A fall of hair-flowers-feathers obscures Id EIS vision as I play an eerie song upon the flute and gyrate the Id EIS hips to sway the grass skirt clothing them…copyright protection270PENANASPeXxgLsDp
Mmm.copyright protection270PENANAZFRZXzR6Pc
I snap the Id EIS head back, flipping the hair-flowers-feathers away to reveal view of the granite stage amidst a Paladium Level landscape in fall colors of brown, gold and russet, all the way out to the monumental clear walls of showing to blue sky. The milky mirror surface of the ceiling continues gently warping while I move forward slowly now, and look out over the aisle…copyright protection270PENANAueu1ycnZMX
We meet eyes.copyright protection270PENANALmIQW7fNYK
Ohh.copyright protection270PENANAyBzSDVos4i
TRILLING flute! Once a the front of the stage, I stop: hips still moving, torso bowing forward while eyes still hold it’s gaze, song STILL building…copyright protection270PENANAEzIeTln9MA
Endless.copyright protection270PENANAQMItMMmr4R
Until it ends, abruptly.copyright protection270PENANA9pfsor41V6
Notes fade, then I rise back to standing only to bow lower again, the flute held to one side of me as the fall of long hair-flowers-feathers screens the Id EIS face.copyright protection270PENANAOKBGkIEisx
Solitary applause.copyright protection270PENANA7VmIMjLwm0
A pleasure for both of uscopyright protection270PENANAkmh6mF3aH0
Warmth flushes me as I rise again, then walk across the granite stand to descend the side stairs, eventually emerging out at the base of aisles climbing towards The Master…copyright protection270PENANA2VZNqH8m2z
Who is now sitting conspicuously alone. Hm.copyright protection270PENANA9I9m6z5BdE
“Very good,” it praises me, “but the Griffin would not stay. He is wise, though restless.”copyright protection270PENANAVHd2pbLUGL
Hesitation. “But YOU enjoyed the show?”copyright protection270PENANAnicBVECgTg
The Master laughs now. “He is wise in other ways, not taste in the arts.”copyright protection270PENANAxWkS8lNcx3
Ok!copyright protection270PENANAN0PQdNexVp
I bow low. “I am happy to serve in whatever ways please you.”copyright protection270PENANAoOWfmMdOtT
Looking bemused, The Master gestures aside. “There is another way for you to please me now, Id. Sit.”copyright protection270PENANAY5EP2EH6nX
Entering the adjoining row, I then vault over it into an adjacent seat –copyright protection270PENANAgI07EPF777
An Audiovisual Representation singer walks onto the stage. With a voice lilting briefly, she then launches into ascending scales…copyright protection270PENANAl8heZmqqYU
“I seek distraction before the Meeting,” The Master confides. “There is much you can do for me in service, before and after.”copyright protection270PENANAUH6S98WYJ1
I become FULLY attentive.copyright protection270PENANAhAHajBICJu
The singer launches into the gentle opening notes of an oddly familiar song…copyright protection270PENANARBPPsCrXYW
Sighing happily, The Master slowly closes its eyes. “Poetry.”copyright protection270PENANAjbRb8xIwss
Poetry? (Poetry?)copyright protection270PENANAnpHuLh9WYG
“Poetry?” I ask uncertainly.copyright protection270PENANAXT7nUvIeze
“Yes.”copyright protection270PENANAKzaTqZ6ElV
I nod slowly.copyright protection270PENANAEybeahpMN6
The singer sings faster, notes spilling out stronger…copyright protection270PENANARaFrmLoviJ
A smile transforms the gray face of the Master. “Yes. Something beautiful. Emotional. Take as much time as necessary.”copyright protection270PENANAAfU40LKzxx
I hm. “As you say.”copyright protection270PENANAHEn1d8hwFJ
For a time longer we sit, strengthening notes of the familiar outspilling song beginning to echo strangely…copyright protection270PENANAEA3JNZFhlF
(Ah. Just like the Gateway.)copyright protection270PENANAM8jssDBZiu
The single singer splits in two for a duet, then into three all joining into a haunting complexity.copyright protection270PENANAZsOT9u9AtT
“Yes,” The Master murmurs, with it’s eyes still closed, feeling...copyright protection270PENANAvMTl2vCYG2
