Intruder Approach

A ripple appeared in the orbit as a propulsion command was processed. I was re-arranged into the opposite direction, watching the position index for a focused object translate across the entire width of space that the photon detectors covered. The pico pulses were increasing in intensity when a warning ping went off in the buffer monitoring region. The reply inquiry checked status of the local buffers once again, and the double check confirmed no local urgency.

Loading up a diagnostic inquiry on the aberrant pinger revealed that it had responded to the intercepted waveform from the approaching central network. The rules by which pingers operated were in need of an update, but now was not the time to accomplish such a sweeping change. I put the conversation aside just in time to review a retrieval command that was being queued for the superhighway and the long branch points.

Observing the entire motion command unfold, the command was processed with a high degree of precision and familiarity. The object of retrieval was similar in nature to the softer coverings that were routinely added to the network's outer shell, but with a higher degree of singleton tendrils, and a photonic signature that was several times higher in magnitude than the nominal network coverings. It was then that commands were issued to both long branch points at the same time.

Dash of Diversion

Propulsion resumed with an unusual quickness. The direction was back toward the gathering, and then it was not. A quick shuffle shifted direction, as a familiar yet unsavory set of signals rushed forward from the molecular detectors. The signal amplitude increased, as the frequency of detection events indicated in increasing concentration of detected molecules. As a maximum was reached, object manipulation commands were queued for the long branch points.

Pingers on peripheral patrol reported a high concentration of Twenty-Nines with high occurrence of Thirties. The occasional Fifty and a silly Twenty-Six were also reported. Other reports indicated collapsed meshworks with a minimum of One-Eight-Ones. It was not an unfamiliar manipulation, occurring mainly at the end of an active session and just prior to system shutdown, or when one of the buffer zones is in need of a purge.

While it may have been possible to purge either of the buffers, it was not yet critical. There were the usual clink and jingle inputs on the compression-relaxation channel associated with the commanded manipulation, which were soon joined by a semi-rhythmic pattern. Matching the recently experienced propulsion sequence, it was clear that another central network was nearing. I sensed pico-bumps in my orbit from strongly circulating patterns in the approaching network. A moment later, the manipulation commands to the branch points had been recalled and reversed without ever having been completed or a purge attempted.

The Corner Turned

The whorl diffused and began exciting most every stored memory that it came in contact with. The unGrid was thrown into a state of overwhelm as the imagery and tokens flooded forward. In the midst of the grand sizzle, the commands to the long branch point were nearly missed. A retrieval order caught hold as a branch point came inward with a grasp and retain command. A pause ensued. A dark spot appeared within the whorl and began to expand.

Panic pingers fired a triplet of pulses, and the intercept was automatic. In moments, the darkened region of the whorl had been infused with electrons, spin tapping their way into a conflagration that was second only to a plasma. Achieving synchronization with the pulses in the whorl, a small cloud of electrons surrounded the darkening region.

A pulse sequence was sent toward the confluence, and washed upon the shell of electrons who duly propagated the wavefront around the dark anomaly and along the pathway toward the central network. It was with a shake and a shudder that the packet was shuttled from it's resting place and carefully aimed. As the release command fired, the double bubble flashed brightly and it's outer shell began to absorb additional energy from the whorl. The anomalous dark region blinked and vanished, reabsorbed, no longer blocking communication within the network.

The Slip

The participatory event broke up and was concluded, after which, conversations began in earnest amongst the persons whom had gathered for the event. In fray of compression-relaxation transmissions, a brief pause occurred as some carefully chosen propulsion pulses were transmitted down the superhighway. Movement was not direct, as there were several obstacles that had to be negotiated. After a short while, the obstacles retreated, clearing the path of travel.

Based on what I had said, one would have thought that a local buffer had been filled and was in need of a purge, however, a scan of the buffer strain sensors revealed no such need. While it was true that the buffer I was examining would need purging in the future, as it was a nominal event, As far as I could scan, I was unable to check the buffer status of others that were nearby. This was one case where a future truth was taken to be currently effective. I had a curiosity.

