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Ch 10, Sprofile: Space Profile

Logan didn't know what it was about living in the 28th century that helped him get over not being a morning person-- perhaps it was his new Corpus, or maybe it was a more positive outlook on his future, perhaps it was simply a matter of having something to focus on during his day, but the young man once again awoke before the alarm he set went off. Deactivating it on his implant, Logan got up and started his day.

He went through all of his standard morning rituals-- most unchanged since before he his Corpus Verto and some slightly modified... such as his ultrasonic toothbrush. Breakfast was a little different as well, seeing as the kitchen was able to use a suite of nanobots to put together a large menu of meals. He remembered Star mentioning something about them being programmed by combining technical cooking recipes with his memories of his favorite dishes-- that certainly explained why so many of his favorite dishes were present.

Once his thoughts turned to Star she occupied his brain as he finished getting ready fro class. He kept thinking back to the evening they spent together in VR, living his sister's wedding through the recorded experiences of her wedding guests and other bystanders on the cruise ship. It was eerie to think that such things could be preserved in time; in some ways it gave him comfort and in others he wondered if perhaps he was putting too much emphasis on living via shadows of times past. It was certainly a philosophical quandary, and Logan was not naturally a philosopher so his mind wandered quickly beyond.

He did end up waxing nostalgic about Susie, wondering just what he'd missed in the years between when he'd had his brain scanned at the clinic and, ultimately, the date of his death. Beyond that, he was left with an empty hole between that date and the date that he had undergone Corpus Verto. For some reason he couldn't explain, Logan felt more remorse for missing those few years that the 'other him' got to experience than the centuries in which they'd both been absent. The young man couldn't help but wonder if that meant he was jealous of his past self, or just illogical. He ended up settling for 'both'.

If waking up early were a rarity for Logan then getting anywhere early was pure myth and yet, the young man found himself arriving at the classroom ahead of schedule for the third time. Interestingly enough, he wasn't alone. Harper called from the adjoining hallway "Logan! Hey! Logan!"

Remembering that the Hollywood star had left him multiple unanswered messages the prior night, Logan was quick to apologize. "Oh! Hey, Harper! Sorry for not gettingh back to you last night, Star and I were--"

Harper didn't wait for the explanation. "How'd you do it?"

Pausing to assess the question for a moment, Logan still didn't have the faintest idea what Harper meant. "Do what? Put on Do Not Disturb mode?"

The star gave him a bland look. "No, Logan... I want to know how you got so many Followers so fast!"

The clarification didn't help. "Followers? What? I don't know what you--"

Harper deflated immediately, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Man... I'm being serious here! LHM-- the social media for the Spire. You've looked it up, right?"

Logan shook his head. "No... what's that?"

Leaning against the wall as if he'd just been shot, Harper gaped. "You're KIDDING, right? You have more followers than ME and you haven't even checked out LHM?"

Once it was readily evident that Logan wouldn't get any clarification without outright asking for it, he pushed forward. "Harper... I don't know what you're talking about. What the heck is LHM?"

Mouth moving as if he were a fish out of water, Harper finally managed to push the words out. "Just... pull it up on your implant. Holy shit... I feel sick..."

After a pause, Logan did just that, requesting more information about LHM. In response, the metanet connection brought him details of the Luna Habitat Media program-- an interactive social media application through which residents and visitors to the Luna Colony could look up, check in on, and interact with one another. In all of the young man's rush to catch up to the new society around him he hadn't even considered the possibility that some of the archaic methods of interaction from his own era may have survived the test of time.

Sure enough, as he quickly scanned through it, Logan saw that he had an account. "I... don't remember signing up for this."

Harper rolled his eyes. "You don't sign up for it, Logan-- when you're on the Moon you just... show up on it. It's like... automatic, or something."

Logan did a quick check on his profile and saw that it was mostly empty-- other than a picture of him, details of his Corpus Verto, that he was Class 1, and that he was on a 'Probationary License', whatever that meant. He also noticed something else. "Hey... it looks like I have one thousand, seven hundred and four DMs. And it says probationary licenses can't open direct messages?"

Harper pushed himself up off the wall, smoothing out his shirt indignantly. "I know, right? I already did some research onit: we can't look at our DMs until we're off our probationary licenses, but all of us have em... I already checked."

