The Eight-One sequence along the edge of the monster continued to disconnect itself from the meshwork, widening the gap and allowing the One-Eight-Ones in the soup to begin filling in the widening gap between the meshworks. Scanning into the crevice revealed that the base of the monster matched pattern of the meshwork in a complimentary way, yet was under control of the rest of the structure, allowing the monster to peel away from the meshwork below.
With the base meshwork cleared of the monster, I began pressing forward toward the attraction zone that the monster had to be covering. My Seven-One-One end was fairly good at acting like a One-Eight-One and brushed the underside of the detaching monster as nudged my way in. Slowly counting the mini-hops and tickling the monster, the outer edge caught a pulse of One-Eight-Ones.
The mesh of the monster flexed and rippled in response to the pulse, transmitting the tug on the edge along the base and eventually to the separation zone. The resulting rapid separation revealed a cavity that enveloped the attraction zone, and a flood of One-Eight-Ones rushed past the edge freeing the attraction zone for a clear view. It was quite a fright to be staring down a Six flanked by a pair of Sevens, one of which was spinning a highly charged One.
April 30, 2010
April 29, 2010
Survey Work
After discovering the blend line and seam, I re-measured the distance from the attraction point to the edge of the meshwork monster, and discovered that had mini-hopped about 30 times to get from zone to seam. Angling off from the zone, parallel to the seam, I started counting mini-hops. Measuring 56 mini-hops to the next attraction zone, it was loaded with a wiggle-tail 5-ring.
Scanning for the top of the monster, I re-vectored and rolled toward the mountain once again, counting along and reaching 32 mini-hops before discovering that it was very difficult to roll the Eights up onto the mountain mesh. Continuing the rolling and counting, exploring the rough distance between attraction zones and the base of the mountain mesh. I was certain that there was a zone underneath the mountain, and eventually, I reached the pucker pattern in the seam that I first spotted.
Venturing toward the odd construction, I tried scanning into a pucker, but the return was less than disappointing. The density was high enough that it may as well have been a wall of neutrons. Patrolling the boarder between the meshworks, I slid toward the next member of the pucker pattern just to try another scan, and as I moved to square with the opening, the forward Ones at the edge of the pucker released their hold on the meshwork below.
Scanning for the top of the monster, I re-vectored and rolled toward the mountain once again, counting along and reaching 32 mini-hops before discovering that it was very difficult to roll the Eights up onto the mountain mesh. Continuing the rolling and counting, exploring the rough distance between attraction zones and the base of the mountain mesh. I was certain that there was a zone underneath the mountain, and eventually, I reached the pucker pattern in the seam that I first spotted.
Venturing toward the odd construction, I tried scanning into a pucker, but the return was less than disappointing. The density was high enough that it may as well have been a wall of neutrons. Patrolling the boarder between the meshworks, I slid toward the next member of the pucker pattern just to try another scan, and as I moved to square with the opening, the forward Ones at the edge of the pucker released their hold on the meshwork below.
April 28, 2010
Large Loomer
I began alternating right and left turns at each attachment zone as I rolled toward the horizon. Before departing toward the next zone, I scanned toward the whorls to make sure that I was on course. I even made two lefts to get a better perspective, followed by four rights to see the other side. I knew that I was getting closer, but it was increasingly difficult to locate the edge of the meshwork at what I thought was the horizon.
After two more lefts and a return to the alternation of directions to equalize my course, I began to discover that the horizon was rising, and the pulse-induced whorls were coming from behind the edge. I was close enough now that I could look at the Seven-Six-Six backbone that made up the meshwork at the base of the mountain of meshwork that I had stumbled toward.
The blend-line was difficult to spot, as it used the same pattern as the meshwork, but in alternation, to create an attachment that appeared seamless. The difference was in the subtle change in angle and the occasional pucker that gave the seam away. Above, the Seven-Six-Six chain that formed the backbone of this mesh segment was far longer and convoluted than the smaller chains that made up the large and stable meshwork that I had been travelling. That's when I realized what I was scanning.
It was a monster.
After two more lefts and a return to the alternation of directions to equalize my course, I began to discover that the horizon was rising, and the pulse-induced whorls were coming from behind the edge. I was close enough now that I could look at the Seven-Six-Six backbone that made up the meshwork at the base of the mountain of meshwork that I had stumbled toward.
The blend-line was difficult to spot, as it used the same pattern as the meshwork, but in alternation, to create an attachment that appeared seamless. The difference was in the subtle change in angle and the occasional pucker that gave the seam away. Above, the Seven-Six-Six chain that formed the backbone of this mesh segment was far longer and convoluted than the smaller chains that made up the large and stable meshwork that I had been travelling. That's when I realized what I was scanning.
It was a monster.
April 27, 2010
Circling Outward
I kept rolling and mini-hopping from one attraction zone to the next, making a partial left turn at each secured 5-ring. Things were beginning to look very much the same, mainly because they were. Locked in place, the 5-rings provided the stress and wiggle necessary to keep the soup flowing from the pulsed network and into the zones between the meshworks.
Moving ahead and pushing the horizon, I found that I was able to scan off the edge from time to time while between active zones. The One-Eight-Ones of the soup were floating in an agitated pattern above and around me as I continued to ply the boundary between the soup and the meshwork. It was purely by accident that I noticed the whorls.
While tracking the motion of One-Eight-Ones is fairly random, the pulses from the network create channels of motion. In some cases, they just pulse outward into diffused randomness. In this case, near the horizon, each pulse produced two upward streams that diverged. Each stream curved back upon itself in a tightening spiral, leaving the wedge zone between the streams undisturbed, relatively.
Moving ahead and pushing the horizon, I found that I was able to scan off the edge from time to time while between active zones. The One-Eight-Ones of the soup were floating in an agitated pattern above and around me as I continued to ply the boundary between the soup and the meshwork. It was purely by accident that I noticed the whorls.
While tracking the motion of One-Eight-Ones is fairly random, the pulses from the network create channels of motion. In some cases, they just pulse outward into diffused randomness. In this case, near the horizon, each pulse produced two upward streams that diverged. Each stream curved back upon itself in a tightening spiral, leaving the wedge zone between the streams undisturbed, relatively.
