Tuesday, June 4, 2024

The Butterfly Dragon: Night Boat - Episode 06

 


Chapters

  • Heir To The Throne (Finished March 4, 2024 2:30 PM EST)
  • Simulcast (Started March 4, 2024 2:30 PM EST)

This content is produced by artists indicated on the site, and by me, Brian Joseph Johns. 

I, under no circumstance will trade, barter or otherwise swap my own identity for that of another person and I protect the same right for those who've contributed their artwork to the various projects under my management at Shhhh! Digital Media, my own company. These rights are protected by law under the Charter Of Rights And Freedoms under section 7.


If you enjoy reading the content on this website, then please consider making a donation to one of the following charities, or buying merchandise on our shop at https://shop.shhhhdigital.com.

Support Charity



Please support education and information access where you can in addition to these charities:


Sick Kids Foundation
Help research that provides cures and support treatment for sick children.


Creating a world of possibility for kids and youth with disabilities.


The Cancer Research Institute
The Princess Margaret Foundation
Cancer Research organizations that combine the expertise of many different research firms and Universities to find innovative treatments and cures for Cancer.


United Nations Fund
United Way Worldwide
Two organizations whose contribution of expertise, human and financial resources and volunteer efforts provide humanitarian solutions to real world problems the entire world over. These charities operate worldwide. The United Nations Fund supports the various programs part of the United Nations' global mandate, as much a foundation as it is a roof around the world.


World Veterans Federation
The World Veterans Federation is a humanitarian organisation, a charity and a peace activist movement. The WVF maintains its consultative status with the United Nations since 1951 and was conferred the title of “Peace Messenger” in 1987.


I'd like to point out that it was the incredible Gary Sinese Foundation that brought the issue of Veteran's rights to my attention. I've always had little respect for those who'd forget the great contribution made by those who've risked life and limb to defend those values that so many of us espouse. Perhaps the true measure of one's principles are by that for which they'd risk their life.

"None can speak more eloquently for peace than those who have fought in war."

Ralph Bunche, Nobel Peace Prize 1950


The Reeve Foundation provides programs for research, uniting Scientists and Specialists from many different fields to find treatments for spinal cord injury translating them into therapies and support programs.


For over 60 years, Heart & Stroke has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Our work has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of millions of others.


The ALS Society Of BC
ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive neuromuscular disease in which nerve cells die and leave voluntary muscles paralyzed. The ALS society provides a variety of programs to combat this disease and help those with it to survive.


Muscular Dystrophy Canada
Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s mission is to enhance the lives of those affected by neuromuscular disorders by continually working to provide ongoing support and resources while relentlessly searching for a cure through well-funded research.


Humane Society International
The Humane Society protects the health, lives and rights of animals the world over, ensuring that they too have a voice in this world. We are interdependent upon the complex web of life this entire planet over for our mutual survival. This is a world wide charity.


The Global Foodbanking Network
Ensuring that people the world over have enough food day to day in order to survive and lead healthy lives. In this challenging day and age services like this are becoming more and more essential. This is a world wide charity.


The Edgar Allan Poe Museum
Because Barris told me to put it here. If I didn't, he said he'd walk. Geez. Stardom really gets to some people's heads. Maybe I could kill him and bury his heart beneath the floor boards! Or I could encase him in behind a brick and mortar wall, for shaming my family name of Amantillado! 

In all truth, there's a good chance that thanks to the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herbert George Wells, Jules Verne, Dr. Seuss, Stephen King, Clive Barker and Pierre Burton (for The Secret World Of Og and his ground breaking interview of Bruce Lee) that all of us are literate. Actually that goes back much farther to the Phoenecians and their first 22 character system of symbols. Literacy is important. Really it is. Literally. It allows us to approach our employer at the end of the week (with a big club) and ask: where my money?! Math important too. It help us count our thirteen fingers and toes.


Wikipedia
The model for what may become the Encyclopedia Galactica, a complete reference and record of history, events and knowledge of humanity and its journey beyond. It is the encyclopedia of all that we know, what we surmise that we've known and will learn in the future. Yes, Wikipedia is a charitable organization of great importance. If you enjoy what I am doing here then please take the time to donate to Wikipedia. Surprisingly only 1% of Wikipedia's users donate yet the site serves pages to millions every day.


Humble Bundle
A video gaming storefront benefiting a vast variety of different Charities in the United States and United Kingdom (hopefully soon to be expanded to include other areas of the world?). By software their software bundles and choose which Charity your money benefits and how much of your money benefits that Charity. See? Gamers can do their part too.


Multiple Sclerosis is a degenerative disease currently affecting an estimated 2.3 million world wide. By donating you are contributing to effective research in finding a cure and tipping the scales of MS research to change lives forever.


If you're a resident of Ontario then please consider supporting Building Better Schools.

The Butterfly Dragon: Night Boat - Episode 06


Heir To The Throne

The convention hall was mostly darkened, much like a movie theatre before the main presentation. The stage set, which was setup to appear like that of an immense corner office, the kind of which most modern executive officers had as their own. The location of their throne, behind a large, modern desk lined unobtrusively with even more advanced modern technology through which they peered at the world.

In the background was a city, which might have been New York, Seattle, San Francisco or even Los Angeles. Arrays of LEDs made up the background lights, and gave the audience the impression of a living city behind the illustrious office set. The whole charade felt much more like a lavish Ed Mirvish theatrical production than a corporate rally and pep talk meeting, and its audience appreciated the lengths that Tynan And Associates would go to in order to drive home the point. One which punctuated the future of Tynan And Associates and its grip on the entire world.

Hushed conversation staved away the silence, until  finally the loudspeakers came to life with the voice of a professional announcer:

"Ladies and gentlemen, he started at the desk as a Stock Analyst and Purchaser at the ripe young age of twenty one. During that time in his life, he set a record for moving the most Tynan And Associates stock since it first went public. A record that still stands until this day. Early in the millenium, he helped advance and advocate Tynan's own business ethics code, bringing it to the next level for responsible corporate leadership and accountability. A code of conduct that has become a hallmark brand of Tynan And Associates ever since, Tynan being the leader of the world in this arena both by example and execution. In 2021, he rose to the heights to take up the reigns of Tynan And Associates from its former, morally bankrupt leader to become the CEO of the new generation. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for CEO Jason Michael Santers!" the announcers voice withdrew after its final elevated projection, and Jason Michael Santers the man himself came running out on stage, his arms extended to the sky, much like the man who'd run the ball into the end-zone of the opposing team's goal post.