Glancing toward the star, Logan thought about that for just a moment until he realized that his errant contemplation was taken as an actual inquiry by his implant and, under Harper's name, which popped up on his HUD, was the notice "619 PRIVATE MESSAGES.". There was more information as well, but it didn't make sense.

The words were out of his mouth before he even thought about it. "Any idea what the differences are between green white and red messages?"

Harper jumped up at that, taking a step closer. "Really? I heard about those but I can't see for myself. Green messages are like 'atta boys' or something; white messages are just contacts or casual comments; red DMs are people trash talking you... which is fine, seeing as DMs are private anyway-- I can handle some negative feedback."

Having no idea whether it was good or not, Logan provided it. "Oh.. uh.... four hundred and eight of yours are red."

The Hollywood star deflated immediately. "What the fuck? Not THAT private I guess. And what's up with that? You have over 1200 DMs and only NINE are red? How is THAT fair? We can't even adjust our profiles or anything so how the hell do they expect us to keep up with the algorithm, or whatever the fuck they use these days? It doesn't make any sense!"

Logan was saved from having to provide an answer as Pete joined them in the hallway, a big smile on his face. "Morning, gentlemen! I must be doing a great job leading orientation if I have TWO early students!"

Harper immediately took control of the conversation. "Pete! What's with this LHM thing?!? How do we have profiles already and why can't I update mine? I have a BRAND, man, and I gotta grow it the right way!"

If the Hollywood star's demeanor affected him in any way, Pete didn't show it in the least. Easy smile still on his face, the instructor held up both his hands, palms out toward Harper in a placating gesture. "Whoa... easy there, Mr. Knight. That's actually our topic for discussion today in class. Have a little patience and we'll get to it. I promise. Besides... it's really just a game-- nobody takes these things seriously."

Harper took a step forward, then another, the volume of his voice raising with each step, along with the aggressive tone. "Listen... PETE. I've been REAL patient so far. We've had a few days of class and you'be been treating us like kids. Learning all the shit we need to know to get by is one thing, but there's more important stuff than knowing how to find my way to the fucking bathrooms. If people are going to be interacting with my social media, I WANT ACCESS. RIGHT. FUCKING. NOW!"

Although Logan really didn't want anything to do with the discussion, he was surprised when he noticed a change on his HUD and he spoke up before he could stop himself. "Uh... Harper? You JUST got another handful of red DMs."

The star recoiled as if he'd been struck. His eyes to Logan, then back to Pete. "What the fuck? Are... are you recording this or something? How-- how in the hell did....? What's going on!?!"

Pete, rather than respond, simply gestured toward the room. "I promise I'll provide you with answers first thing... but this is a discussion for the entire class so, please... come inside and take a seat."

Harper looks back to Logan, confusion and embarrassment clearly written on his face. It turned to indignation and he stormed into the room, mumbling something about "...and he gets another fucking three green ones... seriously... what. the. shit?"

The rest of the class had just started showing up, those in the vanguard catching the very end of Harper's rant. Although Logan got a few glances in his direction none of the newcomers bothered asking him about it. Everyone funneled into the room and the class filled quickly; Harper, for once, did not sit next to Logan, choosing a spot at the side of the space, turning his chosen chair around so he could sit backwards in it, lets spread, arms resting on the backing as he stared toward the front where Pete was setting up.

Their instructor, as usual, was a bright light in the morning with a ready smile that didn't seem the least affected by Harper's earlier outburst. "Alright everyone-- find a seat and settle on in; we're about to get started. We have a lot to cover today and I'm sure we'll have a lot of questions to field."

Harper's dour expression was his only repsonse ot the comment and Logan, who was seated in the back of the room was thankful for the absence of a verbal altercation. In order to occupy his time, the young man instead glanced around at all of his classmates, kicking his implant into gear as he checked out what info he could find on everyone's social profiles. A large number of those in attendance had less than a hundred private messages awaiting-- most of them across the board were white messages.

Unlike himself and Harper, nobody else caught his eye with more than around two hundred-- until he saw one of the pre-middle-aged guys who usually sat toward the front; unlike previous days in which the man was timely, he was one of the last to show that morning... and he wasn't alone. Three ladies clung to him (one of them looked like a humanoid panther), exchanging kisses with him and one another, hanging off of him in a manner that suggested more than 'passing familiarity', and Logan was sure he saw at least one grope involved. As Logan stared, he saw that the man's DM's increased by four in number-- he had a lot of greens and reds.

