Soup Swap

The containment mesh was, once again, getting thin. This time, it was a fine idea, since I was now moving along the central network via a different and somewhat closed pathway. Guiding the ringlet was a decent ride, and now, as I had seen so many other ringlets do, it was time to make an exit from the soup and into a local meshwork.

Remembering that Elevens are the key to this, I began to corral a few. Just a nudge or three and a goodly concentrations of Elevens had been assembled in the soup ahead of me. Easy to scan, the Eight-Six-Eights were few and far between, I kept careful eye for the tell-tale double Eleven formation that marked the passage through which my ringlet could traverse.

The first such marker popped up and disappeared nearly as quickly as a ringlet jumped through the gate. Had I been looking closer, I would have spotted that ringlet with its elevated Six flagging in the soup. Not deterred, I sensed the shudder of a slotting Eleven and gave a burst in that direction. A second Eleven slotted and I adjusted the trajectory for a clean insertion and click-ratchet—ka—chunk — admission grated for me and my trusty ringlet.