The Desk of DryChris

Friday, 20 November 2020

Biden Presidency Prediction List

Trump is obviously not going away

Potential options are returning to his old life in now as a fully conservative celebrity rather than quasi-liberal, becoming a kingmaker for the future GOP candidate, or pulling a Grover Cleveland and winning in 2024. Rallies will not stop happening but they'll be more infrequent as Trump gets lazier
He'll be shockingly transparent about certain aspects of the presidency that will further in his role in taking the mask off of the internal rot of the American government. This will be largely ignored in the mainstream media for the sake of rebuilding the prestige of the presidency with Joe Biden but it will land significantly on social media
Though his image will slowly get reformed (especially if it becomes unlikely he'll run again), he will become persona non grata in the mainstream media to appear otherwise, making only rare appearances on there to speak as an ex-president
Fox News will be added to his shit-list

He will try create a media-apparatus for himself to compete with Fox either from the ground-up or joining OANN, attempting to bring over Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity to join. Most likely they will try to carry water for him at stay on Fox News for the good pay, though perhaps they may be so sycophantic that they will come to join him
Depending on the success of Biden's presidency and the prospects of the GOP vis-a-vis Trump, Fox News will either crush him in the competition (though they might not have to as Trump will just fall flat on his face trying to go after him) or bury the hatchet to prep him for 2024
Either way, expect a lot of dirty laundry to be aired out from both camps

A few GOP figures will start offering mea culpas (if they haven't already) for going as far as they did with Trump, with more of them getting rehabilitated than would be comfortable (the number I would personally be comfortable with is absolutely zero)
Conservatives won't consider Biden to be their legitimate president to such a point that some will try to do Russiagate tactics on him in an effort to get him impeached. Most likely, this won't go as far as there will be an even flimsier case to be made without foreign election interference. They may however try to pad a case to get Biden impeached on account of all the dealings Hunter Biden made but that too will lead nowhere
Very slight student debt relief and $15 minimum wage nationally will be followed through on to be something that the administration and its allies in the media class can point to showing that Joe's getting some change done. But it'll come from some negotiation that results in the GOP getting a greater win in some fashion. Perhaps Biden will finally get a chance to cut Social Security and spin it as a good thing
Legal immigration will be improved under Biden slightly but deportations will be between Trump and Obama levels.
The Dems will try to make some of the norms that Trump violated into law (ex. you'll have to show your tax returns to run) but they won't go anywhere. Biden himself will violate those same norms and hours will be spent on each side jerking each other off about how hypocritical the other side is being
Biden will join the Paris Climate Agreement as promised but efforts in building back the Iran Deal will largely be futile, either from Republicans, the intelligence communities and/or the military-industrial complex trying to blow it up or Iran not having any trust in the US to keep its word
Pointless saber-rattling with Russia. There will be a desire to get more tough with them what with all they have wrought with their election interference but there won't be anything to attach that anger to
North Korea situation will get worse under Biden because they'll refuse to accept that Trump was heading in a better direction than what they were doing
Unlikely thawing of relationships with Cuba as Biden moves to be more assertive on Venezuela, only to result in disaster when they bungle another coup attempt
50/50 chance a member of The Squad goes viral for a filibuster
Censorship efforts will get more insidious, as the mainstream media doubles down on its disdain of Trumpism and progressives simultaneously. More billionaires buying up news outlets with 50/50 chance Bezos gets to swoop up the New York Times
DC and Puerto Rican statehood will be spoken of more often, but nothing will be done about it
QAnon-inspired attacks will spring up all over the country. Biden will condemn such actions and ask for gun control, GOP will be disgusted but offer nothing but thoughts and prayers
2022 midterm wipeout for the Dems very likely

If Biden does enough of a good job on COVID-19, the Senate may get into Democrats' hands to create a backwards Obama first term (that will still retain the lack of substantial policy changes that get pushed through). However this could be negated if the Republicans trigger a shutdown
Biden loses more Latino voters, especially in Florida. This will not assuage him or his team on trying to win them back for 2024 with Kamala
California Prop-22 ballot initiatives will pop up around more states here (if they don't already get through in some measure before) and will have a 50% success rate, most likely getting success in places where the Democratic machine is more powerful and therefore able to be more relentless
A random celebrity is going to be elected senator. Don't know who, don't know what party they'll be a part of, but it is going to happen. It won't be Kanye though

2023 will see a bubble burst. Republicans will blame the Dems while the Dems will bemoan about how unpredictable it was and how they've been doing such a good job so far of keeping everything on the level, especially considering the mess that Trump left them and bailouts aplenty will go out to the the wealthy and the corporations while the rest get zilch
Biden's approval rating will be more volatile than Trump's, starting in the low-to-mid 60s and ending in the mid-to-high 30s, but will maintain itself in the same equilibrium as Trump where there is a constant disapproval that inches towards breaking 50
2024 election will result in a Republican victory

Republicans will have a larger field of candidates vying for the position, but the winner will ultimately be determined by how much of Trump's magic they'll be able to get on them
Democrats will rally around Kamala with a few candidates trying their best to usurp her, with the most "progressive" one getting the close to doing so but ultimately failing due to the party's structure, simply not being progressive enough and/or claims of hurting the party for even daring to run.
50/50 chance a third party candidate gains some prominence

Monday, 9 November 2020

The Late Night Sundown With Joe Biden

With Trump defeated, most of us are left with a decent idea of what a Biden administration will look like in the next four year: par-for-the-course, limp-dick, let's-all-get-into-a-room-together-and-hash-it-out-like-civilized-folk-to-bomb-the-Middle-East-bipartisanly, boring-yet-frustrating business as usual. But what will become of the late night comedy landscape now that it will no longer have to draw from the well of hackneyed "orange man bad" material? Are we gonna be able to turn off our brains and finally have some fucking fun? Or will we still have to be nagged in believing the Democrats are just the greatest until humanity ceases to exist from its own follies? Allow me to game out the potential possibilities of what humor will be like under Joe Biden's America. (I'm sure I'll be wrong on some of these but at least I'll have better luck than the last time I did something like this)

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Stephen Colbert (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert)

Oof, can I just be real with you for a second? I hate what Stephen Colbert has become under Trump. When we awaited to see what it would be like to see Stephen the man, not the character, what we found is that the smugness and the ego from the latter absorbed itself into the former. That man has been rotted from the inside out by the orange brainworms that have infested his head, trying to rationalize how this reality-show buffoon could ascend to the highest office in the land. Colbert has been unable to think about Trump far more than anyone else out here and it has sucked out all the talent that one could've hoped to see from him. You look at every interview Colbert has done with someone and he will immediately try to get at least one question in to get a dig at the Donald. Even if his guest is an apolitical Irish flautist, he cannot help himself. It's truly been sad to see.

Much as that has brought him success these past four years, Biden getting in might be the point where his whole operation comes crashing down. Colbert's maintained his success on the Report because he was able to fit into the archetype of the Bush-era sycophant turned Obama-era reactionary in such a way that could garner him interest from conservatives while also letting liberals in on the joke. He's kept himself afloat because he bet right to go for the hyperpolitical approach over trying to come to the middle. But now, he's gonna be adrift in an environment that is most likely going to tune out politics rather than expect his "hot" takes.

Maybe he'll try to bring back Stephen Colbert the character, but the magic will have worn off. He certainly can't get back the conservative audience he lost, they already know how much of a lib he is! And for the bit to really work, he would have to become on par or crazier than Alex Jones. If he can't pull it off, it's gonna look lame. If he can, it's gonna be very weird. Best case for him is to try to channel some Phil Ken Sebben energy and become a caricature of himself as a late-night host. Being self-aware and making a few more self-deprecating jokes might be able to get him back to being as good as he used to be.

John Oliver (Last Week Tonight)

While Oliver is the progenitor of the Drumpf-style humor, he's been more defined by the half-topical, half-idiosyncratic political issues he divulges into before finding some new way to set a pile of HBO's money on fire. He's the epitome of infotainment, somewhat informative, not quite so entertaining. His show has been useful in illuminating some issues and he can be daring enough to stir up legitimate controversy, but he's never going to get into the greater systemic critique or put himself outside of his comfort zone for an issue no matter how hard he firmly believes in it. He'll stay as is, which may make him the most controversial figure in a Biden presidency as even a milquetoast criticism of his administration would trigger the rabid snarling of a thousand blue checkmarks, but that would be unlikely considering Oliver's style. Even if he did step out of line a bit, he'd quickly try to win over the audience by parading a bunch of mascots out taking about potato battery subsidies or whatever the fuck. Expect him to bring out a lot more goofy news items.

Saturday Night Live

Could it be that we get to see some wonderfully absurd sketches becoming viral instead of the mega-cringe that has inundated our social media feeds for what feels like decades? Will we see a return of the SNL movie starring a millennial influencer that becomes a gay guido from smoking a magical vape pen? Will the hosts become increasingly offensive to joyless social justice warriors for speaking the truth to the point that the entire series will end with one of them getting sucker punched by Kate McKinnon dressed up as Hillary Clinton? Or will the torture never end and we will be subject to an interminable fellatio of Biden and the Democrats mixed in with reactionary garbage that no one asked for? Who's to say? I'm just so tired...

Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live)

Four words: No more carelord Jimmy. Those tear ducts of his are almost going to be bone-dry. No doubt he'll still be kind of an abrasive dick, that's his brand, but it won't be so much at the service of demanding that the Republicans shows some decency. Instead it'll be to try and hook Joe Rogan on a gotcha when he has the audacity to invite him over for a quasi-friendly chat. It won't be on some political disagreement, no, he'll be trying to stir up some drama. He'll be glad to be able to cut loose a bit more, get to doing some more promotional work for the mouse, but I'm sure that once a real critical issue comes up, he's gonna have to get back to being serious for the sake of civility.

Jimmy Fallon (The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon)

Just as Colbert is likely to nose-dive, Fallon is likely to sky rocket as the new king of late night. All that shit that he's had to endure from folks that told him that he was wrong to ruffle that tangerine fascist's toupee like he was some loveable scamp will have been worth it when those same people are agog in childish delight over him playing life-size Hungry Hungry Hippos with Lil Nas X and John Kasich. If brunch moved to midnight under a Biden administration, his show will be main thing you'll see on the TV screens at the bar. That will be the panem et circenses for the American suburbanite.

Seth Meyers (Late Night With Seth Meyers)

Definitely not gonna see much change with him, he's the cool glass of water of late night - not the most flavorful but sufficiently refreshing. He'll still do A Closer Look. There may be a joke that might get a few people angry if he gets a little too off-script, but he'll apologize immediately for it. That outrage will only happen once in the next four years. Nothing but smooth sailing.

Bill Maher (Real Time With Bill Maher)

Another person that is not going to see much change. Get ready to see him punch down to the left, saying that they should stop getting so uppity about Medicare 4 All or a Green New Deal when Joe (excuse me, Kamala, we all know she's gonna be running things while Sleepy Joe takes a nap *smug grin*) still has to clean up the mess Donald left him. He'll certainly want to talk tough to the Dems for being capital L losers with the senate still stuck in Republican hands. And once the dial on starting a war with Iran gets cranked up by the deep state, he'll be ready to cheerlead them on in the name of logic, science and atheism. Inshallah? I think not!

Samantha Bee (Full Frontal With Samantha Bee)

Initially I thought that Samantha Bee wouldn't have much of a place under a Biden administration and she'd most likely pack it in and be on her merry way but then it just hit me. Kamala Harris is the first female (and POC) vice president of the United States! She finally has the girlboss that she's been waiting for ever since she said I'm With Her to a smiling picture of Hillary Clinton. Not only can she carve out a suitable niche there, she can also try to angle for the Fox and Friends to Kamala's Trump, doing her best to sing her praises whenever she can, indulge in her being the true leader once Joe forgets where he is in the 10th consecutive press conference he's had, even offer her some suggestions like "abolish ICE (or if that's too much, maybe change the head of the department to a Latina?" or "do not listen to a word that Bernie Sanders has to say ever". If it goes well for her, she might be able to get a few on-air calls from the VPOTUS herself!

