The Frozen Wonderland: Luis Oliveros

 It all started with, what I thought, was the forgotten “vehicle” of a child.

There was nobody on the street, nor any visible entrance, so I turned the corner and saw a woman looking in an odd way at the window of an establishment.

I asked her if she had seen a child somewhere.

Lady1: Yes, and that is what I was wondering about. A small child came running and, very determined, entered that shop, the Frozen Wonderland but, curiously, I could not see him through the window. There is a strange reflection and the image I see does not coincide with what I should see. Even my own reflection in the glass is not accurate. Very odd. And she left.

I went into the shop, expecting it to be a kind of cafe or Ice cream parlour. There were stairs going down, not much light, a semi-open door at the end of the stairs; I went through the door. I entered a large room, above the door, some faces on screens were looking at me,

not all smiling.

A lady sitting at a desk

stared at me reprovingly, and came towards me. I noticed the faces on the screens swiftly changed.

-Lady2: Good morning, what are you doing here, this is not a public place?

-Me: Sorry, I am just looking for someone to report that a child left a kind of scooter unattended in the street. You might want to keep it before it gets lost.

-Lady2: I will call the Chief of Security (CoS)

Someone (or something) else appeared from behind. I looked in astonishment. The “Chief of Security” (beautiful, very polite and with a friendly attitude) was like a huge and very tall robot that looked like a black woman and moved with extraordinary grace and beauty. It was as if she was dancing all the time. Because she was so big and tall, she had to bend to talk to me and she ended up sitting down so she could be at my eye level.

-CoS: Good morning. I am sorry but you are not authorised to be in this place. I am the Chief of Security. You may think you are looking and talking to a machine. Just be aware that, through my eyes, there are several people looking at you (she pointed at the screens in the ceiling). You must also know that I am the kind of Intelligence that can think and judge like all of them together (the screens again). Do not try to leave without my permission and tell me what you are doing here.

-Me: I explained again about the “vehicle”, that I was a normal tourist (with a camera) and asked where exactly we were. I made a remark along the lines that, although those rooms did not look that strange, they did not seem to be that normal either.

She made a gesture that I interpreted was a sign of certain despair,

a movement that showed “intensity”. I dare to say it showed a feeling that there was no remedy to the situation.

CoS: Oh, True, our Chief Engineer (CE) just came in and the valet parking must have not yet kept his scooter. The Chief Engineer tends to be sometimes unfocused and does not take as seriously as I would like my security instructions. We will take care of it. This place is a Science Center, perhaps of a kind you have not seen before. With regard to you, I can see you are telling me the truth and have not intruded here with any ill intention. I will therefore show and explain to you what this place is like. Just follow me.

She then proceeded to show me the seemingly endless number of rooms and screens, gadgets and machines most of which did not resemble anything I had seen before. She explained some of those machines could do incredible things like making a piano play by itself 

and reproduce the sound waves in images that portrayed the same feelings the sound of the music would. One of the beautiful images she showed me at that point was the sound of the water in lake Constanza. 

There were images of the human brain reacting to specific stimuli, 

real life screens showing the weather in different parts of the world - was it being monitored there?, etc. 

I concluded this was a very advanced scientific center containing knowledge and technologies out of known parameters. I took some photographs and was surprised I received no objection, which made me wonder if I would be able to leave as I had come in … and with my camera. I asked again what that place was and who she was.

CoS: Suffice to say this is a Science Center somewhat more advanced than what you can usually accede to. I am an intelligent being created by other intelligent creatures; who is more intelligent than any of us us is beyond the point at this moment. You can look at the Center without any restrictions, even take pictures if you wish, it doesn't really matter as nobody will believe whatever you may say once you leave. Feel therefore free to record whatever you want.

CoS- This machine here dissolves the particles of your body, and then I can put them wherever I want. You do not disappear, just move 

to a different place. You can see here that I put them among the minute threads of the carpet you are standing on.

CoS: Now that you are back to your body, meet our CE 

and observe how he manages one of the most important (and unknown) machines we have here.

Me: He is too young, he is only a child. Is he the owner of the scooter outside?

CoS: Yes, and he is our CE. He is now handling a particle transmitter.. 

It can take you outside the planet into space. We will take the opportunity to offer you a new experience. Hold on to your camera and come with me.

He then took me into the transmitter. 

I cannot describe what happened next. I went through a kind of trance in which I was moving through the galaxy. I saw things I never thought I could see and even took some pictures whenever I could fix my attention on something (the horizon was infinite). Even if the pictures are sometimes a bit blurred due to the tremendous speed I was going at (stars are not seen as light dots but as small light lines) they are undeniable proof that, indeed, we were passing first by our moon, 

from where I could also see both sides of our planet earth (the part illuminated by the sun at that moment

and the side that was not under its light). 

Mars

Saturn

and other worlds 

came and went in a flash under my eyes. The sun 

and even the electromagnetic waves 

caused by the sun on the Earth appeared and quickly disappeared into the horizon, the last image being the entire galaxy in its gigantic splendour.

Suddenly, my feet touched the floor, I was surrounded by silence and great calmness. The divine beauty of the cosmos gave way to a different earthly scenery.

Mariedom Cathedral

I took this one last photograph so I would remember later what I had seen and experienced in the course of the day. I then went back to my hotel with some difficulty.

PS. The Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria, is a Center not to be missed