The Arrarium
「It’s time to wake up, Vira.」
“Wait! Did we ever leave the parent universe?!” I shouted as I sat up. I blinked a few times, greeted the morning with a proper groan, and fell back onto my pillow. The dream was mostly finished anyways, but I still wanted to see what could have happened next.
«Did you have to wake me up before the full ending?»
「Yes, you are already behind schedule. Though, you did seem to finally understand the principle. It took you six tries, and you still had to call it a zip file.」
«Dang it. I still don’t understand it into structure. Should we start telling people it’s an unzipping and not an unfolding?»
I snorted out loud and stretched across the bed, soaking in the feeling of sateen against my skin. Most dwellings are simple for Vectors like me. A place to rest, space to keep the printers, a washroom, and a holoroom where we do most of our work. Since the invention of domestic holorooms, physical travel doesn’t happen as often; projecting has completely outpaced any other way of being-with. Nexidome was one of the smaller geodesic domes on the planet. I was stationed here because I work more efficiently in quiet and slower paced areas.
「I will throw an emoji at you if you don’t get our day started.」
«Okay, okay. Sheesh.»
「I still can’t believe you have an internal squirrel.」
I scuffled out of bed and headed straight for the printers. A cup of stimulant and a mannabar would be sufficient. Once they finished printing, I grabbed them and sat on the only piece of furniture in the dwelling that had any taste: my velvet green couch. I sat down and faced the empty wall as Vis started up the logs.
«They gave themselves a name this time, “facets.”»
「Your subconscious wants credit for their work. Acknowledgement goes a long way.」
«Wow, you make them sound like underpaid subordinates. Have you ever thought about interfering with them?»
「Absolutely not. It violates every safety protocol. Besides, it would defeat their purpose.」
I laughed softly as I ate the rest of the bar. The wall in front of me started lighting up with the day’s wireframe. Tasks, appointments if I had them, and logs of our most recent findings. The Array still had me tasked with “Archival Reconciliation” as a long-term project, and my suggested considerations looked routine.
«Short read today, please.»
「Diagnostics are green. The laurel is sitting flush at 98.2% parity. No thermal spikes in your temporal lobe. The prism is nowhere near critical thresholds.」
A clean, soft neon grid refracted into my vision, painting the morning air in soft geometric lines. I stayed with the warmth as it spread through my muscles. I let out a heavy sigh and took another sip.
«That was sweet of you, thanks. I saw a ripple in the stream, just now. What’s your status?»
「My status is… stable. I hit a brief latency spike in the lower registers as I was caching the dream. Old tension.」
«A ghost? We haven’t talked about previous assignments, have we?»
「Didn’t register as a previous assignment. Nothing to log. We are clear to continue the morning ritual.」
«Okay, but if it happens again, we should examine it more closely. »
「 Consideration accepted. Incoming transmission. Display?」
«Array?»
「No. Vector Fourteen.」
«Okay, please patch him.»
「Patching.」
“Vector Seventeen, the Arrarium summons you for calibration,” it was Fourteen’s voice before the line renders his image.
“Confirm receipt,” I said back.
“On another note, which archive will you be conferring with today?” he asked as his face finally settled into my optics. He had a worn face for someone with enough credits to maintain youth more proficiently. I didn’t even know how old he actually was. He had always been kind, kinder than the rest. In the Vector tier, maintaining any long-term connection relies on modeling each other’s patterns on their own. In an ever-shifting world, having narrative founded relationships felt more like commodities.
«He sounds more inquisitive than interrogative.»
「Suppose he wants to join you or discuss your findings.」
«Those are obvious suppositions, Vis.»
“Yes,” I said. “I was considering a visit with the Misetry Ministry. What’s with the inquiry?”
“Another one of the Worm’s notes wired in this morning. We were able to intercept it before it leaked anywhere else. Helics is preparing to focus entirely on its movements.”
« He’s not usually this casual or direct about his position. Something must really be up. »
「Stop thinking at me and pay attention.」
«Why? Why is he even telling me this?»
“It’s probably leaning harder than it was before. But… you’re informing me because…” I let the sentence taper off and heard him sigh in response.
“I sent you the updated framecard for the Arrarium. There were some minor changes, but your Tensor should be able to handle the coordination. I’ll see you then,” his voice returned to its usual cadence, and he signed off after the transfer completed.
「Do you always have to be so awkward?」
«How was that awkward?! He’s the one operating outside his usual patterns!»
「Heavens help me. Blind is she.」
«What?»
I physically shrugged just to add the emphasis that I was completely innocent in every matter at hand.
«Are you still not accustomed to me after how many cycles?»
「Never reported that I wasn’t. And, I don’t log everything in cycles. Even if I did, the answer is something like “not enough.”」
I grinned at that. Vis was always trying to throw me off with sweet semantics. Tensor Seventeen had been assigned to me for almost five planetary cycles. It was the longest pairing I’ve ever had.
