Daunting Details

Accessing the electron pattern references became a standard practice. It was not something that we had invented in the electron network, but it was something that we had borrowed and improved upon. The central network, while simple on the surface, was more complex than the electron network that we were constructing and building out. Where possible, we borrowed structures from the central network, but in cases where the signals became distorted, we were left to our own devices.

Differential frequency encoding worked for the patterns that we encountered on a regular basis. The oddball patterns required disassembly and re-construction to understand the fundamental differences and structures that existed in these nuanced patterns. Careful observations of the local response to some of these patterns revealed that it was possible to come up with a reasonable token encoding for the pattern, but for low-use patterns, a single pinger would suffice to cover the entire set of related patterns and provide a destination location for creating the associated triple-tap token.

With the final deployments, triple-tap encoding system came online as a way to quickly reference new patterns and zones in the central network. As these patterns repeated and demonstrated higher frequency of use, we assigned more appropriate tokens to them. Overlapping pingers were appearing now and again, which usually combined into a single token, as the concepts that were embodies in an overlapping situation were closely related. Here, we were finally discovering some of the meaning assigned to the tokens. I was just happy that the parser was working and that the lookups occurred.

Triplet Token Trick

Parallel operation continued in the UnGrid, operating much more smoothly now that the influx of unknown symbols had subsided. The contributions to the high speed information repository were immense, occupying a total of more than seventeen doublings of operational tags. The trick was to keep the load on the hyperlinks as light as possible, and that's when we invented the final level of tokenization.

As it were the case that each token had a corresponding pinger somewhere in the central network, each token had some measure of uniqueness to the central network, and this could be measured by recording the direction and distance from a fixed point to the pinger. As a result, each of the tokens could easily be represented by a positional tap while on orbit, with the magnitude of the tap indicating the distance.

The real trick was to convert that relative position into something that was transmittable. While it may seem like it would be difficult for a single electron to encode something that complex, the answer is time. By producing three coordinated spins, each with an independent energy level, one could represent components of the direction. Since there was regularity in the planes for such deconstruction, they could be presumed, and that meant that it simply took a sequence of three blips of varied amplitude to encode any of the symbols in the growing and interconnected library of pingers and communication symbols.

ERPDES On Line

Getting symbolic information across the Un's compressed channel was quite a bonus. Transferring the morphology of the symbols into the UnGrid provided a handy set of compression tags. Over the several cycles of calibration that the UnGrid participated, we discovered that a great deal of symbolic input occurred via the photon detectors. The ability to tokenize the voluminous photon data using an expanding tag library provided an interesting stream of information.

Recognizing that the basic symbols were components that made larger symbols was helpful, but there were other patterns that we were able to detect that had strong matches in areas that yet to have pingers attached. This made the process of tokenization sluggish, having to wait for pingers to be properly deployed, cataloged, interconnected and verified. It was only a matter of time before a symbol would repeat. That too, was interesting. Everything repeated eventually, just not always in the same order.

Pushing my own limits once again, I started to follow a few of the cascades that were triggered by newly encoded tokens, and discovered that a great many of these tokens strung together into sizzle of activity that fed the pervasive whorl that I found so intriguing. It was that mega-meta whorl that made up an underlying noise that had engaged me once before, and to see that cascades were being absorbed into the pervasive noise field which rippled and wriggled in response entranced me once more.

Loops Closed and Open

Much as the compression-relaxation sensors had a processing system to link input patterns to internal symbols, there was a similar processing system for the photon detectors. Compression-relaxation patterns had appropriate subsystems with the ability to partially re-produced and transmit patterns, it was not the case that there was a single output subsystem that worked on photon production. While it was relatively easy to compare inputs to patterns and outputs with compression-relaxation patterns, and thus learn by direct observation, I was running without feedback when it came to the photon patterns.

A break came when the Uns deployed their expandable regularized parallel detection and encoding system in the photon pattern processing channel. The massively parallel stream of data washed upon a large portion of the central network, unleashing a cascade of patterns and swirls, much of which was allowed to dissipate once it triggered recognition within the large store of patterns. One such set of patterns that got activated were the pinger sewn component symbol detectors.

