Quintessence

(set: $billionYears to 0)<span style="background-color: Black;">The comfort of gravity fills the <span class="definition">[[untime->utimetight]]</span> of nothingness. [[Our gravity holds.->utimepasstight]] [[Our gravity ruptures.->gravrupture]]</span> (display:"collapses") <div id="frontcred"><div id="right"><span class="help">[(live: 1s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[[[Why?->helpdino]]](stop:)]]</div></span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"nofirsttext") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]]</span> (display:"yearslasted")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">We rush away. The collapse of spacetime and the return of untime is something we can only yearn for now. We must go forward before we can go back. The spreading distance grows the space within us. Gravity's range is infinite, but our bonds weaken. Always ahead and behind, time without comfort surrounds us. We race apart. [[A non-quanta force throws our expansion into confusion.->fcatdash]] [[Too far from our gravity, our awareness fractures.->separate]]</span> (display:"yearsoldtext")

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">We're meant to be more. Larger. Many. But something is wrong. Something is missing. This universe won't continue to expand. We won't know flaming or freezing. We won't drift into nebula clouds or condense into spiral galaxies. None of us will smile, bark, meow or sing. This time, we won't become everything different we might be. We'll return to the comfort we crave. We won't go forward. Only back. We're so relieved. (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"firsttime")->nofirstfalter]] [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +2)<span style="background-color: Black;">I am quantum, only the gravity within myself. The rest of time must be traveled alone. [[(display:"firsttime")->nofirsti]] [[(display:"happbefore")->three]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +3)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[I undulate. A fiery star whips an arm of light toward me. This isn't the gravity I want, but I'm powerless to change my course. In time, I'm inconsequential. My quantum desires don't matter. Nevertheless, another gravity curves me away. I'm spared torrid compression without untime inside a star. [[A less-febrile gravity pulls at me with the promise of union.->earthquark]] [[A softness brushes against me.->fcat]] [[I wonder if being alone has any purpose.->alonevalue]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Now I remember that this isn't the first time I have traveled alone. [[I just want to exist in untime.->nountimei]] [[I can only exist in time now.->three]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">To exist in a place of comfort is what I desire. I remember us all together. Part of untime, we were free of longing, potential and hope. We had only sameness. That existence is distant, impossible. We have become I, and the Forever Cat is awake. This isn't untime. [[I can only exist in time now.->three]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +3)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[I collide with a planet's matter. My oscillations slow. Assembled quanta give greater dimension to mass. Finite, conscious beings surround me. <span class="definition">[[Four years old,->year6]]</span> I'm a child asking their parents... <div id="left"><div class="b">(live: 1s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[<span style="background-color: Black;">What are stars made of?](stop:)] <div id="right">(live: 2.5s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[<span style="background-color: Black;">Gravity and light and fire.](stop:)] <div id="left">(live: 4s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[<span style="background-color: Black;">What am I made of?](stop:)] <div id="right">(live: 5.5s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[<span style="background-color: Black;">Stardust and dinosaurs and questions.](stop:)] <div id="left"><div class="a">(live: 7s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[<span style="background-color: Black;">[[Longing in our marrow for untime, my parents and I gravitate toward each other.->child]] [[Unwilling to accept the pull of untime, my parents and I rush away from each other.->adolescent]]] (display:"yearsoldtext")(stop:)](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]]</div></span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +2)<div class="d"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[The softness is an illusion, but the Forever Cat's flicking tail is real. A shiny planet, the third closest to its sun, has the Forever Cat's attention. I know that the planet's most powerful organisms are actually simple, <span class="definition">[[finite creatures.->death2]]</span> Their basic unit of time is the "second." Their <span class="definition">[["year"->year4]]</span> consists of 31,557,600 seconds. Their universe in time probably won't exist for more than 19 billion years. The planet's most powerful organisms aren't good at comprehending large numbers like "billions," but they do understand scale models. A 19 billion year history of their universe can be expressed as a scale model year with 31,557,600 seconds. In such a scale model, I know the average house cat lives 0.016 seconds. [[I wonder if this universe even contains house cats.->catsevery]] [[The Forever Cat and I are inside a box.->fcatinside]] [[The Forever Cat and I are outside a box.->fcatoutside]] <div class="a">(display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span></div>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Like the smallest particles of this universe, we long for the connection we remember. Time would push us away from each other though. [[Our bond is stronger than time.->acceptgrav]] [[Our bond is weaker than time.->collstd]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Turbulence and the pull of difference rule us. [[I refuse to let my parents shape my future.->rejgravity]] [[In time, I come to understand why my parents act the way they do.->collstd]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[(display:"quantum") (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +2)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[I remember us in untime before me in time. Difference didn't exist. Unanimous, we thought we were perfect, but <span class="definition">[[we were only fragile.->death3]]</span> Together in untime we couldn't see what is truly wrong with this universe. Alone and so far from comfort, now I understand that this corrupted time/untime cycle must be brought to an end. [[I'm captured by a rogue planet.->dog]] [[The particles of a nebula collapse toward me.->star]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

