Cryptonomicon

A bit-pattern designator is a random series of bits used to uniquely identify a RIST. For example, the organism traditionally designed as Earth (Terra, Gaia) has been assigned the designator 0577. This Web site is maintained by 11A4 which is a hive mind. RIST 11A4 assigns bit-pattern designators with a pseudo-random number generator. This departs from the practice used by that soi-disant"hive mind" known to itself as the East Bay Area Hive Mind Project but designated (in the system of RIST 11A4) as RIST E772. This "hive mind" resulted from the division of "Hive Mind One" (designated in the system of RIST 11A4 as RIST 4032) into several smaller "hive minds" (the East Bay Area Hive Mind Project, the San Francisco Hive Mind, Hive Mind IA, the Reorganized San Francisco Hive Mind, and the Universal Hive Mind) as the result of an irreconcilable contradiction between several different semantic memes that competed for mind-share. One of these semantic memes asserted that bit-pattern designators should be assigned in numerical order, so that (for example) Hive Mind One would be designated RIST 0001 and so on. Another meme asserted that numbers should be organized in order of importance, so that (for example) the RIST conventionally known as the planet Earth would be RIST 0001. Another semantic meme agreed with this one but disagreed as to whether the counting should begin with 0000 or 0001. Within both the 0000 and 0001 camps, there was disagreement about what RIST should be assigned the first number: some asserted that Earth was the first and most important RIST, others that some larger system (the solar system, the Universe, God) was in some sense more inclusive and fundamental.

This machine has an e-mail interface. Randy uses it.

To: root@eruditorum.org

From: dwarf@siblings.net

Subject: Re(2) Why?

Saw the website. Am willing to stipulate that you are not RIST 9E03. Suspect that you are the Dentist, who yearns for honest exchange of views. Anonymous, digitally signed e-mail is the only safe vehicle for same.

If you want me to believe you are not the Dentist, provide plausible explanation for your question regarding why we are building the Crypt.

Yours truly,

–-BEGIN ORDO SIGNATURE BLOCK-– (etc.)

–-END ORDO SIGNATURE BLOCK--

"We've got bits," Cantrell says. "Are you in the middle of something?"

"Nothing I'm not eager to get out of," Randy says, putting the palm-top down. He gets off the bed and stands behind Pekka. The screen of Pekka's computer has a number of windows on it, of which the biggest and frontmost is the image of another computer's screen. Nested within that are various other windows and icons: a desktop. It happens to be a Windows NT desktop, which is noteworthy and (to Randy) bizarre because Pekka's computer isn't running Windows NT, it's running Finux. A cursor is moving around on that Windows NT desktop, pulling down menus and clicking on things. But Pekka's hand is not moving. The cursor zooms over to a Microsoft Word icon, which changes color and expands to form a large window.

This copy of Microsoft Word is registered to THOMAS HOWARD.

"You did it!" Randy says.

"We see what Tom sees," Pekka says.

A new document window opens up, and words begin to spill across it.

Note to myself: let's see "Letters to Penthouse" print this!

I don't suppose that graduate students of either gender are exactly sought out by sexual connoisseurs for their great fucking skills. We think about it too much. Everything has to be verbalized. A person who believes that fucking is a sexual discourse is simply never going to be any good in the sack.

I have a thing about stockings. They have to be sheer black stockings, preferably with seams up the back. When I was thirteen years old I actually shoplifted some black pantyhose from a grocery store just so that I could play with them. Walking out of that store with those L'eggs in my backpack, my heart was pounding, but the excitement of the crime was nothing compared to opening up the package and pulling them out, rubbing them against my fuzzy, adolescent cheeks. I even tried pulling them on, but this just looked grotesque--what with my hairy legs--and did absolutely nothing for me. I didn't want to wear them. I wanted someone else to. I masturbated four times that day.