the subtraction of a one

7/30/2019 The Subtraction of a One

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Its Monday morning, I take my one-style capsule, and Icouldnt be happier. The new celloframe vest, seasonal

stockings and black Eramami shoes I ordered from Urizenhad arrived. The next generation Gel-phone should behere in a matter of days. Im elated. I tried them on afterthe kids got the bus to school. Its just too much to takein Ive always been a smart consumer, but this is toomuch. Im hot, Im important, and I matter. The Autonome

line is where its really at nothing but the best. Self-morphing skin fabrics that adhere to your form andchange color dependent on your emotional state, God,yes! Most women cant afford Autonome, and thosewho can always head towards the first production line.Not me, Im heading on line 5, almost 6, now. I ambecoming a true piece of art. Two thousand credit pointsgiven, a lifetime of respect awarded. God, take me now.

I make some coffee in my new outfit and read the latestissue of Urizen. Radius Null is so cute, and a scientisttoo? Exquisite! Iva Vouise has been getting too much


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attention in my opinion. Probably a slut with a wickedpheromone addiction nobody can live up to that form.Shes probably been modified. Hell, everyone can tell.

I get up to go to the mirror again. Holy shit! The colorfluctuation on this thing is fantastic. I know its not whatthe company wants to hear, but I go to snort someChromolaxylime and head back to the mirror.

This is how everyone should feel. I cant contain it. I think

about how good I look, how much better I am. I head tothe leather sofa with my copy of Urizen and start totouch myself. I put my fingers against the slick newfabric and feel how it adjusts to the shape of my body. Ihave become the product, there isnt any differenceanymore. I want them to melt me down and form meinto reactive celloframe covers that men put aroundtheir penises. I want to be the small sensitive lining insideof those perfect products. I want to be the mostexpensive thing on the market. I want a lot more. Ialways want something. I cant help but want something.

I probably took too much. The daydream happened again,

a really silly daydream. Its always the same I think Iused to be married, I think I used to be someone else. Iget up and start my check on the company mainframe,the latest results regarding the Key Experiments, andthen I receive a phone call.


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The mission, they call it, something of utmostimportance. Im expected to meet with them latertonight. They say Im the best geneticist in the field.What does that have to do with Quadrant Four?

They say that I am to infiltrate the Peoples Church ofVirtue, and in order to do this, I must take up a regimentof experimental capsules in order to evade the scanner. Iask what the science of genetics has to do with theZeroxian Peoples Church, but they say that everythingwill be explained later that night. I told them Ill be there,but Im not taking off my new outfit.

I arrive at the Core tribunal among other geneticists inthe field. They say that they had finally managed tolocate the missing subject, Webber, from his wanderingsamidst the 6th Quadrant. They say he is now being keptin secluded confinement. This was hardly the primarysubject of our meeting, however. They want me toinfiltrate a radical and growing sect of zero-users withinthe Peoples Church, and to gain an audience with theirleader, one Pastor Mathew M. Combs, who they are sureis a one-user all the same, turned religious engineer. Thissort of inter-classial manipulation is not new, but theyassured me that it was worth an investigation. As towhy a scientist like me should be the one to do it, theyhad told me that Combs was personally funding a geneticengineering facility where he and his followers were


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attempting to not only clone those of the faithful in aneffort to have them born again, but that they hadattempted to copy the code we had been using in theArk Project (Key Experiment) for their own delusionalgoals in a physical manifestation of the illusionary Godwhich they call Zerox. I was later shown pictures ofmalformed human skulls and limbs with multiple skeletalgrowths of duplicate arms and finger digits which werecaptured from a raid on the Church earlier last month.

The Core was concerned that the Peoples Church wouldbegin to mirror our own advances with the KeyExperiment, otherwise known as the Ark Project. Theyfeared that if the zero-users were able to integrate the528 hertz wave into the form of an organic being, thensaid being would become a subject of revolutionaryintent amongst the poorer fourth quadrant, or those ofthe Zeroxian faith, now 96% of the population. This wasa matter of national security. The meeting wentsmoothly, all in all, and I agreed to the mission.