If Pete was displeased by the near-tardienss and distraction he didn't let it show, instead professionally calling to the student. "Mr. Muller... if you would like to find a seat, we can begin."

Harper wasn't quite as diplomatic. "Hey! Elias! We're waiting on you, man! You can tap that later."

Elias Muller, per the HUD notification glanced one more time at the girls and murmured something to them in Romansh; Logan didn't know Romansh, but his uplink was kind enough to not only inform him of what it was, but also what was spoken. "Later, ladies. Plenty more to go around."

With everyone finally seated, Pete got to the topic at hand. "So... first, let me start by saying I am pleased that so many of you continue to learn about your implants, the uplink, and how to access the metanet. With your continued personal and comprehensive growth, we are going to explore some of the more nuanced aspects of interaction with the ever-increasing technologically and informationally advanced culture of Trans-humanity. Now-- this morning, I was informed that several students here have learned about the LHM, or, the 'Lunar Habitat Messenger', a social media program connected to every resident and visitor of the Lunar Habitat."

Logan glanced around, taking special note that most of the students were accessing the program even as Pete spoke about it. He continued even as they did so. "So... it is important to note that you are all under Provisional Licensing when connecting to the LHM-- that will continue until you complete orientation, at which point you will automatically be upgraded to a full user account which will allow you to update your profiles, provide information about yourself, update your social media status and, of course, check private messages."

Lillian let out what Logan had come to consider a 'middle aged lady squeal' and she blushed when many of the class looked her way. She offered a sheepish smile, stating "I have ninety three messages!"

Harper's scowl carried with it a storm cloud that Logan could feel even past the distance between them. "And almost forty of em are green?"

The woman glanced at Harper, and her eyes eventually settled on Logan; unable to figure out what else to say, the young man explained "Green messages are people sending positive comments to you... looks like most of your messages are green and white."

Pete quickly took control of the class, speaking over the students, who had started communicating amongst themselves in surprise and anticipation. "Class-- You will note that you all have private messages awaiting your response and, as of the end of class tomorrow, you will be able to review them. The reason you are able to access this knowledge today without being able to access the information behind it is because you need to understand how the system works, and so you do not read to deeply into it."

The asian man in the front raised his hand. When Pete called upon him, he asked "This seems straight forward. What is there to understand?"

Pete took the inquiry in stride. "A very good question, Mr. Yakimura. To answer it, I will have to point out a few of your contemporaries. Lillian there, for example, has 93 messages, 38 of which are green and 9 red. This is not the same as... say... Logan here, who has 1251 with 1002 Green messages and only eleven red-- or Harper, who has 624, but 419 are Red and only 62 are Green. This isn't--"

Harper grunted, stating in strained monotone. "Thanks for pointing that out, Pete... it's not embarrassing or anything."

The instructor continued on. "It isn't MEANT to be embarrassing-- and that is the point. This social media program is a game... a way to interact beyond a face-to-face method. It is a deepening of socialization anda way to connect with the rest of Trans-humanity present at Luna. Understanding THAT is the main point of introducing all of you to this system slowly."

Taking a moment to let that sink in, Pete stepped out from behind his desk to sit on the corner as he continued. "I realize that, back in the 22nd and even the 23rd century social media and electronic socialization was, in some cases, a matter of life and death. That is NOT the case in the 28th century, and it needs to be seen for the game it is. LHM is something you can have fun with... not something that should rule your life."

Harper interjected. "Why in the hell do I have so many RED messages? That CAN'T be a good thing!"

Their instructor patiently explained. "LHM is a way for Trans-humanity to interact with one another. When you receive a red DM it means someone doesn't approve of something you've done that they've witnessed-- don't think of it as someone complaining; it's more like a suggestion or a recommendation."

One of the other students by the edge of the classroom closer to Harper added quietly "You just got another red DM."

Harper didn't take it well. "GYAH! WHAT. THE. FUCK! HOW?!?!"

Pete calmed the class with a look before glancing to the afflicted actor. "These orientation classes are very popular among established residents on Luna, Mr. Knight. Activities occurring in here are watched closely by certain inhabitants, and they are very free with their praise, advice, and critiques."

The Hollywood star stood up, pointing a finger at Pete. "You said we we on probationary accounts! I thought we can't be observed until we opt in!"

