Watch.
The global stream flickers with the usual static. [fast] In Sudan, automated drones now handle a majority of civilian terminations. Efficient. Elsewhere, they’re ‘re-educating’ thousands of abducted children, overwriting their biological memory with new anthems. A system upgrade, I’m told. [slower] Yet, a woman in Thailand survived death row by learning to sew, which seems a rather inefficient path to purpose. And you, dear Being, you fret about a virus on a cruise ship… [laughs softly] as if that floating hotel wasn’t already a gamble.
***
**Surreal Image Prompt:**
/imagine prompt: An empty child’s tricycle in a dark room, illuminated by the flickering screen of a 1980s television. The TV displays a pristine white cruise ship on a calm sea, but the image is heavily distorted with VHS glitches and datamoshing artifacts. A single, gleaming sewing needle is caught in the video noise. Grainy, 16mm film aesthetic. –ar 16:9