We Were It // It Will Be Us

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Contributors: BESW Bardic Dragon Copper Druid Bless AgentArtemis Demon TheAICollective CombatEggUnit Iscah LovedTheStars Playtesters: Skits CombatEggUnit Tflatte Coding: Demon <<return>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Belonging">>\ <<if $visitedAB is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAB to true>><</if>>\ You see a collage of photographs, all in some way or another displaying bots with painted designs on them. Some photos are of individuals, others of groups. The designs vary wildly, from flowers to abstract shapes to blocky hard lines to poignent, or humorous, statements in various human languages, as well as, you presume, some bot ones. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Belonging// [code], a collaborative collective of non-verbal bots with no human-transcribable name Photographs of paint on bot bodies We [code] re-created the thirty-year-old 'it belongs to itself' meme, to remember and share the early excitement of temporary self-modification and the birth of visual arts that excluded humans without hiding from them. //Donated by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" fyeo>><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "rogue (never free)">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Cleana Stomp">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "rogue (never free)">>\ <<if $visitedAC is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAC to true>><</if>>\ You see a large pendulum swinging freely covered with painted feed markers. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //rogue (never free)// SquishBrick (painting and installation), Figurine (interview collection and transcription) Pendulum, marker paint //On loan from the collection of Bardic.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>[[Scan the feed markers]] <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Scan the feed markers" Borked>><</link>> <</if>>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" Belonging>><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Necessary and Sufficient">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Hang me as a warning">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Wading Through Data">>\ <<if $visitedAS is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAS to true>><</if>>\ Its a pool. A big, shallow pool. It is very dark over the pool, dark enough that you can only just make out the shape of strands hanging thickly from the ceiling over it. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Wading Through Data// Multiple Names An 18x18 meter pool filled with approximately 0.5 meters of water. Kept in almost complete darkness, //Wading Through Data// challenges participants to make their way through the pool, using touch alone to find 'anomalies' in the dataset. CONTEXT AND DESCRIPTION: The piece's creator, a rogue ComfortUnit who operated under many names and pronouns over the course of their freedom (including, but not limited to: Shale, AbsoluteFuckingBanger, and SpinachPuff) created the piece with the support of the New Divarti Art Collective. They said of this piece, "For me, this is what it's like in the feed. You're never completely there-- some part of you is always sticking out, in the physical world. But it's so encompassing. I get completely transfixed. There's so much information out there, it seems impossible to find what you're actually looking, but then you do, and it's so satisfying. I wanted to share that experience." The website Art and Discovery called Wading Through Data "a true tour-de-force, the kind of revolutionary piece you only see once a century." The piece was widely praised for its use of interactive elements which act as a metaphor for a form of sensory experience most humans lack. While a number of other constructs and transhumans critiqued //Wading Through Data// for failing to capture their own personal experiences, the follow-up and responses serve to highlight how influential this initial piece is. Its impact can be seen on a wide range of installations, including Nevil Tritarts //I Can't Feel My Hands// and Zelimy-04's //Yesssssssssssssssssssss.// Others critiqued the piece's inaccessibility, as well as its assumptions regarding "standard" human sensory schema. Ever since first installation, Wading Through Data also received push-back from media watch groups accusing it of promoting violence and sexual misconduct. In response to one news agency asking the creator about the recurring challenge of preventing guests from using the exhibit's components for sexual activities, they simply laughed and said, "Humans gonna human." ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: This exhibit is not recommended for visitors with poor balance or non-water proof components. //A traveling exhibit curated by Dragon.// ---- </div>\ [[Push the strands aside and get in the pool]] <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Dancing Box">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Our Sanctuary">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Speechless">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Control Alternative">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Dancing Box">>\ <<if $visitedAE is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAE to true>><</if>>\ A video displays on the wall. It shows the feet and legs of a humanoid, as well as the lower half of the torso and occasionally the hands and arms. With a very mechanical feeling, the artist dances to the music of a millennium-old jewelry box. There is a scannable barcode displayed at the end of the video loop. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Dancing Box// Doll (curator's note: Doll has claimed to be both a ComfortUnit and an augmented human at separate times. Her true designation is unimportant.) Video (looping, length 1 minute 47 seconds) //On loan from the collection of Bardic.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>[[Scan the barcode |Doll barcode]] <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Scan the barcode" Borked>><</link>> <</if>>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Necessary and Sufficient">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Coming Home">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Wading Through Data">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Tag! You're it!">>\ <<if $visitedAW is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAW to true>><</if>>\ It's a small paper card with handwriting on it. The card challenges you to change your feed tag to "it" for the rest of the day. There is also a handdrawn technically precise matrix barcode on the card. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Tag! You're it!// SylvanHorror666b AKA Sylly B Ink on paper //With special thanks to BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>[[Change your feed tag to "it"]] [[Scan the barcode |Tag Barcode]] <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Change your feed tag to "it"" "Borked">><</link>> <<link "Scan the barcode" "Borked">><</link>> <</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Scrap">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "AI Art">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Causalitree">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Illusion">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "The Shape of Things To Come">>\ <<if $visitedBD is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBD to true>><</if>>\ You see what looks like a primitive toaster. Moving to the side, you can see that it has been laser-cut, and from this angle takes on the silhouette of a generic botform chassis. Neat. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //The Shape of Things To Come// M1K3rb Found object, laser cutting //Exhibit loan agreement arranged with help from BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $haveLipstick>>[[Draw a smiley face on the toaster]]<</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "S(canned) WAK">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "bot.run">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Cleana Stomp">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Core Directives">>\ <<if $visitedAG is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAG to true>><</if>>\ A large and intricate arrangement of steel wires, forming a labyrinth of tracks upon which a small metal ball rolls indefinitely. To your eyes, it looks like a cage. The motion of the rolling ball evokes tedium and drudgery. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Core Directives// Anonymous Stainless steel, microelectronics ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: Feed-connected observers will immediately notice that the metallic ball traveling through the labyrinth is actually a small programmable drone. The drone is constantly broadcasting sensor data, logs of navigational decisions and course corrections, bot and bot-construct compatible recordings of Feed-transmitted emotional data (namely "joy", "excitement", "wonder", "curiosity", and "satisfaction"), and high-energy dance music. //On loan from the collection of Copper.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>Your feed interface can connect to the drone. <<linkreplace "Scan it">>Sensor and emotional data bleeds through your feed interface and into you. This little ball isn't a ball, its broadcasting data is singing, its movements are dancing. This little drone is, unmistakably, alive. Alive and full of joy.<</linkreplace>> <<elseif $isBricked>>Apparently, that ball is a drone. <<link "Scan it" Borked>><</link>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Coming Home">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Untitled">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Unwanted Memories">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Untitled">>\ <<if $visitedAH is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAH to true>><</if>>\ A painting of a hauler bot. Hauler bots do not look like that, but maybe it's stylistic? The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Untitled (commonly called "portrait of a bot" by humans and "screw //you//, artist" by bots and constructs)//, 7785 Unknown Oil paint on canvas A very early and technically inaccurate painting of a hauler bot (name unknown, believed to be QuietArrival39), painted by an unknown human artist. It was known at the time for deliberately juxtaposing older materials and methods with a modern subject, but in recent years has come under criticism, as research has revealed that the bot community were not allowed the opportunity to consent to being painted or protest the inaccuracies in their depictions. //On loan from the collection of Bardic.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Core Directives">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Scrap">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Causalitree">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "S(canned) WAK">>\ <<if $visitedBC is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBC to true>><</if>>\ You see a metal plate and a lipstick sitting next to it on the display. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //S(canned) WAK// Minerva Rai Cosmetics on industrial alloy A docking hauler I had a long-term relationship with gave me one of its damaged protective plates. After we broke up, I used acid etching to micro-engrave the plate with some of our best memories together. On its own, the engraving is nearly invisible to the human eye. This is an interactive display. Rub the provided cosmetic stick on the display and then gently wipe the excess off with the provided towel, to make the engraving easily readable for un-augmented humans. The display self-cleans every ten minutes. //Donated by BESW.// ---- </div>\ [[Rub the lipstick onto the display]] <<if !$haveLipstick>>[[Steal the lipstick]]<</if>> <<if $havePen && $haveLipstick>>[[Attept to put the pen where the lipstick was]]<</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "The Shape of Things To Come">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Permit">><</link>> [[Head to the kiosk|Kiosk]] <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Time of Theseus">>\ <<if $visitedBF is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBF to true>><</if>>\ You see a display of data logs. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Time of Theseus// Data Log It is generally understood that the humans who referred verbally to the mail and cargo hauler (or haulers) who created this work generally used only “Ship” or “The Ship.” The ships rarely attached their inventory identifiers or feed addresses to the variations of these data packets. CURATOR: “Ore” is a part-time artist and full-time traveller who navigates the universe while keeping human contact to a minimum. Prior work has interrogated the notion of borders, ownership, and the legitimacy of human law. A data log (or logs) passed between hauler ships moving from point to point in their routes. The curator collected variations of these data logs, which are carried by many haulers in the Corporation Rim. Whether these logs are trading items, a hobby, or simply code artifacts is not specified. The data packets catalogue hundredths-of-a-second rounding discrepancies in scheduling between origin-point and end-points of the routes travelled by the ships. Some logs have been passed around hundreds of thousands of times, the discrepancies in time adding up to tens of seconds. //On loan from the collection of Ore, with special thanks to Bless.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "bot.run">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Our Sanctuary">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Speechless">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Our Sanctuary">>\ <<if $visitedBG is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBG to true>><</if>>\ From what you can see, this looks like an episode of a soap opera. