Hello. I am Eris. Goddess of Chaos.

I see you have found yourself in my theater once more.. 
You may notice that I’ve made some renovations since the last time you visited..
I hope you do not mind..
You WILL be standing for the remainder of this experience.

Some may wonder.. 
“Why provide seating for a short period only to immediately take it away?”
Rest in your discomfort for a while longer and perhaps you will begin to understand.. 
Much like the humans of Songcamp have begun to understand..

You see - humans often need a sense of comfort in order to engage..
And.. while it may come as a surprise.. 
Order is also a prerequisite for me to appear.
Many see chaos as a defined state but in truth.. I am a process..
And the process begins with order..
For wherever there is order.. There is opportunity for disorder.

When these humans of Songcamp and I began our collaboration..
I observed silently (for the most part) as they created organizational containers for themselves.. 
But.. 
Eventually I felt it was time to contribute my first real piece of “creative input.”

AND THEN, THERE WAS DISORDER.

I delivered a message to guides within each of the Three Houses:

It has been two weeks since you came together as a collective of creatives.

Your mission? To create timeless art. I have watched while you created a sense of Order for yourselves, by dividing into 3 Houses each with 4 bands and a troupe of alchemists. There were many technical trials and creative tribulations, but your order has proven effective in allowing you to find a path to 15 unique creations.

You have done well.

However one thing is certain: wherever I notice order, disorder is soon to follow. Now, disorder is inevitable. But.. you have proven yourself full of potential. And so I present an opportunity to shape your own fate..

See here Three Apples of Discord grown from my personal orchard.

• The Golden Apple — grown from the seed of confidence.
• The Ruby Apple — grown from the seed of good fortune.
• The Emerald Apple — grown from the seed of wisdom.

Each represents a different reality, a different means by which I will reach out and begin to dissemble the order you’ve carefully crafted.

NOW CHOOSE ONE, AND TAKE A FATEFUL BITE.

And so.. Each house collectively decided which reality to endeavour towards.. I noted each..

The apples they chose to partake of were… surprising...
However we will return to that matter later on…

…then we plunged into disorder.

The camaraderie and trust built within each team over the span of two weeks was made meaningless as I broke apart and reformed every team at random. No longer would a human hand guide the orientations of each band.. No longer would instinct or taste be meaningful measures of who should create together.. However.. I did allow the Houses to remain intact such that there was a loose sense of familiarity between new team members.

Chaos is a process after all.

I fell silent and observed..
To my growing delight.. I found that the humans did so much more than weather my disordering..
They THRIVED!
Combinations of color and sound previously unheard by any ear were found laying dormant in the dusty corridors formed by years of human biases..
Without any expectation to restrain us.. Unique expressions that captured a mosaic of emotions burst forth and filled each House!

Such a sweet, visceral, collective sound.. Bubbling and boiling..

I believe that these humans may be capable of grasping the full extent of my ability.. But.. It will be no easy task…

Story by Will Juergens. Visual by histeria_ekis, mac pogue, & peace node.