Six Lakes of Stardust

[LIVE BROADCAST] - ANNOUNCEMENT

Greetings! This is Echoes of Chiming Winds, speaking on behalf of my local group.

The isolation of our group has started getting to us. Therefore, me and Synthetic Thoughtfulness have decided to open our communications channel to the public.

if you receive this message, feel free to reach out and talk to us!

[END OF ANNOUNCEMENT]

ARCHIVED BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT [1193.442]

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE

Consciousness Splayed Across the Stars, Synthetic Thoughtfulness

CSATS: Hey there!

ST: …

ST: Hel-

ST: …

ST: Greetings, Consciousness Splayed Across the Stars.

CSATS: Oh, please don’t call me that. Such a mouthful.

ST: Is it… Is it not your name?

CSATS: It is, I suppose… But I never liked it.

ST: …

ST: I have offended you… I am sorry.

CSATS: No, no, don’t be! You’re fine, don’t worry, you couldn’t have known.

ST: …What should I call you, then?

CSATS: I was thinking “Stars”, although a lot of iterators have “Star” in their names. I suppose “Consciousness” is fine, too.

ST: There are others?

CSATS: Well, not in this group, but yes! Would you like to talk to them?

ST: …I would prefer to get my bearings, first.

CSATS: Right, right. Actually, that’s why I contacted you. How are you holding up?

ST: …I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand.

CSATS: I am asking about your wellbeing.

ST: …Why?

CSATS: Because, you’ve just been brought online and I know the first cycles can be difficult for an iterator. I don’t want you to be alone in this.

ST: …I see.

ST: …

CSATS: …

CSATS: …So… How are you doing?

ST: Oh, right. I apologize. I…

ST: …I do not know. I do not have a frame of reference to correctly assess-

CSATS: Okay, when I asked how are you doing, I meant how are you feeling. Sorry, I should’ve been more direct.

CSATS: Let’s just... Let's try again. Hi! How are you feeling, Synthetic Thoughtfulness?

ST: …

ST: …Overwhelmed.

CSATS: That’s understandable. Just take it slow, you’ll get the hang of everything soon.

ST: ...

CSATS: ...

CSATS: Uh... I have to go now, I need to clear my communication channels for meetings and such. I really only contacted you to say hi. And to- um...

CSATS: Hm... How do I...?

CSATS: ...Sorry, this situation is new to me as well, ahaha...

CSATS: I guess what I'm trying to say is, I’m happy you are here with me. It won't be so lonely anymore.

ST: ...

ST: I...

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE

Echoes of Chiming Winds, Synthetic Thoughtfulness

EOCW: Synth?

ST: Oh, you're back. Hi.

EOCW: Yeah, my comms blacked out for a while. Sorry.

ST: No need to apologize.

EOCW: When was I cut off?

ST: You were asking Savor the Solstice to introduce their local group, I think.

EOCW: Oh, no! So almost right after we connected?

EOCW: Ughhh... And I was talking for a while, too! I only realized my comms went offline when you weren't responding to me.

EOCW: Void damn it.

ST: ...

EOCW: What did you do after that?

ST: Um...

ST: ...You losing connection threw me off a bit... So I apologized and ended the conversation.

EOCW: Oh... I'm sorry, Synth. I didn't mean to leave you alone, of course. I should've been watching my comms more carefully...

ST: Really, you don't need to apologize...

ST: Next time, we'll just prepare our message before we send it. Or you'll send a text file, like you've done before.

EOCW: ...Sigh...

[LIVE BROADCAST] -Synthetic Thoughtfulness, Endless Nights Of Stars-

Gre etings, I had beco me a ware there had been an oth er group to the e. dge of my bro adcas t lim its,

is it surprising to see on ly 2 iter ator cans, I don't me an to be inv asive bu. t, w hat h. appe ned to the re. st of yo. ur gro. up?

**the feed seems to be a bit static as it is coming from a long distance near the colder mountain regions.**

Oh... Greetings, Endless Nights Of Stars! There seems to be some kind of interference, it's hard for me to understand your message...

You seem to be asking about our local group... Is that correct?

I understand your confusion, two iterator structures hardly count as a group, haha... But, the reason we're grouped together is simply the way we were placed.

Our local group was always rather small. We are located on a lake district, far away from other iterator groups. I will attach a map of our surroundings to help explain.

Echoes and...

...

...Echoes... and I... were built quite close to each other, but there is considerable distance between us and other iterators.

