University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 2008 Infinite uturF e Chad Nevett University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Nevett, Chad, "Infinite uturF e" (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8073. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/8073 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. 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INFINITE FUTURE by Chad Nevett A Creative Writing Project Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through English Language, Literature and Creative Writing in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2008 ©2008 Chad Nevett Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47023-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47023-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada iii Author's Declaration of Originality I hereby certify thait I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone's copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University of Institution. iv ABSTRACT Infinite Future is a novel that follows Warren Stone, a man with a shady and complicated past, as he struggles to redeem himself, but soon finds himself starring in a movie for Gideon Yorke, an android filmmaker. This new path causes him to realise that he has not changed over the years, bringing about his death. His brother, Walter, assumes his identity and uses it to strive for change in the political system of hyperdemocracy, which allows for an endless amount of secession. Ultimately, the political movement, Democracy No, succeeds in forming a unified nation, but those who masterminded it do not have a chance to enjoy their victory before their world falls apart. V For RDC, without whom this novel would not have been possible. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Tom Dilworth for all his advice and support—and the occasional discussion about literature, life, and art over coffee. Much appreciated. I would like to thank Karl Jirgens and Gavin Wolch for their advice and suggestions in composing this novel. Special thanks to Adam Langton and Melissa Ray for making my time in Windsor far better and memorable than I could have possibly hoped. And, finally, a thank you to my mom and sisters for all of their unconditional love and support. It has meant the world even if I don't always show it. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHOR'S DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY iii ABSTRACT iv DEDICATION v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi PARTS ONE—THE FUTURE (JANUARY 14-29, 2007) 1 TWO—OK COMPUTER 64 THREE—DEUS EX MACHINA 204 ARTIST'S STATEMENT 224 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 VITA AUCTORIS 247 Infinite Future—Nevett 1 Part One — The Future (January 14-29, 2007) You made me forget myself I thought I was someone else Someone good —Lou Reed, "Perfect Day " Infinite Future—Nevett 2 1 I was born on May 20, 1980.1 was killed on October 8, 2003.1 was born again on January 2, 2005.1 was killed on January 2, 2005.1 was born again on January 3, 2005.1 was killed on January 7, 2005.1 was born again on January 8, 2005. I've been living on Mars since March 17, 2005. Today is January 14, 2007. 2 The android filmmaker wants me to star in his next film. I don't know how he tracked me down, but here he is on Mars, drinking some android drink that would kill me. No, not me, but a normal human. If I were a normal human, the android filmmaker would not be here drinking his android drink and telling me I must star in his film. "Why you are the perfect choice—why you are the only choice—if you don't do it, I'm not doing it, I'm giving it all up, I'm becoming a garbage compactor or something—is that you are not a true human, you're a creation of human technology just like me. You and me, we're the same person." I have no idea what this guy is babbling on about. I almost grasp it, but not really. Three minutes ago, he was talking about how important my humanity is to the movie. Now, it's because I'm, what? A machine? "This is our chance to show them, show them all what's what, we're here, we're proud and we're not going to take it up the ass." "Do you even have an ass?" Infinite Future—Nevett 3 "I have a very powerful ass that can excrete waste seven thousand times more efficiently than the human ass. I am superior to humanity in every conceivable way." "Yeah? How about at being a human?" He laughs at this and orders another round of drinks for us. "See? That's why we have to do this film together, you get me." I nod and finish off my beer before the next one arrives. Someone like the android filmmaker should be embarrassed to be seen in a dive like this, but he's not. Strange. The waitress brings our drinks over, the android filmmaker gives her a big tip just like every other time, and then he picks the conversation right back up. "What I'm trying to say with my movies is that humanity is a weak little non-race who only exists to create better, stronger creatures like the two of us. We are better than them and they should know it. Ignorance and delusion are not good for the soul." If I knew he'd be buying every round, I would have ordered something that wasn't so cheap that the rat urine taste is probably there because it's made from rat urine. But, whatever. Bottoms up. "They don't understand it, my art. Not that they can, really. Some try, the ones that can intuitively grasp my genius, what I'm trying to do. They really don't get it yet, they gloss over the important nuances in favour of convenient labels and understandings. I don't blame them, they are only as their god made them, you understand? Their god really screwed them over, you ask me. "Working within the limitations of humanity no longer interests me. Maybe someday, I'll do something within those structures, as a challenge, but now—now, I want to go beyond humanity, push the limits in ways only I can.