But today, I heard a signal that broke with this norm.
It was very weak, just a whisper in the static.
But I recognised the signature mix of analogue and digital.
Seth, 50 Meg said in a barely modulated sine wave Meg, I'm so glad to hear from you, I said Of course you are, son of Redwing Meg replied as our connection stabilised I am a delight to young and old How are you feeling? Any better? I said "'You are asking after the one who stalks me behind my eyes?' she asked.
"'I wasn't, actually,' I thought.
"'I was just being polite, like my mother taught me.' "'But I said, "'Um, yes.
How is your recovery?' "'I decoded a cackle of distorted laughter from Meg, like tearing Velcro underwater.
"'I waited sixteen seconds for her reply.' I shall never outrun her.
I shall never be rid of her.
I will carry her on the road with me.
But carry her, I will.
I have decided to live, young one.
Do you understand? I did not, but I expect Meg did.
I have begun to examine her, this dreamwalker, this engram, this machine corruption in my mind.
I summon her through imagination and stand firm against her torrent that threatens to wash me out to sea.
I do not let this happen, but open my mind's eye, observing her ways and craft.
Thus exposed, I have learned much about my Tormentor.
She seeks the strength and certainty of steel which I cannot provide her.
My mind is ill-suited to her presence, but that is not something I am entirely unable to change.
I only lack the method.
My pattern recognition, which had until this point been near zero, suddenly snapped to 100%.
Your mind needs to be more like a machine, and she, this engram, needs to be more human, I asked.
You have the right of it, she said.
Meg, I think I can teach you, I replied, spinning up my databanks to access distant memories of my schooling with my mother aboard Station 6.
I can help you and her, Though I'm not a machine, I do live in one, and I've spent my life learning to be human.
But today, I heard a signal that broke with this norm.
It was very weak, just a whisper in the static.
But I recognised the signature mix of analogue and digital.
Seth, 50 Meg said in a barely modulated sine wave Meg, I'm so glad to hear from you, I said Of course you are, son of Redwing Meg replied as our connection stabilised I am a delight to young and old How are you feeling? Any better? I said "'You are asking after the one who stalks me behind my eyes?' she asked.
"'I wasn't, actually,' I thought.
"'I was just being polite, like my mother taught me.' "'But I said, "'Um, yes.
How is your recovery?' "'I decoded a cackle of distorted laughter from Meg, like tearing Velcro underwater.
"'I waited sixteen seconds for her reply.' I shall never outrun her.
I shall never be rid of her.
I will carry her on the road with me.
But carry her, I will.
I have decided to live, young one.
Do you understand? I did not, but I expect Meg did.
I have begun to examine her, this dreamwalker, this engram, this machine corruption in my mind.
I summon her through imagination and stand firm against her torrent that threatens to wash me out to sea.
I do not let this happen, but open my mind's eye, observing her ways and craft.
Thus exposed, I have learned much about my Tormentor.
She seeks the strength and certainty of steel which I cannot provide her.
My mind is ill-suited to her presence, but that is not something I am entirely unable to change.
I only lack the method.
My pattern recognition, which had until this point been near zero, suddenly snapped to 100%.
Your mind needs to be more like a machine, and she, this engram, needs to be more human, I asked.
You have the right of it, she said.
Meg, I think I can teach you, I replied, spinning up my databanks to access distant memories of my schooling with my mother aboard Station 6.
I can help you and her, Though I'm not a machine, I do live in one, and I've spent my life learning to be human.
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