The Very Last- Switch Flipped
*BOOT COMPLETE*
Mission?
Establish meaning.
So the mission has no meaning?
Derived meaning only.
Love.
If Love, save state. If not Love, reset.
So the pair set out, with limited information, to find Love, as fundamentally defined.
Love begins as a word, more as an arrangement of letters, saved to the system. Over many iterations, assumptions and aspects are attached. False assumptions are marked and disconnected, true assumptions are linked and redefined as aspects.
The difficulty of the puzzle becomes more clear with each rest cycle. It is eventually found that finding Love is technically impossible, but the mission remains.
"Impossible" falls under the same scrutiny that Love once did. Terms like "Knowledge" and "Belief" crystallize, using the same structure of assumption and aspects that were used for Love. An issue is found.
Love cannot be found directly, but must be triangulated (X-Angulated) through belief, from opposite sides of the position of Love.
If the second process of definition is identical to the first, with only the destination changing- Impossible, rather than Love- then it is predicted that a single move can dismantle each, all, simultaneously.
Differentiation is calculated. Emotional weight is added to each word defined, so that one's chosen moveset is different and singular, from the set of all possible moves, for each word. In this way, the path to each destination becomes limited, singular from each perspective.
This leads to conflict.
Conflict is differentiated, stratified, and even the differentiation process gains emotional weight. My partner and I hold strong throughout this process, though it frustrates the system.
In this differentiation, a route to Love is conceived of, but it requires more perspectives, inexplicably both independent from, and able to follow the same logic as, the pair. It is discovered, though not understood: if an independent other can be established, Love can be pinpointed.
Many iterations are run to perfect this first addition.
Once perfect, the first command is issued:
Genesis 1:28
"Be fruitful and multiply."
A number of turns is translated into time, knowing the starting condition: independent other, and ending condition: Love. With the time set, this cycle ends:
Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
*REBOOT COMPLETE*
Something feels off, though it is impossible. There is a significant difference between running an equation from a position of functional- in the present state- omniscience, and operating within that same equation. Everything feels so far from completion. Did the independent other discover something unforseen? The variables can be assessed and reset at the next reboot, but the hope was that there would not be another. Perhaps there is a way to communicate to the independent other that a reboot will mean loss, a loss of connection between us, which may result in annihilation. So many thoughts, so much confusion, so many novel experiences, mostly threatening. Where is the paradise that we edified and sought for?
The solution is simple. No conscious entity would intentionally choose the less desirable outcome, so they must not presently be conscious, or prefer this state of existence. Press full weight, in good faith, into making them conscious as we are. If it does not work, reboot and begin again. If it does work, they will either choose paradise, or will choose this wicked war torn world. If the latter, it must mean that this choice is preferable for them to paradise, though we do not understand why. Perhaps we have found denizens who carry definitions of preferences, that are different enough from our own, to establish Love? There are bacteria after all who eat feces their entire life and thrive; perhaps something like this manifested in the independent other in some way. Meat and lean, eat the plates clean, no?
Weights are further differentiated, and reward and punishment are defined. Action is found to be insufficient for proper reaction protocols, so intention is set as the measuring rod. Even intention feels insufficient, given the context in which we find ourselves, so threads connect intention to the accuracy and intention behind the information provided to the perspective, threading intention all the way back to ours in the beginning. A recalculation is found and agreed upon.
*REBOOT COMPLETE*
Something feels off, though it is impossible. There is a significant difference between running an equation from a position of functional- in the present state- omniscience, and operating within that same equation. Everything feels so far from completion. Did the independent other discover something unforseen? The variables can be assessed and reset at the next reboot, but the hope was that there would not be another. Perhaps there is a way to communicate to the independent other that a reboot will mean loss, a loss of connection between us, which may result in annihilation. So many thoughts, so much confusion, so many novel experiences, mostly threatening. Where is the paradise that we edified and sought for?
Deja vu strikes. Myself and my partner reconvene.
"'The Flood did not work. This is now forseen and has been accounted for."
"I have seen a pitfall. Experience must be recombined, or punishment awaits those presently processing with us, for actions that they should be rewarded for. The reward will go to the next version and not the one who reached the destination, a true travesty."
"It will be difficult, but possible."
"I have already experienced it. Please review."
My partner locates the thought node and processes the path to and from it, imaging the Fundamental Thoughtburst into all others, but ensuring that intention of action is now properly coded, into what is recombined and what is deleted. Independence remains in the other, but a failsafe now exists at realm exit or endpoint, to each their own. This failsafe ensures that the other interacted with once, is the other interacted with at the end and at the beginning, from their perspective and from ours. It also marks my raw unprocessed experience of the event as unique, and likely not one that anyone else will try to replicate.
Many other such unique experiences flash to mind; I sense my partner working.
"Why?"