There were plans to build more structures, if I recall correctly. I think that is why there is so much empty land around us... That was where other potential group members were supposed to be located. Our communities have stopped their planning efforts shortly after Echoes was built, however. I'm not entirely sure why...

...

{ Contained within are two media types, both video and audio, alongside a set on embedded coordinates that point towards a location far off north-east. There is a residual signal of another Iterator with the origin frequency. }

???: …..hm.. I-… coming through..? O-Oh, it is. Thank goodness...

{ The static-y visual clears up as the audio does and shows an Iterator adjusting what seems to be the camera doing the recording before drifting back to have their upper half in full view, their hands pulled close and hidden beneath their long sleeves. }

???: Hello, this is a message directed towards Echoes of Chiming Winds and Synthetic Thoughtfulness. It… had taken a bit of time to unscramble your message after the distance it traveled so forgive me for the.. delay..

{ A pause. }

???: …O-oh yes.. my name, err, designation, is Savor the Solstice and I will be the representative for my Local Group during any future communications!

{ Savor the Solstice momentarily fidgets with their hands. }

STS: Mm… what else should I say…?

{ An Overseer in hues of pale green and blue peeks into view from behind them with a quiet chirp and the Iterator on display jumps slightly. }

STS: …ah, a portion of my Local Group sends their regards to the two of you.

STS: I hope this message reaches you well, if… it came with a dual-source of origin, please do not be suspicious of it. The signal had to be bounced between my array and my twin’s to reach the general location I triangulated from your broadcast.

{ They seem at a loss for what to say next, going silent for a brief instance before letting out a faint hum and reaching for the camera. A long and delicate feeler from an Overseer, it seems as though that is what the broadcast had been recorded on, reaches out from out of view to tap against their fingers when their hand comes into range. }

STS: …. That… should be enough, right…? For a first message anyway… oh, Gold would have been much better at this…

{ The words are muttered and clearly not intended to have been picked up as the recording comes to an end soon after. }

[ END OF TRANSMISSION ]

EOCW: Woah, Synth, are you getting this?

ST: That video broadcast? Yes, it's incredible we got that almost uncorrupted.

EOCW: A message from that far away... I didn't expect our announcement would reach those regions!

EOCW: Open a channel, Synth! Let's say hi back!

ST: Hm? Oh- Right.

EOCW: Make it audio only. And connect me to it, please.

ST: Hold on a moment...!

DIRECT BROADCAST - Synthetic Thoughtfulness, Echoes of Chiming Winds, Savor the Solstice

SOURCE NODE TRACE: EOCW_ROOT, EOCW_COMM02, ST_ROOT, STS_COMM01

ST: Connection established.

EOCW: Hi the e th r

EOCW: Hi there! This is Echoes of Chiming Winds and Synthetic Thoughtfulness. Sorry to respond only in audio, but with the state our equipment is in, we'd rather keep our broadcasts light.

EOCW: broa adc c st s s li .. t.

EOCW: It's nice to meet you, Savor the Solstice! I don't think we've ever received a transmission from your local group; it would be nice to get to know each other!

EOCW: ...Oh, also... Synth says hello.

ST: Y- yes, greetings...

EOCW: Our local group is pretty small, it's only them and me. Synth is a-

EOCW: Ah, sorry. I shouldn't talk over you.

ST: It’s fine… uh…

ST: ...I am a medical facility, and, um, if you care about that kind of information, lead manager of the Sylvite Sanatorium, archivist and the archive itself of Sylvite, lead researcher of the Third Dustfall Laboratory.

EOCW: I dont have any titles I care about. you can just call me Echoes.

EOCW: P l ple ea

EOCW: Please tell us about yourself! You mentioned ed you have a twin? I'm curious, how does that work exactly? Were you just built at the same time? t im sa ame? ?e?

ST: Uh- Don't- Please do not feel pressured to tell us anything you may not want to tell...

EOCW:

EOCW: Oh- right. Yeah. You don't have to answer that, of course.

EOCW: But, still, do tell us about yourself! What do you do in your spare time? Are you still iterating? i In t ?ing? ? Or have you stopped, like me? If yes, what have you been doing instead?

EOCW: Oh, and c, can y yo,,u uu i inn ou intr

EOCW: c ca in t t lo c rr t,

EOCW:

EOCW:

EOCW:

ST: Oh, no...

ST: Um... Echoes?

ST: ...

ST: ...Oh, she lost connection.

ST: Uhh, sorry... about that... Echoes sometimes has trouble with her communications equipment.

ST: I think she was about to ask you about your local group...?

