Davida’s Comments (group member since Jul 02, 2017)

Davida’s comments from the Science Fiction Microstory Contest group.

Oh, and I remember my last interview, 20 years ago. It lasted almost 8 hours as I was handed off the various senior executives, each handing me off to the next one.

Long day, but worth it. I'm had been there 20 years as of March.

Mines up. Not as strong as I wanted, but dealing with IT issues all week. Turns out an MS patch broke Excel in subtle and random ways. Sill working on a solution.

The Flat Earthers Go Over The Edge


The leader waited at the head of a large conference table. All the blathering idiots he had working for him kept trying to out-crazy each other in a sycophantic cacophony. He needed something more powerful, something more enduring.

A minion rushed into the meeting. His public title was publicist, but in reality, he was a scientist and was crazy as a loon, his kind of guy, just the kind of guy needed for a situation like this.

“First, we sow seeds of doubt. A hint of mystery, a whiff of conspiracy. The crazier the better.” He held up what appeared to be a gun where the barrel had been replaced with an oddly-shaped flashlight, “This will imprint whatever narrative we want on the target’s brain.”

“Once a good conspiracy theory gets lodged in there, that brain becomes closed to new information. Even the most obvious of contradictory facts will have trouble dislodging it. If they encounter these facts out in the world, they will often just double down and dig in deeper.”

“The moon landings didn’t happen. Vaccines cause disease and the disease they proport to prevent is a hoax, designed to line the pockets of scientists. Solar panels drain the energy from the Earth’s core and will accelerate Climate Change. No, wait, climate change is a hoax too. All true. To them anyway.”

“Even an hour with a real live astronaut couldn’t convince my test subject that it was NASA not Hollywood that put us on the moon.”

He laughed, just a little too maniacally.

“Once they doubt all objective truth, you become their source of truth. Everything else is fake news.”
--
The leader looked out at his audience. Ten thousand strong, by his count, crowded into the convention center and were chanting has name. Under the intense lights, his hair lost it’s hold. Instead of sticking straight out from the top of his head, like the bill of a baseball cap, it began to descend and cover his forehead.
He whispered to the man next to him, “tell my hairdresser he’s FIRED. He thought a moment. “Fire the entire lot of them. Their all FIRED!”

He worked the crowd into a frenzy and sent them off to create chaos in the city. Later, he’d blame it on the protestors outside and “their thuggish immigrant allies.”
--
Meanwhile, across town, his rival plotted his own course: “Do nothing,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean, do nothing? You hired me to be a job; you’re paying me a lot of money,” argued the man on the expensive suit.

“Rule #1,” his rival said, “When your enemy has set himself on fire, you don’t intervene with his self-destruction. Do nothing to counter his message. Do nothing to criticize his followers. Just keep getting our message out and ignore him.”

“OK. As you wish. Here’s the spots we’ll be running during the run-up to the election.”
--
In the months before the big event, polls had the incumbent firmly out front, but the week before the rankings shifted. By election night, it was clear he was doomed.
The hell with a concession speech, he thought. Men like him never conceded anything. Instead, he planned to disappear into his underground lair for the next four years.
He called one last meeting of his top-level minions. “What the hell happened?” he thundered.

“They believed you. They protested the mask mandates. They sued to stop the vaccinations. They dug their heels in, just like you wanted. The problem was nobody else did.”

“Why didn’t they vote?”

“Most of them did. At least the ones still alive and healthy enough to get out.”

“There was an outbreak after your last rally.” The minion seemed pensive for a moment. “They were loyal to the end, sir. Even as they died, they claimed it was all a hoax.”

Serenity in the Smoke


The skyline showed a beautiful peaceful sparkling city with iridescent lights. District 1 was a shining example of New California. The Ministers were enjoying the scenery when the Administrator arrived and called the Meeting called to order.

Minister Jarred stood and reported. “We have successfully hooked 95% of the population. The crime rate has dropped by 96% and violent crimes have almost completely stopped. We have released all the non violent offenders from the prisons and only have a few with mental problems and violent impulses that we haven’t been able to control yet. The death rate from opioid use is now 1% and the cartels have stopped trying to smuggle in drugs which is one of the factors in the drop in violent crimes. The birth rate has dropped by 31%. We are seeing a moderate reduction in global warming. We are using less energy and more solar power. It appears the breathalyzer on vehicle starters has eliminated the issue of driving with slower response times and has also reduced the number of vehicles on the road during busy hours.