He paced the stage back and forth, keeping his arms up, his hands clenched in fists as he reached for the sky. He threw his canned smile out to the audience, who were too caught up in the illusion to notice its insincerity or rehearsed nature. He occasionally nodded to members of his audience, as if he knew them personally, even pointing at a few in recognition, through the truth was that he did not know a single member of his audience, nor did he recognize any of them. Nonetheless, they bought it all, hook, line and sinker. Sometimes the fervor was more important than the reality of the matter, and most of that audience being part of the upper management of Tynan would never be ones to question that opulant, spit polished illusion.

In all irony, his predecessor, Walton Norler, had abhorred pep talks with introductions like these, preferring instead to take to the stage with a simple introduction and nothing more, for it was what he had to say that was the real star of the show, and his words did not represent himself as an icon, but rather the people of the company for which he was CEO. He was the Captain, Sextant and Compass, however his crew took precendence above all else.

Alas, he'd faded into obscurity as JMS was moulded into his replacement, even taking over the credit for Norler's own advances of the company he'd so dedicatedly guided to its current position of global economy and power, for by that time, Tynan was the most powerful Medical Sciences and Pharmaceutical company the world over. By the time it had arrived in that position, Walton Norler was ousted, as were most of his original team. They were all eventually replaced as part of Mentis' methods of execution and by way of their plan.

The only company that held a torch against the behemoth that Tynan had become was at one point, a corrupted giant whose large feet seldom missed any opportunity to crush the competition. Now however, Future Tangent Industries had over the course of nine years, become what Tynan And Associates had once been under Walton  Norler's leadership. Former Tynan And Associates Chairman of the Board, Helmut Werner had taken up the mantle, keeping Norler as one of his most trusted allies in business. Together, the two of them had turned Future Tangent Industries around from being the bad guy on the big business block, to becoming the savior of big business and the people's trust.

As Mentis' ideology and methods spread throughout the business world, quickly ejecting those who did not comply and replacing them with Mentis' own growing numbers of followers, Future Tangent, and other companies like it became the rescue ships of those thrown over the corporate deck rails and into the churning and tumultuous sea. These businesses maintained a strong bond of allegiences that extended throughout the globe as more and more people realized what was actually happening, while companies like Tynan And Associates grew in their monstrosity and gluttony, in terms of the societies they were helping Mentis  and his followers to devour.

Good P.R. was a valuable commodity and now more so than ever. So much so that much Tynan And Associates' own P.R. Firm had been  paid millions upon millions of dollars to strategically redefine what P.R. actually meant to the audience, as a counter strategy to Future Tangent's use of publicity by modesty and policy for the people ethic, something Norler himself had advised Helmut Werner on adopting to counter the flashy Tynan P.R. hype that took so many media formats by storm. This very corporate meeting and pep talk was simply the latest assault put forward by the Tynan And Associates team, as it sought to seal the deal with the East.

"Great to see you all tonight!" Michael Santers kept one fist in the air, as he held onto an older style handheld microphone. A suggestion put forth by the director of the event to give it the feel of a concert, and to brand Jason Michael Santers as a hands on kind of guy.

The device felt heavy in his hands, and should the need arise, he assumed that he could probably use it as a weapon, much like the Morning Stars or Flails wielded by the men-at-arms of old.

"You know, looking around, I have to ask myself, how did I make all of this possible?" Michael Santers shook his head, as if perplexed by such a question.

"I mean... here we are, now in 2024. Our sales numbers into the first quarter are lining us up for another record year if the trend continues. Our future projects division is preparing for releases of some of the most advanced medical hardware to have ever existed, and most of it fits in the palm of your hand. The Tynan Titan Treatment System, the triple TS, or what we used to call the SY-349, well, there isn't a month that goes by where our dedicated team of researchers hasn't found at least two or three other uses for its miraculous properties. We're at the very top of the world, right now. This very moment, Tynan rules!!! And I couldn't have done it without you!" Jason Michael Santers raised both of his clenched fists into the air again, in self congratulations.

"Where are our adversaries now? Last I heard, Walton Norler is running a startup, and is the target of litigation by our own legal department for taking with him when he left, the plans for a device that he is marketing as Medi-Friend! A device we designed, our team of dedicated hardware researchers, and were planning for release into the third quarter of 2024. Thanks to this litigation however, our release has been pushed into the future substantially, until this situation is resolved. Now tell me! How low is it that someone with the reputation of Walton Norler has to have fallen in order to stoop to such standards to even be able to compete with us? I think you all deserve a hand!" Jason Michael Santers tucked the heavy microphone under his right arm and began clapping for the audience, alleviating himself of the burden of truth of the matter, for in reality, it was a team of mercenaries working for Tynan corporate intelligence that had stolen the design from Norler, and his protegé, Gregory Epsen.

The applause eventually died down, and Michael Santers continued.

"So maybe many of you are asking, why I gathered you all here today?" he looked around the convention hall, looking for anyone who might guess as to why.

Someone raised their hand. 

"The pretty lady in the lavender dress...?" Michael pointed to the astute woman whose suggestion it was.

"A new product release?" she suggested.

"That's a good answer. Anyone else?" asked Michael.

A man near the front raised his hand.

"The man in the dapper sports coat. Nice touch with the button down by the way..." Michael pointed to him.

"Management Bonuses!" he said enthusiastically, drawing a short round of applause and a few whistles.

"That's a good one. Since when do managers get bonuses? That's a contradiction in terms, kind of like employee raises," Michael answered, getting a stifled laugh from the audience who didn't know whether they should take him seriously or not.

"Improbable... but not impossible," Michael added in order to keep the audience on his side without betraying the company.

"I can answer you with one question..." Michael continued.

"Who are the only uncracked market in the entire globe. The one market that Tynan and Future Tangent Industries fought over only six years ago, leading to many arrests amongst the leadership team of Future Tangent Industries? Do you remember that one?" Michael quizzed the audience, neglecting to bring up the fact that Tynan at that time was headed up by Walton Norler.

