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There was no point in me just making another fansite as Wikipedia and thought experiments lain are all anyone will ever need.

Here's something.

For information about http://www.mebious.co.uk, see here.

artbook text

The following pieces of text are marked up extracts from my copy of yoshitoshi ABe lain illustrations: "ab# rebuild an omnipresence in wired" (and so are likely also in the original omnipresence in wired).

I have corrected some likely errors and, when I truly could not understand the grammar or syntax, actually changed the sentences. This is clearly marked for purists, although I suppose as this is translated from Japanese, it's not really pure at all.

By using the ins tag I indicate text I have inserted and using the del tag, text I have removed - with the exception of capitalisations and spaces.

layer:01 WEIRD

Weird Tale-

The story I am about to relate, though constructed on a framework of fiction, is nevertheless symbolic of certain phenomena based in reality. Furthermore, I predict that, when the words here graven have been amplified, they will begin their transformation into truth.

Wired tale-

Every event serves to emphasize the existence of one's own personal reality, and as individuals separate from all others, we desire a place to belong.

However, that, too, is but an egotistical concept. In order for there to be mutual understanding, it is necessary to recognize here and now that, like the brain's synapses, we are all - in a logical yet chaotic manner - connected.

lain is lain. lain is lain.

Each is separate - yet they are one.

By connecting, humanity gains first awareness of its function as a seed.

By connecting, a human no longer remains a mere endpoint, a terminus, but becomes a junction to another point, having won the right to serialize itself.

The ability to connect is the ability to continue - they are one and the same.

This not only applies to the connection of axial coordinates but temporal coordinates as well. Therefore, at the time when a conscious, intentional connection is made, surely the dead will rise from their intended place, appearing at the time coordinate of the connection's origin.

In that moment, the realization shall dawn that the time in which we inhabit out our physical bodies is but the starting point of a connection, and the very meaning of possessing a physical body at all shall be questioned.

You must not fear this tale.

What you must fear - is lain.

Recognize that you are connected.

Serialize thyself.

layer:02 GIRLS

No, that's not what I said.	That is just totally weak.
Listen, listen, listen! You won't believe it, or more like, I don't want to believe it!	Who's that on the bed? And so pale, too...
The cream's gonna drip.	No, that's not what I said!
Just die.	No, no, it's like, you're just punching in random phone numbers on the cell but the same guy always answers!
OMG that's sooo cute, I want one! Where did you get it?	Is that lain?
You start to get numb and lose all feeling like all the pollutants in your body are just floating away...	Forget it, that is so not you.
Would a normal person send a creepy thing like that just out-of-the-blue?	Well, of course the boyfriend would get mad!
No, that's a different kid.	And then I was, like, so mad I totally ignored him and like landed a kick on his shin - crack! (lol)
lain?	Who's lain?
The cream dripped.	How many times do I have to say this - why can you understand what I'm thinking but I can't understand what you're thinking!?
No waaay! I've never heard that! (cries)
Is that a true story? For-real?	Kissing? Love it.
Who's lain again?	What the hell are you talking about, woman?
It's like, he's there physically, but his eyes are looking somewhere else - you know?	Is that like what they call a 'hex'?
And it's sooo obvious, too.	Sorry, but we're fine on our own.
You'd think it'd taste salty, right? You're wrong - blood is sweet.	Huh? But didn't that kid die...?
Look, look, look. OMG, is that even allowed?	Hey, so who's this lain?

layer:03 PSYCHE

It has been some time since rumors of the existence of a processor called Psyche first surfaced. First mentioned in news groups then eventually throughout the web, its name was whispered among tech-otaku, with the employees of shops in Akihabara and Nihonbashi at the core.

Despite high skepticism as to whether a computer's performance could be so astoundingly enhanced by the mere insertion of this processor into the motherboard, this editorial office has, through a certain route, successfully managed to obtain what is believed to be the processor called Psyche. Here, without further ado, I report the details of our findings. Let me just add that I can in no way reveal the route by which we obtained this processor, and can answer no questions on the subject.

As observable from its exterior, it is multi-layered in its construction. The density of the dye area does not look to be particularly high, perhaps due to its being a small-lot prototype. What we managed to obtain was only the actual processor itself - there were no documents of any kind. Therefore, a bit of trial and error became necessary for the installation process.

