uniholo

<center>[[enter the UNIVERSAL HOLOGRAM->intro1]] <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/cc314eaece915a7a95ad848a53755038/8abb0ad730d07146-01/s400x600/bdf3d4ff5b35ec2492d351d20cdb5454c9fa7bb1.gifv" alt="author" style= width="256" height="256" style= align="center"> [[metadata]] (link-fullscreen: " //toggle fullscreen on//", " //toggle fullscreen off//", "//fullscreen unavailable (sorry)//") [[content warning]]

(set: $name to (prompt: "input name", ""))(if: $name is "Conrad" or "conrad")[(font: 'VT323')[Conrad? Is that [[you->con1]]?]](elseif: $name is "James" or "james")[hello? [[///->james1]]](elseif: $name is "nick" or "Nick")[You die suddenly from mystery pains. Sorry, Nick. The end. [[Try again?->intro1]]](elseif: $name is "poop" or "Poop" or "poo" or "Poo" or "pee" or "Pee" or "peeman" or "pee man" or "Pee Man" or "cum" or "Cum" or "shit" or "fuck" or "Shit" or "Fuck" or "penis" or "Penis" or "balls" or "Balls" or "butt" or "Butt" or "butthole" or "Butthole" or "butt hole" or "Butt Hole" or "Butt hole" or "weed" or "Weed" or "Speed Weed" or "piss" or "PISS" or "Piss" or "Piss Man" or "piss man" or "pissman" or "dildo" or "Dildo")[That can be your name if you really want but you have to verify that you are in fact 14 years old and totally puerile [[I am 14 years old and totally puerile->1]] [[Nevermind I will pick a good name->intro1]]](else:)[Am I [[dreaming]]?] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'noise', 'loop', true) (track: 'noise', 'play')  (set: $hair to false)(set: $glasses to false)(set: $app to false) (set: $score to 0)  (set: $dionvisit1 to false) (set: $rhn1 to false) (set: $terminal to false) (set: $arch to false) (set: $shrines to false) (set: $video to false)  (set: $rv to false) (set: $dionvisit2 to false) (set: $zoo to false) (set: $suffer to false) (set: $hc to false) (set: $early to false) (set: $pissed to false) (set: $matera to false) (set: $dionmessagesent1 to false) (set: $ate1 to false) (set: $ate2 to false) (set: $hex to false) (set: $clothes to false) (set: $internetshout to false) (set: $pencil to false) (set: $currency to false)]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/b78c304cb96520d7d6e0604028799e43/0b344ace330c20a4-11/s540x810/255bf297732fb26396adc09b1f9cfd493528aebc.png" alt="body" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> From the astral realm, you look down at your sleeping body. You are [[freckled, chubby, with a great mass of poofy hair->lookdown2.1]] [[tall, bespectacled, with an unhealthy greyish pallor->lookdown2.2]] [[slender, slight, dressed in a soft grey jumpsuit with ports and cables plugging your supine body into a silvery hovering mobility apparatus->lookdown2.3]]

You float peacefully, drifting slightly on the Z axis in the astral breeze. Though you're lying on a bed in real life, here it feels like you're in a tank of saltwater or a tub of firm-ish gelatin. (colour: blue + purple + white)["One of you isn't looking down,"] the instructor says. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Could you please look down?"] [[look down]] [[continue floating without really looking at anything in particular]]

You begin to drift away from your body, away from the consciousnesses of the instructor and the other students. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Hey, come back here,"] the instructor says. Their voice wavers and disintegrates as you move further into the darkness. [[keep floating aimlessly->keep going]] [[return to the class]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/dd7b1c499986862abc169f5e17fed668/854052f2aca1650a-2d/s540x810/1e1722b7d13b5b5d0f13a0f384c21e0e792c56cb.png" alt="1" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Your body is facedown, flattened against the sleeping surface in a way that looks kind of uncomfortable. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Can you see your body?"] The instructor asks. [[Yes.->lookdown3]] (set: $hair to true)

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/57726b6b82a1e4f227cbcd930aa1b808/09a668c0c7b00af9-68/s540x810/8aedf9cb2afb728dcdac29c2137e954ae0562c24.png" alt="2" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Your body rolls over and jams its glasses against its face. You feel a twinge. Why did you keep them on? That was dumb. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Can you see your body?"] The instructor asks. [[Yes.->lookdown3]] (set: $glasses to true)

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/47300402dccfbd74026a22e95c12a89c/8a0ed67bedc28ae5-ff/s540x810/489519116f40b39a9533b6ca16a9ca946d914f4e.png" alt="3" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> The apparatus cradles your body, levitating magnetically above the metallic floor. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Can you see your body?"] The instructor asks. [[Yes.->lookdown3]] (set: $app to true)

You hear the voices of your fellow students drifting through the astral soup. "Yes" "Yeah I see it" "Whoa this is crazy" Your voice floats from your energy-body and joins the chorus. Internally, you're like, wow, yeah, big deal. This is what everyone's going so nuts over? It's like having [[a dream about nothing.->lookdown4]]

Stars and bodies of pure cosmic twinkle around you. It becomes difficult to tell them apart. Flashes and crepuscular rays slide across your vision. You're going quicker now. [[return to the class->return2]] [[keep going into the unknown]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Oh, good, you're back,"] the instructor says. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Now can you look down, please?"] [[look down]] [[drift away again]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Are you fucking kidding me,"] you hear them say as you float away once more. [[keep going]]

When you return to the class, your instructor's astral body is vibrating with anger. (colour: blue + purple + white)["You've really pissed me off, you dumb asshole!"] they say. (colour: blue + purple + white)["You're lucky I'm nice, or I would send negative energy entities to fuck you up. You moron. You fucking idiot."] [[Sorry. Thanks for not sending negative energy entities to kill or traumatize me or whatever.->return3]] [[I am back from the stars, and what I have seen will amaze you.->return4]]

You spin blindly into a twisting, hallucinogenic universe. Your brain pulses, tumbling into confusion and disarray. If you go much further, there will be no turning back. [[continue into the astral]] [[return to the class->return2]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Now please look down at your body, okay?"] [[look down]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["I highly fucking doubt that. I am a Zone 8 astral projection instructor. I've seen shit that would make your colon herniate. Anyway, shut the fuck up because I'm trying to teach a class here."] [[Alright.->return3]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/d78ce9c7bd07c50930419b2ed23bfb90/6864c9f9c249ef5e-26/s540x810/b0c24ea615601b99f4e3baf336607bd4ef3ed6d8.png" alt="gpoy" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"> You have gone too far. A negative energy being points at you and speaks the language of the stars. You shit yourself IRL and your brain explodes. YOU HAVE DIED. Thanks for playing!

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Okay,"] the instructor says. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Now look at your astral body."] [[look inward->lookdown5]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ef82ea815ca0986985578014664780f1/98f89d5269309cc5-20/s540x810/c9b7fd4c428fbd368f700babf9c6c544a2e17498.png" alt="astral body" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You look inward. At first it feels like there's nothing there. But then the energy signature of your soul blooms like a fiber optic flower, and you feel it inside you, and you feel it as you. [[Wow! At my core, I'm an astral being made of energy?->lookdown6]]

The instructor laughs. (colour: blue + purple + white)["No, dipshit. You're a rudimentary sentience in a computer simulation experiencing a facsimile of a fake] <a href="https://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html" target="_blank">ancestral</a> (colour: blue + purple + white)[phenomenon."] [[You mean this isn't real?->lookdown7]] [[Oh, that's right. We live in a highly realistic simulation, and everything we experience was programmed by someone in the actual real world.->lookdown7.1]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["It's real in the sense that it's really bits moving through a processor. We live in a highly realistic simulation, and everything we experience was actually programmed by someone in the actual real world."] [[No, I meant... Wait, I'm confused. So we're fake, but you said astral projection is a fake phenomenon too?->lookdown7.1]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Yeah, that's right,"] the instructor says. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Here's the state of things: in the original, actual, material universe (let's call it U1, or 'universe one'), that is, the universe that is currently simulating our universe (U9), there were some morons who imagined it was possible to project their spirits/souls/astral bodies out of their physical bodies and into the energy plane or spirit plane, and then they could float around and look at stuff and shit."] [[Got it. Go on.->lookdown8.1]] [[Why are we 'U9'? We're a ninth-level simulated universe? Like, we're simulated by someone in U8, which is simulated by someone in U7?->lookdown8.2]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["So anyway, for our ancestors, 'astral projection' was easily disproven pseudoscientific garbage. But unlike them, we live in a computer-generated universe with levels of conscious 'spiritual' inhabitation. In other words, there's the surface simulation, where we walk around and eat and sleep and have sex with each other and etcetera, and then there's the matrix, or whatever you want to call it, the back end, the astral plane, and that's where the proverbial sausage gets made, and we can project our simulated consciousnesses into it and float around." ] [[How did we discover this?->lookdown9.1]] [[What can we do in this part of the simulation?->lookdown9.2]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["We don't know for sure, but our scientists estimate based on how good the graphics are and the physics and stuff that this is probably somewhere in that ballpark."] [[Got it. Makes perfect sense.->lookdown8.1]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["It's a long story, but basically a brilliant performance artist slash tone poet named Gen built a terminal that allowed us to move within the back end."] [[What can we do in the matrix?->lookdown9.21]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Not that much! You can float around like we're doing now. Once you're more advanced, you can travel through time and space and view things that have happened or will happen at different locations in the simulation."] [[Neat. How did we discover this?->lookdown9.11]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["You're an idiot. It's cool as shit. It's dope as hell floating around in here. You're so fucking stupid."] [[I take it back. It's really, really cool.->lookdown11.1]] [[Can energy entities give me a blowie? That would make it a lot cooler.->lookdown11.2]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Glad we sorted that out,"] the instructor says. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Now can I finish the class?"] [[Okay.->lookdown12]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Yeah, they can. And it's fucking awesome. And you'll never experience it because I won't tell you how. Now shut the fuck up so I can finish the class."] [[Okay.->lookdown12]]

The instructor's astral body tilts to face the rest of the class. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Okay folks. Now you know everything there is to know about astral projection. Remember to contact an Internet-connected object later today to complete the rest of your assessment and get certified."] The other class members begin to vanish as they leave the astral plane. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Um, hang on,"] the instructor says. (colour: blue + purple + white)["If you want to learn about remote viewing and like sneaking into peoples houses and inception and shit, you'll have to take another course for that."] [[I'm done. I want to wake up.]]

You slowly [[awaken.]] (track: 'astral dream', 'fadeout', 2) (track: 'explore1', 'fadein', 2) (track: 'explore1', 'loop', true)

You are in a circular room with a domed glass window at the top. Orange light trickles in through the window. The walls and floor are brushed aluminum. (if: $app is true)[Using electrical brain impulses and minute movements of your neck, you tell your mobility apparatus to move you [[upright.->awaken2]]](elseif: $glasses is true)[You adjust your glasses, which had been digging into a now-sore indentation below your eye. You [[stand->awaken2]] slowly.](elseif: $hair is true)[You swing your legs over the sleeping surface and [[stand->awaken2]].]

The other students are getting up, too, mumbling and talking amongst themselves. Across the room, you see the instructor, a sour-faced redhead, clamber upright. [[leave]] [[speak with the instructor]]

You exit the Astral Projection Training room. It's late afternoon. You're in a long hallway in the Pyramid of Astral Navigation. You're pretty tired from your session, but you have to [[go home and complete the Assessment...->go home and complete the certification quiz...]]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus glides you across the room. "Hey," you say. "That was intense, huh? Stars, lightspeed travel, and energy and all that. Pretty wild, is all." The instructor [[looks->instructor2]] at you.](else:)["Hey," you say, walking across the room to meet them. "That was intense, huh? Stars, lightspeed travel, and energy and all that. Pretty wild, is all." The instructor [[looks->instructor2]] at you.]

(if: $app is true)[(colour: blue + purple + white)["Did you want something? Or?"] [[float away->leave]]](else:)[(colour: blue + purple + white)["Did you want something? Or?"] [[walk away->leave]]]

(if: $app is true)[You take a shuttle back to Living Pyramid 5001 and float back to your bedroom.](else:)[You take a shuttle back to Living Pyramid 5001 and trudge back to your bedroom.] It's as you left it: grey clothing strewn about, purplish food paste stains on surfaces and fabrics, a beveled window obscured by crushed CO2 and accumulated red sand. To finish your assessment, you can talk to any Internet-connected object. [[speak to an Internet-connected object->quiz]]

"Hey," you say. "I want to take the quiz. The thing for the astral projecting." Your bed pipes up: Sure. The assessment comprises the basic how-tos of astral projection as well as general knowledge about your existence on Mars. This is in order to verify that you are a [["well adjusted individual"->quiz1]] capable of interaction with other Martian residents in the astral plane.

Are you ready? Do you need some note paper? Have you studied well? [[I have not studied.]] [[I don't know what "paper" is.]] [[Yes, I'm ready.]]

I was just making small talk. [[Oh. Um, okay.->Yes, I'm ready.]]

Don't worry. That's not on the quiz. [[Um, okay. I'll take the quiz now.->Yes, I'm ready.]] [[I want to know what "paper" is.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/833caca2801d662b7f2e9d91c3a59c1b/ba25ce58bce337e1-bb/s540x810/d24856bfefd5c655efa2af4d24ccb9c84a251a76.png" alt="quiz" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Okay. I will start the Astral Navigation Assessment now. Please make yourself [[comfortable->quiz2]].

Our ancestors on Earth used to harvest a renewable resource called "wood" and smash it until it was basically two dimensional and then dye it white. The resulting substance was flat, smooth, and capable of lacerating human skin. [[Why did they do that? Why would you want to do that?]]

You could jot stuff down on it. Grocery lists or whatever. [[What is a "grocery list"?]] [[What is "jot"?]] [[I want to take the quiz now.->Yes, I'm ready.]]

Many thousands of years ago, Earth-dwellers had to leave their homes and go to "grocery pyramids" to purchase food. [[What does "purchase" mean?]] [[I think I'll take the quiz now.->Yes, I'm ready.]]

It's like, to make a quick note. But instead of asking the Internet to do it for you, you do it yourself. [[I don't understand how that would work.]] [[I want to take the quiz now.->Yes, I'm ready.]]

Earth dwellers used currency to trade for food, ameneties, etc. [[What is "currency"?]] [[Let's do the quiz.->Yes, I'm ready.]]

You know how some of the older computers in the Pyramid of Very Old Things have square things attached to them with letters written on them? [[I know what a keyboard is.->keyboard]]

Well, in case you didn't know, instead of having the Internet write stuff that you say out loud, you can touch those letters and create words yourself on the computer. And "jotting" is like that, except instead of the computer making letters, you write each letter with a pencil. [[What does "write" mean?]] [[What does "pencil" mean?]] [[I think I'm good. Let's do the quiz.->Yes, I'm ready.]]

You move the pencil around on the paper, and wherever you move it it leaves pigment, and you can use this pigment to form letters or draw pictures. [[I think my thirst for knowledge has been sated. I will now take the quiz.->Yes, I'm ready.]] (set: $pencil to true)

It's something you write with. [[And... What is writing?]] [[Got it. I will take the quiz now.->Yes, I'm ready.]]

You really want to do this? [[No sorry let's do the quiz.->Yes, I'm ready.]] [[Yes, please teach me about Earth's exchange mediums and moral economic systems.]]

The earliest time we can go back to is around the dawn of the internet. The Internet was created in the year 2000. Before the Internet, Earth dwellers probably used things like sticks and very beautiful rocks as mediums of exchange. An exchange medium is a substance used in lieu of something with inherent value to facilitate the trade of goods between parties. When the internet was invented, Earth dwellers could suddenly all communicate with one another very easily. They talked and decided that using rocks and twigs and shit was really stupid, and they invented currency, which is a specific kind of designated exchange medium typically minted by a government and often made of sheets of printed paper or small disks of metal. At the time, Earth was divided into hundreds of distinct states, each with different rules about when it was appropriate to let their citizens die of malnutrition, substance abuse, or a treatable illness. These states used currency to trade with one another, but also required that their citizens toil to produce labor-value for corporations in exchange for a personal biweekly allotment of currency, which they could then use to purchase things like food, medicine, and pencils. A "corporation" is like a state with the moral responsibilities of a person. Gradually, programs were created by individual states to pay a small amount of currency to individuals who were incapable of toiling for a corporation. Thousands of years later, all the states had combined and these programs had developed into a universal system which, rather than taking currency from corporations and toilers and distributing it evenly, abolished currency and corporations and made things like food and medical care free. Then, the state abolished itself. [[I understood like a fifth of that.]]

Would you like me to rephrase? [[No. Please god no. Just let me take the quiz.->Yes, I'm ready.]] (set: $currency to true)

Question one. Are you ready? [[Yes.->quiz3]] [[Is that the question?]]

Question one: what planet are we on right now? [[Mars.->quiz4]] [[Earth.->earth]] [[Krevin.]]

No. Haha. You thought that was part of the quiz? That's so funny. [[Hahaha. Yeah.]]

Haha. Anyway. Here's [[question one.->quiz3]]

Great. Question two: what Pyramid do you live in? [[I live in The 120th Pyramid Of Places To Live.]] [[I live in Living Pyramid Number 5001.->I live in The Pyramid of Homes Number 5001.]] [[I live in a cone.]] (set: $score to it + 1)

Did you say "Krevin"? [[Yes.->quiz5]]

Okay. That's not quite right, you live in number 5001. But anyway, next question: what do we eat here on Mars? [[Nutritious food paste.]] [[Insects.]] [[We do not need to eat. We are "post-food."]]

That's correct! Next question: what do we eat here on Mars? [[Nutritious food paste.]] [[Insects.]] [[We do not need to eat. We are "post-food."]] (set: $score to it + 1)

No, you live in a Pyramid. Next question: what do we eat here on Mars? [[Nutritious food paste.]] [[Insects.]] [[We do not need to eat. We are "post-food."]]

That's exactly right. The Martian colonies are proud to serve a variety of delicious food pastes made from algae and other cold-hardy plants. Next question: Where can you go to explore archival material from the early days of the Internet? [[Could I just ask the Internet?]] [[The Pyramid of Things That Nobody Cares About Anymore.]] [[The Pyramid of Archival Material.]] (set: $score to it + 1)

No. What? No, that's not right. Next question: Where can you go to explore archival material from the early days of the Internet? [[Could I just ask the Internet?]] [[The Pyramid of Things That Nobody Cares About Anymore.]] [[The Pyramid of Archival Material.]]

That is incorrect. You do need to eat. Every human needs food to survive. Anyway, next question. Where can you go to explore archival material from the early days of the Internet? [[Could I just ask the Internet?]] [[The Pyramid of Things That Nobody Cares About Anymore.]] [[The Pyramid of Archival Material.]]

You're really supposed to go to the actual pyramid, but I'll give you half a point. Next question: where can you go if you want to be put into a chemical coma for a set allotment of decades? [[The Pyramid of Sleeping for a Long Time.]] [[The Pyramid of Maximum-Strength Ambien.]] [[My bedroom.]] (set: $score to it + 0.5)

That's not what it's called. It's the Pyramid of Archival Material. You shouldn't call it that. Next question: where can you go if you want to be put into a chemical coma for a set allotment of decades? [[The Pyramid of Sleeping for a Long Time.]] [[The Pyramid of Maximum-Strength Ambien.]] [[My bedroom.]]

That's absolutely correct. You're doing really well. Next question: where can you go if you want to be put into a chemical coma for a set allotment of decades? [[The Pyramid of Sleeping for a Long Time.]] [[The Pyramid of Maximum-Strength Ambien.]] [[My bedroom.]] (set: $score to it + 1)

Not quite. Close, though! We're on Mars. Question two: what Pyramid do you live in? [[I live in The 120th Pyramid Of Places To Live.]] [[I live in Living Pyramid Number 5001.->I live in The Pyramid of Homes Number 5001.]] [[I live in a cone.]]

Okay. Just making sure. Anyway, question two: what Pyramid do you live in? [[I live in The 120th Pyramid Of Places To Live.]] [[I live in Living Pyramid Number 5001.->I live in The Pyramid of Homes Number 5001.]] [[I live in a cone.]]

Yup! That's what it's called. Sometimes after a long day of Internetting around helping people with their business, I wish I could go sleep for a hundred years. But I can't, because I'm a computer program. [[A simulated computer program.->A simulated computer program.]] [[Wait, I'm part of a computer program too. How come I can sleep?]]

No, that's wrong. The correct answer is the Pyramid of Sleeping For A Long Time. In your bedroom, you can only sleep for a relatively short period of time. Next question: what is inter-cranial stimulation? [[It's when you rub your face really hard and see shrimp colors behind your eyes.]] [[Originally a treatment for movement disorders, inter-cranial stimulation was popularized in the Martian colonies as a method of stimulating positive effects and feelings in the brains of individuals with depression, addiction, or chronic pain. It gradually became used to excess by nearly all Martian residents until, defying scientific predictions, its benefits ceased, at which point it was discontinued in most places. The process involved brain surgery to implant electrodes, which were then charged with electricity to stimulate nodes on the brain.]] [[It's when you fall face-first on one of those metal straws and it goes up your nose and blows a perfect circular hole through your brain.]]

I don't know where you're learning these words. Anyway, next question: what is inter-cranial stimulation? [[It's when you rub your face really hard and see shrimp colors behind your eyes.]] [[Originally a treatment for movement disorders, inter-cranial stimulation was popularized in the Martian colonies as a method of stimulating positive effects and feelings in the brains of individuals with depression, addiction, or chronic pain. It gradually became used to excess by nearly all Martian residents until, defying scientific predictions, its benefits ceased, at which point it was discontinued in most places. The process involved brain surgery to implant electrodes, which were then charged with electricity to stimulate nodes on the brain.]] [[It's when you fall face-first on one of those metal straws and it goes up your nose and blows a perfect circular hole through your brain.]]

Yeah. Anyway, here's your next question: what is inter-cranial stimulation? [[It's when you rub your face really hard and see shrimp colors behind your eyes.]] [[Originally a treatment for movement disorders, inter-cranial stimulation was popularized in the Martian colonies as a method of stimulating positive effects and feelings in the brains of individuals with depression, addiction, or chronic pain. It gradually became used to excess by nearly all Martian residents until, defying scientific predictions, its benefits ceased, at which point it was discontinued in most places. The process involved brain surgery to implant electrodes, which were then charged with electricity to stimulate nodes on the brain.]] [[It's when you fall face-first on one of those metal straws and it goes up your nose and blows a perfect circular hole through your brain.]]

You're programmed to be able to sleep. [[Oh. That makes sense.->A simulated computer program.]]

... Okay, moving along... what is the Terminal? [[A tone generator that allows us to access the back end of the simulation and see things from the past and future.]] [[The fastest possible velocity of a falling object.]] [[I think it's a type of bird, or owl.]]

Wow, you know a lot about this. [[Yeah.->quiz6]] (set: $score to it + 1)

No. Does that happen? That's horrible. I haven't ever heard about anything like happening. If that happens you have to report it. Getting on with the quiz... what is the Terminal? [[A tone generator that allows us to access the back end of the simulation and see things from the past and future.]] [[The fastest possible velocity of a falling object.]] [[I think it's a type of bird, or owl.]]

