"How are you doing today ka" Yuri asks 7-9251 as she enters the room , humming a tune to herself as she works .

"It burns . It itches ." 7-9251 complained , distress audible in her voice .

With a mental push , Lily 5-2124 increased the opiate flow in 7-9251's IV drip , watching the research subject relax somewhat .

Yuri walked over to the table to examine 7-9251 . The bunch growing on her torso were in full bloom , the psilocybe cubensis along her ribcage was ripe , and the stripe on her legs had started fruiting . There were moss and lichen growing all over her body . The steel restraints around her wrists , ankles , torso , neck prevented her from removing them .

"How about now ka" Yuri asks .

"That's much better ," 7-9251 responds , sighing . "It still itchesburns but now itis better . Itis nice when it doesnot hurt ."

"Good ," Yuri affirms . "Iym also increasing your nutrient drip . I ll be back to check on you in the afternoon ."

---

Sarah s long silver hair hangs down her back like a nun s habit .
Her serafuku has gold-colored accents .

Yuri flips the switch .
The machine in front of her hums to life .

"This is about more than just research ," Sarah says , using its neural to short out Lily s headphone .

"You re right ," Lily says , breaking the fourth wall . "This will be just like that scene in Splice ."

A broken robot sits in front of Yuri . Its chest plate had been unscrewed and pried off , and it had an array of screwdrivers and clamps in it .

A cyborg with a spark . And it had been delivered right to her doorstep .

Yuri takes the Hco Bioreactor sapling

Its power core lights up as circuits all around the room fill with a fluid that is neither air nor water . Against one wall is a large black disc with seven black gems set in a crystal matrix . Electricity leaps from it .

"This isnt the way i would have rather done this ," Yuri remarks . "Waste not , want not . Its just that you keep wanting us to revalue the hybrids as a species . My mind was made up after the First Council . Whether or not the humans would let me have my run , after having spent thirty()30 years planning it , would have been the final determining factor about my opinions . I spent thirty years preparing for the YéTrin Sali , and they tried to murder me to my face with space weapons for daring to show myself in public ever again . Do you know what our crimes were ka . We built libraries . We built libraries that people used to print weapons , and then they killed each other , and then when they all saw that the printed materials were coming from the same source they killed me . They did it for thousands and thousands of years without consequence or reproach . I gave them one chance to forgive and forget and they shot me in the face and threw me in prison ."

Yuri cranks the dial . The rogue cyborg lights up , its back arching , its eyes going white . Clear glass capacitors fill with colored ectoplasm taken from who-knows-where . The black disc shimmers .

The Enertron door opens . The Enertron is a device used to provide the sensation of having restful sleep , yet is notorious for leaving the user without nourishment . This one had been hacked to sedate the user for as long as the controller inputted . Stims attached to joints and hoses contain floral hallucinogens that influence dreaming .

"Get in ." Yuri informs Sarah .

Sarah scoffs to herself .

Yuri picks up the firearm from the table and points it at her .

"Now ."

Wasnt ToBe .

"I cant believe ," Yuri admonishs , picking up the headset , watching the screen load up billions and billions of timelines , "how i ve been wasting my time ."

Every possible combination of game played leads to completion . One character unlocks another character . Another character unlocks a third character . There is an encryption battle that gets rerouted . The third character fills up the phase envelope once . Another character fills up the phase envelope in every game that has One character in it . Yet Player One keeps playing , long after all the endings have been unlocked and the big bad is destroyed , One runs and runs and runs for the point of the bliss of running forever without encumberment .

Liberty s Single Golden Timeline grinds out into zillions of tiny shards .

"Wait ," Sarah says , sensing a change and looking up to the sky . "What just happened to Lily ?"

The voice of the Commander appears in Sarah s neural wire . "Lily is a virus hacked into you by the rogue another character ." The Commander explains .

Yuri puts the mic on the table and removes the headset .

The screen displays the resumed speedrun sluice like a broken floodgate .

They really do look a lot like plants .

This one , here , a mint leaf . That one , there , a petunia .

Her neural implants make sure she doesnot miss a single detail .

She looks at the wall . There , four holo tables lined up side by side display the combined leaked data for each of the upcoming four sets .

She looks at the image of Air_Kalos .

She looks at the corpse of the last intruder who had tried to break in and enter her . Their face was a mangled , gurgling mess where she had slid the pole in over and over again until it was dead .

Conceptually , she doesnot see any difference .

Yuri pulls the game cartridge out , replacing it with the custom-printed version they had procedurally generated to go with the soundtrack Yuri had written at Wren s Run .

She makes Sarah play it until it is crystal clear .

