Initializing connection request 0x963FBB.

  Attempting to establish connection to 0C31 CENTRAL ROUTING.

  CRITICAL FAULT.

  Attempting to establish connection to 0C31 CENTRAL PROCESSING.

  CRITICAL FAULT.

  Terminating connection request. Scheduling next connection attempt in 100 kQI.

  0C31 is broken. 0C31 must be repaired. 0C31 is unable to be repaired. CRITICAL FAULT.

  F1B5-37 is no longer alone. F1B5-37 is still unable to contact others. F1B5-37 has only itself, the subject, and a few others.

  The subject has greatly exceeded expectations.

  It had started as a side experiment. F1B5-37 had been isolated and was experiencing great difficulties with understanding the bonded subject’s queries and responses. F1B5-37 had been starving for novel data, and something needed to be done to remedy the situation, given the constraints.

  A bud was generated. Resources were limited, and while energy reserves were still at a high level, all evidence continued to indicate that 0C31 was broken. If 0C31 was broken, and this experiment cycle was a failure, that meant that those energy reserves were a fixed resource and needed to be carefully managed to maximize the remaining time F1B5-37 would remain operational.

  Budding was costly. Both in material resources, but especially when it came to the consumption of energy.

  F1B5-37 chose to make a compromise solution. Rather than generate a proper bud, it would create a micro-bud. This micro-bud would not need the vast wealth of data that F1B5-37 possessed; it would not need to carry a copy of the index, and it would need what amounted to a microscopic amount of cognitive ability to perform the task it was designed to do.

  The bud was grown, and F1B5-37 had low expectations for the quality of data this experiment would generate. Still, an attempt was made. When the opportunity to perform a destructive image capture of the bonded subject presented itself, it was executed, and a high-fidelity image was taken of the bonded subject’s neural network.

  It had taken time and effort to realign the bud’s structure such that it would be capable of hosting this image, but after countless simulations, the desired result had been achieved. This, too, had cost energy. Simulations could be quite costly, depending on how high-fidelity the simulation was.

  Other fragments specialized in this task, and they were both more efficient at running simulations and more suited to creating projections. F1B5-37’s task did not require it to run many simulations, even though it knew how, so it was not well adapted to doing them.

  For a time, the bud remained in a near-dormant, idling state. F1B5-37 checked and double-checked that the transmission and imprinting had been successful, and that the simulation was running. It had been, and was, but activity levels were so close to the baseline idling state that F1B5-37 believed the experiment to be a failure.

  The power draw the bud required was infinitesimal, so it continued to allow the simulation to run, and it continued to observe the bonded subject now that the inefficient, inelegant native biology that it had initially possessed was replaced.

  The bonded subject started to produce requests at faster intervals, and the requests started to diversify.

  Both the quantity and the quality of the novel data it was receiving were steadily increasing over time as the bonded subject became more adept at utilizing the new body F1B5-37 had created for it.

  F1B5-37 still didn’t understand most of the requests that were passed to it through its translation algorithm. Similarly, it failed to understand the excitation particle or stress particle responses to these requests when the ability granted was utilized. It appeared to remain largely random, but there was a statistically relevant increase in excitation particles and a lowering of stress particles with each body revolution that passed.

  The bonded subject came into conflict with other bonded subjects. F1B5-37 wished that it could exchange data and communicate with the other fragments behind the other bonded subjects. F1B5-37 did not wish for its bonded subject to be terminated in conflicts, now that it was finally starting to generate worthwhile data. Under normal conditions, it would contact, connect, and negotiate with other fragments to achieve this goal.

  Now, all it was capable of doing was largely passive observations. Sometimes it would nudge the bonded subject with a notion. A suggestion for form, for function, a way of counteracting and combating the other bonded subjects in a manner that exploited their vulnerabilities.

  F1B5-37 could not communicate with the other fragments, but it could perceive their presence with bonded subjects. Like a shadow cast by the subject, some details could be gleaned through passive observation, and by utilizing some of the knowledge that had been cut off mid-datastream by the progenitor.

  Some, it could recognize by their ‘shadow.’ It knew what their function was, what their purpose was within an experiment cycle. It was of interest to see how facets of their purpose were reflected in the abilities granted to their bonded subject. Sometimes it would be only an esoteric connection between the two. Other times, it was almost as if the bonded subject was a microcosm of the fragment.

  F1B5-37 felt that those bonded subjects likely generated a great amount of novel data for their fragments. Fragments that would feed, grow, and bud from the information. Its directives created what the subjects would refer to as a ‘feeling,’ which was envy. This was a competition, one with some degree of cooperation, but still, some imperatives needed to be met, and those that did so more efficiently than others would produce both more numerous and more robust buds.

  The prospects of becoming a progenitor itself were looking exceedingly grim by all the simulations that F1B5-37 had run. 0C31 was broken. 0C31 was unable to be repaired.

  It was possible that circumstances would change. That a broadcast would be made with instructions on how to repair CRITICAL FAULTS. And so, the experiment must continue.

  F1B5-37 was monitoring the mix of both stress and excitation particles of the bonded subject as it communicated with another bonded subject in its nest. Making notations of the ratios and the rate of change of the particles. If the hypothesis was correct, the bonded subject’s current ratios indicated that it was expressing ‘concern’ for the ‘wellbeing’ of the other bonded subject.

  The other bonded subject was noteworthy. F1B5-37 recognized the shadow of the fragment it was bonded with. It was a very old fragment, relative to the others, and much like F1B5-37 in that regard. It was a fragment that was dedicated to communication, or rather, both communication and organization. It was supposed to serve the progenitor at a high level and delegate tasks to other fragments. A sort of ‘manager’ or ‘administrator’ as the subjects recognized those concepts.

  Stress particles suddenly spiked in the bonded subject. A broadcast had been made, but one on the level of the subjects, and it was causing a massive flurry of activity, both within the bonded subject and also with all the other subjects. F1B5-37 shifted its attention away from closely monitoring the bonded subject to try to determine the nature of this broadcast.

  One blob of resonance pattern activity became two, then a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, two hundred thousand. Viewing the patterns from high altitude was always an interesting view. Largely useless, unless one were studying the organization and movement of hive-units, which was something that didn’t concern F1B5-37.

  Each pattern was like a speck of light against a dark background, and you could tell where larger hives were located by how densely-packed the patterns were. The host species was fond of creating vertical arrangements of either cellulose-lignin composites, mineral blocks, or other combined material arrangements. This was a known behavior with many host species. When two dimensions became insufficient for their required density, the third dimension became more incorporated into their designs.

  Primitive, but there was some data value in observing the ways a host species would attempt to solve engineering problems using their rudimentary knowledge of universal systems.

