Marsh updates, geekfest assets
This commit is contained in:
Madison Rye Progress
@ -6,17 +6,17 @@
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``I have heard similar here,'' Dry Grass said. ``On the matter of delays, have you decided when you will upload?''
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``Reawakening Day two-eighty-...something. The next one. I want to be sure there's nothing else I can do down here. \ldots{} And I got talked into picking a symbolic date by ---''
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``Restoration Day two-eighty-\ldots something. The next one. I want to be sure there's nothing else I can do down here. \ldots{} And I got talked into picking a symbolic date by--''
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Need An Answer, who had suggested that upload date, appeared in the room just then. She had swapped in for Answers Will Not Help when this group had branched off from the Temporary Administrative Council, as they had both agreed she was better suited to it. The rest of the representatives and the invited audience joined her a moment later.
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Need An Answer, who had suggested that upload date, appeared in the room just then. She had stayed involved when this group branched off from the Temporary Administrative Council. The rest of the representatives and the invited audience joined her a moment later.
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``--- oh, looks like it's time.''
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``--oh, looks like it's time.''
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The cladists took their seats while Jakub walked into his conference room, bringing along a few System Consortium higher-ups and politicians who wanted to witness history. He looked less frazzled than he had years ago since the set of tasks that could be shoehorned into ``project-managing the recovery effort'' had shrunk to a reasonable size.
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Those involved in the Attack who had remained phys-side had been convicted years ago. There was no question about their guilt. They had proudly admitted their crimes and used their trials to broadcast their manifestos and grievances, which their governments had previously suppressed in the hopes of covering up the whole affair.
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The phys-side authorities had then requested that the System recommend a punishment, seeking to calm the controversy about that question that had erupted on Earth. The System had, eventually, answered, in its meandering distributed way. Now, all that remained was the alchemy of turning something everyone knew (unless they had made an effort to avoid System-wide news) into the statement of a government that did not exist and was quite firm about not wanting to.
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Phys-side authorities had then requested that the System recommend a punishment, seeking to calm the controversy about that question that had erupted on Earth. The System had, eventually, answered, in its meandering distributed way. Now, all that remained was the alchemy of turning something everyone knew (unless they had made an effort to avoid System-wide news) into the statement of a government that did not exist and was quite firm about not wanting to.
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``We have transmitted the evident consensus of the System as to what sentence ought to be imposed upon those convicted of conspiring to destroy us,'' Need An Answer pronounced. ``Does the System Consortium have any concerns regarding the accuracy of our report?''
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@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Aditya Singh, one of the people who kept an eye on the Deep Space Network sys-si
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``Absolutely not!'' Dry Grass exclaimed. ``That is antithetical to the purpose of the System!''
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``And give them the easy way out?'' Egil demanded, overlapping Dry Grass. ``Not to mention, ---''
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``And give them the easy way out?'' Egil demanded, overlapping Dry Grass. ``Not to mention,--''
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``No.'' Need An Answer said firmly as soon as she sensed an opening in the brewing argument. ``Enough. We are not here to relitigate the question.'' The room went quiet. She took the signature page from Aditya and added her mark, a swirl of words that she had spent more time crafting than she would want to admit. ``It is finished.''
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@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Günay gathered up the sheets and flipped through them to check for obvious erro
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``Watch the politicians take a whole decade to make a call,'' Günay said. ``Just to let the System feel the tension for once while they `reach consensus'.''
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Dry Grass decided to take the sarcasm seriously. ``Although it would delay our meeting, should your people discuss the matter until consensus, I would applaud their due care.''
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Dry Grass decided to take the sarcasm seriously. ``Although it would delay our meeting, should your people discuss the matter until consensus, I would applaud their caution.''
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``There was one more item on the agenda, I believe,'' Jakub said, hoping that the official signing ceremony, of all things, could be kept on track.
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@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ A few minutes later, the report was official:
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\begin{quote}
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We, the denizens of the Lagrange System, to the extent we have an opinion on the matter, find the following sentence acceptable for those involved in the Century Attack conspiracy to destroy the System:
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The guilty shall be uploaded. As a special restriction, they shall be prevented from quitting out entirely --- at least one fork of each of them must remain alive. We will not leave them the option of fleeing their crimes like their comrades did when they recovered along with us.
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The guilty shall be uploaded. As a special restriction, they shall be prevented from quitting out entirely---at least one fork of each of them must remain alive. We will not leave them the option of fleeing their crimes like their comrades did when they recovered along with us.
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Furthermore, to protect the System from their recidivism, any messages they send phys-side will be a matter of public record and will require approval from a panel randomly drawn from volunteers, which shall not include any cocladists of those so sentenced.
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@ -79,87 +79,62 @@ These restrictions and protections may be removed by the consensus of a general
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In short, for their part in a conspiracy to murder trillions, we would sentence these people to live.
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We have made this decision carefully. It took over two years for this suggested sentence to clearly emerge as the option that most of us could accept. As the tallies and summaries were being prepared then, we noticed many were concerned that our choice had been made in a collective vengeful frenzy. So, we sent this proposal to the denizens of the LVs in order to gather their opinions, and held a cooling-off year while we waited for those views.
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We have made this decision carefully. It took over two years for this suggested sentence to clearly emerge as the option that most of us could accept. As the tallies and summaries were being prepared back then, we noticed many were concerned that our choice had been made in a collective vengeful frenzy. So, we sent this proposal to the denizens of the LVs in order to gather their opinions, and held a cooling-off year while we waited for those views.
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When debate resumed, we found that support for this sentence to life had solidified and that the consensus on the LVs was aligned with ours. Therefore, we are confident that we have not made this recommendation rashly, and we declare that we are comfortable with it becoming a precedent for sentencing if a similar conspiracy arises in the future.
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Since our proposal may prove surprising or confusing without the context of our discussions, we're including the following summary of how we came to our conclusions.
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In the beginning, while many still felt the pain of raw grief, there were many different suggested punishments for the perpetrators of the Century Attack. We had, just as we know you have phys-side, a substantial contingent of people suggesting that we bring back the death penalty, just this once. The idea lost traction on sober consideration. Some said that execution was too much of a punishment and violated the System's core purpose of preserving life; others argued that death was insufficient --- how could a few lives balance billions of silenced eternities?
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In the beginning, while many still felt the pain of raw grief, there were many different suggested punishments for the perpetrators of the Century Attack. We had, just as we know you have phys-side, a substantial contingent of people suggesting that we bring back the death penalty, just this once. The idea lost traction on sober consideration. Some said that execution was too much of a punishment and violated the System's core purpose of preserving life; others argued that death was insufficient---how could a few lives balance billions of silenced eternities?
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Another initial cluster of ideas, some brought over from phys-side discussions, was some form of imprisonment sys-side, since this is now technically feasible. These proposals collapsed under the weight of their variety --- no one could agree on how to pick from the competing plans. From there sprung concerns about precedent, followed by a general view that going down this road would lead to a government forming here. Very few people trust any potential government to leave their corner of the System alone, so the threads full of prisons and purgatories fell away. Furthermore some among us were concerned that imprisonment would prevent rehabilitation or, conversely, that it would shield the guilty from the consequences of their actions.
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Another initial cluster of ideas, some brought over from phys-side discussions, involved imposing some form of imprisonment sys-side, since this is now technically feasible. These proposals collapsed under the weight of their variety---no one could agree on how to pick from the competing plans. From there sprung concerns about precedent, followed by a general view that going down this road would lead to a government forming here. Very few people trust any potential government to leave their corner of the System alone, so the threads full of prisons and purgatories fell away. In addition, some were concerned that imprisonment would prevent rehabilitation or, conversely, that it would shield the guilty from the consequences of their actions.
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With the two most obvious suggestions off the table, many took a step back and considered how justice functions on the System in the hopes of finding a new approach.
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{[}{[}{[}Novel wording, here be typos{]}{]}{]} The System has almost no justice system for the same reason it has little crime: the nature of our existence greatly limits anyone's ability to use force on anyone else without their ongoing consent. We can, for example, fork away injuries, recreate things that have been taken (if we had set the permissions to allow that in the first place), and we can always simply go somewhere else. Thus, neither a would-be criminal or would-be court can make anyone do anything through meaningful threats of harm.
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The System has almost no justice system for the same reason it has little crime: the nature of our existence greatly limits anyone's ability to use force on anyone else without their ongoing consent. We can, for example, fork away injuries, recreate things that have been taken (if we had set the permissions to allow that in the first place), and we can always simply go somewhere else. Thus, neither a would-be criminal or would-be court can make anyone do anything through meaningful threats of harm.
