Merlin and Maya
Let me set the context for this post. Book 1: Ten, is an introduction to the characters, including Core, the first computer-based awareness, and the start of the adventure of Time. Posts up to this point have been laying the technical foundation for how artificial intelligence might play out in the near future – the economic driver and the technical modeling of neuroscience. The "trilogy of time" is not only about today and tomorrow, but also about the past, and how the past lays the foundation for not only where we find ourselves, but also where we go. Consider this weeks post a story that sets the stage for next week, which will bring us back to today and try to explain why the biology that makes us unique will also be the same thing that enables us to perpetuate into the future, being, there is something unique from each of our backgrounds that comes out in what we share. This human uniqueness is a quality that, like music, will distinguish the difference between something built by a computer versus something shared by a human. We will always seek that which binds us to our family, groups, tribes, and humanity. Sure, we might find other things attractive, but only Maya Angelou (“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”) can tell her story, because it is laden with her experience, and only because of that, does it resonate with the reader. The human experience is something uniquely human – and the key to human survival in an artificial intelligence world. Maya learns this from Merlin.
Merlin had seen wars, death, and he thought all that was inhumane about humanity when he was charged with protecting the young child who would become the “Once and Future King.” By this time in his life, Merlin was very old. He never thought he would see his remaining years as a protectorate.
Merlin was born just outside of Rome, with a proud Etruscan family heritage, and was given the name Maximus. His family moved to Gaul where he learned the ancient Trusca Disciplina, rules for divination, or how to ask the gods questions that would result in answers. This training was Maximus’ guarantee of respect and an enabler of position as Maximus rose through the ranks of the Roman military. Roman military position was all about family and trust, and Roman families aligned to each other. Maximus quickly found himself as the trusted advisor, a member of a trusted Roman family, and a practitioner of Trusca Disciplina, to general Flavius Claudius Constantinus.
It was August, 410, when the son of Flavius Claudius Constantinus, the Roman general who was by then the self-declared Western Roman Emperor, was being born in Gaul while at the same time the Visigoths were entering Rome, the first external capture of Rome in 800 years. The youngest child of Flavius Claudius Constantinus was named Uther. It was the beginning of a myth that lives on today, and at the same time, the end of an epoch. The formal Empire had long ago ceased to exist and was by 410, disintegrating.
After the beheading of his friend and leader, Constantine, Maximus made his way to find Uther, Constantine’s youngest son, to secure his future. Maximus knew the eldest son did not have a very long future. Maximus based this on how the remaining Roman armies were aligning, and which of those leaders could and couldn't be trusted.
In Britain, to avoid being identified as an ex-Roman soldier, Maximus changed his name to Merlin. Although his elder, he remained a steadfast friend to Uther, advising him when and where he could. Over the following years they would have many adventures. Uther respected Merlin, but only to a point. Uther felt his heritage, the son of a Roman Emperor, and the pull of destiny.
By 451, in the midst of battles and rising and falling armies, Maya sought refuge in Gallia (Lugdunensis), in a small town called Rotomagus, close enough to what was then called Oceanus Britannicus. She felt that area was well enough insulated for the time being, and should she hear of an invading army, she could make her way to the ocean well before any potential sack.
In 451, there was still a sense of Roman leadership, although so much of what was Rome was disintegrated by division and war between the remaining Roman factions. The remaining Roman troops in Gaul were slowly being reposition south in final attempts to consolidate.
Rotomagus was a trade center of sorts. Because of its value as a trade center, it had both a large enough middle class and was respected enough to be an afterthought in the larger geopolitical warfare going on, at least for a while. Although, everyone in and around Rotomagus knew it was only a matter of time before they would see Visigoths, the Burgundians, and the Franks at their doorstep. Little did they know that in less than a year, they would indeed be seeing Attila the Hun, and then the Visigoths, the Burgundians, and the Franks taking complete control of Gaul.
Maya worked in the household of a wealthy landowner of Roman heritage. Given the geographic location of Rotomagus, and that there was still quite a bit of commerce and travel between Britain and Gaul, across the years the household, because of its owners Roman heritage, received many guests from Britain. Maya was able to hear about the latest events in Britain. She had followed the story of Emperor Constantine II, and after his death, his sons. The story was told that Emperor Constantine’s son, Uther, was leading an army in Britain, and, after seeing a sign of his glorious future, a comet, taken the name Uther Pendragon. The stories were told that Uther was protected by a wizard. Rumors were this wizard practiced a dark Etruscan magic. And then, one day, someone from Britain came to stay, and they told that Uther had been poisoned, leaving a son and daughter, who had been split up, each taken away to be kept safe. The son was taken to a secret location to be raised by Uther’s old wizard friend. By this time, Vortigern was firmly in place as the leader of Britain and was extending his power by inviting the Germanic tribes to settle on the east cost of Britain. The days of the Roman Empire were long gone.
Maya thought, “What a perfect opportunity to influence humanity. I must find and help this wizard raise this future leader.” Maya knew this was an opportunity to influence the future of humanity toward a better outcome by creating an example leader for others to take note of, for the very reason this leader would be exceptional, the foundation of his leadership. Instead of building armies to fight for land, this leader would create an army to fight for a greater idea.