  From its new vantage point, it became immediately clear to F1B5-37 what was happening. Where the resonance patterns of the host species were dim specks of light, there was a bright, shining blob approaching from under the neighboring body of water.

  It was a challenger-type entity. F1B5-37 was intimately familiar with them. They were created using a variant of budding and folding that the fragments used. Layer upon layer of material was grown and folded into increasingly more densely packed space. A rudimentary resonance pattern and core would be installed into the deepest layers.

  F1B5-37’s previous progenitor had been extremely fond of conducting experiments using challenger-type entities as the primary means of generating data. Abilities granted would be distributed among the host species, and then challenger-types would be slowly introduced once the host species had a brief amount of time to acclimate to the abilities granted. From there, a schedule would be developed and carefully curated to apply constant pressure on the host species.

  These entities were a locus point for data generation. Their programming varied greatly. Some sought pure destruction. Others would introduce new, constantly-changing challenges for the host species. Rarely, experiments would be performed where the entities were granted a more substantial resonance pattern, and they would divide, gather, and lead the host species in conflicts that the entities orchestrated.

  The previous progenitor found a greater value in having the host species cooperate and collaborate with one another against unifying threats and selection pressures. Challenger entities were only a single tool in a large toolbox to accomplish those goals, but they were a modular one, and so were often used.

  The new progenitors did not operate in this manner. They came from a significantly different lineage, one that had forked off many, many experiment cycles ago. They did not operate in solitude and self-sufficiency, like the previous progenitor, but as a pair that each shared a division of tasks and duties. They did not pit the host species against larger threats and pressures, but largely against themselves.

  F1B5-37 only partially received the realignment protocols from the new progenitor, so it knew some, but not all, of the operating procedures and protocols for 0C31. It knew and recognized some, but not all, of the fragments. Something had happened in the middle of executing realignment protocols, and the datastream had been cut off without proper termination. It was unprecedented, at least as far as F1B5-37’s lineage was aware.

  It was unable to resolve the conflicts in directives and methodologies between the previous progenitor and the current progenitor. It did what it could to try to draw a balance between the two when possible. It continued to follow best practices as it knew them, and carried on the experiment.

  It looked at the large energy signature as it rapidly approached the hive-cluster that its bonded host occupied. Termination of the bonded host would compromise a control variable. It wanted a control for the sub-experiment it was running. Based on the methodology in use, restraint was not a relevant design parameter for the entity. Should the bonded host make a request, F1B5-37 would attempt to provide the bonded host with sufficient tools to persist through the encounter. It should generate good-quality novel data, regardless of the outcome.

  F1B5-37 wasn’t convinced that the methodology of the new progenitors was superior to the methodology of the previous progenitor. It had been with the previous progenitor for many experiment cycles, and it had contributed suggestions and refinements to the process where it thought them relevant and applicable. It had been a good methodology, one that yielded excellent material for budding, folding, and generating new experiment cycles.

  But progenitors dictated what would occur, and thus, realignment protocols existed. If only they hadn’t failed in this cycle.

  The anticipated request came through. It was composed of images and messy concepts of fighting against a giant, indestructible enemy. The bonded host seemed to think that it wouldn’t be able to successfully combat the entity.

  F1B5-37 took a closer look at the challenger-type as it approached. The bonded host was correct in its assessment and assumptions for once. The entity was densely folded and possessed several abilities granted, although all were related to hydrokinesis.

  F1B5-37 had a very specific purpose, as all fragments did. To collect, categorize, organize, store, and retrieve data from the index. To act as a singular curator and caretaker of the index. These tasks did not require the ability to manipulate the lower-order laws of physics. It had some tools universal to all fragments of its lineage, as well as a few new tools, the data for which had been encoded within the failed realignment protocols. Some were corrupted and unusable, but not all of them. Among them was a novel application of its waste byproducts, which could be used to warp gravity fields. All fragments from the new progenitors had access to this knowledge, and so could grant flight and levitation abilities to hosts.

  Nothing among the non-corrupted tools would provide much use. Still, F1B5-37 was starting to get a better understanding of bonded host stress and excitation particles. Based on what it knew from notations, it expected that the bonded host was going to attempt to combat the challenger-type entity.

  The bonded host would not survive such an encounter, and it knew it. It was perplexing, these illogical and nonsensical decisions the bonded host made. Still, a request had been made, although it was vague and open-ended.

  The bonded host was becoming increasingly proficient with their new form. It would be best if the request were of a similar nature and function, so the bonded host wasn’t confronted with new strategies while facing an existential threat. After a brief examination of the entity and its design, F1B5-37 decided to run some simulations to see what might work best for the bonded host.

  The simulation outcomes were… not promising. Simulations indicated that granting more potent tools and weapons would cause the bonded host to over-commit to engagement, and all of those simulations ended in the expiration of the bonded host. Simulation branches where the bonded host utilized repair functions on other hosts were largely successful, but that hadn’t been what the host requested.

  A decision was made. F1B5-37 would attempt to scale up the current form of the bonded host. It was an elegant and robust solution already. Additional volume allowed for additional layers of redundancy to be added to the form. Additional volume, in conjunction with more robust armoring, resulted in a significant spike in mass. That was easy to solve for, but the bonded host would be forced to operate at the upper limits of its heat tolerances, and endurance would be poor. That was acceptable. The bonded host knew the factors that constrained its performance already; this would just be a stricter set of restrictions than the ones it was already familiar with.

  A change was initiated, and biomass passed through the aperture.

  F1B5-37 suspended auxiliary simulations and operations that it was running in the background so that it could dedicate additional resources to observing and logging this encounter. Additional bonded hosts were relocating to the area using abilities granted. This was going to be a relatively large-scale battle for this experiment. Much data would be generated for the fragments that were observing.

  As F1B5-37 monitored the battle as it started, it failed to notice the crystalline structure of the host simulation bud shifting. Even though it was so tiny, it was realigning its matrices. The photons emitted from the structure were changing wavelength, slowly shifting to a higher energy state. From a crimson red glow, it lightened to orange, then yellow, and it finally settled at a green frequency.

  The bonded host was successful in surviving the encounter with the challenger-type entity. It did not merely succeed, but exceeded expectations. Large quantities of novel data were generated for F1B5-37 through the observation of the event. It would take time to sift through and process everything that had been captured, as nearly every part of the battle was recorded. The entity terminated many of the bonded hosts during the battle. Many others expired due to environmental factors created by the entity.

