So, you've made it this far, have you? It takes dedication to find this page hidden deep within the Tagonist Knights Website.
Congratulations!
As a reward, I present to you five new ways to immerse yourself within this novel. Some of it is insightful, other aspects of it is meant to make you laugh and smile. Hopefully, by the time you're done, you'll be eager to explore the book if you haven't already, or take a moment to read through it once again knowing what you do now.
“He’s perfect. He is beautiful. Flawless. He is the embodiment of a dream. Which, sadly, makes him a fantasy. I have projected my hopes and desires upon him without a single droplet of information of the man within.” - Lilly
Say Hello - The Cast of Replicating Life
“I cannot change who I am just to make another happy or provide them what they are seeking from me. To do so, I lose my own self-identity and who I want to be.”
Lilly
Neuroscientist
“Only she gets to call you her own. That is the greatest gift of all that you can offer her."
Daisy
Dermatologist
“People will gaze into what I’ve created and see what you created. Through his eyes, they’ll see the life that you brought into this world.”
Naia
Optometrist
“I think you’re a lot stronger than you believe yourself to be.”
Phillip
Amnesiac
“It takes bravery and inner strength to admit when we are not strong enough to handle a situation alone, to ask for help in times of need.”
Doctor Kindred
Psychologist
“Sometimes we must put our faith in our own abilities and not rely completely on technology to provide us a safety net.”
Lubomir
Therapist
“You are an incredibly beautiful form of life. You’re not the same as I am in that your origins are different, what went into creating you followed a separate path than my own, but you are just as valuable in this world as I am.” - Lilly
Relevant Memes/Artwork
“I consider that the greatest intellectuals throughout history were ones that questioned the status quo, asked curiosities about the Universe even at the risk to their lives, and encouraged growth beyond the limitations of what society would place upon them.” - Doctor Kindred
Origin Story:
Last of Its Kind
I first started writing the concept of what would one day develop into the Human Born series in college. I had completed Acolytes (Renamed Blood Oath), Prodigal Son (Renamed Arcane Inheritance), Emerald Intrigue, and Children of Gaia (Renamed Garden of Gaia). I had begun this story, but never completed it. it was a dramatically different version than what this story developed into.
Lilly makes reference to the idea of letting Phillip develop an entire lifetime of memories before waking up in her world. That is what happened in the original, he wakes up as nothing more than a skull with eyeballs attached to his brain sitting on a desk. It was pretty horrifying concept but told through his perception. Each scene shows his developing body as they attach more of him. Eventually, when he is fully created, he is sent up to the upper floors where he is exposed to the inner workings of the administration running the European Alliance, the kind of hub of individuals reacting to everything.
That's where the story ended. I never developed it further. Where it began was a dream I had. Climbing up through this framework of a building, working my way up to the top where someone was in charge. That's when I first had the idea of a "god" running everything from this incredibly tall spier of a structure.
Returning to the story, I had a core cast of Nia, Daisy, Lilly, and Mari (short for Marigold). I wrote most of the original draft where he didn't wake up until the last two chapters leaving little room for interaction and character growth for Phillip. His discussions with Doctor Kindred didn't exist in that first draft either, so he just wakes up, they react to that, and the novel is over. Obviously, I didn't like that, so I felt dramatic changes needed to be made. The first was adding a scene between Phillip and Doctor Kindred in every other scene.
Origin Story:
Pick a Genre!
I continued with the scenes involving Phillip interacting with Doctor Kindred throughout most of the book. At the time, I was aiming for a hard science fiction story with philosophical discourse.
It didn't feel right. Then I was inspired to make it more of a romance. To lean heavily into that genre. The first major change was switching out a woman named Mari, short for Marigold. She lived a life free from technology. That's when I had the idea of bringing in the traveler, a character first introduced in Emerald Intrigue and revealed again in a bonus scene at the end of Garden of Gaia. With the god of romance involved, I knew that the story should be part romance, part scifi in that this was also Nikola's narrative. Also, originally, there was a lot more scenes involving Nikola and Alana which I felt took away from the main plot and so edited those down to five scenes.