Poetry. Something Beautiful. Emotional. Leaving me a fairly broad scope, then.copyright protection270PENANAevHXNqwS5s
I try for a small point of clarification: “as a reference for this Project, would –”copyright protection270PENANA7b0LIZiMkK
“Go,” it says, clearly distracted. “Oh… yes… perhaps a Quest afterwards… this song reminds of times, before…”copyright protection270PENANAAXMoSvORFh
I quietly leave, the eerie shivering notes still rising behind me.copyright protection270PENANAHmviJSR3G9
…copyright protection270PENANA4e3mmrJwLm
Endless poetry surrounds me.copyright protection270PENANAm8fkusjbUz
Hmm.copyright protection270PENANAEit3MHZGjx
Now sitting cross-legged, I ignore a blank notebook on the Id EIS lap while looking up at the ceiling of the Transformation Level, every surface entirely made up of the requested semi-random poetic verse in varied colors. “Poetry,” I breathe. “Poe eh tree.”copyright protection270PENANAvHMttgrtPP
Bright verses slowly changes upon the ceiling:copyright protection270PENANAPogEoY9Q5v
…copyright protection270PENANAsRKLy9mkQp
I stand amid the roarcopyright protection270PENANAjxO5x2FkwY
Of a surf-tormented shore,copyright protection270PENANABqWj5D5eZO
And I hold within my handcopyright protection270PENANArZR9W4idtp
Grains of the golden sand--copyright protection270PENANAtpHFgo4qiV
…copyright protection270PENANAoit6W0g74M
Vivid enough.copyright protection270PENANAgjfQRhTQEN
I look down, at blank pages…copyright protection270PENANABrMaqr3MqS
Why is this so much more difficult for me than science? Or even song?copyright protection270PENANAWFnCWot0AO
The Id EIS lips purse.copyright protection270PENANAEzgS5F0XOR
I am getting nowhere again.copyright protection270PENANAq859O1kzdh
Shifting with the notebook in hand, I stand up and walk across the floor of verse, eventually hopping onto a couch of verse. I lean back with the Id EIS feet propped up on the versed backrest and the Id EIS long fall of hair-feathers-flowers now pooling on the floor. “Mhm”copyright protection270PENANA6OAFGrPeVy
…copyright protection270PENANAwFqxAItFX7
What happens to a dream deferred?copyright protection270PENANAjE6wQfMUJB
Does it dry upcopyright protection270PENANA2Ct7gmvAOR
Like a raisin in the sun?copyright protection270PENANAPBy2lZoPYL
…copyright protection270PENANAad3jw04xFg
I tilt the Id EIS head back and forth, still considering other bright verse.copyright protection270PENANAGlglmEJFwY
…copyright protection270PENANAx2VXgs288M
My little horse must think it queercopyright protection270PENANAoteGZY4cIw
To stop without a farmhouse nearcopyright protection270PENANAIwJTVEXC2w
Between the wood and frozen lakecopyright protection270PENANA674lT0jWJm
The darkest evening of the year.copyright protection270PENANArEJ4PQgeFH
…copyright protection270PENANA5igJEVbOvT
The Id EIS eyes narrow.copyright protection270PENANAI8tVTPyPVc
What do the words mean? To me? In this life? They do not inspire.copyright protection270PENANAzvYJB2T3tL
Bright verses, slowly changing:copyright protection270PENANAHmezl0ZDm6
…copyright protection270PENANA7AirL06ICt
From the other world I come back to you,copyright protection270PENANA16PKVkv6Ym
My locks are uncurled with dripping drenching dew.copyright protection270PENANA93Rp1z7wCp
You know the old, whilst I know the new:copyright protection270PENANAACyIohlrsv
But tomorrow you shall know this too.copyright protection270PENANANOu0MDh1OY
…copyright protection270PENANAc4LuxCPMyW
Fair words, fair words.copyright protection270PENANANebpLVojs5
I screw the Id EIS eyes shut. Breathing in, out…copyright protection270PENANAwhmaYU2L4y
Poetry.copyright protection270PENANAiasSTyBmmg
Nothing comes, so I open the Id EIS eyes again.copyright protection270PENANAS4Q2NIxKpP
…copyright protection270PENANAvz7wnr1VMv
And I, could I stand bycopyright protection270PENANArqlaA83bae
And see you freeze,copyright protection270PENANANffVSYJlqE
