Next token in development: BLOCK
Been sketching a new off-body token for SUBSTRATE.HOST.
Working name at page level is NULL. Object class is BLOCK. Codename currently: KIRCHOFF.
The idea is simple:
a dense, high-gloss black rectangular slab, roughly paperweight scale, with a machine-readable layer sealed inside.
Not a device. Not a screen. Not a “smart object.” More like a sealed boundary artefact.
The current direction is a 1:4:9 block form — sharp planes, minimal radius, deep gloss black, somewhere between acrylic, obsidian, and a dead interface. Inside: a black NFC layer buried near one face, offset and slightly misaligned, ideally almost impossible to see except under grazing light. A tiny dark-grey ∅ mark may sit on the hidden layer like a submerged blind emboss.
What interests me is the split between access modes:
optically: withheld physically: sealed computationally: readable
So the object refuses interior disclosure in ordinary viewing, but still resolves to an identity page when scanned. That feels right for SUBSTRATE.HOST: not content, but relay; not revelation, but address.
It also has a nice inversion built into it. Phones promise connection, throughput, exposure, signal. This does almost the opposite.
A black slab on a desk. Mute until approached correctly. Reflective, but not transparent. More paperweight than product. More archive block than gadget.
Still in prototype phase at the moment — testing proportions, materials, scan depth, and whether the NFC layer can remain nearly invisible while still functioning reliably.
Current spec direction is roughly:
DOCUMENT: NULL LAYER: INTERFACE-ONLY TYPE: OFF-BODY TOKEN TOKEN CLASS: BLOCK CODENAME: KIRCHOFF INTERIOR: INACCESSIBLE
This one feels less like merch and more like a small philosophical instrument.
A sealed object with a buried pointer. An interface that withholds its inside. A token for inaccessible interiors.
