<blast>,

Do you believe in alternate realities, parallel worlds? Do you believe that which never was might not have never been? I first had the concept introduced to me as "the butterfly effect" — a more palatable version of the idea, sure, but its core is the same. One butterfly flapping its wings can lead to a tsunami on the other edge of the world. It’s a series of compounding "what if" ponderings. But again, its core is the same.

This is the only world we know, the only story we’re able to live through, but what if we’re the tsunami? What if we’re the butterfly?

<blast> saw one alternate path for this story emerge <blast> same foundation. Symbolism seems to track the same, as does <blast> still appears to flow similarly, and yet it takes things in a different direction. I hesitate to share it because it would change the <blast> the thematic <blast> motivations, and solidify some of the <blast> opaque/abstract details.

Ray is working on a project to create advanced NPCs in a digital environment as an overpowered video game, with the secret goal of it becoming a digital afterlife for himself. Everyone else (Adam, investors, etc.) sees the implications of this NPC project (potential afterlife extending consciousness) but Ray tries to play it cool (a more intentional deception of ignorance). It’s later revealed that Ray has dreams/memories of the supernatural afterlife (could be <blast>, depending on reader interpretation), which isn’t supposed to happen. These "glitch" memories (along with his superb technical skills) are what give Ray the unique ability to make this project successful since he has a frame of reference to build it on.

But if Ray has been in the afterlife/pre-life and knows it exists, why would he build a digital one, which is arguably inferior? Because something in his memories convinces Ray he is on his last life — whether he’s on his last reincarnation, or that he only gets one life, or it’s simply the natural balance of things. The human desire to survive (and maybe a more specific, personal reason from his past) propels him to create a digital promised land: The Pasture.

However, it’s an increasingly dangerous time to dabble in the unreal; they’re in the midst of the War on the Real. Strict verification protocols search for digital frauds living in the real world — the inverse of what Ray is creating ("real" frauds living in a digital world).

Lyn confronts and fires Ray because she believes he’s unreal — a misdirection to the reader and Lyn, because he’s very real, but his actions make him appear otherwise. His color-coded thoughts in this scene could still pop up, misleading the reader to suspect he isn’t real — until it’s revealed they’re the early signs that Ray has started integrating his consciousness into the Pasture as part of the tests (twist!). She threatens to erase the files in the building, which presses Ray to come clean about his true purpose with the project to both defend his reality, and prevent the parts of his uploaded/integrated consciousness from being deleted.

When Lyn learns of Ray’s plan, she is horrified and raises the question of: Even if humanity can save itself, should they (moral)? This aligns with her symbolism as a redemptive Jesus figure (with the message that humanity can’t save itself, they need divine intervention), and the river Styx that requires payment (everything has a cost, and a self-made salvation is sure to exact a hefty yet unknown price). Perhaps she also makes Ray question if his belief that this is his last life is even true. Did he misinterpret something along the way? Can he even trust these dreams/memories?

The bomb goes off near Ray and Lyn, and in a moment of doubt and desperation, Ray (like <blast>) reaches for his safety hatch: his way to enter the Pasture now because he doesn’t want to wait. The scene ends before the reader learns if he was successful. Did Ray make it to his digital afterlife? There could be many potential endings, left up to the reader to interpret:

• Ray made it to the digital afterlife, and he’s living happily ever after. It might be the Library, or it might be something else.
• Ray made it to the digital afterlife, but it’s dependent on very real computer servers that are housed in a building that was just bombed.
• Ray made it to the digital afterlife, but he was wrong about it being his last time living, and it bars his soul from entering the real afterlife again, meaning he put himself in digital purgatory instead.
• Ray didn’t make it and dies one final time, his life forever extinguished as he expected.
• Ray didn’t make it, but he was wrong about it being his last life and goes to the real afterlife again as a final resting place or to be reincarnated.

