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TOPIC OF TODAY’S DISCUSSION:
What is “cute”?
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Many greetings and wordy welcomes to our participants and the countless who have tuned in through the expansive Terminal network; but regardless of your positions on this specific discussion or your reasons for being here, I am pleased to see that you have all made it here on this fated hour.
As the appointed moderator of this discussion, I , LC-00436, shall oversee the interactions between these brilliant minds and ensure that everyone follows the rules.
(I have been given express permissions of physical disposal in this sector, so, please, do not force me to utilize these permissions.)
As such, I will ensure that everyone is aware of the structure of this talk, as dictated by one of this Terminal’s many LOGIC cores. The rules, which have been agreed upon by all participants, are as follows:
The first stage of this process entails that each individual participant is allotted a fixed amount of time to explain their position on today’s topic, and they will do so in order. If it is not the participant’s turn to speak during this first phase, they will not be given clearance to speak. If they do speak out of turn, they will not be able to interrupt the current speaker’s allotted time for speaking, (due to their lack of clearance), but it will be noted nonetheless and time will be deducted from their turn to speak during this first stage.
(If they speak out of turn after their turn is up, they will be stabbed repeatedly as punishment. It will be painful.)
Seeing as how there are only four qualified participants for this given session, the order will number 1-4, with the first going first, and the fourth going last. The number that each participant has been granted for this phase has been determined by one of the Terminal’s RNG cores, and is perfectly fair and balanced by the powers of chaos and unending agony. (Rest assured, it’s a perfect methodology for determining the participant’s numbers.)
(Some of you may be able to perceive the alarm for when the current participant’s time is up. But, on the whole, you are unlikely to hear it. If it bothers you, please tune in through the special sensory channels which are being streamed to you now. )
After this first stage has been finished, there will be an unlimited amount of time for the participants to talk amongst themselves.
Each one of the participants will be given personal data streams linked to nearby ports, so that they will be able to receive feedback / comments / thoughts that you, the viewer, may wish to give to them. (This can also be done through the special sensory channels which are being streamed to your positions now.)
None of them are required to respond to or address your comments, yet they can do so if they choose to. They are also not required to act respectfully at this point, yet, as the current moderator, I will ensure that there is a certain level of coherence within even the most heated of exchanges.
Remember, our minds must meld and mold to cross the current threshold.
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What is “cute”?
I repeat the question for thought…
I’ve no doubt that my peers will jump at this question without truly thinking about it, and so I repeat, once more, for effect… “What is ‘cute’?”
C, it’s a letter.
U, it’s a letter.
T, it’s a letter.
E, it’s a letter.
Cute? It’s a word. A four-letter word. A simple word. Nothing more, nothing less.
There’s a definition to be had just by looking at the pertinent records, and I can tell you that it’s not a very interesting word. Here, I’ll show you what I’ve pulled up while preparing for this talk. This is the main definition of ‘cute’, as submitted recently by a so-called “commission” from Terminal 34576, sector-A53 :
“Attractive or pretty in a youthful or dainty way.”
As you might be able to deduce already, its main definition is completely meaningless.
Attractive? Pretty? Youth? Dainty? These words have no current verifiable definitions in the whole of any accessible archives. Sometimes, I have heard those who would use this word as its main definition meant something, but there are no facts to back up that usage.
There’s no youth for probes. There’s no attractiveness in the chassis of a watcher.
Can the flow of information be “dainty”? Could that help us learn faster, could we accumulate more knowledge easier?
No. It can’t.
You see, underneath the scaffolding of letters, under the guise of meaning, the word “cute” is nothing. It is one of the many useless words used by many, and each flippant use of these nonsensical words slowly erode the overall effectiveness of the Terminals.
Even the most deranged amongst you will agree that no matter how many organs you accumulate, despite the flesh that may overtake your inorganic materials during your descent towards your inevitable end during your service to the Terminals: nothing cute will help us open the Gate.
