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503 lines
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<title>The Homestuck Epilogues: Candy - Chapter 40</title>
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<h1>Chapter 40</h1>
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<div class="o-story_text o_epilogue type-rg type-sm line-caption line-copy pad-x-0 pad-x-lg pad-b-lg">
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<p class="no-indent"><span class="opener type-hs-opener-rg type-hs-opener-sm">F</span>rom atop
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the tallest bell tower in the Carapace Kingdom, the sky looks like
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something painted by a crazy person. The fierce lights of war on
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the horizon stain the sunset in unnatural hues: ultraviolet
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pigments of red and purple slash through the atmosphere in harsh,
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jagged strokes. The cracks in the sky above are a diseased shade of
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green, bright bolts receding like lightning in a storm. Dead-Jade,
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host to the cherub’s spirit, floats at the apex of the tower. The
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blitzkrieg above makes a kaleidoscope of color between the black
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stripes on her tights.</p>
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<p>Aradia glides up to meet her, having left Sollux on the balcony.
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Above, in the sky, a hole has opened up. One so big it fills the
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entire radius of her vision.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: oh thats very dramatic</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent">The dead cherub says nothing. Aradia flits in
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front of her face and looks into her eyes. They’re the same black
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as the vortex above, so absolutely dark that they reflect no
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light.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i think i understand whats going on
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now</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: do you?</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i mean i think i understand what i was
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seeing</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: when i watched as everything broke
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apart</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: and got swallowed up by the black
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hole</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: which is where i ended up too</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: that black hole...</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: thats basically you right</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: and when you speak of your brother</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: thats lord english</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: and hes dead</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: not just yet.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: oh</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: then... where is he</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: ...</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i see</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: going to keep us in cryptic suspense as
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usual are we</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: haha thats fine :)</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes, it is.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i did think it was odd that we ended up
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in this timeline after all was said and done</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: such a strange and unremarkable place to
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be after witnessing such awesome calamity</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: theres something</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: hm</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent">Aradia pinches her thumb and forefinger
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together.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: off about this place</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: just a little bit</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes, you would think so.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: lesser beings have so much trouble
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perceiving divinity in the uncanny.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: lesser?</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: you have proven yourself a valuable
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servant, and pleasant company.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but yes, you are lesser.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: haha ok</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: well</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: it could always be worse i suppose</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: you said that we were the “lucky ones” if
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i recall correctly</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: all in this place are luckier than
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those who are not, in a certain way.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: but what way is that</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: the people on this planet seem so...</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: well i dont want to be mean</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: but is that the paradox of living in a
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utopia</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: when everything is perfect and your every
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need is met</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: is it natural for people to start
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crossing blades at imaginary enemies</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: i doubt that’s what troubles you
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about this world.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: oh?</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: what you’ve described is a state of
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empirical ennui resulting from the material circumstances here.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but the material circumstances of
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this world have no objective existential value.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: this world, unlike the canonical
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horrors from which it is hermetically insulated, will always fail
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to meet the combined criteria for truth, relevance, and
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essentiality that would endow this realm with any real gravity.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: its own naturally occurring supply
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of gravity, rather than the artificial supply i have given it.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: as such, what transpires here is
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characterized by experiential frivolity.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: physically, it is cordoned off by
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the black hole’s event horizon. it is safe. untouchable.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: inescapable.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: that sounds ominous</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it cannot be ominous because it
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cannot truly be anything with tangible significance.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: one could describe it as a
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phantasmal projection confined within my horizon.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it was created by a choice that made
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it possible for that horizon to expand infinitely, to consume
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infinitely.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and since that choice could not
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coexist with canon events, this place manifested here to support
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its consequences.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: if this world were capable of
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anything either essential, relevant, or true in some stable
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combination, then it would perpetuate a corrosive paradox.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: as such, insulation from what is out
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there, and the inescapable well it rests in, is what protects all
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it holds inside.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and since i am the embodiment of the
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black hole in which it rests,</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: i am the one protecting this
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world.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: why?</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: if its so irrelevant whats the point</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it is simply my duty to defend the
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innocent from destruction, degradation, and dissolution.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but there is more to consider than
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just my nature.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: as it happens, this projection
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within me serves as a stable conceptual foothold from which i can
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sense and resist another growing threat which is determined to
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jeopardize the canonical plane of reality.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ah yes the prince</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i still have no idea who he is</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: not that i doubt you really</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: we had a prince who was a huge jerk who
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destroyed everything he touched</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: the prince i am referring to
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electively removed himself from this reality in order to
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strategically consolidate his power.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: he cannot threaten this world. and
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yet by sequestering himself elsewhere, has become infinitely more
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dangerous.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: what makes him so dangerous</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i mean</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: what exactly is it he can do which is
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more destructive than what i was seeing just before i came
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here?</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent">The cherub makes a rare physical gesture with
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her hands to begin framing her next statements. Aradia notes this
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and strives to listen more closely.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: physical destruction is one
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thing.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: obliteration of the entire canvas
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for all of reality over a given cosmic span is another.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and yet there are even more
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insidious forms of destruction and subversion of life to
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consider.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: methods that are difficult to grasp
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for those on your plane.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: yes yes im quite inferior i know</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: but im also very curious!</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: can you try me?</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: of course.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: let’s begin by examining the nature
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of a story.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ok</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it will be easier to do this if we
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have an example of a story to discuss.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: some stories are impossibly long.
