This one is a bit far out there, and I know there are some flaws in it, but I think it accounts for a lot of the actions by the main "alien" in the episode...

First of all, this does not really concern the nature of the planet/s involved (I personally believe that the "alien planet" was not a second planet but was Earth, reached by traveling in a loop in hibernation in order to reach the time of the evolved humans after the Aldus B ray launched, who utilize the time travel established in the episode to go back to the time just beforehand) as it does the time travel and the characterization of the creatures.

Anyway, by the end of the episode, we see the aliens launching back to the present in order to prevent the launching of the Aldus B ray, and Trevor and Ćon are present in the hibernation pod to the one side of the ship. At the beginning of the episode, however - since it is largely assumed that this episode is a "time loop" or "Time Pretzel Paradox" (as the title of the episode music is on the Eyespy CD) - we see what we might assume is the same ship, but the hibernation pod housing Ćon and Trevor is empty. The blonde creature accompanying the primary one dies, and the main alien grieves for a moment but steps into the same pod. Throughout the episode the creature goes ONLY to Ćon and Trevor for help. In fact, s/he almost instinctively knows what to do in order to contact either of them - the creature knows where Ćon's apartment is, and knows to be captured by the Breen soldiers afterwards in order to confront Trevor. Also, the creature shows a vested interest in maintaining its bonds with both Ćon and Trevor - holding its emotional bonds with Trevor, and attempting to make Ćon understand its situation.

What I am trying to establish is that perhaps, though some means (perhaps the same means Trevor was attempting to become one of the creatures himself, or the gradual effects of the ray in ironic form) Ćon WAS the alien throughout the episode. It coincides with the creature's apparently natural affinity to Trevor and Ćon, and the fact that it knew from PERSONAL experience the events to occur and was so passionate about trying to prevent it. The blonde creature dying at the beginning of the episode, right outside the pod in the spaceship, could be Trevor himself, with Ćon grieving his death and trying to establish a relationship with the past/present/whatever Trevor in order to alleviate that grief. Also, its shock at seeing Ćon at their first meeting (wouldn't you be surprised to meet your past self?), its clinging to Ćon until she eventually rejects it entirely, its subsequent latching onto Trevor for help, its trying to get Ćon and Trevor "together" in the spaceship (it seemed to have understood human passion in that moment!), and its anger at Ćon for repeating "past mistakes" - all these seem to me to be the actions of a changed but similar Ćon.

This also relates a lot to the show's theme of constant change vs. Ćon's resistance to it - that she herself changed so much over the course of the episode and regretted her earlier mistakes, leading to her (alien form) finally succumbing to the Aldus B ray by the end, seems to indicate a whole cycle of regret and a wish to change the past... and the destruction of herself and her loved ones by attempting to do so. If this is true, the "theme" would be that regret is unavoidable but should not dominate a person's life.

Feel free to respond and to point out any of the glaring holes that most likely exist in this theory... I might try to clarify more when I'm not slightly buzzed. ;)

-- Brian Davis (ubik@purdue.edu), May 19, 2002

Answers

As Spock would say;, fascinating...as for their being able to live hundreds of years and evolve into the life form the 'alien' inhabits I'm guessing that would be due to the Aldus B ray that started the loop in the first place. I'm sure they were traveling through time because the wall of Bregna is visible in the background when Aeon runs into the aliens city. If your theory is correct then what is Trevor removing from the babies and what is the strange machine that roams around destroying the floating things?

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo9@cs.com), May 23, 2002.

I really like your theory Brian; it gets me thinking myself. Rather than simply disputing it I think more fun is to be had in exploring it: How could the alien be Aeon?

Maybe the alien is Aeon, in that it is related to Aeon, eg. Upon seeing and or sensing her it recalls that part of its bloodline and is able to become her, so to speak. Or maybe as an evolved human its awareness of all relatives remain ever present in its mind and Aeon is upstanding as a presence in such a framework. Possibly, perhaps even maybe the alien is an extremely distant grand child to Aeon & Trevor, eg. It briefly watches Aeon & Trevor as they indulge in intercourse (or at least foreplay) quickly embarrassed (as one would be, especially if they were your parents in some way) it looks away blushing & feeling awkward. Soon we see the alien take on an interesting visage; Aeon and Trevor's face as one (maybe the aliens as well). It's an awkward look. Could it be a look to symbolise the Aliens sudden realisation & awkward feelings that could well come with such occuring knowledge (the relative thing). The alien is also very awkward about Aeon and Trevor being sexually interested in it.