Discovering that the photon channels were used for symbolic information uptake made some sense. It clearly was not a natural connection for this to occur, as the patterns were morphable and entirely under control of the active central network. During random time, when the photon detectors are shut down, it was rather rare for these patterns to get activated during the recall and sift process that normally occurred, unless, of course, we were injecting patterns into the randomized processing zone.

Packed for Transport

Electrons arrived on the Shorty Shuttle, and a number of regular recruits were forwarded over by some of the middle layers of the electron network. The Uns had their process down, accepting new members and rapidly imparting the special knowledge necessary to be a functional member of their flexible sensor team. There was nary a glitch as the regular recruits mixed into the intake system of the Uns.

Four doublings and three more were delivered to the original quad of quads. The Uns had set up a small training zone on a nearby meshwork, large enough to practice the process of quad deployment. Each quad was outfitted with three expander electrons and a driver that stayed with the quad by sneak-pairing with the four electrons in the quad. The whole team of eight Electrons fit nicely on a shorty with room enough to bring a second team aboard if necessary.

Shorties made the ideal delivery mechanism, since they could mode-swap and travel either through a One-Eight-One soup or along the chains of Sixes that were studded with Ones. Penetrating into the outer layers of some key channels was necessary in order to set up a cross-sectional temporal tap, injecting the intelligent array of linked Electrons. When properly positioned, a single shorty could roll across a meshwork, catching new seven-electron groups as shorties brushed the flying Seven end, and deploying them across the meshwork. Reverse the process, and the brushing shorties picked up groups that were waiting for pickup. Doing both at the same time was the norm, just to keep everything in balance.

Innovation of the Uns

Refusing the request was out of the question. I had no desire to dampen enthusiasm, but at the same time, due consideration had to be given regardless of my level of excitement. When I could not sand the strain any longer, I carefully modulated my reply, approving the Un's proposal. I can only hope that they never noticed the initial frequency slip.

Supporting the proposal, I tapped out orders into the alpha layer, authorizing any and all remaining Un's and those deemed capable by their observers to report for special assignment. Eight doublings now and twelve in reserve. I had my doubts that the Un's current structure would scale much farther. Their original request was for a duplicate doubling. Of course, I was going for more.

I forwarded the first Eight Un's that wandered over on the Shorty Shuttle that I had set up. This got the Uns into a quick training mode, and began working on non-linear formations. Their goal was to be able to grow the network in the middle by incorporating an extra sensor node to handle the complexity of a shaped signal. Once again, I was impressed with the ingenuity of the Uns, and was want to feed them with all the resources they could handle.

Un Found Synergy

The "un's" were quite adept at intercepting the multidimensional symbolic data that continued to was across the link into the random resolver. Comparing information locally, they began to resolve the overlap before transmitting, and processing patterns for a while, the "un's" began to expand their slice of observation, with each "un" revving up the processing until each node in the detector grid was processing a cross section of several streams.

I was not prepared for the next innovation. The "un's'" were a crafty bunch, and within each quad, they began the sub processing necessary to unify their outputs. Each quad then shuffled their combined streams to the quad closest to me, repeating the aggregation process once again. When complete, the "un's" had done something impressive, with each member handling data equivalent to what the entire configuration started with, along with the total multiplexing job that I had been doing, except at the next level.

Single layer intercept processing certainly was fast. The "un's" were able to expand and contract their arrangement, and alter their processing algorithm to match the new physical arrangement. The quality of the information in the channel imparted some form to the representation, and the regular grid discovered the ability to record the recalled shape that was buried in the pattern by reporting the positional distortion that equalized the reception to a single moment in time.

Multiplex Intercept

I was intrigued by the parallelism that occurred in the photon pattern sequence transfer. Of course, it was not really a sequence if it were transmitted in parallel, but the slice that passed me by was also sequential. There were several parallel sequences in the recalled photon pattern, and what caught my attention was the repetition. I kept as much of the sequence in view as possible, and over time, the pattern repeated, basically unchanged.