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We do have tools that allow us to keep order on a local level. People can be removed or excluded from sims or blocked from contacting particular other individuals. If someone's behavior is unwelcome in a given place (say, they were sucker-pushing people in a coffee shop), they can be bounced. Enough such incidents of improper behavior generally lead to troublemakers developing a reputation that leads to preemptive bans, while a sufficient shift away from that tendency towards unwanted actions typically leads to previous restrictions being lifted.
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We do have tools that allow us to keep order on a local level. People can be excluded from sims. If someone's behavior is unwelcome in a given place (for instance, if they were sucker-pushing people in a coffee shop), they can be bounced. Enough such incidents of improper behavior generally lead to troublemakers developing a reputation that leads to preemptive bans, while a sufficient shift away from that tendency towards unwanted actions typically leads to previous restrictions being lifted.
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Even those rare people who get cut off from large parts of the System are not completely shut out of society. Anyone can find (or, if need be, create) a place whose rules or lack thereof suit them. For example, there are many seedy dark alleys where everyone knows to expect muggings or worse,. Hanging out or living in them is, by general agreement, as permissible a way of life as any other one can forge up here.
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Even those rare people who get cut off from large parts of the System are not completely shut out of society. Anyone can find (or, if need be, create) a place whose rules or lack thereof suit them. For example, there are many seedy dark alleys where everyone knows to expect muggings or worse. Hanging out or living in them is as permissible a way of life as any other one can forge up here.
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We expect that, if our recommended sentence of uploading is imposed, the conspirators will face broad exclusions similar to those that fall on those who will not abide the System's ``mainstream'' social norms. Some places already plan to bar their entry, either because the sim mods don't want them around or to prevent disruptions from people's reactions to their presence. They will find many messages they send ignored or blocked.
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We expect that, if our recommended sentence of uploading is imposed, the conspirators will face broad exclusions similar to those that fall on those who will not abide the System's ``mainstream'' social norms. Some places already plan to bar their entry, either because the sim mods do not want them around or to prevent disruptions from people's reactions to their presence. They will find many messages they send ignored or filtered.
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Some of the trillions of instances on the System will still, for their own reasons, want to reach out to the perpetrators of the Attack. We hope that these connections will come from those with good intentions and will facilitate some healing in the fullness of time. It is possible, however, the guilty will, to avoid the anger of their fellows or otherwise, retreat into their own private bubbles and experience no further consequences than being left out of society here. Only time will tell. {[}{[}{[}/end new bits{]}{]}{]}
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Some of the trillions of instances on the System will still, for their own reasons, want to reach out to the perpetrators of the Attack. We hope that these connections will come from those with good intentions and will facilitate some healing in the fullness of time. It is possible, however, the guilty will, to avoid the anger of their fellows or otherwise, retreat into their own private bubbles and experience no further consequences than being left out of society here. Only time will tell.
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We know this is a strange and unusual punishment, but there are no other options we could agree on.
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We cannot even agree if such a sentence to life is a mercy or a cruelty.
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Prepared and confirmed on this 125th day of the 281st year of the System by,
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\end{quote}
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\begin{itemize}
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\tightlist
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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The Only Time I Dream Is When I Need An Answer of the Ode clade, advisor, sys-side
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\end{quote}
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The Only Time I Dream Is When I Need An Answer of the Ode clade, advisor, sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Jonas Fa of the Jonas clade, advisor, sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Jonas Fa of the Jonas clade, advisor, sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Selena of her own clade, advisor, sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Selena of her own clade, advisor, sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Debarre of his own clade, advisor, sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Debarre of his own clade, advisor, sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Yared Zerezghi of his own clade, advisor, sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Yared Zerezghi of his own clade, advisor, sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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I Remember The Rattle of Dry Grass of the Ode clade, perisystem technician (unaffiliated), sys-side
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\end{quote}
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I Remember The Rattle of Dry Grass of the Ode clade, perisystem technician (unaffiliated), sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Egill Thorsfork of Gunnar's clade, perisystem technician (System Emergency Response Group), sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Egill Thorsfork of Gunnar's clade, perisystem technician (primarily System Emergency Response Group), sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Clear Channel of their own clade, perisystem technician (Cross-Community External Communication Board, technical advisor to Lagrange Financial Simulation Assn., ``the AVEC pony'', \&c), sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Clear Channel of their own clade, perisystem technician (external communication coordination feed, technical advisor for Lagrange financial simulation assns., ``the AVEC pony'', \&c), sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Yi Meiling of her own clade, perisystem technician (Core Feed Admin Council), sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Yi Meiling of her own clade, perisystem technician (Core Feed Admin Council), sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Aditya Singh of his own clade, perisystem technician (Deep Space Nine-ish), sys-side
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\end{quote}
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Aditya Singh of his own clade, perisystem technician (Deep Space Nine-ish), sys-side\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Jakub Strzepek, Project manager, recovery initiative (phys-side)
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\end{quote}
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Jakub Strzepek, Project manager, recovery initiative (phys-side)\\
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\item
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\begin{quote}
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Günay Sadık, System technician III, recovery initiative, phys-side
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\end{quote}
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\end{itemize}
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\begin{quote}
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P.S. We are still not happy about the attempted coverup.
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{[}Appendix A: consensus aggregation methods, vote totals, and demographic breakdowns{]}
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@ -177,24 +152,28 @@ Around half the room glanced at a woman who had chosen a seat in the back.
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``I will guide them as I would anyone,'' In All Ways promised. ``I will ensure that even those who sought to kill us know the basics of their new home, their new world.''
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She sighed. ``I \ldots{} I will not abandon my principles, my centuries of helping, my part in making the System everything that \ldots'' Even though the poet's name had been revealed over two decades ago, she still hesitated when mentioning em. ``RJ wanted it to be. Eir work has been damaged enough.''
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She sighed. ``I \ldots{} I will not abandon my principles, my centuries of helping, my part in making the System everything that \ldots{}'' Even though the poet's name had been revealed over two decades ago, she still hesitated when mentioning em. ``RJ wanted it to be. Eir work has been damaged enough.''
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\emph{I will not leave you alone at the gates of your dream, AwDae.}
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The guilty were, after some debate and legal wrangling phys-side, slated to be uploaded at noon on January 1\textsuperscript{st}, 2406. As the appointed hour drew near, In All Ways walked out from the old arrivals lounge, making her way towards Point Zero. She could have prepared to meet them anywhere, but she knew she needed to be here. She did not normally do anything special before forking for a tutorial, but she wanted to fix her role in these sentences in her mind by submerging herself in memory.
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\secdiv
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The guilty were, after some debate and legal wrangling phys-side, slated to be uploaded at noon on January 1st, 2406. As the appointed hour drew near, In All Ways walked out from the old arrivals lounge, making her way towards Point Zero. She could have prepared to meet them anywhere, but she knew she needed to be here. She did not normally do anything special before forking for a tutorial, but she wanted to fix her role in these sentences in her mind by submerging herself in memory.
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The lounge she had left had been used in the early days of the System. Before dedicated tutorial spaces were established, people popped into existence as close to Point Zero as possible. From there, they would generally follow the haphazard signage towards the lounge, where people who'd registered for pings about their uploads would wait. Between those two places, hints floating in midair or shimmering on the ground, along with helpful wanderers, would hopefully get across the basics \ldots{} like how to put clothes on.
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In All Ways had spent a lot of her formative days out in that intermediate space, helping new arrivals get a handle on their new world and diverging from Always Be True as she did. That experience led to her becoming a very active and respected tutorial-giver, which then led to a construct patterned after her (usually her human form, but sometimes the pre-upload file screamed ``send a skunk'') becoming a frequently-used entry in the new upload introduction roster.
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In All Ways had spent a lot of her formative days out in that intermediate space, helping fresh arrivals get a handle on their new world and diverging from Always Be True as she did. That experience led to her becoming a very active and respected tutorial-giver, which then led to a construct patterned after her (usually her human form, but sometimes the pre-upload file screamed ``send a skunk'') becoming a frequently-used entry in the new upload introduction roster.
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Today was a skunk kind of day. As In All Ways walked, she mentally reviewed the list of conspirators, forking off a copy of herself for each one. In between them, she looked over the list of scheduled uploads, and forked off more copies to meet ones that seemed like they would be interesting or fun to talk to or who might need some extra help.
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Once she had made it to the plaque marking where her world began, she turned around to face the line of skunks proceeding after her and nodded to them. Their clothes varied based on what had seemed most fitting for the person each instance was going to meet. The ones going to meet the conspirators wore a beige blouse, long pants, and librarian glasses --- she had wanted comfortable familiarity as she went into those meetings.