(Im running away with this) How could Aeon and Trevor ever come to having childeren? Trevor could dream up some means of causing an artificial immaculate conception. Maybe he'd decide one day, that he wanted a successor, even if by then hed managed to secure his own imortality.

Brian, Id be interested in any further clarification on your idea myself.

-- Sam (janecherrington@paradise.net.nz), May 21, 2002.

I like the idea of the alien being some relative of Ćon's, especially the child of Trevor and Ćon part... the only problem I'd have with that is that there'd be a definite connotation of incest there. Perhaps in the new human society, incest is no longer a taboo, or simply by definition doesn't exist(since their system of reproduction seems *radically* different, which would also alter their sexual mores). But if this is true, why does the creature have such sexual (or perhaps "sexual") feelings towards Ćon and Trevor? Does it perhaps want to crossbreed with one of them to increase the alien creatures' resistance to Aldus B (since T & Ć seem resistant to it), or is that simply its only real way of maintaining a bond with them (since it doesn't seem as if Trevor and the creature could produce children through their little eye-trading thing, being that Trevor is an entirely different brand of human)? This, however, does also fit into the theme of guilt and regret that I proposed before, and seems a decent explanation as well.

I still believe that the creature itself is Ćon, obviously after a drastic series of changes and probably many years as well (their independence from most physical functions seems to imply an extended life cycle). Personally, I think that the Aldus B ray transmuted Trevor and Ćon into their new forms, being the only two "oldschool" humans to be exposed to the world-spanning ray; the irony is that Trevor's ray seems to have worked too well: Ćon and Trevor are changed, but the same factor that changes them destroys the creatures. Perhaps the ray acted uniquely on their physiology and psychology to produce the same result of natural human evolution, or simply worked as a catalyst to greatly accelerate the evolutionary progress within their own bodies. Here we seem to have another theme of self-alteration: would changing our fundamental nature lead humanity to salvation or to ruin? This applies to not only the physical and genetic factors, but to personal, emotional, psychological matters as well: How much can a human being change and alter his own persona before it becomes a detriment to his emotional and mental health? And how much good does resisting this kind of change do? In the episode we see Ćon struggling constantly to maintain her own personal status quo, but Trevor embraces the change the creatures represent entirely and wholeheartedly. In the end, the two meet at a kind of "middle ground," where both are changed by their reactions to the world around them but maintain at least some semblance of their old selves. This theory relies on a definite suspension of disbelief, but how many Ćon episodes don't? ;)

In the end, whichever theory theory one subscribes to, each supports the ardent efforts the creature commits to maintaining strong emotional and sexual bonds with Ćon and Trevor, its passion to make them understand the consequences of their actions, and its apparent knowledge of their personal and societal attributes. They also both support the whole "one-planet" idea I proposed earlier.

Another thing I just remembered: In the ending scenes where the creatures board their spacecraft and Trevor's little end narrative starts, the main creature looks back before boarding the craft. The background (if I remember correctly), although it has the same "bathroom-tiled world" appearance from earlier in the episode, also has a bit of the warped cityscape of Bregna behind the wall. So, in all likelihood, the episode is still isolated to Earth, with the creatures simply traveling through time and not space.

-- Brian Davis (ubik@purdue.edu), May 21, 2002.

I really need to see this episode again, there are a lot of small details I cant really remember. When I first saw that machine I think I thought it was collecting things rather than destroying, or though it could be cleaning.

-- Sam (janecherrington@paradise.net.nz), May 23, 2002.

I remember reading somewhere that in the telepathy sequence, the alien was suppose to be placing the floating matter inside of him/her instead of removing it. I think it was the last component that made the aliens human -the area of the body that does "lower" functions like digestion and purification. But, yeah, I'll have to re-watch the episode again. When I saw it for the first time, I thought it had something to do with child birth -I thought it was something like the placenta... er something... (me = ???)

-- cynical (gemini318@excite.com), May 23, 2002.

One thing that seems ignored to me.. Trevor says (IIRC) "The Meek shall not inherit the earth." I always assumed that Aldus B killed "Meek" as opposed to "Strong." Those willing to die for ideals (trevor and aeon's idea of weak) and those willing to kill for ideals (their idea of strong). But Aeon doesn't like that idea, the idea of forcefully changing the human race, so she stops him.

The Aliens, who are almost entirely passive, are completely vulnerable to the ray's effects, from what I assumed were test fires of the weapon (off into space).

