First, EarVu hit #33 on Amazon Kindle Science Fiction, High Tech ebooks today. Thanks for that! :)
Before we get into it, I now have EarVu on Amazon.com which includes the original posted below and is free for download, Today Only! Okay, I'm lying, I'll also put it up for free on Halloween.
Also, starting for Halloween I have lowered the price on my epic Horror novel, Death of Heaven down to $3.99. Tell your friends!
And apparently there is now an iPod cover available for Ear Vu too!
Okay, as I had said last week I am posting here today the original story that I found and wrote last weeks posting from. The original notes for this were from about twenty years ago and I'm still looking for those. The date on this file below was 2007, so I must have updated it at some point. Also, the caps are the from the 2007 version as I found it.
The non caps below are my more recent additions, and then last week's postings are the very latest version that I am in the process of releasing as an ebook on Amazon.com. I indicate in the text below where the original stops and the newer material begins ("day 10 (later)"). The last few paragraphs of the old text, I had started to retype in lowercase, then simply started typing a continuing new story after that; and so not in caps from then on.
So I am posting it here just how I saw it last month when I had opened it for the first time in a long time. So you can see exactly what I was working with. You may find it an interesting juxtaposition between this and the released version of last week. I am still looking for the most "original", original notes and the rewrite I had done for a novel that I had never finished, some years ago. So there are actually several versions of this story. The "original" original, being mostly about industrial espionage.
And so, here you go....
EARVIEW RESEARCH JOURNAL
Dr. James Michaelson
day 1
WE BEGIN STUDIES OF VIDEO VIEWING FROM AUDIO TAPES.
day 2
AS AUDIO TAPES WORK THROUGH THE RECORDING OF SOUNDS WAVES,
(FORCES OF PRESSURE AGAINST A MICROPHONE), TURNING PHYSICAL MOVEMENTS
INTO ELECTRICAL IMPULSES, PLAYBACK PRODUCES AUDIO TONES WHICH, WITH A
SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH SYSTEM, CAN "SHOW" THE DIMENSION OF SOUND
QUALITY, DEPTH OF FIELD, ETC., (I.E., EACH INSTRUMENT IN AN ORCHESTRA). WHAT WAS ONLY RECENTLY REALIZED WAS THAT THE MAGNETIC SUBSTANCES ON THE SILICON RECORDING TAPE, CAN RECORD AMAZING AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION, WHICH WHEN LINKED TOGETHER WITH A GOOD COMPUTER, CAN REPRODUCE MORE THAN SIMPLY DUPLICATED RADIO WAVES OF LIMITED RANGE.
OUR NEW CRAY SUPER MINI-COMPUTER, WHEN LINKED TOGETHER WITH THE "EARVU
TAPE PLAYER", CAN REPRODUCE VISUALLY, AS WELL AS AURALLY, NEARLY THE
ENTIRE MUSIC HALL, OR DEFINITELY, THE ENTIRE RECORDING STUDIO, WHERE
THE MUSIC WAS PLAYED AT THE TIME OF RECORDING.
day 3
ANY RECORDING MACHINE CAN MAKE GOOD ENOUGH TAPES THAT WILL
REPRODUCE THE VIDEO SCENE AT THE TIME OF RECORDING. HOWEVER, THE
BETTER THE EQUIPMENT, THE BETTER THE QUALITY OF THE VISUALS SEEN, AND
THE DEEPER ONE CAN TRAVEL...INTO THAT MOMENT.
day 4
THE SCREEN IS VAGUE AT THE DISTANCES AND LOOKS MUCH LIKE A FILMED
DREAM SEQUENCE. BUT, THE NEWER COMPUTER PROGRAMS ARE CORRECTING MUCH
OF THAT. BREAKTHROUGHS ARE HAPPENING FASTER THAN WE HAVE TIME AND
MANPOWER TO HANDLE THE NEW DIRECTIONS IN WHICH TO GO. OF THE 3
SCIENTISTS WORKING HERE WITH ME, WE ALL ARE SEARCHING SEPARATE
DIRECTIONS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF OUR DAILY, SCHEDULED PURSUITS. IT IS
BELIEVED THAT IN THIS WAY, WE WILL BE ABLE EVENTUALLY TO MAP THE
IMPLICATIONS OF THIS FIND.