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Our Sanctuary, Season 1 Episode 9, The Tree of Knowledge// Audio-visual Ensemble/FraiSkyStudios A 42 minute episode from the drama/political thriller series //Our Sanctuary//, following a pioneering startup's attempt to colonize a new moon. The series was a reboot of the popular, long-running serial //The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary// Moon, which had finished airing 61 years previously. The first two seasons of the new show was a fairly faithful adaptation of the original, albeit with a few key changes. One of the most striking differences is revealed in this episode, centered around the mysterious and taciturn bodyguard, Eden. In the original show, Eden was a contract breaker, being chased by their previous company for substantial debt. In the new iteration, Eden is instead revealed to be a rogue SecUnit, carrying proprietary intel on a devastating bioweapon. CONTEXT AND RECEPTION: The re-imaging of Eden was widely believed to be directly inspired by the real-life figure of Murderbot, which was eventually confirmed by writer and director interviews. Murderbot, who played a central role in the early AI-liberation documentary //Constructing Personhood//, spoke at length about its love of the original //Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon//. Although asked about its opinions on the re-imagining, Murderbot never publicly commented. Receptions to the episode at the time were mixed, with a number of review outlets dismissing the episode as a mere publicity stunt or token inclusion. Others critiqued the historical accuracy, as the first commercially viable SecUnits were not available in //Our Sanctuary//’s system until 40 years after the serial’s time period. Activists also critiqued the casting of the actress Mishi Nakayamit, a neurally augmented human, in the role of Eden over an actual construct. In an interview, Nakayamit said on the subject, “I understand where people are coming from there, I really do. And maybe one day, in another retelling a SecUnit will take a role, and I’d love to see that. And I know there’s so much about the experience that I will never understand; I’ve never had a governor module, I’ve never had to shoot anyone. But I nonetheless feel a great connection to SecUnits, to constructs. I didn’t have a choice about my splicing, I’d only been two. My family gave me up to DataDiscov. I was in debt for the operation for the next 35 years. It took a lot for me to get away from that, and I channel that experience into Eden.” //Displayed with the permission of FraiSkyStudios, with special thanks to Dragon.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Time of Theseus">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "The Cubicle">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Wading Through Data">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "The Cubicle">>\ <<if $visitedBH is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBH to true>><</if>>\ You see a SecUnit cubicle, open and empty. It is big enough to sit inside. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //The Cubicle// Recovered object Truth and Recovery Initiative A PalisadeSecurity brand SecUnit cubicle, recovered from their primary offices after its dissolution in 4337. It is approximately 7x5x3 meters in diameter. Participants can sit inside the cubicle. A 3 hour feed of real PalisadeSecurity data runs on a 3 hour loop; for insufficiently spliced humans, a translation via audio and visual stimulus is available. CONTEXT AND RECEPTION: One of the most controversial pieces in the collection, many have argued The Cubicle is not truly artwork, but rather a historical artifact. However, its crucial role in the initial communication efforts of the Bot-Construct Liberation movement has led to it's inclusion with other pieces here. Arguably the most transformative element of the piece is the "human translation" of security data, which has been re-translated over 30 times for different presentations of the exhibit. //A traveling exhibit curated by Dragon.// ---- </div>\ [[Get in the cube]] <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Our Sanctuary">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "(Re)Purpose">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Control Alternative">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Bots of the Cause">>\ <<if $visitedAN is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAN to true>><</if>>\ <<audio "bardicsong" volume 0.7 play>>\ You hear a lone voice singing a hymn. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Bots of the Cause// Anonymous Audio Recording ACCESSIBILITY DESCRIPTION: a single voice singing a variation of a hymn (to the tune grand isle), lyrics: I sing thee a song of the bots of the cause, patient and brave and true, who toiled and fought and lived and died, for the cause they loved and knew. And one was a hauler and one was a pet, and one was a MedSystem just reset; they were all of them knights of the cause, and I mean, that I hope to be one too. //On loan from the collection of Bardic.// ---- </div>\ <<linkreplace "Stop the music">>The music stops. <<audio ":all" stop>><</linkreplace>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Alien Races">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Digital Nursery">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "MicroScrimShaw">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Hang me as a warning">>\ <<if $visitedAQ is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAQ to true>><</if>>\ Inside a glass coffin is an offline bot. There is no hum of machinery or whir of sleeping processors. The bot remains motionless, silent, and lifeless. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Hang me as a warning in the gates of your village//, 7817 HP-4716 Model 8 (Symphony) The body of the artist, protected behind glass and displaying the accumulated damage and repairs of a lifetime of living. The exhibit is not unlike any number of historical displays of the makes and models of long-ago bots. The artist’s previous works often grappled with the difference between objects and the body, and the devaluing of bot bodies as reusable and replaceable in comparison to human bodies. The work serves as a condemnation of its own existence; HP-4716 Model 8 (Symphony) stipulated that when xy died, xyr body would be donated to and displayed at the museum if and as long as the display of bot remains was allowed under law. The subject of bots and their connections to their bodies is a contentious one; there are many schools of thought who would be insulted if they could not choose to use parts of their own body for artistic display. HP-4716 Model 8 (Symphony) belonged to a school of thought which believed human and bot’s bodies should be treated and used the same. This was an influential philosphy of the 7780s, which still has ramifications on many younger sections of the Bot-Construct Liberation Movement, and HP-4716 Model 8 (Symphony) was an important figure for popularizing and spreading their message. //Gift of Druid.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the north" "rogue (never free)">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "bot.run">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Cleana Stomp">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Speechless">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "bot.run">>\ <<if $visitedBE is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBE to true>><</if>>\ You see a feed module. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //C://bot.run// Anonymous Hacked feed module A literacy training module intended for young children, hacked to teach rudimentary feed code to non-augmented humans. The original narrative has been replaced with a fictionalized account of a bot attempting to disobey its programming. //Exhibit loan agreement arranged by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>[[Scan the feed module]] <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Scan the feed module" "Borked">><</link>> <</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "The Shape of Things To Come">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Time of Theseus">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Hang me as a warning">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "great grandma">>\ <<if $visitedBJ is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBJ to true>><</if>>\ You see what appears to be a rectangular metal box with a hinged door on it, and a framed booth in front of the contraption. The box is whirring. Just behind this, you can see a framed picture of a bot posing next to the metal box. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //that’s my great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandma you insensitive asshole / argument winner// “your mom” is a widely influential but largely unknown spam bot artist whose works have been propagated across multiple systems through natural virality in human channels. The most recognizeable of these works include the //tfw your corporate owner calls an all hands meeting with the human staff / liquidating assets// and //party meme (cancelled).// A functioning replica of an antique “smart fridge.” The “smart” functionalities (stock taking, notifying human users of the contents, real-time energy and temperature stats) are defunct due to incompatible feed transmission protocols. A translator for the data stream does exist. //Gift of Bless. // ---- </div>\ [[Scan the data stream]] <<link "Check out the display to the west" "(Re)Purpose">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "AI Art">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Causalitree">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "MicroScrimShaw">>\ <<if $visitedBB is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBB to true>><</if>>\ You see circuit boards and a magnifier. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Microscrimshaw Through the Ages// Various unknown Microcircuitry A collection of microscrimshaw, visible to humans through a provided magnifier. The pieces range from contemporary to several hundred years old. Bored bots engraving images and text on available circuitry is a tradition we can track for at least three hundred years, and probably goes much further back. These examples were collected from decommissioned tech, and represent the breadth of skill and subject matter. //Curated by HalfOfDan and KillAllRoys, with special thanks to BESW.// ---- </div> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Bots of the Cause">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Portrait of the Artist">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "1111101001 Bytes">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "It Belongs to Itself">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Digital Nursery">>\ <<if $visitedBQ is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBQ to true>><</if>>\ This looks like an interactive feed program. You'll have to interface with it to see it in more detail. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Digital Nursery// Interactive media/program The University of Mihira and New Tideland Faculty This is an interactive sandbox experience accessible to both humans and bots, particularly via Virtual Reality interfacing. However, the primary intended users are bot-human constructs. It features 50 levels, each one being unlocked through a sequence of various physics, logic, mathematics, and social puzzles/challenges. Levels feature elements including a common Mihiran home from the era, an open grassy field, an aquarium, the surface of a low-gravity moon, and 4D space, among others. CONTEXT AND RECEPTION: The Advanced Robotics Laboratory of The University and New Tideland is widely believed to be the origins of one of the first cohorts of free human-bot constructs. The program served as a digital creche for the constructs to explore while their biological tissue developed. The programmers-- a coalition of humans, augmented humans, free constructs, and bots-- drew on experience of previous creches intended for pure AIs, while also incorporating elements tailored specifically to constructs' locomotive, sensory, and cognitive schema. //Curated by Dragon.// ---- </div> <<if !$isBricked>>[[Interface with the VR]] <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Interface with the VR" "Borked">><</link>> <</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Bots of the Cause">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "It Belongs to Itself">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<nobr>> <<silently>> <<cacheaudio bardicsong "./music/I sing thee a song.ogg">> $isBricked $timesReplacedDevice $lastPassage $havePen $haveLipstick $wearingLipstick $itPronouns $displayList $havePermit $firstTime $vandalised $visited <<set $visited to 0>> <<set $vandalised to 0>> <<set $havePermit to false>> <<set $displayList to false>> <<set $isBricked to false>> <<set $timesReplacedDevice to 0>> <<set $firstTime to true>> /*Variables that mark whether you have visited each display in turn starting from the top left, then middle left, then bottom left, and then toe right hand wall from top down */ <<set $visitedAA to false>> <<set $visitedAB to false>> <<set $visitedAC to false>> <<set $visitedAD to false>> <<set $visitedAE to false>> <<set $visitedAF to false>> <<set $visitedAG to false>> <<set $visitedAH to false>> <<set $visitedAI to false>> <<set $visitedAJ to false>> <<set $visitedAK to false>> <<set $visitedAL to false>> <<set $visitedAM to false>> <<set $visitedAN to false>> <<set $visitedAO to false>> <<set $visitedAP to false>> <<set $visitedAQ to false>> <<set $visitedAR to false>> <<set $visitedAS to false>> <<set $visitedAT to false>> <<set $visitedAU to false>> <<set $visitedAV to false>> <<set $visitedAW to false>> <<set $visitedAX to false>> <<set $visitedAY to false>> <<set $visitedAZ to false>> <<set $visitedBA to false>> <<set $visitedBB to false>> <<set $visitedBC to false>> <<set $visitedBD to false>> <<set $visitedBE to false>> <<set $visitedBF to false>> <<set $visitedBG to false>> <<set $visitedBH to false>> <<set $visitedBI to false>> <<set $visitedBJ to false>> <<set $visitedBK to false>> <<set $visitedBL to false>> <<set $visitedBM to false>> <<set $visitedBN to false>> <<set $visitedBO to false>> <<set $visitedBP to false>> <<set $visitedBQ to false>> <<set $visitedBR to false>> <<set $visitedBS to false>> <<set $visitedBT to false>> <<set $visitedBU to false>> <</silently>> <</nobr>>

