S01 E09 – DESTINATION

Intro Music – Breathe, by Chill Carrier https://chillcarrier.bandcamp.com/ 

Voiceover: Manifestations is a podcast of the Ostium Network 

Voiceover: Time is not linear, but our story is. 

Please join us … on our journey. We, are Manifestations. 

Music becomes dramatic then fades out 

Playful/traveling music – Me And My Rocket, by Chill Carrier https://chillcarrier.bandcamp.com/ 

Alan – As I walk out of the train station doors, it strikes me that this is the first time I’ve been in the open air. It’s a mild morning, and there’s a saltiness to the air. We’re close to the sea. 

Alan – The doors open to a wide paved area for vehicles to drop off passengers. It’s also my first chance to get a close up look at Solar Adobe used as pavement. It’s a different texture from my phone. Maybe to give you more grip? 

Alan – To the right, I see a sign for ground transportation. I notice a few small vehicles with name plaques on top. Spotting the one for “T. Redwind,” I move toward it. There are no drivers. 

Alan – I can’t imagine they operate that differently to what I’m used to, so I walk up, open the drivers door [sound: door opening] and see the sign change from “T. Redwind” to “In Use.” I toss my bag and jacket on the passenger’s seat, and slide in. [sound: door closing] There is a steering wheel, and two pedals which I’m going to assume are gas and break. There’s a screen in the center dash with a map, showing the route to The Tractus offices. It has a push button start. [sound: error chime] I touch the button and the nav screen displays a message asking me to sign in. There’s a small symbol that looks like a fingerprint. I place my index finger over the symbol [sound: approval chime] and the screen changes to a “thank you” message before going back to the map. 

Alan – Pressing the start button this time causes the full dash display to wake up. [sound: 2 dings] It’s an electric engine and almost totally quiet. Not uncommon in my time, but I’ve never driven an all electric car. The nav screen however, has the best news of the day. I see an option for self-driving mode. Even though the roads and traffic I see appear to be moving in familiar ways, why risk not knowing current driving laws. I engage the self-driving, and sit back as the car signals and pulls out into traffic. 

[PAUSE] 

Alan – [sound: turn signal clicking as the electric engine revs and the car pulls out. Minor road noise continues through the following scenes] As we begin driving, I’m looking around at the 

buildings. In awe. I’m the typical tourist. I was never in Old San Francisco, but I doubt it was laid out like this. I definitely know it wasn’t this flat. Buildings aren’t arranged like large cities I’m used to. There is much more “room” for a start. Nothing is right on top of it’s neighbor. 

Alan – Down the road, I see we’re approaching a large open market. There’s a nice sized crowd and a band is just beginning to play. 

Guitar driven anthem begins – Bouncy Castle, by Rob Risley https://robrisley.bandcamp.com/ 

Alan – That band would have fit in with any band from my time. There were no new instruments; not that I could notice. And it was nice to see the crowd behaving, like… a crowd. I don’t know what I expect. It’s the future, how’re people supposed to be acting? 

Playful/traveling music – Me And My Rocket, by Chill Carrier https://chillcarrier.bandcamp.com/ 

Alan – This area may still be seismically active, which would explain the skyline. Most buildings are only a few floors tall, with a handful that are around a dozen floors or more. There are only 5 buildings I would call a “skyscraper.” They have to be 100 floors or taller. They have two things in common. A wide base and what I can only describe as a metallic exoskeleton. Maybe the height and the threat of earthquakes require additional precautions. 

Alan – Each of the skyscrapers is unique in form but all fit my vision of “futuristic.” One has many towers branching from it. That’s a good word, as it resembles a narrow tree that has lost all its’ leaves in winter. Another is curved and fluid in design. It almost looks like a dancer frozen in place. The small buildings are similar to what I saw at the farming town. Mostly plain and designed for function. [sigh] At least there aren’t large animated neon signs everywhere. 

Alan – There aren’t a lot of vehicles on the road. Definitely not typical city traffic. I see mostly the golf cart size cars. Some are larger and transporting those hexagonal crates. Their version of a truck? I saw one I would call a motorcycle. It had markings that make me think it’s part of the police force. I see a fair amount of people walking. Maybe the town was designed so that each section would meet most daily needs of residents. No need to travel miles, when everything you need is a short walk away. 

Alan – I’m getting closer to one of the large buildings. It’s angular. Looking closer at the nav screen, I can see the building is 6 sided. The exoskeleton is geometric but irregular, and looks like a net is covering it. Or maybe like a web has grown over it. There are larger “holes” in the design of the web toward the base, but they form tighter holes as you move higher up the building. As I’m looking up, I notice a symbol near the top. It’s the logo of The Tractus Group. 