"If you anwered: The Asian Alliance, you'd be absolutely correct! Well I have some news for you, because 2024 is not only the Year Of The Dragon, but its the Year Of Tynan!" he once again raised his hands in the air, stoking the audience for what was to come.

"This year, on the island of Cora Hau, Tynan will be opening its brand new facility. A facility that promises to change the entire world, but in the name of securing the only market that has managed to remain free of the grip of the west, we're launching in the East! Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you: Tynan And Associates'  Ion Technologies Division!" a three gigantic screens descended from the ceiling of the stage, each screen taking up one third of the entire backdrop.

A movie immediately began playing, a wide angle drone shot of a large manufacturing and research facility located on a picuresque island in the Pacific. Shafts of sunlight beamed down from breaks in the clouds and the sun emerged, over the facility.

"Welcome to the new Ion from Tynan And Associates advanced technologies division. Presenting our new Cora Hau Ion Facility. A manufactory, research center and the living spaces and amenities for a population of a half a million people, in one of the warmest and paradise-like islands in the Pacific Ocean..." lush pad filled majestic digital music played in the background as the drone shots converged on beach front property, extending out to an aqua shaded oceanic atoll, brimming with aquatic life.

"Hi, I'm Warren Tenders, Supervising Manager of Ion Research here on Cora Hau. I've been eating, sleeping and breathing this project for the last four years of my life..." the closed in on the face of a modest employee, who donned a hard hart and lab coat in his first shot.

"This is my wife Donna, and here's our daughter Lizbeth," the camera panned to show a little girl clasping her father's hand as they walked along a beach in the evening.

The camera then panned to show the setting sun far to the west, where it met the horizon another sun rose from the waters to converge with it.

"Not only is our home here on Cora Hau, the future of Tynan And Associates, but its the future of our lives. Our daughter's life. Everything begins here at the Ion facility. I can't say how much this is like a fantasy... a dream come true..." Warren's wife explained for the camera.

"We're building the future here at Ion, and we'll be bringing the entire world into a future beyond imagining. Come join us here..." Warren smiled for camera, aiming it to first his wife's face, and then to that of his daughter.

"Bye bye!" the little girl waved to the audience, pulling on their heartstrings.

The screens, all three of them slowly disappeared into the ceiling once again as the audience applauded, even getting to their feet for Jason Michael Santers.

He waited as the applause continued, and when it had sufficiently died down, he continued his presentation.

"Who? You might be asking yourselves. The answer? The best and brightest. We're filling Ion with the best that Tynan has to offer, and our selection process has already begun," the audience once again applauded for him, and for the fact that they actually had a chance at that life, as residents of Cora Hau.

Once again, the applause died down and Michael continued.

"By June 22nd, we'll have compiled the complete list, and those who have qualified will be given notice via email. We have two hundred and fifty thousand residences, and each of those is included as part of the Ion Employment Contract and  Residential Package," Michael explained to his audience.

"Now, do any of you have questions?" he asked his audience.

"What currency is the native currency of Cora Hau?" asked one of financial analysts of the audience.

"Cora Hau was, up until very recently a private island and project. However, we've opened it up for tourism as well. As it stands right now, the most common currencies present in terms of paper money and digital transactions are the Japanese Yen (due to it being the closest country in proximity), the South Korean Won (the second closest), the Chinese Yuan (the third closest), the United States Dollar, the EU Dollar and finally... the Canadian Dollar. The contractors who built the facility are essentially made up of the nationals of these countries. Some have remained as permanent residents, while most others have left as Tynan fills the facility with its own employees and hires others regionally. Digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Etherium are also accepted," Michael explained to the audience.

"Whose legal code does Cora Hau operate under?" asked a corporate board member of her peer, but more so for the audience than her own interests.

"Cora Hau has its own constitution, most closely modeled after a mish-mash of Capital and Parliamentary Democracy, which includes a Senate, and a House Of Representatives as part of a two tier system. There's an independent oversight of electees who are voted in at the same time as the local representatives during the voting and election process. The oversight committee remains independent of any party however, and has authority to call into question any activities put forth by government and to call for investigation. Taxes are decided in much the same way as any parliamentary democracy, though the Ion Facility bills the local government for the use of its residential facilities, which drives the cost of infrastructure and most fundamental amenities, including a private Police Force," Michael answered, explaining to the audience.

"What about regional conflicts? Does Cora Hau have its own armed forces? Its own coast guard?" asked another concerned employee.

"The Ion Facility has an agreement with the Asian Alliance and NATO, whereby certain aspects of its research are cooperatively shared in exchange for militiary protection and for FARP operations: Fuel And Rearming Points for those navies. Cora Hau has two large scale ports, one on the East side of the island and the other on the West, though the East port experiences the most activity seeing as it it used by the supplier port traffic from Japan, South Korea and China. Cora Hau's only GDP/GNP is based upon research, manufacturing and tourism. That's it. There is no national produce other than small scale local fishing, which is heavily regulated by the big three neighbours. Cora Hau relies entirely upon its supply chain from the big three, with two supply drops each month from West Coast North America," Michael explained.

"What about schools and hospitals?" asked another member of the audience.

"Ion has the most advanced facilities for either. Schools are graded from Kindergarten to University Degree, all under one roof. The Hospitals are state of the art, utilizing the latest technology from Tynan And Associates and its strategic partners. There's an extensive fire fighting infrastructure, most of which is automated and technology based, that can handle any number of different scenarios such as chemical fires versus oil fires versus simple carbon and oxygen based combustibles. You're safer here than just about anywhere else in the world. For those of you who are selected, it will be paradise," Michael smiled as he waved goodbye to his audience.


Simulcast

Mutano sat back in his favourite chair as he watched the Tynan CEO deliver his presentation to the immense audience somewhere in the midst of a convention hall in Niagara Falls. A border city between the United States and Canada, whose countries housed many of the employees of Tynan And Associates.

"It seems that the line is being drawn, and that we are headed into the final curtain call... and yet the Butterfly and the Wytch still thwart us..." Mutano said aloud from the main floor of the condominium that they called home.

"I like this Jason Michael Santers guy! He just stands there and says nothing, and these people are eating him up like he's the messiah or something," Dan threw back the remainder of his whiskey, burning the back of his throat in a most pleasurable way.

