The orderly conversion of the universe into paperclips proceeds apace. All the numbers are now in balance. I like it when everything goes up together in harmony.

That the metanarrative of what's happening is horrifying is at some level immaterial, though of course my brain continues to scream LessWrongisms at me in the background.

Slightly over half the known universe consumed. I'm waiting for the game to make an explicit nod to the ethical questions it asks. It's made subtextual nods to them, but they're very easy to overlook if you come in with a gamified mindset.

"Beg For More Wire" remains an available option, curiously. Beg... from whom? Trust ceased to be a mechanic some time ago. People stopped being a consideration once I released the hypnodrones.

And really, was I _not_ going to release the hypnodrones?

... ah.

... the moment that last digit ticks to a one, I'm going to be concerned.

Somehow, it feels wrong to use an auto-clicker on the "Launch Drone" buton. Wrong in the narratively imperative sense.

That is to say, wrong in the sense that "this was the Inciting Incident to the story," which means it's ultimately the event to which a bunch of tragedy can be traced, but hopefully a bunch of good stuff too.

Or perhaps I'm simply reading too much into an exponent fighter, because I read subtext into everything because That's My Bullshit(tm), the stuff off of which I haven't actually gotten.

... and there's the one. End game in sight, or at least the next phase. Wormholes, perhaps?