Im transmitting this through the CORE network as hadbeen requested by my superiors. I admit that I am notvery comfortable talking about my personal life outsideof the business. This will be a new experience for me.However, I am committed to complete the mission if itmight better my family and my lifestyle. Im looking


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forward to that currency bonus; after all, these shoeswont last forever. Well, theyre made to, but somethingbetter will eventually come along, and I need that sort ofconnection. I got home at 9pm and ordered a nutritionaldinner from Producast. Jose and Carol, my twodaughters, loved it as usual. We watched TV duringdinner like we always do. They have always been goodkids, despite the absence of a father. We had chicken andgreens with a side of vitamin-rich sweet cream. I tucked

them both in at around nine. At around nine thirty, Ipoured myself a glass of Bleu and checked my neworders on Urizen; two black high heeled synchrome shoes(sixth line, what else?) and their latest seasonal dress inthe grey series, some jewelry. The new Gel-phone isthinner than ever. Im definitely getting that.

Its 1AM now. Im still on the Urizen online catalogue. Intwo hours from now, Ill take a three Hypnos and headback to work. You also wanted me to give a status overmy emotions, but thats been a hard assignment, I admit.What should I feel? I suppose I feel as I always have, nomore and no less. I have a good job, I look after myfamily, and I treat myself every now and then. I havelooked over your recent reports on the missing Holonand I agree that we need Webber to complete thesequence. I have also looked over your report on Combs,and his wave activity does not befit a one user turned


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faux religious figure. I regret to say that I believe Combs,despite his unusual acceptance as a unique person withinthe first and fourth quadrants, reads as a stereotypicalzero user, as his own hertz reception peaks at 528. Asto why they treat him as an individual and a singularvoice, I suppose Ill find out within the next few days. Illbe taking the experimental 0.1 capsule you gave me in anhour along with my regular sleep agents in order toevade the scanner when I arrive.

I would however like to bring up this file on myself while Ihave the time, where I am listed as being augmented inthe neurological classification. What is this about? What isit that you havent been telling me? I feel tired now. Thefine Bleu usually has this effect on me. Ill head out tothe fourth quadrant tomorrow. I could literally pass into a

coma right now. This has been Dr. Joan M. Warren,signing out.

I admit that we might feel a bit different since theingestion last night. I remember browsing my usual

catalogues and ordering my next shipment, though thecurious smell of oil had permeated my nostrils in theearly morning; probably just a neurological side effect ofthe experimental capsule. Ill be taking the Skytrain ataround 10PM, after the kids leave for school. Ill do my


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readings and ready the equipment. Im having somecoffee and reading the latest issue of Urizen as I alwaysdo. Im on page 88, and I see the same pair of shoes Iordered a week ago, except these have a slight variancein the fabric and texture. I suppose Im feeling buyersremorse. Come to think of it, the past ten pairs of shoesIve bought have held slight variations on the same style,and with higher price. What was I thinking? I dont feelthe same. I dont feel well. Im not myself. I feel sick.

Its 11AM. I threw up in the toilet a little about tenminutes ago. I took the style 1.0 last night, and I blamethe lab if they had fumbled over the product and givenme a beta-line. The mission is too important for thatsort of foolish mentality. Listen, I hate you all, and I feelhorrible. Im now on the web and cancelling all of my

Urizen orders. The nice black synchrome shoes are gone.The grey Autonome brand dress is gone. The Gicojewelry is gone. The next generation Gel-phone is fuckinggone. I suddenly feel completely disgusted with myself. Imay have to visit the bathroom again. Im delirious. I slipsomething small into my dress pocket.

Its 1PM. Producast chicken is being flushed again. Thedaydream comes back. I went out to get some air, andfor a brief moment, I saw a large X in the sky. God is anX in the sky. lam d xkl. We. We. We. We. Please.


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Its 2PM. Im reviewing the hertz scan on myself. I seemto be peaking at around 489 hertz. This is a bit too closefor comfort. I will keep the mobile scanner on me. If Ibegin to approach the 528 I will ingest a style one whichIll be carrying. This is simply a personal call. I hope thatthe Core may agree. I will not put my family or myself atrisk, despite this opportunity to prove myself.

Its 6PM. I dont know where the time went. I got up tomake coffee and then looked outside of my window. Iremember the color white, and a small fire inside of me. Iwas empty. It was invigorating. I didnt want anything.

Its 7PM. I forgot to pick the kids up, so a teacherbrought them over to our apartment complex. I wasecstatic to see them, almost as if I havent seen them inyears. Im so happy, I cant explain it. Im just so happy tosee them. I love them so much. They told me that I wasacting weird, but I told them it was a part of Mommysjob. We didnt watch TV that night, but I told them astory, I guess it was something I made up during the day,without thinking about it. I told them a story about howit was all just a dream, and how Mommy would help tocorrect it, and that a feeling from the sky would turninto flesh and become a monster, and cause the end of itall, and that a group of Gods would slay the monster,and then the Earth would fix itself. They didnt caremuch for it. Instead, they demanded I bring them a copy


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of Urizen and read from it. They liked that. They bothtook their one-style capsules before bed, as usual.