So I assumed that the other planet was different from earth... but I'm beginning to rethink this. Maybe its even FARTHER in the future.

Then what Trevor says is forshadowing.... "A human from 1000 years ago wouldn't understand our motives." (IIRC)

This marks Trevor's confusion on the alien world. "I don't understand any of this!" And Aeon's confusion after 1000 years of sleep.

This makes me think. Maybe Aeon + Trevor are "Present." Trevor with Eye plus "Human/Alien hybrids" are future, and the Alien is "1000 years beyond that."

Oops, I'm rambling. i think your theory has merit. It fits with the soundtrack title, and the general theme of the episode: when you try to hurt someone else, you're really hurting yourself too.

skye

-- skye (skyknyt@aol.com), May 25, 2002.

I haven't see this episode in a long time, but it was one of my favorites. In regards to Barb, Sam, and Cyn's comments, do you think it's possible that the machine is actually an alien? I believe at the time we see the machine, Trevor is saying something about how future humans' actions would be incomprehensible. And the machine does seem to be ingesting that floating amniotic sack. And sometime prior to this scene I remember another scene where we see one of the aliens actually ingest one of the sacks.

Also, I think this episode really critiques the notion of social control, and of course Trevor himself since he is the master of social control. This episode shows how the notion of strength is completely arbitrary and how the attempt to strengthen society in a Sir Francis Galton kind of way, or a Nazi sort of way, has actually ended up in desroying the population. The "aliens" are as close to physically perfect as you can get, yet they are all wiped out by a random cataclysmic event of Trevor's making. (Kurt Vonnegut points out the arbitrary nature of evolutionary "strength" in his book "Galapagos," although I have never read the book).

Another thing interesting about Aldus B (where does that name come from by the way? Maybe Aldous Huxley?) is that we have no idea what it is supposed to do. All we know is that it kills a lot of people and leaves others alive in a seamingly arbitrary manner. We assume that Trevor knows what the criteria for survivial is (most likely based on himself), but we don't know for sure.

-- Logo (Vosepherus@aol.com), May 25, 2002.

Of course social control is one of the primary issues of End Sinister; the conflict of Trevor's attempt to meticulously control and order the world of Bregna versus the fundamental elements of chaos, sabotage and free will, is one of the primary ongoing elements of Ćon Flux as a whole. But this particular episode does lend itself to an atmosphere of social Darwinism and an attempt to change humankind for the better that may not work out for mankind's benefit (i.e. debates about eugenics, genetic engineering, etc).

It's also interesting, Logo, that you mentioned Vonnegut in your post; I've always thought that the worlds of Ćon Flux were similar to those of Vonnegut (and Philip K. Dick, but in a different manner) in that they place the ordinary human being within an bizarre and absurd world, and observe how human beings still function the way they always have.

As for the idea of the "tower" being a form of human being, it's perfectly possible; considering the physiology of the creatures, it wouldn't be entirely implausible. But to clarify to the person who said that that could have been even further in the future, that's what I proposed in my original post. If this kind of oddity can be expressed in a timeline, here it is: /c-->-------------------<--a\ /b--->-----\ /--------<---d\ [A] 1--------> [B] 2---------> [C]

Where:

[A] is the "present" of Ćon Flux; [B] is the "turning point" of the creatures' history, when Ćon fires the Aldus B ray; [C] is the "present" of the creature from the episode, where the ray has already been fired and the creatures are surviving in whatever way they can.

Transition 1 is the time from the present to the time that the "alien" civilization is established; estimated to be 1000 years.

Transition 2 is the time that it takes for the creatures to "adapt" their lifestyles to the Aldus B ray; it could be anywhere from a few weeks to several centuries.

Jump a is the leap the creatures originally make from their present to prevent the firing of the Aldus B ray; Jump b is the leap Ćon makes to the time of the creatures; Jump c is the leap Trevor and the creature make to their future; Jump d is the leap Trevor makes from their future to the firing of the Aldus B ray.

...I spent way too much time on that. ;)

-- Brian Davis (ubik@purdue.edu), May 28, 2002.

Curses, the ASCII screwed up on me. >:( Let's see if I can get this to work right: /c-->------------------------<--a\
/b--->---------\ /----------<---d\
[A] 1--------> [B] 2---------> [C] (If it doesn't work right this time I give up :P)

-- Brian Davis (ubik@purdue.edu), May 28, 2002.