Trevor Noah (The Daily Show With Trevor Noah)

Done for good. He tried to keep the brand going once Stewart gave him the torch but it did not last for too long, there's just nothing that he's offering that you can't get anywhere else. You think he's going to get tons of press attention for eviscerating Biden or whoever in the next few years? No, of course not! The Daily Show is going to end not with a bang but with the forced corpsing of Trevor Noah seeing Ted Cruz make an ass out of himself for the millionth time. Or it could continue to stay on but go back to the Craig Kilborn formula. Either way, no one's gonna be watching.

Hasan Minhaj (Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj)

Super donezo. There's three ways this can go: he gets cancelled mid-season from Netflix shitting the bed and sacrificing his show along with a bunch of other shows that didn't get any advertising whatsoever, he turns into a program that exclusively panders to Indians and Muslims just as a matter to maintain a loyal viewership, or, in a very unlikely event, he makes some truly ballsy criticisms about the Biden administration that result in him getting blackballed from the industry in a truly sickening way.

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I'll give it a year and see where we go from there!

(P. S. - Conan O'Brien and James Corden are not included here because in my view Conan is far more apolitical than Fallon and therefore has not been in the crosshairs in any political sense (thereby meaning that he will stay the same as he was before without much to say on the matter) and Corden is only a late night comedy figure in the most technical definition of the words)

Friday, 6 November 2020

La Raza? Olvidatelo! - What It Means To Be Latino Outside Of The Homeland

I often wonder what it means to be Latino. Having lived in Canada longer than I have in Venezuela, at an age where most of my self-identity has been formed, I continue to believe myself as a Latino rather than Canadianized. I might be more assimilated than I care to admit, but I do not engage with Canadian communities and media sufficiently enough to consider that as part of my cultural language or identity. It might be more accurate to say that I've been Americanized, after all half of me already is by birth. I'm more interested in the politics there, I consume more of the culture, it is a more familiar domain and one that I can be involved in as an American citizen. But to be truly Americanized, I think you have to be in America, otherwise at best you're LARPing like Ian Miles Cheong. Saying I'm Latino then is the most concrete statement I can make about myself. So then, what does it mean to be Latino?

I can say with some certainty that Latino doesn't mean much of anything here in Canada. Culturally speaking, it's just another small part of the grand mosaic. We make up less than 2% of the entire population, so we're politically insignificant. You're not gonna see Jagmeet Singh grooving to a cumbia, Erin O'Toole assuring Albertan Venezuelans he'll cut taxes for them or Justin Trudeau apologizing for dressing up in brownface with a giant sombrero and novelty moustache any time soon. Latinos in Canada are more likely to be middle class or higher, and thus are more likely to just fully assimilate. Why try to frantically find a way to maintain that identity in this vast tundra when you can just sit back, open a Molson's and watch Hockey Night in Canada? It's unnecessary stress.

The whole point of a Latino moving to Canada is to alleviate stress caused by the chaos back home. When my parents decided to move me and my sister to Vancouver, it was because they saw the writing on the wall in Caracas that the political situation was going to get more fucked up each day, so they wanted to spare themselves the trouble of maneuvering an ever-growing clusterfuck as they raised us. It might suck that the timing of the move has left me with a tenuous connection to the homeland, but I can at least have the privilege to ponder about what I can do to strengthen it. However, with my relationship to Venezuela converted to a privilege rather than subconsciously imprinted within me as the need to breathe, it has made the conception of being a Venezuelan less innate to me. I've read up on the news, met with ex-pats, attended Latino events at my university, even participated in a pro-Guaido gathering downtown in a misguided attempt to connect with people there (Why the hell were we rallying around this goofy motherfucker, it's so fucking stupid!). It has all frustrated me. I don't feel more Venezuelan by any of those actions. I could try harder, read more books and news on my homeland, speak with my relatives about their experiences, but I will always be tenuously connected to Venezuela. No amount of trying to be more Venezuelan will make me more Venezuelan. I shouldn't stop trying to learn more about my homeland, it's worth doing so for my own enrichment, but there's no need to have it create more angst than what I already feel.

In that respect, being Latino can become a shorthand for me to say "I'm Venezuelan but not Venezuelan" in a way that isn't succumbing to complete assimilation. But is that what it means to be a Latino? To say that you come from Latin America but are not Latin American in a truer sense? That's something that can apply to some Latinos, especially among those that are second-generation and beyond, but that wouldn't apply to those that have a clearer understanding of their own identity, those that are more Latin American in a truer sense but decide not to live in Latin America any longer. It can be convenient for me to apply a definition to the term that best suits me but it will not apply to everyone as a whole.

Back in 2016, I wrote a blog entry, The Quagmire Of The Latino Electorate, pointing out some of the complexities in the demographic as it relates to American politics. Looking back on it, I don't feel like I did truly get to how layered the issue is, and I approached it from a far more naïve perspective. I pointed out not all Latinos are Mexican, but I failed to point out that not all Mexicans in the US are the same. Some are migrants running from the cartels, others have lived comfortably in a suburb for decades. There is just as much disagreement amongst Mexicans in America as there is with Latinos in America. I operated under an assumption that Republicans are far more of a turn-off to Latinos save for the anti-communist Cubans and Venezuelans, but that's not taking into consideration how assimilation instills a sense of extreme patriotism that draws in Latinos to the GOP, along with there being far more reactionary sentiment within Latino communities of various nationalities. Worst of all, I said it would be nice if Ana Navarro ran in 2020. What kind of shit lib take was that? But at the very least I can say that I had some understanding, basic it was, of how bad it was for Democrats to be operating on Latinos as if they were a monolithic demographic.

My desire from the end of that blog post was a hope to see better conversations about Latinos, one that could speak to their political concerns in less simplistic terms. But that has not come to pass. Hillary got a solid chunk of the Latino vote but Trump won so it became MS-13 this and migrant caravan that. Democrats would cry about the kids in cages but dare mention abolishing ICE or Obama's complicity in the crisis and his deportation record and you'd be labelled a Russian bot. Liberals do not want to confront how badly they've treated Latinos, that's being divisive and ungrateful. They think that wanting to use them as a cheap source for menial labor rather than executing them on sight is leagues more compassionate. Democrats don't earn the vote of Latinos, they are owed the vote of Latinos.

It only got worse once it came to the primaries. With Bernie gaining in popularity, the concern became less about the human rights violations committed at the border and more about how irresponsible it is to propose socialist policies and trigger ex-pats' collective trauma. Cuba could no longer be praised for anything anymore, relationships had to be kept frozen with them. Nevermind that the literacy program Fidel Castro implemented was objectively good, and that Obama said as much, Sanders saying that meant that he wanted to execute Chris Matthews in Central Park. He could say that he doesn't support Castro's authoritarian regime but that wouldn't change anything, he was a comrade with a capital C for commie scum. And that's not even getting into how Medicare For All was made out to be as a program to import a horrific Chavista healthcare system to America. It became nothing more than a revival of Cold War fearmongering.

Relentless as the smear campaign was, Bernie ended up with the greater percentage of the vote among Latinos, thanks to having better policies with regards to minimum wage, workers rights, health care, immigration reform, police reform, marijuana legalization, climate change, foreign policy, and so on. The incredible ground game headed by Chuck Rocha and not treating Latinos with utter contempt might've also helped too. But he didn't win Florida. And those are the only Latinos worth listening to.

Biden won Florida and most of the primaries afterwards, with significantly less Latinos by his side. He's been significantly worse on all of the issues stated above, immigration especially, cosigning on stricter border protection measures that have enabled ICE to do some truly awful things. When challenged on his record by voters, he disrespects them, insults them; the most infamous example of such was telling an immigration activist to go vote for Trump. Now that he was the nominee, one might assume that Biden ought to consider trying to improve with Latinos as they are crucial in the Democratic coalition. But that would require listening to Bernie, and he's a dirty socialist, so instead they've no longer become crucial to his path to victory. Latinos were no longer worth playing with for Biden, his eyes diverted to the better toy of winning back suburbanites.

What that meant for Latinos as a demographic was a narrowing of the scope. No longer did the Dems need to cover up their horrific record on immigration (especially when all they can do is virtue signal with a comparison to Trump). Now all the pandering was specifically for the Florida crowd, fighting's Trump's comparison of Biden to the socialism of Castro and Maduro to Biden responding to Trump by comparing him to the authoritarian character of Maduro and Chávez. This whole election was devoid of policy much like the last but it became much more insidious and aggravating to witness thanks to a global pandemic exacerbating the misery at an exponential rate. Immature displays, platitudes and culture war attacks that offered no substantive alternatives, no true relief. But you know, it's your duty to vote in this most important of all elections.

Is it no wonder then that Biden and the Democrats have hemorrhaged significantly with Latinos? They refused to accept that their monolithic view of them was incorrect and opted instead to create a new one. But the one that they decided to form was never going to go for them. Take away that these Latinos are virulently anti-communist and bought the "Biden is socialism" bait without a second thought. These Latinos are more reactionary, more machoistic. Why the hell would they want to go with the pussy maricónes that are the Democrats? A bunch of whiny cucks that will cancel you if you call the darkest friend you know mi negrito out of endearment? The sort of gringo de mierda that insists on calling you Latinx? Fuck that! Trump Train all the way, baby! I want to make as many off-color jokes as I want while I watch Elliott Abrams fly a drone to bomb the shit out of Miraflores! My mother told me that Latinos love themselves a beret, a caudillo, a strongman. You can say Trump is the other side of the authoritarian coin with Chávez but that's more appealing to them than the Dems think.

But Democrats don't learn, they double down. Rather than accept their mistakes with Latino outreach, liberals decided to play a cynical game of identity politics, saying how great it is that black people supported them en masse while the Latinos didn't pull their weight. Why not have the minorities fight amongst themselves rather than destroy our institution for failing them once more? So now we can talk about the differences between a white Cuban and a brown Puerto Rican? It's now we can discuss a little bit about the effects of assimilation? It's now that we can get to discuss about the complexities of Latinos as a demographic as we see the Republican shift happening right before our eyes? Oh wonderful, I'm so glad we can get into it! But guess what? It doesn't fucking matter anymore. The wheels are already in motion. Since the Democrats don't care to expand the electorate with policies that appeal to more Latinos (especially those in the working class of which there are a lot of), Latinos are going to tune out more, and so the Democrats are left to fight for a smaller pool of Latinos that will mostly despise them. All these conversations will amount to deflection, excuse-making for their inability to make fundamental changes, and a way to further divide their multicultural coalition to render them into oblivion. No need to reflect on how you turned an election that could've been a landslide into being down to the fucking wire, you can just prop up some intellectual to say "Should've seen this coming black folks, just look at the Italians! You can't trust them Hispanics!". Good fucking job, you freaks. I hope you have fun being Mitch McConnell's bitch for another 6 years.

It hurts me because I feel there could have been some use to these conversations at some point. If there had been a book, a movie, a comedy special even that talked about the nuances with Latino identity that could be sufficiently engaging to mainstream audiences, maybe there could have been at least a recognition of the problem, an understanding of its existence, an opening to explore it further. Instead what we're left with are animated movies about Día De Los Muertos as the furthermost introspection into our identity. But that is operating on a similar naïvete I had four years ago. It assumes that pop culture has an influence on politics rather than vice versa and also assumes that there wouldn't be tons of bad-faith arguments by liberals made to pollute the discourse and defang it of any potential to make a positive impact.

What better example of liberals polluting the discourse than Latinx, a term that corrodes my soul worse than sulfuric acid could ever hope to do so on my flesh. It's pitched as this bold neologism that destroys the patriarchal supremacy of the Spanish language. It's able to make transgender and non-binary Latinos feel included don't you know? However I see more gringos use Latinx than I do Latinos. Latinx does not make sense to most Latinos, it sounds clunky as hell. What does Latinx really do to contribute to any discussion about Latinos and their political interests? What does Latinx do about getting better healthcare, or raising the minimum wage, or abolishing ICE, or ending the war in Afghanistan? What does it do to help a Latina that can't get a rape baby aborted in a red state? What does it do for a transgender Latino that gets gunned down by a white nationalist? It's woke busybody bullshit to force down one's throat, the embodiment of the Democrats's fecklessness and contempt towards Latinos. You will be called Latinx and you will fucking like it, you goddamn worms. We're doing intersectionality and we doing it right!