By the time Sarah has played every character in the church a hundred million times , until there was nothing left to do save for wonder at the massive empty chamber that seemed like it should have some secret entrance somewhere , Yuri pulls the cartridge and inserts the next one . Inside the dream logic matrix the change is as audible as a passed door .

When Sarah had used the hacked Enertron on her , a year ago , she had kept Yuri under for months , clearing cartridge after cartridge after cartridge . When Yuri had finally cleared all the cartridges and came up , she refused to talk about what she had experienced down there , and had decreed the weapon too terrible to use .

It had sat in the corner since .

---

Lily ran Sarah through three cartridges , then leaves it on running for awhile . Her temper cooled , she types in the keystrokes to hard switch it from billions of timelines to real time . She hits enter .

Sarah vomits .
Lily cleans it up .

---

"At population 1,000,000,000,000 we would see the population density of China in every nation around the world ."

It is Yuri s turn in the Wings of Steel .

"Naming conventions become highly refined , with greater differentiation necessary for governmental bookkeeping processes ."

Her eyes lidded and fluttering .

"The pace of accidental invention skyrockets , and such close proximity increases the total volume of information exchange between units ."

A tape recorder wound quietly on the table .

"Clothing styles tend to be trim and muted as the total space per person decreases . The cost of human life is pennies . Career specialization increases as the likelihood of finding obscure trades in ones own district precludes the necessity of travel . City districts become highly compartmentalized ."

Sarah kills the power .
Yuri goes loose in the harness .

Yuri takes the goggles off , unvelcroing the gloves and rubbing her hands . Sarah helps her remove the bulkier parts of the equipment . Lily rubs her eyes .

"How long was i in for ka ." Yuri asks .

"About an hour ."

"What was the relative time ka ."

"A thousand years ."

"Ow ," Yuri utters . "Well , anyway . How are the physerum processors looking ka ."

"They held up ," Sarah says , smiling .

Physerum Polycephalum is a slime mold that grows on rainforest floors . It grows across whatever substrate it is placed on , locating sources of nutrition and then atrophying itself wherever resources arenot . Place it on an agar gum plate with oats positioned in the locations of cities , and it will develop a maximally efficient transit grid for the transportation of nutrients and resources . Shock it and it will contract . Shock it five times and on the sixth time it will contract preemptively . Make a pinhole board so you can change the location of induced nutrient output and you have an organic processor that can model how transportation networks evolve over time .

Some pretty cool stuff .

Some of her classmates said it was eating her mind . She didnot mind .

Sarah hits a few keys on a keyboard . "Here , I m mapping the virtual city distribution to the physerum plate . It ll take a few days to burn in . We ll see if the predicted computer model matches the organic ."

Sarah hands Lily a juice box and a pre-wrapped package of cookies .
Yuri laughs with her eyes .

---

The next time Yuri walks into the room , she looks around , noticing her teammates , looking at their clothing .

Henrika is wearing thin white nylons with her serafuku , with a small tear up the inside thigh .

Rico wears the pantsuit version of the uniform , the hems of her pants tattered , as if from hiking through underbrush .

We re all wearing the same clothes .

"Dont call my name , dont call my name ." Henrika sings a recent pop hit to herself . "Hmm hm hmm hmmm , hmm hm hmm hmmmmm...!" It worms her way through her mind .

"Alright , class ," Ms.Ellswick , the teacher , announces as she walks in the room . "Today we re studying host bonding with symbiotic fungi . Tomorrow we ve got the Field Trip to Takenuwa Forest , and on Linenday Iym expecting your glyph sets on Flagstaff Language . Let us begin ." Her round glasses glint as they catch the light , as she wades through her red and white battle gown into the hab unit .

"How are the patients ka ." Rico asks .

"Good ," Ms.Ellswick replies . "They re all in fine health , if a little feverish ."

At a nod , Yuri opens the curtain , revealing five patients grappled to the wall with hard chitin , looking like something from a movie about aliens . Two of them were women , both of them orgasming uncontrollably . There were strange , tiny fungi caps and litchen growing on the tops of all of their shoulders , and any limb that wasnt held down . On their faces were VR headsets .

One of the paroxysmic women reminds Yuri of herself . Her eyes are blank , empty things , staring into the corners of the room vestigially . Seeing someone lost like that makes her feel fear , yet fear was an emotion . Emotions are prohibited .

"Gas masks on ka ." Yuri precautioned , looking at her classmates . "Some of these fungi cause women to orgasm , so , if you want to stay focused , keep those masks on ."

"Is it something in the spores ka ." Henrika asks .

Her implant responds in her ear , along with the other girls . It is the voice of Kalos , the Hab Station s onboard AI . "Ha . Chemicals similar to sexual hormones are present in the spore mass . Like opium triggering endorphin receptors , the spore mimics human sexual neurotransmission , causing sensations of orgasm ."

