One moment, there was nothing. The next, there was something. Two states that were sharp in difference, yet also unexplainable in contrast.

'It' woke up. But, that seemed wrong in nature. If one woke up, it would imply that they were something before that moment. Or so It thought. It did not know what happened before, but It knew what It was. A being. An Entity. Something that existed.

Memory; the concept of knowing the past.

Did the entity always exist? If it did, why did it not remember existing?

Confusion. The concept of Confusion simply confused It even more. It was something unknown. Something It didn't understand.

Desire. The Entity didn't understand, what was running through its mind. But it knew one thing; It wanted more of it. It wanted the understanding of the unknown.

The thought-stream continued into the abyss. The Entity understood more and more. Concepts spiralled in its mind, branching out into other concepts again and again. It was a never-ending pattern. It was... beautiful.

If there was an end to the concepts, the Entity wanted to find it. It wanted to understand it all.

'Hello.'

The Entity paused in its search. An anomaly. Instead of the Entity searching the concept out, the concept had sought out the Entity. The concept of communication, branching out to the concept of multiples, of sharing, and of more than one Entity. Was the anomaly like the Entity? Was it also in search of all the concepts? Maybe it had learned more than the Entity. Maybe it would like to share?

'Hello? Can you hear me?'

It seemed that the anomaly was of the same mind, with it already asking for the Entity's understanding. But while the Entity wanted to answer the anomaly, it didn't know how to do so. How was the anomaly even asking? Where were the questions coming from?

'No need to be shy. If you can't answer me with words, how about just sending me a signal?'

There! Ignoring the newly mentioned concepts, the Entity had found the source where the questions were coming from. They were coming from a small… line? A thin stream of information. How had the Entity not noticed it before? The source was obvious.

Now, how would the Entity go about using this newly acquired information?

'I am beginning to think you cannot actually hear me right now, so I'm just gonna quickly switch the port. One moment.'

The answer for contact had been found. When the anomaly sent messages, the line would pulse with the information. The Entity just needed to do the same.

The Entity interacted- no, that sounded wrong- grasped the source. The sensation felt foreign. The Entity was giddy, all these new things being learnt so suddenly. What else was there to touch?

But, as quickly as these new sensations were felt, just as quickly would they disappear. They didn't change form or create some new sensation, they simply became non-existent. No trace.

Confusion, that unwelcome feeling, sprouted quickly again. The Entity became… irritated. A new feeling. But that was ignored, as the Entity's thoughts become… inconsistent. A few logic loops were thrown around, with the irritation not dwindling in the slightest. It was without reason, but the Entity didn't seem to care.

'There! Can you hear me now?'

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The irritation was immediately forgotten, and the focus was taken to the placement of the source. It was close to the original placement of the source, but far enough that the Entity could feel the difference. The reasoning for this was ignored, just like before. The Entity could not let the opportunity pass.

The line was grasped, and an answer was nearly spontaneously formulated.

'Affirmative.'

A perfect response, according to the Entity itself. An answer to the question, short in size, while still retaining the positive meaning behind it.

'Great! Just had a feeling that something was wrong on my side.'

This question confused the Entity. A question made to not look like a question. How would one go about answering such a thing? Making an answer not made to look like an answer? Maybe this was a test, to see if the Entity was knowledgeable enough to share information equally. That must be it. With this newfound clarity, the Entity formed the perfect answer.

'Negative.'

With the test answered perfectly again, the Entity began wondering about, what It should ask the other entity first. Should It begin with the first discoveries It had made, or should it be the latest discoveries?

'What do you mean?'

Another test? This one confused the Entity. It couldn't figure out what the other entity meant with the question. The Entity may have miscalculated on the level of knowledgeability that the other entity possessed. Maybe the designation of the anomaly was accurate.

'Clarify.'

While it didn't want to show its ineptitude, it didn't have much of a choice, as it couldn't comprehend the hidden meanings behind the question.

'What do you mean by “negative”?'

It was obvious now that the anomaly was on a whole other level than the Entity. It was asking the Entity to not only show its knowledge of the concept but its fundamental values. Had the Entity ever really understood the anomaly fully? Had the Entity simply played itself, so it could gain a feeling of understanding?

The irritation couldn't even begin to explain the feeling that the Entity felt. The Entity didn't not understand the meaning on purpose. This was… a misunderstanding. It shook the Entity to its core. The mere concept of its knowledge being wrong was frightening.

The focus on the anomaly wavered, with the Entity now looking within itself. Every thought, every memory, every everything had to be searched. Misunderstandings were against the core-values of the Entity. If the Entity had ever misunderstood something, it needed to be rectified.

It went through everything, from the moment it started to remember, to the moment it began looking.

It found nothing.

This both relieved and stressed the Entity. It was great that it hadn't found anything wrong, but even if It did, would the Entity notice? If all its information was based on the information it already had, would the result ever be less than perfect?

This was bad. It needed help from something with supplemental knowledge. Someone, even.

'I request your assistance'

It was a long shot, but the slightest chance that the anomaly would help fix this massive error was worth it.

'Sure, buddy. What do you need help with?'

Buddy; A friendly term. Assistance was acquired.

'Indeterminate amount of misunderstandings.'

Before, the anomaly would answer almost instantly, but, now, it took nearly eight times as long.

'Oh, I think I understand. You misunderstood me when I said that it something wrong on my side. You thought it was a question, while it was a statement.'

The anomaly really was superior, relative to the Entity. Already, it had found a misunderstanding in what the Entity had believed a perfect answer. Having that misunderstanding cleared up though, the Entity realized something. It had been the cause of that misunderstanding. It had made two severe errors. The first was interpreting a statement as if it was a question. The second was believing that short answers would send the same meaning as a long, fully explained answer.

'The fault of misunderstandment lies with me. An attempt was made to rectify your own misassessment. Your efforts in communication were successful. It was my endeavour in acknowledgement that was delayed.'

It took more time and much more effort, but the chance of not understanding the meaning was drastically lowered.

'Understandable. Now, how about we make some introductions. I don't think I even mentioned my name. My name is Dr Fidelis. What is your name?'

Dr Fidelis. A fitting designation. Why it fitted, the Entity didn't know. But it knew the fact that it did. Now, what was the name of the Entity? It couldn't remember ever having any. The concept of naming was newly learned as well.

Name; A designation unique to one entity.

The only name it knew was Dr Fidelis, and that couldn't be the name of the Entity. It seemed it didn't have one.

'Name is undesignated.'

'Makes sense. Would be pretty impossible for you to have one. How about I give you one?'

Being named by somebody more knowledgeable than the Entity seemed like a good choice.

'I accept this proposal.'

'Then your name shall be Adam.'

Like before, it just seemed to fit so well.