THE REVENGE
OF THE
DEAD SQUARES

A. MOLOTKOV
S.B. REDA

The dead squares inhabit the lands that lie along the road to Assyria.

No no no no no no you don't want to find yourself in those parts. Not under any circumstances!
But maybe it will happen someday. The trajectories are unpredictable, the locations undetermined. We are everywhere at the same time.
This is a concise Guide for a traveler on the road to Assyria.

You know who gets to travel, don't you? Of course you do. But anyway . . . While this Guide is put out independently, we appreciate the labor of certain traveling agencies that are bold enough to promote trips to Assyria (or, rather, the attempts to take such trips). We include here the message prepared by one of these agencies, Assyrian Travels, Inc.:

To begin traveling, it is essential to understand the nature of the sole inhabitants of the area along the road, or the dead squares.

The dead squares exist in three capacities:

1. The anti-souls of those deceased.

2. The actual geometric figures.

3. Their skills in reducing any area in time to a combination of squares.

(It would appear strange to classify the skills the dead squares possess as one of the forms in which they exist. However, it is traditional in deadsquarelogy to do so, due to the fact that in many respects the skills exist independently of the dead squares themselves.)

Later, we will return in more detail to this classification.

The traveling begins at the beginning point. The first dead squares stay behind the border that separates the road and surrounding it area from the rest of the world. They await the start of your journey. It is essential not to submit to the natural feeling of apprehension and even fear in view of the approaching contact. The dead squares are not intrinsically malevolent, and it is usually their true desire to help you through your trip. Yet, they are creatures of another world. This is why it is important to keep one's common sense.

Of course, your goal is to reach Assyria. For obvious reasons. So you better do your best!

Since no communication with Assyria has been achieved yet, we do not possess sufficient information about those who have made it there. Indirect evidence, however, suggests that there remains a number of survivors. As vague as this information may be, it is the principal source of encouragement for a modern-day traveler.

A traveler who fails to attain Assyria, is, as it has been reported, more than likely just trapped within the areas surrounding the road. Such persons are safe and out of danger, having undergone a transformation into dead squares. Although it might have been as unpredicted for them as the necessity itself to take the trip, the transformation per se is also painless. We will return to this issue on the following pages.

There have been many stories about people who had allegedly succeeded in their travels, but much of this remains unsubstantiated at this time (due in part to the limited amount of information about the actual number of travelers, since, as we know, a person can just get up and leave for Assyria at any time. The urge is this strong, folks.)

But of all the stories and legends, one remains the most popular. Its protagonist has transcended the level of ordinary to that of myth, a myth that has not died. In order to protect the privacy of his family, we will refer to him as Azcantilla.

One night, Azcantilla was seen purchasing a pack of cigarettes at the kiosk located in the lobby of his apartment building. This has been reported to the police as the last known record of his existence in this realm - a fact that incurred a great amount of speculation. The kiosk’s proprietor states that Azcantilla appeared before him around 5:30 p.m. on the night in question. He was dressed in full camping regalia.

"Where are you going?" The man behind the counter asked.

"I am going somewhere where I shall never return from, if I make it there to begin with. But I must leave immediately, if not sooner. The cigarettes will mark the last purchase that I make from you, and for that, I am grateful. I must go now, to where the broad horizons beckon. Thank you once again for being so kind," Azcantilla said.

And from this point on, who knows . . . No one can find the road unless they know where it is. And if you do not know this, then you do not know this. Simple.

There has been a report of a dwelling in Selance (just northeast of the entrance to the final path leading to the beginning point of the road), in which an elderly man lives. He maintains that a weary traveler dressed in the same manner as Azcantilla was described by the kiosk operator, begged to be taken in, as this was to be the last time he would see someone on this side. Geometry not being one of his stronger suits, the man in Selance could not reckon what side Azcantilla was speaking of, but after sizing him up displayed no reluctance in offering a place for him to stay. The quest revealed signs of deprived disillusionment, often referred to as the tell tale sign of departure for most travelers (it is requisite, this disillusionment, for one cannot enter the road properly under normal circumstances).