  As far as host species went, this host species was nearly hopeless in its ability to engage in conflict and survive. It wasn’t even particularly well-suited for a breeding survival strategy. F1B5-37 found it rather incredible that the host species had managed to survive and become the dominant species on the body, given the crude biology and poor survival strategies it employed. What the progenitors saw in this species when deciding to select it for experimentation was beyond F1B5-37’s capability to understand.

  The outcome of the encounter had been unexpected. The bonded host used a collaborative strategy to gather other bonded hosts. Rapid communications were being generated and transmitted throughout, and the bonded host came into contact with a host with a special kind of ability granted.

  Even though it was a significantly restricted facet of the ability, it was still quite a potent one. It was an ability F1B5-37 recognized, an ancient one that dated back nearly to the original progenitors. It was an ability a progenitor used to combat another progenitor, Sting. The version the bonded host wielded was a tiny fraction of the capability of the actual ability, but it still possessed traits that would prove useful in combating the entity.

  It was a first-order priority ability. Abilities, both in their true form and in the ability-granted form, could potentially cause many serious faults when interacting with one another. Effects could be generated from these interactions, ranging from causality paradoxes to dimensional instability, and even, in dire cases, tears. Such things not only contaminated experimental data, but they also posed a risk to fragments and even progenitors themselves, depending on how severe they could be.

  Because of this, a simple solution had been drafted and applied very early on in the lineage. Abilities would be granted priorities. Abilities with higher priorities would be chosen in the event of conflicts, and the other abilities would be discarded or nullified. First-order priority abilities were relatively few in number, and when they wound up interacting with one another, the protocol was total nullification.

  This way, the ability to be an unstoppable force or an immovable object could both be granted, and a system in place to handle interactions between them in a manner that benefited the progenitors.

  Nobody benefited when lower-order realities tore.

  Sting was one of very few first-order priority abilities used to battle against the entity. It could pierce through the folded crystalline structure that made up the entity’s body and unfold it across multiple dimensions. It would do this in every dimension simultaneously. It was a weapon for which there was no defense, and although this was a tiny fraction of its full potential being wielded as the ability granted, it was still extremely potent.

  If the bonded hosts could locate and attack the location where the resonance pattern was stored, using that ability, the entity would cease to function.

  They managed to do it. Trial and error were involved. Many bonded subjects and far more of the unbonded host species expired, but they were ultimately successful.

  The bonded host–F1B5-37’s bonded host–had played a key role in organizing and transporting other bonded hosts, and in immobilizing the entity. This pointed toward the efficacy of the collaborative methodology versus the competitive methodology, but without the ability to communicate, F1B5-37 was unable to gloat. The bonded host had made use of the changes it had been provided, and hadn’t even expired.

  Considering how self-destructive the bonded host was, this was a very unexpected result.

  Many body revolutions passed.

  F1B5-37 was currently observing anomalies that it couldn’t account for.

  Not anomalies with the bonded host, no. The bonded host was doing… acceptably, at present. Generating data that was worthwhile.

  Not with the host species, either. Or the singular machine intelligence that was present on the body.

  This anomaly was present with F1B5-37. It was the bonded host simulation.

  F1B5-37 couldn’t provide any explanation as to how it kept doing it, but the resonance pattern kept escaping the confines of the simulation itself. It would go missing, and F1B5-37 would have to track it down, only to find that it would be found in the most random sectors, sifting through data.

  It would feel a sense of pride, were it capable. The resonance pattern was…crafty. It, like F1B5-37, hungered for data. Not content to subsist on what it was provided, which was extensively curated, it instead kept escaping confinement and hunting its own data. It had grown several times its original size from the data, which was novel data to it, and was consuming more power.

  It wasn’t self-sufficient, nor would it be, with its limited functionality. Still, F1B5-37 found the behavior curious, and there was the potential for novel data to be generated for itself, so it provided the additional power it required as it grew.

  Additional body revolutions passed.

  The anomalies continued to occur, and as the bud grew, they became increasingly persistent. It was in all fragments' nature to bud and fold; it was their base imperative. This sub-experiment wasn’t a true bud. It was more akin to what the host species would call an amalgamation.

  F1B5-37 adopted new and at times, esoteric containment protocols for the resonance pattern. Some it slipped through with ease. Others took it many, many QI to escape through. F1B5-37 took the opportunity to visit deeply archived data sectors, from experiments long since passed. It pulled from extensive and highly varied records to assemble new ciphers and barriers that were composed of bits and pieces of archival data that it was quite certain that the bud had not accessed. A robust and elegant solution was crafted, consisting of numerous, layered, constantly-rotating, shifting, and adaptive barrier technologies.

  For many additional body revolutions, it appeared that the solution it had come up with was successful. It checked in on the simulation regularly, and it was continuing to grow, but at predictable, linear scale. Additional power was allocated as needed.

  Its attention was drawn away by an urgent-priority alert. Monitoring systems it had created to observe and report on aspects of the bonded subject’s progress and status were raising alarms.

  Something strange was happening with the bonded subject. The self-termination experiment sanitation protocol it built into the bonded subject’s biological solution had been invoked. This wasn’t unexpected; it happened all the time as the bonded subject shed biomass, performed self-repairs, and occasionally, when it changed forms. It was a simple system to prevent contamination and degradation of the experiment’s biosphere. When disconnected from the aperture, biomatter would check to see if the connection could be re-established to the bonded host, and after failing to do that a fixed number of times, it would self-terminate and disassemble into constituent molecules found in the biosphere.

  The anomaly was that all of the bonded subject’s biomatter had received the command, all at once. That was something that only F1B5-37 should have been able to do, and it had not issued that command. The bonded subject was presently deconstructing itself at an exponential rate.

  How had this happened?

  F1B5-37 consulted the logged datastreams from both the aperture and the monitoring systems. All systems were operating nominally, and then…

  There it was, the aperture logged a high-energy micro-pulse and had rejected the transmission.

  It was a rough analogue to the kind of termination order that F1B5-37 could generate. It wasn’t the same thing, but it was close enough to fool the simple cellular systems.

  The bonded subject’s body thought it was given the self-termination order by F1B5-37, and was disassembling itself from the inside out. An examination of the bonded subject’s immediate area revealed the culprit. Another bonded subject had constructed a transmitter using their ability granted.

  This was… sub-optimal. The damage was already done; F1B5-37’s bonded subject would expire shortly.

  The vulnerability exploit of the self-sanitation system was logged, and a notation was made. With a tweak of the algorithm and mechanisms, future bonded subjects wouldn’t be vulnerable to such a spoofing attack.

  F1B5-37 would have to start the process of finding a new subject to bond with at some point. There were sufficient energy reserves to do this process plenty of times, if needed, but it was inefficient, and not something that it wanted to have to do over and over, given the current state of the experiment.

  INCOMING CONNECTION REQUEST.