April 26, 2010
Surface Search
I rolled around the entire attachment zone. Thumping as I could, spinning and flipping next door to Electrons in the attachment structure, all to no net effect. It was possible to stress and strain individual locks, but no single lock was able to eject the wiggle-tail 5-ring. Moving quickly and double-flipping pairs of locks, I was able to lift the last Six in the ring.
Once the Six popped up, I tried to get to a third lock point, but the Six would snap back into its old position before I could even get to the next lock. I tried many routes and switched the direction of travel, trying to work the tail-lock which was shut far tighter. There was just no way that I could be the key that releases the 5-ring.
Knowing that what slots in pops out, there had to be a key. The 5-rings could not stay, and should not stay. If this ring was not going to cooperate, there had to be a ring attached somewhere on this meshwork that was departing. Setting a course, I rolled the 50+ mini-hops toward the next zone. Finding that it was filled and secure, I adjusted course toward the left by about the same angle that I saw in the 5-ring and rattled off to find the next zone.
Once the Six popped up, I tried to get to a third lock point, but the Six would snap back into its old position before I could even get to the next lock. I tried many routes and switched the direction of travel, trying to work the tail-lock which was shut far tighter. There was just no way that I could be the key that releases the 5-ring.
Knowing that what slots in pops out, there had to be a key. The 5-rings could not stay, and should not stay. If this ring was not going to cooperate, there had to be a ring attached somewhere on this meshwork that was departing. Setting a course, I rolled the 50+ mini-hops toward the next zone. Finding that it was filled and secure, I adjusted course toward the left by about the same angle that I saw in the 5-ring and rattled off to find the next zone.
April 25, 2010
Field of Dreams
One-Eight-Ones and other assorted small atoms were continuing to flow from the pulsed soup network into the meshwork region that I found myself in. Clinging to the meshwork and letting the Eights to their roll-and-flop across the One-heavy surface, I managed to dance along, dodging the pulses in the soup.
I hopped off of the sieve and onto an attached meshwork. Here, I found one of the tagged 5-rings locked into a receiver zone. I was not sure if this was the same 5-ring that I had collided with to get here or not. I did not see any extra Neutrons, but then again, I did not dive in and flitter around the backside to check everything. Usually a heavy nucleus is just a little larger.
Leaving the 5-ring still twitching, I rolled across the surface and found several more attachment zones, all arranged in a regular pattern. Pick a direction and travel. I counted about 57 mini-hops each time, and found another filled receiver. Considering my past experience, capturing one of these wiggle-tail 5-rings could be very interesting. The only task ahead of me was unlocking one of them from a receiver area. I still recall the rejection jolt from my past misaligned adventures.
I hopped off of the sieve and onto an attached meshwork. Here, I found one of the tagged 5-rings locked into a receiver zone. I was not sure if this was the same 5-ring that I had collided with to get here or not. I did not see any extra Neutrons, but then again, I did not dive in and flitter around the backside to check everything. Usually a heavy nucleus is just a little larger.
Leaving the 5-ring still twitching, I rolled across the surface and found several more attachment zones, all arranged in a regular pattern. Pick a direction and travel. I counted about 57 mini-hops each time, and found another filled receiver. Considering my past experience, capturing one of these wiggle-tail 5-rings could be very interesting. The only task ahead of me was unlocking one of them from a receiver area. I still recall the rejection jolt from my past misaligned adventures.
April 24, 2010
Forceful Pause
I was coping with the deluge for quite a while, finding my Shorty inadequate to the task of station keeping in the flow, I began cutting across the flow as best I could. Approaching an unexpanded meshwork and taking advantage of the flow, I rotated the Shorty to land on the Eights and headed for the Seven once again to keep things straight and normal to the meshwork.
Locking on and making the partial mode switch into sliding mode, I was able to power along against the flow, and scan the opposite side between the One-Eight-Ones that were moving swiftly. That's when I started to feel the bend. The Seven was being tugged at by the Ones and I was working to maintain the vertical orientation, lest I slip and drop into full mesh mode.
Working the subtleties of the synchro drive, I kept from loosing all scanning ability by keeping the Seven end free of the meshwork. The force paused and I relaxed to prevent drift, and the direction reversed at the same time as waves of Electron pulses washed through the region. The result of these pulses was a huge displacement as the forces accelerated briefly and then stopped. Even the flow of One-Eight-Ones paused, missing a pulse or two.
Locking on and making the partial mode switch into sliding mode, I was able to power along against the flow, and scan the opposite side between the One-Eight-Ones that were moving swiftly. That's when I started to feel the bend. The Seven was being tugged at by the Ones and I was working to maintain the vertical orientation, lest I slip and drop into full mesh mode.
Working the subtleties of the synchro drive, I kept from loosing all scanning ability by keeping the Seven end free of the meshwork. The force paused and I relaxed to prevent drift, and the direction reversed at the same time as waves of Electron pulses washed through the region. The result of these pulses was a huge displacement as the forces accelerated briefly and then stopped. Even the flow of One-Eight-Ones paused, missing a pulse or two.
April 23, 2010
Influx Exodus
The Ones began to wiggle as the Eights continued to protrude through the expanding mesh. A nearby Eight made it completely through the mesh and pulled it's other One through. The meshwork contracted slightly around the One as it passed, relaxing the grip on the neighboring Eights that began to popping through in response.
Revealing their extra Ones as they entered the soup, the influx of One-Eight-Ones began to distance me from the meshwork. Another wave of Ones began to protrude, and one of the larger openings was sporting an Eleven as the meshwork continued to expand. There was only a brief pause as the Eights crossed the meshwork, releasing the next wave of One-Eight-Ones into the local soup.
A new flow was beginning in the soup, and I was working hard to keep position. Scanning into one of the holes, I spotted an old and familiar meshwork that was unaffected as it passed below the openings. The unique structure that veiled high concentrations of Eights was quite unmistakable as it passed, only to be followed by the outflow of an even larger number of One-Eight-Ones.
Revealing their extra Ones as they entered the soup, the influx of One-Eight-Ones began to distance me from the meshwork. Another wave of Ones began to protrude, and one of the larger openings was sporting an Eleven as the meshwork continued to expand. There was only a brief pause as the Eights crossed the meshwork, releasing the next wave of One-Eight-Ones into the local soup.
