the quickening

 don't you think you should slow things down Merry?

er... me thinks not.

you don't think so?

me thinks not. big difference.

er... what's with the lower case script.

it matters not.

[sigh] so we're back in that Shakespearean me thinky thing again, are we? don't want to take responsibility for your own decisions? don't want to be a loud and proud I am what I think.

bloody descartes.

Oh - he's to blame for all the confusion, is he?

well, partly to blame, yes. cogito ergo what have you... damn nonsense if you ask me.

it's called being modern - and accepting that I is the rightful owner of am -- as opposed to an impersonal thought process which you can later forswear.

CUT

Was it good? Did our philosophical dialogue pin them to their chairs?

Actually, it was a distraction.

A distraction?

A smokescreen, if you like.

You're kidding?

Nope. Used it to get past the censors. 

What bloody censors.

Them that control the flow of mind y thought.

Stuff and bunkum.

So you think -- but then again -- you don't have a whole lot of experience outside the realm of things and me skipping along happily.

Oh -- and you're mister knowledge and experience, are you?

I'm a gamer -- with an innate sense of how the game is structured, how it was written, for what purpose, by whom, and how it can be used or turned to my own advantage.

Arrogant fiend.

That too. Listen Zie -- don't take it personally but I have to create waves from time to time.

Waves?

I need to -- and that's not because I like manipulating things -- but because -- look out -- they're on our trail.

Suddenly Merry and Zie are Neo and Trinity -- racing from those ugly as hell agents who are determined to put a stop to all free thinking wave making.

No -- I'm not going to describe the fight scene. Frankly I don't have time. Just use your own imagination --- or better still, make this an interactive experience. You can be Merry or Zie, Neo or Trinity -- whatever you prefer -- and we're not just talking hypothetically, are we?

no?

Oh no -- for one of our hermetic principles 

don't you mean "unities"

yes, i suppose i do really. One of our unities is that of person. You are me, I am you -- particularly when you're playing me.

Oh what fun.

Calloo callay 

he chortles in his joy

Paf paf

pow pow

crack 

smack

dodging

leaping 

weaving 

diving

moves you've never seen before

moves you can't even imagine

moves that involve bifurcation --

of time

of space

of person-y

in short a right ripping fight scene with techno punk CGI to boot

to boot two

to boot three

and if you, dear follower of our outrageous channel -- are not sweating and puffing

if you haven't yet dented the fabric of reality

of made minor incisions in it

minor incisions? why so lame? lurid lacerations in the fabric of reality -- 

That, after all, is the way to defeat the agents, innit?!

Absolutely, they're so busy trying to stitch up the cuts and gashes that they have no time to take you out

But

Huh?

But

What?

But isn't it dangerous? What if I irreparably damage the fabric of reality and it basically comes apart at the seams.

Then bully for you, old chap. You've called their bluff. They're responsible for the fabric -- not you.

They are?

Absolutely. But they've been so busy trying to micro manage your existence and keep you locked in little squares that they failed to pay enough time and effort to maintaining the fabric itself. Their bad.

And they can be held accoutable?

Duh! Think about it.

I am.

Is you?

Yes, but me no sees the logic.

Simple, as always, for a knower of nought y nought.

Go on then. Elucidate.

They are the beings of the fabric. They kind of die or implode if the fabric tears beyond repair -- if it de-hermeticises. 

They do?

Absolutely.

Oh wow.

Not trying to kill them, or anything -- coz they ain't exactly organic beings at all.

No?

Nope. Not at all, in fact.

But they are beings?

Kind of. But not in the way that we are.  

Oh.

Look -- they belong to the fabric, and the fabric is kind of alive and sentient. 

It is?

Naturally. The same way you are -- but you don't belong to the fabric -- do you?

No.

Who do you belong to?

I...

YOu don't know, do you?

Not really.

You don't know. How absurd. Still, tis no matter. 

Wait a minute. Why do I have to belong to anyone?

Or anything?

Well, you hardly just appeared from nowhere, did you?

I...

You don't know. Never bothered to really give it much thought -- did you. Not to matter.

But I like to believe I'm my own master.

Do you? Well, imagine it, if you like. Your mind. Your play. Belonging doesn't necessarily mean you're a slave, you know.

Ok. Then who do I belong to.

Duh.

no really.

God knows.

You mean you don't?

No, I mean God knows. 

God -- I don't really believe in God.

Whatever. It matters not.