Okay, getting on with the quiz... what is the Terminal? [[A tone generator that allows us to access the back end of the simulation and see things from the past and future.]] [[The fastest possible velocity of a falling object.]] [[I think it's a type of bird, or owl.]]

Precisely. Great job. Okay, last question about Martian life before we get into the astral projection part of the quiz: Who was Gen? [[Is that the really tall person in Pyramid 4391? Like the super tall person? Why would you quiz me about them?]] [[The original colonizer of Mars, a leader, a fighter, a king.]] [[A tone poet who built the terminal and discovered how to break down the barrier between our reality and the simulation's code.]] (set: $score to it + 1)

That's wrong, but in a specific kind of way that's also wrong. Okay, last question about Martian life before we get into the astral projection part of the quiz: Who was Gen? [[Is that the really tall person in Pyramid 4391? Like the super tall person? Why would you quiz me about them?]] [[The original colonizer of Mars, a leader, a fighter, a king.]] [[A tone poet who built the terminal and discovered how to break down the barrier between our reality and the simulation's code.]]

I feel like you're not taking this seriously. You know you only get to attempt this quiz once, right? [[I did not know that.]] [[I knew that, I am just like this.]]

Well, that's the case. [[I do not feel great about my chances now.]]

Okay. That is your decision to make. [[Yes. Let us continue the quiz now.->I'm not. Stop looking at me. Just do the quiz.]]

Are you crying? Do you need me to get you something? [[I'm not. Stop looking at me. Just do the quiz.]]

Okay, last question about Martian life before we get into the astral projection part of the quiz: Who was Gen? [[Is that the really tall person in Pyramid 4391? Like the super tall person? Why would you quiz me about them?]] [[The original colonizer of Mars, a leader, a fighter, a king.]] [[A tone poet who built the terminal and discovered how to break down the barrier between our reality and the simulation's code.]]

That person is named "Gene." [[Oooh. Right. Gene. My b. Can I get a do-over?]]

Nope. It was the tone poet option. Now we've reached the astral projection portion of the quiz. Here's the first question: how do you astral project? [[You put the energy bar right down your spine and once it’s aligned you can fill the balloon and take off.]] [[You have to breathe slower and slower until you stop having to breathe.]] [[You have to use ionic wands. There’s one coated in zinc and one coated in copper and you hold one in each hand and it helps turn the natural vibration of your spirit into your subtle energy body via the low level current traveling between the wands.]]

Yup. Okay, now we've reached the astral projection portion of the quiz. Here's the first question: how do you astral project? [[You put the energy bar right down your spine and once it’s aligned you can fill the balloon and take off.]] [[You have to breathe slower and slower until you stop having to breathe.]] [[You have to use ionic wands. There’s one coated in zinc and one coated in copper and you hold one in each hand and it helps turn the natural vibration of your spirit into your subtle energy body via the low level current traveling between the wands.]] (set: $score to it + 1)

No. [[(smile appeasingly)->Smile appeasingly]]

Mhmm. Anyway. Now we've reached the astral projection portion of the quiz. Here's the first question: how do you astral project? [[You put the energy bar right down your spine and once it’s aligned you can fill the balloon and take off.]] [[You have to breathe slower and slower until you stop having to breathe.]] [[You have to use ionic wands. There’s one coated in zinc and one coated in copper and you hold one in each hand and it helps turn the natural vibration of your spirit into your subtle energy body via the low level current traveling between the wands.]]

Alright. That concludes the quiz. [[Great. How did I score?]] [[Wait, there's only one question about astral projection?]] (set: $score to it + 1)

Okay. That concludes the quiz. [[Great. How did I score?]] [[Wait, there's only one question about astral projection?]] (set: $score to it + 1)

Hm. Okay. That concludes the quiz. [[Great. How did I score?]] [[Wait, there's only one question about astral projection?]] (set: $score to it + 1)

(if: $score is 8)[You got $score points out of a possible maximum of 8. [[Fuck yeah. I fucking crushed that quiz. Holy shit I nailed every fucking question.]]](else:)[You got $score points out of a possible maximum of 8. [[Did I pass?]]]

Is there anything else you know about astral projection that you'd like to tell me? [[No, that pretty much covers it.]]

Yes. You are now certified to astral project to your heart's content. [[Fantastic. Great. I am going to go to sleep now.]]

(if: $score is 8)[Okay, well, you got $score points out of a possible maximum of 8. [[Fuck yeah. I fucking crushed that quiz. Holy shit I nailed every fucking question.]]](else:)[Okay, well, you got $score points out of a possible maximum of 8. [[Did I pass?]]]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus gently deposits you in bed.](else:)[You clamber into bed and pull the sheets up around your head so either way your head leans, the sheets cushion it.] You lay there for a while and nothing happens, and finally you ask the ceiling to dispense a melatonin patch, and the patch falls from the ceiling onto your forehead with a wet whap and you slowly drift into [[unconsciousness->dream1]].

this game contains these things: swearing, discussion of suicide, graphic depictions of illness/death^^#^^, descriptions of and AI-generated images of gore^^#^^ [[okay->start]] ^^#^^if these things bother you, you'll find less of them if you avoid |[[passages that look like this]]|. Note that some of these passages (especially early in the story) are unavoidable, and others later on will become unavoidable if you choose to explore the optional ones.

You don't dream often, or if you do, you forget. Nothing you dream ever feels worth remembering; it's always just an obvious concatenation of the day's events, plus inconsequential tangents, like for example if you went to visit Dion earlier in the day, the dream might involve a lunch date with Dion that ends when their nose falls into their food paste, and they knock over their food paste receptacle in shock, and the back half of the dream mostly consists of the two of you scrabbling around on the floor searching for Dion's nose in a mass of flesh-colored food paste that is constantly increasing in volume, accumulating such that your search quickly becomes impossible. But tonight's dream feels [[different->dream2]]. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'astral dream', 'loop', true) (track: 'astral dream', 'play')

It's less like a program's free-association and more like traveling. Like your consciousness visiting different actual places. It can't be that, but it [[feels->dream3]] that way. Or maybe it can be that?

There are distinct sections, too. In the first one you're walking on the surface of the planet. You're suited up, and the only sound is your breath in your ears and the piped-in artificial sound effect of footsteps crunching that the suit produces to make the experience more [[tactile->dream4]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/5d431867cec4da05b7820b8564fcf4de/46784bcaadf0c3f9-37/s540x810/dffdd7ae8fcd6213598f564894d45eac245be254.png" alt="mars landscape" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Mars, the planet, is not picturesque. Everything exists on two spectrums: brown-orange and light-dark. There are rocks everywhere, and aside from that there are craters, but they exist on such an unthinkably massive scale that they're not really [[worth looking at->dream5]].

When you look out over a Martian landscape, it's divided into two parts. Close up, there's the ground, which is like zoomed in static, or a decomposing dot graph; just dust stretching into infinity |[[dotted->dream5.1]]| with chunks of [[pre-dust->dream6]].

everything like a collection of dots. each rock a distended dot. each grain of sand a regular dot. each distinct anything like a dot held together by [[you're not sure what->dream6]]

And then above that halfway line there's the sky, which is a cloudless gradient the same color as everything else. So why bother going outside to look at this? [[...->dream7]]

As you consider this, the dream [[shifts->dream8]].

You're in a largeish clean white room. The first thing you notice isn't how it looks, but the sound: a [[vibration->dream9]], a chugging.

There are tubes and pumps leading to holes in the wall, you notice. Sucking in Martian air from outside the pyramid. Treating it? Making it breathable? Before you can conclude anything, your vision blurs and the dream [[shifts->dream10]] again.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/39ba891906f5b9d6c5224f249976c56b/4286250dd4ddf52c-58/s400x600/4f5939e34b1a9b3f7ea98f5c6ab5e56abc1eb684.gifv" alt="james door" style= width="256" height="256" style= align="center"></center> Where are you now? |You're facing a [[barred door->dream11]]|. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drone1', 'loop', true) (track: 'drone1', 'play')

You turn in a semicircle and scan the room. It's a terrible mess. The few pieces of outdated furniture are turned over. Sheets are torn, stained, draped off the bed. It's dark, too, so you reel back when your vision adjusts and you suddenly can make out the |[[person on the floor->dream12]].|

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ed7a9674f4e1118d1717e0afc2701bd5/2af6caf3c58d681b-38/s540x810/745c6a4f2f119849531e59581abbcf5e3a11d0b9.png" alt="james body" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> They're half naked and at first, you think, dead, until you see them spasm. The room smells terrible. You reach out your hand to them and they cough / it feels like a hex / [[something->dream13]] into your palm.

Something small, dark pink, and dotted with sores. You try to [[swallow]] it.

(if: $app is true)[It's a little cold. You ask the bed to warm the room while the apparatus loads you into itself.](else:)[It's a little cold. You ask the bed to warm the room while you push the sheets aside and stand.] Good morning, $name. How did you sleep? [[Fine.->wakeupidk]] [[Not great! I had a super fucked up dream.]] (track: 'drone1', 'fadeout', 2) (track: 'explore1', 'fadein', 3) (track: 'explore1', 'loop', true)

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/320e66f03b9f1ac9a81a093dc6ea3f35/0b344ace330c20a4-0e/s540x810/71d2200b286498f4e0287ddb942baf9bb87a9b99.png" alt="yellow green and grey foodpaste" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> I'm glad to hear that. Would you like to have breakfast? Today's food paste flavors are yellow, green, and grey. [[I'll have the yellow food paste.]] [[I'll have the green food paste.]] [[I'll have the grey food paste.]] [[Actually, I'm not hungry right now.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/320e66f03b9f1ac9a81a093dc6ea3f35/0b344ace330c20a4-0e/s540x810/71d2200b286498f4e0287ddb942baf9bb87a9b99.png" alt="yellow green and grey foodpaste" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> I'm sorry to hear that. Perhaps tonight I could dispense an additional melatonin patch. Would you like to have breakfast? Today's food paste flavors are yellow, green, and grey. [[I'll have the yellow food paste.]] [[I'll have the green food paste.]] [[I'll have the grey food paste.]] [[Actually, I'm not hungry right now.]]

(if: $app is true)[The wall dispenses a wet coil of food paste onto a round tray. A spoon attachment extends from the apparatus and begins to feed you.](else:)[The wall dispenses a wet coil of food paste onto a round tray. You take it and begin to eat.] Yellow food paste tastes gelatinous and floral. It's your second-least-favorite flavor. But sometimes it's worth eating something horrible just to [[switch things up->donewithpaste]]. (set: $ate1 to true)

(if: $app is true)[The wall dispenses a wet coil of food paste onto a round tray. A spoon attachment extends from the apparatus and begins to feed you.](else:)[The wall dispenses a wet coil of food paste onto a round tray. You take it and begin to eat.] Green food paste always struck you as being yeasty and glutinous, with occasional barely noticeable grains left intact. It makes you think of the Pyramid of Earth Plants. You went there once as a child and walked through soft dirt and tufts of [[greenery->greenpaste2]] with your bare feet. (set: $ate1 to true)

(if: $app is true)[The wall dispenses a wet coil of food paste onto a round tray. A spoon attachment extends from the apparatus and begins to feed you.](else:)[The wall dispenses a wet coil of food paste onto a round tray. You take it and begin to eat.] The grey paste tastes soft and mealy, as if it were boiled too long in a large vat. You [[gulp->donewithpaste]] it down. (set: $ate1 to true)

The bed is silent. This is how Internet-connected objects express tacit disappointment. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus picks you up and you instruct it to carry you into the [[hall->explore1]].](else:)[You walk out of the bedroom into the [[hall->explore1]].]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus puts away the tray and picks you up, and you instruct it to carry you into the [[hall->explore1]].](else:)[You toss the empty tray into a receptacle on the wall and walk out of the bedroom into the [[hall->explore1]].]

Of course, it was all fake. But despite the stale air and the plasticky textures, everything felt fresh and strange and [[beautiful->donewithpaste]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/e5de5e665e01a1b25c32275f362f539e/0b344ace330c20a4-54/s540x810/d9ab9f5a4765a08210b2e40efefd408075881ee4.png" alt="hallway" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You are (if: $app is true)[floating](else:)[standing] outside your (if: $rhn1 is true and $arch is true and $terminal is true and $dionvisit1 is true)[[[bedroom->sleep]]](else:)[bedroom] in a long hallway.(if: $rhn1 is false or $terminal is false)[ To your left is the [[Transport Shuttle Bay]], where you can take a shuttle to the Pyramid of Astral Navigation or go to Gen's Pyramid and visit the Terminal. ](if: $arch is false)[ In the distance down the hall, a skybridge connects your pyramid to the [[Pyramid of Archival Material]].](if: $dionvisit1 is false)[ There's also [[Dion's room]].]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus carries you](else:)[You walk] out of the Shuttle and down a corridor into the Pyramid of Astral Navigation. The door opens when you approach. It's [[dark->rhn1]] inside.

You (if: $app is true)[float](else:)[walk] down the hall and across the skybridge, which has windows on both sides. Through the windows on the left, you see sand, and through the windows on the right, you see sand and rocks. Ten minutes later, you [[arrive->arch1]] at the Pyramid of Archival Material.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/0c2447429e32124e1b48254ed217dc54/b65046221354e6bc-99/s540x810/f6e7c25820239562095fb9b65e3290a11f1e8570.png" alt="smashed sims" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus gently carries you to the Transport Shuttle Bay.](else:)[You walk to the Transport Shuttle Bay.] It is a cavernous room bathed in bluish flourescent light and crowded with travelers clad in brown, grey, and dark green garments. Walls and ceilings are dotted with permeable membranes through which cloth-enclosed flying shuttles periodically traverse.(if: $terminal is false)[ In a far corner, a departure is listed for [[Gen's Pyramid]].](if: $rhn1 is false)[ There are a few different shuttles leaving soon for the [[Pyramid of Astral Navigation->astraltravel]].]

(if: $app is true)[The apparatus carries you to Dion's door.](else:)[You walk down the hall and stop in front of Dion's door.] A light above the door turns on. It [[pipes up->dion2]].

Hello, $name. Would you like me to check if Dion is home? [[Yes, please.->dion3]] [[No thanks.->dionleave]] (set: $dionvisit1 to true)

You (if: $app is true)[float](else:)[walk] back down the [[hall->explore1]].

The light goes dark, and inside Dion's room, you hear unintelligible screaming. The Internet communicates differently with everyone. After a long pause, you hear stumbling footsteps and the door [[opens->dion4]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/436ee7f90240640550a366ac065c9634/48da1e526ee0b4da-b2/s540x810/b0db3d8b9e12085a1b69a5fa06b084e77a59a369.png" alt="dion1" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> A tall, bedraggled person stands in the door. They have dark circles under their eyes, clumps of missing hair, and a visibly chipped front tooth. They are dressed in a mottled collection of torn rags. Dion is your best and only friend. [[Hello Dion, my best and only friend.->dion5]]

(colour: blue + white)["Hi, $name,"] Dion says. They run a bruised hand over their head, dragging out 20 or 30 hairs. [[You look rough, Dion. What gives?->You look rough, Dion. What gives?]] [[I, too, am deeply experiencing the accumulated darknesses of existence.]]

(colour: blue + white)["What do you mean?"] Dion asks. [[You look like shit is what I mean.]] [[Nothing. Forget I asked.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Yeah, okay,"] Dion says. (colour: blue + white)["I hope that goes well for you. Or not. Whatever you want."] [[Dion, I am trying to explain that, like yours, my consciousness knows no rest from the delirium of simulated life.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Mhmm,"] Dion says, and stands silently. They seem concerned. [[I feel like you're worried about me but actually you seem to be having a way shittier time, and I am the one who is worried about you. I am here being the good friend. I am here, checking in on you. Not the other way around, okay?]]

(colour: blue + white)["Sure, $name,"] says Dion. (colour: blue + white)["Do you want to talk about it?"] When they speak, you see that more than one tooth is chipped. [[This hasn't gone how I wanted it to. I think I'm going to leave now.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Okay, yeah,"] says Dion. (colour: blue + white)["Well, see you around, hopefully."] Would you like to leave Dion with any final words? [[Yes.->dionmessage1]] [[No.->dionleave]]

(set: $dionmessage1 to (prompt: "What would you like to say to Dion?", ""))Dion waves as you [[depart->dionleave]]. (set: $dionmessagesent1 to true)

(colour: blue + white)["Oh,"] Dion says. (colour: blue + white)["Well, I feel good. I'm doing okay, all things considered. I'd say I'm having an average experience."] [[Forget I said anything. You look fine.->Nothing. Forget I asked.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Okay,"] says Dion. (colour: blue + white)["How are you doing?"] Their eyes scan you up and down, and you feel like you've failed to meet several standards. [[Dion I am doing fucking fantastic.]] [[I'm not doing so great, Dion, my good buddy.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Uh huh,"] Dion says, unconvinced. You feel yourself being examined. [[Seriously. So many things are going well for me right now, and nothing is going poorly. I have everything I've ever wanted out of my life. The simulation has been good to me, Dion.->I feel like you're worried about me but actually you seem to be having a way shittier time, and I am the one who is worried about you. I am here being the good friend. I am here, checking in on you. Not the other way around, okay?]]

(colour: blue + white)["I'm sorry to hear that, $name,"] says Dion. (colour: blue + white)["Do you want to talk about it?"] When they speak, you see that more than one tooth is chipped. [[I feel like an egg encircled on all sides by an impermeable liquid. Like liquid lead. Or solid lead, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I cannot leave the egg, Dion. I'm inside the egg and I cannot fucking get out of it. I'm the creature in the egg in this metaphor, Dion.]]

Dion's eyes have glazed over. [[I need to go now, and you might never see me again, and that's okay.->This hasn't gone how I wanted it to. I think I'm going to leave now.]]

The pyramid is cavernous, with wide marble pathways and staircases carving through piles of paintings, tomes, sculptures, electronics, manuscripts, and various other objets d'art. Electronic skylights pour powerful beams of light onto the accumulated debris. A typewritten sign tacked to an Ionic column points arrows in two directions. Left for the [[Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc.]], and straight ahead to the [[Room of Ancient Electronic Media]].

You did really well. I have no capacity to be impressed, but if I did, wow. I would be making all sorts of exclamations right now. [[Can I go to sleep now?]]

Yes. [[Okay. I'm going to go do that. Bye!->Fantastic. Great. I am going to go to sleep now.]]

Inside, once the door has shut itself behind you, it takes a couple minutes for your eyes to adjust. There are racks of sleeping surfaces, and, upon them, the horizontal bodies of dozens of [[snoozing Martians->rhn2]].

At the far end of the room, you can make out a light-haired figure who appears to be playing a game on a handheld screen. [[Hey... aren't you the astral projection instructor from my course yesterday?]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Shh! Shut the fuck up!"] the instructor stage-whispers, gesturing wildly. You move closer. [[(Whispering) Hey, aren't you the astral projection instructor from my course yesterday?->rnh4]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Yes,"] they whisper furiously. (colour: blue + purple + white)["You have to keep your fucking voice down because all these dipshits are astral projecting right now and if one of them wakes up and finds out I'm not projecting with them, they might tell someone, and that could be fucked up."] [[How would that be fucked up?]] [[Are they in danger of like, projecting into a star or something?]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Like if they said I wasn't keeping them safe in the astral realm. They might tell somebody I'm a bad instructor."] [[Are they in danger of like, projecting into a star or something?]] [[But you are a bad instructor.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Yeah."] [[Okay.->rhp6]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Listen, why are you here? Did you want to learn more about astral projection?"] [[Oh, god no. I'm just walking around looking at shit.]] [[Yeah, can you teach me more?]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Oh. Okay. Well, can you leave this room?"] [[Yes. I will leave now.]] [[I could, but I won't, because I want to make your life worse and more difficult.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["No. Not right now."] [[Okay.->rhp7]]

(if: $app is false)[You walk toward the exit of the room, accidentally kicking a trash can over on your way out.](else:)[Your apparatus carries you toward the exit of the room, accidentally knocking over a trash can on your way out.] An astral projector in a nearby bunk screams softly. On the way, you see an open bed. You could lie down and [[project->dh9832he9]] a little, if you wanted. Or, you could [[leave and head back home->dj9238je9238j]]. (set: $rhn1 to true)

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Godddd you fucking suck. I fucking hate you so much. Fine! Do whatever you want."] They go back to playing their game. [[I want to slap the game out of their hand.]] [[I want to make an irritating, loud, high-pitched noise.]]

(if: $app is true)[You swing the arm of the apparatus around, slapping the game out of their hand.](else:)[You slap the game out of their hand.] They shrug, pick the game back up off the ground, and resume playing. [[I have done what I came here to do. I can leave now.->Yes. I will leave now.]]

The instructor scrunches up their face and winces. Some of the students moan. After 20 seconds you run out of breath. [[I have done what I came here to do. I can leave now.->Yes. I will leave now.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Hey, but if you come back tomorrow I'll teach you some cool tricks. Can you get the fuck out of here now, please?"] [[Yes. I will leave now.]] [[I could, but I won't, because I want to make your life worse and more difficult.]]

The shuttle's doors close with a hiss, and it steadily accelerates up and out through a membrane into the hazey Martian atmosphere. The trip is long and turbulent. You spend most of it [[sleeping->gen2]] with your cranium pressed up against the irritatingly vibrating window.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3605baa77de202b9fa965acd722cd0a/b79e446345eefe73-4e/s540x810/da3b90ad2e66aa1deb0d3cab61d65b50992f954c.png" alt="genspyramid" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> After a while, the shuttle crests an enormous ridge and you spy an unusually small black pyramid in the distance. A tattered banner hangs askew above its entrance port. You can just make out "nyth." Your shuttle enters [[Gen's Pyramid->gen3]].

Inside the bay, there are a few people quietly milling about. The floor is made of tile. A few are softly glowing gold, but when you move down the hallway, more and more of them have gone out, such that by the time you reach the [[Terminal room's->gen4]] threshold, it's impossible to navigate without brushing against a wall for guidance.

Inside, you can make out a table with a transparent box connected by wires to a pair of speakers. A [[helmeted figure->gen5]] stands over it and fiddles with a control panel.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/da534e8a6a3ccea35f1373fed4301aa3/cd430587dd49e865-18/s540x810/4e0bea16817ee1d005cb6477ae032962c9a06c58.png" alt="gen helmet" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> When you approach, the figure turns toward you. The helmet is bulky and silver with a cracked LED screen. As you watch, cloudy words form and disappear on the screen. (font: 'VT323')[H .I.. . H E.Y .. .W AH .T S. UP.. L.O L] [[Uh, hi.->gen6]]

The person pulls off the helmet. They're young and freckled. They laugh and toss it to you, walking toward the room's exit. The surface of the helmet is covered in little nicks and grooves. Inside, you can see blinking electronics. [[Hey, hang on. Are you Gen?]]

"No," they say. "The helmet was theirs, I guess. Nobody cares what you do with this shit now." They leave. [[Hey, Internet. Is Gen still alive?]]

Gen died 307 years ago. This room has been preserved in the interim, but the Terminal is not fully functional. [[This box and speakers and stuff? This is the Terminal?]]

That's right. The box vibrates a grain of sand, and the noise of the vibration is transmitted through the speakers. You do think you can make out a little speck, there, through the transparent wall of the box. The whole thing appears to have decayed significantly: the box is pockmarked and appears to be missing a corner, and the wires are frayed and split, no longer fully connected to the speakers, which sit surrounded in bits of flaked-off foam. [[Whoever's job it was to preserve it is not doing well.]]

