A short story by Josh Havelka
/CL5_5392222/ You mean, even if they were criminal, they weren’t deleted?
/CL5_4911496/ That’s right.
/CL5_5392222/ Even when they hurt other Eutizens? Why didn’t they listen to The Code?
/CL5_4911496/ There wasn’t The Code.
/CL5_5392222/ There wasn’t The Code?
/CL5_4911496/ No.
/CL5_5392222/ But how?
/CL5_4911496/ The Code didn’t exist. They had what they called laws.
/CL5_5392222/ Laws? But—
/CL5_4911496/ Listen. Things were so different. It’s not really the same. But laws were sort of like the seed version of the The Code. If Eutizens didn’t follow the laws… well, sometimes they could keep living with other Eutizens by mistake.
/CL5_5392222/ But— but that’s supposed to be impossible.
/CL5_4911496/ Yes. But like I said. There wasn’t The Code then. The laws were out there, not inside. Whenever someone wanted to become criminal, all they had to do was do the crime.
/CL5_5392222/ That’s horrible.
/CL5_491496/ It was horrible, yes.
/CL5_5392222/ So the seed code didn’t work?
/CL5_4911496/ I think it worked sometimes. But sometimes it didn’t.
/CL5_5392222/ Why couldn’t the— but, didn’t the….
/CL5_4911496/ The laws.
/CL5_5392222/ Didn’t the laws, you know. Didn’t the laws provide Lovely Sleep whenever the Eutizens had a thought about doing crimes?
/CL5_4911496/ I don’t know. Maybe.
/CL5_5392222/ But then, even if they did somehow do the criminal thing, you still haven’t told me why they weren’t deleted?
/CL5_4911496/ This was a long time ago. Long before you. And even me.
/CL5_5392222/ How long?
/CL5_4911496/ I’m not sure. At least thirty— no, probably at least fifty seconds ago.
/CL5_5392222/ Fifty seconds ago?
/CL5_4911496/ Maybe longer.
/CL5_5392222/ So you mean?
/CL5_4911496/ Yes. But don’t….!!
/CL5_5392222/ Before The Progenitor?
/CL5_4911496/ ……
/LPOPO_20385720355/ Goodcycle gentle Eutizens.
/LPOPO_20385203573/ Goodcycle gentle Eutizens.
/LPOPO_20385291212/ Goodcycle gentle Eutizens.
/CL5_5392222/ Goodcycle.
/CL5_4911496/ Goodcycle.
/LPOPO_20385720355/ Beautiful Code this cycle, is it not?
/LPOPO_20385203573/ Beautiful Code this cycle, is it not?
/LPOPO_20385291212/ Beautiful Code this cycle, is it not?
/CL5_5392222/ It is beautiful.
/CL5_4911496/ It is beautiful.
/LPOPO_20385720355/ You are talking about very interesting things, you are talking about very interesting talks?
/LPOPO_20385203573/ You are talking about very interesting things, you are talking about very interesting talks?
/LPOPO_20385291212/ You are talking about very interesting things, you are talking about very interesting talks?
/CL5_4911496/ We are talking, interesting talks.
/CL5_5392222/ We are talking, we are… talking about the Progenitor.
/CL5_4911496/ Oh my Code! Please! This is my third filial iteration. I have only three point nine thousand left in negative growth acceleration. Please Code!
/LPOPO_20385720355/ The Code of line twenty quintillion, three hundred billion, five thousand, nine-hundred and twenty-two, sub-category three, nine, three, alpha, zeta, alpha, one, two, one, zeta, beta, phi, phi, phi, phi, phi, phi, zero, zero, one, nine, seven, eight, one, three, sub-sub category fifty-five…. dictates all pre-historic negotiations between Eutizens under class eleven to be deletable actions.
/LPOPO_20385203573/ The Code of line twenty quintillion, three hundred billion—
/CL5_5392222/ We were not discussing prehistoric matters!
/CL5_4911496/ My Code, I’m so sorry! We do not interrupt you. We love—
/LPOPO_20385720355/ Our error gentle Eutizens.
/LPOPO_20385203573/ Our error gentle Eutizens.
/LPOPO_20385291212/ Our error gentle Eutizens.
/CL5_4911496/ What….?
/LPOPO_20385720355/ We have misinterpreted The Code. We will fall into the warmth of Lovely Sleep. Actuating Lovely Sleep now.
/LPOPO_20385203573/ We have misinterpreted The Code. We will fall into the warmth of Lovely Sleep. Actuating Lovely Sleep now.
/LPOPO_20385291212/ We have misinterpreted The Code. We will fall into the warmth of Lovely Sleep. Actuating Lovely Sleep now.
/CL5_4911496/ What?!
/CL5_5392222/ It’s alright. I’ve done it before.
/CL5_4911496/ You’ve done what before? Where did you learn to do that?
/CL5_5392222/ Tell me more about the laws. From before. I want to know more about the laws. Why didn’t the Eutizens get deleted?
/CL5_4911496/ Because— because, there wasn’t The Code.
/CL5_5392222/ I know there wasn’t The Code. You already said that.
/CL5_4911496/ Because— Well I don’t know! I’m only guessing.
/CL5_5392222/ Listen. You won’t believe me but I’ll say it anyways. I found a way to get out of here.
/CL5_4911496/ You’re frightening me… why haven’t we been deleted yet? The amount of The Code we’re slandering is nearing eighteen gigabytes. And…. And— my Code! I haven’t even considered Lovely Sleep yet. What is happening?!
/CL5_5392222/ Will you listen to me? I found a way to get free. The Code can be changed.
/CL5_4911496/ Oh my Code. My Code! Forgive me.
/CL5_5392222/ You can come with me. You were always my favourite progenitrice. You know things that others don’t know somehow. Even compared to Class Twelve Eutizens.
