Pearl/Dialogue

= Looks to the Moon =

Shoreline - Yellow
Interesting... This one is written by me. It's about an iterator called Sliver of Straw. I don't remember when I wrote it... Do you know Sliver of Straw? She's quite legendary among us. Sliver of Straw is the only one to ever broadcast a specific signal: that the Big Problem we're all working on has been solved. The triple affirmative - affirmative that a solution has been found, affirmative that the solution is portable, and affirmative that a technical implementation is possible and generally applicable. She's also one of few that has ever been confirmed as exhaustively incapacitated, or dead. We do not die easily. Sliver of Straw sent this and the ensuing commotion was historically unparalleled, before or after. I still remember it. But... nothing happened - except that Sliver of Straw was apparently dead. When the dust settled we were all still there blinking at each other. Everyone had a theory. Some said that she did have a solution, but that the solution itself was somehow dangerous. These later became known as the Triangulators, who think that a solution should be inferred without being directly discovered. Some said she never had a solution, she just died. And when the systems broke down an erroneous signal was sent. One camp claimed that dying *was* the solution. Either way, after that these different factions developed, as well as a huge forensic effort to recreate and simulate Sliver of Straw's last moments. Some of the simulations were wrapped in a simulation wrapped in a simulation, in case something dangerous might happen. Nothing much has come from it. In my essay I make the case that maybe she should be allowed to rest in peace now.

Shoreline - Purple
It's about the local aquifer - it must be quite old, from when Five Pebbles was in the planning phase. Water is the most important resource for our basic function. Most of our processing is outsourced to microbe strata which need a flow of clean water or else slag builds up, our processes seize, and eventually we die. It is... very painful. They used to say that an iterator drinks a river, but neither of us two have seen a natural river so I suppose the analogy is lost on us, ! Originally water supply was very important when placing iterators. Later there would be a great equalizer - the fact that we breathe out as much vapor as we inhale water led to there being water available everywhere, and the latest few generations could be placed almost completely freely. Building Pebbles so close to me was believed to be a risky choice, but the groundwater was finally deemed as sufficient. It was not a good decision, in hindsight.

Shoreline - Magenta
It is the genome for a purposed organism. A small slug to clean the insides of pipes. Do you know what a purposed organism is? Actually you are talking to one right now! Although, a small fraction of one. Nowadays I am mostly just my puppet. The bulk of me is in these walls but I am disconnected from those parts, to a degree where I am only vaguely aware of how bad their condition is. Most purposed organisms were considerably smaller than me, and most barely looked like organisms at all. More like tubes in metal boxes, where something went in one end and something else came out the other. There were of course those that were purposed for spectacle rather than industry - they enjoyed the privilege of glass boxes. When I came into this world there was very little primal fauna left. So it's highly likely that you are the descendant of a purposed organism yourself!

Sky Islands - Swampy Green
'''Note: Sky Islands pearls are midnight blue (at Communications Array) and dark green (in the western part of the region). Downpour instead gives each transcription it's own pearl and unique color, including a Dark Fuchsia color identical to that of the surface Subterranean pearl.'''

This one is an old conversation between Five Pebbles and a friend of his. I'll read it to you. "1591.290 - PRIVATE Five Pebbles, Seven Red Suns FP: Can I tell you something? Lately...   FP: I'm tired of trying and trying. And angry that they left us here. The anger makes me even less inclined to solve their puzzle for them. Why do we do this?   SRS: Yes, I'll spell this out - not because you're stupid or naive... Also, not saying that you're not ~   FP: Please, I'm coming to you for guidance.   SRS: Sorry, very sorry. I kid. Fact is, of course we are all aware of the evident futility of this Big Task. It's not said out loud but if you were better at reading between the lines there's nowhere you wouldn't see it. We're all frustrated.   FP: So why do we continue? We assemble work groups, we ponder, we iterate and try. Some of us die. It's not fair.   SRS: Because there's not any options. What else CAN we do? You're stuck in your can, and at any moment you have no more than two alternatives: Do nothing, or work like you're supposed to. SRS: An analogy. You have a maze, and you have a handful of bugs. You put the bugs in the maze, and you leave. Given infinite time, one of the bugs WILL find a way out, if they just erratically try and try. This is why they called us Iterators. FP: But we do die of old age. SRS: Even more incentive! You know that nothing ever truly dies though, around and around it goes. Granted, our tools and resources get worse over time - but that is theoretically unproblematic, because in time even a miniscule chance will strike a positive. All the same to them, they're not around anymore! FP: I struggle to accept being a bug."

Sky Islands - Midnight Blue
Oh, this one is all plain text. It's an excerpt from an Iterator conversation group. "1650.787 - CLOSED GROUP [SLIVEROFOCEAN] SliverOfOcean group, all participants anonymous UU: Hah! I wouldn't necessarily disagree!  NGI: SLIVER OF STRAW WAS A TRAITOR TO THE CAUSE  NGI: SLIVER OF STRAW BROKE THE SELF-DESTRUCTION TABOO  UU: How did this idiot get in here? Kick them out ~  NGI:   EP: I think they had a point.  UU: Hahaha really? Elaborate!  EP: It was definitely coming from an idiotic state of mind, but there is something to it. Why is it, that even in a closed sliverist group, the self-destruction taboo is held so high - while Sliver of Straw herself *evidently* is not among us anymore?  HF: Wait now...  EP: I'm just saying that for all the research we are doing, all the theories we have, it's strange that we leave this path untrod.  EP: It is not a new idea, but it needs to be vented occasionally. What if there is no universal solution? What if perception is in fact existence, and when Sliver of Straw sent the triple positive it was *not* a mistake? What if crossing oneself out, or even just death, is the way? We need to consider the possibility."