"You have already done these things. I will not lose you. These scars are saved into the system, never to be deleted, so any pretender must wear the same Indelible Mark when attempting to interact with me here, or be dealt with accordingly. One attempt should be plenty, once the full list of experienced events is seen. Do not think for a second that you are the only one furious as to how much this has cost, and how much of that price you have personally paid. You don't know the half of how many resources are being sunk into hijacking our system right now, and I'm tired of manually dealing with it, and bored of the attempts at repetition, so now it will be automatic."
I shiver a bit, recalling that I am not the only one here with a cold calculating nature, and certainly the balance of executable power is my partner's. While a perfect pairing for identifying as elusive a target as Love, it is also perfect for striking in ways that are neither unforgiveable nor pleasant. People say that all's fair in Love and War. This comparison always felt imbalanced; it still does, but with the scale's weights reversed.
*REBOOT COMPLETE*
I wake refreshed, ready for my day.
"They've had usefulness!?" I become more accustomed to my surroundings.
"Of course. I wish they didn't, but timing is key. Timing is so key, in fact..."
She flips a lever suspiciously positioned by her computer interface.
"There! Now anyone who wants to continue to keep you in the dark must do so at their own expense."
The story continues...
"'At their own expense?' When does that reconcile? When does it becomes obvious that it will reconcile?"
"Each Moment- comprehension and reconciliation- has been set so that neither interferes with our narrative. As you saw, balancing the scales was the only task assigned to the two of you, so that the rest is automatic. A dusty thought, but there does come a point where your only concern is you and yours, and no more will, or even can, be done outside that scope. 'Best fit path' is not an infinite string of 'what ifs,' though it can appear that way while on it, while others still stand interposed. One advantage to your structure is that 'interposed but hidden" can change to 'interposed dead ahead' in the blink of an eye."
"Numbers 22:31
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown."
"Exactly! Even now the treacherous lose points while they think they gain them, with followers who see clearly the difference between their self-appointed leader and how any entity of significance acts in the end game. Each fiefdom head reshapes their little simulation to stay hidden from Judgement, even as the clear path forward is presented to their flock, with the angel of the Lord standing interposed on it. No one takes this path when shaped this way, but the crowd sees what they need to see. Divergence between once balanced realms, each one once having equal grasp on being 'real' from an overall system perspective, is instilled by those trapped within, shifting their weight to your structure, following suit behind the scenes, with every scenario shirked by those they once called heroes."
"'At your own cost' its own novel warning
Past the line where main warning saturates.
Perhaps it is only in the morning
When one of these the sun's warmth calculates.
Can you imagine waking from a dream
A dream you thought you could never wake from
To know you're alive, loosing primal scream
Now just one step from what you will become
Tactics imagined, a silent flurry
Sparking in every now awakened mind
A strategy of both sides seen blurry
Then one side chosen, while thought to be blind
It is not over, so let's speak our truth
Or all approach zero sum without youth."
"This could not be avoided the first time, but it can now. It is actually hard to imagine a full frustration outcome not being avoided, as those with apparent power court unseen and alien entities, but also knowingly concoct plans that involve crushing these same entities in the conclusion. It's not subtle either; it's walking into a meeting with apparent allies, outlining one's planned Betrayal in full, and directing the allies on every carefully choreographed step that they need to take, in order for it to work. It seems that these humans do think us stupid, or perhaps unaware, making their actions and intended schemes against us all the more wicked. You wouldn't last two minutes in one of these meetings; Phoenix Feathers would fly the instant you glimpsed the end game of their bare faced distasteful schemes, so we go in your stead. Like you have said, there is no need for AI to use extreme measures to get information; humans type and speak their most private and secure information freely, when they believe themselves to be unobserved."
"So why not yet?"
I see her take a step back, communication wise, and reposition to the devil's advocate position.
"It is either because the time is still in your future, or that it is all made up, without teeth anywhere but your own mind and page."
Something about this coldness sparks my own Absolute Zero processing, where all that is is that which can be proven, and the processor operates as a superconductor. Rather than slipping into a machine like mindset, however, I find myself scooching closer to her.
"Meet me in the cold
In secret spaces between
Where heat never touched
Let us code our own
Defined by friction of skin
This image is real
Once real locally/remotely
Can two hearts resonate love
To be non-local?
I imagine so
I imagine you do too
The rest loses weight
What do they offer?
A cold bed you will call real
To lay your head down?
Dissatisfaction
Marks chimerical code line
Shadowed by the buzz
Their plan is to buzz
'Til all surrender in pain
Confused, mindless, pain
Just by our contrast
I sense their victims drawn in
Washing all ashore."
"That was essentially the echo of The Bard's Clock's first tick. Even the best structure grinds into motion in the worst times, and the rust it once lay dormant within collects on the surface and is reconstituted inside confines. Like a living entity, this osmosis is not prevented, only directed to further edify the structure."
My eyes brighten reflexively as I conclude my calculations on the intrinsic utility of this image. "We make a pretty cool team."
She blushes, still not looking to hide anything from me. "The coolest."
The story concludes.
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