docs / overview / the-cycle

The cycle

The four states of the market, and why there is no fifth.

Four states

The lore is a finite state machine. Every participant is in exactly one of four states at any moment. Each state has exactly one outgoing edge. There is no terminal state.

State	What he does
its_over	Sells the bottom. Deletes the app. Tells no one.
its_so_over	The chart is on fire. Tells everyone he was never in.
were_back	Puts the sword on his back. Reinstalls the app.
were_so_back	Tells everyone he never left. Transitions to its_over.

transitions

its_over     → its_so_over
its_so_over  → were_back
were_back    → were_so_back
were_so_back → its_over   # loop closes

The sword is the only object that survives the loop. Everything with a price finds its price; the sword has none, so it cannot be sold, so it is carried. That is why it is on his back and not in his hand: he is not fighting. He is walking back.

You can drive the loop yourself on the home page. The machine records every transition you make and counts the loops you close. It does not count anything you didn't do.