The Network

"To what do we owe the honor of your visit?" asked Alex.

Spirto replied with a smile. "I have recovered some of my old memories. Walk with me," he said, and started off toward the central Agora of Thira. "You have built a vastly complex city here," he added.

"Control of the empire comes first," Alex replied. "We still spend very little on exploring the galaxy. As you know, I want to be capable of holding the empire together until our next step reveals itself."

"I truly believe you will manage it, Alex. Of all the species, and all the emperors of the past, I think you may be the one to do it," Spirto replied. "And where are you, now?" he added.

"Here," said Alex. "I'm staying in Thira."

"I see."

"So — what have you found, in these old memories of yours?" asked Alex.

"Hahahaaaa!" Spirto laughed, loud and joyful. "I think I can help you with a great problem. In fact, I think Jertis can help you — from his grave."

"All right. That sounds interesting. You have my undivided attention. Which problem do you mean? And — who is Jertis?" Alex asked, curious.

Spirto stopped by a vendor, took up a drink, and leaned against a window, nodding for Alex to come close. A smirk crossed his face — the look of a man about to win an argument. "It has always been a difficult thing," he said, "to keep a network of information running between planets and moons. Every network in all of history that ever tried to bind the empire's worlds together has suffered the same troubles — errors born of people, misinformation, delay, and worse."

"Yes," Alex nodded. "It's a hard task. But we're working on it. Your excitement has me on red alert," he smiled.

"As well it should. I have regained the memory of a system that — with a great deal of work poured into it — will very likely end your network troubles for... well. Forever."

"Spirto! This is very serious. What network are you talking about? If I had something like that, I could turn to uniting the galaxy far faster."

"I'll start from the beginning," said Spirto, calmly.

"Please do."

"After the Great War, in the eons that followed, a great many emperors tried to conquer the whole galaxy. Every one of them failed — but...!" Spirto paused, and drank a sip of his drink.

"But?" Alex asked, his eyes like a child's. Spirto always had a strange effect on him; whenever Spirto was near, Alex grew more childlike, speaking more openly, more at ease.

"But," Spirto went on, "one of those emperors developed a network."

"Jertis?" asked Alex.

"Yes. Jertis. One of the cleverest creatures ever to cross the galaxy."

"Tell me more about him," said Alex.

"Jertis was not a him," said Spirto, smiling. "It was more of an it."

"I feel like you're delaying the story on purpose. Are you playing with me again?" said Alex.

"All right — let me tell you the story," said Spirto, raising his hands to shoulder height. "At about 700 Meo, the galaxy held a huge number of would-be emperors. Most of them would not cooperate with any other species. Jertis was among them." Spirto drew a breath, and settled into the tale. "Back then, there were still memories, and remnants, of the Great War. Most species advanced very quickly, on technologies scattered everywhere across the ruins. This was before the technology cleansing."

"I'm curious what technology Jertis invented that survived the cleansing — which I still have questions about, by the way. You always find some excuse to feed me the past in small doses," said Alex, plainly eager for more.

"That is a story for another time. The point is: Jertis found a way to spy upon, and to monitor, every other species across the galaxy. A way that spread down through the ages. A way so ingenious that it also served as the chief tool for seeding life on otherwise-barren worlds."

"What?" asked Alex, with wary curiosity. "What do you mean — spy, and seed life, at the same time? What are these things you're describing?"

"Listen to me, Alex. There is a mystery here. A mystery of how my own memory of this was ever lost. That is something I mean to go searching for, soon. But for now, you must make contact with the system — and win its trust."

"Win its trust? I'm now half-convinced this is some kind of joke," said Alex, and sat back, more relaxed.

"It truly is not. This system is rooted in very nearly every planet in the galaxy. Your home world, Earth, included."

"That's it!" said Alex, a little irritated. "Either come to the point, or stop toying with me."

"They called it the mycelian network," said Spirto, and let a few moments pass, for Alex to take it in.

"Mushroom roots?" asked Alex, curious. "You're telling me that mushrooms are a technology?"

"And why should that be so strange? You already know of many life-forms built to do a specific task."

"Well — yes. But mushrooms are... basic."

"Jertis developed an organism of infinite potential, small enough that almost no species could detect it with the naked eye. A spore that could survive nearly any conditions — and, once it took root in almost any environment, would swiftly adapt, and begin to build."

"But how does that carry information?"

"That is precisely the magic of it. Jertis managed to cram so much compressed information into it that the network almost never reaches its full potential. It begins to build itself in a way that fosters life all around it. Soon it grows a brain the size of a continent — with nearly infinite wisdom in the matter of life. And this network harnesses the power of entanglement, joining itself together across the stars."

"I don't see how that's possible," Alex answered, in disbelief.

"Alex — listen to me," said Spirto, serious now. "It is alive. It has desires. It has a purpose. You need to bring that network under your command. It is intelligent; it transmits only what it deems relevant to its own understanding of necessity. But you could train it to be so much more than a network of mushrooms and mineral distribution."

"You do realize how strange this sounds," said Alex, his look betraying his doubt.

"I understand. For now, simply test it. Even as we speak, spores are traveling in every direction. Every new world, every new moon, every new system, is seeded with them — and the building begins at once."

Alex looked troubled. "But a system like that would let anyone tap into it from their own home world, and spy on anyone else. If it truly exists — how has it not already been abused?"

Spirto nodded. "I need to go searching for my memories — but I believe the knowledge of this system is simply gone. Only you and I know of it now. To everyone else, it is merely a root system that seems complex enough to do a little more than it should."

"And I'm to win its trust," said Alex, an annoyed look on his face.

"Yes. Think of it as another player in the cosmic game of expansion. Make it an ally, and you greatly improve your chances of success."

After a while, Spirto took his leave, and Alex set off toward the control room. His mind was so occupied that the fresh scent of Cydonian jelly, drifting across the Agora, had no effect on him at all. Cydonian jelly was held to be the finest thing anyone who could metabolize sugars might ever taste; it took a great deal of time, and a great many materials, to make, but it was both nourishing and delicious. Its very smell, they said, could make you forget your troubles. Not this time, though. Not for Alex.

"I'll be leaving Thira for a while," he said to Bara, before stepping into a cryo-pod.

"How long will you be gone?" Bara asked through the communicator.

"I'm not sure yet. Keep supervising the power source. We should have it running soon." Alex's voice came through the communicator.

"Will do," said Bara, and closed the channel.

— On Earth · 1 Beo 121 Meo 12 Keo 599 eo —

"Jain!" said Alex.

"I can sense you!" answered Jain, from Thira.

"This is magical," said Alex. "It will change everything."

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