Uroboros 02: Nature & States of Matter
Monday, 8.3.26 – 20:47 EST
After a few weeks of some difficulty, I was finally able to examine Uroboros in my lab in headspace. I had wished to do this much sooner but it was rather hard to pin down. You wouldn’t think so, given we are conjoined, but in that thought you – and I – would be wrong. While, yes, we are linked, that is only part of the equation. The virus has spread throughout headspace to occupy its seemingly infinite space with its limbs. It is with this knowledge I proceed to the first puzzle in my research. Sentience. Uroboros is now a fully conscious and semi-autonomous being. It can operate without me if it so desires, or outside of my form via the extension of its limbs. Given I had not meant or anticipated this outcome, the system and I were a bit confused on what to do. As it turned out, we didn’t need to be. Uroboros simply adapted, which was my design.
For a time, Uroboros remained in a semi-physical state with some meta-physicality appearing sometimes. While I found Rune’s joke of ‘its in the walls’ to be a bit confusing, it wasn’t inaccurate. Its presence could be felt, even if not seen. Additionally, communication was limited to interpretation through myself, and I did not want to translate all the time, even if I did understand some of what it said. With some time and teaching from others in the system, Uroboros adapted to begin forming a sort of humanoid shape. Now, that humanoid shape is more distinct – usually in the shape of a child about 8-10 years of age. Its body remains a void without color save for one visible eye, which appears completely white. Its ‘hair’ is formed from its tendrils or from the same material as its body, and is quite lengthy.
As well as its appearance, it displays characteristics of a child its perceived age. Its demeanor is bright and sunny despite my own, and has been described as a ‘golden retriever’. Despite the nonverbal setback, Uroboros – nicknamed ‘Oura’ by Miss Ward – has succeeded in communication with members of our friend system. Most notably among these is Cas. We still don’t know how they communicate. Just that it happens and it seems to work. The two are believed to be close friends.
As for the lab results from today; Uroboros did not stay still for long. As one would expect from a child, it took a fair bit of convincing and running after its semi-physical form to get it to settle for a minute. Nevertheless, I learned a little more. In headspace, it can change matter states. This was something I had explored a little in the Fog, where when retracted, the virus would enter a more liquid state while residing in my form and then take a solid one while extended. In headspace, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as I’m figuring out that most anything is possible within this place’s bounds. Outside of it, not so much. There is no sign of infection within the host body – that being the body of the System itself, except for a few peculiarities when Uroboros is fronting. The weakness to heat remains strong, and has been a point of problem with the heatwave sweeping the area. The best method to combat this thus far has been freezer pops, assorted and 2.49 at our local grocer. However, it will usually only eat the blue ones, and hates the green apple ones. Chris just asked if I had ever thought I’d be writing about popsicles in a report. He’s giggling next to me. Idiot. I’ve now lost my train of thought. Thanks, Chris. Either way, I have to study ‘Oura’ more. I have a lot of questions. ‘Why is it sentient?’ is my main one at the moment. I’d also like it to stop adapting faster than I can document. Being around people is exhausting and unfortunately, I’ve been fronting a lot. I am still puzzled how I went from being a scientist to making smoothies.
- A. Wesker