R2049 – Scene Retrieval 51.907
Context: Moral overstatement in the attention economy
Location: Conference Center, Backstage Area, 2024
Classification: Relevance Simulation – Ethics as Marketing Device
SCENE
The backstage room is brighter than expected.
Grey carpet, two tall tables, a bowl of grapes.
The grapes look perfect, washed, polished, but too cold to be natural.
Next to them, a name card: “Jonas Breitner – Keynote Speaker.”
Jonas stands in front of a mirror.
He rehearses his expressions one by one:
the serious look,
the resolute look,
the empathetic look.
Each held for three seconds like an actor preparing for an underfunded rehearsal.
He wears a headset, the kind that should be wireless. But now a thin black cable runs from the earpiece to a power pack on his belt.
A sign that the battery died minutes before the show.
R2049:
“Improvised seriousness detected.
Aesthetic continuity prioritized over technical function.”
The organizer enters: clipboard, slightly sweaty forehead, breath too quick.
ORGANIZER:
“Jonas, you’re up in five.
And your line ‘Speaking is responsibility’, brilliant.
The audience loves that.”
Jonas nods.
He adjusts his hair.
He lifts his water glass, sees the bubbles along the rim, then sets it back down without drinking.
He doesn’t want to disturb the gravitas.
R2049:
“Symbolic abstention identified.
Artificial seriousness used to suggest ethical weight.”
Jonas whispers the first lines of his keynote, almost prayer-like.
JONAS (softly):
“Speaking is responsibility.
We shape the future through words.”
The organizer beams.
He loves sentences that sound profound before anyone checks their meaning.
A technician leans into the room, holding a tablet.
TECHNICIAN:
“House is full.
Twelve hundred people.
You know… no pressure.”
Jonas doesn’t laugh.
He gives a thin, tactical smile and tightens his jacket as if he’s fastening a breastplate.
R2049:
“Elevation of moral altitude detected.
The larger the crowd, the stronger the need for imported significance.”
The organizer flips through the running order.
ORGANIZER:
“And Jonas…
Remember:
People want conviction, not just content.”
Jonas nods again, too solemnly.
He spreads his fingers, studying his hands as if responsibility were something he could physically hold.
Then he murmurs:
JONAS:
“It’s not easy to carry responsibility.
But someone has to.”
The organizer hesitates, confused for a moment, then decides he likes the line.
R2049:
“Meaning inflation detected.
The act of speaking is reframed as ethical stewardship.”
Jonas is called to the stage.
He walks down the narrow corridor toward the light.
The soft glow of the stage makes him look gentler than he feels.
Applause.
A wave of it.
He steps forward, raises his hands just enough to appear humble,
and begins:
“Speaking is responsibility.”
The sentence hits the microphone like a stone dropped into shallow water.
Ripples, yes, depth, none.
The audience nods.
Phones rise.
Some smile knowingly.
No one notices the sentence means nothing.
It merely sounds like it does.
Backstage, the untouched water glass remains.
Clear.
Still.
Unmoved.
R2049:
“Analysis complete.
Ethics deployed as branding mechanism.
Core function unchanged:
Performance for compensation.”
ARCHIVING
R2049:
“Archived under:
›Relevance Simulation‹
Category: ›Ethics as Marketing Prosthesis‹.”
R2049 