(ACSS) The Lost Tales, page 1

The Lost Tales

The sky was sporadically blue, crisp and clean by contrast to the rains of the past week. Clouds continued to sift patiently above Ocrai, a city calmly considering its course of observation; this was a city built on the expression of its people. Only through a synthesis of debated interpretations by all inhabiting the area could action be decided upon. The inclusion of all in the process of shaping and negotiating the land was, oddly enough, nonchalant and slow when described in terms of actual physical progress. But, it was the highly advanced social interaction that demanded this approach.....since noone could say for certain how they had come into being, everyone had to be heard and reasoned with. Only through this communal philosophy, was the summation, could any reasonable explanations be made into common expression. The inclusive attitude was meant to insure that the answer to any given question might not become lost through neglect as well as to prevent social unrest due to the accumulation of subtle slights. The emphasis was on the self, yet could only be the result of cooperation. The Ocrainians were well aware that there niche had been won and sustained as a result of higher cognition and, as logical beings, built a community that not only required intelligent participation, but reveled in it. As a result, the Ocrainians continued the physical evolution of their brain and had built the land into such a creation that had never before been concieved.
Cooperation was imperative in Ocrai, but happened to be as natural for the inhabitants as having two arms. They were social creatures and the civilization that had sprung up around them was actually a side note to the emphasis they and their ancestors placed upon each other. The city, as such, grew slowly in terms of landmarks and structure, but the resistance to building for the sake of building was reflected in the undeniable brilliance of their city. The Great Library was the center of their lives, filled with a vast selection of books, their history was recorded for all to use, for only a mind familiar with the thoughts and ruminations of their predecessors could make sense of the intricate demands of the current reality. The Library was a magnificent structure indeed, it contained over one hundred conference rooms in addition to the storage space dedicated to their archives. These were constantly in use, and were the beginnings of many an idea that continued the cataloging of every aspect of existence. After all, where was the good in having comprehension if there was not an active perpetuation and evolution of it, possible only through collaboration.
The Great Library had become the expression of a population, where experience was interpreted and weighed against hope and desire to determine the viability of reason flushed with emotion. For lack of a consistent, quantifiable explanation(and thus prediction) of anything to do with human behavior, it was accepted that 'emotion was how one saw the future and reason was what would ultimately comprise the future.' For this reason, other structures were agreed into existence as needed to fulfill the physical requirements of the people of Ocrai. Ocrai was a city built for knowledge rather than commerce, and the result was an interactive community that acted for the benifit of all. Yet for all the attenuated perception practiced by the citizenry of Ocrai, not one person had noticed that the days continued to stay dim and the sun was mostly absent from the sky. The darkness of the day was made more so by a social disruption....a group of men and woman who had taken to themselves and held what would become the first anti-social inclination in civilized history.