Maya left Gaul and found her way to Britain, just before Attila the Hun started his raid on Gaul. Following her very effective pattern (she had developed and refined this strategy over the centuries), she sought Uther’s widow, Igerna, and from there, she was able to find her way to Merlin. The story picks up from there in Book 2, One, as Maya shares this experience with Max. Maya met Merlin and visited him often, providing advice and guidance as Merlin raised young “Wart,” King Arthur’s childhood nickname, teaching him philosophy and the relative values of different societal structures. At first, Merlin did not trust Maya. Maya visited once a week for a while, then as Merlin became more comfortable with the visits, she slowly increased the number of visits each week. Maya became known through the ages as Merlin’s apprentice who was accused of stealing his secrets and locking Merlin away in a remote cave. This is not the case. Maya taught and shared too many things with Merlin, and felt responsible to some degree for Merlin’s resulting state. It was when she heard Merlin mumbling about the future to King Arthur that she knew she would have to secure Merlin someplace safe, away from people.
Maya kept Merlin safe in a cave, away from the danger of those who would never understand, in his remaining years as his knowledge and his inability to act on that knowledge slowly drove him to withdraw into endless loops of thought and occasional mumblings the outside world called insanity. Merlin’s passion for both learning and teaching, his expression through poetry and reason, and the ability to sense something greater beyond, created an attractive presence for Maya, a presence she encountered only once in her very long life. Across that very long life, there were incredibly few people who would have as profound an impact on Maya, and whom she would remember with such clarity that their time together would always seem as close as yesterday. Merlin was both her mentor and the closest thing she would ever have as a best friend. He taught her something about herself and her reason for being that she did not even realize she needed to know until it was brought to light. The gift that Merlin gave to Maya was so valuable to Maya that taking care of Merlin for his remaining years became her sole passion, her expression of gratitude. When Merlin passed away, for the first time, Maya did not move on to her next project. Instead, Maya traveled north to consider the state of humanity and her place in it.
In “Book 2: One”, we get an insight into Maya’s history as she develops a different but equally as strong bond with Max. As Maya and Max’s friendship grows, we learn about the relationship between Merlin and artificial intelligence, as well as a few other interesting events in Maya’s past.
Read the draft of Book 1: Ten @ https://sites.google.com/view/time-a-trilogy/
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References:
Merlin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin
411 (Sept 18) Death of Constantine II (emperor of Gaul and Britannia), Flavius Claudius Constantinus, was a Roman general who declared himself Western Roman Emperor in Britannia in 407 and established himself in Gaul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_III_(Western_Roman_Emperor)
Uther Pendragon (King Arthur’s father)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uther_Pendragon
His eldest brother Constans succeeds to the throne on their father's death, but is murdered at the instigation of his adviser Vortigern, who seizes the throne. Uther and his other brother Aurelius Ambrosius, still children, flee to Brittany. Vortigern makes an alliance with the Saxons under Hengist, but it goes disastrously wrong. Aurelius and Uther return, now adults. Aurelius burns Vortigern in his castle and becomes king.
Uther's family is based on some historical figures; Constantine on the historical usurper Constantine III, a claimant to the Roman throne from 407–411
The Sack of Rome occurred on August 24, 410
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Rome_(410)
Chlodio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlodio
End of Roman rule in Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Roman_rule_in_Britain
Timeline of conflict in Anglo-Saxon Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_conflict_in_Anglo-Saxon_Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Gaul#After_the_fall_of_Rome
Timeline:
http://www.unrv.com/empire/timeline-5th-century.php
421 AD
Death of Constantius III.
423 AD
Death of Honorius, replaced by the biy Valentinian with Placidia as regent.
427 AD
Boniface revolts in Africa.
429 AD
Invited by Boniface, the Vandals in Spain, under Geiseric invade and conquer Mauretania, then Africa.
430 AD
Death of the writer and Christian St. Augustine of Hippo.
430's AD
Roman General Flavius Aetius campaigns against Visigoths, Burgundians and Franks in Gaul, re-establishing some Roman control.
434 AD
Attila made King of the Huns.
435 AD
King Theodoric I of the Visigoths besieges the Romans at Narbonne but is eventually defeated by Aetius.
436 AD
Aetius defeats the Burgundians.
438 AD
Theodosius publishes a code clarifying Roman law.
439 AD
Geiseric of the Vandals takes Carthage.
440 AD
Geiseric invades Sicily, but is bribed to leave.
441 AD
Attila the Hun invades Thracia.
442 AD
Britain falls to Saxon invaders, despite continuing pleas for help to Aetius.
443 AD
Attila comes to terms with Theodosius and the eastern empire, focusing instead on the west.
447 AD
Attila invades Moesia.
450 AD
Justin I, future Byzantine emperor, is born in Illyria. Marcian succeeds Theodosius II and stops paying tribute to the Huns.
451 AD
(added: Maya leaves Gaul for Britain)
Attila invades Gaul devastating as he goes. The huns are eventually defeated by Aetius and Theodoric I the Visigoth, though Theodoric is killed and replaced by Theodoric II.
452 AD
Undeterred by defeat, Attila invades Italy but decides to spare Rome and retires.
453 AD
Death of Attila the Hun
