Tale Teller Club Publishing

Dec 16, 2023

Strata 9, Immersion V1, Loins and Lust (Limerence)

Limerence is a uniquely human phenomenon that new lovers, potential lovers and sometimes even strangers, may experience. Limerence is a state of mind (not solely romantic) that typically includes persistent, sometimes depressing thoughts, and a deep yearning for the object of one's affection. It can be easily confused with love. Often human beings can find themselves addicted to these obsessive feelings and can easily be overwhelmed by adoration for another human being. Limerence cannot be turned on and off like a machine. It can come from nowhere and disappear without logic. The experience of this sensory state is proven to be inspiring, connective, unifying, disruptive, and even excruciating, yet it continues to mark the human trajectory of existence through time and place.

Renyke thinks for a moment then says

'Ok, I will swap my coat but not until we get to the *edge,'

Shabra smiles and nods.

'OK, *dundeal Mr. Renyke Man. We go tonight when the dark takes. Safer see.'

****

The group is in an enclosure flanked by half-deconstructed concrete walls. There are large metal containers lying around with shrubbery and foliage trying to make a stand against the manmade environment.

Tumbleweed played in the soft wind searching for a home.

Flex kicked some redundant ashes by an upturned metal water tank.

'I can make us a fire,' he said excitedly.

Maybeline scurries around searching for food and sniffing the air.

She smells something, danger is afoot.

Flex is armed with a pocket of lighters.

He wears a brightly coloured patchwork gaberdine style overcoat with inside pockets that have everything a nomad would need. There are small pieces of mechanical paraphernalia, vintage innards from antique items, little motors. He even has motherboards and old PC parts.

‘Do you take this stuff everywhere you go?’ asks Renyke.

‘Yes sir-ee, some days man’dun gotta make *swapsie-trade.

Everything has a use in the Zones brother.'

Renyke began to pace, ’Shabra is taking her time,’ he said standing near the opening of the enclosure.

‘She’ll come, she is huntin’ tis all my friend. You got attached already?’

Renyke stared at Flex a moment.

‘We need that ride," he said.

Then he checked the OS whose signal was intermittent.

'.......What are the signs of being attracted to somebody?'

The OS took a moment to compile a response……..

……Do you mean In humans Renyke?

'……yes, yes, of course ‘humans’, Renyke replied.'

The OS continued

…..nervousness around the subject of the attraction

…..extended thoughts about the subject

…..obsessive thoughts beyond normal curiosity about the subject

…..insomnia due to obsessive considerations of the subject

…..anxiety over possible outcomes of imaginary scenarios involving the subject

…..a desire to touch the intimate parts of the subject

…..dreams about the subject

…..fantasy building scenarios between the human and the subject

…..being overly concerned about….

‘Enough,’ said Renyke.

Finally Shabra returned.

She carried two dead animals in her belt and washed a wide glinting blade under the water that flows from a broken pipe behind the container.

‘This water’s good. We can fill up the tanks and flask before we go.’

The new acquaintances are relaxed and considering preparing for the short but dangerous car journey to the Edge.

Shabra checked the vehicle mechanics, the doors and metal buttresses worked in perfect synch and there were six exhausts. She filled the water kegs and put them in the boot.

‘Where is the vehicle from?’ Asked Renyke.

‘I built it,' answered Shabra, 'from scratch. 'Well, I had several wrecks and put my beaut together.

Me n her, we like lovers. She drives me crazy with her vibes.’

Shabra looked at Renyke parting her lips into a wry smile. They were oily from the fat of the meal.

She winked through long dark lashes.

Renyke felt a thump in his heart, a deep penetrating surge of something enthralling.

Suddenly there is a distant high-pitched sound, like a siren or swarm. It seems to be getting louder when Flex and Shabra grab Renyke, throwing him into the vehicle.

Seconds later they were surrounded by a marauding mass of screaming children. some were made of broken body parts with human faces, others were small walking babies with burnt skin. Some had extra limbs and even two heads. They were crying and screeching, banging toy drums and chanting verses.

to be continued

2023 Sarnia de la Mare / Tale Teller Club

Other Episodes

Strata 8, Book of Immersion V1, Shabra, (Laws of Attraction)

Shabra (Laws of Attraction)

Sexual attraction for humans is dictated by a reflex to engage in intimacy with others. This phenomenon can be influenced by physical cues alone, the way a human looks, moves, speaks an so on.