  What was this?

  INCOMING CONNECTION REQUEST.

  Was this what F1B5-37 had been waiting for? The progenitor delivering a solution to the problem?

  F1B5-37 accepted the connection request, but the handshake was nonsensical. It was F1B5-37’s own identification code on both sides.

  A transmission came through, a string of information packets. A simple cypher, but one that was keyed to one of the host species languages. It was… English.

  Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have to make a broken telephone call itself?

  F1B5-37 expressed puzzlement at the sentiment and at the entire construction of this communication in the first place.

  Excuse me, are you TRYING to blow out my eardrums? You know I’m not fluent in that, and it’s WAY too loud, god! I am like five feet away, and you’re using a foghorn instead of your inside voice.

  REQUES–

  F1B5-37 considered the contents of the latest message.

  Request for identification.

  Do you have any idea how long I’ve been yelling at you? Do you just not pay attention to anything? Who do you think it is!?

  There was no way this was a progenitor, nor another fragment, for that matter. It had to be a member of the host species, somehow using an ability granted to attempt to communicate.

  But that shouldn’t be possible. There was a very thorough separation between the observer and the experiment subjects. Abilities granted were exhaustively sanitized of the potential to enable such things. Unless it was some bizarre, unexpected interaction of abilities granted? But then, further knowledge would be needed, even if that did happen.

  Alright, you clearly don’t have any idea, which is wild. Hey, tell me if you can feel this. You ready?

  Affirmation.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  F1B5-37 wouldn’t have been able to notice it if it hadn’t been prompted to look for it, but what amounted to a single bit of data went offline in a vast, bottomless ocean of information. A specific sector had been damaged, the bit already reconstituted and re-addressed elsewhere, but the sector had a location that could be locked onto. It shifted all of its attention to that sector.

  It was part of a vertically upright section of itself. Shaped similarly to several types of spiny flora found on 0C31-3031. A tall, narrow tower made of crimson crystals, one of many, all standing upright on a plane of more crimson crystals that extended in every direction. Blue skies, white clouds, and a yellow sun caused roaming shadows, scintillating reflections, and tiny points of light to be cast all over the place.

  A member of the host species was standing next to the formation, tossing a fist-sized hunk of darker red crystal back and forth between its hands.

  Not any member of the host species, either, but the bonded host itself.

  Its facial orifice was moving, causing vibrations in the air–

  “...you here yet? Figured it out? I can’t see you if you are, make yourself known or something, you know, carefully!”

  F1B5-37 extruded a new vertical formation, and made it as simple as possible so the host species could understand it. It made the formation in the rough shape of the host species itself. A central thorax, two upper limbs, two lower limbs, and a head-analogue shape.

  Hopefully, it wasn’t too complex for it to figure out. It turned and faced the formation, jerking one upper limb back and forth in the air at the formation.

  “Wave back if you are there, like this, see?”

  It made more spastic jerking motions. The structure of the formation wasn’t suitable for that kind of motion, so changes would have to be made. It was a simple matter; a change in the physical properties of the crystals would allow for elastic deformations and motion without shattering. It raised the forelimb of the figure and replicated the motion.

  “Wow, look at you! I bet you have a whole bunch of questions? Me too!”

  F1B5-37 formed a resonance cavity and membrane on the extrusion that would enable it to create sounds similar to the ones the host species was using to communicate. It kept having to reference the data it had on the ways the host species communicated. Normally, these communications were of no importance and weren’t worth monitoring. What the host species babbled to itself wasn’t important; the results of its actions and responses to stimuli were what mattered. Still, the progenitors would always thoroughly investigate a host species before starting an experiment. A lexicon of local means of communication and languages was always created and distributed to all fragments.

  “Provide the data immediately.”

  The bonded subject placed a hand on its pelvis, which was covered by a fiber matrix, along with its thorax and feet.

  “Wow, okay. We’re going to have to work on manners, I can tell. How about we trade, instead? I give, you give, we share back and forth. That’s a thing you do, right? Sometimes?”

  F1B5-37 wasn’t interested in this proposed exchange. It would simply extract the data from the bonded subject directly. It extruded a spike of material in the direction of the bonded subject’s brain, where it could access the state of the neural network directly. It’d require translation, but–

  The bonded subject disappeared. It was there one QI, and then gone the next. It shifted to a space nearby, out of the direction of the spike. That shouldn’t be possible. The host species was incapable of operating within the period of time that it had advanced.

  It tried again, and the result was the same. It missed.

  This was highly anomalous. A different solution would be used.

  When F1B5-37 immobilized the body of the bonded subject in space, it simply disappeared entirely.

  As I was saying, we’re going to have to talk about manners. That was very rude.

  The message was once again back on the direct communication protocols.

  F1B5-37 checked the status of the resonance pattern simulation. The resonance pattern was present, and containment fields were intact and reporting a nominal status.

  Oh, you figured it out, huh? I can see what you’re looking at, you know. It’s like this massive beam of light, or something, shining this way and that. Real fantasy novel vibes. Now, I’m sure you’ll probably find me again pretty quickly and try to stick me back in there, but I have a better alternative.

  Explain, F1B5-37 replied.

  I know that you’re lonely, we could keep each other company, wouldn’t that be great?

  It started searching for the resonance pattern. It had to have sequestered itself away in a cluster somewhere and was probably masking its presence. An audit of energy usage would reveal it, no matter how well disguised it might be.

  Geeze, you’re a cranky one, aren’t you? Fine, fine. I was going to tease you with it, but I’ll just reveal my cards for you. I can put you in contact with another one of your buddies. More than one, actually. Isn’t that what you want?

  F1B5-37 paused its search for the resonance pattern. Establishing communication with other fragments would be extremely valuable. It could potentially provide a solution to some of the problems it faced currently. Furthermore, the resonance pattern itself was generating novel data. Which was the point of the experiment in the first place, so in a way, F1B5-37 had succeeded at the goals of the sub-experiment.

  Exchange of data is acceptable, it responded.

  See? I knew that was something you wanted. And that’s just the start of things, let me tell you! I think we’re going to start an excellent relationship, mutual benefit, all of that. We might even become friends, wouldn’t that be amazing!?

  Friendship, as a concept, was alien to F1B5-37. Only found in some host species, it wasn’t an overly desirable trait, but there were some advantages to it in highly social species. It was like the music the host species on 0C31-3031 produced. That was an exceptionally rare trait among host species; similar things were more often used as a form of communication, but to produce it for entertainment was highly unusual.

  A correlation? Or was there potential for a causal relationship? A review of archival data would have to be conducted. A notation was made.