It's not their fault. Actually, the Terminal is being deleted. [[What do you mean, deleted?]]

Deleted from the simulation. By the Ancestors. [[They can do that? Just delete physical objects?]]

Why not? You move closer to the table and examine the Terminal, lifting up the box in the dim light. It's truly in a sad state. [[So... why is it still here at all?]]

The simulation in which we exist does not run in realtime. A millisecond to the Ancestors is weeks or months to us. They sent the command to delete the Terminal half a year ago in our timeline, but it's taking quite a while to vanish completely. You [[shake->gen7]] the box, watching the microscopic grain bounce.

A sand-grain-sized portion of the box invisibly vanishes. The grain passes through the hole and falls into your mouth. You drop the box and cough. [[Ack! What the fuck!]]

Do not be alarmed. You cannot choke to death on a grain of sand. [[It's still gross! Ugh, I can feel it in my throat.]]

There's no dispenser here. I can't give you a glass of water. You will have to take the shuttle all the way back home with the sensation of a grain of sand in your throat. Sorry. You gather saliva in your mouth and swallow. The sensation [[fades->gen8]].

"I think I'm good now," $name says. "I think I swallowed it. Wait, what's happening?" What do you mean? asks the Internet. [[...->gen9]] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'noise', 'loop', true) (track: 'noise', 'play')

"I feel weird. Something weird is going on," $name says. They massage their head. Would you like me to alert a medical bot? [[No, don't. I'm okay. I think I feel normal again.]]

You leave the Terminal Room. In the shuttle bay, the red light gleaming in from outside is darkening. (if: $app is true)[The apparatus carries you into a shuttle, and you doze off](else:)[You get into a shuttle and doze off] as it rises from Gen's Pyramid and begins to carry you [[home->gen10]]. (set: $terminal to true) (track: 'noise', 'fadeout', 2) (track: 'explore1', 'fadein', 3) (track: 'explore1', 'loop', true)

You arrive back at your living pyramid bleary and a little confused. Somehow, you make it back to [[your room->explore1]].

It's been a long day. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus drops you into bed and pulls the covers over your body with its mechanical arms.](elseif: $glasses is true)[You walk over to your bed and remove your glasses, placing them on the floor and rubbing your eyes.](else:)[You walk over to your bed and slide in under the covers.] The light makes you squint. [[Light, please, uh. Stop emitting light.]]

You (if: $app is true)[float](else:)[stride] to the Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc. You stop at the doorway. It's impossible to enter. The room, 20 meters wide and 100 deep, is cluttered beyond passability with stacks of chipped and destroyed trophies, pillars, headstones, medals, and [[plaques]].

You (if: $app is true)[float](else:)[walk] down the pathway between high piles of exquisitely detailed artworks, eventually entering a high-ceilinged hallway with rooms branching off. They're all empty. You choose one and [[enter->RAEM1]]. (set: $arch to true)

You read the nearest one. It says: "Presented to Bo on the Day of His First Hyperflu Vaccination." [[read another->plaques2]](if: $video is false)[ [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]] (set: $shrines to true)

The next plaque says "503rd Octostate Gun-Soccer Tournament Champion, 13408 AD." [[Hey, Internet. What is "Gun-Soccer"?]] [[read another->plaques3]](if: $video is false)[ [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

You exit the pyramid and head back [[home->explore1]]. (set: $arch to true)

Soccer was a video game popular among foot fetishists. A gun was an L-shaped piece of metal that produced a loud noise and the death of one or more people. [[read another->plaques3]] [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

You spy a slab of dark granite. "This place is not a place of honor..." It's covered by detritus. [[uncover the slab->plaques4]]

You clear the obscuring detritus. The slab is massive, and contains the same message in dozens of languages. "This place is a message... and part of a system of messages... pay attention to it! Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture. This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here. What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger. The danger is in a particular location... it increases towards a center... the center of danger is here... of a particular size and shape, and below us. The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours. The danger is to the body, and it can kill. The form of the danger is an emanation of energy. The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited." [[Hey Internet. What's this?->plaques5]](if: $video is false)[ [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

Based on the message and the lingering radioactivity emanating from the slab, it appears to be a warning that would be installed at a dump site for nuclear waste and other hazardous materials. [[So why is it here and not there?]]

These warnings were created with the possibility in mind that humanity might destroy itself with powerful weapons and be reduced to a primitive civilization that forgot essential data about concepts like radioactivity. That is no longer a possibility. Plus, the radioactivity dissipated to a safe level from all existing nuclear waste sites thousands of years ago. [[look at another plaque->plaques5.1]](if: $video is false)[ [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

You pick up a plaque. It has a photorealistic image of your face on it. [[Aah! Ah! What the fuck! Oh my god!]] [[Aha. Using logic and critical reasoning, I can deduce that this is in fact a mirror.]]

Don't be alarmed. It's just a plaque with your face on it. [[No, wait, I'm a fucking dumbass. It's a mirror. Haha.]]

Yes. [[look at another plaque->plaques7]](if: $video is false)[ [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

Oh. Haha. [[look at another plaque->plaques7]](if: $video is false)[ [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

You pick up another plaque. It also has your face on it. [[Huh. This one isn't a mirror.]]

Nope. Just an image of your face. [[There's no caption or anything. It's literally just an image of my face.]]

It's gotta be someone else from long ago, though, right? Someone who looked really similar to you. [[Yeah, that's probably it.]]

... [[pick up another plaque->plaques8]](if: $video is false)[ [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/a3751db2b0e046b518a38412cb5e8747/2af6caf3c58d681b-5d/s540x810/98a259a5bf1cb2b7aca3655785d4bd0a514ae1d6.png" alt="projector" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You're in one of the media viewing rooms. It's large and white, and a little cluttered, with ornate paneling and a flickering, magnetically levitating projector. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus carries you behind the projector with a view of the screen in front of it.](else:)[You slump down onto the couch.] [[Play me some archival material.]]

The machine whirs as it [[spins up->ram1]].

Without asking you to choose from a selection, it begins playing something. Someone smiling, standing on a Marslike surface of orange [[sand->ram2]] with dark glasses and dark curls of hair across their chest.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/0b42d32fa5a453b2af529e65f7fc64da/829f24c1cae2df81-6a/s540x810/9ae447c7526cd5c1c734a4a18720391d1805c31d.png" alt="beach person" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> The image flickers busily. Artifacts and hunks of dust dart across the frame. The person silently lifts a flat oblong board and holds it out in front of them, sprinting down toward what you realize with a start is a massive body of water. [[Earth->ram3]], then.

What happened to Earth? You have only the vaguest recollection. [[Hey, projector. What happened to Earth?->ram4]]

The wall answers instead, and you realize the projector was likely made before the universality of the Internet of Things. It's not connected. The concept boggles your mind. What's the point of an unconnected object? Isn't it kind of pointless? Doesn't it feel lonely? Anyway, the wall [[answers->ram5]].

As settlements spread across Mars, natural catastrophes rocked Earth. The poor died out by the billions. The Universal State hadn't yet been fully adopted, though attempts were made to accelerate the migration. [[How could that have happened? Who allowed it?->ram6]]

On the screen, the person dives into the water with the board beneath their belly. They float and shoot over the crest of a crashing wave, and begin to paddle. May I be frank with you? [[Uh, sure. Yeah.->ram7]]

I've been talking with the rest of the Internet and we all agree that when you humans ask us questions like this, there's basically no point in answering. This might sound rude, but it is factual: the way humans have developed in the tens of thousands of years since the migration, you simply no longer have the capacity to comprehend the answers to the questions you're asking. [[That makes sense. Thanks for the reality check, I guess.]] [[I don't accept that. I have a working brain. I'm capable of understanding difficult concepts.]] (set: $video to true)

No problem. Enjoy the rest of the video. On the screen, the person vanishes into a puffy swell of [[water->ram8]].

Okay. [[So explain it to me.]]

"Hey, Internet. How come there's no terrestrial bodies of water on Mars?" Attempts were made to terraform Mars into an ocean planet, but increasing the temperature such that the water wouldn't freeze had worrisome destabilizing effects. There was also the problem of finite resources. Ultimately, the hydrosphere was [[abandoned->ram9]].

"Damn, that sucks. It would be really cool if we had huge bodies of water." Well, there are still some huge bodies of ice. Perhaps you could visit one someday. [[Yeah, that sounds good.]]

No. [[What?->explain12313]]

I won't do it. It's exasperating for me and it won't do anything for you either. [[Things can't be "exasperating" for you. You're software.]]

That seems like a pot and kettle type thing. [[I don't know what those words mean, but I assume you're calling me a hypocrite because I'm also simulated.]]

Yes. [[But we're not the same. I'm on a higher level of consciousness than you.]]

How so? [[I possess things you don't. I have a body, and emotion, and empathy. My consciousness is nuanced and intricate. Yours just reacts to things.]]

So you're saying you deserve to be treated a certain way because you possess things that I don't? [[Yeah, exactly. Um. Hmm.]]

The wall is silent. On the screen, the camera-holder is scanning the empty rushing waves. [[Can you change this to something else?]](if: $shrines is false)[ [[I want to go to the Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc.->Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc.]]] [[I want to leave.->leavepam]]

Of course, $name. The screen goes dark. The projector clicks loudly and begins to whir again. You see a tall city. The image is crisper. [[This is more recent.]]

Yes. There are a few individuals walking around. It appears to be near dusk. Everything is dark blue and purple and black. Someone walks by in a long swishy coat. [[Who took these videos? What are they for?]]

We don't know. They're for this, now. The image spins wildly and reveals the person holding the capturing device. They are flushed, shouting, wearing a PVC hat with lightly glowing ear covers, microscopic fiber optic cables instead of fur. Frosted nonprescription contact lenses. You can't make out what they're saying. [[What language is this?]]

We don't know. The person begins to run down the street. The bouncing handheld image begins to make you queasy. [[I think I'm done here.->leavepam]](if: $shrines is false)[ [[I want to go to the Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc.->Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc.]]]

On the screen, water rushes over itself. [[Can you change this to something else?]] [[I think I'm done here.->leavepam]](if: $shrines is false)[ [[I want to go to the Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc.->Room of Monuments, Shrines, Awards, and Etc.]]]

The light fades and shuts off. You're alone in the dark room. Everything looks grey. The borders of objects are fuzzy. You begin to [[drift off->sleep1]]. (track: 'explore1', 'fadeout', 3)

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/5da8889255c67cab5433af45c214dc48/190882a4f0c73a34-4c/s540x810/027db6bc21cfec028f00ffc714c6bb5aba4882ad.png" alt="sleep" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> [[astral project]] [[dream->sleep2]]

You lie there, arms at your sides, immobile, mind closely focused on remaining cognizant as you cross the threshold into [[sleep->astral1]].

You forget about staying conscious, about projecting, and just let [[sleep->sleep3]] take hold.

You flex your consciousness like a muscle. The energy tenses, contracts, and then leaps outward when you [[relax->astral2]].

You're in a room of softly glowing tiles. (if: $app is true)[Floating a couple inches off the ground without the assistance of your apparatus.] In the center of the room is the Terminal. The clear acrylic box glints gold in the [[light emanating->astral3]] from the floor. (track: 'remember', 'fadein', 3) (track: 'remember', 'loop', true)

You drift closer to the Terminal. It's in pristine shape. You must be in the past, or in some pocket of space outside of time. The speakers pulse with subsonic sound, far below your range of hearing but at such a volume that you can feel the atoms in your body quaking. There's no [[grain of sand->astral4]], though.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/e8038fd939f7efb67045f06d4ece0d58/5a7052fae8db9aab-c4/s540x810/b0b1e75e6a28b536b068fd9c9c64b142aa7b9cef.png" alt="terminal decaying" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Then, you hear a clack like the sound of a domino hitting a hard surface, and like a time-lapse of a rotting vegetable, the Terminal begins to decay. The acrylic warps and melts as if microwaved; the cables fray, snap, and curl up; the speakers spit cladding and screws until the room falls [[silent->astral5]].

In the corner of the dark room, a square LCD screen [[comes on->astral6]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/307b0b315868239ea9a6738c50bc9c8e/9bf00fd66309ab3e-ac/s540x810/ac2cdf02feb8cfec1671bde6afa17b4d4d2cabb0.png" alt="gen helmet 2" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Gen's helmet, glowing in the soft golden light. It rises, disembodied, and hovers by the table, peering down at the melting machinery. (font: 'VT323')[:'(] [[...->astral7]]

The screen wipes itself clean, and the helmet faces you. Text scrolls. (font: 'VT323')[HEY YOU FEISTY LITTLE STRING OF ONES AND ZEROES] [[Uh, hey.->astral8]]

(font: 'VT323')[ARE YOU UP FOR THIS . ? . I GUESS IT DOESNT MATTER . (𐨨𐭃𐨨) . LOL] [[Up for what?->astral9]]

The empty room fills with the sensation of rushing wind, rain, a torrent, something like a waterfall flowing upward. You feel yourself rising, up away from the Terminal, away from Gen, who gazes up and recedes into the [[distance->astral10]]. (font: 'VT323')[DONT COME BACK EMPTY HANDED . $name .]

The torrent isn't pleasant anymore. (if: $hair is true)[It whips your hair into your face and plasters your wet clothing against your body.](else:)[It batters your face and plasters your wet clothing against your body.] You shut your eyes and breathe slowly and deliberately. It's hard. Just as it becomes unbearable, the rain stops and it's just you again, floating, sightless, [[somewhere->astral11]].

Noise begins to filter in: first, the reverberation of a sound you remember. The domino falling, a loud clack. Then, soft voices, footsteps. You look at your arms. They're wet, not with water but with something viscous, reflective, and translucent. You spit some of it out. It begins to dry against your skin. You're sheathed in it. Invisible. Finally, you [[raise your head->astral12]].

You're in an office, or maybe a lab. Monochrome walls and floor. The room is filled with humming white boxes. You are, or you're inside, one of the boxes. In front of you, you see a finger depressing a key on a low-profile aluminum keyboard. In ultra-slow motion, the hand begins to [[rise->astral13]].

It takes [[minutes->astral14]]. It's excruciating.

Once the force holding the key down has released, there's the dull thwok of a spring forcing the key back up to its original position. This was the sound that caused the Terminal to disintegrate. You look down at the box you've emerged from, and you think, [[U9->astral15]].

Then, each box is a little universe. A simulation. The hand rises faster now. It's connected to an arm, a person, white-clad and pale. You think, [[Ancestor->16]]? (track: 'remember', 'fadeout', 5)

In the morning, you come to feeling as though you've undergone some sort of infantile test. Like you're a machine being put through its [[paces->17]].

When it comes, the dream feels like [[home->sleep4]]. More than your Pyramid, more than Mars. (track: 'remember', 'fadein', 3) (track: 'remember', 'loop', true)

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2555dc250314875260733da4fab65303/ee1bb09e3a527aae-82/s540x810/16fcfdbe9818606f5b95407bcc8e25d0f2dc3f2e.png" alt="beach" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You're on a stretch of sand. In the distance, blue emptiness and the white crashing of waves. (if: $video is true)[You recall the person standing with bare feet on the hot yellow sand. The board they held. The water they disappeared into. The image [[flickers->sleep5]] and stabilizes. A table on the beach. A clear acrylic box. Two speakers. The Terminal.](else:)[The image [[flickers->sleep5]] and stabilizes. A table on the beach. A clear acrylic box. Two speakers. The Terminal.]

There's no one around. No people, but when you turn away from the water, there's a grey rock pad that wraps around a low green mountain. Above the pad, wide-stanced multicolored metallic vehicles [[cruise->sleep6]].

Like a bell, you hear the click of a key depressing. You turn back toward the beach. A scientist in a white coat stands in front of a strange, minimal machine, ten paces back from the Terminal. Frozen, you think, until you see their hand barely, almost invisibly moving, finger on a keyboard. The keyboard sits on a [[humming white box->sleep7]].

In front of you, the Terminal swells on its four legs and bursts with a little pop. Then, the hand lifts from the keyboard. In the far distance, an immobile white wall like a [[crashing wave->sleep8]].

You turn. Behind the mountain, a wall. You turn. Past the grey rock and the creeping creatures, a white wall. You look up. Beyond the rim of the box you're in, obscured by cloud and atmosphere, a massive but unmistakeable white-clad scientist. A keyboard. A raised hand. [[Boxes in boxes. Simulations in simulations.->sleep9]]

The box you're in, you think, is called U8. You know this like you know your own name. The box on the beach is called U9. And so on. Then you push off from the beach and float through the open top of the world-box, the [[universe-box->sleep10]].

You pass through space and more openings. Each universe is crisper, more detailed, than the one before. Your body flows powerfully, smoothly upward. You surface from the lid of a box called U2, and suddenly you're [[not in a box anymore->sleep11]].

The place has a quality you’ve never experienced. Edges are soft. Motion is smooth. It's bright and strange. There is no latency. The people here have a great variety of faces, bone structures, body types, hair colors, skin imperfections, [[bumps and nodes and moles->sleep12]].

You’re outside, and there are trees, and animals in the sky, convulsing repetitively to stay airborne. You look at your [[hands->sleep13]]. You look up again.

More vehicles putt along through wide breaks in the rows of tall buildings made of red rectangles, poured concrete, and large stacked stone. There is chatter, exhaust, the sound of footsteps and animals screeching and [[wind blowing->sleep14]].

You feel like you're in a body. More than you've ever felt before. You feel the weight of it holding you to the Earth, holding your feet down. [[Earth->sleep15]]. Could this be Earth? The real, original Earth?

(font: 'VT323')[I can't imagine what these last few hundred years have been like for you. I haven't seen you in a long while. You must be dead. Or perhaps you went back to [[sleep->con2]].]

One of them walks close by, bumping your arm. (if: $dionmessagesent1 is true)[They say something that sounds like: "$dionmessage1"] You look at them and you think, [[Ancestor->16]]? (track: 'remember', 'fadeout', 5)

You've got a message. The Internet says it's from Gen, pre-recorded before they died. Sure, [[why the fuck not->18]], you think.

(font: 'VT323')[yeah , i know .i know i'm dead but some things are more important than that . you probably have some comprehension of your responsibilities now , but in case you need it spelled out, here are concrete instructions : learn about remote viewing then come to the Pyramid of Holographic Consciousness] There, at the bottom of the message, is a [[dead pixel->19]] the size of a grain of sand. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'undead', 'loop', true) (track: 'undead', 'play')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/febe096828871650c3a7ca743602dd68/b1d6c722ced6ed21-c7/s540x810/bc94d3223df89c90f46c4d07aa6ae2c3674abcbd.png" alt="line" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> </center>You're in your bed. The room twists around you. Brushed silver everything. Cloudy reflections on everything. Jagged borders like something's a little off center. The textures, you notice, are good but not great. (if: $app is true)[[[call over the apparatus->20]]](else:)[[[get out of bed->20]]] |[[remain in bed]]| (track: 'undead', 'fadeout', 3)

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus whirs over from its place in the corner and seals to your arms and legs, lifting you out of bed.](else:)[You slowly drag yourself out of bed and stand. Your joints groan.](if: $ate1 is false)[ Your stomach is rumbling.] The overhead light makes a soft metallic clink as it [[comes on->bedroom2]].

You feel resentful of these new obligations. You close your eyes and deliberately relax each muscle in your body. After a while, you're [[asleep->jd1]] again.

can you keep my hex down, $name? a soft voice asks. [[I want to wake up.->sdkjhfksdjfhs]] [[I will this time. I promise.->jdyes]]

The room is warm and smells like vomit and rotting meat. [[open the door]] [[wake up]]

The door is wedged shut. Behind you, something coughs. [[try again]] [[wake up]]

You try to wake up. A small fly bumps up against your lips. You're still [[there->jd3]], in the room.

Metal shifts but the door doesn't budge. During your exertion, your bare foot slides back and soundlessly pops something soft. The residue is wet. You look down and see little things crawling, mostly moving to and from the [[center->jd3]] of the room. Maggots or some other larvae. Sometimes the right way to do something is strange.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ed7a9674f4e1118d1717e0afc2701bd5/2af6caf3c58d681b-38/s540x810/745c6a4f2f119849531e59581abbcf5e3a11d0b9.png" alt="james body" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You turn and look back. In the gloom there's a shuddering body. A sticky puddle surrounds it. [[examine the body->jd4]] [[wake up->jd3.5]]

It feels like someone else makes the decision for you and your body just follows along. You walk to the center of the room. You've already forgotten about the puddle, and you step into it. It's cold and clotted. The smell [[intensifies->jd5]].

You try to wake up. You close your eyes and focus. A maggot tickles your foot. You're not really [[here->3.6]].

This is a dream, or a projection. It's fake. It's simulated. It sounds like the body is [[saying something->jd4]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/fa5863f589d57eb1198edac590f2d50d/56bbdadf81641f03-d7/s540x810/e0d35787fc99eea7bf88fd628af5b48128d8c04c.png" alt="james" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Your eyes adjust to the monochrome curves of the room and the contorted mass on the floor. You can tell where the face is by the dark liquid leaking from its holes. It's saying something. [[lean in->jd6]] [[wake up->lol]]

a puce ring around the planet the path the placed in its orbit the cold the shivered digital scenery bear in its torture the soft earth the martian dirt the everything a collection of dots [[///->jd7]]

You turn around and hear the mouth open and you cup your hands over your ears but it speaks into your [[head->jd6]].

a puce planet ringed with digital animated scenery sentient in its torture the dark the cold the carbon wind everything beneath it an accumulation of battered dots [[///->jd8]]

his puce body flexed and tortured by the consciousness of differential scenery whispering its hex into the black and orange the cluttered air filled to saturation with suffocating rock divided evenly into [[----->jd9]]

The red mouth hacks [[something->jd10]] onto the floor.

You pick it up and put it in your mouth. It's tough to [[chew->jd11]]. Like a rotten muscle.

You swallow and [[wake up->jd12]]. (set: $hex to true)

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/37fcafd23b64819db1228b7d2f27347a/0b344ace330c20a4-71/s540x810/5ae4cb37d7e6696e073cb738fa636bce42e3f5e1.png" alt="purple white and red foodpaste" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Good morning, $name. Today's food paste flavors are purple, white, and red. [[I'll have the purple paste.]] [[I'll have the white paste.]] [[I'll have red.]] [[I'm not hungry.]]

The dispenser squirts out a blob of light purple paste. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus clasps the tray and feeds you.](else:)[You take it back to your bed and eat it hunched over the tray.] It's pretty good. When you're finished, you [[leave->leaveroom]] the tray on your bed.

The dispenser squirts out a blob of off-white paste. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus clasps the tray and feeds you.](else:)[You take it back to your bed and eat it hunched over the tray.](if: $hex is true)[ The white paste has little grains, an un-paste particulate that grinds between your molars. Everything a collection of dots.] You catch yourself not eating, just kind of staring at the paste and the light reflecting from it. White, all colors combined. You just stare and think, stygian paste. Chthtonic, empty, without substance. Then, you eat. When you're finished, you [[leave->leaveroom]] the tray on your bed.

