Credit: iStockPhoto
When Alphonse Newmemer, sub-bursar (Thomas class), of the New-State London Theocracy, looked over the colonisation budget, he noticed a small and recurring entry that he had previously overlooked.
It was a minor amount, a stipend of twenty thousand pounds in his annual budget of two hundred million, a small figure, easily overlooked. He accessed the theo-net and searched his predecessor's data files. The fact that there was no record of the payment irritated him greatly.
"What is this?" he asked his augment which sat like a polished stone on his desk.
"What's what?" asked the augment petulantly. The augment was currently New-State London champion in the immersive AI league. He didn't like to be interrupted when studying the form of his rivals.
"There's an entry in the budget for data conversion. It's an annual stipend paid to someone in the parish of St Pancras," said Alphonse. "I'm not sure what it's for."
"Let me see."
Alphonse fabbed a DNA data-wafer containing the relevant budget extract and held it towards the augment. The augment extended a smooth pseudo-pod and ingested the wafer and said, "Hmm, I see. Intriguing. I'll interface the aug-net for you."
"Thank you," said Alphonse. The aug-net was more comprehensive that the human theo-net. If there was information to be found in the electronic ether, his augment would find it.
A few minutes later, the augment flashed green with success. "Here it is, Alphonse. The stipend is paid to Alice Wimberley. She's a bio-documentarian at the British Library."
"Library? What's a library?"
"A place of books," explained the augment. "You know: information on paper."
"Why would information be on paper?" asked Alphonse.
"Individuals were able to read the symbols placed on paper. I suppose you want me to tell you what reading is?"
"Yes, please."
"Reading is the cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of deriving meaning. It's a way in which humans communicated before the advent of DNA-data."
"How strange," said Alphonse. "And what are we paying her for?"
The augment shrugged orange, "I'm sure I don't know."
"Then I shall go to the library and find out," said Alphonse, clipping the augment behind his ear. Unaccounted entries in his ledger were a stutter in the hosanna of his holy accountancy.
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Quite Enjoyable
Ms. Walker,
A very pleasant read. Well done. Thank you very much.
M. Davis
Glad you liked it
Thank you, M.Davis, for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.
Bio-Doc of the British LIbrary
As the inventor of eBooks and a visitor to The British Library, this was
extremely interesting to me, but I didn't see any other comments, but it
might just be that their location wasn't obvious to me.
I would love to discuss this with the author and/or other readers.
By the way, next week is "Read An eBook Week!"
http://ebookweek.com
Thanks in advance,
Michael S. Hart
Founder
Project Gutenberg
Co-Founder
The World eBook Fair
hart@pglaf.org
http://www.gutenberg.org
http://www.gutenberg.cc
Project Gutenberg
Thank you for your comments, Mr Hart.
Project Gutenberg means that we will never reach the state imagined in my story. I know that the British Library, and other great libraries around the world are embracing technology and have digital strategies in place. Look at the wonderful Turning Page project at the BL.
My story does play with ideas about medium, reading a book is a different experience to reading on screen, and a very different experience from having text downloaded into your head via DNA. In my story, Alphonse is appalled at the idea of reading the Bible in its book form.
I'm a big supporter of electronic books but there will always be a place in my heart and my hands for the orginal.
Kind regards
Deborah Walker
deborahjudithwalker@hotmail.com
the bio documentarian
A delightful conceit - I assume that Tony Blair would be the patron saint of the ruling theocracy :-)
Patron Saint of the Theocracy
"A delightful conceit - I assume that Tony Blair would be the patron saint of the ruling theocracy :-)"
*laughs* I'm sure he'd be appalled at that thought. Still, it does give me an idea . . .
Criticism
SPOILER ALERT: The following commentary reveals major plot points. If you'd like to not know the ending before reading the story, then by all means finish it before reading my subsequent comments.
(I'm serious about the spoilers).
(You've been warned).
(Last chance).
OK. Here's my trouble with this story:
1) No one reads in this technologically advanced theocracy where they can encode information on DNA, but money and employment are still necessary. Wouldn't a world that had managed to incorporate Escher's visions into its science be more advanced economically? Honestly, all the information in the world is available for instant incorporation into your DNA, but people still work for a stipend?
2) The sub-Deacon has no qualms with the Bio-documentarian's offer to teach him to read and infuse his own meaning into Scripture. Wouldn't this be blasphemous or heretical to a theocrat? Yet, Alice tells him about a young man she's teaching to do just that, and, still, the sub-Deacon's suspicions aren't raised.
3) In a world that has evolved to the point where information and DNA can be combined, Alice believes Darwin's The Origin of Species will trouble the theocracy. I don't buy it.
Perhaps, the story could be improved by playing up dystopian themes: control of information; disregard for individual's rights; the absence of freedom of expression and religion.
As it stands, the tone of the piece doesn't give the last paragraph the import that the author intends.
Best,
Wheeler Hall
Comments
Hello Wheeler Hall,
Thank you for taking the time to comment on my story. It's very interesting as a writer to get reader input like this.
I won't argue with your three points, just acknowledge them and thank you.
I would like to say something about dystopian themes. Another reader (offline) commented that it was refreshing to read a story where the Theocracy is not malevolent and that, for me, was interesting. Perhaps it's a particular brand of a benign British Theocracy. The characters in my story certainly have the ability to transgress the implied hegemony.
Deborah Walker
Hmm...
A very thoughtful commentary, though I disagree on a couple of points. Regarding economics, I feel that the stipend aspect is one which keeps the story grounded in things we can relate to even in this very different futuristic world. It would have to be a longer and more complex story if an economic system had to be explained, and I think it would distract from the main point which is the conversion of books. Then, in your third comment about Darwin, I read that differently. I think it's not Origin itself that she thinks will disturb the theocracy, but rather the idea of her putting her own interpretation into it. Basically she is imprinting a bit of herself onto the books she transcribes, and in that way she lives on in much the same way as the original authors do. That seemed to be the problem there.
Very interesting story, I really enjoyed reading it.
Hi, Mr. Hall-- Regarding
Hi, Mr. Hall--
Regarding your first point: I read "stipend" as something more of a grant for the continued funding of the bio-documentarian's transcription project. A project, apparently, with official sanction, as the "stipend" seems to be drawn from public coffers. "Stipend" did not appear to translate as "paycheck," or living expenses for the transcriber.
Point two: The deacon clearly takes issue with the idea of reading his own interpretation into scripture. He himself says the notion is unorthodox and seems to blanch at the prospect.
With respect to your third point: I agree with your interpretation. The bio-documentarian (try typing that three times fast) seems to believe that transcribing "On the Origins of Species" might in itself be unorthodox or heretical, hence her secrecy on the matter.
It's a wonderful little story. I enjoyed it. My congratulations to the author.
Lorenzo Baehne
Tacoma, WA.