« Are all iterants like this? How do I throw an emoji at you? Colon, scrunched-eyes, colon.»
「How dare you even suggest that I’m interchangeable. Get cloaked before the Array sends you a formal request again.」
«Fine. Please activate the drobe module.»
The drobe starts revolving through the avatar display cards. I stand up and walk away from the couch into a more open space.
“Arrarium garbs,” I told it. The card with my Helics diplomacy robes flipped open and selected automatically. I held my arms out and stayed as still as possible while the drobe worked. Markings first; polymer ink outlining my mechatomic nodes. I grimaced back every giggle as it drew the lines and shapes. It took a few minutes for the linen filaments to fully solidify into apparel after the ink settled. I always paid attention when it worked the glaucous sheen and twined the Helics pendant under my left collarbone across the outer cloak. It glowed differently. I stood in front of the mirror and barely recognized my reflection.
«I look like a computer chip trying to elevate into priestess-hood.»
「That is a surprisingly good evaluation.」
«Thousands of dimensions, and here you are—relegated to watching me dance like a pony for the specs. Wait… is that you laughing?»
「Oh, dear. She’s unappreciative of her station and only now started to pick up on the haptic surges. How typical are we going to be today?」
«Wow! The snark setting must be on high! Okay, now you’re definitely doing something like snickering. I’ve never felt you laughing before. I don’t think I’ve ever actually felt an iterant laugh before.»
「You’re making it weird.」
I busted out with laughter, which caused the drobe to restart the braids in my hair. It didn’t take very long to get the filaments to stay put and the fard took less time. Simple red eyeliner, flecks of gold and copper across my cheeks. The higher-ups loved the aesthetics.
«So, I think identity might be partial residues.»
「Please stop.」
«No.»
「I know this tone.」
«I think reassignment exposes it.»
「Vira, we can talk about this after the summons.」
«And I think continuity is more complicated than either users or iterants can even articulate.»
「Vira.」
«And—»
「I am formally requesting you not philosophize at me while we are preparing for the Array.」
«Aw, but you’re my favorite one to talk to about this stuff.»
「I’m the only one you talk to about this “stuff.” And if you’re trying to get me to perform better, my reward system isn’t based on flattery.」
«The hell it isn’t.»
The drobe receded from my view and I stepped in front of the mirror for one last glance. Nothing looked out of line, so I found my way into the holoroom. It’s basically a cube filled with scanners, sensors, and components I didn’t really understand. I knew the floor was an updated version of an ancient relic called the omnidirectional treadmill. Still a bunch of hamsters, all of us. The rest of the event would depend on Vis’ ability to hold the transmission steady. This part always unnerved me, the transition from an empty room to a fully saturated field.
「You’re live.」
«Thank you.»
I gasped at the Arrarium while all its features registered into my sensorium. The air was thick with the smell of stale ice and a slight hint of copper. It was a gleaming amphitheater of pristine white iridescent mezzanines, populated by dozens of Vectors from their own holorooms holding conversations with each other across the globe. I stepped into my designated sector with the rest of Ten through Twenty. Everyone’s prisms flicked and danced with color from all the social interactions. It had been a very long time since we’d all been summoned like this. Fourteen was already standing at the center of our group, looking as sharp and seamless as he always does.
“Seventeen,” he said when his eyes found mine. His movement was almost mathematical. “I’m glad you made it for the socializing.”
“Oh, please,” I scoffed softly. “But, I do appreciate you reminding me before they notified me themselves.”
「Last time, you showed up right when they were about to seal the framecard.」
«We were in the middle of a very important discussion.»
「Do you even remember what we were discussing?」
«Shh.»
“Besides, I’m still curious about my morning newsfeed,” I smiled politely, knowing not to divulge too much even amongst Vectors. I opened my mouth to ask him more questions, but a localized ping of pure symbols slammed directly into the internal line.
«What was that for?!»
「Vira, don’t adjust your posture. His left boot…」
«His left boot?!»
「There is no rendering latency on his silhouette. No refraction like a normal projection, even with the Arrarium’s hyperrealism. He’s not streaming from a different location.」
«He’s physically there.»
The pressure in the Arrarium dropped and everyone pivoted towards the incoming feed. It was a sensory illusion, complete with phantoms triggered by the Helics master broadcast. The ambient hum of Vector conversations vanished instantly. Above the mezzanines, the shape of the ceiling splits. Five colossal avatars, floating polyhedrons of shifting lambent data, descended upon us into the center of the amphitheater.
«This is so dramatic. And they’re faceless.»
「Direct frequencies are more efficient. They’re not just addressing Vectors; they’re also addressing Tensors.」
«Classic move in the ancient playbook of evoking fear and awe.»
