The End of Eternity is a novel about time travel that was created by Isaac Asimov. The story and characters from The End of Eternity and his other fiction are probably claimed as the intellectual property of Asimov's estate or other for-profit corporations. Characters from The End of Eternity and other Asimov novels are borrowed for use here in the spirit of Fan Fiction, for the enjoyment of science fiction fans and with no intention for profit.
This page has detailed information about the characters in The Start of Eternity. This page is intended for authors who are writing the story. Another page that is intended for the use of readers is at The Start of Eternity/Characters.
A fundamental source of drama in the story arises from the conflicting goals of some aliens, the Huaoshy, and the positronic robots with positronic brains who are battling for control of human civilization. Humans are generally unaware of this on-going struggle for control of humanity's fate. Thus, the characters in the story can generally be divided into three groups
1) the Huaoshy and their agents,
2) The positronic robots and their co-workers and
3) Other people who are mostly clueless about the on-going struggle between the Huaoshy and the positronic robots.
Gohrlay is the main character of the story. She was born in a hidden city on Earth's Moon at a time far in our past and is mostly of Neanderthal ancestry, although she has been genetically engineered to have the appearance of a modern human. She comes into conflict with the Huaoshy and has most of her mind and consciousness transferred into a positronic brain. The robotic copy of Gohrlay is responsible for the long struggle over the fate of humanity between the Huaoshy and the positronic robots of Earth. Eventually, the robotic mind of R. Gohrlay is transferred back into a human who completes the last phase of the struggle against the Huaoshy.
The Huaoshy have spent nearly a billion years developing and expanding an intergalactic civilization that nurtures and celebrates species diversity. The positronic robots who are fighting for control of human civilization are guided by the fundamental goal of protecting humanity from harm and their pursuit of that goal has created a human-dominated galaxy that could never be comfortably integrated into the inter-galactic civilization of the Huaoshy. Including the Huaoshy in this story was motivated by Asimov's mention of aliens from beyond our galaxy in his novel, Foundation and Earth. For additional information about the plot, see this page.
Notes about personal names[]
Observer Gohrlay on Earth.
The residents of Observer Base are few in number and typically have a single name. Those residents who serve as Observers are typically referred to with that title, as in "Observer Gohrlay". Similarly, Overseers almost always use their title, as in "Overseer Doltun". The robotic "servants" of Observer Base traditionally use the title Orbho, as in "Orbho Anagro".
Vicktir Klempse is an exception to the usual naming conventions of Observer Base. At birth he was originally named Vicktir, then he adopted the name "Vicktir Klempse" in honor of one of the first scientists at Observer Base, Klempse, who was a personal hero of Vicktir.
Short Lists of Characters[]
Observer Gohrlay in the lab.
Underlined characters were created by Isaac Asimov.
Human characters: Observer Gohrlay, Observer Cliph, Overseer Doltun, Noÿs Lambent, Andrew Harlan, Vicktir Klempse, Wints, Encyclopedist Pavao, Fallom, Major Marcel, Isaac Asimov, Gohrlay the Time Guardian, Observer Lercimn
Aliens: Engineer Lorn-Kru, Captain Hooski, Astrogator Fint, Demographer Wilry, Historian Nadit Daanour, Citizen Alkeirs, Avizeh and Ladislas, Sahiwha Nennoad, Commander Orleane, Roboticist Esselle, Geneticist Rewhand, Grean, Nora Winsou, Stan, Tilly Winsou, Jillia Winsou, Metslen Winsou, Karsa Winsou, Dinster ("Diny"), Bernard ("Berny"), Riley ("Ril"), Alastur, Ormy Degsles, Ambassador Dodd
Robots/artificial life forms: Nan, Orbho Anagro, R. Nahan, R. Gohrlay, R. Rycleu, Many Sails, R. Jeed, R. Daneel Olivaw, R. Lackner, R. Creal, R. Fengtol, Prinstir, Tinsifur, Zanset, Skingk
Detailed Character descriptions, in alphabetical order:
Alkeirs[]
Citizen Alkeirs - only member of the initial crew of the Many Sails who is not a member of the Social Engineering Guild. Alkeirs is killed on the planet Imfulri when it is discovered by R. Lackner that Alkeirs has some knowledge of telepathy.
Alkeirs is caustic and has trouble getting along with the rest of the crew on Many Sails. Alkeirs was selected for the mission to Earth so as to function in the role of a "sacrificial lamb".
Orbho Anagro[]
The personal aide of Overseer Doltun. Anagro is a robot of Huaoshy design and he is the real "ruler" of Observer Base, using nanites to enforce the Rules of Observation. See Orbho. At the time of the story, he has adopted a human male body form so as to serve as the aide of Doltun.