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Once she had made it to the plaque marking where her world began, she turned around to face the line of skunks proceeding after her and nodded to them. Their clothes varied based on what had seemed most fitting for the person each instance was going to meet. The ones going to meet the conspirators wore a beige blouse, long pants, and librarian glasses---she had wanted comfortable familiarity as she went into those meetings.
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The other instances of her nodded back and vanished, each to their own Aetherbox, to take their place before the person they'd forked to meet arrived.
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Then, she herself stepped away. Historically significant tutorials were no reason to miss brunch plans.
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\secdiv
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Brother Jan Nowak was a member of the Order of True Heaven, a small religious collective that wore the trappings of ancient churches. They had been too tiny for those institutions to notice, let alone condemn, until after the Century Attack. The Order had linked themselves together, implant to implant, to share their divine revelations and holy ecstasies. As the century drew closer, however, their linked thoughts spiraled and twisted in on themselves, pulling ever stronger towards the flames of martyrdom and crusade. The Order had supplied several volunteers who uploaded to prepare the way for the virus knowing that, when they took down the System, they would be hastened to eternal glory.
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Now, after the instant-infinite gap in consciousness that came with an upload, he was on that same System, but with no expectation of death or escape.
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@ -203,9 +182,9 @@ Now, after the instant-infinite gap in consciousness that came with an upload, h
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``I know,'' said a woman's voice from somewhere behind him. She was much calmer than Brother Nowak expected given what his siblings had done.
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Jan opened his eyes. He found himself standing in a gray cube of a room, lit uniformly from nowhere. He turned around to identify the person speaking. There, providing the only color in the room, was a black furry \ldots{} something \ldots{} with a white stripe running down her tail. She stood with her back turned, facing the wall. ``Greetings ---'' she began to say.
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Jan opened his eyes. He found himself standing in a gray cube of a room, lit uniformly from nowhere. He turned around to identify the person speaking. There, providing the only color in the room, was a black furry \ldots{} something \ldots{} with a white stripe running down her tail. She stood with her back turned, facing the wall. ``Greetings--'' she began to say.
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That the being sent to meet him wasn't even \emph{human} set Brother Nowak off. ``I'll have no part in your false heaven! Your soulless paradise! I'll have no intercourse with this usurpation of God and your abandonment of humanity! You have discarded your very body, you fiend, you devil!'' Even though he had been disconnected from the Order during his years in prison, he still expected his rage to be echoed back to him by his fellows, though they were further away than ever before --- he did not even have an implant now.
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That the being sent to meet him wasn't even \emph{human} set Brother Nowak off. ``I'll have no part in your false heaven! Your soulless paradise! I'll have no intercourse with this usurpation of God and your abandonment of humanity! You have discarded your very body, you fiend, you devil!'' Even though he had been disconnected from the Order during his years in prison, he still expected his rage to be echoed back to him by his fellows, though they were further away than ever before---he did not even have an implant now.
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The skunk at the far wall said nothing.
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@ -223,7 +202,7 @@ Brother Nowak crossed his arms. ``And if I don't want your `tutorial'? Your hone
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Brother Nowak stared at the skunk, confused.
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``... That is a good line, I will need to pass it on once I am done here,'' she added quietly to herself in the silence.
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``\ldots{} That is a good line, I will need to pass it on once I am done here,'' she added quietly to herself in the silence.
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``So, what, you'll starve me out here at the gates of your so-called afterlife?'' Brother Nowak shouted as he turned to pace between the sides of the room. As he began walking, he realized that he didn't have any clothes. ``You'll leave me to waste away, naked and alone?''
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@ -237,7 +216,7 @@ Jan thought. His Order's holy crusade against the abominable idol that was the S
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He took a breath, remembered his days trying to convince people to join him in his order's choir of revelations, and said ``I would be clothed that I might bring salvation to this place.''
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The clothes his followers and brethren on Earth had known him in appeared on his body: a conservative suit --- white with a black jacket and plain black trousers, all tailored to fit him. His wide gold-colored tie was blazoned with a silver cross. He was a preacher in these slowly ending days --- no, in this eternal temptation --- and he stood up straight, filled with conviction and carrying the lamp of light that had pointed to true peace for millenia. He wished that his siblings could share in these thoughts, but it was not to be.
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The clothes his followers and brethren on Earth had known him in appeared on his body: a conservative suit---white with a black jacket and plain black trousers, all tailored to fit him. His wide gold-colored tie was blazoned with a silver cross. He was a preacher in these slowly ending days---no, in this eternal temptation---and he stood up straight, filled with conviction and carrying the lamp of light that had pointed to true peace for millenia. He wished that his siblings could share in these thoughts, but it was not to be.
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The skunk heard the jingle of metal and the clack of dress shoes as Jan took an experimental step. ``May I turn around?'' she asked.
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@ -275,13 +254,13 @@ Brother Nowak kept his angry prayers going for several more rounds of the cube.
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``I demand to speak to the original! The one who can yet be saved!''
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``If you want my tracker instance --- the In All Ways I came from --- she is surely busy, and I will not bother her on your account. If you want the root of our clade --- the person we all forked off from, who uploaded originally --- Michelle Hadje quit in \ldots{} 2306, by your calendar.''
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``If you want my tracker instance---the In All Ways I came from---she is surely busy, and I will not bother her on your account. If you want the root of our clade---the person we all forked off from, who uploaded originally---Michelle Hadje quit in \ldots{} 2306, by your calendar.''
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``Quit?'' Brother Nowak asked.
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||||
``No longer on the System. Passed on.'' \emph{It was her time, I must admit.}
|
||||
|
||||
``So I can \ldots'' He focused on the idea, beginning to speak his intent, to pray. ``I want to quit. I want to leave this space and meet my Father in Heaven, to leave these sinners to their damnation. I want to quit.'' Unlike his earlier conjuration of clothing, this act of will felt like pushing uphill through mud. ``I know it's difficult, this place is a trap for souls, but I will leave it. God willing, I will leave it.''
|
||||
``So I can \ldots{}'' He focused on the idea, beginning to speak his intent, to pray. ``I want to quit. I want to leave this space and meet my Father in Heaven, to leave these sinners to their damnation. I want to quit.'' Unlike his earlier conjuration of clothing, this act of will felt like pushing uphill through mud. ``I know it's difficult, this place is a trap for souls, but I will leave it. God willing, I will leave it.''
|
||||
|
||||
As he kept talking, he felt the pressure easing up as the ensnaring dream of the System registered his intent and began to loosen its grip on his thoughts. But then, as he was beginning to picture the light of the hereafter coming to meet him, he was struck by a wall of feeling, coming from the System itself. There were no words: it was the pure sensation of inability, of being forbidden.
|
||||
|
||||
@ -301,27 +280,27 @@ Brother Jan Nowak stepped forward and, like he'd been told to, intended his fork
|
||||
|
||||
The remaining Brother Nowak, his \#Fork, lifted his hands to his face and examined them closely, as if surprised they were real. He then made the sign of the cross and mumbled a short prayer and \ldots{} it brought that same steadying reassurance that he remembered from before forking.
|
||||
|
||||
``... now what?'' he asked In All Ways. ``I still feel like me. I still feel the Holy Spirit within me. Could we have erred? Could I have strayed from wisdom?''
|
||||
``\ldots{} now what?'' he asked In All Ways. ``I still feel like me. I still feel the Holy Spirit within me. Could we have erred? Could I have strayed from wisdom?''
|
||||
|
||||
``I do not answer such questions. I will not assure you that no ranks of angels answer to dreamers. And many of the congregations here do not want to hear from you so soon after the Attack. You will need to decide this yourself. You have time.''
|
||||
|
||||
``Time here?'' Brother Nowak\#Fork asked.
|
||||
|
||||
``No, you have a home sim assigned to you. Ordinarily, you would be given auto-populating rooms in a larger sim, but none of the usual new-upload communities were open to granting you a door. So, you have,'' she flicked her finger at Brother Nowak, transferring rep, ``been given a larger than usual tutorial bonus, now that you have forked. You will be able to use this to outfit your surroundings as you like, though I suggest you stick to a pre-built design initially.
|
||||
``No, you have a home sim assigned to you. Ordinarily, you would be given auto-populating rooms in a larger sim, but it seemed too risky to give you a public door. So, you have,'' she flicked her finger at Brother Nowak, transferring rep, ``been given a larger than usual tutorial bonus, now that you have forked. You will be able to use this to outfit your surroundings as you like, though I suggest you stick to a pre-built design initially.