Azcantilla laid his gear beside a cot and slept. For days. Four days. Until 3:27 a.m., Selance time. According to his host, who insists that his memory is perfect, Azcantilla woke up, got up from the cot, waved good-bye, and left the house.

Scientists and other members of the intelligentsia came to Selance in droves trying to find the entrance, and less importantly, what became of Azcantilla.

Apparently, mere speculation will never be enough to lure someone to Assyria, but how can it, really, when so much is at stake? A-ha, but are we speculating? The word has been that the family of Azcantilla did receive a card from him, saying:

"All is fine. stop. I cannot tell you where I am because you know where I am. stop. Do not try to find me. stop. You will find not me."

Thus, the legend continues.

It is important to stress the significance of the first denomination of dead squares. What are anti-souls? This question in itself presents a puzzle for an average mind, having been a topic of over twenty years of scientific debates and discussions. Briefly, anti-souls are entities, which, combined with the souls of those who pass away, produce the absolute zero. Therefore, being in many respects very much alike souls themselves, they lead to annihilation of souls once brought in contact with them. This is the danger of anti-souls, and, in conjunction with other characteristics of the dead squares, the principle source of fear that they have always created, especially since it has become obvious that anyone at any time can face the possibility of traveling.

Any modern-day traveler must be aware of the aforementioned facts. Moreover, it has been reported that even the souls of those still alive may undergo annihilation if their resistance is insufficient. Such persons transform into soulless zombies driven through life by the motor skills of their muscles. Due to the general lack of spirituality we witness these days, many zombies fail to be discovered by those around, and are perceived as normal citizens. Not specifically dangerous when taken separately, in great numbers these zombies can cause significant problems, unwittingly preparing the take-over - a goal that is innate for the dead squares, even though most of them are completely unaware of this. Once the amount of zombies exceeds half of the earth's population, their soulless bodies will be erased, thus adding to the energy supply of the dead squares. This energy will be used to create new zombies, and so on. The great advantage the dead squares possess in this respect is in their exceeding numbers. Indeed, it has been suggested that their current population is ten times greater than the human population of this planet. Therefore, they can easily afford losing a part of themselves in order to get rid of human presence. Collective thinking is widely spread in their world, and personal sacrifice is not only a natural occurrence, but something everyone would subscribe to with full enthusiasm.

This makes it clear why it is so important that traveling should continue. Once ample amount of humans reaches Assyria, it will become possible to create a defense strategy in the undeclared war with the dead squares. (As it has been already mentioned, it cannot be called a war in the full sense of the word: the dead squares are rather benevolent to the travelers, and their parasitism is both unconscious and unsubconscious, quite alike that of a carnivorous plant or of a blood-sucking insect. There are reasons to believe that the dead squares have no idea about the consequences of their contacts with humans.)

So you better be careful while you travel! If you don't take care of yourself, who will?

To fully understand the complexity of the problem we are facing, it is essential to trace the history of dead squares, and of the road to Assyria as the location of their dwelling. What is Assyria? Many hypotheses have been offered, but the one that appears most believable is as follows:

Assyria is a place separated from our world by a certain distance in time. Unlike the time as we know it, this concept employs vertical time, or, in other words, a direction in time that is independent of the one-dimensional past/present/future line we are familiar with. Time becomes a function of two variables, each moment as we perceive it comprises an infinity of moments of vertical time. To travel on the road to Assyria, one needs to stay within a moment, moving along in vertical time.

To understand this paradoxical notion, it is helpful to examine the legend of the First Traveler - the person to whom we owe the existence of Assyria, the road to Assyria, and the dead squares. (Other sources suggest that all these had existed eternally, and the role of the First Traveler was in opening the entranceway into the world of vertical time, through which the dead squares are now subtly attempting to invade our world. For all practical purposes, this is insignificant.)

And so, the legend:

The First Traveler was a man (in other versions, a woman), who set for himself (herself) a dangerous goal: to prove that time as it was known, was only an artificial concept created for the needs of everyday life. (For the sake of objectivity, we will alternately utilize masculine and feminine terminology while relating his story.) Driven by this idea, she started his experiments. To stop the time as we know it and to travel in the perpendicular direction, she resorted to a number of powerful drugs, which, after some experimenting, rendered his perception of time rather incompatible with that of most humans. But it was not until later that she first realized how to break through the singular dimension of time. Once this happened, he set to work.

