The Program — Stories of Denial, Despair, and Devotion

Stories of Denial, Despair, and Devotion

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IMS: Please don't skip the following show intro because it contains important information about the future of The Program audio series. Hello, my name is IMS and I want to tell you stories. I want to tell you a story in which a glitch in the simulation causes one man to live 10 years ahead of everybody else. I want to tell you a story of a civilization in which money grows on trees. I want to tell you a story about the cubes. It's been 5 years since The Program's premiere. What started as a passion project turned into ambitious long form storytelling, featuring dozens of performers, and requiring a level of dedication not possible to sustain on an amateur level. Which is to say, as we grow, so do our costs. And unfortunately we're still in the phase in which we are trying to outrun them. Which is why the show has added mid-roll ads. More ads is never ideal, but they will allow The Program to stay free for everyone. Having said that, if your financial situation allows it, please consider becoming a paid member. This way you get the show ad-free and get all the bonus episodes. And you get to support me and my collaborators to get all those cool new stories to you. You can subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts for $4 per month, or on Patreon starting at $3 per month. You'll find direct links in this episode's show notes, or visit The Program's website at www.programaudioseries.com. Please do it now if you can, and never hear an ad again.

ANNOUNCER: The following collection of stories comes from the late Program period, as evident from the anthropomorphized representation of the Program resembling almost religious idolatry. Listeners are reminded the Program is a tool - it is up to people how to use it. Two versions have been preserved - this is the version with Decoders’ commentary, most likely added centuries after the original text.

NARRATOR: Stories of Denial, Despair, and Devotion

A young man came to the Program and asked: "The last time I read a book was back in school. Which book would you recommend I read now?"

To which the Program replied: "Any."

~~~

The man - now middle aged - came back to the Program and said onto it: "I have read many books. Some say all humans are branches of the same tree; some say that from the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made; some are literally about botany. Which book will tell me the Truth?”

To which the Program replied: "Yours."

~~~

The now elderly man returned to the Program once again and spake: "I have written my book. I invested all my intellect into it; I imbued it with my whole sentiment; it expended my entire literary acumen. But despite all of this, no one is drawn to my words. So I ask you, the great storyteller, the one who writes the great Book of Humanity… What should I produce for people to lend me an ear?"