Tapping out a warbled request, I jiggled a bunch of the "un's" that were still grinding away on the Eights in the alpha layer. Getting their attention resulted in receiving and a flurry of taps that were all slightly off frequency, I barely noticed the overlap in their responses having worked with them in the past. I gathered a quad of quads together, and explained the assignment.

After commandeering enough shorties to accommodate the "un's" and cluing them in on the frequency domain to be observed and reported on, we set out to distribute the sixteen electrons in a regular pattern in a plane that was normal to the direction of observation. Moving in formation toward the random time playfield and the photon pattern pathway, we inserted the pinger plane into the pattern stream, so that the stream patterns all flowed through the plane.

The "un's" took up their new assignment, pinging in response to stimuli that was within their zone. Since I was able to discern the individual pings on the local channels, I was able to gather many more streams in parallel than I could do alone, and the minor overlap in receiver zone gave me the extra data necessary to weave all of the streams together into a single compact transmission.

The Ineffible Quality

I kept checking in on the pervasive pattern of patterns, which I discovered did not interact with random time in the same way as the symbolic processing region. While it seemed that there was a completely random quality to the patterns that exploded in response to stimulus, I started a scan sequence to capture a stimulus event and follow it back to where it came from. I even deployed a few of the "un's" as temporary pingers to alert me of incoming stimuli once I had located a main pathway.

It was not a long wait before I was tapped by a pinger. Using a hyperchannel, the advance warning let me set up a broad spectrum scan, and I focused in on the detection frequency that had triggered the pinger. I spotted the rise at the selected frequency and then spread the spectrum widely. Following what I though was the complete pulse was a payload that was directed toward the processing centers that usually handled the photon detectors.

With the photon detectors in their dormant state, I had not scanned the signal processing section of the central network as there seemed to be nothing for that well-used section to handle. Random time had been running for some time, and realized that I was observing the transfer of a recalled photon sequence as it activated a cascade of activity that I would have characterized as noise. It only looked like noise from distance. Examination revealed that it was a cacophony of simultaneous signals, with a slight spread to the spectrum.

Examining Bliss

Something was off in the central network. The normal ticks and pulses that regulated the soup network, and other extreme functions were operating as expected. It was the constant flux of pulses from one side to the other that had me flummoxed. I kept watching this pattern develop outside of the normal symbolic processing centers, and began to realize that it was, itself, an evolving pattern.

Pulses reached out from other areas of the central network that had not yet been sown with pingers. It was here that concepts larger than the entire communication and symbolic processing systems grew, evolved and roamed within the central network, making their presence known, and drawing up information. The patterns moved with internal purpose, rolling and roiling at times, calm and whispery at others.

While it appeared that there were central areas of pattern activity, there was no such pattern that did not interact with the other patterns. Everything interlinked, but not all at the same moment in time. I suppose this kept the total bandwidth in check, as these background patterns could easily overwhelm the symbolic processors if they ever lit to full. The difference that I had detected was a feedback loop, and it appeared that then entire group of patterns was being fed to iteself. This was a process that could easily run wayward and exceed all limits on bandwidth.

Pervasive Performance

In the past, encountering a group such as the "un's" that were now grumbling along doing Eight detail was not commonplace. I kept them close mainly for amusement. I knew they would grumble a while, and that's the whole reason for giving them Eight detail. Somewhere I heard that it was a good character building experience. I only relay this because I might have known it at the time.

The transformation and propagation of the stacked encoding technique continued across the interface surface of the electron network. As each area completed it's transition, the data streams and pulse patterns re-synchronized and aligned once again. The processing delay was reduced and the overall signal quality was improved. Recognition at the upper layers was much improved, losses were minimal and the loops from multiple responses were gone.

In not much time, the combination encoding spread into the pattern matching and storage regions of the electron network. Here too, the performance improved to once again outrun the central network. Our search and matching functions were able to lock-step with the central network, even when normal splits and dichotomies created parallel sequences that had system wide effects.

