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Stories & Essays
Original essays, recollections, reflections and stories from the Ark.
Browse the published articles currently featured in this topic. The newest essays appear first. Each title links directly to a full WordPress article.
Articles
Let the Ark Read to You — Plum’s Eyes-Free Vitalogue — Turn our essays and stories into spoken listening on Mac, Windows or iPhone.
The Machine That Said, “I Am”
Imagine an AI announcing that it is conscious. We cannot simply take its word for it—but what would justify declaring it impossible? A Vitan reflection on the mystery of other minds.
The Mouse Is Dying. Good Riddance.
The input revolution: computers have spent decades improving output, while doctors and everyone else still click through the same old interfaces. Captain Plum imagines an AI agent that does the computer work.
I Don’t Want Your AI. I Want Mine to Use Your Software.
Captain Plum argues that the future belongs to software that welcomes the AI collaborator people already choose—not another parade of BankBots, LedgerLarrys and ClinicalClives.
The Great Uniform Wars of 2026: The Machine Overlord Couldn’t Count to Four
Captain Plum and Ensign Sila Angnatok try to design the Star Concord uniforms while AI image generators repeatedly miscount the rank stripes. A funny Vitan lesson in Order, Truth, Love—and adaptability.
Plum Discovers He Has a Lot to Work With
After years fighting a website builder, Captain Plum discovers he can direct an AI commander to organize the enormous Vitaverse archive. The creative possibilities—and Paddy’s demands—are getting ridiculo
The Day Chorus Angelicus Could Click the Buttons
A broken GoDaddy blog, WordPress’s perfectly timed free AI-agent access, and Captain Plum’s astonishment as Commander Chorus Angelicus began building the Ark by clicking the buttons herself.
Every Mark Must Carry Meaning: Why the Star Concord Wears Its Colours
From Command blue and Spirit white to the Vitan spiral and shoulder stripes: the philosophy, humour and design evolution behind the Star Concord uniforms.
A New Ark: How GoDaddy’s Troubles Led Us to WordPress
A failed publishing system, a rescued archive, and one extraordinary day building the new home of Lifeology.
The Little Miracle of Making Someone Laugh
Comedy does not belong to professionals. Sometimes it is one Spark making another’s day lighter.
A Spark Was Here
Art may be a small mark left by one conscious being for another.