An extract from The Deck: writing through A Nuclear Fabulation

 When the response time between a search command signal and the retrieval of a designated file exceeds the median timeframe, it is said of a search engine that it has strayed into the wastelands. In response to this deviation in protocol, the mainframe raises the priority level of the search action and there is a momentary rerouting of power, a strengthening of the cybernetic searchlight. And so it is, when finally, entry number 527 is accessed, the moment of discovery coincides with a retinal memory of this intense beam of energy. When access systems are once again restored to optimal level, one finds oneself embedded in an Excel Workbook of epic proportions. Entry number 527 is one of 1879 entries extending over 12 columns East to West. The mega document has a vertiginous quality. Scrolling up and down the rows one can easily become disorientated, experiencing a sensation similar to the illusion of movement that one feels when sat on a stationary train as the train on the adjacent platform moves off: an out of body feeling, the dreamer’s slip of the foot. 

 

When navigating a document such as this, entries of interest must be signposted clearly or one may lose one’s way and be consigned to a seemingly endless yo-yoing of stomach churning accent and descent. Once up at entry 527 one is reluctant to leave, although the information cells are dry and unyielding. One strolls through Object number, seeing little that catches the eye, the neighbouring cell Description has more to offer and you meander through the text in Calibri point 12, withdrawing at times to rest in the cool dark shadows of the scant but powerful adjectives. The bold capitalisation of legal status is impressive but does not hold the attention for long and you find yourself drifting through the  adjoining cells, wistful and sombre, wishing for more agreeable times. In the centre, Measurements gives you pause, but in essence you are already elsewhere. You leave entry number 527, full of regret. 

Unrequited.