142 lines
12 KiB
Diff
142 lines
12 KiB
Diff
diff --git a/content/work/post-self/qoheleth/content/gallery-exhibition-plain.tex b/content/work/post-self/qoheleth/content/gallery-exhibition-plain.tex
|
|
index e8cc0248..cc142abb 100644
|
|
--- a/content/work/post-self/qoheleth/content/gallery-exhibition-plain.tex
|
|
+++ b/content/work/post-self/qoheleth/content/gallery-exhibition-plain.tex
|
|
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
|
|
|
|
\null
|
|
\vfill
|
|
-A night on the town. A bar for an aperitif. A light dinner at a modern restaurant, one of those places with default sensoria settings that turn up the taste inputs and turn down the visual inputs, so that you eat intensely delicious food amidst a thick, purple fog. Another bar, livelier and less painfully modern, for a digestif.
|
|
+A night on the town. A bar for an aperitif. A light dinner at a modern restaurant, one of those places with default sensoria settings that turn up the taste inputs and turn down the visual inputs, so that you eat intensely delicious food amidst a thick, \emph{Eigengrau} fog. Another bar, livelier and less painfully modern, for a digestif.
|
|
|
|
\vfill
|
|
|
|
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ This makes you \emph{furious}.
|
|
|
|
Without even thinking, you reach out a hand and grab one of the instances of Dear by the scruff of the neck and drag it to you, giving it a good shake as you do so.
|
|
|
|
-``What the fuck do you think you're doing?!'' you shout into its face?
|
|
+``What the fuck do you think you're doing?!'' you shout into its face
|
|
|
|
The fennec snarls at you and, with surprising force, grabs your forearm and, using itself as a pivot, swings you around through about a quarter-circle's arc. It keeps its paws on your arm, one on your elbow to keep it straight and one on your wrist, and shoves you back by lunging forward.
|
|
|
|
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ You fall.
|
|
% \newpage
|
|
%%%%%%%%%% Fight
|
|
|
|
-The room into which you and this feral Dear fall is cylindrical. Walls of concrete, floor of packed dirt. the part of your mind still working on an intellectual level finds this funny, cliché.
|
|
+The room into which you and this feral Dear fall is cylindrical. Walls of concrete, floor of packed dirt. The part of your mind still working on an intellectual level finds this funny, cliché.
|
|
|
|
That's also the part of your mind that notices the default settings for sensoria and collision in this room are much, much different than the previous room. Full sensation, with collision detection algorithms turned way down.
|
|
|
|
@@ -316,11 +316,11 @@ A room set for battle.
|
|
|
|
You grin wildly.
|
|
|
|
-\emph{Good,} you think. \emph{Let it hurt. This 'exhibition' goes way beyond what it should.}
|
|
+\emph{Good,} you think. \emph{Let it hurt. This `exhibition' goes way beyond what it should.}
|
|
|
|
Dear only growls.
|
|
|
|
-There's no circling, not yet. You two simply collide and have at each other. You with punching fists and knees attempting to find a groin (the fox is genderless, you guess, but perhaps that still hurts). Dear with blunt, scratching claws and not-so-blunt teeth.
|
|
+There's no circling, not yet. You two simply collide and have at each other. You with punching fists and knees attempting to find a groin (the fox is without gender, you guess, but perhaps that still hurts). Dear with blunt, scratching claws and not-so-blunt teeth.
|
|
|
|
You have the advantage of size, and Dear has the advantage of speed. And teeth and claws worth wielding.
|
|
|
|
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ And now you're alone.
|
|
|
|
You stumble back to the wall and sag against it, breathing heavily and assessing the damage. A few minor scratching here and there, and then the two major wounds: the scratch up along your cheek and across your ear and the bite on your neck with its several small puncture wounds.
|
|
|
|
-You set to work patching yourself. You fork from a point just before the fight, explain to the instance that you need to fix, that you'd like it to merge and retain all of your memories and experiences.
|
|
+You set to work patching yourself. Forking and merging, again and again, each fork fixing another cut, another bruise.
|
|
|
|
This takes only a few seconds.