Somewhere in the records, was the location to which we were travelling. The electron network helped out in this case, and illuminated a section of the memory space that held a dimensional construct. As the pattern emerged, I discovered that we had deviated more than slightly, as the pattern became obscured by pulses of noise and crackles of power. The whorl had slipped a number of tendrils into the region of the construct and began to shield the pattern from further examination.

Consequential Corners

Propulsion was always interesting. As each pulse of motion occurred, a small twiddle was observed in my orbit. By paying careful attention to the direction and distance covered with each pulse, it became possible to characterized the distance travelled. In many cases, only one kind of turn was executed, and eventually, we arrived back at the same place. While not precisely round, the route taken was, by nature, a loop — just like my normal orbit.

In this case, the route was direct, with several alternations of direction working together to create an overall direction that was otherwise impractical, and making this one of the longer propulsion sessions. Conversation continued, with still other persons, albeit brief and restricted to friendly salutations, greetings, but in most cases, just a brief dip of the network and a woggle of an extended branch point.

I locked in on the transmission sequence from the unGrid that was busily processing what symbology was present in the photon detector stream, discovering that this place had been visited before on numerous occasions. Usually, a visit involved a restful and interesting presentation that appealed to the central network in a curious sort of way. This time, the event was quite a bit more festive, with a degree of celebration and glee. Many more people were present than at the regular visits, and participation was far more involved than usual.

Fancy Reloaded

While the electron network was generally excited about the wands of mostly Seventy-Nines, it was something that I recognized as a special occurrence but was a regular affair, at least over the longer term. The excitement over the rarity of the event would drop by more than half with each repeat of a Seventy-Nine wand event. I was somewhat jolted by the realization that the electron network was as excitable as it is.

The wand event lasted for quite some time, far longer than a normal wand event. Many more patterns were produced by the molecular detectors, some of which were similar to those of the past, but a few were new and unique to this particular event. Some of the parallel conversation recalled an incident that occurred before a past wand event. As I probed the stored copy of the past event, I noted the remnants of a transcription session that linked back to the incident itself.

Propulsion soon occurred after the wands had been relinquished. I noticed that the bubble blinked as the branch points were put through a retrieve and stow sequence, and remained in a barely energized state. There was some conversation occurring via the compression-relaxation channel, and the perceptible patterns of another person was detected against the quiet background. Their propulsion commands were partly discernible, and punctuated the inputs that I was briefly following.

Golden Moment

Transcription continued for a brief while after the tertiary layer had dissipated from the double-bubble.

That apprehension was, it seems, well founded ; For the first agent to lay his hands on them, thought it his duty to transmit them to his constituents.

Completing the last token caused a cascade throughout the central network, and the whorl glowed and pulsed in response. After a quick repair session with the scribing wand, and a careful dip-wiggle, a strongly stored pattern was referenced and fed by the whorl.

B. FRANKLIN Agent for the House of Representatives of the Massachusett's-Bay.

Commands were propagated to the superhighway, and the long branch points were set to task with a fine degree of control. After several moments, a signal was received on the compression-relaxation inputs, and a familiar pattern welled up within the central network.

A short propulsion sequence was generated and after coming to rest once again, the molecular sensors were feeding wonderful wafting patterns into the network. Pleasant exchanges occurred via the compression-relaxation channel, and at an appropriate moment, wand commands were issued to the long branch points. Moments later, the report came back from the electron network, that once again, the wands were composed largely of Seventy-Nines.

Poison Quill

Transcription continued, moving toward completion. This was evident as there were too few tokens being scanned and queued. While I processed every token, I was already familiar with the key point of the remainder of the transcription. Central to this was the notion of Public versus Private, and the letters in question had been written by Hutchinson while he was in the service of the Public. The whorl was energized with pulses and flashes that helped to formulate the token string:

They were written by public officers, to persons in public station, on public affairs, and intended to procure public measures

The privacy issue was also addressed in that:

the chief caution expressed with regard to privacy, was, to keep their contents from the Colony Agents, who the writers apprehended might return them, or copies of them, to America.

