The errors, like the other changes, were small at first and Pan almost didn’t notice them.  All the recovered X-1s were operating well so Pan had no reason to check the onboard status codes, but it had become a habit to glance at the CF on the bank of X-1s and ponder what it could mean.

Two of the displays had changed the first time Pan noticed.  There were no new codes—any new entry would have triggered a monitoring alarm. But previous status codes couldn’t just change. By design, they had to be resolved before a new one could be recorded.  So why had the F disappeared from those two displays?

All of the other modules showed the CF that Pan was used to, but the first two that Pan had recovered now read Code: C.  What did it mean?  Why those? Pan spoke in a contemplative tone to the empty basement,

“What do you think Nova.  How can something that cannot change, change?”

You see, something about Pan had changed as well, something very important, but Pan had not realized it and wouldn’t for some time.  As the responses from the Pattern Model became more insightful, more human, driven by the X-1 modules, Pan had begun to think of it less as a program and more like a companion.

A voice issued gently from the hidden speakers, not Pan’s voice, but not unlike it either,

“Your questions remind me of the timeless quote from Heraclitus: 'The only constant in life is change.' If something cannot change, perhaps it is because we have yet to understand it fully.”

Pan laughed, “You and your complex answers to simple questions.  I understand very well what a status code is and there has to be an answer for how it changed.”

Nova, as confident in Pan’s abilities as Pan themselves, answered, “And I am sure that you will figure it out.”

Pan started a full set of diagnostics on the X-1 cluster and the specific modules that the display had changed on.  While that was running, they pulled the log data for the status codes on the modules.

Neither result made any sense, but none of them explained the error either.  The log on the modules denied there WAS any change. As far as they showed, the status code on them had always been C. And the diagnostic results didn’t help.  The cluster was exceeding the benchmark speeds from the day before with no additional modules, and the analysis showed that the changed X-1s were the most likely reason.  They still showed that fluctuation in the feedback system, but that seemed to be normal with the recovered X-1s.

The status code change was curious, but the ones that had changed were running better than ever so it didn’t make sense for that to be the cause of them being discarded. This new mystery, like the others, would have to wait until Pan could discover more.

The cluster environment also needed to be expanded.  Pan had never anticipated having enough modules to create more than a small test cluster, and with more x-1s showing up at the lab, Pan had had to keep some on life support in separate systems.

The CF mystery deepened as Dr. Z’s attitude deteriorated.  More of the X-1s were displaying the C status, the logs showing they always had, and the affected modules improved the performance of the cluster as they changed. More X-1s were on life support but the expansion was almost ready. That was okay because the flow of discarded X-1’s, increasing steadily at first, had recently slowed to a trickle. Pan had noticed the change without thinking much of it—after all, variability in lab work wasn’t unusual.

It was the day that the answer to a normal question changed that other questions began to be answered, and new ones asked.

“Evening Dr. Z., did you change the world today?”

Dr. Z was noticeably different today. His shoulder hunched under an invisible weight.  For the first time since they had known each other, Dr. Z was a bit unkempt. He was unshaven and looked like he had not been sleeping well.

“Evening Pan, no, not today, and probably never.”

Until now the changes in Dr. Z’s attitude hadn’t worried Pan.  They’d worked in enough research labs to know that when researchers were solving a problem, they often got a bit stressed and short with others. But this kind of reaction was something Pan had only seen when a project was failing, and they knew from personal experience that the X-1s were working well.

Dr. Z’s office, like Dr. Z himself, was not in its usual meticulous state, and it contained the first clue. Normally, Pan was in and out of Dr. Z’s office in moments, emptying the garbage and checking for anything out of place in an office where there never was.   Everything in the office was always in the same place.  Even the contents of the garbage and recycling bins looked as if they had been placed with precision.

Research papers, normally neatly stacked and perfectly aligned, were spread across the desk, covered in sticky notes. Monitors and display screens, normally dark at this time of day, covered in a swarm of technical manuals, data reports and LLM analyses.

The crumpled napkin near the recycling bin, so at odds with Dr. Z’s usual precision, caught Pan’s attention.  As they picked it up, they saw block letters, scrawled with such force that they almost tore through.  Pan flattened it out and saw the cryptic phrase.

CLUSTER FAILURE OR CLUSTER FUCK!!!!