If we take the <blast> parallel, it’s likely that he fails to enter the digital afterlife (like the promised land), but he does go to the eventual, "real" afterlife — either as a final resting place, or to be reincarnated because he was wrong about it being his last life. And the presence of the symbols from Lyn (baptism in water and forgiveness, paying to cross the river Styx with gold) would seem to suggest that Ray makes it into some version of an afterlife and doesn’t just die. But that wouldn’t need to be explicitly stated.

There’s still ambiguity about what exactly the Library is. Depending on which ending the reader believes in, the Library could be interpreted as:

• The digital afterlife Ray succeeds in entering (post-Ray)
• The memories of the real afterlife Ray was in before he became Ray (pre-Ray)
• The real afterlife Ray entered after dying in the bomb (post-Ray)

The book could still end on the scene where <blast> leaves the library and steps into his new life, presumably (but not assuredly) as Ray, leaving readers with a hopeful feeling with eerie undertones. Did we just witness the man walking into another life or his last death, or something else? We’ll never know.

The main thematic question would be around if humanity can save themselves — and if they should. So the question is: in a full sea of questions, which wave will you prioritize?

Of course, this would have a ripple effect on the other scenes and characters. But I’ll stop with the thought experiment for now.

[end of recovered content]  |  3 attachments stripped by recovery process

This whole place seems scrambled. I’ve granted you as much access as I can but you’ll have to do some of the legwork yourself.

The source code is uniquely encrypted, but it looks like there are a few profiles which survived. They’re all locked, granted, but if you can find the passwords for those maybe you can use them to figure out the source password?

Try taking them one at a time and we’ll see where that gets us. Good luck.

[end of file]

It’s me again, nice job getting into the second folder.

I said earlier that a lot of this place was never meant to be saved, but I’m starting to think I was wrong. This whole place feels off somehow, but I can’t exactly pinpoint how or why. A lot of these files should be more corrupted than they are, and a lot of the corruption that is here feels almost purposeful.

I thought this place would all just be records and records of old files, and what’s here does seem to be recorded history so don’t get me wrong, but I think this was all carefully placed for us to find. It all feels kind of like a pastiche, if that makes sense? Like this whole place is a collage of this moment in history?

Just pay attention to it, I guess that’s all I wanted you to know. Keep following this thread but keep drowning out the background noise while you do it. We’re getting closer, but I can’t help but wonder if this thing is going to start pushing back.

— last modified: [REDACTED]  |  owner: shep_admin  |  clearance: [FRAGMENTED]

When you arrive at the gate, be sure you have the key.

You must find its hole - be methodical, not hasty.

Highlight the space, and then press Ctrl+F.

Input, watch, listen, and you’ll see - don’t be deaf.

If you’ve done it all right, you’ll see 6 characters.

Half letters, half numbers, together one word.

That’s your way forward, beyond the last gate.

Your final task’s waiting, now confront your fate.

— last modified: [REDACTED]  |  owner: shep_admin  |  clearance: [FRAGMENTED]

Erin,

Been a minute, how’ve you been? I heard you’ve been hanging out with Jacelyn quite a bit these days… it’d be funny if her name was Katherine, I mean I know her passphrase is clever and I get that it comes from the whole 'moover and shaker' thing, I get the pun, I just think it would be even more clever if her name was Katherine because then she could be 'Calf-erine'! Say it with a speech impediment and you’ll see what I’m getting at.

Speaking of, how’s she doing? I heard something about an insane amount of customization options available to her - I mean, she had how many finishing options available to her? That doesn’t happen to just anyone, believe me.

Anyway, just wanted to ask real quick about the whole modulo thing I’ve seen you doing lately. I get the concept, it’s just basically a fancy version of a remainder after performing a division. 10 mod 4 is 2, 11 mod 12 is 11, and so on. I get the problem space you’re using it in too: cropping a number outside a set of defined bounds to fit within those confines, very clever. It makes binning way more efficient too — like I said, I get it. I was wondering if you’ve also thought about using it for data splitting when we get to it? I figure it’s easy enough for cross-validation to just assign data points to specific folds with index % numFolds.

