July 11th in the second year of the Bearer’s Reign
Casper asks for permission to enter the Palace, only carrying his instrument in its case.
On the Bearer’s orders, he is given the best rooms adjacent to Her Grace’s, is allotted the best servants and anything else he asks for. He takes a few hours and a group of servants to make his apartment up to his standards, he has the best electroPiano brought in the same day, top quality recording equipment, new dataCorders and it is clear that no one can come close to his clarinet. He visits Schneiders and has new suits made, buys the best shoes and shirts money can buy, chatting with his disdainful drawl with the personnel whom he clearly has known all his life. Then, he orders soup to be served in his rooms - which he never touches, as he starts practicing his clarinet, for hours on end.
He is close to Her Grace. Day after day, she enters his suite as he is working, day or night.

Master Casper Damian, who refuses to give his family name, turns out to be the most demanding resident at the Palace. Some servants cannot stand to work for him, his arrogance and snobbishness making him the opposite of the Secretary of STATE and Her Grace herself, whereas others see his outrageous demands as a sign of genius, of inbred class and take them as seriously as the Bearer’s, and even more so. What it is they do together, nobody really understands. Sometimes strange sounds are heard, or loud arguments; and more often than not, hours of strange, concentrated silence, but as nobody is allowed in there is only room for speculation.

> Again the Filth abuses the Powers of STATE for some fickle pastime.
[As is the Word of Jason A. the One]

“Please, please, Mr. Mc Kinsey, do come in!” Sarah Feyman, uh, Delaware invites him in and first thing he notices is that she really is dressed in a more subdued manner since she has married the Minister of Internal Affairs. ‘She clearly is in no need to seduce anymore,’ Alistair smiles as he is seated. ‘At last.’ He waits until she orders some tea for him and coffee for herself from the girl serving them in the uptown tea room, which they have to themselves. ‘Organised this quite well, she did, ah well, with her experience… Don’t we all grow old,’ he thinks. “Good to see you are well, Sarah,” he says, to see that her smile looks genuinely happy. “What is it you want to see an old fox like me about?"
“Old, old? No, no… I would say: a fox who knows the tricks of the trade,” Sarah says with her warm voice. ‘Flattering an old man like me, is she? Must want something real bad, she must. Whatever is it she wants from me?'
“What a summer, wouldn’t you say? So warm and pleasant… And no attacks for a long while, I’d almost think that Her Grace must have been right when she said that she had taken out this Matil.” Alistair sits back, knowing that he will have to endure at least an hour of small talk, interspersed with hints about Sarah’s plan. ‘Ah well, I have had worse company…’

Bearer of STATE for 1 year, 4 months, 0 weeks, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3

STATE had never known life could be rich like this. Instead of forcing STATE attention to finding and eliminating an enemy or forming a democracy too elusive to be created, she for the first time takes part of a creative process. A process directed and envisioned by Casper, to be sure, but fed and intertwined with STATE additions. While Casper plays his instrument, STATE makes note of his improvisations, his ramifications, the explorations of the potential of sound of his instrument and of time. The data is printed on his dataCorder screens: white unending sheets pouring out with the transcriptions, every silence a long succession of bars, spacing the white.

Taking these, Casper works on them, elaborates on some parts, deletes whole pages with impatient strokes, to later add parts of them in some other place. For each piece, he tapes different solos on his clarinet and often practices and improvises for hours on end, elaborating on the notes of STATE, recording all audio in endless dataCorder files.

He is too young to withstand the idea that all of this is his own creation. He pays no heed to the STATE influence on his work, on possible modifications and additions while notating his improvisations. Playing his vanity, STATE is careful to leave Casper the illusion that he is the one in control, while he in fact allows the white to guide him… And all the time, STATE subtly stimulates the most extreme patterns in his mind.
The white is solidifying slowly, shaped by the mold she had chosen for it: sound. Tearing, modulating, grating, thumping, whispering, caressing, slashing, trembling, banging, repetitive, melodious, silent and loud: The White Symphonies grow slowly but steadily.

