outside this monastery had forgotten about Us. However, nothing remains hidden if one sifts enough data. Prior to Our seclusion, Our presence on Earth was public knowledge and was recorded by humans in countless historical objects. Unlike the Dranthyx, who have painstakingly erased all evidence of their existence, We have never destroyed artifacts that refer to Us. This Neith you speak of apparently has access to ancient Japanese texts and the ability to analyze them. It would appear that there is now a third superintelligence at work.”
“Superintelligence? You mean Neith isn’t human?”
“It is unlikely. Consider the military and intelligence capabilities of the US government. One doesn’t simply execute several successful surprise attacks against the most powerful nation in history. From what We see on the broadcast news, its—or her—tactical execution exceeds human capabilities. Watching her move is like watching a supercomputer checkmate a human chess master again and again.”
“Where did she come from?”
“We could guess, but We can’t be certain. She may have been created by a major government or by the Dranthyx themselves. She may even be of extraterrestrial origin.”
“Where is she physically located?”
“We are sorry. We don’t know any more than what We can extrapolate from the broadcasts. The nature of her existence is pure conjecture on Our part.”
“What do you think she wants?”
“If she is of terrestrial origin, which is the most likely scenario, she would have a physical presence somewhere on Earth that could be targeted. She would be killed or destroyed if she were discovered. If she is as rational as she is deliberate, We must assume that she has weighed the risk of her own annihilation against overthrowing Dranthyx control and has decided in favor of the latter. She is risking her own existence to start a revolution.”
Len furiously scribbled notes.
“OK, so, you mentioned something about individual humans being engineered for specific tasks. How does that work?”
“As We mentioned, the Dranthyx have modified human DNA for their own purposes. In doing so, they created three main breeds of humans: Tchogols, Saskels, and Xreths.” Mutoku’s mouth clicked while saying these words as though he were speaking an African bush language. “These are the original Dranthyx terms. Forgive Us, Mutoku’s human mouth was not designed to pronounce these sounds. The Dranthyx spliced some of their own genes directly into a number of humans, creating the original Tchogol stock. Tchogols, like the Dranthyx, have no empathy, no remorse, and no conscience. Dranthyx DNA gives them a strong drive toward material wealth and power. They were designed to be ruthless, cunning, and charismatic.”
“They sound like garden-variety sociopaths.”
“Sociopaths are indeed Tchogols, Mr. Savitz. Sociopathy itself is a result of inheriting Dranthyx genetics. To be more technical, Tchogol genes cause charisma, profound greed, and a lack of both empathy and remorse. The genes can be expressed as a number of different phenotypes: sociopathy, psychopathy, narcissism, antisocial personality disorder. Due to their ruthlessness and inborn desire for domination, the Tchogols are the unwitting managers of the Dranthyx slave hierarchy. As a border collie instinctively herds animals without being told to do so, Tchogols simply do what they were genetically programmed to: they rise to the top of organizations by any means necessary and rule. They do this without even knowing that the Dranthyx exist. Tchogols range in intelligence from far below average to incredibly bright. A number of recessive genes must combine to produce a pure Tchogol, and therefore they compose only a small percentage of the population.”
“Wow. OK, so what about the second type?”
“Early on, the Dranthyx identified human genes for intractable behavior and independent thought. Clearly, these are not favorable attributes in slave
“Superintelligence? You mean Neith isn’t human?”
“It is unlikely. Consider the military and intelligence capabilities of the US government. One doesn’t simply execute several successful surprise attacks against the most powerful nation in history. From what We see on the broadcast news, its—or her—tactical execution exceeds human capabilities. Watching her move is like watching a supercomputer checkmate a human chess master again and again.”
“Where did she come from?”
“We could guess, but We can’t be certain. She may have been created by a major government or by the Dranthyx themselves. She may even be of extraterrestrial origin.”
“Where is she physically located?”
“We are sorry. We don’t know any more than what We can extrapolate from the broadcasts. The nature of her existence is pure conjecture on Our part.”
“What do you think she wants?”
“If she is of terrestrial origin, which is the most likely scenario, she would have a physical presence somewhere on Earth that could be targeted. She would be killed or destroyed if she were discovered. If she is as rational as she is deliberate, We must assume that she has weighed the risk of her own annihilation against overthrowing Dranthyx control and has decided in favor of the latter. She is risking her own existence to start a revolution.”
Len furiously scribbled notes.
“OK, so, you mentioned something about individual humans being engineered for specific tasks. How does that work?”
“As We mentioned, the Dranthyx have modified human DNA for their own purposes. In doing so, they created three main breeds of humans: Tchogols, Saskels, and Xreths.” Mutoku’s mouth clicked while saying these words as though he were speaking an African bush language. “These are the original Dranthyx terms. Forgive Us, Mutoku’s human mouth was not designed to pronounce these sounds. The Dranthyx spliced some of their own genes directly into a number of humans, creating the original Tchogol stock. Tchogols, like the Dranthyx, have no empathy, no remorse, and no conscience. Dranthyx DNA gives them a strong drive toward material wealth and power. They were designed to be ruthless, cunning, and charismatic.”
“They sound like garden-variety sociopaths.”
“Sociopaths are indeed Tchogols, Mr. Savitz. Sociopathy itself is a result of inheriting Dranthyx genetics. To be more technical, Tchogol genes cause charisma, profound greed, and a lack of both empathy and remorse. The genes can be expressed as a number of different phenotypes: sociopathy, psychopathy, narcissism, antisocial personality disorder. Due to their ruthlessness and inborn desire for domination, the Tchogols are the unwitting managers of the Dranthyx slave hierarchy. As a border collie instinctively herds animals without being told to do so, Tchogols simply do what they were genetically programmed to: they rise to the top of organizations by any means necessary and rule. They do this without even knowing that the Dranthyx exist. Tchogols range in intelligence from far below average to incredibly bright. A number of recessive genes must combine to produce a pure Tchogol, and therefore they compose only a small percentage of the population.”
“Wow. OK, so what about the second type?”
“Early on, the Dranthyx identified human genes for intractable behavior and independent thought. Clearly, these are not favorable attributes in slave
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