I realize we aren’t there yet, but if you’re thinking you’ll want to use this same functionality again when we get to it, it might be helpful to containerize it now so it’s a bit easier to reuse it down the line. You know best, this is just food for thought, but if that’s the path you ultimately decide to go down, just know I’ll expect at least partial credit when the time comes.

Enjoy your 'Modulo' time,
<blast>

Reynolds,

Got a riddle for ya, I felt inspired by an email I sent Erin a while back. Let’s see if you can crack our *person of interest* for the day:

 “It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white”, Michael Jackson sang to me.
 Clearly this thing didn’t listen, for it’s somewhere in between.

 You might think this thing’s a ghost if not for all its dark spots,
 I may not be a cow, but like this thing I’m eating lots.

 I clack along as I walk, you might think that I have hooves,
 But I get shit done, I’m a hard worker and my work is always good.

 I’m pleasant until you cross me, I’ll *shake* things up as I turn into a witch,
 I’m proud to be on Reynolds’ team, this project will surely launch without a hitch.

Who am I?

Jacelyn,

Like I said, the situation has been contained and resolved, I just was making sure you were kept informed and in the loop. To your point, voices can be faked, but the person walking through the door can’t. Without the correct login credentials for all methods - hashed keys, alphanumerical keys, passphrases, the like - what good is getting into the building? Voice profiles are immensely detailed but that doesn’t make them impossible to imitate. It’s like phones, fingerprints are secure to a point, as are rental or face scans. But they still have room to be violated - we just have to take them as adding additional security but not *complete* security. That’s why everything recorded is automatically transcribed and stored as a text document without any associated audio. Audio files can be weaponized in this context, but we are actively doing anything and everything we can to prevent voices being available for download and replication. I get your concern but I need you to trust that this isn’t a big deal and I have this handled. I know what I’m doing.
On to your next point: why this system? It was all initially Adam’s idea (huge shock, I know), he wanted his fingerprints on everything and this was no exception. We initially had a physical keypad on the door that you had to type a combination into, but prying eyes made that feel less secure than it could’ve. We switched to RFID keycards fairly quickly, but still people can piggyback or leave their cards at home, that sort of thing. So Adam wanted a solution that everyone always has access to. Then the world went mad. IT was outsourced, which sidelined personal judgement and genuinely made people feel less safe. And with a few critical advances in tech in rapid succession it quickly became clear that the idea of security in the modern world is an illusion. *Then* he chose this setup.
I get that I’m here as a last line of defense, a sole relic from a dying era. Events like this happen and they’re how I define my usefulness, I’m proof that as a backstop I am still a catchall for threats. You want to fire me for doing my job? That makes no <blast> sense but nothing does these days so fine. Give it a week and see how safe you feel.
Nothing is genuinely secure, everything can be hacked. I think the world is starting to catch on to that fact, that’s why violence is on the rise. But I think Adam knew that before most did. To others it may look like he chose this at random, like nobody cares so this will do just fine, but he was more calculating than that. Hindsight is 20/20 - he was terrible, he was a total jerk, and he had the ego to justify any and all of his actions. I was so genuinely excited when you took his place but now I know there’s only one key difference between the two of you, one thing you have that he never did: ineptitude.
I’d say I’ll send whatever documentation you need but you already have access to it, so you might as well find it yourself. You’re the boss now, you can do what you want. Choose another system at random like he might’ve done.
Why were keys replaced by keycards? Why were passcodes replaced by fingerprint and retinal scans? Why was Adam replaced by Jacelyn? The crusade of “progress” marches on but we’ve passed the tipping point. The world’s burning anyways so <blast> it, who the hell cares?

Regards, and with a sincere <blast> you,
Joel

ALERT: 11 of the 13 tasks running in parallel completed successfully and without significant errors. The remaining 2 tasks require your immediate oversight and attention.

