Direct Message – Chat System 1.0 – 1694.580

Seven Red Suns, Shifting Gales

SG: You haven’t told me yet, Suns. Now what did Spearmaster find in your Basilica? 

SG: I need some distraction from the utter boredom that is falling apart.

SG: When the pain has become normal, you don’t even feel it anymore.

SRS: At least your core is still holding up thanks to Far Whisper’s filters.

SRS: Well, you want a story? We have indeed found something interesting.

SRS: Find yourself a nice place and enjoy the wall of text.

SRS: … That manual typing with input delay, however … I think I will be done in a quarter cycle.

Shifting Gales closed the chat device and stored it in her robe. That life-saving orb was her only connection to the outside world in the past 58 cycles. Besides the many chats with Seven Red Suns there was not much she could do to pass the time. At first, she was quite annoyed by the typing delay, but after some time she began to value it for what it was. One chat with Suns allowed her to pass half a cycle while staying entertained with their stories and reports about the doings of her peers.

Approaching Sky was working full force on his feeble efforts to bring 001 to listen to him. Suns reported that he stood quite secretive about the process of the training and worded out their confusion about his behaviour. Gales however was amused by that and reassured Suns that that behaviour was indeed quite like her senior. He never told her about his failed attempts, only his successful procedures.

His pride in his work rendered him quite early into a perfectionist and loner, at least until she got constructed to take the profit out of his quote-unquote failures. Purposed Organisms, who didn’t have the willpower to stay sane in captivity. Gales received occasional shipments of these disturbed creatures to research their emotional state and practice her theories of empathy on them. Whisper jokingly called her work one time a ‘Sky trauma recuperation clinic’. The Iterator chuckled at the memory. How right she was with that assessment. Heck, she even wrote papers about how to deal with trauma states.

…

Thinking about it, Gales recognized some patterns of it in her new friend. It was also interesting that Suns did mention that specific paper quite a few times. Odd. …

In other news, the brave Overseer did return to Sky’s superstructure 20 cycles ago. She was overjoyed to have been informed that they didn’t get reset and were still sporting the mixed colour code of them both. She hoped that that particular Overseer would return soon when they got upgraded to be more acid-proof.

Suns did hear from Far Whisper as well, although only a few bits and pieces. Sky mentioned to them something about a Neuron Brain. And how that project turned quite quickly from a simple task into the maybe most complex solution to her problem. Gales was not surprised by the passion her dear Whispy put into that project. And she had a good idea what she might be up to with that Neuron Brain.

Is after all our shared interest. The neurochemistry of living organisms. The inner workings of a brain. Given how much she likes me I am quite positive that she wants to preserve my personality and emotions more than my raw memories. How frustrating! I want to work with her on creating an artificial brain! This could have been the prime example of a project to spend so much more time with Whispy!

…

But here I am. Twiddling my thumbs. Not even able to do some research on my own due to my flooded laboratories. Hurry up, Suns, I need something distracting to read!

Suns knew next to nothing from Five Lives Unbound, however. They refused to talk with her for reasons unknown. The only thing Sky told them about her was that she was currently in the process of designing the first versions of the framework of their solution. And that she might be able to go ‘shopping’ in a few hundred cycles.

Of course her idol did do so much work. Gales was no fool, despite how nervous she was in the meeting of them all. She could read the guilt and panic in Lives’ four eyes. But it wasn’t her fault. What happened in Looks to the Moon’s region was a tragedy, and Gales was happier than upset that Lives was there to prevent even worse with her assistance.

Controlling Moon’s collapse by severing The Precipice kept at least Five Pebbles standing. Gales knew that Lives was upset that all she was able to do was damage control, but she also knew that her resolve would have been even more tested if her influence hadn’t helped at all.

And now she focused all her efforts on designing the best possible tool to replace her corroding Can. Whatever she would present, it would look gorgeous!

Direct Message – Chat System 1.0 – 1694.580

Seven Red Suns, Shifting Gales

SRS: Alright. Wall of text incoming.

SRS: I haven’t talked about my little journey with Spearmaster yet because I required a bit of time to sort things out. Learning a few aspects about how your sheep ticked was quite … let’s say enlightening. First things first. Spears has safely returned to me; the Basilica didn’t hold any true dangers for my dear champion.

About what we uncovered in the holy place of our people, however. I … hmm. Difficult to put into words truth be told. We haven’t found much, more aspects that were missing were sprouting thoughts in my processors. You are a Generation 3 Iterator, Gales, so you were built when everything was already established and the tensions between the ancient parties ceased as the final frontier of their existence got clearer and clearer. After all, your generation was their final attempt to speed up the search for a solution. I don’t have to tell you that that was not the case.

