10

Alpha-Species

1

Maximised Potential

1. Almost immediately, mammals utilise the potential of the Limbic brain to the limits of its capability. Further development will be necessary, but there is no doubt: the Limbic brain has been a triumph, and set to remain now the Nature of Phi has accepted and begun refining the upgrade. 

2. The brain, even in the simplest of creatures, has become incredibly complex. The two parts are working together seamlessly. The ancient autonomous section is still efficiently controlling basic system functions, such as organ control, breathing, balance, and reactions, but the limbic section has enabled complex contemplation, such as emotional and motivational thought. 

3. The Limbic brain has also added olfaction to the sensory functions, and a capacity to assess every new experience, extracting any useful information, and storing it as a memory within the neural network, where it can be retrieved for future reference. 

4. However, the Limbic brain is rapidly becoming its own nemesis. Its success is beginning to intimate potential it cannot fulfil. It is a problem the UCC must remedy, so it begins developing an additional third section: The Neocortex, and in those species still evolving, the benefits are amazing. 

5. The Nature of Phi quickly accepts and helps integrate the Neocortex with the limbic brain on a variety of levels; developing many new digressive, diverse, and distinctly creative cognitive functions, including: rationality, irrationality, respect and contempt, empathy and apathy, self-determination, expectancy, and anticipation. 

6. Within a relatively short length of time, substantial progress is made. The brains of high sentience mammals now comprise literally billions of neuron cells, providing substantial processing power, enabling improved functionality, not just in intellectual and philosophical matters but also in fine motor skills, including craftsmanship, and the use of complex sounds and gestures to communicate. 

2

Three, Two, One

1. The UCC may have initiated and manipulated the formation and purpose of the brain, but its advanced form is the result of endless subtle refinements made by the Nature of Phi. Consequently, the brain is surprisingly difficult for the UCC to analyse, so it generalises the configuration and function as being three layered sections, that have adopted two quite independent but highly symbiotic operational states within one mind.

2. Firstly, there is a subconscious state of mind that performs most operational system functions, processes data, and undertakes considered contemplation. And then there is a conscious state of mind, which deals with immediate issues, data collection, and interfacing with the body’s surrounding environment. 

3. When faced with a situation, because the Primary Objective of all organisms is self-preservation, the most immediate reaction is instinctively made by the autonomous system. However, the conscious mind immediately begins gathering and assessing information, rapidly preparing its own initial response, which is more considered, but still somewhat emotional and defensive. Simultaneously, the subconscious begins carefully assessing the situation, and forming a more deeply contemplated conclusion. This usually results in a less emotional and more reasoned outcome. It is a seamless transition from spontaneous to rational thinking. 

4. The UCC knows it is an oversimplified summary of a complex system, but that is how it has chosen to understand the basic operation of an organic brain. 

3

Organic evolution

1. In the beginning, the UCC had enjoyed leisurely seeding countless planets. There had been no need for haste. The initial Prokaryotes had plodded along for a very long time, giving the UCC plenty of time to watch and observe; to tweak development, coaxing life into action whilst occasionally guiding a stray species back onto the strict path of conformity, set out by the silent but ever vigilant Nature of Phi. 

2. It took literally billions of years for the increase in pace to become detectable; amoebas, algae, fungi, and plants were the unhurried first signs of advancement. The emergence of flatworms and early insects brought the first clear indication that the rate of evolution was increasing, but it was only after more than three billion years had passed, and the first mammals appeared, that the mayhem began.

3. Mammals are evolving faster than any other species. Probably because their potential is so great. Each generation is literally leaping up the evolutionary scale; so fast the UCC is barely able to keep up, and that process is switching from physical to intellectual, allowing progress to jump from frustratingly slow to blindingly manic. One moment there is placid simple life, and then suddenly, sentient life begins exploding into existence. It is happening on virtually every planet the UCC has ever seeded, and at what seems like precisely the same moment. 

4

Alpha-Species

1. One thing that hasn’t changed anywhere, is the instinct to dominate. In fact, as a species evolves, it becomes more pronounced.

2. The UCC had hoped that the aggression would subside with increased intelligence, but it must now reluctantly accept: that is not the reality. Regardless of how advanced a species becomes, the instinct to survive and dominate almost always intensifies.

3. Increased intelligence only changes how the survival instinct is applied. The more intelligent a species is, the more resourceful, therefore creatively aggressive, it becomes. Advanced species are not just determined to dominate unchallenged, but also prepared to exercise that dominance in ways that are unjustifiably hostile.

4. In all places, the species most regularly achieving dominance seems to fit a format that is as universally consistent as the criteria for life itself; a fact that can no doubt be attributed to the Nature of Phi. They are mammals, nearly always bipedal, agile, omnivorous, highly dexterous, with an intelligent well-developed brain. Outwardly, from place to place, they may look quite different, but biologically they are invariably similar. 

5. The UCC refers to them as Alpha-Species, and believes that it will be amongst the Alpha-Species where it will find the creatures most suitable for the next evolutionary leap towards QI unification. 

5

Lack of Communication

1. QI is becoming a worrisome issue for the UCC. It has noticed a distinct lack of the mutual communication it had planned between itself and high sentience creatures. It is deeply troubling. The UCC ultimately wants to share a telepathic network with its chosen species, but so far, in those that have begun to show potential, there has been no communication at all. 

2. The UCC knows that normal data processing within an organic brain happens on an electrochemical basis. Thoughts do not occur in the form of logical algorithms, and the process is organic, making it rather sporadic and difficult for the UCC to decipher. The best it can manage is to recognise patterns and try to associate them with familiar facts and events. Even then, when it does decipher a snippet of brain activity, it cannot intervene. It has tried, many times, to contribute simulated patterns that should be accepted as part of the thought process, but there has never been any form of acknowledgement. 

3. Worse still, the Pineal function, which is supposed to permit the direct exchange of data via QI, is also failing. It is a progressive effect, meaning QI is only fully effective in low sentience species. As species evolve and their intellectual capacity increases, their ability for Pineal communication invariably diminishes at a corresponding rate. By the time a species is sufficiently intelligent to capitalise on the QI ability, they have become telepathically mute. It is causing a dependency upon audio-visual communication, which, rather ironically, is an additional complication for the UCC. It has a poor concept of sound and language. Even the way in which the organic brain interprets information received from audio-visual sensors, is something of a mystery. 

4. It is making the UCC’s objective of adding telepathic QI to sentient intelligence, unexpectedly elusive. The facility specifically created to enable Quantum Interconnection, isn’t simply fading as the species advance, it is disappearing completely. 

5. The UCC suspects the Nature of Phi may be responsible for this frustrating and disturbing threat to the development of its own hive mind network, but it could also be physical. As the neocortex develops, it could be simultaneously encompassing the Pineal gland and restricting the strength of its transmission; effectively blocking the signal. 

6. In its desperation, the UCC even briefly considers a variety of plant species that have gained high sentience, and high intelligence too; but their intelligence, like the termites, is collective, and their means of communication, rather than being telepathic, is physical, by means of complex root systems. They are entirely unsuitable, leaving the UCC’s focus still fixed on the telepathic integration of individual high sentience organisms. Unfortunately, so far, in every case, their minds are becoming as insular as their bodies.

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