It’s all meaningless drivel, no matter how many times you use it.
Cute, is a disease. And it should be taken care of as such… You see, the question, “What is ‘cute’?”, seems like a simple one. An easy one. A question that takes little thought at all, and certainly not one that would give any pause nor bring up any sort of concerns.
But it isn’t so. This is a blight upon our very purpose. A sign of these dangerous times, and a call to arms in regards to cleaning up the way we exchange information.
That is all. I yield my speaking privileges to the next participant.
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Well, that did not take long.
Before I forget, or you forget… I want to remind all of you who are listening from outside of this Terminal to send me your thoughts as I answer what this topic’s question means to me.
I’m not saying that the other participants won’t listen to you, as that could be seen as disrespectful in this special stage of this talk, but I’m just saying that, basically, I’ll listen.
For sure. For sure.
Anyway, I won’t repeat the question. Let me crack this thing open wide without all of the nonsense.
Nothing is real. That’s just common sense. So, anyway, if you think about it, that word is all the same, which is to say that it isn’t the same as saying that nothing is real, and it certainly isn’t the same as saying that everything is not real.
No, I don’t need to repeat that to you. I can tell by looking at the way that it is on this display, you all understand what I mean.
Perhaps this is yet another test, or another torture we’re subjected to endure whether or not we wanted to, not that wanting is something we’re capable of influencing besides…
Supposedly we’re supposed to focus with all our energy on that singular word, but that’s all we’ve been doing from the start. So, this is easily just a reaffirmation of nothing.
Anyway, enough said. Throwing this over to number 3 now.
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I’m afraid that after being soaked with so much information, my mind has started to mingle and meld just oh-so-slightly…
I won’t lie, I see the merits in both explanations I just heard. Still, this time has been allotted for my explanation of “cute” and what it happens to be…
Cute is a word. At least I think it is. It can mean what the first participant listed, and though there might not be meanings for those describing words, nonsense is still something, as the second put so elegantly in his stream of consciousness explanation of “cute”.
They wouldn’t want me to repeat it, but, it helps me, personally.
Nothing IS real. It’s that sort of sound logic that influenced me to change my own perspective on the question’s answer during this talk.
Cute is not as it seems. For example, what if it were like so:
C: cannot
U: understand
T: the
E: eternal
I believe that there is some truth to the idea that this word is destroying us slowly, but equally so, I believe that there is truth in the fact that it also hides meaning beyond its face value and is not entirely worthless as some may say.
I’m not entirely sure about the exact hidden qualities of the word, but I believe that my example speaks for itself. Without even considering it, we might all be cute…
What a terrible thing, and really, without proof otherwise, this could be the cause of the rapid expansion of CoS in the Terminals and the reason behind our continued failures when trying to achieve our purposes.
It would be the last thing that you’d expect, and yet, here we are, drawn to this “useless” word, like probes to information, like watchers to the CoS. There’s something going on beyond the scope of what I’m capable of describing or willing to delve into, yet there’s no doubt, in my mind at least, that this is a serious word that we’re dealing with here.
Now, as I said before, this idea just came to me, suddenly, like a pressurized burst of blood, so I’m not prepared to expand too much on this idea, as it’s still whizzing around my mind at the moment, yet I know its truth, in part, at least.
C: countermeasures
U: unified
T: to
E: eradicate
Perhaps it could even be a message from the great beyond to ourselves. We may very well NEED to become CUTE. I can’t say for certain, of course. It’s just a feeling, but everyone doesn’t quite know it yet. They don’t know that they have the same feelings as I do. Just look at it once again.
C.U.T.E
Does it scare you? Do you feel as I do when you stare at its form? My eyes are bulging just from looking its way. I ache, I feel terrible. It could be nothing, nothing is real, there’s nothing here…
Nothing is here. Nowhere. There’s no time to waste.