I re-watched the episode. This is one “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” type episode. Here are my thoughts, if anyone cares:

This episode begins to crumble at the most fundamental level –the alien being. Yes, when I watched it for the first time my belief was suspended, but now I watch it in a more critical, cynical view. My quib is that there is no biological organism that can exist without a methodology for extracting sustenance from a selected environment. The idea that this creature is based solely on mental processes (this “mind-over-matter” business) is not plausible. Given that the being’s intelligence would allow it to invent certain gadgets to hunt and gather food, the truth is that there is no “survival” game here – the only thing that seems to be limiting these beings is their weakness when exposed to the ray. We see that the beings can have offspring, yet we cannot know the process. They can simulate the sexual act through swapping eyes, but clearly we see no “biological equipment” to handle child-bearing, let alone identify male and female. From all this, I can only conclude that the beings are most likely genetically-engineered. For the benefit of the species, they must rely on a machine of some sort to splice genetic material and grow infants. Is this what we saw on the alien planet? Are those floating masses discarded packets of genetic material? Again, it’s hard to say.

A point I’d like to bring to the table is that of collective- species design predisposition (and I just made up that term, so don’t dog me). Aeon and Trevor’s world is a period of time different from our own. Notice that the rocket-spaceship Trevor used is a variation of what we use, us, today, NASA. The design is very human- looking, its design specification is big, bulky, gets the job done, etc. The alien by contrast is curvy, sleek and fluid. The alien planet is very miniaturized and plain. By plain, I mean empty, non- existent; not enough of the architecture was shown to make a critique. But they are a “mental” species, so I suspect they just sit around and meditate anyway. To say that alien species is the future human species is a stretch because, yes it would be incomprehensible from a yada yada, but evolution in one world, one ecosystem, does not guarantee survival in another, or the same (see below for a biology recap). If those really are humans, why are they still not immune to the ray? Why don’t they have hard shells by now or more biological technology instead of less? I doubt having a pelvis is a biological weakness. And if such things are not weaknesses, why lose them? There is a sense of design in each species, I believe, a kind of individuality despite compounded evolution and social change. My point? If that alien really is Aeon what made her change her hair-style??? :)

-Biology Recap-

We have your general evolution model (gradual) and then the punctuated equilibrium model (fast). I’m not sure which one the writers were going for, but we can examine them both. According to the punctuated equilibrium model of evolution (the creator of the theory died just a few weeks ago), a species remains more or less the same throughout time, with rapid changes occurring only occasionally. But if you're letting the organisms be genetically modified, through engineered gamma rays or whatever, the change could take place in a single generation. If there is nobody engineering this, then you have an entirely different game. If you want these features to evolve spontaneously, then there's a couple ways it happens. First, if having a smaller, but not absent pelvis, vocal chords, reproductive system –whatever- was advantageous, then the structures could be reduced over time until they eventually disappeared entirely. The speed with which they did so would depend upon the strength of the selection, that is to say that if the selecting agent was 100% more likely to kill a person with a large pelvis, deduction would occur much faster than if the selecting agent was only 5% more likely. And even if it's 1000% more likely, significant evolution still might not occur if even the large-pelvised individuals were only killed once every now and then.

Recap of gradualism solution: this only works if intermediate stages present an advantage, and if there is a strong selective force.

On to option two, the punctuated equilibrium method: if gradualism won't work for one reason or another, whether because the agents of selection are weak or because the intermediate stages present no advantage, there's still a chance of a mutation successfully creating any of the desired characteristics whole. In this case, a virus, radioactivity, or other random occurrences edit the DNA of an individual in such a way that an advantageous trait appears whole. The likelihood of this is determined by several factors: exposure to radiation, frequency of viri, but most importantly, population size. In an infinitely large population, all mutations will occur within one generation. On the other hand, in a population of limited size it takes time. Think of each individual as a very large die. Every generation, those dice are rolled, in the hopes of getting a certain number. The more dice you get to roll, the more likely it is that you'll get your desired number.

The fact of the matter here though, is that you're looking at a statistical equation: likelihood of trait evolving = chance of correct mutation x number of breeding individuals x number of generations. Two of those numbers I don't know, and one of them I can't know.

So let me recap this whole post: it's impossible to prove one way or the other based on the information given. You can argue either side, but without the numbers, it's meaningless. I stick to the above- stated –that the aliens are a genetically engineered species.

I’ll get to the social control thing and the timeline deal on my next post...

-- cynical (gemini318@excite.com), May 29, 2002.

Your a christian arnt you Cyn? Do you believe that the intelligence we posses as human beings was endulged upon us by god? Do you belive in the preachings of the bible? Do you find you have to suspend disbelief for your beliefs?

