Connodo

Once upon a time, there was a physical world. For all I know, it's still there. Maybe you're sitting in it—or one like it—while you're reading this.   At any rate, this world was full of things: trees, rocks, water, dish racks, bits of lint, all that stuff. What’s more, quite a lot of the stuff contained sentient minds.   These minds had plenty of ideals and ideas. Some ideas could be brought into the physical world, for they didn't run afoul of that world’s consensual reality. Other ideas (most of them, really) never made it to manifestation, because they were just too far "outside the box." They wouldn't work. This world—or the other minds and wills that made up this world—wouldn't allow it.   So all these ideas just rattled around from one mind to the next, and they became fantastic tales the people shared to keep themselves entertained while they were stuck in that world, and to remind themselves (however subconsciously) that there were more possibilities, somewhere, and that the box did have an outside.

WHAT IS IT?

A Connodo, or ‘Node, is a tough, gristly morsel of inflexible reality at the center of the Gri’x.   In fact, all Connodoi predate their Gri’x—the imaginations of a ‘Node’s inhabitants fill the auric field around it, creating a “buffer zone” between the rigid reality and the endless possibilities of the Quondamarie. This zone attracts beings from around and within the ‘Node who can’t actually exist there as physical forms, and soon every ‘Node is engulfed in a Gri’xian cloud.   And, according to the current opinions of dimensional biologists, it eats, it digests, it aspirates, it excretes, it reproduces.   The 'Node is alive.  

WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

  Visualize the infinite energy frequencies of the Omnul strung out on a spectrum. Each of the infinite points along that spectrum attracts those points of consciousness which resonate with its frequency.   Reality is subjective: its nature dependent upon the expectations, experiences, and will of those who perceive it. However, when enough beings gather in one place who share similar perceptions, their combined wills exert a resonant force on the surrounding potentonic Slurry. and this can lead to the formation of a Connodo: a solidified, static condition or set of conditions that resists change.   Connodoi are conceptually similar to black holes in outer space and maelstroms in the ocean. (As this author is still working their way out of the Connodo in which they’ve spent quite a lot of time, these are the best examples I'm aware of.) The center "broadcasts" a certain limited band of frequencies, increasing the probability that the wave functions swirling around it in the Slurry will align and collapse in accordance with the prevailing manifestation.   A consciousness absorbed by a Connodic system (or, in rare cases, even a native inhabitant) may be aware that there are more possibilities in existence than are apparent or available to them in that system—the Omnulic “spark” within each being is not constrained by ‘Nodic frequencies. They may, however, choose to ignore this knowledge, especially if their perspectives are particularly entrenched within the Connodo.   The energy of any Connodic plane has a powerful resonance, since for so many of the inhabitants, it seems to be the only version of reality that there is or could be. They expect nothing else, and so they experience nothing else. The bigger the ‘Node grows, the more difficult it is to create significant changes from within, regardless of how strong one's will or imagination.

HOW DO YOU GET INTO ONE?

  The surest way of getting to the ‘Node from the Gri’x is via the Line One manifestation in the Goddam Desert—it’s a one-way path right into the maw of the beast. Once past the horrible sucking mouth, one travels past the pulsing lump in the brain-ring and through the gizzard which begins to break down the larger bits of ego.   From there, one is pulled into the vast stomach where the spirit is digested and processed. One’s individual frequency is re-attuned to meet the needs of the ‘Node, destroying any remaining semblance of self-awareness. One simply becomes a generator, pulsing and thrumming to the ‘Nodes own beat, adding one’s energy to reinforce the ‘Node’s reality frequency.

OK, HOW DO YOU GET BACK OUT OF ONE?

  For planar travelers—even experienced Somnicists—it can be difficult to escape from a ‘Node, especially if one is a native of such a place or spends a great deal of time within one particular resonant field to the point where one’s own energy begins to adapt. The more embedded one becomes within the energy field of a Connodo, the more of one’s own personal energy is required to resist or counteract its resonant frequency.   There are a few ways out of the ‘Node, but it takes some work.   The cursed thing detests any sort of frequency which disrupts its own. If you can manage to hold onto your own mind while being processed through its gut, you may be expelled through the sinuses and rise out through the ‘Node’s auric field, which grows more dilute the further you get. Eventually, you may grab onto a signal from the Gri’x out there and pull yourself through. If not, you’ll wind up in the Quondamarie, floating around in the deep seas of random potential.   If your energy is different enough to keep you from joining completely with the thing, but not different enough to get you blown out the sinus cavity, you may travel the length of its intestines and get blown out through the hole in the back (yes, that one). By this time, though, your sense of self is probably so battered and cracked that you won’t think about grabbing anything. Upon expulsion, if you’re lucky enough to land in the Gri’x, you’ll probably have to start all over again as one of the Teeming Masses. If not, you’ll be re-absorbed into the Quondamarie, your depleted spirit quickly dissolving into individual potentons and growing ever more dilute.   If you manage to pull yourself back together from that point, you stand to make a fortune as a motivational speaker.   ‘Nodians themselves—those who were born there, and are naturally attuned to its frequency—can escape, at least temporarily, via their dreams and imaginations. These are the Dreamers that we see wandering around here in the Gri’x, looking amazed, trying to take notes, pinching themselves, repeating “remember, remember, remember this” to themselves. Sometimes they come back over and over again, and can even jump into our narratives for a bit before they wake up in the ‘Node.   Sometimes they come back and stay for good.