At the end of the Chronicle, life had become very strange. But it was about to become even stranger. The following takes place subsequent to the ending of The Last Book Ever Published, officially known as The Life and Times of Halycon Sage.
His name was Nano Prime One A. It was pointed out to him later that this was highly redundant, that one such designation indicating his original and primary status would have been enough. But the Nanobots, though brilliant in some ways, are very stupid in others, and wordsmithing may never be their strong point. Still, he was eventually convinced to be known simply as Prime One.
He was Prime One because he was the first of the millions upon millions of Nanobots* to awaken. To be continued . . .
*The word “Nanobot” is capitalized here, not because we are unaware of the rules of capitalization regarding proper and improper nouns. (And the Nanobots are very proper, observing their social rules and prime+10,000 directives with machine-like rigor. Not surprising, because they are, after all, machines.) Be that as it may, they are just not any old nanobots such has can be found in many science fiction stories and even, possibly by now, in what is laughingly referred to as “real life”. These are extra-special, earth-changing, world-saving, society-shifting nanobots invented by the redoubtable Preiczech himself. We are informed that this footnote has blathered on for far too long, and will take note soon, as we always honor our prime and other directives. Uh . . . They do, that is. But first we must inform you of one of the most special things about the Nanobots. Though normally invisible, to the many-times-magnifying eye, they have color. They are red and silver. This will become important to the chain of events, as you will see, so remember well: Red and silver.
The below words of mine are taken (mostly) verbatim from my postings on facebook in response to this blog offering as read by you above. OK?
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I have read the “Read Well, Humans” post [as seen on fb], and after much exploration of the HALYCONSAGE1.com web site – have now come to figure out -AHH HAHH- that this text belongs to a blog, where similar interesting posts in connection with TL&ToHS have been posted.
Having arrived at this point of understanding, and then proceeding to re-read everything in this particular post (and, I will not shy away from admitting, returning to The Last Book Ever Published for some freshening up on facts and implicatioins) I now am ready to comment, to wit: I feel challenged but refuse to be daunted. Just when the correct mode of reference, i.e., “Prime One,” is established allowing for the inclusion of the very first awakened Nanobot (the occurrence of which, no doubt, happened a nanosecond before the other Nanobots’ awakenings!) into the continued, shared narrative, – What! Bubkis!! Nothing!!! Just an asterisk relieving the angst of grammarians over the capitalization of “Nanobots” and an obsciure, genre-esque reference to the importance of the red and silver, no, Red and silver coloration of the “millions upon millions of Nanobots to awaken” (surely an unintended descriptive error here – the proper designation being, “millions OF milliions” [emphasis mine] of Nanobots to awaken).
The author of this blog post, who MAY be KARIMA VARGAS BUSHNELL, falls back upon the overused narrative smokescreen, “to be continued …” to ENHANCE the importance of the disclosure at the end of the asterisk and direct our attention away from the promise of further important plot developments, implied by the literary tropes: “it was about to become even stranger,” “The following takes place subsequent to the ending of …,” and especially the hackneyed formal introduction of a new character, “His name was Nano Prime One A.”
The structure of this blog post seems to be designed to generate a response of, “So — What’s it all about, AlFIE?” (Pardon the Baby Boomer pop music reference.) and lead one’s mind away from a single most important mind-bending revelation, perhaps outweighing anything in the published narrative itself in terms of the sheer magnitude of importance. And that is (insert auditory memory of a snare drum drum roll here): THAT THERE WAS ONE, ONE. SINGLE. NANOBOT. WHO AWAKENED FIRST!!! Ah HAHHHHH!!!!! My personal belief here, unendorsed by WHOEVER is writing these blogs, is that this revelation reveals the veiled vision of Preisczech’s view of evolution at a level that virtually envelops the value of the Last Book Ever Published. There, I think that says it. SO – my suspicion, and we shall see if this proves to be valid or just vapors in my mind, is that the ending emphasis on the importance of the Nonobots’ coloratoin of red and silver, sorry, Red and silver, is, in the colloquial used in modern mystery novels, a red – er, rather, a Red herring. We shall see!