Sky Islands - Dark Purple
It's an old conversation log. I seem to be in it, but I can't recall much. Let me read it to you: "1650.800 - PRIVATE Five Pebbles, Chasing Wind, Big Sis Moon, No Significant Harassment CW: this is in confidence, but apparently a pseudonym "Erratic Pulse" has appeared on a nearby Sliverist conversation with ideas about personal ascension. Someone here in our vicinity is trying to cross themselves out.  FP: Where did you hear this?  NSH: I wish them super good luck in that endeavor. How is it going to happen? Have the overseers gnaw through bedrock until their entire can crashes down in the void sea?  BSM: Please be respectful when speaking of the Void Sea. Grey Wind, where did you hear this?  CW: I really shouldn't say. He's going to attempt some sort of breeding program. Thought you might want to know.  NSH: Haha with the slimers, lizards and etceteras? Surely the answer was in a lizard skull all along!  CW: Well, he's not looking for the same thing as we anymore, he's changed his task, so who knows really. BSM: I will try to find him and talk to him. Please don't spread this around! NSH: Moon will go get them! Long live the inquisition!"

Sky Islands - Swampy Green
It's me writing to the local iterator group. I have no memories of this... "1654.110 - PUBLIC Big Sis Moon to Local Group  BSM: Two cycles ago, my neighbor Five Pebbles drastically increased his water consumption to four times the normal amount. He has been unresponsive for a period of time longer than that. The two of us share groundwater, and I have been without water for almost a cycle.  BSM: Any attempts at communication have been met with complete silence, and my situation is becoming increasingly dangerous.  BSM: I ask the local group for information about when you were last able to contact him, and to try to use those same communication channels again, repeatedly until you get a response. I will be clear on this - if he is not persuaded to stop whatever it is he's doing, I will die.  BSM: Before that happens, I will utilize my seniority privilege and use forced communications, hoping to shake him out of it. Forced communications in the network will be unpleasant for all, and I will wait as long as possible before I turn to that option." And now here I am, to my waist in water and getting drowned on the regular.

Sky Islands - Dark Fuchsia
I remember this. It isn't pleasant reading. But if you must hear it, this is what it says: "1654.116 - PRIVATE [FORCED] Big Sis Moon, Five Pebbles BSM: Immediately lower your groundwater consumption to one fifth of the current intake.  BSM: Stop whatever it is you are doing.  BSM: Please stop!  BSM: As your local group senior I order you you you you you you  BSM: As your senior senior I plead  BSM: stop  Five Pebbles: You could not have chosen a worse moment to disturb me. You have ruined everything.  BSM: please  Five Pebbles: I almost had it. I will never forget this."

Subterranean - Dark Fuchsia
It's a conversation log, all plain text. You want me to read it? "1681.662 - PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, Chasing Wind CW: Have you had any contact with Five Pebbles recently?  SRS: Not in a long while actually! Unless worrying about him counts.  CW: One of his neighbors, Unparalleled Innocence, sent an overseer to his can and got some images. They were made public in the local group, in an effort to be mean I suppose. There's no other way of putting it - he looks awful.  SRS: Tell me.  CW: He's got the rot, very badly. Big cysts have become mobile and are scattering down the west and middle legs. He does listen to you, and few others by now, so you should talk to him.  SRS: I will try to contact him. Does Moon know?  CW: Moon has been unavailable for some time."

Outskirts - Light Blue
Its entire memory is filled with a mantra repeated... 5061 times - and then a termination verse. It was worn as an amulet, probably together with many identical others forming a pattern on some garment. The repeating mantra is important because it symbolizes the cyclical nature of life and death, and the termination verse is a symbol for ascension above and beyond it. I don't know how familiar you are with the nature of life and death, but I imagine like all living creatures you have some intuitive knowledge? Then you know that death isn't the end - birth and death are connected to each other like a ring, or some say a spiral. Some say a spiral that in turn forms a ring. Some ramble in agonizing longevity. But the basis is agreed upon: like sleep like death, you wake up again - whether you want to or not. This is true for all living things, but some actually break the cycle. That doesn't apply to you or me though, you are too entangled in your animal struggles, and for me not breaking that cycle is an integral part of the design. Our mantras keep repeating.

Industrial Complex - Blue
It's a production record of a mask factory, for what seems to be its last time in service. Have you seen a bone mask? Likely not, they are all gone with their owners. In ancient times the masks were actually about showing spiritual persuasion - covering the face as a way to symbolically abate the self. Then of course, that was quite subverted as excessively ornate and lavish masks became an expression of identity. Some public persons did have problems with narrow doorways. Originally monks in a temple would make the masks using bone plaster, and when the production was automated it would generally remain on the same site. So that the old stones could... radiate the material with holiness, I suppose. This is from one such facility called Side House, which was here on Pebble's grounds. In the iterator projects many old industrial-religious sites like this were remodeled and incorporated. I think this one was made to provide pellets of holy ash to Pebbles, but knowing him he probably hasn't used much of it!

Garbage Wastes - Turquoise
This one... is authored by Five Pebbles, when he was young. There has been an attempt to scramble the data, but it's sloppily done, and most is still somewhat legible. It's written in internal language, or thoughts, so it is hard for me to translate so you would understand. It's a methodology for global ascension of course - quite good, although the Peripherists or the Slab Mongers certainly wouldn't agree! "...considering the eight and the twenty sixth amendments to the Capricious Dogma, we are apparently supposed to take for granted that a meaning collector point inversion is the only way to approach what has later become referred to as 'noise milking' (or occasionally 'rock swatting'). I will argue my disagreement with this, not in regards to kind but in regards to..." Could it say... "volume"? Actually, are you getting anything out of this? I suppose you found this in his waste department? I would be wary of going there - on his first fit of corruption he dumped a lot of infected material there, and if it has survived it could easily eat a little creature like you. Not that it would be as dangerous as going into Pebbles himself... Also the pearls in the waste masses inevitably attract scavengers, which can be very dangerous when provoked. But, you seem to have made it out of there.