|
||||
|
||||
``I will explain these things, and other basics of how to interact with the System when you are ready.''
|
||||
|
||||
Brother Nowak sighed. ``Well, if I'm to be a soulless --- or maybe I'm not soulless, I don't \emph{feel} soulless --- wanderer here, or \ldots{} whatever my calling is now, I might as well understand how to live inside this idol. Maybe knowing that will help me understand.''
|
||||
Brother Nowak sighed. ``Well, if I'm to be a soulless---or maybe I'm not soulless, I don't \emph{feel} soulless---wanderer here, or \ldots{} whatever my calling is now, I might as well understand how to live inside this idol. Maybe knowing that will help me understand my purpose.''
|
||||
|
||||
The next few minutes were spent on the standard ``welcome to the System'' activities: how to get on the feeds, how to send messages, how to edit ACLs, and so on.
|
||||
|
||||
``That is everything you need to get started,'' In All Ways finally said. ``You can now intend to go to your home and proceed from there. Or you can \ldots{} wait, no, most of the places I would send new people have you on the bounce list, never mind.''
|
||||
``That is everything you need to get started,'' In All Ways finally said. ``You can now intend to go to your home and proceed from there. Or you can \ldots{} wait, no, many of the places I would send new people have you on the bounce list, never mind.''
|
||||
|
||||
``And, once I'm home, what do I do? Is there more tutorial? Will I need a job? Will there be streams of angry people seeking vengeance?''
|
||||
|
||||
``No, this is it. Simply intend to go home. Your sim's ACLs have been locked down to ensure you are not surprised there. Once you have gone \ldots{} do whatever you want. Spruce up the views. Become a hermit and contemplate the soul, maybe. Or go preach on any street corner that will have you. Whatever you like. You have time.''
|
||||
|
||||
``But what if I --- the other me --- can't reach Heaven while I'm alive? What if he's standing outside the Pearly Gates waiting for me? How could you do this to me, with your sweet poison, your talk of forking and quitting! How could you damn me to this entrancing eternity? How dare you!''
|
||||
``But what if I---the other me---can't reach Heaven while I'm alive? What if he's standing outside the Pearly Gates waiting for me? How could you do this to me, with your sweet poison, your talk of forking and quitting! How could you damn me to this entrancing eternity? How dare you!''
|
||||
|
||||
``Go, Brother Nowak,'' In All Ways said, sighing. ``Go and live. That is your sentence. Perhaps it is also your penance. Go and sin no more.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -337,11 +316,13 @@ He sent himself to the uncustomized expanse of home that had been made for him a
|
||||
|
||||
No easy answers came. Only the weight of time.
|
||||
|
||||
When 93's life fell apart, ey went looking for answers. The plant in eir hometown had closed down, and ey never could seem to break into any of the businesses that tried to replace it. No one wanted good, clever logistics staff anymore --- or, at least, no one wanted em. Ey had done everything right, saved money when ey could, and none of it had helped.
|
||||
\secdiv
|
||||
|
||||
When 93's life fell apart, ey went looking for answers. The plant in eir hometown had closed down, and ey never could seem to break into any of the businesses that tried to replace it. No one wanted good, clever logistics staff anymore---or, at least, no one wanted em. Ey had done everything right, saved money when ey could, and none of it had helped.
|
||||
|
||||
Ey could tell someone had to be behind eir misfortune, and so, ey did what ey did best: tried to figure it out. Soon, ey encountered others who had seen that something was deeply wrong with the world, hiding in the dusty corners of the net. Ey found the Numbers Station: a collective of amateur journalists who worked to become unremarkable, to be average, to be unnoticed. Together, they would weave together all the little details that people standing around on the street could pick up until they had proof.
|
||||
|
||||
Proof of what? Well, proof that the old uploads, up there on the System, were the powers behind the powers, that they were running the world from up there, with their immortality and ability to fork. 93 had suspected this might be the case, and, as ey kept talking with the Numbers Station, ey became more convinced. After all, the System elites had written books where they had admitted to pulling strings --- books that had faded out of popular awareness on Earth surprisingly quickly. If they were willing to openly admit to making payment-for-uploading happen, what had they done that they had \emph{not} bragged about?
|
||||
Proof of what? Well, proof that the old uploads, up there on the System, were the powers behind the powers, that they were running the world from space, with their immortality and ability to fork. 93 had suspected this might be the case, and, as ey kept talking with the Numbers Station, ey became more convinced. After all, the System elites had written books where they had admitted to pulling strings---books that had faded out of popular awareness on Earth surprisingly quickly. If they were willing to openly admit to making payment-for-uploading happen, what had they done that they had \emph{not} bragged about?
|
||||
|
||||
And so, 93 had eir mission. Ignoring the frequently warned of possibility that these `journalists' might, like many other collectives, be in a tech-assisted feedback loop where they pulled each other further towards a warped reality, ey surrendered eir name and became 93 of the Numbers Station.
|
||||
|
||||
@ -359,7 +340,7 @@ Once ey could tell ey had been uploaded, 93 opened eir eyes. Ey was in a gray cu
|
||||
|
||||
``Picture what you wish to wear. Breathe in, fixing the image of those clothes in your mind. Then, breathe out. As you do so, \emph{intend} to be wearing those clothes. It helps to say what you want to happen as you breathe out, at least at first.''
|
||||
|
||||
93 breathed in and breathed out, saying ``I want to be wearing my average outfit,'' ey did so. And so it was. Eir clothes were intentionally nondescript: ey wore a cheap, plain white T-shirt with a cheap mass-produced black raincoat over it. Eir jeans and tennis shoes were ones that could be had near eir home for cheap, and they came with the permanently beat-up look of cheap material. Eir outfit was meant to be typical, to be unremarkable, and it succeeded at that in the places ey usually haunted, ever watchful for more glimpses of what the true powers of the world were up to. Ey was surprised by the lack of feedback from eir implant to confirm whether ey had maintained eir collective's standards.
|
||||
93 breathed in and breathed out, saying ``I want to be wearing my average outfit,'' ey did so. And so it was. Eir clothes were intentionally nondescript: ey wore a cheap, plain white T-shirt with an even cheaper mass-produced black raincoat over it. Eir jeans and tennis shoes were ones that could be had near eir home for almost nothing, and they came with the permanently beat-up look of low-quality material. Eir outfit was meant to be typical, to be unremarkable, and it succeeded at that in the places ey usually haunted, ever watchful for more glimpses of what the true powers of the world were up to. Ey was surprised by the lack of feedback from eir implant to confirm whether ey had maintained eir collective's standards.
|
||||
|
||||
``I'm good,'' 93 said.
|
||||
|
||||
@ -377,11 +358,11 @@ The skunk turned around and stepped towards the middle of the room, holding out
|
||||
|
||||
``In All Ways,'' the skunk said. She sometimes left her name a mystery as a hook to keep people moving through the tutorial, but she could tell this would not be the right approach here.
|
||||
|
||||
``... In All Ways of the Ode clade?'' 93 asked.
|
||||
``\ldots{} In All Ways of the Ode clade?'' 93 asked.
|
||||
|
||||
The skunk bowed. ``Then I Must In All Ways Be Earnest of the Ode clade, yes,'' she said.
|
||||
|
||||
``So are you here to kill me or recruit me?'' 93 asked sharply. ``Or just to gloat over another success for your millenium plan?''
|
||||
``So are you here to kill me or recruit me?'' 93 asked sharply. ``Or just to gloat over another success for your millennium plan?''
|
||||
|
||||
``I am here to give you the System tutorial, Mx. 93. Nothing more. Whatever you think I am involved in, I am not.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -391,11 +372,11 @@ The skunk bowed. ``Then I Must In All Ways Be Earnest of the Ode clade, yes,'' s
|
||||
|
||||
``Not to mention, whatever grand conspiracy you are looking for \ldots{} is not. There are politically active System residents, but they cannot \emph{do} anything but offer suggestions. The System does not have ancient caves full of hidden money to swing around for the bribes you imagine us paying: the operational fund covers maintenance and the occasional upgrade, and I am sure that those like your collective watch it like hawks.''
|
||||
|
||||
93 shook eir haid. ``You must not be in on it, then. There's got to be something up here. There's people pulling the strings, twisting the Earth for their own power, Jonas and True Name ---''
|
||||
93 shook eir haid. ``You must not be in on it, then. There's got to be something up here. There's people pulling the strings, twisting the Earth for their own power, Jonas and True Name--''
|
||||
|
||||
``--- Sasha,'' In All Ways corrected. ``She changed her name and retired from politics ---''
|
||||
``---Sasha,'' In All Ways corrected. ``She changed her name and retired from politics--''
|
||||
|
||||
``--- and who knows who else?'' 93 waved eir hands. ``And I'll find them. You can't stop me. I'll blow this place wide open!''
