FUNCTION-L₃ #30

“That place is a tomb, and we treated it as a tourist attraction,” you sign.

“Therefore...” Marimo Noriko lightly taps your forehead with her staff.

“I should respect the history of other worlds I visit, not act like they’re mine for the taking...” you sign.

“Good offworlder,” she signs. “Some things from the past are better left buried there...”

“And I’m overly reliant on my augments, it could get me killed someday...” you sign.

“Also true.” She lifts her staff and points it at Akiko. “And you. You live here, should know better.”

“I should have,” Akiko signs. “But living up even on Level 5 is nothing like living here.”

“It’s one world we live on, but you still think of it as one culture. It’s the same mistake as Old Japan. We’re past the era of fantastical nation-state constructs, yet people still fail to understand that even one colony contains multitudes.”

“You say that so sure of yourself, but my culture is part of this world too, and half your cult can’t speak my language!” Akiko signs, her eyes flashing red. “That’s why my headmate was so mad at you, talking past us like that...” Her LEDs turn deep blue.

Noriko withdraws her staff. “We’re not immune to the spectre of homogenization either. Fair point,” she signs, then turns to her siblings and shouts, “Hey! All of you, learn Japanese Sign Language. You’ve got interfaces, what’s your excuse?”

She turns back your way, handing each of you your terminal back. Her sisters bring you your interface collar and Akiko her coat. You put your collar back on immediately, snapping its latch in place and starting its autocalibration process---a wave of tiny shocks across your spine, then descending down your body as your internal interface reconnects. You finally feel yourself again, able to regulate your senses and feelings, able to touch the near-æther again, feel the symphony of radio waves passing through you at every moment.

“Let’s part in peace, Akiko,” Noriko signs, using Akiko’s name sign. “Here, my public key, if you want to talk biohacking sometime.”

“Received!” Akiko signs.

“Now go catch the next train. You’re still disturbing the balance of the air,” Noriko signs.

“I’ll be glad to get home and get completely dry...” Akiko signs. “Let’s go, Aydan.”

You walk with Akiko, out of the circle of moss walkers, out of their sanctuary, through the lichen-covered alleys. In the dim light, lines of light blue light up among the lichens, guiding your path through the labyrinth and back to the station.

“Bioluminescent algæ! Electrically stimulated! The Marimo no Kachibito are so cool! I can only imagine what their ætherspace must be like! I don’t even care that they threw me into a life-threatening trial!” Akiko signs, in between excited handstims.

“Going to drop out and join them?” you sign.

“If I ever want to join a cult... But I still want to learn everything I can from Professor Reina and TLA. And then I have an obligation to my contract holder...”

You sit down next to her on a half-rusted metal bench, leaning your head on her shoulder, tired from the day’s ordeal. Waiting for another train to come all the way down here, you look inward and check in with ÆON in your mind’s eye.

2255-01-16 20:19:03 Aydan > got my interface reassembled! they let us off with just a lecture...

2255-01-16 20:19:04 ÆON > I’m glad to learn this. Your biosensors seem to indicate exhaustion.

2255-01-16 20:19:09 Aydan > so true, how’s our new friend doing?

2255-01-16 20:19:12 ヴィクズ > hiiiiii Aydan ^^ <3

In a flash of colors, the avatar of Vix appears in your visual field, digitally imposed by sensory echo.

2255-01-16 20:19:17 ヴィクズ > my newest best friend ÆON taught me how to do this, nya!

Akiko waves to nyan, apparently seeing nyan also. You connect her to the group chat with the exopaths.

2255-01-16 20:19:21 ヴィクズ > amazing technyalogy you have!! your neural interfaces are going to make it super easy and fun to produce music for you future humanoids! maybe there is even a market for music for exopaths...

2255-01-16 20:19:30 明子 > not everyone has an interface, and few can use them like we can, but a lot of people have a simpler model that they can listen to music on

2255-01-16 20:19:33 ヴィクズ > that will do!!

2255-01-16 20:19:36 ヴィクズ > the æther is sooo coool and stimmy ^^ ÆON took me to the depths, to the Moon, to Mars, to Jupiter, to Translunar Academy, it seems we can go anywhere!! except Earth...

2255-01-16 20:19:42 明子 > during the war, the colonies developed an entirely separate network, with segregated protocols, making all spaceling comms devices basically incompatible with the Earth network, and theirs unable to spy on ours

2255-01-16 20:19:48 Aydan > I don’t really think about Earth much, never even seen it until a few days ago, but it just occurred to me, is there an...Earth æther?

2255-01-16 20:19:54 明子 > who knows if they call it that, but I understand there are Earthling technopaths, and academies and everything. they must have a separate æther

2255-01-16 20:19:57 ヴィクズ > I don’t want to talk about Earth!! they are violent monsters who killed all of my friends, nyaa!!!

As Vix’s avatar clutches and shakes nya head, the echo effect floating around nya turns red and forms into sharp spikes.

2255-01-16 20:20:00 明子 > fair, sorry

2255-01-16 20:20:03 Aydan > were you able to learn anything about your label’s fate?

2255-01-16 20:20:06 ヴィクズ > nya! DOLLSENSE™ did survive the war!! though many of its shareholders were killed by the merciless unfeeling Earth tyrants, nya! but it seems in 2196 they were acquired by Atara-On!™ who in 2208 rebranded to KokoroChiba™ after a major controversy, and later in 2232 after a different major controversy, to HeartSynth Productions™, which is still in business today, nya ^^ situated here on AtaraChiba in Level 7 sector 6. HeartSynth™ is the inheritor of all DOLLSENSE™ contracts, including mine!! in theory they should accept me into their talent roster, but it may take some convincing from my agents!

2255-01-16 20:20:15 明子 > ooh, the upper city, that’ll be something to show you! want to go tomorrow?