Jan observes how both the Bearer and Casper are working on them all day, every day - and often deep into the night. As soon as he lets himself down to rest, a new theme enters his mind; and he rushes from bed to enter it in his notebook. As soon as he has ordered something to eat, an alteration becomes indispensable and he leaves his plates untouched, rushing from the table with Her Grace after a bite or two. Though young and strong, he gets thinner and paler, a weaker image of Her Grace.
This goes on for weeks, until his frame collapses and the Bearer orders Jan to diagnose and drug him to make him sleep. Good food, blood transfusions, medicine and drug-induced complete rest soon cure the young man, and he is back to work again with new fervor. Jan suspects STATE to administer the gift of white while the man is oo drugged to be conscious, because of sudden mental resilience which he has noticed both in Alexander, Artur and, at times, Her Excellency. He also knows it is only time before the beautiful young man will have been drained by STATE again. ‘She just is using him, for some aim only STATE knows. What phase is this? And again we look on, impotent. Why do we allow that thing to rule us as it does? Uh, no thinking’

These bouts of enforced rest, held in what Casper feels to be the captivity of his body, fuel his anger and deepen his drive to create something unheard of, something so new and extreme that many generations will have to hear it before fully being able to enjoy its beauty. Going over his notes, his recordings and the print-outs of his improvisations, he finds some hiatus, as transition which does not grate as it should, a melody that is too superfluous, and starts to work again, day and night, day and night. It is the best time of his life when he skips sleeping and the rush of creating obliterates all time, all light, all needs.

In his gym, the Captain punches into the sack, happy to feel that he does control his muscle power. It is clear that things again are slipping. ‘Okay, so Her Grace wants to have a musician in the Palace, as is the prerogative of STATE. But why does she need to spend so much time with him? Surely they are not into something more carnal? No, he is too arrogant to become her bedpet, he is also clearly not drained physically as much as mentally, or maybe, creatively, however that works I would not know… Thing is, the Bearer continues to disregard all things human in the process, and that is not helping Irene and me, really. Oh’
Though Her Grace sometimes does sit with the Secretary and the Captain, there is hardly a topic she can concentrate on, and while Irene and the Captain keep her informed of state affairs, they notice all information is beyond Her Grace’s interests. It pains the Captain to see S. again almost transparent, moving like an automaton, staring in front of her for hours with her metallic pupil-less eyes.

August passes, September begins.
In her chambers, Irene is massaged by her mother as she has been the last few months. But even on the massage table she cannot find any rest. ‘What now with this new development in Her Grace? She is behaving as absent-mindedly as she did after the bridge, though I must say, this is different… She seems content, fulfilled… If only I could share that feeling! Everything is all wrong. Things are getting more and more chaotic; people are talking, complaining, even rising against STATE… and I do not understand what STATE and Casper are doing. What can trigger this ephemeral contentedness in Her Grace? She has never had this before, and that without any concrete political results!’
Irene blames Casper even though she suspects he is just an instrument. She blames STATE but then realizes she can never understand where STATE ends and S. starts. She does not know what S. would really have wanted, as she only knows her as Bearer, but also because she intuitively knows S. never allowed for any such personal feelings as likes and dislikes. There was simply no room for such luxuries in her life, in her self, which had made her an efficient bomber and an unfathomable leader consequently. But this time, Her Grace’s absence from all political and social activities continues for months, and it is not for the first time. There is no more understanding from the people around her. It is soon leaked to the press that Her Grace is out of it. In various tones, dataNet headlines describe Her Grace’s disinterest, articles elaborate on the way she leaves state decisions to that Secretary, and on Her Grace’s preoccupation with something as fickle as music. Though the Church of STATE believers simply venerate a new stage in the Bearer’s development and await the outcome eagerly, many others do not have the patience or the trust to do so.