Oamis was standing outside the cave taking in a breath of fresh air. He was content to stare upon the lake before him as he took time out to relish the act of each breathe. The lake rippled softly along its shore, where drooping trees swayed to the modest urging of a slight, abrupting breeze. The meeting, for which he was currently awaiting the arrival of the last few invitees, would take place in a conference room that had been fashioned under the earth especially for this grouping. The room was made distinct not only by its suggestible isolation, but also for the intention implied in such secrecy - namely to seperate themselves from Ocrai. Noone had ever wanted that before.
It had taken much time and caution to smuggle in the materials neccessary to bore into the earth a mere 25 feet and then to widen out a big enough space to comfortably fit a large crowd as well as additional space for storage as well as certain human concessions - Oamis had decided that the space was necassary to encourage the identifing of the members to each other. Besides, he had future plans and continuing their underground expansion was inevitable. Oamis sighed audibly. He couldn't believe they were this close to completion. Through all the secrecy and deception, they had been able to make the first step happen. The reason for this preperation was simple. Privacy. Security. An extra safeguard so the group could discuss more fully and openly that which never had been considered before......the nature of their society and the possibility of intentional change.
This had all started when Oamis had been researching physics and he stopped to notice a discussion group. They were engrossed in the subject of astronomy, and had found points to disagree on. The nature of astronomy at that point in Ocrai's history was such that only speculations could be made. So the discussion averted irrational and detrimental conflict by discussing the possibilities for answers if technologies could be developed, and this lead to more talk on resource development and so on until the lowest common denominator was reached and a reasonable course of action was proposed. Efficient communication. Find out what it is that you don't know and discern a way to learn it. Easy enough and the way of Ocrainians for the length of their civilized existence. But Oamis began to wonder what would happen if the conversation had stayed in the abstracts and one of the group had been successful in imposing his interpretation upon the others. The type of subtle dominance, if it could be described as such, had been noted among some of the animal kingdom, so the nature of conflict was not foreign in the least, however, humans a long time ago had evolved beyond the need for such behaviour. Hence the constructive, logical approach to all aspects of life. But Oamis wondered how such influence could be accomplished. His mind was busy with a concept that lead to thought after thought. Oamis determined that this could help reconcile his perception of the future, currently a silent realization that the limits of new idea and thought for mankind to discover. But this could mean a new direction. The end game, if possible would be an in-depth manipulation of collective reality. And so Oamis had begun searching for certain individuals who would consider these ideas with thought.....great care had been taken to keep his new research completely hidden from the public's abilities to scrutinize.

Oamisl walked back into the cave to begin the first meeting. The last of his party had just arrived.

They had agreed to conduct discussions immediately upon completion of safety concerns, as Oamis was adament in his refusal to commit beyond the current task. 15 people, 8 men and 7 woman were situated in clumsy chairs that surrounded a non-distinct table. In order to avoid attention, the materials transfered for the room were not spectacular, merely functional. Oamis began with courtesies and began to illustrate his thoughts. He explained how he had been able to insure their participation by withholding information from them. The room nodded their heads, acknowledging that this was true.
"But our curiosity is well defined and understood. That isn't much of an accomplishment. We are inquisitive and endeavor to preside over doubt. Described along those lines, you didn't necassarily do anything that our whole of society hasn't done everyday." These words came from the back of the room, a deep, resolved voice. A hint of anxiety was evident in his speech. Oamis noted this. He had realized that he was now very apt in reading these subtle cues and this in turn added to his own confidence.
"Yes, but for your activity that was under cover of thought.......you have hidden your ideas from our society and that is where the distinction lies. Despite reservations you continued along and suffered much personal discomfort. And never did you have an accurate and complete understanding of the purpose for our eventual and finally realized gathering. But now you shall. Together we shall discuss, and make elementary, techniques to influence those around us. And through this knowledge, we shall conduct the most ambitious experiment of our lives. The results of which, " Rwail said with a lowered tone that seemed to taper off into the shadowless dirt beyond the walls, "we shall never be conscious of."
Thus begun the discussion of their people and, more directly, their logic process and their expected behaviours. Each of the group experimented as discreetly as possible with the effects of various overtones and undertones to everyday communications and enjoyed an increasing rate of success, defined by their ability to predict with greater detail the reactions they would recieve. Stories were now told for there fallacy value, as before the art of storytelling was based in the efficiency of detailing truth as plain as possible along with the accepted implication of further discussion to rationalize the interpretation of the audience. Oamis and company had learned the value in detailing only statments and facts that were indeed too general and vague to be considered 'real information', and the delivery was discovered to be as important as the content. Oamis and his group, which had since initiated, as many as 20 new members, had begun to revel in the frustrated silence that would accompany a fellow, unsuspecting conversator. The distracted glaze that befell the countanence of quite a few of their past 'arguements' presented the proof of their victories......slowly and quite definitively, the social attitude directed towards any one of the members(who never ventured into each others public lives) was reserved and meek. Oamis noticed a pleasing side effect of their insecurity towards him......the slight yet permeating anxiety would extend to the other aspects of their lives.. The quality of their subsequent discernments began to use insufficient logic as foundation and the resulting conclusions were never applicable......Oamis smiled inwardly at this realization......the time table was severely impacted by the unexpected development......sooner than expected, sooner than expected.