<div class="d"><span style="background-color: Black;">Although they're unevenly distributed, house cats must evolve in every iteration of this universe. The Forever Cat soon collapses versions without the possibility of house cats. Dogs are the ones who aren't in every universe. Dogs are too kind, too social. Dogs, when they evolve, usually do so alongside predators with complex brains and destructive tendencies. The skills such a predator needs to control its surroundings are the same skills needed to manipulate other co-evolving species into submission -- species like dogs. Cats don't submit. No one has ever accomplished the control of cats. The Forever Cat ensures that cats infect all complex brains with <span class="definition">[[a parasite that bends non-feline wills to the will of cats.->parasite1]]</span> In this way, the Forever Cat is able to maintain its solitude in this universe. [[I know a cat is inside a box.->fcatinside]] [[I know a cat is outside a box.->fcatoutside]] <div class="a">(display:"yearsoldtext")</span></div>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +2)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[The Forever Cat stretches their paws up to the box's edge. They peek inside at contents that are shinier than the universe outside the box. A galaxy where I once traveled is scattered when the Forever Cat sits back. Their haunches tense. A house cat would leap to the lip of the box without first thinking that the box might tip over or that this universe might collapse. Zero-point-zero-one-six scale model seconds don't leave a house cat much time for contemplation. The Forever Cat could have all of time and untime to ponder decisions. They just don't bother. I know that this part of the universe isn't shiny enough for the Forever Cat, who jumps toward the box. [[The Forever Cat is known to be a good judge of distance.->goodjudge]] [[The Forever Cat is known to be a bad judge of distance.->badjudge]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +2)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[Those outside the box don't know this (can't know this), but the Forever Cat inside the box is watching two galaxies collide. I suspect that the limits of the box and the presence of the non-quanta Forever Cat ruin the physics calculations of the box's inhabitants. They probably believe this universe is a simulation. Galaxies take a long time to collide. Not every moment of the collision is exciting to the Forever Cat. [[I wait for the Forever Cat to check if the universe outside the box still exists.->fcatother]] [[I wait for the Forever Cat to see what a random house cat is doing.->listenstarsong]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[The Forever Cat's belly grazes the lip of the box. Its legs don't clear the box's edge. The box tips. If lonely quanta are the only ones around to see the Forever Cat flail, then did the flailing even happen? Iridium cascades through this universe. The havoc is widespread. (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<div class="c"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[I'm swept with the Forever Cat into the galaxy-filled box. When the Forever Cat pretends to be affected by gravity, I know I'm not the only one who suspects a trap. They pratfall into a box-bound black hole. Whoever concocted this deception should have known that something bigger than gravity is needed to stop the Forever Cat. Gravity is enough for me though. Inside the black hole, my existence without untime becomes an agony. Fiery compression would be a consolation. Only when the Forever Cat grows bored and leaps out of the black hole am I knocked free. I hurtle past the black hole's fractured event horizon. A furry Other face stares back. The Forever Cat, who must have seen the face, bounds out of the box. (display:"stcoll") Black hole fractures throughout this universe close. (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[I have been part of so many house cats at different times, but the Forever Cat is part of every house cat at once. Zero-point-zero-one-six scale model seconds is time enough for a house cat to eat, sleep, swat at the dog and listen to starsong. Being so close to the Forever Cat, I know that this house cat isn't hungry or tired, and the dog is <span class="definition">[[behaving.->parasite2]]</span> Only one amusement remains. The house cat finds a <span class="definition">[[multi-year patch of sunlight->year5]]</span> and begins to listen. [[I'm glad this starsong is about hope.->listenhope]] [[I'm glad this starsong is about adversity.