Hey everyone hope you’re all doing well! Apologies I haven’t been updating things have been, well, a tad hectic as of late. So to make up for it, here is a preview of the sequel to my book “Canvas” which sheds a bit of light on the world before Canvas was created. As always, enjoy! If you want to find out more about this story then please check out the links on the Announcements tab to read the full story!
[Confidential]: Project Revelations Entry #324, unknown author
Abstract: this is one of the earliest accounts gathered by the Grand Archivists. It is said to detail the personal account who worked on the Lazarus Labyrinth as well as details of a contingency plan
For years we have tried to achieve immortality, a feat that I must admit has been on our to-do list for quite some time. As much as we have deluded ourselves that cybernetic modifications and medical enhancements are the way forward, I must strongly disagree. After all, you do not get to the position I have without breaking a few eggs along the way. God I could go for some breakfast right now. That is to say if they didn’t keep rationing every decent bloody thing left on this godforsaken rock. But I digress. One must remember the devastating conditions that left our world in this horrid mess to begin with. However, I won’t take up your time explaining such drivel – I’m more than positive that some grubby scholar will get his kicks from having the honour of recording this period of history while the rest of us try to stave off the impending threat of death. Where is the glory amongst the dead? So that is why, if any poor unfortunate sod gets his hands on this fleeting account, I will apologise now for not talking about my life. Although I will admit, the coffee is simply exquisite even in a post-apocalyptic society.
Here I sit at a desk filled with documents from those who think they’re really in command but let’s face it, they are nothing without me. The gears in their minds grinded to a halt long ago, leaving the rest of us poor intellectuals to pick up the pieces. Oh sure there have been attempts, the Preservation Suits being one of the more prominent ones featured in our long list of failures. While nothing could penetrate its metallic exterior, it had a rather adverse reaction to inhabiting human bodies. As soon as they took one step outside the hinges corroded and, well, I don’t have to tell you what happens to a body that gets trapped within an air-tight suit. Poor bastards…last I heard, the muscle down at headquarters got the privilege of hiding away our failures. Better them than me I suppose, I have better things to attend to.
“Why not aim for the stars”, I hear you say enthusiastically “surely there must be a wealth of habitable planets out there!” Simply put, we do not have the materials necessary to build a massive space ship to hurl towards Neo-Earth or whatever kind of ridiculous name you have come up with. Besides, let’s say that theoretically whatever deity who gives one incline of a damn gave us all the technology necessary to get off this rock. What would we do once we found Eden 2.0? Colonise it? With what food, crew and equipment? Could it sustain us for a long period of time? With billions of people still left on the planet and time running short, such a solution is less than practical.
However, there is one possibility I have been hearing about, something that could revolutionise the way we exist. They call it the “Lazarus Labyrinth”, a large catacomb of capsules that are said to preserve human life. Unfortunately I was not permitted to be a part of this project as I was busy working on the walking coffin I mentioned earlier. Nevertheless, the implications are astounding. To think that a human body could be preserved for so long, like some kind of mad man’s fridge! Is this really our future? To be imprisoned in metallic sarcophaguses that turn us into unconscious shells? Where is the humanity in that? Oh but it gets better! For you see, the double L does not just act as a life support system but it is also rumoured to take the subjects mind and upload it into a virtual world that, for the time being, is labelled as “Canvas”. In all my years I have never heard such tripe – a virtual world where man can live in harmony with one another, where we will all hold hands and sing songs of peace and love? Hell, I had to stab a filthy scavenger for a tin of beans this morning and nobody batted an eye. So what makes them think that such a prospect could come to fruition?
Still, it would be nice to feel the soft sensation of grass under my toes once again. A gentle breeze would not go amiss either through what little of my hair has remained loyal to me. Not to mention the crisp scent of a summers morning. Maria and I used to get up early every morning to catch just one ray of sunshine before it was smothered by the thick, murky ash clouds above. I even miss the sounds, as ridiculous as that may be. I don’t know if you’ve noticed recently but everything has a kind of, how to put it, subdued demeanour. Colours are not as bright as they once were, nothing sounds as crisp…Christ, I’m barely halfway through my life and I never thought I’d already be turning into my father. He was a miserable sod as well come to think of it, always prattling on about the “good old days” we all long for. And yet, is that not what we strive towards?
Maybe I’ve become delusional to think that we could go back to the way things are but by the sounds of it, our only hope lies with a series of code and digital coffins which rob us of our humanity. They say that it is a completely self-sustaining machine which draws upon the excess energy that has ravished the land out there, finally proving that there could very well be a silver lining to this horrible nightmare which we live in. But there are so many questions: how could we sustain ourselves in a virtual world? Would there be a need for physical sustenance? Do we get to choose how we look? That last one is certainly close to my heart. Then again we would have a society of chiselled men controlled by sweaty scavengers, each one as morally bankrupt as the last. To be honest, I’d rather take my chances here.
Even if these obstacles were addressed, there is still one important issue which gnaws away at the back of my mind like a starved rat. Yes I hear you, there’s no need to smack your lips at me. Where was I? Oh yes, the dilemma. Apparently there is a new bunch of people who have assumed the helm of this “Canvas” malarkey calling themselves the “Authors”. What is an Author? Well for one I hear they write pretty damn good books, although that is subjective. Terrible jokes aside, there is nothing funny about these Authors, not when they just suddenly appeared to right all of the world’s wrongs in the matter of a few months. Amending the catacombs with nothing more than a simple command, calculating the optimum routes to safely trade with other colonies and now they’re part of what could be the most revolutionary device known to man. What next? Write a symphony that will cure world hunger, overpopulation and climate change? As impressive as that would be, it is highly illogical to believe that they would act so selfless without demanding something in return. Call me cynical all you want but you know it as much as I do, something doesn’t add up. Anyway, as much as I’d love to prattle on about life I really must be going. Apparently my supervisor has something to discuss with me. Last week it was about who stole the last of his rations so I’m sure that this exchange is bound to be just as riveting. System: log off!
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