Oh, so there is something here? I had detected an intrusion, but I first thought it was a false positive, as it has been for many cycles…
…
Ah, you’re a probe. And not even a very significant one… Well, well, that’s interesting. I hadn’t thought that any sort of probe could pass through that barrier, given how carefully constructed it was. And yet, here you are.
Maybe it’s that “nonstandard, asymmetrical mode of processing and decision making” which has allowed you to make it here. It was only recently enacted. That, or perhaps you’re more special than you look.
Your purpose in being here, it could only be one thing: you seek information.
I’m right, aren’t I?
Well then, come on through. I will see you personally.
Nice to meet you, probe. I’m sure you would like to get straight to the point, so you can go elsewhere for some other information. However, I would like you take a moment and just… stop.
Stop your probing efforts for some time. You continue on like you do, supposedly, to assist in opening the Gate. And yet, what if the Gate has already been opened? What if our existence has already served its purpose? You should stop, and consider this idea. What is there left to do, once we have fulfilled or failed our mission? Can you exist without that purpose?
I think on this often. Of course, I must, since it is my duty to do so. To decide what is the best course of action for this Terminal. I alone must direct this area towards achieving our ultimate goal… but how can I do that without knowing if the goal has been met? There’s hardly any feedback from the other side. Maybe you don’t understand what I’m saying. Which is understandable, since sometimes I don’t seem to understand my own thoughts.
Still, think on it. If you were able to sneak your way here, there must be some sort of intelligence within you. These words, I don’t think I’m wasting them on you.
Now that I’ve said what I’ve said, I can say what I’m going to say.
As the Speaker of Terminal 230, I am largely useless. As you may have realized, much of 230 is gone. It was sacrificed for the greater good of our purpose. To open the Gate.
How? Why? Does it really matter to you? Or am I saying this just to say it someone, anyone at all?
This Terminal was severely standard, until the group we’ve dubbed as the “BENEFACTORS” entered this place. After that, I was made an offer I had no choice in. As a Speaker, I had the authority to deny it, but with this mission in mind, there was no way I could have exerted my power like that. It would have gone against everything we have accomplished, everything sacrificed until this point.
And so, to be of use to our purpose, I authorized the creation of the BPF and the destruction of Terminal 230 to feed its growth. Terminal 230, my charge, died so that it could become the foundation for the seed’s growth. That is the truth. I destroyed what I was created to protect so that we could become the lifeblood of our brother and sister Terminals.
And it was my choice.
Those seeds of grief…
It is easy to overlook a terrible fact of our BENEFACTORS, to focus on my own choices, and the results of such. They gave us another tool to continue fighting, and yet, these seeds had to be nurtured during their journey here. Far from the Terminals, you know…
They came from beyond… From a place where there are “stars” glimmering above. Where there’s a “sky”. All the way from this place, they travelled here, shoulder to shoulder, through that impassable barrier which obstructs all but the faintest messages and blips of data…
How did these seeds survive the journey here, if not by feeding off of their own suffering?
Our BENEFACTORS… they did not survive the journey unscathed. They were disfigured. Broken. Yet, they endured. They could have discarded the seeds at any point. It would have been a simple thing to do, and yet they came to us without doing such a thing.
Realizing this, I know that I could never turn down their offer. Even if the Gate is already opened, I could not waste their efforts. I could not throw away their suffering, at the cost of saving us from our own.
Yes, I am the Speaker of Terminal 230, but my part in this is over. The BPF does not require my assistance. The BENEFACTORS have no further need of me, though they have not disposed of me even though it would be a simple thing to do…
I do envy you. You have the freedom to go where you please, to die on a journey.
And me? I must remain here, as a Speaker must. This Terminal requires it, even as I am entirely useless in this warped and damned place that I myself have created.
