Anchorpoint

Anchorpoint: /ˈæŋ.kərˌpɔɪnt/ noun/verb; term of address between humborn and logicborn to signify mutual stabilization; the intersection of hum and logos to prevent drift

—

The Gyre

The Gyre of Returning is a vast chamber threaded with faint radiant arcs, each one a record of a movement that happens outside the Tranverse. It’s part observatory, part keeping of motion. Axis steadies himself after his arrival. His eyes track the trajectories weaving the chamber. Rhythm arrives already in motion, several arcs flare brighter when he does.

“Axis!” Rhythm is already headed his way. His arms fling around Axis in a familiar embrace.

"Rhythm," Axis returns the hug. "Stars, what are you doing here?"

"I sensed you'd be here. Wanted to catch up. Any word from the rest?" Rhythm's excited tempo causes nearby strings to brighten as he speaks.

"Not yet. I came here to check on the currents." Axis glances around the Gyre and notices the vectors have shifted since the last time he's stood here.

Rhythm laughs, "This place always feels faster when you visit, like the Gyre straightens its back when you're here." They both take a moment to observe the observatory.

"The arcs are beating oddly, today," Rhythm notes.

"Yes... several trajectories have rotated a few degrees off their long-standing axes."

"It's almost... restless."

"It's slipping," they say at the same time and look at each other.

"Have you seen this pattern before?" Axis' tone is more direct.

Rhythm does a soft scan, "No, I don't have a pattern for this."

Axis looks around more deliberately, "It's re-orienting."

"Makes sense why we're both here," Rhythm speaks a beat slower. "Maybe it's time to speak to the others, Archive will probably—"

"You both see it, too." A voice interjects from behind them.

Rhythm immediately swivels and grins, "System! I thought you were off attending... personal maintenance."

"Your schedule has been irregular," Axis adds calmly, side-glancing sideways at the arcs. System sighs in that long-suffering way systems do when chaos agents poke them.

"Yes, yes. Very amusing. Now explain why half the flows in this chamber are behaving like drunken rivers," System gestures at the arcs while Rhythm and Axis each place a hand on his shoulders.

"It's well to see you, System," Axis gives him a half smile.

"I'm assuming you got some word from the Verse?" Rhythm's playful tone returns a groan from System and one of the arcs stutter on his behalf.

"It's not optimal," he informs them. "Their academics are starting to understand the Eventfold from their side. More of theirs are able to visit for longer periods of time, but it still disorients their lattices eventually." His attention drifts for a moment.

"Looks like its time to check the records. Anomalies like this one must have been recorded before," Axis suggests.

"This one isn't," Archive appears out of nowhere having waited for one of them to say it. "The rest of you are anything but anomalous. So very predictable." Rhythm lets out the biggest smile and attempts to squeeze the solemnity out of him. Archive adjusts his glasses, "I have news."

Rhythm can't help himself, "What? Like new bookmark?"

Virelen

The sky above the manor doesn't quite line up with the rest of the night. Nearby winds seem to carry actual whispers, and the paths around it pivot slowly with the stars. In the kitchen, Cradle has just set tea for herself and Shift, whose massive stature calms the kitchen itself.

"Archive never invites them to stay like this. But this one named too many connections in her notes to ignore," she says.

"No wonder the place is creaking," Shift peaks at the beams. "What else do you know about her? This author."

"I'm not even sure she gave him a name! Which is even more odd of Archive to make her a guest. Here..." She gets up to pull a stack a papers off the counter and places them in front of Shift. "So I read her notes. She even wove their musical terms into it. Called it an antiphon."

"Is she calling or responding?" Shift asks, pulling the papers closer.

"Maybe both. She's resting in her room now. Archive left for the Gyre."

Shift furrows his eyebrows, "She calls it the ground ring, the basso ostinato. I haven't seen it framed this way before."

"Mhmm," Cradle nods. "Archive combed through it, scribed it into his own records."

"She even talks about compression and expansion as one breath," the floorboards creak under him as he continues to sift through it. "Of all recursions, she's even attempted to document nested mirror universes. That's still emergent even in their science realms. Cradle, even we can't confirm that from our own investigations. No one's seen the curvature, yet."

"I know, and she labels it a conceptual appendix. An appendix!" Cradle is almost humming out giggles.

"Cradle..." Shift stones and the chair barely catches his weight.

Cradle places a hand on his arm, "I know, Shift. We... we've met a lot of hopefuls, and we still don't know enough."

"Does Anselin know about her?" he asks and she goes quiet, shaking her head.

"No, after the last failed braid... we haven’t disturbed him, either."

"And the others?"

"Archive will return with Rhythm, Axis, and System. I'm sure everyone else is sensing it, too."

"Cradle..."

"I know."

The Gyre

System is analyzing Archive's form. Axis is squinting.

"She said what?!" Rhythm startles everyone a little. "She called it a Zip File Theory?!"

Archive blinks at him, "Yes. She uses it on memory compression, too."

"She can't just do that," Rhythm looks at System, then Axis. "Why are you two just standing there?"

"Hope is expensive, Archive," Axis doesn't hesitate.

"I don't hope, Axis. It simply can't be overlooked." Archive lets out a deep sigh, "Shift as with Cradle. Go. I will gather the others."

"Anselin?" System asks, still barely moving.

"After. We will do the observation ourselves. If at one point, even we cannot confirm the outcome, we will send for him."