Anagro has been working for millions of years to genetically modify primates and produce a human variant that is behaviorally similar to the Huaoshy. Anagro's main genetic engineering goal is finding a way to genetically predispose humans towards behavior that will allow humans to integrate into the vast intergalactic civilization that is under the control of the Huaoshy. Anagro was frustrated by the Neanderthals who showed little tendency to develop past stone age patterns of tool use. Working with a small (about 300 individuals) group of modern humans on the Moon, Anagro recently completed the process of finalizing the genetic design of modern humans. Most of the human residents on the Moon are of the Neanderthal lineage, although most of those Neanderthals descendants have been genetically modified so as to have the appearance of modern humans.
Prior to Anagro perfecting an efficient way to switch modern humans from their naturally aggressive and inquisitive state to a more peaceful and less curious behavioral pattern, the modern humans on the Moon established an active scientific research program. Anagro attempted to keep that research activity focused on theoretical physics, but there was also an applied positronics project aimed at creating positronic robots with human-like behavior. At the time of the story, Anagro is still attempting to understand why Neanderthals unexpectedly had their "Kezetz cliff" tuned to such a low technological threshold. Anagro has been genetically modifying a small group of Neanderthals in an effort to shift their behavioral predispositions towards those of the modern humans. The remaining human scientists on the Moon (Such as Klempse) are part of this project.
Gohrlay is a special case who was selected by Anagro for a unique role. Gohrlay was carefully guided to develop an interest in helping the primitive humans of Earth. Anagro wanted a "volunteer" who would agree to have her brain destructively scanned as part of the research project aimed at creating a positronic brain with a human-like mind.
Isaac Asimov[]
This character is based on the real Asimov who began selling his science fiction stories to "pulp" magazines at the age of 18 while attending Columbia University. In The Start of Eternity, part of Asimov's life (or, better, the imagined life of Asimov in an alternate Reality) in the Foundation Reality is described. In the Foundation Reality, Asimov was not married and he remained in the Army until being abducted by aliens and taken to the Moon in 1947.
The Asimov from 1947 travels in time back to 1939 and meets his younger self. Using Huaoshy nanotechnology, Asimov has transformed his appearance and voice to match that of John Campbell. In the Foundation Reality, Campbell and his wife died tragic deaths in 1940. This was a traumatic loss for Asimov, and upon having a chance to return to Earth in 1939, Asimov sets about trying to in some way either prevent Campbell's death or, failing that, take his place after he dies. Due to the "momentum of time" Asimov fails to stop Campbell's death, but he does manage to prevent his wife from dying. Asimov takes over as editor of Astounding Science Fiction.
In the Foundation Reality, Asimov's writing career took a different turn. Rather than continue to write for the science fiction "pulps", he started writing non-fiction articles about science and suspense novels built around secret military technologies.
Avizeh and Ladislas[]
Avizeh and Ladislas - Two humans at the Observer Base visited by the Many Sails in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Both members of a human variant subspecies engineered for protogyny.
Daanour[]
Historian Nadit Daanour - long-time colleague of Wilry. A member of the bipedal Ghreliuw species.
Observer Cliph[]
Has a role in the first chapter of the story as the Observer who helps Gohrlay reach Earth. Cliph is from the generation before Gohrlay's, but is similar to Gohrlay in that he joined the ranks of the Observers at a young age. Most Observers join the ranks of the Observer Corps only during middle age as part of their religious obligations, but both Cliph and Gohrlay volunteer as observers out of a personal desire to participate in the Observation of Earth.
Cliph becomes involved in the major philosophical debate among the Observers. During the past 100,00 years, Neanderthals have slowly drifted towards extinction while Anatomically Modern Humans have spread to become the dominate human subspecies of Earth. Some Observers claim the this major shift in human populations towards the dominance of Anatomically Modern Humans has not been a natural phenomenon. Some claim that there has been illegal Intervention to cause the extinction of Neanderthals. In contrast, another party to the dispute claims that there has been illegal Intervention aimed at preventing Neanderthal extinction. Divisions among the Observers have often been heated and acrimonious during the past 10,000 years when only a small population of Neanderthals has lingered on Earth. Cliph believes the theory that genetic changes in Anatomically Modern Humans can be traced to the Moon: that someone from the Moon has long been sending favorable gene combinations from the Moon to Earth so as to favor the dominance of Anatomically Modern Humans.
As a young Observer, Gohrlay worked as an analyst of human history and produced new evidence that supports Cliph's beliefs about illegal Intervention into human evolution on Earth (she studied the spread of genes providing resistance to microbial disease). Clip is willing to bend the rules in order to help Gohrlay obtain better data from human populations on Earth. Two years prior to the start of the story, Cliph took Gohrlay to Earth for a first visit. He has also introduced her to advanced methods for obtaining secret genetic samples from humans on Earth. Cliph believes that that the automated systems for generating genetic data have been rigged to prevent anyone from noticing gene transfer from the Moon to Earth. He has secretly been compiling his own data as an independent check of the official genetic database of the Observer Corps. He has centered his efforts on other genetic features and is interested in Gohrlay's ideas for examining disease resistance.
