Above is a piece from my new Tezos NFT collection, History and the Machine. Each piece in the collection features a figure from history that I painted in oils between 2012 and 2018. This one is Alan Turing. Each original painting was combined with written biographical details of the person and fed into an artificial intelligence engine. The resulting AI adaptations of my oil portraits were then minted as Tezos NFTs on Objkt. Each NFT description contains a link to the original oil portrait. You can see all of the original portraits here.
Part 27
News from the Tropical Subcontinent rarely concerned Archie. But one day, he heard something that made his heart skip a beat. Rogue archivists in the city of Loorin brought another Earthling to the planet Mother using an observation device. The development etched tension into Archie's forehead. What did it mean? He needed more information.
Digging into the details, Archie learned that this new Earthling was apparently selected for her success in academia and business. Nina Wells was her name. With Benko's help, Archie observed her arrival and the events that followed. What he saw was very different from his own arrival.
Wells had been at work when they took her. She'd been at work, in the bathroom, standing in front of a mirror. One minute she was fixing her makeup, the next she was falling into another world. Landing sideways on the observation alcove floor, Wells unsteadily got to her feet, looking around. "Someone tell me what's happening," she said.
"We have brought you to a new world, at great cost to ourselves," said an archivist through a translation device. "Now you are free to practice your art."
"No way," said Wells. "Just, no. How do I get back?"
"I'm afraid that's impossible," said the archivist. "But we will do everything we can to accommodate you here on Mother, our planet. Compared to your Earth, our world is a paradise."
"You have got to be kidding me!" said Wells. "What the actual fuck?"
From there, Wells berated the archivists until they were taken away by security people for having broken the rules. She followed them through an alien building and out into an alien city. Archie felt strange, observing the moment with Benko. "They totally took her against her will," he said. "How long ago was this? And what was that about her art?"
"Eight days," said Benko. "And she is a singer, though only in secret when she was on Earth. The rogue archivists brought her here to blossom, musically."
"Benko, no offense, but I can't handle you people sometimes," said Archie. "Jesus, does she know about me?"
"We can assume she will learn of you," said Benko. "You think she'll want to talk?"
"Probably," said Archie. "The energy fund. We should offer her the power to return home. We've got way more than enough to spare."
"What if we gave it more time?" asked Benko. "Ask the Faction leaders where they stand."
Three weeks later, Archie received a voice call from Nina Wells. "So are you really from Earth, too?" she asked after introductions.
"The states," said Archie. "Been here for a couple of years."
"I'm Australian," said Nina. "I was working in Singapore until they nabbed me. But you probably know all that. Watching me with their crazy technology."
"I watched your arrival and that's all," said Archie. "I did hear that you're a singer."
"In the shower!" said Nina, exasperated. "All that time, singing in the shower, I had an audience! These Motherlings. I can't even handle that, and there's so, so much more."
"Yeah," said Archie. "Listen, I've been talking with some people and we could maybe supply the power you'd need for a return trip to Earth."
"Why would I want to go back?" asked Nina. "This place is amazing. Sure, Singapore has better mass transit but we're in a world that hasn't had a war in a thousand years. Everywhere I go, people offer me fruit and ask me to sing. And the archives. They're amazing."
"So you're not calling about returning to Earth?" asked Archie.
"Nah," said Nina. "I'm calling to ask for your endorsement. I'm exploring a Faction for Considered Ethics here in Loorin."
"Right on," said Archie. "To be honest, I don't know how any of that works. I can talk to my people about it, though."
"Sounds good," said Nina. "I still can't believe it, you know. An alien utopia."
Natlin entered the room, hearing part of the call. "Greetings from Junior Archivist Natlin, Nina of Earth," she said.
"Greetings back," said Nina. "I plan to travel the world soon. Shall we arrange a meeting?"
"Sure," said Archie. "Do you have a custodian? Maybe yours and mine could talk?"
"Custodian, ha!" said Nina. "I'm just wandering around alone figuring stuff out. There's an archivist that's been unusually helpful in getting my situation sorted."
"Well, have them call my custodian Benko," said Archie.
"Sing a few lines for us?" asked Natlin.
"Fine," said Nina, singing the first verse of an Earth pop song.
"Thanks," said Natlin. "Hope you come visit soon."
When the call was ended, Archie looked at Natlin, unsure of how to feel. "Pretty crazy, huh?" he said.
"She sang for me," said Natlin. "When do you think she'll visit?"
"It's cute that you're so excited," said Archie.
"Aren't you?" asked Natlin. "Another Earthling!"
"Honestly, I'm a little weirded out," said Archie. "Like, what if she'd arrived and freaked out instead of loving it here? You can't just kidnap people and expect everything to be alright."
"It's not kidnapping," said Natlin. "It's rescue from a sick world where everything is wrong."
"Right, but you're not exactly asking permission," said Archie.
"If someone was on fire, I wouldn't stop to ask permission before putting it out," said Natlin.
"You're probably right," said Archie, doing his best to prevent the conversation from escalating into an argument.
Read my novels:
- Small Gods of Time Travel is available as a web book on IPFS.
- The Paradise Anomaly is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Psychic Avalanche is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- One Man Embassy is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Flying Saucer Shenanigans is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Rainbow Lullaby is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- The Ostermann Method is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Blue Dragon Mississippi is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
See my NFTs:
- Small Gods of Time Travel is a 41 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt that goes with my book by the same name.
- History and the Machine is a 20 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt based on my series of oil paintings of interesting people from history.
- Artifacts of Mind Control is a 15 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt based on declassified CIA documents from the MKULTRA program.