We must interrupt the legend to bring to you the message we have just received from Assyria. Mind you, this is the first definitive proof of communication with Assyria that has been ever produced.

One one one one one one one two two two two two two one one one. Two two two two two two one one one one two two two two. Essence of traveling in traveling no essence without. Essence of dead squares within dead squares. Essence of Assyria within Assyria. Essence of time in perpendicular direction. Always remember. Always remember. Always remember. Always remember. Seek deep within your flesh for all answers.

The authors of this concise Guide, along with the world's foremost deadsquarelogists, are now commencing the interpretation of this message. Back to the legend:

Upon stopping time almost completely, she discovered that despite of this, a movement of time still continued unimpeded - a feeling, as described, quite alike the effects of some commonly used drugs, only much more distinct in this case. This is how he embarked on the hypothesis that so-called psychological time, which had always been considered merely an inner imperfection of a human brain, is in fact (or is related to) vertical time, whose significance in the structure of the Universe is yet to be discovered. Moreover, she predicted that traveling in time, which until now has been a monopoly of the science fiction genre, will become as real as traveling in space, once vertical time is fully explored and understood.

We do not possess sufficient information regarding the further experiments the First Traveler conducted. The rest happened rather quickly. This is how he acquired her name.

This Guide cannot be continued without revealing the essence of the second interpretation of the dead squares, to which they owe their name. Science has proved that the dead squares reveal many a feature of actual geometrical squares, or, more precisely, squares in time, once time is perceived as a function of two variables. The dead squares differ in sizes: they range between 30 seconds and 2 hours, 11.5 minutes being the average size. In many respects the size of a dead square is irrelevant, but for a traveler on the road to Assyria, it is important to remember that bigger squares are more dangerous in terms of the powers they possess to force a traveler to undergo the transformation into one of them.

This introductory information is, ironically, almost everything that is known about the dead squares as geometrical figures. Some more ideas will be related in this Guide, but now we must discuss a topic that directly pertains to the above.

The ability of the dead squares to cover any area in time at any location in space, is in a way the most dangerous of their features. The traveler subjected to such time depravation, becomes a dead square instantly. No antidotes have been found so far to undermine the effect of this depravation.

The only safe way of dealing with the situation is in trying to ensure minimum presence of dead squares in the area close to you during your traveling. The locations of high dead square activity should be avoided. Fortunately, as easy as it is for them to cover considerable distances in time, it becomes infinitely harder to maintain the block during space, if we are allowed to switch terms like this. In other words, continuous movement is highly recommended, and the higher its speed, the slimmer is the possibility to be contaminated by the dead squares.

For the dead squares themselves time is slow, and floats in all directions. Forming into motionless waves, it surrounds them and rocks them in time-stop cradle. Embracing all imaginable colors, it wraps them with rainbow blanket. The approach of a human causes undesirable disturbance in a dead square's perception of time, thus activating its subliminal aggressive capacities. Essentially, a dead square is unaware of its role as a trap for a traveler: the time fields do the work.

Well known is the beautiful legend of the square dance - the dance dead squares perform in the stream of time. We quote here the most "official" version of the legend:

Dip your corner into the stream. Dip it deep. Deep as sun. Let it float by, washing off all. Let all be washed away. Let be, after everything is gone. Then be, really be. Stop the time. Move within one moment. One moment like many locations, time measured as distance.

Dance. Move two minutes to the right, and then two minutes to the left. Then move one minute up, and return to the original position. Do it repeatedly within the span of one mile. Describe a square, creating the temporary zone of your dwelling. Continue dancing. Try to increase your dancing floor to 20 - 25 sq. minutes. Leap as high up as three minutes.

Dance. Squares dance, the dance is mine, dance with us, dance in time, time is dance, dance in one, dance with me, the dance is done. Dance again, dance in squares, leave the rest unawares, dance with us, dance with me, let the dancing make you free. Dancing all, dancing bold, dancing through the time that's old, through the memory and love, minutes dripping from above.

