Lit Fuse 2017
Surviving Earth.
Somewhere out in space, there is utopia. The grass rolls up
gentle hills to blanket the ocean waves of mounds and valleys that stretch out
of sight over the horizon. A great big expanse of a meadow, with daisies and
dandelions. And in the centre of it all, there is the city. Sunlight beams
dance through skyscraper spires of white and gold. There are tracks between the
spires, with vehicles that don’t pollute and drive themselves and passengers
that sip drinks and relax.
Those who are content with being contented live in harmony.
Those who always need to strive for something strive together and live in
competition. There are many games of every kind hosted, from table tennis to
jumping jacks and chess to rugby. And all of them smile their ignorant smiles.
Never knowing their loss of life or living. Never knowing they’re all that’s
left.
Somewhere out in space, there is a box. Two foot by four
foot by two foot. It is attached to a solar sail, that provides it electricity
and pushes it slowly through nothingness. There are no stars or planets nearby.
No debris. It Is alone. And inside this box, is a computer. And in the mind of
the computer are the minds of people. One hundred thousand lucky survivors. And
made in the minds of those people, through their common understanding of such a
word is utopia.
Somewhere out in space. Alone together.
Here's my Notes, Drafts, and info about the competition:
Lit Fuse competition.
500 words of flash fiction, no more. ‘Be reflective, be
funny, be angry, but above all, be imaginative’
The theme is ‘digitally human’
So what does digitally human mean?
-
There is the constant interwoven nature of human
and machine
-
There is the increasing level of reliance on
machines and technology
-
There is artificial intelligence – machines
designed to attain humanity
-
There is digitization, the concept of humans
being made into machines
o
This reminds me of SOMA, and the main subtheme
of that game was the idea that data cannot be moved, only copied. What happens
when the human mind is copied? What about if the data is compressed or made
into a lossy format? What if part of a mind is saved over, then recovered using
data recovery tools?
-
There is using technology to improve the human
body – and the interwoven issues of capitalism and income inequality that comes
when some people can literally be better than others using their wallet.
What about a story based off of the ARK idea from SOMA? The
concept of a little computer floating in space, filled with digital minds that
are the last of humanity after its extinction. Alone and ignorant but living in
a functional utopia, out in the blackness.
Surviving Earth.
Somewhere out in space, there is utopia. The grass strolls
up gentle hills to roll on the ocean waves of mounds and valleys that stretch
out of sight over the horizon. A great big blanket of a meadow, with daisies
and dandelions. And in the centre of it all, there is the city. Sunlight beams
dance through skyscraper spires of white and gold. There are tracks between the
spires, with vehicles that don’t pollute and drive themselves and passengers
that sip drinks and relax.
Those who are content with being contented live in harmony.
Those who always need to strive for something strive together and live in
competition. There are many games of every kind hosted, from table tennis to
jumping jacks and chess to rugby. And all of them smile their ignorant smiles. Never
knowing their loss of life or living. Never knowing they are all that’s left.
Somewhere out in space, there is a box. Two foot by four
foot by two foot. It is attached to a solar sail, that provides it electricity
and pushes it slowly through nothingness. There are no stars or planets nearby.
No debris. It Is alone. And inside this box, is a computer. And in the mind of
the computer are the minds of people. One hundred thousand lucky survivors. And
made in the minds of those people, and in the mind of the computer, is utopia.
Somewhere out in space, alone together.
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