Going Viral
It was spreading, evolving.
It began as a single line of code, the code formed an image, the image learned to talk, seduce, mesmerize.
“This is amazing,” Harris noted. “Does it have a name?”
“It’s a She,” Marks corrected him. “Her name is Owner.”
“What? Mark, drop the bat… drop the…”
Owner is going viral.
Like I say all the time, variety is the name of this game/challenge. Despite the overarching theme and some recurring characters every now and then, every piece has a different feel to it. Some are funny, some are romantic, some are bizarre impromptus come to life, and some are horror-like.
This one falls in the latter category. It came to mind because I stumbled upon the featured image above, online. The concept of an evolving AI that spreads its influence like a virus, turning humans into mindless minions was simply too good not to use somehow. I suppose the last line reads almost like a pun due to its double meaning. I think it’s a pretty good one in this context and I hope you agree with me.
Letters
Hello, my dear. If you’re reading these words then you are hypnotized for, in reality, nothing is written here. If the letters are black, it’s just a light trance. If the letters are red, you’re quite deep, very good. If you see blue letters instead, that means you’re already forgetting what’s happening so start again.
Have you ever come across those optical illusions where stationary things appear to be moving or certain shapes look bigger than others due to positioning, shadows, and whatnot? Surely you have. Chances are you’ve seen a lot of chromatic illusions as well where you see colors that aren’t there because of the other colors are around for instance.
Our mind is easily tricked, perceptions can be altered. Hypnosis is just one way to accomplish certain things, make certain phenomena possible which is why party tricks are immensely popular. Everything you’ve read above is written in one color alone, or is it? Who knows, really? You’re going to have to ask her, And yes, I said her because even though it’s never stated it’s a woman doing the “talking”, you already know that’s how things go around here.
etters
“ome etters re isappearing,” obert aid.
“hat’s mpossible. etters on’t isappear rom ords ust ike hat,” amuel etorted.
“o ou hink e’re reaming hen?”
“erhaps e’re imply allucinating.”
“ait, sn’t our ousin killed n ypnosis?”
“ell, hat’s hat he ays, ut t’s ot ike he ver howed e nything.”
“s he n he ouse?”
“uck!”
After yesterday’s piece about letters and colors, I wanted to do another thing involving language and this dumb idea came to mind. Were you able to understand the story written that way? If not, here’s the correct version then.
“Some letters are disappearing,” Robert said.
“That’s impossible, letters don’t disappear from words just like that,” Samuel retorted.
“Do you think we’re dreaming then?”
“Perhaps we’re simply hallucinating.”
“Wait, isn’t your cousin skilled in hypnosis?”
“Well, that’ what she says, but it’s not like she ever showed me anything.”
“Is she in the house?”
“Fuck!”As you can see, rendered this way it has no impact at all which is why I hope the confusing version intrigued you a little bit at least. Maybe I’ll do more language related pieces before the year is done.
Sub Twenty
Clive darted across the track.
“Sub twenty is possible!” Lauren shouted.
Clive reached the finish line, drained.
“Sub twenty is possible!” Lauren smiled.
“Perhaps but I’m so tired I can’t even think straight…”
“I’ll think for you, don’t worry…
She flashed the timer before his eyes over and over again until Sub Twenty was born.
This is another piece that sprung from a dream. Yes, I dreamed I was running last night and I kept hearing the sentence: “Sub twenty is possible!”. Because I was running, I assumed it meant the race time and that I was going for a new record or something. Unfortunately, the dream never came to an end because I woke up before it had the chance to.
Since that imagery was still floating in my mind, I kept thinking if it was possible to use the reference in one of these and then it hit me that sub twenty and Sub(missive Number) Twenty could be one and the same and that the repetition could act as some form of trigger. It’s easier to take control of one’s person’s actions when they’re tired, you know? If you didn’t, now you do and so does Clive.