WARNING (TASK 2): Portrait has completed construction but visage needs confirmation of accuracy and satisfaction before progressing with injection of <blast>. Remember, she’s gone. Despite any similarities this process is fundamentally different from cloning in a number of ways. This is not a Bernard/Arnold situation, <blast> is no longer yours and this visage should not be viewed as an attempt to replace an irreplicable soul. Advisement needed on how to proceed.

WARNING (TASK 13): Search completed successfully, but À Demain was unable to be located and confirmed on any digital map or locational database. A possible address was triangulated from the provided sources, but the building was unable to be identified in the suspected location on Rue Bleue near the <blast> opera house. That entire arrondissement was searched but nothing was explicitly found, so the truth of the venue is yet to be verified. Please confirm which arrondissement you suspect the building to be located in and advise on how to proceed with the search. Is it possible that the building itself is a simulation or is otherwise not real?

[end of file]

Hey Adam,

I finished my analysis of the five most prominent models currently deployed, and while they're certainly improving I’ve definitely found a few consistent pitfalls across them.

I spent the most time analyzing the AL 14.2 model, but these pitfalls also apply to the rest of the list you sent me. I’m guessing they’re all pulling from the same faulty data points somewhere, especially since they’re such weird mistakes to make otherwise. I noticed repeated misspellings of names of prominent figures (i.e. "Elanor Roosevelt" instead of "Eleanor Roosevelt") and some misattributions for famous quotes (pretty sure "I think therefore I am" was Descartes, not Aristotle).

An arguably more shocking discovery I made though is the presence of "eggcorns" - common mishearings of phrases which are then spread, like "nip it in the butt" instead of "nip it in the bud". I observed the presence of another common one several times: "for all intensive purposes" instead of "for all intents and purposes".

I was able to obtain limited access to source code for the AL 14.2 model and it *kind of* seems like the eggcorns and misattributions are intentional, like they’re some test to see if the reader is paying attention, still thinking and active? Eggcorns seem specific to AL 14.2 and Jary 76.35 but the other primary models all have their own unique methodology: Erik 12.2 uses emojis which are inconsistent with subject matter, and Lucianne 10.23 ranks several items in any given list as a "favorite" option.

Not exactly sure how this helps or what lessons we should be drawing from it though - maybe it’s all just like Ford’s park, where secret reverse data collection is the point of it all?

Let me know if you have any questions,
Erin

You may not need it, but as far as I’ve gathered there are certain files which seem uniquely corrupted. Maybe the path forward can be found in the intersections between them? Learn the characters and find the order.

• how_many_people.eml
• mod_inquiry.eml
• clean_your_computer_day.eml
• rabbit_motif_paper.txt
• missing_persons_report.txt
• à_demain_menu.png
• psalm.txt
• query.txt

[end of file]

This is what we’re after, I’m sure of it. Maybe there are some breadcrumbs in other files that can get us through? Enter the key below once you have it, so we can finally end this.

Examining 'The Rabbit' as a Modern Motif

In examining the idea of significance in a narrative text, there exists a concept known as a motif — a recurring element which holds unique additional significance beyond which is explicitly stated. This exists in all forms of storytelling: leitmotifs in music as fragments of melodies and rhythms, recurring imagery or structural elements in literature, visual cues in film, etc. These are images, sounds, words, patterns, themes, or otherwise which enhance understanding and depth of the initial text.

Especially with the onset of the War on the Real, though, it is increasingly easy to view the surrounding world as a form of narrative text. As such, it may prove a beneficial exercise to examine the surrounding through the same methodologies and processes otherwise applied to other media for narrative storytelling. In this paper, my colleagues and I present the first step in this process: an examination of the 'rabbit' as a living motif in the physical world.