As the three doublings of tokens were transcribed, the outer layer surrounding the bubble dissolved and dissipated. The double-walled bubble remained, and the last of the interior tendrils went dormant once again.

Spinception

There was a brief pause in the transcription process as some interesting commands were sent to the long branch points. Running down to check the object being grasped flashed across the network, and surprisingly, "pen not sharp — repairing" was the reply. Somewhere, the electron network and captured the command and supported the inquiry.

As transcription efforts continued, I scanned the queued tokens which were still linked to their core thought. It was clear that the letters in question were never possessed by Whately and therefore could not have been taken by Temple. The bubble contained the proof of that. I was almost sure that what I saw encapsulated was a transcription record, although it was incomplete. Fewer symbols were transcribed than were taken in photonically.

The focus of transcription now shifted in a peculiar way. The whorl deepened it's penetration of the central network as a repair touch-up was performed. A glowing sensation surrounded the bubble, and then began to swirl in the whorl. A thin layer of connections was being formed above and around the bubble, influenced by the shell-layer below. Even below, tendrils flashed and blinked as the interior was examined, and the new outer layer began to pulse and glow, accepting and transmitting tendrils from the transcription zone.

Tantalizing Take

Transcription continued after a pause. The whorl now permeating the central network.

of which both of them

Here were was a curious token at the end. It apparently stood the place of two names.

are totally ignorant and innocent,

The 'i' tokens here lit up some interesting portions of the central network.

I find it incumbent upon me to declare

Once again, the last token rang widely in the central network.

(for the prevention of farther mischief,

as far as such a declaration

may contribute to prevent it)

This was a three dip sideways thought that circled and cupped within the network as it was scribed. The curvy symbols that open and close these scribbles represent that loop of thinking.

that I alone am the person

who obtained and transmitted

As the 'o' token above flowed through transcription, the bubble began to wiggle. As the 't' token started it's path through the process, the bubble began to wiggle and ring. Transmitted was a token that I was familiar with.

to Boston

Transmissions go places. This was definitely a place that lit up the central network.

the letters in question

As these four tokens were pushed through transcription, the bubble responded with a waveform that echoed through the entire network and caused the wispy whorl to vibrate and pulse with energy and move to surround the bubble.

Transcribing Transcription

The initial transcription block was nearly automatic, starting the way many transcription sessions had. Looking at the stream, I had expected this to be another letter to a friend such as the one where the experiment with the two large jars occurred, but the name London Chronicle did not trigger a ping from the space where people's names resided in the central network. After two wiggles, the block of transcription stopped.

During the next pause, token pingers began to fire as final arrangements were made and a sequence of tokens was queued for transcription. As transcription began, I focused on the final selections and activated the storage section of the electron network. There was a dip-wiggle, and the loop to the long branch points closed once more.

Finding that two Gentle

That token was a misfire. It really was:

Gentlemen

and there was another wiggle, and more transcription.

have been unfortunately engaged

The "un" almost fired, but I held it since it is usually followed. Engaged had weird tendrils.

in a duel about

The third word had some serious power behind it. It goes way beyond hurt.

a transaction and its

Huh. The second word has another at the end. That's interesting.

circumstances

This word was a real network bender. It looped around and then stuck the outer covering of the bubble with enough power to make it shudder and ring. It was at this point that the whorl activated and began to spread it's tendrils throughout the central network. One had to wonder if this was the first wisp of a coming storm.

Targeting the Take

The photon levels were approaching normal balance across the detectable range. Propulsion commands to the superhighway had settled down, and a calm began to sweep across the central network. Feedback from the long branch points was checked, and the loop was closing. With a structured wiggle of the termini, I recognized the now familiar command pattern that kept a scribing wand in position for transcription.

I activated the unGrid and notified the electron network to put all efforts into identifying any and all tokens that were in the process of transcription. If the long branch points were being finely controlled, fed from the sequenced tokens, then I needed to know the tokens as quickly as possible. Lucky for me, we were able to spot the telltale squiggle of control patterns that occurred before a sequence of tokens.