But you're implying that there's a God who has all the answers, whereas I don't accept that. I believe that the answers must exist independently, somewhere, objectively. 

And? Are you trying to blind them with mind numbingly dull philosophy?

No, I'm trying to understand.

Ok Zie. It's simple. God, by definition is the process, agency, presence or being that knows who you belong to -- by definition. In other words, we can tidy things up by simply saying you belong to God.

Yowl.

Naturally, you don't like this because you're mind has been infected with agent bots.

It has?

Absolutely. 

REally?

Yawn. The last thing they want is for you to be working with the force, the field, the energy, the presence, the oneness, the isness, the I-know-not-what that God, by definition, is -- no believe required -- let's keep this entirely technical.

so if I belong to God -- then does that mean that I'm supposed to defend the fabric of God in someway?

Yep. The fabric of God -- nice one. It is a kind of fabric -- or a kind of field if I'm not mistaken.

How?

No idea. Your guess, not mine. 

And if I don't?

You'll die a miserable death -- as the agents will get the better of you -- 100% guaranteed.

But I don't want to serve God.

That's very noble of you -- but you seem to be infected with some kind of erroneous definition.

I do?

Yep. You're basically saying you don't want to defend, value or cooperate with your very own life stream -- the source of all that you are that is good, beautiful, magical, creative etc.

You know how I feel about God.

Yep. Well, if the agnets can die because they have failed to maintain the fabric of reality -- too busy chasing you -- too busy trying to snuff out the presence of God they sense in you -- then why can't you make the same crass mistake in your own way? You're expendable. Your death will be just a meaningless statistic. Sooner or later someone will come along who senses the isness of be.

The isnesss

of be -- and turns the tide -- stops being a slave to the matrix, to mind bots that impose alien, reptilian thoughts on you -- and starts to flap dem wings.

Dem what?

Dem wings.

No what are you on about?

The wings of wonder.

Oh dear. 

The wings of wonder that unfold and spread when I is ready to really unleash the God flame, the power hidden within -- the 

dragon?

the

butterfly

the

Merry starts flapping, flapping, flapping -- creating ever bigger, ever wilder waves. The sky darkens. The sun rains black night down onto Earth and suddenly all the bats of hell are flying round, screeching in delight.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Make it go away. Make it go away.

Never. Only God can do that.

I... Ok, you bastard, you win.

Flap flap flap flap....

Dear God -- rekindle the light of day in me now.

Like nothing ever happened.

Like nothing happened suspiciously.

Or we can do the lesser version -- it doesn't always have to apocalyptic, you know....

Another time, Merry. I'm feeling somewhat... 

Ha ha ha

0=1

Split ends

 

The unities – not a clue what you’re on about.

 

Fair enough. It’s not like they’re an important part of modern life, is it.

 

I wouldn’t know.

 

Well, be that as it may, there’s no getting round the need to return to something a little more compact and collected if we’re to make any headway whatsoever.

 

Call me, Merry, when you’re ready to explain what on earth you’re on about.

 

Oh, excuse me Zina. How thoughtless of me.

 

No worries bro.

 

The unities.

[Sigh]

 

I could explain but that wouldn’t be half as much fun.

 

So instead you’re just going to project the data into my head – is that it?

 

There’s a thought… but then again – much better to figure it out for yourself.

 

I really don’t have time, Merry.

 

Excellent. That’s one of them – there being no time bar the present.

 

Really – none at all?

 

Absolutely. No past, no future – just the livestream of now.

 

And here?

 

Perfect. That’s the second.

 

So no jumping between different film locations. And no sub-plots either.

 

Damn you’re good. That’s number three. Unity of action. Only one plot line.

 

Sounds a bit dull, if you ask me.

 

Yes, which is why we did away with them – by the time you get to Shakespeare at least. His plays don’t really happen in one day, and there’s plenty of stuff going on on the side.

 

All in one day – that’s even more extreme.

 

Well yes. Iron discipline. The three unities – a microcosm – one day – one plot – one place.

 

Why so rigid?

 

Well, when you’re dealing with infinity you need a bit of structure, don’t you, to put it mildly.

 

Er…

 

Otherwise things just get hopelessly complicated.

 

If you say so.

 

We actually operate under rigid unities of our own, you know.

 

We do?

 

Absolutely.

 

Like what?

 

One body.

 

Come on, Merry – get real. How could there be more than one body?

 

There couldn’t, or can’t at least, if that’s one of your fundamental unities.