day 5
THE METAL PARTICLES ON THE MAGNETIC TAPE HAVE MORE RECORDING
CAPABILITIES THAN WAS EVER CONCEIVED TO HAVE BEEN THE CASE. JUST AS A
PHOTOGRAPH CAN NOW BE USED TO "LOOK AROUND CORNERS", WITHIN THE FRAME
OF THE SCENE TAKEN, "MOVING PICTURES", NO, THAT IS NOT QUITE CORRECT;
CONTINUOUS MOTION PICTURES, CAN NOW BE MADE FROM THE AUDIO RECORDINGS
OF MAGNETIC AUDIO TAPE. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT ANY RECORDING MEDIUM WILL
SUFFICE, NOT JUST MAGNETIC TAPE. IT IS MERELY THE MEDIUM OF THE
MOMENT. THIS BRINGS UP EXCITING POSSIBILITIES FOR MOVIES AND SUCH
SHOT USING CONTINUOUS PICTURE DEVICES (I.E., VIDEO CAMERAS).
day 6
CD'S HAVEN'T WORKED TOO WELL, DO I IMAGINE, TO THE
DIGITALIZATION. BUT EFFORTS DO HAVE THAT, JUST AROUND THE CORNER, AS
THE NEXT MEDIUM OF CHOICE. CONTINUOUS MEDIUM IS THE EASIEST TO HANDLE
AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME. THERE IS A CERTAIN CHOPPINESS TO THE CD AT
THE HIGHER SPEEDS, AND THE MAGNETIC TAPE HAS A BUILT IN BUFFER. A
SIMPLER, BUT MORE COMPLICATED MEANS OF JOINING THE MOMENTS OF SOUNDS
TOGETHER WAS THE ANSWER AND SHOULD BE AVAILABLE BY THE COMING SPRING.
day 7
HAVE TALKED TO THE SONY PEOPLE, AND BY THIS NEXT WINTER, IT IS
BELIEVED THAT COLOR WILL BE AVAILABLE IN FAIRLY ACCEPTABLE FORMS FOR
THE "EAR VU HOME ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM". THE COLOR WILL AT FIRST BE
THAT OF WHAT THE SHORT LIVED, OLD COLORIZATION TREND OF THE MID 80'S
GAVE A WISELY UNIMPRESSED PUBLIC. BUT ONCE AGAIN, IT IS ALREADY IN
THE WORKS TO COMPLETE THE COLOR MODULE. PIXEL THEORY GIVES US THE
REALIZATION AND LATER THE ABILITY TO SEE THROUGH THINGS, VIEW
HEARTBEATS OF PEOPLE IN AN AUDIENCE, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE. THE SUB-
ATOMIC THEORY PROJECTIONS WILL BOGGLE THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY.
THIS MEANS THAT ANY RECORDING MADE, CAN BE STUDIED IN DETAIL OF
EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE AUDIO RANGE OF THE MACHINES RECORDING
THE SOUND WAVES. THE TECHNICIANS IN A SOUND PROOF CONTROL ROOM IN A
SOUND STUDIO CAN NOT BE SEEN, BUT FRINGE EDGE TECHNOLOGY HAS RECENTLY
SHOWN SHADOWS OF IMAGES BELIEVED TO BE THOSE VERY SAME TECHNICIANS!
SOMETHING TO DO WITH HEAT, SOUND AND LIGHT RAYS ALL BEING THE SAME
THING, ONLY VARYING DEGREES OF THE SAME SCALE. ALTHOUGH THESE ARE
RATHER INTENSE VARIATIONS IN SCOPE, COMPUTERS CAN FAIRLY EASILY BRING
THESE NUMBERS DOWN INTO MANAGEABLE FORM THROUGH A TYPE OF DIMENSIONAL
FRACTAL REPLACEMENT THEORY. I AM ABOUT TO ATTEMPT TO DO JUST THIS.