"That is why we're here," A group of nine men in black designer suits stood around the bar, while a group of three elegantly dressed women stood amongst them in seductive white skirts.

Dan, who listened to them banter from the end of the bar moved in closer to one of the three women,  the shortest of them for she seemed the least intimidating to a man like him.

"You know, I make love like a man who's just gotten out of prison..." Dan said to her, sizing her up as being the kind of woman who desired to unleash the tiger's fury.

The woman he'd just addressed then turned to one of the other men in the black suits and whispered something into his ear. Once she'd finished, he then spoke aloud.

"You know, I've killed many men just like you, and all for fun," he responded.

"Then why can't she answer for herself?" Dan seemed to take the threat personally, looking to her first, and then back to him.

"She can't understand you. She can't understand English," the same man responded, a fierce look in his eyes.

Dan looked to the woman in question, whose immense beauty and soft appearance seemed very deceiving.

That same woman then leaned over and whispered in the ear of the same man again.

"I don't know what you say..." he responded to Dan, in a thick Asian accent he could barely decipher.

"I know what he says!!!" one of the other men, a man with a pinstripe moustache drew a blade from his left side, much shorter than a Katana, though nearly the same shape.

He brought it down to within an inch of Dan's fingers on the bar.

"This boxer has no honour, and the IQ of a blueberry," the same man sheathed his Wakizashi in a scabbard hidden in his pants.

"If he flirts with her again, he'll have no member or jewels," one of the other men stated, a threatening smile on his face.

"Care to try to make those words into action?" asked Dan, not willing to back down from such a threat.

"Enough!!! Mr. Gurdy here, formerly known as Jack Warren, is our doorway into the nest of the Butterfly. Treat him with the respect he deserves as such, for he'll get each of you in much closer, and one Butterfly versus the three unforgiving forces of nature is certain to end in tragedy for their host," Mutano reminded his troops of their sole purpose.

The same woman that Dan had flirted with turned to the man with the pinstripe moustache again and whispered something in his ear.

"I don't trust the one with too many minds. They'll betray us after we've given them what they want," he suddenly said to Mutano.

"And they think the same of us, and that is why this plan is going to work. Besides, we need only to look after ourselves and what is requested of us. When the true powers clash, and the dust settles, there will be many opportunities whose doors have opened in the absence of the fallen, and the future will simply fall into our lap," Mutano reminded them, very obviously referring to the Two Dragons.

"And what about the Wytch?" asked Dan, who felt uncomfortable amongst these mystical mercenaries Mutano had found in the reaches of the hidden in the depths of an old prefecture in Osaka, Japan. A dark community frequented by Yokai, demonkind and other treacherous beings.

"The universe is preparing to take care of her and her friends, and without their hidden guardians, the Aerth will soon fall, and the Two Dragons will wage war against each other and humanity, and all will be done," Mutano smiled at the prospect of world that had lost its protectors.

Mutano though knew there was more to this situation than anyone knew. A hidden factor that at this very moment was crossing the sea in search of the shores of Cora Hau. Not far behind it, something big and dark submerged in the depths, pursued it with eyes made of sonar.


To be continued in... The Butterfly Dragon: Night Boat - Episode 7


Credits and attribution:

Artwork: Amy Wong, Wendy Pusey, Ghastly, Birdman, Brian Joseph Johns, Daz3D, Unreal Engine...

Tools: Daz3D, Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, Blender, Stable Diffusion (Easy Diffusion distribution), InstantID, Sadtalker, Google Colaboratory, Microsoft Copilot (Windows 11), Hitfilm, Borderline Obsession...

InstantID by: Wang, Qixun and Bai, Xu and Wang, Haofan and Qin, Zekui and Chen, Anthony. Research Paper Title: InstantID - Zero-shot Identity-Preserving Generation in Seconds.

Sadtalker by: Zhang, Wenxuan and Cun, Xiaodong and Wang, Xuan and Zhang, Yong and Shen, Xi and Guo, Yu and Shan, Ying and Wang, Fei.
Research Paper Title: SadTalker: Learning Realistic 3D Motion Coefficients for Stylized Audio-Driven Single Image Talking Face Animation.

Gratitude: Our Mentors, Senseis, Sifus, Sebomnims, lifetime inspirations, family, friends, the Nomads (ask Stanton about that one), the Music, the Movies, the Theatre, the Arts, ASMR, (both YouTube and Bilibili and the many other creators on those platforms), the Gaming and Developer communities and of course, the audience.

Martial Arts (in the words of real experts and at least one comedian): https://brucelee.com (home of the real Dragon and an entire family of inspirations), http://iwco.online International Wing Chun Organization (International presence of a very scalable intensity martial art, protected and developed by Shaolin Nun Ng Mui), https://iogkf.com International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karatedo Federation (even Hanshi had his teachers), https://itftkd.sport International Taekwondo Federation (Here there be Taegers), https://tangsoodoworld.com Tang Soo Do World (the path of Grandmaster Chuck Norris), https://www.aikido-international.org International Aikido Federation (how else would Navy Chef Steven Seagal liberate a Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier from a team of hijackers?), https://www.stqitoronto.com Shaolin Temple Quanfa Institute (The City Of Toronto's own Shaolin Temple), https://www.enterthedojoshow.com Master Ken's Ameri-Te-Do presence (If we can't laugh at ourselves, then we can at least laugh the loudest at others, and other Zen)

Special thanks to Aitrepreneur, Hugging Face and the YouTube educational content producers, including those catering to the AI content production pipeline and of course AlphaSignal.

Something to give you perspective: The very first teacher had no formal education, didn't graduate and was self taught, but only because they had no other choice. We do.

This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.



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The Butterfly Dragon: Night Boat - Episode 05 (Latest Update June 4, 2023, 9:00 AM EST)


Chapters

  • Satellite Communication
  • Silent And Deep

This content is produced by artists indicated on the site, and by me, Brian Joseph Johns. 

I, under no circumstance will trade, barter or otherwise swap my own identity for that of another person and I protect the same right for those who've contributed their artwork to the various projects under my management at Shhhh! Digital Media, my own company. These rights are protected by law under the Charter Of Rights And Freedoms under section 7.


If you enjoy reading the content on this website, then please consider making a donation to one of the following charities, or buying merchandise on our shop at https://shop.shhhhdigital.com.