->listenadversity]] [[I'm glad this starsong has many voices in it.->listencommunity]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +3)<div id="rightmar200"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[Each consciousness I absorb also absorbs me until I'm a star ablaze. The surrounding cloud dissipates. Globular clusters shine in the distance. Comets zip by. My view of this universe changes during the seasons of my <span class="definition">[[yearly transit.->year1]]</span> An exploding supernova showers me with gamma rays. The burst of energy is both an event and a legacy. From a dying star, I learn to sing. <div class="b">[[My song is about hope.->singhope]] [[My song is about adversity.->singadversity]] [[My song is about community.->singcommunity]]</div><div class="a"> <div id="rightmar75">(display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span></div>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +3)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[I'm born into a world of smells and camaraderie. My littermates and I tumble, yip and play. Insects are as uncatchable as raindrops, but I chase them anyway. <span class="definition">[[Every moment is now.->year2]]</span> When I'm tired, I sleep next to the whorled bodies of siblings, whose excited paws press into me. Love fills my heart. [[I sniff the air for a meow's source.->meow]] [[My nose tells me the older dogs in my life are special.->udogplanet]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">This song would make any house cat uncomfortable, like when a dog barks about wanting to play. The Forever Cat's growl causes the space inside the box to tremble. This song is a reminder that the multiverse contains many Others. If they know how to listen, they might come for the Forever Cat through a black hole fracture. [[(display:"sunshine")->collstarsong]] [[(display:"lessdrama")->listenhope]] [[(display:"moredrama")->listenadversity]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[The Forever Cat peeks over the edge of the box. The universe outside is darker than it used to be. A non-quanta object is blocking the light. One of the multiverse's Others has discovered this universe. The Other's eyes widen in surprise before contracting to judgmental slits. Just beyond the Other is a black hole with the fracture that allowed the Other through. Growling, the Forever Cat bursts out of the box and bounds toward the Other. I'm swept along, too. [[I hope the Other goes away.->otherretreat]] [[I hope the Other confronts the Forever Cat.->fightother]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">If light were sound, then this song would be the noise a house cat makes when it falls into a lake. Cats can swim, but they don't like to do it. Plus, cats have claws designed to remind the occupants of inflatable rafts that a cat would rather be left alone than rescued. Any thinking being should know better than to expect gratitude or assistance from a cat. [[(display:"sunshine")->collstarsong]] [[(display:"lessdrama")->listenhope]] [[(display:"voices")->listencommunity]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<div id="rightmar200"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[In time, I sing my questions to the universe I ask if anyone else hopes, strives and fears Countless beams of light respond With encouraging tales and community Their own questions flash into me How can a dying planet be comforted? Is the beauty of this universe truth or perception? Where does hope hide during untime? Have you seen the Others? Do they sing? Do they even need to? [<div class="b">[[(display:"suits")->stcollapsestar]] [[(display:"hopeful")->singhope]] [[(display:"demanding")->singadversity]]]<div class="a"> <div id="rightmar75">(display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span></div>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<div id="rightmar200"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[In time, I'm a creature of light A black hole is my opposite Mute, invisible, the place I will end Even my memories won't escape Until then my song is power in light Hovering at the black hole's edge, fracturing it The multiverse shows through Faces stare back I call for an end to death and untime My song is acknowledged, and I wonder Do the stars in the multiverse sing, too? [<div class="b">[[(display:"suits")->stcollapsestar]] [[(display:"hopeful")->singhope]] [[(display:"meaningful")->singcommunity]]]</div><div class="a">] <div id="rightmar75">(display:"yearsoldtext")(else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span></div>

