(An As Yet Unordered Chapter)
"We've finally done it," said Myr. He congratulated her with a squirt of dopamine.
"Yes," replied Zyn, pulsing with excitement. "We've pushed him onto the new path. Let's keep at it. There's not much time. If we can't get him in there today we might not get another chance for a long while.”
Deep down in Merwin’s subconscious were the things that made him tick. His brain, like all brains, was made of a vast and intricate web of neurons; living entities, which collectively formed another, larger living entity. But, these neurons also formed subnetworks that had lives of their own. They linked to the larger network, had access to much of its information, and worked with it. But they had their own ideas and agendas; and their own personalities.
Most of these neural subnetworks cooperated with others, and some competed. They formed alliances and made enemies, depending on what they thought was best for Merwin, or best for themselves. They had their life dramas like all living creatures. But they all had basically the same idea of what Merwin was, and where he was going. Or, not going. They all believed they were Merwins, in the same way that we all believe ourselves to be humans.
Myr and Zyn were two of the countless neural subnetworks that constituted Merwin's brain.
Most of the others were like drones, all thinking alike and maintaining Merwin's sense of self. They went about their business, maintaining the status quo, trying their best to fit all incoming information into the established story, AKA Merwin’s worldview. Change came slowly, imperceptibly. Radical change led to chaos, and was to be avoided at all cost. They were, for all intents and purposes, Merwin's conscious mind, and most of his unconscious mind as well.
But Myr and Zyn were different. They were renegades in some sense. But they didn’t have any bad intentions. After all, it was in their best interest to keep Merwin safe and healthy. They just had their own ideas about what was best for Merwin. They had unique insights into reality that they were well aware would be not only hard to convey to the drones, but might lead to them being totally disconnected from the larger network - which would mean death. Overtly trying to sway the masses of drones to change course would be a Herculean task, even without the added risk of being put to death.
So, Myr and Zyn worked in secret, being extra careful not to send the wrong message to the wrong axons. They operated with subtle craftiness, nudging Merwin here and there, sending him messages to do things that didn’t arouse suspicion. As they saw opportunities to bring the masses, AKA Merwin, to see things differently, they were ready to take advantage. But to the drones they connected to, they seemed like any other two neurons.
Myr was a subnetwork who lived about an inch behind Merwin's forehead, connected to what some people called the ajana or third eye.
As such, he had access to information coming from a sense that was still undeveloped in most people; information that came directly from the quantum soup of indeterminate states. Some of this information was from variations of the future, some was from parallel universes, and some was from the present time in the present universe, which isn’t the same universe you are in, by the way.
But Merwin, or the vast majority of the billions of drones that he was made of, didn't believe in stuff like that. Third eyes? parallel universes? - there was no scientific evidence for any of it.
The big problem for Myr was making sense of all this information. The auditory and optical networks had it easy. They just had to process information coming in at the present moment, from within a reasonable distance. And the wave functions they had to deal with weren’t that complex. There were only so many possibilities in a given moment at a given location. Plus, they had billions of years of evolutionary experience behind them.
But Myr had to deal with information coming from everywhere in the myriad of universes all at once.
It was a mixed up jumble of nonsense most of the time. Seriously, it was insanity, and he knew there was no way he could ever mention most of it to the other circuits, except for Zyn, without being lynched. But every once in a while, he could make sense of it, distinguishing a pattern that might have some bearing on the fate of Merwin.
It was like being tuned into a billion radio stations all at once, except the stations transmit not just audio, but video, smell, touch, taste, infrared, ultraviolet, and other forms of energy that haven’t yet been detected by scientific instruments.
On those occasions when Myr was able to make sense of something, he would have long conversations with Zyn about it all through the night. Night time was best for these exchanges, as most of the drones were busy “forming long-term memories,” which was really bullshit, because most of them were just playing, randomly disconnecting and forming new connections with other circuits, simply because it was dream time and it was a lot of fun to make up new dreams. The drones worked hard by day but they partied hard at night.
Zyn was the one who held onto Merwin"s dreams. Her mission in life was to make sure some of those dreams became reality. That"s why her relationship with Myr was so important. He was the only one she knew who had access to information the drones didn't. There were probably others, but like Myr and Zyn, they would be smart enough to keep it a secret.
Myr also had access to the DMT switch, which could release the powerful neurotransmitter that temporarily turned the drones into receivers of alternate realities.
Myr always had some access to these realities, but when the DMT took over they became as clear as light. She could see the possibilites more clearly, and adjust her plans accordingly. And the drones, they just thought it was a magnificent dream they'd made up, and soon forgot about it.
Zyn giggled with excitement. "Soon! Soon!..." as she playfully squirted Myr back with some dopamine.
Thanks for reading this chapter of my work-in-progress, Merwin In The Multiverse. I'm writing this novel as the ideas come, and posting them on Steemit before trying to piece them together into a cohesive story on the website, which I call [The Self-Published Self-Publisher's Guide To Self-Publishing].
If you've enjoyed it, you can check out more chapters and various other writing at my Steemit blog @kendewitt.
Links to other chapters:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@kendewitt/portal-into-the-multiverse-a-prelude-to-merwin-in-the-multiverse-original-recursive-science-fiction
https://steemit.com/fiction/@kendewitt/merwin-in-the-multiverse-predictive-quantum-redundancy
Yay! You're writing again! I love this story so much.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the cells and other biological parts of me and what sort of consciousness they have. I've also been wondering about alternate universes, and if they might literally be part of me, hidden on the quantum level in a cell or atom of my body. When I turned on the DMT switch, it felt like I might have traveled into my DNA. It's hard to say, though, what those experiences are. It could just as easily have been a crazy carnival ride to a madhouse. :-)
I love to explore ideas like these, so your writing just lights me up inside.
Thank you! Actually, I've been writing this whole time, just not posting. I have a TON of stuff written, the problem is that it's all like a massive jigsaw puzzle where I have to file the edges of each piece to make them fit together.
I've never done DMT, but I'm absolutely convinced that I've experienced natural DMT releases in my body. I'll probably write about that topic at some point.
Yeah, it makes sense to me that microscopic life should have some kind of inner experience like we do. I mean, our subjective experience is literally being generated by them. The idea that they are just mindless little machines just doesn't add up to me.
Traveling into your own DNA. Have you read The Cosmic Serpent? If not you definitely should!
Hope you have a great day in your universe!
I haven't read The Cosmic Serpent, but it looks like he must have had a similar experience to what I did. I'm absolutely going to read it now! Thank you.
I would love to see a post about your natural DMT releases. Do you know what triggered them?
And... I just discovered your website. So happy to find there's more Merwin there!
Usually happens during meditation or when I can't sleep. It seems my entheogenic experiences opened up some doors. Sometimes it's a bit intense, but not nearly as intense as what I've heard and read about consuming it.
Yeah, the website. Want to do more work on that too. I'm thinking of switching to Wordpress so I can connect it to Steemit.
By the way, did your experience have any after effects?
If by "after effects," you mean that my world view completely crumbled, then yes. While that's really uncomfortable sometimes, it's ultimately a good thing. I also have a much greater appreciation for life, despite that I have no idea what it is :-)
My meditation changed too, although it's hard to describe. When meditating, I'll sometimes tap into this feeling space I experienced on DMT. It's kind of like... touching infinity? It freaks me out, so I've had to work on sitting with it instead of pulling back from it.
I know what you're talking about. It started for me while meditating on mushrooms. Now happens most of the time when I meditate for a decent amount of time.
Freaks me out too. I think that's why monks are traditionally separated from society. Dealing with those experiences is a full time job.