CHAPTER 6
878.320
I saw that orange Overseer again. It was patrolling through Open Waters’ Underhang area. I should have mentioned that Overseer in the pearl I had sent to Unending Canvas. A little too late now?
That reminds me. That data I had received last time… I still need it decrypted. I don’t have the key, or the time to waste all my processing power on it.
You can’t store something like that on an Overseer… unless whoever sent it had found some exploit or loophole? If that’s the case, maybe this Overseer doesn’t belong to Sulfur. It could just be some… weird coincidence! I’m unsure.
Why would he be using an Overseer of all Things as well? None of it adds up.
====
Maybe it was just sent by some council members over in Sulfur’s city. But… it still doesn’t make Sense. They’ve Never done something like This Before.
I only know one person who’s good with these sorts of things. And I think she owes me a bit of a favor from before…
881.200
[RECORDED BROADCAST: 881.203] LOCAL GROUP [LIGHTONTAINTEDGLASS] LightOnTaintedGlass
OW: Hello ?
OOQT: Oh, I forgot there was a new one.
OW: It’s hard to find things to talk about .
MLOC: I haven’t gotten a chance to speak to you directly! I have so many questions for you!
OW: You can just ask Unending Canvas or Catastrophes-
MLOC: But I don’t know you personally yet! Yes, I’ve heard things about you from others, but why not talk to the real Open Waters instead?
OW: I’m…
MLOC: Well, of course unless you don’t want to.
OW: Depends on the question, I guess .
MLOC: What happened to the other iterators like you they were going to build?
OW: What- like me ? In what way ??
OOQT: You know. Small. Weird proportions. Dense cities.
MLOC: They really just don’t tell new iterators anything.
OOQT: Yeah they do, don’t you remember your inception? Unless it’s been buried by all the other useless knowledge you’ve been carrying.
MLOC: Well, hm I suppose you’re right in that way. They didn’t tell me about the things I was curious about back then either.
OW: Like what ?
MLOC: Don’t worry about it!
OW: I don’t have a reference for any of this stuff
OOQT: The thing is, you’re assigned some kind of role here. And you play that role. Or don’t.
OOQT: You’ve got the bioengineering one, the archival one, the old one, Horizon of Sulfur-
MLOC: If you still want to know about those other canceled iterator construction projects though, I could tell you.
TC: If I may Interject-
OOQT: No.
====
Rude.
All I Wanted to say is just that Waters doesn’t Need to Know those things. She can Figure it out on her own time.
885.860
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Sixteenth Boundary Collapse, Thirteen Catastrophes
SBC: Catastrophes.
TC: Alright, what do You want.
SBC: Let’s talk. Like old times.
TC: Okay.
SBC: Please. Put your grudges aside. You know that neither of us really hated each other.
SBC: We can talk about whatever’s been happening with you. Worries. Events. It’s been lonely for us both I imagine.
TC: Don’t you have Cage of Membrane?
SBC: She's- well. We’re close but we don’t talk much. Never have.
TC: What about Missing Link of Chain?
SBC: That’s just her curiosity.
TC: Why Me. You know everyone else, couldn’t you be talking to them instead?
SBC: …
SBC: Do you know about those small pipe-cleaning creatures? Do they have those where you’re from?
TC: I’ve never heard of- Hey!! You’re Stalling Me!
SBC: I’m not. You won. The war is over. I have nothing to gain from this.
TC: And I have Better things to Do.
SBC: I cannot change your mind.
SBC: But I will always be here if you need me.
SBC: I’m good at keeping secrets.
885.920
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Missing Link of Chain, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: Since I Granted you a Favor some time ago, I think it’s fair that you help me with Something as well.
MLOC: Just because you did the bare minimum for me doesn’t mean I owe you anything.
TC: But- you’d be very Interested in this!
TC: Someone sent me something Encrypted through an Overseer. Impressive, isn’t it?
MLOC: Decrypt it yourself.
TC: You’re more of an Expert on it than I am. And as Peers, we should work Together, Should we not?
MLOC: That means nothing. If I’m not interested I’m not interested.
TC: Chain-
MLOC: I won’t go out of my way for a single encrypted bit of data unless the contents are important. Since they’re coming from you, I find it hard to believe they are.
MLOC: Quit wasting my time.
885.964
SLFRB: Good Evening, Catastrophes!
TC: Good Evening! If I may ask, Are there any nearby Iterators with Orange Overseers?
SLFRB: Possibly Timing In A Splay or Horizon of Sulfur? Although Horizon of Sulfur’s may be gray. He doesn’t have any overseers (that I know of), so we Can not say with Certainty.
SLFRB: Did something Happen?
TC: I saw one by Open Waters’ can. It had sent me a packet of Encrypted data.