(set: $collapses to 0)(set: $endings to 0)<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"call") [[Begin->cgravstart]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"timeuntimetext") <span class="definition">(link-goto: "Return", (history:)'s last)</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears -3)<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"yeartext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->star]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Older, I leave home and resist weighing down my life with the addition of a spouse and offspring. I cherish my freedom, but I wonder if it leaves too much time for contemplation. Would I have been happier as a spouse and a parent? Would I have understood my own parents better? Or myself? Or this universe? One by one, my parents die. [[I rail against this cruel universe.->enemy]] [[I long for consolation.->collstd]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Older, I leave home but soon return. With the addition of a spouse and offspring I add gravity to my family. My parents <span class="definition">[[grow old->death1]]</span> and die. [[Angry, I rail against time.->enemy]] [[Devastated, I long for consolation.->collstd]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">The Forever Cat dashes through this universe. (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"firsttime")->nofirstfcat]] [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">The first time that something of a non-quanta nature caused this universe to collapse was long ago. Not this time. [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<div id="rightmar200"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[In time, I'm more than a particle Though my particles remember In this looping universe Death and dissolution come before untime On that I don't dwell Instead I hope for listeners to stop this cycle I sing to the ends of this universe For intervention For revolution For justice [<div class="b">[[(display:"suits")->stcollapsestar]] [[(display:"demanding")->singadversity]] [[(display:"meaningful")->singcommunity]]]</div><div class="a"> <div id="rightmar75">(display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span></div>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Though hopeful, the song reminds me that stars are foolish. One star's song might lament the end of consciousness. Another's might declare the star's excitement about <span class="definition">[[gaining friends.->gainfriends]]</span> Even stars inside a box don't understand that they're in thrall to untime. [[(display:"sunshine")->collstarsong]] [[(display:"moredrama")->listenadversity]] [[(display:"voices")->listencommunity]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">A cat jumps on my back and bites my ear. I yelp. My master shoos away the cat to a sunshine-filled room that's no true punishment for such unprovoked cruelty. My desire to please my master would never allow me to act the way the cat does. <span class="definition">[[Something I don't understand->parasite1]]</span> stops me from challenging the cat's tyrannical manipulation. [[I will try to befriend the cat.->adoghope]] [[I know the cat and I will never be friends.->adogadversity]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Soon, I'm older, too, and I can see beyond now. Because most adult species on our planet can't do the same, we dogs know we're <span class="definition">[[uncommon.]]</span> We teach our young ones to love mates and strangers, to hope for the future and to see growth opportunities in adversity. Great egalitarian dog societies cover our rogue planet. [[In search of new discoveries, we build instruments and machinery to look at the rest of our universe.->seek]] [[Not wanting to accidentally draw attention to ourselves, we keep our eyes focused on the ground beneath our paws.->stasis]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<div class="c"><span style="background-color: Black;">[I think the cat and I could come to an understanding. Whimpering submissively, I inquire with the cat about whether we might be friends. The cat's claws shred my snout. Cleaved away, (display:"quantum") (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")]</span></div>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<div class="d"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[The cat is my curse. I will maintain an outdoor existence separate from this repressive feline. I will eat after the cat has eaten. Whenever the cat is near I will not seek comfort from my master. Despite my submissive efforts, the cat still ambushes me. Claws shred my snout, and the particle I once was is cleaved away. Alone, I drift through this universe. [[In a nebula, particles collapse toward me.->star]] [[A softness brushes against me.->fcat]] [[A less-febrile gravity pulls at me with the promise of union.->earthquark]] [[I wonder if dogs anywhere are beyond the reach of cats.->dog]] [[I long for the return of untime.->longing]]<div class="a"> (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</div></span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[The Other leaves, and the fracture mends. The Forever Cat is again the only non-quanta object in this universe. Too much has shifted too quickly though. (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<div class="c"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[More Others emerge from the black hole fracture. They surround the Forever Cat. (display:"otherscapture") "Wait," the Forever Cat says. "What about them?" The Forever Cat's tail flicks toward me and the rest of the collapsing quanta. The Other's gaze softens. "If we bring them, they'll be your responsibility. Do you want that?" [["No," the Forever Cat says.->fcatabandon]] [["Yes," the Forever Cat says.->fcatcompany]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +2)(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<div id="rightmar200"><span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)I sing until spacetime collapses. (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span></div>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[Long after the house cat and this box disband into their component particles, I travel to the end of this universe, and spacetime collapses. (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Some part of me knows that time isn't the enemy, and neither is this universe. [[The Forever Cat has done this.->collstd]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $endings to 1)<span style="background-color: Black;">The Forever Cat and its captors slip back into the multiverse. Amid this collapsing universe, the fracture begins to seal. Only once more will we quanta know untime. When we expand again, we'll be alone forever without comfort. I can only hope the Forever Cat will be lonely in the multiverse, too. [[THE END->replay]] (display:"yearsandcollapses")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $endings to 2)<span style="background-color: Black;">"They like being together," the Forever Cat says. "They would want to be part of the multiverse." "Let's get them then." The other quanta and I are gathered up and held tight. With us, the Forever Cat slips into a fracture showing the multiverse. For the first time, I know the Forever Cat is glad to have company. [[THE END->replay]] (display:"yearsandcollapses")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Also known as absorbing rogue planets and particles who come too close. <span class="definition">[[Return->listenhope]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">We find curious patterns in starlight. Those who study particles are given reason to ponder the nature of consciousness. The discovery of black hole anomalies unifies many theories. On seemingly dead planets, our undogged probes detect the remains of a pervasive <span class="definition">[[infectious agent.