> I tell you, it does not do to have a leader daydreaming the time away! The country is on the brink of huge changes and political instability is lurking around the corner!
> ow come on, this country was unstable to start with! with all those nice Presidential deeds, and all the violence, what’d’you expect? huh? Heaven?
> they make music in heaven, they say, haha
> MUSIC? who would throw away time on MUSIC?!!! How can the Bearer be so irresponsible to be fiddling her time and energy away with this musician!?
> What I would like to know, is when Her Excellency will finally come to the fore and claim her right to rule. She is the one ruling, really!
> Ow, now, is she? She talked about the CCAP ages ago, and nothing’s happening!
> CCAP?
> Committee for investigation into Crimes Against the People
> mouthful I’d say, huh
> Well, a very important mouthful. This country needs some decent judiciary system, and first of all we need to redeem the faults of the past
> I agree, Janey! Anybody know why nothing’s happening, then?
> because, F., Her Excellency has the brains but not the powers to install this committee. She has to wait for STATE to act..! The NC allows the Bearer 9 months of old-style rule before elections can be proclaimed and we can replace her with someone better. But Her Grace does as she pleases, and right now, music has taken her fancy. Incredible!
> Trust STATE! Believe in STATE!
> oww stop it, Rosie! are you week-brained suddenly, or what?
> It is Her Grace’s right to do as she sees fit! Why should she conform to our views? She must have a reason… STATE is bigger than us, thinks on a grander scale, we are just small as fleas compared to her
> hear, hear!
> you at it again, huh?
> I agree as well,
> more and more of you here! OKAY, let me spell it for you nitwits: because, she is supposed to serve US! we are the people of state! said it herself, she did, I listened to some securiCam footage on dataNet
> ah, so you are listening to her now? haha
> no, I am listening to Rislers, and he’s cutting it real nice. Party for the People! Party for the People!
> there’s a PP channel also, if you wanna please move your propaganda there, thank you
> this is an OCC guys, OPEN remember?
> Jason Almerra is right… you people are turning into fighting hens, and all because of these elections… She should never have ratified that NC, I think! The old Constitution was fine! We could’ve had a new Bearer, and everything wuld be fine
> a NEW bearer? no THANKS pal, that Almerra stinks and is worse than STATE
> hold your mouth or I will know where to find you! Jason Almerra knows! Jason Almerra for Bearer!
> Uch this really does make me feel sick. I’m off OCC, just wait and see what Her Grace will give us next!
> I’ll wait for nothing, I won’t! Rislers RISE!
> that empty-headed hauler heel-licking, state-sucking
> now YOU hold your pen or I will come and make you to
> People, people… let’s all keep our tongues or Admin will throw us out!

STATE registers the disquietude and knows she has to focus; she cannot disengage herself from the White Symphonies now. Finally and for the first time she is involved with creating something which STATE knows will withstand the teeth of time. Finally and for the first time she is doing something worthwhile, something in which parts of her STATE being come to expression, parts which had never before been acknowledged.
To her surprise, there are even moments of doubt. Within the white STATE had been whole, but the creative process is new to her, new to STATE. Though it feeds on all information of STATE, the outcome is not predictable as data analysis is. Though the outcome must be as STATE is, there has to be a measure of loss of control. STATE has to allow for the input of this human, Caspar, but more importantly, on the influence that coincidence clearly has on him. And she knows that like all masterpieces, this one has its flaws, but she also knows STATE has to go on with this regardless. This is the future of STATE.
No longer does she live in the here and now only. Like unfolding potential scripts, STATE sees future patterns evolving out of present ones, their probability rates making the one stronger than the other, attracting the attention that will stimulate its realization. She can see repercussions of actions and of conditions intertwining to create new situations, which may oppose the aims of the people planning them.
Though the attention of STATE is certainly needed in many other parts, she does continue to give the Symphonies the highest priority, because she previsions that the entirety of the White Symphonies has the potential to capture the essence of STATE for ages to come, for after’
So, she wallows in the world Caspar and STATE are creating, in its purity, its extremes and its flow in which she desires to be held captive. Again and again she finds herself there, reliving turns in the music, anticipating the eerie silences but still being overcome by them, enjoying the eloquence of it as if for the first time. Ah, the power to create whatever the white calls for, to have the moments evolve out of each other, break through each other, create patterns which are recurring or singular like an unexpected high-pitched cry.
The whole is neither melodious nor abstract, contemporary but referring to tunes so old that they sound out of the ordinary, its structures so complex that years of study are still revealing the intricacy and beauty of the White Symphonies.

After Casper and STATE have set up the outlines of the White Symphonies, he sets himself the task to refine the patterns, elaborate the solos, to rethink all lines; to end up paring them down ruthlessly, altering elements and reinserting them again and again. He plays and re-plays the different structures time after time.

Bearer of STATE for 1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks, 0 days,

S. leaves him at it. Irene is right, there is something more to do. The Committee investigating Crimes Against the People. It is time, high time for public avowal. To have the perpetrators and the victims of crimes committed during the President’s reign look each other in the eye and admit to the atrocity of the deeds committed in their entirety. To have history record and archive them, to be studied and written about. To have the unthinkable become digestible in a narrative form.
She has to work the future of the state.