Instalment #2
The Benevolent Asylum
The story so far…
It’s 3321. The legendary AAMSOs are immersed in newly discovered archives at two Miegunyah Collection sites in Naarm Fields.
There’s tension in the air.
Speculations are rife about the future of the AAMSO service is uncertain.
It’s no secret: many Benefactors think their world knows enough of human history. They want to devote more time and resources to the study of local ecosystems; it’s time to move on from a human-centred interest in history.
But not yet.
There’s talk that a time-fugitive AAMSO could be at work on the 21st century Miegunyah Site. This could turn things around for our 34th century AAMSO archivists. If the AAMSO’s could provide a first-hand account of life in the most baffling century of all, surely this would reignite the interest of The Benefactors.
AAMSO lontimers believe that the future of the service hinges on their ability to find answers to the question on every hacktivist’s to-do list: how on earth did humanity survive the 21st century?
In the previous instalment of Unquiet Voices...
…field hacktivist Eli was drawn to The Invalid Digger, an artefact created by Samuel T Gill, a 19th century lithographer and artist. This image inspired Eli to reflect on language, and how it has positioned disability across all time. Eli considered his own experience as a disabled person centuries afterThe Invalid Digger was created.
The 34th century might be a better world in many respects, Eli concedes, but it’s far from perfect.
Then content designator, Roger, took a turn – maybe the last one ever – in the dioramatron. While making connections with the work of Samuel Gill, and other artefacts uploaded to the AAMSO futura-obscura database, Roger wondered if Sam Gill’s drawings were a critical mirror for a gold-obsessed colonial society and for future eyes as well – and in more ways than one.
Meanwhile, Eli and Roger are coming to terms with their different life experiences and approaches to work. They find common ground in fantasy fiction and Eli’s much-loved novels.
At the end of Instalment #1, all AAMSO content designators were requested to leave their workstations and go directly to the Comms Platform…
AAMSO TRANSFER COVERSHEET
From: Field Hacktivists
To: Archival Exhibition and Content Design Team
Re: AAMSO Project A2029 – Miegunyah Site 2
Chronos: 3321 OECT
Lunar Cycle:9
DATA SITE
A place of advanced learning.
AAMSO Project A2029, Miegunah Site 2, Excavation 3321 OECT
DATA SOURCES
Batch retrieved from two hardware shells containing human-generated drawings, photographs, documents, various objects, a computer device.
AAMSO Project A2029, Miegunah Site 2, Storage Shells, circa 21st C . OECT
Olivish: Please find attached my last insitu-intuit immersion.All the other operatives have left in a snit – just me and Eli on-site now.
Roger: I thought Eli was doing the insitu for the last batch.
Olivish: Yeah, he asked for a swap. Not sure why. Last time I saw him he was looking at a bunch of those handheld computer shells. Then he took off. He said he’d be back for the last AAMSO podcast and emphasised for you NOT TO WORRY. Apparently, he has a big surprise in store.
Roger: Hah! I wonder why he is wasting time with those obsolete devices. We gave up trying to access them ages ago. Those 21st century electronic grave-yards are dire.
Olivish: Yeah, the 21st century didn’t end well for oligarchs and technopolists did it? It’s a pity they dismantled the entire network though. That certainly halted progress for a while.
Roger: Well, if growth hadn’t flat-lined in the 22nd century we wouldn’t be here today. Mind you, we’re using roughly the same amount of energy today as they were back in the 2000s – 180,000 terawatt hours per year: about the same amount of energy that hits the earth from the sun at any given moment.
Olivish: But at least we know more about global carbon cycles now, and we’re not unleashing energy from dead things inside the earth.
Roger:True. But ending fossil energy didn’t stop the inundations in 2450. Accelerated technology alone is not a panacea some thought it was. They found that out when the machines went wild. Everything had to be re-thought because of 21st century dithering.
Olivish: Yeah. What a cliff hanger that was! I think it’s good the Arboreals want to reduce energy use again. I tell you, Roger, I’m happy to be returning fulltime to my Social Hub. Forward-leaning chronos-time drags on a bit, don’t ya reckon? Deep-timers have more fun!
Roger: Yep. Chronos is all very well, but before you know it, you’re at the other end of linear-time and everyone is asking you about your Ars Moriendi Pods 1.
Olivish: Are you gonna take up the Benefactors offer?
Roger: Right now, it’s my best option. I started in space-junk salvaging so I might as well finish up full-cycle. I’m not ready for Social Hub, too old for Arboreal work and I’m certainly not retiring to the Moon, Mars or any high-needs space-station. Not soon anyway. I’m an AAMSO till the end!
Olivish: So much for compressed morbidity. It’s all got to end sometime.
Roger: Famous last words. Hey, thanks for doing the insitu, Olivish. I’ll get back to you when I’m out of the dioramatron.
1. This could be a reference to The Art of Dying, a medieval genre based on rituals for last rites see here:
Unquiet Voices 