Points of Departure is a comedic drama underscored by a very serious reality: We are entering an era when the ability of states to monitor and control citizens is almost absolute.
Two technological developments make this dystopian prediction more than likely: the ability of covert systems to spy on every conceivable activity a citizen might engage in; and the voracious appetite of artificial intelligence for data to digest, analyze, report, and respond to.
Unauthorized, background monitoring of our conversations and locations is already happening. Scenario: You’re grabbing a coffee and a piece of toast before you dash out the door for work. You and your partner have a brief conversation about needing to get a new car soon. By lunch, your social media platforms are pushing ads from car dealerships and manufacturers.
An unpleasant intrusion, perhaps, but a harbinger of even more disturbing potentials that will almost certainly be realized.
Ask yourself: Why are corporations and governments spending billions on huge data centres that can store and sift through vast amounts of information? What kind of persuasive and pervasive power will those facilities give them?
In Points of Departure’s Episode 8, The Grand Union Cafe, Jayclyn picks up a guitar and does an impromptu performance of her folksy song Gathering Intelligence. It’s a signal to readers that there’s an existential undercurrent to the novel.
Jayclyn knows more than she should about the morals and motives of the Lizard Man, who will be introduced later in the story, and his inner cabal. She’s on the run and knows it’s going to get harder and harder to evade the omniscient powers of spyware and artificial intelligence they control.
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