From 9b80f5d20d855e51cfd596ecee09b293fffa0f5f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Madison Scott-Clary Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2023 22:10:05 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] update from sparkleup --- writing/post-self/marsh/006.md | 30 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/writing/post-self/marsh/006.md b/writing/post-self/marsh/006.md index 185e3dc4..f690a8ab 100644 --- a/writing/post-self/marsh/006.md +++ b/writing/post-self/marsh/006.md @@ -12,4 +12,32 @@ Truly official, as well. They had pulled some strings to leave it pinned to the "It is a part of the long peace that your lives are so boring," she had said with a sigh. "Or was, at least were." -While our data gathering was productive when it came to learning about our own circle of friends, it was a drop in the bucket compared to what the others were accomplishing. Sedge and Dry Grass in particular seemed to be on a roll of +While our data gathering was productive when it came to learning about our own circle of friends, it was a drop in the bucket compared to what the others were accomplishing. Sedge and Dry Grass in particular seemed to be on a roll of information gathering. They had set up their own little side room of other instances just collating data, running them through various perisystem tools, and just generally trying to get a better picture of what had happened. + +The picture, as it began to grow, was grim. + +While our 14% loss rate was far too high, the fact that the System was on track for a loss rate of 1% was still an enormous amount. On the surface, the number felt quite small, but on a System with 2.3 trillion instances, that meant 23 billion people suddenly wiped from existence. 23 billion people with friends and lovers, or down-tree instances waiting for updates. 23 billion regardless of how early or late they had uploaded. + +"23 billion souls," Dry Grass corrected firmly. "They are souls, Reed. I do not care as to your belief of the existence of a soul or not, they are souls. They are people who lived. They are people who died." + +"Uh, sorry," I said, shying away from her. + +Her shoulders slumped as she wilted. After a moment spent mastering her emotions, she reached out and squeezed my upper arm. "I am sorry, my dear. In The Wind is gone. A Finger Curled is gone. No Longer Myself and End Of Endings are gone, two lines from the Ode itself wiped out entirely. It is difficult for me to not see them missing as anything other than a death." + +"Right, I guess I'm just struggling to square that with Marsh being, uh..." + +"Gone?" + +I nodded. + +"I make no assumptions as to them, but for me, if I do not start internalizing the losses within my clade as deaths, I will run the risk of minimizing this loss across the System. Perhaps Marsh is not dead, but if I do not think of In The Wind as dead, then I will be hiding from myself a potential truth." + +I winced away from her words. I couldn't seem to help it. They bore too much weight, too much force coming from her mouth, from the one who was working the hardest out of all of us. + +"Again, I am sorry." + +"It's okay. Maybe I'll get there one day. I don't know." + +She nodded, squeezed my arm once more, and then backed away. "I am going to return to counting. Anything to keep my mind busy." + +