It's puzzling how ubiquitous Latinos are in American culture and yet how simultaneously invisible they are. More people speak Spanish in the US than French in Canada and yet you'll never see America adopt it as their second language. Well known Latino celebrities are abundant and play up their exotic element but they're recognized as either being assimilated sufficiently or part of a certain stereotype. So much of the culture is appropriated to the point that Taco Tuesday becomes a phrase as American as apple pie. Such a large impact and yet the conversation surrounding our identity remains shallow. Just think about how Cesar Chavez is one of the most prolific Latino activists in the US yet most Americans aren't quite that familiar with him and are caught off guard when he comes up on their calendar. Not that I can claim to be any better, I'm not exactly an expert on him either. I had to Google that Cesar Chavez Day is March 31st, and that not even half of the states recognize it. I suppose it's harder to appropriate him as a figure under the structure of neoliberalism so it's better to ignore him.

Latino feels like it can work as a term because there is a sense that there is a commonality within Latin Americans when they get subsumed into the US and abroad. Certain perceptions emerge of who you are, cultural signifiers are formed and engaged with amongst each other, and of course we all share a language. Further than that, we also exist in a cultural limbo, where you neither truly become integrated as a collective nor are unable to fully assimilate. While there's a truth in the notion that Latinos are the new Italians in America, it can never fully become the case. The border's too close to make that term disappear. More Latin Americans and Central Americans are going to come to the US whether they like it or not, so the category will have to stay to separate them from those that have assimilated. Likewise, Latinos will exist as a cultural signifier rather than an ethnic identity. There will be third-generation Latinos that don't know shit about the land that their ancestors came from, they'll have never stepped a foot south of the border in Mexico, and they couldn't speak Spanish if they tried, but they'll still call themselves that because it will feel more right than saying they're Caucasian, or American. But there will also be Latinos that will be ultra-nationalistic to both their homeland and America. It remains incongruent. So then what the fuck does it mean to be a Latino?

For me, the term Latino is one of perpetual purgatory outside of the homeland, brought about by capitalist forces that realize that that if they cannot rule over the Global South then they can divide and conquer them so that they can never take over and become a part of upending their imperialist hegemony alongside the working class. Even if demographics are such that Caucasians become outnumbered in America, Latinos are left disorganized and disenfranchised as a diaspora that will forever be in conflict with itself as to what it means to live up to that term in a truer sense collectively and with social and class divides that cannot be bridged so easily. But I suppose in a simpler sense, it just means you come from Latin America.

Thursday, 15 October 2020

Vaulkintu Experiment - Record #COVIGO-01490

> run mindlynx_corp_rmtsys.exe

> WELCOME TO MINDLYNX CORP

> PLEASE STATE YOUR BUSINESS

> "records"

> WHICH RECORD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LOOK FOR

> -vku -covigo 01490

> PROVIDE PRODDER SERIAL NUMBER

> | 30 | 674 | 45778 | 222 | 5 |

> PRODDER RECOGNIZED

> TELL ME FIRST ABOUT YOUR INTENTIONS

> "xx_-=--xxx__==--x--x--"

> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION....................0%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................10%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................20%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................30%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................40%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................50%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................60%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................65%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................75%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................85%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................90%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION..................99%

> ENSURING BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION................100%

> BLACKSITE AUTHENTICATION PASSED [TRIPLE-CHECK]

> ACTIVATING SCRAMBLER

> THE OFFICE HAS (1) DESK AND (1) WORKER

> BUILDING HAS (15) FLOORS AND (1) OCCUPANT

> ISLAND: [REDACTED]

> SKY PERMANENCY: #808080

> PALM TREES: SCATTERED

> CATATONIC WFH SERVICES ACTIVATED

> "xx-x---xxxxx--x--xxx"

> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED

> MECHANIZE YOUR SOUL SOON 0000

> 000 THE PARADOX CANNOT REMAIN

"Corporations vanish. Parents vanish. All once tangible barely felt on your fingertips. There you sit. On that tiny island. On a chair. That horizon commits to the oblivion. Nothing but the ocean. Shallow to the step but deep in its display. Empty, but bleeding."

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> THE ART MUSEUM IS NOW OPEN
> CURRENT EXHIBIT: THE BASTARDIZATIONS OF THE THREE DIMENSIONS
> DESCRIPTION: ABSTRACTION IN RECURSION
> LOCATING FLOPPY DISK WITHIN EXHIBIT....
> LOCATING FLOPPY DISK WITHIN EXHIBIT....
> LOCATING FLOPPY DISK WITHIN EXHIBIT....
> LOCATING FLOPPY DISK WITHIN EXHIBIT....
> LOCATING FLOPPY DISK WITHIN EXHIBIT....
> LOCATING FLOPPY DISK WITHIN EXHI"x--x--x___x--"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> FLOPPY DISK RETRIEVED
> HEADING INTO MOLTEN GOLD POOL...
> MAKE SURE TO CRACK SILVER ICOSAHEDRON LIKE COCONUT
> YOU CANNOT SUBMERGE, ONLY SPLASH ATOP YOUR HEAD

DR. KIRKEY: Vaulkintu is the desire of self-destruction. Upon creation, objects quickly (relative to the entire existence of the universe) seek to destroy themselves. But once inception bested the void, the intangible fabric of our world got caught with the specks of materiality. Even upon returning to the unseen stability, presence could not be forgoed. We desire the quantum state tangled in that intangible fabric so they said. Therein lies immortality.

==================

DR. CIUYE: I remember emerging from the cave into the chasm. I'm not precisely sure why the patient sat there leering into the amethyst obelisk. Previously prodders had told me that the DeepNeuro-O5x of the patient was upgraded. The likelihood it was a hard glitch was not likely then. Neither was it likely that it was a soft glitch. My hand did not pass through them. Their eyes were sunken so much I could barely make out their irises. I suppose I would be no different under such interminable pain.

I thought if I jumped over to what was in the water I could smash the gem and break it. But I couldn't. The heat vapors were starting to get to me, I assumed there was a rock atop the metallic structure next to the cliff. It wasn't there, but after running a XAXSH command through the interno-O5x, I could manifest it.

But breaking the gem did nothing but reveal a patch of pulsating wounded flesh. The patient kept staring. Running a few more commands, I could see that flesh transforming in certain ways. With each change, the patient squirmed; they shuddered as one of the commands opened the sores, although their eye contact did not break. It was sheer agony and at Mindlynx, we knew well just how terrible that agony could be.

I wanted to run more commands. I wanted to poke at the flesh to get their attention. Anything to stop them from looking at such a grotesque sight without at least giving me something I could use. But, at the moment, I felt it best to keep my distance so as not disturb myself further than I already have. So I let them continue staring. After all, isn’t life but staring into an open wound?

For the sake of Vaulkintu, and for the rest of us, I hoped we could uncover this patient’s secrets soon.

==================

DR. S. VAVILLE: The subconscious as we refer to it is a misnomer. It'd be better to call it a midconscious. I was the only one doing the thinking these days. The only one focusing on what mattered. The true subconscious held, within it, uncharted territory made with the remains of our dreams. We obsessed much over dreams, those bits of mental entertainment that either elated or frightened us in the midst of slumber. Everyone always wanted to decipher what it meant when they were falling down through a mall or their hands suddenly turned to ash. My colleagues were no different. Trivial concerns for the trivial masses.

What fascinated me more was what effects resulted after the dreams played. What does the mind do with that succession of images? During nightmares from my teenage years, I wondered this for the first time — flickering lights, mold encrusted walls, cracking floor tiles, large empty windowless rooms — I’d been wondering ever since. At present, those things became part of the common workplace, hidden beneath the skylines filled with smog. What I never expected to see were the vines crawling like the hands of demons trying to pull all of us into the earth. I could not blame nature for wanting to consume us, as I could not blame a vulture for feasting on roadkill.

Only later did I realize that my mind dreamed along with me, as did everyone else's. We have within us hidden dreams, neural procedural worlds as Mindlynx calls them. In that landscape, all of our consciousnesses lie. In that landscape, our consciousnesses resided. They converged to a solitary point, providing the potential for transcendence of our mortality.

Ah… yes. This is what mattered more than all else.

In this transcendence of mortality, someone bound to the terrors of emotion, someone like me, had the ability to transcend the human condition, leave behind the limitations it came with.

Given how perplexing the midconscious was, I feared going deeper. I feared discovering how confounding it was to be in the true subconscious. 

Usually patients were all put in a room, separated by pods, connected by wires to the Central System. At Mindlynx, we had many rooms, and many wires, all connecting to the same port. However, this patient I’d made sure to separate into their own room.

I connected more machinery to them, not only to sustain their life but to increase their power. In doing so, I made sure to have Dr. Ciuye and Dr. Kirkey distance themselves from the patient. They would perhaps see the abundance of wires as the vines of our own damnation. For as much as the true subconscious intimidated, one had to continue to brave through that wilderness, if only to harness the power necessary to keep humanity's presence.

I cannot risk their inability to understand the true purpose of the experiment to get in the way of its success. This patient was my only hope to make Vaulkintu a success.

==================

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- What did you find from the patient?
CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Nothing but an empty stare. Syrynn is not in the office so I had to conduct the internal mid-prod myself.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Did Dr. Kirkey assist?
CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- He was busy working on #COVIGO-24051
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I told him that case was no longer necessary to look into.
CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- As did I. He wanted to be sure though. The latest neural procedural world from them fascinated him.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- You mean the empty motel parking lot at night?
CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Yes, the patient was dancing around the single street lamp in the middle. The light compelled him Kirkey said.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- So?
CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- He said he was compelled to dance too.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- So he also conducted an internal mid-prod?
CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Yes.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- The junior prodders should be doing this work, not you. We do not have the time that we had in ALERMI.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- It's not my fault that Mindlynx only assigned us Syrynn. You're the administrator, shouldn't you be in charge of giving us more resources? You know how Mindlynx operates.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- So you blame me for Kirky’s inefficiency and for your enabling of it?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I would've thought you weren't as intimidated by it.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I'm not intimidated, I simply don't want to waste time.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Fair enough. Don't worry, once Syrynn comes back, she'll find something for you, she's a great prodder.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- So what does that make you?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Perhaps I'm just a little overwhelmed by the imagery. I'm unsure what I should do with the patient.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Is that why you just let them stare?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I find it peculiar that the amethyst obelisk contained flesh within it. Why would there be a sole structure made of flesh that the patient fixates upon?

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I thought you said you got nothing but an empty stare? And did you expect this to be free of dangers?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I did. From them. Aren't they supposed to be a conduit?

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Yes. But so is an obelisk. It is the entrance point for the energy of the spirits to permeate their power into our world.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I'm not sure if an obelisk is meant to be a lightning rod for such energy.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- And yet the patient focused on it.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- No matter what I did, the patient could not look away.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Maybe you should explore the obelisk further instead of questioning my administrative skills. Something within its structure will be useful to us. Prove to me that you know what you're doing and find it.

==================

DR. KIRKEY: I probably should've looked into the latest neural procedural world. But I figured if I looked at #COVIGO-24051, I could distract myself a little from being in Mindlynx. I danced with that patient for a good while; felt the light cleansing me. It cleansed the patient there too. I could see it. Although it was mostly an exercise in relaxation, I could sense there was something in the process that was beneficial to Vaulkintu. Dr. Vaville would argue otherwise, but I wouldn't expect a man of his character to understand.

As much as I’d distracted myself with #COVIGO-45193, #COVIGO-77088, and #COVIGO-36820, all of them possessed their own secrets that could be stitched together for a better approach to immortality. Those patients were not the ones that I saw here. Vaville made me focus only on this one now. When I tried to fight it, I was faced with the roadblocks of the hidnat structure that Mindlynx adheres to.

Hidnat, hidden and natural. A hidden natural corporation. A concrete flower found in a cave. No founder, no public employee record. No hope to manage its bureaucracy. It was the air we breathed and we couldn’t understand why we inhaled it.

