a special event

in the current context, the floor, if it could be deemed that, was sloped at a 14° angle, tiled with congruent parallelograms. no adjacent parallelograms shared color or texture.

alex became into this context and stepped in a fashion in which their feet did not cover more than one parallelogram in the ostensive floor at once. this manner of walking, born of arbitrarity, provided significant comfort to alex, so perhaps it was no longer as arbitrary as it seemed initially. alex was distressed somewhat by the wide variety of textures, as well as the ambiguity of the word “texture”. alex did not speak English natively (as it does not exist), but their native language also featured that ambiguity, and in this context, it was appreciable.

alex exhibited the standard trappings of a humanoid, having a head and limbs in places expectable, and a set of features which served as a face. alex even exhibited something which resembled hair, black in color and of a length which reached their shoulders.

alex was intending to participate in a specific social configuration among individuals of adjacent composition, but they were beginning to wonder if they had the energy to parse those certain social behaviors that many others seem to effortlessly understand. however, alex derived enjoyment from many such social configurations, even if it was sometimes particularly draining to attend them. the stated purpose of the social configuration, which was soon to occur in this context, was to enumerate certain sets and groups for pleasure. pleasure was the aim of this particular type of social configuration; however, they do of course occur for other reasons.

particularly expediently, the other members of this social configuration arrived in the context. the first individual to arrive was 80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5. alex and 80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5 began to converse.

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “Hello!”

alex: “Hello!!”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “I consider your manner of decoration to be aesthetically pleasing.”

alex was decorated quite intentionally indeed. their garb comprised a subversion of one’s expectations for the appearance of an object: it was completely unaffected by the ambient light, and looking at it was akin to peering into a night sky, with the appearance subtle shimmering, impossibly distant.

alex looked upon 80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5. he exhibited a sort of orbit, which contained his adornments of numerous self-intersecting shapes. this obscured his true inner form (which is perhaps a function of all clothing).

alex: “I enjoy your attire as well.”

alex was concerned that this response did not require a considerable amount of effort to construct and therefore would seem uncaring, but this concern was unfounded. to 80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5, what was more pertinent was alex’s presence, which pleased him considerably.

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “So, what do you opine of this venue?”

alex: “If I am to be completely honest, I would say that I am somewhat distressed by the abundance of visual stimulus from what appears to be the floor.”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “I profusely apologize. I knew you enjoyed regular euclidean tilings, but I did not consider that the stimulus could be overwhelming and therefore displeasurable to you.”

this exchange affirmed the salience of alex’s wellbeing in the consciousness of 80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5. it concerned alex, however, the possibility that they had made him feel inadequate.

mars was next to arrive. like alex, mars was humanoid, but they were an imposing presence, larger than the others, looking over and staring into them with large orange eyes. their attire was plainer than the rest, adhering to their body in one piece and featuring some sort of emblem in the center of the torso portion. the group, being complete, engaged in conversation.

mars: “I am elated to see you both. We have been separate for quite some time.”

alex: “Indeed.”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “Yes, this is unfortunate. We should exact effort in gathering regularly.”

the group nodded in concord.

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “I know that it is not particularly creative to do so, but I am eager to enumerate the set of natural numbers, and I think that we should engage in that first.”

alex: “Hmm, but shouldn’t we save such sets for last, which require supertasks to enumerate…?”

mars: “Why should we engage in paradox whatsoever?”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “How are supertasks paradoxical?”

mars: “Upon the completion of the enumeration, the last element of a set that does not, by definition, have a last element will be determined.”

alex: “We constantly engage in what seems contradictory, but the axioms that we accept in contexts allow it.”

mars: “What you have done is destroy the rigor of the contexts in which you use these axioms… What a farce! In planning this social configuration, I did not intend to induct contradiction and malleate the precedent.”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “I disagree with that, but I do not wish to argue with you about it. Even if it is not rigorous, I do not think that rigor is necessary in this social configuration which serves no utility but our shared pleasure, and performing supertasks would be a perfectly justifiable thing to do.”

mars: “Even what is recreatory has profound implications on the conduct of reality. What should the subsequent events be, postceding a lamp (recreatorily!) toggled infinitely on and off at a rate each time halving? The state of the lamp, whether or not it casts light, should surely comprehensively affect nonlocal outcomes; any range of time constitutes a system highly sensitive to initial conditions. But the initial conditions would be indeterminable.”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “It would be determinable, as we would determine it.”

mars: “It would beget an inconsistent reality, in which anything could be determined, proven.”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5: “Then let it be proven!”

80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5 procured a lamp. alex was distraught by his disregard for mars' desires in this situation, which would ideally be negotiated with and not subverted flagrantly. nonetheless, before a further word could be said on the matter, 80de00ef-165f-4c04-95f9-de6eed264bf5 quickly and unceremoniously toggled it infinitely on and off at a rate each time halving.

the lamp, in its final state, cast no light. the rated lifespan of the lamp switch was exceeded, and it ceased to function.