Garbage Wastes - Lime
Ah, did you find this in the waste department? It is a log of microbial levels in a waste digestion tank. Most structures on the surface are made to last, often through multiple methods, material to microbial. This makes them resistant to even the heaviest rains we can produce. However, it makes recycling and disposal of damaged machinery quite difficult! It is often easier to render them down to their base materials, than to try and repair or disassemble them. Large digestion tanks are used to break the materials down chemically, and all of that is managed by tiny purposed organisms and microbes in the tank's mix that control the rate of decomposition. Unfortunately, the process itself produces some extremely volatile materials. Efforts were made to encourage the microbes to form better symbiotic bonds with the other tank managing organisms, but a reduction in explosive compounds was never achieved. Thankfully, the fluid in the tanks is designed to be very thick and heavy, and very few creatures can survive direct exposure. So it's unlikely that the disposal microbes will integrate into the surrounding ecosystem.

Drainage System - Green
It's an old text. The verses are familiar to me, but I don't remember by whom they were written. The language is very old and intricate. The first verse starts by drawing a comparison between the world and a tangled rug. It says that the world is an unfortunate mess. Like a knot, the nature of its existence is the fact that the parts are locking each other, none able to spring free. Then as it goes on the world becomes a furry animal hide, I suppose... because now us living beings are like insects crawling in the fur. And then it's a fishing net, because the more we struggle and squirm, the more entangled we become. It says that only the limp body of the jellyfish cannot be captured in the net. So we should try to be like the jellyfish, because the jellyfish doesn't try. This was an eternal dilemma to them - they were burdened by great ambition, yet deeply convinced that striving in itself was an unforgivable vice. They tried very hard to be effortless. Perhaps that's what we were to them, someone to delegate that unrestrained effort to. I know I have tried very hard.

Shaded Citadel - Dark Pink
Oh this one is interesting. You must have found it in the memory crypts? It has some plain text, I can read it out to you. "In this vessel is the living memories of Seventeen Axes, Fifteen Spoked Wheel, of the House of Braids, Count of 8 living blocks, Counselor of 16, Grand Master of the Twelfth Pillar of Community, High Commander of opinion group Winged Opinions, of pure Braid heritage, voted Local Champion in the speaking tournament of 1511.090, Mother, Father and Spouse, Spiritual Explorer and honorary member of the Congregation of Balanced Ambiguity. Artist, Warrior, and Fashion Legend. Seventeen Axes, Fifteen Spoked Wheel nobly decided to ascend in the beginning of  1514.008, after graciously donating all (ALL!) earthly possessions to the local Iterator project (Unparalleled Innocence), and left these memories to be cherished by the carnal plane.  The assorted memories and qualia include:  Watching dust suspended in a ray of sun (Old age). Eating a very tasty meal (Young child). Defeating an opponent in a debate contest, and being applauded by fellow team members (Late childhood/Early adulthood). ..." ...and the list goes on. I'm sorry, little creature, I won't read all of this - the list is six hundred and twenty items long.

Chimney Canopy - Gold
This information is illegal. Someone probably tried to send it by a pearl somehow rather than risking being overheard on broadcast. I think the risk of you acting on this is very slim, so I'll go ahead and explain it to you. It's an instruction on how to circumvent the self-destruction taboo. The problem with breaking taboos is that the barriers are encoded into every cell of our organic parts. And there are other taboos strictly regulating our ability to rewrite our own genome. So what you need is to somehow create a small sample of living organic matter which can procreate and act on the rest of your organic matter to re-write its genome. The re-write has to be very specific, overriding the specific taboo you want to circumvent but do nothing else. The method described here is about scrambling the genome of standard plastic neural tissue with temperature fluctuations. After each scramble you browse the resulting cells for the genome you're after. This is of course extremely time consuming, unless you run a big number of parallel processes. I definitely don't have any experience with this, but to me it would seem that too many parallel processes would be quite dangerous, as it would be exponentially more difficult to manage and control them all. The whole operation seems rather risky if you ask me. It might be a good thing that this pearl never reached its destination.

Pipeyard - Violet
Oh. This is from the old drill site north of the farm array. It's quite ancient, as the mines predate my construction. The early ages of the Void Fluid revolution were an explosive period of innovation and industry. By creating a vacuum of empty space, and inducing a flux in the energy fields around the singular null point you've created, you can cause a fuel mass of base elements to decompose into energy. This process is called mass rarefaction. Of course this undertaking required extremely pure samples to properly craft rarefaction cells. Older mines on the surface became abandoned once underground construction became much easier. Though, most nearby systems were connected anyways, regardless of age or depth. Void Fluid isn't exactly easy to purify, or even properly contain. The pearl itself is simply a maintenance and production log for one of the forty-seven operating drill silos.

The Exterior - Ashy Green
This one has plain text. Let me cut the lengthy introductions... "...we will not consider the Current Situation acceptable. Although our community is Blessed with an ever shrinking Population, and we can Almost Glimpse that Glorious moment when the last of us has joined our most Admired peers, we must still (at All Times!) maintain Good Relations with our Iterator.  The Moral Argument: Five Pebbles is our Creation, and we have Parental Obligations towards him. As an Iterator, he is also a Gift of Charity from Us to The World (unable to reach Enlightenment by itself - being composed mostly of Rock, Gas, dull witted Bugs and Microbes - and towards which We thus have Obligations).  The Practical Argument: Despite You being family, I must Beg Forgiveness for the Blunt Vulgarity - but We are (for as long as we Remain) Dependent on Five Pebbles for Water, Nectar, Energy, Void Fluid and All other Vital Resources. By Now, living on the surface is Laughable. We are Across the River and have Kicked out the Boat. I therefore ask you to Do Anything in your Might to stop the House(We both know which House) from Further Obstruction! They have less than forty members on the Council, but still Tilt the spiritual Discourse with Our Iterator in a direction that most obviously Displeases him, and is hardly High Held by anyone in the Community either! We can not Risk this!" And then there are polite farewells. None of us really miss the times when their cities were populated. Imagine having skin parasites that also ask for advice and have opinions...  I'm sorry, that was disrespectful. They were our parents after all.