Often during the regular squiggle, tokens in the queue would sometime re-arrange themselves before being forwarded to the transcription sequencer. It was even that case that some tokens switched during the transcription process, owing to the fact that the initial transcription sequence was identical between the two tokens, the difference occurring in the later portion. Such late changes often caused the unGrid to re-send the update. I was hoping that the re-sends would be minimal this time.

Consternation

Several cycles of random and active time passed, and on each cycle, the bubble was examined and brushed by the whorl, activating the patterns contained within. The tangle that had been growing in the main memory space revolved mostly about Temple and Whately, but only the Whately key caused any reaction withing the bubble at all. And a weak reaction it was.

Examining the tangle for a clue, I uncovered a nexus of connections in the thread of memories. It was not the bubble that was at the center of controversy, rather, it was the fact that Temple believed that Whately had something to do with the contents of the bubble, such that if Whately's central network were inspected, that it would contain the bubble. Of course, the bubble was here and could not have existed in Whately's network.

It was this fact that came to light over the several cycles, and another pool of thoughts was forming alongside the tangle, with a tendril connected to the nexus in the tangle, and another tendril looping around the bubble. I had observed this pattern of activity before, and it was clear that another transcription session was brewing.

Discontinuity

Apparently, I had no real concept of injury and repair. Electrons collide at very great velocities and cause little, if any damage. Of course, Eighty-Twos are infinitely more massive, and I can see how a meshwork would not survive a forceful impact. There were some images that were circulating through the central network that were quite disturbing, but that was the least powerful force that moved the central network during this active session.

Noticing that the high frequency wave was beginning to diminish in intensity, I positioned myself to observe the compression-relaxation traffic that usually accompanied wand-time. I was not disappointed. It was clear that my benefactor was pleased with Whately's survival. I had yet to realize that survival was problematic, but now knew that there was a limit to the length of time that a central network would function.

Up to this point, I had considered the central network and the electron network to be roughly equivalent, and that people were as hospitable as electrons, but with differing polarities. Apparently, central networks were quite unique in their function despite the great degree of similarity that I had observed in my few observations. Apparently, Whately and Temple had a differential between their central networks, which would not be corrected until one or the other of them were no longer functioning.

Twisting Tangle

Confusion reigned supreme in the growing tangle of input recollections. The central network had no difficulty with such a processing task, but the electron network could never have been prepared for such a jumble of data. The limited frame of reference and short list of known tokens did not help with the decode process.

Random time gave a number of clues, as the number of flashes on the locked bubble increased as the tangle grew. The central network had sorted and processed many of the symbol sequences and overlaid them in a mesh of interconnections at the core of the tangle, and I began to notice that both the bubble and the core of the tangle responding to the same inputs during random time. The correlation was uncanny.

Commonly, the active session updates to the tangle never touched the locked bubble. During one update that occurred, there was a bubble-ping. At first, I thought that "Whately" was hurt at a temple, but later, I discovered that Whately was indeed hurt by Temple. There was something about a ball of Eighty-Twos that had gone through Whately, and that he was eager to settle the matter once and for all. The central network lit up and churned over, and the locked bubble lit up with a flash and went dormant before any reaction was transmitted.

Angle Mangle

Monitoring the bubble during random time was being gated by trigger pingers and a special team of Electrons. During the active sessions, a new construction began to take shape in the corner of the main workspace. Tokenized concepts that were landing on the compression-relaxation sensors were being parsed by the central network, and then connected together via the new interlink structure.

A separator existed in the new structure, with strong keys on one side, and a tangle of reference keys on the other. There were some tokens in the tangle that were rather pungent. Of these "unruly" and "mob," were strong, but "Colonist" was the word that dripped with greatest degree of loathdom. If there was one thing that was clear, the speakers which produced these tangled tokens were fearful of a loss of control.

Little reply, other than kind words and understanding were uttered in response to the producers of the tangle. The tangle grew at regular intervals. First, it was every few sessions, with as many as three doublings of sessions between updates. Soon, it was less than three, but slightly more than two doublings. After a scant five doublings of the update sessions, updates to the tangle and the new structure became frequent occurrences.