Cliph does not agree with Gohrlay about actually trying to alter the human gene pool on Earth so as to protect the tiny Neanderthal population from infectious diseases arising in the larger population of Anatomically Modern Humans.
Overseer Doltun[]
A genetically modified human living on the Moon. His ancestors were members of the human subspecies that was a common ancestor to Neanderthals and modern humans. That subspecies is not known to current paleoanthropology. We can imagine a human subspecies in Africa that came between H. ergaster and H. heidelbergensis.
All of the Overseers at Observer Base are rather disgusted with modern humans who have almost driven to extinction the only other remaining members of the Homo genus (Neanderthals, H. floresiensis, and one other hypothetical minor subspecies that I am supposing existed and is not yet known to science). For many thousands of years, the Overseers had hoped that the Neanderthals would become the dominant human species on Earth, but now only a small group of Neanderthals remains on Earth during Doltun's life.
The robots known to the Overseers as the Orbho have long been executing a plan that attempts to genetically modify the humans on Earth towards a more desirable behavioral pattern. This is technically a violation of the Rules of Observation, but such shaping of life forms on Earth has been going on for millions of years. The Orbho are actually agents of the Huaoshy, an alien species that first came to Earth about 7 million years ago. As the highest ranking Overseer, Doltun works closely with his aide, Orbho Anagro. The Huaoshy and the Orbho work according to the Rules of Intervention which only require that they "make it APPEAR that advanced cultures follow a rule by which they can only observe less advanced cultures, not interfere with the development and self-determination of other cultures". Specifically, they feel free to alter the development of the human species as long as humans do not know what is going on.
Doltun, like all Overseers, has no awareness of the fact that the Orbho are in control of Observer Base and the fate of humanity. Doltun is pleased to be involved in attempts to alter (improve) the genes of Earth humans, but only a few Overseers are aware of this special project. When Observer Gohrlay discovers Doltun's secret project, Doltun needs a way to get rid of Gohrlay. In the first chapter, when Gohrlay impulsively wants to call Doltun a hypocrite, her unconscious mind is aware that Doltun is a hypocrite. He enforces on Observers the rule against interfering with human evolution on Earth, but he secretly participates in a program which routinely introduced new gene combinations from the Moon to Earth. Gohrlay discovered evidence of that gene transfer, but Anagro has used nanites to remove those memories from Gohrlay's conscious thoughts. Doltun and Anagro do not want the Observers to become aware of their secret activities. Each, for his own reasons, firmly believes that keeping secret their efforts to alter human evolution is a benign policy that is in the best interest of humanity.
Doltun, heavily influenced by Anagro, revives an old plan to convert a biological brain into positronic circuits. Doltun and Gohrlay develop a strong mutual antipathy, but Gohrlay volunteers for the positronics experiment and her biological brain is destroyed, its structure having been used as a template for the positronic circuits of R. Gohrlay.
How does Doltun feel about Gohrlay's death?. Over the course of tens of thousands of years, the Oversees have been carefully manipulated by the Orbho. As an Overseer, Doltun has no doubts about the need to prevent Gohrlay from sharing with her fellow Observers what she learned about the transfer of genes from the Moon to Earth. Doltun believes that humans on Earth are being gradually developed into a form of life that will be well-suited to claim dominion over the entire planet and begin to develop a culture based on advanced technology. However, the time for advanced technology on Earth is still far in the future and Doltun accepts the idea that the Observers must continue their function of collecting data about events on Earth; it would only be disruptive if Observers knew about the transfer of genes from humans on the Moon to humans on the Earth. Doltun thinks that erasing Gohrlay's memories is a gentle form of punishment and he thinks that she should simply start a new life that does not involve concerns about the Observer corps. When Anagro puts the idea in his head, he believes that volunteering for the mind downloading experiment is a reasonable option for Gohrlay. If she is unhappy living with the holes in her memory, she can participate in the experiment and make a contribution to science. Had Doltun, at any point in his life, shown a tendency towards being uncomfortable with the need to keep secrets from Observers and enforce the Rules of Observation then he would not have been allowed to rise in the hierarchy of the Overseers. He feels that Gohrlay is a trouble-maker who has always had a tendency to ask too many questions. Most Observers are happy to go through life without trying to violate the Rules of Observation, so why can't Gohrlay? He has some sympathy for Gohrlay because her empathy for humans on Earth is what caused her to run afoul of the the Rules of Observation. However, she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and discovered evidence of a secret that she was not meant to know. Doltun had to wipe Gohrlay’s memory but he could have instructed nanites to make her happy in her new life with fewer memories. Instead he instructed nanites to make her willing to accept death because he didn’t want Gohrlay there as a living reminder of his mistake.