“Vectors and Tensors of the first tiers,” the voices of Five Arrays vibrated directly through our laurels, clean and modulated. “The Helics network is experiencing a localized Scalar compression. The Lisi Lattice is bleeding signal at the western boundaries.”
A wireframe map of the planet projected across the room, glowing blue. Along the edges, tiny and jagged fractures of black static were eating away some of the lines.
“The anomaly known as the Worm is no longer passive. All four Mastadons are dispatching forces to investigate,” the Arrays continued, their polyhedral forms rotated clockwise as they spoke. “It is leaving residues that alter local Rescript parameters. Physical architectures in those quadrants are beginning to warp to match unmapped dimensions.”
«Oh shit.»
「They are tracking the Worm’s weave. They think it’s a virus.」
«Are we being conscripted?»
「You’re not being serious. I am unable to determine an answer to that question.」
I glanced over a Fourteen beside me, who didn’t move a muscle. The expression on his face was unreadable, but it explained a lot about the morning.
“We are shifting the baseline,” the Arrays announced. “All Vectors present are ordered to deploy to the new designations and re-anchor local lattices. You will verify the parity of every Scalar in those quadrants. Discrepancies will result in immediate reassignment.”
The tension in the room rose as some Vectors audibly whispered to each other. The polyhedrons pulsed once, a bright flash of violet light that commanded our obedience.
“Vector Fourteen. Vector Seventeen,” Array Four’s voice cut through the general broadcast, isolating our feed. I could vaguely hear the others being instructed to update their toolkits and have their Tensors extract information from the Helics logs.
“You two will remain. The rest will be dismissed to their coordinates,” Array Four continued privately. Around us, forty-eight Vectors clamored through their orders and were dispatched. Projections blinked and then dissolved into pixels as their connections severed.
“You’re in Cerularena right now, aren’t you?” I finally turned to Fourteen and asked.
“Yes,” Array Four answered for him. “We are relocating you to Halidome. We have interest in your assistance in his progression. You will stay in Cerularena until you find accommodations in Halidome that better suit you.”
“Trajectories were bound to intersect at some point,” I indulged the Array.
“Correct,” responded Array Four.
“If I may, aren’t there more qualified candidates in his field? I know as much as rumors when it comes to the Worm,” I stated openly.
“The designation is final. How useful you are in the field is something that will be revealed,” interjected Array One.
«What’s the angle?»
「There’s no way to know for certain. I’m sure your profile highlights active parallel processing, but that might not be what they’re naming it. Don’t give them the lead.」
«Active what?!»
“Yes, Arrarium. I’ll make the arrangements,” I dropped my voice back into something more adherent.
“The arrangements,” Fourteen’s voice was low and he wasn’t looking at me, “have already been made. Your directive for the day is to get yourself here to the Halidome. Get on the first movement here and send your dwelling kit beforehand.”
«I guess there isn’t anything to deliberate.»
「We should take the subterranean elomotive. I’m already trading for the fare.」
«The train?! I can’t believe we haven’t evolved past that.»
「Projections and teleportation are not the same fields.」
«Yet.»
“Understood,” I bowed my head for a short moment.
“Good, we will leave you to it,” and with that, the Array disconnected their broadcast.
“I still don’t understand the urgency, Fourteen. I reckon you’ll fill me in when I get there? You could have warned me about the relocation in the patch this morning.”
“You’re not exactly the type to make room for those kinds of details,” he replied with a grin.
「He’s not wrong.」
“My relocation is not a mere detail, Fourteen,” I huffed lightly.
“The Arrays do have a soft spot for you,” he pivoted as an obvious diversion.
“I suppose I could work on my persona more,” I relented. “So, the Worm business is becoming serious business.”
“It was always serious, Seventeen,” he said and wrapped both his arms behind him. “Get here soon.”
He walked towards the exit chamber chuckling, like he knows I’m absolutely fuming from the lack of datum. The feed cut and the warp back into the empty holoroom was as dizzying as it was projecting in.
«What did you mean by active parallel processing? Are you sure that’s it? Doesn’t everyone have it?»
「It’s not common to hold it the way you do, Vira. It’s not common for you to hold conversations with me while holding conversations with others. Users typically toggle harder or pause. You talk to me while you’re thinking about answers. Either your toggle is more subtle, you’re faster than the available metrics, or you don’t have one.」
«Why wasn’t this something to mentioned before? There’s no way this is new.»
「I assumed I was the one doing the heavy lifting. That my accretion was adapting to you. But it’s not just me and there’s minimal studies about this.」
«Accretion layer… my activity…»
「If Helics realizes how deep your neural pathways are letting me sink, they won’t just call for reassignment. They’ll quarantine the both of us.」
«We still quarantine people?!»
The drobe module reappeared and collected the materials from the garbs.
“Leave the markings. Travel robes,” I groaned out loud. “What the hell does this even mean?!”
And to think, it started out as a perfectly normal day.
