Part 10 of some new science fiction. If you're just tuning in, consider starting with part 1. The image above was created with stable diffusion.
James lounged around the resort for a few more days, then returned home. As soon as he got through the door, he was presented with a barrage of tiny decisions that Yarn expected him to make instantaneously. "Enough!" said James several choices in. "Let me relax for one minute."
Yarn looked stern and set a timer. James laughed. "Do I have anything big coming up?" he asked.
"Not until tomorrow," said Yarn. "Remember? Suit's coming by?"
James remembered only vaguely. "Right," he said. "For the ... ?"
"The spy cam," said Yarn. "The tiny drone they want to follow you around with. You said you'd hear him out."
"I'll be present," said James. "But right now, I'm trying to remember something a mechanical dragon said to me. Something important."
"Please, keep talking about this unrelated matter," said Yarn. "I love it when you get distracted."
"An infinite barcode!" exclaimed James. "It's like, real life is an infinite bar code and my whole experience, everything I perceive, is just one bar on the barcode."
"A dragon told you that?" asked Yarn.
"Yeah, I was pretty out of it," admitted James. "But I'm keeping the insight. I feel like it's helping me think about something kind of scary."
"Should I even ask?" asked Yarn.
"It's about the Visitors," said James. "About what they are. Up north, I got a chance to really consider everything I know about them. I think everyone's got them all wrong."
"That sounds like a Suit conversation," said Yarn. "Unless you think Lisa would want to put it in her book."
"I don't know," said James. "I talked my babysitter's ear off about it, so the government is aware. But like, I'm questioning my entire understanding of reality here."
"Let me guess, you stopped drinking on your retreat?" asked Yarn.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" asked James.
"Maybe give it a minute before you start trying to understand the nature of reality," said Yarn.
"Fair enough," conceded James. "But I at least want to tell you what I think. I don't think the Visitors are animals from a distant planet at all. Everything about them is way weirder than that. Their tech doesn't even make sense. It's not just more advanced than what we have. It's something else entirely."
"So what is it?" asked Yarn.
"This is going to sound crazy, but I think we're sort of in the matrix, while they mostly exist outside of the program," said James.
Yarn shrugged.
"It's crazy, but it's the only thing that makes sense," said James.
"Lots of people think we're living in a simulation," said Yarn. "If you're going to talk about that publicly, we should probably run it by Jen."
"Which one is that, again?" asked James.
"Jen is your image manager," said Yarn. "She can work with anything. Even you going to a resort, tripping out, giving up alcohol, and deciding that we all live in a computer program. But we have to keep her in the loop, so she can spin the development appropriately."
"That's cool," said James. "Yeah, I guess let her know."
When Suit arrived the next day, James was ready to talk drones. But Suit had other matters he wanted to discuss. "I understand you recently had a most interesting conversation with Dr Wicker about Artifact technology," he said as he sat down on James' couch. "You were in an altered state, so you might not remember."
"I remember some," said James. "What do you want to know?"
"I have several questions," said Suit. "The most important one is whether the Visitors told you details about their technology that you've withheld from us."
"Not exactly," said James. "But when I was on mescaline, I remembered little things that I'd forgotten. Things that suggested that the Visitors see our world as trivially easy to modify, even on a fundamental level."
"We're aware of your confidence in their abilities," said Suit. "But is there more you can tell us about their technologies?"
"Just that I'm starting to think that their tech sidesteps physics completely in some way," said James. "Like, the world is made of code and their tech can modify this code. But of course code is only an analogy."
"I see," said Suit. "Is it possible they sent this idea into your mind in the drug you made with your Servant?"
"I doubt it," said James. "The mescaline was totally normal. But hey, that gives me an idea. What if I were to start materializing free prescription drugs for people? I've been looking for some good to do, and free medicine seems like it could really help people."
"Nothing your Servant materializes would be considered safe for public consumption by the government," said Suit.
"You're kind of a buzzkill," said James. "It's a good idea."
"Have you seen any evidence that your Servant or other Artifacts have, to put it bluntly, minds of their own?" asked Suit.
"Not really," said James.
"Do you feel like they might be influencing you or your behavior in any way?" asked Suit.
"Uhh, no," said James. "Why?"
"Something's happening in North Korea, near Object N," said Suit. "Their military is being attacked from within. Their government is crumbling. Object N's abductee is presumed responsible, but we don't have even basic information about that person. Are they acting on their own, or are the Visitors calling the shots?"
"My guess is that the Visitors don't care one way or another what happens," said James. "They just like drama, whatever form it takes."
"Do you have any way to reach Object N's abductee?" asked Suit. "Any way at all? Toppling a government without any plan for transitional governance is problematic. We'd like to help."
"Sorry," said James. "I mean, if you don't even know the person's gender, how would I even know who I'm looking for?"
"Understood," said Suit. "Which brings us to another pressing concern. If one of the other abductees decides to attack US interests, will you commit to defending us?"
"I mean, probably," said James. "You think something like that's going to happen?"
"Let's hope not," said Suit. "But if you were to publicly sign a pledge of protection, it would put many minds at ease."
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