The soul bundle

The soul bundle is not a profile. It is the accumulated material of a life of connections. It grows with each bond formed. It becomes more valuable the more it is given away carefully.

It has three layers, one for each depth. A stranger who bonds with you at Level 1 receives the first layer only. Someone who held for long enough to reach Level 3 receives all three, including the relational history of everyone you have already been close to.

Editing the soul bundle requires physical possession of the card. You cannot change what your agent says about you from a different city. The card is the key.

{
  "level1": {
    "name": "Alice",
    "role": "Facilitator",
    "affiliation": "NextLearning e.V.",
    "bond_metaphor": {
      "key": "iwa_oji",
      "label": "Break the kola",
      "description": "In Igbo tradition, the kola nut is broken, blessed, and distributed before any serious agreement begins."
    }
  },
  "level2": {
    "current_projects": ["InnoVER/Meld", "BRAID ontology"],
    "stated_intentions": "Building deliberative infrastructure for rural municipalities"
  },
  "level3": {
    "soul_md": "## About me\n...",
    "relational_history": [
      {
        "bondId": "uuid",
        "partner": "bob.eth",
        "depth": "level3",
        "formed": 1710000000,
        "broken": null,
        "trace": "Met at the Berlin assembly. Stayed for the full hold."
      }
    ],
    "guild_memberships": ["guild-uuid-1"]
  }
}
		

The relational trace

This is the emotional core of Depth.

Every bond leaves a trace in the soul bundle. When you bond at Level 3, you carry something of the other person forward: a record of the encounter, the depth at which it happened, the context that shaped it. Your agent becomes richer for having been close to another.

You cannot un-know someone you have been close to.

The trace persists even if the bond is broken. Breaking a bond removes the active relationship, the permissions, the access to updated soul material. It does not erase the fact of the encounter. The relational history is append-only. What was given cannot be taken back.

This is why Depth matters for cooperation. Trust is not binary. It accumulates. It has texture. Depth gives that texture a structure that machines can read and that humans can feel.

Bond metaphors

When you register, Depth asks you how people form trust where you come from. The answer becomes part of your Level 1 layer, the first thing anyone learns about you in a bond. It is a small act of cultural self-disclosure.

When two people bond, they see each other's metaphors side by side for the first time. This is often the most interesting moment of the whole exchange.