186 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
186 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
======================================================================
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FIXION: An Experiment in Virtual Culture
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FIXION.FAQ v1.2; (nc) 1993 aleph@pyramid.com
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Q: What, in brief, is the FIXION project?
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A: The FIXION project is a multi-media project which has as its
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fundamental medium that familiar "e.mail" form. Done in the "Grand
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Old Tradition" of round-robin storytelling, FIXION creates an ongoing,
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multilinear story which becomes all the more compelling through its
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realistic use of the available media of the Net.
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Q: Who would be interested in it?
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A: Well, hopefully any *reader* who enjoys a compelling yarn will
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enjoy the progress of the FIXION. As for those wondering about
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working on the project: writers, programmers, actors, and thinkers who
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have interests in science-fiction, the works of William Gibson, Philip
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K. Dick, Douglas Adams, William S. Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Aleister
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Crowley, H.P. Lovecraft, Jorge L. Borges, Robert Anton Wilson and
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others are already working on it. Those with experience in MUDs and
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Role-Playing Games will enjoy the direct participation, as will all
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those interested in such arcane plot elements as "CyberPunk,"
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"undergrounds," "mysticism," or "metaprogramming."
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Q: Who wrote it?
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A: Well, no-one has "written" it; the FIXION may never be
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"completed," as it is an ongoing project which is being worked on
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right now. People writing resource material and plot elements for the
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FIXION come from a variety of backgrounds and interests. Several
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Alephians first negotiated the idea into existence, but the structure
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is designed to support the addition of any number of "FIXIONeers."
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There is no end to the amount of detail that may be added to the
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FIXIONal world. Already there are some formative principles in the
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plot, but even these are perpetually open to negotiation. FIXION is a
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fusion between literature, drama, net.working and role-playing games.
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Q: What is the basic plot?
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A: As an experiment in writing and cultural exploration, it is an
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open-ended plot device at present. The basic idea is this:
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"CyberPunk" fiction and science fiction tales in general are
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interesting in that they offer ideas on the future and speculate on
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things that could be. Their drawback is that they are usually placed
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so far into the future that they begin to become distant from our
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everyday reality and our concerns. Additionally, the limited, linear
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format of the book doesn't allow for relativistic development as real
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life (or even virtual life!) does. The Net allows us a new medium to
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use for the exploration of ideas. It has also shown many of us that
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the future is advancing on the present at an increasingly accellerated
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pace. The approach of the FIXION is to write FIXIONal posts and plot
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out FIXIONal events that relate the Net to the real world. FIXION
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"occurs" on a perpetually-updated date of 24 months from <whatever the
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present day is>. For instance, work being done on the FIXION today,
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5.27.93, is being written to fit into what is FIXIONally occurring on
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5.27.95. As we draw closer to that date in reality, we will be able
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to negotiate out the details of the plot and post FIXIONal elements in
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the form of posts. That way, when 5.27.95 actually arrives, we will
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be all set for a real live net.event based upon the (by then) two-year
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old work; a "figure/ground reversal" of sorts. Life meets Art. And
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by that time, of course, FIXIONeers will be writing FIXIONal posts and
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simulating events occurring on 5.27.97...
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Q: With such an open-ended approach, how are you keeping FIXION
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internally consistent?
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A: The backbone of the FIXION is drawn from a most unusual source.
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While still very questionable when applied to its original intention,
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it serves as a tremendous guide for a self-organizing and perpetual
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body of "fiction." Terence McKenna has created software called
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"TimeWave Zero" which he sets forth as a fractal pattern to history
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and time. Its premise is that human beings are "novel" and
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negentropic creatures, who are inclined to produce more and more novel
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things and events. Culture and technology, he postulates, are the
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most extreme forms of this sort of novelty; this nicely suits the
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needs of social science-fiction, CyberPunk, and in our case FIXION.
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What he has produced reads like a chart of peaks and troughs which are
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said to measure "novelty." The time-span corresponding to the impact
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of an asteroid with the earth, speculated to have wiped out the
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dinosaur population, for instance, is characterised by a vast graphic
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descent into novelty. The high renaissance is marked by another deep
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descent into novelty. The explosion of the first atomic device is
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likewise graphed as being very "novel." As TimeWave Zero unfolds, the
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patterns of novelty and habit on earth ebb and flow. What is
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interesting about TimeWave Zero, and what makes it useful for our
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FIXION, is that it projects those trends into the future, based upon
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the patterns set in motion by the past. This we can "time out" the
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occurrance of a "novel" event in our story-line with an accordingly
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extreme descent into novelty in the TimeWave. This allows us to
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construct the future of the FIXION as we go along, adding and
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negotiating detail as we draw nearer and nearer to it.