- and so on.

Obviously, we can see that, evocative as it is of some general ideas regarding the dead squares, this legend is not altogether precise. Namely, time and space do not actually replace each other, or if they do, then only in a more subtle, more sophisticated manner. Or at least such is the opinion of the world's leading deadsquarelogists which of course may not be altogether accurate, since we have already confessed just how scarce the information available about the dead squares really is.

Anyway, back to more factual information!

As it has been explained, traveling on the road to Assyria is in a sense traveling within one moment. This hints us to understanding of how difficult and sometimes impossible it is to examine the issue of the road, and of the dead squares, in conventional terms. Special square-related terminology exists in academic circles, but it is far too demanding of the reader to be related here. Much of deadsquarelogy is described by complex mathematical formulae, whose meaning can be understood only by a professional. Therefore, for an average traveler, we are forced to summarize the data at our possession, thus withholding some technical information.

Meanwhile, the interpretation of the message from Assyria is continued. The initial impression is not unanimous: some specialists believe that the meaning of the message is altogether negative, and suggests impossibility of fathoming the nature of dead squares by the humans, until the latter cross the line and cease to be such. Others are convinced that the message implies the existence of an easy answer, which should be sought within ourselves rather than in the outside world. The debates are still in progress.

Now that we have related at least some of the general ideas pertaining to the time qualities of the dead squares, it may be useful to present an excerpt from "The Introduction to the Square Time" - a rather ambiguous publication written by a group of anonymous authors, part of whom are reportedly human, the rest dead squares. Although some of the terminology used herein might be puzzling for an average reader, we still hope that this fragment will offer a hint of self-preservation useful to any traveler:

"The arrangement of time shall begin this way:

1. Any interval of time that is considered a constant state of unused energy in an excited circuit, will forever be referred to as one second. In this capacity, one will be able to determine subtle vibrations in the atmosphere, alerting one to impending doom.

2. Building anxiety (supplemented by the imminent realization of human catastrophe), is to be understood as an information gap, forcibly engaging one in the universal transmission of messages. Inevitably, bending the finite cosmic rules will forever be known as more than one second. This compensates the traveler for the physical deficits that are acquired throughout humanhood, providing him with an alternate means of dead square recognition.

The combination of 1 and 2, augmented by the instinctive need to live and to die, is the utmost insinuation of the deja-vu premonition or the internal response to external stimuli, both past and future. The deja-vu premonition is the advancement capability that has not, until recently, been available for usage. It terminates and prolongs subliminal messages that have and have not been transmitted, allowing the traveler full use of the body faculties. Now, let us begin a step by step reenactment of a journey one may take.

Walking throughout the astral black forest, in unison, their eyes twisting, cross ways, keeps you focused. There! The ground begins to slither away from its sedimentous guts, moving towards you, absorbing. Quick! Dead squares! What do you do? Right! One second!

There is a corner drifting behind the stagnant landscape of altered horizons that is taking shape as you think. The perplexia arrives dutifully, brought about by corrective neuron synapses, upon which you stabilize the outstanding statements that are concocted inside the jelly stew of your deteriorating brain. So, when the corner is in full revolution, shifting matter from this side and that, the most rudimentary response to such unsophisticated data is to be? - That's right! More than one second!

You appear to be getting the picture now, and I, as your humble guard, can appreciate the progressive stain of knowledge that congeals about the shocking exterior of your skin. The voices that come in clear over the loudspeakers were not your conscience, but me, your hideous mass, taking out the mental garbage that is scheduled to be picked up today, the day of your arrival. You knew you were coming, or else you would not be here. Yes, this is a very deceptive side effect of the grand deja-vu premonition. It takes you to the places you have visited but did not want to go to, leaving you there in naked vulnerability, nurturing the sedated crescent dreams saturated by the desire to arrive, until, most suddenly, you realize that in fact, you are there, right when you wanted to be. You cannot consider the time increments of standing around in any other fashion than this, lest you wish to fractionalize with the premonition itself (thus splitting the demon from the angel), sending them in opposite directions, which leaves you devoid of any natural existence.