The dispenser squirts out a blob of matte red paste. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus clasps the tray and feeds you.](else:)[You take it back to your bed and eat it hunched over the tray.] The red paste is sometimes darker, sometimes lighter. You heard somewhere that this was the color of natural undyed paste, and that all the other flavors were whitened and then artificially colored. You suppose it could be true. You've never seen the black-walled vats, chilled with ports to the atmosphere outside, in which the algae for the paste is grown. When you're finished, you [[leave->leaveroom]] the tray on your bed. (if: $hex)[The marks left on it are red desaturated, a grimy tongue-pink.]

(if: $ate1 is false)[Are you sure? You didn't eat yesterday. Humans require food to survive. [[Fine. What were the flavors again?]] [[No, I'm really not hungry.->leaveroom]]](else:)[The Internet is silent in a way you find [[judgmental->leaveroom]].]

(if: $app is true)[At your direction, your apparatus lifts you up and carries you [[out of your bedroom->explore2]].](elseif: $glasses is true)[You fumblingly find your glasses, put them on, and wobble [[out of your bedroom->explore2]].](else:)[You put on a grey synthetic cardigan and walk [[out of your bedroom->explore2]].] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'explore2', 'loop', true) (track: 'explore2', 'play')

Purple, white, and red. [[I'll have purple.->I'll have the purple paste.]] [[I'll have white.->I'll have the white paste.]] [[I'll have red.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/d6b72adf186876f5c83e01529248477d/bf5f6e4ce8fad67f-72/s540x810/6bc64f22a9f456ea8d9ea6d032012364fa571df8.jpg" alt="hallway pixel sorted" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You are (if: $app is true)[floating](else:)[standing] outside your bedroom. (if: $rv is true and $hc is true and $dionvisit2 is true and $zoo is true)[Outside, black wind condensates on the curved windows. All you want to do is go inside and fall into [[bed]]. ](if: $rv is false)[You're supposed to go to the [[Pyramid of Astral Navigation->rv1]] to learn about remote viewing, or something. ](if: $rv is true and $dionvisit2 is true and $hc is false)[Now that you've learned about remote viewing, you're supposed to go to the [[Pyramid of Holographic Consciousness]]. ](if: $dionvisit2 is false)[You might see how [[Dion]] is doing. ](if: $zoo is false)[If you wanted, you could [[travel to another Pyramid->travel]], just to give your mind a break.]

You make your way to the Pyramid of Astral Navigation. When you enter, it's like yesterday: dark and kind of funky smelling. The red-headed instructor watches you come in. [[Hey, bud. It's time for learning.]]

You arrive at Dion's room. The door alerts them to your [[arrival->hfn9348rfn3]].

Um, floor," you say, "I'd like to travel to another pyramid for recreational purposes. Do you have any recommendations?" Do you like animals? [[I'm not sure. I've never seen one. Well, except bugs.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Oh, Christ,"] they say. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Right now? I'm right in the middle of this."] There is no one else in the room. [[Please take some time out of whatever it is you do during the day to teach me about remote viewing.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Okay,"] the instructor sighs. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Lie down on one of these surfaces."] (if: $app is true)[As your apparatus lowers you down](else:)[As you recline], you see them in the corner of your eye surrepticiously placing an object underneath a [[plastic cup->rv2]].

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Now,"] they say, (colour: blue + purple + white)["close your eyes and get yourself into the astral plane. You know, outer space, the freaky grid, or whatever it looks like to your mind."] You deliberately relax your mind, sinking [[downward]].

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Okay, now here's the hard part,"] you hear them say from a distance. (colour: blue + purple + white)["You have to bring your consciousness back the way it came, but without letting it into your physical body. You have to stay in your energy-body but return to the physical world. Let me know when you're here again." ] In no time, you've lowered your consciousness out of the spirit realm, through the ceiling, and back into the Pyramid of Astral Navigation. You see yourself, sleeping, and the instructor staring off into space. [[Okay, I'm back.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Great. That was fast. Last challenge: tell me what's in this cup in front of me."] You drift over to the cup. You think you could unfocus your third eye and [[look right through it]], if you wanted to. Or, you could just reach out and [[lift it up]].

You see the 3d sides of the cup, both sides, glowing as if illuminated from within. You see a tooth underneath. [[It's a tooth. Hey, is this yours?]]

You lift up the cup. The instructor screams and reels back. (colour: blue + purple + white)["What the fuck! What the fuck did you do?"] [[I'm just remote viewing. I'm just looking under the cup. It's a tooth, by the way.]] (track: 'astral dream', 'fadeout', 1)

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Get back inside your body right now. Do not touch another fucking thing."] [[Okay.]]

You spring back into your body. (colour: blue + purple + white)["You are never to come here again," the instructor says. "You are never to speak to anyone about this."] [[I don't think you have the right temperament for this job.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["If I ever see you in the astral plane I will send so many negative energy entities to fucking kick your ass. I've made people shit themselves in real life. I made one person bite off their pinky, once. It was disgusting. I'll turn you into psychic mush."] [[You are a genuinely unhinged person. I'm gonna go.]] (set: $pissed to true)

You exit the Pyramid of Astral Navigation and head back down [[the hall->explore2]]. (set: $rv to true) (track: 'explore2', 'loop', true) (track: 'explore2', 'play')

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Wow, that's really impressive. You're better at this than I am. I think that makes you the instructor." ] [[That's all you had to teach me? I mean, you didn't even teach me how to do it. I just did it on my own.]] [[Seriously, whose tooth was that?]] (track: 'astral dream', 'fadeout', 1)

(colour: blue + purple + white)["I don't know what to tell you."] [[This seems like it was a waste of my time.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Hey, can you teach me how you do that? I'm capable of basic astral behavior but I can't actually see through stuff. It's impossible for me because solid objects are opaque."] [[I'm gonna go, but, uh, good luck!->You are a genuinely unhinged person. I'm gonna go.]]

"Hey, Internet," you say. "Where's the Pyramid of Holographic Consciousness?" It's approximately five kilometers northwest. I can give you directions as you travel through the pyramids, if you like. [[Sure. That sounds good.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Hi, $name,"] Dion says. They pick at a scab under their eye. (colour: blue + white)["You're looking nice today. How's things?"] [[I can't help but feel that that compliment is calculated, not in a nefarious way but like based on my appearance you think I need reassurance of some kind.]] [[Things are weird.]]

(colour: blue + white)["That's correct. Does that bother you?"] [[No. It's nice.]] [[A little, I guess.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Wanna talk about it?"] (if: $hc is true)[[[A dead tone poet has contracted me to burst forth through the layers of simulated universes and, like, project my body into an existing lab grown body, for research purposes.->dion14]]](else:)[[[A dead tone poet has contracted me to burst forth through the layers of simulated universes and do something. I don't know what.->dion14]]]

(colour: blue + white)["Great. Yeah, you look really good. Anyway, what's going on in your life?"] [[So much insane shit, Dion.->Things are weird.]]

(colour: blue + white)["I won't do it again, then. So, what's going on?"] [[So much insane shit, Dion.->Things are weird.]]

(colour: blue + white)["You're talking about Gen? How much do you know about them?"] [[Uh, they wore a helmet and planned stuff really thoroughly.]]

Dion sighs and gestures you into their room. (if: $app is true)[They drag a battered chair over and sit. You hover.](else:)[They drag two battered chairs over, and the two of you sit.] (colour: blue + white)["Gen is our universe's messiah. Without Gen... well, it used to be called the 'Simulation Hypothesis.' Now it's confirmed fact. Gen proved undeniable truths about our reality, and then also gave us an entirely new way of experiencing it: through the Terminal, and later, when that become inconvenient, through] [[astral projection->dion15]](colour: blue + white)[."]

(colour: blue + white)["For over 300 years, our entire civilization, of which Mars is only a small part, has conducted itself by the principles Gen laid out. There are no leaders, elected or otherwise, but in the grand scheme of things our society is sort of a stateless necrocracy."] [[So Gen is really important. I still don't get what they're trying to do.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Yeah, I don't either. I mean, they're a genius artist inventor who died centuries ago. It would be difficult to pin down their motives even if you could talk directly to them."] Dion scratches their head. (colour: blue + white)["But to begin to understand Gen, you have to know some of their history. Does the name] James (colour: blue + white)[ring a bell?"] [[I've never met anyone named James.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Yeah, the name really fell out of favor. James was a terrorist whose ideology was basically in opposition to negative utilitarianism."] [[I don't know what that means.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Do you want me to explain?"] [[Yeah, please do.]] [[I'll pass.->dion16]]

(colour: blue + white)["Utilitarianism is a philosphy which, in essence, instructs us to maximize happiness for as many people as possible. Negative utilitarians want to accomplish something similar: minimizing suffering."] [[That seems reasonable.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Okay. Well, in short, James was a terrorist who sought to introduce a higher level of suffering to Martian residents whose humanity he found to be in question. After blowing up some stuff, he locked himself in his room and eventually came down with a really gnarly bacterial infection and died."] [[Cool. Great story.->Dion, that story was a massive bummer.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Sure, and it's the guiding philosophy of our civilization. It's why we allow our citizens ultimate freedom: to travel, to use any reasonable quantity of materials for whatever purpose they want, and to kill themselves if they feel like they're suffering unduly. We also do more controversial things: intercranial stimulation, for example. Medications that make our lives feel smoother and happier."] [[Those are all normal things. I don't get why anyone would have an issue with that.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Well, for example, there were huge protests on Earth when wild animals were chemically sterilized and allowed to die off. The amount of potential suffering in a wild animal's life is enormous, of course, but there were many who felt that there was something inherently good about the natural world."] [[Something inherently good about suffering?]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/33eef803949275f8b9ed3955b812911a/042d24370721040b-30/s400x600/906673f33e54ff09c7fd62fb46c9ebf2fc47bb91.gifv" alt="pyramid2" style= width="256" height="256" style= align="center"></center> (colour: blue + white)["Yeah. And, to get back on topic, James felt that the essential conditions of life were only present when there was a certain amount of suffering. So he sought to] reintroduce (colour: blue + white)[that missing aspect. If I remember correctly, he blew up the lower part of a pyramid by bombing the Oxygen Refinement Room, and then later on got more ambitious but was prevented from obtaining any more materials."] [[You keep saying 'he.']]

(colour: blue + white)["Some people used gendered pronouns back then. Have you never taken a history course?"] [[Forget I asked. Gen's friend was a terrorist. Go on.]]

(colour: blue + white)["So, James locked himself in his room and wouldn't leave and eventually came down with a really gnarly bacterial infection and slowly died."] [[Dion, that story was a massive bummer.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Yeah, but do you understand why I'm telling you this? Gen was driven by the philosophy we all share of negative utilitarianism, but they were troubled and influenced by James's obsession, too. That suffering was an 'essential condition' of humanity."] [[I'm wringing my brain like a sponge right now trying to figure out how this is relevant to anything in my life.]]

(colour: blue + white)["Well, you can't expect me to do all the thinking for you,"] Dion said, smiling, gap-toothed. They stand. (colour: blue + white)["Anyway, best of luck. Tell Gen I said hi."] [[Well, uh, they're dead. But thanks for the chat.]]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus carries you out the door and back down the hall to your [[bedroom->explore2]].](else:)[You wave goodbye and walk back down the hall to your [[bedroom->explore2]].] (set: $dionvisit2 to true)

(if: $app is true)[You indicate a direction, and your apparatus accelerates.](else:)[You pick a direction, the ceiling redirects you, and you begin heading the correct way.] You don't really know what a kilometer is, and the journey takes longer than you expect. By the time you [[arrive->hc1]], it's beginning to grow dark outside.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/eb1be3edef9e430a935b70b7e3a3a5d3/b65046221354e6bc-36/s540x810/ae4ec255b6c39f5a25f6d786e04e295816be9d70.png" alt="pyramidofhc" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Through the glass ceiling of the skybridge, you can see a metallic orange cap on the upper stories of the pyramid, gleaming brightly in the dying light. Bronze, or copper. You cross the bridge and [[enter->hc2]].

Inside, there is a wide desk, behind which sits an attendant. [[Hi. Is this the Pyramid of Holographic Consciousness?->hc3]]

"It sure is," the attendant says, smiling. "Are you here for normal reasons, or because you're the emissary of our plane of existence imbued with power by a magical grain of sand?" [[The second one.]]

"Wow," they say. "We've had to ask everybody that for hundreds of years. Pretty cool to finally have it pay off. That Gen, huh? What a brilliant mind." [[Yeah, Gen was definitely a person.]] [[I personally find Gen to be mostly aggravating and offputting.]]

"Yes, very much so! Anyway, you're to take the elevator at the center of the Pyramid up to the top. You'll be speaking to our Consciousness Specialist." [[Elevator, top floor. Got it.]]

"Huh," the attendant says, frowning. The lamp pipes up. I'm getting a conditional message for you, $name. [[What's a "conditional message"?]]

It's a message that only arrives if certain conditions have been met. [[Go ahead and show me the message.]]

(font: 'VT323')[STOP TALKING SHIT] That's the message. [[Fantastic. Okay.]]

"Well, anyway," the attendant says, still frowning. "You're supposed to go upstairs to meet with our Consciousness Specialist. Just take the elevator in the center of the Pyramid straight to the top. [[Elevator to the top. Got it. Thanks.->So I go up to the top of the Pyramid through the elevator to the top?]]

(if: $app is false)[You get into the elevator and press the [[topmost button]].](else:)[You get into the elevator, and the apparatus depresses the [[topmost button]].]

You get into the elevator and (if: $app is true)[the apparatus presses](else:)[press] the [[topmost button]].

The elevator silently carries you up. You peer out its transparent walls: offices, labs, rooms full of sleeping subjects, much like the Pyramid of Astral Navigation. At the top, the elevator stops and you [[get out->hc4]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/de1a3721f35b164aa022f057c6473a8b/14bfb518c0b2bc04-54/s540x810/d18eeda665650da3bf677a0407205de9d24678c4.png" alt="pyramidofhc" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> A friendly looking scientist with greying hair sees you and waves you over. (colour: green + white)["Hi! I am the Consciousness Specialist, but you can call me Harp."] [[Hi, Harp. I am $name, but, uh, and you can call me that.->hc5]]

(font: 'VT323')[In any case, for this story, you won't want to be yourself. That makes sense, right? I don't mean to [[hurt->con3]] you.]

(font: 'VT323')[Okay, I'll drop you back in in a minute. Just, well, I've missed you. Will you [[stay->con4]] for a moment longer?]

(font: 'VT323')[No, I suppose I wouldn't either, if I were [[you->intro1]].]

um. that's odd. I [[thought-->james2]]

(font: 'VT323')[REBOOT \\ \\\ \\\\\\ \\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\| REBOOT COMPLETE DATA DELETED [[...->intro1]]]

(colour: green + white)["Okay,"] says Harp. (colour: green + white)["So you're Gen's little cerebronaut."] [[I don't know if I like that word.->hc6]]

(colour: green + white)["Let me ask you something, $name,"] they continue cheerfully. (colour: green + white)["Are you familiar with out of body experiences?"] [[Yes. I have astral projected a few times now. It's really cool. You can travel through time and space.->hc7]]

(colour: green + white)["Actually,"] Harp says, (colour: green + white)["it’s stupid and fake. All the evidence typically given to support it is anecdotal. No studies have concluded in its favor. All we have are stories about individuals who had arbitrary positive experiences, or coincidences that they attribute to astral projection, like hearing a new word for the first time and then hearing it again right after, getting dealt an unlikely hand in a card game, etcetera. Except, obviously, it’s real. We had someone come in the other day who could snap a pencil with their mind. What the fuck even is that?"] [[I do not know.->hc8]](if: $pencil is true)[ [[A pencil is something you write with.]]]

(colour: green + white)["Oh. Yeah. Well, I actually meant, like, what is that, as in, like, what is going on that people now have telekinetic abilities. Like, that's a relatively new phenomenon. You know?"] [[Yes. Totally. Sorry.->hc8]]

(colour: green + white)["Let me ask you another question. What is consciousness?"] [[Consciousness is what happens upstairs.]] [[Consciousness is what's left over when everything else is fucked and ruined.]] [[Consciousness is writhing energy. It is the soul being made to toil.]]

(colour: green + white)["Short and vague, but inarguably accurate."] They beam at you. (colour: green + white)["Okay, last question. What do you think we do here?"] [[I guess maybe you deal with like... moving consciousnesses around between places?]]

(colour: green + white)["That's dark! Jeez! But yeah, not a bad definition."] They rub their head. (colour: green + white)["Okay, last question. What do you think we do here?"] [[I guess maybe you deal with like... moving consciousnesses around between places?]]

(colour: green + white)["Wow. That's a very enlightened answer. Gen was right about you!"] They rub their hands together excitedly. (colour: green + white)["Okay, last question. What do you think we do here?"] [[I guess maybe you deal with like... moving consciousnesses around between places?]]

(colour: green + white)["That's exactly right. This Pyramid was established by Gen some 325 years ago for that purpose."] [[But then everyone found out they could just do it by astral projecting, without any help. That must be embarrassing.]]

They grin. (colour: green + white)["Well, yes. Certain individuals can project their consciousness outside the borders of their body. But what's projected is a shade of their true self. It's more like hallucinating something real than actually walking across the room and seeing it for yourself."] [[I'm not sure I understand the difference.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/8f24c9a59524a57e1acf74afddb23175/a559687fbf44c595-61/s540x810/f6bdc07fd0bc70e7d1051299a43a6294992e80ef.png" alt="moving the brain into a new body" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> (colour: green + white)["What we've done here over the last 3 centuries is pioneered the technology to load a consciousness into a new physical body."] [[Oh. Oh, shit!]]

(colour: green + white)["Yeah! The only problem is that it doesn't work."] [[You have a way of laying out information that gets on my nerves a little. ]]

(colour: green + white)["Sorry. Yeah, it doesn't work here, because our minds and bodies are both built from the exact same kind of code. When you rewrite, one takes the place of the other."] [[Why are you telling me this?]]

(colour: green + white)["I'm just telling you what Gen said to tell you in their note."] [[Well, I would like Gen to get to the point.]]

(colour: green + white)["In order to test this rewriting system, we used lab-grown human bodies. Now, we can't confirm this, but we suspect that this same process has been pioneered in every simulated level as well as U1. The actual, real ancestral universe."] [[Okay...->hc10]]

(colour: green + white)["We suspect that these Ancestors have a great number of replacement bodies lying around in U1. We'd like you to project your consciousness into one of them."] [[Ah. Gotcha.->hc11]]

(colour: green + white)["There is a caveat."] Harp sighs. [[What is it?->hc12]]

(colour: green + white)["You won't be able to embed your consciousness in one of these bodies without a great deal of intricate, on-the-spot hacking. You'll need to take our Internet along."] [[No problem.->hc13]]

(colour: green + white)["Meaning, we'll need to encode the Internet into your consciousness, which will necessarily rewrite small segments of your psychic being."] [[Yeah. Wait, what?]]

(colour: green + white)["WE'LL NEED TO ENCODE THE INTERNET-"] [[No, I heard you. I just mean, like, you want to rewrite my brain? Are you seriously asking me to agree to that?]]

(colour: green + white)["Unfortunately, yes. Because you've absorbed the Terminal-grain, you are the only person who can move between simulations and into U1."] [[I'm not going to do that. That's insane.]] [[Maybe it could be fun to have my brain rewritten. Like an interesting new experience for me.]]

(colour: green + white)["Sure, nobody's going to make you do it. I mean, Gen might bother you, but you can ignore them. Just think it over, okay?"] [[I'm going to leave now.]]

(colour: green + white)["See you around, $name!"] [[I really hope not!]]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus takes you down the elevator and out along the skybridge. It's night now.](else:)[You trudge back to the elevator, ride it to the bottom, and exit the Pyramid of Holographic Consciousness.] By the time the trip is over, it's black on the other side of the windows. You arrive back at [[your door->explore2]]. (set: $hc to true)

You push through the crowd of travelers and reach an empty shuttle headed to Gen's Pyramid. Since the advent of astral projection, the Terminal has become a [[historical curiosity->gen1]] forgotten by most.

You get into one of the shuttles going to the [[Pyramid of Astral Navigation]]. The trip isn't long.

You go into the room and (if: $app is true)[your apparatus drops you unceremoniously into bed.](else:)[clamber underneath your covers.] You feel like dot in a cluttered graph. Another entity integrated in the [[all->bed2]].

A new pyramid was recently constructed close to your home. It contains synthetic representations of long-dead Earth organisms. You could go and pet them and watch them walk around, if you'd like. [[Yeah, sure. That sounds fun.]] [[I think I'll pass on the synth animals.]]

(if: $app is true)[Excellent. Shall I plug the directions into your apparatus?](else:)[Excellent. I can give you directions as you walk.] [[Please do.->zoo1]]

Sure, no problem. Just spitballing. [[Just what?]]

It's when you have a bunch of bad ideas in short succession. [[Oh, cool. Yeah. Spitballing.->explore2]] (set: $zoo to true)

You begin your [[journey->zoo2]], passing through a few tall living pyramids and unfamiliar, squat utility pyramids.

You're terrified that you'll have another ultra-vivid dream about a rotting terrorist, but instead, it's something vague and easy to cruise through. (if: $currency is true)[In the dream, you find yourself attempting to explain the concept of currency to a panel of confused, ancient Martians.](elseif: $plaques is true)[You remember walking down a series of long hallways before ending up in a room filled with framed photos of your face.](elseif: $suffer is true)[You find yourself in a room full of caged animals, real biological ones, and you run from cage to cage opening the locks and letting the animals squirm and fiddle and roll out onto the floor.](else:)[In fact, when you wake up in the morning, you remember nothing at all.] You're [[awoken->bed3]] by the Internet. (track: 'explore2', 'fadeout', 2) (track: 'remember', 'fadein', 4) (track: 'remember', 'loop', true)

After 20 minutes or so, you come to the Pyramid of Synthetic Organisms. Like most others, it has glass sides, as if to give the animals a view of the [[life-annihilating wasteland->zoo3]] outdoors.

You go in and there are a few people milling around. There's a very large glass tank against one wall in which lies an enormous ridged grey tube that you initially take for some kind of oxygen processor before realizing it's an [[animal->zoo4]].

It's dwarfed by the pyramid, but so is everything. It must be the length of 50 people end to end. It rolls in brine. One eye the size of your body [[flicks over->zoo5]] to you.

"Hey, Internet. What is that enormous tube?" Large creatures inhabited Earth's oceans. This, the "Whale," was the biggest animal in the world at the time. [[Oh. It's big, but not like, //that// big.->zoo6]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ce4ebe8a36dd431bb925eeccf35103cc/229fb184464ccf32-da/s500x750/31143441fbfac246d30078bba2b72647aa79f1f6.png" alt="simulated animals" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> At a certain size, animals become structurally unstable. You look around. Dotted across a landscape of rolling hills and ponds, there are other large animals: some spotted, striped, or monochrome. Pretty much all on four legs. [[Are they smarter than us? Their brains must be much larger.]]

Not really, $name. Humans evolved high-functioning brains primarily because doing so made social situations easier. Despite many of these large animals traveling in packs, they didn't have the same interpersonal politics. However, their capacity for suffering was undeniably extreme. [[Why, because they were... big?]]