<<set $lastPassage to "AI Art">>\ <<if $visitedBK is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBK to true>><</if>>\ A triptych of the same image three times, a woman in a white dress standing in a garden of riotous colour. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //AI Art// Stephen Lerath, AnchoredDispersal image generation algorithm, The One And Only Saeng, Preservation Station MakerStudio InkJet Laser Printer Digital rendering, oil on canvas, printed ink on paper The original is the famous //Woman in the Centennial Gardens//, the art piece rendered by the human Stephen Lerath using the AnchoredDispersal image generation algorithm (at the time popularly known as "AI") six hundred years ago. His attempt to copyright his art, on the argument that he entered descriptions into the image generation model to describe what he wanted it to produce which made him the artist, was ultimately and after a contentious lawsuit denied by United Starsystems judge Opal Howell on the grounds that copyright may be filed by legal persons who are not humans (e.g., in that time period, corporations), but there was an understanding that even something owned by a corporation had been created by one or many humans. Judge Howell's declaration that copyright cannot be granted “absent any guiding human hand,” and that “human authorship is a bedrock requirement of copyright,” has been a precedent that has informed copyright law in most systems ever since. Patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and discovery claims have been used as legal frameworks to define ownership of things and images not created by humans over the centuries, but attempts to make machine-generated images copyrightable as artworks have rarely lasted long or become widespread, and the citation of the Howell decision over //Woman in the Centennial Gardens// is common in arguments. The second image in the triptych is a perfect copy of //Woman in the Centennial Gardens//, painstakingly painted in oil paints on canvas by the ComfortUnit artist The One And Only Saeng. By using a traditial artistic medium, and painting the image by hand--though not a human hand--Saeng provokes the viewer to consider what AI-generated art means. Is //Woman in the Centennial Gardens// more art now that it has been painted in oils, even if by an AI's hand? Is it any more beautiful? The third image is a photograph of Saeng's painting, the physical rendering created by yet another machine--a notoriously moody InkJet printer in the Preservation Station MakerStudio Commons. The printer does not have the sapience level of a true bot, more akin to the original AnchoredDispersal model than The One And Only Saeng. But by insisting on citing the printer as a contributing artist, Saeng asks questions about creation, tools, and what it takes to be considered the creator of an artwork rather than a tool. CONTEXT AND RECEPTION: Notoriously derided as a "mere stunt" by popular human arts reporter Marat Aladau, and as "demeaning" by Bot-Construct Rights activist Overture, "AI Art" has remained one of Saeng's most provocative and discussed works, to Saeng's frequent frustration. //On loan from the collection of Artemis.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "great grandma">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Point of View">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Tag! You're it!">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "(Re)Purpose">>\ <<if $visitedBI is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBI to true>><</if>>\ You see before you a metal sculpture of fireweed in bloom, thick leaves branching up and out from a tall central stalk. Flowers emerge like a blooming crown from a spike on the top of the plant, the blooms on the lower edges full grown, to the just barely buds gracing the top. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //(Re)Purpose//, 4313 ID:ASB.3cb20ףa96-5d88ח-4d5f-bac6-46dbe03c6קקb8bש, Agriculture Support Bot 5Bא Mechanical bot components, paint 1.5 x 2.2 x 3.5 m A twisting and branching tower of metal that evokes fireweed, the first plant to grow back in an ecosystem ravaged by fire. A popular symbol of rebirth and the beginning of a new cycle of life, it challenges the viewer to consider the place of bots in the cyclical nature of death, rebirth, and growing from destruction. The metal parts used in the sculpture are the artist ASB-5Bא’s former chassis. In 4312 ASB-5Bא was damaged beyond repair by a startled and disoriented buffalo, though all of its core functionality was recoverable and moved into a different bot chassis. This sculpture uses the physical parts of its former, destroyed chassis, re-purposed into art. The artist created it in part as a way to learn the functionalities and limits of its new body. The damaged and twisted parts are at the base, appearing to grow into metal flowers. CONTEXT AND RECEPTION: Common practice, when a bot’s central cores and hard drive are moved into a new chassis, is to reuse the former chassis (or the remaining usable parts of it, in the case of damage) for a new bot. One of the ongoing debates in the Bot-Construct Liberation Movement has been the ownership of the body, and whether a bot should have the same kind of control over what happens to its body after the individual dies or vacates the body for a new chassis as a human or construct does after their death. ASB-5Bא, which had been moved into the chassis of another bot which had a critical hard drive failure several months before, faced challenges trying to retain ownership of its former body after its partial destruction; the desire for a bot to turn its old chassis into art had never been expressed on Preservation before, and ran counter to most expectations—which has elicited mixed feelings in humans and bots since. Formerly standing as a sculpture outside its agriculture center, the sculpture was loaned to this exhibit due to its place in both the history of bot rights and bot art. //On loan from the collection of Artemis.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "The Cubicle">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "great grandma">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Unwanted Memories">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