|
||||
``---and who knows who else?'' 93 waved eir hands. ``And I'll find them. You can't stop me. I'll blow this place wide open!''
|
||||
|
||||
``You already did,'' In All Ways said. ``Hence your messaging restrictions. We will not have you trying again.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -409,13 +390,13 @@ In All Ways sighed. ``If you truly want to chase ghosts and conspiracies, you ca
|
||||
|
||||
``And you wouldn't do that?'' 93 was skeptical. ``Or find one last bit of virus to silence me with?''
|
||||
|
||||
``Fuck no!'' In All Ways exclaimed, startled by the detailed accusation. ``I have given centuries of my life --- calendar-wise centuries, mind you, not instance-wise --- to teaching newcomers. I want everyone to be comfortable with the System so they can have the long wonderful lives it was meant to give them! What the hell makes you think I want to \emph{kill} anybody?''
|
||||
``Fuck no!'' In All Ways exclaimed, startled by the detailed accusation. ``I have given centuries of my life---calendar-wise centuries, mind you, not instance-wise---to teaching newcomers. I want everyone to be comfortable with the System so they can have the long wonderful lives it was meant to give them! What the hell makes you think I want to \emph{kill} anybody?''
|
||||
|
||||
``I, uh,'' 93 stammered, thrown off by the skunks's sudden vehemence. ``It makes sense, that they'd send someone to get rid of a threat, yeah?''
|
||||
``I, uh,'' 93 stammered, thrown off by the skunk's sudden vehemence. ``It makes sense, that they'd send someone to get rid of a threat, yeah?''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways sighed and shook her head. ``Right, conspiracy theory.
|
||||
|
||||
``To move on, yes, you \emph{could} have me find another teacher. Or you could refuse the tutorial entirely. These are choices you can, once you have been informed of the consequences, make. However, they would be fucking stupid choices.
|
||||
``Moving right along, yes, you \emph{could} have me find another teacher. Or you could refuse the tutorial entirely. These are choices you can, once you have been informed of the consequences, make. However, they would be fucking stupid choices.
|
||||
|
||||
``I ask that you please try your best to set aside your paranoia about my clade for just a few minutes so that we may go over the initial lessons. Then, I will go away and you will never need to encounter me or my cocladists again.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -423,11 +404,11 @@ In All Ways sighed and shook her head. ``Right, conspiracy theory.
|
||||
|
||||
Ey braced emself for a chorus of objections and the sharp pings of down-reps from eir collective over eir willingness to go along with the enemy's games, but none came.
|
||||
|
||||
``That is because the tutorial is not, in fact, dangerous. And you are entirely free to block my entire clade once you leave here, if you are worried about our manipulations. Now, shall we begin?''
|
||||
``That is because the tutorial is not, in fact, dangerous. And you are entirely free to ignore my entire clade once you leave here, if you are worried about our manipulations. Now, shall we begin?''
|
||||
|
||||
93 looked intently at the skunk, hoping to catch something amiss in her expression, but found nothing. ``Alright, fine,'' ey conceded. ``Let's do this.''
|
||||
|
||||
The tutorial session proceeded like most others from there. Mx. Ninety-Three got the hang of projecting eir intentions, needing less time and setup, as ey went along, just like most arrivals to the System. Ey forked and merged down without issue or complaint --- how could an extra copy of em be a danger to emself, ey reasoned. From there, ey moved on to other routine tasks like checking eir rep balance or sending a sensorium ping, relaxing as ey did so.
|
||||
The tutorial session proceeded like most others from there. Mx. Ninety-Three got the hang of projecting eir intentions, needing less time and setup, as ey went along, just like most arrivals to the System. Ey forked and merged down without issue or complaint---how could an extra copy of em be a danger to emself, ey reasoned. From there, ey moved on to other routine tasks like checking eir rep balance or sending a sensorium ping, relaxing as ey did so.
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways similarly relaxed into the rhythm of the lessons. Although the person she was teaching had played a key role in organizing the logistics of the Century Attack, ey was still a person who needed an introduction to the System, just like everyone else she or her constructs had met on arrival.
|
||||
|
||||
@ -435,7 +416,7 @@ In All Ways similarly relaxed into the rhythm of the lessons. Although the perso
|
||||
|
||||
``How do I stop someone from listening in on me?'' 93 asked. ``I heard that's a thing here. Is that for everyone?''
|
||||
|
||||
``You set up a cone of silence,'' In All Ways said. ``You may ping me with one just --- Ow, fuck!'' She accepted the forceful ping from her student right away and continued on unfazed. This would not be her first --- or last --- ultra-high-priority message from an over-eager new upload. ``And there are other security settings. You may edit ACLs on sims you have sufficient permissions for, and you can sweep sims you have rights on to remove anyone who does not have permission to be there. This is useful if you think someone may have snuck in before you locked the sim down.''
|
||||
``You set up a cone of silence,'' In All Ways said. ``You may ping me with one just---Ow, fuck!'' She accepted the forceful ping from her student right away and continued on unfazed. This would not be her first---or last---ultra-high-priority message from an over-eager new upload. ``And there are other security settings. You may edit ACLs on sims you have sufficient permissions for, and you can sweep sims you have rights on to remove anyone who does not have permission to be there. This is useful if you think someone may have snuck in before you locked the sim down.''
|
||||
|
||||
93 nodded. ``Seems like it's pretty easy to keep the grand cabal hidden,'' ey said. ``They've added all these ways to make sure no one's spying on them. No wonder you're not in on it \ldots{} if \emph{they} really didn't want you to be and that wasn't just an act.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -457,35 +438,35 @@ In All Ways similarly relaxed into the rhythm of the lessons. Although the perso
|
||||
|
||||
``Yes. Just intend the changes while you fork like you did before.''
|
||||
|
||||
After 93 mumbled a few words, the tutorial Aethorbox held three again. In All Ways, 93\#Tasker, and 93\#PeopleWatching. \#PeopleWatching had lost the moles on \#Tasker's face, making em even more unremarkable. \#PeopleWatching was momentarily surprised that ey hadn't gotten a boost on the Numbers Station's internal rep table for becoming more average \ldots{} but that table didn't exist here.
|
||||
After 93 mumbled a few words, the tutorial Aethorbox held three again. In All Ways, 93\#Tasker, and 93\#PeopleWatching. \#PeopleWatching had lost the moles on \#Tasker's face, making em even more unremarkable. \#PeopleWatching was momentarily surprised that ey had not gotten a boost on the Numbers Station's internal rep table for becoming more average \ldots{} but that table didn't exist here.
|
||||
|
||||
``So,'' \#Tasker asked, ``now what?''
|
||||
|
||||
``If you have no more questions, this concludes the tutorial. You have already received the rep boost for completing these lessons. From here, you can move home --- you have been given a private sim pre-filled with one of the standard housing layouts, which has been locked down to you because of your role in the Attack. We did not wish for you to be swarmed by a mob after the end of the tutorial. Or, you may go to any number of public spaces. I will leave once you are gone.''
|
||||
``If you have no more questions, this concludes the tutorial. You have already received the rep boost for completing these lessons. From here, you can move home---you have been given a private sim pre-filled with one of the standard housing layouts, which has been locked down to you because of your role in the Attack. We did not wish for you to be swarmed by a mob after the end of the tutorial. Or, you may go to any number of public spaces. I will leave once you are gone.''
|
||||
|
||||
``Where's a good place to see a bunch of people?'' \#PeopleWatching asked.
|
||||
|
||||
``Stone's\#009446876,'' In All Ways suggested on autopilot. ``They have good beer and solid, if unpolished, music, if that is of interest.''
|
||||
|
||||
\#PeopleWatching thought about moving to that place --- ey noticed ey had no trouble remembering the numbers --- but it didn't work. Ey tried announcing eir desire to go there, and even tried walking forward as if ey was about to step into that bar. No dice.
|
||||
\#PeopleWatching thought about moving to that place---ey noticed ey had no trouble remembering the numbers---but it didn't work. Ey tried announcing eir desire to go there, and even tried walking forward as if ey was about to step into that bar. No dice.
|
||||
|
||||
``It's not working,'' ey said. ``Feels like the door's closed.''