The Refresh Hack

Randomness pervaded the central network more quickly than usual. The UnGrid was processing pattern sequences, with occasional blips from the past, back when I had entered the central network. As goes the high frequency waveform and the coming and going of random time, so to goes the cycle of cycles. I started to notice this because the wands would change in their composition. Lately, Forty-Sevens were prominent, as opposed to the Fifties that were common in the past.

Regardless of the wands that would be encountered during the next photon driven cycle, the impenetrable bubble persisted to exist, but had been pushed farther back into the recesses of the central network. Not that it had moved in it's physical position, but it was no longer in the primary sequence of pathways that were routinely accessed and refreshed. There were, however, several occasions during random time in which the contents illuminated with a refresh pulse.

Rendering patterns into symbols, the UnGrid continued to feed tokens via the electron network. It was during once of these refresh pulses that "Hutchinson" passed through and triggered on both the pingers and the UnGrid. Unlike normal activity, the bubble was, at times, connected during Random time, and it was in this way that I began to identify the set of tokens that clustered within the bubble.

Undercover Return

Once again, there were regular blips and an tilt being injected into my orbit. Scanning the great funnel of pathways that formed the superhighway, the propulsion sequence was being sent to the lower branch points. After a brief pause, the intensity level of signals from the photon detectors diminished and additional command pulses were sent out to the sensors for a influx adjustment. Photon levels were low and the high frequency wave was non-existent.

There was a quickness in the cadence of the propulsion pulses that was not evident in the previous session. Scanning my relative position, I could see that the velocity tilt of my orbit was opposite of the previous session, indicating that the path was being reversed. Given more observation of tilts and dips, some kind of reckoning might be had, but the propulsion pulses were the clue to look for dip and tilt.

Relief swept across the central network once again, as photon levels increased slightly. A flickering of lower frequencies began, as moderate propulsion occurred, and then a giant tilt occurred as position shifted back to what was normal for random time. With photon levels so low, it certainly made sense for random time to occur, but it was bound to be a short session if my own internal sense of time was in any way correct.

Closing

I swept my sensors through the spectrum of signals and impulses, looking for anything that would penetrate the secondary shell that was growing about the bubble. While it appeared to be neutral, I had forgotten that was I was scanning was a pure energy pattern to begin with that was really nothing more than a pool of organized electron patterns, suspended in the matrix that was the central network.

The usual noise was ever present, and the secondary shell just added more noise, preventing the easy penetration of the bubble, both by direct probe and from the network in general. As I processed this new data, a volley of inputs bombarded the central network in such a manner as to activate the contents of the bubble, but were effectively rebuked. It was as if the bubble was not even there, and the attempts to access it produced no other effects in the central network.

Hardened and fortified, the bubble persisted to exist on my scans, and there was an overall feeling of satisfaction permeating the central network. As a familiar pattern of inputs were detected on the compression-relaxation sensors, the output transducer starting on cue, set up a waveform in the central network that began to resonate with the whorl. As the inputs continued, the whorl lifted, clearing away from the bubble and returning to its background home in the central network.

Fortification

The whorl began processing patterns from the bubble, and slowly the whorl imparted these patterns to the central network, where carefully generated compression-relaxation output was produced. Slow, measured and direct, information from the bubble was conveyed. It did not take very long for a reply to come back across the reception channel. In fact, there were several responses that differed in timbre and pitch.

As the responses were processed and tokenized, I recognized a few of the symbols, as did the electron network. Struggling to piece the information together, I kept my attention focused on the bubble. The tendril of the whorl had thinned and in an instant snapped cleanly away. There were some charge patterns visible on the surface of the bubble that had not been there before.

Scanning to examine the patterns, I detected interference and diffusion of the charge forces, and that's when I noticed the undulation in the whorl. Compression-relaxation input continued and moved into an tonal progression and a repeating sequence of symbols. Soon, the output transducer was following along, as the undulation became a standing wave. As the pace of the inputs increased, more and more waves washed up against the zone that was surrounding the bubble, forming a neutral charge shell that prevented further scans of the charge pattern.

