much like how Ada sees things that she would
be printed that you wanted to be alone, that you
rather not. Illusions, nocturnal animals and fears
could not make the decision yourself, and that
that remain invisible to others, she sees. She has
you cheated on me. You think you have solved it
started to draw them.
and got rid of it, but everyone will read it in your
From the porch door he touched Ada’s cheek. Probably for the last time, he thought.
eyes, your skin, your nose: ‘do not trust her’.” Ada and Mike stared silently at each other.
- “Your skin registers the amount of wine you
He touched the tip of her nose with his forefin-
drink, cigarettes you smoke, men you use. Ciga-
ger. That was his favourite place. She had asked
rettes make your radiance fade. Literally. You
him once to draw lines of altitude on her face,
may think, my light will dim as I get old anyway,
like they are on a map. Her nose was the highest
but old women can shine. You say that your genes
mountain. The lines gave a cross-sectional view
determine how you look, but you decide whether
that made her face look like a layer cake.
to smoke and so you too decide your future face.
- “I know you hate my programming. You think I
Whatever you do, even if it’s nothing at all, it is
make gadgets that contribute nothing to society,
engraved in your face.”
but imagine if you could see your future face, the
The city is quiet. Only the taxi drivers and
effects of a night out, if you could be your own
bats are still awake. Mike holds his face in front
Tamagochi, shape your own true face. Plastic
of the test version of his application. The camera
surgery will shrivel by comparison.”
scans the bags under his eyes as he writes: “The
Mike lets the program scan a height map of
system compares colors, patterns and textures
his face, in order that a virtual 3D model can be
with data from others to determine your lifestyle
made. He continues his work inflamed. The light
and future face.”
is returning outside. Based on his personal data
Ada was still standing right there on the side-
from the Internet, the program calculates how his
walk. Mike held his face close to hers.
face will look like in five, ten or twenty years. His
- “You think you can get away with this.”
nose is finished first. Noses never stop growing, as
He saw the skin around her eyes, of which he
if they record all the smells of a lifetime and all
knew every square millimeter.
the faces that came close. The program creates a
- “...but your wrinkles will tell your tale. It will
virtual model and as Mike looks into the camera,
be written plainly on your face for all the world
it superimposes the computer-generated future
to see, no matter how small it is. In Saudi Arabia
face over his own. It’s as if he’s talking to a 60
adultery carries the death penalty; some tribes
year old Mike.
paint a purple spot on the face of the adulteress
- “Finish your application,” one Mike says to
which remains for months. I’m going to make that
the other. He says it himself, but it looks as if
program that we thought of once, that shows
his elder counterpart is speaking. “Finish your
your future face. Somewhere on your face it will
program, show Ada and then go outside.”
Dirk Vis Dirk Vis (1981) studied Beeld & Taal (Image & Language) at the Rietveld Academy and Design at the Sandberg Institute. He published Bestseller (2009) in limited edition, made electronic poems with K. Michel, is editor of De Gids and teaches Interactive Media at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. www.dirkvis.net
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