Forever Thrilled, Part 21B
Chapter 6: The Fractal Underground
KillBitch runs through the tunnels on hyper-shock-absorbing soles whose bottoms branch out to the molecular level. These fractal trainers cause the least possible damage to the tunnel floor as KillBitch runs through them, following the arrows that light up every hundred meters.
It’s a boring job, but sometimes soldiers have to march for miles before they can see battle. It’s all part of the package, and KillBitch knows—Na-Yeli told her in no uncertain terms—that they’re heading for the dark, helium layer where dogfights will surely happen, and her battle experience will be sorely needed.
So KillBitch soldiers on, propelled by her sense of duty, focused on the task ahead. She’s not easily distracted nor easily bored. Like a perfectly running diesel engine, she keeps going and going and going. Na-Yeli told her to rest when she gets exhausted, but it won’t be necessary. Guided by the Crystalline Übermind, she’s reached the South Pole Diaphragm Gate well before she truly feels tired.
Duty done, she evokes the slow CEO and gently retreats.
Na-Yeli looks at the distance KillBitch has run and whistles in admiration. “One-hundred-and-forty-six kilometers,” she says incredulously, “a triple marathon.”
‘piece of cake in this gravity,’ KillBitch whispers, ‘could’ve done three more.’
“Not necessary, but thanks,” the slow CEO says, “now rest before we enter the final layer. We’ll be needing your talents again quite soon.”
KillBitch fades, and Na-Yeli is alone in her mind, together with a harsh yet slowly fading migraine.
“Signal to the Crystalline Übermind that we’re going to rest,” she tells the communication AI, “and when we’ve fully recovered, we’ll exit into the last layer.”
The next morning—for whatever value of ‘morning’ one cares to give in this day-less layer—Na-Yeli wakes up and feels much better. That hurt like hell, she recalls the intense migraines, but healed faster than expected. She consumes her usual breakfast slush and prepares to send a few Kittis through the diaphragm to check if—and how much—the dark helium layer has changed.
In the meantime, she reads through LateralSys’s longer notes:
During our initial exchange with—what I will call—the Crystalline Übermind, I noticed something was missing. The Crystalline Übermind could have just eradicated us like a disease, yet it tries to seek contact. So there must be something it needs, some problem it can’t solve alone. Once I figured that out, our negotiation position immediately improved.
As I told you in the Berserker Forest, our nervous system is suffused with what I call ‘superposed aliens,’ a kind of infection, possibly a symbiont or a parasite at worst, that are superposed on the electro-chemical signals we produce.
Their existence is so faint that they reside at a level that is below the detection level of even our finest instruments. Only here in the Fractal Underground, the strange static electricity of the crystalline structures seems to amplify and reveal them.
I suspect they play a crucial role in our existence. For certain, they eventuated the emergence of intelligence in the circuits of the fine fractal structures, like a ghost arising in a crystalline machine. As it’s much more closely integrated with its superposed aliens than us—possibly to do with the SUSY Universe’s influence through the naked singularity—it’s trying to run SUSY software on non-SUSY hardware. Hence its constant self-doubt, hence its existential shifts. It’s here, yet cannot be here. It wants to be there, yet cannot be there.
So I devised—to the best of my abilities—a smoothing procedure; that is, a virtual machine that’s still running on this Universe’s hardware—it has no choice in the matter—but that simulates—to the best of its abilities—the circumstances in the SUSY Universe. Then, the more SUSY-like software can run in a more SUSY-like virtual environment, which should greatly ease its existential shifts, which it probably experiences as a massive existential pain.
In thanks, it led us out of its tunnel maze to the South Pole Diaphragm Gate. Keep in mind that these tunnels are indeed—as you correctly surmised—artificial. They’re the Crystalline Übermind’s way to clear itself from dead circuits—by way of the Crystalpyckers and the Glassamer Butterflies—and keep itself fresh, avoid dementia (or worse).
Sorry again for taking so long and causing such pain: it was a hell of a problem. Will try to be faster next time (hopefully, there’ll be no next time and we’re outta here).
—LateralSys;
At times like these, Na-Yeli wonders if the Enigmatic Object is much more than just a test, a kind of excessive filter to make sure only a ‘worthy’ intelligence contacts the alter-Universal aliens, as such phenomenally strange and wonderful things often happen inside it. A training ground? An experimental Garden of Eden?
But duty calls, and there’s one more layer to go. Her Kittis return, and their recordings show the same pure helium atmosphere, with a 0.3 bar pressure, as the previous time. The temperature has gone up quite a bit, though, as instead of a very chilly 100 °K, it has now gone up to an almost balmy 250 °K.
She checks her team. The Moiety Alien is right next to her, ready to go. And since it basically did nothing to help in this layer, Na-Yeli wonders how it passed through the previous time. Random mouse algorithm without getting bored? Stubborn persistence? Sheer good luck? Never mind, it’s here and has been of essential assistance on several other occasions.
She unfreezes the hypersounders and switches the communication AI on (LateralSys had switched it off after her negotiations with the Crystalline Übermind were successful). She’ll have to assume that LateralSys will inform the superposed aliens—if these, indeed, do need to be updated—and starts her executive summary:
“Hey crew,” she says, “we’ve been through a layer that was—at first sight—so boring, so extremely tedious it became one of the most dangerous to cross.”
She summarizes what happened.
“And then LateralSys negotiated, using the communication AI, with the Crystalline Übermind.”
—lateralsys is so cool— the communication AI signals.
“Warn me when ‘cool’ becomes ‘hot,’” Na-Yeli says, “then I’ll ramp up your fans.”
Silence from the communication AI. “In any case,” Na-Yeli continues, then KillBitch took over as my migraine was now ocean-sized, and we are here, about to enter the final layer.”
—this is the layer where you had constant fights, going in— the communication AI signals —the hypersounders want to know—
“Not constantly,” Na-Yeli says, “but indeed quite a lot.”
—they like to be kept online, as do i—
“I figured as much,” Na-Yeli says, “get ready because here we go.”
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Author’s note: I screwed up, big time. The part you just read should have been the last bit of Part 21. But I forgot to add it. On top of that, I called it “Forever Curious, Part 21” (instead of “Forever Thrilled, Part 21”). I fixed the latter with a quick update, but decided against adding so many extra text in an update.
So here’s Part 21B—a reminder for me to pay better attention. I’m also—no more sugercoating—more tired than I thought. Something needs to change, and I have taken action to that effect, about which more next year.
Anyway, this concludes Chapter 6: The Fractal Underground. Both parts of Chapter 7: Spiral Dogfights, Reprise to follow in quick succession (and before the end of 2024), Leaving the final part—Chapter 8: The Inter-Universal Handshake (in which all will be revealed, promise) fopr the very first week of 2025.
My profound apologies, many thanks for your patience and equally many thanks for reading!