A new flow was beginning in the soup, and I was working hard to keep position. Scanning into one of the holes, I spotted an old and familiar meshwork that was unaffected as it passed below the openings. The unique structure that veiled high concentrations of Eights was quite unmistakable as it passed, only to be followed by the outflow of an even larger number of One-Eight-Ones.
April 22, 2010
Permission Slip
Flipping the scan to follow the passing 5-ring, I realized that the Shorty had not traveled far from the attraction zone, so I shut down the synchro-drive and drifted lazily. For a few moments, I recorded rotation, and discovered that it was not my Shorty that was rolling, but the 5-ring was reorienting itself.
The 5-ring emitted a final Wig as the tag slotted into the attraction area, nestling nicely. The rest of the process completed without incident, and I continued my float toward the meshwork as the 5-ring itself locked into position and began a pulsing waveform that began to travel across the sea of Ones that made up the vastness of the meshwork.
Another wave rippled across the meshwork, and a nearly regular gridwork of Ones began to rise. Each pulse from the attraction area rippled outward, jiggling the sea of Ones and pushing the gridwork farther upward from the nominal surface. Then things got bigger, as each of the ones was attached to an Eight that began to breach the meshwork. Locked in, just waiting to be be released by a pulse, the sea of Ones continued to thin, as the Eights began to wobble in response to the weakening force holding them in place.
The 5-ring emitted a final Wig as the tag slotted into the attraction area, nestling nicely. The rest of the process completed without incident, and I continued my float toward the meshwork as the 5-ring itself locked into position and began a pulsing waveform that began to travel across the sea of Ones that made up the vastness of the meshwork.
Another wave rippled across the meshwork, and a nearly regular gridwork of Ones began to rise. Each pulse from the attraction area rippled outward, jiggling the sea of Ones and pushing the gridwork farther upward from the nominal surface. Then things got bigger, as each of the ones was attached to an Eight that began to breach the meshwork. Locked in, just waiting to be be released by a pulse, the sea of Ones continued to thin, as the Eights began to wobble in response to the weakening force holding them in place.
April 21, 2010
Wag Drive
The Six-Six-Seven tail segment hanging from the 5-ring was hanging freely compared to my shorty, which had a pair of Eights hanging directly off the second Six. The massive anchor of the 5-ring and the flexibility of having the second Six connect with a Six on the ring, was the key to shove-off move that I had just watched the tagged 5-ring produce.
Each Wig pulse corresponded to pulling the Seven closer to the ring, and orienting a soup member into the push zone. While one would expect that the One-Eight-One that became the target would just push into the soup, making a hole, this was not the case. As the Wag move popped out a pulse and the push began, the springboard Eight pushed the ones into the soup, and stopped.
One-Eight-Ones have an interesting property that they will lock together, creating an immobile wall that simply does not move when pushed. Each new One-Eight-One that the 5-ring pushed on was locked into the wall structure as the 5-ring plowed its way forward. I followed as best I could, finding my synchro-drive to slow to keep up. Lucky for me, there was not far to go.
Each Wig pulse corresponded to pulling the Seven closer to the ring, and orienting a soup member into the push zone. While one would expect that the One-Eight-One that became the target would just push into the soup, making a hole, this was not the case. As the Wag move popped out a pulse and the push began, the springboard Eight pushed the ones into the soup, and stopped.
One-Eight-Ones have an interesting property that they will lock together, creating an immobile wall that simply does not move when pushed. Each new One-Eight-One that the 5-ring pushed on was locked into the wall structure as the 5-ring plowed its way forward. I followed as best I could, finding my synchro-drive to slow to keep up. Lucky for me, there was not far to go.
April 20, 2010
A Wag
The pulses occurred fairly regularly and I was sure I recognized the Wig-Wag pattern. Looming in the soup, and shrouded buy the sea of Eights, the high-speed tagged 5-ring had recovered lost velocity and was cruising smoothly through the soup. Not keen to get knocked about this time, I spun the Eights away from the approaching 5-ring.
I had scanned the ring portion, and was sliding the beam along the trailing tag. No extra Neutrons were detectable, and I was counting the sub-pulses in the second Six of the tail when another pulse fired. I bumped the beam to where the Seven should have been, and missed it. Expanding the beam, I found the Seven making a different angle with the second Six. Tucked in a bit tighter, the Seven and it's Ones had moved closer to the ring, and a One-Eight-One neatly locked into place a the tip of the tail.
Within moments of being aligned, a shudder occurred in the first Six of the tail and the 5-Ring flipped their One to the other Seven. Emitting the lower Wag pulse, the tail was released and the springy Sixes in the tail flexed, pushing the Seven and its Ones against the nestled One-Eight-One.
I had scanned the ring portion, and was sliding the beam along the trailing tag. No extra Neutrons were detectable, and I was counting the sub-pulses in the second Six of the tail when another pulse fired. I bumped the beam to where the Seven should have been, and missed it. Expanding the beam, I found the Seven making a different angle with the second Six. Tucked in a bit tighter, the Seven and it's Ones had moved closer to the ring, and a One-Eight-One neatly locked into place a the tip of the tail.
Within moments of being aligned, a shudder occurred in the first Six of the tail and the 5-Ring flipped their One to the other Seven. Emitting the lower Wag pulse, the tail was released and the springy Sixes in the tail flexed, pushing the Seven and its Ones against the nestled One-Eight-One.
April 19, 2010
... Comes.
In the final moments before impact with the wavefront, I monitored the spin and orbits of the Electrons that would come closest to my pointed Seven. Adjusting my swingshot orbit and spin to match, the other members of the team followed suit, creating an attractive and soup-compatible experience. From this level of synchronization, the nearby piece of the wavefront was highly attractive.
Passing through the forward edge, the Seven and I popped through to the other side as the first of the the two Sixes appeared. At this point, I double orbited the leftward One and resumed the swingshot pattern, having reversed the phase of the circulating team. No longer attractive, the repulsion effect continued to pull the Shorty through the wavefront, the second Six popping into view as I continued to expand the orbits of the team around the Seven.
Before completing the adjustment, the Shorty shuddered as the Eights were overtaken by the wave. As a pair, they were hefty enough to hang on their own. Punched into the wavefront, the widening hole brushed the outer edges of the pair as we cleared the pulse. I swung the scan forward once again, just in time to catch another pulse. I was fairly sure it was a Wig.
