A web audio book · Adelaide, 2076

Second Nations People

One arrest at a tram stop. Six witnesses. Every account is true, and none of them is the whole story.

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Volume One

Fourteen Seconds

THU 20 FEB 2076 · 16:14 · VICTORIA SQUARE / TARNTANYANGGA · 43°C

At fourteen minutes past four, a young piano tuner is arrested at a tram stop in the middle of Adelaide. Before he's cuffed, he asks the officer if he can finish his song. Six people tell you what happened next, each from where they stood. Listen in order.

    Listen

    The narration reads aloud and each word lights up as it's spoken. Tap any word to jump there.

    Read

    Or scroll at your own pace. The page follows you either way, and remembers where you got to.

    Watch the edges

    The left margin is what's watching. The right margin is what's written down. They don't always agree.

    Coming early 2027

    Volume Two · The Choir

    Four new witnesses, a piano workshop in Hindmarsh, and a song that won't stay where it's put. Leave your email and we'll tell you when the first episode is out. One note per release, nothing else.

    Objects from Volume One · coming at launch

    The Staff TeeFive lines and thirty dots. If you can read it, you know what it says.
    Quiet CollarA sun gaiter printed with tram-shelter glass, worn high over the throat.
    Kite Corps CapBibek's service cap. KS-414 on the patch, "Mostly just looking" under the brim.
    Verifier 0419Record Office lanyard and card. Human verification required.

    Credits

    Narration

    ElevenLabs, Flash v2.5, with Voice Library voices for Sushila, Rosa, Bibek, June, Eli and Inspector Pell, and the Sarah and Charlotte voices for the Companion and the magpies.

    • Sushila GurungEps 1, 6
    • NarratorEp 2
    • Bibek GurungEp 3
    • JuneEp 4
    • Eli Moretti-NguyenEp 5
    • Inspector Graham PellEp 5
    • The CompanionSarah
    • The magpiesCharlotte

    Sound

    Sound effects from BigSoundBank by Joseph Sardin, released under CC0. Thank you.

    The tram chime, the fourteen seconds of humming, the kite whine and the room tones are synthesised in your browser.

    Type

    Literata (TypeTogether), Big Shoulders Display (Patric King) and Red Hat Mono (Red Hat), all under the SIL Open Font License, served by Google Fonts.

    Talk it over

    In this preview the listening friend is Claude Haiku, by Anthropic. It only ever sees the parts of the story you've reached.