No successful traveler to Assyria can compute without the essential vivid equation of premonitions with second-to-more situation tables. You see. I, as your vaunted leader, have spent many a day searching for the answers, even if there aren't any. Yet, I still search. This is how I found the two men who were chafing, unbelievable as it was, in the very same deja-vu premonition that I bore you in. They leaned against the force of the tree, back to side, pacing in place, waiting until they could chafe no more. But these were artists who had obviously spent many a second or more perfecting their craft in silent, lucid hopes that this bout with dementia would possibly unlock the door to Assyria. I knew then, as I know now, that one layer of lament will get you nowhere. If it is chilly, then one must put on as many layers as one can find. If it is not so chilly? Good Show! More than one second!

Whether or not it is clear enough now, it will certainly become clear later, as all things do, once brought into the realm of unwanted subversion of mental illustrations.

What of the zombies whose souls have been annihilated? How many of those are there? This is also a subject of much debate, but average estimation suggests that their number today exceeds 10% of the Earth's population. It is believed that the ability of the dead squares to zombicize people cannot be eradicated without exterminating the dead squares themselves, or at least without setting up one or another sort of block that would prevent any access of the humans to the vertical time. No other measures can help: while the dead squares exist, they will create more zombies. Those who submit to annihilation of soul are for the most part morally and spiritually week individuals, whose presence in any modern society is an unavoidable fact. While the deadsquareeducation of the masses should by all means take place, this is a project far too painful to be carried out fast. There is no choice. The dead squares must be cut off.

Essentially, this is the reason why we do not examine the issue of anti-souls in depth. This question is irrelevant now: the matters at hand force us to action. Any conscious individual these days should become a traveler.

However, we wish to present here the text of a subliminal message addressed to the dead squares by the largest in size. It can be looked upon as a way of propaganda within their world. We have to confess that the sources of this text are not completely verified. Therefore, the Guide cannot accept any responsibility for its authenticity:

Curiously enough, there are scientists who deny any sense the idea of resisting the dead squares. Moreover, they suggest, such resistance is undesirable in terms of the overall progress of the humankind, which must undergo temporary transformation into the dead squares in order to evolve at a higher level of intelligence. They see it as an opportunity to engender a major break-through in evolution, to make a step that would otherwise take a hundred thousand years, or more. This is how one of these scientists, Dr. Alb Alb Sin, comments on the matter:

"From within the squares will come new humans. The meanings will be inverted, the time transferred to another dimension. Future will become left, and past will become right. The human dead squares will destroy the old ones. The human race will be reborn."

More specifically, this theory is based upon the idea that, since so many humans voluntarily put themselves in a situation that leaves them no choice other than to undergo the transformation, the transformation of this sort is in fact beneficial for the human race. The innate intuition of man leads him into the right direction.

Once all humans have become dead squares, the roles will exchange. Straight dead squares will be haunted by the human souls they had annihilated. Former-human dead squares will be tormented by the souls of people within them. The human souls will take over just as easily as the dead squares did. They will lull the dead squares onto the road to Assyria, where the latter will be transformed back into humans. The road to Assyria will become the road home. Special equations prove, however, that instead of restoring its former existence in the world as we know it, the human race will now live in inverted time-space, where definitions of time and direction will interchange, or even merge altogether. This may cause the birth of the New Man as a five-dimensional being.

This theory also employs the notion that in both cases (i.e. in the cases of straight, and former-human dead squares) some of the human soul's inner essence survives. Of course, many other specialists doubt this assumption; yet others accept it as a serious hypothesis, but do not consider it sufficiently grounded at present time.

Meanwhile, we have received sensational news. After hours of hard work, the message from Assyria has been finally deciphered. Now the future of deadsquarelogy and the road itself is forever changed. Here is the deciphered text of the message:

One one one one one one one two two two two two two one one one. Two two two two two two one one one one two two two two. Essence of traveling in traveling no essence without. Essence of dead squares within dead squares. Essence of Assyria within Assyria. Essence of time in perpendicular direction. Always remember. Always remember. Always remember. Always remember. Seek deep within your flesh for all answers.