📯 From the World
Cineworld and Picturehouse have closed their doors indefinitely. When we went to the cinema in September, the screen as about a quarter full. Full enough that it didn’t feel empty. On Tuesday we went to see The New Mutants, and we were the only people at the showing.
The cinema was also showing Akira, and I couldn’t pass it up. That screening made it to a whole 5 people!
💎 Rethinking
The way we’ve used the house this year has changed. I’ve tried changing-up my desk a couple times during lockdown, but the furniture we have is a limitation. But more than that, what even is a home for? That may have not changed, but what we needed it to be to achieve that has. My keyboard and guitars have been scattered to make space for the professional office. This is not ideal. Work, hobbies, and the domestic life have been layered on top of each other. How can we make the space for each distinct, and inviting?
We’ve been looking at how we want to use the space we have at the moment. There will be some rough edges and compromise. We can change too much at once. Yet, we have a chance of making the spaces in our reach better, and better suited to how we’re living right now.
🔥 Alchemy of Creation
Browsing Ikea and making floor plans isn’t my usual, but it totally counts.
📍 A Point on the Timeline
We’re not in one of the increased lockdown areas. But there is that feeling of the world shutting down again. The team got together for one more pub trip before winter. It’ been good to get more time with them in 3D. Especially with our newest member, who had started while we were remote. I have met them face to face, but getting a full evening in the pub (even if it’s an earlier close) was good!
Family is in an increased lockdown area, though. We were going to take a trip go to Ikea and catch-up with them over a weekend. But the practicalities of that are bit different now. So, we went to Ikea as a day-trip, keeping some of our momentum.
Cyberpunk Red
The second wave of cops came and we took cover. The cops round the corner and Alex fires the rocket launcher. Only in VR would we trust a netrunner with explosives, and even that’s a bad idea. The shot goes wild and Camden dives for cover. Shots are fired, but everyone’s standing.
Between us and them, we get a respawn. This hostage negotiation sim isn’t going to plan. Blocking Alex’s shot at the cops is a giant bear. She shoots. Questions can come later.
The bear grabs Alex, and in a familiar tone asks her to stand down. Only D311b0i is that polite. Next he addresses the cops. “Something is wrong. The game is broken. We need to stop shooting each other.” A talking bear is enough to give pause, and start a conversation. Camden asks about the clowns. The cops don’t see clowns, but one of the trainees is attacking another. Elevator goes ping. More bears! Acts of non-violence and restraining the hostiles gets us enough trust. After taking out the other bears, we let the timer run out.
The sim ends, and we’re back in our VR pods. Alex isn’t here. The rest of us get ushered into a room. We’re getting paid for silence and asked to sign an NDA. One of the conditions; don’t talk about Alex. Camden flies off the handle. “We didn’t want to be here, you picked us up. Now you’re saying we planned this?” D311b0i calms the situation. We sign and leave. Still got our freedom and some creds. This could have gone so much worse.
Meanwhile, Alex is getting interrogated, and the penny drops. Zeebadee did this. That shit-hot netrunner from the arcology. She recognised their signature in the hack on the apartment. She knew they were good, but this! Not only is the deck fried, but the malware has infected her implants, then jumped from the VR pods to the city’s comms grid. The public sector really should pay for better security. Alex gets to leave with her skin, but her netrunning ports have been sealed. She has history with Zeebadee, now she’s got beef.
Mike Ramnarine 
One response to “WN07 Ikea and Akira”
[…] reorganising some of our space. Particularly for work, but that’s having a cascading effect. The new desk […]