Contents
II. Hedonism — Dalton
Overview
From Dalton’s fractured stream of thought, he reveals an obsessive plan to open a high-output portal governed by conservation and entropy, accepting it may cost lives. He withholds the truth from Parisa even as they grow more intimate. Dalton begs to be stopped, signaling an impending, self-destructive escalation.
Summary
Dalton’s inner monologue spirals through warnings of collapse and fate, framing his current path as a cycle of destruction he cannot abandon. He fixates on first principles—energy conservation and rising entropy—arguing that the power needed for a portal “cannot come from nothing,” and that excess power guarantees cost.
Amid the jumble, Dalton addresses Atlas, noting the archives’ failures—reduced to a 1975 physics textbook—and concluding their calculations are compromised. He admits he wants the portal too much and that someone will have to stop him, acknowledging the experiment’s likely fatalities and his complicity.
Dalton lies beside Parisa as she wakes. He wants to “build worlds” with her, seeing her as a mirror to his soul, yet he withholds a crucial confession about the portal and its dangers. Desire distracts them into intimacy, and Dalton defers honesty, despite recognizing that once set in motion, events will not stop.
By the end, Dalton’s plea—both a warning and a surrender—remains unspoken to Parisa. He chooses concealment over disclosure, accepting that his ambition, the failing knowledge base, and the laws of thermodynamics point toward a catastrophic outcome he still intends to pursue.
Who Appears
- DaltonFractured POV; obsessed with a high-power portal, cites conservation/entropy, hides the plan from Parisa, begs to be stopped.
- ParisaWakes beside Dalton; shares intimate moment while he withholds a dangerous confession about his portal ambitions.
- AtlasAddressed in Dalton’s thoughts about failed archives and flawed calculations, an implied collaborator or overseer.