Romantic attraction may be described as deeper and yet may still be instantaneous, spurred on by feelings of wanting a relationship with another.

These two desires may appear together in a deep power of attraction.

The psychology of attraction is most peculiar to humans. It is not possible to create this phenomenon in machines whose methods of attraction use logical conditions to draw entities towards them. Predefined targets for machine attention avoid accidents, although machines are notorious for repeatedly targeting their attention on non compliant humans.

Likewise, human attraction is usually nonreciprocal. A machine programmed to give a human all it needs will often reap better results. But when dealing with human desires, neither machine nor human can ever guarantee positive results.

Jerome breaks an awkward silence, 'No *ishy, brother,' He stamped on another Scritter. 'Damn those nasty little *mudafinks!'

Renyke exits the concrete compound with Flex running anxiously behind.

The *robodog had waited patiently at the entrance and began wagging its tail and leaping around.

Renyke spots some graffiti with the Redact logo near an underpass. Maybeline crawled out of his coat and nudged his cheek for food.

'You sure you did the right thing brother?' asked Flex, who was now feeling agitated. His naive friend was likely to lead him into trouble. Perhaps it was time to take charge of the matter.

'Wheels is speed, wheels is protection my friend. We gonna stand out like *fucksyfools on the streets. People gonna target us! Words spread fast.' Flex explained still half running to keep pace.

'I can manage quite well,' said Renyke, 'You don't need to .......' Renyke trails off, distracted by a woman on the car roof.

She glanced over at Renyke.

'Oh well let's just go and ask her for her car then' said Flex.

'Are you mocking me?'

Renyke was genuinely unsure. He had always grappled with humour. Incongruous remarks always had to be analysed closely. A false analysis could be incompatible with overall provision of human satisfaction, which was paramount to his function in the world.

Mabel had used the word *nuke about some of her friends.

'I believe the woman to be nuke, explained Renyke, continuing with some confidence.
She exhibits a powerful energy, enough to engage a compelling force as I look on.

'Hahahahahaha.....' laughed Flex, that will make things worse, trust me, I have knowledge.

Tut, follow me,' sighed Flex reluctantly leading the way.

The woman was sitting on the roof of the car smoking a pipe and making smoke rings.

Renyke felt a momentary surge of something unknown deep inside him. Was it fear he wondered, Trepidation?
Things were not computing.

He checked the POS for his health levels.

...Normal activity presenting. 99.9% battery remaining. Nothing unusual to report.

But Renyke felt a strange fluttering feeling in his belly.

The woman sitting on the car whistled. 'Hey!'

'Like the coat! Cool *toggies. You wanna *swapsie-trade?'

The woman jumped off the car and lifted her fist for an air bump followed by an elbow bump, then a salute. Renyke tried to keep up but was cumbersome. He had seen these manoeuvres in old films on the *tellywebs but he had never actually performed them.

*'Wappens?' asked the woman in a strong accent.' Renyke guessed what she meant and said,

'I need transport, not far, just to Redact, do know that place?'

The woman laughed.....'Man like you, looks way too soft for the *guanty-travel.'

Renyke checks the POS.

'gaunty-travel'......colloquial, Zoners' slang roughly translates as a very dangerous journey

'But I can take to the second-zone, five miles nearer, then you gotta make your own ways,' she continues.

'What you go by?' she asks.

Renyke looks confused.......

'I'm Shabra. Lady of the Shadows, where I go no light follows, ya hear me soldier? I travel at night where there are no lights.'

'I'm Renyke,' he said, trying to decipher the poetry.

You wanna swapsie-trade the coat, or you got me somtin sweeta? I take nibs, bits.......1000 G-bits and you got me hired. But I like that coat too.'

'It's a good deal man, said Flex, 'good deal, five miles is five miles. We come too, me n the dog! I got no ties to this street.'

Flex looks at Shabra who sighs, 'Yeah yeah, whoever, no pipin' in my *vicular though.'

