/ Machines

This morning was just like every other morning. Ermen sat down at his desk, looking over all the work from yesterday and in his head already planning how to continue. But before he began, he looked out of the window in front of him.

There was nothing in particular to see, but to Ermen, it was everything. His world, his inspiration, his future. And with that on his mind, he started.

His work was a delicate one. A long sequential process that didn’t allow mistakes. But that’s where he found the most joy.

Every piece he created was like a small machine. He then used these small machines to build larger ones, which in turn were used to construct even larger machines, and so on. It was fascinating to see how, at any scale, they would interact with one another, can change each other. It was for this exact reason that he considered them machines.

Today’s work was no exception. He combined his previous work in every possible way, creating a multitude of new pieces, each defined by the parts comprising it.

Sometimes, when Ermen was done with a new set of machines, he played with them for a bit. Throwing them at each other, gently pushing them together, ripping them apart, everything that was possible. This time, however, he just watched them as time passed. After a while, some fell apart into their smaller pieces. Just as he planned.

Ermen smiled as it happened, considering its name would be the indivisible. Not something he came up with, Ciara did. She was the one who named all of his creations, considering nobody knew words better than her. There was also more than just the name to it. Each piece had its own story, or rather multiple, and this was her forte.

The next day started where the previous one ended. With a new set of parts ready to be built with, he didn’t hesitate long to get going. The possibilities grew and so did the complexity of each piece. The current ones were a bit special though. Under the right circumstances, they would fold together and change their shape, providing new ways to interact with each other. Ciara called these the building blocks of life.

The names didn’t change how Ermen felt about his creations. In the end, they all belonged together, interact with one another, and they all had their purpose. And it was probably this fact, that they were all interchangeable pieces of a puzzle, that made their creation so fulfilling. This was because, although he created all of it, and even if he decided what they can do, eventually, they’ll act on their own within those given constraints.

Ermen looked out of the window again. There was still nothing to see, but a bit more of that than before. He thought about the names and stories that Ciara told him. The creations he’ll continue to make, from atoms, to cells, to humans, to planets, to universes, and everything before and beyond that.