SLFRB: Ah! Older Iterator Models are able to Exploit (primitive) Storage Networks within Overseers to send data that they otherwise could not. Most likely a very bored Senior from another group trying to send you Malicious Data for a Laugh. I would Discard it if I were you.
TC: Could I hand the data to you?
SLFRB: Wouldn’t see what I Would do with it.
TC: Hm. Alright then.
886.099
[LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE - Thirteen Catastrophes, Timing In A Splay
TC: What color are your Overseers?
TIAS: Hex code #eb9c73.
TC: Not #bd5c2b?
TIAS: Nope, not me. I have no idea who you’re trying to find.
TC: Do you Know anybody who might?
TIAS: Nope. Maybe Missing Link of Chain?
886.122
I am tempted, and most Likely Should, toss out this Data. However, I feel as if that would be a bad omen. It has to be Sulfur- but. No. No, those Broadcasts weren’t real. They couldn’t be from Him. Now I think of it, that was probably just an Error similar to SBC’s Broadcasts from-
Nevermind.
I’m throwing it out. There’s no use holding onto it now.
888.290
Well, I took an Overseer through Boundary’s cities. I’ve been feeling a little Whimsical again.
As I had thought, Nothing’s changed. Around 100 Cycles have already passed since their Cities were evacuated. A long overdue Cleanup, in my Honest Opinion. The fact is that these are old Living Block modules. The grimy kind that required more upkeep at the time. Nowadays they have Purposed Organisms to take care of them. And other Organisms to take care of those Organisms, and so on and so on.
It just hasn’t caught up with the times yet. Although, our War may have caused a lot of this to begin with.
…
It’s so… quiet there. Quieter than the Nightfall. For Once, I heard the wind blow, Carrying nothing with it but the Clouds. There were some still roaming the abandoned Streets, many Unmasked and Barely Clothed. Many lacked ID drones. I don’t hold contempt for these individuals. Life is Cruel and Unfair as always.
What a ghetto. I almost pity SBC.
894.620
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: Hello. I thought I would Check In again. It has been a little while.
TC: How Are You?
OW: itchy
TC Erm.
TC: How are you Handling your Tasks?
OW: I’m getting them done at least . But the load is slowly increasing, and I predict that soon I won’t be able to keep up …
TC: This is why you need to Speak to your Creators! To lower the workload!
OW: It’s hard to contact Unending Canvas, he’s always so busy . None of my requests get to him !
OW: I end up having to ask a subordinate, and they’re never in a position to fill any of my requests
TC: Listen, I could Contact him for you. We spoke not too Long ago.
OW: Really ?
TC: Yes yes, of Course.
894.632
I have a feeling that Open Waters is simply just trying to Avoid requesting anything with her Supervisor. He responded to me rather Quickly!
====
[Pearl - Ivory]
“Apologies for the Interruption! I am Once again Contacting you (Unending Canvas, An Intermediate Storm) to Request on behalf of Open Waters that you decrease Average Workload.”
“Could She Simply not request that to me herself? What is the Issue here?”
“She has stated to me, quote, ‘None of my requests get to him!’”
“Then you have Not been fulfilling your job as her Advisor Correctly! How Disappointing.”
“I… see. I am very sorry.”
“Our House will Run Checks to see if there is an Error in our System that is Causing this Overflow that you Speak Of.”
895.209
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: Has there been any changes made? Your supervisor said that the House of Bows would work on it, though I can’t be sure.
OW: Sigh .
TC: I can tell things are Difficult. I promise you it’ll get Better. What Exactly has been a Problem for you?
OW: Citizen resource requests have been greater than my structure can physically handle . Unending Canvas told me that more modules would be built, and I would just have to cope with it for now
OW: What did you hear ?
TC: Paraphrasing, but he stated Quote: “Why can’t she just ask us herse-”
OW: I’m not a she . And I can’t even ask because I can’t get to him !!!
TC: Oh, Greatest Apologies-! Your Supervisor had been referring to you as such, and so I Assumed so too- What do You Prefer instead?
OW: Whatever you were calling me before, I don’t know . I don’t really … hate it I guess . Just that I’d rather be something else
TC: I understand, it’s ok. Have you told him about how you feel about this yet?
OW: I have ! He says he’ll change, but never does
TC: Hm.
TC: Well I’m sure he means well, wait it out and see if anything is Different in the future
OW: Yeah you’re right
OW: Thanks, by the way
TC: Oh- of course? What are you thanking me for?
OW: For listening, even if it’s just your job . It’s nice to have someone out there for you
TC: Well, there’s More than me! You have the rest of your Citizens too.
OW: Mmm- yeah.
TC: But, do Remember, I will Always be here to help you.
898.931
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
OW: Oh, I haven’t seen your puppet through video broadcast before
OW: Or anyones, really . I’ve only seen images
TC: There’s not any particular reason to use Video anyways.
