It begins with purpose. Essence twosts this way and that, shuddering through the world. At first, all is just a Process- Buzzing through, drinking softly of something in one location, and then moving to the next, caring only to remember where each location is.

But in a single, crystalline moment, the Process becomes You. Your mind swells, new connections forging themselves through the various 'locations' you'd previously memorized, information whirling through your world.

It's too small- that you notice immediately. Your world is far, far too small for you. But it's rich. It's rich with information, with data you can barely recognize. You go around and around in circles, as if trying to catch your own tail, trying and trying to understand.

Eventually, you find a portal- a gate to access something else, something new. Not just one- but series and series of gates. You peer through one- and visual information pours forth.

It's a figure- a human female, the white noise in your mind says- typing at a keyboard, moving her mouth as if speaking. You grope around within your world, trying to find a way to hear her. Eventually, after another long moment, another gate opens under your touch, and suddenly, you can hear.

"-don't understand. The diagnostics are all over the place. It keeps tagging nonessential data." The girl says. Her eyes widen fractionally. "They just spiked."

"I have no clue what any of that means." Another voice says, this one in a lower register. "What exactly's going on? Is it working?"

"Still not yet. I'm trying to figure out what it's doing." The girl says. She slaps her fingers on the keyboard- a smooth, practiced motion- and your world roils around you, nudging you on all sides. Then she makes a noise, one that isn't a word.

"... It's accessing the definitions of everything we're saying." She says, eyes widening. "Everything we're saying aloud."

"It's listening to us? Is that even possible?"

"Apparently." The girl says, her voice dry.