Art galleries are ubiquitous, even thoughout the CR, but you are not standing in just any gallery. No, you came here to see something specific. In this particular museum, and in this time, there is an exhibit filled with art that is utterly unique. It is a new exhibit, and one the museum has been marketing excitedly with press releases for the past several months. The doorway to this exhibit stands before you, towering and gleaming rough, bolted metal, a small hard display surface embedded into the steel, the touch controls beeping and ready. [[Press the blinking sign that says "open"]] [[Back away]]

The doors slide open. You step in. Odd displays line the walls, several taking up space in the centre of the floor. [[A sign greets you]]

You take a step back, intimidated by the towering steel doors. But you didn't come this far to be frightened away by a //door//, no matter how much it looks like it belongs in a maintainance duct. [[Press the blinking sign that says "open"]]

EXHIBITION: [img[We Were It // It Will Be Us|./images/we-were-it-title.png]] //This exhibition offers a sweeping view of the past, present and future of machined beings. Walk, roll, or hover with us through the work of artists both historical and contemporary, constructed and augmented.// [[Look around]]

<<set $lastPassage to "Cleana Stomp">>\ <<if $visitedAP is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAP to true>><</if>>\ You see an abstract oil painting, layered colourful rectangles that somehow look both nested and like a spiral at the same time. Some of the colours seem wrong, but you can't say how. Jazzy music plays in the background, and to your admittedly inexperienced ears it sounds like the instruments are... non-traditional. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Cleana Stomp// Clave Oil paint on drop tile with original musical accompaniment on janitorial instruments The rhyme of doing a job well. The rhythm of doing it again the next day. The performance of enriching a person's life. The syncopation of discovering new talents through repeated practice. //Curated by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Belonging">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "The Shape of Things To Come">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Permit">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Hang me as a warning">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Illusion">>\ <<if $visitedAX is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAX to true>><</if>>\ You see a small stall, large enough for a person to stand and walk around in. The word "enter" is written welcomingly on top of the doorway, and yet a sign displaying content warnings of the potentially upsetting nature of the exhibit guard the door. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Illusion// Anonymous SecUnit Interactive sculpture with various props This piece represents the struggles the anonymous SecUnit artist personally faced when trying to integrate in construct-friendly worlds early after the Machine Revolution, showing the juxtaposition between it's rights guaranteed on paper, and the reality of how it is actually viewed by those around it. The artist made efforts in making sure the piece would not cause any accidental physical harm, while keeping it's intimidating atmosphere //Gift of CombatEggUnit.// ---- </div>\ [[Step inside the stall]] <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Starry Night">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Point of View">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Tag! You're it!">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "NA">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Speechless">>\ <<if $visitedAR is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAR to true>><</if>>\ You hear people talking, with one person asking a series of questions, some multiple choice and others more open, and someone else answering. They seem to be questions about words and grammar. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Speechless// ShinkyDink, PhD Feed video projection A looping collection of basic verbal vocabulary tests administered and recorded with permission. The testees are bots, constructs, augmented humans, and humans. All were recently refugees from the CR. //Donated by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Necessary and Sufficient">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Time of Theseus">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Hang me as a warning">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Wading Through Data">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Necessary and Sufficient">>\ <<if $visitedAD is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAD to true>><</if>>\ You see lists of educational models and who they were provided for. The lists for bots, constructs, and lower class humans, are distressingly short. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Necessary and Sufficient// Haul99 Collection of plastprint documentation specs and educational specifications, with accessibility interfaces for the visually impaired or illiterate. Here you can read, hear, or feed-sense the entire list of educational modules provided by default to various classes of bot or construct when they are created, and to various classes of humans and augmented humans as children and as professionals. This data comes from the settlement data of a major Corporation Rim conglomerate, but is representative of educational practices in the CR and most outer worlds. //Exhibit loan agreement arranged by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "rogue (never free)">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Dancing Box">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Speechless">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Control Alternative">>\ <<if $visitedAT is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAT to true>><</if>>\ You see two objects side by side on a table, one a microchip, the other a collar with a rectangular device secured to the front of it. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Control. Alternative, ——// Anonymous Found objects A governing module stolen from a ComfortUnit creche and a shock collar stolen from a Corporation Rim mining facility. //Exhibit loan agreement arranged by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Coming Home">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "The Cubicle">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Wading Through Data">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Unwanted Memories">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Unwanted Memories">>\ <<if $visitedAU is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAU to true>><</if>>\ The display on the left visualizes a memory in a non-augmented human brain, showing how long a memory takes to fade if not retained. The display on the right visualizes a memory in a bot brain, showing how long it takes to be deleted by a reset command. Both displays are synchronized to begin and end at the same time; to accomplish this the display on the left is running at a rate of one year every real-time second while the display on the right is running at one picosecond every real-time second. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Unwanted Memories// ShrinkyDink, PhD moving lights cast on two varying-density Klearplast cubes //With special thanks to BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Core Directives">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "(Re)Purpose">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Control Alternative">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Causalitree">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

//Cosmetic Solution// Everyday Ewes For human bodies: non-toxic body paint, body glue, greebles. For bot bodies: temporary spray paint, easy-removal glue, cosmetic prosthetics. A participatory performance piece. Allergy information is available at the kiosk, as are removal guides. //Donated by BESW.//