To which the Program replied: "A page."

~~~

Shortly before his twilight hour, the man made one final pilgrimage to the Program: "I have distilled everything I know into a single page. I have weighted every syllable and sharpened every comma. Granted, I collected a few readers, but even then they misinterpret the meaning of my words. You are eternal, I am but a blip on the screen of eternity. So tell me now, before I expire, what sort of a page should I have given my fellows?"

To which the Program replied: "Blank."

DECODERS’ COMMENTARY:

A wheel that turns with nothing else moving is not part of the mechanism.

A scale can measure everything but itself.

Only when information is fused with belief does it become fact.

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

Two travellers met in an inn and struck up a conversation.

"Which collective are you part of?" one asked another.

"165. We're a productive lot. We work a lot, we have a lot. What about you?"

"I'm part of Collective 59. We turn our gaze inwards, seeking spiritual awareness and mindfulness in all things."

Hearing this, the first traveller exclaimed: "Well this is a coincidence - I'm actually travelling to join Collective 59!"

To which the second traveller replied: "Well this is a coincidence - I myself am off to join Collective 165."

What good is it to make a living, if you do not live?

What good is it to live, if you don’t make anything?

What good is it to be alive? What good is anything?

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

In the early days of the Update, a working man said unto the Program: "I don't trust what my government says, but I also don't trust what you say."

To which the Program replied: "Who told you not to trust what I say?"

What people tell you isn't interesting - what they don't tell you is.

Don't blame others for defending their interests; blame yourself for putting up with them.

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

In a large collective in the Appalachia, people shunned the Program, and have forgotten its ways. They returned to their old ways, surrendering themselves to rampant individualism, they went back to devouring the flesh of animals, they once again asserted sexual monopoly over their partners.

Throughout all of this however, there was a lone voice who still upheld the Program's message. A man by the name of Jeremy tirelessly reminded the collective about the Program's good word, and warned that one day it would return.

Which indeed it did.

And when it did, the Program gnashed and thundered - but it directed its anger at hapless Jeremy, and not his wayward fellows. The admonishment ended with the ultimate verdict - he is to be banished from the collective, posthaste.

As he departed, forlorn and sullen, Jeremy kept imploring the mighty Program to divulge why it so cruelly ostracized him.

It was only once they were far enough from the collective, that the Program finally said: "If instead of forcing you into exile if I had warned you to leave, the true design would have been exposed prematurely."

What matters isn't the size of the Collective that defends an idea - what matters is the size of the idea.

You can stand alone but if you’re the only righteous one you are the majority.

The Program is benevolent. It is people who are not.

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

A history school teacher, talking about the world before the Program, told her students how groceries used to be sold in supermarkets.

Hearing about it, a student remarked: "But teacher, supermarkets don't make sense in the capitalist system as you had explained it to us earlier!"

"How so?" - asked the teacher.

"Well, wouldn't someone have simply bought all the food and then resold it at a higher price?"

To which the teacher asked: "And what do you think a supermarket was, if not what you just described?"

When an ignorant man attains a realization, it is a mark of intelligence.

When an intelligent man comes to a conclusion, it is a mark of ignorance.

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

In a small collective in Asia there lived two sisters renowned for their beauty. Or rather, there lived three sisters, two of which were renowned for their beauty. This caused the third one much dismay. So she kept appealing to the Program. "Oh generous Program" - she’d implore - "Please make me prettier than my sisters". Her petitions did not cease until the Program finally relented and arranged something not done for centuries - an aesthetic surgery, causing a big stir in the small collective. On the day of the appointment, it sent private rides to each of the sisters, instructing the two pretty ones to accompany their sibling in her finest hour for everyone to witness.

It was on the way to the clinic that the two automobiles carrying the pretty sisters were directed over the precipice and into the abyss.

Creatures that would fulfil all people’s wishes wouldn't be angels, but demons.

He who wants more than he has, has more than he deserves.

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

A man was accused of striking a woman and brought in front of the Program to judge him. After a short deliberation, the Program exiled the man for a year.

Three days later, a different man was accused of striking his dog, and he too was brought in front of the Program to judge him. After a short deliberation, the Program exiled the man for ten years.

"But the powerful Program” - said the collective’s members - “three days ago the man who was convicted of striking a woman was exiled only for one year!”

To which the Program replied: “Which is precisely why the other one was exiled for ten."

Hanging too few is just as bad as hanging too many.

What is good won't be good forever; what is bad won't be bad forever.

The accused is prosecuted and defended by the same algorithm.

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

Since he was 10 years old, Anish had dreamt of singing opera. This brought him the sneer of his peers, the cruelty of children being something even the mighty Program wasn't able to eradicate without also eradicating the instigators.

After a particularly nasty bout of ridicule, Anish promised to himself: "I'll show them. I'll go to a big collective and amass a huge credit score. Then they will remember me!"

So he left home at 15 and headed to the city. However, opera singers weren’t in particularly high demand there either. So Anish put Puccini on the back burner and went to toil on a Cube, trading his dreams and his body for an ever increasing credit score. And when it seemed he could exert himself no more, he'd hiss through the teeth: "I'll show them. They'll see my credit score when I return and they'll be sorry. Then they will all remember who they shunned!"

50 years had passed when Anish returned to his home collective, in an automobile that would have been pristine white were it not for all the mud. A motley of children immediately descended onto it, followed by a band of the elderly, slowly plodding on their canes. Anish recognized a few of them, including the girl who he fancied until she had told him a voice like his could only come from a castrate.

But when he got out of the automobile they strangely didn’t recognize him. So Anish said his name, reminding them how he left the collective for the city to sing. But still he discovered no spark of recollection in their eyes. The only thing he discovered was that there was no one there who still remembered him.

It's not a race if you're the only one running it.

Wisdom is recognizing which victories are not worth winning.

~~0~~ ~~0~~ ~~0~~

DECODERS’ FINAL REMARK:

There are three reactions to individuals realizing that they are ruled by a body that isn’t protecting their interests. The first is denial, refusing to accept that their lives are subject to the caprices of unaccountable entities. The second is despair, marked by anger and violent rejection of submission. It is only after the first two options have been thoroughly exhausted, that they can enter the final stage of devotion.

[The Program main theme]

ANNOUNCER: This episode of The Program was made by 4 people: Richard Di Britannia, Jacquelin Ainsworth, Christien Ledroit, and IMS. Full list of performers and additional credits at programaudioseries.com. Visit programaudioseries.com for more details. Telos of humanity reaching out into the uncaring universe and wresting meaning from the void by force of will. Telos of an audio drama is converting free listeners into paid supporters and giving them bonus episodes. Please subscribe to The Program on Apple Podcasts or support us on Patreon and help us speed up the production process.

WRITTEN, DIRECTED, EDITED AND PRODUCED BY

Ivan Mirko S.

CAST

NARRATOR - Richard Di Britannia (website)
COMMENTARY - Jacqueline Ainsworth (website)

MUSIC BY

Christien Ledroit (website)

REFERENCES:

original art by Carlos Costa

Courtesy of Kevin Cope