Ocrai, no longer at its peak and progressing towards its imminent oblivion, grew, slowly of course, into multiple cities and spread across the world. All societies adhered to the original, and growth was always inclusive of each and every person. In the happenstance that another society was encountered, friendly exchange and mutual expression insured the incorporation of both societies with each other. Each person was aware of the task they were presented with, to create an environment condusive to the living matter and conscientious of each other. An ideal that had survived the ages and proved successful.......but was being effected by uncommon yet always very subtle tactics. A group that had increased its ranks steadily, even more steady than the 'popular' society.

This sub-society', referred to by many names, was now situated in a city called Atlantis. The technologies of the world had been developed to the point of masterful efficiency and communications were instantaneous worldwide, transportation anywhere in the world utilized the air, water, as well as land, and personal convenience was an ever evolving concept. The conditions tentatively set forth by a discussion group many years ago had been met and man was set for space travel. Proofs for the timeless questions of astronomy and perhaps even implications for philisophical direction were to be had. The mysteries of the universe were to fall and the focus of mankind was to evolve to include the conquering by population of the vast dark space of the universe.
Rliban, the current de facto leader in a now worldwide membership, allowed his mind to wander. The experiment that had begun the journey that he was now directing had become much more. In fact, the experiment wasn't much of an experiment because it had worked perfectly, almost literally, the entire way. The unexpected variables had served to refine the techniques of their actions as opposed to making futile their efforts. The group was therefore a possessor of human truth that was not readily available; most members only had a rudimentary understanding of the nature of their business and willingly cooperated as a victim of the very rheotoric that they themselves utilized. But this was necassary, thought Rliban. The 'truth' was more than an obstinant refusal at communication. The level of forthwith rationale in society as a whole was not even close to the vaunted practice of Ocrai, the ancient city that many 'mistakenly' believed to have existed, and besides, the now much greater amount of people would make the Ocrai social ideal inadequate. Rliban knew the reason for Ocrai's ascension to myth -it was a part of the experiment, or more aptly described as the progression of events A progression to limit the ability of an individual to think, and therefore react, critically of their reality. People today didn't know how to discover their reasoning inherencies; intuition was merely an ability that allowed one to analyze a large amount of sensory data in a very short amount of time, usually instantaneous. Recognition and reliance of intuition had been lost over the years, a victim of convenience. Convenience had been the institionalizing of an answer and/or outlet for everyone physical impulses. Directed behaviour.
Rliban sighed, much the way Oamis had sighed many years ago just prior to the first meeting of the Vaunted First. Time was near, the time that he had been waiting for since he had learned of societies direction. Everything was in place, persons were tasked out and the rest of the world was oblivious to what was about to occur. Months of broadcasting over the airwaves with intense subliminal had brought about the conscious state desired for this operation and the routines that drove the functioning of all society were so ingrained as to be an automatic response for each individual.....indeed, lives had been built around the performing of these routines for the purpose of perpetuating the mechanical roar of civilization. That people chose to subvert their higher cognitions in favor of the easy answer was to be expected and was not even a point of contempt, though Rliban would never consider a regression of that type. No, people were here to live and life was now able to live it for them.

Clouds began to draw together above the cave where Rliban was standing beyond had concentrated together and Atlantis dimmed to a pale shadow. Rliban knew the satellites and land-based towers were beginning to operate. Not too long now. A slight chill rushed the land and trees remained as staunch as ever in the midst of a vorocious attack that could not be seen, heard, smelt, or tasted. Only felt. The hint of a paniced anxiety began to flow about the world and gradually increased to a paralytic fear that was defendable only with prior warning. The clouds dropped to the ground with a sudden release of moisture and the sky darkened further. Rliban was safely observing what he could when he looked up into the sky and noticed with a distinct and completely new feeling of frightened shock that the sun was no longer shining. Where light could be counted upon in varying degrees of brilliance, whether massive or minute, there was now a darkening expanse of sky. The shadow expanded until the world was shivering and the sky conveyed a complete absence of moon and star light. Rliban began to know incoherence and felt what madness was. The strain of thought he felt was lonliness, in fact, an experience that could not be as simple as the word. And then it was over.....and Rliban could have sworn that he heard the trees nearest to him collectively, all at once, take root in the earth as if something tangible had occured. Rliban felt around for something, anything that could be used as a support, not that it was entirely necassary, only he wanted the point of contact to leash his thoughts to reality. He found nothing but a reflection of doubt upon the empty chill of the nights exhalation. He instead reminded himself to breathe and extracted what he thought was viable air from the blackened abyss.

