Anse Daems: Changes since 2049/10/08

Anse Daems (born January 18th 2008) is a Belgian former investigative journalist, author, screenwriter, and activist. Born in Brussels, she studied at SOAS University in London City before joining the Belgian newsdesk of World News Wire (WNW) in 2035, where she pitched and contributed to numerous documentaries.

In 2039, Daems spearheaded a series of WNW reports detailing the role of Lassgard Bioteknik in causing the CMD pandemic, based on an anonymous source inside the company.

In 2040, Daems was dismissed from WNW amidst a restructuring effort. She independently continued her journalism work until 2043, when she retired from public commentary. Daems currently lives in Costa Rica.

Early life and educationPermalink

Anse Daems was born on January 18th 2008 in Brussels, Belgium. Her father is Jacob Daems, a former science journalist, and her mother is Gertrude Daems (née Samson), a tour organiser. In 2015, Daems’ mother lapsed into a coma after a car accident and unexpectedly awoke in 2019, when Daems was eleven years old. During that time, she was able to communicate with her mother using rudimentary yes-no responses, and Daems assisted her afterwards with her convalescence and physical therapy.

In 2030, Daems graduated with a degree in Persian Studies from the SOAS University in London City and returned to Belgium, where she took on various jobs in the cultural and social sectors. She also travelled to Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia, which inspired her to become a journalist.

World News WirePermalink

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In 2035, Daems joined World News Wire (WNW) as an investigative reporter for its Belgian news desk, with her work focused on international politics, immigration, and disinformation. She pitched and contributed to numerous WNW news articles and documentaries, eventually taking the lead on a long-form documentary in 2037 about far-right governments in Greece and their legacy of anti-refugee policies.

Lassgard Bioteknik revelationsPermalink

After the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) over the outbreak of Cariappa-Muren disease (CMD) in July 2039, Daems took the lead on a WNW investigative series that would detail Lassgard Bioteknik’s use of disinformation in denying any connection between Lassgard tuna and CMD.

In October 2039, Daems was contacted by an anonymous source inside Lassgard Bioteknik, who asked to leak sensitive information about the company and its involvement in causing the outbreak of CMD. After verifying the source, Daems took receipt of a data cache of internal Lassgard Bioteknik documents and correspondence dating back to 2030, constituting 18.9 million files. WNW editor-in-chief Emad Sajjadi focused several news desks on sorting the files as fast as possible, since the Lassgard Bioteknik source had warned Daems that the company was taking steps to conceal the origin of the CMD outbreak.

Alongside over 400 journalists and researchers, Daems reviewed the files and established a timeline of Lassgard Bioteknik’s malfeasance, leading to the publication of a series of WNW articles, starting on October 23rd 2039, in which Daems accused Big Fish as a whole of orchestrating “the most heinous disinformation campaign since climate change denial.” ^[1] When the revelations prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare the CMD outbreak a pandemic on October 25th 2039, Daems’ profile was greatly amplified, winning her work several awards.

G6 data collection discoveryPermalink

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In September 2040, Daems profiled Sunil Cariappa in his role as organiser of the Canadian pilot programme of G6. Cariappa had requested Daems for the profile because of their previous collaboration on the WNW reporting about the CMD pandemic.

Through her work on the profile, Daems learned of Cariappa’s discovery that G6 was being used to process close to 85 quintillion (10¹⁸) undisclosed databases, all originating from worldwide public and private sources. She expressed her belief that Connie Muren had discovered the mass data collection and was “taken out” by Zhupao for planning to reveal it.

Daems reported Cariappa’s discovery to Sajjadi, who organised a WNW investigation in collaboration with Efua Amankwah-Crouse, which was published on November 1st 2040. Zhupao responded by issuing a full disclaimer and suing WNW for libel, which led to financial difficulties for the company. On November 13th 2040, Sajjadi was replaced by Sebastian Rummens, who immediately launched a significant restructuring of WNW that included the dismissal of Daems. ^[2]

In March 2041, Daems delivered the opening keynote of the annual Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM) conference in Berlin, Germany, during which she advocated against G6 and its use of neural colloids. Daems announced that she would refuse a colloid implant following Belgium’s vote in favour of Resolution ES-13/6, citing Cory Doctorow’s essay The Neurometric Panopticon. ^[3]

In 2043, Daems retired from public commentary and joined an urban farming community in Brussels. She also began to write short stories in the magic realism genre, which she publishes under a pen name. In 2046, Daems moved to Costa Rica, where she currently lives in Palenque, an ecovillage outside Quepos.

Refusing to FoldPermalink

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While researching the leaked Lassgard Bioteknik data at WNW, Daems had reached out to Muren to make sure her team at the WHO was given access to the files, which enabled Muren to conclusively identify the origins of CMD. Daems also interviewed Muren and Cariappa as part of the WNW investigation.

In November 2039, Daems approached Muren with the idea to expand the interviews they had conducted into a book, which was completed two months later and published in February 2040 under the title Refusing to Fold. It became an unexpected bestseller after Muren went missing on March 4th 2040, with readers expressing “surprise” at learning the specifics of Muren’s role and actions during the CMD pandemic, which had been obscured by Lassgard Bioteknik’s disinformation campaign.

In April 2040, Daems expressed her dissatisfaction with the official Interpol investigation into Muren’s disappearance, which had ruled it as either an accident or a voluntary disappearance, including a possible suicide. Daems maintains that Muren’s disappearance had been maliciously orchestrated as a result of her continued activism.

In 2042, Daems was asked to adapt Refusing to Fold into a screenplay for a biopic about Muren’s life. The film, titled Muren, was released in 2043 to critical acclaim.

Personal lifePermalink

In 2044, Daems met Atakan Selvi at an urban farm in Brussels. Although he was there under an assumed name, she recognised him from a WNW profile on Five of Swords (FoS). They developed a relationship and moved to Costa Rica in 2046 after a mutual commitment proposal.

See alsoPermalink

• World News Wire
• CMD pandemic

ReferencesPermalink