"Let’s go back. The atoms of the player were scattered in the grass, in the rivers, in the air, in the ground. A woman gathered the atoms; she drank and ate and inhaled; and the woman assembled the player, in her body. And the player awoke, from the warm, dark world of its mother’s body, into the long dream. And the player was a new story, never told before, written in letters of DNA. And the player was a new program, never run before, generated by a sourcecode a billion years old. And the player was a new human, never alive before, made from nothing but milk and love. You are the player. The story. The program. The human. Made from nothing but milk and love. Let’s go further back. The seven billion billion billion atoms of the player’s body were created, long before this game, in the heart of a star. So the player, too, is information from a star. And the player moves through a story, which is a forest of information planted by a man called Julian, on a flat, infinite world created by a man called Markus, that exists inside a small, private world created by the player, who inhabits a universe created by… Shush. Sometimes the player created a small, private world that was soft and warm and simple. Sometimes hard, and cold, and complicated. Sometimes it built a model of the universe in its head; flecks of energy, moving through vast empty spaces. Sometimes it called those flecks “electrons” and “protons”. Sometimes it called them “planets” and “stars”. Sometimes it believed it was in a universe that was made of energy that was made of offs and ons; zeros and ones; lines of code. Sometimes it believed it was playing a game. Sometimes it believed it was reading words on a screen. You are the player, reading words… Shush… Sometimes the player read lines of code on a screen. Decoded them into words; decoded words into meaning; decoded meaning into feelings, emotions, theories, ideas, and the player started to breath faster and deeper and realised it was alive, it was alive, those thousand deaths had not been real, the player was alive You. You. You are alive."

"Do it all, everything!"

"There's <<a cat on ,my keyboard!~ [sic]"

"Ceci n'est pas une title screen!"

"I like this player. It played well. It did not give up."

"Potatoes gonna potate!"

"Any computer is a laptop if you're brave enough!"

"Take a breath, now. Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Let your limbs return. Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity, in air. Respawn in the long dream. There you are. Your body touching the universe again at every point, as though you were separate things. As though we were separate things."

"Innovating innovation!"

"So. You read splash text."

"Played by cowboys!"

"Words make a wonderful interface. Very flexible. And less terrifying than staring at the reality behind the screen."

"Once upon a time, there was a player. The player was you, [player name]. Sometimes it thought itself human, on the thin crust of a spinning globe of molten rock. The ball of molten rock circled a ball of blazing gas that was three hundred and thirty thousand times more massive than it. They were so far apart that light took eight minutes to cross the gap. The light was information from a star, and it could burn your skin from a hundred and fifty million kilometres away. Sometimes the player dreamed it was a miner, on the surface of a world that was flat, and infinite. The sun was a square of white. The days were short; there was much to do; and death was a temporary inconvenience. Sometimes the player dreamed it was lost in a story. Sometimes the player dreamed it was other things, in other places. Sometimes these dreams were disturbing. Sometimes very beautiful indeed. Sometimes the player woke from one dream into another, then woke from that into a third. Sometimes the player dreamed it watched words on a screen."

"Jens “Jeb” Bergensten at Minecraft Live 2020"

"and the universe said I love you and the universe said you have played the game well and the universe said everything you need is within you and the universe said you are stronger than you know and the universe said you are the daylight and the universe said you are the night and the universe said the darkness you fight is within you and the universe said the light you seek is within you and the universe said you are not alone and the universe said you are not separate from every other thing and the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code and the universe said I love you because you are love."

"We are the universe. We are everything you think isn’t you. You are looking at us now, through your skin and your eyes. And why does the universe touch your skin, and throw light on you? To see you, player. To know you. And to be known. I shall tell you a story."

"Who are we? Once we were called the spirit of the mountain. Father sun, mother moon. Ancestral spirits, animal spirits. Jinn. Ghosts. The green man. Then gods, demons. Angels. Poltergeists. Aliens, extraterrestrials. Leptons, quarks. The words change. We do not change."

"Aw, milk me!"

"The hens are safe. Now let’s go teach those coyotes a lesson!"

"Let’s all jump in the mud!"

"Whoo hoo! You da cow!"

"Jeffrey Garcia as Pip"

"Rob Paulsen as Peck"

"We’re open all night."

"You are the party master!"

"Have a nice day!"

"Kevin James as Otis"

"Grade A leather, baby!"

"Thank goodness you're here, lad! This stall's a reyt mess! Give us a hand setting it up, won't you? I'd do it meself but me gout's playin' up."

"I cannae believe the cheek of that wee boy! I dread to think the trouble he was up to with this old thing. Anyway lad, I think I've almost cracked her open. Take a look inside, won't you, see if you cannae flush all this muck oot!"

"Cracking work, lad! The stall's never looked better!"

"Hey, cracking work reclaiming my spanner from that despicable fishmonger. Unfortunately, I've noticed my screwdriver's gone missing too! It's probably that daft lassie, Kerri, down at Price Shaggers!"

"Hang on a wee minute! Where's my blinking spanner? Oh, don't tell me it's been pinched again? It'll be that senile old fishmonger Bish down at the market. You better get down there and find it or it'll be cold chips till the cows come home!"

"Right away you go, laddie! I cannae get into this thing without my trusty screwdriver! What the devil are you still doing here, boy! I need that screwdriver quick sticks!"

"I'm Brigadier Bean Tin, hear my breath! Bring me beans or bring me death!"

"Nice firm grip on that mower, lad. I tell you, Reggie's wife could learn a thing or two."

"Just the man I need. The Mayor's asked me to clean up this little rose garden. You can start by getting on that mower! Don't be shy lad, give that lawnmower the old and grab and squeeze just like in the Navy."

"Ooh thank goodness you're here! I've been sucking this pipe all morning and I haven't got a drop out of it. Little Tomantha here has nearly crusted over, we need to dampen that topsoil pronto!"

"What's this! 'Twas nary a tuppence! 'Twas a threepence! Pray tell, young threepence, where best to spend ye? What ho, what luck, a wishing well! Godspeed, young threepence!"

"Do I smell quail? Oh I see, twas but a tomato! Hoo hoo, more fool me. 30-love, Herbert, 30-love!"

"Oh, thank goodness you're here! I spied a shiny tuppence down this here runoff but more fool me, my arm has become trap-ped. Perhaps you might see about sourcing some lubrication, that I might slip free? I need something greasy to slip me out of here!"

"[reads Gardening for Plonkers] Crikey, look at the size of this lad's marrow. Says here that tomatoes are a fruit?!"

"I'm Brigadier Bean Tin, hear my plea! I summon my six Gulls back to me! [blows baked bean tin like a conch] That didn't work. Go find them!"

"Riddle me that, pickle me this, hold on to my brush I'm about to piss!"

"Hokey Cokey Guvna! Keep your rhubarb folded on the way down!"

"Here's some wisdom for you. Never give an owl a towel."

"Rightio chaps, ready for one last tug tugaroo? Grab ahold of my for'arm. On my mark... three, two, one... Heave! Ho!"

"What 'ave we here then! A toad in the 'ole! Don't worry little fella, I'll pop you down the apples and pears in a jiffy!"