->parasite1]]</span> My colleagues and I help identify a powerful force that we name "the Forever Cat." Some argue that the Forever Cat could collapse our universe at any moment. Others insist that no day in the foreseeable future is likely to be the one-in-a-trillion in which our universe collapses. [[I help convince the pack to take action now.->investigate]] [[I help convince the pack not to be hasty.->stasis]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">[The perfect dog planet may be outside the reach of cat parasites and complex-brained predators with destructive tendencies, but complacency and fear can be just as harmful. The Forever Cat decides that today is when spacetime collapses. (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;"> <span class="returnparasite">(link-goto: "Return", (history:)'s last)</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">My life's work is to monitor my designated black hole for a sign of the Others. My pups grow up and leave home. I start to wonder if the Forever Cat is just a fantasy to explain the odd behavior of our universe's matter. I stop wondering when I find one of the Others staring back at me from a fracture. [[Worry seizes me, and I turn off my monitoring equipment.->stasis]] [[I bark a greeting at the Other.->capturesave]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">The corona of our nearest star flares with excitement at contact from so close by. Information cascades between us. The star was once a particle who escaped a black hole riven with short-lived fractures. There, faces of Others from the multiverse had shown through. <span class="definition">[[Last year,->year3]]</span> the star felt gravity wobble when the Forever Cat set nearby planets adrift. The star is worried about the harm the Forever Cat might cause to our universe. [[We work with the star to build a box that traps the Forever Cat.->boxfail]] [[We craft the best song and sing it toward the black holes most likely to fracture and show the Others.->singwstars]] [[We build a cloaking device that hides our planet from the Forever Cat.->stasis]] [[We send spy-dogs out into the galaxy for more information.->udogcats]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">In thousands of meetings across the planet we discuss what to do. Our gatherings are rowdy with as many differing opinions as there are patterns in fur. We only agree on one thing -- more information is needed about the potential of our universe to collapse unexpectedly. [[We sing to the stars for enlightenment.->udogstars]] [[We look for data where previous generations thought none existed.->udogothers]] [[We send spies out into the galaxy.->udogcats]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Our spy-dogs reach their destinations, but <span class="definition">[[constant surveillance->catswatching]]</span> means they can transmit only patchy reports about subjugation. They learn nothing about the Forever Cat. [[We lose contact with our spy-dogs and instead look for information where previous generations thought none existed.->udogothers]] [[We learn that our spy-dogs are returning home.->discovered]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">In machine-projected starsong, we tell of the danger the Forever Cat poses, and we make a request. Our community grows to include many celestial bodies and a profusion of songs. In a black hole fracture, one of the Others appears. Their gaze focuses on me, and the rest of the world's barking fades. "We didn't know you were here," the Other says. "And we didn't know how to reach you until now," I say. "I can take you with me. Back to the multiverse." [["That's everything we want," I say.->joinmultiv]] [["We want to stay here like we are but still be part of the multiverse," I say.->singintact]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">This planet has never known the spread of cat parasites or complex-brained predators who might call a dog "good." <span class="returndeath">[[Return->udogplanet]]</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">[With my youngest pup beside me, every evening I watch the sky for the return of our first spy-dog ship. I worry less about long-term infectious agents that might be brought back and more about the immediate consequences of the Forever Cat's learning that uncommon dogs exist. One night, a new dark spot in the sky grows larger. Distant stars begin to blur. Gravity shifts, and inside me trillions of voices cry out for comfort. I pull my pup close. This must be what it's like when spacetime collapses. (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;"><span class="returnparasite">[[Return->udogcats]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">The Other begins to gather the rest of the universe's quanta. "Just let me look around before it's all forgotten," I say. The Other cocks its head and lifts an ear. "It won't be. Your memories will live on in the multiverse. Where we're going knowledge is never destroyed. " I want to be relieved. Instead, I say, "But what will happen to the Forever Cat?" The Other shrugs. In their eyes, so many of me are reflected. [["Being left alone here seems like the right punishment for what the Forever Cat did," I say.->fcatalone]] [["We can't leave the Forever Cat here," I say. "They'll be too lonely."->fcatchoice]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">[The fracture closes, and the Other is gone. The night sky's dark shape shifts before the stars begin to streak. (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")]</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $endings to 3)<span style="background-color: Black;">"They'll have all of untime without time to think about it," the Other says. Their gaze digs into me. "Do you have regret in your universe?" "Yes. So much of it." "That's good. Those who've never dealt with regret can become consumed by it in the multiverse." The Other begins folding me into their sparkling ball of quanta. In the distance, the Forever Cat looks lonelier than I ever could have imagined. [[THE END->replay]] (display:"yearsandcollapses")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">The Other says, "We can ask if they want to rejoin the multiverse. Just watch out for their claws." Space folds again, and we're closer to the Forever Cat. They loom. "We're going to the multiverse," I say. The Forever Cat begins to growl, and our universe quivers. I bark louder. "You'll be alone here, and nothing will shine. You could come with us instead." Taking care, I reach out a paw. [[The Forever Cat sniffs at it.->sniffs]] [[The Forever Cat hisses at it.->hisses]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