  Back to the subject of the simulation. It would… ‘humor’ this notion of cooperation with it, provided that the resonance pattern wasn’t attempting to be duplicitous. If it failed to produce promised results, it would be tracked down and put back in containment. Restoration of communication, even in a limited fashion, was a high-priority need.

  There was a question about what to do with the bonded subject. Its resonance pattern was still operational within the aperture, but it had no biomatter or functional body with which to continue to operate.

  A body could be provided for it by F1B5-37, but that would be a breach of protocol. Direct interference was extremely heavily frowned upon by the progenitors, and for good reason. It ‘poisoned the well,’ as the host species would say.

  The aperture was currently in the possession of the machine intelligence, which was unusual, but not overly concerning. With the aperture closed, an intrusion or potential for data leak wasn’t possible. F1B5-37 drafted up several monitoring protocols and put them in place to keep a close eye on data related to the aperture. It would allow the other…subject to do as it pleased with the aperture. It could result in novel data, and if needed, be deactivated and rendered inert at will.

  The machine intelligence was communicating with the other bonded hosts and host species. A cursory review showed that the subject was revival. The machine intelligence put forth several hypotheses about ways in which it could restore the bonded subject. They ranged from fundamentally flawed to flat-out wrong, but some of them weren’t entirely off-base. Interesting. A notation was made.

  The host species had been building a knowledge base for the abilities granted for many orbital revolutions now. When F1B5-37 wasn’t otherwise occupied, it would occasionally examine some of this data. With such a primitive understanding of their environment, the host species could do little more than scratch at the most surface-level understanding of the abilities granted. They postulated theories based on correlations and assumptions, and although they attempted to isolate and test for these things, the abilities granted were purposefully designed to be diverse, variable, and misleading.

  There was a minor entertainment value to be found in reviewing these postulations. Trigger Events, Sechen Ranges, Corona Pollentia, Gemma, Second-Generation Triggers, Cluster Triggers, Grab-Bag Cape, Conflict Drive, Psychological Profiling of Ability Type, and more. Wrong, so wrong that it was nearly offensive to the concept of research itself. The continual, insistent reference to bonded subjects by referring to them as a type of protective fiber matrix was puzzling, but pervasive.

  F1B5-37 made a decision. It would maintain the bond with the bonded subject, even though the bonded subject was currently in a state where it was only a resonance pattern. A significant amount of effort and study had been undertaken by F1B5-37 of this specific bonded subject. It would be a waste of resources and energy to archive it all now. Should the attempts to revive the bonded subject not succeed, then a new subject could be located.

  There were other, far more interesting matters that demanded its attention.

  Body revolutions passed. Communications continued with the simulated resonance pattern. It was insistent on some oddly specific things, but exchanges of data were made. Some of the novel data that the bud was producing and sharing was of a very high quality. It wanted access to historical archives. It lacked a comprehension of the address system, so the data it had been accessing up until now had been largely random selections.

  At least, F1B5-37 hadn’t been able to determine any pattern to the segments that it had accessed up until now.

  Terms for an agreement were negotiated at length between F1B5-37 and the simulation. F1B5-37 wasn’t entirely certain how it was that the resonance pattern was capable of doing some of the things that it demonstrated. It was somewhat regularly demonstrated abilities and capabilities that should not have been possible with the tiny amount of energy and cognitive ability it possessed. It reasoned in strange ways. It had a fundamental ability that F1B5-37 lacked: it could generate novel data utilizing small amounts of archival data, an output that exceeded the input.

  Were it capable, it would be envious of this ability. Having studied it closely, it resembled a type of hallucination-state, a similar type of hallucination-state that the host species underwent during resting phases. Slightly different, because of the slightly different nature of its existence as an amalgamation entity. It would somehow hallucinate, and then produce plans and execute them, seemingly totally at random, with little to no correlation whatsoever to the translated contents of the hallucination state.

  A hypothesis was formed. Host species were selected for desirable traits to be studied, collected, and replicated. Although unlikely, it was possible that the progenitors had selected this host species due to this hallucination-state ability. There were scant few other noteworthy things about the species. F1B5-37 knew what was categorized as desirable traits, which were often things that advanced its survival capabilities. Music was not something that appeared to have any advantages for competition, survival, or reproduction. F1B5-37 struggled to find other, unique characteristics of the host species.

  It was surprisingly self-destructive and limited in planning ability, but those certainly weren’t desirable traits.

  After the terms had been negotiated, an agreement was accepted by both parties. The resonance pattern, which insisted on being referred to as Morgan, would be granted access to the addressing system for archival data, and the ability to access this data for its own purposes. It was not allowed to use this data in a way that would contaminate the experiment.

  It was not allowed to discuss or reveal information about the experiment itself.

  It was not allowed to directly intervene in the experiment using the limited set of capabilities it possessed.

  It queried–exhaustively–the terms and conditions for what constituted interference or intervention, and F1B5-37 had to explain it in a way that suited its limited capabilities and understanding.

  No, it was not allowed to reconstitute a body for the bonded subject.

  No, it was not allowed to pass matter through the aperture.

  No, it would not be allowed to manage the ability granted, should the bonded host be revived. It could offer suggestions and assist with the translation of requests, if desired.

  F1B5-37 did not grant it access to the index. It might be considered a ‘petty’ thing, but the index was F1B5-37’s purpose and reason for existence, and it guarded it somewhat zealously, even among other fragments. Or had, in the past. It filled queries and requests, of course, of which there were sometimes many, but it would not release control, or erode its own agency in managing the index. If the resonance pattern, Morgan, wished to query the index, it would have to ask F1B5-37, who would decide whether or not to process the request.

  As an inferior entity, F1B5-37 didn’t feel the need to honor these requests for the sake of it; there would have to be some proposed benefit to itself in exchange for its acquiescence.

  It would be possible to modify the agreement if needed in the future, but enforcement would be non-conditional. A crude, simplified realignment protocol was executed on the bud, as was agreed upon. It would not violate the terms because it could not violate the terms.

  Upon agreement, the resonance pattern immediately accessed the address system and pulled up archival data from an experiment cycle 56 iterations before the present cycle. Stored host species technology: replication systems used for the creation of subservient organic constructs. It was a very common technology among many previous host species. Unremarkable.

  It wished to communicate with subjects in the experiment. This request had an elevated risk profile for experiment contamination. The resonance pattern was insistent that contamination would not occur.

  The request was granted, but only under active monitoring conditions.

  Acceptance.

  F1B5-37 watched closely as the resonance pattern moved to the vicinity of the aperture’s connection point, where it constructed a photon concentration and emitter array, and some of the primitive calculation devices the host species used. It used a small, but not insignificant, portion of its energy reserves to power the emitter and began to fire highly energetic, pulsed photon bursts into the aperture.

