This story was first serialized in 31 daily parts during October 2021 via the @InternetofWords Twitter feeds [9am and 5pm GMT respectively.] It is now reproduced in a complete form, a number of small edits and corrections made to improve narrative flow and maintain correct continuity.
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Inception
Ask a scientist how they view the Universe, and you’re likely to get a thousand different answers: some see energy, others think numbers, many only work at an atomic level… others demand larger backdrops. Ask them what matters in their research, and the possibilities will narrow. Being right, and being able to prove that unequivocally is a cornerstone of all scientific endeavour. There have been countless charlatans throughout history who have claimed life changing improvements or discoveries, only to exposed as fraudulent. Few have threatened Armageddon.
The story you are about to read is so fantastical that, in a certain light, it will be impossible to believe that science exists at its core. However, it is a truth, completely proven not only with hard evidence, but the confidence of thousands of expert, impartial testimonies. More importantly, the consequences of this particular event will be felt for decades to come, so seismic was the alteration to everything that makes Humanity what it has become today. No part of our existence has been untouched by what happened in that 72-hour period last year.
In fact, no being from Earth can ignore these events, especially the Insectum whose brethren were sacrificed so that the remainder of this planet’s ruling forms might continue to thrive and multiply, as has been the case for the last ten thousand rotations. We bless and cherish all. Let this testament therefore begin with the realization that our existence had been invaded by an ape, the likes of which no living being had ever laid eyes on before: many could not perceive the creature’s form, subsisting within only the blue spaces in our perception spectrum.
This ape had become a deformed, amorphous entity into which energy was unnaturally drawn, and it’s arrival within an Insectoid colony on our Native Northern Island caused unmediated and devastating damage, absorbing several thousand Workers and their Supports almost immediately. Containment units were dispatched: very quickly it became apparent that a constant assimilation of organic matter was subsequently granting the entity the ability to expand in the colony’s main space. Therefore, instead of elimination, an inorganic perimeter was first established.
This space was also made impermeable to light, which almost immediately curtailed expansion capacity. Only at that point was it possible to gain access to the site with our mammalian scientists, who quickly identified the many, troubling psychic signals emanating from the entity. It took us many orbits to finally construct the circumstances behind the incursion, to identify a weakness in the very fabric of our own reality, which had been caused by this being’s previous iteration as an ape, forcing evolution in their own cell structure using Proto Matter.
As any scientist knows, Proto Matter is a dangerous and unacceptable substance to use under any circumstances. For this ape to have become addicted so fast, and for them to have devolved so fast, shows no real comprehension of either the compounds themselves or their importance. This ape clearly had no idea of the consequences of their actions. We also possessed no means of effectively communicating with it, and as sentience was undeniably present, we could not simply incinerate and move on. Some form of abstraction had to be attempted; we reached out.
To be met with complete comprehension was a surprise. To discover this ape was a female was perhaps a greater revelation, and that she had believed Proto Matter would have the opposite effect than had been the case explained a great deal: decisions made perfect sense in context. The psychic nature of this being’s existence presented a far more troubling and potentially reality-changing scenario, recalling a near cataclysmic event, resulting in the Grand Rift Incident, which pushed us to the brink of near total annihilation over sixty rotations previously.
It was then possible to identify that the ape did not belong in our reality at all, but had fallen through a boundary tear between different fractal outcomes in their own world, before arriving in ours. This tear had been activated by an overload of Proto Matter from their world. A superstring cascade had been activated tying Ape to countless instances of reality where they existed as the dominant cognisance, leading in a number of instances to reality itself spontaneously creating history around them in an attempt to seal the tear from further expansion.
We were then faced with an ethical dilemma the likes of which had not previously been experienced on this scale: the destruction of this entity would not simply be morally reprehensible, but would hold more serious repercussions across a number of other realities, many inhabited. Having decoded psychic signals from across three key elements in the cascade, it was apparent that only one outcome would preserve the existence not simply of ourselves, but two additional realities where the majority of existence remained unaffected. A specific plan was created.
The entity’s continued existence was key to both destruction and liberation, and so we presented it directly with the facts: its own ignorance had created a situation where billions would now die, and this portion of the Universe would be reduced to an event horizon indefinitely. We had accepted denial or refusal, as is often the wont of the ape-based lifeforms on our own world. Their response therefore was a surprise: there was a total espousal of culpability, and a need to ensure that their ignorance was never repeated in their own reality by other apes.
How this was then facilitated is fully detailed in the narrative that follows, and includes the actual transcriptions between the Ape, whom we named Cept (literally translated as ‘taken’) and our team of interpreters. The outcome became, undoubtedly, something totally unexpected. It is also important to grasp the philosophical consequences of these events and Cept’s eventual destruction by mutual consent, as it became apparent in the last hours of our communication that the ape totally believed her world to be the only true manifestation of this Universe.
When this became apparent, there was a moment of revelation amongst several of our Psychics, confirming this as a possibility: the entirety of our existence could indeed have sprung from the mind of this woman, as she believed that a God had created her own form in that reality.
As this is a concept grasped by countless species on this planet, the extrapolation of that truth was a logical and acceptable step. However, there was neither time nor the resources available to fully explore the prospects this insight presented: Cept’s elimination was concluded.
At the presumed moment of brain death, the superstring cascade sucked the body back into the tear, effectively sealing this breach, thus confirming our theory that it was vital for the ape to die, in order to reset all damage that had been caused by the initial Proto Matter overdose. It would be a serious omission if we did not preface this work with one final observation. The chronicles of our world, countless thousands of orbits in union, this successful meshing of plant and animal together in symbiosis, all omit a vital and significant period of narrative.
No records exist for that time, or indeed before. The planet undoubtedly existed, strata of previous periods of ecological occurrences both clear and intractable. It is the details of how such a dependent union initially evolved to work together that is missing: this concerns us. Asking our scientists for answers produces more questions. Individual memories are both fickle and often inaccurate, but it is an increasing certainty what we consider to be our retention and experience may not be as accurate or indeed individual as many of us initially believed.
We urge all to read the conversations between Cept and our psychic team, not simply to understand the consequences of their arrival in our World. By doing so, it is entirely possible you too may yet become aware of memories that previously were somehow absent in your consciousness. There are a great many things that remain shrouded in mystery. Our scientists will spend many orbits attempting to make sense of these events: any contribution you can make to that effort would be greatly appreciated. Details on how to do so can be found after these transcripts.
The Insectum and the Mammalian hold a debt of gratitude to each other.
These events, undoubtedly, will bring our bond even closer still.
We bless and cherish all.
The Internet of Words 