We encountered quite a few shrines in the basilica. Most were directed towards me, but there were a few peculiar ones that caught my attention. The depicted Iterators all hold one thing in common. Their purposed research is of karmic nature, especially to the ways the Ancients had to reside to prior to the Void Revolution. Do you know about the methods the Ancients used in ancient times to ward off the karmic sins? Of course you do, you are after all closer related to me than you might realize, Gales.

To keep things simple. I have the theory that all these Iterators in there were seen as gods among gods by those who created me to be their prime Shepard.  All were created by the same party that put their faith into the void-less path to ascension. A party that piggybacked the Iterator project starting with my generation to provide the global thinking network with the pious minds of a struggling religion. A valiant effort. Providing more perspectives would only be beneficial to our efforts in solving the Big Problem.

Why they named this complex the ‘Basilica of the Void’ is however beyond my understanding.

But here is the thing that puts me off. One of these is a shrine dedicated to you, Shifting Gales. I just can’t put my head around it.

SRS: Hmm, this message took a tenth of this cycle to write and the same period of time to send. No wonder Chat 1.0 got abandoned. I nearly forgot how limited this fossil of a tool was. Glad that Coordinators like Five Lives Unbound were created to prepare a transition to our current chat system. Not to mention the sheer user-unfriendliness of being unable to send files or pictures with the orb.

Still … I am glad it exists and even more glad that I can that way keep you company, Gales. Even if it is at an outrageous latency in every action it takes. Anyway, back to what Spears found.

SRS: The Basilica of Sunpeak is built in a peculiar manner. Each of the six towers is dedicated to a specific Iterator, with the tallest and biggest worshipping yours truly. I would send you a picture of the stained-glass window of it, but you know. It is hilarious how they depicted my puppet, compared to my true physical depiction.

Spears snooped into the vast entryways to each tower until we spotted someone familiar-sounding. An entire tower, dedicated to you, Shifting Gales. Really loved the faded imagery of soft blue tones in their intricate tower wall reliefs. The theme of the tower was also fitting, and it was decorated with the karma symbol of negated companionship. I am curious if that theme got chosen in advance or only after you have chosen your interest in empathy research.

First time seeing your puppet camera-to-fresco. Have to say, I quite like your puppet’s fascinating face. The frescoes' painters surely had fun drawing many emotions in your screen face. There are some very fascinating artworks of you in the tower.

But that was not the thing that caused me to need a few deca-cycles to think about. It was a later finding, right before Spears was tempted to leave the megastructure to return to me.

SRS: Every Iterator only has one tower dedicated to them, me included. Even if my section is as big as all yours combined. But the Basilica of the Void didn’t just reach towards the Sky. We encountered a withered away door, which led into the presumingly hidden catacombs of the Basilica.

…

I am unsure how to even describe what we encountered down there.

Well, it seems to me that my followers had a particular thing for you, because we found yet another, this time however considerably smaller, shrine dedicated to you. While your tower screamed your beliefs and purpose that smaller shrine was … unfocused?

I don’t know how to picture it accordingly. It had no clear motive. Spears recorded frescoes of all the five karmic impurities. Most of the actual artworks were however trashed as the shrine collapsed under the weight of a tower, which collapsed on top of it. This means I can’t say what exactly they depicted. But … hm.

I don’t know what brought them to the conclusion to alternate your eye colour for these pictures. Probably a matter of artistic freedom, given the crimson aesthetic of the rubble.

My theory is that this room had something to do with the reason why the clerics sent sinners at risk to your Monastery to repent and regain their inner peace. Hence the off-putting themes they drew you in, especially the violence mural.

SRS: Phew … That took longer than anticipated. I should hook this old device to a more modern holographic keyboard. That one is so tiny! But I am afraid that I would destroy that old thing in the process. And staying in contact with you is more important.

SG: That is indeed much to take in, Suns. Afraid I have no clue what that hidden shrine could be about. I could try to question my memories of it, but I think I know the answer already. Also, red? My primary colour is blue, thank you very much. Red would never suit me. I would fire these artists, but well, they have long since ascended.

SG: Thank you for the read! I appreciate the time you took for it.

SRS: You’re most welcome, Gales.~

I am not that important, what in the Void’s consuming salvation!? Why got the spiritual capital two places dedicated to my person? I am their researcher of the karmic desire of compassion, their empath. And host of the Silent Monastery. Why do they require two shrines for me … and what is with that crimson theme of the lower?

…

No … consulting my memories yields only more dead ends. Strange. Some of these memories are cut in a peculiar fashion. Mid question. … Sloppy. Let’s see. Hm, that here was right after one of my maintenance sessions. I just got reactivated and ran a few errands on the city surface. I … confronted one of the priests of the House of Forgiveness about … that part of my memory is missing. One later fraction of that memory is still present, weird. I remember … him … not being able to look back at me, his eyes behind the golden mask averted in shame. … The rest of the memory is a goner.

