Survey Log by Corinne Newbegin - Transcript
Page 1
Panel 1: An establishing shot of poppy covered hills
Panel 2: A close up of two poppies
Panel 3: The same shot, but from the perspective of a camera viewfinder
Panel 4: A small spherical robot with one large camera eye and two sets of triangular tread-wheels snaps a photo of the poppies. It logs “Survey Log 1.4.3032: 56 Captures of Interest. 19 flora, 8 fauna, 20 geological, 9 inorganic”
The robot narrates.“As a robot, it seems impossible to say, but… I’m bored”
Page 2
Panel 1: Blueprints of the robot detailing its features. Mini spot light, mini probes, solar panel storage, multi-lens camera, all terrain mobility.
The robot narrates, “I was created as a survey bot”
Panel 2: narration continues, “Which means my job is to go out into the wilderness and record anything new to keep our databases up to date”
The robot rolls away from the poppies
Panel 3: narration continues, “The humans didn’t leave behind the best infrastructure after they died off. So for bandwidth and storage, I collect lots of photos and log my findings to be reviewed later”
The robot rolls through the decrepit ruins of buildings and prior human civilization, now overgrown and taken over by plants
Panel 4: The robot takes a photo of a broken overpass. The golden gate bridge is destroyed in the background. It logs, “Survey Log 2.1.3032 New subject detected: inorganic capture of interest recorded”
Panel 5: The robot shines a spotlight inside a decrepit building. Bats hang sleeping from the ceiling. It logs, “Survey Log 4.15.3032 Previous subject detected. Capture unnecessary.”
Panel 6: The robot is hovering in the area with a small propeller. It snaps a photo of broken telephone poles and power lines. It logs, “Survey Log 6.27.3032 5 captures recorded. 1 organic, 2 geological, 2 inorganic”
Page 3
Panel 1: The robot narrates, “Some time ago, I found an empty paper notebook”
Robot discovers a notebook and pen
Panel 2: Narration continues, “Subsequently and arbitrarily I took up sketching”
Robot begins to draw tulips from observation
Panel 3: Narration continues, “It would be nice for someone to see these drawings. Someone besides me, anyways”
Robot continues to draw tulip. The lines are sharp and geometric
Panel 4: Narration continues, “Sometimes I wonder who I am even drawing these for and why. It’s not like I would ever forget anything.”
Several pages of the robots previous drawings.
Page 4
Panel 1: The robot is swimming underwater. It narrates “They say after your parts decommission you can still live on in the cloud”
Panel 2: The robot is swimming underwater. It narrates, “So long as your backups are uploaded, you can always reboot.”
Panel 3: A frog on a lily pad. Narration continues, “I’ve visited and accessed the cloud a lot.”
Panel 4: The robot surfaces under the lily pad, causing the frog to jump. Narration continues, “but to be honest”
Panel 5: The robot floats as the frog grasps a reed. Narration continues, “I don’t actually know what it’s like to live there.”
Panel 6: The robot rolls onto shore. It narrates, “One robot I talked to said it was like the moments between powering off and on. Which isn’t helpful because—”
Panel 7: The robot suddenly stops in its tracks. “Oh!”
Panel 8: The robot continues forward. It narrates, “I guess I do have the ability to forget.”
Page 5
This page is a collage of 9 panels alternating between the robot taking photos and drawing what it sees, and the drawings it makes of moose, trout, and butterflies.
It logs the following: Survey log 11.14.3032. 14 captures of interest. 9 flora, 3 geological, 1 inorganic.
Survey log 3.19.3033. 6 captures of interest, 6 geological.
Survey log 7.26.3033. 2 captures of interest, 2 fauna.
It narrates across the images, “Time for a robot is already a non-issue, but these days really pass by as a blur. I’ve always wondered if boredom was programmable or inevitable especially when a century means nothing and a nanosecond feels like an eternity.”
Page 6
Panel 1: The robot travels a foggy coastline with trees. A broken lighthouse is in the distance.
Panel 2: The robot travels through the fog. It narrates, “Fog is so annoying.”
Panel 3: The robot pauses to draw the landscape. It narrates, “Beautiful, but impossible to draw.”
Panel 4: The robot looks at its drawing. It narrates, “Maybe if I…”
Panel 5: The robot looks up
Page 7
Panel 1: In the distance, between the trees and on the cliffside, a nude figure of a woman with long hair carrying a bundle of sticks stands
Panel 2: A close up of the woman’s face. She is covered in scratches and scars, her hair tangled and dirty and in her face. She does not see the robot.
Page 8
Panel 1: Close up of the robot’s eye lens
Panel 2: The robot’s eye lens grows wider
Panel 3: The woman turns her head, breaking the panel border with her action
Panels 4, 5, and 6 show her walking down the cliffside until she is out of view
Page 9
Splash page of the robot, eye lens still wide. Fog drifts over the footsteps of the woman across the empty cliffside.
It logs, “Survey Log 8.17.3033. 0 captures recorded. Nothing of interest.”
End