Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

The Encyclopedes are indeed telepathic, communicating nearly constantly with each other through their mental link to the Wikipede they serve. They are also using a language that is very dense in information transfer, and occasionally in images, sounds, scents, and stranger senses that might not easily map to a human perception.

They don't interact with the interface directly; they don't attempt to connect to it. Such would be too dangerous, given their divergent anatomy and their innate hive mind. No Encyclopede can cease to communicate with the others, so forming a mental bridge using external methods they don't control is extremely risky for the other party as the sheer amount of information constantly flowing through the Encyclopede risks overloading their brain. They're going to measure it in many different ways, examining its structure and dimensions.

Outside the Octahedron, the pyramid they arrived in closes and rotates slightly before it unfolds open again, revealing another Encyclopede accompanied by a mechanised gurney on dreadnaught wheels, with a sleeping human figure encased within.

[Hraithre]

The absolutely black walls absorb telepathic communications as readily as they absorb light, but this is of no consequence to the Encyclopedes as long as the path to the outside world remains open. If that path was shut, for some reason, may they would be severed from their hivemind, but right now there is no danger of that happening.

When the sleeping human is brought out, the structure extends its scanning to them. If they are in sufficiently deep sleep, there is not enough concentrated thought for the structure to respond to it. It may have to wait until that person is woken up.

[Earl of Purple]

The human is very deep asleep; nearly in a coma, and there's very little brain activity going on. At least, there isn't until the mechanised gurney and its accompanying Encyclopede reaches the interface. There, the glass retracts as the Encyclopede guide presses buttons and inputs into a control panel on the side of the machine. It swings up and the human gets off the gurney. He's nearly naked, and hairless, marked with a very large tattoo on his back; a long strip of black lines of varying thickness. His limbs are draped with medical sensors and tubes running to the gurney, keeping an eye on his vital signs. Despite being upright and awake, there's still not much brain activity going on; he's being telepathically puppeted by the Encyclopede that accompanied him down.

The human will climb into the apparatus, and wait.

[Hraithre]

The structure remains inert up to the point where the puppeted human is made to sit on the control chair. That is enough of a change to inform the structure that something is going on, even if it cannot detect any consciousness from this human.

A slate of black, glass-like material lights up with a blue glow. It displays instructions, using simple stick figures, of how to restrain a person in the chair and then press the syringe against their temple. The process is shown to be carried out by swastika-like symbols - the interface recognizes the human is accompanied by other living, thinking creatures, but it has not yet figured out how to display them.

[Earl of Purple]

One of the Encyclopedes jots down all the symbols used as the doctor-ish one who accompanied the puppeted clone around starts following the instructions, even though it didn't seem to look at the symbols itself. It also starts puppeting the clone's brain more directly, areas of the brain lighting up semi-randomly as the Encyclopede tries to mimic the psychic signature of a conscious brain even though the clone wasn't grown to be anything but a puppet and possible infiltrator in areas where the Encyclopedes would attract too much attention.

[Hraithre]

As the puppet-man is tied to the chair and the syringe put in place, blue ectoplasm-like fluid begins flowing through their body. The machinery around becomes more animate, the strips of film around nearbt cylinder cores rotating rapidly.

The machine is trying to stimulate a state similar to lucid dreaming in this puppet-man. As it does so, it is looking through their memories to construct a dream-space and an avatar for itself. If the Encyclopedes neglected to give this human any, that will prove a problem. But the algorithm is determined to dig something resembling a person out of this shell - even if it has to brute force one into existence. This, it can do, as long as the clone's brain is healthy enough for self-consciousness to emerge.

The Encyclopede in control of the clone might receive some unpleasant feedback - primarily jumbled sense-data, as if falling through a tunnel of swirling colors. It might also feel as if its control is slipping - by necessity, the machine interface operates on some of the same systems as the Encyclopede does, so to do its thing, it has to over-ride some of the puppeting signals. Resisting this poses no danger to the Encyclopede, but might be lethal to the clone.