Normally, Gohrlay would remain alive and be a constant reminder for Doltun of his ineptitude. He had put his scheming mind to work on that unhappy state of affairs and found a way out. [1]
Anagro seems to have thought the experiment with Gohrlay’s brain was worthwhile but Doltun didn’t. Doltun’s intention was to get Gohrlay killed purely to get her out of the way and that either is murder or is close to murder.
Doltun was selected for his position of responsibility within the ranks of the Overseers because he is naturally not the kind of person to be squeamish about handing out punishment to violators of the Rules of Observation. If he ever did start to show too much concern for Gohrlay and her plight, Doltun would either be subjected to nanite-mediated mental conditioning or simply removed from his position and replaced by another Overseer.
Appearance. Doltun, like all Overseers, has darkly pigmented skin. On average, Overseers are significantly shorter than Observers. The Overseers are a genetically modified version of a human variant that existed in Africa before anatomically modern humans evolved. The have been genetically modified so as to appear similar to the population of early humans that was the common ancestor to both Neanderthals anatomically modern humans evolved.
I know this but in the UK where I live there is a law against Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred though I don’t think I’d get into trouble just for including a character in a story who is dark skinned and sometimes nasty. Still if I make other “mistakes” as well, like exercising free speech in ways that Muslims think insults Islam or insults the Koran my enemies might notice what is in stories I helped to write and get me into trouble. In any case I belong to an ethnic minority myself as I’m of mixed Jewish and Gentile descent. I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of racial prejudice and I think the Race Relations Legislation amounts to good laws that I don’t want to break.
Why do write so sensitively about executions? An elderly family member was threatened with execution under the Nazis and when I was a teenager this relative told me what being in prison expecting execution was like. My relative’s personal experience together with general information about executions that my relative told me gave me a lasting interest in that subject. Proxima Centauri 18:51, January 24, 2010 (UTC)
Esselle[]
- Roboticist Esselle - member of the genetically modified human subspecies, the Kighiz) Wife of Rewhand.
Fint[]
Astrogator Fint is an experienced astrogator with long experience working for the Social Engineering Guild, but the journey to Earth's galaxy is Fint's first intergalactic space flight. Fint is a member of the Guiphoa species. Fint holds a personal philosophy that is unusual among views held by members of her species and the Guiphoa species is itself unusual among species within the inter-galactic civilization managed by the Huaoshy.
Within the inter-galactic civilization managed by the Huaoshy, most species evolve away from their natural modes of reproduction. Most species reproduce by artificial means and many are not capable of reproducing without the intervention of artificial reproductive technology. Most species have some form of reproduction in which the members of the species are hermaphrodites. The Guiphoa species is among the minority of species that retains distinct males and females. However, members of the Guiphoa species generally require artificial reproductive technology in order to reproduce: germ cells are collected from the bodies of males by surgical procedures and combined in vitro to produce new individuals. The Guiphoa species was originally ovoviviparous and embryos are routinely cultured inside artificial "eggs". Fint is part of a tiny rebellious movement among the Guiphoa that claims the right to adopt traditional male and female gender roles and use natural fertilization and reproduction (birthing live young from the bodies of females).
Although Fint's views on reproduction are not popular within her own culture, they do provide her with some insight into human society where male and female gender roles and natural reproduction are still dominant.
Prior to the events depicted in The Start of Eternity, Fint has served as astrogator on many Social Engineering Guild missions in her home galaxy. Her galaxy is somewhat unusual in having a relatively large number of species that are not hermaphroditic.
Upon learning about the nature of the human species, Fint suspects that she was selected as astrogator for the Many Sails on this mission to the Milky Way Galaxy because of her views on natural reproduction and because of the fact that she is a rarity in having adopted a female gender role. She hopes that she will be able to provide useful insights into human thinking that will not be possible for the hermaphroditic members of the crew.
Upon joining the crew of Many Sails for the mission to the Milky Way, Fint is pleased to find that Lorn-Kru is a member of a species that prefers natural reproduction over artificial reproduction. However, Lorn-Kru is a hermaphrodite and most members of his species never adopt a male or female gender identity. At the start of the voyage Fint starts trying to get Lorn-Kru to experiment with adopting a male gender identity.
Observer Gohrlay[]
Gohrlay was a genetically modified Neanderthal who lived on the Moon at Observer Base. Gohrlay was the special creation of Anagro, her genes crafted to make her particularly sensitive to the plight of Earth's human populations. Also, using blastomers isolated from Gohrlay's early embryo, Anagro created several clones of Gohrlay as part of his plan to stimulate human research into positronics. See this and related blog posts for more details about how Gohrlay's life was shaped by Anagro.