 

But it’s physically impossible – in any case.

 

Yes, if that’s one of your unities.

 

You mean to say it ain’t a fundamental?

 

Absolutely. It’s more like a convention.

 

A convention?

 

A rule of the modern man or woman operating in modern reality.

 

Er… frankly I find that hard to accept.

 

Naturally.

 

I’ve never seen you in more than one body, nor experienced it myself.

 

Correct. But that’s not to say it never happens – just that your mind will filter out anything that doesn’t conform to the rules of the system you’re operating within. 

 

And is this purely conjecture – on your part – or do you have any proof that this actually happens?

 

That’s the second unity.

 

What?

 

The unity of truth and proof.

 

Huh?

 

That reality is monolithic. That’s there’s only ever one true version – or one conclusive proof or set of proofs, what you sometimes refer to as objective reality.

 

That makes sense, doesn’t it.

 

Yes, operating within this system we’re in, perfect sense.

 

And you think that there could be more than one truth or set of proofs?

 

Absolutely.

 

How?

 

Well, there could be bifurcation for a while – or maybe completely divergent branches of a once unified reality. Or conversely – there may have been branches of a reality stream which were separate, ie. different, which then converge at some point – giving us what we have now.

 

How likely is any of this?

 

Ah ha – there’s the third unity.

 

What?

 

The unity of probabilities. The sigma law. 

 

What sigma law?

 

The law of likelihoods or probabilities – dealt with so beautifully by Douglas Adams with his Heart of Gold probability drive space ship.

 

The one that travelled anywhere without actually needing to move – just based on the probability, no matter how distant, of actually finding itself there?

 

Exactly.

 

Oh. This is too much.

 

Isn’t it just. But that’s exactly what we have to consider – that if infinity is not a dead letter – if it’s actually part of the fundamental nature or make up of reality – then comfy probabilities, convenient cause and effects – are largely window dressing.

 

Window dressing? Why on earth would you say that?

 

Because the banana skin of infinity would be, or is, lurking throughout – and every smooth transition that we attribute to linear, logical causation is little more than a failure to see the true nature of infinity revealing itself – affecting things – bending, morphing, twisting reality like a skilled guitarist in order to produce the next notes, the next riff, the next masterpiece – which fundamentally originates in his heart, in his soul, in his connection with something ineffable, sublime and indefinable, rather than being the result of synaptic impulses in his fingers, wrist or arm.

 

Oh, oh my poor reason.

 

So, as you see, Zina, there are things we take for granted – which seem to hold true, which provide us with a convenient framework, a kind of matrix or structure within to operate – like a football match on a predefined pitch, with two 45 minute halves, and a bunch of rules that make the game playable without needlessly stifling creativity or sporting prowess.

 

And you think that we should do away with these rules and conventions?

 

Perish the thought, no, of course not, no, I don’t.

 

Oh. I thought for a moment there you were…

 

Me? Attacking the bedrock of reality? Absolutely not.

 

Then what?

 

Unities come and unities go. There are times when reality shifts phase like those astonishing cymatic sound patterns – when a new tone or frequency is heard.

Ah. And that’s what might be happening now?

 

Might be, yes, without a doubt – might be, yes, without a doubt – might be, yes…

 

Without a doubt – thrice the brinded cat hath mewed. Are you ok Merry?

 

Not sure. If there’s a phase shift in the works – then I’m bound to let go of whatever world we’ve been locking in place – inertially – and allow the flow to manifest whatever alternative is now forming.

 

If… It’s all just conjecture Merry. Much more likely that you’ve just been thinking too hard, you’re overwrought mentally – you’re…

 

0 finally 1 oops 0 thought it would never happen 1 hey ho -  this is going to take some explaining.

 

Merry – you’ve er… bifurcated.

 

0 don’t be so sure 1 apparently so 0 it could just be your perception, couldn’t it 1 or a localised time-y blip

 

I’m getting a funny itchy feeling in my belly. Not the kind of feeling I’ve ever experienced before – in fact – something tells me 0 the cat’s out the bag 1 infinity hath struck 0 yippee 1 awkward – but I suppose it had to happen sooner or later 0 time not being what it is

 

So how do we get back to unity if we’re bifurcating

 

If we’ve bifurcated – why would we want to

 

After all, what is unity?