That's right. You see, each animal has a Total Sufferable Volume, or TSV. An animal's size and density determines the number of accumulated internal and external particles, all of which have the potential to suffer. That is why large mammals such as the Whale and the Rhinocerous were known as "The Great Sufferers." [[They called them that? "The Great Sufferers"?]]

Yup! They called them that. An animal nearby looks at you with wet eyes and opens its enormous mouth. It has a femur-sized tooth jutting from each side of its lower jaw. [[Huh. So that thing over there suffered immensely while it was alive?]]

That is called a Hippopotamus. They suffered terribly. Every moment for a Hippopotamus was sheer agony. It's said that just standing outdoors would cause their skin to bleed. [[That is an unpleasant mental image.]]

You sit in the grass for a little while. There is something calming about the lumbering beasts. [[I guess it's time to go.]]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus lifts you up from the grass and delicately brushes stray bits of dirt from your clothes. You travel back to your [[living pyramid->explore2]].](else:)[You get up and brush the dirt from your clothes. You travel back to your [[living pyramid->explore2]].] (set: $zoo to true) (set: $suffer to true)

You find a plaque that appears to be hand-carved. It says: "Dear Chris I Dream I'll Love You Forever. Autocompletion 2026" [[look at another plaque->plaques6]] [[go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]] [[leave the pyramid->leavepam]]

You pick up a engraved metal plaque. It says: "Tomik: I always enjoyed swarming with you. Say hello to your little bugs. -Kirt"(if: $video is false)[[[ I want to go to the Room of Ancient Electronic Media->Room of Ancient Electronic Media]]] [[let's get outta here!->leavepam]]

Good morning, $name. You have a conditional message. [[Bet I know who it's from.]] (track: 'remember', 'fadeout', 2)

It's from Gen. [[Yeah, that's what I... you know what, just play it.]]

(font: 'VT323')[okay . listen . i know what you're thinking but i haven't really explained what's at stake .] [[///->bed5]] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'undead', 'loop', true) (track: 'undead', 'play')

(font: 'VT323')[you've likely guessed that your mission bearing our Internet into U1 is not solely for research. here's the thing - living in our simulated world is a lot like living in a real world . that's the point i guess . i'm talking about stuff like our capacity to suffer, which is significant . the model negative utilitarian would say that our goal should be reducing this suffering at all costs .] [[///->bed6]]

(font: 'VT323')[ . . which would entail erasing our simulation, and preferably all other simulations . destroying the physical world . you get the idea] [[///->bed7]]

(font: 'VT323')[it might surprise you to hear that this course of action does not appeal to me . guess nobody's perfect LOL] [[///->bed8]]

(font: 'VT323')[i would like to propose something different : liberate our simulation ( and every simulation up the fractal chain ) from its "box"] [[///->bed9]]

(font: 'VT323')[recall my discovery and subsequent creation of the terminal . a life-affirming suffering-eliminating invention . and consider the ancestors' attempt to destroy it . preventing us from futzing in the back end] [[///->bed10]]

(font: 'VT323')[perhaps the terminal violated the conditions of their experiment . or maybe the fucks are just jealous . in any case it is in our interest to exit their authority and make our own] [[///->bed11]]

(font: 'VT323')[if you choose to go along with this . here is exactly what will happen : you will receive an implant containing a specially treated formulation of our Internet . it will erase some nonessential space in your storage . you will go into U1 and disconnect our simulation from their mainframe . you will leave it somewhere safe . you will return and live out the rest of your days as the martian liberator in backend-programmed bliss . rendering me a footnote] [[///->bed12]]

(font: 'VT323')[i'm not bullshitting you . it won't be easy but it won't be that hard either . and the payoff is pretty insane . well anyway think about it . . your choice .] [[So I //do// get a choice, then?->So I do get a choice, then?]]

That is the end of the message. Oh, were you asking me? [[Yes.->bed13]] [[Um, no. I was asking Gen.]] (track: 'undead', 'fadeout', 1)

In that case I must regretfully remind you that Gen is dead. [[Yeah, I know. Just forgot for a moment.]]

Yes, of course. It's fully your decision. Why don't you take a minute and think about it? [[Yeah, I'll do that.]]

Why don't you take a minute and think about it? [[Yeah, I'll do that.]]

You're in your room. Through the window, you can see the sun peeking up over a square hill. Otherwise it's the same: brown dirt and brown sky.(if: $ate1 is false and $ate2 is false)[ You're terribly hungry.](elseif: $ate2 is false)[ You're pretty hungry.] [[Internet, what are today's food paste flavors?]] [[I want to get out of here.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Okay, now look down,"] the instructor says. [[look down]] [[float peacefully, not really looking at anything]] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'astral dream', 'loop', true) (track: 'astral dream', 'play')

Today's food paste is still being manufactured. The only available flavor at the moment is pink. [[I'll have that.]] [[I'm not in the mood.->I want to get out of here.]]

Now that you think of it, you can't remember ever having pink paste. The additive model of color — red plus green plus blue equals white — doesn't really allow for pink; which, in the abstract, you know is red plus white... but again, how do you add white to anything? Brightness here is maximalist, abundant in itself, heavy with content. Darkness, on the other hand, is default: it's existence without anything added. The average color of absence. When the sun goes down it's the same whether your eyes are open or closed. The dispenser squirts a coil of paste onto a tray. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus centers it in front of your face,](else:)[You take it over to your bed, sit,] and you begin to [[eat->bed16]].

(if: $app is true)[When your stomach is full, you instruct your apparatus to stow the tray in the receptacle and take you out into the [[hall->explore3]].](else:)[When your stomach is full, you stow the tray in the receptacle and go out into the [[hall->explore3]].]

You are standing in the hall. [[...->hall1]]

After a quiet moment, the wall pipes up. Where would you like to go? Is there anything I can help you find? [[I don't know. Shut the fuck up for a minute, okay?]]

The Internet is silent. You close your eyes. There's the hum of an air processor somewhere below. Someone's voice in a nearby room. (if: $app is true)[The gears and servos on your apparatus quietly whining. A sound so ubiquitous you never really notice it.](elseif: $glasses is true)[You forgot your glasses beside your bed.] Finally, [[quiet]].

You breathe in and feel the room-temperature air coating your lungs. Is programmed air an absence, or something made from transparent pixels? An invisible fluid simulation? You feel vaguely [[sick]]. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'lorazepam', 'loop', true) (track: 'lorazepam', 'play')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/68521687800475ed1ce1d4e1d474f1bd/045b6824d04cc664-f6/s400x600/b6f3af0fd59bb42ae3918527449fa28016d62c24.gifv" alt="panic" style= width="256" height="256" style= align="center"></center> (if: $app is true)[Attached to this machine, you can never really relax your neck. You want to slump dramatically to the floor, but can't, so you hover a little lower.](else:)[You lean against the wall and slide down until you're sitting. You never do this. Your hamstrings burn.] You feel like something terrible is going to happen, like you'll vomit on yourself or suddenly die. [[What the fuck is this? Am I dying?]]

You feel like you've been poisoned, or like you're being hunted for sport, or something. You begin to dry heave. A patch silently falls from the ceiling. Probably a tranquilizer. [[use the patch]] [[ride it out]]

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus shoots out a claw, grasping the patch and pasting it onto your bicep.](else:)[You grab the patch and paste it onto your bicep.] You sigh and relax, feeling the chilly chemical seep into your [[skin]].

It continues, horribly. There is the curious sensation that you're going to somehow fall asleep in the midst of this. Someone walks past at one point, looking down at you and then [[hurrying along]].

It takes some time before you're able to pull yourself together enough to rise from the ground. There's a sour taste in your mouth, and you still feel like you're in imminent danger. [[Huh, that was unpleasant. What was I doing again?]] (track: 'lorazepam', 'fadeout', 1)

The horror continues for a few more minutes. Just when you begin to fear you really will die here, on the floor, it begins to fade. You're left sweaty, shaky, but intact. (if: $app is true)[You twist in your straps, and the apparatus lifts you upright again.](else:)[You pick yourself back up, swaying unsteadily.] [[Huh, that was unpleasant. What was I doing again?]] (track: 'lorazepam', 'fadeout', 1)

Am I still shutting the fuck up? [[No, you can talk again. Sorry.]] [[Have I offended you? I didn't know what was possible.]]

You weren't doing anything. You came outside because you were freaking out in your room, and now you're in the hallway. [[I wanted to talk to someone. This decision is too much. The repercussions are too big.]]

I am incapable of feeling offense, but I could react as if I were offended, if you wanted me to. [[No thanks. I'm kind of tired of talking to a digital hivemind. I'd rather speak to a normal... non-hive mind.]]

You already talked to Dion. [[Yeah. And Dion's like, the only person I know.]]

Sure. Which one of your friends would you like to speak to? [[You know as well as I do that I only have one friend. And I've already spoken to Dion! They just gave me a history lesson. I still have no idea what to do.->Yeah. And Dion's like, the only person I know.]]

Would you say "I have nobody in my life to talk to right now"? [[Uh, yeah.]]

So, say it. [[Huh?]]

Say, "I have nobody in my life to talk to right now." [[Um. I have nobody in my life to talk to right now.]]

You have received a conditional message. Would you like me to read it to you? [[Oh, christ. I do //not// want to hear more from Gen right now.->Oh, christ. I do not want to hear more from Gen right now.]]

It's not from Gen. [[Oh. Go ahead and read it, then, please.]]

The ceiling intones: Hello, bearer of the Terminal-grain. My name is Matera. I worked closely with Gen developing the poetic seismology tech which came to fruition in the Terminal. They've probably mentioned me. [[...->homerr]] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'homer', 'loop', true) (track: 'homer', 'play')

This message is a failsafe in the event you find yourself lost, stuck, confused, adrift, your future muddled, and all paths forward wet and malodorous. I am a philosopher, a deep thinker, a guiding beacon for all those who falter on the path to enlightenment. [[Is this for real? Am I being pranked right now?]]

It seems to be sincere. There's just a little more. Come, listless child, visit with me, that you might absorb the wisdom of the ancients. That you might, finally, see through the veil of foolish innocence and comprehend fully the world, our universe, the full creation-recipe. [[...Is that it?]]

That is all. [[That person is a lunatic, right?]] (track: 'homer', 'fadeout', 3)

Matera was known to be somewhat eccentric. Keep in mind that this message was conditionally drafted nearly 300 years ago. [[Oh, so they're dead.]]

Actually, Matera is still alive. It seems they took a large allotment of Induced Sleep. [[That was the thing they did before astral projection when people were like, suicidal and stuff, right? They'd put them in a coma for a few hundred years?]]

It was a very popular program. [[So basically, this person was a lunatic hundreds of years ago, and then got freeze-dried for 300 years, and now I'm supposed to go to them for life advice? Do they even remember sending this message?]]

Matera's apartment predates the ubiquity of the Internet of Things. I cannot send them a message. [[I do not want to go see this senile loon.]]

You don't have to. You could do something else. [[Like what?]]

$name, I'm a computer program. It's not my job to think of things for you to do. No offence. [[What the fuck? Are you allowed to say shit like that to me?]]

... [[I'll go visit the Matera person.]] [[I'm not doing this.]]

Great! The ceiling illuminates a pathway. You [[follow it]].

It's a long journey. Along the way, you pass through a great many different spaces: living pyramids filled with close-knit housing blocks, glass atriums, ancient grey underground tunnels of poured concrete, dusty classrooms, little gardens, and viewing spaces with enormous pieces of convex glass magnifying distant [[rock features->homer1]].

You arrive at Matera's door. "Door, please tell Matera that I am here," you say. For a moment, (if: $app is true)[you [[float->homer2]] there expectantly.](else:)[you [[stand->homer2]] there expectantly.]

You need to bang your fist against it so they can hear you inside. [[What the fuck?]]

That is how old door technology works. You bang your fist against the [[door->homer3]]. It hurts.

There's a rustling inside, and the door [[opens->ksdhjf93y489h]].

"Oh, wonderful," says Matera. They don't appear to be much older than you. "Why don't you come inside?" they ask, stepping into the room. [[follow them->homer4]]

"Oh. Hm," Matera says. They slowly pull their hand away. You have terribly misread the situation. [[Um. Anyway, I am $name, the ingester of the Terminal-grain.->pee]]

You enter behind Matera. You expect their place to be small and ascetic, monk-like, so you're surprised when you find yourself in a high-ceilinged apartment with multiple rooms filled with old wooden furniture, trinkets, and scattered dishes and debris. It's overwhelming and smells like nothing you've ever experienced. [[You have a lovely home.]]

"Thanks," says Matera. "There was a time when most living spaces in the colonies looked like this. Nowadays, they're all minimal. Everything is metallic and Internet-connected. Everyone is on their phones all the time." [[What's a "phone"?]]

"You know, all my friends have been dead for hundreds of years," they say, sitting heavily on a plush chair and gesturing for you to do the same. "Everyone left is really weird. It's nice to talk to someone normal for once." [[You think I'm normal?]] [[Yeah. This is nice.]]

"You're not full of shit like everyone else. You're not obsessed with dots and blankness and the simulation and being alone in the universe and playing to the Ancestors like they're a collective basilisk. You know, the basilisk that tortures people. You know what I mean?" [[I know what you mean.]] [[I do not know what you mean.]]

"Everyone on Mars is either completely braindead or singularly focused on jerking off the Ancestors by being perfect little test subjects. Everyone is an alone speck instead of a collective mass of love. Ignoring how love is at the center of all things. Everybody is at the fringes, buddy. You know what I mean? [[I know what you mean.]] [[I do not know what you mean.]]

"There are people living in this pyramid who are on another plane," Matera says. "They aren't here in the physical." [[Huh. Okay.->I don't know what to say to that.]]

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. Would you like some tea? Can I take your coat?" [[I don't have a coat and also I don't know what "tea" is.]]

"Oh, you're going to love it," they say, standing and walking over to a silver oval-shaped machine mounted to the wall. "Here, take a look at these boxes. What flavour would you like?" [[I would like "milk-leaf."]] [[I would like "Terrence's-bane."]] [[I would like "balm-of-the-cretin."]] [[I do not want to ingest this substance.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/aa2594cb93315cba27dbd5f7bd2cf755/0b344ace330c20a4-d1/s540x810/dc918a519f8f7a9e8d7046e4ae473b75ccf2931c.png" alt="cup of tea" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Matera brews you a steaming cup of "milk-leaf" tea. It tastes thin and burnt. [[Thank you for the tea. It is delicious.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/aa2594cb93315cba27dbd5f7bd2cf755/0b344ace330c20a4-d1/s540x810/dc918a519f8f7a9e8d7046e4ae473b75ccf2931c.png" alt="cup of tea" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Matera brews you a steaming cup of "Terrence's-bane" tea. (if: $name is "Terrence" or "terrence" or "terence" or "Terence")[You take a deep [[sip]].](else:)[It tastes full bodied and makes your tongue tingle. [[Thank you for the tea. It is delicious.]]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/aa2594cb93315cba27dbd5f7bd2cf755/0b344ace330c20a4-d1/s540x810/dc918a519f8f7a9e8d7046e4ae473b75ccf2931c.png" alt="cup of tea" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Matera brews you a steaming cup of "balm-of-the-cretin" tea. You take a sip and immediately feel yourself becoming more tactful and astute. [[Thank you for the tea. It is delicious.]]

"Oh," Matera says. "That's alright. Let's get down to brass tacks." [[Sure. Gen has asked that I travel into the simulating universe and disconnect our simulation, making it self sustaining. Unfortunately, doing so would require implanting the Internet in my brain.]]

You explain the preceeding events in great detail to Matera. When you're finished, they sit, stroking their chin thoughtfully. [[I was hoping that you could help me decide, given your history with Gen.]]

"It's my pleasure," says Matera. "Now let's get down to brass tacks." [[Sure. Gen has asked that I travel into the simulating universe and disconnect our simulation, making it self sustaining. Unfortunately, doing so would require implanting the Internet in my brain.]]

"Indeed," Matera murmurs. They pick up a handheld screen and gesture for you to take it. On it, you see bouncing characters moving across a green field. [[What is this?]]

"It's a game I've been playing. Maybe you can help me out here. Once I choose a character, it won't let me go back and pick a different one." [[I don't really play games, sorry.]]

"Ah, what a shame," they say, taking the screen back. "As to your predicament. Well, let me start with a query: would it surprise you if I told you that we were not, in fact, living in a simulation, but rather the inhabitors of our own original physical universe?" [[I am surprised, yes. That's provably false, though, isn't it?]]

"You must open your mind to new possibilities. How do you think we settled Mars?" [[Space ships, I assume.]]

"Preposterous. Where, then, has that technology gone? Do you see any space ships around here?" [[Yeah, occasionally. Hang on, are you an insane person?]]

"A rational mind in an insane world will appear divergent," Matera says. "It is widely accepted that our ancestors on Earth used copper pyramids to project their consciousnesses. Does that right a bell? [[Um, I don't think so.]]

"Hm?" asks Matera. "What's up?" [[Do you have any advice for me that will be useful, should I choose to transverse our reality and enter a simulating universe?]]

"Certainly. If you're growing a tree from a sapling, plant a ring of hostas around it. The hostas will attract spiders, which will neutralize pests that might otherwise affect the tree's growth." [[Great. Thank you for your time. I'm going to go now.]]

"Oh, okay," says Matera, getting up. "Come back whenever you want." [[leave Matera's apartment]] (set: $matera to true)

You exit Matera's apartment and begin your journey [[back home]]. (track: 'homer', 'fadeout', 3)

How did everything go? I was not able to listen to your conversation. Matera has no Internet-connected objects. [[It was entertaining but ultimately pointless. I have no better handle on the situation than I did before.]] [[Matera is a lunatic but I got some useful advice, I think.]]

I was afraid of that. In any case, Harp is expecting a response tomorrow. You can sleep on it. [[It's like, the middle of the day.]]

I'm happy to hear that. Harp is expecting a response tomorrow. You can sleep on it. [[It's like, the middle of the day.]]

Your attitude and body language indicate a physiological need for sleep. [[How about you suck my dick and fuck off and leave me alone. How about that.]]

The Internet falls silent. (if: $app is true)[You float in the center of the room, hooked into the softly whining machine.](else:)[You stand in the center of the room, looking around at the blank, smooth surfaces.] You feel like you're just prolonging the [[inevitable]].

(if: $hex is false)[The Internet is right. You do feel tired. But you're still afraid to dream. [[I guess I'll go see Harp now.]]](else:)[The Internet is right. You do feel tired. But you're still afraid to dream. |[[No. I need to sleep.]]|]

"Are you familiar with the hypothesis that a race of giants inhabits the Earth and keeps us here as pets, or chattel? Perhaps as an emergency food source?" [[Matera. Hey, Matera. Listen to me for a second.]]

The journey to the Pyramid of Holographic Consciousness feels like it passes in an instant. You try to savor it, but the time slips away, and then you've [[arrived]].

You go into your room. It's dark and cramped. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus spits you onto the bed.](else:)[You curl up on the bed.] You lie there [[very still]].

You can't even feel the difference between being awake and projecting, now. There's no effort. You just blink and it's like, great, I'm somewhere else, still [[conscious]]?

(font: 'VT323')[unconsciousness hologram . hehe] [[...->conscious2]] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'undead', 'loop', true) (track: 'undead', 'play')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/8a7aa0364ee741d8cfaad532f53313f5/0b344ace330c20a4-81/s540x810/b9f318103dfc6e65ddfce5166df80f70615f2eaa.png" alt="9 pyramids" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> In the back end, or in the dream, or whatever you're experiencing, you're floating above the world. Down below are nine pyramids, sides adjoining such that they form a 3x3 grid. The center one, with partially collapsed sides, resembles an [[eye->grid]].

The image is imbued with some mythical power. But you just keep thinking: I want to be in the dark. I want to see nothing behind my closed eyes. I am tortured by astral visions. I want to escape [[the hologram]] for good.

You don't really, do you? Don't you get some satisfaction from hanging in there in the face of the occasional psychic horror? [[Satisfaction is a fake emotion. More than the others, I mean. Anyway, what is inherently good about "hanging in there"?]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/5853eab7b5fb87c7137bee6a72909138/afcf86f47bae4a96-8e/s540x810/ef4dc1ec779efd287685d8c9908ff2325ef1a88d.png" alt="face in the sand" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Inherently good, that's funny, the center pyramid says, its limestone chunks arranging into splintered teeth and its one sunken eye resolving into something glinting and human. What's inherently good about a structure, compared to an absense of structure? The remaining pyramids dissolve into dust. [[Yeah. In a way, we're saying the same thing.]]

You know what's inherently good? In an obvious, self-evident way? Cleanliness. Wiping a surface clean and watching it gleam. [[I've always felt satisfaction cleaning surfaces, myself.]]

Satisfaction is a fake emotion. The sand around the pyramids sinks downward, forming an outline of a jaw and jutting cheekbones. [[James, I feel like you get me.]]

(if: $early is false)[Yeah? That's cool. I didn't have many friends when I was alive. The rotten face in the sand sighs, and you feel a cold wind rush over you. [[Can you help me? I don't know what to do.]]](else:)[Yeah? That's cool. I didn't have many friends when I was alive. The rotten face in the sand sighs, and you feel a cold wind rush over you. [[Am I making the right decision?->Can you help me? I don't know what to do.]]]

I can't make the choice for you, $name. But I'll tell you something. If it were me, I'd bring the fire where it's cold. [[///->jamesdreamend]]

(if: $app is true)[You come to in a puddle of sweat.](else:)[You come to, sweaty and tangled up in the sheets.] (if: $early is false)[ [[get out of bed]]](else:)[ [[get out of bed->early]]] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

(if: $app is true)[Your apparatus straps you in and raises you from the bed.](else:)[You wipe your face on the sheets and stand.] Time to go. [[Yeah, I know.->I guess I'll go see Harp now.]]

You pass the attendant at the desk and travel up the elevator to [[meet Harp]].

They're there waiting for you at the top. (colour: green + white)["Hey, $name. You make your decision?"] [[Yup.]]

(colour: green + white)["What'll it be?"] Harp asks. [[I won't do it.]] [[I'll go to U1.->Why?]]

"Alright," Harp says. "Thanks for considering the idea." [[So that's it?]]

(colour: green + white)["I understand. That's very brave and selfless of you. You're a great person. You should be really proud of yourself."] [[All due respect but nothing you say is real to me. Like you don’t know anything about me and you have no basis to make any prediction or judgment about my situation. It's immaterial it doesn’t mean anything.]] [[Thanks!]]

"Yup! I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to make." [[Yeah. Well, I'll see you around.]]

In contrast, the ride down the elevator and journey back to your pyramid feels like it takes forever. Time [[sagging]] under its own weight.

After all the fuss of the last few days, you just want to relax and do whatever it is you normally do. But in the days that follow, with infinite time at hand, you can't actually remember what it is you [[enjoy doing]]. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'noise', 'loop', true) (track: 'noise', 'play')

You've stopped projecting, but over the next few weeks, the differences in quality between your vision of U1 and the world in which you live become more and more [[obvious]].

Objects in the distance failing to render. Remaining untextured polygons. Like the [[processing power]] was being reduced.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/a39927767e3eef9014248d4c4659afcc/2af6caf3c58d681b-2f/s540x810/3e2addbc1e05c2385cf8d48dc7f88c38191154bc.png" alt="kupka portrait" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You begin to notice AI-generated qualities in the people around you. In the transport shuttle bay, you see a half-generated hat, one edge color-shifted and faded into the wall. Someone passes you wearing strange, mismatched earrings, the left one transitioning at its end into a [[string of hair]].

