image+text; < thearchitect >

[emet_sulk]

[ Sometime during the month, an image is uploaded (the infamous LONG BREAD), accompanied by the following caption: ]

Assist me in proving a point to my unrepentant friend: this is not how one slices bread.

Comments

[patchricide]

[It takes her a bit to respond. You know, as if she's taking her time and studying this very carefully.]

So the problem is that he only cut one piece?

[SWING AND A MISS]

It shouldn't be too difficult to cut more long slices to match! You would just need an exceptionally steady hand.

[emet_sulk]

That is not the issue being contested here. One is not supposed to cut a loaf of bread the long way, regardless of how one intends to eat it. 'Tis highly impractical.

[ Another picture: this time it's the same loaf but with two slices cut off the shorter end. ]

This is the proper way.

[patchricide]

[This just seems like proselytising at this point.]

If it's so difficult, then how was it cut the first time? If it's your unrepentant friend who did it, perhaps they could do it again, or even teach you their technique.

Besides, it seems far easier to fold this way. And I know that human cuisine includes folded food!

[Oh, what had Hunk called it... ah, of course.]

Why not make a bread taco with it?

[emet_sulk]

I know not what a 'taco' is but there are several flatbreads more suited to what you describe than a slice of this bread. I assume you speak of those?

[patchricide]

Truthfully, I am not sure. I've yet to see a taco for myself, actually.

However, a friend told me about them after we encountered what he called a "space taco," where the space-time continuum folded into a neat pocket.
Apparently the actual food is far more delicious.

[emet_sulk]

If this 'taco' is indeed what I am imagining, they make ideal food to eat while one walks.

Folding space and time together however... An interesting mental image. What happens when it is folded?

[patchricide]

That would make sense! You could store many smaller foods inside of it, and not have to worry about picking them up one at a time!

The 'space taco' was intended for concealment, rather than containment. A certain location was in the center of the 'taco', making it disappear from sensors almost entirely.

[emet_sulk]

Indeed...

So how does one fold this 'space taco'? Is space not...space? 'Tis empty by definition. I cannot imagine how one would even begin to fold it.

[patchricide]

You're thinking of the wrong sort of space. I do not mean a void, but the space-time continuum. The universe that contains all things.

[There has to be an easier way to explain this to someone who might not have grown up with basic astrophysics.]

The fabric of existence itself.

To warp it so thoroughly, I believe they employed a special gravity generator. The exact science is beyond my own understanding.

[emet_sulk]

[ This is made more confusing by the fact that their worlds function on quite different scientific principles. ]

Yes, that was what I was referring to by 'space'. That endless expanse which contains the stars, life, and all aether.

[ Gravity is something he understands at least. Though how gravity is supposed to assist in folding over the universe continues to elude him. ]

I suppose the point is moot as I shall never have the chance to test this for myself.

[patchricide]

Are you certain? You said it was empty. From what I've seen, space is anything but.

I imagine not, given the current state of space-time. You could possibly run experiments here in Avalon, but I doubt they would appreciate anyone tampering with it until the problem of frozen time is solved.

[emet_sulk]

Indeed.

Allow me to clarify: I'm aware of other stars beyond my own but crossing the vast expanse betwixt them is an impossible feat for mortal man as they are now. A single dragon managed the journey once, pursued by a mindless machine, but neither were in a state to repeat such a feat from what I last recall.

Thus when I speak of 'space' I refer to the cold, empty expanse. Not the distant - and thus far unreachable - worlds which lie on the other side of it.

[patchricide]

That is precisely my problem with your definition, though. The expanse isn't as empty as you suggest.

The distance might seem immeasurable for us because we exist on such a small scale compared to it. But that touches upon the other reason why I would not define space by its emptiness: If you focus too much on how large the distance is, you will never overcome it.

The key to space exploration lies in looking for ways to negate distance. Space is a medium, a fabric upon which reality itself is built. There are ways to manipulate it, to create wormholes that will cross from any point to another without traversing any points in between.

Once you've done that, you can jump from point to point and see that there is far more than lonely worlds waiting out there. Such as the Weblum, the giant space worms for which we named the wormholes in the first place.

[emet_sulk]

[ He sighs and pinches his nose. His reply takes a while to compose. ]

Just because you negate the empty space in order to travel it, does not mean that space does not exist. Again, I reiterate: man as they are now has not the capacity nor the technology to traverse the distance. I did not say 'twas impossible at all - only that it is impossible as they are now. If they can find a way to breach the metaphysical barrier between worlds as well as turn back time itself, I've no doubt that one day they will turn their gazes to the distant stars and travel beyond their native realm. But until such time, they've enough problems of their own to solve.