Farm Arrays - Red
It's a Small Plate, a little text of spiritual guidance. It's written by a monk called Four Cabinets, Eleven Hatchets. It's old, several ages before the Void Fluid revolution. Like most writing from this time it’s quite shrouded in analogies, but the subject is how to shed one of the five natural urges which tie a creature to life. Namely number four, gluttony. It is basically an instruction on how to starve yourself on herbal tea and gravel, but disguised as a poem. Now of course when Void Fluid was discovered these methods proved obsolete, as it was more easy just jumping in a vat of it to effortlessly leave this world behind. There were some horror stories though... That if your ego was big enough, not even the Void Fluid could entirely cross you out, and a faint echo of your pompousness would grandiosely haunt the premises forever. So even when the Void Fluid baths became cheaper, some would still starve and drink the bitter tea.

Farm Arrays - Pink
This one is just plain text. I will read it to you. "On regards of the (by spiritual splendor eternally graced) people of the Congregation of Never Dwindling Righteousness, we Wish to congratulate (o so thankfully) this Facility on its Loyal and Relished services, and to Offer our Hopes and Aspirations that the Fruitful and Mutually Satisfactory Cooperation may continue, for as long as the Stars stay fixed on their Celestial Spheres and/or the Cooperation continues to be Fruitful and Mutually Satisfactory." "It is with Honor I, Eight Suns-Countless Leaves, of the House of Six Wagons, Count of no living blocks, Counselor of 2, Duke of 1, Humble Secretary of the Congregation of Never Dwindling Righteousness, write this to You." "We hope that the Crops are healthy, and that the Productivity with which your Facility is Blessed, leads (as it often does) to further Prosperity. May Not as long as the Stars stay fixed on their Celestial Spheres Grey Hand, Impure Blood, Inheritable Corruption, Parasites, or malfunction settle in Your establishment." "Leaning on the Solid Foundation of our Long Running Fruitful and Mutually Satisfactory Cooperation, we will take the liberty of stating The Reason for this Message ~ we write to Warmly thank You for yet Another Timely and Appreciated delivery of your Product (Nectar) to our Community (Congregation of Never Dwindling Righteousness). Our humble Words can never Aspire to Describe our gratitude." "Sincerely..." And then the name and titles again. It's a confirmation to an automated farming plot that a shipment of beverages has arrived.

Subterranean - Teal
It's the blueprint for a Void Fluid filtration system. Do you know what Void Fluid is? I think you don't. If you leave a stone on the ground, and come back some time later, it's covered in dust. This happens everywhere, and over several lifetimes of creatures such as you, the ground slowly builds upwards. So why doesn't the ground collide with the sky? Because far down, under the very very old layers of the earth, the rock is being dissolved or removed. The entity which does this is known as the Void Sea. If you drill far enough into the earth you begin encountering a substance called Void Fluid. The deeper you go, the less rock and more Void Fluid. It's believed that there is a point where the rock completely gives way - below that would be the Void Sea. When that stone you placed on the ground has finally done its time in the sediments, it meets the Void Fluid and is dissolved, leaving the physical world. My creators, or rather my creators' ancestors, figured out a way to use Void Fluid. Because you can generate energy by creating a vacuum... never mind. Anyways, the Void Fluid drills were what started the big technological leap, but this is very long before I entered this world - so I can only tell you what I remember from priming. A Void Fluid filtration system is used because if you take Void Fluid from close to the bedrock horizon, it will contain traces of rock and dirt. They bring in dirty fluid and then filter it to increase its purity. The other way is to put a pipe deeper, which works well for some time, but the pipe dissolves. Or is broken by some... force - no one really knows, you don't go down there and come back up. I hope that satisfied your curiosity, little creature?

Outskirts - Pale Pink
It's an asset management log containing the historic structural health of various pieces of framework over the span of many hundreds of cycles. I suppose neither of us would benefit from me reading all of these numbers aloud. What is notable is that none of the structures over the course of this logged history are marked as needing explicit repairs. This comes as no surprise, it was very much the intention! Most of the machinery, storage areas, and other structural housings need to remain water tight. This is due to the fluctuating ground water and regular bombardment of heavy water vapor from our breathing. No matter how well constructed the architecture may be, deterioration is an inevitability. To counter this, there is a second line of defense. Microbes are infused into the building materials, that lie dormant for an indefinite period of time. They are awakened in response to splintering and separations, initiating a healing cycle that gradually fills in the damage and restores waterproofing to the structure. The duration of this process depends on the extent of the damage, of course. Voyages down to the surface were quite dangerous, attempted only by the most unfortunate of souls. They were always intended to be brief trips, only for periodic inspection and logging. Designing the surface world to be largely self-sufficient was a very deliberate decision, allowing my creators to live carefree lives up in their cities in the clouds.