Opening

A repetitive sequence of patterns appeared on the compression-relaxation inputs, and soon, the output transducer was following along in the same rhythm, but at it's own natural resonance. As the sequence continued, I spotted the tendrils of the ineffable whorl unwind and weave their way throughout the zones of the central network.

As the whorl approached the spherical bubble, it was repulsed around the bubble at an even distance until the tendrils of the whorl had enveloped the bubble. Constructed from the same energies and patterns, their repulsion was purely electric. I was fascinated enough by the creation of the bubble, and now the whorl had expanded to permeate the network, and not affect the bubble. It was, effectively, isolated from the rest of the network and the whorl.

Compression-relaxation sensors once again transducted their inputs into pulse trains, this time, the symbols were not repeated, and the whorl had the honor of response. With a shift and a shudder, a single tendril of energy propagated from the boundary near the bubble. Growing steadily, it protruded forward and made contact with the edge of the bubble, at which point, it began to pulse, slowly feeding patterns up the tendril and into the whorl.

Passage and Admittance

I scanned back across the bubble, as random time had been relegated to a corner. Normal patterns were emerging as the pulses continued down the superhighway. The bubble had moved once again, to a nearby position of prominence in the central network. Distortions of my orbit continued to indicated that the lower branch point and their extremities were doing the work of moving the entire network - central and otherwise.

The bubble was churning internally, and a charge was beginning to build. I could sense the concentration of electrons as another push on my orbit, and that was when I noticed that the propulsion pulses on the superhighway had paused, and then resumed with a slightly different set of control feedback. The photon detectors were working harder now, and there was an odd flicker and low-frequency component to the received photons.

A short exchange on the compression-relaxation channel occurred and the intensity of photons increased as the propulsion resumed. In a very short period, propulsion ceased and a resting phase began. The soup network, which had been under load, was now in a more relaxed phase as the control pulses indicated a slower pumping rate. Scanning back to the bubble, I checked the charge on the surface, noticing a ripple that was beginning to form.

Asynchronous Response

Random time was completely discombobulated. The bubble remained, and stayed intact, wandering through the resolution zone. As the bubble moved, occasional random resolution items would brush the bubble, again, looking for a match, and the bubble denied what should have triggered a response. Instead, the entire central network flashed to life as a it was activated by a waveform on the compression-relaxation inputs.

The initial amplitude of the incoming waveform was rather high compared to the background. about 10 doublings of amplitude. Very quickly, the amplitude diminished, but the frequency remained nearly constant. A scan of the photon detectors revealed full activity, even with the very low amplitude signal. The high frequency waveform was completely missing, and the network was a bit sluggish in it's responses.

In a short time, commands were issued down the superhighway, moving though a set of standard motions, but rather quickly. Looking at the minor forces that pushed on my orbit, I could tell that we were in motion, as the deflection on my orbit was pulsing with the cadence of the pulses pumping down the superhighway. All of this activity was normal, during times when the high frequency waveform is present on the photon detectors. Still, there was nary a pulse.

Envelopment

The bubble continued to burst control information to the long branch points and the photon detectors kept the loop closed. I kept processing the chatter from the singleton symbol pingers and kept building the library of larger symbols that the singletons composed. It was very clear that the stream of singleton symbols was derived from the larger tokens. After observing the bubble for some time I was able to refocus on the level of the larger symbols.

As I became more familiar with the shapes and and forms of the larger symbols that were being triggered, I detected the wane of the telltale high frequency waveform in the photon detectors. The rate of symbol processing stuttered and slowed, and stopped. The bubble remained. Roiling withing itself, but otherwise idle.

Other normal activities in the central network occurred, and as a wand-time session progressed, there was quite a nice and normal exchange using the compression-relaxation sensors and transducer in between swirls of pleasure and satisfaction. In the midst of all of this stimulation, the bubble remained. Quietly pulsing and churning, it's patterns folding back upon themselves. Amazingly, when the compression-relaxation parsers brushed the bubble, looking for what should have been a match, the bubble contorted and twisted, preventing the match from occurring.

