As part of the fourth IViR Science Fiction and Information Law competition, DigiCon will publish the stories of the finalists every week. The winning stories will be revealed during the CPDP 2026 conference in Brussels on 19-22 May.
The sixth shortlisted story is now live on DigiCon.
It is called “Mine – The Final Ascent” and was written by Titia van der Werf, Lewis van der Werf & Marianne van der Werf.
Set in the North Sea Province in 2075, it follows Agnes and her AI companion Zoomer through a world where personal wellbeing is managed, medicated, and monitored by a handful of powerful oligarchs. Then a piece of printed paper turns up in an attic, and everything she was taught about history begins to unravel.
The featured image accompanying the story is from Better Images of AI, a non-profit library challenging the tired visual tropes of AI, robots, glowing brains, metal hands, and replacing them with images that reflect its actual material reality. DigiCon has been collaborating with them, and you can explore the full flipbook on their website.
