F E AT U R E 專 題 故 事
防 波 堤
In a world of total surveillance, some secrets remain. 在絕對監控的世界，仍然有秘密藏匿。
Words 文 Anna Simpson Illustrations 插畫 Bruno Silva
H
e walked past the former ship-loading bay and climbed up the seawall to the walkway above, setting his food down carefully. To his left was the glare of the Hong Kong skyline, against which he often saw the silhouettes of others like him. But tonight, he was alone. The seawall was a haven for Seb. Here, he felt more like himself. His experience of others changed: rather than anxiety and anger, he felt camaraderie. He rarely made eye contact or exchanged words, but when he saw them sitting there, looking out over miles of discarded plastic, he felt a certain kinship in their shared sense of despair. 112
ARIANA 2019
By the late 2040s, you could have anything, meet anyone, go anywhere – all thanks to the limitless possibilities of the virtual world. But while augmented experiences continued to develop at warp speed, a sense of apathy about the real world had set in. Curiosity, imagination, dreams... these were quickly becoming foreign concepts. Seb understood that virtual fulfilment ratings were at an all-time high and real-world ambition was at an alltime low. He’d witnessed this in a virtual class he’d taught by deviating from the curriculum when he asked his students about their dreams. They had mostly shrugged. Their parents, following via a livestream, were outraged.