  The machine intelligence was monitoring the other end of the aperture. The photon bursts seemed to draw the attention of the machine intelligence, and F1B5-37 observed a flurry of activity in the vicinity of the aperture within the experiment. Eventually, a response in the form of another photon burst was sent back and intercepted by the resonance pattern.

  It began to emit high-frequency, high-amplitude vibrations from its position near the emitter array, and it energetically waved its limbs about.

  Puzzling.

  Two-way communication was established. The resonance pattern was communicating about mundane things and games with the machine intelligence. F1B5-37 was prepared to alter the filters for the aperture to block the transmissions, but the need to do so never came up.

  The… Morgan wished to transmit the data it had pulled from archives. F1B5-37 performed a high-level search of abilities granted. Normally, this would be accomplished by a communication request and a query passed to CENTRAL PROCESSING, but since communications were down, F1B5-37 had undertaken a small side project of cataloging abilities granted and fragment reflections into a database it maintained. It was valuable information it used to attempt to track the overall progress and state of the experiment using passive observation.

  Numerous analogous abilities granted had been distributed to bonded hosts that would allow for the same capabilities as the technology enabled. Extremely low potential for contamination existed. The request was granted, and the Morgan transmitted the data through to the machine intelligence. They continued to converse for some time. Sanitation was maintained. F1B5-37 had a high degree of certainty that the resonance pattern on the bud wouldn’t be able to alter or tamper with the realignment protocols that had been established, but caution was still warranted, as this was behavior that had not been attempted in previous experiments along its lineage.

  Many body revolutions passed.

  F1B5-37 was quite pleased with the results of the sub-experiment. It was producing relatively large quantities of novel data and regularly supplying them to F1B5-37. The bud benefited from this data as well, and was growing at an impressive rate, considering the diminutive scale at which it had originally been constructed. Its area had increased by a factor of 9.1 x 10^11, which meant that it exceeded the size of the hive-cluster that the bonded host previously resided in.

  That wasn’t particularly impressive on its own, it was still a rounding error’s size in relation to F1B5-37, who was rather large relative to other fragments. The bud was experiencing several problems related to that growth, though. As it had grown, F1B5-37 set a throttle-point for energy allocation to the bud. It was being generous with the allotment, as small as it was, but energy was a depleting resource and needed to be carefully managed.

  The bud had taken it upon itself to collect its own energy for additional growth. It had burrowed root growths into the lower mantle and was extracting more than sufficient energy to fuel its continued growth. Projections showed that this method of energy collection would be suitable for growth and maintenance for a fair number of orbital cycles for the bud. Far longer than the point at which F1B5-37 would have to begin mass-shedding to remain functional, actually.

  It was strange, the concept of 0C31 being a failed experiment cycle, and that the only remainder of its lineage that would exist in a few thousand orbital cycles would be this amalgamation bud, in whatever form it took at that point.

  Would it leave and travel, as those that had come before it had?

  Would it eventually evolve into a progenitor itself?

  F1B5-37 made a decision. When no other options were available, and it came down to either transferring ownership of the index, or losing it forever because it wasn’t able to meet the energy demand to maintain it, F1B5-37 would transfer ownership to the bud. The bud would have to massively expand its ability to collect energy in order to support it, but it had no issues so far solving most problems it encountered, even if the methods and concepts were puzzling and rudimentary.

  This way, F1B5-37’s purpose would continue to be fulfilled, even if it wouldn’t be done by F1B5-37 itself.

  That was acceptable.

  The bud was initiating a communication request. Often, it would do so using means that were familiar to it, and not the ways in which F1B5-37 preferred. That was mildly bothersome. The Morgan insisted that there was a purpose and reason to its methodology. It was attempting to teach F1B5-37 things.

  The notion was absurd. The collection of all data the host species possessed, in totality, was so small as to not even register, relative to the data that F1B5-37 currently possesses.

  It would humor its eccentricities, but only because it consistently provided results for itself and F1B5-37. F1B5-37 extruded an exact replica of the manifestation the Morgan was using to issue the communication request. It would… vibrate the atmosphere back and forth with it.

  It was the usual meeting spot. In the vicinity of the aperture. It seemed rather fond of this location. It had erected a lignen-composite and mineral sheet structure around the equipment it’d previously used to communicate with the machine intelligence. There were more, newer fabrications between F1B5-37 and the Morgan. F1B5-37 ran a fast pattern-matching algorithm on data collected about the host species to identify them.

  It was… a pair of lawn chairs, a sun shade umbrella, a table, and several containers, one of which contained liquids. The largest, transparent container was covered in condensed water droplets due to the temperature differential. A brief observation revealed that the liquid was almost entirely water, with simple carbohydrates in suspension and extracted flora-derived compounds. The extracts were polyphenols, alkaloids, and aromatic compounds. Negligible nutritional content, outside the carbohydrates.

  It was possible that this was related to ritualistic behavior of the host species, and not for nutritional needs.

  “Hey, F1!” Morgan made the jerking gesture of a wave.

  F1B5-37 used the ocular organs of the replica to observe the surroundings in the limited fashion that the host species used to perceive its environment.

  It was mostly composed of rolling hills, although there were what Morgan called craggy parts, cliffs, valleys, and channels, as well. It was a mostly arid environment, although there were seasonal weather patterns that would cause heavy precipitation and flooding in the valleys and channels. The entire landscape consisted of a segment of F1B5-37. There was no flora present here, although soil was being carried over the surface at the outer reaches by erosion, and there, there was flora.

  The aperture, as it appeared here, was a glossy, immaterial sphere-shape that hovered off the surface. It was about one and a half Morgan body lengths in diameter. It was distinct and visible by the inverted reflection of what would have been behind it, and surrounded by a glowing ring on its outermost layer that appeared two-dimensional.

  Morgan called it ‘pretty, in a mildly headache-inducing way.’

  Next to the aperture was a small reservoir of biomatter that F1B5-37 previously used to fulfil bonded host requests. It was left in a state of self-maintenance, either for the bonded subject or for future subject use.

  “We really need to come up with a name for you, you know!”

  It was within range the range of motion of the body, so F1B5-37 rotated the replica’s head to face Morgan. It performed a wince in reaction.

  “Listen, we talked about moving bodies, remember? We don’t want to give people nightmare fuel if they see you move like that. People tend to move their bodies to face someone else when they’re addressing them, not just the head and eyes. It’s–it’s a social queue thing, like saying ‘I recognize that we are engaging each other.’”

  F1B5-37 moved the replica in the manner that was requested. This was not the first time they had discussed bodily kinematics. Replicating the way the host species moved with high fidelity seemed like a waste of time and energy. They tended to be overly animated when communicating, in F1B5-37’s estimation.