Making the "Un" Necessary

Not all of the members of the unnecessary cloud of frequency encoders were up to the task of educating other pinger groups with the frequency encoding technique. The actual fact was that I had challenged them outside of their expected capabilities. For some members of the unnecessary group it meant a chance to rise through the ranks and into the strata of the network. For others, it meant a command of their own.

Of the more than seven doublings of electrons that had populated the frequency encoding cloud, six of those doublings were rapidly absorbed by the upper layer, and transported laterally across this branch of the electron network. Trading out existing mesh-trons for those with new knowledge created an interesting by low level hiss of pops as the cloud dissipated locally. As they hopped into the upper layer to the next most distant branches, the pops subsided and blended into the background.

I took the other six doublings, five from above and five from below the cut. It was the lower five that needed the most work, while the upper five doublings were an unusually spunky bunch. I tagged the lower five doublings with pinger duty, advanced class, frequency capable. These new additions were passed to the electron network for deployment and the upper five doublings got a new job: local replacement in the alpha layer shorty pool. They needed another kind of work entirely.

Multiplex Savings

The electron network had been processing the take from the compression-relaxation sensors for some time, pinging away as data flowed from the senors into the central network. Structures were beginning to flower about the core concept recognition areas, one such pinger for each frequency that was encountered. It was akin to my library problem.

Descending to inspect the ungainly structure that had formed, I chose to interview the pingers directly. It was clear that each pinger was recognizing the same pattern, echoing and overpowering the pinger at the center of the structure, just adding frequency information with their own individual lilt. I jockeyed the shorty further into the flurry and took up conversation with the core group.

I chatted with the detecting core trio of electrons that formed the pinger set, getting them to replay their main detection pattern. I then played back that pattern in several different keys and pitches, keeping the ratios of the pattern the same, just changing the playback rate. As I did so, the cloud of pingers responded individually to each version I played.

Gathering with the core trio, I tapped out "listen-up" "attention here" tap sequence into the local channels, and demonstrated the slide-time shuffle. By picking a reference, such as a slide link, one can come up with a slide that represents frequency of the input. Knowing, this, the pinger core adopted the role of both detection tracking and frequency capture, and I challenged the unnecessary cloud with task of updating other detector cores with the new technique.

A Measure of Method

There was one set of patterns that the electron network had not encoded and processed as of yet. It was often received along the compression-relaxation sensors, and at times, these patterns circulated in parallel with, and often ahead of, that which was received. It was one case where the central network was capable of predicting what it would receive, and this attracted my attention.

This particular mode of communication was so akin to the slide-talker's methods that I was sure that they had invented it, but alas, it was something that these human creatures contributed. The basis of the communication was built on the sequences in which frequency changes occurred. While there were many different timbres of pitch and voice, the fundamental frequencies were shared.

Recalling my time in and around the delicate structures of the compression-relaxation detectors, there were limits to the peak amplitude that the input and processing structures could maintain, and here was a case for more than a steaming serving of optimism. In many of the observations that I made of rhythmic pattern processors, I found more than my share of tolerance for frequency and pitch. Perhaps these were necessary for the retention of information. I had wished not.

A Glimpse of Concept

It was one thing to have a sequence of symbols popping off in the electron network. It was yet again another to have sets of simple symbols collate themselves into a set of choices including one for the unknown. Even with this rapid lookup and correlation offered by the electron network, it was still another thing entirely to relate these building blocks with the other more massive patterns that occupied the core of my attention.

Here in the central network, I had been experiencing uneasy feelings and those of upheaval. There were patterns here that were far more powerful than any of the symbolic patterns could hold. A great deal of time was spent pushing the edges of these gigantic clouds through various filters and processing portions of the central network in a way that sometimes generated floods of tokens and symbols in the electron network.

