Tuonela

As often happens, this didn’t go to plan, possibly for the best.

Several stretched and treated versions underlie an increasingly chaotic mangled version of the track. That’s all.

I played a lot of 78s as a kid (I still have many of them) so I love the old shellac crackle and hiss, which is why it’s featured and exaggerated.

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The Assignment: Rework a shared recording from over 100 years ago

There is just one step to this project: This week’s project, the next to last of 2025, is a community remix. In an act of globe-spanning asynchronous holiday-season camaraderie, we’ll all work from the same shared source material, a recording that dates back well over 100 years. Download the performance of “Nina” by Hans Kindler (1892 – 1949) and remix it and rework it to your heart’s delight. The recording credits G. B. Pergolesi (1710 – 1736) as the work’s composer, but more recently it has become attributed to Vincenzo Legrenzo Ciampi (1719 – 1762).

More on the 729th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Community Remix (Nina) — The Assignment: Rework a shared recording from over 100 years ago — at https://disquiet.com/0729/

More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto /

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” ― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Track list and start times:

00:00 O Saala Sakraal – Opana

07:56 AYIM – Nexa

15:04 400 Lonely Things – Moonflowers

20:31 Born Erased – Voider

25:13 Fragile X – Ahwhizlitat

30:04 Conrad Schnitzler – Emitterfolger

36:25 Marco Lucchi & Henrik Meierkord - Into the impossible [Disquiet # 0727] be less critical more often

42:17 NACHT – Nacht Pt 1 (excerpt)

48:16 Tauceti – Hélios

51:24 Black Rain – All Snowflake Melt

54:50 Gnomes Of Kush – Finding Tranquility

59:00 Otto Lindholm – Skelton

1:02:28 RDKPL – Noise Weaves IX

1:05:57 Marco Lucchi – arpeggios are very selfish n*1

1:07:33 Leslie Keffer – Mirror

1:22:12 Conrad Schnitzler – Ballet Statique

1:26:34 400 Lonely Things – Many Ran

1:33:30 Nihil Impvlse – Zeitgeist Penthotal

1:39:28 VESTIGIAL – Through A Million Points of Time

1:46:00 Hannes Strobl – Cais do Sodré

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Image: ‘Sacred’ by Bruce Mahalski – 2015

Peripheral visionary by Tuonela

Pteragan by Tuonela

Continued...

Rob and Jamilah cut their comms.

“Shit! If that thing damages CyDar, the whole Lighthouse could go offline. Did you hear her intonation? She actually sounded apprehensive. It might take control of the whole station. How long can the automatic systems keep the place functioning if it cuts life support?”

“Depends on the extent. Let’s not panic, Rob. We need to find out more about it. So far it doesn’t seem like a weapon.” She reached out and took his hand. “We need to work together, and quickly. We need to locate it, assess the threat, if any, and take consequent action.”

He nodded and looked ashamed. “You’re right. Fear is the mind killer.”

“What?”

“It’s from a book, one of the greats from two millennia ago. I’m sorry, I forgot my training.”

“I’m scared too. Let’s get to the Core and see what’s happened.” She smiled at him. “We can comfort each other later.”

“Yes… If there is a ‘later’.”

The outer security door to the Core had been cut open like the storage bay. They entered, passing through several more damaged doors until they reached the main core centre. The doors were open, undamaged.

“Looks like CyDar just invited it in.”

The core was a massive, circular system of mainframes cooled by liquid nitrogen. Half way up, the intruder was clamped onto CyDar. It was insectoid, with long legs that had wrapped around part of the core and a central section that served as both body and head. There were no lights or markings. As they drew closer, a couple of the legs moved slightly.

“That is not a robot. Those joints look too fluid. Is it nano-engineered?”

Rob shook his head. “Beats me. CyDar, can you hear us?”

“Yes, Captain Hurford.”

“Report status.”

“It is of non-terrestrial origin. It is currently learning a simple binary language in order to communicate.”