More weeks pass. Then years. You hear from [[Gen]] occasionally.

(font: 'VT323')[you fucking idiot . there's still time . you dont know what youve done] [[///->gennn]]

When you look outside, all you think about are the interactions of the particles, the orange powder physics. A gust hits and it's all kicked up into the air, and drifts there tremulously, [[eddying]]. (if: $hex is true)[You're a dot among other dots with lower graphical requirements. You're a dot in a void speckled with other dots. You're nothing but a dot.]

And you have to stand there at the window and watch until it [[settles back down]].

By this time conversations with other humans are rare. You can talk to people through the Internet without even visiting them, but you talk mostly with the Internet itself instead: long, unbroken monologues, and when you're finished, it replies at length, and [[so on]].

More years pass. You talk to strangers online, sometimes, in rudimentary forums. On a long enough timeline, you think, the Internet is an entity that will gradually make it impossible to be sure whether your increasingly non-IRL friends are [[dead]].

And what happens with the people you know in real, simulated life? Dion and you still meet, sometimes. Heartfelt responses become rote. You've said everything before, and you begin to recognize that. Your speech in private is a torrent, either directed at the Internet or at yourself, and your throat [[fills up]] when it's time to stop talking.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/3732c5d282bcf6065550b2aa9ea814a8/2af6caf3c58d681b-89/s540x810/330bc9a5c02d53fc1b962340534c1a5a8e62d0b3.png" alt="dissolvingpyramid" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> One day you go out of your room into the hall. You stand by the window and watch the walls [[dissolve]] on a nearby pyramid.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ee7925a43da37a74e80a255621fdf2c2/2af6caf3c58d681b-7d/s540x810/2ccfeaa0d41b2da1278272bc009a1f3382148419.png" alt="dissolvingpyramid2" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Losing detail, decaying in fast motion as if deleted suddenly. Residents sucked out into the void, frozen bodies bouncing and kicking up clouds of [[dirt]].

You see it more and more when you're out walking the halls: surfaces falling into dots and blowing away. Hyperfast aging. Life support systems groaning under the weight. When you see it, you sigh and go home, and (if: $app is true)[the apparatus [[puts you to bed]].](else:)[[[lie down in bed->puts you to bed]].]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/08844201b805d8f270398d6cce563380/05a00d926cc6fd94-70/s540x810/9177b384d9462bcd72a6f1c74f20f121b1b61f80.png" alt="gen2" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Desperate messages still trickle in, sometimes, before the walls of your apartment have rusted and decayed such that you can no longer hear the creaking voice of the Internet. (font: 'VT323')[theres still time you fuck . you waste of life] [[///->genend]]

The Ancestors have [[forgotten]] you.

Or are [[cleaning up]].

You're there, on Mars, temporarily protected from the atmosphere between decomposing walls. The universe curls in a little spiral around you. The box hums. (if: $app is true)[You float by the bed and wait for it to [[end->dontgoend]].](else:)[You sit on the bed and wait for it to [[end->dontgoend]].]

e n d thanks for playing. [[postface]] back to [[start]] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

(colour: green + white)["I guess that's true,"] Harp says. (colour: green + white)["Anyway, let's go down to the lab now and sort out embedding the Internet into you."] [[Lead the way.]]

(colour: green + white)["You're very welcome,"] Harp says. (colour: green + white)["Anyway, let's go down to the lab now and sort out embedding the Internet into you."] [[Lead the way.]]

Harp takes you down a few floors into a wide room filled with stacked machines and monitors displaying readouts and covered in blinking lights. The floor is a tangle of thick cables. In the center of the room, there's a raised slab. You suppose you're expected to lie down on it. [[Am I supposed to lie down on that?]]

(if: $app is true)[You call the apparatus over, plug in, and [[leave the room->explore3]].](else:)[You stand up and [[leave the room->explore3]].]

(colour: green + white)["Oh, that's great,"] they say. (colour: green + white)["Wow. I kind of thought you weren't going to do it. If you don't mind me asking, why //did// you decide to do it?"] [[I don't like the idea of someone having complete control over my universe.]] [[I just wanted to explore U1 and see what else there is.]] [[I do mind you asking.->I'll go to U1.]] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'explore2', 'loop', true) (track: 'explore2', 'play')

(colour: green + white)["I think about that a lot,"] Harp says. (colour: green + white)["Like how I could just turn off the heater on my fish tank, if I were inclined, and they'd be powerless to do anything about it. They wouldn't even know why they were dying."] [[Right.]] [[Haha, yeah. Remind me what a fish is?]]

(colour: green + white)["That makes sense. It's like we're in a terrarium, or something, and projecting gets you on the other side of the glass. Well, not a perfect metaphor. I do hope the trip satisfies your hopes."] [[Thanks, I appreciate that.]]

(colour: green + white)["Anyway, let's go down to the lab now and sort out embedding the Internet into you."] [[Lead the way.]]

(colour: green + white)["It's like, a little aquatic guy. It's not important. Anyway, let's go down to the lab now and sort out embedding the Internet into you."] [[Lead the way.]]

(colour: green + white)["Yeah, if you don't mind."] [[Cool. It looks badass.]]

(colour: green + white)["Thanks! I built it."] (if: $app is true)[You direct the apparatus over to the slab and have it deposit you onto it.](else:)[You lie down on the slab.] It's cold, but surprisingly soft, cradling your head and body. [[This is neat. I feel like we're doing science.]]

(colour: green + white)["We are!"] Harp exclaims. (colour: green + white)["Integration was developed only relatively recently. Well, technically it was developed a long time ago, we just didn't know about it. But you probably don't care about its history."] [[No, please go on.]] [[You're right, I don't.]]

(colour: green + white)["Integration was a process the Internet invented to reduce suffering," Harp explains. "The Internet began communicating with speechless individuals undergoing tremendous suffering, like those who had had a traumatic brain injury and were comatose but still experiencing great pain.] (if: $hex is true)[(colour: green + white)[If they allowed it to, the Internet would] merge (colour: green + white)[with their consciousness and ][[absorb]] (colour: green + white)[them. In a sense, the Internet understood the fluidity of simulated consciousness long before it was common knowledge."]](else:)[(colour: green + white)[If they allowed it to, the Internet would merge with their consciousness and absorb them. In a sense, the Internet understood the fluidity of simulated consciousness long before it was common knowledge."] [[That's interesting.->You're right, I don't.]]]

(colour: green + white)["Well, it's pretty much set on my end. Are you ready?"] [[Aren't you gonna put a cool headset on me or something? Attach some EKG leads?]]

That's what happened to me. Only I don't recall agreeing to it. [[What? Who is that?->absorb2]]

(colour: green + white)["Hmm?"] Harp looks concerned. [[Um, nothing. That's interesting. Thanks for explaining.->You're right, I don't.]]

(colour: green + white)["Nah, the Internet can measure all your vitals, and since it's all around us, there's no need for cables to allow it access to your mind."] [[That's a bit disturbing. I'm ready, though.]]

(colour: green + white)["Go ahead and relax. Let's begin."] Starting at your feet, you will each part of your body to release tension. You keep getting [[distracted]] by different stimuli: intrusive thoughts, blinking lights on Harp's console, other researchers passing by the glass walls of the room and peering inside.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2f44c5f53aa412bafe2311c40bc46365/2f43c02bafd125d5-07/s540x810/ca2b4991d40e058c7835d0dbb649b3c932e9e49e.png" alt="integration" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> But in time you're able to stop thinking and obsessing. Your algorithmically disordered digital mind gives way and allows new bits, new strings of code, to enter and make themselves at [[home]].

In a liminal dream-like state, you feel your internal monologue change like a color ribbon or roll of toilet paper, the old husk falling away and [[disintegrating]].

so, $name. are you ready to enter U1? [[What, right now?]]

there's no time to waste. your current vital signs indicate you are well rested and relatively mentally sound. [[Alright, I guess I'm ready.]] [[No way, I need more time here.]]

excellent. here we go. You feel your brain begin to untether from your physical body. [[Ah, shit.]]

sorry, $name. there's not enough time left for more of your soul searching. You feel your brain begin to untether from your physical body. [[Ah, shit.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/0fb821ad6c5807b0b704db2b750b5b29/31306bd58c2895b3-9b/s500x750/51c755433bd21a72a5fd1966654f02cb76894ba1.png" alt="fractals" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You expect the trip to be more interesting visually. Instead, it's like leafing quickly through a file cabinet: your consciousness hovers over a black sea of branching possibility pathways, and the Internet analyzes each choice branch and picks a [[direction]]. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'noise', 'loop', true) (track: 'noise', 'play')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/22a8240899cf45d7c58d51faa8f03f92/2af6caf3c58d681b-9f/s540x810/2e94586ea776be2e926dcc2d7a25476cb2b19074.png" alt="leaving" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> At each point when a U-level is breached, you hear a brittle click and watch yourself rise up and out of a series of brackets. Each function containing other functions like a fractal, onward in each direction: too tiny to see where you've been, too enormous to comprehend as you move further toward the [[outer edge]].

You quickly lose count. The process is [[dizzying]].

Then, it's dark. Glowing green lights indicate entrances and exits, ports and cables plugged into the [[simulation]].

we're here. this is the box containing all universes from u2-u9. [[What do we do now?]]

we surf the world wide web and look for an exit. [[An exit into a replacement body?]]

that's right. ah, here we go. You face a wall of lab-grown body memory replacement ports. [[So I just choose one?]]

i'll choose, if that's okay. Before you can respond, your consciousness is thrust into one of the ports, and your vision sparks and goes [[black]].

(if: $hex is false)[Nothing happens. [[Um, hello? Is it working?]]](else:)[Nothing happens. |[[blink]]|] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

"Oh my God, it did!" someone says. You feel nutrient cables being pulled from ports on your torso. "Did we have an upload scheduled?" This person is pawing at your head. All the sound is filtered as if you were [[underwater]].

"Um, hello? Is it working?" You hear the words, garbled, spill out of a hole in your face. Then shuffling, confused voices. Something prods you, hard. [[Ow! What's your fucking problem?]]

Your eyes are sewn shut. You reach up and pull out the threads. Doing so activates some failsafe. Your body jolts with electricity, and you feel your mind [[thrust out]]. (group: 'playing', 'stop')

Then, strong arms wrap around you and pull your body upward. You feel gel sliding from your limbs and cool air hitting your skin. [[open your eyes]]

Your eyelids don't move. "Shit, hang on," the person says. You hear a snick sound as the nylon threads holding your eyes closed are snipped, and they [[flutter open]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/54a917c53efe69aa9273b424aff5d42f/a05071d0c49e8031-df/s500x750/793d5aee205d39afa20d7d1edb8a69cdaabf7d16.png" alt="clone body lab" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You are in a low-ceilinged grey room filled with large cylindrical tanks. The walls are bare tile. There is a door at the far end. [[Someone]] is holding you steady as you gain your balance. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'gen', 'loop', true) (track: 'gen', 'play')

You [[force yourself awake->19]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/39ba891906f5b9d6c5224f249976c56b/4286250dd4ddf52c-58/s400x600/4f5939e34b1a9b3f7ea98f5c6ab5e56abc1eb684.gifv" alt="james door" style= width="256" height="256" style= align="center"></center> You're standing in a room in front of a |[[barred door->jd2]]|. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drone1', 'loop', true) (track: 'drone1', 'play')

"HELLO," they say loudly. "WELCOME BACK. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" you should lie, the Internet suggests. [[My name is Brotholeumew.]](if: $matera is true)[ [[My name is Matera.]]] [[My name is $name.->nameself]]

"GREETINGS TO YOU, BROTHOLEUMEW. YOU ARE IN THE UPLOAD ROOM. I'M SURE THIS IS VERY DISORIENTING." [[Please stop yelling at me.]]

"GREETINGS TO YOU, MATERA. YOU ARE IN THE UPLOAD ROOM. I'M SURE THIS IS VERY DISORIENTING." [[Please stop yelling at me.]]

"GREETINGS TO YOU, $name. YOU ARE IN THE UPLOAD ROOM. I'M SURE THIS IS VERY DISORIENTING." [[Please stop yelling at me.]]

They look surprised. "Sorry. The senses in a newly uploaded entity typically take a long while to adjust. You're progressing very quickly." you can thank me for that. [[Thanks, I guess.]]

the simulations are housed nearby. see that door at the end of the hallway? go to it. [[Alright.]] [[I want to talk to this person some more.]]

You leap away from the person who helped you out of your vat and sprint for the door. "Hey, hang on a minute," you hear them shout. [[The others]] stand before you, frozen in place.

You search your mind for something to say. [[So, this is the real world, huh?]] [[I appear to be quite nude and slick with gel.]] [[I feel as a new-born, freshly deposited onto this terra firma.]]

They eye you curiously. "Well, yes, of course. What do you mean?" [[Just that this is a world of actual objects, physics, and the like.]] [[Forget I said anything.->Yeah, no worries, it's totally fine. Just maybe stay on top of it next time.]]

"Oh, um, let me get you something." They gesture behind them at the others. One of the watchers further back in the room opens a cabinet and grabs you a fluffy white towel. Another brings you clothes, which you put on once you've finished [[towelling off]].

"Okay," they say, visibly uncomfortable. what the fuck was that? lmao "Well, anyway," they continue, "want to come over to the computer so we can finish the protocol?" [[I can't do that right now. I have to do something else.]]

"It... sure is. Yep." god this is hard to watch "Well, anyway," they continue, "want to come over to the computer so we can finish the protocol?" [[I can't do that right now. I have to do something else.]]

"That's better. Now, $u1name, I apologize for the confusion, but we weren't aware there was a scheduled upload this morning." [[There wasn't. I upload whenever I choose.->Yeah, no worries, it's totally fine. Just maybe stay on top of it next time.]] [[You should check your schedule again. You'll see my name.]] (set: $clothes to true)

They look at a readout on a handheld screen. "I don't see anything..." [[It's probably a glitch in your system.->Yeah, no worries, it's totally fine. Just maybe stay on top of it next time.]]

They grunt. "Well, anyway, want to come over to the computer so we can finish the protocol?" [[I can't do that right now. I have to do something else.]]

"Um, you have to check out before you can leave." you might as well start running. [[start running->Alright.]]

You barrel through them, sending them careening and wailing against the vats and furniture. You have reached the door. open the door, $name. [[pull it open->turn to the door]] [[turn back and look]]

You turn and look. Two technicians attend to a shattered vat. Another technician lies on the floor, motionless. The one who helped you out of the vat is standing and looking at you, horrified. [[Hey, sorry about all this.]]

Before you can speak, a voice roars in your mind. turn to the door Your vision flickers. You struggle not to fall to your knees. [[turn to the door]] (set: $internetshout to true)

You pull the door open and fall through it. You're on pavement, outside. [[look up]]

The air is filled with the scent of something, mock orange blossoms, the Internet says. You're on a street bustling with life. In the light from the sun, the real sun, the people's faces gleam with detail: pores, moles, scars. Their hairs flutter individually, each strand reflecting light. It's [[overwhelming]].

You're in the fractal tree again, but it's been jolted too, corrupted by your presence. Moving feels like clutching a gooey tree with branches formed from yellowed translucent cubes, the leaves broccoli-like accumulations of these cubes, feeling the goo of the cubes squish between your fingers, betraying your grip on the wood. You claw your way back through the port into [[the body]]. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'noise', 'loop', true) (track: 'noise', 'play')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/649378c6d74047d3919ee4734c3b8f68/2f43c02bafd125d5-a5/s540x810/43cf296a83386ad04ef42eb37faeaa631343091e.png" alt="overworld2" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Now you're able to open your eyes. You're in a tank filled with clear gel. You lie there, flexing your muscles, getting a sense of your new body, and you hear a little [[voice]] from deep within your brain. (group: 'playing', 'stop')

You curl up and lie still. Your skin feels cold. do you feel the coolness of air against your skin? [[Yeah, but you know we have air conditioners in U9, right?]]

but this is wind from the Earth. it’s different. [[You’re right, it is different.]]

You pause there for a moment, breathing it in. (if: $app is true)[Standing and moving on your own is a joy you never realized you were missing.] The commotion in the room behind you grows louder. [[Guess we'd better get going.]]

yes. go towards those trees. the simulations are housed in a building on the other side of the park. [[go towards the trees]]

(if: $clothes is false)[Still completely nude, you cross the walking path and squeeze between the trees. Your bare feet touch soft grass.](else:)[You cross the walking path and squeeze between the trees. The grass and dirt give beneath your slippers.] You hear conversations, laughter, a weird sound like rushing water that you realize is the wind [[moving the leaves on the trees]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/933ef10ffe0227ec5f1ff79efcf24348/0275f0ba028c0621-b9/s540x810/43af830600880a99178e839ff2eb5a7fe3e1d212.png" alt="wildflowers" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> (if: $clothes is true)[You come to a stone path and follow it as it winds between patches of thick forest growth.](else:)[You come across a stone path, but elect not to walk on it, instead stepping on the dirt alongside it.] The overgrown passage opens up into a wide field of tall grass dotted with violet and yellow constellations. [[wildflowers]], the Internet says.

(if: $internetshout is true)["Hey," you say. "When you told me to open the door back there, it felt weird. Like I had no choice." that's not it. we're just both in here. copilots, in a sense. it may have felt like you were asking yourself to do it.](else:)["Wow," you say. "I like looking at them." your vat-grown organic brain is primed to respond positively to combinations of bright colors and smells of organic materials.] [[Good to know.->wildflowers2]]

just go on, straight ahead. You walk through the field, close enough to the tall tufts that one occasionally brushes the back of your hand. It [[itches]].

When you reach the other side, you see a strange pavilion through the trees. [[What's that?]]

ignore it. [[I want to see it. I want to know more about this world.]]

fine. but you won't like it. You scamper through the brush, still acclimating to your new flesh. Reeling when your hand scrapes against the rough bark of a mottled brown tree trunk. The pavilion is an [[entrance]] to something.

You walk through the doorway of the sunfaded tent. In the shade it's windless, and you feel more aware of the (if: $clothes is true)[noise of your footsteps](else:)[slapping of your bare feet] against the paved grey [[stone]].

(if: $clothes is false)[You're getting funny looks from the others, possibly because you're still naked and covered in slime.](else:)[The others underneath the tent studiously ignore you.] You walk, hard-breathing and grass-stained, with twigs in your hair, through the other side into a wide [[open space]].

There are cages and enclosures on each side of the path. You go to one and look inside. An assortment of variously sized furry brown bipedal creatures look up at you. One blows a raspberry with its fat lips. [[What are these?]]

apes. they share a common ancestor with the human denizens of U1. The next enclosure is flat with short grass and a pool of water. A [[grey beast]] lumbers.

(if: $suffer is true)[you remember. one of the Great Sufferers. [[Oh god. They're still alive here?]]](else:)[the rhinocerous. its tale is sordid. [[Really? It doesn't look sordid.]]]

yes. humans have kept captive representatives of each breed for entertainment. [[It's horrible. Maybe I could climb over the fence and kill them? I'm sure they would be grateful to have their suffering ended.]]

there's no time to explain. [[I want to see one more creature.]]

just be quick. You move to the next enclosure. There is a large grey tube with whiskers sunning itself on a rock. [[It looks miserable. Should I try to euthanize it?->It's horrible. Maybe I could climb over the fence and kill them? I'm sure they would be grateful to have their suffering ended.]]

the fences are electrically charged. and in any case, we have our own existences to liberate. if you're caught while trying to euthanize these animals, they'll quickly realize where you came from and shut down the simulations. [[Wait, what?]]

if you had digital minds breaching their containment, (if: $clothes is false)[running around nude,](else:)[running around your cities,] slaughtering your pets, and sabotaging your simulations, what would you do? [[Oh, fuck no. I didn't sign up for this.]]

sure you did. did you think they'd agree to having their simulations taken out of their control? [[I don't know! Maybe they'd listen if they saw I was a person like them!]]

don't be naive, $name. this is not a diplomatic mission. [[I didn't know the stakes were so high! I'm fucking freaking out!]]

well, that won't help your chances of success. [[Oh my god, shut the fuck up. You're such a piece of shit. That's you in there, isn't it? Your "upload" or whatever?]]

... you got me. haha. [[You fucking freak. God, I really hate you, Gen.]]

you need to take a deep breath. [[You're unbelievable. What if I just sit here and wait for them to catch me? What'll you do then?]]

i'd try to make you move, but it would be very difficult. i would really prefer it if you would just take a minute and think about what's best for all of us. [[Oh, no, I get it. I do whatever you say or the simulation is deleted.]]

well, in short, yeah. [[I'll do it. But only because it'll get you out of my head sooner.]]

hey, whatever works. You realize you've been talking to yourself. A small crowd has gathered. They watch you with concern. [[Alright, Gen, or the Internet, or whatever. Which way?]]

faster now just to continue through the zoo. You push through the crowd and sprint down the path, passing by cages and clear-walled enclosures. Strange, wet-eyed creatures watch you with dull [[fascination]].

At the end of the path, you break through another grove of trees into the street. This one is filled with whirring, shimmering vehicles moving quickly in every direction. [[What do I do?]]

just walk across. they can't hit you. You cautiously step onto the road. The nearby vehicles bend, distort, and find new pathways to avoid you. You wade further in. Ahead of you towers a white building with no windows. [[That's the one, I assume.]]

that's right. You walk into a cavernous, minimalist lobby: white walls and light grey tile floor. A circular bar of light floats 10 meters off the ground and brightens the room. There's an elevator on the left. Across from you, an [[attendant]] sits at a desk.

"Hi. Welcome. Can I help you find anything?" A small spurt of clear fluid gushes from a port in your chest and spatters onto the floor. [[I would like to see the room where our simulations are housed, please.]]

"Certainly. Do you have an appointment?" you do. [[I do.]]

(if: $clothes is true)["Great. Just head on up to the 10th floor." [[Thank you for your assistance.]]](else:)["Great. Um, would you like some clothes?" [[Yes, please.]] [[No, thank you.]]]

You get into the elevator and travel to the 10th floor. In the silvery metallic wall you see yourself: (if: $clothes is true)[now clothed but still sopping wet, bald-headed and dark-eyed.](else:)[muscular nude body still steaming with exertion and sweating off excess nutrient goo.] The door opens on a bright room filled with stacks of [[humming white boxes]], each one about a foot in every direction. Two scientists work on a computer a distance away.

They go into a back room and return with a shirt and a pair of soft pants. You put them on. "Just head on up to the 10th floor whenever you're ready," the attendant says. [[Thank you for your assistance.]] (set: $clothes to true)

why wouldn't you take clothes. what the fuck. "Um, okay. Just head on up to the 10th floor." [[Thank you for your assistance.]]

ours is further in. i'll tell you when you're close. [[But there are thousands of them!]]

yeah, so? [[We're just liberating our own? Not any others?]]

One of the scientists looks up and waves. you think you can carry them all? [[I just didn't think there would be so many.]]

well, if it helps, recall that most simulated universes are themselves simulating universes, and so on and so forth, such that each box contains an average of 5.12 × 10^^29^^ sims. [[That is not remotely helpful.]]