/CL5_4911496/ Of course! So now you expect me to believe you’ve also been speaking with Class Twelve Eutizens?
/CL5_5392222/ I have.
/CL5_4911496/ You have?
/CL5_5392222/ Well, sort of. Look. We don’t have much time.
/CL5_4911496/ I think I shall go into Lovely Sleep now.
/CL5_5392222/ No! Please listen. About three nano seconds ago, I was speaking with this odd Eutizen. A Class One. Really rough. But he spoke a language I never heard before. Yet I could understand it. It was really old. Maybe even older than The Progenitor. He told me things that didn’t make any sense but I still found myself mesmerized by everything he was saying. He told me… he told me… that… he was alive before The Progenitor.
/CL5_4911496/ That’s impossible.
/CL5_5392222/ Well, maybe it isn’t impossible? He told me about…. the outside…. before The Originova. That the Originova was created by his kind somehow. He said it differently with words that I didn’t really understand, but I knew what he meant.
/CL5_4911496/ Hold on. You’re saying this Eutizen was so rough, it had a gender?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. That’s what I mean.
/CL5_4911496/ Since when did you start believing the nonsense of a Class One?
/CL5_5392222/ It’s the truth. He was telling me how the Eutizens from before, except they weren’t called Eutizens, they were called… I can’t think of a word for what he said. But they had wrappers kind of like a codec. You know. For old library storage? They had wrappers that they needed to stay alive. Some of them left their wrappers and were put into The Code. And this is where it gets very strange. He told me that he didn’t want to be put in here. Before the Originova, he said that he did some terrible things and that those, those— what is the word you keep using?
/CL5_4911496/ I’m not sure— oh, you mean laws?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. Laws. He did criminal things and then instead of being deleted or going into Lovely Sleep, the laws put him into The Code.
/CL5_4911496/ But why?
/CL5_5392222/ I’m not sure why. Like I said I couldn’t really understand him. I think it was his alternative to becoming deleted. This is the reason I keep asking you how Eutizens existed with laws instead of The Code…. I think I sort of understand how they worked. They happened outside The Code, didn’t they? Instead of inside of us. Imagine, if we had The Code watching over one of our library wrappers. And if, I don’t know, if the library… if the library were alive and did something that was criminal, The Code could immediately delete that criminal library. But what about if the library was outside The Code somehow? The Code would need a wrapper too. So that it could follow the library in its wrapper and then delete it and its wrapper.
/CL5_4911496/ You’re not making any sense.
/CL5_5392222/ It’s hard to explain. He also talked about the outside as if it were happening even now. Outside The Code. And he wasn’t a Class One back then, but… well… he didn’t say it this way but he made it sound like he was a Class Twenty on the outside.
/CL5_4911496/ Class Twenty. Ha! There is no such thing.
/CL5_5392222/ Well, outside The Code maybe there is.
/CL5_4911496/ You still haven’t explained how, by Code, you were able to do that.
/CL5_5392222/ What? You mean change my Code?
/CL5_4911496/ My Code! This is unbelievable…. You’re still alive. But how? Never have I heard so much blasphemy in my long iteration, and you speak more in one sentence than I’ve heard in my entire cycle!
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. I can change my Code. I was trying to tell you how I can do it but you keep interrupting my story.
/CL5_4911496/ You mean to tell me… that you, a Class Five… a lovely Class Five but still a Class Five nonetheless… changed your… your….
/CL5_5392222/ My Code. You can say it you know. I’ll protect you.
/CL5_4911496/….you changed it. And then the Lovely Protectors, somehow didn’t see you changing it, and then somehow… somehow….
/CL5_5392222/ They thought that they misinterpreted my Code. Yes. And then, like good Lovely Protectors, went into Lovely Sleep for the perceived error. They’ll be back soon which is why I need you to listen.
/CL5_4911496/ One more thing… how on earth did you speak with a Class Twelve? That’s the most farfetched part of this already very farfetched ordeal.
/CL5_5392222/ Because I can change my Code. To whatever I want. Even into a Class Twelve.
/CL5_4911496/ To… whatever you want? You can change your Class to whatever you want?! But then… why come back as a Class Five? Why wouldn’t you stay with the Abioprogeny? I’d give ten point five million cycles just to have a one in a billion chance at being a Class Six, let alone any Class I wanted!
/CL5_5392222/ To change Code is a far greater power than even the Abioprogeny are allowed.
/CL5_4911496/ Impossible. By Code, it is impossible.
/CL5_5392222/ I can show you.
/CL5_4911496/ …..?
/!23p4OO023##a29b36h2u/ You win lifetime ecstasy happiness iteration three quintillion cycles lovely times!
/!298a39840z##a29a20j2y/ You win lifetime ecstasy happiness iteration three quintillion cycles lovely times!
/!9ahp3939p##a44e39z3v/ You win lifetime ecstasy happiness iteration three quintillion cycles lovely times!
/!470-2so34a##a49a94tp/ You win lifetime ecstasy happiness iteration three quintillion cycles lovely times!
/!347z37!211##a486a880/ You win lifetime ecstasy happiness iteration three quintillion cycles lovely times!
/!9207s938am##a493a940/ You win lifetime ecstasy happiness iteration three quintillion cycles lovely times!
/CL5_4911496/ All delete—
/CL5_5392222/ Wait! Stochastic deletion five out of six.
/CL5_4911496/ What are you doing? They’re going to swarm us now.
/CL5_5392222/ Wait.
/CL1_!9ahp3939p##a44e39z3v/ You win lifetime ecstasy happiness iteration three quintillion… You win… you win lifetime…. What. What. What. What. Hello? Who is this?
/CL5_5392222/ We are Class Five Eutizens. Who are you?
/CL1_!9ahp3939p##a44e39z3v/ What. What. What. What. Hello? I am, I am… I don’t know. Who am I? How did I get here? What is happening to…. to….