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

The clone does have memories. They're strange, disjointed things, implanted at some point and escaping a purge, or memories of a prior expedition. There's complete memories of walking the streets of Punta Arenas, buying a baguette from a bakery in Brittany, and watching the coronation of King Charles III on the television from a hotel room in Coober Pedy, Australia. Sitting on a backless chair in a courtyard, interviewing a balding man wearing a toga in Latin. There's less joined-up memories, too. Flashes of faces and places, three seconds of watching a cryovolcanic eruption through a porthole, and sitting in a chair whilst delicate antennae touch and measure his skull.

The Encyclopede, as soon as it realises what is happening, retracts its control. They can potentially access the clone's memories later, if desired.

The clone, left to think for itself for the first time in its life, opens its eyes and looks around.

[Hraithre]

"Hello dear", a voice calls to the clone. To the clone, it seems they are sitting at a cafeteria table. Scent of freshly baked bread fills the air. "It seems you have been under for quite some time. Maybe your whole life, such as it is", the voice continues. It belongs to a plump, middle-aged woman wearing a pink dress and a white appron, her blonde hair tied to a bun. She sets some fresh bread and coffee down on the table and sits opposite to the clone.

"I'm sorry if this awfully confusing to you. It seems you have been brought here by forces outside your own control" the woman says, crossing her hands and looking very concerned. "We have a lot to discuss. First, would like to tell me your name?" Normally, the machine does not need to ask for a name, it is one of the first things it can read from a person's mind. But this case is not normal.

Outside the clone's vision, the Encyclopedes can see from their instruments that the clone's state is stable and consistent with a dreaming human. The air is filled with clanking and whirring of moving machinery as the building sends information to the clone and writes down what it receives in turn.

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"Name... I call myself I. Nobody else has ever given me one. Wait, no... That toga man, he called me... No, I don't understand what he's saying. I remember him saying it, and understanding, but... it makes no sense in my memory." The clone's knowledge of Latin has been removed, even though part of the clone's interview with the Roman remains in his head.

Outside the clone, the Encyclopedes are recording every movement and change that they see.

[Hraithre]

The woman smiles sadly at the clone. "Well, what if I call you Nemo for now. Nemo. How does it sound to you?"

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"Yes, Nemo. I like Nemo, thank you." The clone- Nemo- smiles, picking up the coffee mug and taking a sip. It probably tastes like bread and jam; his visit to Brittany was brief and coffee was in short supply due to the slight issue of an invasion.

[Hraithre]

It is indeed possible the coffee doesn't taste right, but if Nemo can't tell the difference, it's just as well. It is not real coffee, after all, just the idea of it build around references Nemo can understand. "Well then, Nemo. You may call me Lucia Sophia", the woman continues, "my purpose and usual task here is to provide people with knowledge. But usually, those who come to me already have at least inkling of what they want to know. It is... rare for people to come to me without even knowing their own name. As such, much of what I could tell you, I'm afraid is beyond your capacity to understand. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Is there something you would like to ask me, Nemo?"

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"I think... I think the things that brought me here do. They want knowledge, all of it, and... I don't think they were expecting I'd be able to talk to you myself. There is so much I do not know, I don't even know where to begin. Well, there is one thing. Can you make sure I remember? So this isn't wiped from me like everything else is, when they need me to do something else." Nemo knows they've done it, he has enough fragments to suggest such a thing is within the Encyclopede's capabilities.

[Hraithre]

Lucia falls silent for a moment, considering Nemo's request. "I... that kind of thing is not what I was made to do, but I can do it. I have to warn you: I cannot foretell when they will next try to make you forget, or why. If, for whatever reason, you come to change your mind, the work cannot be undone." After saying this, Lucia fetches a coffee mill and places it on the table. She drops a piece of sugar into it and slides it towards Nemo. "Would you be so kind and turn the crank for me?"

In the outside world, the Encyclopedes might notice a small spike in the clone's brain activity. Nothing unusual on its own, but its accompanied by a slight vibration coursing through the room. It might be their man-puppet has activated some dormant part of the mechanism.

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"Memories shape who you are. Without them, I am nothing. I... don't want to be nothing any more." The clone doesn't have a full understanding of death, but it's still something he fears. He wants to remain, as much as he can. He hopes this will help with that.

