Blue Lacuna — 401 of 467

Section - Presence Convo 3

dream3-presence is a dream presence in Dream3Nexus. The icebreaker of dream3-presence is d3_icebreaker. Understand "presence/presences/mind/minds" as d3_1 when last beat is in ThirdDT.

ThirdDT is a thread.

d3_icebreaker is an exciting repeatable beat in ThirdDT with reaction "[d_attention].". d3_icebreaker summons d3_1. d3_icebreaker suggests d3_icebreaker. d3_1 replaces d3_icebreaker.

d_ctr is a number that varies.

To say d_attention:

increase d_ctr by 1;

if d_ctr is 1, now pr-hack is false;

if d_ctr is 1, say "[one of]The [o]minds[x][or]The [o]presences[x][at random] [one of]return[or]come back[or]trickle into your thoughts[or]become separate from your mind's background noise[in random order][one of] again[or][at random], [one of]hovering patiently in no-space, here and not here, waiting for your attention[or]silent and respectful, eager to tell you more[in random order]";

if d_ctr is 2, say "The [o]presences[x] fade for a moment, gradually, receding like a wave from your consciousness. Then, in some strange peristaltic contraction, the sensation returns, as if with great difficulty";

if d_ctr is 3, say "The strange [o]presence[x] on the edge of your consciousness lingers, like a sound you aren't quite sure you can hear";

if d_ctr is 4, say "The sensation of [o]presence[x] begins to ebb, fading away, losing itself in the static of your mind";

if d_ctr is 5, say "The [o]minds[x] have nearly faded away";

if d_ctr is 6 begin; say "The minds are gone"; remove a random visible dream presence from play; now pr-hack is true; end if;

if d_ctr > 10 begin; say "Slowly, you feel the [o]presences[x] return"; move active presence to location; now active presence is attentive; now tempfuse of icebreaker of active presence is 5; now d_ctr is 0; end if.

pr-hack is a truth state that varies.

Every turn when pr-hack is true:

if active presence is enclosed by location:

now pr-hack is false;

else if player is in a nexus-room:

say "[d_attention][unless d_ctr > 6 and d_ctr < 11].[end if]";

else if the player is not regionally in Dreamlands:

now pr-hack is false.

d3_1 is a beat in ThirdDT with reaction "The presences swirl turgidly, ready, eager to resume. But for long moments only vaguely portentous thoughts drift, and do not coalesce.[paragraph break]Finally, you realize they do not try to tell you something, but ask a question, and the question is simple: How did you get here?[paragraph break]How. You could try to [t]explain[x] wayfaring to these alien minds, you suppose, but could they understand or believe? And perhaps you should stay [t]silent[x], anyway, at least for now.". d3_1 summons d3_explain, d3_silent. d3_1 suggests d3_silent. d3_silent replaces d3_1.

Understand "explain" as d3_explain when last beat is in ThirdDT. d3_explain is a beat in ThirdDT with reaction "You explain without words, awkward and uncertain, struggling to summon concepts and images that tell the story, and finally settle on your first conceptualization of the experience, all those years ago. First you are somewhere. Then you are somewhere else.[paragraph break]The minds churn, processing silently, sedate and inscrutable.[paragraph break]Finally a conclusion breaks through mental fog. They do not understand how this can be, but they agree it is possible. And it may be [t]related[x] to their civilization's greatest gift.". d3_explain summons d3_related. d3_related replaces d3_explain. d3_explain suggests d3_related.

Understand "related" as d3_related when last beat is in ThirdDT. d3_related is a terminal beat in ThirdDT with reaction "They struggle to explain-- but does it come quicker this time? Are they learning more of how your brain is wired, how your neurons function to retrieve image, memory, abstractions?[paragraph break]You begin to know the scale of their civilization: not hundreds or thousands of minds but billions, spread across vast interstellar distances. And yet they are all together, and always, the concept of distance mere abstraction. Like wayfaring, perhaps.[paragraph break]But the effort fades them, and in moments, they are gone.".

Understand "silent" as d3_silent when last beat is in ThirdDT. d3_silent is a beat in ThirdDT with reaction "You do not offer explanation, and you sense that the medium of thought between you is still murky enough they will only think they cannot understand.[paragraph break]After long moments of searching, questioning, mental muscles relax, probing fades. They do not understand how you arrived. But nor did they understand the arrival of the [t]first[x]. Mysteries, they think.". d3_silent summons d3_first. d3_silent suggests d3_first.

Understand "first" as d3_first when last beat is in ThirdDT. d3_first is a terminal beat in ThirdDT with reaction "Confusion roils, obscuring meaning, and little becomes clear except that you are not the first of your kind they have communed with. They fade again, tired, slowly slipping away, but struggle before they vanish to send to you a piece of stored knowledge, a pattern in the other's brain that connected to your strange physiology to produce a sound, a word. A name.[paragraph break]Progue.[paragraph break]And they are gone.".