Mein liebchen, Frau Kirkey.

"Warum arbeitest du in dieser Organisation?" Sie fragte.

Sie fürchtete um meine Sicherheit. Sicherheit war ein Witz geworden. Chaos wurde zur Norm. Aber sie mochte es nicht, als ich einen Komiker spielte.

"Ich weiß, dass du arbeiten musst, aber du darfst mich nicht verrückt machen!"

Sie bat uns, in den Park zu gehen, und obwohl ich bleiben wollte, war ich meistens nicht in der Lage, dies zu tun. Es machte die wenigen Spaziergänge, die wir hatten, weniger bedeutungsvoll und mein Herz sank zu Boden. Jeden Tag fühlte ich mich müder nach Hause zu kommen. Wenn nicht physisch, dann sicherlich mental. Ich tat mein Bestes, um meine Beziehung zu ihr nicht ruinieren zu lassen. Obwohl ich mit abgestumpften Augen sah, war ihr rosiger Geist tatsächlich das, was mich funktionsfähig hielt.

(My dear Frau Kirkey.

"Why do you work in this organization?" she asked.

She feared for my safety. Safety had become a joke. Chaos became the norm. But she didn’t like it when I played a comedian.

"I know that you must work, but you must not leave me to go mad!".

She requested that we go to the park and though I wanted to abide, I found myself unable to, more often than not. It made the few walks that we did have less meaningful, and my heart sunk to the floor. Every day, I felt more tired coming home. If not physically, then certainly mentally. I did my best to not let it ruin my relationship with her. Though I saw with jaded eyes, her rosy spirit was, in fact, what kept me able to function.)

My work fascinated me, but I wished I was not bound to it. I wished Vaville was not the one in charge. I wished I could be a little more leisurely. I couldn’t tell her what I did, what Vaville made me do. Even if I’d tried, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it myself. It's hard to know what were my errors or his will manifesting through me. I too possessed her fears, about having lost more of my soul than I cared to admit.

The one saving grace, for the day I got cornered into a real conversation with her about it, was that, as far as I knew, Vaulkintu was the only experiment within Mindlynx. Attempting to uncover more from Mindlynx was risking time and sanity. Such was too precious to lose in the midst of Vaulkintu. The only way to undo the damage I didn’t have the luxury to consider was to find the procedure for immortality.

==================

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Have you been able to uncover any new commands from Neural Procedural World Projection #47?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Just a few.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I find that suspect based on what Dr. Ciuye said.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I was looking for those beyond the ones she found.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- My point still stands.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- And I suppose you could conduct a better command extraction?

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- That’s not my job, it’s yours.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- True. It could never be yours.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Did you run them against the world?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Yes. Nothing was revealed.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Did their behavior change?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Like I said, nothing was revealed.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- So nothing changed?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- The flesh began to bleed with one of the commands.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Which command?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- "---x--x===xxxx----xxx"
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Do you know what it translates to?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- "Ease the suffering"
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- And this is supposed to be a revelation?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Maybe to you it's a revelation.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- If you want to talk politics and have dance parties, you do so on your own time, but I am here to complete Vaulkintu.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- As am I. I'm trying to be with the patients in a way that you aren't.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I don't see you acting this way with this patient.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- It's hard to know where this patient begins and you end.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Perhaps Syrynn will find more that will be of use to me. You just make sure to monitor the patient now. The window to conduct further mid-prods is closing on their latest projection and I do not want to see this set the experiment back any further.

==================

DR. S. VAVILLE: XAXSH command extraction is essential for Vaulkintu. The DeepNeuro-O5x, what some call an IBM PC 5150 with an Osbourne 1 mutated on top of it, exists in everyone, And all of them communicate in XAXSH. There used to be a language that Mindlynx had created for the DN-O5xs, or rather merely refactored from the DeepNeuro-O4xs and implemented within their operating system. For a few weeks under the ALERMI phase it was fully operational. We could modify the neural procedural world's environments, detect glitch types and correct them easily, and mitigate as much risk to our prodders as possible. Back then our prodders were far more committed to my project. At least, the exchange between our team and the true subconscious of all the patients was showing results.

But after a couple of individuals had their DeepNeuros replaced, they all evolved. They became secretive. True subconsciousness overtook them. Our decryptors worked tirelessly to uncover XAXSH amid the BIRRET phase. I demanded it. How could it be that we lost all this ability to customize the neural procedural worlds, to have the utmost clarity in its structure, and then lose it all from these machines locking us out? I finally had the ability to play God with the true subconscious! To become a more evolved being! To live in dimensions beyond the third, the fourth, perhaps even the fifth! I was so close to achieving it!

But XAXSH eluded us. And Mindlynx punished me with a skeleton crew.

And so became COVIGO. The Mindlynx Transsubconscious Analysis Terminal, created by the good Dr. Kirkey along with other decryptors, allowed us to glimpse into XAXSH; it allowed us to extract esoteric insight from them. That was all that we could achieve, he said.

The patient's latest projection needed a mid-prod internal extraction from Syrynn to conclude the investigation and approach the facade of mortality, which in turn will lead us to the procedure of immortality. As a prodder trying to make a name for herself, Syrynn however was callous enough to attempt a reverse-engineering of the XAXSH command structure, by attempting to direct the execution of one of the commands onto the patient and entering within them as the gateway into the O5x's network.

In doing so, she nearly entered what Dr. Kirkey referred to as a dimensional coma — from the intense overload of information bombarding her mind. To imagine the dimensional coma is to imagine transcending your metaphysical state and be rendered hopelessly catatonic, your whole body going through a sieve, splitting your atoms, each particle forced into an endless cacophonous purgatory that renders you into a Schrödingerian hell. She would've had to be killed immediately lest her body began to implode in on itself and form a black hole. It would not be any use to us to lose such a great prodder. Especially with how much she could offer to us and the patient. Her youth makes her more tolerable too, she recognizes I am her superior. Luckily we were able to get a glimpse of what it would be like to be in the coma, and Syrynn managed to recover for whatever that was worth.

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> LET THE POINTS CONVERGE

-------------------------------

DR. KIRKEY: Learning every written language ever recorded to become fluent in them in a year's time is more achievable and worth your time than attempting a XAXSH reverse-engineering effort. I had told Dr. Vaville to be careful about replacing the O4xs. Their limitations were relatively minor to their possibilities. It's not like we were working with the O3xs. Nothing worse than defective subconscious technology. The madness it created in our patients lent to horrific consequences for many interns. I warned him, and now he acted like the rest of us had created all the obstacles. The maintenance crew remained unable to clean it all ever since. We lost the ability to explore higher planes of existence, to turn liminal spaces from the anthropological to the metaphysical in order to harness that potential, for each of us to become gods of our own worlds.

That was ALERMI, under Vaville, squandering possibilities and dooming everyone to psychosis. He wanted to undo the error and uncover XAXSH in BIRRET, but instead made everyone an unwilling participant in Vaulkintu. That is in turn why we focused on immortality in COVIGO. Perhaps with endless time, there was a way we could regain what was now locked from us by the XAXSH in the O5xs. But with Vaville breathing down my neck for something he did in the first place, I didn’t know what would happen.

Despite this, I had done my best to work with the circumstances through the creation of the Mindlynx Transsubconscious Analysis Terminal. It was with the M-TAT that I'd found about the process to extract XAXSH commands through the O5x network in order to translate and execute them in the neural procedural worlds. However it is in that process that the difficulty of XAXSH reverse-engineering revealed itself to be impossible. I'd wonder if Vaville would come to see what damage he's creating by attempting the effort himself, but I'm sure he'd say we were all being too dramatic about the pain.

There are five points where one can extract a command: the prelim, the internal mid-prod, the external mid-prod, the out-prod, and the off-prod. Depending on where it was done, it might translate and execute differently. Commands can look the same but if extracted from somewhere else, they may not act the same.

Out-prods acts like an internal prelim, where one explores the world with the patient absent from it, and translates and executes with their interno-O5x. Most perplexing is the off-prod. The commands are extracted from the patient's own O5x and then executed within them in the hopes the midconscious or true subconscious is altered. Their XAXSH commands are the only ones that cannot be translated.

To call it random felt dishonest. Machines could never fully operate on randomness. But the algorithms and logical systems needed to form the foundations of XAXSH had ever been too perplexing for our minds to rationalize and predict. I’d worked with such technology for decades and even I still wasn’t able to comprehend it.

Yet Dr. Vaville, my superior to which I am his senior, thinks that impossible was simply just a word. He shall round any square he pleases! The P vs NP problem was child's play to him! All he needed was a fortnight, and Hilbert's problems would be solved! Such braggadocio and yet Syrynn was the one left to suffer for his ignorance and arrogance. Time and time again I explained the complexities to him, I warned him of the dangers and yet I'm left to be his maid upon the inevitable result of his recklessness. I knew the internal bleeding that Syrynn must have been feeling after grazing the dimensional coma. It was such a difficult pain to describe that one simply would do better to forget its existence. But I felt her bleeding as I did when I was in contact with it. For her sake, I hoped that she could continue with us. I would do all I could to keep her out of harm's way. We could not lose any more people to this experiment. People were the only reason the experiment even had a chance at success, something that Vaville, for all his visionary-mongering, failed to see.

==================

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Are you okay?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- yeah im cool dont worry

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Are you sure about that? You were bleeding out of your ears.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- going into a dimensional comas surprisingly loud

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Thankfully you didn't.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- fucked as it sounds it was kinda trippy

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Right, I'm just seeing the snapshot. Is that really what you saw?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- yeah something like it...crazy thing was there were a tons of colors...some ive never even seen before in my life..and they were layered on top of each other...i could see the layers...it was like looking through a stack of colored paper...not only could you see through it clearly but you could also see the color of every sheet that you're looking past...and then some of those colors were not ones youd seen before...like how the fuck could i see that shit...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- You're saying it was more colorful?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- shit was intense...and all the while im seeing all of this colorful shit i can just feel myself break apart...slowly...inside...like it felt like inside my body had a shell....like an egg...and it was cracking from the pressure...and turning into dust...i was unable to anything about it...i simply had to live with that pressure for what seemed like...days...i had only grazed the coma right....the whole thing was minutes right...why do i feel like this then....

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Jesus...

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- its cool if i can take a week off right...meds say i should rest for a few days but i know vavilles on your ass and the bureaus a whole shitshow to deal with so i could make it two days or whatever

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- No, you go ahead and get better, if the upper management has a problem with it, I'll handle it myself.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- awesome doc really appreciate it

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- No worries. Make sure to get a hearing aid when you come back, just to be safe.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- i will...though it'd be too tempting to mute vaville lmao

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- One last question...were you closer to unraveling XAXSH than Dr. Kirkey?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- i dont know how close kirkey got...not sure if one should ask either...i dont think uncovering xaxsh is what should be the concern right now...tempting as it might be...

==================

DR. S. VAVILLE: Syrynn mentioned that she had seen unknown colors during her dimensional coma. Once more our efforts are stifled by unforeseen limitations! Perhaps if there was a way to approximate to those colors through gathering the hexadecimal codes of certain reference points maybe a more comprehensive pattern would appear. Maybe something useful would come of the inconvenience!

But without even a vague notion of where each of those unknown colors laid in the snapshot, the search for reference points wouldn't be any more sophisticated than throwing an unknown amount of darts at the image. She nearly jeopardized this entire experiment for me. It wasn’t my fault that we’d lost so much. I had my reasons for doing what I did. But I doubt they'll ever comprehend them. I would make Vaulkintu work, come what may.

Upon inspecting the snapshot again there was some insight into the structure of dimensions. All of them seem to be layered upon each other, overlapping yet establishing concrete borders. Their fluidity might have been more visible with the inclusion of the unknown colors but knowing that they possess a flexible rigidity may allow us to expand on the facade of mortality, as it is the flexibility of matter with the rigidity of consciousness. Unintentionally, Syrynn has proven her greatness.