As the rumors state, installation involved the seating of the processor onto the motherboard's 429-pin NorthBridge chipset; therefore, any effect it has would act solely on the motherboard using this chipset. The actual installation itself was not difficult, being similar in method to one for the overdrive accelerator, installed by seating in a similar manner over the 386 of yore. However, getting the Psyche to operate was another matter. This processor pushes a 133MHz base-clock up to 400MHz, interpolating the memory controller at a send-rate of 1.6Gb/sec. To our surprise, Psyche, intercepting BIOS settings, uses a unique command to take control over the I/O of the entire motherboard itself. Therefore, any jumper settings on the motherboard become nullified. Indeed, this would not only make it possible to raise the clock speed but also significantly increase the sped of signals by seemingly routing them for a specific purpose before reaching the I/O. The question is, for what purpose? Running of the CPU, FPU and tasks such as ray tracing at the normal benchmark produced high numbers in every category, but not at an especially remarkable elevel. It seems that Psyche's true worth only shines through once it has made a network connection. In our extensive tests, we confirmed that network broadcasting was carried out with unbelievable efficiency. This Psyche operates at 128 bits for a 12 cache memory, but it is at this point that Psyche, interpreter-like, seems to be translating the network command packet, sending out a response in protocol, increasing the data capacity of the packet and greatly reducing sending time. Furthermore, the particular protocol used seems to incorporate some of the same code included in what is called the next generation TCP/IP, causing things previously "invisible" to now be seen. While accessing the network on a Psyche-installed machine, the computer began to make automatic downloads without the user's consent, rewriting the regristry. In addition, what seems to be a type of mailer application became installed, and strange messages began to appear in floating windows. These messages are a revelation from god, and they command me. The prophecy must be fulfilled. The Knights of Eastern Calculus shall save my soul, and the software that shall restore humans to their original form will inhibit the brain's seraotonin secretions, taking me to a world without suffering, without pain (what follows is just a bunch of trash characters...)

layer:04 RELIGION

What is your name?

...lain.

First year in junior high? Second?

Second.

Is school fun?

[long pause] ...yeah.

What's your favorite subject?

...

Are you in a school club or anything?

[shakes head without speaking]

So you go straight home after school, then.

...

Do you have friends?

...yeah, I do.

What kind of games do you play?

We don't.

Then what do you do?

[thinks a bit] ...talk.

About what?

...things.

Where do you talk?

Wired.

You don't like to talk to them in person?

...

What kind of place do you think wired is?

It is a place where people connect, the uppermost level of the real world.

[smiles wryly] Those are someone else's words, aren't they?

Father's.

Do you like your father?

[is quiet for a bit] ...[nods]

What navi do you use to access wired?

The one... my father bought me... in sixth grade...

Do you like fiddling with computers and things like that?

Yes.

Do you dislike these types of questions?

...

You don't like to talk about yourself?

...[nods]

Why?

[fairly long pause] ...because...

Because?

I'm... me, but not me... I'm not the only me...

Who told you that?

...

Who?

...god.

Which god?

The god of wired.

There's a god in wired? Do you believe that?

...

Answer me.

...

I said answer.

...if I believe there is, there is and...

I'm not satisfied with that kind of answer.

...there is... a god...

Yes, that's right. The god of wired is the supreme god of the real world. Therefore, he controls this world absolutely. Understand?

...who are you?

layer:05 DISTORTION

There is the famous anecdote about the American soldier who had a metal plate put into his skull after receiving a shrapnel wound to the head during the Vietnam War. He was later distressed when the metal began acting as an antennae, plaguing him with radio signals that resonated inside his head.

Hearing "radio waves" is a common auditory hallucination among patients of schizophrenia. There also seem to be many cases in which the patient feels that he has been "bugged" and is being onitored. However, it is also true that bugging and surveillance devices are indeed being sold in immense numbers, for a variety of illegal uses and intentions, and that specialists in the locationg and removal of such hidden devices do exist.

Information in the brain is relayed through weak electrical pulses that run between the synapses.

And in the world in which we live, countless radio waves fly through the air and a profusion of electromagnetic waves leak continually from the many wirescrisscrossing above our heads.

It would be unwise to jump to any conclusions from the casual connection of these aforementioned points. However, it is necessary for us to recognize that the environment in which we live is a dangerous one.

Foucault's theory on "madness" is fascinating because he relates that the root cause of every "madness" can be reduced to an individual. However, if there exists a communicable "madness" among humans, its purpose must be to minimize the negative effect of a system component it considers defunct, simplifying the charted route to madness in order to expedite the breakdown of such a component.

In other words, there exists some unknown external force seeking the change and control of humans, which must necessarily be classified as a phenomenon separate from "madness".

If such a process, as the one here described, of the purposeful, systemized catabolism of human consciousness is possible, then it may already be at work.

If so, who is behind it?

layer:06 KIDS

Makoto "why are you always there?"

Makoto "why do you have that hairstyle?"

Makoto "why do you look like that?"