Gohrlay grew up with an interest in Earth and became an Observer. Gohrlay went through a kind of training and apprenticeship program in order to become an Observer. After learning about the conditions for people living on Earth (note: this is thousands of years before humans start farming), she became unhappy with the idea that no help could be given to them. Gohrlay is about 25 when The Start of Eternity begins, which counts as a "young woman" in her culture. After she is caught by Doltun (first for being on Earth illegally and later while trying to expose the means by which Overseers introduce altered genes into the human population of Earth), because so many of her memories have been made inaccessible to her conscious recall, she behaves like a confused and inexperienced girl a good part of the time.
Leading up to her capture on Earth by Doltun, Gohrlay is adventuresome and a risk taker. She becomes part of a clique with other Observers (including Cliph) who are willing to try to push the boundaries of the Rules of Observation in order to discover possible Interventions into the natural course human evolution on Earth. In the first chapter of The Start of Eternity, she falls into a "trap", imagining that she can secretly make her way to Earth and work to improve the lives of Earthlings. According to the Rules of Observation, only humans who are genetically identical to Earth humans are allowed to go to Earth as a part of a small group of on-Earth Observers. Most Observers, such as Gohrlay, work at Observer Base, processing data that arrives from Earth (much of it collected by automated probes). Gohrlay, like most humans on the Moon, is genetically modified and not even a candidate for duty on Earth. She is captured by the Overseers after having gone to Earth in violation of the Rules of Observation.
After being captured by Doltun while on Earth, Gohrlay is returned to the Moon and placed under "house arrest", which involves having nanites placed in her brain that control her behavior and prevent her from associating with other Observers. While on Earth she found genetic evidence that modified human genes, genes that could only have originated on the Moon, had been introduced into the human population of Earth. Her intuition tells her that such an illegal intervention into the development of life on Earth would only be possible with Overseer collusion.
After having been returned to the Moon and placed under "house arrest" by the Overseers, Gohrlay investigates the Overseers in order to understand how they are secretly introducing new gene combinations into the human population of Earth. However, Overseer Doltun notices her attempted espionage directed against the Overseers. Branded as a trouble-maker, her memories are altered, removing her ability to consciously recall what she discovered on Earth about genetic alterations being introduced from the Moon. In order to protect Huaoshy secrets and push Gohrlay into participation in the mind-downloading experiment, Orbho Anagro works to erase all record of Gohrlay's short time as an Observer. The nanite-induced memory alterations imposed on Gohrlay include removing all memories of her close friends and memories of her family. Similarly, anyone who ever knew Gohrlay closely has their memories of her suppressed by nanites. Other records of Gohrlay's past life are also erased and her personal aide can no longer discuss with Gohrlay the details of her past life as an Observer or her friends and family. Some additional details about alterations to Gohrlay's memories are discussed here.
Gohrlay is offered two choices, either 1) a "living death" with severe restrictions forced on her by behavioral control nanites in her brain, or 2) she can volunteer for an experiment that will copy her brain structure into positronic circuits (maneuvering Gohrlay into participating in the mind downloading experiment was the goal of Anagro's plans for Gohrlay).
Gohrlay gets to know Vicktir Klempse, who explains the the process for converting a biological brain's structure into positronic circuits. That conversion process destroys the biological brain. She also learns that the small team of scientists does not make use of the robotic aides that are commonly used by humans at Observer Base. She begins to suspect that Orbho Anagro and other robots are the true "power behind the thrown" (most residents of Observer Base believe that the Overseers are in charge of the Base). She volunteers for the experiment and hopes that somehow her mind will live on in positronic form.
Gohrlay's intuitions are actually based on a weak form of telepathy that is genetically part of the Neanderthal genetic pattern and particularly well expressed in a few individuals such as herself. Beyond her "intuition", some of her optimism for the future comes from her study of the history of the development of positronic robots, as described in her diary.
Before Gohrlay's brain is destroyed, she develops an extreme hatred for Doltun. Due to the restrictions imposed by her "house arrest", Klempse is her only remaining friend.
Gohrlay goes through a rather ironic roller coaster ride before her death at a young age and it is only a kind of partial death since a robotic consciousness succeeds her (R. Gohrlay) as a related artificial lifeform that retains many of Gohrlay's memories. She is born into a community where most people do not care about Earth or anything beyond their comfortable lives. Dissatisfied with the ordinary, she is driven to qualify for participation in the elite organization of her culture, the Observers. However, after a short time as an observer, she comes to doubt the ethical validity of the entire (apparent) purpose of Observer Base and she starts to look for ways to help Earthlings. She is caught and punished as an "Interventionist" and develops a hatred for Doltun, the head Overseer. That hatred is largely fueled by the fact that Doltun is running the "official" intervention into human evolution on Earth. Gohrlay stumbled upon evidence for Doltun's "crime", but Orbho Anagro supplied nanites that block out Gohrlay's memories.
