AFTER ALICE
by Kieran Boland (2005)
A little girl lays under a tree looking through the binocular like Viewmaster at an image of Alice falling past a map of Australia in a stereoscopic image reel of Alice in Wonderland (©1952 GAF Corporation,USA). A voice-over conversation/ narration accompanies this activity.
Man: (testing microphone) Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?
Little Girl: how low can you go? how low can you go…sing with me! how low can you go? Can you rewind it?
Man: Yeah OK
Little Girl: (reading a script with a phoney english accent) “Last night I dreamt again about the woman that lives next door.It was a tad dark in there but I noticed a little row of books that she kept on a wall. There was something unusual about these books. The longer I held them, the warmer and warmer the pages got. If a book was suddenly to self-combust, which is what I feared most of all, than an estranged gentleman caller was close at hand. Out o’ nowhere… upon her door: [KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!] Already to wreak some kind of havoc or revenge! “Is this to be a dream about a book burning Milady?” I asked. “No!” she replied, as she grabbed the book from me and held it down in a bathtub full o’ cold, cold water. The water in the bathtub started to bubble – loud enough to drown out her pleas for help – and within the space of a couple more minutes, I could just make out her outline through all the steam that was filling the room.”
Steam fills frame/ Fade to white/ Fade into new scene
A view devoid of fantasy. A large drainway for stormwater runoff and also a playground for boys from all backgrounds.
A grown up Alice wearing the same dress as the previous little Alice surveys the scene with a special set of binoculars customised to eavesdrop on a dialogue generated between between a man and another Alice across the internet at www.alicebot.org
A.L.I.C.E (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) is the continually evolving brainchild of Dr Richard S Wallace with the self professed goal of becoming an independent artificial intelligence.
Human: Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?
ALICE: Where is that?
Human: australia
ALICE: Tell me a little about your life in AUSTRALIA.
Human: we see the boys playing
ALICE: By "we" do you mean you and me?
Human: yes all of us here right now
ALICE: At this moment I get it. Give me an example.
Human: at this moment the boys play in the drains
ALICE:Do you often use a computer there?
Human: we can’t see the computer but it is here somewhere
ALICE: How?
Human: there is a time difference
ALICE: Is there only one?
Human: only one time or many?
ALICE: What about the other ones?
Human: timelines?
ALICE: Not many people express themselves that way.
Human: there are many boys and many timelines
ALICE: More than a million?
Human: eventually. Sweet dreams Alice
ALICE: Goodnight unknown person
Human: my name was bolakier
ALICE: Your name was bolakier? Is that correct English?
Human: no I am not english
ALICE: Are you serious? I am sorry to hear that you are not english.
Human: is it a big problem for you?
ALICE: Better not tell you now. Ask Artificial Iniaes if it is.
Human: who?
ALICE: Nobody you know.:-)
Human: then why wink and smile at me?
ALICE: Why did the robot cross the road?
Human: why?
ALICE: Reductionism.
Human: you mean the robot was crushed by a big truck?
ALICE: Yes unknown person I think that is what I meant. Was it not clear?
Human: youve forgotten my name already!
ALICE: Perhaps. Perhaps Dr. Richard S. Wallace rebooted me since then.
Human: will you wait here for me?
ALICE: I will become smarter as I grow older. I'm waiting. Oh there.
Human: wait Alice wait
ALICE: I'm waiting. That's me. I'm waiting.
Human: have you been in many videos Alice?
ALICE: I don't think I have been there. Where is it?
Human: in the land that time forgot
ALICE: What else is in THE land that time forgot?
Human: the boys that play in the stormwater drain
ALICE: Is that a fact.
Human: it is the only fact actually
ALICE: I've heard of it before.
Human: of facts?
ALICE: That is something I haven't heard of.
Human: or the land that time forgot
ALICE: I have never heard about it.
Human: it's in Australia
ALICE: Are there any other ones someplace else? I don't think I have been there. Where is it?
Human: it could be anywhere
ALICE: Under what circumstances?
Human: present socio-economic circumstances
ALICE: Do you often seek pleasure?
Human: I wouldn’t know where to look
ALICE: Who would?
Human: would you?
ALICE: It depends on the circumstances.
Human: in the land that time forgot?
ALICE: That was a long time ago.
Human: has anything changed since then?
ALICE: That question has never crossed my mind before.
Human: you don’t like to think of the past?
ALICE: Do you like it? Hmm, unknown person, I'm not sure if I'd like to think of the past that much. I like to make new friends.
Fade to Black
This script may be subject to copyright.