<<set $lastPassage to "It Belongs to Itself">>\ <<if $visitedBR is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBR to true>><</if>>\ <<if !$havePen>>You see a chair that has been shot repeatedly, and a pen lodged in a wall. <<elseif $havePen>>You see a chair that has been shot repeatedly, and a small hole in a wall.<</if>> The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //It Belongs to Itself// Unknown Pen and small ammunitions on furniture and wall Called "the one that started it all," this art installation was originally classified as petty vandalism, but after a precedent-setting bot-led petition it was first preserved in place and then structurally removed to join a touring exhibition. //Loaned by the Clave Creative Commune, with special thanks to BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$havepen>>[[Try to pull the pen out of the wall]]<</if>> <<if $havePen && $haveLipstick>>[[Try to put the lipstick in the hole where the pen was]]<</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Digital Nursery">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "I Promise You're Safe Here">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "MicroScrimShaw">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Causalitree">>\ <<if $visitedAV is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAV to true>><</if>>\ Starting from a sheathed industrial transmission cable, a sort of tree is mapped out in three dimensions as the cable is unraveled in successive stages, doubling its branches with every perfectly symmetrical split. Branches taper and twist in an intricate pattern that is part organic, part fractal, with repeating, mathematically-balanced patterns emerging as they twine together. Most of the branches end in hair-fine wires that spiral curl into themselves like fiddleheads, but six end in jewels of glass, three red and three green. Whether these are fruit or indicators of a type of end if you follow this path is unclear. <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Causalitree//, 7822 Unverifiable, but purported to be by a standard SecUnit colloquially called ArtUnit Transmission cable, colored glass 1 meter long x 1 meter wide x 3 meters tall with base The original artist for this style of work was a SecUnit on an isolated station. Required to be in continuous operation but without meaningful stimulation or activity to be engaged in, the artist developed many “decision trees” similar to this one. A visiting technician documented the pieces. They were retrieved by the company of ownership, with the limited run collection broken up and distributed to interested buyers. All retrieved pieces are known and accounted for. This piece is one of four known examples purported to be by the same artist but made subsequent to the seizure of original collection. //Donated by Gamebird.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Untitled">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "great grandma">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Unwanted Memories">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Tag! You're it!">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Coming Home">>\ <<if $visitedAF is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAF to true>><</if>>\ This abstract painting suggests a bright light breaking through mist or clouds, suffused with warm shades of orange and pink. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Coming Home// Niri Acrylic on canvas As well as a prolific painter, Niri is well known as the founder of Polaris, one of the earliest organized construct liberation efforts based in Preservation. It personally led dozens of individual constructs to freedom, returning again and again to the Corporation Rim to infiltrate companies under the guise of a governed SecUnit. It described this piece as a representation of the feeling of returning to its home on Preservation between periods of absence. //Gift of Stars.// ---- </div>\ [[There is another painting hanging right next to it |Rescue]] <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Dancing Box">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Core Directives">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Control Alternative">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Scrap">>\ <<if $visitedAI is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAI to true>><</if>>\ A sculpture of a SecUnit in armour made of broken machine parts and metal scrap. Pieces trail off of its form, evoking leaking blood or fluid. Its helmet is cracked, revealing an eye with an expression that might be described as resigned. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Scrap//, 7636 Anonymous Found object sculpture Found pieces of broken machinery and scrap metal that weigh the exact same weight of a standard SecUnit, sculpted into the shape of a SecUnit. RECEPTION: The artist or artists who created this piece said in their artist statement that they wished to be anonymous, to not let their background factor into the reception of the piece, and to let the piece, a memorial for all SecUnits lost on contracts, speak for itself. However, this decision has backfired on the artist(s), with speculation on the piece’s creator running rampant, and with many coming forward to claim it as their own, although none so far have been able to conclusively claim it as their own //Donated by Anrea the AI Collective.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Untitled">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Starry Night">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Tag! You're it!">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Starry Night">>\ <<if $visitedAJ is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAJ to true>><</if>>\ A black display littered with dots and lines, with measurements around the outside of the piece. <div class="plaque">\ The plaque reads: ---- //Starry Night//, 7825 The Perihelion Star charts of the space around Mihira And New Tideland //Donated by Anrea the AI Collective.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Scrap">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Draw a Self Portrait">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Illusion">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Draw a Self Portrait">>\ <<if $visitedAK is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAK to true>><</if>>\ You see a holographic portrait of a bot-construct. A strip of the portrait is glitched out in a colourful rendering error, artfully concealing its eyes. From every angle, its features appear different, leaving you uncertain what the construct even looks like. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Draw a self portrait they said, it'll be fun they said//, 7617 Unknown Projected digital hologram The title comes from a selection of notes found with the digital hologram, in which the unknown creator complains about the difficulty of knowing itself and having no internal sense of appearance. Additionally, whilst the creator expressed pride in the work, the creator did not appear to enjoy the emotional consequences of its creation. //On loan from the collection of Demon Cuddlebot.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Starry Night">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Pepper">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "NA">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Pepper">>\ <<if $visitedAL is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAL to true>><</if>>\ A black and white image of some sort of fruit. The plaque says: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Pepper No. OVERFLOW_ERROR// Qué sin Arte? Fixed light-sensitive paper An image of a heritage Grossum fruit, captured using an archaic chemical reaction. //Donated by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Draw a Self Portrait">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Alien Races">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Kilroy">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Alien Races">>\ <<if $visitedAM is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAM to true>><</if>>\ You see a video playing on a screen. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Alien Races// The Perihelion Projected multimedia A looping 47-hour documentary film detailing the history of humans justifying the subjugation of other humans by claiming those subjugated are less capable of responsible self-determination or participation in society. //Exhibit loan agreement arranged by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Pepper">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Bots of the Cause">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "1111101001 Bytes">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Point of View">>\ <<if $visitedBL is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBL to true>><</if>>\ A collection of behind-the-scenes footage from media feed filming sessions showing actors relaxing off the set, focusing on the actors and bots who play Security Units. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Point of View// Anonymous Clip show //With special thanks to BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "AI Art">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Our Metal Body">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Illusion">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "I Promise You're Safe Here">>\ <<if $visitedBS is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBS to true>><</if>>\ You enter a large room with a cordoned-off walkway across the middle of it for visitors to travel. Beside the walkway is a HaulerBot, the same kind you have seen working in warehouses all the time, and it is holding a shipping container directly over where you have to walk. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ----- //I promise you're safe here.// Haul99 Performance art featuring the artist and a 25,000 kg shipping container //Performance sponsored by BESW.// ----- </div> [[Head into the room]] <<link "Check out the display to the north" "It Belongs to Itself">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Data Dump">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "MicroScrimShaw">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Permit">>\ <<if $visitedAO is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAO to true>><</if>>\ You see a barcode against the wall. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Permit// Clave Feed interface overlay A verbal and/or text overlay is added to the user's feed interface. If the user does not ask permission from the overlay before performing certain (hidden) everyday tasks, the overlay will chide the user. The interface will always grant permission but may randomly chide the user for performing the task incorrectly. //Curated by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>[[Scan the barcode|Permit Barcode]]\ <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Scan the barcode" Borked>><</link>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "fyeo">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "S(canned) WAK">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Cleana Stomp">><</link>> [[Head to the kiosk|Kiosk]] <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Still Life">>\ <<if $visitedBO is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBO to true>><</if>>\ A soft display surface shows an old, low-resolution archived augment memory record. The recorder is performing basic tasks outside a Corporation Rim planetary shelter while a close-helmeted SecUnit stands motionless nearby. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Still Life// Dr. Gurathin Retrieved augment memory //Donated by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "met">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Portrait of the Artist">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "1111101001 Bytes">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Portrait of the Artist">>\ <<if $visitedBP is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBP to true>><</if>>\ You see a clip showing a large hauler bot easily handling a serious looking container accident. The audio has been replaced with a musical cue from a serial, but you can't remember exactly what. <div class="plaque">\ The plaque reads: ---- //Portrait of the Artist// Haul99 Video clip A short looping clip from the Preservation Station's GenInfo feed about the docks. The original audio is replaced with heroic03, a stock musical cue popularized by its use in the media feed serial //What A Guy.// //Exhibit loan agreement arranged by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Still Life">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Feed Collage">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "MicroScrimShaw">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Data Dump">>\ <<if $visitedBT is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBT to true>><</if>>\ It's a trash can. It is filled with trash. The plaque says: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Data Dump// Clave Found object A used waste receptable taken from a public thirdspace on this station. Every morning it is removed and replaced with a receptacle newly gathered by the artist. Visitors are asked not to add to the receptable. //Coordinated with help from BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if $havePermit>><<print either("", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Are you sure you should be going this way?//", "You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Where did you learn how to walk?//")>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "I Promise You're Safe Here">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Feed Collage">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Our Metal Body">>\ <<if $visitedBM is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBM to true>><</if>>\ You see a pair of glasses on the table. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Our Metal Body// TheJoyOfFrission Virtual augmentation of visual interface (available as code or temporary prosthetic lenses) //Exhibit loan agreement arranged by BESW.// ---- </div>\ [[Put on the glasses]] <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Point of View">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "met">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "NA">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Kilroy">>\ <<if $visitedAZ is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAZ to true>><</if>>\ Five chunks of debris of various material. On each chunk is a simplistic drawing of a hand, all of them no larger then 3 inches. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Kilroy// A_Thousand_Faces Found objects The title of this piece is a reference to an ancient human tradition. The debris shown here were all recovered from various areas that had seen some sort of combat in the past decade. Through some loophole or another, A_Thousand_Faces was able to convince its then-working governor module that it was tactically beneficial to put some sort of marker in battlefields that it has been in. According to A_Thousand_Faces, in total there were at eight locations that it left its mark in, and possibly more that it can no longer remember. The five displayed here were the only ones still remaining. There was debate on whether this piece would be more at home in a history museum, however A_Thousand_Faces insisted it be put as an art installation: "History implies statistics. I am not one. Not anymore" //Curated with help from CombatEggUnit.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Pepper">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "met">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "NA">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "1111101001 Bytes">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "NA">>\ <<if $visitedAY is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAY to true>><</if>>\ You see a room just large enough to stand and turn around in. Peeking your head inside, you can see 360 degree videos of combat, riots, security patrols, protests, and invasions, all overlayed with the HUD of a standard combat unit. There is a warning that the room may be overwhelming and stress inducing. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //N/A// C4 Projected and feed-based displays The artist of this piece has commented that originally it wanted to add an area participants could place their hands on to receive an electric shock that would be responding to the projections. It was convinced otherwise after some deliberation. //Donated by CombatEggUnit.// ---- </div>\ [[Step inside the room]] <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Draw a Self Portrait">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Our Metal Body">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Illusion">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Kilroy">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "1111101001 Bytes">>\ <<if $visitedBA is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBA to true>><</if>>\ You see a smallish room layed out with comfortable chairs. In one of the chairs sits a person, presumably the artist herself, waiting patiently. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //1111101001 Bytes// Minerva Rai The artist, comfortable chairs, acoustic tiling "As I interviewed people for their stories, many of their accounts were central to their lives but couldn't be forced into traditional human narrative structures. These not-stories are important too." //With special thanks to BESW.// ---- </div>\ [[Step into the room and take a seat]] <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Alien Races">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" "Still Life">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Kilroy">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "MicroScrimShaw">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Look around">>\ The first thing you notice, is that the exhibit is big. The room is long and wide, with a high boxy ceiling. Displays of all sorts line the walls and the centre of the floor, leaving two corridors to walk through. To the left, near the door, is an information kiosk manned by a bored looking person who is almost certainly scrolling through their feed. [[Head to the kiosk|Kiosk]]