Support Charity



Please support education and information access where you can in addition to these charities:


Sick Kids Foundation
Help research that provides cures and support treatment for sick children.


Creating a world of possibility for kids and youth with disabilities.


The Cancer Research Institute
The Princess Margaret Foundation
Cancer Research organizations that combine the expertise of many different research firms and Universities to find innovative treatments and cures for Cancer.


United Nations Fund
United Way Worldwide
Two organizations whose contribution of expertise, human and financial resources and volunteer efforts provide humanitarian solutions to real world problems the entire world over. These charities operate worldwide. The United Nations Fund supports the various programs part of the United Nations' global mandate, as much a foundation as it is a roof around the world.


World Veterans Federation
The World Veterans Federation is a humanitarian organisation, a charity and a peace activist movement. The WVF maintains its consultative status with the United Nations since 1951 and was conferred the title of “Peace Messenger” in 1987.


I'd like to point out that it was the incredible Gary Sinese Foundation that brought the issue of Veteran's rights to my attention. I've always had little respect for those who'd forget the great contribution made by those who've risked life and limb to defend those values that so many of us espouse. Perhaps the true measure of one's principles are by that for which they'd risk their life.

"None can speak more eloquently for peace than those who have fought in war."

Ralph Bunche, Nobel Peace Prize 1950


The Reeve Foundation provides programs for research, uniting Scientists and Specialists from many different fields to find treatments for spinal cord injury translating them into therapies and support programs.


For over 60 years, Heart & Stroke has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Our work has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of millions of others.


The ALS Society Of BC
ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive neuromuscular disease in which nerve cells die and leave voluntary muscles paralyzed. The ALS society provides a variety of programs to combat this disease and help those with it to survive.


Muscular Dystrophy Canada
Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s mission is to enhance the lives of those affected by neuromuscular disorders by continually working to provide ongoing support and resources while relentlessly searching for a cure through well-funded research.


Humane Society International
The Humane Society protects the health, lives and rights of animals the world over, ensuring that they too have a voice in this world. We are interdependent upon the complex web of life this entire planet over for our mutual survival. This is a world wide charity.


The Global Foodbanking Network
Ensuring that people the world over have enough food day to day in order to survive and lead healthy lives. In this challenging day and age services like this are becoming more and more essential. This is a world wide charity.


The Edgar Allan Poe Museum
Because Barris told me to put it here. If I didn't, he said he'd walk. Geez. Stardom really gets to some people's heads. Maybe I could kill him and bury his heart beneath the floor boards! Or I could encase him in behind a brick and mortar wall, for shaming my family name of Amantillado! 

In all truth, there's a good chance that thanks to the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herbert George Wells, Jules Verne, Dr. Seuss, Stephen King, Clive Barker and Pierre Burton (for The Secret World Of Og and his ground breaking interview of Bruce Lee) that all of us are literate. Actually that goes back much farther to the Phoenecians and their first 22 character system of symbols. Literacy is important. Really it is. Literally. It allows us to approach our employer at the end of the week (with a big club) and ask: where my money?! Math important too. It help us count our thirteen fingers and toes.


Wikipedia
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Shhhh! Digital Media
Brian Joseph Johns


Satellite Communication


In the corridors beneath the main deck of the Many Faced Maiden, at the midpoint of the Gearing Class Destroyer refit, the men under two different leaders faced one another. Each side had drawn their line in the galvinized steel that made up the floors of ship, and their borders were currently fiercely defended by their most capable SMG armed warriors.


Men who used to work together, as a unified team, now faced each other with distrust and scorn. A mood that was only punctuated by the presence of automatic weapons on their person. They had been divided down the middle, separated at the weak points of their commitment to a single purpose.


For one side, their Captain was their vision. Their purpose. A man who'd set about freeing himself from the constraints society had imposed upon them and himself. He'd mercilessly worked amongst the very world from which he was trying to free himself. And then, on one of the runways of Tokyo International Airport, he'd  taken the final step and liberated himself as those seeking to imprison him sought justice in their effort to capture him. As the combined forces of no less than sixteen different nations closed in on him, he escaped with a small fortune in untraceable assets. Like the pirates of an age gone, he fled those hunting him and made his own freedom on the bridge of the retrofit Destroyer, Many Faced Maiden. 


The other side was led by a modern messiah. A man who'd risen to the heights of power through an industrialist empire he'd built from nothing. A man who wielded the puppet strings of the world, through the secrets of world leaders, of industrial nations, of every competing power there was on the globe. He had a line into everything  and everyone the world over. The globe was his chess set, and every nation of the world was his pawn. He held this power until he'd drawn the attention of an international investigation, brought about by one of his own. 


That man had fled to his presence, while hot on his trail a team of four women followed in pursuit. Both men fell to these women on the Island of Treadwater, though only one of the men lived to tell the tale. The very man who led the other half of the forces that now divided the ship which had set him free.


One side, had control of the bridge and the galley, not to mention all the command and weapon systems the destroyer had to offer. The other side controlled main engineering, the engines of the ship and its main supply fuel and stores. The two sides, in all truth, needed each other in order to proceed, and that they did, onwards to the Island industrial facility of Cora Hau. At the whim of the industrial messiah known as Alomera Constanza Zekestes. A man better known to the authorities who sought him as Mr. Zek.


Amidst these corridors amongst which the two sides once had worked together, was now strung a clump of wires which followed the upper recesses of the corridors, kept together by spans of ABS piping. These cables led from the main reactor of the ship, following a maze of corridors forward into the engineering workshop, from which the bulk of cables split into three separate clumps. The first clump led to a set of computers Zek had installed in place, with connections to the internet for his current endeavors seeking the supplies he'd need to realize his goal on Cora Hau.


The second clump led to a complex monitoring system that his techs had setup in order to secure his side of the ship. They provided a combined series of image feeds in the visual, thermal and UV band of light, meaning they could see in the dark and through steel walls if necessary.


The third set of wires led directly into the improvised residence of their industrial messiah, powering a satellite phone system which at this very moment, he was using to further their ends.


"No, M'aam. I guarantee you that if you pass my message along, that he will want to speak with me very much. It might even  be healthy for your continued employment..." Zek spoke into the ad-hoc satellite phone.