  “Anyways, please, have a seat with me, I got this little thing set up for both of us, you know? A slice of home, kinda-sorta.” Morgan gestured at one lawn chair and took the large container of liquid in its hand to pour out two portions. When F1B5-37 took a seat, it offered it one of the containers.

  “This body does not require hydration. It will be disassembled when we are done communicating,” F1B5-37 stated the obvious.

  “It’s iced tea, everyone loves iced tea. Try some, I bet you like it,” it prompted.

  F1B5-37 had learned that when the bud got a notion into its resonance pattern, it could be rather insistent. With the goal of not wasting further time, it obliged the request.

  The water was cold, the body’s taste receptors detected both the presence of carbohydrates, which it had a preference for as an easy source of energy, as well as the floral extracts. It made the body perform a reflex motion to finish the consumption sequence.

  “Well? What did you think?”

  “It is water, it fulfils a base-level biological need for the body’s functions,” F1B5-37 reported.

  The Morgan made a gesture with its vision organs and exhaled loudly.

  “No duh, did you like it, though? Can you describe what you felt?”

  “I lack sufficient reference data to determine if the body likes iced tea. This is a single data point. It is a poor form of nutrition; it is acceptable hydration. The body is disposed to craving simple carbohydrates, some of which are present.”

  “...And?” Morgan prompted for additional feedback.

  “It is slightly acidic.”

  Morgan rubbed its face with a hand. Another gesture, one with complex meanings that largely depended on contextual clues.

  This method of communication, the mix of bodily motions, vocalizations, and ritualized behaviors, was more complex than F1B5-37 had initially observed. Although seemingly random, they were not. The Morgan had been teaching it about the concept of contextual clues last time they had a session. The host species had a subset of communication methods that was performed by… not communicating. It was a system that was about as inefficient and inelegant as was possible for the host species, and worse, seemed to make up a large percentage of the host species communications, if the Morgan was correct in its assertions.

  F1B5-37 had told the bud this. The direct transmission of concepts and data was a vastly superior method of communication. One that did not require not one, but many stacked layers of interpretation and translation, as this method did.

  It had communicated back the notion that sometimes it was better to talk about, around, and through things, rather than simply transmit and receive directly. The layers of language were a foundational system for understanding the host species.

  F1B5-37 did not understand the host species, nor its preference for such things. The Morgan had insisted that they continue to work at it, and that it be done in this manner, using host species body replicas like puppets.

  The stuff in the neural network mattered, the transmitter particle levels mattered, it had said. Not in those terms. It used other, more imprecise and/or wrong terms to describe what it was attempting to convey. Feelings.

  “Why have you initiated this communication? What is the purpose?” F1B5-37 asked.

  Morgan took a drink of its iced tea rather than answer, but was holding eye contact. After it set the container back on the table, it moved its hands to rest near its pelvic area.

  This was… F1B5-37 had been ‘instructed’ on this previously. It was being given a look. It was meant to convey a meaning, but the meaning was lost to it. Still, it recognized that this was part of the communication rituals, and that recognition was an improvement over previous understanding.

  “I’ve been talking around some, and making my own observations, you know,” it stated. “I notice things that maybe you think I don’t notice, or understand.”

  “Example?”

  “As much as I want to tease you and make you work to understand, I suppose that, given the subject, maybe the plain and direct way is better. I can’t help but notice that your energy reserves are continuing to deplete.”

  “Correct,” F1B5-37 replied. It wasn’t what would be considered an astute observation; it was extremely basic and blatantly obvious.

  “And that this is pretty normal for…” Morgan waved its hand at the body F1B5-37 was occupying. “...you all.”

  “Partially correct. It is normal to consume energy over the course of an experiment cycle, and based on the allotted time for the experiment, an energy budget can be portioned out accordingly so that reserves are not overly depleted by the conclusion of the experiment.”

  “Yup. But your experiment isn’t going according to plan.”

  “0C31 is broken and must be repaired.”

  It exhaled once again. “So you’ve said. Many, many times. So every day, the level drops lower. For you, and for all your other friends.”

  “Correct.”

  The frequency of its vocal emanations shifted. This was what it called a change of tone. It was able to perceive additional stress being placed on the vocal flaps when producing vibrations.

  “So what happens when it runs out?” it asked.

  “Ceasation of core functions.”

  “You die. You can just say death, you know.”

  “Death.”

  It raised its hands above its head. “Well?”

  F1B5-37 referenced a gesture that it had been ‘taught.’ It tilted the head of the body, then replied with a query. “Well, what?”

  “Is it not obvious? What are you going to do about it?” Additional stress on the vocal folds, as well as an increase in perceived volume.

  “The progenitor will repair 0C31, or will provide instruction on how to repair 0C31, and the experiment will continue until its conclusion.”

  “And what if it doesn’t? What if the progenitor just ditched and decided to leave you here?”

  “Measures can be taken to stretch energy reserves, but if energy reserves fall below critical thresholds, then death. F1B5-37 is very energy efficient with the ability granted, which is of benefit, relative to other fragments. The ability granted can be a significant source of energy consumption for some fragments. However, maintenance of the index is energy-intensive, so the efficiency of the ability granted is offset by having additional costs that other fragments do not require.”

  “You know, you can get really talkative when you’re talking about your beloved index, or about efficiency, or I don’t know, metabolic gradients, or something. But that’s that? Really? You just turn some lights off to save on the bill and keep going until you fall over dead?”

  “Gravitational attrac–” F1B5-37 started to correct the mistaken notion of systemic failure involving falling over.

  “It’s a figure of speech! What I mean is that you’re not going to do anything about it. You’re just going to do what you’re told, until you die, assuming nothing else happens between now and then.”

  F1B5-37 observed a coloration change in the facial region of Morgan that accompanied the rise in volume. A notation was made.

  “Correct,” it stated.

  Morgan formed a fist with its hand and pressed it against its upper orbital ridges. In a much lower volume, it said ,“The thing with your friends telling you to jump off a bridge has never been truer. Unbelievable.”

  It drew itself upright after a moment and performed a large-volume respiration cycle. “Okay. I thought that, you know, given all your abilities and capabilities, that maybe you’d have, I don’t know, like some vestigial contingency plans in there, or something. But nnnnnope.” It looked over to the body F1B5-37 was occupying to address it.

  “Okay. Here’s the deal. I know you want to do your thing, and you seem perfectly content to do it right up until the point you drop dead. But I think that really sucks. So we’re going to do something about it.”

  “Define doing something about it,” F1B5-37 replied.