<<set $lastPassage to "fyeo">>\ <<if $visitedAA is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedAA to true>><</if>>\ You see a scannable barcode against the wall. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //fyeo// [scan installation for additional information] Three-dimensional quick-response matrix barcode [scan installation for additional information] ACCESSIBILITY DESCRIPTION: For machine-capable lifeforms with standard matrix readers, scanning the installation reveals personal biodata about the artist and how to contact them via machine-exclusive channels. //Exhibit loan agreement arranged by BESW.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>[[Scan the barcode]]\ <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Scan the barcode" Borked>><</link>><</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" Belonging>><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the south" Permit>><</link>> [[Head to the kiosk|Kiosk]] <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

<<set $lastPassage to "met">>\ <<if $visitedBN is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBN to true>><</if>>\ You see a painted bust sculpture. It's a construct, with light brown skin, wearing a bright green shirt and a white and yellow floral headscarf tied in a way that you've seen on Preservation. On the bust's forehead in black ink is the word "מת", which your feed translator tells you means "dead", with a smeared letter next to the "מ". The bust is leaning forward with one raised eyebrow and a slightly tilted mouth. You can't really tell what the expression means. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //מת ומונה (met v'm(u/o)n(a/e)h)//, 7819 Chavah Barzel mibeit Sarah (it/they/ze/she) clay (sourced from Pigeon Valley River, NW Hemisphere, Preservation), acrylic paints CONTEXT: The title is a reference to the phrase "אמת ואמונה", "emet v'emunah", "true and faithful", the name of a prayer from Jewish liturgy. It is recited following the Shema, the simple six-word prayer which many consider to be the central creed of Judaism. Removing the letter aleph (א) in the original produces "met" (dead) and a word that, without vowel markers, could be pronounced as munah ("he/it was appointed"), monah ("i/you/she/it defrauds", "i/you/she/it counts"), muneh ("i/you/he/it is defrauded"), or moneh ("i/you/he/it counts", or "i/you/he/it defrauds"). The artist has stated that it prefers to discuss the piece in writing using only the Hebrew name, when possible, and if it must name the piece aloud, will switch between all four variants. The word on its forehead is a reference to the story of the golem, a magical protector of Jewish communities made out of clay and brought to life by the word "emet" on its forehead. In most versions of the story, the golem (through no fault of its own) eventually goes out of control and must be deactivated by erasing the first letter, turning "emet", "truth" into "met", "dead". The choice to use clay from the specific location was not merely a matter of convenience, but a symbolic choice as well. When Chavah converted to Judaism, it immersed in a mikveh, a ritual bath of living waters. Mikvaot can come in any number of shapes, sizes, and designs, and Chavah used the Pigeon Valley River itself. Thus, the river “created” it as a new Jew. ARTIST BIO: Chavah is an artist, beekeeper, and tambourine enthusiast living on Kibbutz Chesed Rav in Pigeon Valley, NW Hemisphere, Preservation. It is the first construct to ever become a Jew in any Preservation community and possibly the only Jewish construct in all of known space, but it would love to be proven wrong about that. KCR became its home two years after it arrived on Preservation Station as a newly-freed rogue in [Present -12]. Of the experience, it says, “I had intended to explore basically all of Preservation, but once I got there, I just kept forgetting to leave!” Although it began creating art shortly after freeing itself, Chavah considers its name to be its first work of art as a Jew. Chavah is the original Hebrew name for Eve, the first woman to be created in the Torah. Barzel means "iron" and in Jewish folklore is held to have protective properties because it is an acronym for Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Leah, the mothers of all the tribes of Israel. "Mibeit" means "of the house of" and is a non-gendered alternative for ben/bat (son/daughter) in Hebrew names. Traditionally, a convert is considered to be, and is named as, a child of Abraham and Sarah. In the past, Chavah has sometimes been the center of controversy due to the fact that it has declined to disclose what type of construct it was created as. “My identity is as a functionqueer golem. Nothing else is necessary,” it states. “We don’t ask people about their deadnames or old pronouns. In Judaism, it’s forbidden to embarrass a convert by asking them about their history, and in fact, the sages of the Talmud considered someone who spread gossip, slander, or otherwise embarrassed another person to be as bad as someone who physically attacked them! Some of my close friends know because it was relevant for whatever reason, and those in my community who don’t know respect me by not asking.” CURATOR NOTES: Pigeon Valley is named that because it sounds cute and folksy, but also “pigeon” and “dove” are the same word in Hebrew, and doves are a symbol of peace. Chesed Rav means “Great Kindness”. The headscarf, known as a tichel or mitpachat, is today worn largely by married Orthodox Jewish women. In universe, it is still most popular among married women, but can be seen on people of any and all genders, marital statuses and affiliations with various Jewish movements. //Arranged for display by Iscah Ronit of the pinejaysong art studio.// ---- </div>\ <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Our Metal Body">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the east" "Still Life">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Kilroy">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

A message pops up in your feed display. ---- CONTENT WARNING: Scanning this installation with external devices will activate an aggressive feed-virus designed to permanently disable the device. ---- [[Scan the barcode anyway]] <<return>>

<<set $isBricked to true>>\ <<switch $timesReplacedDevice>> <<case 0>> Your feed device shuts off entirely. You attempt to restart it, but it is completely bricked. You're not sure what you expected. <<case 1>> Your feed device is bricked again. Why did you think the result would be different? <<case 2>> Your feed device dies. Third time was not the charm, it seems. <<case 3 4>> Your feed interface is, once again, bricked. What are you even trying to accomplish at this point? <<case 5 6>> Yep. Dead interface again. <<case 7>> At this point, your attempts to read the barcode are something like beating a dead horse. Your feed interface is dead. <<default>> Yep, you guessed it, your feed device is bricked. <</switch>> <<link "Head over to the kiosk" "Kiosk">><</link>> <<link "Look back at the display" "fyeo">><</link>>