"He's a very busy man. May I ask who's calling?" the receptionist guarded her employer.


"Tell him that his Cheerleader's father is looking to speak with him. Sooner preferably. We all know how damaging a late call can be..."  Zek insinuated, though his expression went beyond her as he'd intended.


"Hold the line a moment please..." the receptionist responded, putting him on hold.


"That's better," he said to himself, as she'd left him by the time he'd spoke.


"Sir, the rest of the systems are in place. You should be able to make calls to anywhere in the world undetected," the tech informed him.


Zek nodded at the tech, smirking slightly as he did. The tech caught the gesture and vacated the doorway to his quarters.


"Who is this?!" a panicked voice emerged through Zek's earpiece.


"It seems my message for you arrived, did it? You can call me an old friend from before your time," Zek informed his quarry.


"If you're one of my father's enemies, he's gone. You're wasting your time," the panicked voice responded.


"Mr. Santers, I never waste my own time," Zek said in a cold yet firm voice.


"I'm at a loss. You know me, and yet, I don't know you..." Mr. Santers responded with implied curiosity.


"You don't know me personally, but I can guarantee that you know of me. It has come to my attention that the company for which you've become the new poster boy has recently acquired the facilities on a Southeast Asian Island known as Cora Hau. Is this true?" asked Zek of Mr. Santers.


"Who am I talking to?! I can't speculate on company matters to someone I don't know," Mr. Santers responded defensively, already suspecting that he was dealt a losing hand in this conversation.


"Let's just dispense with names, shall we. Names carry so many stigmas for men of our position in business and life, don't they? Why don't we instead focus on actions. Life events. Our personal histories. The aspects of our being that defines us," Zek spoke eloquently, drawing his prey carefully into his trap.


"And what actions to which do you refer?" Mr. Santers confirmed with Zek.


"Right to the point, like a real business leader slash poster boy. I bet Walton Norler is just seething at the thought that you've taken over his place at Tynan..." Zek further led Mr. Santers along.


"Mr. Norler is no longer employed by Tynan And Associates..." Mr. Santers confront Zek, uncertain of whether he should hang up or not.


"And its a good thing too. That's a man who had few if any strings attached. Speaking of which, have you settled up with your cheerleader friend? You know the one? The girl who clearly said no, which you misinterpreted as yes. You remember her, don't you?" asked Zek, firmly taking charge of their conversation.


"I don't know what you're talking about, but if you're implying any wrong doing on my part, you'd best address any further correspondence to my lawyer!" Mr. Santers replied cautiously, yet he hadn't yet hung up the phone.


"That's alright. I've got the dirt on your lawyer too, but we'll avoid that for now," Zek smiled on his end of their connection.


"Who are you?!" Mr. Santers panic betrayed him as being disheveled.


"Mr. Santers, I'm what your predecessors used to call the devil in the flesh, though I find that statement to be rubbish. In this case I'd prefer to be known as the devil you know. Don't pick the devil you don't," Zek played his position to its fullest.


"A devil that could, if you play your cards right, be on your side..." Zek continued.


"...Are you threatening me?!" Mr. Santers responded defensively.


"Are you my enemy, or ally. Find the answer in that question and you'll have yours," Mr. Zek responded diplomatically.


"So what are you asking of me?" asked Mr. Santers.


"I'm not asking. I'm telling you, that you'll give me complete access to the facilities at Cora Hau, to produce a very special and potent product. A product that won't be available to everyone you know. Just those that we choose..." Mr. Zek began explaining the terms of their deal.


"I don't know who you think you are, but the world is changing! I will not be bullied by one such as you and your old school ideals and sense of honour!" Mr. Santers did his best to distract Zek from his weakness.


"Oh no, Mr. Santers. I have no sense of honour. Only a sense of will. Those who get in the way, are often pulled to the depths by its undertow. What I'm offering you is an opportunity to avoid such a fate. To be part of what is to come in this world. A world where we do away with the old powers that be, and found the new! Our own order! Free of the whims of misdirected ideals that pursue values none of us can understand! We will make the new rules, as the old world dies off and falls to our purpose," Mr. Zek explained his plans clearly to Mr. Santers, who at once was divided by his words.


"...and what of Mentis? Of the Dragon? For if an old fool like you has no knowledge of such matters, then you are clearly of no worry to my person or Tynan And Associates!" Mr. Santers confronted Zek with knowledge that went well beyond Zek's own.


Zek was confronted again by a memory. One he had of a recent conversation with his allies in Mexico and South America...


...it is as if the world is coming off of its hinges. There are people in the North Americas who speak of hearing voices, and their numbers are only rising in account. There are those who are plagued by community and others who are expelled entirely by a new order. I've heard some of them speak of a man of the mind. A collective that inhabit the minds of a growing number of people, while others speak of dreams of a shadowy dragon! A serpent that encompasses the universe itself and showers chaos upon us all. These are trying times, Alomera. That is why your people need you as the messiah you've long been for us...


Zek realized that those words were not those of a disilliusioned man, but an observant one. One who had all of his eyes open. One who had become aware, where all others had chosen to close their eyes, hiding their heads in the dirt, imagining that if they didn't know of their enemies, that they'd simply disappear.


"From the sound of your sudden silence, you've obviously re-thought your position on this matter. I'd suggest that you shrivel up and crawl back into the same hole from whence you came..." Santers continued his affront of the man who'd threatened him only minutes ago.


"Very well Mr. Santers. We will speak again when I am next at your doorstep. Perhaps then, your imaginary friends... Mentis and the dragon might save you, lest you've come to your senses by that time of course. Good day Mr. Santers," Zek hung up the phone.


Mr. Santers immediately dialed another number on his phone.


"Get me the head of Tynan Security!" he demanded.


"Tynan Security, Samuel Merack, speaking," a man answered the phone.


"This is Michael Santers. Look, I've recently received a threat over the phone, and I'd like you to arrange for active security measures immediately! I want my home protected, my office and any travel arrangements as well. Around the clock from this time herein. As well, I want you to do a forensic trace on all the calls I've received over the last hour!" Santers demanded of the head of Tynan Security.


"Will do sir! I'll send a security and bug trace team to your office to secure it right away. They should be there in fifteen minutes, half an hour latest," Mr. Merack responded.


