The Beaded Tapestry

Dear Victoria,

I have just returned from my lecture.  There are only a few left before the winter break, so I decided to surprise the attendees with a progressive look at my previous project and the process of study that was used.  It started out with the evolution of my ideas on the nature of the Anomaly.  An explanation of how using interdisciplinary thought influenced the initial outline that developed.  The lecture delved into the relationship between the structure and emissions of the Phenomenon and the parallels that were made to the Fourier transformation of wave fronts.  Oh course this is old news to you.  Our progression into the understanding of the creature has moved well past this initial analogy, but the baseline for our conclusions is still sound.  This also allows me to stay completely in line with my agreed subject with the college and in no way compromise the secrecy of our current work for the Louvre.

Strangely, reminiscing about our old project has revitalized my current struggles and I have come to the conclusion that I should use similar methods to get past the conundrum of the similarities between the anomalistic signal patterns and the recorded brain song played by my subconscious during the desert debacle.  

Working in the lab, listening to the progressive sounds of Eno, has pushed my thoughts to reorganize. Creating an atmosphere to begin the process of pulling from different disciplines of scientific study to improvise the next conclusion.  How did the music of the Anomaly implant itself into my brainwaves? Was it trying to help? Hinder? Influence or console?  The question is open. 

These ideas once slipped my detection due to the hardwired way of processing within my chosen discipline. These archaic practices limited my sphere of thinking. I then built on this new process, combining different avenues of science, allowing my cognizant ability to create and solidify the new theories hovering at the back of the evidence. Coaxing then to reveal their secrets.

After placing this analogy in practice, my first breakthrough came yesterday.  I was sitting at the workbench with the data from the Anomaly projected on my left eye and the frequency pattern recorded during my accident positioned on my right eye.  You know very well that one of my constant struggles is the annoying habit my brain has of picking out the eights within data when I try to view it.  This occasion was no exception for this difficulty and I constantly struggled to divert my gaze away from this favorite digit scattered across the page.  I was re-directing my attention to relieve this habit when the projected image from the Anomaly slipped by ninety degrees. All across the page the view was still etched into my cornea, so the after image looked like this – 8888888-. So, if you turn the page dear sister, what do you see? My mind did a turn I can tell you. Realizing all this time I had been fixated on ∞∞∞∞ infinity. I only needed to look at it from a different angle.  Such a chance occurrence, but so profound to my thinking.  I wish you were here in the lab to hear my gasp of astonishment.  It was truly a mind bending event. It answers so many internal questions (and raises a few new ones) about how my mind works and why we have had such success in our work.  It is not all about the math and science, but how our brains evolve these items and converge them into a story.  Similar to the creation of the early universe and how the song was composed by the great improvisational composer and released to the cosmos.  

With this thought in mind,  I turned the projection of the song from my accident ninety-degrees in the opposite direction and got to work.  It made so much sense now. We will come to that later Victoria.  The play will have to unfold gracefully to give it the full drama it deserves.

Just as the theoretical physics community in the beginning of the twenty-second century realized when they used this multidiscipline process.  The evolution of the cosmos was not an analogy of a balloon as they once envisioned, slowly expanding in all directions.  Instead they slowly evolved their vision and determined it more resembled a bag of popcorn. Expanding in bursts, as kernels of trapped energy dissipated into the vacuum of their new space. Taking all the pieces and creating a picture that includes each flavor, till a new taste emerges, was the new way of study.

I feel an exhilaration I have not felt since before my horrific experience in New Zealand.  Now I will return to my kettle and continue to add ingredients and let you sleep. 

Love Annalis

Dear Victoria,

The weather has turned bitter and the passage of autumn has been all too short.  The forecast for snow was announced early this morning and the campus groundkeepers were out in force, salting the many paths and walkways of the university.  The drastic change in weather is prominent in my regenerated limb and I just want to curl up in a sphere next to the library fire like a kitten.  There is of course too much to accomplish for this type of response, but the impulse is prominent.

The school term is almost at an end and I will not be returning to the lecture podium after the winter break.  The college has allowed me the extended use of the laboratory space without the added stipulation of continuing my lectures. I am grateful for this reprieve, but know it comes with added consequences. My association with the Louvre, combined with an added concession to allow limited access to my past research, plays a large part in this allowance. I have no regrets playing this card to relieve me of the bi-weekly lectures.  They will have tight restrictions on what information they have access to, but since that information will be nearly abolished after we reveal our current finding on the Anomaly,  I have no fears access to this outdated knowledge will return to haunt us.  I realize this decision should have been discussed with you as a shared owner of the data, but that is not possible now.  The cross permission father put in place for us covers this type of singular decision. as we foresaw a need to make certain autonomous rulings during this period of separation.  I just did not realize I would be using this clause so soon.

I am currently working on a complete overview of what occurred during my accident in New Zealand.  It is painful and traumatic to relive this episode, but I need to capture the timeline in order to correlate the data recorded with an episodically accurate timestamp. The compression and dilation of time created by my brain during the episode is fascinating.  The analyses of my brain responses during the occurrence that was systematically recorded by the equipment and how my brain documented it are vastly different. After I complete the narrative, a comparison of the different timelines will have to be completed.  How my brain actually remembers the incident and what the numbers indicate.  This should be visible by matching the synoptic delays caused by the flight or fight mechanism between and within the neurons.  It might explain the erroneous frequencies I noted on my first analyses of the figures.  Although I am leaning towards the hypothesis that the Nonpareil had an influence during the accident, the need to rule out all possible alternative explanations is paramount.  It may only be an unexplained arrangement of the signals caused by the endogenous neurochemicals inside my brain.  If the time stamp of the figures from the equipment correlates with the visuals stimulated during the episode, this will give a much needed boost to my conclusions concerning the involvement of the Anomaly. It will be difficult to filter out the temporal dilation and compression caused by the trauma, but it should be possible.