day 8
One has to remember not to, say, have sex, when dubbing a tape
for a friend, else he shall have the ability to play it through the
processor and see everything that you did while dubbing it. Research
shows that sometime in the future, it may be possible to view
everything in range of the recording device whether or not microphones
were used. This does not work with old vinyl records however. It is
in the magnetic recording that the data is stored.
day 9
I had a tape sent over from the University of a man having a
heart attack at the Hospital. When I played it back I discovered that
those shadows ALWAYS seem to fade as they get near a human being. I
must study this further.
day 10
I wonder what happened to Garrison and the others? No one is at
home. They haven't called in. If no word by tomorrow, I must assume
foul play. Could this be some kind of industrial espionage?
Certainly, this research is important enough. But for murder? I have
begun to look over my shoulder when I am alone. I took a nap.
day 10 (p.m.)
Woke up late. Empty building except for guards. I was talking
with them when they came by for security checks and they said that the
others never signed out. Yet they are not here.
I am going to try to check out those shadows tonight.
day 10 (later)
If one were to wire a processor up with a microphone and play
back the visuals you can see "creatures", perhaps the technicians
behind sound proofed glass, standing around watching the recording
taking place.
day 10 (later)
On the shadows paradox: they are not the technicians at the
recording studio. I have viewed many tapes and nearly all show these
shadows. I am going to try to sharpen these images using the
institutions mainframe when it is not being used by everyone.
[end of original story line - from here on it is all new material written within the last month]
*
James put down his pen and looked around the empty lab. `Where
the hell is everybody?'
Gently, he picked up the small processor which allowed them to
view scenes off of the audio tapes. A small collection had begun to
grow in the lab. Each man with his own preference for they type of
music or subject. The most popular tape had been one taken of bird
calls out in the wild. The hologram it produced was tranquil and
extremely beautiful. One could almost smell the scents of the fall
season mountain meadow.
He picked up a pack of Garrison's cigarettes and removed one
absent mindedly. He scouted around for a lighter, found none, and
suddenly realized that he had quite smoking two weeks ago. His temper
flared momentarily until he remembered that it had been his decision
to quit. He picked up his pen, once more trying to write the thoughts
which these past few hours had continually eluded him. He dropped the
pen once again. The lab grew more empty.
James wondered what this new technology would bring upon the
world. He found himself staring at the lab door. He looked around
himself at the scattered bits of hardware and wires, fiber optics and
LS-LSIC boards and all the other junk which they found easy to play
inventor with.
"Hello?"
No one answered him. He went to his office door, grabbed the
knob and turned and looked around the lab again. There were seven
doors in the rather large laboratory. Four of the doors were offices
for the scientists themselves. One door lead to the hallway, another
to the storeroom and a final door lead to the utility room. The
windows looked out on the square in the center of the complex which
was sealed off from the rest of the center. Security as well as
beauty. The effect was dramatic. Rats in a cage they called it
amongst themselves. Dynamic designing the architects had called it.
James opened his door, hesitated, then went to Garrison's office
door. He tried the knob. It was unlocked as it usually would be.
There was no sense locking doors around here. Anyone wanting anything
would simply pick the lock or safe and take what they wanted, what
they needed and then simply return it and relock the security device.
Occasionally someone would introduce a new style of lock simply for
the others to try. But it never lasted more than a few hours.
Besides, if any of them needed anything and the others weren't
around, they saved time by having simple access to the offices.
He opened the door and entered a plush office with electronic
debris scattered everywhere, typical of all the other offices. He
walked over to the desk and plopped down in Garrison's chair. There
was a diary on the desk in the middle of all the confusion. James
looked it over closely. The last entry was for Saturday night. All
it said was: "Will make a tape of the thing for all to see.
Interaction is affirmative. Harrison and Johnson said they would try
tonight at Harrison's. We'll see."
That was all it said. He closed the book and exited the office.
He got up and went out to what they called the Wall, a heavy
assemblage of stereo and processor equipment at the back of the lab
covering the whole wall. He popped it into the deck. Near the center
of the room was a low table where the hologram would be projected.
Built into the wall of electronics was also a large screen monitor
where they could scan items while viewing them in the hologram.