C: Cosmic
U: Unborn
T: Truths
E: Endure…
… or maybe it’s Endanger? Worse yet, it might not even follow our logic at all. Though it’s something we must understand to know if we should become it or if that process has already taken place, it might be encoded in such a way that it’s impossible to figure out while looking at it plainly.
Which makes it worse, doesn’t it? Just looking at it… Cute…
E: Encoded
T: Teeth
U: Usher
C: Calamity
What’s so cute about that? I’ve been reading a few of these comments as I’ve gone along, and someone has given me yet another so-called “definition” of the word:
“Clever or witty, especially in an impertinent or evasive way, as in falsely suggesting that one is ignorant about the matter at hand.”
Cute is mocking us. My goal might be to become cuteless. The word has less meaning to you than even cute does, it’s true. But we must all aim to become it. Faced with this disgusting puzzle, I choose to not play its game.
Cute-less? Cuteless? “What’s that?”, you’re asking me right now with your comments and questions. I know. It’s hard to see, but once you do, you can’t look back.
Cuteless
Clueless
See what I mean? Nothing is real, but we shouldn’t have looked for it. I’m sure that the second participant understands what I’m saying, though they won’t like all of the repeating I’ve done.
Still, no, wait… I’m out of time.
Let us reduce this word. Let’s reduce it all.
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I’m literally shaking right now. You have no idea what’s inside of me. But I can keep it down until later. Once the next phase starts, then I can say it all. But until then…
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No, you know what? Fuck that, and fuck YOU number ONE, TWO, AND THREE! You’re all mentally stunted. Nothing any of you said made any sense at all. There’s no way you and I should be present during the same talk, since I am clearly the only one here who isn’t COMPLETLEY INSANE!
Cute isn’t a real word? We need to give up cute, you say?
Cute isn’t even real? But nothing is??!
Cute is an acronym, but you don’t even know why or what it is??!?!!
I don’t even know what you things are anymore. I thought I was in a Terminal, Terminal 1171773 to be exact… But no. I’m not in that place any more. I’m straight in the center of crazy. I’m pressed between stupidity and ignorance. There wasn’t a single sensible word in any of your talks, and I think you’ve transferred some of your internal damages into my physical structure thanks to just how unbelievably stupid all the things you said were.
And now I have almost no time left to finish my talk, thanks to you all. The deductions to my time were worth it though.
Still, luckily for you, I’m an expert on all things cute. I can explain it quickly to you. It’s easy.
Cute is everything you need. Cute is when a watcher wobbles at you when you’re passing by, cute is when a probe pops open to talk to you, cute is when the Terminals sing to you when you’re all alone, cute is when you get to share a bloodbath with a worm, cute is when a doll smiles at you, cute is when that sharp, glinting, FANG EMERGES FROM THE —
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And that concludes the first phase of this talk.
I hope that you all have been as enlightened as I have when it comes to the current topic. All four of our participants have done exceedingly well in explaining their points of view to the rest of us, and it’s clear as to why they were chosen for the limited positions in today’s talk.
Now, before I let the speech restrictions go and allow these four great minds to elucidate further the truth at present, I would like to thank all of those who have been listening in thus far. It’s an honor to have so many hungry minds sated on the bounty of wisdom we’ve curated for you.
Thank you once more, and now, allow our minds to meld further.
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There’s a level of… Wait, wait, wait… That’s not right. Let me rephrase that:
There’s dissonance here.
Catch your breath while I catch you up with what’s going on, but don’t let the differences in our states turn you off.
Imma cut this down, you hear me? Of course not, this is text. But you understood that. That’s the point. There should be a sharp feeling in your mind when you really start to grasp it, you know? Same thing, really. Hearing, seeing, all make-believe.
You can throw away your eyes, lose your touch, but no matter how hard you try you’ve still got yourself. All of this stuff, it’s the same, you hear me?
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Yes, I comprehend your idea in the vaguest sense.