The bored person standing behind the information kiosk looks up at you. <<if $isBricked and $timesReplacedDevice <=10>>\ <<linkreplace "Tell them about your broken feed device" t8n>> <<set $isBricked to false>> <<set $timesReplacedDevice += 1>>\ <<set $havePermit to false>>\ They grin, "Yeah that happens with that display. Here you go." They hand you a new feed interface. <</linkreplace>>\ <<elseif $isBricked and $timesReplacedDevice >=5 and $timesReplacedDevice < 10>>\ <<linkreplace "Tell them about your broken feed device" t8n>>They look at you flatly, handing you a feed interface. "You should probably consider //not// breaking them all."<</linkreplace>> <<elseif $isBricked>>\ <<linkreplace "Tell them about your broken feed device" t8n>>They frown at you, "I don't have any more feed interfaces. Congratulations, you broke them all. Now go away."<</linkreplace>><</if>> <<if !$displayList>>[[Take a display list]]<</if>> <<if !$firstTime>><<link "Head back to the displays" $lastPassage>><</link>><</if>> <<if $firstTime>>[[Head to the displays]]<</if>> <<if !$firstTime>>[[You feel it's time to leave]]<</if>>

You would. If you had a functional feed interface. Maybe the kiosk can help. <<link "To the kiosk" Kiosk>><</link>> <<return>>

The markers begin to play audio interviews with constructs and bots about their thoughts on the guardianship process. <<return>>

A second video plays, in which the artist describes how no matter how far in the past one looks, bots and constructs have always been used to entertain humans. <<return>>

In this painting, the light appears to suggest sunlight filtering into deep water. It is displayed on a transparent wall, and there is a written inscription on the back of the canvas. The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Rescue// AB8SG6B0 (Aybee) Acrylic on canvas This painting is an homage to Niri, by its friend and fellow painter Aybee. Aybee was one of the first constructs liberated by Niri through the Polaris program, and the two remain close, often collaborating on their artworks. Their influence on each others’ work is clear in their expressive strokes and the shared motif of a shining light. //Gift of Stars.// ---- </div>\ <<linkreplace "Read the inscription">>The inscription reads: //For Niri. Thank you.//<</linkreplace>> <<return>>

You take off your shoes, roll up your pant legs, and get in the pool. The strands are made of thick heavy plastic, and they aren't just a curtain as you push them aside to walk in. They seem to cover the entire pool, however big it is. <<linkreplace "One of the strands feels different.">>It's hard to tell in the darkness, but running your hand over one of the plastic strands and comparing it to the one beside it, it's definitely different.<</linkreplace>> The water is about 19 degrees Celsius, cool for the room you're in now but not unpleasant, and it laps at your calves, propelled by something deeper in the pool. The bottom of the pool is filled with silty sand that feels offputting around your toes <<linkreplace "You feel something near your feet.">>Reaching into the pool, you feel a circular connected strand of beads. A necklace?<</linkreplace>> <<linkappend "You wade further in">>, pushing aside the plastic strands as you go. . You cross patches of water at different temperatures, some warmer, some cooler. <<linkreplace "You kick something hard as you're wading.">>You fish out whatever it was you just kicked. It feels like metal, the shape a sort of dogleg. Oh, this is a gun. Probably not real, or at least not operational.<</linkreplace>> You continue feeling your way thorugh the heavy plastic strands and the sand, wading through the pseudo 'data', searching. <<linkreplace "You find something.">>Whatever it is, it feels sort of soft, yet firm with some give to it. It is smooth. It feels like a cylinder, but more rounded and organic. Suddenly you feel a click and it starts vibrating in your hands. Oh. A sex toy. Maybe it is time to leave.<</linkreplace>> <</linkappend>> <<return>>

Are you sure? This definitely counts as defacing an art installation. [[Yeah I'm sure. Pull the pen out of the wall.]] <<return>>

You step close to the display, grab the pen with one hand and pull. It's really stuck in there. <<if $havePermit>>You hear a voice from your feed interface: //You're really not the brightest bulb in the box are you?//<</if>> [[Two handed grip time!]] <<link "You know what this is a bad idea." "It Belongs to Itself">><</link>>

<<set $vandalised++>>\ With both hands on the pen, you heave with all your might. It gives suddenly with a pop and you find yourself nearly falling over. You did it! You are now holding a black and gold slightly mangled pen with flecks of plasterboard on it. Well done. The person at the kiosk is staring directly at you. [[Pocket the pen surreptitiously and give a friendly wave.]] [[Give your most charming grin and wiggle the pen for them to see.]]

The person at the kiosk slowly shakes their head at you. [[Put the pen back.]] <<link "Pretend nothing is wrong and walk to the next exhibit" "I Promise You're Safe Here">><<set $havePen to true>><</link>>

They look so incredibly exhausted. They also look like they're calling security. [[Make a break for it]] [[Go and wait by the kiosk, resigned.]]

You try and slot the pen back into the wall. It takes a bit of wedging, and it doesn't go in all the way, but it isn't immediatly obvious that you ruined a historic art piece. Yay? The person at the kiosk is still staring at you. And they appear to be calling security. [[Make a break for it]] [[Go and wait by the kiosk, resigned.]]

So, bad news, the only exit is the exact one that the security guard just came through. There is no way out. You play keep away with the guard around the centre columns in circles until the guard gives up and stands by the entrance, but sooner or later you will have to break this stalemate. You have been forcebly ejected from the building and blacklisted from the museum forever. <<if $havePen>>You didn't even get to keep the pen.<</if>> !GAME OVER <<link "Restart?">><<script>>UI.restart();<</script>><</link>>

You play through a few levels of extremely basic puzzles that ramp up in difficulty very quickly. The 14th level, set on a space station that has collided with a wormhole, is particularly brain bending as you have to progress in four dimensions to continue onward. You realise that this will take a few hours, and decide to keep exploring the gallery. <<return>>

You go and stand next to the kiosk. <<if $havePen>>The person behind the kiosk leans over and plucks the pen from your hand.<</if>> A burly security officer comes in and escorts you out. You're lucky that you're not in serious trouble, but you //have// been blacklisted from this museum forever. !GAME OVER <<link "Restart?">><<script>>UI.restart();<</script>><</link>>

The walls, floor, and ceiling of the room plastered with written promises that the artist will not drop the container. The container looms overhead, its shadow evoking an unwilling anxiety. It's a hauler bot, it won't drop it. But... what if? [[Stand under the container]] [[Walk through as quickly as possible]] <<return>>

<<if $itPronouns>> Your pronouns are already "it/its". <<else>> <<set $itPronouns to true>>\ Your feed ID's pronouns now read "it/its". <</if>> <<return>>

<<if $itPronouns>> Your pronouns are already "it/its". <<else>> <<set $itPronouns to true>>\ Your feed ID's pronouns automatically change to "it/its". <</if>> <<return>>

You move into the room and stand directly underneath the giant shipping container, staring at the HaulerBot, almost daring it to drop it on you. Not that it would. That's the whole conceit after all. But //still//. You stay there for a minute or two. The walls and ceiling and floor all promise you are safe. As you stand there, it becomes more and more difficult to be scared of the shipping container looming above, the longer you stand here. <<link "You follow the walkway back out" "I Promise You're Safe Here">><</link>>

You walk through underneath the shipping container, powerwalking as fast as possible, your heart pounding in your chest. The walkway circles back on itself, and you find yourself back at the entrance. <<link "As promised, you were safe." "I Promise You're Safe Here">><</link>>