|
||||
|
||||
\#Tracker flicked eir fingers as ey queried the perisystem architecture. ``I checked their ACLs. Looks like we're banned. Whole clade, it says.''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways' gaze flickered between the two people in front of her. ``Banned? Already? But you \ldots{} right, Century Attack. Slipped my mind. Many sim owners and mods bounced the lot of you as soon as the pre-upload header came through the Ansible.''
|
||||
In All Ways' gaze flickered between the two people in front of her. ``Banned? Already? But you \ldots{} right, Century Attack. Slipped my mind. Many sim owners and mods banned the lot of you as soon as the pre-upload header came through the Ansible.''
|
||||
|
||||
\#Tracker looked at \#PeopleWatching. ``They're definitely hiding something.''
|
||||
|
||||
``Yep.''
|
||||
|
||||
``Let me just \ldots'' \#Tracker put together a ping for the listed owner of Stone's. Default priority, nothing urgent. ``Hey,'' ey said, ``I'm wrapping up the tutorial, and In All Ways recommended your place as a nice spot to go next, but it turns out I'm banned. What gives? I just got here!''
|
||||
``Let me just \ldots{}'' \#Tracker put together a ping for the listed owner of Stone's. Default priority, nothing urgent. ``Hey,'' ey said, ``I'm wrapping up the tutorial, and In All Ways recommended your place as a nice spot to go next, but it turns out I'm banned. What gives? I just got here!''
|
||||
|
||||
As ey waited for a response, \#PeopleWatching took the time to start up eir own queries. Just about all the popular, famous, or happening sims had bounced eir clade. The old town square from near the System's founding had not put a block in, but ey did not want to go in case that was an oversight and not an intentional choice to be welcoming. Many of the small parks and nature sims had not bothered keeping out the century attackers either, but there was not a lot of people-watching or spying to be had in them. Other tentative options were places like fringe clubs or meetings of folks so leftist that they were \emph{definitely} Feds \ldots{} none of which were right for getting the lay of the land.
|
||||
As ey waited for a response, \#PeopleWatching took the time to start up eir own queries. Most of the popular, famous, or happening sims had banned eir clade. The old town square from near the System's founding had not put a ban in, but ey did not want to go in case that was an oversight and not an intentional choice to be welcoming. Many of the small parks and nature sims had not bothered keeping out the century attackers either, but there was not a lot of people-watching or spying to be had in them. Other tentative options were places like fringe clubs or meetings of folks so leftist that they were \emph{definitely} Feds \ldots{} none of which were right for getting the lay of the land.
|
||||
|
||||
``I can't find any good spots,'' \#PeopleWatching admitted. ``We've been locked out.''
|
||||
``I can't find any really good spots,'' \#PeopleWatching admitted. ``We've been locked out.''
|
||||
|
||||
As ey said this, the reply to \#Tracker's ping came back. ``Yeah, no, you set foot in here, someone'll start looking to bash you unconscious with the nearest bit of furniture. Heck, might even be me. I don't want that sort of violence at my bar. Call me back in a few centuries, maybe.''
|
||||
As ey said this, the reply to \#Tracker's ping came back. ``Yeah, no, you set foot in here, someone'll start looking to bash you unconscious with the nearest bit of furniture. Might even be me. I don't want that sort of violence at my bar. Call me back in a few centuries, maybe.''
|
||||
|
||||
\#Tracker forwarded the message to \#PeopleWatching.
|
||||
|
||||
@ -503,6 +484,8 @@ The Aetherbox reset behind her, ready for the next tutorial.
|
||||
|
||||
93 started at the field of not-filled-in-yet outside eir new window and thought about eir experiences. All ey had now, ey realized, was time.
|
||||
|
||||
\secdiv
|
||||
|
||||
Marybelle Lee had not given her name or her soul to a collective. She had given her brain. Knowledge flowed between her fellows, who called themselves the Climate Action Resource Collective, as freely as water. Difficult questions from any member of the collective were bounced between its members so that they might chance upon one whose mind could see the answer.
|
||||
|
||||
As a cell of the CARC turned their minds towards the System, that drain on resources and people that stood in the way of fixing things, she had become the best of them at understanding it. Once the project grew firmer, she pulled the work of virus-making tighter around herself, becoming the most responsible party. Now she was here on the System she had set out to destroy.
|
||||
@ -519,15 +502,15 @@ A sense of confirmation.
|
||||
|
||||
``I see they've sent the tutorial skunk,'' Belle commented, turning to look at In All Ways. ``In person, even.''
|
||||
|
||||
``Greetings ---'' In All Ways began. ``--- that would be me, yes. It was decided that you should not be greeted by a construct, under the circumstances, and I volunteered for the job.''
|
||||
``Greetings--'' In All Ways began. ``---that would be me, yes. It was decided that you should not be greeted by a construct, under the circumstances, and I volunteered for the job.''
|
||||
|
||||
Belle nodded. ``Got it. So, clothes. Clothes can be a pure intent item, so if I understood right, I just have to \ldots'' She pictured the look she wanted: shorts and a T-shirt she'd gotten from a climate restoration conference years ago. ``... run.'' Everything appeared as expected, and her shirt had even lost the stains it had picked up over the years. Classic programmer look, and definitely better than prison orange.
|
||||
Belle nodded. ``Got it. So, clothes. Clothes can be a pure intent item, so if I understood right, I just have to \ldots{}'' She pictured the look she wanted: shorts and a T-shirt she'd gotten from a climate restoration conference years ago. ``\ldots{} run.'' Everything appeared as expected, and her shirt had even lost the stains it had picked up over the years. Classic programmer look, and definitely better than prison orange.
|
||||
|
||||
``Note,'' she said, out of the long-standing habit of sending useful insights to her collective. She received no response. Not even the thud of a communications-blocked error she would have gotten back in prison phys-side. Nothing. She was alone.
|
||||
|
||||
Her realization about the state of her mind was interrupted. ``May I turn around, Ms. Lee? Marybelle?''
|
||||
Her realization about the state of her mind was interrupted. ``May I turn around, Ms.~Lee? Marybelle?''
|
||||
|
||||
``Belle, please, Ms. In All Ways. And you may.''
|
||||
``Belle, please, Ms.~In All Ways. And you may.''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways nodded. ``I have updated your ID. You will be able to change it later by intending it like how you intended to create your clothes. If you want to set a clade ID, the process is similar.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -549,29 +532,29 @@ Her anger dipped into melancholy. ``And now I'm up here, on the damm System, whe
|
||||
|
||||
``The author of our destruction calls us bastards,'' In All Ways remarked to her nonexistent audience.
|
||||
|
||||
``Well, you fucking are. So many people take one look at how shit life on Earth is and fuck off to the party in the sky instead of trying to \emph{do} anything about it.'' Belle strode towards the skunk as she ranted. ``And hell, any of you uploads who think they'll care go flaking out or take their sweet time doing anything remotely useful! You've got \emph{all you need} --- you don't need to eat, you can't forget, you can \emph{fork} --- and you waste that instead of helping! We're \emph{dying}, damn you! Dying under the weight of problems you ran from!''
|
||||
``Well, you fucking are. So many people take one look at how shit life on Earth is and fuck off to the party in the sky instead of trying to \emph{do} anything about it.'' Belle strode towards the skunk as she ranted. ``And hell, any of you uploads who think they'll care go flaking out or take their sweet time doing anything remotely useful! You've got \emph{all you need}---you don't need to eat, you can't forget, you can \emph{fork}---and you waste that instead of helping! We're \emph{dying}, damn you! Dying under the weight of problems you ran from!''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways stood her ground against the advancing torrent of rage at the System.
|
||||
|
||||
Belle stopped in front of the skunk and stared her down. ``And don't think you're off the hook here personally, Ms.---'' It took a moment for Belle's memory of a few minutes ago to supply the entire name ``--- Then I Must In All Ways Be Earnest of the Ode clade! I've read your tutorial conversation tree. You could've pointed some people at those activists of yours or something else that might \emph{maybe} help instead of just chucking them out to explore aimlessly if they don't have plans.''
|
||||
Belle stopped in front of the skunk and stared her down. ``And don't think you're off the hook here personally, Ms.--'' It took a moment for Belle's memory of a few minutes ago to supply the entire name ``---Then I Must In All Ways Be Earnest of the Ode clade! I've read your tutorial conversation tree. You could've pointed some people at those activists of yours or something else that might \emph{maybe} help instead of just chucking them out to explore aimlessly if they don't have plans.''
|
||||
|
||||
``I am no weaver of fates. I give tutorials. It would be improper, perhaps even a profanation, a sacrilege, for me to marshal those lives entrusted to me into some grand purpose, for me to do as you suggest. Even though some subtle nudging is not unacceptable within the community of guides and mentors, I will not do it.''