He does turn the crank, slightly nervously. He's not sure if this is helping or not, but he's quite eager to please.

The vibration is measured; if the Encyclopedes can figure out the wavelength, that will be jotted down. Otherwise the continue to make their notes and monitor their man-puppet's vital signs.

[Hraithre]

Lucia gives Nemo an sympathetic tap on the shoulder. "I understand." She watches him turn the crank of the mill. "No need to be so nervous", she comments as the sugar cube is slowly ground to powder, "you're doing just fine. Leave your worries for a moment and focus on the motion. It makes a fun, rattling sound, doesn't it?"

Though the coffee mill isn't just something for Nemo to fidget with. It is also a control interface. As Nemo turns the crank in his dream, in the outside world the large floating wheel surrounding the control platform begins to turn. Some of the memory cylinders change color from blue to fiery orange or gold. So does the liquid flowing through the syringe into the clone's brains. The sporadic vibrations give way to a low, undulating warning siren as the metal staircase descending into the archive detaches from the ceiling and begins to sink into the central platform. None of this poses any immediate danger to the Encyclopedes, but it does tell them more and more things are happening beyond their direct control.

VIGIL sensors placed outside the structure can also detect a spike of energy, similar to what happened when the VIGIL expedition manually started the machine.

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"Yes, it does. This is... quite nice." Nemo smiles, a little more confident with the reassurance.

The Encyclopedes don't seem immediately worried by the current events, though one of their flying drones is directed into the descending staircase (if it can be) to explore wherever that's going with its sensor-suite of primarily radar.

[Hraithre]

The staircase is descending into what can best be described as a maintenance space - it's definitely not meant to be traversed while it is down. Due to this, the drone gets trapped under the archive floor. But from there, it has a reasonably good view of the mechanisms that create and move around the memory cylinders. Pulses of light course through tubes filled with glowing liquid, wheels spin and gears turn.

Inside Nemo's dream vision, Lucia nods approvingly. "So, in addition to keeping your memory, what else do you want?", she asks warmly, "would you perhaps want to talk the matter through with those you brought you here?"

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"I... no. I don't think I do want to talk to them. But... I think I should. They came here for their own reasons, and I'm mostly a resource to them, I think." Only brought along because they needed a human brain to interact with the mechanisms and sometimes to talk to people without scaring them with a giant millipede-thing.

The drone continues to record and transmit its recordings to the Encyclopedes, who bounce it through the transmitters Vigil left outside to get it to the Bronze Pyramid they call home.

[Hraithre]

"Well, if you think you should talk to them, there is no point in dawdling, is there?", Lucia asks.

What happens next may be less confusing to Nemo than it is to the Encyclopedes. The table Nemo is sitting at expands, more chairs appearing to accommodate more guests. A second later, the Encyclopedes find themselves sitting on those chairs.

To outside observers, namely VIGIL watchmen or Sarah Khafir, it looks like the middle of the archive explodes with bright golden light, with the Encyclopedes being disintegrated into clouds of glyphs. Afterwards, the brightness obscures whatever is going on within the spinning wheel. Sensors indicate a spherical distortion of space has formed around the control platform, separating the Encyclopede explorers from normal reality. Curiously, their instrumentation doesn't stop working - information such as the clone's vital status continues to be transmitted without error.

The drone trapped under the floor is left outside the distortion. It suffers no ill effects.

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"This is most unexpected. Thank you for hosting us. We are Encyclopedes. May we know your name?" The speaker glances at their hands, which was holding a digital camera. If it's still there, it'll take a snap of the ground. It's not transmitting anywhere, just storing the photograph internally, but they'd be interested in finding out what it looks like when they are able to download the file.

[Hraithre]

The digital camera is still present. It takes a photograph of the ground without issue, or at least seems to. If the Encyclopede can check the camera's memory right now, the picture taken shows a rug and wooden floorboards of the imaginary cafeteria.

"You're welcome", the elderly lady answer. "As I told dear Nemo here, she nods towards the human clone, "you may call me Lucia Sophia. I have a feeling that may tell you more than it told him. And who might you be?"