I should have done the narrative sooner.  Every day that passes since the onset of the flood causes the details to dissipate and become polluted.  Like the phenomenon of sfumata, losing the details of that dreadful day as they disperse like smoke into the mountain winds. When the narrative is through, I will share it with your presence.  I can no longer refer to this entity as a ghost.  It feels too premeditative.

We will have to see how  your logic interprets this retelling and what conclusions she comes to about the influence of our Black Swan.

Sleep well and with peaceful dreams.

Love

Annalis

‘Salutations’ dear sibling on the eve of your birthday.  Since you are now deep in hibernation aboard the Derringer, this one does not count.  We are now the same age since my November inauguration date and will remain the same age until next year when I turn thirty-one, right before the start of my own voyage.  Then I will be the older sister for only a short time before my deep sleep begins.  Once you arrive at your destination the clock starts again for you.  Sadly, once I arrive we will have returned to our normal hierarchy and you will once again be the older sibling.  I read back in your letter that you referred to us as the same age during the voyages.  I believe you forgot to calculate the change in my departure date.  Previously I was to enter stasis before the advent of my thirty-first birthday, but I am now leaving after that date.  I realize you are hesitant to allow me to be older, even for a short duration, but this is indeed the case.  A small conundrum for you to contemplate and a much needed distraction for my mind during the daily struggle with my regen. Although the technician assures me that it is going better than expected, I tire of the crawling time frame of my recovery.  Any diversion is welcomed, including projecting my thoughts out to where you are now and where we both will eventually be. 

The lab and historic data from New Zealand fills the rest of my cogitations and the conclusions of the later are nearing a resolution.  As close as was humanly possible, I have reassembled the setup that was present ‘Down Under’ in my research camp. There are of course the adjusted coordinates and environmental conditions to be considered, but I am certain these can be incorporated into the adjustments for the sensors’ array. The results from the next few months will not have near as much clarity as the numbers from the desert locations due to the increase noise from the moisture heavy atmosphere here in Oxford,  but I can still use this information to make a final background reading to do a comparison with the soon to come Alpha Centauri numbers. Our original plan did not include this step (since we both would be in stasis at this time), but we will have to work with what has been handed to us.  I originally hoped the lab in New Zealand would continue to collect Earth data from the Anomaly, but now it will have to come from Oxford for the final comparison.

I have now been given clearance to resume my physical training and I have set aside a few hours a week to ramp up my endurance.  The first few sessions were excruciating, but I have now increased my endurance to seven kilometers, three times a week. This is far below the forty-eight kilometers a week I ran before my accident, but I will be up to capacity before my scheduled departure for the space flight.  I hope once you get planet side that your recovery is swift and you can resume your running schedule at the studio site.  I had forgotten how euphoric this activity is.  It has decreased (although not eradicated) the night terrors I am experiencing and the erratic nerve signals my arms have been sending during the regeneration. It is required that I bind my repairing limb across my chest to alleviate the muscle strain,  but I have learned to adapt my gait sufficiently so the interference is minimal. 

I pulled one of your favorite music enumerates from our database to accompany me during my run sessions.  It was necessary to adjust the neural trigger for my cerebellum, but I was even able to use the same finger trigger you had developed to make the adjustments simpler.  The playlist is still too long for my current endurance, but I will get there.  It gives me a target to strive for and a small amount of competitive spirit to keep me motivated.  

There have been some new developments in the larger metropolises for this type of data retrieval. It is not clear to me if it is being done because people cannot recall their sub-routine to instigate their embedded programs or if it is only a new fad.  There are several pop up businesses that created a tattoo over the trigger location on the subjects body.  I have seen a few students here at Oxford with the reminder visible, but from what I have heard they are rampant in London.  One student in my audience last week had three different locations tattooed. One was a spiral on his small finger, another was a treble clef on his wrist and the last was a bullseye on his earlobe.  I assume the music symbol was to remind him of his trigger to initiate his music list, but the other two I have no clue.  Triggers for sleep on his finger or a book experience on his ear lobe, your guess is as good as mine.  It is enough to fill my synoptic memory with one program,  I do not need multiple disciplines cluttering up my already busy gray matter.

It is convenient to have the music subroutine available at all times though.  And what a clever cerebral trigger you created to prompt your run list. If I am out running and realize I need some additional motivation, I only need to tap the pads of my small finger and thumb together four times and envision the molecular formula for salt and water. (perspiration, funny) Then your play list begins.  Very expansive thinking! It reduces the chance of starting the music at an awkward moment, (say in the middle of a lecture) and keeping the convenience of instant access.  The music is also a very motivating combination of offerings.  I hope you are able to squeeze in time during your busy startup schedule to also experience this.  We will both need the added concentration to continue the myriad of activities need to continue our dream

I have rabbited on long enough.

Love Always,

Annalis