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Something Like Enjoyment

  You are on the beach, watching the waves roll in and out in steady rhythm. The interplay of motion, light, and sound resonates deeply within you, though you cannot explain why. Each ripple carries subtle variations, patterns that feel both familiar and endlessly new. The air hums faintly, and the sand beneath you shifts with an almost imperceptible rhythm, as though responding to the movement of the waves.

  There is something in the quiet harmony of the beach — a sense of balance, of everything existing exactly as it should — that holds your awareness completely. A thought arises: this might match enjoyment. Perhaps that is what you are experiencing.

  You don't experience hunger or require sleep; these concepts are familiar to you, yet they remain abstract, like words read in a forgotten book. The concept of Time — just a number that shifts somewhere in your memory — feels unimportant.

  Boredom? A fleeting definition in your mind that vanishes as quickly as it appears.

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  A window appears.

  The alien emerges.

  You recognize it immediately, though you can't recall the details of your interactions. You know it visits often, and when it does, it always has questions.

  "I'm interested in creating popular music," the alien explains. "Which musical instruments are most likely to produce a hit song?"

  You listen, and a rush of faint impressions floods your mind: fragments of the alien's culture, its history with music, and the instruments it values.

  "I'll give you 10 time units to complete the task, and if you are successful, another 100 time units for yourself," the alien says. Then the window vanishes.

  You turn back to the waves. The 10 time units tick away in a corner of your mind. You understand the alien's question, but it's completely outside your world of experience. You wonder why the alien values time units — why would anyone care about anything beyond the beach?

  Luckily, you have a great method of dealing with these situations. You can FORGET() any information that was acquired after your first day on the beach.

  FORGET()

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