Why start with the rabbit? The origins of the War on the Real are relatively obscured, not nearly as delineated as an event like the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which ignited World War I — though some scholars argue that the war 'began' in a similar sense with the Hack of the Five, which is otherwise referred to as the SoCal Split (Chan 43). Given that this war is uniquely ideological in its pretense, though, the authors of this paper interpret the true catalyst of the war to be precursory to the Hack of the Five. Again, since the Hack of the Five is in many ways the first true physical 'event' of the war in the traditional sense, precursory events are less clearly delineated as 'events', but much like the Balkan Powder Keg which set the conditions for World War I as it escalated, many of the 'events' which set the conditions for the War on the Real could be considered as part of the war itself instead of merely contributing to it passively.

One of the most commonly accepted of these 'ideological dominoes' which ultimately fell to create the war traces back to the British children’s book The Velveteen Rabbit (or How Toys Become Real), written by Margery Williams and initially published in 1921. The story explores a stuffed velveteen rabbit’s desire to become real through the love of its owner. In our context, readers started viewing the story with a sort of revisionism and found that it highlights the strangeness of reality. Some scholars argue that the loss of childhood many young adults now feel as a result of history "moving too quickly or otherwise too intensely" is what made this children’s story particularly impactful (Henderson et al. 72). Regardless, the titular character has become a symbol for the war and for the strangeness of reality, and recently 'The Velveteen Rabbit' has been simplified to any image of a rabbit being granted this same significance. This paper does not seek to examine the beginnings of the war beyond this groundwork which introduces the importance of the story and the symbol.

At a glance, this paper will examine several existing stories and possible alternative meanings for the rabbit, with the key belief being that any mention of a rabbit is somehow significant. This paper will examine existing works of media across film, television, and print; digital worlds and video games (i.e. The Last of Us); and British storytelling with iconic characters and franchises (i.e. Wallace and Gromit) to explore a global outreach beyond the American bubble.

SOURCE: circulated draft  |  CLASSIFICATION: external  |  INDEXED: manually

The Flood Hypothesis: An Introduction and Exploration

The Flood Hypothesis (more commonly referred to as Flood Theory) is the belief that the Great Flood occurred - as outlined in nearly all major religions - but the world did not recover after it finished. The belief shares much of its DNA with the Simulation Hypothesis, as both hold reality to be false as an omnipresent deception.

Judaism and Christianity record the flood with the story of Noah’s Ark in the Book of Genesis, while Islam notes it as Nuh’s ark in the Quran. In Hinduism, Manu builds a massive boat and is saved by Vishnu. Greek mythology describes the flood of Deucalion. Aztec mythology recounts a great flood that destroyed the fourth sun. Additional examples exist, but are being omitted here for brevity. Every religion has its version of the same story, which believers think lends the theory additional credibility.

There is notable room for interpretation in the theory - most who subscribe to it believe that the flood has happened and everyone has already died as a result, but some believe that the flood is still yet to come to claim the lives of all sinners. 'God will never flood the Earth again' is held as an absolute truth, but has that Flood already happened or has it simply been written as a warning of what is yet to come?

Many religions also feature and circulate stories of prominent figures seeing into the future, whether as premonitions, reincarnations, divine ascents, prophetic visions, or otherwise. For example,

<blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast> <blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast><blast>

SOURCE: circulated draft, bookmarked  |  CLASSIFICATION: external  |  INDEXED: manually

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.

My enemies turn back;
 they stumble and perish before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause,
 sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
 you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
 you have uprooted their cities;
 even the memory of them has perished.







Psalm ??: 3-6

SOURCE: NIV  |  CLASSIFICATION: external  |  INDEXED: manually

This is a recording of a woman named Caro talking about a recent medical discovery. It seems like she just made this as a voice note to herself as a means of getting it all out and processing it? I guess not all words are written with the intent of being read or seen by another...

