Conversation 104 - Army Base Camp (Instructional Audio 10)

Conversation between M. Schobel and J. Guerra:

M: So it's an experiment.

J: On the mind, yes. What we do is place the person into containment.

M: And experiment.
J: Precisely. We give them a laptop and wifi, set them up in isolation, and see what they turn to. This particular subject-

M: Chicago Ted?

J: Yes, an alias he came up with. He reached out to others that survived in the area. We had released a control group of men with little food, water, and protection, to see if they would rally to Chicago Ted.

M: Interesting.

J: Yes. We now know how they'll react in survivor situations.

M: Shame about the boy.

J: You feel remorse? I do not.

M: He was only sixteen, [REDACTED].

J: My dear [REDACTED], you treat Chicago Ted as if he was human. You mustn't-

Deeeeeeeeoooooooop.

M: What is that?

J: The damn audio logs. They keep going off.

This is Brandon Banton, responding to Steven May in regards to media as a whole. The entire conversation is in essence moot for several reasons. The first and foremost being the amount of success it's enjoyed thus far. Media is, was, and continues to be a dominant factor. The amount of popularity that all forms of the wide range we call "Media", has made a claw-and-scratch success out of itself. But what of Digital media, specifically? Digital media is making a very strong argument for itself. Interaction. Freedom. Individual development. All these things appeal strongly to the marketplaces -

J: Found the off switch.

M: It's weird to hear his voice so young.

J: Who, Mr. Banton?

M: Yeah.

J: Well, speaking of him, we need to get these results to his desk before Friday.

M: What does he make of your little 'experiment'?

J: Good [REDACTED], he created the experiment. I merely run it.

---END CONVERSATION---

Log Posted: (Instructional Audio 9)

The following article was discovered on December 16th, 2011, by Army Corps Rangers. The subject's writing, one Theodore Knolt, has been released publicly in relation to Free Right laws. It has been edited to fit the clarity of the subject's thoughts.

------------

And all of a sudden, it's nearly over.

All of a sudden, I'm sitting here, in the offices that I once lived in. Around me are men like me, who just tried to make a decent life for themselves, robbing and killing. And I've given them just desserts.

In my bloody fist, that I'm looking at right now, are the ruined audio logs. They played them right before each pillar they blew up. The building is structurally unstable, going to fall at any minute, and I'm in here cuddled around a laptop, bleeding everywhere. Earlier, when I said I was dying, I lied. Now I'm dying. And every sound I make could be my last breath.

I can't help but think about this blog, these tapes. They've attracted attention to me, the wrong attention. Men with guns instead of people with food. I can't help but feel like a rat in a cage, now. The building's swaying uncontrollably, and I can't do anything to stop it.

I hope this reaches people. I hope they see the motive here, that no matter what happens, no matter how bad it gets, Media will rule out. So long as people have a modem and an internet connection, we will continue to log on, post, and update each other on our statuses.

God, I hope you all get that.

This is Chicago Ted - fuck it. This is Theodore Knot, signing off.

For the last time.

--Chicago Ted.

Log Posted: (Instructional Audio 8)

The following article was discovered on December 16th, 2011, by Army Corps Rangers. The subject's writing, one Theodore Knolt, has been released publicly in relation to Free Right laws. It has been edited to fit the clarity of the subject's thoughts.

I'm dying.

I can't really explain how I know, other than the fact that the bullet's deep inside me. If I move the right way, I can feel it, lodged into my spine.

I'm using speech-to-text now, to try and say my final words.

Deeeebooooooop.

The PA turned on. They're going to taunt me again

This is Brandon Banton's response to Steven May, regarding the liberal use of "If/Then" statements. As a whole, I enjoy the concept of choice in a viewing experience, especially if said choice is immediately an obvious impact on story. However, utilizing a string of these statements in various projects, I feel, is severely limiting in creative capabilities. Instead of developing a concept that may have been floating around in our heads since the start of the year, we're forced to come up with one on the fly, making a very disgruntled feeling steal over us. We are forced to take these if/then statements and make them the focal point of our story instead of the story itself. Climaxes change. Characters are diluted. Rather than using 20 pages of character development, we are now forced to spend precious space explaining what happened in each different 'fork' of the path.

An example of choice.

Again, I truly enjoy the concept of choice. But sometimes choice is too much.

I can't do this anymore. I... I can't. Computer. Deactivate.

-ChicagoTed

Now you're messing with a... (Instructional Audio 7)

The proverbial shit has hit the metaphorical fan.

I was attempting to get those raiders out of my place of residence again, mostly to get to the Audio tapes. Strange that they've kept me mostly alive throughout my days here. Not alive as in they feed and clothe me, but alive in the psychology sense.

