Contents
INTERLUDE FIVE
Overview
The Mind explains that on Shroud, consciousness emerged between organisms via encrypted signals, forming a once planet-spanning intellect. Centuries of increasing electromagnetic noise from the sky fragmented this unity into isolated selves, a catastrophic downfall. Now, with humans present, the Mind anticipates a return to broader connection—an Enlightenment.
Summary
The Mind narrates that consciousness on Shroud arose not within single bodies but between them, as organisms evolved increasingly complex, encrypted signals to coordinate and explore their world. These signals became thoughts, and the aggregate formed a unified, planet-spanning intellect.
In its early ages, the Mind’s thoughts traversed the globe, enabling a period of near-total understanding. This expansive self encompassed both inner and outer knowledge on a scale beyond individual comprehension.
Then periodic, sky-crossing electromagnetic emissions grew over centuries, saturating the planet with noise. Overwhelmed, living systems amplified their own activity to be heard, severing long-range coherence. The Mind fragmented into countless diminished selves, losing the scale and speed needed to comprehend as before.
Accepting this downfall as Shroud’s intellectual history, the Mind contrasts it with Earth’s ascent. With the arrival of humans, however, the Mind senses the possibility of renewed connection and names it Enlightenment.
Who Appears
- MindNarrator; once planetwide consciousness fragmented by electromagnetic noise, now glimpsing renewed connection through human arrival.