|
|
|
|
@@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ Still holding its paw up, Dear, Also, The Tree That Was Felled forks once more,
|
|
|
|
\emph{``The goal of this exhibition is not to just talk about that, though, it is to explore the creative limits of forking as art.''}
|
|
|
|
-Dear forks once more, but this time into two additional instances. One short, lithe human, holding up her hand just as the original instance still holds up its paw. And on the other side of Dear, a small animal --- smaller than you expected, the size of a small cat --- that you suppose is the fennec mentioned in the program, colored in creamy tan fur. It becomes clear that the primary Dear is a synthesis between the two.
|
|
+Dear forks once more, but this time into two additional instances. One short, stocky human, holding up her hand just as the original instance still holds up its paw. And on the other side of Dear, a small animal --- smaller than you expected, the size of a small cat --- that you suppose is the fennec mentioned in the program, colored in creamy tan fur. It becomes clear that the primary Dear is a synthesis between the two.
|
|
|
|
The human Dear reaches out to shake one of the audience members hands while the fox dashes toward the crowd, weaving its way between legs in a good simulacrum of an animal attempting to escape.
|
|
|
|
@@ -784,7 +784,7 @@ Your mind fills with stories, of magical animals, of sleeping for years and waki
|
|
|
|
You look around, some part of you unwilling to believe that the voice came from the fennec. You had forgotten, lost in your fantasies, that the fennec was still Dear.
|
|
|
|
-\emph{``Yeah, me.''} The fennec continued its dainty walk. \emph{``I say `tenacious fuck' lovingly, of course. I like you. You have pluck. Gumption. Another you forked in another place, another time. We fought. We kind of fell for each other. It was fun.''}
|
|
+\emph{``Yeah, me.''} The fennec continues its dainty walk. \emph{``I say `tenacious fuck' lovingly, of course. I like you. You have pluck. Gumption. Another you forked in another place, another time. We fought. We kind of fell for each other. It was fun.''}
|
|
|
|
``Another\ldots{}?''
|
|
|
|
@@ -1120,7 +1120,7 @@ Dear laughs. Your friends roll their eyes.
|
|
|
|
\emph{``Part of it is integral to us. To all of the `me's here, to all of the Ode clade, to so many Dispersionistas, and, to some extent, to all those except perhaps the most conservative of conservatives.''} It furrows its brow as if digging for words, \emph{``It is evolving. Identity, I mean. It is moving beyond the romantic concept of self.''}
|
|
|
|
-``Is that why you're not hu-'' You stop yourself short, thinking on its words. ``Is that why you've taken the shape of a\ldots{}a fennec, was it?''
|
|
+``Is that why you're not hu--'' You stop yourself short, thinking on its words. ``Is that why you've taken the shape of a\ldots{}a fennec, was it?''
|
|
|
|
Dear turns itself to sit cross-legged on the love-seat facing you. You find yourself doing so as well, almost subconsciously.
|
|
|
|
@@ -1145,6 +1145,8 @@ They hesitate for a moment, then, frowning, give a dismissive gesture and wander
|
|
|
|
\emph{``Fennecs,''} Dear agrees. \emph{``Though one must be careful to specify anthropomorphic. Real fennecs are quite small as you remember.''}
|
|
|
|
+Do you? Do you remember? Perhaps some other you does.
|
|
+
|
|
Dear forks and a fennec --- hardly a double-handful of fuzzy critter --- appears between you, bridging your knees, back paws on Dear's knee and front paws on yours. It's tan, rather than iridescent white, and holds far less humanity about it.
|
|
|
|
You raise a hand, but it quits before you can touch it.
|
|
@@ -1153,7 +1155,7 @@ You raise a hand, but it quits before you can touch it.
|
|
|
|
``So you're greater than the sum of the parts,'' you hazard. ``Fennec and human?''
|
|
|
|
-\emph{``It would be better to say that we are all more than human. We may be post-human, as the old saws would have it, but we are certainly now more than the sum of the parts of our identities.''} It grins, \emph{``Fennec mostly just because I like foxes, though. All the deep words in the world will not hide that fact.''}
|
|
+\emph{``It would be better to say that we are all more than human. We may be post-human, as the old saws would have it, but we are certainly now more than the sum of the parts of our identities.''} It laughs, \emph{``Fennec mostly just because I like foxes, though. All the deep words in the world will not hide that fact.''}
|
|
|
|
You laugh, giving its paw a pat with your free hand, ``Well, hey, if it fits, might as well.''