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but others can be quite short.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: some can even be a few words.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: what’s your favorite story?</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: my favorite?</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: um</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i dont know how to answer that really</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: don’t you like stories?</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: of course i do!</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: but do you mean like</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: a book? a movie?</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: anything.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ummm</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: pick literally any example you can
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think of.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ok</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: theres a famous religious story from my
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planet</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: about someone called the signless</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: who i guess turned out to be my friends
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ancestor which was weird</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: but thats beside the point</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes, i know of the tale.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: how would you tell his story, if you
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were trying to be as brief as possible?</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: well</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: a religious martyr attempted to lead a
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rebellion but he was killed in a horrible way and shouted a very
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loud rude word in the process</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: that’s good.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: try making it shorter though.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ok</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: a martyr tried to rebel but he was killed
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horribly and then shouted a rude word</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: shorter.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: wow</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: um...</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: a martyr rebelled but died and shouted
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rudely?</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: shorter.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: oof</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ok hows this</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: a martyr died and said fuck</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: perfect.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: what is the point of this</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: to establish an extremely short
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narrative for certain illustrative purposes.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: i’m going to repeat your story to
|
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you, and i want you to listen carefully.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: a martyr died and said fuck.</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ok i listened</p>
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: thats definitely the short story i just
|
||
said</p>
|
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes.</p>
|
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: now i’m going to repeat the story,
|
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but change the way i say it very slightly.</p>
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: listen again carefully.</p>
|
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ...</p>
|
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<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: <span class="calliope-dead-story type-rg type-sm">a martyr died and said
|
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fuck.</span></p>
|
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: hmm</p>
|
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: yes that was a little different</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: im not sure that i could describe how
|
||
though it was pretty subtle</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: you noticed because i told you to
|
||
pay attention for a difference.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: you noticed because you were alert
|
||
to the fact that there was even something to notice at all.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and if you had not been alert to the
|
||
fact that something could be different about the nature of the
|
||
voice telling your story, or to the fact that such differences had
|
||
a certain significance, you likely would not have noticed.</p>
|
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<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i see</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: yes i think youre right</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but now imagine that i told your
|
||
story in exactly that way. that i said,</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: <span class="calliope-dead-story type-rg type-sm">a martyr died and said
|
||
fuck.</span></p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but it was the first time you ever
|
||
heard that story.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: also imagine you couldn’t see me and
|
||
didn’t even know i existed.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and imagine you couldn’t even hear
|
||
the story i just told with your ears.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it simply entered your awareness in
|
||
some other manner, in a way that was impersonal. almost like one of
|
||
your own thoughts speaking to you.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: ok</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: picture that this is all you have
|
||
ever known of this story. the only way it would ever occur to you
|
||
that the story could be understood by another.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and then, one day, you meet me.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: you look me up and down, and regard
|
||
me as the discrete, specific individual that i am.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and i decide to tell you this story
|
||
again, using my own voice.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and it sounds exactly like this:</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: a martyr died and said fuck.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: huh...</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: does this change the way you
|
||
perceive the story you were originally familiar with?</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i guess a little bit</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: it’s certainly a different way of hearing
|
||
it</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: but at least you didnt change any words
|
||
so i guess its not all that different</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: exactly.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: i didn’t change any words.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but then, it was a very short story
|
||
i told, wasn’t it?</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: sure was</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: now imagine it was much longer, and
|
||
that was only the first line.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: thats easy to imagine</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: his was a long story</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: quite true.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: a story as short as the one we’ve
|
||
been using cannot accomplish much when it comes to guiding and
|
||
manipulating one’s awareness and emotions.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it is compact, ostensibly commanding
|
||
a simple and meditative moment of reflection, as a short poem
|
||
might.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: the narrative it delivers is
|
||
freighted with inference. it is a pattern imprinted upon the
|
||
imagination consisting solely of cognitive dark matter, or a sort
|
||
of notional negative space.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but longer stories have the power to
|
||
draw consciousness into them. they possess arresting and hypnotic
|
||
qualities which can be used by their tellers to alter the awareness
|
||
of the listener.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: again, i’d like you to imagine this
|
||
is the only way you’ve ever known this story.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but then it continues...</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: <span class="calliope-dead-story type-rg type-sm">a martyr died and said
|
||
fuck.</span></p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>his final howl of profanity reverberated through the ages.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>it inspired his devotees during the darkest times of a brutal
|
||
regime.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>his lessons were guarded, kept secret, espoused in the shadows
|
||
of tyranny.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>a vision of peace would inspire those who’d never conceived of
|
||
it.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>and though his death was gruesome, it opened the world to a
|
||
feeling of hope.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: <span class="calliope-dead-story type-rg type-sm">this hope echoed through
|
||
the ages.</span></p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>it gave his disciples the strength to persist as they perished
|
||
in droves.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>it was the only light to shine on a dark planet for millions of
|
||
sweeps.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE:</p>
|
||
<p>and if you are one so devoted to his teachings, who sees truth
|
||
in his words,</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: <span class="calliope-dead-story type-rg type-sm">it may be said with great
|
||
authority that</span> you are wrong.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: you are foolish to believe his lies.