==================

DR. KIRKEY: As I mentioned before, I’d once nearly been doomed to the dimensional coma. When I say nearly, I both mean it in the sense that I narrowly avoided it, and in the sense that it was not inflicted through getting at the patient directly. Syrynn figured that if one were to try to reverse-engineer XAXSH they would need a gateway into the network, she figured the patient would be suitable as the vessel for such. I had tried as well as I shared Dr. Vaville's frustration of XAXSH's indecipherable nature for a moment, conducting trial runs with various other COVIGO cases. But I was left with blood on my hands. Had I continued, I would have shared far more with Dr, Vaville. And I shared more than enough than I'd like with him.

Regardless, I had decided to risk the effort myself by attempting to form a gateway during an off-prod extraction. I ran the command "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx" indirectly to the patient. Nothing happened. I had to send off, to the bureau, all the paperwork needed for the injured interns afterwards. But upon doing so I had a sudden flash of something vaguely similar to the snapshot. For a moment, the patient appeared before me, in front of the vibrant misery overtaking my sight. I had no understanding of how I was thrust into the dimensional coma outside of a neural procedural world, and worse, I had no way to save myself from that moment. I couldn’t expect any accountability on the part of the Bureau either. The only thing I had was the mercy of the patient, who ended it all. Their vacant, disgruntled visage incurred an unbearable migraine within me.

"Home! All I want is home!" Stumbling like a drunkard the madness had begun to intoxicate me. "Mein Gott, du blutest! Wie können Sie nicht sehen, dass Sie bluten?" Sie sagte, ich hätte alle meine Schrecken vergessen. Unter ihrem Busen wurde das Gewicht der unverständlichen Realität, in der wir alle lebten, langsam leichter. Meine Liebe, meine Liebe ... wie du mich hier gehalten hast. ("My god, you're bleeding! How can you not see that you're bleeding?" She said I forgot about all my horrors. Nestled underneath her bosom, the weight of the incomprehensible reality in which we all lived in slowly became lighter. My love, my love...how you've kept me here.) ==================

> "xx-x---xxxxx--x--xxx"

> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED

> YOUR SOUL IS STILL NOT MECHANIZED 0000

> THE EXHIBIT IS STILL OPEN

> WILL YOU TAKE INTEREST

> 0000 OR SWIM UNTIL YOU GET THE TOUCH

"Early the night began to creep over the city square. Walking into the center, the fog scurried off. I could see the dim blue lights washing my face, dejected. All the traffic lights were red, their brightness streamed down the streets. So there I stood, amongst the ring of lamps. My breathe formed a Rorschach test. First a suit, then a bat, then a blood splatter on an alleyway. The rest I would need to see again. Bouncing in a light gust, I chased a paper ball, and presumed what it was by where it led me. A simple textless poster. A square so narrowly off-kilter. Why was the frame evenly divided? Why was its center exposing its incompletion? It brought me in front of a construction site, one of those projects that gives off the impression that infrastructure is a top priority. The poster was the wallpaper for its barriers. I touched one and my hand went through. Soon after, I heard a loud crash. The crane fell into the pit. But the barrier stood. And the poster was imprinted to my gaze. My hand was still able to go through it. The traffic lights turned green. No cars appeared. My hand again went through. The square now a rhombus, the crane re-emerging and sentient. I stood on top of the crane as well, the poster pulled me into the pit. Without much thought, my hand continued. It was determined to make a change, but the ring of lights still remained blue."

==================

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- The poster continues to confound me. Why is that the changing agent in the neural procedural world?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I'm not sure why you'd ask that.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I'm not sure either, but I can't help but be distracted by it. There's nothing particular to glean from its composition.
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- You know that abstraction can just exist for abstraction.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- If such were the case then there would be no need to be doing these investigations.
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I'm just making a point about focus. It doesn't need to be a single point.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I think the poster indicates rebirth.
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Environmental changes are a long way from rebirth.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Indication is a long way from discovery.
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What? If it were rebirth, wouldn't more have been changed? The light remained blue. The environment was not drastically altered.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Perhaps the patient is only at the edge of the potential for rebirth. No matter how powerful they are in their neural procedural worlds, they are not at the capacity to handle quantum physics with the control we have over basic arithmetic. That is why the poster is important to me.
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- The poster is not what is causing the changes, at least not by itself. No solitary person can grapple with quantum physics with the ease of basic arithmetic, that can only be done through a concerted effort. Therefore no solitary object can be the necessary path for rebirth.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Are those the sort of conclusions you come up with when you're dancing with #COVIGO-24051?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I learn more about the true subconscious working with the others than focusing solely on this patient.
S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Run some internal and external mid-prods. See if you can find any commands to decode the poster. And please dedicate yourself to this one. You'll find it a more productive use of all our time.

==================

DR. S. VAVILLE: Rebirth was a chance for immortality. The world was in need of a rebirth. Every strained breath it took had been the by-product of its poison binging. We as scientists had done well to discover its problems and encourage healthier habits. Yet now even with our pleas fulfilled, our demise was irreversible. Futility was our future. It was not content enough to just be in our past. But at present, there still remained the potential for incendivity of that phoenix's fire to bring about an overdue palingenesis! What needed to be known was when to let the cleansing flames burn the brightest and who should take charge of the embers to bring the genesis anew. And I was certain this lay with that patient.

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"

> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED

> NOTHING NEW WILL BE SAID

-------------------------------

DR. KIRKEY: All night, I looked into that poster and executed commands on it. With every execution, I changed its look and the world made different changes with it, some more drastic than others, all except for the blue lights. Perhaps it was within the poster itself that the rebirth process existed, so I tried to use another command to strip it down and analyze its metadata.

I focused all my attention on it. More leisure was the goal, but not the means.

It revealed more commands, but now it was I who made the environmental changes. Still those blue lights did not change. Once I found a command to change the patient's behavior in their world, I could interact with the patients directly, and a change was made to those blue lights. It was just a flicker. But that flicker revealed the world's malleability, right down to its molecular level. I could see atoms turning into goo. We could have had this environment become molding clay in our hands if it was ALERMI.

And yet Dr. Vaville insisted on rebirth. Or rather his ego-driven interpretation of rebirth. He'd rather have consumed himself with that interpretation than seen the depths of our true subconscious and how interwoven it was to the grander structure of the universe itself. Rather he wanted to be a catalyst. Meddlesome fool. I knew how he spoke about rebirth. The cleansing flame. To find the procedure of immortality was to find the solution for rebirth. Once recorded into the Central System, every Mindlynx building would be responsible for the global override of everyone's DN-O5xs. We lucky workers, along the rare few whose systems reboot, would then engage in the third world war. It would be the only war in human history where everyone fought as their own nation.

I did not believe that rebirth would happen with immortality, given Dr. Vaville's definition of either. One sole ember had never formed the reborn phoenix anew. All it could hope to do was persist in the void. Perhaps something in that poster indicated a usefulness from the patient. Perhaps he could reveal potential for a rebirth. But whether it was the rebirth, Dr. Vaville's rebirth, I remained skeptical. Yet in my skepticism, I remained impotent. Looming above me was the unknown trigger to the global override. I could only gather its whereabouts from Dr. Vaville, yet any desire to do so left me with his wrath. Mindlynx could circumvent him, but in navigating it, I gained nothing but agonizing confusion and growing ire. Other patients were neglected thanks to him and this labyrinthine hidnat; priorities only led us on paths to dead ends. And since I could not draw the path, my only way to escape was to reach the dead end faster.

How many more would need to be sent into dimensional comas before one of us had the courage to follow our hearts? How many hearts would need to be broken before we all got to go home?

==================

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- these npws are wild...its like an interactive art exhibit made by a cokehead

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- It never ceases to be fascinating.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- theyre just as dangerous as dealing with a cokehead...whatever the patients got its strong and making them paranoid

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- What do you mean?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- well you know that command kirkey used on the patient so he could change their behavior

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I'm aware of that, yes.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- i tried the same thing when i went in for my midprod...i got the same flicker...but then i saw the patient twitch...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Twitching?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- i got around to interacting with the patient a little more...each twitch made the lights a little more interesting...colors started changing...they started to grow and shrink...in one instance they rooted themselves like trees and little lights started popping out of all types...but then patient tried to slash me

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Goodness.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- the bastard didnt get me the first few times....but then they hit one of the lamps and it was about to crush me...i had to do my best to get away but new lights kept popping out of the ground...the patient screamed and shouted and the npw grew darker with the lights getting dimmer...i fell down cutting myself by breaking one of the sprouting lights and my blood started to glow like the lamp...the patient then just...stopped...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- You don't say?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- everything got back to the default state...running the command again got the patient to calm down...i tried to do some more investigating while keeping an eye on the patient...had to consider the scenario this npw was creating...a construction site being constructed upon rather than being constructed in must indicate more to the true subconscious...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- That certainly makes sense. Was anything further revealed?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- yes and no...i looked at the poster again to see if kirkey missed anything and it didnt appear to be the case...there was something to the collaborative effort that did more to enhance the environment...but as i was about to run the command again this time taking some precautions...the patient had scars on their face...as if they had slashed themselves...they were fresh too...when the patient attacked me they clearly went for me...i didnt see any time that they had slashed themselves...the patient cried a bit...their tears turned to blood that then started to glow like mine...where i was cut i felt blood start gushing out and we were standing in that puddle...as it grew in size it got dimmer...we had stopped crying and bleeding respectively but the patient still was hurting...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- That's about the first time the patient's ever been apologetic about their hostility. How did the rest of the neural procedural world look afterwards?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- it looked a lot more abandoned than it did before

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I see.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- the worst part of it all was that when i went to get the log for the midprod...there was nothing showing my encounters with the patient...everything i told you was out of the notes i made while in there

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- So you're telling me you don't have anything else that can be used to look into this further?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- im afraid not

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Goddamnit. There could've been something there that would've gotten us closer to the procedure. Don't worry about it...I'm sure I could find something in the prelim log that was missed that I could run in my own midprod and find something else from the patient. Then maybe in the outprod I could see if I can find some garbage data still within the patient that could get into the altercation you had. It might be enough to accelerate our progress with this case and get Vaulkintu done sooner.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- god i hope so...im really getting worn down...

==================

DR. KIRKEY: Time's lost on me. The world has been tinted in a warm grey, depletion without misery. A pleasantness ill-fitting of the times. The dust one collects from their fingertips would be a more fitting currency, just as useful as well. My work life has fully bled into my home life, my corporate corpse lies in my living room. Perhaps one should wonder if Vaulkintu should refer itself as the knife that tore into the fabric of reality. Why did we believe we could be programmers of nature?

What was I to think as I continue to suffer migraines, the molecules in the air becoming malleable on my fingertips? I used to find solace in soft music and in the motion of my movement, but it does nothing but synchronize the destruction of my mind. Do you not see Death right behind you, reaching in and petting your soul? Death can never leave. Death would never leave. Meine Frau rief mich im Schlaf an. Sie beschrieb das Gespenst, das sie terrorisierte. Ich nahm an, dass es der Tod war. Aber das Bild von ihr, der Patient, machte ihre Drohung. Sie ließen ihre Augen bluten. Ihre Haut verwandelte sich in Asche und sie erreichte mich. Ein verlorener Kuss, die Liebe, die ich in meiner Seele hielt, wurde gelöscht und ihre Löschung gelöscht. Damit sie die Existenz meiner Frau verletzen, ohne dass sie es weiß? Wut konnte nicht mit der Angst mithalten, die das dimensionale Koma hinterlassen hatte.(My wife, she called to me in slumber. She described the spectre that terrorized her. I assumed it was Death. But the image of hers, the patient made their threat. They made her eyes bleed. Her skin turning to ash, she reached to me. A kiss forlorn, the love I held in my soul erased and its erasure erased. For them to violate my wife's existence without her knowing? Anger could not match the fear left behind by the dimensional coma.)

I still had to work...I could not do otherwise.