Makoto "how can I go there?"

layer:07 SOCIETY

Last week on Sunday, I went on an outing with my family. We all took the train to see our relatives in Fujisawa. Our whole family went. We left in the morning, at the same time I would usually leave for school, but on the way to the station, my mother realized she had forgotten something, so we had to return briefly to the house. This was my first time visiting my relatives in Fujisawa - no, that is wrong. I have been there many times before. It's just that sometimes I have no memory, and have greeted my aunt and uncle in the past by saying, "nice to meet you," making them laugh. I can't even remember the train trip clearly, but I can recall hearing mother and father talking about some kind of medicine in hushed voices the whole time. As I vaguely listened to them with half an ear, I began to feel like when I was in school, and started to feel sick again. But I endured it. When I saw my aunt and uncle, I said, "hello." No, that's not right. I said, "nice to meet you." But father and mother weren't there...?

Last week on Sunday, I went on an outing alone. I took the train by myself to see my relatives in Fujisawa

------following text deleted------

layer:08 SOCIETY

Hey have you heard?

No, tell me

This is a deep deep secret

You can't tell anybody else

Whispers in your ear

It's just a rumor

Everyone wants to hear that

Don't believe in rumors

Keep only the truth

In your heart

Hey is that a lie?

No, I'm serious.

This is a story no-one can believe.

Every last person is talking about it

Voices laughing loudly

It's just a rumor

Everyone likes to say that

Rumors are only filled with lies

The truth is something

Nobody knows

But only this is the truth of truths

Hey do you know?

layer:09 PROTOCOL

This has a picture and a large number of apparently random characters which are actually the image data in ASCII form or something.

layer:10 LOVE

Another image, but there's some English text I can extract. It's unclear whether some bits are meant to be sequentially connected to others, so I won't concatenate them.

To love is to be

double

connected

I'll scoop my heart out and put it in front of him

If there is someone else you love

Lick the lips, tracing their shape with the tip of your tongue

No matter how much you think of him, he won't [feel/fsee] it

What's being and what's being done are different

There is something hot inside my body

You've got to touch it.

confession

I'm satisfied watching it

Since I've been so distressed

layer:11 INFORNOGRAPHY

Similar to layer:10, more structured...

The underworld is overflowing with dead

It feels very good

What should be feared is what cannot be seen

The tip of the tongue descends, stopping at the cleft

Someone help me

The prophecy shall be fulfilled

I don't have many friends

Pain, unbearable pain

Information softly strokes my lips

The soft spot below the ear

are always pooled with blood

The shadow's green and red striped sweater

Who is lain?

I want to crack open the skull and just remove the pain

Nails pry open the scab, gouging

layer:12 LANDSCAPE

No real text here, although I just noticed something I'd never seen before: in the black page trim, there's some hard-to-see glossy black text that says

Let me get out of here

layer:13 EGO

"- Okay."

lain, nodding once, dipped the madeleine gently into her teacup. feeling as if she were doing something ill-mannered, she stole a glance up at Yasuo's face.

Yasuo only smiled, looking at lain through squinted eyes. Did he used to look this old? lain tried to recall the Yasuo she had known when he had been her father.

No - Yasuo was now, and would always be, her father. Whether this was because lain desired it, or if Yasuo himself wished it, lain did not know.

As she closed her eyes and raised the tea-soaked madeleine to her lips, its sweet aroma wafted up, gently tickling her nose. lain closed her eyes and bit into the madeleine.

"Oh..."

The sweetness and warmth of the tea-soaked madeleine spread throughout her outh, washing over her cold, tense body, filling her with kindness.

From behind closed eyelids, she sensed that the evening light enveloping them had grown slightly brighter. lain slwoly opened her eyes. This evening light... lain had basked in it before, but now she had no memory of it.

Yasuo continued to sit in front of lain.

"Isn't it good? lain."

Yasuo's low, gentle voice resonated tenderly in lain's ears.

Her father's voice.

So kind...

A different warmth welled up inside her chest and, feeling her tears in her now open eyes, she nodded, "yes."

lain recalled how she had, for no particular reason, always cowered at the sound of Yasuo's voice. Why had she been so scared? It was such a kindly voice. Such a pleasant voice...

The tears fell down her cheeks, one after the other. The tightening in her chest was so severe that it was painful. And yet, lain must have wished that this pain would last forever. For this pain could only be felt, could only be understood, because she possesed a physical body. And now, all she had obtained at the cost of the suffering she had endured now existed as memories inside of lain. That is why lain is happy for this kindness. The sheer magnitude of kindness was clear to her

And that was not all she understood.

That's all, folks.