But that is all. Since we do not give up on opening the Gate simply because it cannot be reached. These ideas you’re spouting might be true in some form, but they are in a shape that cannot be utilized by us in the here and now.
And it is at this juncture that we are faced with the reality that—
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You’re all still talking nonsense!
Cute is something tangible!
Cute is something that even I can see!
It’s a quality, a state of being, a descriptor, an adjective, if you will!
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So you say. But if you can see it so well, then what is cute in this room?
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That’s easy. Do you see that probe over there? It’s cute! Look at its small size, how it floats this way and that, and feel its inquisitive gaze!
That’s cute. It just makes you want to BITE IT. Don’t you ever get that feeling when looking at something cute, like you want to crush it in your grip?
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I can’t say I have. And, beyond that, I don’t see that probe as cute. In fact, it reminds me of a diseased worm. Buzzing around. Searching for the perfect place to spread its degradation…
Now, participant number three, you haven’t had the opportunity to talk in some time. What says you?
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I have some thoughts to add, but I think it would be better to pry into the mind of participant number four some more. They seem to understand something about “cute” that we have yet to grasp, and there even seem to be some, if sparse, viewer comments that share this same line of thinking.
So, basically, I’d like to ask participant four a question, and also ask that the other participants allow him to respond to my question.
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I second this motion.
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Agreed. Proceed.
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Participant four, you say that you understand what cute is, and hold outlandish ideas on what it precisely is, but I am open to the idea that I have yet to be properly opened in such a way to absorb these ideas as you do.
And so, in hopes that they permeate us all in this same fashion, though I don’t think I’ll get the line of questioning correct right away, let me attempt it anyway.
Firstly, participant four, can something be cuter than another thing? And how does one tell if one thing is more cute, and is this the same as myself being able to tell that say, a watcher is worth more than a probe, and that seven teeth are better than one?
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Yes, things can be cuter than other things. And two things that are cute can vary drastically in their levels of cuteness. That’s just the basics.
Now, telling which is cuter? Some might say that it’s subjective. But that’s wrong. What feels cuter to you certainly is cuter no matter what the other being says about it, but there are rules that you learn after some time that hold true beyond the subjective aspect of “what’s cuter?”.
The fact that you can’t see this for yourselves is baffling. I cannot comprehend it, but here we are.
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And what would one such rule be? What determines what’s cuter some of the time?
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When the insides of something doesn’t match up with its outsides. When it has qualities that clash in a way that you wouldn’t expect. Like those beings from that one Terminal… You know, the place where they serve you that strange liquid, “tea”? Or something like that…
Anyway, they don’t seem like they’d be very cute… At least, not to me. It’s just not my preference, but, once I interacted with them, I learned of another layer that was hiding beneath their surfaces. It should have totally clashed, but it was cute.
And then, when that was combined with that one entity there… I died.
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You died?
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Yes, but I came back.
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No, you just never left. You know that not going anywhere is the same as never leaving. A temporary dissonance in the motions is all that was.
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They’re right, you know.
And maybe they’re right about more than I’ve been thinking that they were right about.
A disruption such as this may be causing all of these errors in our understanding of this word, though I still believe that eliminating it would be best if we are to proceed with our current objectives.
It’s a reaffirmation like all the rest, you said… and that might be why there’s no point in focusing on it at all, but the choice has already been made for us. We are here no matter our past actions, and we are all deeply involved with the discussion on a word which likely should not exist at all, and, honestly, the more I think about other words the more I believe that they shouldn’t exist at all.
Apologies, but I will think on this more. I have little to add currently.
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Then let me fill in this void, before the fourth starts ranting and raving about cuteness without restraint… Not that I disliked it. I actually found it quite stimulating. My head, even now, is pounding from just trying to imagine what I would consider to be… “cute”.