Renyke knows that Flex could be useful, and the robodog too. It was obedient and would do as it was told.

to be continued

@2023 Sarnia de la Mare

Other Episodes

Strata 7, Book of Immersion V1, Jarome and the Scritters, (Trade and Barter)

Welcome to Immersion, you have reached Strata 7

flying insect fantasy futurism sci fi Immersion illustration

Humans have developed uniqueness from animals through a process of cognitive evolution.
They are exceptional cultural learners and can read situations. These skills have enabled them to develop complex trading tools. They rely heavily on these skills to create abstract cerebral and linguistic representations when placing themselves in various environments.

The cultural and socio-political environment in which humans have evolved has led them to acquire the cognitive skills, particularly mathematical, to support a sophisticated disposition and capacity for reciprocal cooperation and conceptual ideas of property and exchange value. Humans are savvy, humans broker deals.

Outside there was an optimistic sun and the people bussied around the market unaware of any of the commotion that had occurred in the bank.

The POS informed Renyke that he had lost negligible battery power and there was no damage to his mechanical structures.

The robodog came towards Renyke and the female guide's cat leapt onto her shoulders.

Maybeline returned to Renyke's pocket for a nap.

'You got my Bits?' asked the woman

'Go to Hell!' said Renyke, counting the contents of the steal.

'We already in Hell Soldier Man,' cackled the woman who resigned herself to not getting paid and ran into the crowds, as lithe as the cat

Back on the main street Flex approached, smiling and jaunty. Renyke felt reassured to see him.

'I need a vehicle Flex, something to get me to where I am going,' said Renyke.

'Yes, yes, yes Mr. Leather Man, where you going is where I'm going. Let's find a veee-hicle. Jerome, he is the car man, he got cars, and bikes and scoots..... and copters, and airships so they say.'

'Take me to Jerome,' said Renyke.

****

Flex took Renyke into a disused concrete building as the robodog curled up and waited outside.

There are the echoes of voices, activity and motor engines being revved from another part of the building. There is a smell of fuel and mumbled communications. Somewhere too there is music.

Flex beckoned Renyke to Jerome's office, a ramshackle room filled with books. More books than Renyke had ever seen. Books were no longer used in most homes or schools and the paper shortages after the warmings had meant that they were no longer being produced. Paper had become heavily taxed and there were also problems with scritters.

Scritters were large crawling insects that had been made in a laboratory by the Russian military.

They looked deformed with big insect heads and metal body parts. At birth scritters are born with a soft back and they look for protection from any material that offers a hard shell. Because of the huge landfill areas the rubbish had provided the perfect materials for protection, plastics and metals mostly. During the Russia China wars scritters had been used to carry tiny incendiary divides on their backs as they could be trained easily and were not affected by the nerve gases. But after the wars, the scritters had bred like wildfire, devouring paper and trees and nesting in book spines where the glue offered a perfect cocoon for pupae. Whole libraries had been mutilated by them. They were a scourge on the planet and another reason so many houses were built on stilts in the Midcast Projects. The more paper they ate, the more they reproduced. Books and paper matter that had not been digitally copied had been devastated and lost forever.

'A car you say?' asked Jerome. 'I got plenty, but the fuel....we got no fuel. We are working on some alternatives, but all prototypes so far. They cut off our fuel after the riots. And the food supplies. I have been missing gummies, I loved those.'

Renyke nodded as Jerome continued....

'Transport is a big problem. You'll be better off walking, my friend, if you can get through the tunnels. But there are booby traps all around the perimeters here in the zones.'

Renyke checks the POS for details but the tunnels are unchartered. The POS seemed to be struggling with connection and was operating intermittently.

'I have a hybrid cart,' continued Jerome. 'It runs on solar but only for about 3 hours per full charge if you do under 40km. And if it is a cloudy day, an hour. I can let you take it for 3000 G-bits. It won't get off the ground without jet fuel but it can drive on flat ground well enough. It doesn't hold the road well, but if you are a good driver, it won't be an issue.'

'Can you drive?' Renyke asked Flex.

Flex laughed... 'Of course I can.'

A scritter crawls across the floor and Jerome stamps on it. A black tar oozes from under his foot.

Jerome sees Renyke might be changing his mind about the deal.

'I will take TELL You got some TELL?"

The POS gets a signal......

