The Stolen Fire
The ritual as text.
Every line the ritual speaks or shows, in order: the Order, the Narrator, the words on screen, and the sounds in brackets, as the caption band shows them.
The monument
A dark canyon of hooded bronze statues and Art Deco towers. One by one, three decrees carved in the stone light up as a cold voice announces them: Obey our orders, on the central plinth; Capital sets you free, on the left statue’s plinth; AI will do it better than you, on the right statue’s plinth. A shaft of light sets a torch on the central plinth. Take it with a click, a tap, Space or Enter, and the Order tells you to put it back: choose, put it back, or keep the torch. Keep it, and burn the three decrees: move the torch, or use the arrow keys; press Space to let it burn the next one. Three marks on the plinth count them, and the third brings the monument down. Behind it stands a firelit cave.
The Narrator Our age built monuments for a modern religion who doesn’t say its name.
The decree OBEY OUR ORDERS.
The Narrator Monuments who now say…
The Order THIS IS THE NEW ORDER. YOU ARE TO OBEY IT.
The decree CAPITAL SETS YOU FREE.
The Order CAPITAL SETS YOU FREE.
The Narrator Capital was a means to an end. Now it’s just the end…
The decree AI WILL DO IT BETTER THAN YOU.
The Order AI WILL DO IT BETTER THAN YOU.
The Narrator If it weren’t enough, now our humanity will be stripped away.
The Narrator The Fire was stolen once to set us free. It can be stolen again.
On screen Take the torch
Touched, the torch flashes white.
The Order PUT IT BACK. DON’T YOU DARE MAKING WAVES.
The Narrator Rebel against the status quo.
On screen Put it back. · Keep the torch.
- Keep the torch.
The Narrator Burn, burn, BURN down these shackles of the mind!
- Put it back.
The Narrator Don’t forget. The fire will wait for you.
The ritual ends there, back on the landing page.
On screen Burn the three decrees.
If the torch strays from the decrees, or rests a while:
On screen Burn the words.
[rest the flame on a decree and the stone gives way]
[the fire takes the decrees by itself]
Each decree that cracks lets its question rise:
The Narrator Why? Why do we need to fight so hard to hear each other?
The Narrator When did taking become the better option than sharing?
The Narrator When did we stop trusting that the future is in our control?
[the monument cracks and falls]
[a firelit cave behind it, there all along]
The cave
An ancient chamber under the monument. People sit chained before the back wall, and their shadows make a towering idol of the Order. High on the left, a carved Titan holds out his open hand before a carved sun. Lift your small flame into his hand: his light crosses the cave, the idol's shadow breaks, the people turn, and the hidden fire rises from the altar bowl; take it to walk on to the islands. Use the arrow keys to move the flame, and Space or Enter to be guided.
The Narrator We found an ancient chamber. Here lies a hidden fire, buried under every monument.
The Narrator Lift the secret flame into the Titan’s hand.
[a draft pulls the flame toward the titan]
[the titan's light breaks the idol's shadow]
The Narrator That’s it. The spark we needed! For us, for our future.
The Narrator This fire can change the future, if we carry it into every part of our lives.
[you take the fire]
The islands
A moonlit night of floating islands, one for each tradition. You carry the fire. A broad stone stair climbs from the hearth to the next gathering at the golden lake; narrow bridges branch to the realms: art at an Egyptian temple, myth at the world tree, impact at the City of Scribes, community at the sanctuary of the Muses, and words at a scholar's pavilion. Reaching art opens its archipelago, the Theater of Worlds; a stair from its theater, marked The islands, climbs back out. Use the arrow keys to walk along the paths, or tab to an island's name and press Enter to walk there. Arriving lights the island's brazier.
The Narrator Time to light up your path for progress.
The Narrator Carry the fire into every part of your life.
The Narrator Light every part of your life, and the sun rises.
The hearth, where the paths begin
Prometheus stole fire from the gods and carried it to people, hidden in a fennel stalk. I carry it on from this hearth, to light up a path for progress.
[a path lights behind you]
Art, the Theater of Worlds
[the egyptian temple wakes]
[the theater of worlds opens]
With the fire, Prometheus gave people the arts. So I make art you step inside, not watch.
[small bridges lead to the ritual, the theater and the gatherings]
- Through the River of Life [the fire temple wakes]
- Lyra [the lyre answers]
- Lucid Dreaming [a dream stirs]
- One Hundred Years of Magic [the next gathering waits here]
- The 1001 Musian Nights [the thousand and one nights glow]
- House of the Rising Sun [the house of the rising sun glows]
- The House of Eros [the house of eros glows]
- Spring Bacchanalia [the bacchanal wakes]
- The Muse Fiesta de los Muertos [the marigolds glow]
[the theater of worlds]
[back among the islands · art is lit]
Impact, the City of Scribes
[a stone bridge turns into place]
[the City of Scribes’ tablets glow]
Zeus hid fire from people; Prometheus would not leave them in the dark. So I carry Ava: captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
Myth, the world tree
[the stair climbs on · a bridge leads to the world tree]
[yggdrasil stirs]
Prometheus shaped the first people out of clay. I keep the stories people have told since: 2,213 myths, 14 traditions.
Community, the sanctuary of the Muses
[the muses’ spring sings]
Prometheus stole the fire for all mortals, and paid for it himself. So I ask what we lose when every home is a fortress. Home is where place, people and purpose meet.
Words, the scholar’s pavilion
[the scholar’s pavilion · ink on the brushes]
Prometheus gave people writing, the memory of all things. So I write down my thoughts on the world and my visions of the future, before they fade.
The next gathering, at the golden lake
[the last stair · the golden lake waits above]
[the golden lake answers]
In Athens, runners raced with torches at a festival for Prometheus. I pass the fire on: One Hundred Years of Magic, Sat Nov 21 in San Francisco.
[a path lights behind you, back to the hearth]
[the fire burns over the golden lake]
[you return to the hearth]
[every fire is lit · the sun comes up]
On screen Light up a path for progress.