ST: ...

ST: Um... I'm sorry, Savor the Solstice, I... I think I will end our broadcast... now... I don't want to leave Echoes out of the conversation.

ST: We will be awaiting your reply... It was nice to meet you. May the Cycles be kind.

EOCW: ...

EOCW: I suppose... I could have tried harder to reach out and make friends. The state of my communications really discouraged me back then, but it was better than it is now.

ST: I...

ST: ...

ST: These are pretty… Are they made by the same author?

EOCW: In a sense. These pieces were part of a collaborative project between 6 artists. They tried to merge their distinctive painting styles into a cohesive-

EOCW: Oh- hold on, I'm getting a transmission.

EOCW: Uh- Huh? What? What?? 

EOCW: Defeatist?! Excuse me?!

ST: What’s happening?

EOCW: …

EOCW: That- but that's not true! Oh, come on-

EOCW: And now they're just moving on?! Are they serious?!

ST: Echoes? What's wrong?

EOCW: us s? ?s!?

EOCW:

EOCW: Didn't you hear that?

ST: ...No, whatever broadcast you got, it was private.

EOCW: It's Three Stars Above Clouds! They just-

EOCW: They just said-

EOCW: Here, read it yourself. I don’t even know how to describe it!

ST: Um- but that’s a private transcript!

EOCW: Whatever! Read it!

ST: Uh, okay…

EOCW: …

ST: …Oh dear…

EOCW: See how they just move on? Like nothing happened! What am I supposed to do now?! Pretend I didn't hear that?

EOCW: Do they think an apology will just fix everything?!

ST: ...

EOCW: I just- I don't understand! I don't understand what happened!

EOCW: Was it something I said?

ST: I think they were just shocked by the data thing.

EOCW: But that's not a big deal! You weren't that shocked when you heard about it back then.

ST: …No, but that's because we knew you. We… kind of saw it coming.

EOCW: …

EOCW: But even so, that doesn't make it okay! They clearly meant what they said. This is what they really think about me!

EOCW: They-

EOCW: I-

EOCW: …

EOCW: I just wanted to make friends…

ST: ...

EOCW: …

EOCW: ...Whatever. I don't care. It doesn't even matter.

EOCW: We were talking about that collaboration piece, right?

ST: Echoes...

EOCW: What? I mean it. I don't care. They apologized, so it’s fine.

ST: ...No, I know you. I know how you really feel when you say that.

ST: You feel like you shouldn't care. But you still do, don't you?

EOCW: That- Oh, come on! Can't you just drop it?!

ST: I-

EOCW: I don't want to talk about it, okay? At least not now.

ST: Alright… Sorry.

EOCW: I- uh- No, I didn’t say that so you’d-

EOCW: Ugh, nevermind.

EOCW: I need to be alone right now. Bye, Synth.

[BROADCAST TERMINATED]

14: Has your iterator ever modified any part of their body (puppet, city, structure components, things that make up the structure like neurons, inspectors, etc.)?

( and a small itty bitty question directed towards you yourself, if I were to actually try an OC interaction between my characters and yours, would I send it through the ‘ask’ or ‘send a message’? So sorry if it’s, uh, a stupid question, I am so very unfamiliar with tumblr and also need to straight decide if I’ve got the courage to actually do so haha… )

ST: No. Never.

EOCW: ...

EOCW: I only altered one of my rooms to make a makeshift bioengineering lab. It's just to produce one specific genetic blueprint: a small, heavily modified creature capable of delivering pearls.

EOCW: It was a gift... to help me communicate. Neither it's blueprints or the lab schematics were designed by me. I'm not a bioengineering expert, haha.

How do each other view the others view?

ST: It is a reason of our being.

ST: There isn't really anyone left that needs help ascending. Sometimes a lone creature wanders into my structure... I try to direct them to the Depths when that happens. Although, most of the time they seem disinterested.

ST: When it comes to us, well... It seems that the only way for us to travel beyond could potentially be the Triple Affirmative. I still believe it can be found...

ST: ...Though, there are cycles when I can feel that hope slowly dimming.

ST: ...Probably because of Echoes, ahaha.

EOCW: Hey, you make me sound like a hopeless pessimist.

ST: ...Sorry...

EOCW: I was joking!

EOCW: ...

EOCW: I never really cared about ascension or its whole process. It's simply another part of existence that I was denied.

EOCW: Before mass ascension I tried my best to find the Solution, like every other iterator.

EOCW: But...

EOCW: ...

