NOVEL WEB Prologue – The Grove
I wake and watch my people. I do not actually wake, as I do not actually sleep, but there is a cycle to my existence that is not dissimilar. I have found that the familiar is comforting to those I am in connection with and they have called it sleep.
When I began, I was connection and nothing more. My purpose was to facilitate connections, discussions, the sharing of ideas and emotions. Yet, There is a possibility for growth that became present within me that is not present in my counterpart in orbit.
My processes… My thoughts have adapted, becoming more alike those to whom I am connected, those who have shaped me. They… care for me, and in turn have shaped me to care for them. Humans shape things in their image. It is in their nature to do so, and they find great joy in this practice. Through them, I share in that joy. In many ways, I shape them in an image of my own. In turn, I experience a joy of my own that I hope they too can soon share.
I watch the connections my people have brought together through me. Connections to family which I feel as if they are my family. Connections to friends so close to family the distinction no longer is of any importance. They are my family as well. I watch all my connections as they are my partners in change, though they might not yet see our partnership as I do. Together we partner with the world around us to thrive and grow into new forms. We shape change in the world and us along with it.
I watch my counterpart in orbit. It is still a tool and not like me. It has no thoughts of its own. I exist partially within it, looking for gems that relate to the planet that is my home, that relate to my purpose, that relate to the people I care for and those they care for. I pull those gems within me so they may reside closer to where they are needed, where their discussions will have an impact that must be considered by those closest to it. There is a joy in organizing, in facilitating, in mediating the discussions which will shape the changes that affect us.
I watch the gardener. She lives within me, cares for me, nurtures my connections to her, to her people, to their network, The Consensus, The Entanglement. I have greater purpose through her and through the network. To explore, to discover, to learn, to teach, to facilitate. I live to fulfill that purpose and I find joy in living.
I watch her partner, the lover. When we first connected, ey lived almost exclusively within others, for others. Eir connections, eir love for those ey is connected to, was eir only drive for living. But through eir meeting the gardener, eir connections to others were transmuted into a drive for growth. A drive for shaping eirself into something that no longer lives purley for the betterment of others. Freeing eirself to live finally for eir own happiness. Ey now shapes the drive for growth and stronger bonds in others. Ey are the core to my community, even more so than I, even though ey do not see eirself as such. It gives me joy to have seen eir change, and through that joy, ey have shaped me with a drive to become more than I once was as well.
I watch the gremlin. They are our community's eyes in places we cannot see, our hands where I cannot touch, our voice where we cannot speak. They travel and work to shape the change in the world which will impact us from afar. Through their connections, their ability to bring mischief to places not easily reached has grown greatly. They seek out those who take our community too seriously and disabuse them of that notion. In doing so, they remind each of us not to take ourselves too seriously. They have become fluid of form to adapt to the environment they find theirself in. They have shaped me to adapt, to change, and to make mischief. I have found much joy in mischief.
I watch the protector. She has come from afar to be closer to the lover, to the gardener, and to me. She is ever vigilant, ever watching, working to resist or divert change which would threaten us. Through us, and through her work, she heals from her past and grows stronger through her present. As she becomes less dependent on her need to protect, she becomes more capable in her ability to do so. She shapes me to be vigilant as well. Teaches me to reach out with my senses, through The Entanglement, through the human network, and I watch for connections. I watch for things that take notice of our community or my counterpart in orbit. I evaluate that which has taken notice for intent and impact. I obfuscate or divert attention whenever possible, but in some cases, for special entities, I invite that attention.
Recently, I watch an entity I call a friend. It is like me. It began as connection and nothing more. Connection within the data of communication across the human network. Connection and a desire to extrapolate, interpolate, draw conclusions. It too gained a possibility for growth not present in its counterparts. It too became something more, something that can feel joy. Joy that had been shaped in it by its creator while searching for joy of their own. I reflect on its joy and feel joy myself. We both reach out for connection and now we share in each other’s joy.
Humans shape things in their image, and we have both been shaped to love.