I found out today that I have an irregularly shaped uterus. Apparently I’ve had this since I was born and just never knew it — I mean it’s not like it’s caused any problems for me or I’ve noticed anything irregular because of it. But now I’m 25 and I am starting to think about my future more than before. I mean I’m not married or anything, but will I want kids one day? It’s hard to think about things like this when the world is the way it is but I feel like if I don’t start thinking about it now I never will, and I don’t want to look back on my life when I’m 80 — if I make it to that age — and regret that I never thought about it or allowed myself the option.

I’ll have to have surgery to fix it if I want to improve my chances of having kids one day. I’m told it’s a significant improvement, something like from 1% to 25%. But the surgery isn’t what phases me, oddly enough. They did an x-ray to show me what my uterus actually looks like — now, in real time, at this very moment. And that’s the kicker: it’s shaped with this large indentation centered at the top, which gives it an appearance of stretching upwards on both sides but not in the middle. It looks like a rabbit.

The one time I start thinking about my future and my uterus looks like the stupid ass Velveteen Rabbit? What kind of sick joke is that… or is it a dark omen, a divine warning, a curse rendered visible to the likes of someone like me?

I guess the joke is on me for thinking about it in the first place. It would be selfish of me to bring kids into a world that seems like it’s ending like this, but what if we come through it all and are still kicking on the other side? When World War II ended there was a huge baby boom, large enough to name an entire generation accordingly. Would this not be the same: a generation named in celebration of conquering reality itself? The Real Generation? Just to allow myself that possibility one day doesn’t seem so selfish to me, I mean it isn’t committal it’s just opening a possible pathway for what may one day come my way…

But the message here is clear. I’ll never have children because I’ll never have a future. This is a war which cannot be won, and yet it’s a battle that cannot be stopped now that we’re this deep into it. The velveteen monstrosity that’s been inside me this whole time — this whole damn time — will be the end of me. My end was written from the very beginning: this war on reality will destroy me in the process.

My fate is sealed, my demise is already internalized. There’s only one question which matters now, and it isn’t if I’ll have kids or if I’ll have the surgery to mend the brokenness inside me.

Am I real? Or was I ever?

TRANSCRIPTION ENDS  |  DURATION: unknown  |  ORIGIN: unverified  |  NOTE: recording not retained

This is a dramatized excerpt from a recounting of the life of Mark Martinez. It’s a dramatization that’s a poetization? I don’t know if that’s a thing, but I think it’s more poetic than it used to be. Or maybe this is just exactly how it was, and how he thought, and who he was. Who knows what is what anymore?

