Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

In Binary Storm by Christopher Hinz a streetwise computer wiz, his politically savvy girlfriend and a tormented supersoldier form an uneasy alliance to stop assassins existing simultaneously in two bodies from threatening the world with apocalypse. The standalone novel serves as a prequel to the more distant future of Hinz’s earlier Liege-Killer which won the Compton Crook Award for best first novel and was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer. He has written screenplays and a graphic novel, scripted comics for DC and Marvel, and has worked as a newspaper reporter and technical administrator of a small TV station. In this feature, he explains the background to the world of Binary Storm and his later Paratwa saga…

a

a

A binary, aka a Paratwa (PA-rah-twah), is a genetically engineered person who exists contemporaneously in two bodies. It’s a deceptively simple idea with complex ramifications.

To be clear, a binary is not to be confused with the more common science-fictional idea of mentally linked minds. A Paratwa is a single mental-emotional consciousness, its halves united by a telepathic linkage. Other than being roughly the same age, the two bodies of a Paratwa, known as tways, need not resemble one another. They can even be male and female.

Imagine for a moment what it might be like having a pair of physical selves. What are some of things you can do when you possess two bodies instead of one?

For starters, you can stand or sit your tways back to back and perceive the world in all its 360 degree glory. There are many natural advantages to being able to see what’s in front of you and what’s behind you at the same instant. For one thing, with two heads able to look in opposite directions, you’ll be secure in the knowledge that no one will be able to sneak up on you.

But sometimes, there’s no good reason for keeping your tways that close. Imagine you’re visiting New York City and need to keep an appointment in Lower Manhattan. There’s nothing to stop you from taking a relaxing stroll through Central Park at the same time. You’re one person, remember? That central reality doesn’t change no matter how far apart your tways are.

Multitasking achieves a whole new meaning if you’re a twofer. Need to put in an appearance at that emergency sales conference the boss scheduled for a Friday evening but already promised your significant other dinner and a movie? No problem. Being binary, you can do both and keep everyone happy. Of course, it can pose a challenge if the events at the two venues both require intense focus and concentration. Any person, whether a singleton or a binary, has certain limitations, multitasking notwithstanding. Still, if you can walk and chew gum at the same time, most dualistic social situations are probably manageable.

What about when your binary self gets hungry or thirsty? Basic sensory pleasures such as eating and drinking can be delightfully amplified when two mouths are involved.

Want to enjoy that sweet and sour meal in an entirely new way? Easy enough. Have one of your mouths bite into a meatball slathered in a delicate brown-sugar sauce while your other mouth bites the tang out of chunks of baked pineapple. Or maybe mouth #1 chews on a salad of roasted asparagus and tomatoes while mouth #2 samples tart goat cheese. Such culinary combos can provide for endless experimentation. Bon appetit by the power of two.

And let’s not neglect liquid refreshment. Imagine enjoying a rum and coke by letting hot rum trickle down one throat while ice-cold cola tickles your other gullet. But remember, the nervous systems of your two bodies are interlinked. If one tway gets too inebriated, the other one is likely to turn into a falling-down drunk as well.

You’re a more conventional sort, you say, not all that crazy about trying new things? Fine. Nothing to stop you from eating with one mouth at a time. Just don’t forget that both of your bodies need nourishment and care. As a singleton, you wouldn’t exercise only the muscles on your right side and allow your left side to wither, would you?

And while we’re on the subject of oral cavities, there’s something else you can do with two mouths (No, not that. We’ll talk binary sex a bit farther on.).

I’m thinking of something we all take for granted: speech. Binaries can talk just like normal humans do, shaping words with one mouth at a time. But where’s the fun in that? Why not alternate your speech through your two mouths, and do so in such a way that it sounds as if one person is talking.

Imagine you’re a mere singleton at a fish market asking the clerk a simple question:

How fresh is that imported tilapia?

Now, same scenario but you’re a binary, effortlessly ping-ponging words and syllables back and forth between your two halves in seamless fashion.

How

     fresh

is

     that

im-

      ported

til-

      ap

ia?

To singletons, such speech can come across as mildly humorous or downright creepy, depending on the situation. In fact, many twofers are said to tway-talk around the single-bodied just for the fun of it, to see what kind of reactions they can elicit.

Speaking of fun, did you hear about the binary who liked to play chess with herself? Trouble is, she always ended up feeling like a pawn in her own manipulations.

What about sports? There are obvious advantages to having separate tways where contests of savvy and skill are concerned. Take auto racing. Sure, most race tracks have regulations prohibiting binaries from competing. Singleton drivers rightly claim that an individual able to wheel two cars at the same time has an unfair advantage. He or she can team up to block a faster car, and what Indy 500 racer hasn’t been frustrated trying to pass two cars moving in perfect synchronicity because they’re driven by the same person. An increasing number of sports have been outlawing binary competitors, although there is an inordinate fascination in watching one of those tennis-pro tways effortlessly hitting volleys with his back to the net. (Hint: He’s assisted by his other half, who’s observing from the sidelines.)

While we’re on a sports motif, did you hear about the masochistic Paratwa who engaged in self-boxing? Every time he landed a knockout punch, he was a sore winner and loser.

Okay, enough stalling, let’s jump into binary sex. No matter how many variations of lovemaking we humans practice, twofers can probably do us one (or two) better.

Start with the basics. It can be fascinating to watch a pair of Paratwa doing the four-body tango, their sixteen appendages bending and twisting, their forty fingers stroking and caressing. Equally entertaining is binary sex involving a single human, which although technically a twosome looks for all the world like a ménage a trois. And we haven’t even touched upon the touchy practice of paramasturbation, which gives entirely new meaning to the idea of playing with yourself.

What I’ve described thus far might be thought of as the lighter side of Paratwa existence. Let’s not forget the darker stuff, such as the fact that binaries are a minority in a culture that’s predominantly human. It’s all too common for people to experience fear and bigotry against outsiders, and being born a twofer is about as far outside as you can get.

Consequently, many binaries attempt to hide their true selves in public. Since there’s no known method short of an autopsy of determining whether two people are singletons or a twofer, Paratwa can easily blend into human society. It’s difficult enough to guess if that couple strolling along the sidewalk in front of us is binary. It’s even more of a challenge when the twofer is walking on opposite sides of the street.

Of course, if you’re one of those Paratwa who’s been trained as an assassin, you might flaunt your dual nature. These two-headed super-predators, trained from birth to hunt and kill, are the deadliest creatures on the planet. If you need proof, just ask anyone who’s ever witnessed one in combat mode. The tways of an assassin can fight back to back, their front set of legs churning in perfect synchronicity with their rear set in bizarre mimicry of a galloping horse. Two sets of eyes scan for threats front and behind while an enhanced neuromuscular system enables four hands to fire energy and projectile weapons with a speed few humans can match.

Worst of all, the rise of the assassins has served to organize the binaries and set them against humanity. An undeclared war now exists between Paratwa and humans. It’s a struggle that plays out in Binary Storm, a struggle that threatens the very existence of civilization…

Binary Storm is published on November 1 (US) November 3 (UK/Rest of the World) by Angry Robot