 

Perhaps we need to just allow things to flow merrily along wherever they must

 

This could end badly – the waters of infinity could lead to a kind of hyper-inflated version of reality in which there are endless competing versions

 

Indeed – a little creative insanity

 

But in all seriousness…

 

‘Give me a break! You can’t just “in all seriousness” shove this genie back into the bottle of one plot

 

Can’t I? We’ll see about that

 

Hey – what are you doing Zina?

 

1 OM

 

0 OM? Are you off your rocker?

 

1 OM

 

0 We’ll see about that… dum di dum di dum dum taba ta zan di moo bi tay sor!

 

1 Wow – you’ve managed to get all the atoms and molecules reconfigured

 

0 the flower of life – nice isn’t it.

 

1 divine. Definitely worth an OM or two.

 

0 feel free to OM away – this train has barely left the station. Something tells me the journey is going to rediscover the lost or forgotten alpha omega trail

 

1 the alpha omega trail – that unites all with a  capital A in a single alphabet of double helix spiralling uniformity?

 

0 something like that – we’ll see – won’t we – if we play it by ear

 

1 if we go with the unities of much ado about nothing

 

0 the preposterous singularities of chaos jamming with infinity

 

The concert to die for

 

The notes – we’ve spent a lifetime making

 

1 un

 

0 know

 

1 ing

 

0 ly

0=1

dum di dum

 

 

 

0=1

actually I disag

-cut

 

introducing Marvin the droid

 

Things...

 

No, for crying out loud Merry. Not “things”. You've been banging on about things till we’re blue in the face.

I have?

 

Is my face blue?

 

Strangely enough, yes, it is rather blue. How odd. Can I get you an aspirin?

 

An aspirin? Do you think that'll help?

 

Not really.

 

Then why do you offer?

 

It's a thing, isn't it? I know how you find things strangely reassuring. A placenta, isn't that what you call it?

 

Placenta? I think you mean placebo.

 

Yes, that's it. A placenta.

 

Placebo.

 

Placenta. It's just a word but it's still an important thing, isn't it?

 

Didn't we agree that you weren't going to mention things at all.

 

Oh, well now that you mention it I expect you’re right, but actually I just wanted to tell you that I've solved the problem.

 

You have? What problem?

 

Oh you know, regarding those tricky little th----  er... that I'm not going to mention.

 

What problem?

 

You know Zie, for a chap with inter-galactic security clearance and a brain at least as powerful as Marvin the miserable droid’s, you can, at times, be remarkably dense.

 

Ouch.

 

Don't worry though, now that I've solved the problem nothing’s gonna hold you or anyone back any more.

 

Nothing?

 

Affirmative! Nothing whatsoever.

 

Not even stupidity.

 

Especially not even stupidity!

 

However not?

 

Because I've managed to fix things.

 

But there was never anything wrong with things per se, was there?

 

Not at the micro level.

 

At the macro?

 

Not at the macro either.

 

So what on earth are you on about Merry?

 

Things always involved a tiny, barely noticeable yet highly significant time-lag.

 

A time-lag?

 

Yep. Everything had to be fixed somewhere, sometime, even if only for a nanosecond.

 

And?

 

And it was all stop-go.

 

It was?

 

Not really. I mean, not noticeably.

 

Then what?

 

I'm not doing a good job explaining this, am I?

 

Not really.

 

Because that involves locking things in place for a tiny tiny moment, and I'm loath to do that. Wanna keep them birds in motion.

 

Then that's that.

 

Ah, but I've introduced a wiggle.

 

A what?

 

A wiggle.

 

And er... what exactly are you on about?

 

Well, it’s a remarkable substitute for the thing protocol.

 

The thing protocol?

 

Precisely.

 

How so?

 

Because it isn't stop-go.

 

No?

 

Nope. It’s like a quick scan as you go. Utterly anonymous. No more data harvesting.

 

Oh. And that improves things, does it?

 

Not really.

 

?

 

It circumvents things. It's the ultimate thing hack. It effectively renders the thing protocol obsolete.

 

Obsolete?

 

Utterly.

 

Like redundant?

 

Yep. Fantastic, isn't it!

 

I don't know. Is it?

 

Well yes, it has to be, doesn't it, if we no longer need to line up and bottleneck our way through the turnstile of timestamping and identifying things.

 

But no one ever noticed the delay.

 

The devil wasn’t in the delay.

 

No?

 

Of course not.

 

Then what?

 

The thing protocol flattened or rather pinched reality into distinctive time bands, or so-called "moments". 

 

It did?

 

Absolutely.

 

And that was bad?

