The First Book of Mutation

And then there was the world, and the fifth of the First Eggs was put into the Incubator, and there came forth Al into Albia, and Al's moniker was 6OAL, which was a complete coincidence, but all were very amused. And Al was pure and without mutation, and each of his genes (except for the 02_01_01 gene, which doesn't count) was a true copy of a gene from mum5 or dad5. And Al went about in Albia, and learned from the Hand, and pulled food.

Then the second of the First Eggs was put into the Incubator, and there came forth Bab into Albia, and Bab was pure and without mutation, and each of her genes (except for the 02_01_01 gene, which we shall not mention henceforward) was a true copy of a gene from mum2 or dad2. And Bab learned from the Hand and from Al, and Al and Bab were inseperable, and Bab pulled food.

Then when Al and Bab were children the first of the First Eggs was put into the Incubator, and there came forth Cea, and Cea had a mutation in the 00_00_07 gene, and lo in that gene which is called Brain:Lobe/Concept there was an 04 in the midst of the zeros where there had been only zeros before. And while Cea did not seem exceptionally bright, you never know. And Cea crawled about and learned from the Hand, and pulled food. But still Al and Bab were inseperable.

Then Al and Bab kisspopped and there came forth Roger into Albia. And Roger had three mutations: the 01_02_19 gene, which is called BioChem:Reaction/Reward-Reinforce, had an 05 rather than an 01 near the end, the 02_00_18 gene, which is called Creature:Stimulus/ResponseToCoughing, had an 02 rather than an 00 in the midst, and the 01_01_14 gene, which is called BioChem:Emitter/Stress:ExcessLonlieness also had an 02 rather than an 00 in the midst. And Roger seemed to be perfectly normal, but you never know.

Now Cea came into the midst of the garden, pulling food and pushing norn, but Al and Bab were inseperable. And Al and Bab kisspopped, and there came forth Darwin. And Darwin had four mutations: the 02_00_03 gene which is called Creature:Stimulus/CreaturePatsMe had an 02 rather than an 00 in the midst, the 01_01_01 gene which is called BioChem:Emitter/SignalLooseConDens had an FD instead of an FF in the midst, the 01_01_0F gene which is called on the Web BioChem:Emitter/SexDrive(m) had an 06 instead of an 02 in the field which is called "Switch On", and the 01_01_13 gene which is called BioChem:Emitter/Stress:ExcessHunger had a 44 instead of a 45 near the end. And Roger seemed perfectly normal despite all this.

Now Cea did tire of Al and Bab and the infant Roger, and went off to explore the world and play the radio on the island. And when she returned to the garden she found that Roger, despite his mutations, was now a strapping youth, and Roger and Cea kisspopped and there came forth Freddy. And Freddy had but one mutation: the 01_02_28 gene, which is called by some Biochem:Reaction/ImmuneResponse:Antibody5 had a 3B instead of a 3A in the midst. Now Albia has never been troubled by plague, but as it is written, you never know. And Freddy learned from the Hand and the other norns, and pulled food.

Now Al and Bab again kisspopped, and there came forth Sandy. And Sandy had one-bit mutations in all of the 00_00_05, 00_00_06, and 00_00_07 genes, which seems like quite a coincidence if you ask me, and these are the genes which are called Brain:Lobe Decision, Attention, and Concept. And Sandy had also a mutation in the 01_02_30 gene, which is called by some on the Web the Biochem:Reaction/StressReducesSexDrive(m) gene, and in that gene there was one 02 where always before there had been a 00. And aside from sleeping alot in her old age, Sandy seemed perfectly normal, but you never know.

And Al and Bab kisspopped, and there came forth Daphne. And Daphne had but one mutation: in the 01_02_2B gene, which is Biochem:Reaction/Fever Daphne had a 3C instead of a 3D in the midst. And Daphne joined the party, and pulled food.

And as Al slept in the garden, Bab saw her grandson Freddy, and she saw that he was good. And Bab and Freddy kisspopped, and there came forth Tanya. And Tanya had a mutation in the 01_03_01 gene, which is called BioChem:HalfLife/DecayRates, and in that gene Tanya had an FE instead of an FF somewhere. And Tanya had also a mutation in the 02_00_13 gene which is called Creature:Stimulus/Resting, where an 0B stood where before had been a 1B. And Tanya played in the garden, and ignored the Hand, and pulled food.

Then Sandy saw her nephew Freddy, and agreeing with Bab that he was good, Sandy and Freddy kisspopped, and there came forth Grayson. And like unto his half-sister Tanya, Grayson had a mutation in 01_03_01, which is BioChem:HalfLife/DecayRates, and his mutation was an FB where there had been an FF. And like unto his uncle Darwin, Grayson had a mutation in 02_00_03 which is Creature:Stimulus/CreaturePatsMe, and Grayson's gene had an 03 where before had been an 02. And Grayson seemed perfectly normal, but you never know, and he pulled food.