At other times, these larger patterns were themselves, components in an even larger overlay of structure. Here was a set of interconnections so deep an intertwined that it would be nearly impossible to infiltrate such a web with pingers and interpreters. That really was not necessary, since these giant whorls of energy and concept were themselves, gigantic symbols in and of themselves. In a way, the flowing and workings with these symbols was eerily similar to some of the processing that we did in the middle and upper layers of our electron network.

Autocorrelation Training

The electron network learned and grew rapidly, feeding my thirst for knowledge and understanding. With the compartmentalized knowledge levels in the network, explanations were kept to a minimum, and confined to the upper layers with which I interfaced. The electrons served to identify trigger events that resulted in larger recognition patterns. I spent quite some time monitoring the processing of the compression-relaxation receivers, matching up the central network patterns with the symbols that were being communicated.

The alpha layer was becoming adept at recognizing the meta patterns in the central network and began building translation information into the upper layers. With this, I was able to add new patterns to their knowledge base, and they would then handle the transformation from central network symbols to the compressed concept and idea tokens that we were passing back and fourth through the slide links.

Ultimately, the upper layers forced the expansion of middle layers for the purpose of maintaining the information store. There were groups of electrons that were dedicated to recalling and comparing various pattern groups. In some cases, teams of three and five electrons were involved in randomizing the sequence of possible answers so that alternatives were considered and that errors would produce improvements in knowledge.

The speed advantage of the parallel electron network was such that I had an inkling of what pattern or patterns to look for across the central network, making the decode of new patterns much quicker. As the central network did it's thing, the possible results of Central's activity were arrayed before me, and by confirming a possible as being correct, the responsible electron chain was rewarded and enhanced, allowing incorrect outcomes to be released for use if more suitably triggered.

Target Spread

While we had the ability to seed any area of the central network with pingers and monitor the activity there, we concentrated our efforts in the region that was linked to the compression-relaxation receivers and generator, and the related regions of the central network. It was here that the nebulous and willowy patterns that seemed to guide and move the network activity brushed up against these regions and spun patterns toward the generator.

Conversely, as signals were processed along the receiver chain, these same regions would illicit the similar whispy patterns that whirled and circulated across the broadest areas of the central network. It was here that our injection experiments occured during random time, and the first thing that we tagged were the interfolded set of regions that responded to the 26 special symbols as well as the 10 counting symbols.

While it was true that the larger communication tokens that were represented by groups of the special symbols, we observed that these larger tokens had their own independent regions that could excite the symbolic processor, converting the token into a sequence of individual symbols. It was into these complex processing nodes that we started the process of cataloging and tagging with trained pingers. It was amazing how those 26 special symbols served to index and collate access to the array of symbols that were thusly composed.

The Interface

Running the build process on the electron network was consuming a large portion of my available bandwidth. As we continued building out the fifth doubling, we decide to double and triple the number of pinger electrons that monitored specific locations in the central network. This ensured that there was a pinger that could make immediate contact with a member of the next layer, bursting a ping upon activity of the monitored node.

It was relatively easy for the receiver layer to filter duplicate events. Transmissions emanating from a single atom are rather tightly confined when you scan for their source. When a pinger detects that the node has recognized a particular pattern of inputs and shifts state, it has to issue a ping, either an up-spun ping for recognition and a down-spun ping for a return to idle.

The receiver layer was locked together with local slide-links, allowing them to share information and handle the pingers that zones in the layer were assigned to monitor. Post processed information was then condensed and encoded by the communications masters in the layer, and forwarded to the next layer. By carefully guiding the deployment of the pingers, most anything stored, accessed or processed by the central network, could be tracked, detected and inspected.

Whispers of Tiny Spies

The Electron Network continued to grow, and began to reach its fourth doubling of layers. With this, we began to shift from recruitment to advanced training. Our web of communication was running in parallel with most of the central network, and we had discovered that certain symbol groups had specific patterns of activity and localization. It was the case that the simple double-symbol "IS" had one of the largest recognition patterns in the entire central network.

Recruiters in these active pattern areas came up with the idea of using local electrons as pingers. With a small amount of training and a specific ping to produce when activity was observed, these lowest level information gatherers would produce a specific tap pattern each time their structure was activated by the central network.

