💾 Archived View for zaibatsu.circumlunar.space › ~visiblink › phlog › 20210716a captured on 2023-01-29 at 16:33:47.
⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-03)
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There was a town here once. Not too long ago, Gopherly was a thriving little community, with all kinds of colorful characters who regularly occupied its public spaces and made it a very pleasant place to live. We knew each other. We learned from each other. Sometimes we argued. There were good friends and a few mortal enemies. There were village elders and passers-through. We didn't have any stores, but we didn't seem to need them either. People bartered. People gave. Some even set up co-ops. It was a good place to live. Then, a couple of years ago, almost everyone moved off to Geminiville. Or somewhere else. I'm not sure. Now Gopherly sits mostly abandoned. There are echoes of Pripyat here. Most of the houses are empty. The public spaces are overrun with weeds. The streets are dusty, the asphalt beginning to break up everywhere. Abandoned animals slink along in the shadows. Old machinery quietly seizes with rust. The ghosts of former residents wander the streets. Someone -- I don't know who -- named them "mirrors." They're constantly talking, but I don't think they can hear anything. Those of us who stayed behind live alone in our neighbourhoods, with dozens of empty houses between us and our nearest remaining neighbours. Sometimes we meet unexpectedly and chat, but mostly we mutter to ourselves, with the odd sensation that someone might be listening. You know how that is... it's probably nothing. Some people say Gopherly's a dangerous place to live because the spirits are listening. I don't know if I believe that. Then again, every once in a while, another neighbour disappears. On occasion, we drive on over to Geminiville to have a look. It's shiny and new and they have security there. People feel safe. I usually recognize a few familiar faces in Geminiville and it's nice to see them again. Once when I was there, I listened in on a group of strangers arguing about the bylaws and urban planning. Some guy wanted to put a sign on his house. The other villagers thought he was planning to build a Wal-Mart. Someone said the sign guy and his friends wanted to turn Geminiville into a city! Then someone else put a stop to it all. He said that Wal-Marts and cities were against God's Plan. He said it was in "The Protocol." A few people grumbled, and some people later put signs on their houses anyways, but the conversation was over. You know, you still can't shop in Geminiville. You have to drive clear on up to Webberton to find a Wal-Mart. I've thought about leaving Gopherly from time to time. Place is lousy with mirrors, mumbling away, not watching where they're going. Then there's all those disappearances. I thought about Geminiville, or little Sparta, further on up the road. I've heard rumours about a place called Mercury, but I don't think it's real. Maybe I just dreamt it? Lately, though, a few people started moving into the workers' shacks near the old SDF plant. The odd squatter has settled in along the town limits too. So I guess I'll stick it out and see what happens.