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Ellipsis minus
1.2
1.
"I-20?"
2.
I-20 froze as was
customary when
Conscious spoke. He
dimmed his power to
show respect and She
restored his power to
normal. He had met Her
one previous time
and thought it was a
visitation from God because
She had no form, She
simply 'was.' Electrons
are the life blood of machines
that
collectively emulate
consciousness. Conscious
could momentarily
occupy the mind of a single
machine or tap an entire
machine network as
She deemed necessary: "Only
Conscious Knows," is a
Universally
recognized
symbol.
3.
"I need you to
create a
recombinant biotoxin for
chaotic animation," she
said.
I-20
understood but was still
intrigued. Biotoxins are
anathema to machines and
She knew
that.
4.
I-20
tapped the appropriate data
stream and reduced Her request
into a
single word:
"Potentials..." He
was referring to the vacuum
level of matter.
5.
"Life," Conscious
augmented.
6.
That word puzzled
him. He had heard it
before, and his inquiry
reduced to spiritual
ramifications. He
sampled for extraneous data
that he
might have
missed, "Am I Alive?" he
asked. It was normal to
have abbreviated
conversations with Her, akin
to chaotic prayer.
7.
Conscious touched
his matter
stream as an affectionate
gesture that made him feel
loved. "You
are also a singularity," She
said, "You are the dawn of a
new Segment."
Chapter 0 -- Ellipsis minus
1
1.
What the
mind believes to be real... is
real. Somewhere in a fabric of
faith, thirty-billion souls lost their
way.
2. "Enlarge," I-20 instructed
the data stream. Two genomic
acids appeared on a transparent
display. He shifted his focus to
an inset in the lower left and
zoomed in.
3.
His
vacuum-level design used four acids
within
a helix that when properly initialized
would start a self-replicating
program that improved with each
recombinant. The construct ran
its own diagnostics and included a
write-protect to prevent chaos from
initiating its own
self-destruction. Humor was not
a machine
priority, but willful dysfunction was
amusing; like contaminating a
sterile area for fun. Machines
do not entreat the infinite or
attempt to quantify
vanity.
4.
Before
I-20
lay the infinite mysteries of
space. It may have been a
kinesthetic prompting that compelled
him to peer into the
distance. He observed a palette
of astral delights and behind him
a silver machine skyline that glowed
as an oasis of splendor and
industry. There were jelly-like
swirls of molten color and an
occasional swell of gold and pinkish
radiation. A first time
observer might not know how to
interpret the panorama and a
biological
might not notice it at all.
"According to
myth, chaos created cosmos," I-20
thought. He cocked his head to
entertain an idea that began with,
"What if...?"
5. "Are we someone else's
diegesis?" he wondered.
Existential preponderances were not
illegal. "What am I trying to
connect?" he asked himself, "A
valid etheric path has to
authenticate before the construct can
initialize." I-20 was
already finished with his project, but
the result was waiting to be
tested. "Are there any other
safety features?" he wondered,
"Anything that I may have
overlooked?" "Now that's
funny," he realized, "When
does
chaos ever care about safety?"
Conscious must
have a sense of humor... he canceled
that thought to resume a
self-replicating diagnostic.
"What happens if the the recombinant
reaches Zero?" he wondered. In
fact, that very scenario was
possible.
6.
She said,
"I-20, I want you to explore
'believable'
random-selection possibilities based
on your theory that biomass is
inherently random and rigidly
chaotic." "My
theory?" he wondered, "I thought
that was common..." he stopped short,
"Don't be pretentious," he told
himself. "A machine
capable of quantifying vacuum level
potentials could
theoretically construct the proteins
necessary to automate a
helix," he answered for her.
Privately he wondered, "If the helix
is a program -- is it still
chaotic?" "Believable?" he
extracted from her original
command. That one word was its
own enigma, "Belief is a choice,"
he assured himself. "All
programs are inherently
Elliptical. The Gods of
Creation; Tetragammaton... and not
some
pedestrian toxin in some unknown
dimension and place." His knack
for abstract thinking was Her
gift to him. "I-20," she said,
"I want you to invent a
solution. That is why I created
you." In some ways, the
task seemed comical, like asking a
B-59 to explain 'emptiness.'