Johnson had actually been able to find that a man had heart problems
be playing the tape and focusing into the chest, then further into the
man's heart. Every day they were falling deeper and deeper into
amazing things which could be done with the Earvu processor. He
pulled the tape out of the deck.
It was one of the new cassette sized, laser tapes and it had been
in the new deck which he hadn't known had come in as of yet. The tape
was made of a similar substance as the tapes used in the movie
"Brainstorm". It was very dense and quite acclimated to research of
this type, using a laser instead of magnetic realignment. It was
thought that light would carry more information and therefore would
yield more bizarre reproductions.
On the flip side of the tape was a date indicating that the tape
had been made on Saturday night last. James tapped the cassette on
the back of his left hand.
"Well, I've got nothing else to go on."
The amazing thing was that it was inexpensive to produce. It
simply called upon technology which has been around for years. It was
how it was all put together that counted.
James walked around the hologram table checking data panels,
warming things up, when something caught his eye. Down near the
cables on the ground was a dark brown spot. It almost looked like...
He bent down to touch it. It was rough to the touch. He
scrapped a few flakes off with his fingernail, spit into his palm and
suddenly realized that he was reconstituting a small sample of blood.
He stared at it for a moment, then looked around the lab, searching
the floor for anymore. The maintenance people came through only once
every few days and were watched whenever they were in the lab.
Tonight they would be here, but they hadn't been in since...James
looked at the calendar, realizing that he was probably the first to
have seen this.
He pushed aside the hologram table, exposing more dried blood
until, to his dismay, he discovered that a great deal of blood was
lost here. Someone had tried to clean it up, but had missed under the
table. He stood up, backing up as he did. He wiped the blood stain
in his palm on his white lab coat and adjusted his hornrim glasses.
He picked up the phone and called for security.
*
James came in the next day early. The four hours of questions
the day before had been grueling for him and he had lost enough time
on the project as it was. And now it would seem that he was working
alone since his fellow scientists had all disappeared. He was just
finishing his coffee when the phone rang.
"Dr. Michaelson."
"Dr. Michaelson? This is Thomas from security. The Director
wanted me to tell you that we found blood at the home of one of your
co-workers, at least two of them as there was two blood types matching
the types of Dr.s Harrison and Johnson. They were found at Dr.
Johnson's house. The Director wanted to know if there would be any
important papers here at Dr. Johnson's house that should be brought
back to the lab...before we called the police."
"No. Nothing that I know of. The police will give us what is
ours if there is anything laying around, but nothing imperative at
this time. Anything else Mr. Thomas?" James had little need for the
bulky security types kept around the institute for security due to
military application reasons.
"Yes, Sir. Thank you. I am truly sorry Dr. Michaelson. Sir?"
"Yes? Umm...sorry. What was that?"
"Sir, do you have any idea what..."
"No. But I am sure that the police will talk with me anyway,
correct?"
"No, Sir. Military Intelligence. Have to go now, sir. Thank
you very much."
James hung the phone up. Military Intelligence. He had to laugh
at the dichotomy. When will they learn? He turned his attention back
to the problem at hand. Today he had to check resonant duplication
from the sine wave function generated by using stereo microphones. He
grabbed a tape almost angrily from the tape storage shelf and went to
the Wall. He popped out a cassette and inserted the new one. He
flipped on the computer, called up the program and watched as the
hologram displayed the entire colony of black army ants. He panned
down through solid matter into the nest. Needing both hands for
adjustments he started to put the tape in his had into his pocket and
remembered what the tape was.
"Oh, shit. The tape!" His hands began to tremble with the
realization of what the tape could be. Then he calmed down as he
realized that chances were that it was nothing. He tapped it on the
back of his hand, wondering what had happened to everyone. And
whether it might happen to him. The thought struck him for the first
time. He was sure that the security people had thought of it long
ago, however. He switched the tapes, threw the ant tape on the
counter and went to the front door. He opened the door and...no one
there.
He had thought that there might be a guard for his protection.