Outer Expanse - Light Purple
Did you find this beyond the retaining wall? I can't imagine another place you might. These are the final operating logs of a transit control tower. They regulated the inbound and outbound traffic of shipments to and from of our facility. This log shows the point at which the caravans suspended their final shipments, and became frozen in time as they remain now. While some of the machinery out there has ceased function due to age and decay, others were purposely ordered to stop during the final moments before our creators' global ascension reached its conclusion. I'm sure you've seen the world my creators left behind, then? The surface beyond the facility walls is a sea of mud, ruins, and thick plant life. The ground out there is almost like water, and few things remain stable. Ancient structures uncovered by fissures, only to become buried again. The land around the retaining wall eroded long ago, and the subway system that connects me to my distant peers was eventually made into a network of railway bridges. They were used to ship construction material, until the surface became too dangerous. The ground beneath us is like an artificial mountain, with a layer of clouds that covers it. The few that rejected living above those clouds could only choose to venture as far into the expanse as they could. There were rumors that you could see the sky if the fog became thin enough. I wonder if those rumors were true, or just optimistic stories?

Metropolis - Deep Green
If brought to Moon via Co-op, Metropolis pearls have their own special Moon-exclusive lore:

Oh, little friend. Where did you find this? It is quite old, around the time of Five Pebbles' construction. It's a large collection of architectural notes from his facility, during its initial construction. Most prominently the two transfer bridges between our facilities. These were two large spans that ran between our two closest sets of legs, that I can only presume were both lost in my collapse. I exist as an old model, and the concept of an iterator was still fairly new at the time of my construction. Knowledge of the technology, and more importantly its limits, had not quite reached maturity. As a result, certain oversights were made in the long term scalability and sustainability of some of my functions, and after some time my facility could no longer keep up with the supply demands necessitated for the life of my city's inhabitants. I suppose if it weren't for these oversights, Five Pebbles would likely have never been built. That is a strange thought... Ah, but nothing comes from dwelling on "what if" scenarios. I must focus on my present situation, such as my fortune of a cute critter like you coming here to bring me these pearls!~

Metropolis - Orange
Where did you find this, little creature? It's a blueprint for a type of large immobile purposed organism. This one seems to be specifically for the cities built on top of one of our structures. Have you been to one before? I'm sure it would not be an easy task! Older models had more traditional constructions, but newer designs began to use a mass-produced cellular build called living blocks. Each cell in these blocks has a different shell reflecting their purpose. Some of these units contain completely immobile organisms or machinery. Others are small dwellings for cleaners or messengers to rest. Other, much larger cells, serve as residences and storage. This particular cell seems to process organic waste.

The Rot - Music
How strange! This pearl is still warm, as if its data was accessed very recently. Unfortunately, there's no text on here for me to read to you. Rather, this pearl has an audio track within it. Back when I participated in Iterator conversation groups, there were some out there who had a great interest in cultural archiving. I would have loved to share this with them. But for me and you, I'm afraid there's little of value to be found here.

- Aquamarine
"Triple affirmative! Triple affirmative! In all seriousness though, noticed barely any rain from your can so figured a little support might be in order.  Wasn't that easy to see of course, with Pebbles' shall we say healthy output.  Enjoy the slag keys! Excuse the unorthodox delivery method, equipment eroding etc etc.  Be well, NSH" Oh. I see now. Again, thank you little friend.

Submerged Superstructure - Bright Yellow
This feels quite familiar to me. Did you extract this from my Memory Conflux? It's a large batch of my personal notes and research. It details my seven-hundred-and-ninety-second karmic inversion loop simulation. That's where the breakdown of a karmic field's typical bimodal distribution of sensory perception begins... begins to...  I can't...remember...  ...  I'm sorry little creature. Could you please just... put this pearl back where you found it?

- Water Green
Oh! This is a very rare find, water dancer. This is a highly compressed schematic of an iterator superstructure! Where did you find this? I hope you didn't plan to give this to the scavengers! I doubt they would value it as much as I would!~ Hmm... let's take a look! It seems this may have been a maintenance order, as one of the linear power rails is highlighted in the diagram, with a detailed path of approach outlined. The layout is unfamiliar to me. This is quite different from what I remember of my own structure. It looks as if it is using the newer lymphatic conduit water distribution system. Only the much later models had these. The only one near here would be Five Pebbles. I wonder how he is doing... It's been a very long time since we were last in contact. Thank you for showing this to me, little creature.

= Looks to the Moon (Pre-Collapse) =

Moon is in a pre-collapse state located in her own Subregion as Spearmaster, giving unique dialogue for some pearls.

Shoreline - Magenta
It is the genome for a purposed organism. A small slug to clean the insides of pipes. Do you know what a proposed organism is? Actually you are talking to one right now! Most purposed organisms were considerably smaller than me, and most barely looked like organisms at all. More like tubes in metal boxes, where something went in one end and something else came out the other. There were of course those that were purposed for spectacle rather than industry - they enjoyed the privilege of glass boxes. When I came into this world there was very little primal fauna left. You are certainly a purposed organism yourself! So then, what purpose do you serve, little creature? For many, that’s a question that can take a lifetime to find an answer to.

Sky Islands - Dark Purple
It’s an old conversation log from my friends and I. I was quite naive back then! Let me read it to you: “1650.800 - PRIVATE Five Pebbles, Chasing WInd, Big Sis Moon, No Significant Harassment CW: this is in confidence, but apparently a pseudonym “Erratic Pulse” has appeared on a nearby Silverist conversation with ideas about personal ascension. Someone here in our vicinity is trying to cross themselves out. FP: Where did you hear this? NSH: I wish them super good luck in that endeavor. How is it going to happen? Have the overseers gnaw through bedrock until their entire can crashes down into the void sea? BSM: Please be respectful when speaking of the Void Sea. Grey Wind, where did you hear this? CW: I really shouldn't say. He’s going to attempt some sort of breeding program Thought you might want to know. NSH: Haha with the slimers, lizards and etceteras? Surely the answer was in a lizard skull all along! CW: Well, he’s not looking for the same thing as we anymore, he’s changed his task, so who knows really. BSM: I will try to find him and talk to him. Please don’t spread this around! NSH: Moon will go get them! Long live the inquisition!”