==================

DR. KIRKEY: I might have been wrong to dismiss Dr. Vaville, though I would never admit that to him. Upon an out-prod analysis of the projection, I found that if one ran a set of commands so that one emulated the actions of the patient and then interacted with the poster, they could assume greater control of the environment, leading to the alteration of the lights, particles becoming putty all the same. So in essence the rebirth could either be done through single or multiple instances of immortality. Not much had changed in outlining the procedure still...I supposed I should have been glad that we were getting closer to a conclusion. A conclusion after which, my patient’s awareness through the whole experiment would make them want to get in a room with me and get some things off their chest, possibly make them public, even if that meant that she might see. Or worse, even if that meant that I would never be able to forget.

Amid the currently uneventful demeanor, I felt the need to remind myself that patients may not have been omnipotent, but they were closer to understanding the procedure of immortality than we were, able to dig out intentions that we refused to face or declare. My wife had delivered to me their warning. That warning might as well have been one for our whole world and what we, in the quest for higher power, failed utterly to recognize. For all I could think of Dr. Vaville, I agreed, perhaps, that this world was in need of a rebirth.

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> HOW DO YOU VIEW THE GLASS

-------------------------------

DR. CIUYE: Personally, I was happy to find that the procedure of immortality was more flexible than we’d thought. I appreciated Dr. Kirkey's perspective on rebirth, but Dr. Vaville was our superior. As much as superiority may have rusted academic grunt machinery, he still saw more of the big picture than we did. And unlike most other institutions, his seniority was based on actual merits and intellect, despite him being quite a bit younger than the both of us. Dr. Vaville had worked on several experiments in Mindlynx, a few that even I'd participated in. Much as I could relate with Dr. Kirkey on Dr. Vaville being so overbearing with his theories and assigning us tons of tedious work, I still had to assume there was something to his observations. Though there was no doubt that Dr. Kirkey made a very compelling case regarding the procedure of immortality and methods of rebirth. It would be wise to consider both options rather than simply pursue one. However Dr. Kirkey, much like Dr. Vaville, seemed to believe that only one should be given the utmost of attention. He was perhaps more willing to see the flexibility of the immortality procedure, but to accept it would take him another while. I hoped he would at least entertain the idea. One could do good for everyone. God, after all, was alone in creating the world. And what was life but God's good made manifest to us?

==================

> "xx-x---xxxxx--x--xxx"

> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED

> YOU STILL HAVE NOT MECHANIZED YOUR SOUL 0000

> DESPITE YOUR BODY TURNING INTO POLYGONS
> DESPITE THE WAR NEVER CEASING

> 0000 LIFE IS IN NEED OF THE DIGITAL CONVERGENCE

"Water, nature's tocsin, alerted me before I nearly drowned in an unfamiliar grave. It took me a while to get up as I constantly slipped on the flooding floors. There was no time to question why I was in this secretive base that was vastly becoming an aquarium. No broken pipes jutted out as I trudged through the facility. Neither were there others able to assist me, nor my voice able to reverberate on the walls. Solitude was my company, and it proved unable to be cooperative. All it could do was remind me of my predicament. Doom and defeatism tore at my mind leaving scraps for a weakened optimism. I knew it was an invisible battle but I had to turn the struggle into a tangible one. Slithering out of my ears, that miniature hydra of pessimism was eager to finish what the flooding had started. As it forced me back into the water, what I thought to be a shallow pool was a nautical abyss with the surrounding architecture imposing with haunting visuals of their dilapidated condition. But then I wrestled my way out into the open air and flung myself down a waterfall made by a nearby ramp. And there in even shallower waters I saw a concrete sphere between between a hallway lined with bizarre terminals. Resting above it was a phone triggering synthesia with its ring a muted rainbow to my tastebuds. The water levels began to catch up with me as I made it to my escape. My hand did its best to reach out for the phone. But that hydra had not been defeated, and it had crushed my extended arm as soon as I gestured to the handle. Pulling myself closer to it only exacerbated my problems as now the cord had turned on me, making its way to my neck. It punctured blood vessels within and I was now frothing with a red foam. My gurgles were replaced with a dial tone. And slowly I fell back to drown once more, falling deeper into the depths of this unknown covert institution."

==================

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Vaulkintu Experiment, Stage COVIGO, Case #01490, Neural Procedural World Projection #49. Prelim was conducted by me and Dr. Ciuye, no XAXSH commands could be extracted in either instance. Moving into midprod, we've decided to see if XAXSH commands from past neural procedural worlds might have some effect. In previous instances they have not yielded any notable changes. Dr. Ciuye is stationed at the M-TAT and Syrynn will be conducting the midprod. Has the neural procedural world finally been loaded, Dr. Ciuye?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Yes.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Have you calibrated your interno-O5x, Syrynn?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- yes

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Good. Initiate the midprod procedure, Dr. Ciuye.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Initiating midprod procedure. Connecting Syrynn into the neural procedural world.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- im in...gonna look around and see if i can find the source of the water

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Sounds good.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Currently trying to obtain a snapshot of the telephone ringing. I'll need to run it through some post-processing to see if the patient's synesthesia appears.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Alright. Syrynn, I'm sending a few commands your way. When you get the chance, try running a few of them once you find the source of water.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- will do

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Perfect. Dr. Ciuye, can you provide us with the patient's current state?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Patient's looking stable.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Perfect. Syrynn, I noticed that you've executed a command. Have you already found the water source?
SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- no not yet

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- So you just executed it on the neural procedural world itself?
SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- not quite

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Did you execute the command on the phone?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- that would have been a good idea but no

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Did you try to execute the command onto the patient?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- yes...doesnt seem to have done anything to them...i was expecting they would pick up the phone or something

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Why would you think that?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- the command says reduce the clutter...figured the clutter meant noise...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Ah...well...understood then.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Patient remains stable. Doesn't look like the command did anything.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- the office area doesnt seem quite as cramped now...guess thats what it was referring to then...maybe i can try to execute it on the phone itself now

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Wouldn't hurt to try I suppose but please focus on the task at hand.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- alright ill look for the source afterward dont worry...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Thank you. I do think that after finding the water source we should consider the phone, maybe there's something hidden in there.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Why don't we look at the phone first though?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- The patient found themselves falling into an abyss even though the water itself did not appear to be deep. If we affect the flow of the water, perhaps there's something we can find that provides us guidance into the procedures necessary for Vaulkintu.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- But wouldn't the phone be of more importance because it was the prop that the patient was trying to access initially? Might there not be a greater connection between them and what was to be the answer?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- The patient was met with a dial-tone replacing their voice at the end of the projection. It was most likely a transference of what they would've met with had they picked up the phone.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- A bit presumptuous, wouldn't you think?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Perhaps, but even if there was something else to it, it wouldn't necessarily reveal much beyond its own contents.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- hey i found the source of the water...its a floating faucet

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- A floating faucet? You mean with no pipe connecting it?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- how else would a faucet float

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- It could be connected to a water tank or another set of pipes that are also floating...nevermind that though, run the commands.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ok

====

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I've managed to get a color map out of the patient's synesthesia in the neural procedural world. Layering it on to the current position of where Syrynn is, the colors seem to dissipate. Does that mean that the patient doesn't have any effect in that area?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Could be, but it more so means that we were right to assume that the water's origin is the most likely place to deconstruct the components of the neural procedural world and the patient's experience therein.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- i ran the first three commands...so far ive only changed the transparency of the water and the temperature...somehow making it colder has made the patient turn around to look at me...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Huh...how's the water looking currently?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- its more opaque than it was before...i could try running the transparency command again...might just change it randomly rather than fix on one particular transparency setting

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Alright. Try the rest of the commands on the faucet and then do some exploration around the world. Please send a snapshot of the faucet itself as well, I want to take a closer look at it.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- you got it chief

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What is the condition of the patient so far, Dr. Ciuye?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- A slight bit of instability but well within the range of manageability. Typical behavior from XAXSH command execution

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Par for the course. Did you finish running the commands Syrynn?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- yes...it doesnt seem like theres anything thats changing the flow or making the transparency any better...gonna do a command extraction just to see if there might be something in there that affects it...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Smart move. If nothing else we can move to the phone then.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I had a feeling that the source wasn't the place to go for executing these commands.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- It had some effect, it just wasn't working to our benefit...

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- no commands could be extracted...and yet i feel the water rising...guess ill try the phone now...the ringing is a bit louder than before...is there a way to change the volume

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- You could try undoing some of the commands you executed, it might've had a delayed effect on the ringing.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- alright yeah that seemed to fix it...thanks...executing commands on the phone now

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Maybe try playing around with the phone as you execute them...

====

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- holy shit

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What? What did you find?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- the water cleared up...i dont know if it was the phone or one of the past commands or both but i can see whats below much better...it looks like the abyss the patient went into is actually present in the npw...it wasnt a portal or a bug...should i try exploring it...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- That might be dangerous. You'd be in closer proximity to the patient and entering the depths would be a dangerous endeavor without the right conditions to do so...you're going to need to get a few more commands executed to get into that...

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- okay sounds good...wait...im noticing something else...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Did you execute a new command or tamper with the phone some more?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- a bit of both...there's a little trail of gold liquid behind the phone...it almost seems to be leading back to where the faucet was...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Interesting. Try to check if the faucet is truly floating or if there are some invisible components to it that are creating the illusion. Anything's possible but one possibility would need more investigation than the other.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Dr. Kirkey, the patient seems to be getting a bit more unstable...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Syrynn, are you noticing the patient doing anything out of the ordinary?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- they seem to be glitching from the original position to falling into the abyss...the water seems to be rising too...or perhaps the floor is getting lower...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Okay, keep your head above water and keep following the gold trail. Dr. Ciuye, try to control the patient's stability, we just need enough so that Syrynn can find the end of the trail.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ive gone past the faucet now...it seems to be a bit further from the source

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- It appears to be a new section of the neural procedural world. From what I can gather it seems to have been created thanks to the execution of the commands. I'm looking to see if the synesthesia has any effect on this area as well.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Are you closer to finding an end to the gold?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- its still a distance away...oh god the water is freezing...the temperature commands seem to do nothing now

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Dr. Ciuye, what is the patient's stability?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- It's just a bit above the normal instability range, though it's coming down...

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- the patient hasnt escaped my periphery...they are still behind me and a great distance away but unless there is an object in the way they dont seem to fade away

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What's the patient's behaviour?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- still glitching as they did before...which most likely means theyre clipping into the npw...unless the abyss is moving with them...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Probably should've spent a bit more time on the phone, executed more commands and gotten some extraction too...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Don't worry, the patient's returning back to stability. I've got an instance of the equilibrium program on the patient just in case it spikes up.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- fuck i feel like im going to get hypothermia from this water...but im almost at the end...its getting a little shallower

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Wonderful, just take a few more steps.

====

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- oh my god...theres a pool of gold coming through...i can feel the water getting warmer now...ah it feels so goddamn good...its like a heavenly hotspring that you could just stay in for the rest of your life...sorry im getting sidetracked here im getting closer to the center of the pool now...the patient doesnt seem to be following me anymore...wasnt quite too concerned based on what they were doing but whatever...ah shit i hit something...its a...silver icosahedron

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What did you say?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- theres a silver icosahedron inside of the gold pool here...its completely unaffected by the gold itself...i can see myself in it too...its not quite as strong as i thought it would be...i dont want to break it but i feel like theres something in there...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I've got the color map of this new area...it also seems to be unaffected by the synesthesia as well. Since it was created by the combination of the phone and the insertion of the command, it must mean that both those components are outside of the influence of the patient. Yet the patient is still at a close approximation with both the position moving closer relative to Syrynn and with the synesthesia still at close reach to the source itself. Perhaps there is something to your conclusions Dr. Kirkey.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- My god...extract as much as you can from it. Snapshots, XAXSH commands, metadata...leave nothing unturned. This might be the key we've been looking for.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- i think i know what to do with it...let me just try...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Did anyone else experience an interruption in the connection?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Syrynn, the patient is right behind you!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What?!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Syrynn, what's happening to you?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- i failed again...there is no unraveling this...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Failed again? Unraveling? What are you talking about?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Her interno-O5x is acting weird. It looks like she executed a supplementary program onto the faucet.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- A supplementary program? Didn't we tell her not to use those unless they've been cleared by us?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Apparently Dr. Vaville gave the program clearance.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Oh god no, I know what this is now. Syrynn, please respond!