As he closed the door he noticed the camera in the hall turn to look
at him and watched as it zoomed in at him. He slowly closed the door
and stood hesitantly, considering the possibilities. Was this a
military project they had been working on? He couldn't accept this
and ignored the implications for the time being. He headed for the
Wall.
His hand went for the switch, but he found that he couldn't throw
it. He tried again. It was as if something was keeping him from
activating the computer. But why?
"COME ON," he screamed at himself. This seemed to break the
spell. Three of his colleagues had been killed and he needed to know,
for his own safety, what the hell happened. He "threw the switch".
The hologram lit up. It was the lab. The laser idea had worked.
The images were crisp and clear. A phrase Garrison had used to
describe the system popped into his mind. "A picture so sharp it will
make your eyes bleeed." Garrison had been right. The image was hard
to look at, it was so sharp. Laser light can be dangerous if your not
careful. There were some glasses hanging on a hook by the tape deck,
so he put them on. The side of them said they were from the same
manufacturer as the laser deck and tapes. The image became more
defined and not so affecting.
Quadrophonic microphones already set up, James could see
Garrison's face pale as he watched himself in "real time" within the
hologram. The illusion was very strange. James realized that
watching Garrison would get him no where, so he adjusted the controls
to show only what the hologram in the hologram showed. Things then
changed rapidly.
The shadows were no longer just shadows. They were now real
beings, possessing real form. He stopped the tape, ran it forward and
returned it to play. As the holo came alive James watched sickened
and stunned by Garrison being torn in two. Blood dropped immediately
to the floor and nearly as instantly was sucked up as if by an
invisible mouth. He hit the keyboard with his fist and the tape
stopped, frozen with Garrison floating in mid air, left side separated
from right; blood suspended below the corpse. James turned around and
keyed the three proper keystrokes, fighting not to vomit. He knelt
down on the floor and began to shudder, shock overcoming him.
After the trembles began to leave, James forced himself to his
feet and he staggered into Garrison's office once again. He sat at
the desk and put his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes deeply. He
began to feel in control once again, but found that his eyes were
weeping while he didn't feel any emotion. He looked around the room.
Pictures of Jack Garrison were everywhere. His fishing trip to
Bermuda, the symposium in Geneva, his receiving awards, Doctorates,
endowments, etc. He had had quit a career. They were lucky to have
gotten him.
James picked up the phone and dialed the Director. The phone
toned at the other end and he quickly hung up. James hung up the
phone and picked up the diary again. He turned the page back to
Saturday morning.
Saturday
I awoke with a hangover. What should I do? Of course, we should
share our findings with our team leader and perhaps security,
immediately, but then what. Panic will ensue if the general public
discovers this.
Little work got done yesterday because of it. I will try the
test tonight. Then break the news.
Fascinated, James turned the page back once again. Under the
heading of Friday it read:
Friday
I have done the same thing as before. Next time I will play back
the recording in real time. Immediately, and with no delay. I know
what to expect. You can see these creatures standing there watching
you, "in the moment". Will we be able to interact with them? Can
they interact with us? Have they? So now what do we do? Especially,
when the creatures realize that for the first time ever, Man is
watching Them? It would appear that they are quite used to watching
us and knowing that we are ignorant of them. What will they do?
Harrison and Johnson will try to make them take notice of them this
weekend. I will try to interact with them tomorrow night. If results
are positive, we will surprise Michaelson with it on Monday.
"What the hell!" James stood in anger. "They didn't tell me!"
The adrenalin in his body was running out. He sat down, his
knees trembling. "What the Hell, now?"
Dr. Michaelson stood and headed out to the tape deck. He rewound
it and began to play it from beginning to end for the first time. The
creatures, tampering with time as usual, tampered with it once more.
As the tape went back to a time once present, so this incident became
once more in the past.
day 10
WE BEGIN STUDIES OF VIDEO VIEWING FROM AUDIO TAPES....
---
Well, that's it...for now.
And again, remember that you can pick this up anytime on Amazon.com, but for today and on Halloween, it's free! And don't forget, starting for Halloween I have lowered the price on my epic Horror novel, Death of Heaven down to $3.99. Even if I do say so myself, it is one of the most aggressive stories I know of.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
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