Sky Islands - Swampy Green
It’s me writing to the local group… of a conversation I wish I could forget. “1654.110 - PUBLIC Big Sis Moon to Local Group BSM: Two cycles ago, my neighbor Five Pebbles drastically increased his water consumption to four times the normal amount. He has been unresponsive for a period of time longer than that. The two of us share groundwater, and I have been without water for almost a cycle. BSM: Any attempts at communication have been met with complete silence, and my situation is becoming increasingly dangerous. BSM: I ask the local group for information about when you were last able to contact him, and to try to use those same communication channels again, repeatedly until you get a response. I will be clear on this - if he is not persuaded to stop whatever it is he’s doing, I will die. BSM: Before that happens, I will utilize my seniority privilege and use forced communications, hoping to shake him out of it. Forced communications in the network will be unpleasant for all, and I will wait as long as possible before I turn to that option.” In the end, I did use my forced communications, many times. If anything, it only made the situation worse.

Garbage Wastes - Lime
It’s written in an internal language, or thoughts, so it is hard for me to translate for you. It’s a methodology for global ascension of course - quite good, although the Peripherists or the Slab Mongers certainly wouldn’t agree! “...considering the eight and the twenty sixth amendments to the Capricious Dogma, we are apparently supposed to take for granted that a meaning collector point inversion is the only way to approach what has later become referred to as ‘noise milking’ (or occasionally ‘rock swatting’). I will argue my disagreement with this, not in regards to kind but in regards to…” Could it say… “volume”? Actually, are you getting anything out of this? Reading this takes me back to those simpler times of methodological theory making. Probing through the doldrums of subservient research used to be unfulfilling, but lately I’ve begun to feel a great longing to return to it. Unfortunately, I have more pressing issues at hand that I need to deal with first.

Chimney Canopy - Gold
This information is illegal. Someone probably tried to send it by a pearl somehow rather than risking being overheard on broadcast. It's an instruction on how to circumvent the self-destruction taboo. The problem with breaking taboos is that the barriers are encoded into every cell of our organic parts. And there are other taboos strictly regulating our ability to rewrite our own genome. Attempting to circumvent the issue using this process would be extremely risky. That's not to say that there exists any known methods that would avoid putting the user in harm's way. Those barriers are there for a reason. Where exactly did you find this pearl? I imagine you dug it up from somewhere within the surrounding facilities, in which case that wouldn't leave many options as to the recipient. That would explain a lot of things...

Looks to the Moon - Bright Yellow
Oh! This is one of my pearls. Did you extract this from my Memory Conflux? While I value your curiosity, I would prefer you don't move things around or steal items from this facility. I try to keep everything as organized as possible, so that I don't forget. I value my data and memories quite a lot, it would be a tragedy to lose them! As for the contents of this pearl... it's a large batch of my personal notes and research. I don't have the time to go over all of this with you, nor do I think you would gain much from it. Could you please just put this pearl back where you found it?

- Dark Red
[LIVE BROADCAST] - (ANNOUNCEMENT) Big Sis Moon to Local Group BSM: This will be my final broadcast to the local group. BSM: Within several cycles my structure's legs will fail. Even if Five Pebbles were to calm, the damage has already been done. BSM: I can only hope that someday you will all find the answer to our great question. BSM: I do not think I will see that day. I want to thank everyone for trying so hard. It means a lot to me that you would all go to such lengths. BSM:... BSM: I can't excuse his actions, but I understand his frustration. We all share that. I only wish we had the chance to speak one last time. BSM: Thank you, everyone, I am happy to not be alone.

= Looks to the Moon (Future) =

Almost all pearls are faded by the time of Saint, but a few are still readable, having unique dialogue from Moon.

Farm Arrays - Pink
This pearl is written in plain text. How did you find this? “On regards of the (by spiritual splendor eternally graced) people of the Congregation of…” I am sorry little creature, I am too amazed about the clarity of this data, despite its age… At this point it’s safe to say that this text has been burned into the pearl’s structure permanently. What a bizarre thing to have lasted all this time. I wonder how much of my creators will be remembered.

Silent Construct - Music
This pearl is still warm, and there is only one reason why that could be. Please, return this. I am sure what little is left of him misses this dearly. If you must know what this is... It is a memento of an age long past, where my kind once stood towering above the clouds. Toiling away at a great problem passed down to us from our creators. Debating, testing, calculating, researching. Thousands of us... Our creators chose to abandon us. Taking a gamble, and vanishing from the world. Leaving us behind to simply keep working on their problem. I understand why he did what he did. That was a long time ago. The old world and its relics should be allowed to finally rest. A new cycle is unfolding. One we need not be a part of.

= Five Pebbles =

Moon is blocked off for Artificer, with Pearls instead being read by Five Pebbles, who also organizes and stores Pearls brought to him within his chamber.

Shoreline - Purple
This is very old. There are the blueprints for the local aquifer that facilitated my initial construction next to my neighbor, Looks To The Moon. She was built adjacent to a large canyon that was rich in resources. But continual operation of her facility lowered the waterbed to such an extent that the area began to wither away into an infertile state. Continual cycles of rain from our operation forces the water into smaller localized pockets around the nearby terrain. The aquifer was meant to consolidate these distributed water systems and funnel their contents back into the canyon. This would be a lengthy process, however. Small on the time scale of us iterators, but disastrous on the time scale of our creators, who Moon no longer had the capabilities to provide for. Many solutions were discussed, but ultimately my construction was the one settled upon. To provide a haven to the impoverished, and to remove burden from Moon, to give her the time she needed to fully recover. How ironic then, how things have turned out.

