The Spectacular Failure (part 1)
Sep 9, 2026 · 33 min · 9 segments
subscribe at ezrinsky.com to get the next chapter in your inbox every week Get full access to E.Z. Rinsky at…
Sep 9, 2026 · 33 min · 9 segments
subscribe at ezrinsky.com to get the next chapter in your inbox every week Get full access to E.Z. Rinsky at…
Sydney adopts Lena as her workout partner.
The linguist picks up Lena from her apartment at six every morning, and they march to the gym, a generous room on the periphery of the facility's maze of intersecting corridors.
They're in the habit of walking in silence through these halls, which are dead at this hour, save a morning soundtrack of soft classical piano, their dreams hanging like sticky cobwebs over their eyes until the exercise bikes brush them away.
Sydney is so absurdly serious when she exercises that Lena has to stop herself from laughing out loud.
The linguist's expression is ferocious.
She looks like she's punishing the exercise bike, each pump of the pedal grinding her enemies to dust.
Sydney only allows herself to relax once they reach the cooldown.
The women stretch side by side on yoga mats.
"Today you're gonna finally show me the recording?" Lena asks.
Lena's been dying to see the recording of the aggregate becoming a god, but Inbar insisted that Lena first spend a few days in the nursery getting comfortable with being in the environment.
The recording, apparently, can be a little too immersive.
There's a risk of a mild seizure if you aren't accustomed to simulated environments.
"Yes," Sydney says as she rears up her chest and shoves her hips into the mat, forming an impossibly pliable cobra.
"You will see our most spectacular failure." After the workout, Lena joins Inbar and Sydney for a light breakfast.
When they left the gym twenty minutes ago, Sydney, like Lena, was drenched in sweat.
But while Lena barely had time to rinse off in the shower, Sydney has transformed into her usual immaculate self.
Smooth black hair pulled up in a tight bun, dark flare applied to the corners of her eyes, small additions to her white shirt and pants, leather boots, a silver necklace, and diamond earrings make it look like her standard-issue linen is a deliberate element in a coordinated ensemble.
The three women wrap up breakfast and head to work.
The core is busy this morning.
To the right of the entrance, ten engineers huddle around a bright hologram displaying abstract figures whose meanings Lena can't even guess at.
On the far side, three women work with fabrication tools.
Jorge explained to Lena that they're printing mazes of circuits the size of a DNA ribbon on clumps of biomass that are smaller than a grain of sand.
Another dozen project members are scattered around the white room in front of wide computer monitors, either typing or writing code directly through their electrodes.
There's no sign of Harrison.
He's barricaded himself in his office trying to write the new training plan.
Sydney adopts Lena as her workout partner.
The linguist picks up Lena from her apartment at six every morning, and they march to the gym, a generous room on the periphery of the facility's maze of intersecting corridors.
They're in the habit of walking in silence through these halls, which are dead at this hour, save a morning soundtrack of soft classical piano, their dreams hanging like sticky cobwebs over their eyes until the exercise bikes brush them away.
Sydney is so absurdly serious when she exercises that Lena has to stop herself from laughing out loud.
The linguist's expression is ferocious.
She looks like she's punishing the exercise bike, each pump of the pedal grinding her enemies to dust.
Sydney only allows herself to relax once they reach the cooldown.
The women stretch side by side on yoga mats.
"Today you're gonna finally show me the recording?" Lena asks.
Lena's been dying to see the recording of the aggregate becoming a god, but Inbar insisted that Lena first spend a few days in the nursery getting comfortable with being in the environment.
The recording, apparently, can be a little too immersive.
There's a risk of a mild seizure if you aren't accustomed to simulated environments.
"Yes," Sydney says as she rears up her chest and shoves her hips into the mat, forming an impossibly pliable cobra.
"You will see our most spectacular failure." After the workout, Lena joins Inbar and Sydney for a light breakfast.
When they left the gym twenty minutes ago, Sydney, like Lena, was drenched in sweat.
But while Lena barely had time to rinse off in the shower, Sydney has transformed into her usual immaculate self.
Smooth black hair pulled up in a tight bun, dark flare applied to the corners of her eyes, small additions to her white shirt and pants, leather boots, a silver necklace, and diamond earrings make it look like her standard-issue linen is a deliberate element in a coordinated ensemble.
The three women wrap up breakfast and head to work.
The core is busy this morning.
To the right of the entrance, ten engineers huddle around a bright hologram displaying abstract figures whose meanings Lena can't even guess at.
On the far side, three women work with fabrication tools.
Jorge explained to Lena that they're printing mazes of circuits the size of a DNA ribbon on clumps of biomass that are smaller than a grain of sand.
Another dozen project members are scattered around the white room in front of wide computer monitors, either typing or writing code directly through their electrodes.
There's no sign of Harrison.
He's barricaded himself in his office trying to write the new training plan.
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