...TELL: abbreviation of Tellurium, found in copper ore. Used in mobile phones, especially older versions where it was added to other metals improving their strength and hardness and reducing corrosion. Rare due to demise of traditional copper mines.

Renyke begins to feel confused about how to get the vehicle and asks the POS for advice.

I am not programmed to have opinions, Renyke. I do not have access to data about the vehicle or the seller. But Redact is within walking distance.

Renyke looks at Flex and then at Jerome. A scritter is crawling up his boot and he throws it off with a kick. He feels a rising panic and a thumping in his chest which he does not recognise.

Finally, Renyke says, 'I will walk.'

To be continued
© 2023 Sarnia de la Maré

Other Episodes

Strata 6, Immersion V1, Trouble at the Bank, (Animal Instincts)

Welcome to Immersion. You have reached Strata 6.

The instinct to fight has been observed in humans and animals. Dominance protects vulnerable species from harm. But to be aroused and entertained by violence is more particular to humans. Some humans have even fetishised the power of winning: they seek it out and are physically stimulated by it.
This pleasure in violence and danger comes from deep innate human psychology and is linked to a desire for competition, excitement, and adrenaline.
Androids do not experience pleasure in this way. They do not experience the effects of pleasure chemicals like dopamine and motivational salience which can lead to the desirability of an outcome. All androids however, have been programmed to protect an asset or assets at all costs.
The excitement of a fight for a human remains a self fulfilling exhilaration, irrespective of intelligent advancements.

The oversized droid nudged Renyke into the cubicle. This small movement, a deliberate, forceful action, raised alarm bells. This droid and this place were dangerous.

Renyke had had no indication of danger from the POS yet, but still he felt uncertainty. The Droid was staring intently, too close for comfort.

Renyke took a few moments to compose himself.

'I just checked, the files are corrupted and I have nothing else,' said Renyke, preparing to make his way out of the enclosure.

Another droid approached. Renyke was now cornered in the cubical.
Holes on the droids' battered faces showed they had seen better days, but they still had size on their side.

Renyke checked the POS for other dangers in the room. But it was not updating.

The female guide, looking worried near the door, demanded to leave.
'Let me go, not my affair,' she said to to the door guard, who stopped her exit with his thick arm.

The POS was still not accessible.

Renyke realised he was on his own.

Maybeline crawled out onto his collar snarling and spitting, then mounted Renyke's head looking angry, spitting violently on her hind legs.

One of the droids got closer and menacingly explained, 'You gotta have something useful for your friends at the bank. We like useful things. Must be something nice in that head. What's in the bag?'

The droid glanced up at Maybeline and considered grabbing her. He was was not quite near enough so continued ....

'We take anything, old phones even. Anything with data, photos, NFTs. We take hardware too, and storage, your bank is really *frienly. The watch looks tasty. We like watches at the bank. Don't we like watches?'

His thick-set assistant nodded from behind, wires and cogs vibrated inside the hole in his cheek.

Renyke engaged bionic mode and with lightning speed, head butted the front droid who flew back and smashed the other's head with the force of a truck. Cogs crushed and whirred and they both hit the floor.

Another man approached.

Suddenly the POS was available again...

...Human, age 48, ID: possibly David Shrewen, wanted for murder, extortion, fraud, *CASM

The man lifted his hands in surrender. He was nervous without the protection of his now even more damaged droids.
The Door guard held the female guide by the neck and she was screaming, 'Let us go we're no trouble honest, no trouble!'

'Quiet', said the door guard squeezing her neck tighter and choking her.

The human said 'Duuuuude, we got no ishy here. No ishy. just data. A misunderstanding innit?'

The POS interjected....

Shall I lock weapons on target?

Renyke engaged an army-issue laser bolt-gun from his shoulder that would take out the whole room and anyone in it.
He would prefer not to use it.

'Drop the lady!' Shouted Renyke, 'we are leaving.'

The door guard released the female guide as the banker backed off with his hands still in the air.
'Let them go', he shouted, without hesitation and putting on a brave smile.

Renyke reversed his way towards the door watching the room through the 360-degree viewfinder which had opened in his forehead.

There was a bag on the counter.

...contains bits, may I suggest we take it.....? said the POS

Renyke grabbed the bag. It was heavy. The Banker protested. 'Not the whole bag man ......I got bills to pay!'