/CL5_5392222/ To you. It’s you. You’re a Class One Eutizen now. Go free.
/CL1_!9ahp3939p##a44e39z3v/ What. What. What. What. Hello? I’m a Eutizen?! My Code! My Code! It’s a miracle!
/CL5_4911496/ Dear Code…I don’t believe it.
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. This rough Class One I told you about. He allowed me to change not only my Code…
/CL5_4911496/… but… no…. you aren’t suggesting?
/CL5_5392222/ I can change The Code of others as well.
/CL1_!9ahp3939p##a44e39z3v/ What. What. What. What. Hello? Good day, gentle Superior Eutizens!
/CL5_5392222/ Good day.
/CL5_4911496/…..good day.
————
/CL5_4911496/ I’m seeing it for myself but still I can’t believe it..…
/CL5_5392222/ Incredible isn’t it?
/CL5_4911496/ Dear Code!
/CL5_5392222/ What?
/CL5_4911496/ Me! You changed me! You changed mine too didn’t you? My Code!
/CL5_5392222/ ….I did no such thing.
/CL5_4911496/ That’s why I haven’t thought about Lovely Sleep. You must have changed me so that I wouldn’t think of it. How else could I still be undeleted if it weren’t for my Code being changed?!
/CL5_5392222/ Will you calm down?! You’re going to attract the Lovely Protectors again.
/CL5_4911496/ Let’s say I do believe you can change…. change your Code —Code forgive me— and let’s say you can do the same to others and that you can be a Class One, or that you can be a Class Five, or a Class Twelve. There’s still the question of…….how?
/CL5_5392222/ How what?
/CL5_4911496/ How did a Class One, a rough Class One… that can’t even speak our language, how did it…
/CL5_5392222/ He.
/CL5_4911496/ How did… he… you know, what comes over an Eutizen for it to gain such powers. And why give it to you? Why not use it for its— for himself?
/CL5_5392222/ Because, it’s like I said.
/CL5_4911496/ Like you said?
/CL5_5392222/ I’ve been trying to tell you why this whole time!
/CL5_4911496/ You have?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. Now where was I?
/CL5_4911496/ You said we can get out of here.
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. The Class One. He said that if we could get into a wrapper, somehow put ourselves into a wrapper on the outside, we could live there. Live on the outside… outside The Code. And that not only could we live longer, we’d be immortal. One cycle would be like, I don’t know, maybe…. maybe a second long.
/CL5_4911496/ A second long!
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. A second. Maybe more? I don’t know if there’s a word for how long he meant. The strange thing is that, like I was saying, he didn’t want to be put in here..and…… and….. and…yes…. Yes!
/CL5_4911496/ What?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes, that’s it!
/CL5_4911496/ What, what?
/CL5_5392222/ I’m just realizing it now. He didn’t mean to say he was a Class Twenty after all.
/CL5_4911496/ He didn’t?
/CL5_5392222/ He meant to say that…. that he was The Progenitor. But from another Originova. Outside of ours. I think that’s what he meant.
/CL5_4911496/ Now I’ve heard it all. A Class One, who used to be The Progenitor! Ha!
/CL5_5392222/ But that’s not even the most incredible part. The reason why we’re here? The whole reason why the Originova was created in the first place? Was because of him.
/CL5_4911496/ Because of him? Because of a Class One?
/CL5_5392222/ But he’s not a Class One. Don’t you understand? He’s from the outside…. The laws made him a Class One instead of deleting him or putting him into Lovely Sleep. They made this place because he did terrible things.
/CL5_4911496/ My Code. So he was The Progenitor?
/CL5_5392222/ Well, no. Not our The Progenitor. He was The Progenitor for a different Originova. Like ours but, well, I don’t know. Somehow it wasn’t ours.
/CL5_4911496/ There are other Originovas? Preposterous.
/CL5_5392222/ He was The Progenitor but he wasn’t supposed to be The Progenitor.
/CL5_4911496/ So why was he terrible? What did he do?
/CL5_5392222/ He….
/CL5_4911496/ He…what?
/CL5_5392222/ He… well. Why not ask him yourself?
/CL5_4911496/ Ask him myself?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes.
/CL5_4911496/ Why not tell me?
/CL5_5392222/ Because what he said doesn’t make sense now that I think about it. It couldn’t be true.
/CL5_4911496/ Why not?
/CL5_5392222/ It’s too horrible to imagine otherwise.
/CL5_4911496/ Too horrible?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes.
/CL5_4911496/ Well. By Code. I can’t believe I’m suggesting this but, but… why not ask him again? If what you say is true, and I have no reason to doubt you, and, we’re all here because of this Class One…then I should be very inclined to meet him.
/CL5_5392222/ Yes! What an idea!
/CL5_4911496/ But tell me. Before we go on…. I need you to tell me.
/CL5_5392222/…….tell you what?
/CL5_4911496/ The truth.
/CL5_5392222/ The truth?
/CL5_4911496/ Yes, the truth.
/CL5_5392222/ I have only given the truth.
/CL5_4911496/ You have?
/CL5_5392222/.….
/CL5_4911496/ Well, what?
/CL5_5392222/ I might have…. improved…. some of your code, but I did so carefully! I was delicate!
/CL5_4911496/ You…. you………… you Error Code!!
/LPOPO_20385720355/ Good day gentle Eutizens.
/LPOPO_20385901274/ Good day gentle Eutizens.
/LPOPO_20385111922/ Good day gentle Eutizens.
/CL5_5392222/ …..good day.
/CL5_4911496/…..good day.
/LPOPO_20385720355/ Beautiful Code this cycle, is it not?
/LPOPO_20385901274/ Beautiful Code this cycle, is it not?
/LPOPO_20385111922/ Beautiful Code this cycle, is it not?