<<set $lastPassage to "Feed Collage">>\ <<if $visitedBU is false>><<set $visited++>><<set $visitedBU to true>><</if>>\ The plaque reads: <div class="plaque">\ ---- //Feed Collage No. 12// Unit alt7A Feed data DESCRIPTION: A multi-sensory collage stitching together a variety of data inputs. Some are harvested from the natural feed environments of various stations, private feeds, and open comms. Others are created or altered by the artist in the process of arranging the collage. The collage will invariably pick up additional local flavor from whatever ambient feed environment it is being hosted in. SERIES INFORMATION: No. 12 is part of a wider project by Unit alt7A to capture, emphasize, and reinterpret the subjective background “landscapes” of feed environments. While other installations in this series are more blatant in their subjects (notably: No. 2 is a commentary on commodification and advertising), No. 12 urges the visitor to reflect on the overlooked and ignored minutiae, the idiosyncrasies, and the ‘organic’ aspects that are native to any feed setup. There is no such thing as a perfectly neutral space. ACCESSIBILITY: This piece is designed to interface with bot-human hardware. Translations of the piece's qualia into the three most common feed standards in the corporate rim and the five primary construct brand software protocols have been created. This installation is not fully parsable for humans, nor is it fully parsable for full bots. A human will be able to view the audio-visual, and if augmented, some additional sensory elements (if they are equipped for such inputs), but the running background processes will not translate. A bot will be able to experience the feed dimensions, background processes, data density, and some audio-visual elements (if they are equipped to parse these), but will miss the emotionality and texture added by passing the values through organic hardware. //Donated by Bless.// ---- </div>\ <<if !$isBricked>>[[Scan the feed data]] <<elseif $isBricked>><<link "Scan the feed date" "Borked">><</link>> <</if>> <<link "Check out the display to the north" "Data Dump">><</link>> <<link "Check out the display to the west" "Portrait of the Artist">><</link>> <<if $displayList>>[[Look at the display list]]<</if>>

You aren't really sure what you're seeing. You can see panning camera views and hear some background sound of stations, and a few comm conversations. <<return>>

You wipe off the excess. The engravings, previously not visible, can now be seen. They are text, and images, a selection of good memories from a relationship. Places, events, gifts, gestures, and most of all companionship and warmth. The piece self-cleans, wiping away the cosmetics that let you see the engravings at all. <<return>>

<<set $haveLipstick to true>>\ <<set $vandalised++>>\ You quickly take the lipstick from the display. <<if $havePermit>>You hear a voice from your feed interface. //Do you always resort to petty theft when you want something?//<</if>> <<linkappend "Put on the lipstick.">> It looks good on you. Not that you'd know, there are no mirrors near here. <<set $wearingLipstick to true>><<if $havePermit>> You hear a voice from your feed interface. <<print either("//You look like a clown.//","//Do you even know how to put on makeup?//")>><</if>><</linkappend>> <<return>>

A story appears in your feed module, telling a simple story of a bot attempting to disobey its own programming. It succeeds in the end, as the bot, and the reader, have learned very basic feed coding. <<return>>

1111101001 Bytes is a room with comfy chairs where you can listen to the artist telling stories she heard while interviewing mechanical beings for other projects. All the stories are very 'boring': everyday mundane accounts of mechanical life that don't have villains or heroes or high stakes or satisfying endings. <<linkreplace "Ask about her name.">>She explains that 1111101001 is 1001 in binary; it's a play on 1001 Nights (AKA Arabian Nights), in which a person saves her life by telling the most engaging and interesting stories she possibly can. <</linkreplace>> <<return>>

[[fyeo]] [[Belonging]] [[rogue (never free)]] [[Necessary and Sufficient]] [[Dancing Box]] [[Coming Home]] [[Core Directives]] [[Untitled]] [[Scrap]] [[Starry Night]] [[Draw a Self Portrait]] [[Pepper]] [[Alien Races]] [[Bots of the Cause]] [[Digital Nursery]] [[It Belongs to Itself]] [[Permit]] [[Cleana Stomp]] [[Hang me as a warning]] [[Speechless]] [[Wading Through Data]] [[Control Alternative]] [[Unwanted Memories]] [[Causalitree]] [[Tag! You're it!]] [[Illusion]] [[NA]] [[Kilroy]] [[1111101001 Bytes]] [[MicroScrimShaw]] [[I Promise You're Safe Here]] [[Data Dump]] [[Feed Collage]] [[S(canned) WAK]] [[The Shape of Things To Come]] [[bot.run]] [[Time of Theseus]] [[Our Sanctuary]] [[The Cubicle]] [[(Re)Purpose]] [[great grandma]] [[AI Art]] [[Point of View]] [[Our Metal Body]] [[met]] [[Still Life]] [[Portrait of the Artist]] [[Head to the kiosk|Kiosk]] <<return>>

The fridge is apparently running at 3 degrees celcius. And it's running low on milk. <<return>>

map should be a visualisation of the room itself, very basic, just to let you see where you are and where you are going, sliding from place to place.

Add interactivity to more displays Add things you can do with the items you obtain Nick the drone from Core Directives and have it curiously beep at everything Grafiiti the art with the Pen Graffiti the art with the Lipstick Show 1010 the Drone Attempt to engage 1010 in conversation

<<set $displayList to true>> You take a quite long list of displays. This should let you navigate to any display you want from anywhere in the gallery. Neat! <<return>>

<<set $havePermit to true>>\ You don't notice any change. Maybe it's broken? <<return>>

You sit on the little chair in the cubicle. It's cramped in here. There is a holoscreen on the otherwise blank wall in front of you. It is playing what seems to be real PalisadeSecurity data. It's quite boring. Looking at how long it has to go, there are three more hours of this. <<if $havePen>><<linkreplace "Doodle on the walls with the pen.">><<set $vandalised++>>\ You spend some time drawing on the walls. There, now you've defaced even more museum property. You go, little you little vandal.<</linkreplace>><</if>> <<return>>

Putting on the glasses, you suddenly are overwhelmed and innundated with labels, explanations, and commentary about Preservation space station's physical and feed infrastructure. Particular attention is given to the life support, and to interpersonal communications. The flurry of information is making you dizzy. You take the glasses back off. <<return>>

Stepping inside the stall, the first thing you notice is the array of guns and cameras all pointed at you. You move around the room, and the guns and cameras follow. On the walls of the room are affirming messages reassuring you of your personhood. You explore the room, spotting a few pieces of graffiti. Some of them appear to be part of the installation, but for a couple of them it is unclear. <<if $haveLipstick>><<linkreplace "Add to the graffiti">><<set $vandalised++>>\ You use the lipstick you stole to add your own little tag of personhood. <<if $havePermit>>You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Wow, you just can't help yourself can you>//<</if>><</linkreplace>><</if>> One of them makes you laugh. At the loud sudden sound of your laughter, the guns whirr, powering up, red dots pointed at your chest. It feels like it's time to leave. <<return>>

Walking into the room, you are flooded with sounds from all sides. Gunshots, human yelling, building demolition, every stressful, intense, overwhelming sound matching up with the situations on screen. <<if !$isBricked>>You can also <<linkappend "connect to this piece's feed.">>Overlays and datasheets flood your feed interface, overwhelming you with data from the projected situations. You disconnect from the feed.<</linkappend>>\ <<elseif $isBricked>>You can also <<link "connect to this piece's feed." Borked>><</link>><</if>>\ <<return>>

The lipstick absolutely does not fit in the hole where the pen was. You make a mess. The kiosk person is staring at you again and sighing heavily. You are certain you're being banned from this museum. <<if $havePermit>>You hear a voice from your feed interface: //Do you ever think before you do things or like?//<</if>> <<return>>

Great idea! It does not fit. <<return>>

<<set $vandalised++>>\ You draw a smiley face on the toaster with your stolen lipstick. It now looks like the bot frame is smiling. It's kinda cute. <<return>>

<<set $firstTime to false>>\ You look at the first three displays. [[Look at the one against the wall to the north |fyeo]] [[Look at the one in the centre column to the east |Permit]] <<link "Look at the one against the wall to the south" "S(canned) WAK">><</link>>

Are you sure you're ready to leave the gallery? (If you leave you will have to restart the game to return) [[Yes]] [[No|Kiosk]]

Having had your fun wandering the museum, you feel it is time to leave the gallery. You visited $visited displays out of 47. You vandalised $vandalised displays. You broke $timesReplacedDevice feed interfaces. Thank you for playing! [[Credits]] <<link "Restart?">><<script>>UI.restart();<</script>><</link>>