#carvernor

[smytherines]

I think about Owen and the Chimera surveillance network a lot, because to me it isn't a question of having a surveillance network or not. It is happening. The question is: who will control it?

The surveillance network is an arms race between Chimera, the U.S. government, and I would imagine also the Russians and the British as well. One of these entities *will* succeed, Chimera is just the furthest along. Its like the race for the atomic bomb- each superpower pursued its own nuclear weapons program simultaneously, the US (collaborating with the British) just crossed the finish line first.

Here's my argument.

The first crucial piece of the puzzle is Barb Larvernor. The first time we hear about the concept of computers making spies obsolete, it isn't from DMA/Owen. It's from Barb. In A1P5, Barb says:

"Well picture this- the world's first, large-scale, information collective and archival system... Its just an idea I've been toying around with. If it worked, we'd be able to take down syndicates by doing the detective work from the safety of our desks. It would take the guesswork out of your job, hopefully saving some lives in the process- including your own. Can you imagine if this technology existed?"

There's also this conversation between Barb and Tatiana from the interludes during One Step Ahead.

Tatiana: I need you to search for an island, the size of a compound, that can store hundreds of computing systems

Barb: Easy, I have actually already been researching locations that fit that exact criteria... see, I have been thinking of a technology that can revolutionize- found one!"

From these two exchanges, we know that at the very least Barb is working on this "information collective and archival system" for the US government to use, although she seems to still be in the research and development phase.

Now, let's move on to what we know about Chimera's system, and what Owen wants from it.

First, we have this dialogue from A1P8, of DMA outright telling Curt his plan:

*recording of Cynthia plays*

Curt: where did that come from?

BVN: a little birdie told me

DMA: that little birdie being an advanced network of information surveillance that we've been-

Curt: boring!

Then, from A2P5, we have Owen explaining the system and why he wants to control it:

Tatiana: bird? Little birdies? His scientists developing... you're after the technology

Owen: Pop goes the weasel! An advanced Nazi information surveillance network to collect and archive state secrets.

They discuss why Owen wants the land (silicon babyyy), and then:

Owen: Don't you get it? Those stores of silicon from beneath the Earth's crust will allow us to mass produce Von Nazi's technology and deploy his system on a global scale! I'd have all the world's secrets. I'd be God. Now what a world that would be, eh?

The conversation continues:

Curt: my government will never allow this

Tatiana: not even the Soviets will

Owen: not at first, no. Everybody likes to do the watching, but nobody likes to be watched

Tatiana: you can't just invade the privacy of civilians without reason or suspicion

Owen: well, I like to think we are just turning everyone into a spy, they just aren't aware of it

Moving on to A2P6, the staircase scene:

Owen: YOU STILL DON'T SEE, DO YOU, CURT? There won't be any agency to go back to, once the system is global. I'm going to single-handedly dismantle everything you've ever believed in

Then

Owen: the future is happening, Curt. And it's not going to wait for you. What use will one man be, when a box in a room can do his job in seconds, huh?

Curt: sounds boring

Owen: you're a caveman, and I've invented fire

To me, this absolutely reads as Owen being aware that somebody- be it Chimera, or the US, or the Russians- will have this surveillance network. The future is inevitable. The future is surveillance (he was soooo right), the future is computers. Curt just can't see it yet, because he doesn't know technology the way that Owen and Barb do.

Going back to "I'd have all the world's secrets. I'd be God." Makes me believe that Owen is doing this so that *he* will control the flow of information. That he will be able to protect himself against what is coming. That he will never have to be vulnerable to his secret again.

Because here's the thing: we don't know if Chimera is going to use this information to punish or harm queer people. Given that Owen believes he will be in charge of the surveillance system, I'd say at the very least he does not believe it will be.

His goal seems to be "a world without agencies, a world without spies, a world without secrets." It seems to be the destruction of spying as an institution, and undercutting the nations which make use of spies to influence global events. At no point does he say that he will expose queer people if he is in charge of the surveillance network.

But, the US government absolutely will.

The US government is already hunting down queer people, even without a fancy surveillance network. Having control over Chimera's network would only make that task easier for them. Curt's secret, the secret of any queer person in this time period, is almost certainly safer in the hands of a gay man than it would be in the hands of a bloodthirsty global superpower that is already hunting down queer people.

Finally, at the end of the show, after Cynthia says that pretty soon nerds in lab coats will be running the show, we find out that Barb is getting the resources to fully work on the technology she has been talking about the entire show:

When Curt killed Owen he did not kill the surveillance network. Not for Chimera. But also, by handing A.S.S. evidence of what Chimera was doing, he likely influenced the US government to fund Barb and make her surveillance system a reality. A surveillance system that will invariably be used to hurt people like Curt and Owen.

Its possible that Curt never takes down Chimera precisely because the US now has a surveillance system to tell them that their ex-agent, the agent who went rogue, is also gay. And I don't imagine they would be very Gay Rights about it.

From a real world perspective, Owen and Barb were right: surveillance technology was the future in 1961. It is the present we currently live in. Warrantless, invasive, built into every piece of tech we use. The future happened, and it didn't wait for Agent Curt Mega.

#jesus why do i do this #this is about to get 4 notes hahaha #spies are forever #tin can bros #curtwen #owen carvour #agent curt mega #saf #tcb #carvernor #seriously sincerely no disrespect meant to that owen surveillance network post going around #i just genuinely do think about this a lot and kept meaning to make a breakdown #and that post got my autism flowing

[smytherines]

sometimes I think about Barb and Owen being tech nerds together and becoming besties (once she finds out about Curt and Owen and stops being a sex pest) and it makes me upset. They would've loved talking about hard drives or whatever. Are we allowed to have platonic queer bestie ship names? Because I'm gonna call them Carvernor

(please somebody draw them as best friends)

#spies are forever #tin can bros #owen carvour #barb larvernor #carvernor

[smytherines]

Ok I'm in the middle of writing a ridiculous long thing about Owen and the Chimera surveillance system. But I had to stop and save that to drafts because I just thought about this:

We know that Barb is working on the same thing for the US government that Owen is working on for Chimera. What if that's because Barb and Owen discussed it before his fall? Barb was Curt's field support, she is at the rendezvous point that Curt (and Owen?) would've gone to if the mission in A1P1 hadn't fallen apart. They are both tech people. Conceivably they knew each other.

Owen is shown hacking into the door controls for the safety barricades in A1P1, and obviously we know what he did with Chimera post-fall. What if Barb and Owen are both pursuing this surveillance thing because they had pre-fall computer dork moments together discussing hypotheticals and trends for how technology was developing (which Curt 100% fell asleep during because its boring as hell)

If Barb and Owen knew each other, they probably had a lot of conversations about gadgets and computers, because frankly not many people would have that kind of specialized knowledge about computers in the mid 1950s. Maybe they eagerly discussed the ways that computers could make the job safer or more effective.

It's possible that Owen brings the surveillance network idea to Chimera in the first place because he knows Barb is already working on it for the US government. Maybe Owen is able to get a lot further on it than Barb has because Chimera threw resources behind the idea, whereas the US government doesn't give Barb any support or resources until Curt kills Owen and brings A.S.S. evidence of Chimera's system?

Carvernor thoughts are hurting my brain again hahaha

(Also I swear I'm not trying to vagueblog!! I just don't want to dump 20 paragraphs on someone else's totally valid post about it! That seems more weird and hostile than just making a separate post would be?)

#spies are forever #tin can bros #owen carvour #barb larvernor #agent curt mega #saf #tcb #carvernor