The Rabbicorn story part one - The Daughter of Gears

For the next few weeks I am going to recap the Rabbicorn story for those of you who are unfamiliar or unaware of it.  As I reflect on my time in Second Life I believe this to be my favorite work.
     The Daughter of Gears was a narrative I thought up after being asked to build something for Rezzable's Black Swan sim.  Black Swan was a wonderful sim filled with the creations of Light Waves / Starax who was a pioneering artist in Second Life.  Sadly much of his work is slowly fading from the Grid but there are some dedicated art collectors who possess pretty much everything he made.
    So when I was asked to build something for Black Swan in December of 2008, it was very flattering for me as I didn't think it was even possible to have something other than a Light Waves sculpture there.  I saw him as the greatest artist in Second Life and I was terrified of ruining his sim.  At that time myself and four Yip were being hyped like mad everywhere and there was a sense of pressure to constantly improve over every build. I sat down and spent a great deal of time watching the sim to determine what might fit.  Black Swan itself was full of traps and obstacles.  It felt like there could be a story there, but it had none.  Why are there traps here? who are they trying to keep out? there was no narrative so I devised one.
    Soon the narrative began to morph into a story about myself.  A loose diary hidden behind the veil of robots.  A reflection on melancholy and dreams, hopes and fears.  With Second Life being my own personal Standby.   Anyway, I know many of you have English as a second language, so its difficult enough without me having composed the whole story as a poem.  Right now I will just tell the story without all the poems.



There once was a young girl who was very sick.  She grew progressively worse as her mother helplessly watched.  The idea of losing her daughter drove her to a drastic experiment.  As her daughter lay dying she transferred her soul into a vessel to create a now living machine.  A machine with the scared mind of a young child.  What she had done could not remain a secret, and there were many who felt the Daughter was an abomination.  A slight against nature.  Fearing the worst, the mother creates a land of traps and obstacles to protect them, and brings her Daughter of Gears to the top of a tower.  A mob builds and in their perceived righteousness they come to the tower to take the Daughter.
     They eventually reach the top to find the mother waiting.  She will never let them take her Daughter and fights them with a great fury.  She defeats them all, but is wounded mortally in doing so.  As she lay dying she looks to her Daughter and realizes that she will now live alone in this tower.  A child robot who doesn't age, therefore living eternally in loneliness.   An outcast who can not fit in.  After her mother dies the Daughter goes into Standby mode much like a computer does.  In her Standby she relives all the memories of her mother and dreams new ones.  One hundred years go by as she stands rooted to the top of the tower.  Vines grow around her feet while the tower slowly deteriorates, but she hides within her standby and dreams.

They call her obscene
They call her a blight A mob slowly builds
In the dark of the night

My daughter of gears
Transistors and moss
She resembles to all
The one that I lost

They come to the tower
To take her from me
Our bond if from love
But that they can't see
My knees shake and tremble  
Awaiting the worst
But to get to my daughter
They must get by me first


Poem two

Eyes of cerulean mirrored by mine
To my daughter I hide my grieving
Behind me the vessel chimes
Knowing that she will soon be leaving

Shallow breaths quiet sighs
Tesla cracks nascent mother
The vessel slowly opens her eyes
Across the room my reborn daughter

Poem three

Fluttering Heart
Nervous start
I know not what to do

Skin like lace
A child's face
Eyes of cerulean blue

Your whisper of gears
Bring out my tears
From the shattering of a dream

The confused eyes
Of my love who died
Whom I bound to a machine

Poem four (from the daughter of gears)

When you pulled the cables away
And I looked deep in your eyes  
That was my first day
But you did not realize
That you were imprinted on my heart
Zeroes and ones in digital blue
And when you finally did part
I would stay and think of you

You fought them like a spark
But on that day you did die
And when you went into the dark
I put myself on stand-by
So I could dream of how  
Your love kept them from me  
But I am alone now
For eternity

Poem five (in stand-by)

Inside here
They won't find  
The memories
Stored in my mind


Inside here
Just me and you
A love so pure
And always new

Inside here
A reality I've prepared
For you to hold my hand  
When I am feeling scared

Final poem by the window in stand-by

Outside is a breeze
And a swaying of trees
The curtain blows
In and out my window
I remember the breaking of glass
From far in the past
The mob found what they sought
You squeezed my hand then you fought

Your last day
Now faded away
Just my memories and me
And the swaying of trees

 
If you wish to experience the Daughter of Gears story  I have placed it on my world expo sim Utopia one - no love      http://slurl.com/secondlife/Utopia01/150/10/22 .  Its pretty difficult and I would suggest you do it with a friend so that if you fall you can be tp'd back.  The idea was for the participant to slowly unravel the narrative by finding these poems as they climbed the tower, and once they reach the top to realize that they are one of the mob.  Next week I will talk about the second part - The Rabbicorn.