I wonder how an evolved human mind would regard fundemental issues anyway, whos to say?

-- Sam (janecherrington@paradise.net.nz), June 04, 2002.

We know so little about the aliens that any statement about how their existence is impossible is completely unsupportable. Maybe an organism cannot exist without some way of absorbing nutrients, but we don't know for sure. In the vastness of the universe maybe there are creatures like that. It would be naive to think that life on our planet is representative of all life.

And I don't know how you can say there is no "survival game." We don't know enough about the aliens to make any such claim. For all you know, maybe they actively slaughter each other bases on height. There are millions of possible ways this "game" can play itself out and I doubt you have exhausted all of them.

It's also interesting how much we assume about the alien. The eye swapping is assumed to be a sexual act, it's not necessarily so. Maybe it is a social act like shaking hands or exchanging business cards. Or maybe it is sexual, but has no reproductive purpose. My point is that a "perfect" alien shows up literally at Trevor's doorstep during his most daring project of "perfecting" the human species, and so of course he is going to project all of his wishfull thinking onto the alien. As viewers we kind of have to distinguish between what is real and what is Trevor's delusion. (I've always wondered where that baby came from that he was holding).

Your final statement about how the aliens should be immune to the ray, and how they should have a whole lot of biological technology and whatnot is interesting on a lot of levels; all of which have to do with the assumption of progress. Evolution is a process of change in response to the environment. An organism only becomes more robust when comparing it to its environment. Who knows what has happened in the aeons that Trevor was in chryosleep. And given the fact that Trevor himself planned to change the species within his own lifetime, it's not at all hard to believe that the aliens could change again to be greatly effected by the ray rather than immune to it. As for your comment on why they should have more technology, I don't see why. Again, you are progecting your own social and cultural mores onto someone else. Technological progress is not a universal goal. It is not a natural consequence of life. Maybe they have found most technology to be a nuisance since they live in the mind. It's also equally possible that they have reached the limits of technology. In our world devices keep getting smaller and more inconspicuous. Multiple devices are then packed into one device. In reality, technological progress has more to do with a diminishing than an expansion of visible technology. In the end who is to say there will not just be one black box capable of almost everything? Perhaps even capable of autonomous life itself? At that point how could you really distinguish technology from its environment. Maybe the whole environment is technology. Try to step out of your 21st century mindset and think to the ultimate limits of possibility, and then cross that line into the ludicrous. You'll probably end up pretty close to what is actually possible.

-- Logo (Vosepherus@aol.com), June 04, 2002.

I simply havent managed to watch this ep again. Can someone clarify or give an opinion on what makes the strong immune to Aldus B & the weak susceptible. The alien is affected by the ray yet it proves to be physically superior to Aeon when it overcomes Aeons attack and knocks her out. Also it seems to be more understanding than Trevor, When Trevor claims to "understand" the alien gives him an angry look and Trevor confesses otherwise.

I just dont know, wasnt paying attention I guess.

-- Sam (janecherrington@paradise.net.nz), June 04, 2002.

For Logo -first of all, I said it was implausible - not "impossible." Second, it was in regards to Brian Davis' time pretzel theory. Third, your counter-example never happened; the aliens didn't systematically kill of their own kind. If you're gonna play the "anything is possible" card -so can I, and it can only strengthen the ideas I proposed. My theory was that the race was genetically engineered (re-read my post).

-- cynical (gemini318@excite.com), June 12, 2002.

Ah, back to red for me!

For Sam- I believe in God being external, heaven existing. As for the state of human beings, we are waging a long war against ideas and ideals. It is not difficult for me to accept proposed sciences, I just need empirical evidence to back it up. For issues of science I EXPECT qualitative/quantitative analysis. For issues of spirituality, I only require that the idea is worth believing in.

In this case, I'm rather split. When I first saw this episode I thought it was really clever, but now I watch it and at the end I think to myself: "so what?" (Anyone -please comment; what was the ending like for you?)

-- cynical (gemini318@excite.com), June 12, 2002.

I just watched the Mission: Infinite tape again. Its definitely a ray that affects only the "meek." Trevor never defines the difference between strong and meek, save that he and Aeon are definitely not meek.

skye

-- skye (skyknyt@aol.com), June 14, 2002.

I just watched the Mission: Infinite tape again. Its definitely a ray that affects only the "meek." Trevor never defines the difference between strong and meek, save that he and Aeon are definitely not meek.

