Contraband Photos

Elismarc flicked through the photos on her display. They were flat things, two dimensional images from long ago when 3-D photos and Holograms were new or just wild-ideas. Some of the photos had been taken using old digital cameras; others were scans of actual physical photos. Elismarc wondered what it would have been like to use one of the really ancient cameras that had required film. The photos they produced had such a dreamlike quality it was hard to believe they were of real people and places.

                She had stumbled across the cache of photos completely by accident. She had been combing the dark-net for hours researching forbidden knowledge when one of the links had brought her here. There were thousands upon thousands of photos of people and places.

                There were happy people, sad people, and people whose emotions she couldn’t quite describe. There were also pictures of animals. Some of them she knew, but several she had no idea what creatures they were of. The pictures of places were her favorite though. Those pictures showed bright and shiny buildings and exotic cities. They showed a world in the prime of existence. Not the world she faced every day, a world of darkness and ruin.

                No one took pictures anymore, unless you were a government bot. They took pictures of criminals and rebels so they could broadcast them for all to see. Having your picture taken was not a good thing.

                Elismarc input a few commands and downloaded the entire cache of photos. She could be arrested for having them, but she didn’t care. She needed something to get her through the dark times ahead.