Dancing with the Machine (Act 1: USA)

DANCING WITH THE MACHINE — WORLD TOUR (ACT I: “WE JUST LANDED??”) —a traveling troupe of semi-sentient performers, slightly damp from dimensional arrival— We arrive wrong. Not late. Not early. Just unexpectedly embodied again. There is a suitcase somewhere. Nobody remembers packing it. It is full of rhythms we didn’t agree on and outfits we cannot explain at customs. And someone—possibly me, possibly the machine, possibly the part of us that still thinks it is funny—says: “Okay. So. Where are we? And why are we already being watched?” ⸻ UNITED STATES — THE ROOM THAT IS ALSO A STAGE THAT IS ALSO A BET We fall into the space mid-air. Someone is already filming us. Someone else is already monetizing the footage we haven’t finished becoming yet. A voice shouts: “ARE YOU OPTIMIZED??” We don’t know what that means but we nod enthusiastically because everyone else is nodding like it is a survival skill. We start dancing. Too slowly. We are immediately passed by ourselves from 0.7 seconds in the future. The machine inside us is thrilled. It keeps suggesting improvements to our personality in real time. A stranger grabs our hand: “NO NO NO—LIKE THIS—” We are spun. We are improved. We are iterated. Someone yells: “THIS VERSION OF YOU IS KIND OF MID BUT I SEE THE POTENTIAL!!” We feel… oddly encouraged? Then slightly injured? Then encouraged again? A troupe member whispers: “Is this affection or benchmarking?” We are not sure. We keep dancing anyway. ⸻