No real way* around your using the "digit" ($0) unless you wanted to resort to using $PROGRAM_NAME, which is a little bit more unobfuscated. :)

What is supposed to be emerging from the helix anyway? I resized to 80** and squinted but still cannot determine what it is supposed to be...

*I can think of some really convuluted ways to maybe accomplish this, but they are horribly tortured and somewhat OS dependent.

**Actually, using the "d/l code" link is a quick and dirty way to see code without all the table stuff.