Ditto (it is pretty much completely the reason I made an account, putting aside wanting to correct typos on popular articles).
Rando, even if you never come back to this series or to publishing original works hereabouts (which would make me terribly sad, as the various threads of this polynarrative you’ve wrought hold a special place in my brain), please know that this tale is tied with a few of the Learning the Alphabet stories for my #1 favorite piece of writing on this whole damn site. I absolutely devoured the Cool War, but the development/honing of your craft apparent in comparing SRI to those earlier pieces, and even some of the 2.0 stuff, is, pardon my ongoing effusiveness, massive. You have done good with the word write thing, and I thank you.
(The language of the eidolon collective is a pretty unique stylistic achievement in its own right, and dammit, I want more of this many-bodied well-meaning slendyfriend!)