Passing through the forward edge, the Seven and I popped through to the other side as the first of the the two Sixes appeared. At this point, I double orbited the leftward One and resumed the swingshot pattern, having reversed the phase of the circulating team. No longer attractive, the repulsion effect continued to pull the Shorty through the wavefront, the second Six popping into view as I continued to expand the orbits of the team around the Seven.
Before completing the adjustment, the Shorty shuddered as the Eights were overtaken by the wave. As a pair, they were hefty enough to hang on their own. Punched into the wavefront, the widening hole brushed the outer edges of the pair as we cleared the pulse. I swung the scan forward once again, just in time to catch another pulse. I was fairly sure it was a Wig.
April 18, 2010
This Way
As an Electron, it does not matter if I was spinning or it was the entire world that was spinning around me. When my Shorty is being tossed and turned, it is very disturbing, since I have to cope with all of the extras. In this case, I kept my lock on the Eleven I had spotted. It was just hovering idly in the soup, unaffected by the concerted waves that were sweeping through the One-Eight-Ones.
I flittered down to the Eights and spun a series of taps and flips in the orbits to cancel the wicked rotation that had been transferred along the axis of the Sixes. Apparently, when caught sideways, a Shorty will begin to roll rather than flow with the soup. After getting the Eights stabilized and putting a pair of Electrons on counter-rotating orbits, stability had been restored.
Hoping from Six to Six, I slid in to slipshot orbit around the Seven and brought it squarely toward the direction from which the rollers had come. A quick scan revealed another wavefront incoming, so I kicked my companion Electrons in to low and fast orbits to minimize the edge of the Electron cloud and making the Seven end smaller than a One-Eight-One. If we can get the Seven past the edge, we've got a chance.
I flittered down to the Eights and spun a series of taps and flips in the orbits to cancel the wicked rotation that had been transferred along the axis of the Sixes. Apparently, when caught sideways, a Shorty will begin to roll rather than flow with the soup. After getting the Eights stabilized and putting a pair of Electrons on counter-rotating orbits, stability had been restored.
Hoping from Six to Six, I slid in to slipshot orbit around the Seven and brought it squarely toward the direction from which the rollers had come. A quick scan revealed another wavefront incoming, so I kicked my companion Electrons in to low and fast orbits to minimize the edge of the Electron cloud and making the Seven end smaller than a One-Eight-One. If we can get the Seven past the edge, we've got a chance.
April 17, 2010
Something Wicked
The dynamic forces at play in the destination zone are best not fought. Such forces are best used to your advantage. As it was the case that I had just been reverse slap-shot out of embracement, it took just a bit to get my bearings once again. They synchro-drive was some help, but I was more concerned that if I had been rejected, what, if anything, belonged in the zone?
Attempting to leave was very difficult. The power of the zone had begun a cyclic flow of One-Eight-Ones that were bringing more and more of the soup into capture range. Of course, this limited the direction vectors that were productive, making my choice lateral rather than back the way I had come. Not a horrible choice, since I had more opportunity to scan the soup members that did wander by.
An Eleven slid by as I locked on lustfully. Soup compatible, nimble, dangerous, yet useful. Ideal for so many tasks, I began to wonder if an Eleven might be the right choice for the situation when I was rudely jolted along my path. A wave of One-Eight-Ones had passed, upending the Shorty and scrambling my orientation while the Eleven became my anchor point. Reflected off the Eleven's Electrons, I detected a familiar wiggle. Or was it a Wag?
Attempting to leave was very difficult. The power of the zone had begun a cyclic flow of One-Eight-Ones that were bringing more and more of the soup into capture range. Of course, this limited the direction vectors that were productive, making my choice lateral rather than back the way I had come. Not a horrible choice, since I had more opportunity to scan the soup members that did wander by.
An Eleven slid by as I locked on lustfully. Soup compatible, nimble, dangerous, yet useful. Ideal for so many tasks, I began to wonder if an Eleven might be the right choice for the situation when I was rudely jolted along my path. A wave of One-Eight-Ones had passed, upending the Shorty and scrambling my orientation while the Eleven became my anchor point. Reflected off the Eleven's Electrons, I detected a familiar wiggle. Or was it a Wag?
April 16, 2010
Decision Feedback
Embracing the tag end of my Shorty, the destination zone attempted to process the Eights and jambed. The Eight just did not fit the pattern in the meshwork, needing something smaller. I was able to scan along the embracement zone and not only was the Eight a mismatch, but the other Eight was incompatible as well, since there were two places for it to go, neither of them the correct size or pattern.
While making the scans to discover the incompatibility, other forces were at work. The pattern of the Eights disrupted the receiver pattern, halting the embracement process and triggering rapid reversal. The synchronization of partial embrace produced a maximum force when the reversal completed, ejecting the tag to quickly that it bent and flipped to the other side of the Eights.
Nearly yanked to a stop by the fact that the Eights were sticky, I found the correct orbit to start the synchro drive in an effort to gain some control of the Shorty. The lighter Eight followed the Sixes first as the One on the other Eight was still clinging to the meshwork. After a couple of double spin-flips and a strong tap, an Electron from the meshwork popped on to the One, and the Shorty spun free from the meshwork.
While making the scans to discover the incompatibility, other forces were at work. The pattern of the Eights disrupted the receiver pattern, halting the embracement process and triggering rapid reversal. The synchronization of partial embrace produced a maximum force when the reversal completed, ejecting the tag to quickly that it bent and flipped to the other side of the Eights.
Nearly yanked to a stop by the fact that the Eights were sticky, I found the correct orbit to start the synchro drive in an effort to gain some control of the Shorty. The lighter Eight followed the Sixes first as the One on the other Eight was still clinging to the meshwork. After a couple of double spin-flips and a strong tap, an Electron from the meshwork popped on to the One, and the Shorty spun free from the meshwork.
April 15, 2010
A Destination
It was quite a challenge to slide between the One-Eight-Ones and the occasional Seventeen or Eleven that zoomed into my scan field. In one instance, I miss read the situation and smacked an Eight between it's Ones and transferred quite a bit of energy. It was a mistake that I needed to avoid. Steering and scan time were two tasks that had to be balanced.
After pushing away from a few more soup molecules, I began to sense the sea of Ones that formed a meshwork. The shape was different, extending mainly in two opposite directions, but it was large enough that I was not going to be able to avoid it. Discovering that an attractive pattern of Electrons were fiddling with the Ones on my Seven was more of a clue than my short navigation scans revealed, and it looked like my Shorty was in for another mode switch.