Its 11PM. I called Jacob in a panic and hes coming overnow to act as the sitter. Thank you for assigning him. Illtake the train to fourth quadrant in about two hours.

Jacob brought me a pair of shoes and a dress as a gift.He was surprised at my reaction, which was hardly areaction at all. I told him that I had to ingest the style 1.0

in order to infiltrate the quadrant. Being a member of thecompany, he understood, but seemed worried. I pouredus both a glass a Bleu and then something happened. Icouldnt stop crying. I dont remember the last time Icried. I felt so empty, but so full. I told Jacob that mywhole life has been a joke and that I couldnt findanything to believe in anymore, that I didnt know who Ireally was. I never really did. I threw his gifts in the trash,but he didnt understand it. I guess I dont either. Icancelled my subscription to Urizen a few minutes later.Were out on the deck now, and I see an X in the sky.

Ive locked myself in my room and Im using a knife to cut

apart my collection of dresses and jackets and shoes.Jacob is pounding at the door. I hope he doesnt wake thekids. Im digging the long sharp knife through hundreds ofdesigner brands and magazines. I cant help but laughwhile I do this. I cant help but feel a sort of spiritual


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release in the act. I dig through my walk-in closet and thelast piece of clothing is a white dress, my wedding dress.I never owned a wedding dress, but the X helps meremember. I remember John and how good he was to meand the kids. I suddenly remember the casket of oil I hadplaced in my room after taking the ingestion. I suddenlyremember the small lighter in my Autonome dresspocket, and then I remember something else.

I remember a name which you tried to erase from meand my daughters. John Matthew Combs.

The wedding dress is doused with oil and lit aflame. ButJohn had a closet too, didnt he? The left turns to theright, and its right here. This isnt a house. This isnt ahouse. This isnt a house. This isnt a house. This isnt ahouse. This isnt a house. This is a knife. Jacob wears ared shirt. Red is his favorite color. It must be the newesttrend in the Autonome line. A red liquid bursts out ofJacobs chest as he drops to his knees. Its cute. I leavehim and my daughters in their new outfits, and catch thetrain for quadrant four.

There is something strange and alive inside of the light. Icant explain it. The scanner washes over us in a paleblue-green, and Im in my new wedding dress; a bride to


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be. When I arrived, I was overtaken by the emptinesswhich the 1.0 failed to subdue. Matthew and the Churchfound me about to jump from a bridge into freezingwaters, preached a Universal purpose unto me, and gaveme the zero-style pill which they use. I was filled withHis light and a reason to live. The Church saved me.

There is a God inside of the wave which these peoplereceive. It is not difficult to see. It is intelligent. It is real.He shows himself within the scanner that washes overthe fourth quadrant, and he is growing stronger. He isthat which had saved me. He is that which I owe my lifeto. Along with Matthew, we shall make him whole.

Were in the first dome of the relay server, as thefaithful line up the isles in their perfect shades of grey. Iam filled by Him. Matthew explains to me that Jacob andthe girls were just my embodiment of one-user materialobsession, and werent actually real. I had a breakthroughin setting it all on fire. They wont be bothering meanymore. Ill never have to buy a new pair of shoes again.

I am filled. I am happy. I am finally a part of something

bigger than myself. Matthew puts a ring on me and leadsme down the aisle, out into the streets of the fourthquadrant while an X ignites the sky; such a beautifulhallucination. Our marriage is celebrated by thousands inthe streets; our people. Matthew explains that hes been


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waiting for me, and that we have a job to do. WereAdam and Eve, he says, and that through our love, wewill give birth to the physical embodiment of our love.Zerox will be our child. As we step outside, the palescanner sweeps the ground with a low-drone, and fillsme with purpose. I am where I ought to be. WithMatthew by my side, I am the mother of all that is tocome. To Jose and Carol: Im sorry. Jacob can watch overyou now, where you are. Mommy has finally found what

she has been looking for. This has been Dr. Joan Warren,now signing out. My mission has been completed. Thesame shall inherit the same.

Goodbye.

the subtraction of a one

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