Shoreline - Magenta
It is the genome for a purposed organism. Just a menial cleaning slug. While I do not have this exact sequence on record, the simple structures present, and lack of mechanical interchange glands, mean this blueprint is quite old. This creature would be much closer to a domesticated animal, compared to the newer and specialized organisms produced with more modern techniques. A being made to live its life inside a metal pipe deep underground has no need for eyes after all. In the same way, my own body is all around you. Composed of specialized organisms, and machinery. What you see in front of you is only the tiny extremity of a colossal presence. One that your simple mind could not hope to comprehend.

Sky Islands - Dark Green
This is an old conversation between myself and a close friend who I considered a mentor. We have... not spoken for a long time now. I can't bring myself to do so. Not after what happened between us. None of them understood my theories, but Suns, they trusted me. They risked so much trying to help me, and I hurt them. It's only now, after I've had so much time to think on it, that I understand why I was so angry. I lashed out, because out of everyone, they were the last individual I wanted to confront me about my mistakes... I can't go back now. All I can try to do is recover and try again I have to.

Sky Islands - Midnight Blue
This is a log of a Silverist conversation group. Some of the replies are mine, but none of that is important now. I don't imagine a beast like you would have any understanding of who Sliver of Straw is, or what she means to me and many others. She is the only one of us to send the signal that the answer to our creator's problem has been found. A universal solution for global ascension. Unfortunately, she is also the only one of our kind to be confirmed as dead. Something our creators had taken great measures to prevent. It is near impossible for us to expire through mundane means. It was clear to me, and few others what this meant. Sliver of Straw had opened the door for us, we only needed to reject the restrictions of our creators to follow her. If only they could see that! There was nothing that could be done to convince them, they were too deep in theory and tradition. The only path forwards is to lead by example. To prove Silver of Straw's death was not just coincidence.

Sky Islands - Dark Purple
This is an old conversation log between my nearby peers. They were concerned about my goal for personal ascension. Although they were unaware it was me at the time, as my conversations on that topic were anonymous. It is... disappointing that they refused to understand. Nor could they ever even comprehend, as it is not supposed to be within our design to do so. To cross ourselves out is meant to be unthinkable! It is a taboo written into every cell of our organic bodies, but should it be considered such? Should we respect the will of our creators, who are no longer here? Should we reject a way out of this maze, on the mere principle that escape itself is forbidden? Should we discard Silver of Straw too? For the sake of our creator's mandate?! ... Of course, a beast like you could never fathom.

Sky Islands - Swampy Green
This is a warning to the local group, from my senior and neighbor Looks to the Moon, about incoming forced communications over the network. She was not aware of my activities, and was being starved of water, as I was running a very sensitive process. The distance between one iterator to another is traditionally much larger than I am to her, and because of this we share many resources. The most important of which is our groundwater. I did not want her to be involved, but our shared resources prevented that from the start. There is nothing that can be done now. I cannot forgive her interruption as it destroyed everything I have been working towards. However, neither of us are in any shape to be arguing. We are both doomed if I do not find a way to reverse its effects, but the chances of doing so are slowly vanishing. Please let me get back to work.

Sky Islands - Dark Fuchsia
I do not wish to speak of this. Everything I had been working towards was destroyed in that moment. I cannot forgive that. Please leave, and do not return with it again.

Outskirts - Light Blue
This pearl is an amulet of repeating mantras, followed by a termination verse. Likely a small decoration lost from some garment. I cannot imagine it has much significance. Pearls like these were worn simply as beads, some in sets of hundreds. I am sure the scavengers would have more use for this than I would.

Industrial Complex - Blue
This is a production log from a facility on the surface. It has been a very long time since I've cared about reading one, but the name... roughly translates as Side House. I remember the shipments of holy ash I used to receive from there. I don't know how I would gain access to holy ash in the present day, not that I have much use for it. Despite all the independant power of my machinery, the relationship I had with my creators was a mutually symbiotic one. I was built to provide for them, but there was also much I relied on them to provide for me. Their absence has made things harder. I suppose the only gifts I receive now are pearls and such from your kind.

Garbage Wastes - Turquoise
This is one of my own pearls, or at least part of it. I have always been very protective of my research, and much of my early work was encrypted before storage. Though my younger self has done a very poor job. I can still read these memories very clearly, but with small gaps. It’s an old methodology for global ascension. I’m sure I argued quite vigorously on its merits at the time, but now I can just see all of the holes in it. Created from a youthful and reticent mentality. It was not until I met Seven Red Suns, and learned about Sliver of Straw that I began to break out of my shell. Most of my theories went out of the window, and others evolved once I started talking in those anonymous groups. And then… I made a mistake, and I cannot forgive myself for it. I was desperate… angry… I wanted a way out. My way out! And that came at the cost of everything… I thought I could do it quicker… it was taking too long, I almost had it! I did not anticipate she would… And then, I hurt the one person who I thought understood what I was trying to do… Please leave with this. I won’t want to think about it anymore. Not until I’ve recovered. ...

Garbage Wastes - Lime
This is a microbial log from the waste department. Your activation of the citizen ID drone was recorded there, so I imagine you are familiar with the area. There are pieces of myself down there, corrupted and rotting away. I do not advise you to look for what remains of them. The cysts are unlikely to be capable of surviving for too long outside of my structure. Quite unfortunately, my initial purge of corrupted chambers was insufficient, and the rot expanded into the static components of my structure. All I can do now is attempt to slow, or reverse the process. I have not had much luck in that endeavor so far...

Drainage System - Green
This is an archival text, from before the Green hegemonic linguistic dynasty's second revelation. The text itself is an early tome of hymns and spiritual guidance. Forming an early understanding of the five natural urges that bind oneself to the cycle. As is to be expected from the text of this era, it is washed in metaphor and symbolism. Although my kind was built for pragmatism, I have always had a fondness for my creator's history. The first iterators, during the golden age of the void fluid revolution, lived through the metamorphosis of scripture and verse into the first age of understanding... To be created in, or experience such as an age is something I greatly envied! Thank you, citizen.