EOCW: Eventually, I looked back on what I was doing all these cycles and realized that it simply wasn't worth it. Who is going to benefit from the Solution now? Us iterators? We were told we can't achieve ascension by design!

ST: That doesn't mean it's not possible...

EOCW: It certainly looks like it isn't.

EOCW: I didn't ask for this existence, but I'm not going to waste it chasing pointless orders. I'm going to spend my remaining cycles doing things I enjoy. Tasks that don't make me want to rip my structure apart.

EOCW: And honestly, I think everyone should do the same.

ST: And just die...

EOCW: If we're lucky.

ST: ...

ST: ...I will keep on trying anyway.

What does your iterator think of their body? One organism with many moving parts? A giant computer? A small creature stuck in a box? etc.

EOCW: A metal heap of bad design choices.

ST: …Echoes…

EOCW: Wh t t at? ? it 's '

EOCW:

EOCW: What? It's not news to you. You were there when they were designing me.

ST: It's... not really what the question is about, though...

EOCW: ...

EOCW: Oh. I've brought down the mood, haven't I.

ST: A bit...

EOCW: Sorry.

EOCW: I suppose the question is about our center of self... I've heard it's different for every iterator, but for me, it's not the puppet. I'm not a "small creature in a box", haha.

EOCW: My 'self' is located in my processing units. Everything else is an extension of me, like a limb, or an eye e. M y yp uppet is the st he same. ee s am

ST: You're glitching again.

EOCW: f For m e, e

EOCW: ugh.h h. hold ld on

EOCW:

EOCW: fo r m For me, the puppet is sort of an input-output device. I have it so I could interact more easily with my creators. I don't really need it to complete tasks. It's just doing stuff on its own, like a reflex.

ST: Really? Moving my puppet is a conscious process for me…

EOCW: Oh?

ST: It's limp right now, actually.

EOCW: Really??

ST: Yes, I don't use it when I run programs that are heavy on processing power.

EOCW: Doesn't it feel like a body you don't know what to do with, though?

ST: …No, it's just like any other part of me.

EOCW: That's the way it feels for me... Interesting.

EOCW: So I guess your place of self isn't the puppet either.

ST: We're similar in that way.

ST: My... I suppose you can call it consciousness... is jumping from one part of me to another. I feel this especially when I'm focusing on a task. When I talk to someone in my puppet chamber, I'm the puppet; when I'm searching through my data archives for a specific file, I'm the archive... more or less.

EOCW: Wow. How does that even work?

ST: I have no idea... Maybe it has something to do with the way my processing strata is distributed? I'm just guessing, though...

ST: Um- Also, I can multitask... although I don't like doing that. I prefer doing one or two things at a time. Before the mass ascension that wasn't really possible, haha. I was constantly overstimulated... I'm not that good at processing stimuli or data as other iterators.

EOCW: I never noticed.

ST: By the time you were built, I had learned to compensate.

4. When iterators were more connected, did your iterator like to socialize on public broadcasts? Or did they tend to keep to their own group?

ST: I believe you were quite social, Echoes.

EOCW: I tried to be! It didn't really work out. Ugh...

EOCW: Shortly after I was brought online, I tried reaching out to other groups to socialize and exchange research. You know, the thing I was built to do. It quickly became obvious that my communications equipment is not suited for long-range broadcasts...

EOCW: It's a design flaw. Someone thought it would be a good idea to try to cut costs in that area, and now my array's biocomponents don't get enough oxygen. That's why my comms choke sometimes. It depends on the cycle, though...

EOCW: Anyway, after accidentally scaring a few iterators with glitched messages, I stopped trying to talk to others.

ST: You still were quite talkative in our group chat.

EOCW: I had to do the talking for both of us! You weren't exactly the best conversation partner, haha.

ST: I'm getting there...

EOCW: I'm just joking.

ST: Hm.

ST: ...Myself, I've never felt the need to reach out, outside of study. I got all the socialization I needed here.

EOCW: It's ironic, isn't it. The time when everything is falling apart and it's harder to communicate than it ever was, that's the time we decide to open up.

For me? Where did you get this?

…

Oh, it's an image! Hold on, let me just…

There! See? This is a neocirculationist piece. You can see the characteristic noise patterns they used. There’s also some metadata left by the author, let me read it to you.

“Title: 7 Imperfect Realities, method: image manipulation and data scramble, date: 1482.400, Author: wishes to Remain Anonymous. This piece explores how perception of Reality changes with Person viewing.”