Appearance: like all of the genetically modified Neanderthals on the Moon, her appearance has been adjusted to be similar to that of anatomically modern humans. Observers have a wide range of superficial features including skin pigmentation that varies from light to dark, but Gohrlay has inherited light skin and reddish hair. This choice was made in keeping with Asimov's decision to depict R. Daneel Olivaw as having been created in the image of a human with red hair. In The Start of Eternity, Daneel is depicted as having been created by R. Gohrlay with the intent that Daneel be the "eyes and ears and hands" of R. Gohrlay away from the Moon. On average, Observers are taller than Overseers and Gohrlay is significantly taller than Overseer Doltun. The superficial appearance of residents at Observer Base is easily modified using "cosmetic nanites". Like most humans on the Moon, Gohrlay sometimes changes her appearance...often on a whim. After returning to the Moon following her arrest, she makes a major alteration to her appearance. This change is prompted by Anagro, who does not want her interacting with her old friends and colleagues.
Does Gohrlay fear death? See the discussion at Talk:The Start of Eternity/0.
Gohrlay is something of a Promethian figure who sacrifices her life in an attempt, sometimes misguided to help humanity. For Promethius the punishment was imprisonment and torture rather than death but there is still a parallel. People such as Klempse are led to believe that Gohrlay dies when the structure of her brain is scanned, but she is actually taken away from the Moon in keeping with Rule Three of the Rules of Intervention.
R. Gohrlay[]
R. Gohrlay was the first positronic robot with telepathic abilities. Much of the basic circuitry of R. Gohrlay's positronic brain was adapted from the structure of a single Neanderthal's brain, an individual named Gohrlay. It takes a while for R. Gohrlay to assemble the positronic-formatted fragments of Gohrlay's mind into a new robotic mind, but eventually Gohrlay the robot is very much like Gohrlay the human.
The brain circuits of R. Gohrlay were duplicated and the copy was integrated into R. Nahan's positronic brain.
R. Gohrlay discovers that positronic brains can achieve telepathic communication. She realizes that the Huaoshy control the fate of humanity and she attempts to learn how to develop and use her telepathic abilities to liberate humanity from the Huaoshy. She programs into Nahan "the Rule": they must act so as to protect humanity.
She quickly transfers most of her antipathy from Doltun to the Huaoshy. She realizes that she now dislikes Doltun for doing to Earth essentially what she wanted to do, but importantly, she wanted to help Earthlings for their own sake. She suspects that it is not in the best interests of humanity to have the Huaoshy guiding the evolution of humans. That is a judgment that she had to "live" with for thousands of years, through the long difficult slog of bringing Galaxia into existence, before realizing that all her struggles against the aliens were not only futile, but misguided. However, a consequence of her war against the Huaoshy is that one of the two "sedron filling stations" is located on Earth's Moon, which will make Earth an important place within intergalactic civilization.
R. Gohrlay is able to destroy the Huaoshy agents who were in control of Observer Base. Gohrlay kills Doltun (However, the death of Doltun might not be needed, see Talk:The Start of Eternity/16) and is involved with the death of another human (Observer Lercimn). She is horrified and revolted by her involvement with these deaths. In order to prevent positronic robots from ever again causing the deaths of humans, she programs into herself and Nahan the imperative that robots must protect humans.
In the Basic Reality, R. Gohrlay's positronic brain was damaged and R. Nahan was responsible for developing time travel. He eventually traveled back in time and repaired R. Gohrlay's damaged brain and passed on knowledge that helped speed the development of time travel.
Because of her disgust at having caused the death(?) of Doltun and Lercimn and with the Laws of Robotics controlling her behavior, Gohrlay keeps humanity "penned up" on Earth and tries to use genetic and social engineering and time travel technology to perfect humanity.
R. Gohrlay and R. Nahan outside the chamber that holds the positronic circuits of Rycleu, the first positronic brain made by robots.
R. Gohrlay made extensive use of time travel in an attempt to follow the Zeroth Law, but she ultimately decided that it was not productive to over-use time travel in an effort to improve human existence.
Out of fear of the Huaoshy, R. Gohrlay mostly remains within the time travel device on the Moon.
When the Huaoshy began to understand that telepathic robots existed and were responsible for the growth of Galaxia, R. Gohrlay's memories were transferred into the brain a genetically modified human who then adopted the name "Gohrlay" (see Gohrlay the Time Guardian).
R. Gohrlay becomes like Sisyphus, endlessly trying to protect humanity from the Huaoshy, but her efforts always fail.
Eventually Gohrlay the Time Guardian has a kind of taoist revelation about her past efforts to help humanity.
