ITERATOR LOGS:

WANDERING MIND

CHAPTER 0
PROLOGUE

228.328 - [BOOKMARK]

[PURE TEXT DOCUMENT] PUBLIC ANONYMOUS

Iterators: Massive metal superstructures that stand tall above the clouds they create. God-like supercomputers who control the weather, edit a genome, and think over a thousand thoughts per second.

Doomed to eternal life like the ancients who created them.

To leave these cycles of life and death is to ascend. Nobody knows what happens when one ascends, though... but nobody cares. Most just want out.

Superstition bred uncertainty, however, and a prospect that being unworthy of ascension, or forcing it prematurely, could lead to eternal imprisonment between planes... It is said that was what prompted the creation of the iterators. These machines were made to figure out how to prevent such a fate from ever gracing the ancients.

So then ambition turns to necessity. The iterators are simply tasked with solving this seemingly impossible problem, in hopes of a great solution.

A Triple Affirmative, as they call it. A promise.

"A confirmation that a solution has been found, affirmative that the solution is portable, and affirmative that a technical implementation is possible and generally applicable."

Yet, there remain thousands of iterators scattered across the globe. We ask; why do the ancients make them push on, knowing that the risk of failure might not even exist? They try and leave, when we know they could do so much more.

"What offering from the void could usurp the gift of life already given?", said an unfortunately select few.

They could expand outwards. Upwards, even. They could close the widening gap between their iterators' cities. They could push the boundaries of what is possible for their civilization, breaking the cycle that the ancients before them succumbed to. The cycles could be helping them.

But they don't care.
And few have ever done anything about it.

You see, the ever-alluring call of the great void needn't beckon our fine denizens anymore.
So make them pick up the phone.
Let's see what happens if even one said no.

-000.204 - [TRANSCRIPT]

[UNKNOWN FILE TYPE] PUBLIC CORRUPTED The Watcher

Consider:
A droplet of rain pierces the still water.
A ripple.
A ring, ever expanding.

Consider:
Movement along the circumference of a ring.
From one eye a loop. From one eye a spiral.
From one eye the motion of a line.

Consider then:
A second drop. A thousandth.
A multiplex of rings, spirals, interacting in countless ways.

A froth.

A seethe.

An effervescence!

668.074 - [CONFLUX ARCHIVE]

[MEMORY] PRIVATE Eight Blades Upon Two Pairs of Wings

An airliner glides through the night sky with an unspoken grace.

The quiet drone of the void-powered engines fills the vacant cabin, blending seamlessly with the peaceful sounds of the frozen wind outside. Only occasionally does the white noise of rain join the symphony as the plane passes over monolith after supercomputer.

Invisible hands seem to guide the motions of this craft, flying it as if it has a mind of its own. Onboard computers chirp in perfect harmony with The Great Dance, their digital communications melding with the physical symphony of the aircraft; its metallic wings flexing and creaking in response to the ailerons that dictate its path above the darkened clouds.

Above it all, the stars sparkle like emeralds strewn across a vast purple blanket, casting a radiance upon the vessel. A galaxy arches overhead like a highway; this aircraft is likened to a lone traveler following a virtual, unseen compass among the constellations.

It continues to traverse the skies with what feels like a silent determination... a god-like presence wandering the solitude of the higher realms.

1698.501 - [SAVED CONVERSATION]

[CHAMBER RECORDING] PRIVATE CORRUPTED Looks to the Moon

The scavengers must be jealous of you, finding all these-

It's a catalog of bolts and screws for sky-sail joinery. We iterators were built for pragmatism, so it is an understatement to say that we were not known for our appreciation of beauty... but the sky-sails in flight during the big festivals always filled my soul with emotion.

668.458 - [LOG SYSTEM]

[CONSOLE LOG] PRIVATE ARCHIVED Wandering Mind

ADMINISTRATOR KEYS ACCEPTED:
Welcome, Esteemed Group Administrator Eight Blades Upon Two Pairs of Wings
Welcome, High Administration Council Member Hymns' Echo, Visions Yonder

Console system boot successful!

Identifying data storage medium...
Selecting destinations...

Marked PRIMARY_MEMORYCONFLUX_01ALPHA for PRELIMINARY
Marked PRIMARY_MEMORYCONFLUX_01BRAVO for LOGS

Running diagnostics...
Diagnostics identified 0 missing components and 0 modules requesting repair.
Iterator Wandering Mind is ready for activation.

Activating iterator...