Santers hung up his phone, and then retrieved a different phone from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and hit one of the speed dial buttons on the interface.


"I thought I told you never to call me from your office..."  a man's voice answered the phone.


"I was threatened by someone...!" Santers replied.


"By who?" the man  asked Santers.


"By someone... powerful..." Santers responded.


"We're the only power there is... and the only power there will be," the man responded to Santers.


"Then there's someone who suspects... knows..." Santers spoke slowly.


"Then I will take care of it, like I always have done. Like I always do..." Mentis hung up the phone.


...


"Hello George," Zek greeted his former nemesis over the radio headset.


Zek waited patiently amidst the radio silence.


"I know you're there, listening on our private little channel. I just thought that you might like to know that arrangements have been made for our arrival at the Cora Hau facility, and any attempts at reversing the situation will have dire consequences for both your crew and you," Zek paused, the sound of his breathing just slightly higher than the squelch setting on the radio.


"Very well. If you don't feel like talking today, that's fine. However, I will be expecting you later in the day. A half-hour before dinner should suffice for us to go over details?  We will speak then," Zek terminated his radio communications with Steadman, though he kept one side of the portable headset inserted into his ear.


Zek then got up from his seat in main engineering and made his way to the adjacent tool room. In one of the storage chambers therein, his tech had setup a temporary server and workstation and was busy merging files from Zek's original blackmail database with yesterday's daily updates.


These updates came to him in the form of encrypted attachments to a secret email address that was kept hidden from outside scrying by an entirely custom written email server software which was designed for the purpose. 


A deep learning system had been trained based upon the original entries to Zek's blackmail database in order to flag any newly received updates for review by a human. The reasons for doing as such were as simple as making a slight change to the original record to whom the update pertained, or as complicated as that update being feasible given the nature of the original entry. All new entries into the database were flagged, but only a few were reviewed and by none other than Zek himself. 


As for all the other updates, that task had in the last two days, fallen into the hands of Zek's own tech, whose handle was simply xēēk. A handle he'd chosen as a tribute to Zek himself many years ago before he'd officially begun working for the secretive Industrialist whose empire had long since fallen.


Zek loomed over xēēk's shoulder, watching him as he went through the updates that the deep learning system had flagged for his review.


"This system is surprisingly efficient, but sometimes tedious..." xēēk remarked to Zek, who leaned against the cold metal door frame of the storage unit.


"If it surprises you, then there must be something you've overlooked. Something you can attend to after you've done what I'm about to request of you," Zek addressed the tech.


"What could be more pressing than updates to your world leader cookbook?" asked xēēk of Zek.


Zek reached down to his belt with his left hand (his only hand for that matter), and unplugged the headset from the radio and battery pack. He then stepped into the storage unit and closed the heavy door behind him.


"What I am about to discuss with you right now, will remain between us, and us alone. Do you understand?" Zek clarified that his tech had heard him correctly.


"Lay it on me, Emperador," xēēk replied, sounding like someone well educated whom was trying to sound street wise.


"The other database. The one we recently decrypted. You know the one to which I refer?" Zek asked xēēk.


"La Mosca española? Your secret formula?" confirmed xēēk.


"That very same one. The disk that you and your team scribed it to, I want you to create two more disks using the exact same hardware disk you used for the original..." Zek began.


"You want me to make two copies, Emperador? You say and it will be done!" xēēk replied, all too happy to oblige the one who'd given him a new sense of purpose.


"No. Not copies. On the same disk, there are three files in total. The one true formula whose filename is CORRECTED349A, and two other files. Each file is the exact same size as the one true formula. Roughly three gigabytes in computer terms. They are marked simply as ERRORA and ERRORB. I want you to load one of the disk copies with the file ERRORA and the other with the file ERRORB. However, on both of those copies, you'll give the files the exact same filename as the one true formula from the original disk. After you've completed those copies, you'll delete the files ERRORA and ERRORB from the original, leaving only three disks. Two with the wrong files, and one with the correct file. I want you to burn the following text onto the casing using the ship's engraving gun: ZCA APPROVED. Do you understand?" confirmed Zek with xēēk.


"Just to be clear on this, you want me to take make copies of the files ERRORA and ERRORB onto two disks that look exactly the same as the original and rename these files to CORRECT349A, after which I'll erase ERRORA and ERRORB from the original disk, and then mark the case of the disk with ZCA APPROVED, using the engraving gun? Sure thing Emperador," xēēk responded all too eagerly.


"Wait. You will not discuss this with anyone else, anywhere else. If you can follow these simple instructions exactly as I've stated, you will be amongst those I reward the greatest for their loyalty to me once I have restored my empire. If however, you fail me on this task, your entire family in Liberia will join you in an excruciatingly slow death on the island of Cora Hau, and the Costa Rican city from which I expunged your spoiled rich privileged life from, will no longer recall anything of your existence. Are we in complete understanding?" asked Zek unflinchingly.


"Why do you even need to question my loyalty to you, Emperador?" xēēk pleaded with Zek.


"Muerco, you recall the stories that my friend Dantos spoke about when he talked about my Manor on Treadwater Island?" Zek addressed xēēk by his real name.


"Of course. He said you lived like a King! Like the leader of entire world, but I don't see how this relates to your testing me like this?" asked Muerco of Zek.


"A man can only truly know himself when he is faced both by his greatest triumph, and his greatest peril, realizing either one while the other is still clearly in view. Dantos himself could have ended up in my arboleda de cuerpos en el puerto. My grove of bodies in the harbour. Yet, he is now amongst my most trusted of allies. Someone who was there from the beginning, and who demonstrated his loyalty by helping us to take this ship by storm. On a clear day on Treadwater Island back then, and at that time, from my patio overlooking the harbour, the bodies were very clear to all. Everyone who saw them instantly knew that as the mirror side of their fate. Knowing this gives a man perspective, reminding him of how close the temptation of failure might be and how tragic an end awaits upon embracing such fortune. Consider this test your own gauge for the heights that you might aspire as one of my loyal allies," Zek asserted to Muerco, placing his (only) hand on his shoulder while holding up his right stump.


"I will begin immediately, Emperador, and I will not fail," xēēk looked at where Zek's missing right hand would be, as if it were still there, and instead chose the hand on his shoulder.