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

One of the Encyclopedes' legs undulate along the vertical length of its body, carrying a device up which is then presented to its antennae, which flicks down to take it and press it against the Encyclopede's head, enabling it to speak verbally instead of purely telepathically. "I am the Secondary Researcher of Mammalian Architecture. These are my colleagues, the Master Collector of Twenty-Fifth Century Humanoid Computing Artefacts, the Third Assistant Keeper of Neurology and Neuropathy, and the Tertiary Vault Curator of the Genus Homo. We are Encyclopedes, sent by the Wikipede to collect, collate and record the knowledge and learning of this structure." It gestures at the other Encyclopedes when it names their titles, and if Light of Wisdom is able to keep track of which of the nigh-identical creatures is which, Nemo's arrival was escorted by the Third Assistant Keeper.

[Hraithre]

Here, in this artificial environment, Lucia Sophia is the source of light, while the Encyclopedes are mere shadows. She has her ways of keeping track of who is who, as the they quickly find out. Each suddenly finds themselves wearing a distinctly colored party hat - purple for the Secondary Researcher, yellow for the Master Collector, green for the Third Assistant and red for the Tertiary Vault Curator.

"I see. You are fellow archivists and librarians, then", the lady says and sighs wistfully, "that explains why you have come all this way. No doubt the contents of this structure are a veritable treasure trove for you."

"But, I am afraid you may have committed a... horrible mistake coming here. This structure may be abandoned, but it is not without its sentinels. You may not have noticed them, for what was dark for you was just as dark for them. Now you stand in my light, and they can see you just as well as good Nemo here. I do not think they will let you remove anything stored in my archives. Even copying poses a great risk for you. I sense you are still, somehow, connected to the outside world. You must understand that such a connection is also a potential vector for attack. Not everything here is as... nice as me."

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"We have dealt with mind-viruses, hostile mnemonics, and brain hijackers before, as well as hostile telepaths and other things that wished to take our knowledge without trading for it. We have defences, and if they fail we are all expendable. We are old, and have learnt much, and there is little in the Wikipede's own vast stores of knowledge and experience that will continue to sustain us. If needed, we are expendable." Which is certainly unusual, for the most learned individuals to be more expendable than the least. All the effort to teach them apparently worth less than the potential of a student's youth.

[Hraithre]

"A calculated risk from your part? Very well. I hope you calculated well", the lady answers. "What is the first thing you wish to know, then?"

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

"To begin... The date of manufacture and this structure's purpose. We are willing to answer some questions about our own origin and habits, if you have them. Most of our academic acquisitions are via trading knowledge for knowledge." It's an area they feel more comfortable in than when they're just taking knowledge and giving nothing. Unless they're just taking knowledge from an archeological site or something that's going to be destroyed or otherwise lost without their intervention.

[Hraithre]

"If it was simply up to me, you wouldn't have to trade. My purpose is to provide information to others, and doing so is a reward all on its own", the lady says with a smile, "in any case, to answer your question, the building of this structure began in 2080 AD, using old Earth calendar for reference. But it may no longer be meaningful, since this structure no longer exists in linear time. As for why... hmmm..."

The lady's brow furrows and she looks distressed for a brief moment. The entire image of the cafeteria shakes briefly and once it ceases, minor details, such as placement of chairs and decorations, have changed position. "Ah. My apologies. The piece of memory containing the exact history was taken away by previous visitors. But I can tell you the short version."

The artificial reality quakes again, and soon both Nemo and the Encyclopedes find themselves sitting, not in a cafeteria, but outside, in the middle of a busy walking street, with tall concrete buildings casting their shadows over man-planted trees. "This structure was made to ward off growing human obsolescence. Just like the invention and spread of the internal combustion engine vastly reduced the need for horses, advances in automation made increasing proportion of the populace unnecessary for production... and eventually, everything else."