Heading for the attraction pattern reduced the need for helm control, and popped up onto a One for a better view. Orbiting the One in synchronization with the attraction pattern kept the Shorty on course, and I began to fill in more of the picture. The attraction zone beckoned the pair of of Ones on my Seven. As contact was made, the zone began to close, embracing the first Six as well as the second.
After pushing away from a few more soup molecules, I began to sense the sea of Ones that formed a meshwork. The shape was different, extending mainly in two opposite directions, but it was large enough that I was not going to be able to avoid it. Discovering that an attractive pattern of Electrons were fiddling with the Ones on my Seven was more of a clue than my short navigation scans revealed, and it looked like my Shorty was in for another mode switch.
Heading for the attraction pattern reduced the need for helm control, and popped up onto a One for a better view. Orbiting the One in synchronization with the attraction pattern kept the Shorty on course, and I began to fill in more of the picture. The attraction zone beckoned the pair of of Ones on my Seven. As contact was made, the zone began to close, embracing the first Six as well as the second.
April 14, 2010
Reverse Jink
The swapping One on the inbound was pulsing away, knocking the One-Eight-Ones apart ahead of the tagged 5-ring, and my Oneless Eight was being yanked even harder than before. Just to make the inbound happy, I began to let the targeted Eight rotate out of the way, making it look like a pair of separating One-Eight-Ones. The 5-ring took the bait and did not alter course.
I kept the rotation up and then tossed in the other Eight to follow, completing the decoy maneuver. The 5-ring might have realized that it was too late as the intercept completed. The Six between the Sevens at the head of the ring nestled between the my Eights. The impact and acceleration was strong enough to strain the bond of my floatable One as it lagged behind it's Eight.
I scrambled from Six to Six and then slipped around the Seven to take the helm once again. One-Eight-Ones were zipping past as the pair of Ones still left on my Seven were kicked into overdrive. Providing repulse action steering, I was able to shift the hyper-spinning Ones to different positions on the Seven to push away from obstacles and keep moving forward as the spearhead of the Six-Six-Seven pierced through the soup.
I kept the rotation up and then tossed in the other Eight to follow, completing the decoy maneuver. The 5-ring might have realized that it was too late as the intercept completed. The Six between the Sevens at the head of the ring nestled between the my Eights. The impact and acceleration was strong enough to strain the bond of my floatable One as it lagged behind it's Eight.
I scrambled from Six to Six and then slipped around the Seven to take the helm once again. One-Eight-Ones were zipping past as the pair of Ones still left on my Seven were kicked into overdrive. Providing repulse action steering, I was able to shift the hyper-spinning Ones to different positions on the Seven to push away from obstacles and keep moving forward as the spearhead of the Six-Six-Seven pierced through the soup.
April 13, 2010
Wig-Wag One
As I began to set up for another collision and shove foreword, I noticed that the indented helper was aware of more than just it's own mission, and was actively moving to improve their rate of motion with small jiggles that avoided head-on contact. One-Eight-Ones were being flipped away from the backward flying ringlet, the Sevens swapping the One back and forth to keep the One-Eight-Ones at bay.
Moving as quickly as it was, the tagged 5-ring was not just a nearby target, but a highly desirable one. The faster it is going, the more energy I can convert into my own motion through the soup. I rotated the Eights around and meshed them with the soup, making the Eight-Eight-One look like an oddly angled pair of Eights that belonged to a pair of One-Eight-Ones.
By coincidence, the angle that hid my Sixes from the inbound 5-ring was also the proper angle that would allow my Seven to spearhead through the soup, and by twiddling with the Ones on the end, I could make small adjustments to my direction of travel. It took only a moment to wiggle the Seven and line up on the path of the inbound. The pulse of the approaching 5-ring was clear and strong, the One swapping from Seven to Seven, I felt a distinct tug on my One-less Eight, but it was not going anywhere. Not without the rest of us.
Moving as quickly as it was, the tagged 5-ring was not just a nearby target, but a highly desirable one. The faster it is going, the more energy I can convert into my own motion through the soup. I rotated the Eights around and meshed them with the soup, making the Eight-Eight-One look like an oddly angled pair of Eights that belonged to a pair of One-Eight-Ones.
By coincidence, the angle that hid my Sixes from the inbound 5-ring was also the proper angle that would allow my Seven to spearhead through the soup, and by twiddling with the Ones on the end, I could make small adjustments to my direction of travel. It took only a moment to wiggle the Seven and line up on the path of the inbound. The pulse of the approaching 5-ring was clear and strong, the One swapping from Seven to Seven, I felt a distinct tug on my One-less Eight, but it was not going anywhere. Not without the rest of us.
April 12, 2010
Molecular Stampede
I flowed with the 5-rings as best I could, having to kick the synchro-drive to maximum. Without a cadre of Shorties to boost my performance, it was catch as catch can as far as staying in the crowd. There were advantages to not being on the leading edge, but after being passed up by several doublings of tagged 5-rings, I am sure that I would experience all possible advantages of being this far back.
Letting the Eights do their thing helped out a bit, as I was able to catch a bump or two from the migrating 5-rings. Of course, the first such bump was unexpected, as I took a break from the synchro-drive to scan around a bit. Recovering from the jolt, I scanned forward and tracked several 5-rings toward a meshwork that was pulsing and flexing.
Ignoring the complaints, I kept putting my Shorty in the path of another 5-ring, and let the collision push me forward. Being much lighter than the 5-ring gave me the advantage as far as getting away, and I was getting closer to the meshwork to which these 5-rings were so intent on heading for. Now, it was just a matter of slipping into position to catch another push forward.
Letting the Eights do their thing helped out a bit, as I was able to catch a bump or two from the migrating 5-rings. Of course, the first such bump was unexpected, as I took a break from the synchro-drive to scan around a bit. Recovering from the jolt, I scanned forward and tracked several 5-rings toward a meshwork that was pulsing and flexing.
Ignoring the complaints, I kept putting my Shorty in the path of another 5-ring, and let the collision push me forward. Being much lighter than the 5-ring gave me the advantage as far as getting away, and I was getting closer to the meshwork to which these 5-rings were so intent on heading for. Now, it was just a matter of slipping into position to catch another push forward.