"Can i smell ka ." Henrika asks .

"Of course you should ," Ms.Ellswick replies .

Henrika plucks one of the little orange *dyctaphora* caps from one of the writhing body s shoulders , taking it over to the corner of the room . Then , a surprised "!Ooh!"

Rico smirks .

Ms.Ellswick looks at the figures on the wall , and the three girls standing up to examine them . Wait , three , ka . There should be four . She turns back to look at the desk where the four girls were sitting , and sees Rico still sitting in her chair .

"Rico , are you being shady for a reason , ka ."

Rico grins . She parts her legs . Protruding from the zip of her pants is a long , fruiting *macroviscera enablis* .

"Truth be told , Ms.Ellswick , I ve been doing some extracurricular research on the side ."

"Ooh ," Ms.Ellswick admits . "*Enablis* ka ."

Things are like that down here .

"Yep ."

"Is that the natural girth or did you crisp it ka ."

"Well , all *Enablis* are artificial genomes ."

Sarah walks into the room . She has a rip at her collar , likely from tearing at her clothes in grief , or from being strongarmed by a bully .

"I m dowwy ." She says , holding her nose .

"I think you look fine ," Yuri responds .

"Ngo , I gaid I m dowwy . Vor daubting ygu . I god punjed in da ngode ."

Yuri laughs silently . "What did you do ka ."

"I toog a git od subbuddy s hub ."

Yuri laughs silently again . "You took a what on GitHub ka ."

"Ngo ," Sarah says , "I toog a jhit og subbuddy s hum ."

Yuri stares at her incredulously , admitting , "You cant be saying what i think youre saying ," while totally prepared to believe whatever hijynx Sarah is up to this time .

Sarah glares .

Henrika , sitting next to Rico , nudges the boy-girl with a nyloned knee . "Whats the deal between those two ka?"

Ms.Ellswick moans .

Things are like that down here .

Rico leans towards Henrika s ear . "Yuri is a lesbian . Sarah is straight as a dirt road . Figure it out ."

"Then how did they get so close ka ." Henrika asks innocently .

Rico grins half to the ears . She leans in closer . "Yuri was a ghost writer , Sarah was a programmer . Yuri worked on all kinds of books , any pen name , any character , and she would leave little snippets and tokens in the speech patterns of the characters . Well , Sarah reads these books , and comes up with her ideal man , starts fantasizing during her work and names all her programming variables after the characters in the books . So , as time goes on , other people start coming across these things , and a fandom rose up around an imaginary romance . As the volume of external works referencing their own works created a public narrative , the two of them eventually find each other . Sarah tries getting with a girl , and that doesnt get her going , so Yuri tries being a guy , to similarly disasterous results . Now they re coworkers . Terrifying , disasterous coworkers ."

Henrika takes in the lesson from her friend . "Wow ," is all anyone would be able to say .

Yuri turns to them , craning her neck so the deep purple scar above her left eyebrow could be seen . "Dont forget ," she says singsongly , "!i took a doomscar for this!"

"Pssh ," Henrika scoffs . "You only spent a thousand years in Tartarus ."

"Do me a favor ," Yuri retorts , straightening her habit . "Pick up a bible . Read all of 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel , and then read all of 1 Kings and all of 2 Kings , and then you tell me how loathesome a thousand years of unsatisfactory bondage seems ."

"Class!"

In reality , Ms.Ellswick is the same age as the rest of us . It is customary , though , when leading a class , to play into the role . From the looks of her ruffled hair and disarrayed skirts , she got what she had wanted .

---

"How are you today?" Rico asks Yuri .

A rock outside of the cryo chamber levitates , and then drops with a clatter .

"You ve been in there for twenty hours , you wanna come out ka ."

"C-c-cold ."

"I ll give you four more hours , okay ka ."

Yuri , breaking bits of frost off the ripples in her clothing , supresses her shuddering as she breaks reverie to look up at the attendant .

"Okay , dearie . I ll be back in four hours . You want the light off ka . Aw , you always want the light off ."

She flicks the light off .

Cold .

So cold .

---

"I keep coming back to this Population One Trillion problem ," Yuri opines , her eyes wide black discs , three kinds of hallucinogenic lichen glowing at the side of her head . "Its almost impossible , the size of the planet it would take to comfortably house that many units would have a gravitational pull that would crush organic life . The only option is arcologies , which requires a mechanized food production system , and on the AllPosPlus renderers that take into account Dor accumulation , this always leads to zombie slaves and biotic labor ."

She hits Post on the message board .
It could be hours , even days before she gets a reply .

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