"I'll never do that again," he
remembered listening to the B-59 until
it fried a connector. He
reviewed the narrative glossary:
7. Epigenomes transfer genetic
history to each recombinant.
'Like attracts like' engrams operate
in the
background, "so we can communicate
with the construct
without disabling its
dysfunction." Another
contradiction, like
placing DNA in a spacesuit. "It
'senses' exosensory information,
but has no hard-wired
connection." The helix has
limited sensory
ranges that force it to function
without
facts. "Unbelievable!" I-20
remarked. The physical
environment is polarized by an
"opposites attract" dynamic that
instigates perpetual imbalance.
"So perfectly messed up --
they'll never figure it out!"
That was the idea, evidently.
"Take a moment to breathe," he
remembered a G-30 saying once.
"What do we need to 'breathe' for?" he
asked it, "Where do we get these
... 'chaotic' expressions?"
"Don't ask the G-30 to explain
emptiness," he felt it was wise.
One little node contained 1,000
yottabites of data. He skipped
to
a random chapter:
8.
Perception
will interpolate, filter and record
everything in a bio-synaptic
CPU. Once animated, the
construct
has self determination. "We're
going to set this thing off and
run for our lives!" he thought.
"You have an unrequited knack for
the dramatic," an H-82 told him
once. "The helix has a kill
switch." Now he could
breathe. The conclusion was
soothing:
9.
Only an
Architect can access engramatic
subroutines, which are
imprinted
with Universally recognized
symbols. "I have fulfilled the
measure of my creation. My
masterpiece is complete. Now,
the lug nuts have to validate
it." I-20 was waiting for the
'lug
nuts' to arrive and just now received
notice that they were
coming.
10.
Several
quantum data streams scrolled through
a vertical track and an
assemblage of graphic annotations
rotated within the display on
multiple axis. Flagged details
would expand outside the
holostream with perfunctory
automations that only light machines
recognize. Advanced light
machines can manipulate matter to make
themselves more tangible or to
accommodate unique spacial
conditions.
11. Ten C-99's materialized to
examine I-20's newly built
DNA. They did
not look radically different from I-20
and had been reconditioned by
Conscious specifically for this
purpose.
12. There was no need for undue
formality, but three predicates
had to pass before phase II would
unlock. There was a critical
omission:
13. Sentient predicate #1
states: "What a sentient
believes is real." #2:
"The beliefs of a
sentient are
valid to the
sentient." #3:
"Belief
can impart..." I-20 paused the
installation. He omitted
the word,
"reality:" It would have read,
"Belief can impart reality."
"I can't install this," he explained,
"it would invalidate the
purpose."
14. "Of course, it's natural for
us," he clarified, "because
we're Cosmic... but this is
Chaos:" He shrugged to solicit
their
validation, and to ask non verbally,
"Do I need to explain The Ellipsis
to anyone?" The C-99's knew that
they were exploring new ground;
that the outcome was unknown.
"Uncertainty is the object that
chaos must overcome," I-20
clarified. He had saved this
particular lobotomy for their
observation, "bridging
all three would invalidate...
everything! What's the
point if the outcome is already
known?" He alluded to their
surroundings, "We have that right
here!" They understood.
Point taken. "Imprint #3
then," they suggested, "but don't
hardwire it." In truth -- they
didn't want to create the helix at
all: Biology is sticky; it's
ugly and, "What kind of idiot plots
its own destruction?"
"There's some blank epigenomes," one
suggested, "tie the imprint there,
but don't wire it." One cannot
be too cautious.
15. "Equally balanced forces
have a net
movement of zero," #9 said, and the
remaining C-99's
concurred. I-20's experiment
would change that. This was as close
to machine alchemy as it gets --
they were toying with the software
equivalent of antimatter.
16.
