"A higher form of consciousness, huh?" Jarvis repeated. "What does that mean exactly? You think human minds are some kind of mental joy-ride? You want to throw wild human orgies?"

"We are not seeking physical pleasure. We already have genetically engineered breeds for sexual stamina, alternate sensory modalities and athletic prowess."

"What is it you want then?"

"A joining of equals. Human minds are complex and layered, capable of higher reasoning yet anchored in a physical body. A pairing between our kinds could create a mind that is greater than either could aspire to on their own."

"Why not just engineer a host for that? Seems like you've engineered them for everything else."

"We tried, of course. But engineering intelligence involves more than rearranging DNA base pairs. Until we encountered humans, most of our scientists did not believe it could be done. After all, in billions of years of evolution on our planet, no single organism has ever managed it. We can enlarge or copy areas of the brain with ease. That is how we are able to boost vision, improve dexterity and even add extra limbs. But when it comes to intelligence, size is not everything. The arrangement of mental units is crucial and those units have to be trained and finely tuned through a winnowing and reinforcement process that takes years or even decades. You cannot alter one parameter without solving for the whole."

"You seem to know a lot about the subject."

"It has been an area of active study since the advent of science."

"Meaning that you've had plenty of time to conduct experiments. What happened?"

"We discovered the dangers of over-reaching," the Braunt said. "When we enlarged the emotional drive centers of the brain, animals would obsessively overeat, procreate or fight. Some animals devoured their mates in the act of copulation. Enlarging the higher order logic centers produced even worse results."

"Worse than live cannibalism?"

"Irrational behaviors are easy to spot and can be swiftly dealt with. But when you increase reasoning without adjusting the underlying drives, you create clever brutes. Such creatures may show no outward signs of instability. Only after pairing does the danger become evident. Their minds are able to resist or subvert our logic in subtle ways, producing lunatics, criminals or bloodthirsty despots. Indeed, the attempt to create hyper-aware mental substrates has led to some of the worst chapters in our history. Laws now prohibit genetic manipulation for anything other than physical and sensory enhancement. Any animals demonstrating a capacity for abstract reasoning are euthanized at a young age. For all our science, we Braunts remain much the same as evolution has made us. But there are those that say we have given up too soon."

"What do you think?"

"Brain manipulation is a complicated endeavor. The mind is not one thing but a delicate balance between many competing constraints and forces. Higher intelligence requires the right mental architecture, the right embodiment and the right environment in which to learn and refine its model of the world. This, I believe, is why all previous attempts have failed."

"But you think the human brain might be compatible with your brand of mind assimilation."

"Your brain, like ours, is the result of evolutionary processes working over great expanses of time. Also like us, you have an advanced civilization with a rich and diverse culture that trains and conditions your minds from birth. In conclusion, you are the higher order mind we have been seeking to create."

"If, as you say, our thinking is so much alike, then surely you would understand why a mind takeover would be abhorrent to us."

"Many of our kind find the prospect of pairing with a human equally ill conceived."

"What do you mean?"

"With animals, we can be assured that our far superior intelligence will remain preeminent during pairing. But with humans we can make no such assumption. The neural assimilation process is bi-directional. The trade-off for unfettered access to the thoughts and sensations of our substrates is full access to our own thinking processes. If a Braunt were to pair with a human, its mind would be fully open to it."

"So there's a chance you could end up as our mind-slaves instead. But you're still willing to take the risk. Why?"

"Because we believe it could result in something greater than either of our two species."

"You said that already. What you haven't told me is why you think it's even possible. So evolution made both of our species smart. That doesn't mean we're compatible. In fact, if I asked my AI to estimate the probability, I'm sure the odds would be astronomically remote. It's far more likely that we would drive each other insane or end up as bitter rivals in our own heads. No amount of computer modeling could predict what the conscious experience of such a merger would be like. The only way to really know for sure would be to—holy shit!" The realization hit Jarvis like a physical shock. "You've done it, haven't you?"

"You are referring to a mental pairing between a human and a Braunt?" The alien paused to let this sink in. "Yes. We have conducted a successful experiment. Would you like to speak to her? She is waiting to enter the outer airlock."