|
||
his martyrdom is false, his sacrifice hollow.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: repent for your adherence to this
|
||
illusion now, and perhaps leniency will be your reward.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: 0_0</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: what just happened there</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: i brought to your attention that the
|
||
story you were listening to had a speaker with a specific
|
||
identity.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and where there is an identity,
|
||
there can also be an agenda.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: i gained the power to bend your
|
||
consciousness to become more amenable to my narrative agenda by
|
||
lulling you into a more receptive state through the established
|
||
rhythm of the story’s telling.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: this was only possible because you
|
||
were not initially questioning the identity of the teller, or even
|
||
considering that there was an identity to consider.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i guess youre right</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: hence, we may view any story as
|
||
speakerless, or spoken, so as to bring designations to the duality
|
||
i have just presented.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: a story may remain speakerless from
|
||
the beginning until the end, offering no reason for its listener to
|
||
ever imagine it is of the spoken sort.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it can also be spoken from the
|
||
beginning, which is an up-front announcement to the listener that
|
||
it carries the perspective of an individual.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but a spoken story may also disguise
|
||
itself as one that is speakerless, as mine just did.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: the speaker may reveal herself well
|
||
after speakerless conditions have been established.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and then one may ask. was it spoken
|
||
by that individual all along while remaining masked, or has the
|
||
speaker suddenly intervened to command a heretofore speakerless
|
||
tale?</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i dont...</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: well in your case</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: it certainly did seem like you were the
|
||
one speaking all along</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: but using different voices</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: that’s true.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: not all situations are like the one
|
||
i just demonstrated though.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: for as long as the hypothetical
|
||
speaker of a speakerless story remains masked, then it is true that
|
||
the story could be seen as either speakerless or spoken. both are
|
||
true, as well as neither.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it is best seen as a null factor,
|
||
until there is a departure.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: once a hidden speaker becomes
|
||
unmasked, then retroactively the story may be considered spoken all
|
||
along.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and so too do we retroactively
|
||
change how we regard what has already been spoken.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: yeah</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i guess with our martyr story</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: by revealing yourself as the teller it
|
||
turned out...</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: you werent even sympathetic to the very
|
||
story it seemed you were trying to get me invested in from the
|
||
beginning</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: almost like a mean prank!</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and so there is a very dangerous and
|
||
destructive quality to these nebulous forces which i have gone to
|
||
some lengths to demonstrate for you here.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: not everyone who is affected by
|
||
these forces is fit to fully grasp their insidious qualities, or
|
||
the sense of urgency that they must be resisted with.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: this is the sort of corruption i now
|
||
must dedicate my existence in this new body to ending once and for
|
||
all.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p class="no-indent">The cherub falls silent. Aradia takes this to
|
||
mean this lesson of sorts has ended. She ruminates on it all for a
|
||
while before speaking again.</p>
|
||
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: thats all pretty neat i guess</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: so...</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: does this stuff have anything to do with
|
||
this big hole that just opened in the sky</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: no.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: then...</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: what?</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: what are we doing here oh great muse</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p class="no-indent">Aradia starts giggling. Above, the sky yawns
|
||
open a little wider. Aradia waits, but gets no response.</p>
|
||
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: even now when youre being
|
||
uncharacteristically forthcoming youre still impossible to talk
|
||
to</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i understand that though</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: i was like that when i was dead too</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: like what?</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: irrepressibly cryptic</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: i see.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: so</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: can i at least take a guess?</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: yes.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: HES coming through there isnt he</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: your brother</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: that’s correct.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: are we in danger?</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: he will certainly be very angry.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: but he will also be wounded.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and even on his best day,</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: he would be no match for what i have
|
||
become.</p>
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: 0_0!!!</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p class="no-indent">The cherub drifts higher and higher. There’s a
|
||
glint of color at the center of the abyss—a flash like a star going
|
||
black on the rim of a dying galaxy. Aradia follows behind the
|
||
cherub, unable to pull her eyes away from the eerie phenomena
|
||
overhead.</p>
|
||
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
||
<p class="aradia">ARADIA: what will you do when he comes</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p class="no-indent">The cherub is focused on something very small
|
||
falling from above. The bright object flutters down from the broken
|
||
sky and lands in her host body’s outstretched hand. It’s a feather,
|
||
burnt at the edges, flickering orange and green.</p>
|
||
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: consume his body.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: absorb his essence.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: and then using this host, i will
|
||
generate enough power to move beyond the staggering pull of the
|
||
event horizon encasing this world.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: a prison of my own making, which can
|
||
be escaped only through the supreme unification with my other
|
||
half.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: it is crucial to the cosmos that i
|
||
succeed.</p>
|
||
<p class="calliope-dead">JADE: the prince of heart has to be
|
||
stopped.</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</body>
|
||
</html> |