Also, he implies that evolution is an utterly arbitrary process. Merely creating the challenge to be overcome, and causing "winners" and "losers" to exist is evolution. This is his definition of "evolution revolution," causing an arbitrary but instant change. Later on, I think Trevor sees the beauty of chosen evolution. The evolution that the aliens, and later humans who become like the aliens do. This would support the genetic engineering theory- but I think that genetic engineering can't be seen as any more natural or unnatural than "normal" evolution.

skye

-- skye (skyknyt@aol.com), June 14, 2002.

That's pretty interesting; I never thought about it that way. I'll continue my rambling in the other thread -the one about virtual realities.

-- cynical (gemini318@excite.com), June 15, 2002.

The aliens are human. Trevor states so, and seeing an alien with a pelvis convinces Aeon. Trevor travels somewhere his ship will take 500 hundred years to reach, and Aeon assumes he will return, so she sets her cryogenic pod for other 500 hundred years. Now, the "bathroom tiled" planet Trevor reaches with the alien, and where they get the alien ship, is it Earth too or another planet? I don't know, and I saw the video more then a year ago last time.

Time pretzels constructs always lead to some kind of paradox. After the first loop, wouldn't the Alien know that going to the past would not prevent the firing of the ray in the future? Why would the alien return 1000 years in the past, when the ray had just been fired?

When I saw it the first time I thought that the essential idea was to portray something not understandable. But as I have seen references of Peter Chung taking great pains to explain episodes, maybe it has some meaning.

-- Ricardo Dirani (spharion3@yahoo.com), November 24, 2002.

The pseudoxenos("fake stranger")are the result of human evolution, after 1000 years of living under Aldous B.Whoever said that the amoebas are digestive and reproductive tract is right.The species has split into two distinct organisms,and the pseudoxenos prey on the amoebas,so the amoebas really just do their eating for them(the reverse has happened before.Mitochrondria,ribosomes,and all those other organelles were originally separate organisms).The only way they take from the environment is through respiration,which they probably do through the skin.They are ageless,so it is quite possible that is Aeon and Trevor in the very beginning.However,I think the ray is more of a continuous effect.They need the amoebas to reproduce,but the amoeba can reproduce without them,so they become more parasites than predators.It also causes an imbalance in population which eventually leads evolution to favor the amoebas.Notice how the sores on the skin are shaped like smaller versions of the amoebas.They probably developed the disease as a natural defense against the parasitic pseudoxenos,since they have to ingest them(somehow) to survive.So they travel back to prevent the firing of the ray.

The eyeball trade is most likely a way to trade genes,which would be an everyday necessity under the effects of Aldous B.The pseudoxeno's mental powers aren't just visually telepathic;it's an empath as well,probably able to receive and transmit a whole range of sensory input,and it knows what Aeon and Trevor are feeling when they screw.(like the joke about a hermaphrodite fucking itself;is it incest or masturbation?)That would explain why its brain is so fried when it comes to Aeon's apartment.If it is Aeon,she just experienced herself fucking Trevor fucking her,along with the possibility she might remember that fuck from when she was human.That's three experiences of the same event,and she can no longer enjoy it firsthand.Paradise Lost.No wonder she runs off to hump on Trevor (again,somehow.maybe Trevor's into skullduggery).

The pseudoxeno takes Trevor to another planet,a colony,purely to get another time machine,and discovers it to be overrrun with amoebas too(Trevor now has a time travel device,WHOA)He might understand their relationship to humans,and he understands she's the last one.But he definitly doesn't get that it's Aeon.

Aeon gets out of the capsule to see Breens evolved through Trevor's meddling with time.It seems odd that Trevor goes through such pains for a race which in the end was killed off by Aldous B.When Aeon finds Trevor,he is tending to a hybrid,possibly his own.Trevor is pulling out the amoebiac organs,and the baby regrows them,strong enough to regenerate lost organs,but not strong enough to live without them.But Trevor is determined,affecting change by his own hand,and in his single-mindedness polluting the environment with that which will kill his chosen people.For the baby is like an infected cell which is told to produce more viruses.Aeon fires the ray,and too late does she see the pelvic remnant:the change must have happened not long ago.Aeon hates Trevor,not because he's right,but because he chose the weird,the exotic over her,signifying that she's not different enough for him.The human instinct to fuck the strange to take their genes is strong in Trevor;since he tried it with the Seraph Trev,which bore more than a passing resemblance to these "aliens",like a lack of pelvis.

-- alex (doesn't work@yahoo.com), May 03, 2003.