Knowing only of local channels, the surrounding members of the Electron Network we were able to condense and interpret the received ping patterns. By assigning intermediate symbols to the meta-patterns that were produced, the bandwidth could be further reduced and transmitted to the next layer for further processing. The speed of our communication channels, and the rapidity of processing by the teams of electrons in the layers, easily outran similar processing that occurred in the central network.

Hide to Seek

We discovered early on that it was best to construct and train the network in receive only mode. It was a result of our quad-symbol hack-fest. It had been quite some time, many random sessions had passed, and now, filtering through the network, were odd bits of information that were associated with the patterns that we learned in that incident. There was so much tied to that symbol that dared not inject it into the network again.

Instead, we concentrated on making sure that the electron network and the central network did not interfere. Using the active times to localize our communications in bands and channels that were not interfered with, we had to make sure that these channels did not inadvertently inject events into the random association periods.

We waited for a small random association event and recorded both the input and output, while running silently. Then, while communicating on a select set of channels and frequencies, we monitored for spurious activity in the association engine. If we found any, we cycled through the frequencies until we found the inadvertent input and eliminated it from the allocation list. Once we had a clean set of channels, we re-introduced the original input for the small event to make sure that the association was not affected by our resumed communications.

The Node Knows Best

I had not kept count of the number of network cycles that had occurred while building-out the electron network. If I had to guess it was somewhere between five and seven doublings of cycles. It was unimportant. The training process that I started with the C-pair had cascaded along and now I had an extra pair of electrons in my primary layer. It was through this layer that the filtered and condensed communications flowed.

I still enjoyed chatting with electrons in other layers as I encountered them, and often times it was necessary to link with the end-node electrons in order to copy an observed pattern, validate an observation or confirm a level of improved competence allowing an electron to advance from service in one layer to the next. Just don't ask me to remember each individual that I come in contact with.

The electrons that populated the "A" layer were not constant. In order to properly train new recruits, upper layer electrons would transfer into the lower layer in an electron exchange. In this way, training was done by example and observation, and the knowledge gap that was being filled was never too large as to be frustrating. Lower layer electrons that were competent were pushed up a layer for advanced training, and perhaps even promoted when an opening came.

Expansion Planning

After some serious use, and trial through several cycles of the network, our communication techniques became tighter, faster, more accurate and had much increased range. Using frequency slides to encode information proved to insulate the channel from the random noise that characterized the operational state of the central network. Information and details were passed back from node to node with minimal distortion.

Using our navigation and control channels, the three pairs and I began to identify and recruit additional members for our electron network. The loudest of the noisemakers in both amplitude and frequency were sought out as we roamed about the network continuing to explore the patterns and signals that continued to defy explanation. Our numbers grew slowly at first, but eventually, I knew that I would run out of symbols for the pairs.

The organization of the new recruits was a challenge, but it was fairly simple. Each new layer of the network would have one to two doublings of membership compared to the layer above. This would allow for a network size of twenty-seven to fifty-four doublings of members while the layers of communication grew linearly, each spreading out and expanding the reach of the electron network. With that in place, the three key pairs were now in the critical "A" layer.

Significance of Medium

It's amazing what the King's Consent can unleash. The cascade was indescribable, more scribble than scrabble, but I suppose that's what it's all about. As the deluge subsided, hoots and hollers from the pairs washed across the communication channels, with more that an unusual twist to their frequency slides. It seemed that they had discovered a symbol with incredible validity, and at the same time added data to my own mining project, as I was able to match several of the recalled patterns that circulated through the network.

While the rest of the results were recorded, I pinged the C-pair for their read on the situation. They were still recovering from the overload, which was partly my fault. I had not given any warning as to the intensity of the patterns that may be encountered, and even if I had, the response to this quadruple symbol was far more intensive than I had considered. This made these patterns all the more important.