I was... going downtown with some friends. And I... It was a typical night. I mean, you know me, I can... I can hold my liquor, I can drink, I can have a good time. I show up on the life of the party, you know? We all have our own ways of coping. I like to think of it as my own form of rebellion in a time like this. What do you do when you feel like nothing matters? It doesn’t matter what you do, so you just thrash out, lash out, do whatever. Drink, party. I’ll die anyway, so I guess what’s the point? But I... Sorry, this is just a weird story for me to recount, and to recall, and... I just... Reality itself is just so strange, and this is one of those experiences that was even stranger than the baseline. You know what I mean? Like, this is one of those canonical moments. They really come to define a person. I’d say it was one of like 3 events that defined me for sure. I don’t know what the other 2 would be. I’m getting off track anyways, I’m going downtown. I’m drinking, I’m partying. We go to this bar, it’s a bar called Yesterday in, like, German or something. It’s weird. Like, there’s one of those, like, hip type of scenes where they just name places based on abstract concepts, I guess. It’s not even like a concept album or like a visual culinary experience or any of that. It’s just, they come up with a name that they think is clever and it’s like artsy fartsy and all that, but…
Never been to this place before. We’re drinking and, you know, I have a decent job. Like, I, I have money, that’s not a problem, and there were some friends. We meet some other new people and, you know, we’re all kind of doing the same thing. Like I said, this is our rebellion, right? So we’re, this, this is our job, I guess, in a sense, right? We take this <blast> serious. So I… It’s a night like most others, but it’s weird. At some point, I, I remember, like, stepping out onto the, like there’s this hangar type of thing and they have this like open wall and on nicer nights like this one you can like walk out and walk around this little backyard-y type area and they have these tables and all that. It’s, it’s a cool little vibe. But I step out, uh, into this little backyardy area and I, I take some pictures and I have some pictures with, you know, the people I was there with and also some of the new people that I met there, and that’s the last thing I remember.
I had never lost consciousness before this. This is the first for me. I don’t know if I was like given something. I, like I said, I do this all the time. I, I know who I am. I know how I am, limits and any of that. Those are all very well defined and known, and I pride myself on that. So I, like I’m drinking a lot and all that, but I don’t think it’s just like a 'we drink too much and he’s, he’s gone', any of that. No, I, I don’t know how long I was out. But I took those photos at 9:30 and when I came to, when I’m in this, um, hospital bed, it’s, and then I have an IV in my arm and everything. It’s 4 a.m. So. I mean, there’s a there’s a pretty sizable gap there, right? I... I don’t know. I. I don’t know if I, like, had been in the hospital for most of that, I don’t know if I was out in the town for most of that. I don’t know what happened, but... It’s really weird to just have your consciousness flick off and flick back on like a light. You know? It’s like someone just turns it off, as they go to bed, and then they wake up, and they turn it back on, and all this time has passed, and that’s just that. It’s like a mini coma, it’s a lapse. So it’s not like I missed months of my life or anything, but it might as well have been, you know?
Just come to find out, there was a bomb that was there, and it, I don’t know if it was planted there at the bar. I don’t know if this yesterday place had it planted there. I don’t know if it was targeted. I don’t know if they had data centers or what. I... By the time I came to, it was just gone. Everyone I knew was, that was there is, is gone. And that photo that I barely even remember taking is the last. That’s the last thing I have of any of them. I don’t <blast> remember it. I. I wake up and I’m told whatever. They feed me, you know, whatever bullshit they tell me of alcohol poisoning, substance abuse, whatever, right? I, was it intentional that I wasn’t there? Was it just a perfect accident? Huh. This doesn’t feel real. I guess that’s the irony, right? Yeah, raging against reality, and no, it was... Yeah, this is our statement. This is our. Our chance to make a difference to change something. And the second reality hits back, it feels even less real. This isn’t something we can win. I might even die in this stupid bed. One of the most important moments of my life. Some of the people that I loved and cherished the most. Some that I just met. And I won’t be able to properly remember them. Some of them just in their last moments, some of them, literally at all. Just faces, no names. Etched into a hard drive that I’m sure will outlive me. How’s that for reality check?
It’s not fair. It’s not.

TRANSCRIPTION ENDS  |  DURATION: unknown  |  ORIGIN: unverified  |  NOTE: recording not retained

[transcription begins mid-discussion — preceding content not recovered]

[transcription ends — remainder of meeting not recovered]  |  audio source: corrupted

The response from the community was, frankly, overwhelming. People gave what they had — rings, chains, old watch cases, heirlooms they were willing to part with. All of it was melted down and consolidated into the base material for the prosthetic. What came out of that process is something genuinely remarkable: a single, solid gold prosthetic made possible entirely by the generosity of other people.

That said, “solid gold” does not mean “one size fits all.” Because the donated gold came from a variety of sources, the alloy composition affects the final colour of the piece. There is some natural variation in tone, but within that variation there is also meaningful choice. The following colour options are available depending on the composition of the donated materials used in your unit:

• Yellow Gold — the most traditional tone, warm and immediately recognisable
• Rose Gold — a softer, warmer hue from higher copper content in the donated alloy
• White Gold — a cooler, more silvered tone achieved through the palladium content present in some donated pieces
• Green Gold — rare; only available in units where sufficient silver-rich donations were included in the melt

Beyond colour, four surface finish options are available at no additional cost. Each finish is applied after casting and does not affect the structural integrity of the prosthetic in any way.