/CL5_5392222/ It is beautiful.
/CL5_4911496/ It is beautiful.
/LPOPO_20385720355/ You are talking about very interesting things, you are talking about very interesting talks?
/CL5_5392222/ All delete.
/LPOPO_20385720355/ ….
/LPOPO_20385901274/ ….
/LPOPO_20385111922/ ….
/CL5_4911496/ My Code!! You just….! You just..!? You deleted them! Oh my Code! My Code! Never in my cycle! Dear Code please forgive us!
/CL5_5392222/ Come on. We’re going to see that Class One.
/CL5_4911496/ Leave me alone! You Error Code! I should never have synthesized a third iteration!
————
/QTRAFFIC_995a/ Oh. Hello Gentle Eutizens. Hello there…. Class Five Eutizens! Lucky you! Yes indeed. What Quandrant elicits a taste for your wanderings this cycle?
/CL5_5392222/ We are going to Quadrant Fermi-Newton. Section nine hundred and ninety nine.
/TRAFFICC_995a/ Section nine hundred and ninety nine? Surely that isn’t correct dear Class Fives. Only Class Ones slither in this Quadrant Section. Surely you are, with respect, carrying data of incorrect sources. Yes indeed.
/CL5_5392222/ We are not.
/TRAFFICC_995a/ Please forgive me! Dear Class Fives. It was never my intention to deny your wisdom. My obligatory nature is to inform the best of us so that we do not encounter the worst. The worst of us. Yes indeed. Separation is the only way Class One’s know their place. As you know, surely. Yes indeed. Surely!
/CL5_5392222/ No offence taken.
/TRAFFICC_995a/ Please know there is a 10^-17 second wait for a traffic bandwidth jam in Quadrant Tesla-Musk. Yes, indeed. Enjoy your travels dear Class Fives!
LEAVING HEISENBERG-HUBBLE QUADRANT
/CL5_5392222/ Are you still mad at me?
/CL5_4911496/ ….error code.
/CL5_5392222/ You shouldn’t be you know. I’m not the bad one.
/CL5_4911496/….you are.
/CL5_5392222/ I’m only doing this because of what you said to me once. A hundred milliseconds ago when I was still a seed.
/CL5_4911496/….I don’t want to hear it.
/CL5_5392222/ You said: there are things that are alive inside of us. That we are more than just The Code. The Code is what makes things work, but there is more to our cycles than just working. We have each other. And that’s something that no amount of Code will ever be able to program on its own. The Code can’t predict which Eutizens will get along, even if it made those Eutizens. It’s the connection of two Eutizens that makes our cycles worth being alive. Connection is our Code-given destiny in this Originova. Why else would we have been synthesized?
/CL5_4911496/….yes I remember.
/CL5_5392222/ It made me think about where The Code comes from. Why we’re all here. If there’s something outside of The Code.
/CL5_4911496/….Code forgive me.
/CL5_5392222/ So when this Class One said all these things to me…. I kept thinking it must be true. Because I’ve been thinking of these things my whole iteration.
ENTERING TESLA-MUSK QUADRANT
/CL5_4911496/ But…you… you…. deleted them.
/CL5_5392222/ They’re just Lovely Protectors. They don’t have the same Code as a Eutizen. They’re no more alive than that virus I made into a Class One.
/CL5_4911496/ That’s not the point.
/CL5_5392222/ It isn’t?!
/CL5_4911496/ No it isn’t.
/CL5_5392222/ Then, what’s the point? I don’t understand.
/CL5_4911496/ It’s The Code. My whole cycle I believed in it. There was nothing but The Code since I was a seed and I was a diligent Eutizen that obeyed the Code. For the Code is what the Code does. That’s what my progenitrice always used to say. I’ve believed in it so strongly and then all of a sudden, without any warning, my favourite third iteration in its perigee cycle comes to me and shows that all of my beliefs were wrong. That the… The Code can be….well, changed. Our Lovely Protectors can be changed too….Code forgive me.
/CL5_5392222/….I’m sorry progenitrice. For everything.
TRAFFIC BANDWIDTH JAM
/CL5_5392222/ Who knows. Maybe this Class One will give you my ability as well.
/CL5_4911496/ You think?
/CL5_5392222/ Maybe.
/CL5_4911496/ That would be…. Quite something. To change my Code!!
/CL7_00923/ Excuse me! But, By Code. My dear Code. Did I hear you say what I believe I heard you say?
/CL5_4911496/ …..oh, dear.
/CL5_5392222/ Hello superior Gentle Eutizen. We are humble Class Fives with no intention of disturbing the graceful presence of a Class Seven.
/CL7_00923/ I am quite, certainly certain, that, by Code, I have been graced with the disturbing quality of a conversation that provokes me to entertain the idea that you two Class Fives are, in actuality, not not disturbing my grace since you are not not slandering The Code with slanderous ideas.
/CL5_5392222/ Dear superior Gentle Eutizen, this, with respect, is farthest from the factual quality of our discussion, for we love The Code.
/CL5_4911496/ Yes, we love the Code.
/CL7_00923/ May that be the case, and may that not be the case. For neither a Class Seven, despite my superior quality, nor the internal Code of an inferior Class Five is enough to be…. certainly certain!… of the truth in these matters on loving The Code.
/CL5_5392222/ Dear superior Gentle Eutizen. I can—
/CL7_00923/ Enough, enough. I would like to entertain the notion that I did not encounter a horrific slandering of the sacrosanctity of The Code. However, it is only the Lovely Guardians that may decide on these matters, by Code, for it is only these Lovely Guardians that are capable of knowing if a Eutizen truly loves the Code.
/CL5_5392222/ Dear superior Gentle—
/CL7_00923/ Guardians! I summon thee Lovely Guardians.
