Behind our irises (Keaboka deactivates nanobots) | Database of Machine Vision in Art, Games and Narratives

Brief description

During an office party at her new job, the narrator goes to the bathroom, discovering her colleague Keaboka with his head in a sink full of water. He tells her that he is deactivating the nanobots behind his eyes, the surveillance technology that is also controlling him, making him efficient and obedient. He warns her against getting the new company "update" that will allow them to install this technology in her too.

The nanobots can only be deactivated for three minutes, and soon the company is able to locate him, sending security guards that bring him to a "doctor".

Pull Quotes

"I stopped when I saw my colleague Keaboka Letang bent over, his head dipped into a sink full of water, hands grappling with the rim. I yanked him up, his Senegalese braids slapped me (...)He gasped for air. Stood against the sink and stared at himself in the mirror, with dark trails of mascara running down his face. He was crying".

"“It’s the only way I can deactivate them. It only lasts three minutes. I don’t know why. Listen to me.” Keaboka grabbed my shoulders, his eyes wild and frantic. “You can’t see it. The holes. They use the holes. They… They’ve been selling us to their clients.”"

"“Get out. Do not renew or upgrade your contract. Don’t sign anything. They have a pipeline where they sell us—we are the products—it’s those fucking updates — the holes—they plug—”

The doors slammed open. Security guards thundered in. Keaboka started hiccupping and floundering in their grips.

“He’ll be alright. He has a condition and is sometimes unwell. "