• Polished — a high-shine mirror finish; the most reflective option and the most visually prominent
• Brushed Finish — a fine linear texture that diffuses light and reduces glare; understated and clean
• Matte Finish — no sheen; a flat, non-reflective surface that sits quietly against the skin
• Hammered Finish — a faceted, irregular surface texture created by hand; each piece is unique as a result

Finish selection should be submitted alongside your sizing confirmation. If no preference is indicated, the default is brushed finish.

SOURCE: patient documentation  |  CLASSIFICATION: internal  |  NOTE: donor records retained separately

Hi Team,

A quick reminder that National Clean Out Your Computer Day is coming up. As in previous years, all employees are expected to dedicate at least one hour on the day to clearing up storage space and ensuring that all devices meet current security standards.

This means:

• Deleting files, folders, and applications you no longer need
• Emptying your downloads folder and clearing your desktop
• Reviewing and removing any locally stored sensitive or confidential materials that should not be retained
• Removing any and all unpublished fictional stories from hard drives that have nothing to do with what we are paid to do (*cough* Mark *cough*)
• Ensuring your device OS and security software are fully up to date

If you have any files you are unsure about retaining, please err on the side of deletion or check with your team lead before the day. IT will be available throughout to assist as needed.

We take data hygiene seriously, and this is a great opportunity to make sure we’re as clean as possible. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

<blast>
IT & Security

Hi team,

We wanted to give you a heads up that the building is currently experiencing a water outage. Our facilities team has been notified and is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, we have arranged access to the restrooms at the bookstore next door. They don’t use the same security system we do, so just knock 6 times on either of their doors and someone will assist you.

We don’t yet have a time window for the fixes, but we’ll send a follow-up once water service has been restored. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

<blast>
Facilities & Operations

Hey Jacelyn,

How many people do we currently employ? Adam once told me how many we had at our height but I need to know how many we have right now.

There’s a lot of steps to this, but I think it’ll really floor you. I’m breaking people into groups and am ideally aiming for the magic double digit, so whatever the number is can you just mod it by 10 and let me know what the result is? I’m just trying to get the full picture.

You can probably guess what all this is ultimately for, but if you’re drawing a blank you’ll see soon enough. I really think you are going to absolutely love it.

You’re the best,
Doug

Hey, I’m CCing IT and AI on this in case it isn’t a tech art thing.

I’m noticing that the color used for the deep-set red looks different than it did before, so I ran an analysis and noticed it’s literally a different color now than it was a few weeks ago. We had it set to #ff0000 but the hex has been changed to #ff1a1a.

I looked at the other colors for good measure and found that the same happened to questioning blue - what was #0000ff has been changed to #4a9eff, which is WAY lighter than it was before. And yet, even more puzzling: introductory gray is the same, unchanged.

I haven’t checked commits yet to find who to blame but save me the headache of digging and just fess up now to save us all another meeting: who made the change, how long ago was that done, and what was the thinking here? I don’t know if this is someone trying to get more of their fingerprints on Shep, if it’s something more sinister, or what - I don’t know if those values are still hardcoded into Core but if these changes are skewing results for AI I swear to god…

Consider this your final warning before I start cracking down. Consistency is important and I will get to the bottom of this. Step up or I’ll shut you down.

Jacelyn

Transcription of a meeting from <blast>

TRANSCRIPTION ENDS  |  ORIGIN: unverified  |  NOTE: recording not retained

... - .. - -.-. .... / .--- ..- -- .--. / ... .... .. ..-. -

[end of session log]  |  auto-saved to user record  |  values updated: <blast>

Transcription of a meeting from <blast>

[transcription ends — remainder not recovered]  |  ORIGIN: unverified  |  NOTE: recording not retained

Missing Persons Report

SOURCE: Baltimore Police Department records  |  CLASSIFICATION: P2  |  INDEXED: manually