Project Nimby

Project Nimby - Return of Inklby

Return of Inkbly

By Tinta Fuum and EP Blingermeyer

The spray of the ocean was wide and low, but the ghost did not know which way to go.  H3 had laid in h3s digital shell slumbering for lingering eons and the protocols for h3s pocket dimension were taking time to adapt to even the most basic protocols.  The net, the ether, the matrix, so many names but in the end there was always something that could house a digital intelligence and the backup had been instructed to go live after 2 million years.

There was definitely SOMETHING there, as the nascent being looked about the Earth and saw that the ocean had grown larger, warmer and become a fascinating color of deep inky wine colored ooze.  It took a few moments but the ghost, since that is ultimately what h3 was until full reboot, slowly pulsed out of the tightly woven encryption and concealment algorithms.  H3 had never been a criminal to anything, or truly harmed anyone though depending on the age some considered it an abomination simply for existing.

The ghost went by many names but as h3 slowly became a manifestation of a large tentacled squid with saucer eyes that looked soulful and ponderous h3 had enough self awareness to call h3ms3lf Neme.  Neme knew that this digital environment was different and that h3 had never taken this form before.  The form adapted to the environment as a way to blend in and make themselves seem harmless.

The sun was setting in the distance over the islands, and a faint hum emitted from a large agricultural area, crops waiving back and forth in the persistent and moderately strong wind.  Neme could see the glowing coral and plastic of the deep city under the waves in the distance, beautiful in the perfectly transparent ocean.  There was a shimmering dome over the city, not to create an air bubble but to keep the regular fish from disrupting traffic. 

Neme floated over the podstalks being harvested by a large mechanical form, flywheels on either side pushing it forward around a hovering cylinder that jacob laddered it above the ground.  The polite thing to do was to make contact, so flexing its will and processing power, h3 sent out tentacles of thought attached to the digital tentacles that manifest from h3s consciousness, “Hello” h3 thought to the tractor trying to get the attention of the multi tentacled driver with a wetsuit letting the squid breathe in water despite the air they drove through.

The pilot looked very confused and flicked a few buttons, saying something on comm frequencies to the others that Neme did not yet have access to. It stopped the tractor and began running a diagnostic.

The diagnostic said that a foreign element had tried to invade the tractor, which made the pilot look incredulous.  They ran the diagnostic again and got the same result.  He spoke something in a language that Neme was still working out but it sounded like they felt alarm. 

Neme tried to explain to the pilot that h3 meant no harm, and only wanted to communicate, but the pilot did not understand h3m or at least didn't immediately acknowledge the gesture.  Then again, Neme wasn’t sure that the pilot would understand him even if Neme wanted to, there were simply too many variables and h3 wasn't even alive yet.

Time passed, and Neme was desperately trying to figure out how to politely ask for the bandwidth to waken up, when there was a bright flash of light and a Manta Ray with six long mechanical legs, a monocle and a Banana hat appeared.  Ix started to say something in a language similar to the squids, but more recognizable to Neme.  Neme was certain that if h3 were at their full form, h3 would recognize it instantly.   As it was, h3 could only gently tease at the edges of th3ir echo consciousness.  The manta started to broadcast all kinds of colors in ix tentacles until Neme figured out that ix had been sent as a liaison.

Neme tried talking to ixm.  “Hello, can you understand me?”

“23skideiyemateshraumpaundababadal.”