|
|
|
|
@@ -1163,7 +1165,7 @@ Dear grins. \emph{``Think it does?''}
|
|
|
|
You feel your hand drop as the fennec turns up the sensitivity of its instance and turns down the rather conservative settings of the collision detection algorithms. You hesitate for the moment, then do the same, feeling the concomitant sensations of temperature and touch jump in intensity.
|
|
|
|
-\emph{``Well, I get to be soft as hell.''} It grins, \emph{``Seriously, pet me. I love being a fox sometimes if only for the physical contact.''}
|
|
+\emph{``Well, I get to be soft as hell.''} Its grin widens, \emph{``Seriously, pet me. I love being a fox sometimes if only for the physical contact.''}
|
|
|
|
You laugh despite the heat rising to your cheeks. After a moment's hesitation, you pet the back of Dear's paw lightly with your hand.
|
|
|
|
@@ -1285,20 +1287,20 @@ You send a quick sensorium ping to them, instructing them to quit. They do so.
|
|
|
|
You feel that hate begin to simmer.
|
|
|
|
-Once all of the audience is brought back together in this whitewashed room, with its exposed ceiling, you hear Dear's kind voice waft above the heads, \emph{``The final room of the exhibition is not participatory. Please feel free to wander and explore. I-''} It pauses, forks a few times, each instance smiling, and continues, \emph{``We will be available for questions and chit-chat. Finally, I would like to thank you all deeply for attending this exhibition, and The Simien Fang School of Art and Design for hosting it. SF welcomes you back to any future exhibitions.''}
|
|
+Once all of the audience is brought back together in this whitewashed room, with its exposed ceiling, you hear Dear's kind voice waft above the heads, \emph{``The final room of the exhibition is not participatory. Please feel free to wander and explore. I--''} It pauses, forks a few times, each instance smiling, and continues, \emph{``We will be available for questions and chit-chat. Finally, I would like to thank you all deeply for attending this exhibition, and The Simien Fang School of Art and Design for hosting it. SF welcomes you back to any future exhibitions.''}
|
|
|
|
There is applause, then, but it's scattered, confused. Dear looks proud at this.
|
|
|
|
You and your friends wander slowly through the room.
|
|
|
|
-Its a square. Equidistant from the walls and each other are four pedestals, with one more a positioned at the center. Each pedestal is about waist-height and is just as white as the rest of the room. Images float a few inches from the top of the one nearest you, so you and your friends begin the circuit, wandering to inspect each pedestal in turn.
|
|
+It's a square. Equidistant from the walls and each other are four pedestals, with one more a positioned at the center. Each pedestal is about waist-height and is just as white as the rest of the room. Images float a few inches from the top of the one nearest you, so you and your friends begin the circuit, wandering to inspect each pedestal in turn.
|
|
|
|
Each is labeled with a simple placard.
|
|
|
|
\newpage
|
|
\section*{The Wanderer}
|
|
|
|
-It's a surreal experience, watching your self, your actions, through someone else's eyes. Sure, there are videos and such, but there's something a little different about this. The way the `camera' moves is\ldots{}well, it's not a camera. There's no way it could be a camera.
|
|
+It's a surreal experience, watching yourself, your actions, through someone else's eyes. Sure, there are videos and such, but there's something a little different about this. The way the `camera' moves is\ldots{}well, it's not a camera. There's no way it could be a camera.
|
|
|
|
It has to be Dear.
|
|
|
|
@@ -1384,7 +1386,7 @@ It smiles, almost sadly. \emph{``If I did not mean to do it, you would have been
|
|
|
|
You take a breath. One of those intentional breaths, the ones where you breathe out longer than you breathe in. ``I think I understand why you did it,'' you say, quiet and controlled. Will yourself to tamp that hate down, if only for the sake of propriety. ``I don't like it, but I think I understand why.''
|
|
|
|
-Dear nods, offers a hint of a bow, and backs away, \emph{``That is my job.''}
|
|
+Dear nods, offers a hint of a bow, and backs away. \emph{``That is my job.''}
|
|
|
|
It retreats into the crowd.
|
|
|