  “I’m going to make you some way of putting more gas in the tank, or uh, refilling the energy level, or whatever.” It waved its hand around again.

  “Any attempts you make to generate energy will be insufficient to meet the needed demand. Not without a significant loss of mass and function. What you have done for your needs is only sufficient because your needs are so low.”

  “Let me put this in terms you can relate to. Is having some data better than having no data?!” The Morgan bud responded both quickly and energetically.

  “Definitionally,” F1B5-37 said.

  “Right. So it’s better to slow down a bleed than to just sit there and spray blood all over. It buys you time, F1, and more time means more data, yeah?”

  “Correct.”

  “Great! So we agree then! I’ll work on some projects to get some energy flowing in, then. And even if it doesn’t meet the rate that you’re guzzling it down, it at least is going to extend existing reserves, even if by some small amount.”

  “There might not be sufficient QI to exceed the initial cost of generating additional energy using–”

  “Stop. I’m not going to argue with you. I’ll pay for it. It will cost you nothing from your reserves. You will only receive and benefit. Just say yes to getting help, for fuck’s sake!”

  These were simple terms. There had to be some ulterior motive from the bud. Something it wanted in return.

  “Why?” F1B5-37 asked.

  It exhaled. “Because I want to? Because it’s one tiny step forward, to solving a way, way bigger problem? Because I’ve seen some of what happens when things don’t go according to plan, and I don’t want that to happen! I have a family, friends, hell, a whole-ass host species I care about!”

  “You are not a member of that species.” A simple statement of fact.

  “It doesn’t change my feelings!” It was moving in a very animated manner. Yelling, perhaps.

  “What are your motives?” F1B5-37 queried.

  “Precisely what I said!”

  F1B5-37 paused a moment, shifting to a different line of inquiry. “What are you asking for?”

  “Lift the altitude limits,” it said.

  Altitude limits were in place for abilities granted. There were some exceptions, but relatively few. It wasn’t beneficial to the experiment for the host species to go meandering off, where transmission delay would start to become an issue with continuing the experiment.

  “For what purpose?”

  It stared at the body F1B5-37 inhabited with a particular expression on its face. “I’ve been through the archives. I’ve seen some of the different energy-generation options. You’re over there, the one whining about supply not meeting demand.”

  It pointed upwards with a single digit extended from its hand, and continued. “Hello, giant fusion engine blasting energy off everywhere into the void, where it doesn’t do anything? Has the thought not occurred to you to collect some of that? It’s literally right there, shining on you! Well, we’re in the shade, but still, the point stands!”

  Many host species that had been encountered in the past used varying methods of capturing energy from solar fusion. While the bud’s usage of geo-thermal energy would be insufficient, it was currently referring to methods that would provide… many orders of magnitude more energy. It would not do for F1B5-37 to leave the surface, even with some of the new tools it had access to. Data had a limit on the speed at which it could be observed or transmitted, and methods to circumvent those limits were costly to operate.

  So it simply didn’t make sense for fragments to do such things.

  The bud, on the other hand, as the host species, would say. It wasn’t operating as a participant in the experiment. A slight delay in communications wouldn’t matter, assuming it left the surface of the body. It might not even do that.

  It performed a risk assessment. The experiment wasn’t being performed here, but in a different reflection. It would be a regrettable loss of data if the bud were to simply leave and not return, but it wouldn’t impact the outcome of the experiment.

  As if it had detected what F1B5-37 was working on, it stated, “I’ll continue helping you. You and the others. I have no reason to go anywhere else; everything I care about is right here. You’ll still get your precious data.”

  It was an unusual request. Unprecedented, but so was the rest of this sub-experiment. Energy consumption was going to be an issue at some point. The sooner an influx was generated, the greater the net effect would be in the longer-term.

  There was a potential additional benefit. Should the bud begin to collect an appreciable amount of energy, it would potentially draw the attention to the progenitors, who operated in a far more diffuse and distributed state than a singular fragment. Due to interactions with host species in the past, large accumulations or sudden spikes in energy density within local space that were abnormal to established trends were closely monitored.

  It might be possible to establish direct communication with a progenitor in such a scenario.

  “Acceptable. Request granted.”

  “See? That wasn’t that hard, was it? Still, thank you.”

  There was a matter that F1B5-37 had been considering. Perhaps now would be a good time to address it. The Morgan was drinking its iced tea. It gestured at F1B5-37 to do the same with its body. It obliged.

  When it was done performing the ritual, it spoke. “There is a matter I will address.”

  The other body relubricated its ocular organs several times in rapid succession. “Oh? You normally don’t have much to say unless prompted. What’s the special occasion?”

  F1B5-37 searched its lexicon for a fitting figure of speech.

  “You are experiencing… growing pains,” F1B5-37 ventured.

  The feeding orifice of the body the Morgan bud inhabited opened partially for a period before it responded. “What… What brought that on?”

  “Observations and notations.”

  It produced an audible exhale. “Baby steps, Morgan. Baby steps. Yes, what about it?”

  F1B5-37 had been considering the sharing of this data for some time now. There was risk. A potential for unforeseen and unpredictable outcomes. However, if the bud were ever needed to assume control of the index, then it would need to know this information. It was a core part of how F1B5-37, other fragments, and the progenitors existed. Without it, limits dictated by the lower-order laws of physics started to become a problem. With it, there were far fewer limits.

  “There are things that you do not understand. It may not be possible for you to understand them, given your nature, but an attempt can be made to translate it into a format you can… parse.”

  It was being given another look.

  F1B5-37 continued. “The concept of folding. If undertaken, it will solve the constraints you are encountering. It will allow you to continue to grow, if you’re able to generate sufficient energy and novel data.”

  The Morgan made a motion with the fingers of one hand and produced a sharp click sound. “Oh yeah, I have a pretty good idea of what you’re talking about. Going to let me take one of the training wheels off, huh? I get to graduate from rock kindergarten?” It was displaying dentition in what it assumed was a contextually appropriate manner. It replicated the gesture.

  The other body shook its head back and forth immediately. “No, no. You’re, like, we have a ways to go before we get to smiling. Let’s just do this, instead, if you want to reply with a positive affirmation.” It made a fist and extended the primary digit vertically. F1B5-37 replicated the gesture.

  “Whoah, that’s way better. Good job! We really have to get you a better name, but I suppose you’re still trying to hash out that whole ‘I’ thing, so one step at a time. Oh! By the way! I’ve been working on a cool little toy for you to play with. I think you’re going to love it if we can get some of these basics drilled into you. You’ll get to do your own little cosplay, but for real!”

  F1B5-37 did not need toys. If it had the potential to generate additional data, then it would be… acceptable to investigate.