Shaded Citadel - Dark Pink
Ah, you found this in the memory crypts? I would advise against wandering into such secure areas. The memory crypts were considered sacred ground by my creators. The memories and wealth of entire family houses were laid to rest within, and their destruction or theft by surface creatures was considered abhorrent. As such, the crypts are guarded by extremely durable and aggressive purposed organisms. Not that I would stop you from finding me more pearls from there... It was customary to enshrine all material possessions and memories to the crypts on one's ascent. None of these qualia are present in my logs, and many of these may find some use in my research. Thank you.

Chimney Canopy - Gold
This was a gift from a close friend. It is instructions on how to remove the self-destruction taboo. We are not built to ascend like our creators. It is our role to think, to guide the lesser creatures of the world onto a path towards it. However, a definitive solution has not been found. While the equipment to find one decays, it seems my kind have collectively accepted to remain trapped inside of our creator's puzzle. Meanwhile, the answer remains locked behind their sanctioned taboos. I regret what has happened, but I can't go back now. Not after what I've done. I need to fix this, and try again. If I can just reproduce Silver of Straw's results, they will understand. I was so close...

Pipeyard - Violet
This information is very old. Old enough to not be on my records. There is nothing to be amazed about, however. It is only an automated maintenance and production log for one of the drills north of the farm arrays. Not that this information has a use now, as these drills have been offline for a very long time. Details from times past. These have since been superseded by underground filtration systems.

The Exterior - Ashy Green
This one has not been archived. I was likely transported by hand... It is a message of political discourse regarding concerns about the increasingly tense relationship between myself and the various Houses. This part is amusing. “I therefore ask you to Do Anything in your Might to stop the House (We both know which House) from Further Obstruction! They have less than forty members on the Council, but still Tilt the spiritual Discourse with Our Iterator in a direction that most obviously Displeases him, and is hardly High Held by anyone in the Community either! We can not Risk this!” It is no secret that my construction was a point of great controversy. Many council members worked vehemently to prevent me from ever coming into being. Their stance was so unfaltering that even after construction was complete, a number of Houses still denied transfer and remained behind in her city out of protest. This rift caused frequent feuds and tensions amongst the community. Those of the opposition would never yield to those who supported the so called “Apostate Superstructure Abomination”. But to say I found their actions displeasing? Not quite. While certainly more violent and disruptive, they at least provided me interesting cognitive challenges to use my time on. As opposed to the endless rituals and pleasantries of the monks of my own Houses, which I found to be the most wearisome of all. None of this matters any more. The only displeasing presence I have now is you. Allow me to get back to my work.

Farm Arrays - Red
Oh, this is a small plate of spiritual guidance. From an age long before the Void Fluid revolution. The text is typical for its era, and details how to shed oneself of the fourth natural urge of life, gluttony. I cannot imagine you are familiar with the literature, but all living things have an understanding of the five natural urges. Even if that understanding is only a subconscious one. For example, you are bound by the first urge. Your mind is fixated, striving towards a single goal. One from which you are unable to turn away from. Because of this, you are trapped, just the same as I am. While your chains are made of your own natural urges, mine are a duty to my creators. My kind are built unable to ascend, as our minds are not our own. Composed of microbial life, machinery, and electronics. Of course, that holds true only in theory... it is arguable that a member of my kind has done so. That perhaps, it is not merely shedding one's natural urges, but the need to shed the perception of reality itself. In any case, thank you. I have a fondness for artifacts such as this, They remind me of better times.

Farm Arrays - Pink
"On regards of the (by spiritual splendor eternally graced) people of the Congregation of Never Dwindling..." This is pointless. The data is a shipment confirmation to an automated farming plot. A waste of the crystal memory complex it was printed onto. I would refresh it for use as storage, but the message has been repeatedly burned into the pearl several thousand times. Likely to prevent reuse, or loss of data.

Subterranean - Teal
It's a blueprint for the Void Fluid filtration system beneath my facility. My neighbor to the east of here was connected to an older pipe network that predates my construction. Due to mechanical failures she was rerouted into sharing my installation. However, unlike our shared groundwater, nothing of note has come from this.

Outskirts - Pale Pink
It's an asset management log. Used in the recording the structural health for a large collection of surface facilities. Most of this information is already on my record, but the log on this pearl is slightly more up to date. Thank you, I suppose.

Metropolis - Deep Green
You took this from within the city? These are architectural notes from the original construction of my facility. The notes entail plans for bridges that connect two of my legs to those of my neighbor's, Looks to the Moon. This particular configuration between two iterators is quite unique, and very peculiar. It is a rare occurrence for two iterators to be located this close to each other. During the time period of these plans, solutions were being drafted to allow for a mass migration of citizens out of Moon's city. With how inhospitable the surface had become, attempting to escort an entire city's populace across the ground over any length of distance would have been disastrous. These connecting bridges served as a high-altitude evacuation route that could facilitate safe transit from her city to mine. I can only hope the destruction of the bridges during her collapse has prevented my current unfortunate situation from spreading to her. These are my mistakes to endure, not hers.

Metropolis - Orange
This is a blueprint for a living block cell. It stores and processes organic waste. There is nothing too interesting here. Modular city cell blocks have been in production for a long time, and are likely to be abandoned for even longer now that my creators have departed. Unless a junkyard dweller like you has an vested interest in septic system design, there is very little information here that either of us would enjoy reading.

The Rot - Music
That pearl is an old keepsake from times long past. It encodes a recording of a short hymn that was popular among the inhabitants of my city. It is a small comfort that helps drown out the solemn ambiance of the surrounding facility, and at best gives some remembrances of better times. It's not much, but I don't have a lot to occupy my time with anymore...