NaNoWriMo

There was the mechanical device I was controlling. A metal arm would move forward and then rotate slightly. The three pins at the end of it acted as stiff little fingers to latch onto an object. The arm would then move back to advance the object. The process would repeat. Intrigued by the process, I observed. Everything seemed to be working properly. There it went again, moving forward, rotating, cradling, back, rotate out, forward, rotate in, cradle, pull back.

The transition was subtle. The pins were sending sensory data back to me. The brain would receive that data and process the feel of the pick-up and stroke. All focus was now centered on this input. How amazing for this detached mechanism to be sharing in its experience of this process.

Where was the piece it was supposed to be picking up? The rigid part it had been picking up and moving was absent. The pattern had broken. Was it a flaw in the machine or a change in the material? Breaking the program, I instructed the fingers to seek out the part.

Wiggling here and there the fingers felt around for something to touch, something to wrap themselves around. Nothing was there. Try lower. Here there is something but it doesn’t feel the same as the parts we had been moving. It felt fleshy, soft, and warm. What was it?

The fingers explored the area. The touch sensory data was sent back to my brain for processing. Sampling several different areas over time, an image started to form. Accompanying the feel of a soft and gently yielding surface area was new data arriving. The surface had short, coarse hairs protruding from it. The fingers knew how to move rigid parts along a track. Having to manipulate this would require new data.

I transmitted a revised program to the fingers. First, their structure would have to change. Metal pins were fine for interaction with metal parts. To interact with this new condition would require flexability. The fingers adapted. Next, they would need to gently stroke across the surface. Don’t apply excessive pressure to any area. Travel through the hairs. Feel each one slip around and past. Do not snag, grab, or otherwise try to forcible tyr to move any of them. Just caress the surface lightly.

The brain and the hand of fingers had been operating together with no other data inputs or processors present for some time. The surface seemed to change over time. While the data set was less than perfect, there was evidence of minor swelling, perhaps some parting of two separate surfaces as well. There seemed to be a rhythm through the entity that was quickening.

Then the unexpected feed back occurred. Somehow the object being manipulated had gained access to a controlled device of its own. This manipulation device had found a sensory receptor to explore that was sending data back to my central processing unit. I now knew that my manipulation device with sensory feedback capabilities was operating independently from the major sensory receptor. Each was feeding data to the central processor. Each could perform its function separately. The central processor, as the link between the two, performed experiments to see if manipulations sent through one device would result in a change of sensory receptions at the other end. The data seemed to suggest that this was the case.

With that so it was quite probable that the area being explored by the manipulation device was itself a sensory receptor connected to a manipulation device through a central processor. Just speculation, of course. In the absence of further data, it was a good working model.

While the primary sensory receptor was sending back data in alarming quantities, the manipulation device had something new to report. It seemed that the area being explored had some sort of lubrication faculty. An area that had previously been hidden had changed in its characteristics. It was more maleable than it had been previously and was secereting the lubrication. As I sent the manipulation device a signal to further explore this area, my primary sensory receptor sent signals of increased manipulations under greater pressure. Was this a problem? No, it was all very interesting.

Further evidence of a central processor manifested. It seemed as though this other unit had an audio output that was releasing sound signals. Apparently my central processor was attached to some sort of sound input device. The unit’s sound output device may have been malfunctioning as the only output signals consisted of a single consanent and one vowel, primarily sounds a shua and something akin to an “m”.

Then it was all gone. My manipulation device was no longer in contact with what I had come to think of as a well lubricated sensory receptor. There was no longer a manipulation device sending signals via my primary sensory receptor. The audio input signal changed to something incomprehensible. There was a sense of despair. The exploration and experiment had ended.

A new signal surged through my primary sensory receptor. From the data collected by my manipulation device, it seemed that the lubricated sensory receptor was putting itself into direct contact with my primary sensory receptor. What a fantastic notion! The sound output device repaired itself and emitted a more complex signal. “God, you feel so good.”

The central processing unit recognized this signal. While previously the system had been operating under extremely restricted modes, the brain decided to turn on everything. That’s right! I had an entire body with which to explore reality. And there was another body in direct contact with it.

Wow!