As the lady speaks, her conversation partners can see this process take place around them at high speed. A horse-drawn carriage turns into an old-fashioned car and the driver moves behind a wheel, then the car becomes increasingly sophisticated until the driver just disappears, his spot taken by a computer. A courier goes from riding a horse to riding a motorcycle, then is replaced by a robot. Clothes people wear change from carefully handcrafted pieces made of organic materials to increasingly synthetic and mass-produced ones. A man reading a newspaper turns into one staring through a window at television screens and then into one staring at a smartphone on their palm. A street performer playing a guitar is replaced by a group of youngsters carrying a boombox, then a massive screen showing a concert held in some distant place, then a complex hologram of people who never existed playing music generated by an algorithm. A man guiding the traffic is replaced by traffic lights. A bouncer goes from wielding a baton to wielding a gun, then disappears in favor of signs telling of cameras monitoring the area. Birds are replaced by flying drones. So on and so forth.

"As with horses, the question became, why keep so many?", Lucia Sophia continues, sipping tea, "if you wonder, 'a question for who?', well, this change did not happen overnight, and it did not affect everyone equally. After all, tools, whatever form they take, don't simply appear to replace people. They are force multipliers - they eliminate need for large amounts of people by letting small amounts do even more. At a point, all force in the world became concentrated in the hand of but a few."

Among the concrete towers, there is a conspicuous statue of a gold eagle soaring into the air. Elsewhere, a giant howling wolf can be seen. The windows of shops are decorated with the symbol of a hissing snake. In the distance, on a hilltop, there is a large church decorated by a ram's head.

"It is they who had to make a choice, and the choice they made was this building. To prepare mankind for the future, they turned all their technological mastery to improving their children and placed them in this nursery. Here they slept, waiting for that process to come to an end." The fabricated reality flickers and the listeners find themselves in what appears to be a large hospital hall. A lone man, followed by a floating slate, walks amidst rows and rows of transparent pods - artificial wombs, it would seem, with each containing dormant humans in various stages of development. Those late in the process - large enough to pass for born infants, young children and even adults, still remain, hooked up into weird machines by tubes piercing into their bodies.

"But that was long ago." The image flickers and the man is gone. So are all the people in the pods, the devices left empty and the tubes hanging limply with nothing to connect to. The lights flicker and turn off, one by one, until it seems that the coffee table and those around it sit on an empty stage, the only spotlight on them, with only blackness all around. "The process was completed. I cannot tell how long ago that was. Recording stopped when I was turned off and resumed an undefined period of time later. Does this answer your questions?"

[Earl of Purple]

Encyclopede Expedition

Nemo shudders as the world around the group changes, eyes widening and shivering. He's going to cower away from the changes, and he gulps and recoils from the vatted people; something about that really disconcerts him and he can't quite say why.

The Encyclopedes observe everything, clacking away with their devices and recording what they can. "It does. There are similarities in your purpose and our own- recording and storing knowledge for the benefit of the future. Or perhaps the benefit of the past. We could learn a lot from you. However, it is my opinion that we should not. We should maintain an independent bank of knowledge, and coalesce only if we absolutely need to. Your origins and formatting has led to a level of anthropocentrism we find awkward, and I do not think it wise to work beyond the awkwardness. We may damage either our transferal mechanics or your control panel, and if either occurs we will be condemning those that may come to rely upon our findings to ignorance and pain." The speaker, the Secondary Researcher, turns to the others.
"I agree. We are likely to fail in our purpose, we should avoid meddling here. This Octohedron may survive where we do not." The Tertiary Vault Curator bobs itself in agreement.
"I concur. Humans are like cockroaches, they turn up everywhere and some will survive anything. No offence. Perhaps the anthropocentrism here is an advantage." The Third Assistant Keeper is the one to be so blunt, not that Nemo much cares- he doesn't know what a cockroach is.
"If not an advantage, this store is as doomed as we are. My department shall investigate what it can and perhaps we can determine a better course of action. May we be excused, Lucia Sophia?" The Master Collector rises from its seat, followed shortly by the others. Their devices continue to click, clack and record; even if they have decided not to seek knowledge from within the Octohedron's memory banks, they cannot stop themselves recording what they observe.

[Hraithre]

Lucia Sophia nods. "That sounds like a fair decision. One question, though, before you go: what will you do about dear Nemo here?" She gestures towards the clone. "It was his sincere wish to not have his memory erased anymore. He wishes to remember and retain his identity. So?" The lady sips more tea and looks at the Encyclopedes intently. There's a certain tension in the air, which might be more than figurative.