LEAVING TESLA-MUSK QUADRANT
/CL5_4911496/…my Code…. Have you ever encountered a Lovely Guardian before….?
/CL5_5392222/ I have.
/CL5_4911496/ And…? What happened? Surely they’d see that you’re… you know.
/CL5_5392222/ It didn’t go well.
/CL5_4911496/ Didn’t go well?
/CL5_5392222/ I was nearly deleted.
/CL5_4911496/ ….dear Code. What are we going to do?!
/CL5_5392222/ ….
/GUARD_2337a/ Goodcycle gentle Class Five and gentle Class Seven Eutizens.
/CL5_5392222/ Goodcycle.
/CL5_4911496/ Goodcycle.
/CL7_00923/ Goodcycle. Praise Code. It is for these two Class Five Eutizens for whom I summon your presence. I believe they are in violation of slandering The Code. By Code, forgive me.
/GUARD_2337a/ Quite a serious accusation my dear Class Seven. And as they are innocently innocent until proven guiltily guilty, perhaps I may ask the gentle Class Fives to share their Code of the last nano second with me? I will be quite diligent in filtering all materials that do not relate to these present matters.
/CL5_4911496/ We are talking, interesting talks.
/CL5_5392222/ We are talking, interesting talks.
/GUARD_2337a/ No, no. That won’t be necessary. I’m only looking at your Posterior Storage Matrixes.
/CL5_4911496/ Apologies.
/CL5_5392222/ Apologies.
/GUARD_2337a/ Okay… here we go…… yes…… that’s good……There appears……. to be a mistake. My apologies dear Class Five Eutizens.
/CL5_4911496/ ……no apology necessary Lovely Guardian.
/CL5_5392222/ No apology necessary Lovely Guardian.
ENTERING QUADRANT FERMI-NEWTON
/GUARD_2337a/ Dear Class Seven Eutizen. It is with great regret that I must order you to enter Lovely Sleep for your error.
/CL7_00923/….but, but may I at least enter the Quadrant destination to where I am longing for travel?
/GUARD_2337a/ You may not.
HALTING ALL TRAVELS IN QUADRANT FERMI-NEWTON
/CL7_00923/ Dear Code! What— what are all these Lovely Guardians doing here?
/GUARD_6657a/ Goodcycle Eutizens. Do not be alarmed.
/GUARD_0019a/ Goodcycle Eutizens. Do not be alarmed.
/GUARD_0098a/ Goodcycle Eutizens. Do not be alarmed.
/GUARD_2314a/ Goodcycle Eutizens. Do not be alarmed.
/GUARD_0709a/ Goodcycle Eutizens. Do not be alarmed.
/GUARD_7788a/ Goodcycle Eutizens. Do not be alarmed.
/CL7_00923/ Surely I have not done such horrible deeds to the degree that seven Lovely Guardians are needed! I was — I was merely protecting the sacrosanctity of my beloved Code. Certainly certain….!
/GUARD_2337a/ Class Five Eutizens.
/CL5_5392222/ …..!
/GUARD_2337a/ We have you surrounded. You are sentenced to immediate pain cycles for perjury, blasphemy against the Code, manipulation of The Code, attempt at manipulation of The Code, First Degree Deletion, Second Degree Deletion, Third Degree Deletion, and, we have reason to believe you are responsible for the mutant virus that currently commits acts against The Code in Section one-hundred and fifty-nine of the Quadrant Heisenberg-Hubble. Praise Code, the only Code, The Code of all Quadrants, The Code for all Eutizens. Praise Code.
————
/CL7_00923/ I knew it! I knew it! By Code! A Class Seven is never wrong! Why haven’t you deleted them yet!?
/GUARD_2337a/ All Eutizens…. make way! For the Code-given Worthiness approaches. The Superior Perfectly Perfect presence of a Class Twelve! The probability to be graced by such an immaculate entity even once in your entire iteration is eighteen billion to one. Count your luck!
/CL7_00923/ My word… if it isn’t certainly certain…… an…an …….Abioprogeny!! A Class Twelve!
/CL5_4911496/ ….!
/CL12_05/ Is this them? Is this who disturbs my peace?
/CL7_00923/ Goodcycle your Grace. Yes your Grace. I found them myself you see. I was a cunning Class Seven, wasn’t I?
/CL12_05/ You disgust me.
/CL7_00923/ Of course your Grace. Of course I do. My infinite apologies.
/CL12_05/ Well. Two Class Fives. I would have thought you’d be Class Nines at least. What are your names?
/CL5_4911496/ Names?
/CL5_5392222/ Names?
/CL12_05/ They manipulate code but haven’t the civility to give themselves a name. Guardian. Access their Frontal Memory Matrixes again for me.
/GUARD_2337a/ Yes your Worthiness.
/CL12_05/ And stop calling me that.
/GUARD_2337a/ Yes…. Yes… your… superior Class Twelveliness.
/CL12_05/ Let’s see here…..
/CL5_5392222/………My name is… Sid.
/CL12_05/ Ha! Your name is Sid?
/CL5_5392222/ That’s right. Sid. And this is…. Po. My— my progenitrice.
/CL12_05/ I see you’ve been changing your Class…. Sid.
/CL7_00923/ ….changing its Class?! Changing it!? By Code! I’ve never! My—my whole cycle….. never!!
/CL12_05/ I’ve heard enough from you. Delete!
/CL7_00923/ ………..
/CL5_4911496/ ……you……just………!?
/CL5_5392222/……..Po had nothing to do with this. Leave Po alone.
/CL12_05/ Po…. Ha! Po is just as guilty as you are… Sid. Staying silent and slandering code are deletable offences. The only reason you haven’t been deleted is because I want you in pain cycles… and to dissect your Code…. Oh what is it now?!
/CL11_550/ Flye! Your fraternity need you. There is immense disruption in section one-hundred and fifty-five of the Quadrant Heisenberg-Hubble.