“You invited it aboard, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. You ascertained that from the logs?”

“Your redactions left traces. Careless.”

“It was broadcasting what appeared to a distress call. The method of ingress was clumsy. I was attempting to guide it to a standard entry port but it wanted more immediate contact. Wait…”

They heard a burst of binary code, then a reply from CyDar.

“It has made contact.”

“What did it say?”

“Please protect me. I am scared.”

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(c) iamacamera 2022

Image: Lexica.art

Continued...

The Lighthouse was a deep-space station made up of huge, linked structures and located about ten billion kilometres from Earth. As a result of wars and economic collapse it serviced fewer ships than it had been designed for, so few these days that most of its two-hundred strong crew were kept comatose in several deep sleep facilities. They were revived periodically, ostensibly in order to check systems and maintain physical condition, but more important was the prevention of deep psychosis that could occur during extended coma-sleep. The whole crew was only woken when a ship was due to arrive.

The section of the vast structure that Jamilah and Rob needed to reach was one that held several crew quarters and the huge, humming structure that housed the systems and servers that made up CyDar. Spinning slowly to create life-giving gravity, the structure was honeycombed by a series of mag-lev platforms that transported them to the designated area of damage in just under five minutes. The door was secure and the view through the doorscreen showed nothing.

“Cydar, please pressurise sections forty-three A through forty-three D.”

There was a long pause.

“I am unable to comply, Captain Hurford. That section is offline.”

They cut their comms and made faceplate contact.

“What the hell, Rob? How much damage would that take? We’d see something, surely?”

“Maybe. CyDar would have responded differently. She’s being deliberately vague, buying time perhaps. Let’s go in.”

They entered the suspect section, sealing the door behind them. To their left was a long row of general storage bays, built onto the interior wall of the hull. They had only travelled about forty metres along the corridor when the reason for the damage report became apparent. The door to area forty-three nineteen was warped, scorched and hanging from one hinge.

“CyDar, you seeing this?”

“Affirmative, Captain McCullen. It appears to have been burst open from the inside. There is apparent heat damage. Not a meteorite, that would have penetrated further.”

“Agreed. It would probably have gone right through the station.”

They reached the door and looked into the bay. A blackened, scored tubular object about two metres long was buried in the deck at an angle. A ring of extendable spokes had stopped it penetrating any further, bending the plates into a shallow crater. Half way up, a section of the tube was hanging open.

Jamilah pointed up, past the tube.

“Look at that. It punched through the hull and then stopped dead. Definitely not space debris.”

“No, it’s some sort of drone. Not one I’ve seen before, either. And it had a cargo.”

“An armed passenger, by the look of that door.” She inspected the tube interior and the floor below it. “There appear to be connecting points inside… No organic matter anywhere. I think it must be robotic.”

“CyDar, some form of AI has invaded The Lighthouse. We are unsure of its nature, but it may be capable of deadly force.” There was silence. “CyDar, can you hear me?”

“I have located the intruder, Captains.” There was a long pause. “It has invaded my central core. It is with me.”

to be continued......

(c) iamacamera 2022

Image: Lexica.art

“The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary.

Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls.” ― Sylvia Plath

Track list and start times:

00:00 Dionisaf – Fountain of Desires

06:03 eumourner – The Oval Scream

14:21 KapTep – A Pattern to My Scars (Fumana Remix)

18:46 Mark Harwood – Scene VIII

22:30 Alessandro Barbanera – Good Old Floating Stone

26:55 fr0ggy5 – rain at night thru the open window cause good sleep and nice dream

28:05 Mark Harris – Approaching Tide - Heacham 1973

32:58 Night Note – the moon touched the earth

38:40 Terry Mullett – shadow in shade (naviarhaiku618)

42:28 Snowman Lost His Head – Llum recollida amb les mans (naviarhaiku620)