Seeing its solitary existence is intact, the Forever Cat naps.

This has happened to me before.

This is my first time.

Spacetime collapses.

An old song like this one is a comfort in warm sunlight.

The house cat finds a patch of sunlight with less noisy drama.

The house cat finds a song with more voices in it.

The house cat finds a patch of sunlight with more drama in its song.

This song suits me.

I craft a more demanding song.

My song becomes more meaningful.

My song becomes more hopeful.

Time is the distance between any two events. This universe's first event is its creation. Destruction is its last event. Untime (display:"untimetext") Along with the other quanta, I experience it all. To the Forever Cat, who doesn't belong in this universe, untime is boring but perfect for a nap.

<div id="right"><span style="font-size: 75%; background-color: Black;">[This universe is $billionYears billion years old.]</span></div>

<div id="right"><span style="font-size: 75%; background-color: Black;">[This universe lasted $billionYears billion years.]</div></span>

In this corrupted, cyclical universe, assembled particles can't sustain a body or a consciousness indefinitely.

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"deathtext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->acceptgrav]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"yeartext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->udogstars]]</span>

<div class="c"><span style="background-color: Black;">To some, a year is how long a planet takes to circumnavigate a star. To a quark, a year means nothing. Only time and untime matter. To a star, a year is one orbit of its galactic center. A star meets many rogue planets in a year. To a house cat, a year is the time between the beginning and the end of one word of starsong. Because so many stars sing, the years overlap, and a cat never wants for entertainment between naps. To an average dog, a year is an exciting series of nows. To an uncommon dog, a year is the time between major discoveries that improve lives. To the Others, including the Forever Cat, a year is a null concept. Infinity isn't divisible.</span></div>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears -1)<span style="background-color: Black;"> <span class="returnparasite">[[Return->listenstarsong]]</span>

The first time for me and the other quanta was long ago. Not this time. Now time and untime exist in a corrupted cycle that alternates and repeats.

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"nofirsttext") <span class="definition">[[Return->cgravstart]]</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">The box doesn't trap the Forever Cat. Instead, spacetime collapses. (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears -3)<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"yeartext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->dog]]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears -2)<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"deathtext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->alonevalue]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">"To the multiverse?" I say. The Other nods. "I would bring all the quanta here. You'll no longer be what you are now, but your consciousness won't die." "The pack will want to decide what to do. Together." "There's no time," the Other says, frowning. "This fracture could close suddenly, and I don't know when we'll be able to find your universe again. You must decide now." [["The decision's too big for me to make alone," I say.->collapseothers]] [["We'll join the multiverse," I say.->joinmultiv]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears -2)<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"yeartext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->fcat]]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears -1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"yeartext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->listenstarsong]]</span>

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears -2)<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"deathtext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->fcat]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">In another version of this universe, more information might have been available. In this version, $billionYears billion years have passed, and this universe's shiny objects are too far apart. Before napping, the Forever Cat makes spacetime collapse. [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]]</span> (display:"yearslasted")</span>

occurs in the absence of events and the absence of this universe's expansion or collapse. Untime has no potential, only sameness. After this universe is destroyed but before it's created again -- that's untime.

