occasions did I have to correct her on minor issues. Of course I made my corrections in private, and I found that Diya was diligent enough to track down each elder involved in the conversation and let them know that she had made a mistake before providing the correct answer to their question. As the days turned into weeks Diya was able to take over the day to day operations of the shrine's healing system which relieved Jobu to relax and enjoy what little time he had left. This also allowed me to delve deeper into the shrine's systems.

My exploration of the shrine's systems required me to make many trips under the alter to the facility below. Over time I began to take Diya with me and explain what I was doing and what I was looking for. After several weeks we put it all together and once again I had to swear Diya to secrecy. The shrine did contain a weather control system for this village and a search of the diagrams and plans in the Central Core revealed that each village on the outside rim of a giant circle contained a one piece of a defense system that protected the villages and the Central Command center. In the event of an attack or other emergency the small control rooms would be manned and provide a backup control center for the neighboring defense node, as well as monitor and provide support for the node they were controlling.

The circle was not only marked by the villages; in between the villages were a curved line of marker stones that outlined the coverage circle of the various deflectors. From the information we were able to recover, whenever a village was threatened an individual deflector could be activated to protect the village from a wild fire, severe storm, or some other form of disaster. In the event of a major threat the deflectors from each village and the temple above the Central Command facility would provide an energy barrier in the shape of a dome that would protect everything inside the ring of marker stones. Upon learning this I assigned the maintenance bots to explore and map out the underground passages that lead to the various shrines and to begin working to restore the highspeed subway system that connected all of the shrines to each other and to the Central Command facility.

In all the time that I had spent with the Pa'u the maintenance bots had done a fantastic job of getting the Central Command facility restored to a fully operational condition. Unfortunately it was restored to a condition that was about 60,000 years out of date. Inside my PDA and contained within Sheba were the plans and schematics to make a 40,000 year technological advance in the Central Command facility and its Central Core. The first thing that I needed to do was to prepare the Central Core to be able to accommodate the Sheba AI. Over time I submitted detailed schematics to Maintenance Control to have bots assigned to upgrade a specific systems. I tried to disguise what my intentions were when I issued my orders as I was not sure how well the Central Core computer would take it if it figured out what I was planning to do.

At the end of this particular week I had gone to the river with Diya and Jobu. As Diya and I assisted in bathing Jobu he brought up the subject of the King's coronation anniversary. He had made the decision that he would be unable to attend due to his condition but insisted that the village shrine be represented in the procession of the monks at the coronation festival. Jobu had spoken with the Chief and the village elders and recommended that I take his place. He warned me that the other holy men from the other villages might not be receptive to the idea accepting of a woman in their ranks, but he believed that as a Priestess I was the logical choice to go in his place. Jobu informed me that he would prepare a letter of introduction under his seal for me to present to the Grand Monk in the hope that he would accept me in Jobu's place. After all, it had been many generations since any village or town had a Priestess, so any assistance from Jobu would be welcome.

We talked at length about the ceremony and he filled me in on the details. Every five years the King celebrated the anniversary of his ascension to the throne and during the celebration the monks would get together to discuss the religious issues concerning their villagers. The Grand Monk who was always the monk that was assigned to the King's temple would take what ever was discussed and agreed upon to the King. Since the King appointed the Grand Monk, he usually got his way when it came to matters of the shrines and temples.

Diya would remain in the village to assist Jobu and to continue the treatment that I had set up for him to reduce his pain to make his final days more peaceful. The night before we left the village I had given Diya instructions on how to contact me if she needed my assistance. I had set up several macros in the function keys on one of the consoles under the shrine that would allow her to ping my internal wireless receiver. This would let me know that she was calling and I could respond when I was able.

I was not sure how long our journey would take but as Jobu handed his introduction letter to me as we boarded the boat that would take us north. I was sure that this would be the last time I would see Jobu due to his failing health. I accepted his letter and hugged him tightly. We held our embrace for a few minutes and then as we parted I softly kissed his cheek and wished him well. Along with the introduction letter Jobu presented me with a hand written book of his favorite prayers and chants. When no one was looking I used the wardrobe device to store Jobu's book for safekeeping. Along the journey I thought of Jobu and the book that he had given me and I felt that this was his way of passing the torch to me as he too knew that he would be joining the Great Maker before we could be together again. As Diya watched us, I could see in her eyes that she knew it as well. Her red eyes and the tears streaming down her cheeks were a dead give away.

I took my place at the bow of the boat as instructed by its Captain. We would be traveling up stream and the places aft of the bow were reserved for the crew and the men who would row the boat. There were twenty-three of us and other than myself, the rest of my traveling companions were male. Being the strong men that they were they were assigned a place on the deck of the flat-bottomed boat where they were expected to assist the crew in rowing. The boat had two canvas sails but their size would only allow them to use the wind to augment the human powered oars as there was not a lot of usable wind on the river. The sails were better suited for coastal sailing.

As we made our way north I had a chance to look over my fellow travelers and converse with some of them when they took a break from rowing. Between the crew and the men traveling with me there were enough rowers for two crews, which allowed one crew to take a few hours rest before returning to rowing. The Chief and his wife were noticeably absent from the group. While they both were in good health, their accumulation of years convinced them that the younger men would fair better on this trip.

The leader of the traveling group was Raku the village Alpha. After picking him out of the crowd I looked around for Raffa and Palu but neither of them had come along. Palu remained back at the village to assist the Chief and fill in for Raku while he was gone. I never learned why Raffa did not make the trip but I snickered to myself when the thought crossed my mind that he might have stayed behind to keep an eye out for spirits in the night that leave wet spots on his mattress. I was hoping that Sneha or Raffa would have made the trip. It would have been nice to travel with someone that I already knew.

The men in my traveling party treated me well and with respect, though the sailors that were assigned to the boat often looked at me in a sexual manner. I was thankful that my assigned place on the boat was up front and away from those men. Those sailors had a pretty foul odor to them and being at the bow of the boat allowed me to escape the stench of sweat and rum.

We traveled for three days up river and stopped each night to sleep. The men made camp in areas that had been well used by previous travelers. I attempted to set up my own tent but Raku would not permit it and assigned a few of the men to tend to my needs. I was truly beginning to feel like Princess/Priestess, though I always tried to assist when I could but just like in the village, my assistance was refused as it was below my station. Of course if someone was sick or injured my help was instantly sought out and I was thankful that I had brought along the now fully charged emergency medical kit. Thankfully I did not have to bring much else with me since the wardrobe device would take care of all of my clothing needs.

Speaking of clothing, the night before we left Jobu had presented me with a new set of saffron robes made in the same style as his own, though custom tailored to fit my slender female form. The robes resembled the white sari that I wore more than the typical style that the monks wore which I was thankful for since I would look pretty silly in Jobu's robes. Unlike the robes that the monks wore, the female version of the garment left the right shoulder bare. When I dressed for the journey the morning we left I used the wardrobe device to scan the robes then recreated the design on my body using the best silk that the device had on file. Since I was going to be wearing these robes for an eleven day trip, I wanted them to be as thin, and comfortable as possible. Of course once I noticed all of my traveling companions were male, I made a quick wardrobe change to add a bra to my ensemble... I did not want to be showing off my thinly covered nipples, which might give someone the wrong idea about my sexual needs at the moment.