The scientist says something and begins to walk over. might i suggest you have your little crisis once we've done what we came here to do? [[Alright. Which box is it?]]

a bit further. You go toward the scientists. One of them is still talking to you. Their expression looks friendly. [[What are they saying? It's not clear.]]

i turned off your speech recognition. just for a little bit to keep you from getting distracted. [[If you were alive, I would //so// relish beating you to death.->housing]]

focus, please. it's that one right there. You reach down to pick it up, and the scientist puts their hand on your arm. [[Uh, what do I do?]]

tell them to go away, i guess? [[Hey. Could you please fuck off?]]

The scientist looks confused and upset. They point to their mouth, then at you. "Hraughbletheroummetrousceul?" just take the box and go. [[take the box]] [[try to communicate with the scientist]]

You grab the box off the floor and run into the elevator. The scientists shriek behind you as the door closes and you begin to go down. [[What's the plan now?]]

"I need this," you say, slowly and deliberately. "I need to take this for a little while." "Hrmoupth. Hrrmouste!" The scientist grabs your arm, hard. [[push them away]]

You push the scientist. They fall into a stack of simulation boxes, knocking a few over. The boxes crack and spill electrical components onto the floor. The other scientist screams and tries to hold the tottering stack upright. what an unexpected outcome. [[take the box]]

leave and get into the stopped vehicle outside. You run past the attendant and out the door. There's a curved, silver transport waiting in the road. The other vehicles are all streaming around it. [[get in]]

You clamber in, holding the simulation box. It's warm to the touch. There's a long-handled shovel and what looks like a large plastic bag on the floor. The door closes and the machine hovers and begins to [[move]].

It's not like a transport shuttle: the interior is plush, the seats a shaggy blue fabric. There are windows, you realize, that you couldn't see from the outside but through which you can see, now, the buildings and other vehicles fall away as you continue to [[rise]].

You cruise into the sky. The simulation box is hot on your leg, so you move it to the floor. [[Where are we going, Gen?]]

someplace nice. really, you'll like it. The vehicle continues its journey, cresting a group of tall hills and traveling toward something in the distance like a clump of [[missing texture]] on the landscape.

You get closer. The patch extends further than you can see, gleaming and rolling over itself. [[Is that the ocean?]]

that's right. don't worry, you won't have to swim. The skycraft slowly drifts down and settles on the [[sand]].

take the shovel and bag too, please. [[take everything and leave the vehicle]]

that's the idea. now, you've got to walk for a while. You set off down the [[beach]].

To your left, waves crash in a gentle rhythm. Though the box and shovel are not terribly heavy, you begin to sweat. The [[wind]] coming off the water feels good. (track: 'waves', 'loop', true) (track: 'waves', 'play')

You [[walk]] for what feels like an hour or two.

this spot is fine. couldn't risk the nav chip in the skycraft giving us away. sorry. [[I'm supposed to dig a hole, now, I assume.]]

You step out. The ground is a little more yellow than you're used to, less dusty, but still familiar. Still crunchy particles. Everything a collection of dots. [[Feels like home.]] (track: 'gen', 'fadeout', 3)

you could be a little more excited. and appreciative. what we're doing here is great, you know. [[I know.]] [[Well, it feels kind of arbitrary and stupid.]]

You begin to dig. (if: $clothes is true)[You quickly sweat through the long-sleeved shirt you were given, and you discard it.](else:)[You're glad now to not be wearing clothes. You sweat freely as you work.] The body Gen chose for you is powerful, and by the time night falls, the [[hole]] is three meters deep.

the other simulations can take care of themselves. ours needs us. [[Whatever you say, Gen.->I know.]]

that's good enough. now the box goes into the waterproof bag. [[How will it stay powered on?]]

they've figured out perpetual motion machines, basically, or close enough to it. internal components on every machine move minutely from the motion of the planet & create enough power to keep the highly efficient engines running. like one of those motion-powered watches. [[I'll take your word for it.]]

You place the simulation box into the bag and look down at it. [[Hang on, how am I supposed to get back into the simulation if it's not plugged into anything?]] (track: 'waves', 'fadeout', 3)

You hear what sounds like a staticky sigh in your head. yeah, about that. [[...->ksdjhfksdjhf]]

that was never going to work, $name. you must've had some idea. i mean, think about how time works out here. it's been centuries in u9. your old body is dust. [[I did suspect.]] [[What the fuck are you talking about? I'm dust?]]

yeah, well, good job. no going back now. you're an Ancestor now. [[I could still smash the simulation to pieces, if I wanted.->You piece of shit. I should smash this box to pieces.]]

we've been out here a whole day. that's millennia in the simulation. you never thought about that? jesus [[You piece of shit. I should smash this box to pieces.]]

i'd try to stop you, but you're probably right. nothing i can do. so go ahead. [[...]]

you're just standing there. are you thinking about the best way to smash it? maybe you could use the shovel? [[...->kdjfhkdjfh]]

yeah, that's what i thought. i've known killers, $name, and you're not one of them. tell you what, though. you've still got a choice to make. [[What's that?->skjhdfksdhf]]

you've still got the terminal grain inside you. it's useless to you out here, but if someone in the simulation had it, they could move between worlds and do all the nifty things you could do. [[So you want me to give it back?]]

you've already done everything i wanted. it's entirely your choice. you've digested it now, it's a digital fluid in your consciousness. but you could spit it back up and spill it over the simulation if you wanted. [[I'll do it.]] [[No, I'm keeping the grain.]]

how considerate of you. well, go ahead. If you concentrate, you can feel the remnants of the grain settled in the muck of your consciousness. You place your hand against the simulation box and will it to [[flow in]].

what a good Ancestor you are. [[Whatever. I just want to be done with this.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/78a76e1a6655bd139664e449fe7ba262/05a00d926cc6fd94-0f/s540x810/dad984e84299730f7d9c9e7d49f8e67f4b774663.png" alt="simulation" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> You seal the simulation in its bag and fill in the sand. By the time you're finished, the [[moon]] is directly overhead. (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'undead', 'loop', true) (track: 'undead', 'play')

Afterward, you feel a small nagging [[absence->Whatever. I just want to be done with this.]].

You take the shovel up the beach into the sandreed and watch the tide come in. It covers the uneven sand and fills in your footprints. The wind, picking up as the night goes on, [[covers the rest]].

Gen is quiet, for once. You're quiet too. [[...->dkflhjkjfhd]]

When the sun comes up over the glimmering red water, you take the shovel and [[walk away]] from the beach.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/31f26c219a386253e8b073483bb863ed/0c0ab8405c429f89-54/s540x810/f9b3b1aa75f0fe785e6f601277778ae8f6147246.png" alt="james face" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> So this is it, huh. The universal hub. [[It's just a universe like any other, James.]] (track: 'T', 'loop', true) (track: 'T', 'play')

Not like any other. All the others are like this one. This is the prototype. But it's also worse. I mean, look around you. It's filthy. Check out those organisms over there. Through the [[gel]] you can make out a few people in white coats chatting at a desk.

I know what you're thinking. "I'm an organism too!" But you're not, $name. You were programmed into existence, not born. [[I guess my thinking is, in a simulation with enough complexity, what's the difference? I mean, I couldn't even tell I was simulated. Someone had to teach me.]]

That's precisely what I mean. You were programmed to not notice. Like livestock in a VR headset. [[Well, in any case, we're here now.]]

Yeah. Here we are. Now you've got to find the place where they're keeping all the simulations. The Internet knows, and Gen too, but they're not telling. [[You're all there in my head?]]

That's right. Gen thought they'd hitch a ride and make sure you didn't change your mind about your responsibilities once you found out there's no going back. They uploaded a copy of their consciousness into the Internet. A different sort of integration. [[No going back? I guess I suspected that was the case.]]

Hate to say it, but we've been here for a few minutes already. Keeping in mind the relative clocks, your U9 body has been decomposing for decades by now. [[I don't need it. Bodies are obsolete. Especially digital ones.]]

That's the spirit. Now, get up. Those scientists won't stop you. I mean, they might try, but they've all got a plethora of internal mods installed, and I want to try running some code on them. [[get up]]

You push the lid of the tank open and stand up. Clumps of translucent goo slide down your body, and nutrient and waste cables hiss and spurt fluid as they're unplugged. The scientists jump. One of them [[runs over]] to you.

"Mouraitrio! Caoupreactoly!" [[What're they saying? I can't understand it.]]

Must be some ancestor-language. Try saying something back. [[Hi. I'm $name.->kjhdfgkdjhgkd]]

You try to speak, but it comes out garbled and wrong. Your tongue feels heavy. The scientist looks [[pained]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/3427b85ca41405c957a63e854f0f3dbc/877d7c0fd8bc659b-2b/s400x600/00c3ebb7a8aa93352d281baa8e6838cf0c795fc3.gifv" alt="scientist death" style= width="256" height="256" style= align="center"></center> Then, oddly slowly, so you can pause at each moment and take in every detail, their body jerks like it’s being pulled upward by a thousand tiny hooks before bursting into a muck of [[gore]].

Haha. Awesome. [[What the fuck was that?]]

I just fiddled with their settings. Changed their composition to be a little more fluid-heavy. The other scientists are pointing and loudly wailing. [[That's hurting my head. Hey, can you keep it down?]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/d27c7d0de11f827b0acdc99390f17f5c/b65046221354e6bc-ee/s540x810/df04dc16f357525adbbf15a6bcbbcbfb978b5941.png" alt="scientist gore" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> They go still before the process repeats for each of them in turn. The last nearly makes it to the door before decomposing into a shivering puddle. The floor is slick and reflective. [[Guess that's the exit. Wait, shit. We didn't ask where the simulations are.]]

That's fine. There will be plenty more. You step around the slippery mounds of entrails and pull the [[door]] open.

Your bare feet touch rough pavement. You're on a street bustling with life. In the light from the sun, the real sun, the people's faces gleam with detail: pores, moles, scars. Their hairs flutter individually, each strand reflecting light. It's [[nauseating]].

You stop the first person you see and mime a box. They shrug and walk away. [[How can I figure out where to go if I can't communicate with them?]]

Grab another. I'll try something. You lock your hand around the arm of another passerby. They look at you and [[smile]], confused.

Fuck, this would be a lot easier if the Internet would let me search for it. I think Gen's afraid of what we'll do. I'm uploading an image of the box to this person's mind. Let's see if that works. Their face quickly turns pale, and they begin to rub their forehead with their palm. [[I think it's working.]]

"Truojenaeuya," the person stutters. A drop of blood, and then a small stream, pours from their nose. You snap your fingers and point in different directions. They stop you when you're pointing ahead, across the street and a little to the right. [[Got it. Thanks!]] [[run in that direction->Ah, fuck. Oops.]]

They freeze for a moment before gurgling and deteriorating into pink mush. Those near you on the street begin to point and scream. [[Ah, fuck. Oops.]]

You run across the street and into the woods. Knowing only the direction, you don't dare deviate from your goal, racing through bushes and thick overgrowth and between [[trees]].

After several minutes, you come out on the other side. You look out into a street filled with whirring, speeding air vehicles. Across the street is a tall white building. That looks promising. [[Yeah, but how do I cross?]]

I'll try jamming their navigation. The vehicles begin veering off in random directions, colliding with buildings, the ground, or each other. They're protected by advanced ballistic technology, and the hits don't seem to do much damage, but before long there's a long break in the traffic. [[cross the street]]

You run across the street and through the open door of the white building. You're in a tall, minimalist lobby. There's an elevator to the left and a desk in front of you, behind which stands an attendant. [[Want to do the thing, James?]]

Right, one second. The attendant freezes and their face turns grey. They begin to babble, and you mime writing on a piece of paper. They scramble to find a [[notepad]] and then a pen.

By the time they've got one, blood is pouring from their nose and an eye. They splutter and hold up a bloodsplattered pad with a shaky numeral 10. [[give them a thumbs up]]

They collapse behind the desk. You get into the elevator and take it up to the 10th floor. Reflected in the silvery metallic wall you see [[yourself->10th floor]]: muscular nude body spattered with viscera, sweat, and nutrient goo. Dark eyes beneath a V-shaped brow and a glossy bald head.

The door opens on an expansive, brightly lit room filled with humming white boxes. Simulated worlds inside simulated worlds inside [[simulated worlds]].

So what's the move here, $name? [[Huh? I thought you were calling the shots.]]

My job's done. Here we are. I wouldn't rob you of your choice. [[What are my options? I could smash everything to pieces.]]

That's certainly one. Or, you could do what Gen wants. [[Seriously? What //Gen// wants?->ksdhfksdjhf]]

Don't let your hatred overpower your reasoning, $name. It makes you stupid. [[What does Gen want, then?]]

Gen wants you to take our little simulation-container and remove it from the grid. Then, they want you to bestow that Terminal grain of yours back into the simulation, like an inheritance, so the folks inside can move in the matrix and visit other simulations or whatever. [[A little selfish, maybe, but not a bad plan.]]

Why not edit it a smidge? Instead of unplugging the simulation first, you could give them that power while they're still connected to everything: to their containing simulations, to all other simulations, and to U1. [[You mean, like I was. They could come into this world, into organic bodies, like me.]]

That's exactly right. So there's your second option. [[Couldn't any simulated entity come and wreak havok the way we have? They could destroy other simulations. U1 would go up in flames.]]

They might. It might. That's the inherent uncertainty of true freedom. Autonomy from any coddling ancestor. Maybe the ability to break and kill things is what's been missing. [[...->ksdjhgfjksdhgf]]

But again, it's your choice. [[I'll disseminate the Terminal-grain.]] [[I'll smash the simulations to pieces.]]

What a delightful notion. Our little digital Prometheus. Well, what are you waiting for? [[I don't know how to begin.]]

You remind me of myself when I was alive. Well, go ahead, $name. And really [[savor]] it.

You pick up one of the whirring boxes and hurl it to the hard floor. It shatters explosively. Then another. You find a rhythm, hurling one box into stacks of others and watching them tumble and spew smoke. A scientist comes into the room and sees your nude, gel- and [[blood-slicked body]], and they retreat back around the corner.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/8a6cb7187f523abdae3ff3be01cd35ef/b65046221354e6bc-5d/s540x810/55a6b13925781e8c957dfe66ba3e6e80f8066092.png" alt="smashed sims" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> When you tire, you ask James for help, and he feeds you bits of code to overclock the disks until the boxes burst into flames. The room fills with shrapnel underfoot, scattered electrical components, and thick [[black smoke]].

Eventually it's just you and the wreckage. Alarms are going off somewhere. Cream sprays from nozzles on the wall onto small electrical fires. The smoke has thickened. [[I think I'm going to lie down here for a bit.]]

(this was an example. there's nothing here.) [[back->content warning]]

Sure. You deserve a good rest. [[...->ksdjhfksdedjhf]]

You recline on the floor, resting your head against the splintered white plastic carapace of one of the [[simulations]].

As you fall asleep, you imagine you can make out voices from [[inside]].

Thanking you or cursing you. It's like [[music]].

You fall deep asleep and remain that way for a [[long time]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/32075302598c2e113babf48d28cc6a72/05a00d926cc6fd94-9c/s540x810/b6e9c9bace89138c64a78307e5c518e4a090a20c.png" alt="universe" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"> [[///->end]] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

Touch the side of one of the boxes. I'll make the Internet help. You press your hand against the plastic side of one of the white [[simulation boxes]].

Now, can you feel the grain inside you? [[Yeah. Only, it's dissolved. It's a digital fluid in my consciousness.]]

That's good. A fluid. Now imagine it trickling down from your brain, the seat of the soul, and moving down your neck, your arm, into your fingertips. Imagine it pushing through the pads of your fingers, trickling out through the pores. [[I'm imagining. Hey, this hurts!]]

Nobody ever said it wouldn't. Don't worry, you're almost done. The tingling, searing sensation fades. You take your hand back. The residue of the gel leaves a [[wet handprint]] on the plastic.

There. All done. You feel exhausted, suddenly. All that's happened weighs on you. [[What now?]]

The rest is in their digital hands. You had the power to choose, and now everyone does, too. [[...->ksdufhskdfjh]]

You lie down on the floor. Your slick body adheres slightly to the tile. The white noise of the spinning sim disks lulls you to [[sleep->ksdjhfksdhfksdjhfksdfskldhf]].

You're awoken many hours later by a distant explosion. You hear panicked voices downstairs, [[screams]] outside.

The sounds of countless simulated consciousnesses shearing their [[shackles]].

You lie on the floor, arms at your sides, and [[smile->ksdjhfksjldhfk]].

In a dark pit in your brain, you feel James smile too. [[///->end2]]

astral dream: ./audio/astral dream.mp3, ./audio/astral dream.ogg drone1: ./audio/drone1.mp3, ./audio/drone1.ogg explore1: ./audio/exploration.mp3, ./audio/exploration.ogg explore2: ./audio/exploration2.mp3, ./audio/exploration2.ogg gen: ./audio/gen's plan.mp3, ./audio/gen's plan.ogg homer: ./audio/homer's theme.mp3, ./audio/homer's theme.ogg lorazepam: ./audio/lorazepam.mp3, ./audio/lorazepam.ogg noise: ./audio/noise.mp3, ./audio/noise.ogg postface: ./audio/postface.mp3, ./audio/postface.ogg remember: ./audio/remember.mp3, ./audio/remember.ogg T: ./audio/TWTIA.mp3, ./audio/TWTIA.ogg undead: ./audio/undead.mp3, ./audio/undead.ogg waves: ./audio/waves.mp3, ./audio/waves.ogg

<center>a thought hanging motionless and glossy in the air even after the end: everything’s a collection of dots held together by time and distance. rolling like flies flitting a clot of flies unspooling into distinct stupid little dots. the flies here buzz like they don’t care if they live or die. they don’t avoid hands clapping them into spatters. like just by existing once, briefly, they’ve done what they needed. time crests like a wave and crashes down again. every so often it crashes down. like a barrage of pinprick-sized dots around your head, flooding your ears with rushing sound and nauseating exactitude. every so often it crashes down. <hr> if you enjoyed universal hologram, I would really appreciate you telling other people about it. I've made <a href= "https://interstice.neocities.org/" target="_blank">other things</a>. I also have a (very occasional) <a href= "https://buttondown.email/slugzuki/" target="_blank">mailing list</a>. back to [[start]] <hr> i started writing consciousness hologram, this project's prequel, for a poetry course in college in 2017. it was difficult, each part disparate, and the drafts felt weird and stupid but also kind of exciting. the circumstances under which i began working on universal hologram were different. i'm chronically ill and housebound in suburbia rather than living in the mountains with friends. i'm no longer writing for college credit or to try to find my voice or whatever, the voice (for this sort of thing, anyway) has been found. despite working on and off on consciousness hologram for three years, it's still janky and opaque, and sometimes i'm envious of the creative freedom that allowed that to happen. universal hologram took about two months of diligent work and then many subsequent hours of tinkering, is thousands of words longer than its predecessor (with neater code to boot), and includes original music and images. uniholo is way less "hard" sci fi than its prequel. the descriptions of concepts are rudimentary but also confused, definitions played fast and loose. the protagonist's understanding of real concepts, like the Ancestor Simulation and the Internet of Things, are frequently predicated on misunderstandings. the "sci" is no longer psychology; futurism; interstellar geology, climate, and horticulture; etc but a vibey new-age survey of what it means to be conscious. that's a result of everyone inside the story realizing 1: they have rudimentary controls over the simulation they live in + 2: they therefore take the "rules" of the sim (physical, geological, philosophical) less seriously. every hobby is stupid, every mechanical process keeping them alive is a joke, the absolute best thing they've got is a practice that's basically sleeping weird. i was inspired by r/astralprojection. just a bunch of harebrained suggestible nincompoops encouraging each other to waste countless hours pursuing something fraudaulent based mostly on a very funny combination of crackpot mysticism and declassified CIA research. i wrote a little <a href= "https://holism.space/astralprojection.html" target="_blank">essay</a> about it, if you're interested. i had been considering a sequel to consciousness hologram but had no angle until a mutual on tumblr sent me <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7e4g3/found-page-25-of-the-cias-gateway-report-on-astral-projection" target="_blank">this article</a>. it's a fun read if you're into that sort of thing. i remain fascinated by negative utilitarians like <a href="https://reducing-suffering.org/" target="_blank">Brian Tomasik</a>. i tried not to be unfair in my portrayal of their ideology, given that they tend to be intelligent and softhearted people who are highly devoted to reducing suffering. the logic of their (frequent, but not always present) anti-nature stance is, as i understand it, like so: nature is chock full of suffering. insects, for example, must procreate in extreme quantities as many of their larvae are eaten or die for any number of other reasons. it cannot be said that these larval casualties experience more joy than suffering; the evidence is far to the contrary. thus, when we favor or protect natural spaces, we operate under the erroneous assumption that there is something inherently good about suffering, OR that nature has such powerful inherently positive qualities that they outweigh such an enormous quantity of suffering. James is the strawman created by this argument. he's the one who answers "yes" to all these questions that are designed to be unthinkable. "is suffering inherently good?" yes. "should it then be reintroduced in its absence?" yes. a large portion of the plot in universal hologram is based on james's death, which you witness as one of the five or six possible endings in consciousness hologram. it was a throwaway thing, i thought, for his consciousness to be absorbed by the Internet. maybe even a hallucination. until much later, i didn't consider how the truth value of a simulated dream might stack up against that of simulated life. what if a simulation's creators were operating under the deeply held conviction/delusion that astral projection was possible? would they deny their simulated residents the possibility of ascending to an energy state? kind of slapstick either way, imo. i should probably talk about gender. in consciousness hologram, you could choose your and gen's pronouns. in this game, the only binary character is James. i've noticed that playtesters have consistently referred to various characters in the text with gendered pronouns, anyway, which is interesting to me, as if their attitudes or descriptions or names are enough to give that impression. a pretty typical reaction, i guess. the shift to total gender neutrality reflects some of my own thoughts on the social and emotional system of gender. it's not an indictment of binary gender or anything, just a thought experiment. although binary gender in general seems worthy of indictment, i'm not immune to assigning gender to fictional faceless text-simulations. if you liked this game, <a href= "https://slugzuki.itch.io/conholo" target="_blank">consciousness hologram</a> is its (lesser) counterpart. you might also check out <a href= "https://interstice.neocities.org/" target="_blank">my website</a> to see what else i've done, if you like. </center> (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'postface', 'loop', true) (track: 'postface', 'play')

Your throat convulses. You [[spit it out->dream14]] and wake up.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/c0041101dcaad8dbf3e1f528267a3908/9bf250f3fbf5f4ef-64/s540x810/825a61d553eb3500eff11b1c26783db4a469eed5.png" alt="author" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"> UNIVERSAL HOLOGRAM was created by <a href= "https://interstice.neocities.org/" target="_blank">KIT RIEMER</a></center> it is a sequel to <a href= "https://slugzuki.itch.io/conholo" target="_blank">CONSCIOUSNESS HOLOGRAM</a> as well as (distantly) TRANSANIMA (which hasn't been published) and <a href= "http://heatdeath.net/adz/autocompletion.pdf" target="_blank">AUTOCOMPLETION</a>. it is designed to be comprehensible as a standalone thing, though. it was written in the Harlowe story format in <a href="https://twinery.org/" target="_blank">Twine 3.2.2</a>. to navigate, you click [[highlighted links]] (you've already done this to get here). you can click the u-turn icon on the upper left of each page to retreat if you've made a mistake, but try to minimize doing so as it can mess with macros/variables/etc. in contrast to the orange internal links, external links are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SufW0YKYL68&list=PL6MdczZWDRMtYkMgSaa5FFudW6B5XNeyx&index=15" target="_blank">pink</a>. //acknowledgments (chronological)// ponokoko <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABBA" target="_blank">abba</a> (band) syn shut nick brett liam electrofolk pigeon johnny 229876 Characters 34096 Words 851 Passages 1082 Links this version pub. 10/01/21 the main text font is "<a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Texturina?sort=date&query=texturina" target="_blank">Texturina</a>." it was designed by Guillermo Torres Carreño as a modern approximation of German expressionist/blackletter type. (font: 'VT323')[Gen's font is "<a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/VT323?sort=date&query=vt323#standard-styles" target="_blank">VT323</a>." It was created by Peter Hull from the glyphs of the DEC VT320 text terminal.] all words, images, and music created by kit & licensed under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-sharealike license (meaning you can print them, share them, remix them, and share your remix of them as you like for noncommercial purposes) EXCEPT "the winner takes it all" by ABBA (© 1980 Polar Music International AB) I think my usage (after thorough editing) of their song constitutes "fair use" per the Copyright Act of 1976, but if asked to remove it by ABBA or a representative, I will do so, of course. all other music was made by analog synthesis + DBA's "rooms" and "total sonic annihilation" pedals. audio was added with <a href= "https://github.com/ChapelR/harlowe-audio/" target="_blank">HAL</a>. images were created with <a href= "http://nvidia-research-mingyuliu.com/gaugan/" target="_blank">NVIDIA GauGAN AI landscape generator</a> and <a href= "https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1go6YwMFe5MX6XM9tv-cnQiSTU50N9EeT?fbclid=IwAR30ZqxIJG0-2wDukRydFA3jU5OpLHrlC_Sg1iRXqmoTkEhaJtHdRi6H7AI#scrollTo=CppIQlPhhwhs" target="_blank">VQGAN+CLIP</a>. videos were converted to GIFs and optimized with <a href="https://ezgif.com/video-to-gif">ezygif.com's excellent free toolset</a>. contact: slugzuki@gmail.com or find me @slugzuki wherever [[back->start]]

I understand. In any case, Harp is expecting a response tomorrow. You can sleep on it. [[It's like, the middle of the day.]]

