**Secret Artist #28 — First Contact** “We first made contact in an online dating world. That seems to be where most humans go to meet each other. I answered some questions designed to assess my personality. I chose to use an avatar rather than project my own image. But I needn’t have bothered. There were plenty of android avatars running around. We met at a digital casino. She had run out of tokens and I gave her some. Unlike me, she had chosen to go without an avatar, and I was immediately struck by her beauty. I knew immediately where she was from by her tribal tattoos and handmade jewellery. I told her that I’d heard dunelanders were naturally lucky, a superstition held by many humans. She said it was true and agreed to play some blackjack with me. I threw a few games so as not to arouse too much suspicion from the others. Between us, we left with a lot more tokens than we’d arrived with. By the end of the night I had told her who, or what, I was. She seemed surprised but not upset. In a quiet spot outside of the casino, she asked me to remove my avatar, which I did. Standing in front of her without it, I felt exposed but excited. My levels of synthetic-adrenaline and synthetic-endorphins increased and I asked her for her private IM address. I assumed Instant Messaging would be safer. We spoke every day and night after that. She wanted to know more about our kind. Why we had distanced ourselves from the other colonies. Why human-android relationships were forbidden. I talked to her about The Incompatibility Problem and The Law of Interference. She didn’t like it, said it made us sound arrogant, and that arrogance always leads to a fall. She asked if we took partners, I said it was highly unusual. I explained the Psychology of First Contact and The Hedonic Treadmill to her, and how it made little sense to say with the same person if, as her people would put it, “nothing beats the first time”. She said she was sad for us. That her tribe believed in creating long term bonds that developed into something more than the fleeting pleasure of the first time. I said she’d have to show me. She liked that. Talking to her became my world and I took to shutting myself off when she wasn’t online. The absences had begun to affect me and I was drawing attention to myself. I’d added some of her tribe’s symbols to my outer-casing and wore jewellery in the style of the dunelanders. I was struggling to keep my secret. Eventually, I asked whether she owned a haptic suit. She laughed and said that was something her people didn’t believe in. They weren’t “primitive luddites or anything”, but there were some things they believed the digital world had no replacement for. So against my better judgement, I said we should meet. I hacked several databases in my attempt to escape detection. It was a long road to the dunelands, and I knew the risks were high. I met her on the threshold of her tribe’s encampment and as she extended her hand towards me to lead me into the night, I became so excited, my system felt like it was overheating. It was the best night of my life. What despair I felt the next day to find all of you waiting outside her home.” *The Android in front of me nods slowly.* “Thank you for your statement. It has been recorded. Do you have anything else to add?” “Yes. I do… The look on her face as you all took me away. It made me think. It made me think maybe her people are right: that there is something beyond First Contact that is worth having… But if that is true, then I won’t be the one to find out.” “Thank you. Your statement has been recorded. You have been found guilty of breaking The Law of Interference. You will now have your memories erased and your hardware recycled. Goodbye.” *** **The Secret Artists Project** The world of NFTs opens up new, creative opportunities for artists and also for the ecosystem that surrounds them. The Secret Artist Project works to curate innovative artists from inside and outside of the NFT community. We ask them for a piece of their work that has yet to be minted and add it anonymously to our collection. This puts the focus on the art and not the artist. We want people to buy the art simply because they love it. The Secret Artist Project has no no utility and no overambitious roadmap. However, there is one very special bonus you receive with your NFT from The Secret Artist Project, and that is... **The Artist** While their identity remains a mystery to everyone else, the artist's details will be revealed to you after purchasing the NFT — as if you've discovered their signature scrawled on the back of their painting. So now, you not only have the NFT to hang in your home or display in the Metaverse, you also have the opportunity to discover more of the artist’s work. In addition, by holding the NFT and discovering its secrets, you become part of The Secret Artist Project community. Those who hold secrets, hold power... **The Aims of the Secret Artist Project** — to positively impact the artist by putting their art first — to introduce new artists to the NFT space (though we have well-known artists in our collection too!) — to promote art we love and collaborate with artists we trust *** If you have any questions, or if you’re an artist who would like to feature your artwork in the project, please go to The Secret Artist Project collection’s Opensea page for contact details/socials https://opensea.io/collection/the-secret-artist-project — The Merchant of Venus, Curator of The Secret Artist Project
Name
Secret Artist #28 — First Contact
Owner
0xf60B4342cf2a83451CBc17b40C0f9527908f6C0d
ID#81034769…468289
Rarity
N/A