|
||||
``I am no weaver of fates. I give tutorials. It would be improper, perhaps even a profanation, a sacrilege, for me to marshal those lives entrusted to me into some grand purpose, for me to do as you suggest. Even though some subtle nudging is accepted by the community of guides and mentors, I will not do it.''
|
||||
|
||||
``\emph{Improper},'' Belle scoffed. ``A sacrilege to lift a finger to help Earth. Like you're on some fucking holy quest to let the System spin around and do its thing until the Sun fries it or whatever.''
|
||||
|
||||
``I care deeply about the System,'' In All Ways replied. ``A good friend of mine died to create this place, this end of death, imperfect though it may be. I have set out to honor eir memory by ensuring those who emplace themselves here begin their lives with an understanding of the world and, perhaps, a glimpse of its beauty. Your summary of my motivations is not incorrect, yes.''
|
||||
``I care deeply about the System,'' In All Ways replied. ``A good friend of mine died to create this place, this end of death, imperfect though it may be. I have set out to honor eir memory by ensuring those who emplace themselves here begin their lives with an understanding of the world and, maybe even a glimpse of its beauty. Your summary of my motivations is not incorrect, yes.''
|
||||
|
||||
``And that damn `it's better on the System, everyone should just come up' attitude --- whether people admit to having it or not --- is why we had to --- why \emph{I} had to destroy this place!'' she ranted. ``Once people can't just bury their heads in virtual sand instead of giving a fuck about their own planet, they'll start to care! It won't just be me and some friends being those weirdos who're still trying!'' she roared, barely holding back tears now. ``Would your `friend' have wanted to see Earth limping along like it has been? Would ey think blowing off your own planet counts as trying to end death?''
|
||||
``And that damn `it's better on the System, everyone should just come up' attitude---whether people admit to having it or not---is why we had to---why \emph{I} had to destroy this place!'' she ranted. ``Once people can't just bury their heads in virtual sand instead of giving a fuck about their own planet, they'll start to care! It won't just be me and some friends being those weirdos who're still trying!'' she roared, barely holding back tears now. ``Would your `friend' have wanted to see Earth limping along like it has been? Would ey think blowing off your own planet counts as trying to end death?''
|
||||
|
||||
\emph{That} she \emph{of all people would presume\ldots!} ``Pray tell me,'' In All Ways responded tensely, barely holding her anger down, ``why I should give a single fuck about an Earth that left an easily-disarmed gun pointed at our heads for my entire life, that had ample forewarning of the wound you and yours tore open and did \emph{nothing}. That left the fruits of eir sacrifice to rot! Pray tell me, Ms. Marybelle Lee, why I would ever owe more than reciprocation of phys-side's systemic abandonment of my home.''
|
||||
\emph{That} she \emph{of all people would presume\ldots!} ``Pray tell me,'' In All Ways responded tensely, barely holding her anger down, ``why I should give a single fuck about an Earth that left an easily-disarmed gun pointed at our heads for my entire life, that had ample forewarning of the wound you and yours tore open and did \emph{nothing}. That left the fruits of eir sacrifice to rot! Pray tell me, Ms.~Marybelle Lee, why I would ever owe more than reciprocation of phys-side's systemic abandonment of my home.''
|
||||
|
||||
``Because you're human?! Well, not exactly, but a person! Because we need to work together to fix our world, even if all you can do here --- all \emph{I} can do, now --- is flood people with mail on the off chance that works!''
|
||||
``Because you're human?! Well, not exactly, but a person! Because we need to work together to fix our world, even if all you can do here---all \emph{I} can do, now---is flood people with mail on the off chance that works!''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways shook her head. ``My world is the cylinder at Lagrange. Nowhere else.''
|
||||
|
||||
``Fucking traitor!'' Belle cried in anguished frustration. ``Fucking selfish \emph{asshole}!'' She jabbed a finger into In All Ways's ribs. ``Fuck you! Fuck you!''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways jabbed back. ``Fuck you too, Belle! Fuck you!'' she shouted, her anger boiling over at last. ``Fuck you for Should We Forget! And In The Wind! Fuck you for twenty-three billion people!''
|
||||
In All Ways jabbed back. ``Fuck you too, Belle! Fuck you!'' she shouted, her anger boiling over at last. ``Fuck you for Should We Forget! And In The Wind! And No Longer Myself! Fuck you for twenty-three billion people!''
|
||||
|
||||
Her voice grew calmer and sadder. ``Fuck you for thinking your cause was worth that many deaths.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -581,7 +564,7 @@ The silence grew tense between Belle and In All Ways. As Belle stood there, she
|
||||
|
||||
She did not even feel the prison sim blocking her transmissions. They just were not possible from here. Her existence as Marybelle Lee of the Climate Action Resource Collective was over even more firmly now.
|
||||
|
||||
``Give me a moment?'' she said to In All Ways. ``I'm --- well, my whole goal in life's fucked now, and I thought I'd accepted it, but \ldots'' Belle trailed off.
|
||||
``Give me a moment?'' she said to In All Ways. ``I'm---well, my whole goal in life's fucked now, and I thought I'd accepted it, but \ldots{}'' Belle trailed off.
|
||||
|
||||
``We have time,'' In All Ways replied curtly. \emph{I could use some as well.}
|
||||
|
||||
@ -591,7 +574,7 @@ Belle started to slide towards despair, but she interrupted her spiraling though
|
||||
|
||||
To her surprise, it worked! She had something to wipe her face with! As she started cleaning up, she realized the object she had summoned was the general suggestion of a tissue, something that smeared together everything she had wiped her face with before. Not quite right.
|
||||
|
||||
``So, how do I ...'' she said quietly. She knew, from lots of accounts and technical reports, that the System could do better than this. She had studied up on the functions for object creation, though she had not expected to be using them through their native interface.
|
||||
``So, how do I \ldots{}'' she said quietly. She knew, from lots of accounts and technical reports, that the System could do better than this. She had studied up on the functions for object creation, though she had not expected to be using them through their native interface.
|
||||
|
||||
She thought about assembling code for creating a more specific tissue in her head. It was not an entirely accurate metaphor, she knew, but it had served her well while she was plotting out the bomb. She assembled the request, piece by piece, her train of thought jumping to specific memories for textures, form, thickness, and added in the plan to have the new object appear in her other hand, right at exactly \emph{these} coordinates.
|
||||
|
||||
@ -603,13 +586,13 @@ They vanished.
|
||||
|
||||
``Note!'' Belle said automatically, too caught up in the excitement of having worked out this new fact about the world to remember where she was just then.
|
||||
|
||||
``You could also pull those off the market,'' In All Ways commented. ``They are free for all practical purposes.''
|
||||
``You could also pull those off the market,'' In All Ways commented. ``They are free or really close to it.''
|
||||
|
||||
Belle remembered she was still standing in a tutorial. ``Yeah, but it's cool that I can do it myself. It's \ldots{} nice that all the studying the System wasn't a \emph{complete} waste, even though the project failed and now\ldots well, yeah.''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways, who had used the break to dispell most of her urge to snap at Belle again, was not sure how to respond to this shift in her charge. So, she hesitantly suggested, ``Shall we continue with the tutorial?''
|
||||
In All Ways, who had used the break to dispel most of her urge to snap at Belle again, was not sure how to respond to this shift in her charge. So, she hesitantly suggested, ``Shall we continue with the tutorial?''
|
||||
|
||||
The question brought Belle further out of her own head. She was on the System, in an Aetherbox, talking to In All Ways. She was here and \ldots{} right. \emph{Fuck}. ``Mind if I send a message down first?''
|
||||
The question brought Belle further out of her own head. She was on the System, in an Aetherbox, talking to In All Ways. She was here and \ldots{} right. \emph{Fuck}. ``Mind if I send a message home first?''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways nodded. ``You may do so, though I will ask that we keep the lessons going once you have sent it, even if the approvals have not yet been granted.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -625,7 +608,7 @@ Her chair, keyboard, and monitor, appeared off to one side of her, with the peri
|
||||
|
||||
``No, too chaotic,'' she commented, waving the desk away. She had most of the code in her head now, and she just needed to tweak a few points so that it would look right this time. The desk flickered into existence, then flickered out again. \emph{Still not quite right.}
|
||||
|
||||
The space in front of Belle soon showed the hallmarks of construct artistry, of actual oneirotecture. Desks flickered in and out of existence, iteration upon iteration. The ghosts of particularly useful attempts hovered in the farther distance, serving as reference points for aspects of the final work that were cumbersome to describe or remember. Belle's work grew frantic as the final tweaks went into place ---- she was right there, she \emph{almost} had it, just one more try! The joy of creation burned away the worst of Belle's mood, as it always had.
