Eclosion
S t o r i e s
Kajetan Kwiatkowski:
First off, I wanna say thanks for letting me see you again.
Mult: My wavelength is such that you are the only person who could ever see me.
K: I didn’t know that. Count me lucky I guess!
M: Seeing me is not a good fortune.
K: Well I’d rather think of it as good fortune.
M: A tremendous weight will soon descend upon your shoulders. You will be responsible for the course-correct of your entire world’s future. It will be lengthy, difficult, and you will likely die from the effort.
K: Well at least I've come prepared to take notes.
M: I will divulge some information, but you must hold true to your agreement.
K: Anything you tell me, I can only share in the form of my “sci-fi” stories. People will think I’m making it up.
M: Good. For it is too early to be spread as truth.
K: Yes.
M: But the seed must be sowed, so it will become truth.
K: Sure.
M: And you will sow as many seeds as possible.
K: Sure. I think we can move past this seed analogy.
M: It is a good analogy.
K: Before you continue —and sorry, I know this is a big ask— are you okay if I post this entire conversation on my website?
M: Yes.
K: I totally understand if you don’t feel—wait what?
M: I am from the future. I know how this plays out. Your website post is of no consequence.
K: Well it will probably get me a couple hits at least.
M: It will be a trivial amount.
K: Okay.
K: Well, let's begin here. So tell me, you’re from the year 2200?
M: I am from a year where keeping track of numerical designations makes little difference.
K: And how did you travel back in time?.
M: Reverse Pupation
K: And can you explain what that means?
M: Arthropods enter cocoons and undergo morphosis, in which they emerge at a future time. I have found a way to reverse this.
K: And can you explain that?
M: How much of astro-embryonics do you understand?
K: Not much, but you can try me.
M: No, our time is limited, and this would be a waste of it.
K: Okay.
M: I’ve come back so I can ensure your actions lead to The Eclosion.
K: Great, yes, you’ve mentioned this before. You say humanity is going to undergo something called “The Eclosion.” Can you elaborate?
M: The Eclosion is the point in which humans become inextricably linked with arthropods. Fused, one could say. Our two phylums will conjoin back as they once were, before evolution broke us off.
K: Right, and why would we want to fuse?
M: Half a billion years ago, arthropoda roamed the lands and seas as emperors of this world. And The Eclosion sees a proper return to this state.
K: What?
M: I know that someone as prehistoric as yourself has difficulty understanding what I mean. Which is why it's best we talk about the lead-up period, The Preclosion, as our scholars call it.
K: The Preclosion?
M: This was the transitional phase from your present state-of-affairs to The Eclosion.
K: Okay. Would you say, right now, in 2024, am I currently in the Preclosion?
M: Not yet.
M: Insect technologies are barely in their nascence in your era. Any forms of it are mostly relegated to food production. Such as generating “lures” in your primitive fishing industry.
K: Or cricket protein bars.
M: But, there will come a point where insect technologies will be as pervasive as your current computer machinery. Their flexible little minds and bodies will prove invaluable, to the point where no part of life is untouched by tiny legged creatures. This is The Preclosion.
K: Right. So the examples you’ve given me before, where humans use insects for reconnaissance, healthcare, recycling. This is all Preclosion?
M: Correct. Your childish little fictions will be key to inspiring the coming movement.
K: Are you saying they’ll be widely read?
M: Certainly not. But a series of far more capable authors will borrow your ideas, which will in turn be turned into moving pictures, which will in turn produce real-world results. You are, like I said, merely the seed.
K: I see. Can I ask why I was chosen as this seed?
M: Happenstance. Because my psychogenic communication only works with someone as sleep deprived as yourself.
K: You can sense my insomnia?
M: I must reach the hippocampus, where dreams are made. And yours is readily accessible.
K: Wait, are you saying this is a dream?
M: Obviously this is not a dream.
K: I mean, I don’t know if it's that obvious.
M: Do you want proof? Give me your hand.
K: Wait a minute. Was I just in bed? Is this a dream?
M: No, by touching you, I merely reconfigured your nodes to make it appear as if you were in bed. To show you in fact, that you are not.
K: Right. That’s not confusing at all.
M: I agree, it's very clarifying.
K: So if this is all real, will I ever see my writing actually set off the Preclosion?
M: If you keep at it, you may see a glimmer of it in your lifetime, yes.
K: Really?
M: Yes
K: Well that’s pretty cool. You know, I find it astounding that the future is so filled with bugs. Before I met you, I would have assumed it was all robots and AI.
M: Those exist too, but more as accessories to the Critozoans
K: Critozoans?
M: Anthro-Arthro hybrids such as myself.
K: Wait, so you’re half human?
M: Half-human? This is a rather rude designation. I thought people of your era were supposedly considerate of other identities.
K: I didn’t mean to offend, I was just trying to clarify.
M: I am fully human and fully insect. The most optimal species which has ever existed.
K: Right. And in your future, your kind is everywhere.
M: My future? You mean The Future.
K: So there’s no other possible timeline?
M: The noise you just heard is a Critozoan laugh. Your people have not yet learned that time is a closed loop, even if you travel back through it.
K: And what if I decide to stop writing stories? Stop this whole “seeding” process.
M: And why would you do that?
K: Maybe I don’t want people to fuse with insects. Maybe The Eclosion doesn’t have to happen...
M: The Eclosion will happen. Try as you might, you will continue writing. You will be compelled to do so.
K: Compelled?
M: Although you are the only human I can communicate with, my connection with all arthropods in your time is very strong.
K: Wait a minute... Are you the reason I can’t sleep?
M: Insomnia has many precipitating factors
K: There are spider bites I keep getting. And mosquitoes keep finding ways into my room.
M: Sounds like you should close your windows.
K: Are you controlling them somehow?
M: The nature of your questions are extending beyond the purpose of our interview.
K: Oh god. You are controlling them. It’s been you this whole time
M: I’m afraid my localized synchronization is slipping. I must get going.
K: I’ve barely slept in over a year!
M: Your exhaustion is a necessary sacrifice.
K: Do you have any idea how tired I am?
M: Your sleeplessness is enabling us to communicate.
K: There must be another way. Without the constant barrage of feelers, pincers and buzzing.
M: There is no other way. Keep writing, sow the seed, and perhaps all the buzzing may soon stop.
K: Wait, stop! You can't just go after dropping a bomb like that. We've barely started. I still have so many more—
K: Questions...