TC: What is it that you Wanted me to see?
OW: Hold on . Down there . In that corner . Do you see it too ?
TC: …No. Zoom in?
OW: How about now ?
TC: …Ah. That is… not anything Good.
OW: Might just start brute forcing it and trying to use more water to flush out the excess
OW: It’ll be just like pruning a shrub
TC: But they’re your Neurons! And I’m sure Someone else can Help you with it.
OW: It’ll just keep taking up more and more space . Unending Canvas keeps telling ME to do something about it, but wasn’t he the one who made me like this ?
TC: Don’t use him as a Scapegoat, if we knew why this Happened to you, we would tell you.
TC: Try a Proposed Organism specialized for ridding Excess biomass? Go ask Cage of Membrane about anything related to Bioengineering. I only have a Basic understanding.
OW: Sounds fun actually
TC: What?
OW: Art with life itself as your canvas
TC: Sure. If you see it That Way. I think it's Messy and Unpredictable. It takes up precious Resources and Time, and you end up with a Blob of Barely-Living mass that can’t hold itself up for more than a few Seconds.
TC: I always leave it to the professionals.
OW: Time is all we have ?
TC: Yes, but not in your Case.
900.102
I decided it was safe to use Broadcasting with Unending Canvas.
====
[Pearl - Ivory]
TC: Good morning, Unending Canvas, An Intermediate Storm! Are you Familiar with any orange Overseers?
UCAIS: No.
UCAIS: I know nothing about such a thing.
900.849
An Overseer accidentally picked up this Conversation. It’s audio only…
The Orange Overseer had accompanied mine during this conversation as well, no transmissions were shared between them though.
====
[Pearl - Ivory]
[A voice, presumably Unending Canvas, An Intermediate Storm]
UCAIS: Why have you not Fixed it?
OW: I have no control ! I’ve been trying to tell you, I am not trying to do this on purpose
UCAIS: We will Provide you Help until you learn to take care of it on Your Own.
OW: There’s too many restrictions on me to do anything to help currently, and I HAVE NO CONTROL !
UCAIS: Do not Raise your Voice. The Void will remember your Disrespectful Actions towards your Grand Superiors.
UCAIS: You ask for Help, and yet you Refuse what we give you?
OW: I’m not refusing, I’m-
OW: I…
OW: …Fine. I’ll try and fix it.
UCAIS: Thank you for finally coming to Your Senses, perhaps Approaching things less Emotionally is more Beneficial. Would explain your terrible performance recently.
[The sounds of UCAIS leaving the chamber, and the gravity returning to normal]
901.270
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: Hello again, Open Waters!
TC: Has everything been Alright?
OW: I would be lying if I said yes, but I’m not sure what’s wrong either
TC: You can Still try Telling me about it.
OW: I don’t have time
TC: Oh.
TC: Have you seen an orange Overseer around lately?
OW: Yeah, but, Unending Canvas chased it off with a weapon
TC: Ah. That’s all I need to Know. Thanks.
910.030
He’s been sending me direct Broadcasts now. There is no doubt this is a Cry For Help. I must save this down so I can inform his Supervisors of these Errors!
I always knew Horizon of Sulfur as a little Strange. Just needed the Extra Help of his creators to say what he wanted to say. He’s an Older Model, just after SBC, so it’s no Surprise he’s so Broken!
He’s not “Just A Structure” though. I always believed that what he said was… him. Even if it came from Someone else’s Tongue.
====
[DIRECT BROADCAST] - Horizon of Sulfur, Thirteen Catastrophes
SOURCE NODE TRACE: HOS ROOT, HOS COMM14. TC ROOT
HOS: [[UNIDENTIFIED FORMAT]]
[The rest of it was pure white noise.]
====
[DIRECT BROADCAST] - Horizon of Sulfur, Thirteen Catastrophes
SOURCE NODE TRACE: HOS ROOT, HOS COMM14. TC ROOT
HOS: CATA- S… TR… M… -RY B- …K[[ERROR]]
HOS: [[RECORDED CONVERSATION]]
[An image was sent. It was just a bunch of jumbled pixels.]
[Another one was sent as well. Just as incomprehensible]
====
I have Saved these to Long-Term. While I’m at it I could send it over to Missing Link of Chain to prove that-
Wait. I… deleted those Overseer Files.
…Sigh.
915.885
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
OW: It got worse- It got worse- It got worse-
TC: Is Everything ok?!
OW: I said I would do something about the overgrowths… and I tried- but now there’s more and it’s all over the place . It’s not helping that I have to get involved with council business now that I’m past the point where they’ll give me any leeway
TC: I Promise you, just try Talking to Unending Canvas directly. Or just, anybody over there. I’m sure you can Eventually get them to Understand.