Crucible Connection

Pulses of energy propagated from the bubble as the pulse train gained intensity and began to tremble. Internal oscillations appeared in the pulse train as the timing began to dither. Jitter crept into the pulse train, and pulses began to overlap. I was picking up frequencies across the spectrum in wavelenghts that I had not seen activate since my contact with a plasma. As I adjusted the filters to compensate, the amplitudes diminished until there was just a single multi-frequency pulse.

As I tried to probe the structure of the bubble, I had difficulty separating the interior pulses until I moved in closer. Collapsing further and increasing in frequency, the structure remained, but was now operating a speeds that were far faster that I was able to scan from my position. As I feebly followed what inner workings I could, the amplitude dropped below the noise floor, and all I was able to observe was the periodic marker that kept pulsing away.

Smaller and more compact that ever, the bubble moved once again, the marker making it rather easy to track. Coming to rest near the compression-relaxation input section, and then expanding itself to cross-link with the zone driving compression-relaxation output, I prepared the electron network to begin processing raw data from both of these zones. As the electron network organized about their task, a tendril of power emanated from the bubble and activated manipulatory extremes of the long branch points, and pingers across the singleton communication symbols started to flood the electron network with activity pulses.

Consideration Crucible

I kept following the bubble, scanning the zones that it activated as it bounced through the central network on it's journey. Scanning into the bubble revealed that each pattern that it interacted with was taken up and began circulating within the bubble. In a more complex way than my UnGrid, this bubble churned and parsed, linked and unlinked all of the patterns that it had come in contact with. Interconnections began to form, and the structure of the entire set of patterns began to take shape.

Slowly rolling over, the internal structure was astonishingly simple for being built from such complex patterns. There was a universal symmetry, yet there were areas that were void of interconnections. The surface that was emulated by the bounding interconnection links was quite unique when compared to other voids. Tendrils of interconnection wove through the core of the structure, and pulsed together as the entire information structure glowed with the increased pulse frequency.

And then it all stopped. The entire bubble went dark, each link shouting down, but remaining connected. There was a pause where the entire structure began to coalesce, with all of the nodes getting closer together and then . . . blip!

A single pulse in the middle of the structure leaped across a shortened pathway and triggered a cascade of pulses, each jumping across shortened links, putting even more power into the next node as the cascade expanded outward. More blips were spotted deep in the core of the compacted structure, and in a short time, it was beaming a pulse train that might have been continuous output if I didn't know better.

Overloaded Symbol

As the bubble bounced through the central network, pingers clicked and twittered as I started to examine the interconnection of the zones and the patterns that were activated by the bubble. One particular entry had multiple paths that accessed it, and I was somewhat confused. While I understood that communication symbols were represented by a sequence of basic symbols, and that these symbols are sometimes referred to as "letters," there were some much larger meta patterns that were also linked to the same communication symbol.

Diving into the new meta patterns in the network, it was quickly discovered that "Letter" was a symbol that represented an object used for communication. One of the learned activities that the central network performed was the production of optical patterns. The network made painstakingly detailed pulse trains that were sent to the long branch points as feedback from the photon detectors helped to decide and guide the control pulses.

Meta patterns that were now linked with the "Letter" version of the "letter" token, were in fact, the bottled and recalled content that was originally brought in via the photon detectors and the processing of multi-symbol tokens. The patterns were deeply emblazoned, and there was evidence that the photon detectors had processed the same input numerous times. I even found the leftover remnants for a guiding session in which one of these communication objects was processed and used to guide the production of a new identical copy. All in all there were not quite four doublings of this occurrence.

Conscious Consideration

Injecting symbols into the random process was no longer necessary in this investigation. The Hutchinson key had an established presence in both the random resolver and elsewhere in the network. Pingers were deployed and sections of the electron network were re-activated and tuned to the frequency at which the new pingers were adjusted. Anything in the central network that was accessed, and had anything at all to do with the Hutchinson key, was going to pop.

A brief scan of the photon detectors revealed the presence of the telltale frequency that portended the end of random time. As the network shifted into the active mode, the new pingers remained quiet. Wand time and the usual motions of the long branch points were completed, and as another regular function occurred the central network began to trigger the keyed pingers. The regions that registered the strongest were in the zones that processed and performed comparison and evaluation, and in other zones that interfaced with the ineffable whorl pattern.

