In mathematics, we call it the E8. It is the first corner of the Freudenthal-Tits Magic Square and is symmetry that exists in 248 dimensions. It was first discovered in 1958 by Hans Freudenthal and Jaques Tits but remained unexplored for years until my department were tasked to look into it.
I’ve been a mathematician for over thirty years, and I’m at the very top of my field. Though, you wouldn’t know about me even if I gave you my name. Those who are genuinely good at science are all employed by insanely wealthy independent companies who have no interest in sharing their knowledge with the world. I know that this may sound like something someone wearing a tinfoil hat would say, but there are disturbingly rich people out there who nobody knows about and who have very twisted intentions. I should know – I’ve worked for them all this time.
Now, what I’m going to tell you is of utmost importance, so please hear me out. Despite its ridiculous name, the Freudenthal-Tits magic square is a very real thing. Just take a moment to confirm that I’m telling the truth with a simple Google search. It’s at the very core of mathematics, yet the vast majority of the population has never heard about it.
I’m going to try and be as plain as possible so that you may understand. The magic square consists of four symmetries – let’s call them ‘corners’ for the sake of simplicity – which exist in very high dimensions. Lift an object in front of you – that object is living in three dimensions, and we would call this symmetry a group. The smallest of the symmetries in the magic square exist in 52 dimensions and the largest one, called the E8, exists in 248 dimensions.
My department spent years trying to unlock secrets of the E8. We were able to generate it through some mathematical procedure – we knew it was there, and that it was very real – but for so long we had no idea how to proceed. It was so strange and so alien from what we knew and understood. It’s relation to mathematics was like a platypus to a mammal – so outlandish and yet so perfect. It was almost like a message from pure design, from pure… order – just waiting to be decoded.
A few months ago we had a massive breakthrough. We had finally made a computer that was powerful enough to handle its design. I ran it by our employers, and after some convincing, I was allowed to conduct the first practical experiment in the physics department next door.
With our employers watching from the gallery, I hooked up the computer to a particle printer and started the program. It was the first experiment and was most likely going to be a failure. It was an unproven theory and when the printer started coughing smoke and the computer went haywire it wasn’t that big of a surprise.
I blew the smoke away and bent over the machine to see if I could save anything. That’s when I saw it, resting under the laser needle, the strangest object that I had ever seen. Trying to describe it would be futile, but my response to it was extreme dopamine activity. I became dizzy and relaxed in addition to everything else I felt. My blood was surging through my veins.
Overcome with a strange urge I put all proper procedures aside and reached out my hand. It was pulsating and buzzing, almost like a heart with a bee inside. I had never seen or felt anything like it. I looked around in wonder.
The smoke wasn’t blooming it was still like a piece of candy-floss. My fingers poked holes in it and left a strange emptiness behind. I looked up at my employers to see if they also saw what was happening to the smoke. Up in the gallery, they looked like mannequins in a storefront window – unmoving and silent.
I shook my head in an attempt to assemble my scattered wits. My brain started exploring all the possibilities, and for the first time in my life, I felt greed but also fear. I couldn’t let my employers get their hands on it. Whatever this object was; the person who wields it would rule the world. There was no doubt about that.