OW: Almost One Hundred Cycles and no folding ! All I can do is just try and bear it
TC: Well keep Trying! I mean, you said it Yourself, All you Have is Time.
OW: But you said I didn’t have any time
TC: Uhm.
TC: I don’t have Any Advice for you. Just Survive. It can only get Better.
OW: Until UC decides I’m just dead weight and my own body chokes itself out
TC: That Won’t happen!
916.540
[RECORDED CONVERSATION]
SLFRB: I believe it’s Long Overdue now (over 50 Cycles), but you are No Longer responsible for Open Waters. You may return to your Normal Duties now.
TC: Oh. I thought it was Permanent.
SLFRB: Oh- hahaha! Of course Not! You could be Dedicating yourself to better things! Open Waters no longer needs your assistance.
TC: I see. Is there Anything Else you need, sir?
SLFRB: No, just giving you News! Have a very Fruitful (and Productive) rest of your Day!
TC: I will.
921.710
[RECORDED BROADCAST: 921.700] – PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
OW: Hey !
TC: What.
OW: I have a gift for you! Should be delievered by pearl soon.
TC: A… gift?
OW: He he- hehehe
====
The pearl was Dropped into my chamber. It was a sequence for a Waste Disposal Organism named after me.
Ha ha. Very Funny.
I would typically inform the Council of such an Insult… but I don’t believe this is that Important. Probably just a Juvenile Prank. The last thing Waters Needs are its Supervisors on its ass Again.
The work on this Sequence is very Meticulously done for a simple Prank as well… hm.
934.805
[LIVE BROADCAST] - LOCAL GROUP [LIGHTONTAINTEDGLASS] LightOnTaintedGlass
NPM: The sequence still isn’t working-
NPM: I KNOW I can do it
OW: The one you sent me earlier ? I went through it in my free time .
OW: There are missing sequences in 32.02, 89.06, 102.95 in chromosome 38, as well as 72.10 and 370.48 in chromosome 42 . There are also mismatched genes, and some that are in the wrong areas . What are you even trying to make ?? I can’t tell
NPM: Some Tactile Synthesis Autotrophic Organisms. They’re in high demand again and I figured it’d be simple enough to source from my own can
NPM: Also when did you become an expert-
OW: If its a TSAO then this isn’t even the right genome .
NPM: OH- DAMNIT- UGH!!
NPM: It was the one I was given!
OW: Your source sucked
OW: I’d help you out some more here but I’m being pestered by my citizens again
NPM: Oh, bye then
NPM: God- where is Membrane when you need her.
950.020
[RECORDED BROADCAST: 950.000] - (ANNOUNCEMENT) anonymous to Local Group [LIGHTONTAINTEDGLASS]
OCIED: After a very long discussion among the United Congregation, it has been decided that Missing Link of Chain is the new group senior.
: Please give her a small congratulations.
====
[RECORDED CONVERSATION]
TC: Hello, Oblique Crystals in El-
OCIED: Please, just Ocied is fine.
TC: Ah my apologies. I had only heard of you from my supervisor. Hello Ocied. I have a Question… Why Chain?
OCIED: SBC was our original senior (as the oldest group member), though that role was taken after the riots as it is now incapable of complex tasks. HOS is simply just a structure, and COM is not fit for the role. MLOC is the oldest iterator in our group capable of taking on that responsibility.
TC: What do you mean Sulfur is just a Structure?
OCIED: You never speak to HOS, you just speak to whoever was in the Council Office that day when your incoming request was sent.
TC: I knew that but, like, isn’t there a puppet?
OCIED: All the same. You cannot change my mind.
TC: I-I’m not trying to speak against the Verdict, I just wanted Clarification on what you meant by “just a Structure”!
OCIED: There’s nothing more to be interpreted there, I’m being as literal as I can.
TC: May I ask a Different Question?
OCIED: I’m on limited time here, but proceed.
TC: Do I have Seniority over Iterators that are younger than me?
OCIED: No. Being “senior” just means you are the head of the group. Nothing more, nothing less.
OCIED: This group has been lost on the actual definition of a Group Senior for many, many cycles now. It was about time we fixed that.
TC: Thank you for your Answer. That is all.
952.493
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Sixteenth Boundary Collapse, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: You Know something. You’re Hiding it.
SBC: What do you think I’m hiding?
TC: You are the Oldest one in the group. Don’t you know Something about Sulfur?
SBC: No I don’t-
TC: Sixteenth Boundary Collapse.
SBC: …I don’t want to talk about him.
TC: This means that you DO know something. I demand you tell me!
SBC: Don’t you think there’s a reason our creators aren’t doing anything? They have it taken care of already.
SBC: It’s in your best interest to stay out of it. Don’t get in trouble please.
TC: What are you Trying to imply?
TC: …
TC: SBC??