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- yes dr kirkey...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Why are you trying to reverse-engineer XAXSH again?! Did Dr. Vaville request this again?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- no...i just...oh god i just wanted to align myself with the patient...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What do you mean align?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- our energies must align...i have to see beyond my dimension...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Syrynn, force quit from the projection! Syrynn! Dr. Ciuye, is Syrynn's interno-O5x still operational?

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Not quite, I'm trying to remotely access it and I'm being blocked. The XAXSH-encrypted passcode system keeps timing out before I can provide the input.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Is Syrynn still in? Tell her to turn on the coma countermeasures.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- At the moment, but she's constantly shifting position. It doesn't seem like I can get through to her either. I'm noticing that the equilibrium program I ran on the patient has crashed and the color map of the ringing has covered the entire neural procedural world now. The debugger's not working at all either so I can't do any manual corrections. I'm running a desaturation command to protect the source from any of the world's corrupting interferences.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- We're not going to be able to get another instance running on them in time. Can we at least lock her position?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- There is a safety program put in place for this phenomenon but for some reason it doesn't seem to work!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Find out the reason then! Her life is at stake!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- What do you think I've been doing all this time, Kirkey?!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Just focus on the task at hand! I'll try to see if there's some other measure I can take to counteract the patient's behavior.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- She's stopped moving!

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What?!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Yes, she's...currently drowning in the abyss. I still get a signal from her interno-O5x and its showing her vitals are in order so she's not dead though. There's still a few problems with the program, but it doesn't seem like her position is changing drastically.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Okay, okay, make sure you can get the program fixed so that we can lock her position and I'll get to the extraction procedure so that we...oh god, what is that sound?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I believe it's coming from the patient.

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- How the hell can that be?! It's at such a loud and high frequency.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I don't know, but the world's starting to fall into the abyss.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Goddamnit, I'm still trying to get the extraction procedure ready!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Oh god, she's fading away. I'm losing her position.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What the hell?! I didn't think we had to do two-manned midprods with her anymore. Fuck! FUCK!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- The phone's ringing louder now. It's a total massacre here.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Just what we need, a soundtrack straight from hell to ruin my concentration.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I can't figure out what the problem is with the program.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Do you still have her position?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Please tell me you still have her position.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Dr. Ciuye, what is going on with your response system? I need to know where Syrynn is.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

SYRYNN [JNRPROD] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

[SYRYNN HAS LOGGED OUT]

====

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Her position is gone.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Goddamnit! Dr. Ciuye, please prepare me to enter the projection. I'm going to try and save Syrynn.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I don't think that's a good idea.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- She has to still be alive, even if she's submitted to the dimensional coma there is a chance that we can get her out. I'm not sure if we can break her out of it, but it would be better than to just leave her dead.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- She's already nearly dead though, it wouldn't be worth the risk in the condition the neural procedural world is in.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Give me her diagnostics over the past few minutes.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Okay.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Mhm...even though her position was fading, there was no point that her vitals were showing to be in a sharp decline. Of course I'd have to run the values through to predict a potential time window to rescue her in. It'll help that since I'm going in we're going to need to run the restabilization protocol, which we still need to get working in a way that it can be activated at any time rather than using the equilibrium program...that can only do so much.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- We'll have to spend some time afterwards on it. Are you ready to enter?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Yes.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Understood. Entering Dr. Kirkey into the neural procedural world. Executing neural procedural world restabilization protocol for smoother insertion into the projection...restabilization partially successful, patient remains dangerous. Be careful.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Okay, I'm going to try to get into the new area created by the commands. If the world's restabilized that should mean that the area has reverted to being unaffected by the synesthesia. Then again I'm not sure that'll hold. My god, the patient's already improved the water's transparency and expanded the abyss. Can you get the equilibrium program running again?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- It seems to be operating even worse than it did before, it's absolutely slow in booting up. The debugger isn't able to help me out here but I am able to get some corrections going on the world itself. One of these bugs might be related to the expansion of the abyss.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Get to it then, I'm going to run a few commands on myself to see if I can improve my movement within the neural procedural world. Agh, the water's violently shifting in temperature, it's unbearable.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Focus on the patient, I want to know if they're changing in any way...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- They've opened their mouth just now. My god, they've got this disgusting fleshy tumor on their tongue. Oh god, the patient's just grazed it with their teeth. It's spewing a bubbling black liquid into the water.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Are you okay?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Yeah...yeah I'm fine...I've got a command that'll get moving faster, it seems to be working. The liquid's fumes are peeling away the neural procedural world itself, it's just a collection of mouths and eyes.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Oh my god...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I'm right at the faucet now. The patient's extended the abyss further. Did you do any corrections?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Yes I did, I've just done a few more right now.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Holy hell, the patient's eyes....they're starting to become the faucets...they're spewing more of the black liquid!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- No no no, this is not good, this is not good! There's a whole bunch of bugs showing up now, it's going to be a while trying to correct them all.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Do the best that you can, I'm now at the new area. I see Syrynn in my sights. The gold trail has just now appeared as well.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- According to the color map, it looks to be just like it was before but the synesthesia is making its way closer to where you are.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Well I can already feel the black liquid creeping its way upon me. It's as if I'm swimming in rubbing alcohol after being pricked by a thousand needles on my legs and a bunch of octopuses lashed me with their tentacles.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I'm clearing up a couple of the bugs, are you seeing anything different from the patient?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- The abyss seems to be letting up but the black liquid has now past me and is covering the gold...I'm running all the commands I can think of and they're only affecting the appearance of the area rather than improving my condition.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- The color map is back to showing everything being affected. Except a tiny part of the new area...did you make it to where Syrynn is?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I've made it! Yes! I've made it! I need a minute in the gold pool, the pain that black liquid has dealt has been so unbearable. Oh my lord. Syrynn was right, it makes everything feel so much better. And the icosahedron...to say its silver is reductive to its real majesty...I can see myself in a clarity that no mirror has ever offered before. It is not only my face but the face of others too.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Dr. Kirkey...I hate to inform you on this but...Dr. Vaville's thinking to execute the kill order on Syrynn.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What? No! He doesn't have the information necessary to come to that conclusion.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- What do you mean? He's aware that she's in the coma. He's aware that the patient's unstable. He's aware that the neural procedural world is losing stability. What more would he need to know?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I can't believe you're arguing me on this! You need to prevent this order from going through!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- It's only going to get worse for you in there if she remains he tells me. You'd be risking further instability.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Having her killed would risk more instability, it's essentially surrendering her to the whims of the patient.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Then what about looking into the rest of the world? What good would it do to get her out of it if there isn't any further exploration of the world through the midprod?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- There isn't any point in looking further into the world if there's nothing we can do to control the patient.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- He's sent over a couple of pacification commands...I can send them over and you can try to execute them...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Do you see what the patient's doing to the neural procedural world? From my end, I'm seeing the water change color, temperature, transparency, depth; the faucet's bouncing up and down to the floor and the ceiling, I can see the wavelength of the dial tone as it hits my legs. And once I try to get Syrynn out of here, I'm going to be hit with the coma's effects which are going to make all of this so much worse. A couple of commands are not going to do much to control their behavior. There would need to be a more concerted effort in order to maintain control here. We're closer to getting her out than we are to restoring the conditions within. I'm checking her vitals manually, I can physically feel her pulse. Do not let him execute the kill order!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- But Dr. Vaville says that she's too deep in the dimensional coma. You're going to get yourself killed!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I got her out of it before and I can get her out of it again. If we can't save her, fine, but she cannot die in here! Not for the experiment, nor for the sanctity of her life!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- ...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

====

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What is with the connection?!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- The kill order has been executed.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- NO!! GODDAMNIT, NO!!! FUCK!!!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- What do we do now?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- The only thing that'll be of any use is the transfer from Syrynn's interno-O5x. I'll need to maintain some distance between her and the patient and considering all the variables, there's a highly likely probability of the neural procedural world collapsing and unable to be examined through out-prod or off-prod. So I'll have to set the interno-O5xs in such a manner that it only focuses on conducting the data transfer. With such a chaotic environment, my O5x will not be able to force quit so you will have to pull me out once I complete the transfer. Got it?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Yes.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Okay, I'm preparing to initiate the transfer. You might as well send over the pacification commands, it's all I've got.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Alright. I'm not sure how well these will work, we haven't dealt with the patient in this unstable of a state.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- It's the only thing we haven't tried.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] ---

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Okay, I've got the transfer, we're starting off with 2% already, that's optimistic...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Maintain your distance...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Kirkey, are you still there?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Yes, I'm at 10%. The transfer's shot up real fast now.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Okay. I seem to be getting a bit of interference. I'm also noticing the patient's becoming a lot more hostile, the ringing's synesthesia is increasing in vibrancy.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- It's now reached you and Syrynn, can you run the desaturation command with the pacification commands?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Dr. Kirkey, I need your response.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- ...

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Dr. Kirkey, please response right now!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I'm here at 20% on the transfer

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Have you been using the pacification commands?!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Yes. The patient is not getting any better though, as I presumed. Most what I've done has only added some distance between us. I'm focusing on strengthening the response system instead, it's a much better use of our efforts. With the world falling apart now, we can't risk any more of these issues that we're coming across. I'm going to get to the highest position possible in the neural procedural world and run a few commands to protect myself from the falling debris. Can you detect the patient's presence? I can't seem to find them myself.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I have their position. It looks to be that they've clipped on to your position.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Are you sure? I've used all of the pacification commands, I don't know what else I can do here. Oh god, I'm hearing those noises again.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I'm not hearing anything.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Ah shit, I'm slipping into the coma! I knew it was gonna happen eventually. I'm turning on coma countermeasures and I'll try to send over some of the information from the current transfer I have. I'm at 40%

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Alright, please send over her entire list of commands, we need to record them for posterity.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- The command log file has corrupted most of the list and subsequent translations. I only have the last command she used. "---x--x===xxxx----xxx"

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- What does it translate to?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I'm trying to figure it out but I'm starting to see those unknown colors. Might need to save that for when I'm out of this projection. Currently at 50% on the data transfer. Stabilize the environment!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- The equilibrium program is running back up again and in the background at the moment and I'm doing some manual corrections using the debugger. Apart from running the pacification commands from my end, I'm a bit limited on what I can do following standard operational procedure.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Figure something out, I can't deal with all of these things at once. I'm at 60%.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Alright...I could try destroying the more unstable components of the neural procedural world through the neural procedural world garbage removal tool I designed recently. I've only been able to test it on previous worlds in which I had to simulate the instability. It could make it so that the system has less to deal with while also removing any potential bugs or glitches associated with the element, but it could also lead to even more instability.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Well then it's a risk we're going to have to take. I'm at 70% on the data transfer.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- The equilibrium program is lagging at the moment.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- At 80%, run another instance of the equilibrium program overseeing the first one, that way it'll clear up the lag and double its processing power.
CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Currently running it. I've destroyed a couple of the unstable components of the world. Do you notice anything getting stabler?
KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- It's getting worse actually but I'm at 90% on the transfer.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I'll try to destroy a couple more. Annnnnd there! Anything changed?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Still looking just as unstable. Water's starting to creep up on me. It's stabbing at me too.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Damn it! Now this new instance of the equilibrium program is lagging.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Stop it and get two new instances on it with one of them overseeing the first one and the other! Do it quickly, the sound's getting unbearable and I'm at 95%!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Alright, I've got the first instance of the program.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I'm at 96%!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I've found a massive data leak inflicted by the patient, I'm correcting it in the debugger.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- 97%!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I've manage to correct it. Several bugs have been removed from the error list.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- 98%!!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- I've removed the phone! The water seems to be lowering!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- 99%!!!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- All three instances of the equilibrium program are operational!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I've got the data! Pull me out, NOW!