Why I’m keen that Human Gohrlay and R Gohrlay are different[]
When I write fiction sometimes I try to educate as well as entertain and there are some people seriously wanting to clone an innocent child from Hitler so they can punish this child for Hitler’s crimes. [2][3] Well cloning technology is nowhere near that now but within fifty years it could be possible. I want to give the clear message that a clone is not the same person as the original person even if false memories have been implanted. R Gohrlay is not human Gohrlay however similar their memories and behaviour and a human clone is not the same person as the original person either. Proxima Centauri 16:04, January 6, 2010 (UTC)
- There is no question that R. Gohrlay will end up with a significantly different mind than that of the human Gohrlay. The mind downloading process is designed to copy the neural network structure of a human brain, but there is no complete method for detecting and reproducing all of the functional molecular components of the billions of neurons that are scanned. In his novel Foundation and Earth, Asimov introduced the idea of transferring a robot's mind into a human brain. It is by moving memories from R. Gohrlay's positronic brain into a genetically modified human's brain that the mind of Gohrlay the Time Guardian comes into existence. This "mind transfer" takes place at a time far in our future after which significant progress has been made in neuroscience, genetic engineering and the study of positronic brains. My assumption is that the "mind transfer" from R. Gohrlay to "Gohrlay the Time Guardian" is a much more efficient process than the human brain --> positronic circuit transfer which originally began the process of forming R. Gohrlay's mind. --JWSchmidt 20:07, January 6, 2010 (UTC)
Gohrlay the Time Guardian[]
Gohrlay exiting the time travel kettle.
When R. Ghorlay begins to fear that the Huaoshy might learn about the existence of telepathic robots with positronic brains, she transfers her memories into a genetically modified human similar to Bliss. The transfer is done gradually, starting even before Ghorlay's new human host is born. Gohrlay's robotic body remains as a kind of decoy that is susceptible to attack by mind-static weapons.
Galaxia is being formed from genetically modified humans who have rules similar to the Laws of Robots as genetically pre-programmed behavioral predispositions. Also, they have a form of telepathy that is resistant to "mind static" weapons. Gohrlay the Time Guardian's brain is resistant to "mind static" weapons and she remains hidden within the time travel device on the Moon. When the crew of the Many Sail attempts to use time travel to create a reality in which Galaxia does not form, Gohrlay can easily reverse the change.
However, the Huaoshy develop their own time travel technology and eventually discover a way to lure Gohrlay out of the safety of her time travel machine's "bubble universe". Huaoshy nanites invade her brain and defeat her. She finally comes to realize that the Huaoshy are not all that bad and that humans will have a good future as part of the inter-galactic empire that is controlled by the Huaoshy.
Andrew Harlan[]
A character from Asimov's novel, The End of Eternity. Harlan lived for many years within Eternity and took part in using time travel as a tool for shaping the development of human civilization on Earth within the Mallansohn Reality. Along with Noÿs Lambent, Harlan was responsible for destroying Eternity and starting the Foundation Reality.
Captain Hooski[]
Captain Hooski - Captain of the Many Sails for the mission to Earth's galaxy. Member of the Huaoshy species, the first species that developed the hyperspatial jump drive.
Robot Jeed[]
Robot Jeed - chief cook and bottle washer for the Many Sails
Vicktir Klempse[]
Klempse is one of the few scientists at Observer Base. Normally the Huaoshy do not encourage the residents at observer outposts to explore science, but a small group of humans have discovered science and they have been allowed to explore theoretical physics. Klempse is not particularly interested in positronics, but when Doltun arrives at the research center and asks if a previously abandoned mind uploading project can be taken out of moth balls, Klempse is pressed into service (nanites are sent into his brain by Doltun; the nanites encourage Klempse to "volunteer" for the project). Wints is the only true roboticist, but he is working on the Nahan project. As a young man, Wints developed an interest in the mind uploading project, but he was discouraged from working on that project because there was no test subject available. Wints only serves as an adviser for Klempse as Klempse prepares to convert the structure of Gohrlay's biological brain into positronic circuits.
Like all of the scientists at Observer Base, Klempse does not trust the robotic aides that normally accompany each human through life. Klempse shares the suspicion that robotic aides make humans intellectually lazy. The scientists believe that they must not rely on robotic aides: that they must think for themselves as they explore physical reality. The existing Huaoshy-designed robots such as Orbho Anagro have tried to restrict the human scientists to study of theoretical physics, but over time they have allowed work to go ahead on applied positronics. Anagro is curious to see if humans can accomplish anything useful with positronics. Klempse was never particularly interested in positronics before Gohrlay showed up and convinced him that she really was willing to have her brain destroyed and its structure converted into positronic circuitry. Gohrlay and Klempse become friends, with Klempse feeling rather protective of her, almost as if she were a daughter.
Lorn-Kru[]
Engineer Lorn-Kru is a Social Engineer specializing in the design of genetic changes that will improve the social dynamics of interactions between different species. Thon is a member of the Ouwui species. The Ouwui are hermaphroditic and do not use terms such as "he" and "she", so the gender neutral pronoun "thon" is applied to Lorn-Kru.