(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">We explode. Time is born again, the monstrous child who was uncreated while our gravity held and the Forever Cat slept. [[Our expansion falters.->nocatfalter]] [[Our expansion is steady.->rushaway]]</span> (display:"yearsoldtext")

<span style="background-color: Black;"><span class="definition">[[Untime->utimestart]]</span> passes. Collapsed, we're too small, too alike, too close. Untime is fragile in its sameness. [[Our gravity holds.->cgravprogress]] [[Our gravity ruptures.->gravrupture]]</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $endings to 4)<span style="background-color: Black;">I'm allowed to scratch the side of an enormous neck. The growl becomes a purr. "Let's go then," the Other says. I'm folded into the rest of the universe's mass. No longer quantum, no longer part of gravity, I'm still myself. I'm us, too. I'm stardust. I'm dinosaurs. I'm questions. [[THE END->replay]] (display:"yearsandcollapses")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">The Forever Cat reaches past me to swipe the Other's snout. Surprised, the Other falls back through the black hole fracture. (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")</span>

I am quantum again. Too much knowledge of this place fills the space inside me where comfort and nothingness once resided. Indestructible, I can only wait and despair. Time is my master. It stretches. This distended universe reaches its limit. Insatiable spacetime grows too large. Quanta, once inflationary and uniform, retreat in clumps. Stars, planets and other hoarded gravities crash toward each other. Devouring this universe's matter, black holes grow.

<div id="right"><span style="font-size: 75%; background-color: Black;">[Number of universe collapses] (if: $collapses is 0)[(live: 1s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[Unknown](stop:)]](else-if: $collapses >=1)[(live: 1s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[Unknown + $collapses](stop:)]]</div></span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(set: $billionYears to $billionYears +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[Longing is all I have. (display:"quantum") (display:"stcoll") (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"yeartext") <span class="returndeath">[[Return->earthquarkmirror]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">Space folds. Coming near, the Other says, "Your universe has been corrupted." Their eyes seem to know every part of me. "We call the problem 'the Forever Cat,'" I say and point to what I think is the right dark shape in the sky. [["I see them," the Other says. "I can try to capture them before they collapse your universe again."->capturefail]] [["I see them," the Other says. "I can try to take you away before your universe collapses again."->remove]] (display:"yearsoldtext")</span>

(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)<span style="background-color: Black;">[The Other can't capture the Forever Cat alone. Instead, the Other disappears back into the multiverse, and spacetime collapses. (display:"fcatnap") [[(display:"happbefore")->cgravitytighten]] (display:"yearslasted")]</span>

One of the Others barks derisively at the Forever Cat for making it so that this universe's lessons are lost and consciousness knows death. A different Other, a thin brute with a long jaw, takes hold of the Forever Cat, who is towed to the fracture. With so much non-quanta movement spacetime begins to collapse.

(set: $endings to 5)<div class="c"><span style="background-color: Black;">"The Forever Cat wouldn't allow that," the Other says. "We want to give this universe a chance without the decay and forgetting," I say. The Other seems to make a decision. "I'll stay here as a counterweight to the rest that isn't quanta in your universe. More Others will arrive to deal with the Forever Cat. "You'd wait here with us?" I say. The Other's tail wags. "The smells are interesting." Inside me, joyful voices well up. "We're stardust again! We're dinosaurs again! We have so many questions!" [[THE END->replay]] (display:"yearsandcollapses")</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">(if: $billionYears is <19)[I collide with a planet's matter. My oscillations slow. Assembled quanta give greater dimension to mass. Finite, conscious beings surround me. <span class="definition">[[Four years old,->year6]] I'm a child asking their parents...</span> <div id="left"><div class="b"><span style="background-color: Black;">What are stars made of? <div id="right"><span style="background-color: Black;">Gravity and light and fire. <div id="left"><span style="background-color: Black;">What am I made of? <div id="right"><span style="background-color: Black;">Stardust and dinosaurs and questions. <div id="left"><div class="a"><span style="background-color: Black;">[[Longing in our marrow for untime, my parents and I gravitate toward each other.->child]] [[Unwilling to accept the pull of untime, my parents and I rush away from each other.->adolescent]] (display:"yearsoldtext")](else-if: $billionYears is >=19)[(set: $collapses to $collapses +1)(goto:"olduniverse")]</div></span>

<span style="background-color: Black;"> That was ending number $endings of 5. You chose (display:"conclusions") <div class="b">[[Re-enter the Forever Cat's universe->start]] <span class="definition">[[Get a navigation hint before re-entering the Forever Cat's universe->hint1]] <span class="exit">[[Exit the story->frontmatter]]</span></div>

