Gate of Aetherium

Gate of Aetherium is an AIGC moving-image work set in a near-future China. Fifty years ago, research into "dragon-making" began. Twenty years ago an anomaly allowed mythological legends to be manifested as states of energy. The initial programme never produced a dragon-shaped creature, yet a boy absorbed the inscriptions of the dragon vein and gained partial abilities, before vanishing into the sky during an uncontrollable surge of dragon power; the experiment was sealed as a classified file. Over the following twenty years, people with unusual abilities kept appearing, their powers closely resembling those recorded for Houyi, the Earth God and Zhong Kui — named human-shaped "Gates", mirrored by the celestial "Gates". One by one, myths are becoming real.

"The work extends a single question — why is the dragon the only fabricated creature among the twelve zodiac animals — into a complete near-future dossier. Classified experiment records, translated energy sequences and field interviews with ability holders form the narrative, so that mythology is re-examined in the language of technology."