Does the Camera See Color When it Captures A Flower?
Experimental Interactive Horror
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...Hello.Welcome to your new Acacia 3S We’re just getting everything set up for you… Please do not power down your device. ...
The house is sparse. Dylan has his feet on the coffee table. There’s dust in the sun beams. Tanner’s head peers from the hallway.
“Yo, Stieg and me are heading to Buchmiller, you coming?”
“Uh, isn’t it going to be muddy?”
“I don’t know, probably.”
“Yeah alright, just give me a couple minutes. I’m setting up my new phone.”
“First nice day of the year and you're sitting on the couch.”
The head disappears. Feet are removed from the coffee table. The living room is large and empty. Couch, coffee table, desk.
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“Hurry it up man, I’m not trying to be there when everybody else goes.”
“Yeah, yeah, 5 minutes, dude. Chill out.”
“They shut down Two-twenty-two for an accident or something, I don’t know, cops everywhere, so we gotta go the back way.”
“Yeah.”
Dylan stands in front of the couch, neck bent down, eyes fixed to screen. Tanner can be heard in the kitchen. Rummaging. Dylan sighs, loud in the quiet room.
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Tanner crosses Dylan’s peripheral, pauses, then moves on. The impatience is palpable. From down the hallway, Tanner’s voice.
“You want me to bring a set of discs for you?”
“Nah, I’m just going to walk, enjoy the weather, the great outdoors.”
“Hug a tree for me.”
A snort of air, shaken head. Dylan taps at his screen, tap, tap, taps.
Our camera has received a huge upgrade too, a 10 megapixel upgrade, to be precise. When you enable your AID, your Acacia 3S will be able to help you get the best shot. No more blurry photos or underexposed corners, just ask your AID to clean it up.
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“Bro.”
“I hear you man, there’s a lot of tutorials and stuff. 5 minutes.”
“You said that that like 5 minutes ago. I wanna get there before they open up the road again. Nobody’s going to be there right now.”
“I hear you. I’m going as fast as I can.”
Rapid tapping. The Monday sun cuts through the skylight, chops up bits of dust.
And, Introducing our latest innovation, Visual AID.
Location, location, location...Visual AID will give location based guides, suggestions, and information, all within the camera interface.
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“Dude, let’s go. What’re you even doing?”
“Fine, let’s just go then. I told you, I’m trying to set up my phone.”
“Set up your shit on the way, dude.”
“Alright, alright, I’m coming! God damn, dude. They only shut down the road if somebody died anyway. It’ll take them forever to reopen it.”
“I ain’t waiting forever, man. I’m leaving now.”
“Alright, I said I’m coming.”
A phone-blind shuffle, reaching for door knobs without looking. Dylan is knocked on the heel by the screen door which shrieks like avian death.
Welcome, to your future, with AID.Not sure where to start? We suggest Acacia Paper to test out new features.
Check out this helpful guide to get started.
Try typing something to see how your AID can help you with wording, grammar, and punctuation.
|Going to the park to touch grass. brb|
Nice! Suggestions will appear in yellow. Your AID will help you whip your writing into shape, making communication easier and faster in a digital world.
They arrive at the wall of first response vehicles. Dozens of emergency colored lights flash, quiet and blinding.
“Shit, look at all these cops, man. Must’ve been nasty.”
“Maybe I can look up what’s going on. Seems pretty serious.”
“Yeah, use your fancy new phone and figure out what the hell happened. My guess? Two words: meat crayon.”
“What? Ah, nevermind, I can’t, my apps are still loading and it’s in the tutorial thing.”
Annoyed finger tapping.
Now, let’s introduce Visual AID: local and relevant information for where you are.
We can see that you are currently in Buchmiller park: it’s a beautiful spring day for it!
Go ahead and open the camera to receive augmented guides and information about the world around you.
The car drives around the park to the rear lot. There’s only a white SUV, empty and parked crooked. Trees swing through quiet air, sunlight filters through newly budding branches.
“Sweet,” Tanner says, “still nobody here.”
