Group think.(Kevin Hughes) There were four of us. We were all young. Smart. Fun. The slowest (Academically) among us got her Doctorate at twenty years of age, the rest of us were all in our teens. Not a single Humanities degree among us. Mathematics, Quantum Biology, Computer Science and Physics dominated most of our Curriculum Vitae’s. Well, Darla did take a year off and got a Ph.D in Machine Psychology. That was back when everyone was on the A.I. bandwagon.

Darla thought if AI”s did become “conscious” then they would need a Shrink. I asked her why?

“To deal with slow stupid humans!”

We all laughed.

Turns out the Artificial Intelligence wasn’t the threat we thought it was. It was our own brains. Specifically, our brains: Darla, Singh, Wynona, and me (Karl).

You see two heads are better than one- at least that is what the old proverb said. Then what the heck do you think four BRAINS, linked into one giant intellect are better than? I can tell you. But you wouldn’t understand, you only have on brain. Still, I owe it to you Stacks to try and explain it. After all, you have to be born so we can live.

(Author’s Note: “Stacks” are the slang term used among the Quad Consciousness for single brained Humans. You can’t reproduce as a Quad Consciousness- you need four Stacks to meld some time after they turn twenty one, and before they turn thirty. It is a “Win-Win” situation, since Stacks have bodies and can reap the rewards of our research and technology. The price they pay is to stay stupid unless they volunteer their stack (brain) for a Quad to form.)

So here is the very short version of a very long story: The Birth of Quad Consciousness, or: QC- as the “Stacks” call us.

Darla had found a way to move the sensitivity of EEG Skull caps up a couple orders of magnitude. So much so that we were able (after Wynona wrote an amazing Algorithm that could recognize a single synapse and trace its entire connect-tome in the brain) to watch a single though form on an iPad or Smartphone, in real time.

Then Singh figured out a way to do the same with the EMG…which measured the electrical activity and signaling in muscles. Me? Well, I always was the romantic, and had done my Doctorate at John Hopkins Medical University creating Purkinje Fibers and regulating their conductivity. Everyone teased me saying I got to the “Heart of every problem.” That how I met Singh. He went to MIT, and was trying to find a way to power Robots…and my work led him to think we could getter better conductivity with tissue than with Metal. We shared a Nobel Prize for that work.

Anyways, one night we were all a little high. Wynona had found a way to make synthetic DMT (the Spirit Molecule) and clean it up a bit molecularly speaking. So you got the instant connection with the Universe without the lingering side affects of drinking gallons of Ayahuasca Tea. And, since DMT enhances Neurogenesis- you were a bit smarter after every “trip.”

And then Darla had a splendid idea.

“Hey gang, what if we put on the skullcaps, drink the tea, and hook all four of our inputs and outputs to each other, then take all four of our brain feeds and let them combine in Wynona’s algorithm. I mean what could it hurt?”

Aren’t those “famous last words.” They were for us. In both senses of the phrase:

For what happened next made us famous.

And they were the last words any of us would ever utter.

For as soon as linked…who needed words?

And that is as far as I can take the tale with mere words. Combined Consciousness far exceeds any Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Program. Because Sing had already closed the leads to the EMG cross connections, we didn’t need any part of our four brains (and their conscious identities) for any bodily function, movement, or monitoring. We didn’t need to breath, or move.

We became, in an instant, pure thought. Oh sure, we kept our bodies alive and in stasis for a few decades, but by then we realized we would never need them again. We could think. A lot. So …we did. The problem with being a Being that is pure thought, is that you can’t really interact with the Physical World really well. Our emotions aren’t based on any evolutionary based drive to reproduce, feel hungry, or tired.

Jealousy, anger, exhaustion, pain…those don’t exist in our world. Our emotions are all altruistic. We enjoy being a group mind and everyone takes credit for every idea (thought). We are bundles of love to put it simply. But we can’t reproduce. Nope. Not at all. Each Quad Consciousness takes "Four Stacks" to link and become one. Time and some dedicated thought and observation proved to us that any less than four minds melding…is inefficient and doesn’t reach the tipping point to leave matter behind.

Any more than four minds …and well, overload. Mental Illness on Steroids. Truly mad Scientists. So four is optimum. Hence, Quad Consciousness. Yes we retain our original personalities and identities, no we don’t lose either over time. We just, well, integrate in a way that you can’t when your only connections are holding hands, or exchanging fluids. The Shamrock metaphor works for a basic understanding. All for one, and one for all.

So no, we don’t think of you as “cattle”. Nor do we think you are lesser Human’s than we are. In fact, it is quite the opposite. You see you are Fully Human, whereas we are…well, to put it bluntly, Super Sapients. You are our larval stage, so to speak. Does a caterpillar think less of itself when it sees a butterfly flutter by? (Yes, we like puns!) We are all necessary for the survival of each other’s species.

Luckily, most of the more violent of your type have been culled out over time. I mean really, trying to shoot us, stab us, or burn us? Might as well try to catch smoke in our hand, outdoors, in a stiff wind. You can kill the four Stacks before they Link and Meld, but the outcome for you would be…let’s be generous and say: “Horrific.” You have no idea what a being of pure thought can do to your thoughts. I hope you never find out.

So we happily live in Harmony. We think up ways to make your lives better, more fulfilling, and peaceful. You join minds to give birth to us. It works well. Soon, when you are ready to leave your planet in your Stack Mobiles (heh, heh) we will be just outside your shell guiding you along.

Okay, WE are done, even though it is I (Karl) who was talking with you. It is difficult for us to slow down information to a trickle so it can be read…a single letter at a time. I don’t how you folks do it. By the way, none of you learn to read. I thought I would point that out to you as a parting gift. What you do is learn how to recognize shapes…and then you give those shapes meaning. So really, none of you can read.

But all of you are Artists.

When you figure that out, ask for me …er…us.

Best of luck.

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