1.
You, again. Waiting for Paradise, Godot, the new iOS. Marker in the flow. Stream yourself into this. A poem enters, plump with gamespace. Because what is a line if not trajectory. You are moving toward something. If the poem had lashes, it would bat them. Diamond pitch of voice. Ball as round as mouth inviting the fourth vowel of surprise. The poem leans in, wants you to give breath to the static. What do you do?
To read the poem, go to 4. To not read the poem, go to 8.
2.
You are being reconfigured. Here, papyrus: choose an avatar. Rehearse life.
Reality is not yet real.i An absolute atopia. Local area network of digital space. Pixel persona. Gamespace is a metaphor for a stacked map: every deed sold off. Your body is a capital I, third vowel of seeing. Morph into Kafkaesque. Your face is changing. Do you recognise yourself anymore?
If you do, go to 6. If you don’t, go to 9.
3.ii
Subroutine: you can only reach here via die roll. Or endnote. Turn story into navigation. Database as description. Topology of wireless infrastructure.
Each threshold is clearly marked. Controller of joy, stick. An a log. The difference between
temporalized space and how
the digital spatializes time are the tender buttons. A form of food: for the finger there are points, tipping horizon. Here, Gertrude is a hologram. You are too: you have no choice in this matter.
Go to 2.
4.
The poem reads you instead. Reads you: to filth; your rites; as if it wrote you.
Lenin in the streets / Dostoyevsky in the sheets.
iii An algorithm of sequenced archives: library as an operating system, dragging. Atomic, the elements construct gamespace. The poem samples you, records an imprint. It is there, just up above your eyes. You are being colonised. Reduce stamina by millennia. Ask yourself:
is the poem spam, or am I?
If the poem is spam, go to 7. If you are spam, go to 2.
5.
Chance is something we take. There is no prescription for luck. Only superstition. Three gold coins. Knock on wood. A pinch of salt. Looking back to find it there. Windfall. Wind theft. Seizing opportunity as it withers your grip. Pasteur’s prepared mind. The caution. The optimism. The faith of four leaves and greener pastures. Grab die: roll for it.
If you roll an even number, go to either 8. If you roll an odd number, go to 3.
6.
Your data is dogecoin. Which is to say: you are increasing in value with every click. The further you unravel into digital space, the more of you they can mine.
They: substitute corporate name here. Incorporate yourself into stream. Multiply identity. Clone for the company. Reminder: a soul only has value to you. And The Devil. Unless the latter is slain by Montero. Take a poll.
To go to 8, go to 8. To go to 3, first go to 5.
7.
Hello, this is The United Nations Public Information Office. Beloved, we have found a resolution solution regarding your compensation payment. You can make millions from this wealth loophole. Your mailbox cannot be validated. You have been mentioned in this document. Receive our late client’s funds directly into your bank account. Please provide your name, address, rising moon sign and favourite scene from any movie released in 1994 via the link below.
To link below, go to 10. If this message seems dangerous, go to 5.
8.
Finality is a form. But it doesn’t have to be. Check boxes to continue. We write to move on: create gamespace beyond flesh. How ink is a code that rewrites us.
Everything not saved will be lost.
iv Back up. To quit has origins in quiet, stillness, setting free. A body may collapse, but a game lives on. Until the end of the internet.
To live on, go to 1. To reach The End of The Internet, go to 11.
i From a quote by Theodor Adorno. The full quote reads: The unreality of games gives notice that reality is not yet real. Unconsciously they rehearse the right life. While you meditate on this, gain one stamina point. Return to Gamespace via 7.
ii This section remixes McKenzie Wark’s Gamer Theory (2007, Harvard University Press). The italicised lines are direct quotes from pages 81 and 83 respectively. It’s a really cool book. Please return to Gamespace via 1.
iii From the song Read U Wrote U by The Cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 2 (2016). The line you just read was written by Katya Zamolodchikova. She’s an icon. Please return to Gamespace via 3.
iv This is the message that appears on the Nintendo quit screen. Now… you have the opportunity to engage in a finite feedback loop. It would be infinite if you were infinite too. But you aren’t. Not yet. Please return to Gamespace via 8. We will see you again soon.