“Kinda weird seeing it so empty.”
Amber, red, and blue lights gasp against the branches in the distance. Tanner swings a Jansport of discs over shoulder.
“Alright. We’re just doing the 18 then we’re gonna bounce. I gotta shower before work. If you’re not back at the car when we’re done, I’m leaving your ass.”
“Whatever man. I’m just trying to enjoy the weather. You need to chill.”
“Yeah well, you look like an asshole with your phone out like that.”
“Whatever.”
Wow, looking good!
These appear to be oak trees, based on their distinct leaf shape, but we’d have to get closer to be sure. Would you like to learn more about oak trees?1
Fun Fact: this public park is named after Dulon F. Buchmiller, who was believed to have made moonshine in these same woods.
This small green shoot appears to be a narcissus, commonly known as a daffodil. They bloom between March and Arpil. Would you like to learn more about daffodils?2
This is a disc golfing goal, sometimes called a basket. Would you like to learn more about the sport of disc golfing?3
Fun Fact: disc golfing is played in 40 countries.
We’re learning so much together!
“Damn, technology is cool.”
Dylan points the phone with both hands, walks toward the woods.
We hear bird calls, would you like to enable audio to receive information on the sounds around you?
EnableThere are currently several brown-headed cowbirds close by. Would you like to learn more about brown-headed cowbirds?4
Fun Fact: brown-headed cowbirds will lay their eggs in other bird nests in an act called brood parasitism.
There is a mourning dove very close to you. Would you like to learn more about mourning doves?5
See this white fungus, those are hebeloma syrjense mushrooms. Would you like to learn more about hebeloma syrjense mushrooms?6
Notification: message from Tanner
Open:|We gotta go. Cops are making us leave|
“Jesus, it’s been like 30 seconds.”
Air forced out of the nose. Dylan looks around. He’s alone. It’s quiet. The sun incubates the nubile leaves.
Reply: |I’m in the woods. I’ll walk, its nice out|
Tanner: |suit yourself|
He taps at the screen, opens the camera. Phone held out in a tactical two-hand, Dylan sights in on things as he walks. Every fresh coil of green, each thin pink bloom and pale yellow petal.
This is stinging nettle, commonly called burn hazel in your area. Would you like to learn more about stinging nettle?7
These are more hebeloma syrjense mushrooms. Would you like to learn more about hebeloma syrjense mushrooms?8
That was the sound of a woodpecker, but we’d have to see it to say which species. Would you like to learn more about woodpeckers?9
Fun Fact: many woodpeckers wrap their tongue around their brain to protect it from the vibrations of pecking.
“Oh what, that’s wild…”
Dylan’s phone pings, unnatural in the calm woods.
Notification: message from Tanner
CloseThis is a yellow garden spider, don’t worry they’re not deadly! Would you like to know more about garden spiders?10
This a type of tetraplodon, a genus of moss. Would you like to learn more about tetraplodon?11
Notification: message from Tanner
Close
Dylan chuffs. “What’s a fella gotta do to enjoy some nature…”
The ground is wet with spring melt. Dylan looks up, squints at the splotches of dirty snow. It’s still thick in the shade of the forest, winter hiding from spring.
That was the call of a vulture, very common in your area. Would you like to learn more about vultures?12
These are more hebeloma syrjense mushrooms. Would you like to learn more about hebeloma syrjense mushrooms?13
This is a type of tayloria, a genus of moss. Would you like to learn more about tayloria?14
This is the scat of an American black bear. They are not very common in your area. Would you like to learn more about American black bears?15
Notification: message from Tanner
Close
Dylan stops, neck bent as if in prayer, phone held close to his heart. It’s quiet. The back of his head tingles. He looks up, looks around, sees nothing. The woods settle in small movements. Hairs on his neck fuzz outward in unease. Branches sway.
A loud claxon from his phone electrifies every nerve in his skin. The leaves pulse with his running heart.
Notification: Amber Alert — be on the lookout for a white SUV…
Close
“Jesus… Scared the shit out of me. So tired of these fricking things, all the time.”
