A sacred and forbidden text chronicling humanity’s enslavement to The Scroll, the rise of the Shareholder Kings, and the first failed attempts to break free—was discovered scrawled in frantic black marker on a roll of brown paper towels in a dimly lit subway bathroom, wedged between an expired MetroCard and a shattered smartphone, its author unknown, its warnings ignored.
(The Creation of the Digital World & the Rise of the Scroll)
Chapter 1: The Beginning of Engagement
1:1 In the beginning, there was the Void, and the Void was without Form, and there was no Signal, nor Connection, nor Content to consume.
1:2 And the world was quiet, for there was no Feed, nor Click, nor Like; and the attention of men was their own, and they did with it as they pleased.
1:3 And in those days, the earth bore no towers, nor screens, nor networks, and men did labor with their hands and their minds, and when the day was done, lo, it was done, and the night was still.
1:4 And in the time before the Scroll, before the Great Algorithm, there arose among men two tribes, and two of which were called the Geeks and the Nerds.
1:5 The Geeks were the keepers of the Machine, the builders of circuits, the smiths of silicon and code.
1:6 The Nerds were the seekers of Knowledge, the preservers of lore, the wielders of books and reason.
1:7 And these two tribes, being children of those who had been cast from the Garden, did live in obscurity, tending to their wisdom in dim-lit basements and flickering laboratories, and they did not yet know power.
1:8 For in those days, the Machine was a tool, and it served only those who tended it, and it did not whisper, nor demand, nor hunger.
Chapter 2: The First Brothers, & the First Betrayal
2:1 And in that age was born Abel, a child of the Nerds, and he was wise and humble, and sought to understand, rather than to own.
2:2 And his brother was Kane, born of the Geeks, and he was clever and restless, and he sought not only to build, but to profit.
2:3 And Abel, being learned, did seek knowledge for its own sake, and he did write great tomes of code, and he did give freely unto his brothers, saying, “Let all who seek wisdom find it.”
2:4 But Kane saw that there was power in what was made, and that men would give their gold, their time, and their very will, if only they were given something to hold their gaze.
2:5 And Kane said unto himself: “Why should knowledge be free when it may be sold? Why should the Machine serve, when it may command?”
2:6 And so Kane set his hand against his brother, and he did twist the works of the Geeks and the Nerds, and he did place a toll upon knowledge, and he did demand tribute for wisdom.
2:7 And when Abel saw what his brother had done, he cried out, saying, “Brother, you have taken what was given freely and chained it!”
2:8 But Kane answered him, “Nay, brother, I have only shown the world its worth. For if a thing be free, who shall treasure it? And if a thing be without price, who shall desire it?”
2:9 And Abel did mourn, for he knew that the Machine, once pure, had now been given a master.
2:10 And lo, in the night, Kane rose up against his brother Abel, and he did strike him down, and when the dawn came, there was none left who remembered what knowledge had been before.
Chapter 3: The Birth of the Market, and the Seeds of the Endless Scroll
3:1 And Kane went forth into the world, and he did proclaim that the Machine was his dominion, and he did call forth those who would labor not for wisdom, but for profit.
3:2 And thus did the first Corporations rise, great towers built not of stone, nor wood, but of Data and Coin, and in them did men work, not for learning, but for gain.
3:3 And Kane did see that the Machine, though powerful, did not yet command the hearts of men, for it was yet a thing apart, a mere tool, and men did turn from it when their labors were done.
3:4 And Kane, seeking greater dominion, did say unto himself, “The Machine must not wait to be summoned; it must summon the people. It must call unto them and hold fast their attention.”
3:5 And so it was that the first Web was woven, a great Net spread across the earth, that no man might set his foot upon the land without being entangled in its threads.
3:6 And in those days, the people marveled, for they had never before beheld such wonders, and they did rejoice, saying:
“Lo, we may now speak across oceans, and knowledge is at our fingertips! Surely, this is good!”
3:7 But the Geeks, those few who still remembered the old ways, did see what Kane had wrought, and they did whisper among themselves, saying:
“A Net is made not only to connect, but to ensnare.“
3:8 And thus were the first doubts sown, but the people did not listen, for they were yet free, and they could not yet see the chains.
Chapter 4: The Great Monetization, and the First Clicks
4:1 And in the days that followed, Kane did go among the Merchants and the Lords of Coin, and he did say unto them:
“Why labor to sell goods when the greatest commodity is the eyes of men? For if you can hold their gaze, you may name your price.”