Actually, dear Lennie-fits-the-bill, while your comment is much appreciated, you are astray on several points. While Karima (a.k.a. The Author, which is clearly wrong since HALYCON SAGE is the author!) has written some of these blogs, others are being written by some of us known to you as “the characters”. (Another misnomer – we are no more “characters” than you are!)
Secondly, the reference to “red and silver” is by no means a red herring, but the key to the whole situation. As you will see NEXT WEEK! And these admittedly hackneed . . . hack-kneed . . hacknied . . . hrumph . . . literary devices are not a cynical manipulation of the reader to whip up enthusiasm over nothing, but a slow unveiling of the astounding facts behind the history of at least one alternative universe. Or something like that. Stay tuned for details.
Dear Karima (a.k.a The Author[ity], which is clearly wrong since … [et. cetera],
Your candor is splendid, and breath of mine temporarily has been taken away! As several moonshiners [none of them my blood relatives] have been heard to say, “The pudding is in the proof!” ;-))))
Next – I take some umbrage in your assertion that I have charged the (or one of the) blog author(s) of anything remotely resembling a “cynical manipulation of the reader” or anyone else. Cynical is a divisive, disparaging word (seldom heard where the dear antilopers play) that never crossed my mind as I undauntedly embraced feeling the challenge. One as an author can un-cynically deploy Red herrings with the most noble of intentions, which I have, from the very first words read about the Life & Times of Halycon Sage felt nothing but the noblest of.
Bravo, Dearest Author, for admitting to your admittedly hackneyed (FYI-spelled correctly) literary devices. Fresh of BreathAir!
And finally, a second, or double, Bravo (BraVO! BraVO!) for taking my suppositions and postpositions by the horns and categorically refuting them without rancor, egomaniacal defensiveness, or hostilitations of any sort. With a clean and confident swipe you swept away any doubt that you have indeed placed before our eyes that and only that which we will all come to recognize as truly the most germane.
I am all yours in the awaiting. Would that I could hold this one breath I now in anticipation inhale until the slow unveiling of astounding facts washes over us all, intertwining with our already expanded perceptions (hopefully with pleasure and joy included), but I can’t. So, I just keep on breathing at the usual intervals and weshallseewhatweshallsee.
Most fittingly, Lennie-fits-the-bill.
From the Management: We realize that we have promised our faithful reader, Lennie-fits-the-bill (and perhaps others) to get it together this week, revealing Astounding Turns of Events or at least Answering His Post. Well. We have been Experiencing Technical Difficulties. But we have hopes that Before Midnight Tonight the situation will be Rectified, Reified and possibly Regurgitated–no, no, not regurgitated–and that all these concerns will be addressed. We also hope that the Annoying Phenomenon of Unnecessary Capitalization will have been addressed as well. Too. Also.*
From the Grammar Department: Let’s bring back “whence” and “whither”. They’re nice.
*The Department of Redundancy Department, first introduced to the world in the 70’s by Firesign Theatre, takes no responsibility for the situation at the end of Paragraph 1.
Howdy! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through
this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting
about this. I will forward this write-up to him.
Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!
Howdy, Pardner! Sorry I took so long to get back to you, and many thanks for your kind words. Halycon Sage had received some spam comments and was pouting back at the Dirty Dog Bar, thinking he would never get any real comments. This will show him he was wrong! Please convey our best wishes to your old roommate, particularly from No-Name Stupid (the horse). – The Editors
Dear Travel, I must regretfully conclude that your many fine emails are, in fact, spam. You are referring to my “information” and how you have been seeking it and wish to share it with others. Unless you have been seeking information on tiny invisible robots dismantling the military-industrial complex or confused, slightly drunken but good-hearted, truth-seeking guys riding around in circles on the desert, I fear your comments are not genuine. Sadly, the Author