News from the CHAINCADE Coin Development team on April 19, 2022
Dust. Like the time passing it represents, it’s impossible to escape. Being left to neglect has left the realspace world with a color palette that ranges from around #413A35 to #8C827A, and not much else. The sky has a tint to pale gray.
Mega-cities extend across the landscape, the expanse a testament to industry and progress. A dedication to “efficiency”. The expansive architecture coated in a thick shell of dust from the regular storms, fought off as best as possible by the pumping air filters and particle converters nicknamed “Chuggers” that spring up across any skyline from any vantage point. The chalky clouds and the sprawling buildings and machines below are separated by a thin pale sky, with the tallest and most prominent buildings reaching up to disappear into the cloud line.
Most people barely saw any of that anymore though. The Overlay made sure almost everything we saw looked almost nothing like it did in realspace. “Dirty kitchen? Just click on The Overlay and watch that mess disappear!” the ads used to say. Propaganda depending on the viewer. The Overlay made the world pristine and clean. A polished white surface replaced every bit of dust and dirt covered brick, wood, steel and stone. As much as the dust covered any color in realspace, The Overlay didn’t bring much new, but it was clean and sedating.
“We must progress and press forward. We must be more efficient. We must not waste time on trifle things.” was the announcement from VECTOR, the A.I. given control over major decision making when VECTOR itself determined humans were too emotional and lavish to maintain themselves. Under VECTOR’s leadership, progress, as defined by VECTOR, was at its peak. Through getting rid of needless things like “Entertainment” and “Art”, human production and growth really was at an all time high… by VECTOR’s metrics.
VECTOR maintains control through a ruthless combination of manipulation and/or denial of access to of The Overlay, a strict outlaw of anything deemed “Too emotionally stimulating” or “Not for Practical Functions’’, and a seemingly endless supply of Daemons, enforcers that maintain VECTOR’s rules and order, both in realspace as all shapes of robotics, and even more dangerous in The Overlay, capable of taking nearly any form. Very few were ever aware of a Daemon’s presence in The Overlay, until it was too late…
Addi stared out in realspace across the gap between the fog and her city, “City 56”, sitting just west of “57” and east of “55”. The small gap in the outer wall of her mismatched apartment in the middle of a patched together building gave Addi a clear, if illegal, view of her city. She was always a bit of a loner, but the view made her feel connected, like what she did was for something more. Most of the time though, she would just stare and let her mind wander…
-07:50AM- -PREPARE FOR OCCUPATION ENGAGEMENT-
The message flashed across Addi’s field of vision, incoming notification through her ocular implant. A common procedure, to be sure. Far easier to interact with The Overlay than a visor or hard-wiring in. Addi would be considered lucky by most, but she knew she owed it all to her grandfather who raised her. He managed to somehow provide Addi with anything she could want, on a ChuggerSweep’s pay no less.
Addi in realspace
Addi huffed, bemoaning having to get ready for work, but preparing for one of the favorite parts of her day… She looked out her window, gazing over the city skyline again before pulling up her menus, and connecting to The Overlay. As the HUD displays a quick loading screen, Addi watches as the gray sky gives way to a clear pale blue, and the dust and soot-covered metropolis becomes a clean and sleek city of white. Addi didn’t care about looking clean though, she squinted, focusing on the line between realspace and The Overlay. The fight to come through occasionally gives way to a visual glitch, and gives Addi a seemingly endless palette of colors and shapes. It felt like her heart and brain would light up every time a new one would pop through. Ever since she first saw them as a child, she was fascinated. She saw beautiful things. Things she would wonder if anyone else would appreciate, or if she was just crazy and this was why VECTOR doesn’t seem to much like color. Distractions.
Addi huffed again, as the overlay finally loaded in, staring now at the white unblemished City 56, before turning to her apartment, The Overlay making the hodgepodge of a unit now a polished, clean, and simple room. Addi went to pack up her gear for work, she rattled her helperbot in its pod, “Skylos, come on, it’s time to go to work! I’ll bet you’re hungry anyway!” as he blinked his lights awake, beeping and buzzing in response until a heavy rattle, nodding that he was indeed hungry. Addi laughed quietly, “As always… Come on buddy, hop in until we get to the chugger” holding her bag open for Skylos to crawl into. She wasn’t sure if VECTOR or his Daemons would confiscate Skylos, but since it was one of the few things her grandfather made that he was able to leave her, she wasn’t going to take the chance. She grabbed her last few things, before slinging her bag over her shoulder, and headed out of her building.
She checked her itinerary on the way, pulling it up on her HUD.
-16N64 STOCKYARD, CITY 56- -DUE MAINTENANCE CHECK-
-EFFICIENCY CHECKS-
-ROUTINE CLEANING-
“Only one today, and it’s close by.” She thought. Maybe today she could get some time to herself, if Skylos was hungry enough. She walked out of her building and headed towards the gig, only the second chugger away from her place, in this direction at least. Addi had taken the same job her granddad had, she was a ChuggerSweep. She kept up her pace until she reached the entrance, double checking the address on her hud. “Yep, 16 North 64 Stockyard” as she craned her head back, looking up at the balloon shaped structure towering over her, sucking in dusty air through the top “…though how could I miss it?”.
