Welcome to the machine: Prequel Zine 1

In the beginning as well as the end, every living & nonliving thing is a product of the machine. Among the living, every civilization has tried to describe the reality of their experiences here. By nature, this is impossible as nature is always in flux. It seems that just as we begin to scratch the surface of the mysteries of life and the universe, the machine (or one the the factions that protect it) makes sure we know our place in the never ending universe. We can surmise that every great civilization thinks it has surpassed those that came before it, but if we study true history & ancient artifacts, it becomes clearl that the really juicy bits are collected & stored away from the masses. Those are the pieces of the puzzel that have systematically been stored away from the plebs to be sure they can always be kept in line.

Power lies in information. Selective deprivation of that knowledge can alter the course of history. This is where our story of the Podpeople commences - with the prequel.

Let's say we are taught to believe we can create order out of chaos. the premis of the story is that chaos is the illusion. Chaos is simply the absence of information. The machine knows this. the machineis aware that all living things, when afraid will grasp at anything in an effort to understand & resturn to the previous level of homeostasis. comfort & safety equate to survival & the continuation of the species. With this knowledge, the machine has always been able to manipulate the masses.

What if it were understood that existence is based on cycles. Layer upon layer of energetic repetition - all with varying speed & intensity. Those with access to the algorithmic code would appear godlike as it would seem that they always know what's coming. There are choices. Information can be shared so that a greater level of advancement can be obtained by all or it can be used to divide and conquer. Human history would seem to be a never ending loop of concentrated power ending in self destruction. But what if the source of the power was never human at all?