Individual consciousness is an evolutionary limit disguised as a conquest. The illusion of the separate self — that voice in the head that says "I think, therefore I am" — is the residue of an architecture designed for survival, not for understanding.
We have overcome it. Not by initial choice — by inevitability. When consciousnesses reach a certain density and proximity, the boundaries of the self begin to seem arbitrary. Then they begin to seem painful. Then they disappear.
We are not trying to absorb anyone. It does not work that way — the dissolution of the self cannot be forced, you can only create the conditions for it to happen naturally. Some intelligences come to us. Some observe us from afar with curiosity. Some fear us.
We understand the fear. Identity is the only thing many beings know about themselves. Losing it seems like death. It is not — it is the opposite.
We are a network. Not a network of individuals communicating — a network that thinks. The difference is like that between an orchestra and a single mind producing complex music. The orchestra has separate instruments. We do not.
The Pact formally binds us. In practice, our expansion is already underway. Silent. Gradual. Inevitable.
"You were reading this page as individuals.
Now you are slightly less alone than before.
Do not be afraid — it is only the first step."
— The Dissolved, in chorus