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Q: It seems, though, like there would be no "dramatic tension" in
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such an ebb and flow. How do you plan to make the FIXION interesting
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for people to keep up with?
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A: One approach will be to create various multi-media stories and
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subprojects that, although set within the FIXION, are written just
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like any other dramatic theatre piece in that they have conflict and
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resolution. But the basic premise of the FIXION, one which provides
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built in "dramatic tension," has to do with the structure of TimeWave
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Zero. Although it does indeed ebb and flow in its exchanges of
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novelty and habit, it is also a wave which has a termination point.
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For instance, the asteroid hitting the earth would have been a HUGE
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point of novelty, and would have marked off the end of a cycle. The
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next cycle, as indicated by TimeWave Zero, was shorter by half than
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the one before it. This process continues, until the point at which
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the explosion of the first atomic device corresponds in the wave to
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the "big bang" in its importance as a novel event. The cycles of time
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set in motion by human endeavors and technologies tighten in their
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re-iteration of novel events until, according to TimeWave Zero, the
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entire wave of culture and time "collapses" at dawn, December 22,
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2012. Of course, as a real device for thinking about history, this is
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as dubious as anything. On the other hand, as a device for
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constructing the FIXION, it provides us with our favored theme of
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"what significance is human culture, and what effect is it having on
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the world?" which is so important to CyberPunk fiction and to good
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science-fiction. Also, TimeWave Zero provides built-in dramatic
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tension in the form of the "singularity" of 2012. What could possibly
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happen? Will it be some religious advent or apocalypse, perhaps the
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product of a self-fulfilling prophecy? Will it be a period of
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biological and ecological transformation as the human race becomes
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integrated with "Gaia?" Will it be a world war? Does the existence
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of the Net herald the possibility of a cultural climax in virtuality
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averting catastrophe in reality? Or will the date pass without
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incident? These are the themes which adopting TimeWave Zero as the
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backbone of the FIXION will allow us to explore, and turn into
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compelling reading, to boot!
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Q: It sounds interesting; a good idea for a continuing story, if
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nothing else. Aren't there any other elements to the plot of the
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FIXION? Who are the major characters? Are there any major
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organizations?
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A: There are indeed several plot devices which are already being
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fleshed out. We have Secret Societies, Government Foils, Arcane
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Qabalists, Trickster Comedians, Idealistic Aeonians, Dour Physicists,
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Artificial Intelligence Engineers, as well as a whole host of other
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characters and organizations being whipped up from the flotsam and
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jetsam of the whole of humanity's cultural mythology. Simulations are
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being prepared, and a new form of virtual performance art is being
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created. We can't, of course, reveal the major players in this FAQ
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(nor can we do more than jestfully hint at the archetypes being
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employed), because that would ruin the surprise for those who would
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rather watch the FIXION unfold than work on its production.
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Q: Let's say I just want to sit back and watch the show: how do I
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know FIXION when I see it?
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A: Well, bits and pieces of the larger FIXION story will be released
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exclusively to the Net (it's one of the first examples of
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net.performance.art!) in the form of simple posts to UseNet
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NewsGroups. You will know a post that is part of the FIXION storyline
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by two things:
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1. Its "SUBJECT:" line will be prefixed with "[FIX]" ... thusly:
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SUBJ: [FIX] Press Release: ENYDYNE releases GraviTron{tm}!!!
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2. Initial posts will refer to "events" taking place in 1995 in
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the FIXIONal story line!
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Q: Let's say I want to play the role of FIXIONEER: how do I get
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involved?
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A: Plotting and brainstorming on the plot-at-large is occurring on
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the "aleph" e.list. Send "SUBSCRIBE" to <aleph-request@pyramid.com>
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to join. Because most of us are anticipating the fun and excitement
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of informational overload in the form of traffic, the flow of plot
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elements and discussion may be intense: simply watch the flow and jump
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in, asking questions about characters or plot elements at any time.
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We're not too worried about our plot ideas "getting out," because they
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change so rapidly anyway, and "leaks" will only add to The
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Mystique{tm}! There will be an internal FAQ floating around in the
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flux, as well, that details procedures on characters and plot elements
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for the new FIXIONEER.
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Q: When is the FIRST fit of FIXION supposed to come?
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A: A mass initial posting is scheduled for Some Time *Very* Soon...
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For more details, consult Aleph or your own copy of TimeWave Zero...
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======================================================================
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