With Nikola and Alana's scenes greatly reduced, Mari replaced with Lubomir, I still had the problem of Phillip waking up at the end. So, I dramatically cut down the scenes between him and Doctor Kindred and aimed for halfway for the book for him to wake up. The last major removal was a character named Heather who was a bone expert. Her character never developed. Later many scenes involved her and Alana attempting to blend in as just another worker felt awkward at best which was removed. I made reference to her as dating Nia at the end.
Lastly was a change in personality for Daisy. A scene involving Nia and her dramatically changed who she was. Originally, she was distrustful, emotionally detached, and rude with little character development. She bloomed as an individual. Flower pun intended. Somehow my hard science fiction story developed into a scifi romance.
“Your existence should not be defined by another. You should be your own individual.” - Lilly
Easter Eggs and Inspiration
Scifi Author
Phillip is named after Phillip Kindred Dick, a prolific science fiction and scifi author.
Sleeping Android
Doctor Kindred is named after Phillip Kindred Dick, author of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."
Home World
Alpha Prime is also the name of a planet of androids known as the Erocatad in the Sunfire Chroncles.
Crazy Talk?
Page 7, "All work and no play..." is a reference to the movie: The Shinning.
One Name
Page 18, Melody's mother from Arcane Inheritance prefers only one name and she is from France.
Third Plant Name
On page 63, Nia is short for Petunia.
Tranquil Love
Lubomir is a Slavic name meaning lub (love) and mir (peace).
Holographic Love
Page 58, an android in love with a holographic woman is from the movie: Blade Runner: 2049.
Artificial to Organic
Page 98, the woman with implants becoming organic components is explained in the novel: Emerald Intrigue.
Wooden Boy
Page 98, the wooden boy turned into a real child is the story of Pinocchio.
Visual Shields
Page 107, I got the idea of glasses being a form of shields to cope with anxiety from a close friend of mine.
Zombie!
Page 196, how Lilly described an animated corpse is what occurred in the novel: Blood Oath.
Plant People
Page 211, the plant people are introduced in the novel: Garden of Gaia.
Computer Scientist
Alana is named after Alan Turing, a British mathematician considered to have created the first computer.
Past Mistake
Page 222, the boy being injured occurred during the events of the novel: Emerald Intrigue.
Final Battle
Page 231, the battle involving a colossus occurred in Arcane Inheritance. Inheritance.
Geographer
Page 233, Eratosthenes (276-164 BCE) first calculated the circumference of the globe, within 30 kilometers of what scientists would calculate to be true over two thousand of years later.
Map Collection
Page 233, in 150 AD Eratosthenes produced an atlas called Geographia containing several maps of the world known.
Short Life
Page 243, the mayfly's life span is roughly 24 hours.
Newborn
Page 243, the "wiggly little red thing" refers to a kangaroo that must crawl to its mother's pouch.
Another Reality
The term, evoltseraed, was first introduced in the novel: In a Heartbeat.
And now... My Favorite.
All the women involved in the project are named after flowers for a reason. Lilly, Daisy, Nia (Petunia), Heather, and the replaced Mari (Marigold). Why? Gaia created a garden of plant-based people, cultivating her own race of human born revealed in the novel: Garden of Gaia. Exposed to this idea, Nikola liked the concept but wanted to create a race of synthetic beings. His "garden" is represented by a collective of individuals who are synthetic beings that are not aware they are not organic. The project was to test to see if synthetic beings could create their own new human born that are synthetic beings. It was his way to see if synthetic beings could replicate new beings like them and his experiment proved to be successful. Phillip is a synthetic being as much as the women in the story are. Nikola hints at this fact.
“In a world of science and technology, I have discovered the spark of the divine, the essence of love, in your eyes.” - Lilly
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