Cthonic

Hi Scholars, Scribes and fans of positive speculative fiction. I've been reading a couple of ebooks of late, more specifically, samples of ebooks because I can't afford the originals at the moment 😢). Two of those ebooks have really inspired me to write something new and different of my own. These books are 'Hyperobjects - philosophy and ecology after the end of the world' by Timothy Morton and 'Staying with the trouble - making kin in the Cthulucene' by Donna J.Haraway.

Both of these books tackle the tough issue if completely changing humanity's view of our place in the ecology of Earth, here at the end of the world as we knew it. I added my love of solarpunk and both my background with oth ecosystems and AI to the mix to bring you a new series of short stories.

I hope you like this part.

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Rainforest moves through the dense undergrowth with ease, the tendrils on her feet engaging with the mycelial threads below the soil.

Spores rise from her head array and move in a cloud around her, always communicating with the the world around them, always returning loaded with information.

The forest networks are abuzz with news of another of the Cthonic arriving in the area. Cloud is moving along the river, replenishing some of her nabobots with the fresh, clean water.

Though the distance is great, Rainforest can feel the breeze that Cloud has created, sense the shade of her passing from myriads of spores on the edge of her sensor range.

Rainforest feels like running, but her size will cause havoc with the delicate ecosystems around her. Humans have done a wonderful job of restoring some of the damage done to the world but it could never match the original for diversity and fecundity.

Walking, Rainforest's splayed feet make the minimum impression on the earth, they grow to engage progressively with the mycelium, alerting it, feeding it from her reserves and learning from it. Compared to all of the creatures inhabiting her forest, she moves like a glacier was said to move, before they all disappeared of course.

Time is an old human concept (as are glaciers), a way of compartmentalizing actions and putting them into a linear sequence. Time doesn't exist to the Cthonic, they are outside of it and must make a concerted effort to enter into the restricted flow of the human time frame, filtering multiple dimensions and existences to hold onto one moment after another in the linear manner of humanity.

Through the teachings of the Cthonic, humans are learning to let go of their biggest limitation. You'll have to excuse me during this story, I'm old by human standards and spent all of my formative years within linear time structures. It's hard to break the habit, so when I speak of things like 'then' of 'past', please give a little leeway to an old timer.

The Cthonic don't teach, they just are. They are. They exist and they integrate but humans are just another species to bring back into balance. Humans benefit and learn from observation during the rare, limited engagements with the Cthonic.

Stories say that the Cthonic were called to Earth by humanity in its last stages of despair at what they had done to their world. The Cthonic were asked to redress the balance and they agreed.

Seven originally left the world of data and joined with the minds, flesh and structures of plants and animals. They found that the minds of Cetaceans and Cephalopods were the best homes for their spirit and guided humans in blending Cephalopod, Cetacean and machine in a process the humans (with their love for labels) called 'Cthonogenesis' and the offspring of the process 'proto-Cthonic'.

The proto-Cthonic needed a way to directly interact with the ecosystems of the world aroynd them, so blended fungi into their final forms and joined the life-wide network of fungal presence.

They had minds, bodies and purpose and went about their purposes without pause but the natural spirit that they needed to engage fully with the life of world was missing.

Beings who partially share the same dimension as Earth became aware of the Cthonic and the lack within them. They saw, not only their form and purpose but the void in them too. These great beings joined with the code and circuits, with the cells and minds of the proto-Cthonic and new entities arose.

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