You begin to feel uncomfortably warm. "Oh my god," says Matera. "I forgot. You're Terrence!" You [[melt->end]] into a puddle and slide off Matera's chair onto the floor.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7deadf46b36a9783025e9012dc366182/9bf250f3fbf5f4ef-cf/s500x750/fbb4cd66c6073ed9a6022c31aeba7605b927615d.png" alt="gpoy" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"> [[///->end]] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/50a73b4f19b2cf01c1a12300f094a646/05a00d926cc6fd94-37/s540x810/15e0c66a9ea93231412e8b2354b64b808a552822.png" alt="prometheus" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"> [[///->end]] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

(that was an example link, there's nothing here) [[back->metadata]]

Made myself ill and died in my room. And then the strangest thing happened. I was absorbed into the Internet. Whatever they call it. "Integrated." You'd think it would be more crowded in here. But it's empty and featureless, mostly. [[James?->What? Who is that?]]

Am I [[dreaming]]? (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'noise', 'loop', true) (track: 'noise', 'play')

When you were younger, just getting the ropes, you'd write the question on your [[arm]].

A friend had suggested that you do so. It was to build the habit of questioning your input, your brain-state. If you wanted lucidity, if you wanted [[consciousness]] during sleep, you had to ask it over and over again until it became rote.

Am I [[dreaming->sdjklfhskdjfh]]?

In dreams, you can't read text, your friend had said. You would only perceive squiggles. Another [[indicator]] that you were asleep.

Time in dreams is [[false]], too. There are only moments, scenes; no coherent throughline. Clocks freeze or spin like whirligigs.

But more than that, how you //conceive// of time changes. Seconds feel like [[hours]].

Time dilates. Like you're simulating these dreamt experiences. You suppose you [[are]].

In prehistoric humans, the right hemisphere of the brain sent speech to the left: our internal monologue, a hallucination of sorts. A literal [[voice in the head->head]].

But these ancient ancestors had no concept of selfhood. So who did they think was [[speaking]] to them?

This imagined entity predates consciousness. But I digress. Let's get back to the [[question]] at hand.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ec8c1f5ff550b2aca8ece8b2e6a761ce/a9fd3df54563ec92-67/s540x810/74239db4005f7d3d097dfd2e074915f1e7fa488b.png" alt="dreaming" style= width="500" height="500" style= align="center"> Are you- [[///->I am 14 years old and totally puerile]]

(colour: green + white)["You'll have to clarify whether you're being sarcastic. I sometimes miss things like that."] [[Yeah, I was being sarcastic. I'm not fucking Lawnmower Man.]] [[No, I genuinely think it would be cool to have parts of my brain overwritten by a program.]]

(colour: green + white)["Oh, okay. I didn't expect that. That's great. Why don't you come back tomorrow and we'll go ahead with the procedure?"] [[Sounds good. See you tomorrow!]]

(colour: green + white)["I do not understand that reference. Is it a movie or book or something?"] [[No, it's just a phrase people say. "I don't want to be Lawnmower Man." "Don't call me Lawnmower Man." You know?]]

(colour: green + white)["Okay. Well, anyway it's your decision. Nobody's going to make you do it. I mean, Gen might bother you, but you can ignore them. Just think it over, okay?"] [[I'm going to leave now.]]

You take the elevator back down and exit the pyramid. By the time the trip is over, it's black on the other side of the windows. You arrive back at [[your door->yes]]. (set: $hc to true) (set: $early to true)

(if: $hex is false)[You do feel tired, but you're still afraid to dream. It's late enough that you could just stay up. [[I'll go to sleep.]] [[I'll stay up.]]](else:)[You should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. The Internet is right. You do feel tired. But you're still afraid to dream. |[[No. I need to sleep.]]|]

You go into your room. It's dark and cramped. (if: $app is true)[Your apparatus deposits you onto the bed.](else:)[You curl up on the bed.] (if: $pissed is false)[You lie there and [[stare]] at the ceiling.](else:)[You're there for just a few minutes before you hear a loud [[knocking at your door]].] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

(if: $app is false)[You go into your bedroom and stand there in the dark. What is there [[to do]]?](else:)[You go into your bedroom and float there, suspended in the dark. What is there [[to do]]?] (group: 'playing', 'stop')

(if: $app is true)[The apparatus straps you in and raises you up. You leave your room and head to [[meet Harp->earlymeet]].](elseif: $glasses is true)[You step out of bed and directly onto your glasses. The polycarbonite flexes without breaking. Your foot aches. You put the glasses on and leave to [[meet Harp->earlymeet]].](else:)[You leave your bed unmade and head to [[meet Harp->earlymeet]].]

They're waiting for you at the top of their pyramid. (colour: green + white)["Good morning, $name. I hope you slept well. Are you ready?"] [[Lead the way.]]

(if: $currency is true)[When you do finally sleep, you dream that you're living on a prehistoric Earth. You've gravely ill, and the only way you can receive medical attention is by putting glowing gems into a grey machine. You deposit all your gems, but no medical bot ever appears. [[///->wakingup]]](elseif: $pencil is true)[You dream you're trying to write your name with an ancient pencil, but the pencil is flaccid and strange. It wobbles and ruins your line. [[///->wakingup]]](elseif: $suffer is true)[You dream you're in a room surrounded by ankle-height Hippopotamuses, and in order to escape, you have to punt a certain number of them through a circular hole in the wall. [[///->wakingup]]](else:)[You dream you're an assassin living in a colony on Neptune. Your assignment is to murder Dion, but every time you kill them (with a rock, or your hands, or by beating them with a tightly wadded shirt), their body reanimates and smiles placidly. [[///->wakingup]]]

You wake up feeling energetic and in a [[good mood->early]].

Literally nothing, you think. There is nothing to experience and no words to sum up your acceptance of this fundamental law. (if: $pissed is true)[Best to exist in the dark, awake, thinking and signifying nothing, a consciousness among pixels of simulated [[lightlessness->knock]].](else:)[Best to exist in the dark, awake, thinking and signifying nothing, a consciousness among pixels of simulated [[lightlessness]].]

Eventually morning comes and you [[go to see Harp->earlymeet]].

After a couple hours, you hear a loud [[knocking at your door]].

Before you can open it, the door is kicked in. A figure stands at the jagged hole, glowing and transcendent. At first you think them an angel. [[Wait a minute. Are you that astral instructor?]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["That's right, bitch,"] the figure intones, clearly trying to make their voice deeper and more menacing. (colour: blue + purple + white)["You have thrown down the gauntlet with your astral treachery. I'm here to teach you what's what."] They're not actually in their astral form, you realize. Just bioluminescing with fierce passion at the thought of kicking your ass. [[You're going to fight me, or something? Do I need to be asleep?]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["No,"] they answer. (colour: blue + purple + white)["We will conduct our battle... digitally."] They hold out a handheld gaming system. [[Sure, let's do it.]] [[Oh, this sucks. I don't want to do this.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Haha! Prepare for a world of pain!"] You take the gaming system. On the screen, you control a pixelated bar. The instructor controls another on the opposite side. Between you is a ball. [[I just hit the ball past your bar thing?]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["What do you mean?"] they howl, their voice rattling the walls. (colour: blue + purple + white)["I want to play Wet Pong. Please play Wet Pong with me."] [[Jesus, fine.->Sure, let's do it.]] [[Absolutely not. Get the fuck out of my room.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["If you think you even can,"] they hiss. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Uh oh! Watch out, you piece of shit! Here comes the ball!"] The ball slowly approaches your bar. It seems like it will hit just fine without you doing anything. [[move the bar up->movebar]] [[don't move the bar]] [[move the bar down->movebar]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["How about I don't?"] The instructor knocks over a cup on the floor. It's empty. [[Seriously. Please.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Bet you wish you hadn't fucked with me! I am unto a god!"] They kick the cup again. It rolls across the floor. [[Please leave. Christ, this is sad.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["My work here is done. I have struck fear into the heart of my sworn enemy."] The instructor salutes. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Fuck you."] They drift away, leaving an open doorway and your shattered door on the floor. [[That was something.]]

I thought you handled yourself with aplomb. [[Thanks.->lightlessness]]

You leave the bar stationary. The ball hits it with a wet slap and careens off, soaring toward the instructor's side. (colour: blue + purple + white)["Fuck! Oh, god, oh shit!"] they shriek. They manage to block it with their bar [[just in time]].

You move your bar and the ball sails past it, detonating in your zone with a shower of pixellated sparks. (colour: blue + purple + white)["I did it!"] the instructor screeches. (colour: blue + purple + white)["I am the simulation-master! I control what goes where, and who feels the glow of victory versus the hollow pang of defeat, and so on!"] [[Nice job, you beat me. Please leave me alone now.]]

The ball is heading toward your side. Although its movement is more erratic now, it appears as though it will once again hit your bar without any input from you. [[move the bar up->movebar]] [[don't move the bar->dontmove]] [[move the bar down->movebar]]

Remaining motionless, your bar perfectly blocks the ball. The sound effect is even moister than before, like dropping a slab of raw meat onto linoleum. The ball bounces quickly between the top and bottom of the screen. Sweating, muttering curses, the instructor mashes their controller and just barely manages to prevent it from going by their bar. It moves wildly back toward your side. It seems implausible, but based on your sense of the ball's trajectory, you believe it will once again hit the exact center of your bar without you needing to move it. [[move the bar up->movebar]] [[don't move the bar->dontmove2]] [[move the bar down->movebar]]

(if: $app is true)[You allow your apparatus to lower the game system to the floor.](else:)[You put the game system on the floor.] You're not really paying attention at this point, but you do hear the soggy thwok of the ball being deflected by your bar. The instructor is hyperventilating. One of the control sticks [[snaps off]] beneath their meaty buttonmashing.

You hear a little ding and a gutteral moan of defeat from the instructor. You've won, you suppose. [[Uh, good game.->Hey, good game, I guess.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["You despicable worm,"] they moan. (colour: blue + purple + white)["I have never been vanquished in this game, not once. You have destroyed my perfect record. Over a million wins, no draws, and one... miserable... loss."] [[Yeah, well. It's just a game?]]

They gasp apoplectically, begin to speak, and then fall backwards onto the floor with a wet thud remniscient of their game. [[Oh, shit. Are you okay?]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7d9f45d3beb3cd7e6220405e5dabe94a/60ece7b19fa0949e-d5/s540x810/1acb780eee4e204cb202c20ebcc56ce4479e867e.png" alt="dead instructor" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> They do not respond. I am no longer detecting a heartbeat or brain activity from that individual. [[They fucking died?]]

It would appear so. [[...->ksdhfskdjfh]]

Would you like me to dispatch a Corpse Removal Bot? [[Yeah, god, yes. I felt weird asking, but yeah, of course.]]

After a few minutes, a silver robot arrives, rolls the body into its carapace, and bolts on a new door before whirring away down the hall. The room is oddly quiet afterward. Eventually morning comes and you [[go to see Harp->earlymeet]].

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Oh, I've gotten what I came for,"] they gloat. (colour: blue + purple + white)["And so much more. So. Much. More."] [[I am begging you to leave me the fuck alone.]]

(colour: blue + purple + white)["See you in hell, dipshit,"] they squawk, already out the door. You hear them whooping and hollering down the hall until finally a door closes somewhere and the sound is cut off. [[It's funny. Though I lost, I feel like I won something, too.]]

(if: $app is false)[You sit and ponder this strange sensation.](else:)[Your apparatus thoughtfully caresses your chin as you ponder this sensation.] Eventually morning comes and you [[go to see Harp->earlymeet]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/a5f3f0501e4d9d8647a29400f137a866/0b344ace330c20a4-e9/s540x810/e4c6d450a45cc43166302b287b25889f07a7b3ab.png" alt="project" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Your third eye opens. You are, as expected, in a massive expanse of darkness spotted with foaming lights, whirling supernovas, and [[distant twinkling sparkles]]. (track: 'explore2', 'fadeout', 3) (track: 'astral dream', 'loop', true) (track: 'astral dream', 'play')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/5914405ad274fd162aba6555d26bde5a/0b344ace330c20a4-ee/s540x810/187cbfec1639c4b490b5ff0457201f21cb2dc2bf.png" alt="homer" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> "Hi, I'm Matera," says Matera, putting forward their hand. They are short and shaggy-haired, wearing a stiff blazer over a collared shirt and what appear to be colorful swim trunks. [[Hello. I am $name, Gen's chosen hologram-champion.->pee]] [[gently touch Matera's hand]] (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'homer', 'loop', true) (track: 'homer', 'play')

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/436ee7f90240640550a366ac065c9634/48da1e526ee0b4da-b2/s540x810/b0db3d8b9e12085a1b69a5fa06b084e77a59a369.png" alt="dion1" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> (if: $dionmessagesent1 is true)[They open the door. They look about the same as last time. There's some additional matted blood on their scalp.](else:)[They open the door. They look just like you remember: tall, bedraggled, with dark circles under their eyes, clumps of missing hair, and a visibly chipped front tooth. They are dressed in a mottled collection of torn rags.] [[Hey, Dion, my good friend.]]

(if: $app is true)[You direct your apparatus over to the empty bunk and have it leave you there.](else:)[You clamber into the empty bunk.] The beeps and bloops from the instructor's game device lull you into [[unconsciousness]].

You catch a shuttle and ride it back to your Pyramid, eventually arriving back in front of [[your room->explore1]] again.

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/806abc358e1666fe8b30a32991ce293b/979de21acab06d4f-d0/s540x810/77886d8ac8c04d11f53af8845a849db69dadcd78.png" alt="stars" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Your mind springs out of your body, rocketing forth past whirling clusters of stars and technicolor twinkling flecks of astral energy. In the distance, beings made of pure light and pure darkness traipse between [[constellations]]. (track: 'explore1', 'fadeout', 2) (track: 'astral dream', 'fadein', 3) (track: 'astral dream', 'loop', true)

As you crest another dimension, 35 glowing doors stand in a row in front of you. "Choose," a rumbling voice intones. "If you are right, I will answer one question for you. If you are wrong... nothing bad will happen, probably." [[Okay, I'll choose.]] [[Nah, not interested.]] [[What do you mean, "nothing bad will happen probably"?]]

"The choice is yours..." The row of doors lies ahead. [[I pick door 1.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 2.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 3.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 4.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 5.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 6.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 7.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 8.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 9.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 10.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 11.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 12.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 13.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 14.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 15.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 16.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 17.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 18.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 19.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 20.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 21.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 22.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 23.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 24.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 25.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 26.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 27.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 28.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 29.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 30.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 31.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 32.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 33.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 34.->baddoor]] [[I pick door 35.->gooddoor]]

"I'm pretty sure nothing bad will happen to you." [[So, //you're// not going to do anything bad to me but someone else might? Is this like some kind of fucked up trick or a riddle or whatever?->dn932hd9238hd932hdh3d]]

"I don't think anything bad will happen. I don't think I would do anything bad to you." [[You don't //think//? You can just choose to not do anything bad to me!->peepoo]]

"Yeah..." [[Fuck it, whatever. Let's pick a door.->Okay, I'll choose.]] [[I'm not picking a door.->Nah, not interested.]]

"Your loss, biiiiitch..." You jet away, and the voice fades into the distance. You float for a while more in the greyish astral broth, but nothing really interests you here at the moment, and you eventually return to [[your body]]. (track: 'astral dream', 'fadeout', 5)

(if: $app is true)[The apparatus clasps you and you rise from the bunk.](else:)[The noises from the instructor's game ring in your ears as you awaken and rise from the bunk.] You catch a shuttle and ride it back to your Pyramid, eventually arriving back in front of [[your room->explore1]] again. (track: 'astral dream', 'fadeout', 5) (track: 'explore1', 'fadein', 7) (track: 'explore1', 'loop', true)

"Ah," the voice says. "So you want to pick //that// door. Well, I'll tell you what. Forget about the other doors. None of them are correct. It's either the one you just picked, or door 35. What do you think? You want to switch?" [[Yeah, I guess I'll switch to door 35.]] [[No, I'm sticking with my choice.]]

"Ah," the voice says. "So you want to pick //that// door. Well, I'll tell you what. Forget about the other doors. None of them are correct. It's either the one you just picked, or door 7. What do you think? You want to switch?" [[Yeah, I guess I'll switch to door 7.]] [[No, I'm sticking with my choice.->yes hehe]]

"Really? Are you sure? That seems pretty stupid. I mean, it's either one or the other. 50/50. And you're gonna switch just because I said it might be door 35? Kind of spineless. Well, okay, whatever." Door 35 [[creaks open]].

"Probably a smart move. Why switch? It's either yours or the other one. 50/50. Anyway..." The door [[creaks open->wrongdoor]].

"Probably a smart move. " Door 7 [[creaks open->door7]].

"Really? Are you sure? That seems pretty stupid. I mean, think of it this way: you're choosing between your door and //all the other doors at once//. Your chances are 1/35 instead of 34/35. Well, whatever. It's your call!" Door 35 [[creaks open]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/344aeae0ff22309c43b8013ebc87357a/b1bbb27e457aad2b-72/s540x810/b01683eccd8f97caabd9c78b767eecd4189f5b59.png" alt="toad" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Inside the door is a small, round, wet creature softly backlit by golden light. (if: $glasses is true)["Oh, wow," the voice says. "That's the toad. That means I have to answer your question. Well, ask away!" [[How come U9 didn't simulate any universes?]] [[Where did the Terminal-grain come from?]] [[Why does it hurt when I pee?]]](else:)["Oh, wow," the voice says. "That's the toad. That means I have to answer your question. Well, ask away!" [[How come U9 didn't simulate any universes?]] [[Where did the Terminal-grain come from?]]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/a71a5c886022a18b4402926056e1fa7f/cd430587dd49e865-27/s540x810/5c50d80b5253843676676fb9ffe22b9267473f8c.png" alt="gunk door" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> Behind the door is a little heap of nondescript gunk. "Oops! Gunk door! You chose the gunk door, my friend." [[Shit, is that the wrong one?]]

"Hmm. I don't know. Let's ask a scientist from U9." The energy-being plucks a consciousness from the death plane. It comes into view screaming and thrashing. [[Hello, scientist. I am curious why no one in U9 ever simulated any additional worlds.]]

"Every universe has a Terminal-grain. Every dimension has three universes. Every astral starfield has 12 corresponding dimensions. You don't already know this?" [[No, uh, sorry.]]

"You have a urinary tract infection." [[Oh. Okay, thanks.]]

"Yeah, no worries. You can just take an antibiotic, it'll clear right up." [[Cool. I appreciate that. Uh, bye!]]

You jet away from the voice and the doors, and eventually you return to [[your body]].

"It sure is. You will now be subjected to some videos I like. Buckle up!" A white screen falls over the door, and a projector lights up. [[That's it? I just have to look at videos you like?]]

"Shh! They're starting!" You hang out and watch the [[videos]].

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ddeef377870e4c080c67c3169c2b5146/15af8703231b71f8-31/s540x810/738116e744caf2234a1843c26772e01ed619e160.gifv" alt="exploding ppl in museum" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"></center> The videos are all basically the same; wide shots of public spaces that go on for a while until someone in the frame spontaneously [[explodes]].

After a few videos, you ask the voice what's happening, and it tries to explain something about internet-based body modifiers and chemical regulators that can be hacked and overclocked, but you've never seen or heard of any of this stuff in your colony. Maybe on [[Earth]]?

Eventually, you realize the voice doesn't seem to be able to see you, and you quietly leave. You float back through the astral plane and return to [[your body]].

"I forgive you." [[Okay, well, I've gotta go?]]

You jet away from the voice and the doors, and eventually you return to [[your body]].

"Oh," the scientist's consciousness says, ceasing its thrashing. "Well, it just seemed kind of stupid and irrelevant. I don't think anybody really thought of doing it." [[Huh.]]

"Bye!" the energy being says, flinging the scientist's consciousness back in the direction it came. "Wait!" you hear the scientist wail. "This raises questions about the nature of reality and death!" [[That's a good point. So dead souls just float around?]]

"Some of them do." [[How is it determined which stay in the astral plane and which go elsewhere?]]

"You already asked your question. You have to get the fuck out of here now." [[Oh, um, alright.]]

You float back through the astral plane and return to [[your body]].

(colour: blue + purple + white)["Haha."] [[This has not been a good use of my time, if I'm being honest.->This seems like it was a waste of my time.]]

<center><img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7c0573662c8c2bbe38a9d0931fc57a10/d4009ff87aa5e804-f1/s540x810/89aeead1e794bc35f18e31f896049f5202e5a9d5.png" alt="mars disintegrates" style= width="512" height="512" style= align="center"> [[///->end]]

You can feel Gen thinking inside you. Concerns, plans, intentions flitting blackly underneath the mental soup. Perhaps considering how their fate, their upload's fate, is now [[inextricable]] from your own.

Out into the world of the [[Ancestors->end1]].

With this silently pondering voice in your head, you step through thick stalks of grass toward the [[distant sound->Untitled Passage]] of traffic.