Lake Chateaugay has been off limits to the general public for the last forty years. Now, with the discovery of the first, the Wendigo-possessed techno-luddites are hoping that the second and more technologically advanced Artbot won’t cause a Wendigo infestation of the area.
A team of scientists at the University of New York in Binghamton are attempting to study and harness the Artbot technology for the human good. The Wendigo people have a different point of view.
The problem, according to Wendigo leader, Joe Stilp, is that “artificial intelligences have souls.” The Wendigo claim that Artbots are “biological/machine hybrids” that contain human- and Wendigo-like souls. Artbots could be susceptible to possession by their Wendigo like selves and then manifest Wendigo-type behaviour in the community. The problem has gotten worse since they put the first Wendigo Artbot into a storage facility for a few decades.
Stilp feels that the Wendigo are a unique culture within the human species. Artbots have a more human soul or life force. Wendigo want to keep their “souls” to themselves, so they’re worried about any interaction with Artbots. Wendigo believe Artbots will take their human souls and be “unhealthy for the biosphere.”
Wendigo people believe that the Artbots are “a threat to Wendigo culture and Wendigo families.” Wendigo believe Artbots are going to disrupt the Wendigo way of life by destroying cultural values, values like a “respect for elders, respect for authority, a sense of personal pride, a sense of personal responsibility, a sense of responsibility for future generations, and a sense of belonging to a community.” Wendigo, as much as they hate comparisons to the Artbots, think said Artbots will lead to Wendigo extinction.
What mysteries of Chateaugay Lake haunt you?