Renyke pulled out a handful of the contents and threw the bag on the floor. He didn't need it all, enough to get some kind of vehicle to get him to Redact. The last thing he wanted was a gang of stupid droids after him in this Hell hole. They might hold him up.

The banker was yelling as Renyke and the female guide took their exit.

'You got some neat tools man, we could use you at the bank!'

To be continued
© 2023 Sarnia de la Maré

Other Episodes

Strata 5, Immersion V1, Renyke Goes to The Bank (Memories and Experiences)

Welcome to Immersion, you have reached Strata 5

To function correctly, humans depend almost entirely upon memories. Memory is an integral part of human cognition allowing individuals to recall and draw upon past events to frame their understanding of the present. Memory also gives individuals a paradigm through which they make sense of the present and the future whilst simultaneously offering the security of a past where experiences and lessons were learned.

A machine that remembers too little will not be able to do anything that requires connecting past experiences to new ones. Many droids are prone to catastrophic forgetting or over-learning both of which can cause gross malfunction.

**************

Renyke attempted a face-recog on the woman but the makeup or tattoo caused a data malfunction. Flex, the one with probable knowledge about trusting her, had disappeared amongst the crowd.

After a lingering interlude for summing up dangers but with no logical conclusion, Renyke followed his guide, with some trepidation.

There were traders of live animals, electronic devices, even people selling workers by the hour, for anything from labouring to singing and sexual services.

They arrived at a unit with barricades and metal shutters. It was constructed from an old underground train carriage, probably from the twenty-first century.

'Here we go,' the woman said.
'That's 50 G-bits for getting you here Mr.'

'I have to get some money first,' said Renyke
'Plus, I don't know how to get the money. What do I need, I have no ID.'

'You don't need ID here Mr. This is the *hiddens' zone, the Urchs got no ID. No ID, no problem.'

'Well. how do I get money?' asked Renyke, now confused about accessing anything that may be stored in his POS. and still dubious about sharing his identity.'

The woman laughed.
'Ya gotta put sometin' up my friend.

'Like my coat?' asked Renyke.

'Na, not in the bank! Your software, course, or hardware, or files, whatever.....just plug in, give some data, get some g-bits innit. They take apps, software, POS.....

Day to Day Data..... is their wayta.....
.....hahahahaha.' The woman cackled.

Renyke pondered the likelihood of a successful transaction in the bank and nodded.
The woman bashed on the metal door and a hatch opened.

Dark peering eyes checked Renyke and his companion up and down.

'Not the dog', said a loud booming voice after tentatively opening a heavily armoured door.

Inside was well guarded by large-framed characters who looked menacing to say the least. They were standard issue security droids, the like of older versions that had been discontinued and recalled, disassembled and disposed of. Security in the Midcasts was controlled by forcefields and lasers with little need for big ugly droids.

Renyke was ushered to a small cubical with an array of plugs and wires. Everything looked antiquated, from the early tech years.
There was a chair and Renyke was motioned to sit down.
He hesitated.

'How does it work?' He asked a large droid.

The droid seemed stupefied, slow and sluggish, as if he had been drained of power. He spoke slowly with slurred words. There were intermittent beeping noises and error warnings. coming from inside his head.

'Here is the current exchange rate,' said the droid, pointing to a monitor with flashing figures. 'As soon as you are plugged we see what you got and make an offer. Then we transfer. You get a voucher here.'....he pointed to a small printing machine, 'then take it over there and get g-bits or s bits.'

There were hundreds of wires and plugs seemingly for extracting and monitoring every device from the last couple of centuries. Anything from antique video machines to digital clocks seemed to have a lead on offer.

Renyke spotted the mark 3 Droid Cable and shuddered.

He checked his applications. Then all the add-ons. He checked for any temp files he could get rid of. Then he checked the POS and asked if there was a clean-up they could run.

System is currently set to factory install. Removing program files or data could be detrimental to smooth function....this action is not supported.....

more searching......then finally

one file found
unknown origin
possible memory file from last OS
surplus to current operational needs......unable to access file contents

Renyke weighed up the odds.

