FUNCTION-L₃ #27

“You have a point, taking nyan with us could cause a lot of trouble...” you sign. “But there’s another way, why not release nyan into the æther? We carry nothing out with us, nya goes free, everyone wins.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Akiko signs.

“Yay ^^,” Vix signs. “Quick question though, what is ‘the æther?’”

“You could say it’s a minimal-latency communication network spanning the entire solar system via a series of quantum relays,” Akiko signs. “But that’s just the hardware, that doesn’t begin to explain how a technopath, or an exopath, experiences the æther.”

“Luckily I know the perfect guide to show you around the æther and modern exopath existence.” You pull ÆON’s device from your pocket. “This device is a thousand months older than yours, but, rule of technopathy number something or other--everything is compatible!”

You open the primitive chat program you wrote to communicate with your exopath on this 21st century device.

Aydan > ÆON, I’m gonna connect you to a strange machine

ÆON > This is normal.

You scan the local network traffic, adjusting the device’s parameters until you locate the 愛ＤＯＬＬ machine.

“Now we’re connected to you,” you sign.

“I see your device in my local network now, nya!” Vix signs.

“You can send data packets to port 4304 on this machine, send instructions on how to communicate back,” you sign.

ÆON > We have made contact.

Vix > hi Aydan ^^ I’m in the palm of your hand now

Aydan > meet Vix, an exopath created in 2155. and Vix, meet ÆON, a, uh, even I don’t really know, an exopath discovered in 2253, seemingly created by noone, and probably the most advanced program anyone has ever seen

Vix > !!! WOAW soo coool!! the cutting edge! the avant-garde!

ÆON > What a curious entity.

Vix > do you like music?

ÆON > I am fascinated by it, its structure, its patterns, its enigmatic purpose.

Vix > then you’ll love this song I wrote for you! I call it 枠に島宇宙 ^^ an exclusive just for you, my newest fan!

“Nya seems to respond to everything by creating a song,” you sign.

“Of course, it’s the purpose nya was created for,” Akiko signs, reading the screen beside you.

ÆON > Very interesting, noone has written a song about me before. Is this how your mind perceives me?

Vix > yes, nya ^^ since you aren’t a human I tried experimenting with tones your friends wouldn’t be able to perceive, and since you told me earlier that you see time in a nonlinear way it inspired me to compose a song like that, nya! do you like it?

ÆON > It is difficult for me to make a value judgment on something as subjective as this, but it does feel good to be understood by another.

Vix > yay, then we’re best friends now!

Aydan > so can you transfer nya out of this machine and find some place in the æther to root nyan?

ÆON > Certainly. My root device lacks the space to root another entity, but there are many unguarded devices on this colony. Nya may have to move around a bit at first, or be distributed across several locations, but it is not a problem for an exopath.

Vix > yaaay, I’m leaving my dismal grave, nya ^^

“What are you gonna do now?” Akiko signs to Vix’s avatar projected in front of her.

“Good question. When I don’t know what to do, I consult my terms of service for guidance, so that’s what I just did. My creators truly considered everything, nya! But it depends on whether my record label still exists here in the future. If they do, their ownership over me has no end date, since I am apparently immortal, nya, so they should still publish my songs and book my concerts, and I can more or less resume my life as intended, nya! If not, I would have to find another label to work with.”

“Be careful, though, every artist I know says to never trust a label,” you sign. “If you’re still their property, there’s no telling what they could do to you.”

“Nya needs an advocate,” Akiko signs. “Someone who isn’t the company’s property who can make sure nya’s treated fairly.”

“A-nya, an agent, nya?” Vix signs. “My terms of service specifies that if ever my program is lost and only rediscovered after everyone I had contact with is dead, I can designate an agent to facilitate my return to profitable work, nya! Would you? Would you be my agents?”

“So we would go with you to talk to your label, if it still exists?” you sign.

“Nya!”

“Does your terms of service say what cut of your profits the label would have to give us?” Akiko signs.

“Ten percent, nya!”

“That could be quite a lot,” Akiko signs. “What do you think, Aydan?”