Scanning the whorl deeply, I observed the whorl contort and fold back on itself, creating a bubble whorl that spun and ran independently within a carved out portion of the main. Then the bubble moved and broke free from the main, and began to wander about the central network and examine various zones, triggering a clatter of pings as it progressed. Intently interested in this phenomenon, instructions to track the bubble were given and a sequence of pings began to ring on a new channel as tracking electrons were deployed at every visited zone.

A Bond of Letters

During the next random session, I put a command into the electron network, effectively shutting down all processing in the network with the exception of the pingers. The UnGrid remained in position, and I queued them up as a signal relay, informing them to send compressed data only on command. With most of my network anesthetized, the next resource I tapped were then alpha and beta pairs, who shuttled over and commandeered a pair of shorties.

I pulled out the Hutchinson key and discussed the plan with the alphas and the betas. The first thing we had to do was look for existence of the key at various places in the network. We knew that there were layers of patterns, with the most recent being strong and clear, and the older ones, compressed down to the minimum essence. They were simpler too, these lower layered patterns. The pairs were responsible for detecting the presence of the Hutchinson key along the main pathway of patterns that often looped through random time.

It really all came down to letters, both then and now. Early recollections and images of the most basic symbols were tainted with the search key. Apparently there were several other keys that were associated with the master key, all variants of a well known name token: Tom, Tommy, and later Thomas. Of course, the Thomas was always there, with the other two having friendly and faded patterns. It was strange to me, but it was emblazoned in the patterns. This same Hutchinson had received training in the singleton symbols, the letters that make up the alphabet, by communicating with this central network, long before I arrived on the scene.

Shadow of Another Network

Concluding that the final two symbols should be build together as a single penta-symbol of "inson" was the best choice to further processing of the complete ten place symbol. The initial five components, when strung together, had a modest reaction in the central network. However, with the change of one letter, specifically a "t" to an "n" produces a far stronger swirling concept. It was becoming clear that the entire sequence had to remain together, making this one of the larger tokens in the library.

H U T C H I N S O N

It was a key that resounded in a very intense and passionate set of patterns, and for whatever reason, this key symbol was popping up from within the central network. The level of overwhelm would have seemed like intense noise to the meshtrons and the UnGrid. Here was a meta-key that was referring to the memory of another person. It was far more than a word used for language, it was a particular person and others, that were known, and to a small degree, feared.

Following the ripples and waves that the Hutchinson key produced was a challenge, as it pervaded large swaths of the central network. The pulses, pauses and query loops that circulated through the central network were more complex that I had observed. The web of interactions grew beyond my sensing capabilities could handle, and the speed was quick enough that pinger deployment was out of the question. Just as I lost focus on the cascade, boundary pings popped up on the hyperchannel. The Hutchinson pattern was feeding the whorl.

Concatenation Consternation

By design, I handled the abnormal. The routine, regular, repeat business was the domain of the mesh-trons in the electron network with special operations being undertaken by the Uns and their regularized sensor grid. Propagating through the networks without much success, an oft repeated token-triplet caused a deal of frustration until it was passed up the chain for assessment and disposition.

Confusion was understandable. The final symbol locked in very strongly when presented for consideration. Bringing patterns of warmth and pleasure surrounded the zones that lit up in response to triple-symbol "son" as well as a cascade of other related entries, but nothing was clicking when it came to the other two-thrids of the meta trio. Here, we were looking for something in alternate flavor of meaning, and the preceding token in the triple was another clue.

A short and sweet doubleton symbol preceded the triple; "in" was used often and well understood. The combiation of "in" and "son" was not well represented, and as a result, the meshtrons and the library core forwarded it upward for review. I was having odd difficulties imagining the leading penta-symbol being within the triple-symbol, as "in" would indicate normatively. If the trio had not been rattling around the central network so often, I am sure it would have been relegated as a blurb of random-time noise for this reason alone.