Subtl3_1s_Pr1m3r.pdf

Grace
Grace sat in her usual pose on the bed, legs crossed underneath her in ways that couldn't possibly be comfortable, but manage to be. A laptop was set up in her lap, but she wouldn't notice the heat being generated by it until it burned. She was in the zone. Dead to the world, dead to hunger, or sleep, or other petty concerns.

The apartment itself was small, much like a dorm room really. She chose the cheapest thing they had to avoid having to room with someone. Her first roommate in college turned her off to that prospect forever, with the other girl's insistence on playing children's music, leaving the room, and having screaming fits when her stuff (volume control) was touched.

Some people can handle communing with others, some can't.

The room was spartan, with tile floors, white bare walls, and no expense went in to its maintenance. However the tech present was all about as top of the line as you can get. Priorities, right? On her screen was the non-stereotypical white with black lettering, symbols arrayed in varying colors. This was no fiction-writing session, this was code.

Shitty code, but whatever. It's a learning process.

Gadfly83
[Shouldersurf (Corr 2 + Mind 2), diff 5 -1 for specialty focus (because I can't remember any other modifiers) extended roll]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (7, 8) ( success x 2 )

Gadfly83
[Roll #2]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (4, 9) ( success x 2 )

Gadfly83
Don't you just hate when you're right in that zone and some doofus comes and ruins your flow.  So hard to attain and so easy to break out of.  Perhaps that's why the first message that pops up on her messenger is an apology.

Gadfly83 says: I'm so so so so sorry to bother you like this.  I'm also so sorry i haven't been in touch.  Had to help a friend with some...sensitive stuff.

There's a barely noticeable pause.  The bottom of the screen indicates that the user on the other end was typing something.  And then...

Gadfly83 says:  Umm...do you remember me, by the way?  We met at your reading the other way.  I'm the uh...the weird guy.  Its okay, I'm weird.  I know.  I get it.

Grace
The IM came as a bit of an unexpected surprise, as was the messenger. The flow, once broken, unleashed the body's wants again, and she had to stretch and move the laptop because it was quite unbearably hot.

Chimeric1 says: Oh, hey, I do remember you! Don't worry about keeping in touch, I did the same thing. I did say I would contact you, but, it was a weird day. To be honest, I'd forgotten until now. I feel bad.

Chimeric1 says: And I know what it's like being strange, I'm not exactly normal myself. No worries there.

Gadfly83
Gadfly83 says:  That's modesty.  Compared to the rest of folks out there you're pretty nor--

Gadfly83 says: Um...this might sound weird but what are you doing right now?

Grace
A thrill of fear went through her, her hands pausing at the keys. Well, that's awfully direct. What to say? The truth, and pass it off as a joke? She remembered how she'd felt at first -- crazy. Afraid others would find her so.

Chimeric1 says: I'm writing something. And no spoilers!

Technically true...

Gadfly83
Hesitation in the digital age is quite a thing.  The little icon on the bottom of his messenger screen scribbles away as he types a message, then the pencil flips as the message is erased.  Then he scribbles.  Then he erases.  Then...

Gadfly83 says:  I gotta tell you, the story that you read really struck a chord with me.  And a few of my friends too.  Turing is like a hero to us.  He's our...I guess he'd be our Paul Revere.  His legacy is even greater than people know.

Grace
Chimeric1 says: He's like a hero to me too. Should be everyone's. It's why I wrote what I did, when I did. I managed to get it finished just in time for the anniversary, so people wouldn't look at that Turing Machine Google doodle and think that's the end of the story. I hear they're getting around to pardoning him now. It's only been what, 60 years?

Gadfly83
Gadfly83 says: Yeah, plus they won the war in the end.  At least that's what the vet-vets say.

Gadfly83 says: Oh, uh.  Sorry about that.  Getting ahead of myself.  Anyway, if you think about it Turing's stored program machine was the precursor to everything from the defrost setting on microwaves to the Windows operating system.  Difference was there were only a few folks there that could really help him.  I hear there's a surviving version of his machine out there somewhere.  As in one not in a museum.  And he let the schematics slip after everything was settle with the Germans.

Gadfly83 says:  See, Turing knew that this technology was the next step in expanding human capacity.  And just like we banded together in cities to achieve amazing feats of engineering, the technology was best suited for community development.  The information had to be free, see?

Grace
Gadfly could communicate when not face-to-face, it was as she thought. With an interface, his words weren't a stuttering mess of obsessive fan. Good. This was better than expected.

Chimeric1 says: Wow, that's pretty interesting. Like he was trying to start the open source movement early. I wouldn't put it past the guy.

Gadfly83
Gadfly83:  Exactly.  That's really why he was targeted.  The powers at be wanted to hold on to all that knowledge, just like they hold on to the means of production, feeding the working class just enough to keep them ignorant and docile.  At least that's one of the stories going around.

Gadfly83:  Turing lives on in our hearts and our demand to set the information free and achieve the next step together.  But you get that.  I knew you would.

Gadfly83:  So...what is it you said you were working on?

Grace
Again with the question she couldn't answer. Okay, time to get tough-author. Is that a thing?

Chimeric1 says: I told you, no spoilers.

Gadfly83
There's that hesitation again, that writing and erasing and writing again.

Gadfly83 says:  ...Ok.  Fair enough.  Do you mind if I send you something?  Just a little reading material.  Maybe it'll help inspire you.

Grace
Chimeric1 says: Sure, sure. Although I can't take story suggestions. Publishers frown on that. Lawsuits. I've been thinking of going it alone, or just going free. It's not like I plan on making a living doing this. Then I wouldn't have to bother with publishers.

Chimeric1 says: But, you know, you are a good sport. I'll give you a... theme. You kind of picked up on it already though. What happens when you give people the means of production? I mean, we see this already with the digital -- people don't need recording studios or record deals, (or me a publisher really) they just go out and do. Well, what if it was like that with everything? Free energy, replicators... And the powers that be try to stop it.
You know they would.

Again, technically true. It is a work in progress along with all of the other works in progress. She's just not working on it now.

Gadfly83
Gadfly83 says:  I've heard this story.  Would love to hear your version though.  Do you believe in Clairvoyance?

Gadfly83 is trying to send you a file: Subtl3_1s_Pr1m3r.pdf  Warning!  Accepting files from strangers poses a threat to your security.  Would you still like to accept?

Gadfly83 says:  There's the file.  Its a short read.  A summary of a summary, really.

Grace
Chimeric1 says: Well, everyone's heard Star Trek. But I personally don't think it would work out like that. Utopia's not a place, it's a mindset. You have to get everyone to drop the bullshit, and that's the hard part.

It's a PDF, but of course it gets scanned for viral load almost by habit before she opens it...

Gadfly83
Gadfly83 says: Shangri-la was hidden in the mountains for a reason.  Oh!  And the whole idea of paradise in the afterlife...  I'll have to look into this more.

The file is clean and for the most part it seems to be pure text with a few diagrams of strange, complicated geometric shapes.  It seems to be information on a medieval Islamic sect called 'Ahl-I-Batin'.  The intro says the name translates roughly to 'The Subtle Ones'

Gadfly83 says:  I'll leave you to your work.  Might check in on you some time though.  Good talking to you.

Grace
Chimeric1 says: It was fun, I needed a break. Thanks.

The Subtle Ones? The geometries reminded her of multidimensional projections, bizarre topography... But medieval Arabs did this?

And thus, she began the primer.