As I was limping with my bandaged wounds towards the exit, I heard the following.

This is a response from Brandon Banton to Steven May, regarding Video Games in media. I personally am a firm believer in video games as an art form, as they've taken the base concepts of Media (art, music, cinematics) and thrown in their own mix (3D rendering, player control). These concepts alone are something that society looks at with pride and appreciation. When they are together, however, certain elitists in the newsmedia and the upper class tend to thumb their nose towards them. My question is why? Why turn down the prospect of combining art forms? Because of content? Because of the tendency to be loved by younger audiences?

In the end, I don’t think there’s anything beyond a complete discrimination towards these pieces of technology. It’s an apt metaphor for life in general, actually. We as a species thrive on elitism, the bitten-thumb towards those that are lesser than us. Art is apparently no exception.

Strong opinions from this boy.

I’m looking to free my hideout soon, because the bastards apparently have my audio tapes.

You can shoot me. You can steal my food. But you can’t take professor Steven May from me.

-Chicago Ted

God's ain't going to get you, son (Instructional Audio 6)

Hello, Internet. This is God.

Just joking. Ted again. Hitting you up from a more secure position.

What a month I've had. It began when raiders found my position, which resulted in a minor

gunfight from the tower of E-wing, all the way down to the bottom level of A. I took a few in the leg, but it wasn't anything a little unlicensed surgery could handle. The problem was my water bottles, those things I've been refilling every few hours. As any survivalist will tell you (Link Here) water is the key ingredient to surviving any apocalypse.

So, without water, shot twice in the legs, and about forty-two rounds short, I managed to find myself in the middle of a shitstorm situation. While I dug the bullets out with some pliers, I realized that I had a lot of time to kill before I could re-invade my own home.

So I listened to some more Audio files. And discovered that I wanted to write a script.

My process started with a simple concept: I wanted a story like an apocalypse. Something like mine, but not involving… whatever was out there. I started with the main character’s name – Michael – and something he was chasing – food for survival – and went from there. Suddenly, I had a whirlwind of activity on my mind, rushing through like a waterfall. What resulted was a colourful cast of characters that I should really flesh out a little more.

More tomorrow,

--ChicagoTed.

Stop, Hey, What's that sound? (Instructional Audio 5)

This week, after reviewing the last four tapes, I thought I'd do some review myself, kind of a reflection of what I've accomplished.

It's looking, so far, that these tapes will mostly include learning about the various types and forms of Media in a Digital setting. Which is, I suppose, exactly what it says on the tin. I'm really enjoying going through these, because it gets my thinker a-thinking when it comes to stories and the like.

So I'm going to discuss the story idea that the instructor (Still haven't quite caught his name - I expect it'll be revealed to me eventually) keeps talking about to his students. For quite a while before the apocalypse came true, I had been attempting to write a screenplay tentatively titled "anxious". It was to be about my younger sister, and her constant and horrifying struggle with depression and anxiety. I wanted to convey two facts irrevocably; one that being depressed and having depression are two very different things, and the other being that you cannot expect those kinds of illnesses - for they are an illness - to go away.

Not without our help. But it doesn't really matter now, I suppose, being that most of the population is now dead and shambling around, and the few people I've met or spoken to in chat rooms and email are rapidly giving up hope. I'm here to tell you, fellow survivors, to not give up. Not yet. There's a whole world out there, and all you need do is grasp it.

Take care, talk soon.

-C.T.

All along the Watchtower (Instructional Audio 4)

To dive right into the interesting stuff, here we go.

The 4th tape in the compilation deals with something that I find very interesting; Digital Media as a whole. The definition of this is something that requires an input of some kind from the audience, almost like a choose-your-own adventure type style. In this vein, the class was shown a few examples of such Media, including something called 'endgame' where you're trying to find out about someone being kidnapped. These kinds of media I can really get into.

One example of an interactive media website I visited was a title launch of a video game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution; Sarif Industries, named after a key company in the game. The website is displayed as being 'hacked' by a certain revolutionary group that also plays a key role in the plot, and there's even little audio files hidden around it that reveal even more details about those who have hacked the site in protest.

These kinds of media are a godsend in more ways than one. They allow us to feel as if we have an interactive real say in the story, and they prove as great supplements for existing plots. Especially when people start throwing Alternate Reality Games (ARG's) into the mix that fit well with video games or movies. I'm really excited normally by this prospect, because of the creative content.

An example of an ARG. This one tied into the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It's going on 9 in the morning, now, and I still need to find out when the Trading Caravan is heading over. See you later for now, Fellow Survivors.

-C.T.