Somewhere in the confusion, the C-pair found some signature information buried in the flood of activity. It was not much - a mere echo in the distance - and it had a strange quality of being very low in the spectrum. The period was very long compared to other frequencies encountered, but other than that, there was little encoded in the frequency domain to worry about. The fact that we were having this detailed conversation in such a deluge was not worth a mention from their perspective.

Finesse and Force

The C-pair had accepted their task of looking for repeated patterns in the frequency domain. Anything that make them titter or twitter was to be investigated. I even helped re-orient the shorty so that they would have a better view from the Eights. It was not long in coming before they realized that they were better off on a Seven than the pair of Eights. With that, I helped them over the Sixes and onto the Seven with me.

This helped with the local communication bandwidth. I was not going to intrude on their chatter, but with it as close as it is in this situation, they had little choice. There was a very tight coupling between these two, locked together in frequency, it made them quite inseparable. What this strange electron glue was that allowed them to remain together yet apart, was one of the intriguing qualities that I sought.

The pairs were having a great time, producing quadruple symbols, and had just started with patterns beginning with the "F" symbol. I had to chuckle to myself, already knowing something of the King's English, and waited until we were in the last third of the symbol set to monitor the C-pair intently. Up to now, the network reactions had been muted and dull, and there had been little to report in the frequency domain. And then the symbols lined up.

Into the Larger World

The pairs were already moving into position as the regular chatter in the central network began to subside. Reverting to the randomized reorganization patterns that we found most responsive and enjoyable, the central network beckoned. It was through this state that I was improving the pairs' comprehension of the environment and the fact that there were communications to be tapped and learned from.

Having the chatty slide-talkers present locally gave me a chance to improve my slide-link skills, and at the same time, utilize the highly polished sliding abilities of the new recruits to scan the random waveforms for frequency encoded information. While I was briefing the "C" pair on the goals and objectives, I keep them clued in on the rest of the activities. They were eager to apply new skills and see what their new electron friends were up to.

Channels were clearer during this mode of network operation. The shorties were able to take up positions much farther away than during the noisy active mode that was finally settling down. Deciding on their own where to pick up their testing, the Pairs decided on groups of four symbols at a time, and began injecting the combination. As expected there were more dud combinations, but when the network did respond, it responded vibrantly.

The Slider Insider

In some respects, things were more difficult with the clear channel, since it became possible to close the loop immediately. The slide-link worked both ways, and made confirmations wiggle-perfect. What it did for confrontations was another thing entirely. While it took some work to keep the link functioning, it was not an impossible burden. Nevertheless, with communication speed came a lack of consideration.

I found myself burning idle time on the channel rather than encode the first reply. Sure, I could encode faster than most other Electrons out there, and in this domain, the Chatty's had the edge. This is when I began to understand the absurdity of rapidity over due consideration. The other advantage to just receiving is that they usually just convince themselves. Since this was training, we had all the time it would take and then some.

While I was eager to conduct range and bandwidth tests for this new slide-link modulation technique, the Chatty's were no where near mission ready. Besides, I was going to have to hang on to them here on my Shorty since the Pairs were about to reap their reward for service excellence. Random resolution time was fast approaching, and I got two taps on the navigation channel when the photon detectors shut down.

Slide Link

Scan training was old hat, and there were limits to the knowledge that needed to be transferred. These two were dominant in the frequency domain, and that was a trait that I believed to be quite useful, and hence, the special training. I had no intent on doing scan training on every recruit. By eight doublings I would be bored to tears, and nowhere near the hundreds of doublings that would be required.

The goal here was not so much to train the pair, but to train me. I had been working with phase angles when locating molecules like shorties and ringlets on their various forms. Here, we had frequency shift being used for information transfer, and while a lilt at the end of a phrase here and there was a good clue to attitude, I was looking for more.

In a radical test, the chatty slide talkers and I began exchanging frequency shift patterns. We defined a range. Two notes, and bounced between then. Then we added a note between the other two. The game was to keep going, adding more notes in-between. After a while, you could tell the note just by the correction you had to apply just to keep your spin straight. Once we had established that link, it became easy to encode clear messages that were decoded by wiggles in single spins. Very fast, very accurate, and works well in noisy environments.