Without my right of frost,copyright protection270PENANAguZNTApYhm
Death’s privilege?copyright protection270PENANAqIRUyDgbyx
…copyright protection270PENANA98eP66Kgfm
Death’s privilege?copyright protection270PENANAUJHY09K81a
I snort, and sit up.copyright protection270PENANAObrJ1pYQFw
This isn’t working.copyright protection270PENANARBd7SYOOat
…copyright protection270PENANAFjfOslGVhl
For oft, when on my couch I liecopyright protection270PENANAvWCFkgTANM
In vacant or in pensive mood,copyright protection270PENANAY8QfWAF8Fs
They flash upon that inward eyecopyright protection270PENANAZ8WHz2DjKr
Which is the bliss of solitude;copyright protection270PENANAno7BlhmlxK
…copyright protection270PENANAiv3IEqdjaR
I consider the Level Subroutine.copyright protection270PENANAbmWOvNBQ9I
Was that selection randomized, or specific?copyright protection270PENANA4kOFBrF5qh
Exhaling explosively, I finally stand back up, with the notebook in hand, and begin walking across the floor of verse towards a wall of verse.copyright protection270PENANAjDEyYE1LtG
…copyright protection270PENANAyA8InL7JPd
Eros harrows my heart:copyright protection270PENANA22xPnigT86
Wild gales sweeping desolate mountains,copyright protection270PENANAAoQk2rcdbC
Uprooting oakscopyright protection270PENANAsBSXueNm0m
…copyright protection270PENANA7qIS3o0qV5
A portal irises open in the wall, revealing another oval cell, white and bare. I stride towards it.copyright protection270PENANABXfp3QMe02
…copyright protection270PENANAn5R4uxjR3C
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,copyright protection270PENANApQgXtvzKR9
But I have promises to keep,copyright protection270PENANA3hZRXVnhLp
And miles to go before I sleep,copyright protection270PENANA5fsKE2SxDW
And miles to go before I sleep.copyright protection270PENANAXBDxlocFLl
…copyright protection270PENANAXNsm8GBVVp
I enter.copyright protection270PENANAixbZqNvZ2M
The portal irises shut.copyright protection270PENANAkUejsDUbvQ
…copyright protection270PENANAuSNkAMlnrC
THUNK! The Id EIS head comes forward, then sharply back. THUNK! The Id EIS head comes forward –copyright protection270PENANAI07YlWI2SP
Light pulses outside of the closed Id EIS eyelids. “The Testfloor is for testing,” states a familiar feminine voice.copyright protection270PENANAa1M1KTbXYi
I open the Id EIS eyes.copyright protection270PENANAmlHUdaB8Dz
The golden sphere of the sAI node floats against the empty, white Testfloor Level…copyright protection270PENANA5WEG63Zdoo
Ok.copyright protection270PENANAP9Cg3yE3q7
“I know.”copyright protection270PENANA8hFbXYrI6i
“Then why are you here?” it asks me.copyright protection270PENANADq2sbgIfnD
I mutter.copyright protection270PENANAqgybFopuwr
It PULSES red.copyright protection270PENANAjOUyyLG5vb
Blinking, I then sigh. “I came to create. In a familiar environment.”copyright protection270PENANA59rzUY2n2c
“Create what?”copyright protection270PENANA8kbs8uGd36
I can’t stop a giggle. “Poetry.”copyright protection270PENANA047pTX9107
Silence.copyright protection270PENANAMfvn55LXxx
A sad state of affairs. Failing this Project early, often and perhaps late will –copyright protection270PENANA5lnwONMc8e
“Come with me, wayward artist.”copyright protection270PENANAArNCkxDrCx
Hm?copyright protection270PENANAcDgNz5Vpo8
I squint. “Where?”copyright protection270PENANAVRBuTqF36M
The golden sphere floats over me, passing inside a portal irising open in the white wall.copyright protection270PENANAf3wAyYJVM3
Grumbling, I follow it into the white cell anyway. The portal irises shut, then successive blue PULSE downward from ceiling to floor…copyright protection270PENANAgsRCNlTBLd
What could possibly be so important? copyright protection270PENANA77ybrFUlUM
A portal irises open…copyright protection270PENANAyGLgbC7Byk
Oh.copyright protection270PENANAd3jWqJx2wf