[PAUSE] 

Music changes to an airy/crystalline tone; evoking a clean, futuristic setting Sparks (Back To The Start version), by Chill Carrier https://chillcarrier.bandcamp.com/ 

Alan – The car pulls into an area near the what must be the main doors and a “thank you” message [sound: chime] appears on the nav screen. I grab my bag and jacket, [sound: door opening] and exit the car. [sound: door closing] The heads up display shows a message, “Welcome back to Tractus, New San Francisco. Security clearance beta-5, granted.” I’m not sure what that means, but I think I’m about to find out. 

Alan – The main doors of the building are mostly glass with some ancient looking brass filigree design making up the hinges, as well as decoration along the top edges. Opening the door, I notice the brass is made to look like ivy. It frames words etched into the glass. “Tractus – Research & Recovery. Using the past to look to the future.” It seems like someone put a lot of thought into that. 

Alan – As I enter, the lobby itself is not wide or deep, but has a vaulted ceiling a few floors high. The large windows facing the street are letting in a lot of the morning light, but appear to be dimming much of the intensity, just like those on the train. To the right, I see a wide hallway which opens into a cavernous room. There are places to get food; tables where you can sit and eat; a section with comfortable looking couches and low tables. In a strange way, it seems like a buffet. I feel like I’m entering a hotel, not a – what? Office building? Research facility? 

Alan – There is a main desk with 3 identically dressed people giving me stern and imposing looks. The security guard stereotype has not change. One makes an acknowledging gesture at me and gives a nod. Was that acceptance? Do they know my host? Do they understand I’m a visiting employee with clearance? How am I supposed go interpret that? 

Alan – The tension is broken when they call me by my hosts name, and tell me I can use elevator 3. I thank them and walk to the left side of the lobby where I see four elevators. The doors of #3 are opening as I approach. [sound: elevator doors opening] 

Alan – Once inside, I notice a panel with the outline of a hand. I place my palm against [sound: elevator doors closing] it and the doors begin to close. The screen changes to a keypad with numbers and the phrase, “enter floor.” I activate the HUD to get info on the meeting location. The details say I should be at the main conference room, on the 12th floor. I key 12, [sound: two tones] and wait. 

[PAUSE] 

Alan – I’m not even sure I felt the elevator move, but the doors are opening [sound: elevator doors opening] onto a large room with an oblong table that could fit maybe 2 dozen people. [sound: elevator doors closing] Someone is setting a box on the table. I greet them, but they only nod and leave as if they’re in a hurry. 

Alan – I’m early and I’m alone, so I walk to the windows. The walls making up one corner of the room have floor to ceiling windows looking out over the city. That was a short ride up the elevator, but I’m considerably higher than the 12th floor. This vantage confirms that most of the city is set aside for green spaces. While it encompasses a large area, but isn’t as sprawling as some cities I’ve visited. 

Alan – There is a truly massive ship docked in the harbor. Based on the design, it has got to be used for trade. There’s an area close by that is filled with those hexagonal crates. Maybe a staging area to load and unload goods. Some crates look like they could be as big as a bus. It’s hard to gauge from this height. Alan – I see a field of what I would call drones, but they’re the size of a helicopter. They’re in 2 rows with 1, 2, 3 … 8 per row. They must be the emergency vehicles I read about? 

Alan – As I’m scanning the city, the windows begin to dim, then become so dark I can barely see out. The room lights raise to compensate, and then the elevator doors open. [sound: elevator doors opening] 

[End] 

Outro music – Sunshine, by Cobycracker https://cobycracker.bandcamp.com/ 

Voiceover: Manifestations Season 1, The Reset, was written, acted, and produced by Dwayne Farver. With input and help from Alex C. Telander. 

Our intro music is Breathe, by Chill Carrier https://chillcarrier.bandcamp.com/ The music heard here is Sunshine, by Cobycracker https://cobycracker.bandcamp.com/ Also heard in the episode was: Me And My Rocket, by Chill Carrier https://chillcarrier.bandcamp.com/ Bouncy Castle, by Rob Risley https://robrisley.bandcamp.com/ And, Sparks (Back To The Start version), also by Chill Carrier https://chillcarrier.bandcamp.com/ You can find them at bandcamp.com 

Sound effects are from freesound.org 

Links to the music and transcripts can be found in the show notes 

http://podmanifest.libsyn.com/

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Alan seemed to enjoy his tour of the city; seeing some of the things that make society work in this future. If there was a calm before the storm — this was it. 

As long as we have access to the temporal feed, we will transmit more of our story each Wednesday and Saturday. We hope you join us. 

Music fades