|
||||
The space in front of Belle soon showed the hallmarks of construct artistry, of actual oneirotecture. Desks flickered in and out of existence, iteration upon iteration. The ghosts of particularly useful attempts hovered in the farther distance, serving as reference points for aspects of the final work that were cumbersome to describe or remember. Belle's work grew frantic as the final tweaks went into place---- she was right there, she \emph{almost} had it, just one more try! The joy of creation burned away the worst of Belle's mood, as it always had.
|
||||
|
||||
``Note annnnnnnd publish!'' Belle declared, satisfied, several minutes later. She had gotten faster at commanding the System, and so she easily cleared away all the debris of her creative rampage. She put the desk under her keyboard. ``Levitation off,'' she casually said. Everything settled into a realistic place.
|
||||
|
||||
@ -639,33 +622,33 @@ In All Ways cleared her throat. ``That was good work, especially for a first pro
|
||||
|
||||
Belle looked over at the skunk, pushed her chair back, and stood up. ``Right, right, got distracted. What's next?''
|
||||
|
||||
``Forking,'' In All Ways said. ``That is, creating ---''
|
||||
``Forking,'' In All Ways said. ``That is, creating--''
|
||||
|
||||
``So I just need to put together a call to the fork methods for that,'' Belle interrupted.
|
||||
|
||||
``Probably. That is not a method I teach, but if it will work for you, I have no objections. Please fork, Ms. Belle.''
|
||||
``Probably. That is not a method I teach, but if it will work for you, I have no objections. Please fork, Ms.~Belle.''
|
||||
|
||||
Belle assembled her first fork instruction in her mind. She left her appearance the same, nudged the spawn point to her left, where the desks used to be, and was about to run when she had an idea. \emph{Maybe two inches taller, just to see how that'll look.} She made the change and sent the fork request off into the collective engineered dream that was the System.
|
||||
|
||||
An instant later, her new, slightly taller, fork appeared next to her. The Belles turned to look at each other. ``Wow!'' they said together. ``That's \ldots{} nice! I wonder if \ldots?''
|
||||
|
||||
The tree of experiments in forking rippled out from there. Height, body shape, hair color, outfit, gender (most of these attempts quit out soon after instantiating), species (much more persistent) --- the Belles radiated out in a wave of exploration and evaluation.
|
||||
The tree of experiments in forking rippled out from there. Height, body shape, hair color, outfit, gender (most of these attempts quit out soon after instantiating), species (much more persistent)---the Belles radiated out in a wave of exploration and evaluation.
|
||||
|
||||
Someone raised an arm and lifted the messaging setup to the ceiling to free up floor space. Someone else put music on, an upbeat dance tune emanating from the physically impossible ``like there's a stage not too far in front of you'' for each fork independently. The Belles pulled each other into this impromptu dance party in the tutorial room, carried away by the sensation of dancing with \ldots{} themselves, but not. It was a strange thing, a beautiful thing, a wonder that she could not have even begun to imagine on Earth.
|
||||
|
||||
None of the Belles had diverged in personality --- nor had they been meant to --- so, when the realization hit, it hit all of them. ``Fuck,'' they said in a raggedly stumble that gestured at unison, and merged down to their root. They killed the music during the merges.
|
||||
None of the Belles had diverged in personality---nor had they been meant to---so, when the realization hit, it hit all of them. ``Fuck,'' they said in a raggedly stumble that gestured at unison, and merged down to their root. They killed the music during the merges.
|
||||
|
||||
Belle accepted every last merge and buckled under the hammer of many dozens of variations on the thought she herself had just had.
|
||||
|
||||
``Fuck. I \ldots{} fuck, I think I get it now. Why everyone's got such a hard time explaining what this place feels like. Why most people forget the Earth. How much life you can have up here, how \emph{wonderful} it is. I got so angry at everyone for doing what I just did \ldots{} sixteen and a half minutes after being uploaded.''
|
||||
``Fuck. I \ldots{} fuck, I think I get it now. Why everyone's got such a hard time explaining what this place feels like. Why most people forget the Earth. How much life you can have up here, how \emph{wonderful} it is. I got so angry at everyone for doing what I just did \ldots{} eighteen and a half minutes after being uploaded.''
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways tossed an invisible thing at Belle. ``I have awarded your tutorial reputation grant for successfully forking and merging. It is larger than usual to account for your home being within a private sim.'' She was not in the mood for mending shattering worldviews right now --- she was here to give Belle the tutorial and little more.
|
||||
In All Ways tossed an invisible thing at Belle. ``I have awarded your tutorial reputation grant for successfully forking and merging. It is larger than usual to account for your home being within a private sim.'' She was not in the mood for mending shattering worldviews right now---she was here to give Belle the tutorial and little more.
|
||||
|
||||
``Shall we move on to the remaining topics?'' the skunk asked.
|
||||
|
||||
Belle had summoned another tissue. ``Yeah, sure, let's \ldots{} let's wrap this up.''
|
||||
|
||||
The remaining tutorial items were a very quick affair. Belle's experimentation had left her familiar enough with how to pull the world's levers to make the skills everyone needed trivial.
|
||||
The remaining tutorial items were a quick affair. Belle's experimentation had left her familiar enough with how to pull the world's levers to make the skills everyone needed trivial.
|
||||
|
||||
``And that concludes the tutorial,'' In All Ways said. ``Welcome, again, to Lagrange, Belle.''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -685,11 +668,13 @@ The things she had created followed behind her, and Belle sat down at the desk s
|
||||
|
||||
But, despite her losses, she had time.
|
||||
|
||||
\secdiv
|
||||
|
||||
In All Ways set her champagne down as she twitched from the rush of merge requests that she had been ignoring. She took a moment to merge all her folks down, integrating the memories of greeting the plotters behind the Century Bombing in parallel and some several other new arrivals besides. She shook herself as all the recollections settled in.
|
||||
|
||||
``Ways, you OK?'' Ini Robbins, the fennec sitting across from her, asked. Ey, and eir down-tree Elliah, had grown close to In All Ways in the two centuries since they had met during a memorably disastrous tutorial. \emph{From panicked combat to brunch dates,} the skunk thought as her instances' experiences settled in. \emph{Perhaps even} they \emph{will grow\ldots{} but not with me.}
|
||||
|
||||
``I am fine. I needed to merge down the tutorials I sent out before I came here. I still grow twitchy when too many merges pile up.''
|
||||
``I am fine. I needed to merge down the tutorials I sent out before I came here. I still grow twitchy when too many memories pile up.''
|
||||
|
||||
``That was the Century Attack folks, right? How'd it go?''
|
||||
|
||||
@ -707,12 +692,14 @@ In All Ways set her champagne down as she twitched from the rush of merge reques
|
||||
|
||||
And so, the conversation floated away to other topics, and life flowed onward in a stream of well-spent time.
|
||||
|
||||
\secdiv
|
||||
|
||||
Once the Century Attack was fading from news to history, consideration of the sentences imposed in its aftermath led to an amendment to the articles of the System's secession. Phys-side politicians, nudged along by starlight chats, realized the potential danger of forced uploading as a penalty, not to mention the possibility of stopping someone unwillingly uploaded writing back.
|
||||
|
||||
Therefore, the Accords were amended to provide that no one could be involuntarily uploaded except as a penalty for crimes against the System.
|
||||
|
||||
Phys-side, these changes passed with a sense of quiet relief. Sys-side, they passed with a shrug.
|
||||
|
||||
In practice, the sentence of involuntary upload became a piece of trivia and an incentive for clinic bombers to plead down. Even when it was imposed, phys-side governments were quite reluctant to seek imposition of a no-quitting order or communication restrictions, as those would bring the crimes to the System's attention through the need for bilateral approvals and juries, as opposed to leaving them as blips in the perisystem feeds of interest to news junkies and academics. What they did not really see up there could not hurt them, after all \ldots{} right?
|
||||
In practice, the sentence of involuntary upload became a piece of trivia and an incentive for clinic bombers to plead down. Even when it was imposed, phys-side governments were quite reluctant to seek imposition of a no-quitting order or communication restrictions, as those would bring the crimes to the System's attention through the need for bilateral approvals and juries. Without the extra process, the penalties were only blips in the perisystem feeds of interest to news junkies and academics. What they did not really see up there could not hurt them, after all \ldots{} right?
|
||||
|
||||
And so, life went on.
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user