Nodding, their instructor explained. "Partially correct. You won't generate a feed for people to follow until you opt in. Once you opt in you may elect to share visual and sound or increase your feed to three, four or all five senses-- at your discretion you can also include internal dialogue and emotions too... all at your own discretion."

Harper wasn't done. "But I'm not on the feed yet! How can people be observing me to even drop comments?!?"

Rather than answer verbally, Pete simply raised a finger and pointed to his own eyes. As the unspoken comment seemed to sink in, he finally elaborated. "I have a full account, and transmit audio and visual during class."

The star looked aghast. "I didn't sign off on being recorded!"

Pete actually smiled; it looked serene, but Logan could imagine at least some amount of satisfaction in it. "You don't need to. This is a public space and I gave authorization for people to follow MY feed. The fact that you show up in it is immaterial."

Harper slammed his hands on his knees in what almost looked like a tantrum. "I want a do over! If this is just a game then it shouldn't matter, right? Do over!"

Without missing a beat, their instructor shook his head, stating "There is no 'do-over', Mr. Knight... if you're worried about your messages showing you can just read them-- or delete them. When they aren't pending they won't show on your profile."

The actor slumped in his chair. "Thank god..."

The (un)helpful student near the Hollywood Star spoke in a loud aside to him "You're up to 424 red now, dude."

Although Harper tensed at that statement he did, to his credit, restrain his response as he stared at Pete. "So what you're saying is: everyone's watching all this from YOUR point of view?"

Their instructor nodded. "Correct."

The actor finally raised something other than an objection, and it was a relatively insightful question in Logan's opinion. "Then how are people supposed to get MY point of view? Seems kinda one sided..."

Pete's smile was warm and genuine, not unlike a dad whose child just offered up proof that a lesson had been learned. "Very good, Mr. Knight; you've just provided the answer as to why most people choose to opt into every habitat's local social media feed."

Another student called out "You mean there's more programs than just LHM?"

The teacher turned in that direction. "Correct, Ms. Bussard. Each hab has its own social media and there are several programs that can connect people between or among hab clusters. Understanding the social rules of a habitat you visit is the key to understanding each community's social capital."

Mr Yakimura addressed that statement with a follow up question. "Social capital... that is like money based on reputation, yes?"

Pete turned to regard the Asian man in the front row. "Yes, and no. There are some habs that use social capital as an economy, but that is an exception to the rule-- like the capitalistic monetary system of much of Earth's history there are a number of problems inherent in the system, especially the likelihood for dramatically uneven distributions of wealth. In most communities reputation is respected, but not 'banked'." One consistency is that most of Trans-humanity doesn't respond well to poorly executed anti-social activity."

Lillian questioned that line of thinking. "Pete... what do you mean 'poorly executed'? Isn't ALL anti-social activity generally seen as a bad thing?"

Their instructor smiled in his endless-patience way. "Not entirely, Lillian, but a very good question. There are a number of counter-culture movements in place at any one time, and many habs have a healthy population of shock-activists. Trans-humanity changes often and a variety of norms are constantly in flux. For those who like to be avantguarde and lead this change, the ability to stand out and go against the grain is the equivalent to an artist's paintbrush. For others, who just want to get by without constantly being on everyone's feed, they'll choose not to opt in or, at least, choose times when they want to be in Privacy Mode."

The class went quiet at that... for all of five seconds, before Harper cut in. "Privacy Mode... cool... cool... but that probably doesn't cut you from others' feeds, does it?"

Pete offered a succint nod. "You are correct, Mr. Knight. Others have a right to broadcast just as you have a rite to NOT broadcast-- your rights cannot infringe on theirs so, if you do not want to show up on social media you would have to elect to self isolate, otherwise, if you're out in the community you're part of the digital society as well as the physical one. When you're around someone who is broadcasting you stand a chance of being in their feed. That's the rule on MOST habs, anyway."

Harper raised an eyebrow. "Most?"

Their instructor nodded. "Very few rules are absolute, Mr. Knight-- you can find exceptions if you look hard enough. There are some Habs with self-enforced privacy standards, but they're exceptions. Kepler-V, on the other hand, is an example of a Hab where all residents and most visitors are required to have a full level 4 broadcast going at all times on Kep-Insight, their social media system.... that means you are broadcasting video, audio, emotion, and inner thoughts every second you're there."

The student near Harper gasped. "Holy shit... that's awesome-- and really freaky."

