Asymptote

In the Bay Area during the mid-21st century, a community activist, a queer artist, and an entrepreneur grapple with a world abundant in technology but scarce in money. Despite an automated economy, the contradictions of debt, austerity, and wealth inequality pervade daily life. “Democracy works, in the long run, towards decency and social wellbeing,” Emily always says as a young activist in the East Bay. But friends like Aurelius would rather supplement their Universal Basic Income. He wants to create augmented reality content for a well-financed ad agency, not volunteer for a grassroots movement. On the other side of the Bay, Leo advances corporate interests. “Businesses are the generators of community prosperity,” he tried to explain to Emily. When social unrest erupts, first in Berkeley then around the East Bay, Emily and her friends are forced to examine the value of their work. Facing criminal charges, Emily might lose her home, her career, and her community. Read more