eagle poop

As is well known, the Ancients created iterators with one specific purpose — solving the Problem of universal Ascension. Their second major purpose was the maintenance of the infrastructure of the Ancients’ cities. Whether the Ancients originally intended to humanize their creations to such an extent is unclear, but the fact remains: iterarors, despite all their godlike nature, are fully realized complex personalities capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions. Most likely, they were designed this way to allow for different approaches to the Problem and, indeed, so that the Ancients could communicate with them more freely.

Through their Communication Arrays, all iterators have access to the "network" — let’s call it... uhh... The Veil of Woven Cognitions? It provides intraspecies communication, originally intended to enable more efficient work on solving the Problem. However, what the Ancients initially conceived as a mere tool for coordination and reporting gradually evolved into a full-fledged social space in which the iterators just "live".

The Veil is not a single "program" created by the Ancients. It is rather a living, evolving architecture built upon ancient protocols that the Iterators themselves have been continuously modifying, expanding, and patching for centuries. Ancients provided only the foundation: broadcast channels and secured direct lines for transmitting reports and joint calculations, later adding the system of local groups. Everything else — public/private groups, the Conflux, and the Underveil — was created by the Iterators themselves after the Ancients had departed. Like: the Ancients laid the foundation, and upon it the Iterators built their own layers. While the entire Communication Array thing is operational, all these new layers are supported. I think when the Veil degrades significantly, only weak connections with immediate neighbors & local group will remain. Well, it will all die slowly so yeah...

The Veil has no "interface" or "application". To each Iterator, it feels like... uhhh, a multi-layered mental space that can be accessed in different ways and at varying depths.

I distinguish three main levels of depth (aka connection modes): non-priority, priority, and direct. If we draw parallels with the ways of communication familiar to us, the non-priority mode is similar to regular text or data passing through all filters — like chatting in a messenger with notifications. The priority mode resembles a direct audio, video, emotional stream; I would compare it to a video call or sitting at one table. You can continue working on other tasks in parallel, and your interlocutor will notice that you are doing something, but they won’t know exactly what. And then there is the Session of Direct Connection, which is used only when true full cooperation on some task is required — though now it's sometimes used for less important matters as well... I would compare it to being close to another person, but that doesn’t fully convey the sensation, because Direct Connection Session means both Iterators have access to each other’s "mind". There is no precise human equivalent... uhhh... and it also changes the signal signature.

In addition to connection depth, there are various... "places" an Iterator can connect to. I will name some of the ones I have thought about, aside from the obvious private messages between two... and I also have some silly doodles about this... look

Public broadcast channels — the "loud ether", audible to all Iterators within range of the Arrays. Short announcements that do not spawn discussion threads. I would call this their bulletin board.

Local groups — special private channels that unite a small group of Iterators from the same geographical area under the supervision of a Senior. This is a permanent, non-disableable space. Messages from the local group (with pings) or DMs from the Senior always have the highest priority and break through even during deep concentration modes.

Private and public groups — created by anyone at will and for various purposes. They can be either permanent or temporary, formal according to all protocols or completely informal, priority and not.

The Conflux of Shared Calculations — a structured space where Iterators “publish” their works, simulations, optimization reports, and observations. There is a discussion under each publication, as if each post created a subspace where you can drop in and view the discussion... uhh... An official and businesslike tone is maintained here usually, and moderation by the Seniors exists. Just shared workspace. Effective and all that.

Underveil — aka anonymous chats. Spaces created after the departure of the Ancients. Iterators have learned to mask the signature of their Communication Arrays by modifying old protocols and creating custom "proxy nodes". In these zones there are no real names and no hierarchy. Here they say things they would never voice in public.

Each of these places has its own depth level. For example, the local group channel is always priority, while the Conflux and the Underveil operate in non-priority mode.

Well, that’s a brief overview of… their communication thing, I suppose. I won’t go into hierarchy and community here — I’ve already talked too much, and that wasn’t the question anyway. I tried to explain how I feel it, but it’s quite difficult to put into words.

Also Iterator can function and live perfectly well with their Communication Arrays OFF, they'll just work completely alone, having fallen out of the community