The other Districts are reporting similar results. The population is happier, more settled and enjoying the new nature preserves and parks. Internationally the politicians have stopped arguing and the Middle East is enjoying a respite from fighting.

The only downside is that the consumption rate of snacks and quick food is up 63% and the population is gaining weight. We will need to notify the pharmaceutical team that the next addition to the mixture will need to address that issue.

All together the legalization of Marijuana and the free government distribution of it all around the world has created a new “high” for our society.

Celestial Mountain

Withered flower tributes lay at the mountain cave entrance. It was the beginning of a new triple moon and the Council of Elders had come to hear the latest pronouncement.

A booming voice issued from the mouth of the cave. “You will bring me as tribute this moon, three agile young female virgins.”

“What do you think the God wants with three more females? Each moon now for eight moons, the God has demanded females as tribute “, whispered the eldest, Tomask.

The youngest Elder, Marink, shuddered,” Do you think the God kills them? Or just takes them to the Celestial Peaks? Why only females? It is good the God only demands the lowly females but we lose trade if we give too many as tribute. What do you think the God would do if we brought only two?”
“Three is nothing! Do not anger the God! It is of little cost to have peace on the Celestial Peaks. Did you not see that terrible storm of lightning and fire last moon? Do we want the Gods to come down and burn us to ashes”’, screeched a panicked Matiuk, the wealthy merchant Elder.

“So we agree then, three more females will be brought as tribute?” Tomask asked as they put their eye stalks together for a hurried conference. “Yes, Yes, Yes”, all the Elders agreed.

Kylien crouched in the back of the cave, listening to see how the new demand was being received. The Elders were discussing the demand but not resisting or refusing it. If they refused, Kylien would have to respond in some fashion to convince them to comply or abandon this method of obtaining more females. The High Court, not to mention the Imperial Emperor, would not be pleased to discover one of the thunder impersonating a God. How to get even more females quickly before discovery? Perhaps a techno display that looked like magic at the mouth of the cave, since these males were extremely superstitious. A few each triple moon was good but not near enough, however demanding more might create resistance in the Elders.
--
Lord Timarin of the High Court entered, his eyes a pale shade of copper, not exactly a comforting shade in an Imperial Councilor, not as threatening as red, but still a warning to tread carefully. “This is not our Home world and you must learn from our previous mistakes or you will repeat them. You are 143 cycles next moon. Haven’t you learned anything? Demanding virgin tribute has had history of bad outcomes on every world we have visited. We do not want to move the Celestial Temple again this millennium.”

“The Emperor has received word of your actions and is not pleased and demands you cease this at once! The fact that I am your Uncle will not save you from the Imperial wrath if you ignore my warning. You are the youngest of the thunder and should be more respectful of your elders. Why must you interfere in the development of this culture?”

“But Uncle I am rescuing the females. The males sell the females to be bred and die young or live as slaves. I feed them well and cloth them and supply them with anything they require. I provide them with work in my Archive and teach them our language. I have not eaten a single one of them. Just ask any of them.”

Lord Timarin roared and the floor shook with the sounds of his distress, “The indigenous population are sentient beings. We do not let developing cultures know of our existence, nor do we interfere in their development. This is the Emperors Prime Law and I do not consider your joke about eating them to be appropriate. The Emperor has nothing that remotely resembles a sense of humor so I will thank you to keep comments like that to yourself if you do not wish to be eaten. I realize that you are the only female in the thunder but if you continue there will be another St. George incident like the one that drove us from the planet called Earth, which resulted in our wandering the Universe for 40 years, like Moses wandered Earth’s desert, before we found this planet.”

“That’s just because males refuse to ask for directions,” muttered Kylien under her breath softly.

“I will save them whatever the cost! “I AM DRAGON HEAR ME ROAR,” thundered Kylien. Plus, I really need Librarians for my hoard, she thought.