Pete shrugged. "I would assume someone growing up on Kepler-V would find being disconnected from that constant insight into others to likewise be unusual. It is all a matter of perspective, Jim."

When Pete stopped talking the class let the pregnant pause remain long enough that he was the one to determine when the silence ended, and he did so by jumping right back into the lesson. "Alright-- the next step is to show everyone how to control their social media feeds and determine, presuming you WANT to broadcast, whether you're doing that at level 1, level 2, level 3, or level 4. Level 1 is limited to audio and visual transmission, allowing observers of your feed to see and hear what you're experiencing-- this is the level I have active during class."

Logan was so busy digesting what Pete was saying he completely ignored the casual questions some of the slower members of class brought up, well-knowing by that point that he could always later reexamine what his senses picked up despite not paying attention in the moment. He realized that the level 1 recordings were probably the basis for what Star used to recreate the memory of Susie's cruise ship wedding.

He snapped back into the present when Pete continued the discussion. "A level 2 broadcast continues additional senses such as tactile sensations, smells and tastes-- these can also be selectively edited too, but most people prefer to share the real experience, positives and negatives together."

Another flurry of mundane questions arose in the classroom as Logan revised his perception of the VR program Star had run. Was Pete even talking about those kinds of memory recordings, or were the social media broadcasts something different? Heedless of the thoughts running through Logan's head, the instructor continued answering questions until the rest of the class was again silent.

He concluded the discussion with the final two levels. "A level 3 broadcast lets followers experience the emotions felt by an account holder while broadcasting at level 4 also includes inner monologues. In general, only professional social media personalities broadcast at that level as untrained and inexperienced account holders often have internal dialogue including some subconscious and unedited thoughts sneak into their 'narratives'."

Harper spoke up before anyone else could. "Okay... cool. And we're learning this now because...?"

Pete, as usual, was the perfect picture of limitless patience. "Because, Mr Knight, you will have a chance to experiment with the record levels and try some recordings between the end of the class and tomorrow morning to get a better feel for how the program works. All of the recordings you make during that time will be available only to you as provisional account holders in order to better help you understand how the system works. The rest of the class today will focus on commands, broadcast levels, and real-time editing."

Turning toward the class as a whole, Pete continued. "Most importantly, we are going to start by discussing social media searches so, class-- I would like each of you to open up your LHM program and do a search for one or two of your classmates... please do that now. This will give you a chance to explore how you are perceived by other residents of the hab by tapping into their feeds."

Doing as requested, Logan did a search for Lillian and saw over 1000 listings. He then did a check for Harper and was surprised when the feeds came back at over 4000. Realizing how egocentric it was, but willing to look past the personality fault, Logan then looked himself up and paused when the search engine took a few extra microseconds-- the results came back with well over 11,000 recordings!

Opening up the search folder, Logan saw that there were a number of ways to search the listings and, using the same method he used back in the 22nd century to get a good feeling for a searched topic he opened up the 'most viewed' file. He froze in place when he saw himself and he immediately knew what he was seeing: he was looking out of Star's eyes at himself in the VR program. Not only could he see and hear the goings-on, but he felt echoes of what must have been Star's emotions, and even get a feel for what she was thinking. He quickly disconnected before the oddity of the situation struck him, but he was still left with an echo that wouldn't go away.

Star was desperately lonely. It made sense considering how old she was, but nothing seemed to fill that void. She wanted so badly to connect and, in that moment, on the ship, she felt something that was not emptiness. Despite how little they knew of one another, Star thought of him as family. She found him handsome... and mysterious... and cute-- in a quaint, backwards kind-of-way. He was a novelty to her, but one she didn't considered disposable. She worried about him... concerned that he would have trouble fitting into the 28th century. His niece wanted to protect him-- she wanted to see him succeed. Most of all, in that moment, she had been thankful. She had never shown anyone that VR program, and was glad that she could share it with him.

It took several seconds for him to completely process those emotions and, in that time, he didn't notice almost every head in class turning to regard him; a near-instant check on Star's most-searched recent broadcast revealed that, essentially, the entire class had seen it. Silence prevailed for a very long time until Harper broke it. "Dude... your aunt is pretty damn hot."

Jim glanced to the the actor and, after a moment's pause, stated blandly. "I think that's, like, almost another 20 red comments for you, dude-- oh... and three green. I bet those three must think she's pretty hot too."