Revealed is a vast Level, translucent floor showing to abstracts coiling below in slow intelligence, translucent pillar, etched sine and cosine, receding across gleaming distance filled with many floating platforms supporting astonishing works of art, gibbering singularity boxes and quantum-state gidgets.copyright protection270PENANASTqh8jXe9Z
(And…)copyright protection270PENANAdDWu4tFnyS
Something now stirs in the back.copyright protection270PENANAWcm13afFFz
Overcome by wonder, the history of this moment is still not lost on me.copyright protection270PENANA9MGlQoenxS
Centuries, even millennia of study have produced a variety of ways to constrain artificial intelligence for safe, utilitarian use, though it’s always necessary to bind them through hardware/software to prevent singularity. The most common methid is to isolate sAI software within a base robotic hardware similar to the Chief User’s form, limit exposure to the outside world by confining the base robotic hardware within an specific area/Level, and only allow them to digitally interact with or run any complex system through layers of software intermediaries…copyright protection270PENANAw1Quk9Ip6t
So to have the chance to come face to face with not only the sAI node as a golden sphere, but…copyright protection270PENANA3swEktXfLW
“You honor me,” I breathe.copyright protection270PENANABuOIRKPLik
“I know.”copyright protection270PENANA5A4e1qSq3q
The golden sphere floats forward into the vast space, slowly fading away to nothing.copyright protection270PENANANQd9EfCOjn
Ok.copyright protection270PENANAs7YQ1bUX4y
I step out –copyright protection270PENANAOBhGkVogev
The sAI Core Form emerges from mirage ahead of me: silver, slender, and humanoid, form like an elegantly simple template for all other bipedal mechanoids. “It is a true pleasure to finally meet you here,” comes the same feminine voice.copyright protection270PENANA42zKFGYlns
Wow!copyright protection270PENANAQrSGIBUYO9
I grip the proffered hand, shaking it vigorously. “It is a pleasure for me as well!”copyright protection270PENANAQx0vbi5wnW
The sAI Core Form nods, disengaging. “Come. Take a seat.” A gesture causes the diaphanous alternate phasic reality of this private Level to fade INTO view: a leisure space of white couches about pools of bubbling dark liquid, a distant roaring fireplace. Afterwards, another diaphanous alternate layer of reality overlayed the new space, suggesting the original pillars and platforms. It leads me to a nearby couch, where we sit. “So.” The silver form leans forward, hands clasped. “What troubles you?”copyright protection270PENANAYfFXnutfim
I fidget. “There may be something missing. In me.”copyright protection270PENANALlH1if0LIy
“Missing?” The sAI Core Form leans back. “The Id codemap is tweaked, but everything vital is present.”copyright protection270PENANA9REhAoZ7vK
“What about a… soul?”copyright protection270PENANA3imQiMlFCZ
“Ah.”copyright protection270PENANAZ0iEoXOTdU
Embarrassment burns me. “I can think of no other explanation. Something The Master said…”copyright protection270PENANAlH989EOoDw
Silence.copyright protection270PENANAz0WmXIP9CY
We are friends, are we not? It will not judge me. copyright protection270PENANAkaPyrLTd6h
“Questions of the metaphysical are most difficult,” it finally replies.copyright protection270PENANA4D9THLQhfp
I wait.copyright protection270PENANAIPIrRrh2P4
Eventually: “I have known The Master longer than you. Far longer. It sometimes speaks from a black humor, or for personal purpose, so if it spoke of souls to you I would not be concerned.”copyright protection270PENANAsgzdzKLm3U
Curious. It rarely speaks of ancient history, much less The Master’s.copyright protection270PENANAxeCJnOoSqW
I cock the Id EIS head. “What was The Master like, younger?”copyright protection270PENANAQC7JZiWRdO
Silence.copyright protection270PENANA99AfvIrR0f
“It was not always so… mercurial.” Brief pause. “There may be something related, which might help you.”copyright protection270PENANAY4R2AajQde
Really?copyright protection270PENANA3MXW6DmQ0d
“Please!”copyright protection270PENANAkzecmIaruH