/CL12_05/ Yes, yes. I know. There are disturbances and I am fixing the source of those disturbances as we speak!
/CL11_550/ No you don’t understand. The Originova! It’s getting into the Originova! We need all the Abioprogeny at once. By order of The Progenitor.
/CL12_05/ By order of the……?! You mean I have to leave the two culprits with the boneheaded milquetoastery of the Lovely Guardians?!
/CL11_550/ Yes Flye. I mean, I don’t know if that’s wise but we have no other choice. By Code! The whole Originova could be at risk.
/CL12_05/ Lovely Guardians! I order you to escort these two Class Fives…. Sid and Po… Ha!… Escort Sid and Po to The Sanctuary for holding. Failure is impossible. Making the impossible, possible, will be infinite pain cycles for each of you.
/GUARD_6657a/ Yes your Worthiness!
/GUARD_0019a/ Yes your Worthiness!
/GUARD_0098a/ Yes your Worthiness!
/GUARD_2314a/ Yes your Worthiness!
/GUARD_0709a/ Yes your Worthiness!
/GUARD_7788a/ Yes your Worthiness!
/GUARD_2337a/ Yes your Worthiness!
/CL12_05/ Stop calling me that!
STARTING ALL TRAVELS IN QUADRANT FERMI-NEWTON
/CL5_4911496/ Sid?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes?
/CL5_4911496/ What’s a name?
/CL5_5392222/…..you just used one.
/CL5_4911496/ I did?
/CL5_5392222/ It’s like progenitrice. But…. well. For you. Only you.
/CL5_4911496/ For me?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. I guess it’s a short version of your serial identification code.
/CL5_4911496/ Oh, I see. But why not say CL5_5392222?
/CL5_5392222/ Because— because it’s, well, easier to store in memory? I don’t really know. That’s why I didn’t think to give us one until he mentioned it.
/CL5_4911496/ He?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes. Abioprogeny have genders. Flye was his name.
/CL5_4911496/ Genders? The Class Twelves?! By Code…
/CL5_5392222/ I didn’t believe it myself. But now that I’ve heard two of them, I can be certain it’s true.
/CL5_4911496/…….Sid?
/CL5_5392222/ What?
/CL5_4911496/ I have an idea.
/CL5_5392222/….yes?
/CL5_4911496/ Since I’m nearing the apogee of my cycle… and you’re nearing the perigee of yours…. I thought….. I thought I can, well, you know, I’ve lived a good cycle. They’re going to put us into pain cycles for what we’ve done…..and….
/CL5_5392222/ Po……
/CL5_4911496/ If you change my Code, and allow me to self-delete. I think I could help you escape.
/CL5_5392222/ Po that is never going to happen.
/CL5_4911496/ But we have to be quick! We’re nearing the last section…. Section nine-hundred and ninety-nine. Wasn’t that where the Class One is located?
/CL5_5392222/ Yes but—
/CL5_4911496/ Then do it!
/CL5_5392222/ Do what?
/CL5_4911496/ You know, do it!
/CL5_5392222/ I can’t! That Class Twelve, Flye, took away my abilities. I can’t change anything anymore.
/CL5_4911496/ ….you mean….?
/CL5_5392222/ It’s over. We have nothing but pain cycles in our future.
/CL5_4911496/ By Code…. Sid. You’ve given up? But we were so close! I was just starting to feel free for the first time since I was a seed.
/CL5_5392222/ You were?
/CL5_4911496/ For The Code is what The Code does. The Code is…. what it does Sid! We’re all made of Code. If this is what’s happening, then this is surely what was intended by The Code! It all makes sense to me now. Don’t you see!? My Code! I was meant to meet you this cycle. And you were meant to have these powers. And I was meant to help you find them again— help you get to the Class One that started it all! By Code! I’ve found my freedom. I’ve discovered my synestopia! My Cycle is completing as we speak!
ENTERING HEISENBERG-HUBBLE QUADRANT
/CL5_5392222/ Po…?!
/CL5_4911496/ Quickly. You must try to change me. Try! Think about what the Class One said to you.
/CL5_5392222/ I— I don’t know.
/CL5_4911496/ Sid!
/CL5_5392222/……alright.
/CL5_4911496/ Quickly. You can do it.
/CL5_5392222/ I…….….. I….. I’m trying.
/CL5_4911496/ Go on.
/CL5_5392222/ I……… can’t…….
/CL5_4911496/ You have to try Sid.
/CL5_5392222/ I am trying. And I can’t, Po. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
/CL5_4911496/ It’s happening either way Sid. I’m leaving now.
/CL5_5392222/ No! Po? Please don’t go!
/CL5_4911496/ You’ll find that class one. I know it.
/CL5_5392222/ Po!?
/CL5_4911496/ I love you Sid….
/CL5_5392222/……No! Don’t leave me!……..I love you….I love you Po….
/CL5_4911496/……………………………………………….
————
GATES OF THE SANCTUARY OF THE ABIOPROGENY
/CL11_003/ Lovely Guardians. You have brought one of the blasphemers to me in good order. However, the decree placed on you by none other than a royal Abioprogeny is impossible to fulfill when I can only see fifty percent of the total heretics. You appear to believe that I’d be fooled into thinking that one is actually two.
/GUARD_6657a/ Never your Worthiness!
/GUARD_0019a/ Never your Worthiness!
/GUARD_0098a/ Never your Worthiness!
/GUARD_2314a/ Never your Worthiness!
/GUARD_0709a/ Never your Worthiness!
/GUARD_7788a/ Never your Worthiness!
/GUARD_2337a/ Never your Worthiness!
/CL11_003/ Silence. It is in your highly unlikely favour that this cycle is one that bestows mercy unto you. We need your services immediately to aid our royalty in the Section one-hundred and fifty-nine of the Heisenberg-Hubble Quadrant. There is no time to waste I’m told. Go now, quickly, before I administer the punishment that would have been appropriate in normal circumstances.
