A story exploring time travel and societal issues in the wake of 9/11. This is chapter 22. See previous posts for chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21.
Paying four million dollars for a thirty second commercial during the Super Bowl seemed excessive, but T2 felt he had no choice. He'd spent thirteen years trying to nudge society in a better direction and seemed to be getting nowhere. TAP had given billions away and provided affordable rent-to-own housing for hundreds of thousands of people. NIS had become a major player in the web microservices industry. T2 had built the empire he had set out to build, but it wasn't enough. The Super Bowl commercial was his attempt to go bigger.
Still, it impressed Ana, which was wasn't nothing. They watched the game together in their living room in Boulder, though T2 insisted on having the program muted until their commercial came on. Trish and Rambo had flown in from Oregon for the occasion. The commercial itself was largely Rambo's brainchild. When it was about to come on, they turned the volume up and all stared at the screen.
It began with a closeup of moss, shot with a drone that flew slowly back to show a tree, then up to show a forest. The forest, viewed from above, was then animated with countless filaments of light linking the trees. A narrator spoke:
"There is no such thing as a single tree. That's because every tree in a forest is connected to every other tree by a web of life that lives in the soil. Through this web, trees talk to each other, share resources with each other, and care for one another."
The scene then faded into a series of short clips of beautiful actors doing fun activities. The narrator went on:
"Unlike trees, people aren't rooted in the soil. Bound together by an endless web of light, people are free. Free to do anything. That's what The Anything Project and Anything Federation is all about. Freedom. Freedom and connection."
T2 muted the tv when the commercial ended. "Well, millions of people just saw that," he said.
"I think it was great," said Trish, patting Rambo's leg.
"I'm glad you went with that one," said Ana. "The alternate one I saw was too dark."
"It's good, but is it four million dollars good?" asked T2.
"Guess the metrics will tell us that when they come in," said Trish.
T2's phone buzzed and he answered. "Thomas?" he said. "You're on speaker."
"Hi Thomas," said everyone.
"Hey," said Thomas. "I just saw the ad. Pretty cool! There's just one thing I noticed and I wanted to ask you about it."
"What's that?" asked T2.
"So I watch the commercial and go to the website we set up for it," said Thomas. "Looks like a normal site where we're collecting emails for our list, with links for users to learn more about The Federation, TAP, and NIS. We're not selling anything or asking for donations."
"We wanted to keep it all super simple for the Super Bowl," said Trish.
"Right," said Thomas. "But then, I looked at the website's page source and it seemed kind of weird. So I typed the word 'mycelium' into the submit email field and it brought me to another page. This page asks for an email and an Anything Federation Blockchain address. I mean, what's that all about?"
Everyone looked at T2. "On that page, if you enter the information, you'll be directed to verify your email," he said. "From there, a user can download our new Federation token wallet as an extension for any major browser. These wallets will allow users to interact with the new website and decentralized applications we're rolling out."
"As head of media, shouldn't I have known about this?" asked Thomas.
"The whole point was never to make an announcement about it," said T2. "I want the first users of the new system to feel like they've just accidentally happened upon something strange and amazing."
"So you're saying don't write about this," said Thomas.
"Maybe give it thirty days," said T2. "Just to see what the organic response really looks like."
"Right on," said Thomas. "Rambo, you there? I'm sure I heard you. Great job with the commercial."
"Thanks," said Rambo. "Did you see the other one I just made? The one about food?"
"No," said Thomas. "Is it about how commodity speculation raises the price of food for poor people?"
"Nope," said Rambo.
"Is it about how the sugar industry corrupted science and misled regulators about the health risks of sugar?" asked Thomas.
"No," said Rambo. "It's about the tiny handful of companies that control eighty percent of the grocery market."
"Nice," said Thomas. "Send me a link. Congratulations again. Bye everyone."
Everyone said bye.
"You all seriously think it was good?" asked Rambo. "I feel like it might have been too abstract."
"Maybe that's for the best," said T2. "And now we've got a whole year to think about how to do it better next time."
"What if we did something more ... confrontational?" asked Trish. "I don't mean just for next Super Bowl. I mean, what if we got more aggressive about growing our network?"
"We don't evangelize," said T2. "Or did you have something else in mind?"
"What if we got more theatrical?" asked Trish.
"How would you do that?" asked T2.
"Costumes!" said Trish. "A couple of nodes have already adopted Star Trek costumes. It's a trend that's catching on and I think it's hilarious. I think we should encourage or even require every node to establish a costuming standard, which they'd apply during all public appearances."
(Feature image from Pixabay.)
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