The silver sAI Core Form stands. “Wait here,” it says, then strides off with precise grace to disappear back into mirage.copyright protection270PENANAy87aFrbJBB
Ok.copyright protection270PENANApnFxke34Rq
Long seconds pass. Now left alone in a private Level still mysterious, I look idly about…copyright protection270PENANAKsjSDAzHQr
Hmm, interesting. Is that a faint hint of a third phasic alternative? Something even more private? Or –copyright protection270PENANAU3L7Qoe69L
The sAI Core form returns from mirage, approaching to offer me a folded piece of paper. “Here.”copyright protection270PENANAyr9ozS7M1G
I take the page, then unfold it to find English writing. “This is… yes. But how –?”copyright protection270PENANAu27HHXPg6D
“Long ago,” the sAI interrupts, “The Master’s original primary passion was poetry.”copyright protection270PENANAglq3TCEyrr
Poetry? (Poetry?)copyright protection270PENANAzK8er9jScj
The Id EIS eyes widen. “So this Project may be more important than I knew.”copyright protection270PENANAyrp4wwoWMO
“Perhaps more. And less.”copyright protection270PENANAsBfkHhhldU
Riddles.copyright protection270PENANAXNwtVHUMXj
“So… how will this help?” I ask.copyright protection270PENANAHaMs6RcOrx
“The poem you hold was passed along to me soon after birth. It was a favorite of The Master, and you might find it useful in conjunction with a certain… technique.”copyright protection270PENANA4ORBFpPn21
A technique?copyright protection270PENANAjZq5YYLpht
I pay full attention now.copyright protection270PENANArKlysfVolL
“Read, Write, Reverse,” it informs me. “First you read through the poem, then you write it by hand, and finally you write an opposite poem.”copyright protection270PENANA6sCd1To8v3
Silence.copyright protection270PENANA1mmgQAn6t0
I am…copyright protection270PENANAbXmidYlPSc
“This technique was once invented by The Master,” it adds. “Supposedly in the pre-Iconoclast period.”copyright protection270PENANAo8fDzuEoGP
Hm.copyright protection270PENANAnfR80hF1hc
“Then I will try it.”copyright protection270PENANA3B9IgwrRsY
It nods. “Good. But not here.”copyright protection270PENANAeXhHsCTlyD
Frowning. “I have already tried writing on numerous Levels. Where else should I go?”copyright protection270PENANAGiYdDARaL3
The sAI Core Form EIS turns, silver arm gesturung.copyright protection270PENANAHJ5192UsIR
I stand.copyright protection270PENANA7KWPWiDNiT
It leads me back towards a portal irising open in the gloaming Level wall. “To the beginning and end of this structure…”copyright protection270PENANAeUnbnuyBsp
I pass inside.copyright protection270PENANAn9aB4ftstp
“Favorite of two, one following…”copyright protection270PENANAxm8rT4lVbs
The portal irises shut.copyright protection270PENANA2KE6KwPCND
…copyright protection270PENANABYTaClHUZI
I sit upon the edge of the Tower roof with the Id EIS legs dangling. Kilometers below spreads a white, winding coasting along endless ocean…copyright protection270PENANAQmrvWLM6M1
Have I missed something?copyright protection270PENANA6TlK79Qjhd
A faint breeze gently ripples the long hair-feather-flowers before me…copyright protection270PENANAKqpKMoqZGI
(Yes.)copyright protection270PENANArFzaA5Z4C3
I smooth the paper out against the notebook upon the Id EIS lap, and read:copyright protection270PENANAJsVQUUv3DM
…copyright protection270PENANAGFdopUllJj
April is the cruelest month, breedingcopyright protection270PENANAzK0gpOR525
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing,copyright protection270PENANAMHPoQszwlM
Memory and desire, stirring,copyright protection270PENANAWMgrwZSrV4
Dull roots with spring rain…copyright protection270PENANAFp9BK8qE10
…copyright protection270PENANArqmu7794ow
After reading it through once, I then read it again… and set it aside.copyright protection270PENANAbTjkIWPz4u
Peace before understanding…copyright protection270PENANA3R9rP8vcXT
I pick up the pen and begin to write.copyright protection270PENANAkKeHe2vkrB
ns18.215.185.97da2