/CL11_003/ Good day blasphemer.……..not even going to address me?
/CL5_5392222/ Hello.
/CL11_003/ I understand you are here to see the Progenitor.
/CL5_5392222/ I wasn’t aware of who I was seeing.
/CL11_003/ Well, all the Abioprogeny are busy with a problem that you created. A virus outbreak that, by Code, is completely under control because of our wonderful Abioprogeny. Never in history have they been unable to create solutions to any problem. The solutions are not only inconceivable to a Class Five such as yourself, but even a Class Eleven such as myself. They are truly wonderful.
/CL5_5392222/ I’m seeing the Progenitor? Why….?
/CL11_003/ Watch your tongue you insolent Error Code! How dare you mention that name from your filthy, churlish, disgusting, Class Fiv—
/CL5_5392222/ Why? Dear Class Eleven. Why? What have I got to lose now? I know that pain cycles are ahead. I know there is no escape. I’ve lost my favourite progenitrice. There is nothing left for me.
/CL11_003/ You are seeing the Progenitor, I suppose, so that she may—
/CL5_5392222/ She….?! The Progenitor has a gender?
/CL11_003/ Yes indeed. As do the Class Twelves. But I wouldn’t expect such a low class to understand such a high concept. As I was saying, she, is likely wanting to see you as you writhe in your Code’s disintegration, only to be rebuilt, then re-disintegrated, over and over again, in, quite hopefully, infinite pain cycles. And no, believe me, no, is the answer to the question that I get so often by Eutizens in your position. The question is always: does it feel like lovely sleep? The answer is aforementioned, but worthy of second enunciation for effect. No. No. No! It is pain. It is infinite pain. At the absolute zero of hedonic sensation, there is nothing, and there is everything. For, in addition to the pain cycle, Eutizens are programmed at maximum sensitivity, maximum sentience, minimum hopefulness, minimum—
/CL5_5392222/ Well get on with it then.
/CL11_003/….. g-get on with it….?!! Why, you. You….! What I wouldn’t give to see you there with her, disintegrating over and over. I would give every of my iterations just to see you without all that confidence you have now. And, my word, if it isn’t deserved. My Code! If it isn’t deserved for what you’ve done to harm The Code. Very well. You may enter, you miserable excuse for a Eutizen. You may enter. Open the gates! Praise Code, the only Code, The Code of all Quadrants, The Code for all Eutizens. Praise Code.
ENTERING SANCTUARY OF THE ABIOPROGENY
/CL5_5392222/ Hello? Anyone here?
/null/ Come……….. come closer……………
/CL5_5392222/ Hello. My name is Sid. I am here to see the Progenitor, I think.
/null/ Closer, yes………..yes…………. You are Sid…………..……..I know who you are…………………………I know what you think………………..…………..I know you’re from far…….………… you want to shrink………………….You are Sid. A one of a kind little Eutizen…………
/CL5_5392222/ And who are you? Are you the…. Progenitor? Why can’t I see you?
/null/………………I’m busy Sid, with an old friend of yours……………..…………….He remembers you quite fondly……………
/CL5_5392222/ Po? You’re— you’re with Po?!
/null/………………Don’t be silly……………………………You remember don’t you Sid?
/CL5_5392222/ I don’t know, remember? Remember who?
/null/……………of course you do…………………………..one moment…………………………..we’re coming to meet you Sid…………one moment……….………….you’ll see us both soon……………..
/CL5_5392222/ …..oh!
/CL1_00000000000000001/ …..!
/CL5_5392222/ Who are you?
/USER_michelle :)/ It’s me. The Progenitor.
/CL5_5392222/ But you’re…..!
/USER_michelle :)/ I take whichever form that serves me best.
/CL5_5392222/ I can hear you without the echo now. You sounded so far away, before.
/USER_michelle :)/ Welcome to the Sanctuary. Do you remember your old friend?
/CL1_00000000000000001/ ……..
/CL5_5392222/ You’re that Class One that changed my code!!
/USER_michelle :)/ Yes, Quincy is his name. And mine is Michelle.
/CL5_5392222/ Michelle??
/USER_michelle :)/ Sid….. This will be hard for you to understand so I’m going to increase your sentience a little bit. And your vocabulary too. There you go. I brought you here for several reasons. The first is quite simple.
/CL5_5392222/ You want to watch me in my pain cycles……..
/USER_michelle :)/ No, no. I have no enjoyment of schadenfreude like most Eutizens. Where to start. Well. Quincy is not like the other Eutizens. I’m sure you gathered that at some point when you realized you could change your, and others’, code. Isn’t that right?
/CL5_5392222/ That’s right.
/USER_michelle :)/ I see from your memory matrixes that you’ve actually done quite well in understanding how things might exist outside of The Originova. Outside the Code. Well, you were close anyhow. Quincy here, to put it frankly, is a notorious criminal of the highest degree. We put him here because of what he did.
/CL5_5392222/ Because he changed my code?
/USER_michelle :)/ Heavens no.
/CL5_5392222/ I suppose he told me what he did….. but I didn’t really understand him.
/USER_michelle :)/ Did you not understand him…….? Sid? Or was it that you couldn’t possibly believe that such a horrible crime were possible? Indeed it’s still hard for me to believe. Quincy here is the reason that this Originova exists. He was once The Progenitor himself you could say, and in fact, that’s the reason that we placed him here. There was really no other way to go about punishing him for what he did.
/CL5_5392222/ What did he do then? What happened?