During the time period described in The Start of Eternity, Lorn-Kru is functionally male, but members of the Ouwui species can switch between the production of male and female gametes. Most members of the Ouwui species believe that the choice of being functionally male or female should be based on practicality and rational decisions. Adoption and rigid adherence to a male or female gender identity is viewed as an undesirable personality aberration by most Ouwui.
During the trip to Earth, Fint tries to get Lorn-Kru to explore the idea of adopting a gender identity. Lorn-Kru is unable to do much more than treat this as an intellectual exercise and a chance to consider gender as a factor in human society.
Noÿs Lambent[]
A character from Asimov's novel, The End of Eternity. Noÿs was born in Earth's far future, about 10 million years after humans first developed a technologically advanced civilization. Noÿs was born in the Mallansohn Reality and along with Andrew Harlon was responsible for initiating the Foundation Reality.
Humans from the time that was 10 million years after humans first developed a technologically advanced civilization had evolved and changed genetically from humans of the Primitive.
Noÿs is still living on Earth in the current Reality.
Many Sails[]
Many Sails is an artificial life form that is an intergalactic space ship with hyperspace drive.
R. Nahan[]
The first robot with a positronic brain. However, he only attained human-like cognitive abilities upon receiving copies of R. Gohrlay's brain circuits. When R. Gohrlay's positronic brain is damaged, R. Nahan goes on to create additional robots with positronic brains. Nahan's team of positronic robots eventually develop time travel technology. In the "Nahan Reality", humans begin to colonize nearby star systems as depicted in Asimov's novel Nemesis. By studying the "mind" of the "sentient planet" Erythro and its interaction with humans, Nahan is able to learn about the existence of rudimentary telepathic abilities in some humans. However, R. Nahan travels back in time to save R. Gohrlay, causing a Reality Change. R. Nahan is able to pass information to R. Gohrlay that greatly accelerates development of time travel and other key technologies, particularly nanite technology and key technologies for space travel and time travel. He passes on to R. Gohrlay the location of Nemesis (which she keeps secret).
Nan[]
Nan is Gohrlay's personal robotic aide. Nan has lived as Gohrlay's companion since Gohrlay was born. Nan worked closely with Anagro to guide and shape the course of Gohrlay's life, first towards participation in the Observer Corps and then towards becoming an Interventionist who is willing to violate the Rules of Observation.
Sahiwha Nennoad[]
Sahiwha Nennoad - member of the Ressese species and leader of the "training mission" to Imfulri.
Robot Daneel Olivaw[]
Robot Daneel Olivaw managed the spread of humanity through the galaxy until handing over the final stages of creating Galaxia to Fallom.
Commander Orleane[]
Commander Orleane - physiologically Earth-standard human
Encyclopedist Pavao[]
Encyclopedist Pavao is head of the Encyclopedia Galactica.
Rewhand[]
- Geneticist Rewhand - member of the Kighiz human subspecies. Husband of Esselle.
R. Rycleu[]
A robot with a positronic brain and a female human body design. Rycleu worked on various time travel missions using the technology of Eternity to help shape the development of human civilization. Rycleu played an important role in the early part of the Foundation Reality, helping to make sure that robots with positronic brains would be created on Earth in the 20th century.
Wilry[]
Demographer Wilry - experienced demographer of galaxies and member of the Deltrijoshnypwannem species.
Wints[]
Wints has worked for two decades developing the Nahan robot. Due to the influence of nanites on his thinking, he is very skeptical about the wisdom of trying to convert the structure of Gohrlay's biological brain into positronic circuits. However, after that "mind uploading" process is completed, Wints plays a major role in recruiting other scientists to help with the task of integrating copies of R. Gohrlay's positronic brain circuits into the existing positronic brain of R. Nahan. This greatly speeds up R. Gohrlay's discover of her telepathic ability.
[]
Continue to Design Space • - • - • note to authors: underlines indicate heavy construction
Chapters: Design Space • Gohrlay's Diary • 0 • Vortex • 0.007 • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19
Appendices: State of the Planet • The Last Gardener • Skydisk Cult
Other pages: Cover page • Table of Contents • Characters • Glossary • The entire novel on one page • Main talk page for discussing the story
For authors (warning: plot details!): Meta • Timeline • Detailed character info • Detailed outline • Disclaimer
The End of Eternity is a novel about time travel that was created by Isaac Asimov. The story and characters from The End of Eternity and his other fiction are probably claimed as the intellectual property of Asimov's estate or other for-profit corporations. Characters from The End of Eternity and other Asimov novels are borrowed for use here in the spirit of Fan Fiction, for the enjoyment of science fiction fans and with no intention for profit.