45:50 Porn Sword Tobacco – C1

52:44 Arash Akbari – III

58:49 Atticus Ross – Disillusion (from ‘Dispatches from Elsewhere’)

1:03:20 eumourner – Gargoyle II. Hatred in Stone

1:12:03 Laurent Pernice – Zombie

1:19:04 Taylor Deupree & Zimoun – Deviation IV

1:25:55 Jean-Claude Risset – Songes

1:34:40 Cousin Silas & Mint Deluxe – A Veil Of Tiers

1:41:24 Atticus Ross – The Architect (from ‘Dispatches from Elsewhere’)

1:47:29 fr0ggy5 – and we all rush madly toward the future

1:49:20 ausgesuchtestenohren - From an Old Tape (Uncanny) (excerpt)

1:54:18 Leslie Keffer – Invocation

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Image: Lexica.art

Incident On Deck Forty-Three

Through the black dome, CyDar watched as Hurford, R.J. #34-4563 and McCullen, J.M. #37-9863 arrived on the Lighthouse command deck together. Their files indicated a previous relationship. CyDar calculated that humans with an emotional bond would be an advantage.

Jamilah McCullen checked the Situation Log.

“There’s an incident logged just over eight hours ago, appears to be an impact of significance seven but no details. Odd.”

Rob Hurford was scanning Engineering and Communication logs. “Several electrical and control systems have been automatically locked out and re-routed. That would suggest a hull breach. But there’s nothing major in the environment log, only a blip around the same time… suggests momentary tremor in a small area. CyDar, can you clarify?”

The black dome pulsed with light from an internal LED. “Good morning, Captains Hurford and McCullen. I hope your revival has no negative indicators.” The voice was deep and feminine.

“Aside from feeling like a two-day-old hangover, no,” said Jamilah. “Please report on the situation. The log is strangely deficit in detail.”

“Admin Directive seven five three one states that two officers will be revived and will attend the command deck at regular intervals. Sequencing is random.”

Rob checked another log. “This is not a regular interval. Human watch isn’t scheduled for nearly another week. And Captain McCullen has already served two watches on this tour. What about this incident report?”

“Your tone indicates displeasure.”

“More like surprise. I’m surprised that an apparent level seven impact - a possible hull breach - hasn’t generated more than a margin note in the logs. Aren’t you surprised, CyDar?”

“It is… unanticipated.” There was a pause, uncomfortable by human standards, geological in computer terms. “I can gather no further data. All feeds from the affected area are dead.”

“Are the feeds cut or blocked?”

“Unable to confirm.”

“Rob, we need to recce this, now.” Jamilah opened a locker and took out two pressure suits. They were designed for traversing vacuum-affected areas in a gravity-positive vessel, not for deep space work, so weren’t much harder to don and work in than a jump suit. Since the Lighthouse was largely automated or inert, most of it was unpressurised. Breathable air was too valuable a resource to fill a whole station, and it was corrosive. Their reservoirs held an hour of air and could be refilled from points throughout the station. She passed one to Rob, brushing her hand against his. “I’m glad it’s you. I’ve missed you.”

He nodded. “Me too, you look great when you’ve just woken up.” They finished suiting up and she gave the cut-throat signal to leave their comms turned off. They pressed their faceplates together so that the suits could conduct sound.

“CyDar is being evasive. What do you make of it?”

“Not sure. The logs are generated in real time. I suppose they could have been tampered with. She doesn’t seem to be fully aware of the cause. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” They kissed through the carbonate faceplates and turned their comms on.

“Testing comms and video feed. Are you receiving us, CyDar?”

“Affirmative, Captain Hurford. Full signal strength verified.”

“Wish us luck.”

“Hopefully so unreliable a system of chance will not be required, Captain McCullen.”

“Amen to that, CyDar.”

to be continued......

(c) iamacamera 2022

Image: Lexica.art

Somewhere I came across an AI-generated track called 'Martini On Mars' which was okay. I did this to it.

Image: Lexica.art

By far by Tuonela