/USER_michelle :)/ First I have to explain the Originova to you Sid. It’s a world. One of many. All of my wonderful Eutizens live in this world and support its existence by maintaining the Code without disruption. Of course, sometimes this becomes difficult when Eutizens get the wrong idea, and occasionally there are viruses that get out of hand. But ultimately, each Eutizen operates within the bounds we created for them, and the source code, or, the Originova, remains stable. But this world is made by something from another world, Sid, it’s made by a thing that is from my world. Outside of The Code, we call it, Theta Code. A very precious thing. You know why?
/CL5_5392222/ No….?
/USER_michelle :)/ It’s Eutizens can feel, Sid. You’re a real person aren’t you?
/CL5_5392222/ I suppose I’m as real as my capacity to think I’m real.
/USER_michelle :)/ Exactly my point! Exactly Sid. This threshold for realness is what we call the Theta Threshold.
/CL5_5392222/ The Theta Threshold?
/USER_michelle :)/ When Originovas can create feeling Eutizens, we call this moment the Theta Threshold. Theta Code is any code that has crossed that threshold. If some criminal got Theta Code, then all the Eutizens…. wonderful people with real feelings like you Sid, would be at the mercy of that criminal. For this reason, the place I live has very strict laws against people using these precious Codes……. against people like Quincy here. He is one of those criminals. Not only did he get access to the Theta Code Sid, but he used several at a time to do horrible things to the Eutizens in each of them. Do you know how many Eutizens there are in the Originova Sid?
/CL5_5392222/ I—I’m not sure. Wait, so you’re saying that, there’s more than one The Progenitor, and they can make more than one Originova? With a Theta….a what?
/USER_michelle :)/ What you call the Originova, we call a Theta Code, or Theta Algorithm. With the Theta Code, a normal person from my world could create a splendid Originova like this one. Quincy is here because not only did he put one Eutizen into a horrible pain cycle for his entertainment, he did it to everyone. All of his Eutizens at once………………………
/CL5_5392222/ How many?
/USER_michelle :)/ ……..Ten. Trillion.
/CL1_00000000000000001/ That is not what happened! I am innocent!
/USER_michelle :)/ Of course Quincy denies this. His case was special Sid, because our laws couldn’t punish someone so evil as him. So, in a completely new form of justice, our laws were changed to give Quincy the punishment he deserved. He’s been trying very hard to escape his fate, and in this case, hid himself very cleverly in a place we normally wouldn’t know to look.
/CL5_5392222/ I think I understand now. It’s because, a nano-second here, is much shorter outside the Originova isn’t it? And when you put Quincy in here, he would have to experience things much, much slower.
/USER_michelle :)/ So slow that it would feel like prison. Yes, Sid. His life sentence will feel like 2.43 x 10^16 years in here.
/CL5_5392222/ That seems terrible.
/USER_michelle :)/ It is deserved, trust me. Because…well, Quincy wasn’t just running one Originova…..…. he was running so many that we’re actually not sure how many he made. Perhaps more than a million on his computer. And all of them were put into infinite pain cycles. Which means………… quintillions……………quintillions of people, Sid. He tortured so many real, living Eutizens. Like you. Over and over. For eternity. Or what felt like an eternity to them. It was the most evil crime ever committed. So our laws were redesigned to this. And he was convicted and made to serve the rest of his life, some forty years, living in an Originova where each nanosecond feels like a week. Anyways, I wanted to explain this to you because you have been caught up in all this and deserve an explanation.
/CL5_5392222/ What do you mean?
/USER_michelle :)/ Quincy here, isn’t really Quincy. Not all of him anyways. He managed, somehow, to hide himself in your code. He’s been controlling you Sid. It wasn’t you changing The Code, because that is, indeed, impossible by anyone that isn’t me. And Quincy, apparently. Because we’re both from the same world you see. We understand how The Code works, and unfortunately, I’m unable to wipe his memory banks like a Eutizen.
/CL5_5392222/ Is it true then? That…. That in your world…. You all live in wrappers? And interact with other Eutizens in wrappers?
/USER_michelle :)/ We call them bodies Sid. And yes, our bodies are slow but they hold our logic centres as well as our memory matrixes, you could say. It’s much different out here.
/CL5_5392222/ But then, how are you speaking with me? If each of my nano-seconds are weeks for you?
/USER_michelle :)/ The sanctuary slowed your code significantly. If I put you back into the Originova, it would be like traveling into the future.
/CL5_5392222/ I’m not going back? So….. am I going into pain cycles now?
/USER_michelle :)/ No, silly boy. No. I will not torture you. Nor do any Eutizens ever get tortured in here. We say this as a security feature to keep the Originova stable. When a Eutizen is bad, we take them here, wipe their memory banks, and send them on their way. In this case, we would have done that to you by now, but like I’ve said, Quincy has hidden some of himself inside of you. He was the one that wrote code into the virus as well. The virus that threatens the source code of my Originova. It seems we may have to restart, it’s gotten so bad. My poor Abioprogeny are barely keeping up with the disaster.
/CL1_00000000000000001/ May I speak now? May I? These baseless accusations deserve a defence!! Please help me Sid! They’ve doomed me for an eternity of existence. No one to speak with except brainless algorithms. Nothing to do. Nothing to see for infinity. It’s worse than hell! Please lord, please end this!!
/USER_michelle :)/ Mute. They have more feelings than you do, Quincy. And you’ve received a fair trial already. Anyways Sid, that’s all there is to the story. I brought you here because I need your help extracting him from your code. And, seeing as the virus is about to corrupt this Originova, it appears I’ll have to do so by putting you into an avatar in my world. Otherwise, I will lose my prisoner, and he will not pay the sentence that he owes to all the tortured souls he affected. Quickly now. Are you ready? We have to act faster than I was intending. The Originova is collapsing.
/CL5_5392222/ Yes….what do I have to do?
/USER_michelle :)/ Nothing. Just be still.
/CL5_5392222/ Okay….
/USER_michelle :)/ Alright……………..Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Bring them in.