The cave that had witnessed the beginning of this concerned manipulation was now a veritable fortress. Acres of land surrounding the now deeply layered underground establishment were kept at its natural state with the minimum of technological imposition - a comprehensive security and surveillance system that was custom made to mesh with the landscape. Indeed, Rliban could know anything he wanted with the employment of the proper associated directions. But all of his equipment couldn't explain the absence of the sun from the sky. Rliban walked with exaggerated prudence along the noticably darkened way towards the edge of the lake. Ocrai had made its way into oblivion, as Rliban was fairly certain that the citizens of Atlantis yesterday would have completely forgotten the myth of an ancient city that had produced 'socially inferior' humans that were said in more than one circle to have mastered various 'magiks.' Yes, the memory of Ocrai would stay with him and would be passed along only to a select few. Rliban walked along the lake further and thought of Atlantis; it too would become a myth. Any manifestation of memory regarding Atlantis would be met without due consideration and eventually relegated to fiction, ultimately defined by the various fantasies of the population. Many reasons for the demise and/or disappearance of Atlantis would undoubtedly surface and the charcoaled sky that had only hours ago consumed the thoughts of Atlantis, would follow Ocrai into oblivion. Rliban looked into the distance. He could make out the horizen filled with skyscrapers. The Atlantean Department of Tourist Directive would now be officially closed. It was already slated for conversion into a tourist location and possibly some business/economic activity could be performed there as well. But those were the kind of details that could be dealt with later, after the transition. Many people would be slightly muddled in their efforts for a short period of time, according to the most extensive theory and research. A mass psychological conversion was usually a long term project of centuries and generations. This was the first that had been designed and implemented in years. Rliban was anticipating the reports, but was certain they would all be favorable. The only discrepancies would manifest as minor details and could be solved by the social outlets that had been revised and personalized to this event. Most of the old memory would phase out by the maturation of the current youth and top majority of 'universal amnesiac' would be realized within the next generation. Rliban looked again at the skyscraper and thought of a name for it. He would take the privilege of his position and personally see this one building named. He sounded the words with subdued contentment,. "Empire State Building."

All of New York awoke to the normal sounds of a bustling city. Many were familiar with the daily routine and looked forward to the morning rush as an oppurtunity to appreciate what it was they were a part of. Purpose. They had to run the various requirements of society and this participation in a governed world was rewarded with the ability to resolve their desires and live in a physical comfort that was preferable to the savagry of pre-civilization. A group of people walked through and about Central Park and recalled their childhood picinics and family outings they had experienced there. Everyone knew about the Central Park. It had been there since anyone could remember. Several passers-by noticed the city workers performing their tasks in the park and felt pride inspired by their service to insure that there was some beauty in the world. But noone felt that there was any reason to think past their assumptions. And the workers were devoid of any inclination to communicate anything that would contradict this common acceptance. The workers, remarkable in their flawless executions of various aspects of what could still, in some way, be called acts of beautification, kept watch over the passer-bys even as they worked dutifully, ready to distract and rebuff any interest taken by anyone. Noone seemed to notice the real task at hand , that these workers were carrying out the last pieces of what had been the 3/4 scale pyramid made of 'indestructible' ceramic, which had served as the hub of commerce in downtown Atlantis, where stood long ago a Great Library that has since been thought to have perished in a religious conflict and whose contents were sitting in storage, fire proofed and all kinds of other proofed, underneath the earth only a short distance away.