April 11, 2010
Moving Mistake
The Eights emerged on the inner surface of the meshwork, and I struggled to keep the Seven burried. After locking the Eights down in preparation for split mode, I brought the Seven up and helped it loose a One and become soup compatible. Now that I had a clear view, I began scanning into this mesh zone. I picked up the Seven=Six-Seven-One pattern in abundance.
I noticed that my position was not entirely stable, and began to move about a bit, letting the Eights do their roll-along-the-meshwork thing. Stability improved and then got worse. I kept moving to gain a good position and it would become unstable in a short time. I turned my attention to the meshwork only to realize that I had let the Eights polarize the mesh as they rolled along. It was disintegrating and opening to the outside.
The high concentration of tagged rings with their odd Seven=Six-Seven-One pattern began to move through the opening at an increasing rate as the outer and inner soups merged. Realizing that there was little left to learn, I released the meshwork and joined the exodus, mingling with the rings and the Seven ends that made these triple-Seven creations such soup slippers. The shared internal patterns and ring structure made these molecules leap from one another to quickly form a wavefront of uniform density. It would be only a short time before the entire area outside the meshwork was fully populated with these tagged 5-rings.
I noticed that my position was not entirely stable, and began to move about a bit, letting the Eights do their roll-along-the-meshwork thing. Stability improved and then got worse. I kept moving to gain a good position and it would become unstable in a short time. I turned my attention to the meshwork only to realize that I had let the Eights polarize the mesh as they rolled along. It was disintegrating and opening to the outside.
The high concentration of tagged rings with their odd Seven=Six-Seven-One pattern began to move through the opening at an increasing rate as the outer and inner soups merged. Realizing that there was little left to learn, I released the meshwork and joined the exodus, mingling with the rings and the Seven ends that made these triple-Seven creations such soup slippers. The shared internal patterns and ring structure made these molecules leap from one another to quickly form a wavefront of uniform density. It would be only a short time before the entire area outside the meshwork was fully populated with these tagged 5-rings.
April 10, 2010
Through the Bubble
I gave the Shorty a kick in the Eights and engaged the synchro-drive as best I could. Being able to pinpoint scan and just look for the pops in the spectrum gave me all the time I needed to devote to the propulsion task. With so few helper Electrons on a Shorty, making a direct contribution to the motion vector accounts for quite a bit of time savings.
I caught a few pulses, and decided to angle toward one of them. Not knowing why their regions were so distinct, I thought it prudent to keep a forward proximity scan going. As easy as it might be to recover from a gnarly impact with an unfriendly meshwork, the tendency of a Shorty is to switch modes and mingle. I was enjoying that advantage as I passed easily from one cavity of soup to the next. It was almost as if the meshworks were no longer there.
I began to detect numerous hits on the Seven=Six-Seven-One pattern as I approached another meshwork. I slowed and dropped the Eights onto the meshwork and kept the Seven straight up in the soup as I went into slide mode. Blind on the top side, needing to look inward, I let the Seven do it's thing and grab another One. Through the meshwork I flowed, and I flipped again to come out Eights first on the other side so that I could control the entry of the Seven.
I caught a few pulses, and decided to angle toward one of them. Not knowing why their regions were so distinct, I thought it prudent to keep a forward proximity scan going. As easy as it might be to recover from a gnarly impact with an unfriendly meshwork, the tendency of a Shorty is to switch modes and mingle. I was enjoying that advantage as I passed easily from one cavity of soup to the next. It was almost as if the meshworks were no longer there.
I began to detect numerous hits on the Seven=Six-Seven-One pattern as I approached another meshwork. I slowed and dropped the Eights onto the meshwork and kept the Seven straight up in the soup as I went into slide mode. Blind on the top side, needing to look inward, I let the Seven do it's thing and grab another One. Through the meshwork I flowed, and I flipped again to come out Eights first on the other side so that I could control the entry of the Seven.
April 9, 2010
Scan Where?
Having recovered from the disorientation of having the One shift from Seven to Seven, I added the half-frequency to my deep scan list and spun for a cycle or two. The shift that I observed was fairly common, happening in concentrations of noise pockets. Passing through several meshworks, the waveform that the One-shift produced was quite distinct and wonderfully narrow.
I expanded the frequency range just a bit to include small phase shifts, but the detection rate remained unchanged, as each of the recorded pulses was nearly perfect in pitch. Pinpointing the locations from single pulses was impossible, but at least I knew which direction they came from, and added each detected pulse to my location list.
After observing for some time, I discovered that there were specific locations that appeared repeatedly, and regions between that had no pulses. With this discovery, I was able to focus my scanning efforts at the points on the list and reduce the effort on the broad background scan. No new locations popped up that I could detect, and the existing locations were beaming pulses with a random regularity.
I expanded the frequency range just a bit to include small phase shifts, but the detection rate remained unchanged, as each of the recorded pulses was nearly perfect in pitch. Pinpointing the locations from single pulses was impossible, but at least I knew which direction they came from, and added each detected pulse to my location list.
After observing for some time, I discovered that there were specific locations that appeared repeatedly, and regions between that had no pulses. With this discovery, I was able to focus my scanning efforts at the points on the list and reduce the effort on the broad background scan. No new locations popped up that I could detect, and the existing locations were beaming pulses with a random regularity.
April 8, 2010
Fast Flip
I had thought that the phase information from four vibrational frequency sources might provide the beacon that I could use to identify these tagged rings with three Sevens. When analyzing the pattern, I discovered two sources that alternate with each other. A third source was going at half rate, and synchronized with the first two. The fourth source was more interesting, but at a lower amplitude, since it was out at the end of the tail and damped by a pair of Ones.
With Seven-Six bonds located in every direction imaginable, the background noise level was responsible for obscuring all but the closest of tagged rings. The Seven=Six-Seven-One side of the ring was responsible for a stable waveform with constant phase. Any phase shift was the result in a change in orientation or rotation of the molecule.
Then I got blasted. If I were to believe my readings, either I or the ring had flipped over, nearly instantly. In the process, a pulse of high magnitude emanated from the scanning area. The frequency of the pulse was half my scanning frequency, making the actual amplitude much higher than I recorded. Focusing on the background pattern once again, it was clear that my orientation had not changed. The tail on the ring was in the same place, but the Seven One had moved. It was now a One-Seven-Six=Seven combination, and that explained the apparent instant rotation.