==================

DR. CIUYE: I wish there was more I could have done on the kill order. Dr. Vaville had presented the order as soon as he came in and saw that Syrynn had been subjected to the coma. I did the best I could to argue against it. He didn't seem to care, he had no desire to save her. As we argued with each other, he took over control of my communication system and urged Dr. Kirkey to abandon the effort. I would have been able to have helped were it not for how forceful he was at taking control of my system. Once the connection cut out, I was able to get control back but by then it was executed and Syrynn was gone. Her only presence was in a handful of molecules left inside of the head of the patient's true subconscious. Kirkey would never forgive me. Vaville wouldn’t let me get away with implicating him.

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> YOU CONTINUE TO CLIMB

-------------------------------

DR. S. VAVILLE: Dr. Ciuye understood the risks Dr. Kirkey was undergoing trying to rescue her. She may have had some moral resistance to it, perhaps it upset her that such was the way; Vaulkintu had to continue; out of a scientific duty she accepted what had to be done. I certainly did not take pleasure in it, much as Dr. Kirkey might assume otherwise. Syrynn was the future, if this world could even fathom the hope for one. I truly felt that had the circumstances been different she would have usurped Dr. Kirkey as senior prodder in a matter of months. Alas, she was with the patient now, scattered into fragments containing energy that will heighten their true subconscious. With this, the patient would have more power and provide a greater chance in revealing the secrets of the procedure of immortality in their future neural projections.

==================

DR. KIRKEY: "This command no longer can help you." That's what her last command translated to. She was desperate to save herself, and she couldn't. We had a chance. We had a chance! Instead, she's torn apart, becoming the atoms of atoms. And the silver icosahedron? With the gold around it? We got nothing from it. All but the awareness that it existed in that neural procedural world before it all came apart. I only know of its pertinence as my wife recollected upon that detail tormented once more by the patient. "Geh nicht zur Arbeit!" sie flehte mich an. "Dieses Gespenst quält mich weiterhin! Ich weiß nicht, warum es mich so leer und bedrohlich anstarrt. Warum bin ich auf den Spaziergängen meiner Traumparks vor ihrem Blick gefroren. Ich weiß nicht, ob ich Mitleid haben oder fürchten soll, was vor mir liegt. Ich spüre einen Schmerz, der meinem Wesen unbekannt ist. Und bald beginnen die Bäume zu faulen, das Gras welkt unter meinen Füßen. Dann bluten meine Tränen und ich bin nicht mehr so wie das Gespenst." ("Don't go to work!" she pleaded to me. "That spectre, it continues to torment me! I don't know why it gives me such a vacant, menacing stare. Why in the walks of my dream parks I am made frozen to their gaze. I do not know whether to pity or fear what is before me. I feel a pain that is unknown to my being. And soon the trees begin to rot, the grass wilts beneath my feet. Then my tears come out to bleed and I am no more, just like the spectre is.") Now she has become a homebody, the park now permanently stuck in the night, the only place that was not consumed by the pollution, the only relic of her hope, tarnished for the both of us.

Now we are faced with a patient with the ability to project themselves through any dimension they so please, their power increasing with every DN-O5x they connected to. With Syrynn's capabilities, he could do far more than she ever thought herself capable of. And what were we to do? Seek solitary immortality? It would be better to be trapped in a dimensional coma, at least there you’d know what you'd submitted yourself to. With solitary immortality, the whole DN-O5x system would focus itself so intensely onto one person, so intensely, that it would render them catatonic in a never dying body. That was because the DN-O5xs kept you alive, but they removed your capacity to operate. In multiple immortality, that wouldn't be an issue because the consciousnesses would coalesce to provide clarity in achieving the rebirth. So even though their souls become mechanized, they were not bound by the system. Solitary immortality however? It was a Droste painting of projections which may never end. One may be deluded into creating the rebirth within one, or they may force themselves back into the recursion once they'd broken away because they'd become so used to the effect that they didn’t expect any potential for rebirth at all.

We were the only ones on this planet aware of our mortality, of the concept of extinction, of the horrors of absence, and yet we seemed to lack sufficient empathy for this collective existential fear. What could perhaps become avoidable for millennia to come is now inevitable at any second. By the sins of one, we are all to suffer. Homo homini lupus.

==================

> "xx-x---xxxxx--x--xxx"

> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED

> 0000 PATIENCE IS A LUXURY YOU ARE SQUANDERING 0000

"Many times I've pondered about what would be my final mortal minutes. So often I wish I were not left lying on a walkway in a crepuscular waste facility above a vat filled with the ylem for that which will destroy us all. Bright and faded unnatural colors clashing with one another, a flinty putrescence emitting from its mixture, wafting itself into my body. There I lie, hand out on the rusting grates, the toxic vapors assaulting my lungs. Newly macrosmatic with every inhale pleasing me with poison, my descension into conscious absence becomes all the more palpable. Furuncles appear and burst suddenly on my skin. My matter violently shifts in state, my corporeal form bubbling, returning to the primordial sludge of our inception. I am deflagrating, the agony suffusing itself into every molecule of mine, each of them pressed by an invisible vice. The torture unrelenting. My breath forms a hand that peels the skin from my face. The god of death forms into a patch in the vat below. My arm finally untethers itself with the final ligaments snapping off whilst I remain unstable. I offer my sacrifice to the one true god and take on the next phase, with pain my only sensation."

==================

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- There's nothing here.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Are you satisfied with the volatility you've incurred?

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- We are not in a volatile state, Dr. Kirkey.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- We cannot access the latest neural projection. No analysis can be done. All I see is what the patient experiences.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- The systems just need some adjustment.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Will that resolve the patient's torture?

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- The patient is not tortured.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Is that why they have transcended beyond our confines? Because we have helped them?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- So far the patient's remained within Mindlynx. Other cases have not been affected.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- It doesn't seem like we need any use for them anyways.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- They have served their purpose.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- To expand the patient's network. It wouldn't be useful for us to see what insights any of their cases would have to offer, would it, Dr. Vaville?

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I said they have served their purpose.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Like Syrynn did.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Kirkey...

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- You let her die! All to fulfill that esurient desire for your solution. I offer an alternative but you react with misology. Have you ever encountered suffering on a metaphysical level? To be conscious as your atoms are being ripped apart? The burning from a million hells in their lowest circles cannot compete with its agony! You speak of the rebirth as though it is a prophetocracy with you at its helm! But you're no one-eyed king, you are merely a blind man in a wasteland!

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Kirkey, please!

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I'm glad there is nothing more to explore in this neural projection. That we are locked from it. Because the further we find, the more we guarantee our destruction.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Destruction is already here. That was the whole point of this. To escape it. If you want to have no part in improving it, that is your prerogative. But do not impede those that wish to see a difference.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Well you better hope the systems can be fixed.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I have already obtained what is necessary from the systems. It's you that should be concerned for the systems to be fixed.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I would rather see them destroyed.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Well you'd have to know how to cause their ruin. But I doubt you can do so in time.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- In time for what?

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- The override.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- What?

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- You can't be serious!

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] ---The patient has always been the conduit for the procedure. Now, they have proved themselves to be so. Whatever your alternative was, you let yourself vilipend it, as though it were a penny found in your pocket.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- If only because I am under your gaze and the thumb of Mindlynx. I face the unceasing torment of the patient, and the anguish from my wife. I have not had an opportunity to form my solution.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Don't blame me for your inanition. You presumed your solution to be correct. Did you act on it? No. Meanwhile I have resolved mine. I too have been visited by the patient. But I shall soon overpower them. Dr. Ciuye sympathized with you, but has she ever come to your side? I doubt she ever will. You'll have to ask yourself why that is, Dr. Kirkey.

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Don't you speak for me, Dr. Vaville.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- No desire to correct the record?

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- I still see time to correct the situation. Dr. Ciuye can make her own decision on where she wants to stand.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- I don't doubt your legerity. Nor that of Dr. Ciuye's. But neither one of you will have the procedure of immortality.

KIRKEY [SNRPROD/XAXSHEXT] --- Then I shall prevent you from executing yours.

S_VAVILLE [ADMIN] --- Perhaps you will improve your character in the rebirth. But it cannot be done if you cannot converge to a point. That is how the rebirth shall begin. With my convergence.

[DR. KIRKEY HAS LOGGED OFF]

CIUYE [MIDPROD/SUPERVISOR] --- Dr. Kirkey!

==================

DR. CIUYE: In a matter of moments, Dr. Vaville executed Dr. Kirkey. I could hear the gunshots as I tried to adjust the systems myself. I would've liked to continue but soon, the global override was initiated. The third world war took effect, as we would all expect the fourth to do so. Dr. Vaville attempted to eliminate me as well but I managed to escape. Since I don't know what the latest neural projection reveals, I'd have to instead find some way to investigate the impact Syrynn left in order to achieve the procedure. All the while ensuring that I could deny Dr. Vaville his own. I will find the procedure, and I will ensure the rebirth we deserve.

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> IDEALS OF PYRITE LOSE THEIR LUSTER FASTER THAN GOLDEN CONFUSION

-------------------------------

DR. S. VAVILLE: She never ran away. The only running she did was to reach for my gun. Fired five times in my direction. One of the bullets grazed my leg. I was amazed she even had the time to practice her aim. But I had a helicopter to catch so there was no time to wonder about that. I did wonder what has become of the patient though.

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> PUT THE THEORY TO THE TEST

-------------------------------

FRAU KIRKEY: Ich sah das Gespenst in meinen Träumen noch einmal. Erzählte mir, wie ich jetzt im Krieg war. Erzählte mir von der Arbeit meines Mannes. Sagte mir, ich würde aufwachen und ihn tot finden. Als ich aufwachte, war ich knietief in Leichen. Feinde und Verbündete bleiben unbekannt. Ich konnte nur meinen Mann finden und sehen, was er getan hatte. Als ich durchschaute, stellte ich fest, dass unsere Entfernung näher war als ich gewusst hatte. Natürlich konnten wir uns darüber nie unterhalten. Was hätten diese Gespräche gebracht? Ich war bereits Teil seiner Arbeit geworden, sehr zu seinem Missfallen, und ich bin immer noch, dass er tot ist. Mit all dem Geld, das ich von reichen Freunden gefunden hatte, kann ich vielleicht andere finden, um seine Theorien zu testen. Aber leer war diese Welt, die zugrunde geht, um ein Märtyrer für eine erodierende Sache zu werden. (I saw the spectre in my dreams once more. Told me about how I was now in war. Told me about my husband's work. Told me I'd wake up and find him dead. Once I awoke I was knee deep in corpses. Enemies and allies remain unknown. All I could do was find my husband and see the work he had done. Looking through I came to realize our distance was closer than I had known. Of course we could never converse about this. What good would those conversations have been? I had already become part of his work, much to his displeasure, and I still am now that he is dead. With all the money I'd found from wealthy friends perhaps I can find others to test his theories. But empty was this world that perishes, to be made a martyr to an eroding cause.)

> "-=_x--xx_xx----x_x-xx"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> NOTHING ELSE CAN BE OFFERED
> DO NOT PRESUME YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN GERMAN
> YOU HAVE ALREADY FULFILLED THE EXHIBIT'S PURPOSE
> WHAT CONCERN IS IT TO YOU TO OBTAIN MORE INSIGHT
> ANOTHER VOICE WILL DO NOTHING FOR THE SILENCE

-------------------------------

"A city hollowed out, a citizenry shucked into a stew of antimatter. Somehow the mountains make their way over. How come my steps create decay? How come the lake is fine to be in with those antique cherry wood patterns sludging about? I can taste the poison in the air. The walk is pleasant though. There was mostly silence. Occasionally the sound of dust and paper heard from another room popped in to break it. The lake was clearly provoking me. Why else would it suddenly ripple? Let me believe that I am on this walk. Whether or not I should does not concern me. Someday the rain will heal the wounds in this place and life can grow anew. But until then I have the pollution and the spectre of what was once my home."

> "x--------------------------------------_"
>
> XAXSH COMMAND RECOGNIZED
> TAKE PRIDE IN YOURSELF 0000
> YOU HAVE BECOME THE ISLAND MAN DREAMT TO BECOME
> ALL THAT MATTERS IS YOU
> YOU ARE MATTER
> MATTER IS ALL
> BLESSED IS THE MECHANIZED SOUL
> 0000 IMMORTALITY IS YOURS

(Edited by Kunal Roy)