Literary Inquiry [ Video ]

[universal_charm]

[ So, Luceti, you have Kirk showing up today on our totally hi-grade, super deluxe communication system (haha, yeah right). Anyways, he's there, and he currently has a copy of George Orwell's "1984" displayed in hand. ]

So... I have an honest to god sort of question for everyone. 

How many of you ever thought or believed the stuff in books like this would come true in the future? Or better yet, does anyone actually live in a world like these books describe?

Because, really, the twenty-first century view of the future is... interesting. 

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

Not me, but someone I met recently...

[universal_charm]

Yeah, I've met a few who live in what would be classified as post-apocalyptic or dystopian, but not quite like these books. I mean, there is no "Big Brother" in my time, that's for sure.

[i_speak_softly]

Why do you ask?

[It doesn't seem like just an idle question.]

[universal_charm]

I'm curious, I guess. Because I live in what I think a lot of people classify as a futuristic world to them. And it's interesting, seeing what people way, way back in the day though the future would be like and when they thought it would be like they wrote.

[i_speak_softly]

[A thoughtful pause.] You know, you should talk to Robert about this. He's from your future, and his world is... [How to put this delicately.] A little controlling. In its own way.

[universal_charm]

Robert?

_{[ His interest, it is piqued. ]}

[i_speak_softly]

You know, Robert. He lives with me. I could try to get him on right now?

[universal_charm]

Sure, if he wants to talk about it. I'm not an English teacher, after all.

Though I am curious, what's your vision of the future?

_{[ You never quite answered that question, Don. ]}

[i_speak_softly]

Ah... that depends when you ask me.

[Good dodge! And now he'll walk away for a moment to find his housemate.]

Anata...? Someone wants to talk to you on the journal...


((Robert's gonna tag in shortly!))

[semper_cogitans]

[And a moment later:]

Ah... s-salutations? [Inquisitive, glasses-rimmed gray eyes peer into the journal camera. Hello there, Kirk.]

[universal_charm]

Oh! Hey there!

_{[ He remembers you! Didn't you have a crush on him at some point? Or was that a shift thing? But he does remember meeting you and blushing being involved, so either way he's saluting back and flashing that grin of his. ]}

Haven't seen you in awhile. I didn't know you shacked up with Don.

[semper_cogitans]

[Oh. Yes. That. A very faint blush may or may not be creeping into his cheeks now, though it's hardly noticeable. Hardly.]

Er... y-yes, it has been some time, C-Captain Kirk... [Awkward smile.] By 'sh-shacked up', you mean...? [Yes, the slang is going over his head.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Off-camera, Don buries his face in his hands.]

Let it go, Rob.

Captain, you were asking about possible futures?

[universal_charm]

'Shacked up' as in living together, Rob.

And yes, Don, I was. I'm just curious, given that I come from a "future" world for most people. So I was curious how other people saw their futures and if they thought the futures in books like 1984 would come true.

[semper_cogitans]

[This topic is much less awkward than the initial impression would suggest, and Robert looks a little more at ease.]

It is... truly f-fascinating how the fiction of some time periods d-depicts... technological advancements made in our time. Sometimes it is... almost laughably incorrect, but... there have b-been many interesting incidents of... nearly a-accurate parallels...

[Not a lot of worlds like Terra, yet. If he only knew. Though he hasn't denied the possibility.]

As for 1984... I b-believe I have come across the title before, but I must confess ignorance as to... the contents. [What does the title mean? It makes the book sound like a history book...]

[i_speak_softly]

I'm pretty sure I have it somewhere.

[An aside to Robert. He's continuing to dodge the question by staying out of the main conversation.]

[universal_charm]

It's a vision of the future for this author. It's basically a book about a terrible future where everything you do is watched and controlled. 1984 is the year it's set in.

Not a terrible read, but I wouldn't read it to give myself good dreams.

_{[ Oh, he knows you dodged - for now. He's reloading the question gun, Don, don't you worry. ]}

[semper_cogitans]

Ah, I... I see... [Robert hesitates. Like Don predicted, that sounds... kind of uncomfortably close to home.]

Is monitoring of others inevitably c-considered negative...? There are public communications channels that are... e-examined, on Terra... [It doesn't end there, though.]

[i_speak_softly]

[He will offer this:] I found the part about the rats implausible and offensive.

In 1984, it wasn't just public activity that was watched. The government could see people in their own homes.

[universal_charm]

_{[ His brows raise up, curious for a second. ]}

The rat part? Why?

_{[ He returns his attention to Robert. ]}

Exactly. Even in my time people use security cameras to watch you in their stores and on streets, but your homes are... well, your homes. You are spied on there - or you hope not anyways. Nothing like what's in that book though.

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert is all-too-aware why Don might not like a "rat part", but he doesn't feel like he ought to presume and so doesn't speak for him. Instead:]

Much of the i-information on Terra is... digitized. As a result, I... p-presume it is simpler to keep track of it...

... And I suppose that could b-be used nefariously... [He hasn't ever actually had to think about it until Luceti, because it was just... normal that everything could potentially be on display.] Additionally, all Terran c-citizens are assigned identification chip cards... at b-birth, which alone are a compendium o-of... information.

... None of this was... c-considered questionable, and... at any rate, there are l-legal ramifications in place for the m-misuse of data... [But his own tone suggests that maybe these legal ramifications might not have stopped higher-ups before.]

[i_speak_softly]

Rats just don't normally act that way.

[But don't let him derail this fascinating conversation about data security.]

[universal_charm]

_{[ Kirk would be interested to know why a talking turtle seems to have such insight into rat behavior, but later. Later. Data discussion now, and his world is all about data. Paper was getting close to becoming a luxury these days. ]}

My world is like that too - everything stored in 1s and 0s. It's easier to keep track of, I guess, but a lot harder to control of it gets loose when you don't want it too. Believe me, more than one fight has been started over leaked data that someone wasn't supposed to have in the first place. But it makes it easier to speak between races too - easier to translate electronic words than it is to try and rewrite the written.

But the ID doesn't surprise me. The US used to have a big system like that - Social Security. It was your.... life, basically, in a set of numbers. If someone stole it, you were screwed more or less.