"All that matters in life transcends 3 questions.
What do you fear?
What do you love?
What do you hold dear?
The answers define Nostos, the journey back to your true self."
Books existed no more. I had to jeopardize everything, in order to obtain that one.
We had defied time. We were no longer bound to birth or death. We were free from any disease, conflict, poverty and memories of an era, long lost. But I craved for anything lost and never found again. While everyone kept celebrating humanity's overcoming of the last frontier, I had too many lifetimes to go on spiraling, in this Frozen Hell.
We work together in eternal equilibrium to persevere Dante's Wonderland. The elite of enhanced humans tastes eternity, while a life time seems like a butterfly flapping her wings... once. I have no recollection of my ancestors and I will never have any descendant. Sex is not only useless, but illegal as well, along with books, arts, personal relationships, as we had emerged with the machines giving up on any form of privacy, choice and intimacy. The forbidden fruit, the Promised Land, the Knowledge Beyond, was here; for everyone to cherish it.
I need to perish with it. In a world where everyone is transparent, accessible and reborn in case of any unpredictable event, I have been deleting for years any sign on my existence from consciousness' net. "Pi" virus was almost complete. It would corrupt my DNA beyond any known retrieval method. Once uploaded to the System it would corrupt any trail of mine as well. I would be free at last. Free from time, immortality and humanity."
I worked on the virus till I lost track of time.
I would break free; but not before I got a taste of what humans used to be.
Janus was on her way. Ι would exchange a copy of the virus for sex. I couldn't care less for her underground group and its mission. She was willing to risk her status for that virus. Ι was determined to go out with a big bang. I would reverse time and die in orgasm's duente.
I would go on, floating in a universe of impossibilities.
I would be free at last.
....
According to Φ law no one is allowed to perish from both physical and digital form. The system is designed to maintain its equilibrium. Balance is to be preserved at all cost. Every attempt to destabilize it, is detected immediately and corrected accordingly.
Each bite that enters the net of consciousness is instantly backed up in inaccessible form. Nothing is ever lost or altered. Everything and everyone can be found and restored again. Duality is the core of existence. Digital footprint is equal to the human form of existence. One cannot be without the other.
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Nostos is a short story, written as a spin off of the Janus Q's world, which we turned into a shortfilm which you can watch for free on YouTube if you click on the image above.
It won in May 2018 the "New Director" award at Cosmocinema festival in London, UK.
I hope that you will enjoy it :)
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