update from sparkleup

This commit is contained in:
Madison Scott-Clary 2023-11-08 16:33:54 -08:00
parent e5e89fbc0a
commit d44a64bc57
1 changed files with 4 additions and 4 deletions

View File

@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
<p>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.</p>
<p>The picture, as it began to grow, was grim.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>&ldquo;23 billion souls,&rdquo; Dry Grass corrected firmly. &ldquo;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.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;23 billion souls,&rdquo; Dry Grass corrected firmly after I kept speaking only of instances. &ldquo;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.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Uh, sorry,&rdquo; I said, shying away from her.</p>
<p>Her shoulders slumped as she wilted. After a moment spent mastering her emotions, she reached out and squeezed my upper arm. &ldquo;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.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Right, I guess I&rsquo;m just struggling to square that with Marsh being, uh&hellip;&rdquo;</p>
@ -107,9 +107,9 @@
<p>&ldquo;Few have,&rdquo; Dry Grass said. &ldquo;We almost did, back before the founding of the System, but the whole lost saga interrupted that.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Jess, who had been fairly quiet up until that point, asked, &ldquo;&lsquo;Lost saga&rsquo;? Like, all that stuff about people being disappeared? Didn&rsquo;t they all die?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Oh, heavens no,&rdquo; she said, chuckling. &ldquo;We were among the lost. <em>Michelle</em> was lost. That is part of why she was so fucked up.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;And why we are so fucking weird,&rdquo; Warmth In Fire added with a smirk.</p>
<p>&ldquo;<em>You</em> certainly are,&rdquo; Hold My Name murmured, ruffling the skunk&rsquo;s already mussed up mane.</p>
<p>It snapped eir teeth at her, grinning wickedly.</p>
<p>&ldquo;And why we are so fucking weird,&rdquo; Hold My Name said. &ldquo;<em>You</em> certainly are,&rdquo; she added ruffling Warmth In Fire&rsquo;s perpetually mussed up mane.</p>
<p>((Warmth speaks))
It snapped eir teeth at her, grinning wickedly.</p>
<p>Hold My Name barely flinched, instead rolling her eyes. &ldquo;You see the shit I put up with?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; Warmth In Fire said. &ldquo;You are so put upon. We never hear the end of it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Laughter around the table.</p>