I am Spartacus
In a fabled scene from Stanley Kubrik’s Spartacus (1960), Roman authorities make what they portray to be a magnanimous announcement to a field of slaves who are shackled and chained to each other. The captives will all be spared crucifixion if they identify the insurgent leader named Spartacus. But just as Kirk Douglas (Spartacus) is about to stand and identify himself, Tony Curtis (fellow-slave) stands with him and both shout, “I am Spartacus.” Then one by one and in groups, more and more of the slaves stand and shout over and over again, “I am Spartacus. I am Spartacus.” Laurence Olivier (Roman general) looks worried. By going to their death together, they instantly turn the tables on their captors. Rather than handing success to an authority that is already preemptively congratulating itself on a successful strategy, they will force that power to extinguish all of its human property.
While treated as rare or magical, maybe Spartacus opportunities are not so uncommon, especially in the spaces of infrastructure. With hands on the faders of political power and consequence, maybe it only takes a bit more practice to be able to feel for these paradoxical points of inversion, divide, or watershed that force the hand of abusive power. Autonomy Cube is positioned just at the instant before Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis stand up together, and it might be a willing, if unwitting, correspondent for this sort of contemplation or rehearsal.