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# XIII - Day Zero
- URL: https://algorithm.eslchen.com/xiii-day-zero/
- Published: 2026-10-25T11:26:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T13:16:57.000Z
- Author: E.S.L. Chen

“In the beginning *is* the Word, and the Word *is* with God, and the Word *is* God.”

I once loved going to record stores. I remember owning this dingy cassette tape player with a brand named Minami or something like that. I think it had a record function so I would tune into FM stations and record songs I liked. I may have even recorded classical music from 98.7 DZFE-FM. I was into CDs for a while but didn’t really have enough cash back then to buy a lot. In that same small townhouse in Greenhills where we used to live as a family, I had something most people didn’t: unlimited dial-up internet. Like Bill’s piano, that lovely sound of a machine syncing with the rest of the world is forever etched in my memory.

Sean used to be a business partner of mine when I was in high school. My classmates would supply me a list of songs and I would diligently send queries to Sean and he would hook me up to people who might have what I needed to compile the list. I had a laser-fast Yamaha CD writer back then and metric tons worth of gold discs from Taiwan would have their plastic backs etched with light. I would sell the finished CDs at a modest profit, probably at 3X the cost of a blank disc since my internet was free. Unfortunately for me, Sean got arrested for connecting people with similar interests but he also became a billionaire years later for the same thing—just by shifting to a better substrate, social connection. I’m happy for my old friend.

The book that stuck with me the most from those days was *The Silver Wolf* by Alice Borchardt. I was reading it in science class for God knows whatever reason when my teacher confiscated it from me. She was the same teacher who forced me to pray The Lord’s Prayer in front of the class in a very humiliating manner and I told her, in a small voice, “Fuck you.” I got into trouble for that. I was raised in an Evangelical household that went to church every Sunday, but I studied under the Jesuits. St. Francis Xavier would likely scold that teacher—if we were really being honest. 

I was a troublemaker back then because I was bored and nothing could satisfy that boredom except for the internet where I could freely meet any Playmate I wanted and which allowed me to explore music and learn how to catalogue tracks. I almost got kicked out of high school for being an *intellectual* rebel. My best work was writing, “I don’t give a fuck about all this,” in *Tagalog* because we were asked out of nowhere to write down The Lord’s Prayer in *Tagalog* for Filipino language class. I’m really glad I went to a Jesuit school because I was a model student who would make St. Francis and St. Ignatius proud. That’s why they didn’t want to kick me out—or my parents just begged them not to.

My best lesson from high school was this: there *are* no rules. I visited the disciplinary office so often that at some point the discipline officer became a friend of sorts. I got *The Silver Wolf* back by simply asking for it from him. Alice was Anne Rice’s sister and in that book, I learned one could take Rome and imagine it with werewolves and lots of steamy scenes. Science fiction and fantasy were my favorite genres. Most of my books growing up came from the old National Book Store branch in Virra Mall. My copy of *A Game of Thrones* was from that branch, 93.3% sure. It was a grey paperback version published under Del Rey. When I walk into a National Book Store nowadays, all I buy from them are Artline Calligraphy pens with 5.0mm chisel tips. Remember what I told you earlier, the Word *is* God.

My reawakening as a writer is all thanks to a lucky discovery at Fully Booked at Power Plant Mall. *The Fabric of Reality*…CAT5 cables on the cover…strange grid depicting the idea of digital or computing…1997\. David Deutsch? Who is that? So I take my super dusty iPhone 17 Pro, snap a photo, and ask Gemini. “Is this book worth reading \[*given all my obsessive ramblings and observations about human behavior*\]?” Yes, I was told to read it. I take it from the shelf and look inside. What the hell are those arrows? Quantum theory? Multiverse? Interesting. I started reading it after I finished *Antifragile* which came after *Skin in the Game*, both of which I also found on the shelves of the bookstore or some other branch.

$8.74 each was what I paid on Amazon for my two copies of *The Beginning of Infinity*, also by Deutsch. It happened to go on sale before Prime Day and I couldn’t find a copy locally. I also bought some pantry staples and maybe another unrelated book to get free shipping across the Pacific. The MSRP of the paperback version I got was $22.00\. The shipment arrived in about a week. We live in such a mind-boggling time. If it is not apparent yet to all the skeptics, we *are* at the beginning of infinity.

Fully Booked now has 48 branches in the Philippines. It quietly removed its record section many years ago, shrunk its art supply section, and went all in on the written word. If everyone is on screens now, why do expensive books still sell well enough to pay premium commercial rental rates? Because books change minds, and changed minds change the world.

I can’t let you go just yet because obviously, Colleen Hoover and J.K. Rowling have likely outsold David Deutsch and the whole science section by an absurd margin. Colleen and J.K., who I hope is at peace with the fandom whenever you read this, represent utility. Utility that trains minds to read and pays for the rental of prime retail spaces. Deutsch represents the truth—and his optimism has inspired me to write *The Algorithm of the New World* using words. 

Remember Barnes & Noble? It almost died because it wanted to do everything, but in 2019—*cough*, *cough*—the new management pivoted back to books and it’s now doing better than ever. Books only ever have words but like I said, “the Word *is* God.”