Microstory 819: Self-Help

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I’ve worked at Area W for seven years, and for the most part, it’s been the most rewarding experience in my life. I can’t tell you how honored I was to be chosen to help people feel completely safe in their new homes, knowing that it’s nearly impossible for the persons they’re running from to find them. I see a lot of people become cynical about the whole situation. None of us is even from this universe, so they don’t seem to have any vested interest in what happens here, but I never had that problem. These are still people, and though I was not born here, I consider it my home. I’m told it’s one of the few universes that maintain a matrix of stable alternate realities. All I know is that mine certainly doesn’t. It’s the most boring place in the multiverse, so I’m happier here than I could have ever been back home. Even now. Still, I always felt like we could be doing more to help people. Yes, it’s great we can transport people to realities where their tormentors don’t even exist, but that’s not the only viable application of this technology. The possibilities are literally endless. It was tough feeling like the only one who could see that. Two years ago, I became fully qualified to be the primary operator of a portal. There were still a few people around me, though, so I wasn’t working completely autonomously. Some types of jobs require no secondary operator, or auxiliary crew, as you’ve learned. Yet, you’ll have to prove yourself worthy of such trust, even after achieving primary status. I breached that trust with my actions, and I regret it. I just thought I could use them as proof that my ideas for an expansion in our scope was a viable option.

My last job was pretty simple. There was a chance the defendant’s sister would seek to eliminate the witness in his trial, even though the trial was already over, and it wouldn’t do her brother any good. The system erred on the side of caution, and assigned the witness to another reality for a month, just in case the sister developed any bad ideas. During my initial security sweep of the egress side of the portal, I discovered that one of the portal’s guards was an alternate version of a guard in the reality the witness was coming from. Though most of the people who work at Area W are from different universes entirely, like I’ve said—which means there’s no possibility of quantum duplication—this is not true for portal guards, or normal people, for that matter. Guards often share job roles as their alternates, which makes sense, if you think about it. If one version of an individual grew up wanting to work security, or found themselves in such a position, it’s reasonable to assume at least some of their alternates ended up in similar situations. I decided to use these two alternates as guinea pigs in my experiment. Not knowing much about them, I held the portal open for an extended period of time, and introduced them to each other. It was my hope that they would speak with each other, and discuss their feelings. I figured talking to someone who knows how you feel better than anyone else ever could might be rather cathartic; perhaps even enlightening. I was so wrong. While I do still work at Area W, I no longer hold the prestige—or pay—that I did before I broke the rules. Now, instead of operating portals, I have to talk to recruits like you, to warn them what can happen when you don’t follow protocol. Don’t end up like me.

Microstory 689: Recognition of the Resurrection

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The new force of Faith could not have come at a more opportune time. A special subsection of the verifiers were tasked with determining whether the resurrected Sacred Savior was truly what he was purported to be. They have been working on this ever since he first returned. They held discussions—some private, some with audiences. They consulted with scientists and other experts. They referred back to the Book of Light, Sotiren Zahir’s personal memoirs, and other related literature, like the Book of Ivanka. They interviewed the resurrected one several times, and monitored how he behaved under uncontrolled conditions. Though they kept the details secret, they did recently reveal to the public that they were only marginally closer to an answer than they were when they first began. A few of today’s recent events started turning the tables on their progress, however. Firstly, we learned that the resurrected one traveled from a planet called Shalda, to a planet called Mubhir, during the darkness. The star that Shalda orbits was the first to be cleansed of the quantum darkness, and Mubhir’s was the last. Though we still have no real idea how it is that the darkness was abated, we take this as a divine signal that we should fully trust him. While the Ring of Law seems generally incapable of verifying taikon which have already been accepted as canon, it tested positive upon exposure to the resurrected. This seems like pretty conclusive evidence that we have not somehow been tricked by the Darkness, or some other opposing force. Furthermore, the special council of verifiers sort of laid out a tentative time limit for themselves, expecting to have an answer by this very day. It would seem like nothing could stop the resurrected from being officially recognized as the true Sacred Savior, but it was the Book of Marsali that really sold it to the verifiers, the Highlighters, the Lucidares, and common Lightseers across the galaxy. Marsali reminded us that faith is still faith, and that no amount of proof is strong enough to tear it down. Though the Book of Light warns us of trusting false idols, we must also remember the guidance of the Light of Truth. We must rely on the belief that it will protect us against evil. So this is what we have done. The verifiers released a statement today, confirming that the man we thought to be the Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir, was exactly what he appears to be: our hope.

Microstory 688: Force of Faith

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While the quantum darkness was a perilous and depressing time for Lightseers, we returned from it stronger than ever before. We saw an uptick in conversions, of course, as people now had definitive proof of the Light’s power. There were changes for preexisting Lightseers, though. After careful study, experts now strongly believe this to be a attributed to a nonmaterial, but measureable, force. As vague as it may sound, we call it the Force of Faith, and it is sort of a cousin of the Light of Truth. It cannot be seen, as the Light can, but it is just as divine. While the quantum darkness can permeate vast distances for insidious and malevolent purposes, the Force of Faith does so to strengthen belief. While probably nothing is capable of precluding crises of faith altogether, this new force is a mighty enemy against it; a ward, a wall, a shield. Scientists are still trying to understand and codify this new physical phenomenon, and are unsure why it has not been detected before. The obvious answer is that it did not exist before; that it was somehow created out of necessity, and is responsible for the salvation from the darkness that preceded it. The truth is that we still do not know, but that’s the point of faith, isn’t it? If we knew things to be true with undeniable evidence, then it wouldn’t be faith at all; it would just be a standard fact. Perhaps religion thrives in the face of adversity, and requires the opposition of those who do not believe in it. If everyone believed, no one would be special, and the Light wouldn’t matter so much anymore. Perhaps. Whatever the truth, we believe in this, never more staunchly than now.

Microstory 395: Self-actualization

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Enthusiasm

No one has come up to me and asked what self-actualization is, but I’m going to tell you anyway. Rather, I’m going to do my best at interpreting this Wikipedia article on the subject I have pulled up here in this other tab. It would seem that self-actualization, which is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is less a goal that it is a state. Self-actualization is the culmination of everything good that makes you who you are. To reach this state, you have to understand what kind of person you are, and how others see you. You have to know what you like, and what you don’t like, and how you should change or adapt. You have to let go of your hangups and biases and presumptions and hatred and pessimism and selfishness and greed and, most importantly, your ego. You have to be comfortable with where you are in life, you have to care for others, you have to be honest and reliable, and you have to always give it your best effort. You have to be clear, accepting, understanding, loving, loyal, brave, and compassionate. You have to be self-reliant but helpful to others, intelligent but respectful, thoughtful but spontaneous, prepared by flexible, confident but interested. You have to have a sense of wonder. You have to be able to accept that not everything is in your control, and that not everything will go according to plan. You have to be good. It’s important to recognize that self-actualization is not an end. When you reach enlightenment, and ascend to a higher plane of existence, that’s your end...that is, assuming your spiritual beliefs do not preclude such a thing. It’s very possible to reach a state of self-actualization, but then drop from it, whether by your own hand, or unavoidable complications. This is, not completely, but mostly, another way of describing life itself, except that it must be morally good. You’re always going to have to work at life, and it will always disappoint you. Some psychologists even say that we reach certain peaks of self-actualization all the time. It’s all just a crazy mix of circumstance (read: luck), effort, attitude, introspection, and critical observation. There’s a difference between being self-actualized, and just operating on the notion that you’re pretty swell. This step is not the last. It’s more of a beginning.

Transhumanism I