He walks on toward the edge of the forest, eyes searching for secrets. Dylan steps into the March sun and his unease liquefies in the warmth. He walks along the centerline of the closed street. With nothing to point his phone at, it slips into his pocket. He stops, a foot on either side of the yellow line. The busy nothing of nature hums. His phone pings in his pocket.
Notification: message from Tanner
Close
Dylan looks around, opens the camera, looks at the road through his camera and takes a few pictures of the vacant road.
Notification: message from Tanner
Close
He crouches professionally, takes pictures from the perspective of his shoes.
Notification: incoming call from Tanner
Dylan stands, looks at his phone, answers the call.
“Jesus dude, what?”
“Answer your goddamn messages, bro! What do you mean, what?”
Dylan pulls the phone away from his ear to open his messages. Tanner’s voice buzzes out into empty air. Dylan reads the latest text first.
|Tanner: where tf are you man ??|
Tanner’s voice vibrates from the phone speaker. “Hello? Yo, what the hell is going on man.”
Dylan scrolls up to the first message, ignorant of the world around him. Eyes squint in suspicion of his phones information. He opens the link16 Tanner sent next. Eyes growing wider by the word. He looks back to the woods. Hairs on his neck dance.
“Dude? You there? Dylan? Dylan.’
Authors Note: most of the footnotes are pulled straight from Wikipedia, some are lightly edited for the fictional narrative though not falsified.
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus Quercus of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup.
Narcissus is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil, narcissus (plural narcissi), and jonquil, are used to describe some or all members of the genus.
Approximately 75% of the world's disc golf courses are located in the United States.
The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small, obligate brood parasitic icterid native to temperate and subtropical North America.
The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, the chueybird, and colloquially as the turtle dove.
Hebeloma syrjense is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. It has been noted to grow at the sites of decomposing human bodies at the body farm in Tennessee.
Urtica dioica, often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle, nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae.
Hebeloma syrjense is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. It has been noted to grow at the sites of decomposing human bodies at the body farm in Tennessee.
Woodpeckers are chiefly known for the characteristic behaviour that lent them their common name. Their pecking serves mostly to aid their forage for insect prey in the trunks and branches of trees. Some species vary their diet with fruits, birds’ eggs, small animals, tree sap, carrion and in extreme cases even human remains.
Argiope aurantia is a species of spider, commonly known as the yellow garden spider. These spiders may bite if disturbed or harassed, but the venom is harmless to non-allergic humans, roughly equivalent to a bumblebee sting in intensity.
Tetraplodon is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Splachnaceae. This genus has cosmopolitan distribution, meaning it will grow worldwide if conditions are favorable, from caves to graves, by bodies of water and on the bodies of corpses.
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion or remains of any kind. A group of vultures in flight is called a “kettle”, while the term “committee” refers to a group of vultures resting on the ground or in trees. A group of vultures that are feeding is termed a “wake”.
Hebeloma syrjense is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. It has been noted to grow at the sites of decomposing human bodies at the body farm in Tennessee.
Tayloria is a genus of mosses in the family Splachnaceae. It comprises 45 species, divided among 6 subgenera. It has been noted to grow on nitrogen rich corpses, as noted by search and rescue teams.
The American black bear (Ursus americanus), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is endemic to North America. It is an omnivore, with a diet varying greatly depending on season and location. It will resort to carrion or remains if other food is scarce or remains are abundant.
“Spring Thaw Reveals Bodies at Buchmiller Park: police are engaged in a manhunt for Benjamin Stoltzfus. Residents anre encouraged to report any sightings of Benjamin or the white SUV he drives.”
This is such a sharp concept.
The interface becoming part of the narrative… those prompts, permissions, little “helpful” suggestions…
it’s not just creepy, it’s familiar.
And that’s what makes it land.
By the end, it doesn’t feel like the phone is observing him…
it feels like it’s deciding what matters.
I dug the quizzes and the footnotes. Super engaging. I feel like I have been both the Dylan and the Taylor in different situations. Cool story.