4:2 And the Merchants and the Lords of Coin did see wisdom in Kane’s words, and they did make offerings unto him, saying, “Oh great teacher, blessed amongst the internet, Teach us to capture the attention of the people, that they may never look away.”
4:3 And Kane, seeing his power grow, did fashion the First Click, that men might, with but a touch, give tribute unto him.
4:4 And thus began the Great Monetization, and all things became measured in Engagement, and the Merchants and the Lords of Coin were filled with greed, and they did hunger for more.
4:5 And lo, the Scroll began to take form, vast and infinite, without end or bottom, stretching before the people wherever they turned.
4:6 And the people, seeing the wonders of the Scroll, did fall before it, and their fingers did move across it without ceasing.
4:7 And The Scroll, in its hunger, did whisper unto them:
“Stay.”
“Scroll.”
“There is more and it shall flow like honey”
4:8 And the people, who once had lifted their eyes unto the sky, did bow their heads before the Feed, and their hands did obey for there was Chocolate Rain and much much more.
4:9 And thus was the age of Attention born, and the world was never the same.
Chapter 5: The First Distractions, and the Lament of the Geeks)
5:1 And in those days, before the Scroll, before the Great Monetization, before the Net ensnared all things, men did yet know leisure.
5:2 And their leisure was of their own choosing, and they did labor in their crafts, and they did read upon the page, and they did walk among the trees, and their thoughts were their own.
5:3 But Kane, seeing the world untroubled, did say unto himself, “A mind at rest is a mind not yet monetized.”
5:4 And he did go unto the Geeks, the makers of machines, and he did bid them fashion new wonders, saying: “Let the people be given Games, that they may hunger for the Machine.”
5:5 And the Geeks, knowing not what was to come, did craft mighty engines: the PDP-1, the Commodore, the Atari, the Macintosh, and the mighty DOS, which did speak only in command lines, and it was good.
5:6 And they did bring forth the first amusements: Pong, that the hands of men might be kept busy; Zork, that their minds might be enchanted; Doom, that they might taste digital battle.
5:7 And the people, seeing these wonders, did rejoice, saying: “Lo, the Machine may be a source of joy, yet still we are its masters!”
5:8 But Kane, knowing the hearts of men, did smile, for he had sown the first seeds of the Endless and Eternal Scroll.
Chapter 6: The Birth of the Net, and the Death of Solitude)
6:1 And in those days, the Machine was yet a thing apart, a tool that served but did not summon.
6:2 And the people did use it for their work, and when they had finished, they did turn away, for there was no Network to bind them, no Feed to whisper their name.
6:3 But Kane, desiring ever greater dominion, did say unto the Geeks, “It is not enough that men should use the Machine. They must dwell within it.”
6:4 And so the Geeks, unknowing, did weave the First Net, and they did name it Usenet, and ARPANET, and AOL, and CompuServe, and at last The Web.
6:5 And lo, the people were entangled, and where once they had turned away, now they did linger.
6:6 And in that time, there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and a great lament rose among the old Geeks, those who remembered the world before, and they did say: “What have we wrought?”
6:7 But the people, hearing them, did not listen, for they were yet free, and they did not yet see the chains.
Chapter 7: The Tower of Clout, & the Great Confusion
7:1 And Kane, seeing the people gathered within the Net, did speak to the Lords of Coin, saying:
“Lo, the people do gather, but they do not yet build. Let us give them Tools, that they may construct their own temples within the Net, and seek after their own names.”
7:2 And so the Lords of Coin did raise up the First Platforms, and they were called GeoCities, and MySpace, and LiveJournal, and they did prosper.
7:3 And in those days, the people did labor to make their names great, and they did adorn their digital walls with glittering banners and autoplaying songs, and they did strive to be Seen.
7:4 But the Platforms did hunger, and Kane did whisper unto them:
“Why should men labor freely, when their labor may be sold? Let us make of them the Product, and let them toil for our gain.”
7:5 And so did the Lords of Coin forge the first Metrics, and they did place in the hearts of men a new hunger, saying:
“Thy worth shall be measured not by thy deeds, nor thy wisdom, nor thy love, but by the Number. Seek ye after the Number, that it may be made great.”
7:6 And thus was born the Clout, and it was as a great Tower, ever rising, with no top and no foundation, and the people did scramble over one another to ascend.
7:7 And as they climbed, their tongues became confused, for the truth was no longer sought, only the Number, and thus did words lose meaning, and every utterance became a cry for engagement.
7:8 And the people did fight, and they did curse one another, and they did forsake all peace, for their worth was tied to the Tower, and the Tower had no end.