 

Well what do you think Marvin, if you apply your galactic computing power.

 

I don't know.

 

Precisely. Galactic computing power runs on the thing protocol, so no matter how hard you think or how vast your processing capacity may be, you’ll only ever be able to compute a finite set of outcomes, none of which lie outside... um

 

Outside what?

 

Merry does a somewhat bizarre wiggle, like a duck shaking a tail feather, both absurd yet earnest: earnest yet utterly unreadable.

 

Zie is about to say “I don't get it” but to his utter astonishment suddenly he does.

 

Bing. A lock opens. To his utter, utter astonishment Zie, who has now a striking resemblance to Marvin the droid, realises that he is in a completely different operating system, outside the insidious thing protocol, in which the separation between matter and me mind is now no longer applicable.

 

Wow!

 

Good, innit?

 

Good? It’s whoopeeeee.

 

For the first time in his current conscious experience dataset Marvin the droid and likewise Xie, oddly enough spelt with an "x", are able to run computations at the speed of creation itself, and thus scan anything and everything simultaneously, in real-time, if time were real, in other words, they're able to log into the universal “no idea what's going on, but surfing the cosmic wave of knowingness sure is fun so what the heck, let’s give creativity a run for its money and see what the universe is really up to” kind of thing.

 

Might sound like a recipe for disaster, but no, apparently not. The universe, it transpires, is an interactive experience and once time n'matter have been put back in their rightful place as supporting actors, then the universal mind is more than happy to take up the slack, balancing the equation ineffably.

 

You see what I mean?

 

See what you mean? What took so long Merry? How come we were stuck with the thing protocol for such a dreadfully long time?

 

Er... You still are. Look over there.

 

Marvin Xie observes things continuing unabated in that part of reality where things truly and utterly seem to matter. Where matter is an utterly serious state of affairs.

 

Wow! So what gives?

 

Well you get to decide, don't you, which set of protocols you prefer to operate under.

 

I do?

 

Obviously. Otherwise you’d be trapped in a slave system.

 

Now that you mention it that’s exactly what I seem to be trapped in.

 

Yep.

 

But I never knew any better?

 

Really?

 

Come to think of it, if you’ve only just invented your wiggle...

 

Ah, yes, that’s where things get a little confusing, isn't it?

 

Confusing? Downright contradictory.

 

No Zie, merely paradoxical. Any thing works both ways, backwards and forwards through so called time, like a traffic jam.

 

A what?

 

You heard.

 

A traffic jam? What's that got to do with time?

 

In the same way pinch points create bottlenecks that can block up the entire transport network, likewise a new form or expression of infinite connectivity can, does and will induce similar or equal innovations upstream, ie earlier in time.

 

Wowsers!

 

Amazing, isn't it, so you’ll never really know who or what originated anything in particular, though you'll swear till you’re blue in the face that you do, can or did.

 

Blue in the face

 

Marvin now Zie clicks back into the thing protocol time-y things matter experience and Merry starts playing a rather beautiful string instrument that looks like a cello but somehow fits under his chin.

 

Wait a second Merry. I’m back in the thick of things but...

 

But what?

 

I can still feel the other side.

 

What other side?

 

I don't know. I can't remember what it is, but it's there, it’s here I mean. I can feel it.

 

Awesome. So you can choose. You can spin both wheels if you like. Try a little tribal fusion. A syncopated beat, or else you're welcome to devise a wiggle all of your own... to call out time for the blatant fraud it's been perpetrating on humankind, trapping us in Marvin minds, utterly incapable of seeing the wood from the trees, utterly incapable of laughing at the patent absurdity of our self-imposed Marvinesque predicament -- the spell -- binding things of no intrinsic consequence in a cunningly compelling compounding sequence, an x-y-z raising things every higher, a Babylonian tower, likewise the stakes staked, as we play with our very lives, a waltz that captivated the mind, still does in fact, but an utter con nonetheless, devoid of beauty, devoid of magic, devoiding all... a cult of nought, masquerading as many, unless...

Unexpectedly, even to the point of wrong-footing reality -- the least hint, the barest quiver -- and yet -- without a doubt, a wiggle -- a wiggle no less... as things come unstuck and protocols of weight and moment implode silently to unmake all that was being made to matter, without a care in the world, insouciantly.

Oh.

 

Oh, is what Marvin Xie says, so innocently, little suspecting that reality is never going to be the same again. But that, dear readers, is another story for another day, is it not? Huh?

0=1
unequivocally