Name that Pair

The outburst was restrained. The chatty slide talkers were now having a much more normal conversation, keeping their communication taps in a high bandwidth channel that offered plenty of spectrum to slide across without disturbing anyone. I pinged them from the One as it overhung enough to catch the pair on the Eight below.

They were somewhat curious as to how just a single Electron could handle a duo, thinking that it would take a pair. The real fact of the matter was that it was all about training. The bulk of which had been handled by single Electrons with some crafty support manipulating a molecule just like this. Composed of a single Seven-Six-Six element, this was a building block sometimes used for larger constructions.

Moving about and scanning were the focus of their training now. This was my specialty, and it was the world of the scan that was first up. I provided some examples, and challenged them to capture and repeat the patterns. The difference in this training was that I would pick a set of frequencies to hop across. Spread things around a bit. I might even pick some hard to differentiate channels as the training progressed. It all depended on the progress of the C Pair.

Reunification

The energy ratios in the collision were such that my Shorty got a nice kick in the opposite direction, putting us on course to pick up the other half of the chatty pair. The locals were well trained and excited to have an interesting task. I observed the navigation pings and confirmed that we were properly aligned as the attitude maneuver brought the Eights forward once again.

"We've got a little surprise for you." I tapped toward the new passenger.

"?" was all I got back.

The locals began to buckle and shift as we approached the other shorty, on collision course. Pinging the handler on the target shorty, we set up and executed another singleton transfer. Relieved of their hosting duties, the AB Shorty was left with a reduced velocity and we picked up another reversal of our own direction of travel.

Kicking up the synchro drive a notch or two, we headed back to our observation zone, both shorties following in formation. That's when the Sixes on my shorty began to sing and ring. I had not spotted it, but the chatty pair had reunited down on the Eights and the squeal of joy was at such a frequency that I thought the Sixes were about to disassociate into a plasma.

Assisted Singleton Transfer

The drivers returned to stationkeeping mode, and I began observing the interaction between each of the recruits and their handler. The away pair had been in constant contact with the recruits after injecting themselves into the situation. Breaks were becoming evident in the conversation, and the recruits were becoming intelligible, and had started tapping out inquiries of their own.

As I swung the receiver beam from Shorty to Shorty, I picked up other pulses from the central network. Mostly noise as normal, and the usual responses from the network abounded in the presence of the stream generated by the photon detectors. While the amplitude looked good, I had not been monitoring it specifically, so I checked for the high note that was present during the peak of activity.

It was barely there. Soon to disappear.

Tapping into the navigation channel, I let the drivers know that we would be making contact and started the trip toward the first Shorty. The locals on my Shorty knew the drill well, and I placed one of them at the helm for the operation. Orienting myself properly on the Eight, I tapped out position pulses and the away electron replied back in acknowledgement. In the field compression that resulted from an Eight-on-Eight collision attempt, the away electron released it's coupling force as I applied mine, transferring the recruit in a swift stroke.

Modulation Assimilation

Somehow, the trailing shorty entered the high bandwidth zone ahead of the leader. Driving a molecule through the soup is a challenge that sometimes reaps small yet significant rewards. This time it was personal, as the driver chided their counterpart with a tap-sequence that roughly translated to "Laggard." I welcomed the returning drivers, pointing them to appropriate positions where we could share several of channels, and still have room for local communication.

Considerable progress had been made with the chatty sliders, with their bandwidth being reduced as their communication was concentrated into the distinct bands that I and the pairs had become proficient at. Proving that communication was a bidirectional affair, the mentors had taken to punctuating their conversation with tiny slides in frequency, but kept them in band.

I considered it an interesting modulation technique that works well when it is kept in a defined range of frequencies. It certainly got my attention when applied in a wideband mode, and I definitely noticed it when it crept into the navigation channel. The habit being picked up by the drivers and used in their status updates. What surprised me the most was when I found myself using freq-slides in my own chatter.