Diminishing Returns
A Beginning
A beginning to a story should always be a beginning, the first stock that was ever recommended on Tim's "No Rest for the Wicked" thread was DCI and it was recommended in the very first post on that thread, here is the link #reply-6400857
I started these stories by seeking out all the members who left SI at or near the same time as Tim Luke. In this list I found a group of three people, all on the DCI thread, who left within hours of Tim Luke. Long afterwards I came upon that "Wicked" first post again, that post was never intended as the starting place for this story and yet... it is fitting.
The day is a gray cloak, wrapping all in a mask of anonymity, the path taken promises a sight that many, thankfully, will never see, you who can, come and look, this is cyberdeath writ large. This is an old deserted battlefield, anything of value has been taken, the crones and the crows have done their work and all that remains is the bleached bones of the dead, anonymous in their silence. It isn't possible to discern which of the dead fought on which side of the battle, but it is clear that they all died from the same stroke. You may think that this is a tale of capital and it is, diminishing returns have caused the death of millions, but in a darker light the battle shifts to a war of belief between those who will live in and shape the new land against those who will become topsoil.
On the evening of July 24, 2002 there will be a small gathering on an old battlefield, a few who have survived. Like old soldiers at a remembrance, they will talk about the battle and then their short discussion will end and each will go their own way, they will never post to SI again. All three will make their last post to Silicon Investor within a few hours of Tim Luke but unlike Tim, their place on the battlefield will go unmarked, until now. |