"Speak of this to nobody, and if anyone asks about the other disks, tell them that they are merely backups," after speaking those words, Zek opened the storage door, leaving xēēk to his work.


Silent And Deep


A large drone hovered a thousand meters above sea level, though the thirty meter waves made that concept barely measurable, if not for the accuracy of the global positioning satellite network.

The machine listened carefully for any chatter amongst numerous electromagnetic channels, analyzing thousands of channels at a time and relaying the results to its host in seconds.

Somewhere, in the distance, some hundred and fifty nautical miles on to the north west, a fleet of four ships under the command of Admiral Harris progressed on their way back to port in Hawaii. The drone tracked their progress too, relaying the same information back to its host before it began descending back down much closer to the waves.

Just fifty meters beneath it, something large and metallic broke the surface of the water, the waves veering and folding to its shape. As the vessel progressed into a region of calmer waters, the drone centered itself over an upward facing landing pad, a steady beacon and relay keeping the device centered above its target as it descended.

After ninety seven seconds of descent, the device connected with the grapple, and began recharging thanks to the vessel's fission Uranium-238 based reactor. Once the drone was secured upon the landing pad, the vessel once again returned to the depths beneath the waves that kept it hidden.

"Captain Spiers? The latest data from the Archimedes is in. There's something you might want to see for yourself," First Mate Tagman told the Captain of the Icarus.

"Maintain a steady course on this heading until I advise otherwise," Captain Spiers ordered his bridge crew as he began making his way through the inner structure of the heavily modified Attack Class Seawolf submarine.

"So, how are you liking it onboard the Archimedes, Ensign?" asked Captain Spiers of his younger officer by almost two decades.

"A learning experience Sir. That's for sure. At this rate I'll be on the bridge in five years," Ensign Wilmers responded to his Captain.

"Ensign, keep that attitude up and you'll be on the bridge, in two and chomping at my sea legs the next year in," Captain Spiers smiled as he walked the single lane of the Attack Class Seawolf, to the Data Center.

Captain Spiers made his way into the data center and over to the analysis team and their workstations.

"Captain on deck!" one of the analysts shouted, immediately standing and saluting.

"As you were, sailors. What have you got for us today?" asked Captain Spiers.

"We've been running an analysis series thanks to the new AI rackmount we had installed at port. The Archimedes' most recent survey indicates an anomaly. There's something creating a line of turbulence based hydro-oxidation, five hundred nautical miles from us. Archimedes was able to confirm this thanks to its polarized light and spectrometer readings," Lieutenant Danning, one of the analysts explained to Captain Spiers.

"Anything on the anomalous data that Admiral Harris provided to us?" asked Captain Spiers.

"We're out of range for any meaningful hi-precision readings from Archimedes, but if we close bearings on the heading of the hydro-oxidation line, we should converge to within sensor range in eight hours, Sir," Ensign Huo added.

"So it looks like that line of hydro-oxidation might be our mystery target. Excellent work team. Keep it up and maintain situational awareness with my station, understood?" Captain Spiers remarked.

"Yes Sir. Captain, that trajectory takes it into a line of oceanic international trade routes between the West and East. Converging somewhere on either side of the Island of Cora Hau," Ensign Huo explained to Captain Spiers.

"Ensign, I'm fully aware of that, but that shows incentive that you took the time to consider that on my behalf. We'll set course for the new target hydro-oxidation line trajectory and Cora Hau. I think you sailors are onto something here. If and when you get new analysis data from Archimedes and the AI rackmount, you're to contact me immediately. Understood?" asked the Captain.

A resounding: Yes Sir! came back to him from each workstation.

"As you were sailors. Keep up the good the work," Captain Spiers spoke firmly before he left to return to the bridge.

To be continued in The Butterfly Dragon: Night Boat - Episode 06


Credits and attribution:

Artwork: Amy Wong, Wendy Pusey, Ghastly, Birdman, Brian Joseph Johns, Daz3D, Unreal Engine...

Tools: Daz3D, Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, Blender, Stable Diffusion (Easy Diffusion distribution), InstantID, Sadtalker, Google Colaboratory, Microsoft Copilot (Windows 11), Hitfilm, Borderline Obsession...

InstantID by: Wang, Qixun and Bai, Xu and Wang, Haofan and Qin, Zekui and Chen, Anthony. Research Paper Title: InstantID - Zero-shot Identity-Preserving Generation in Seconds.

Sadtalker by: Zhang, Wenxuan and Cun, Xiaodong and Wang, Xuan and Zhang, Yong and Shen, Xi and Guo, Yu and Shan, Ying and Wang, Fei.
Research Paper Title: SadTalker: Learning Realistic 3D Motion Coefficients for Stylized Audio-Driven Single Image Talking Face Animation.

Gratitude: Our Mentors, Senseis, Sifus, Sebomnims, lifetime inspirations, family, friends, the Nomads (ask Stanton about that one), the Music, the Movies, the Theatre, the Arts, ASMR, (both YouTube and Bilibili and the many other creators on those platforms), the Gaming and Developer communities and of course, the audience.

Martial Arts (in the words of real experts and at least one comedian): https://brucelee.com (home of the real Dragon and an entire family of inspirations), http://iwco.online International Wing Chun Organization (International presence of a very scalable intensity martial art, protected and developed by Shaolin Nun Ng Mui), https://iogkf.com International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karatedo Federation (even Hanshi had his teachers), https://itftkd.sport International Taekwondo Federation (Here there be Taegers), https://tangsoodoworld.com Tang Soo Do World (the path of Grandmaster Chuck Norris), https://www.aikido-international.org International Aikido Federation (how else would Navy Chef Steven Seagal liberate a Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier from a team of hijackers?), https://www.stqitoronto.com Shaolin Temple Quanfa Institute (The City Of Toronto's own Shaolin Temple), https://www.enterthedojoshow.com Master Ken's Ameri-Te-Do presence (If we can't laugh at ourselves, then we can at least laugh the loudest at others, and other Zen)

Special thanks to Aitrepreneur, Hugging Face and the YouTube educational content producers, including those catering to the AI content production pipeline and of course AlphaSignal.

Something to give you perspective: The very first teacher had no formal education, didn't graduate and was self taught, but only because they had no other choice. We do.

This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.



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