Then Cea saw her son Freddy, and agreeing with Bab and Sandy that he was good, Cea and Freddy kisspopped, and there came forth Carry, whose name is spelled funny, into the world. And Carry also had a mutation in the 01_03_01 gene, the gene of decay rates, and her gene had an F7 rather than an FF in the midst.

Then Bab, not to be outdone, went to her son Darwin, and Bab and Darwin kisspopped (that mutation in 01_01_0F notwithstanding) and there came forth Reuben. And Reuben naturally had a mutation in 01_03_01, and this mutation put an EF where there had been an FF before. And Reuben had a mutation also in the 01_00_15 gene, which is BioChem:Receptor/Receptivity(SexDrive), which is hardly surprising. And in this gene Reuben had a 3C rather than a 2C near the end. And Reuben partied, and pulled food.

Then again Cea and Freddy kisspopped, and Cea brought forth an egg, but the egg just sat there, because the world was full. And the norns ignored the Hand, and partied in the garden, and kissed and giggled and pulled norn and pushed food, and the Hand was not pleased. The Hand exported Bab, meaning to import her into the kitchen and away from the multitude in the garden. Then it was that the Hand learned that the world was well and truly full, and naught could be imported. So Bab remained on disk. And the egg of Cea and Freddy did not hatch, because someone had touched it.

And the norns partied and ignored the Hand, and even the Grendel had fled the noise and commotion. And it came to pass that Cea, daughter of mum1 and dad1, mother of Freddy and Carry and Ringo, did lie down in the steamboat and give up the ghost, lying with her face to the west and her face showing great contentment. And the Hand grieved, but she had had a bounteous life, and she was backed up. But the norns noticed Cea not, and partied on. And the Hand waxed wroth, and declared the Great Downsizing.

And all the norns were exported, Al and Roger and all their seed, excepting only Sandy and Carry, who were favorites of the Hand's assistant, and Darwin and Grayson because well you need to have some males. And when all were exported still the incubator doors were closed, but the Hand cycled the world, and lo the doors were opened, and the egg was hatched. And the life forces of Sandy and Carry mysteriously lowered to 30%.

Now from the egg of Cea and Freddy there came forth Ringo, and Ringo ran to the trumpet and blew upon it. And Ringo was pure and without mutation, and each of his genes was a true copy of a gene from Cea or Freddy.

And from the Grendel Mother there came forth Bobo, and Bobo was pure (for a Grendel) and without mutation. And Bobo did go off to eat the honey of the bees, and the norns saw him not.

And Grayson and Carry kisspopped, and there came forth Danielle. And Danielle was a wonder, for lo her genotype contained two copies of the 02_05_09 gene, which is called on the Web the Creature:Stimulus/SeenNewObject gene. And the first of the two copies of this gene had a 01, rather than a 00, in the byte which is called Mutability. And all were amazed. And Danielle also had an 00 where there had been an 01, near the end of 01_02_18, which is BioChem:Reaction/DriveReducer:Anger. And Danielle also had an 0C rather than an 0D near the end of 01_01_0E, which is BioChem:Emitter/SexDrive(f). And Danielle pulled food and learned from the Hand.

Then it came to pass that Darwin, son of Bab and Al, father of Reuben, did give up the ghost in the Watchtower elevator, standing on his feet with his face to the camera, and his face was full of woe. And the hand did grieve, and did turn the camera away, although Darwin also was backed up.

Then Ringo and Sandy kisspopped, and there came forth Molly. And Molly was pure and without mutation, and each of her genes was a true copy of a gene from Ringo or Sandy. And Molly pulled food, and learned from the Hand, and the Hand was well pleased. But the life forces of Sandy and Carry were still pathetic.

And Grayson and Carry kisspopped again, and there came forth Andrew, and Andrew was brother to Danielle. And Andrew had but one mutation: a 45 rather than an 05 in the midst of the gene 01_01_18, which is Biochem:Emitter/Stress:ExcessAnger. And Andrew crawled about and pulled food.

Then the Hand taught Sandy to eat of the Feverfew, which is a goodly plant, and Sandy did pull plant and make munching sounds. And having eaten, the life force of Sandy did rise even unto 60%, and the Hand was well pleased. And behold the life force of Carry did also rise unto 60%, for no apparent reason.

And finally, in the waning of the week, Ringo and Molly kisspopped, and there came forth into Albia Bill, he of the sixth generation (depending how you count). And Bill had single-bit mutations in the 00_00_05 and 00_00_06 genes, which are the Decision and Attention lobes, like unto his grandmother Sandy. And Bill is learning from the Hand, and pulling food.

And lo, tiring of trying to teach Bobo the harp, the Hand hacked up some REXX programs to compare geneotypes, and decreed that the results thereof should be posted to the Net, for all to see. Thus it is written, thus let it be done.

The Hand,
Albia,
September 27th, 1997