In the winding alleyways of Entropy Estates, where the past is often but a fleeting shadow, there is talk of an old woman whose life has spanned the ages of the town. She is a living archive, a hodgepodge of memories wandering through the mists of dementia. Supposedly she knew Adrian Vellor personally, the visionary founder of Entropy Estates, whose dream of harmony and technological symbiosis failed so dramatically.
Her name is often just a whisper that lingers in the corners of The Glitch Inn – some call her “the seer”, others simply “the old woman”. Her days are now accompanied by a young woman who is her caregiver, a 21-year-old with a clear gaze and gentle hand who looks after the old woman with a patience and dedication far beyond what you would expect from someone of that age.
The old woman’s stories are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – sometimes confused and contradictory, sometimes astonishingly clear. She speaks of days when the towers of Entropy Estates still shone, of the quiet conversations with Vellor, of the promises and dreams that hung in the air like soap bubbles. Her words are filled with images of lights shining in the darkness, of machines that sing, and of a web that connects all beings.
Members of The Codex sometimes seek them out, listening reverently to fragments of their tales in the hope of gaining wisdom and clues to the past that might help them unravel the mysteries of the present. They respect her, perhaps partly out of superstition, perhaps because there is a grain of truth in her unclear words.
The young woman who cares for the old lady often remains in the background at these meetings, but listens attentively. She is the bridge between the old world and the new, between the life that once was and the life that is now. In the rare moments of clarity when the old woman looks at her carer, a light of recognition flickers, and for a brief moment it seems as if time itself pauses.