With Seven-Six bonds located in every direction imaginable, the background noise level was responsible for obscuring all but the closest of tagged rings. The Seven=Six-Seven-One side of the ring was responsible for a stable waveform with constant phase. Any phase shift was the result in a change in orientation or rotation of the molecule.
Then I got blasted. If I were to believe my readings, either I or the ring had flipped over, nearly instantly. In the process, a pulse of high magnitude emanated from the scanning area. The frequency of the pulse was half my scanning frequency, making the actual amplitude much higher than I recorded. Focusing on the background pattern once again, it was clear that my orientation had not changed. The tail on the ring was in the same place, but the Seven One had moved. It was now a One-Seven-Six=Seven combination, and that explained the apparent instant rotation.
April 7, 2010
Finding a Handle
While I had the chance, I swept the ring and tail of the suspicious molecule. Focusing on each of the three Sevens in this small molecule revealed a spectral signature unlike any of the unringed chains of seven and five Sixes respectively. Fundamentally, this new tag responded with triple Six and quad Six waveforms, with the triple version being quite a bit stronger.
I began a wider scan using the new spectral parameters, but locating these rings with tails was not so easy. The noise level at these frequencies was so elevated that there would have to be huge concentrations of these molecules nearby, yet the local soup was quite clear. Considering that there were only five Sixes in these molecules, it was somewhat strange that there would be three Sevens throughout.
Given the Seven heavy ratio, I selected frequencies that included the Sevens. I scanned the junction of the singleton One that clung to one of the Sevens in the ring, and locked on. Moving to the Seven-Six link, I added that simple and common frequency to the selection list, since it was being generated four times in this little molecule. Perhaps the phase of the four signals would be useful.
I began a wider scan using the new spectral parameters, but locating these rings with tails was not so easy. The noise level at these frequencies was so elevated that there would have to be huge concentrations of these molecules nearby, yet the local soup was quite clear. Considering that there were only five Sixes in these molecules, it was somewhat strange that there would be three Sevens throughout.
Given the Seven heavy ratio, I selected frequencies that included the Sevens. I scanned the junction of the singleton One that clung to one of the Sevens in the ring, and locked on. Moving to the Seven-Six link, I added that simple and common frequency to the selection list, since it was being generated four times in this little molecule. Perhaps the phase of the four signals would be useful.
April 6, 2010
Wag the Ring
The interloper was slow and looped compared to my Shorties. I scanned the ring that was attached to the Six-Six-Seven tail which I had locked on to earlier. First off, it was not a ring of Sixes alone. Starting at the Six which was attached to the tail, it was double attracted to another Six in the ring. The far end Six was then attached to a Seven-One pair, making a nice observation point.
Continuing around the ring from the Seven-One pair finds a simple attachment to a Six, which was double hooked to a trapped Seven that closed the ring. The trapped Seven was sharing so many Electrons that it often looked one short. With only five nodes in in the ring, it was a bit smaller and odder than the pure symmetry of the Ringlet that I rode throughout the contained soup network.
The tail, which was formed just like the tail of my Shorty in mesh mode, did a similar job for this triple-Seven compact molecule. The ring portion was behaving like my Eights, keeping the tail bent toward the ring, and making it generally compatible with the soup. With a tail like a mesh-mode Shorty and the positive attitude needed to nestle in the soup, I had questions about this molecule and the increasing concentration of them that I was encountering.
Continuing around the ring from the Seven-One pair finds a simple attachment to a Six, which was double hooked to a trapped Seven that closed the ring. The trapped Seven was sharing so many Electrons that it often looked one short. With only five nodes in in the ring, it was a bit smaller and odder than the pure symmetry of the Ringlet that I rode throughout the contained soup network.
The tail, which was formed just like the tail of my Shorty in mesh mode, did a similar job for this triple-Seven compact molecule. The ring portion was behaving like my Eights, keeping the tail bent toward the ring, and making it generally compatible with the soup. With a tail like a mesh-mode Shorty and the positive attitude needed to nestle in the soup, I had questions about this molecule and the increasing concentration of them that I was encountering.
April 5, 2010
Shuddering Interloper
For the most part, the synchro-drive requires very little maintenance. Once in a while, the force vector changes unexpectedly, but a small change gets things going in the desired direction once again. In other cases, there are perturbations that deflect the path and then reverse themselves. It was these later disturbances that were starting to occur with increased frequency.
Usually occurring in pairs, but sometimes in triples or quads, a small deflection would begin, followed by a strong surge in the opposite direction. Once the surge abated, the deflection would return and fade, and then any repetition would occur. I countered all of this by making sure that I was surrounded by soup and I slowed the synchrodrive to just above station keeping, thus limiting the total deflection and avoiding a mode-switching impact with a meshwork.
I scanned to see if there were more Shorties in the region, past the three that I had brought with me. I was getting an increasing number of returns, but only in the basic waveforms one gets from the Six-Six and Six-Seven bonds in the middle of a Six-Six-Seven chain. Off the Seven were a pair of Ones, which confused me at first, until I saw the malformed ring that hung from the second Six. This was no Shorty, but something nastier.
Usually occurring in pairs, but sometimes in triples or quads, a small deflection would begin, followed by a strong surge in the opposite direction. Once the surge abated, the deflection would return and fade, and then any repetition would occur. I countered all of this by making sure that I was surrounded by soup and I slowed the synchrodrive to just above station keeping, thus limiting the total deflection and avoiding a mode-switching impact with a meshwork.
I scanned to see if there were more Shorties in the region, past the three that I had brought with me. I was getting an increasing number of returns, but only in the basic waveforms one gets from the Six-Six and Six-Seven bonds in the middle of a Six-Six-Seven chain. Off the Seven were a pair of Ones, which confused me at first, until I saw the malformed ring that hung from the second Six. This was no Shorty, but something nastier.
April 4, 2010
Driving Forward
I surged forward through the soup, having garnered a trio of Shorties and locked in with me and mine. With my Shorty in the lead, spurred forward by the three prodders, we cruised through the soup at more than four times the speed than I would have been able to manage solo. Of course, this caused a bit of concern, since a high concentration of Shorties was associated with areas that were inactive.