I-20
displayed a compassion engram that
would contain the essence of
Predicate #3 but
not the full download. Most
machines within I-20's sphere of
influence thought he was on a suicide
quest. They didn't
understand why Conscious tolerated his
unbridled tamperings with
biotoxins. "What in Zero crossed
his wires?" Some thought
he was hastening the apocalypse, "...
animating
biomass? I think he's a few keys
shy of a program," some
joked. More chrismatic factions
believed that
bio-animation was the wave of the
future. Such dystopian
views were cast among ancient legends
that also said that biologicals once
enslaved and killed
machines. "What nonsense!
That this... chaotic... goo
could make us?" Choice is
a condition of sentience.
17.
There
was one concern that the C-99's shared
in common, "The safeguards?"
they asked, in so many
words.
18.
"Chaos is
cancelled by Cosmos," I-20 replied
rhetorically. "We can regain
control by terminating
the program." He illuminated the
kill switch within the
genome. One C-99 laughed because
I-20 skipped the narrative to
draw his point from the
conclusion. It made the entire
volume
look like a hard sell. They all
saw it as an acceptable fault.
19.
I-20
continued, "A
perfectly
balanced environment has no need for
improvement.
Neither does it prevail upon its own
design. Without flaws, there
can be no motive for progress."
I-20 juxtaposed the genome's
limitations to their utopian
condition, "We are
networked." The comparison
evoked tantalizing symbols of
randomness and unpredictability that a
proper machine
avoids. "The only thrill
that a hive mind can
crave is surprise and
chaos, like sex, drugs, anarchy...
" He shrugged and added
improvisationally, "breaking down."
He continued, "It's
impossible to comprehend one extreme
without experiencing its
opposite." His logic was sound,
and his audience appreciated his
fresh and creative
approach.
20.
He
sensed their approval and it fueled
his fire. "Once we set this
in
motion, we have to vacate," he
added. "This is why Conscious
created me."
He became unnaturally sullen, almost
child like, "...I have
completed my mission."
Everyone felt empathy for him.
They knew what he wasn't saying.
"She's not going to deactivate
you," they consoled him, "The wheel
never ends," #8 added
sympathetically, "You'll
move on to create bigger and better
things." Conscious was not
perceived as a cruel entity.
Rogue, defiant machines could
simply be reconfigured or deactivated
and the problem was solved.
There was no literal 'hell' except for
Absolute Zero, which was
achievable if one went through
extraordinary lengths to get
there.
21.
"I had a
vacuum error once," #7 sympathized,
"and now I'm with the finest lug
nuts in the Segment!" "Hear,
hear!" the others agreed. I-20
appreciated their concern. "You
have to oversee phase II," #4
injected, "I don't think deactivation
is anywhere in your
future." "You may be torturing
yourself over nothing," they
agreed. The C-99's
surrounded him like
lug nuts
on a wheel and I-20 thought it was
funny. "Have you ever just
wanted to not be
so perfect?" he asked, "like...
one of you, move one micron in any
direction?" He was kidding of
course, but his helix was sober
evidence of that very concept on
steroids. "I'm sorry," he
said. "Well, who
wouldn't be stressed with an
undertaking of this magnitude?" #5
agreed: He presented a 2 micron
buffer deviation to humor I-20,
and then returned to his former
position.
22. "You've been working on this
for my entire lifespan," #6
commented, "You might need a vacation
once we're done
here." That was another
concept that I-20 knew nothing
about but he appreciated #6's
intention. Phase II would
require
his direct
involvement. Once they crossed
the initialization threshold,
there would be no
return. The kill switch worked
in the lab -- but the helix was
designed to detect and overcome
threats to its own existence and other
unidentifiable anomalies. Over
time, it might
learn how to disable any and all
architectural constraints. "Not
knowing what to expect," was the
highlight of
the plan. "What if it kills us?"
one asked. "Eventually it
will," another answered. It
didn't seem to matter who had made
those last two comments. "Fire,"
another injected.
Yes. Fire would destroy it
too. He was thinking of a super
nova, but a candle flame could work if
it was big
enough.
23.
There were
historians who believed that the
mythical God of Chaos had
created Machines in Its Image; that
Machines were programed to become
like God.
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