…

What was happening in my city in my downtimes? It is strange just how much tinkering with my memories I do encounter when I operate some proper digging in the distant past. Just how silent was my Monastery truly? What are you hiding from me … parents?

Gales dedicated a few more minutes to conjuring up a few sweet words of small talk with Seven Red Suns and finally decided to move from her position in the city back down the gate to her suffering main body. Her gliding path was met with multiple error-ridden interruptions which made her painfully aware of the fact that she was still in the slow process of dying of a serious case of large-scale heartburn. The inflammations of the acid had further numbed the flooded areas to such a degree that she didn’t feel anything in that area anymore. The strata, which kept the laboratory area intact, had given in fully. The microbes have all died, probably forcefully ascended by the low-grade Void Fluid in the acid. She wondered if the microbes could return as echoes. Would not be the first echoes in and around her superstructure she sourly noticed.

After the end-of-the-cycle routine check of her vitals, Gales spent the following eventless ten cycles in her assembly area and started to work on the project Five Lives Unbound gave her. The chat with Seven Red Suns made it painfully obvious that chat 1.0 was way more flawed than she remembered it to be. She cursed her rose-tinted glasses regarding technologies of the far past, which all were so much closer to her own technological level.

Well … if I would want a chat device that can work under any circumstances AND be able to share at least pictures I have to find a way to share data in real-time and without it having to rely on a working communication array. What could possibly fulfil such a ludicrous requirement? Think, Gales! It doesn’t have to be good, just a first idea and you will work from that point on.

…

Hmm, thinking back through my intact memories I can recall some ways the Ancients used to converse with people of other houses. The last leader of the local House of Letters, Two Twigs on a Bountiful Vine, did show me something that could help me in my search, what was it again?

...

 Something about a device she used to stay in private contact with the other leaders of her house. What did she call it again? … My memories are so foggy thanks to the stupid acid.

…

Quantum … something? It sounds good, but how can I get my hands on that device, provided it still exists in the House of Letters? Without any Ancient around I have not the permission to connect my railway system to the inside of the houses. They would need to power the rail to allow me to use it. Unless … no, even if that Scavenger would return, I can hardly ask him to get me inside that house. Not even I know how to enable connection to the houses.

I do wonder what he is doing.

Confidence. Well earned respect. Unrelenting Wave Breaker received it all when he returned to the newly instated upper city right below Shifting Gales’ body. His kin knew what he did, and nobody intercepted his desire to speak to the Chieftain. The newly acquired pearls were a clear indication that he was the one responsible for correcting the burning storm. And that weird glowing rectangle above his dome was an unmistakable sign of the machine goddess above.

Breaker heard stories from scavengers from across the wide sea, everybody knew the importance of the symbol. The great Chieftain of the land, from the far north, was said to have been blessed by such a symbol as well. Words, carried from mouth to mouth, eventually even made to this remote island Breaker was born on. Not even his colony’s chieftain had one such mark. He was not chosen by the machine gods, but he was now.

Pearls good proof of action. Rectangle is perfect proof of worth. Proof of report as well. Breaker will inspire kin, gain support. Breaker will challenge Chieftain, claim his place in single combat.

…

But Breaker requires permission. To return to machine goddess with witnesses to confirm Breaker’s glory. Rules are rules. Breaker breaking rules will not convince kin to follow me.

Breaker stepped forth to the chamber his chieftain claimed for himself when they claimed the place formerly known as the Observatory. He walked past the stalls, his gaze meeting with the tame stares of the lizards they managed to convert. The Observatory was infested with them, them all having taken shelter from the burning rain in the abandoned halls of the former inhabitants of that place. Breaker’s squad managed with ease to establish dominance over the beasts. They forced the uncooperative beasts out and claimed the tame lizards as their own.

Breaker managed to snatch a powerful-looking orange lizard he named Crusher. Crusher was waiting for him. When he proved his worth to his Chieftain, he would be using Crusher to return to the machine goddess. The lizard’s abilities would make the journey much easier.

The Scavenger stopped in front of the broken metal frame, which was now decorated with strings upon strings of pearls and illuminated through orange-glowing mould lanterns. He took a deep breath and straightened his spine up to appear even larger. His back spikes scraped against each other, unused to that display of size, but he didn’t care. Breaker firmly grabbed his spear in his right, holding the string of the uncoloured pearls in his left. The coloured pearls were already woven in the pearl strings connecting his Vulture mask to the golden harness which were puffing up his chest-fur. He stepped through the frame, bracing himself for what was to come.