There were more Seventeens in the soup as the signal strength improved, and I was less worried that my quad of Shorties would cause a massive disruption of the active network that I was seeking. Shorties were prevalent in many active areas of the network, but not organized into flights of three plus doublings that would regularly slam into a meshwork to keep the node from activating.
Unfortunately, the network patterns that I was tracking stopped. I had a fairly good fix on their point of origin, but I was more interested in the pattern itself, which I thought I could decode. Perhaps with a bit of persistence and patience, I will once again scan the pattern as it flitters past. Until that happens, it's time to give this drive system a bit of a rest. Besides, going a bit slower let me scan the details of these meshworks and soup. And an interesting soup it is.
There were more Seventeens in the soup as the signal strength improved, and I was less worried that my quad of Shorties would cause a massive disruption of the active network that I was seeking. Shorties were prevalent in many active areas of the network, but not organized into flights of three plus doublings that would regularly slam into a meshwork to keep the node from activating.
Unfortunately, the network patterns that I was tracking stopped. I had a fairly good fix on their point of origin, but I was more interested in the pattern itself, which I thought I could decode. Perhaps with a bit of persistence and patience, I will once again scan the pattern as it flitters past. Until that happens, it's time to give this drive system a bit of a rest. Besides, going a bit slower let me scan the details of these meshworks and soup. And an interesting soup it is.
April 3, 2010
Bon Voyage
I must have slid across more than five doublings of meshwork during my exploration session. Much like the ringlet, there was much to gain from the abilities of each of the Electrons that made up the active team on my Shorty. Once we got the slide mode down, it was more a matter of making sure we were on course and not making circles than it was about choosing the next micro-hop. Certain tasks were better left to those close to the action.
One of the other niceties of slide mode was that I could perch up on the floating Seven end and swingshot around the Ones, making scan passes as needed. Aside from the cloud of Shorties that I had been tracking, there was not much activity to speak of. Just the occasional pulse to keep a pathway happy and open. There was, however, activity of a bustling kind, but the signal that I could see was so low in amplitude that I could not match any patterns.
Much of the signal was being scraped off by the meshwork, and that meant that I would need to get away from this sea of Ones and into the soup once more. With the flip of a spin and a wiggle in my orbit, we were off and switched into soup mode. Once we were more than forty Shorties' span away from the meshwork, the signal began to improve. There were familiar bursts and pauses in the patterns, but the details were muddled, so I pushed the synchro-drive as hard as I could, heading for the source of the signal.
One of the other niceties of slide mode was that I could perch up on the floating Seven end and swingshot around the Ones, making scan passes as needed. Aside from the cloud of Shorties that I had been tracking, there was not much activity to speak of. Just the occasional pulse to keep a pathway happy and open. There was, however, activity of a bustling kind, but the signal that I could see was so low in amplitude that I could not match any patterns.
Much of the signal was being scraped off by the meshwork, and that meant that I would need to get away from this sea of Ones and into the soup once more. With the flip of a spin and a wiggle in my orbit, we were off and switched into soup mode. Once we were more than forty Shorties' span away from the meshwork, the signal began to improve. There were familiar bursts and pauses in the patterns, but the details were muddled, so I pushed the synchro-drive as hard as I could, heading for the source of the signal.
April 2, 2010
Mind the Gap
Sliding in the gap between the meshwork and the soup was far and away one of the most robust travel modes that I had experienced. Making the change from soup to mesh mode became a much simpler operation having discovered the half-and-half transportation mode, not to mention the speed at which a meshwork could be traversed to go from soup to soup. Coupled with the fact that there are Shorties everywhere, I'll never be at a loss for a quick ride.
I found myself taking advantage of soup mode fairly often, in order to bypass some of the more interesting features in the meshwork. Mostly, these features were teeming with extra Electrons that warned me of their presence long before I arrived. I was somewhat familiar with pockets in the mesh like this from my experiences with the Ringlet. It was through passages like these that the Ringlet would travel, moving from one type of soup to another.
Soup mode was also good for moving from one mesh to another. While it was possible to ride the face of the mesh to the point where it was making strong contact with the next portion, it was faster to switch to soup mode and float across the gap at half-speed than it was to travel more than four times the distance to make an insanely sharp turn.
I found myself taking advantage of soup mode fairly often, in order to bypass some of the more interesting features in the meshwork. Mostly, these features were teeming with extra Electrons that warned me of their presence long before I arrived. I was somewhat familiar with pockets in the mesh like this from my experiences with the Ringlet. It was through passages like these that the Ringlet would travel, moving from one type of soup to another.
Soup mode was also good for moving from one mesh to another. While it was possible to ride the face of the mesh to the point where it was making strong contact with the next portion, it was faster to switch to soup mode and float across the gap at half-speed than it was to travel more than four times the distance to make an insanely sharp turn.
April 1, 2010
Riding the Face
Heading back to the Seven end of the Shorty, I played tap sequence that unlocked it from the Ones in the meshwork and stood it straight and vertical away from the meshwork. It took a few tries to get back to the lower Six in time, but it was a good learning experience. Eventually, I was able to synchronize things by freeing the Seven, raising it, and then timing my trip to the Six to correspond with the passing of the One between the Eights.
Giving the kick at the precise moment resulted in switching the Shorty from mesh mode to soup mode and I floated free of the meshwork. Guiding the Shorty was easy, compared to the heaver Shorty that I had started out on. I piloted the Seven-Six-Six chain and dragged the Eights into the meshwork where then began glombing the Ones below.
It was fairly easy to kick the One from the lower Six, and skip along the surface of the Meshwork, and change directions fairly easily. I had not imagined that slipping along the boundary of the soup and the mesh would be so fast. This made travelling along in search of an optimal exit point far faster than just glombing along the meshwork with both ends, and best of all, the exit is just one kick away.
Giving the kick at the precise moment resulted in switching the Shorty from mesh mode to soup mode and I floated free of the meshwork. Guiding the Shorty was easy, compared to the heaver Shorty that I had started out on. I piloted the Seven-Six-Six chain and dragged the Eights into the meshwork where then began glombing the Ones below.
It was fairly easy to kick the One from the lower Six, and skip along the surface of the Meshwork, and change directions fairly easily. I had not imagined that slipping along the boundary of the soup and the mesh would be so fast. This made travelling along in search of an optimal exit point far faster than just glombing along the meshwork with both ends, and best of all, the exit is just one kick away.
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