Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

“...would feel more comfortable,” Albert concluded."Whatever we call it,” Daedelus tried to get betweenMaroclos and Albert. From the expression on Albert’s face,there was some history to this. Daedelus went on, “We havemeasured the extent of the area involved in the entanglementsthat give our spirits new life in this heaven. It would takeyears to explain our techniques.""I don't dispute the size of the entity,” Ava said, “just thatit isn't God, it's some kind of operating system is my guess, orat least that is the label that makes the most sense to me. It isable to use and/or generate quantum computing condensatesin the dark matter. You could call it a spirit, if you must usemystical terminology, I prefer systems technology and willcall it an OS. All your souls are its grant list, do you knowhow many there are?”“On the order of four hundred quadrillion by the samemethods that allowed us to determine its extent.”She was a bit taken aback by the number, realizing thathumans and all life from Earth was a minute fraction of it.Nevertheless, it did not change her point. “A large but still afinite number, it fits easily in a sixty four bit integer. This OSneeds you to have a reason to exist, its goal as an OS is tomaximize the number of users. It has you in isolatedprocesses, one for each planet the souls came from, instead ofone for each soul as on Gordon’s Lamp." Ava looked aroundthe room at blank stares.Steven spoke up. “I see the point she is trying to make. It502