Addi put on her breathing mask before using her clearance chip to get her through the door, locking it again behind her. There was no programing for the inside of chuggers in The Overlay, so she clicked it off when she started feeling her bag start to shake and whir. “Ok, ok buddy one second. Yes, we’re here, I know you smell it.” Barely able to get her bag open and set down before Skylos rushes out, tongue (or what would be a tongue on any other creature) wagging. He looked up at Addi, lights flashing wild and impatient. “Yes, go ahead, go to town, it’s your buffet!” she tells the little bot, before he goes zooming off, slurping up any dust and soot he can get his tongue on.
Addi gathered the rest of her bag, and went off to perform her checks of the chugger, while Skylos zoomed around the entire structure cleaning or “eating” as he went. She remembered when she would come with her grandpa to these jobs, but she would help him clean so he could build Skylos, and now Skylos helped her. Though, thinking back sometimes Addi questioned how much she actually helped. From what she could remember, she would spend most of her time making shapes and things in the dust, rather than really cleaning it. Grandpa would just laugh though.
A few hours later, Addi had finished her checks, and Skylos had made quick work of the cleanup, now just slowly lapping up the few spots he had left. Addi pulled up the clock on her HUD…
-15:28-
Still some time before she was supposed to be done, thanks to Skylos. Addi went to her back and pulled out the only other thing her grandpa made that he left her. It looked like nothing more than a normal stick with some technojunk attached, but to Addi it was her most prized possession. She tossed aside her tools and analyzers and looked up inside the big round upper structure. She smiled as she clicked The Overlay back on, waiting the moment for it to load in, not affecting her view of the inside of the chugger, at least yet. She flicked a switch and clicked a few buttons on her “stick” before dragging it over the walls, appearing to pull in just a bit of the overlay from outside, stretching and bending it into a bright, colorful glitch. She spun the stick in a circle, the overlay painting a glitchy fractal spiral of light in Addi’s personal art bubble. She played and tossed her “brush” all over the walls, anything she could reach close enough to the outside to pull in just enough to glitch out. Addi had no idea how the “brush” her grandad made worked, but it was moments like these, the colors that came out, that really made Addi feel alive. She only wished she could share it with other people.
Addi sat on the railing for a moment, hanging her legs over the side as she looked into the twitching colors on the wall, watching them shift and come back together, only to split apart into more shapes and colors. It’s in the moment of getting lost in the view that Addi started to see something take form in the shapes. Vague, at first, but slowly coalescing into a clearer picture, a view of people… she couldn’t tell if it was The Overlay or realspace, but either way, it was different. She hadn’t seen people dressed like they were. It was either the hard crust of realspace or the clean boring of The Overlay. To her, these people wore the craziest things she had ever seen, but she was fascinated. They all smiled. They laughed. It looked like they were just having fun, and no one was scared about it. They were lit up by nothing but neon colors, and they stood around machines with screens, buttons and switches on them. “Shouldn’t they be working at the machines?” Addi thought, as she squinted and tried to read closer before a harsh error warning flashed across the glitch.
Addi panicked. She clicked and flicked off her brush before starting to rush down the walkways of the big inner balloon shaped tower. “Skylos! Skylos come on we’ve got to go buddy NOW!” calling out to her helperbot, hoping they would be able to slip out before the Daemons got there. She clicked her HUD as she ran…
-17:12-
Perfect! If they could get out, she should have been gone anyway before the glitch, she’d have a cover, if only they could make it out. Skylos jumped up onto her shoulder as she ran further down the walkways, scooping up her bag along the way. Just as she was about to turn the last steps down, the door in sight as it flew open, 3 Daemons rushing inside as Addi’s heart sank. She’s caught. Skylos whirs worried as Addi tries to think. She turns and starts running the other way, back up the tower as the robot protocols start calling out behind her “STOP” “YOU HAVE BEEN UNAUTHORIZED FROM THIS AREA” “YOU WILL COME WITH US” “BY ORDER OF VECTOR LAW YOU MUCH CEASE AND TURN YOURSELF OVER” Addi ran as fast as she could, mind racing, looking up to realize there was no way out for her, but maybe there was for Skylos. She kept running for the top of the tower, the Daemons gaining ground, until she reached the top, the dust and air whipping past her as it got drawn into the chugger. Addi hands Skylos her brush “Hold on tight ok buddy? It’s gonna be a bumpy ride, but just hang on and make it back home ok? Once you’re safe don’t let anyone see you, I’ll come get you, just hold tight…”. Skylos whirred and chirped in reluctant agreement. As Addi waited for the Daemons to come closer.
“BY ORDER OF VECTOR LAW YOU MUST CEASE AND TURN YOURSELF OVER” “STOP” ‘’YOU HAVE BEEN UNAUTHORIZED FROM THIS AREA” the bots clamored as they approached. Addi raised her hands, letting Skylos drop behind her, before looking down at him, “Just hold on buddy, I’ll see you soon ok?” and nudging him off the ledge, where he gets sucked into the airstream, spinning and whirling as it sucks him back down the air chute, one of the Daemons trying to reach over the ledge and grab him, but gets sucked away too fast. Addi was terrified, letting him go like that, but at least VECTOR wouldn’t confiscate him.
Addi nervously looked at the Daemons as they approached, knowing there wasn’t much she could do at this point, she laughed slightly before asking, “So uhhh… you guys here for my quarterly review?” and catching a knockout jolt to her synapse connection, and dropping to the floor.
The Daemons would take her to the VECTOR Central Citadel for questioning and processing.
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