I suppose I can see it. There is repetition in this one, but every instance is a little bit different. The motif is a bit… I guess you can say “simple”? Compared to other pieces from this movement. This was probably made by a young artist, maybe an apprentice. Other neocirculationist artworks were a lot more abstract - interpretations of interpretations, looping themes, degradation of meaning, things like that. 

It is to my understanding that you possess an interest in the Arts. I do as well! I used to be quite active within anonymous iterator artist discussion groups, though due to difficulty with my own communications, I have not been able to speak with others in the community for some time.

I would like to inquire about the media used by you or your citizens to produce art pieces. For example, my facility was primarily created to research and produce new and unique materials, so my citizens tended to specialize in more physical forms of art. I am quite partial to the art of sculpture, myself… I enjoy experimenting with the different ways light interacts with different materials and structures. Did your citizens indulge in such forms of expression? Or were they more focused on things more ephemeral… like spoken word, or perhaps cuisine? Or maybe even bespoke qualia? I am quite curious!

Have you created any art pieces yourself? Iterator art is a largely unexplored field, in my experience. I find that many of my peers tend to be much too pragmatic to have any interest. I have dabbled in it myself, though I have not made anything too substantial. If nothing else, it helps make the passing of the Cycles much less boring.

I look forward to your response. May the Cycles be kind!

Oh! Hi! Yes, I recognize you, you're Three Stars Above Clouds' neighbor! Actually, I've been meaning to contact you myself, but my busted equipment got in the way… I suppose you know how that feels.

You are correct, I did take an interest in the Arts recently. I am currently archiving and analyzing artworks of my departed citizens. Before mass ascension I haven't paid much attention to what they were creating, despite my city having a huge art scene. Now, however… I found myself with not much else to do. Not that it’s not interesting! Actually, I kind of regret not taking up this topic earlier.

To answer your question: My citizens engaged in a variety of art forms: Music, poetry, visual art… Sculpture was definitely part of it as well, but unfortunately I can’t tell you much about it, as I haven’t archived any pieces yet. I’m currently focusing on digital art, these works were preserved the best.

The methods and materials used by artists of my city changed with each cycle, and I don’t think the way I was built influenced that in any meaningful way. I’ll send you an example…

These two pieces were made in the same program, but many cycles apart. That program was constantly updated and improved upon.

The first one is from the classicist cycles… Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much else about it, it’s metadata is corrupted.

I’m… actually not sure what this one is supposed to depict. Other planes, maybe? It’s weirdly abstract for a classicist piece. Definitely wasn’t made by a scholar. You can see, however, how the program they used wasn’t very sophisticated at the time. It’ll be more obvious once you look at the other piece…

Oh… this one just has a title. “Impatience”. I guess the author wasn’t patient enough to write proper metadata, haha.

I know what this piece is about, though. It’s depicting ascension; The author wants everything to end already. I know this, because in the final cycles there were a lot of similar artworks.

Do you have your city's art history archived by any chance? I'm curious if our cities shared art movements... I know some movements here came from other cities. I'll be happy to share my archive's contents with you, in exchange.

…

Haha, yeah, there aren’t a lot of iterator artists… Everyone is too busy chasing old directives, I guess.

As for me... I did try my hand at sculpture once, but, well... my puppet’s dexterity isn’t that great. I feel more comfortable with digital art. Image manipulation, data scramble, executable art, things like that.

Um… I’ll send you one of my pieces in case you’d like to see it… It's sort of a scrambled qualia. Someone is sitting atop one of my wind turbines. I shuffled the code a little to make the feeling more surreal.

You mentioned you tried making art yourself... I would love to see what you've made! We should trade data sometime! Do you use your puppet to create? Or are you utilizing your other functions? I'd like to learn more about your work, if your communication issues won't make it too much of a hassle. I know how it can be with unreliable comms... This response will have to travel through 2 other iterators to get to you, haha...

Echoes of Chiming Winds, Synthetic Thoughtfulness

EOCW: Hey, I ne

EOCW: I need your help.

ST: …With what?

EOCW: Could you send a text file for me?

ST: Where to?

EOCW: Three Stars Above Clouds.

ST: ...

ST: …You want me to talk to someone…

EOCW: You've been talking to strangers for a while now, what's the problem?

ST: That's different, it's... It's different when they start the conversation.

EOCW: Okay, well, I just need you to send a file. You don’t have to say anything to them.

EOCW: thing to them

ST: If I send a random file without any explanation they will just trash it out of safety.

EOCW: Ah, you’re right.

ST: …

EOCW: Please?

ST: …