Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 166 by Neil Clarke

Author:Neil Clarke [Clarke, Neil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: magazine, science fiction, Science Fiction - Short Stories, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction And Fantasy, science fiction magazine
Publisher: Wyrm Publishing
Published: 2020-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

III.

1.

There was an entire team standing by.

“Let’s go over this once again,” Aramīn said. “We need constant high throughput. I know you can induce it, but for the first time, I’m going to override some functions and induce it in you myself. Less room for error. The goal is not the pain. The pain is initially inevitable, but it is not desirable. I have given you the ability to manage it. Your mind will tune into the raw stream of the System and you are going to acclimatize. You are going to belong, to attach. You will need to learn how to process your new sensory environment, how to interact with it. Avoid your usual patterns. Try not to hold on to things, try not to treat them as conventional objects.”

Emien helped him out; she was standing by in case of an emergency that might need a māwalēni. “This cannot be explained; this can only be experienced,” she said.

“Yes, thank you,” Aramīn nodded. “Any last-minute advice you could offer?”

Emien shrugged. “It’s ineffable. I don’t think I can say anything about it. Try not to resist it; it resists back.”

Oyārun was strapped down, but she could breathe freely. This was the moment she had practiced for, all the time spent in that chamber with its walls drinking up the māwal, its floor drinking up her blood.

“All parameters within nominal range,” a tech said, looking up from her instrumentation. “Say the word and it’s a go.”

Aramīn stepped to her. “Show an Enāyūwē transform.” He paused, examining the image with the aid of his interface. “Mm. Looks neat.” He began to pace. “Let me look at the settings . . . I’d prefer a smooth buildup, avoid the exponential. B-W of around five.”

Nods around the room.

He turned to Oyārun. “We are ready whenever you are.”

“Go ahead,” she said, and Aramīn raised a hand—

The māwal rushed up her spine, faster, faster, forced by her systems controlled externally for the time being. She did not mind being taken over in this manner—one less thing to track, to manage, to maintain.

There was more and more. It seemed to her that the room had become transparent, and she could see through everything, even though her eyes were closed.

No pain so far. She was so used to this, her pain threshold was considerably elevated. Yet it did not come as a relief. She’d gotten used to pain to the point that it was comforting, and the lack nagged at her.

“Tell the System they can begin syncing,” Aramīn said outside. She was inside looking out, inside her own body, yet her mind was expanding, ballooning outward—

And it was there, the stream of the System, faster and more powerful than anything before, and she struggled not to get swept away.

The waves of power battered at her, and as she tried to pick out individual details, they rushed away from her. It was like sitting on the overhead train that passed just below the canopy and staring out—if she tried to

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