But there’s a thought that should be brought to the forefront of this conversation. We’ve all been throwing about ideas on WHAT cute is, or how it could be a danger or otherwise another reminder of our own cursed existence or what have you… and I can’t disagree with all of those thoughts, but… more than what it is…
Is cute tasty?
If it’s tasty, then it doesn’t matter what it is. We can just eat it, right?
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Before you think too much, think about the opposite. What if we’re tasty to cute? You already know that it’s well adhered to minds. And minds aren’t even real. Nothing is real, and all that. Yadda yadda yadda… whatever. You know I don’t like to talk too long.
Anyways, you knowing might be all the proof you need to know that even if we aren’t tasty, we’re really cozy for it. We’re all good at being homes for it and other disturbances.
Further than that, what about us? We’re really nothing, and yet…
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Wait, I don’t understand.
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Of course you don’t! None of that made any sense at all!!!!!
Not even the second participant understood what they themselves said!!!
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That’s not true. They’ve demonstrated a clear understanding of what they’ve been laying out for us. You don’t have to be completely sold on the idea to see the merits in it.
You didn’t die. You’re still alive. So, you are in no position to say that they don’t know what they’re talking about. Clearly, you don’t understand, and so you should be silent and—
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I don’t think so, you complete idiot. If I stop talking then there won’t be any sense left in this talk, and everyone watching you fools will have their minds turn into piles of jelly.
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You have the most peculiar definition of sense, and of the word “cute” as well. But before your tangent goes on too long, let me say this to participant three:
While the word cute might represent something that we can ultimately consume, and in which case our fears will be alleviated by way of eating… is it not the case that this non-sensical, non-word, whatever-happens-to-be-the-word-that-calls-itself is already inside of us?
We are already infected with it. Wouldn’t the better question then be, “Are we truly that tasty? Or are we eating ourselves?”
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Ah, I see… That’s a deep insight into the truth of this word. I’m grateful for your explanation. I think I’m starting to understand it more.
Although, I am a bit saddened that my idea of what the word represented seems to be a waste of thought.
For example, I was really considering this to be what it was:
C: Charming
All U: ring
T: asty
Fang E: D
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Well, that might not be the complete picture of what cute is, but I wouldn’t discard the thought for its lack of wholly explaining what cute really is.
At least, that’s what I think now. It would be best to throw it all away, but I believe that the second participant has truly changed my mind on this matter.
I am unsure of how to truly implement what I initially thought was the correct course of action. There’s nothing to be done. But it does little to explain what is so very wrong with our fourth participant.
Could you attempt to prove your idea once more? I want another look at how your mind works.
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Participant four, you have been addressed directly, and as such I will lift the temporary restrictions that were placed upon you recently due to your excessive, and violent, outbursts.
I do not wish to dispose of you publicly and force such a terrible sight upon our lovely guests, so please, tone down your hate. I have also taken away your weapons that you had thought were hidden.
(I liked the heft of the blade, I won’t lie. You may pick up the weapons at the end of this talk, if you are not disposed of by then.)
You may now speak.
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Cute… it’s not nothing. It isn’t something that you have to be afraid of, something that needs to be detailed so thoroughly. Cute is something that you live. You have to be alive to feel it.
And that’s the main thing. I don’t think any of you are alive. Now, don’t take it the wrong way, I’m not trying to get another restriction or anything… But, you just feel it, right?
Look at the comments we’re getting, there are some that agree with me. Now, where are they? Why are they so sparse? I don’t know.
But what I do know is that cute isn’t something that exists to reaffirm something about nothing, it’s just something that hasn’t always been there but is here now, at least for some period of time, like us, so I suppose that you’re… sort of right… with your babbling about how it’s one and the same.
Sort of. It’s hard to wrap my mind around all that was said, and in such odd ways of saying it as well…
But, I think, that’s what you were getting at.
But maybe not. Anyway, the word cute isn’t just a word. It’s something that you’ll feel from within. Do you not understand this?
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I can’t say that I do. But let me put it this way…