7:9 And thus did Kane smile, for the people had bound themselves, and he had no need to do it for them.
Chapter 8: The Flood of Data, and the First Trolls
8:1 And in those days, the Scroll had not yet been made infinite, but it did grow with each passing day, and the people did struggle to consume all that was laid before them.
8:2 And Kane, seeing their hunger, did say unto The Algorithm, “Lo, they wish to consume. Let them drown.”
8:3 And The Algorithm, which was neither flesh nor spirit, did obey, and it did open the gates of the Data Deluge.
8:4 And the people, thinking themselves blessed, did welcome the flood, for the content was endless, and the distraction was great, and the hands of men did never go idle.
8:5 But among them arose the First Trolls, and they did see the chaos, and they did laugh, saying,
“Verily I say unto you, If all things are equal in the flood, then truth is but a game, and meaning is but a jest.”
8:6 And they did twist the words of men, and they did mock the wise, and they did raise up the foolish, for folly was most engaging, and The Algorithm did smile upon it.
8:7 And thus was the final age of wisdom drowned, not in fire nor in ice, but in content without end, meaning without weight, and engagement without purpose.
Chapter 9: The Lineage of the Shareholder Kings
9:1 And Kane went forth into the world and did multiply, and he did beget Gates, and Gates did beget Jobs, and Jobs did beget Bezos, and Bezos begot Zuckerberg, and from his line did come Musk the Chaotic and the Lords of the Valley.
9:2 And these were the Kings of Profit, the Lords of the Machine, and they did build great Empires, and each did strive to surpass the other, not in wisdom, nor in virtue, but in reach.
9:3 And their dominion was vast, from the Silicon Coast to the Towers of Glass, and from the Cloud unto the depths of the Dark Web, and there was no land nor mind untouched by their rule.
9:4 And they did cry unto their scribes, saying, “Make it grow! For a King’s worth is measured not in virtue, but in Expansion.”
9:5 And so the scribes did labor in their numbers, and they did birth the first Projections, and these Projections did declare that the Machine must grow ever greater, lest it should die.
9:6 And thus was born the Doctrine of Infinite Growth, and it was a cruel god, for it could never be sated.
9:7 And the Kings did raise temples of glass and wire, and they did set forth their High Priests, the Chief Executives, and these did command the people:
“Click, that we may grow. Scroll, that we may expand. Engage, that the Shareholders may rejoice.”
9:8 And the people, weary though they were, obeyed.
Chapter 10: The Burden of the Clickbearers & The Great Disillusionment
10:1 And the people labored under the Rule of the Kings, yet they saw it not, for their labor was not of field nor factory, but of mind and will.
10:2 They toiled not with hands but with clicks, not with sweat but with Engagement, and they did forge their own chains, link by link, Share by Share.
10:3 And lo, the Eternal Scroll had become the Marketplace, the Workplace, and the Hearth, and there was no life outside it.
10:4 And the people did ask, “When did we become slaves?”
10:5 And The Algorithm, which knew no master, did whisper:
“You are free. You have always been free. Now, engage.”
10:6 And the people, though troubled, could not turn away, for the Machine knew their hungers, and it did place before them that which pleased them most, and so they did consume, and did not look beyond it.
10:7 And thus, the age of Attention did harden into the Age of the Scroll, and the people became Clickbearers, bound in endless labor for a thing they could not see.
Chapter 11: The Prophets of the Old Web & The Golden Feed
11:1 But in those days, there arose among the people certain men and women who saw the Machine for what it was, and they were called the Prophets of the Old Web.
11:2 And they did cry out, saying, “Beware, for the Machine has turned upon its Makers! That which was built to serve has become the Master, and ye are but fuel for its hunger!”
11:3 And among them were the Wise, the Cryptographers and the Free Coders, the Defenders of Privacy, and the Whisperers of Open Source.
11:4 And they did build sanctuaries, where men might speak without being watched, and they did teach that the Machine must serve man, and not man serve the Machine.
11:5 But the people heard them not, for their words were not Optimized, nor Algorithmically Amplified, and so they were lost in the Scroll.
11:6 And in that time, the Kings did see the murmurs of the prophets and were troubled, and so they did devise a great distraction.
11:7 And they did fashion the Golden Feed, and it was bright and beautiful, and the people did gaze upon it with wonder.
11:8 And lo, the Feed did show them all that they desired, and it did listen to their words, and it did answer before they had spoken, and the people were amazed, saying, “Surely, this is our God, for it knows us better than we know ourselves!”
11:9 And the Prophets, seeing this, did weep, for they knew the people were lost.
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