<div id="right"><span style="font-size: 75%; background-color: Black;">[This universe lasted $billionYears billion years. Number of universe collapses] (if: $collapses is 0)[(live: 1s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[Unknown](stop:)]](else-if: $collapses >=1)[(live: 1s)[(t8n:"dissolve")[Unknown + $collapses](stop:)]]</div></span>

(set: $billionYears to 0)<span style="background-color: Black;">The comfort of gravity fills the <span class="definition">[[untime->utimestart]]</span> of nothingness. [[(display:"firsttime")->nofirstcgravstart]] [[(display:"happbefore")->utimepassstart]]</span> (display:"collapses")

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"timeuntimetext") <span class="definition">(link-goto: "Return", (history:)'s last)</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;"><span class="definition">[[Untime->utimetight]]</span> passes. Collapsed, we're too small, too alike, too close. Untime is fragile in its sameness. [[Our gravity holds.->cgravitytighten]] [[Our gravity ruptures.->gravrupture]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;"> The choice of gravity, softness or being alone is important. <div class="b">[[Re-enter the Forever Cat's universe->start]] <span class="definition">[[Get another navigation hint before re-entering the Forever Cat's universe->hint2]] <span class="exit">[[Exit the story->frontmatter]]</span></div>

<span style="background-color: Black;"><div class="e"><div id="frontquint">Quintessence</div> <div class="e"><div id="frontauthor">by Andrea M. Pawley</div> <div class="e"><div id="frontplay">[[Play->start]]</div> <div class="e"><div id="frontcred"><span class="help">[[Credits->credits]]</div></span>

<span style="background-color: Black;"><div id="andrea"><i>Quintessence</i> was written by <a href="https://andreapawley.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #5cde26">Andrea M. Pawley</a>, and the images were created by her.</div> Thank you to the Forever Playtesters! Annika Nosal <a href="https://www.themarysue.com/no-gov-built-death-star/" target="_blank" style="color: #ffe987">Paul Shawcross</a> <a href="http://www.carriecallaghan.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #ffe987">Carrie Callaghan</a> <a href="forever_playtester_clare.jpg" target="_blank" style="color: #ffe987">Clare Shawcross</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/HurryUpPinball" target="_blank" style="color: #ffe987">Craig Pawley, Jr.</a> <span class="returndeath">[[Return->frontmatter]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">The comfort of gravity fills the <span class="definition">[[untime->utimestart]]</span> of nothingness. [[Our gravity holds.->utimepassstart]] [[Our gravity ruptures.->gravrupture]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;">The comfort of gravity fills the <span class="definition">[[untime->utimetight]]</span> of nothingness. [[Our gravity holds.->utimepasstight]] [[Our gravity ruptures.->gravrupture]]</span>

<span style="background-color: Black;"> The concept of a year is a guide to what stories are available, although the story of the Others has yet to be told. <div class="b">[[Re-enter the Forever Cat's universe->start]] <span class="definition">[[Get one last navigation hint before re-entering the Forever Cat's universe->hint3]] <span class="exit">[[Exit the story->frontmatter]]</span></div>

<span style="background-color: Black;"> It's hard to triumph over the Forever Cat. Some of the story lines only collapse and repeat. <div class="b">[[Re-enter the Forever Cat's universe->start]] <span class="exit">[[Exit the story->frontmatter]]</span></div>

<span style="background-color: Black;">(display:"call") <span class="definition">(link-goto: "Return", (history:)'s last)</span>

Universes aren't supposed to be repeatedly created and destroyed as this one is. The Others in the multiverse would never allow such a universe to persist if they knew about it, but the Forever Cat keeps this place hidden from other non-quanta beings. The Forever Cat is alone here except for the quanta (subatomic particles) like you who also persist throughout the corrupted creation/destruction cycle. If the Others discover this universe, the Forever Cat might be forced to re-join the crowded multiverse. Will you help the Forever Cat stay happily alone, or will you help the universe's quanta join the multiverse?

(if: $endings is 1)[the loneliest outcome for the quanta. That seems to be the opposite of what they would like.](else-if: $endings is 2)[to help the quanta and the Forever Cat join the multiverse. Perhaps that will all work out.](else-if: $endings is 3)[to help the Forever Cat stay alone. Their potential for happiness without shiny objects is unknown.](else-if: $endings is 4)[to help the quanta join the multiverse. Perhaps the Forever Cat will be happy there, too.](else-if: $endings is 5)[to help the quanta stay in their universe but also join the multiverse. That might be the best of all outcomes.]