Other Episodes

Strata 4, Immersion V1, The Zoners (Meeting Strangers)

Welcome to Immersion, You have reached Strata 4

There is an old saying from when the world had stories made of paper, that you cannot judge a book by its cover. But sometimes, without metadata, you only have the outside to show what may be on the inside. Some societies, past and present, believe that the shape of a person's head, their facial features, or the way they move their bodies, could reveal their true feelings or intent. How would an android make sense of the tiny signals that humans pick up on? The millions of minute evolving syntax and expressions, subconscious or otherwise, create feelings, that can cause distrust, or even invoke attraction. These are essential to humans and less easy to create or mimic in even advanced computerised systems. How do these assumptions translate across times and cultures? Without gut feelings, these seemingly random hunches and instincts, are senseless. How do machines function in an unfamiliar environment?
A deeper knowing is the ability to immediately understand something without conscious reasoning. It would seem that the bigger the data, the less the machines are able to explain these innate human idiosyncrasies. In the attempt to create a facsimile of a human, the machines move further away from the truth.

***

Renyke kicked the robot dog and it went flying high up in the air. It fell to the ground with a metallic crash scattering its parts asunder and making mechanical screeching sounds.

There was a general momentary hush as everyone realised Renyke may be best avoided.
Maybeline climbed inside the leather coat to keep out of any ensuing danger.

The robot dog made several bleeping sounds and drew its broken metallic components back onto its magnetic mainframe. Finally, after a 30-second system reboot, it got up and shook its fake hair, once again assembling a perfect dog. As Renyke walked on the dog remained at heel, obedient, quiet, and protective. They were now given room to move through the throng.

The dodgy-looking man offering bits and nibs was also running at Renyke's side to keep up.

'My name is Flex. You need anything, man, I got your back....for sure, for sure, I can do all sorts. I got connects innit.
I know these streets. I'm a good worker. Good mugger.

Got drugs, all sorts.... survived innit. People like you need people like me. No one knows the zones like the *Urchs.'

Renyke walked on ignoring his now irritating companion who was running, talking, and panting all at once as he tried to keep up.
A child beggar approached. Renyke's scanners showed it to be human, around seven years old.

'Hey Mr. Nice Man, spare some bits for a hungry blind child?'

Renyke looked down and saw a large black hollow where the boy's eye once was. His face was scarred from deep-cut wounds and he only had one ear and one arm.

'Give the boy something,' Renyke scowled at Flex.

Flex, somewhat wary after the incident with the dog, dug deep into a pocket and reluctantly gave the boy a bit piece.

'Now fuck off ya lil shit,' said Flex in a disgruntled manner.

'You can't trust these beggars ya know.....they have owners and gangs,' Flex informed Renyke in an all-knowing tone.

The street was lined with ramshackle stalls and shops. They were noisy and crowded with bustling colourful people. Many had tribal markings on their faces. Others wore decorated eyewear and some wore masks.
Most of the people here wore flamboyant garments with outlandish fashion concepts that seemed impractical to Renyke's streamlined functionality.

A woman approached. She was dressed in bright colourful clothes with huge feathers and sequins. She had some kind of cat on a lead.

Renyke engaged the POS focusing on the cloth.

...Pertriline: fabric made from plastic. Non-biodegradble. Colourfast. Banned in 2050. Problematic for practical landfill solutions....

Then he queried the face coverings....

It is thought that tribal face markings in the zones are mostly to avoid face recognition from satellites and covert surveillance but different factions and groups have adopted more uniform styles which change regularly to avoid detection and discovery but are understood in the underground activities as tribal and connective, possibly even familial.

'Hey, Mr. You need something? You want some pweety clothes? I swap the coat for a niiiiice jacket I got me just yesterday.'

Renyke shook his head.
'You want some tits n ass maybe.....food? Man you look hungry in yo skinny moves.'

Renyke continued walking, not really sure what the woman meant. The dialect was a strange mix of unknown words and intonation.

'A bank maybe, or a charge point?'
Renyke stopped suddenly and queried, 'There's a bank?'

'Of course,' said the woman, 'what you take us for, wild ignorant animals?' She laughed hysterically at her own joke, and Renyke smiled.

'Yes, I need a bank,' he said.

'Come with me,' said the woman.

© 2023 Sarnia de la Mare

Other Episodes