Outlier 2B Artemis

Posted by RA Legg Writes July 01, 2023

Outlier 2B Artemis

Alan was meeting Art in just two hours. He wanted to show him an outline that he was putting together to help the colony organize their portion of the population that did not like to fit in. Much like Art himself. Alan remembered that he called these individuals “Outliers.” Which in itself was not a good word. Their colony was small, just fifteen hundred and it took an enormous amount of mental energy just to keep it moving in the right directions. On the most part it was a commune. Everyone chipped in and everyone shared what they got. There were credits that allowed people to purchase other items and things like land and nick nacks, but the rest was shared. For now.

There were a few businesses that were emerging. We had one family that made bamboo poles and flies for fishing. They were very good. Ho and his apprentices were making light vehicles for transporting people and things from the field to the storage and or commons. With only a few streams around, we were able to rig up some hydro-electric power generation and the electricians were rewiring homes to run some lights, but not much more. The only refrigeration that was kept was still at the commons. Most people walked or had horses. Some of the cars had been cut up and made into carts and buggies, only the security guys had actually running vehicles, but at the rate they were breaking down, even that would come to an end. All that to say that we were limited. Limited number of jobs except at planting and harvesting times. Limited number of opportunities to make credits. And limited education. Not that they didn’t have an extensive library. Alan mused as to how much had changed in the last decade. The internet was quite a marvel. You could find information on just about anything on the world wide web. So books were a thing of the past. A waste of resources. Except books didn’t need power to be read. And books lasted for hundreds of years if you took care of them. And Alan’s library was full. However, much of the information would have to wait for its opportunity and for resources to become available. Right now most of those books only describe luxuries not necessities, so they will sit. Waiting.

Alan was working on a letter on what was left of the paper that they managed to squire away. He was drafting a statement to the council about another young man that was to be exiled. His list of “crimes” was long. He wasn’t a bad young man, he just didn’t fit in anywhere. Hated farming. Almost burned down the still and he just kept getting into trouble when he was not at work. He didn’t have a room anywhere, but roamed from place to place. He was just another example of a growing number of young people that wanted more than they had. This was not a horrible thing, but they just didn’t have what was needed to do more, not yet. The reality is that these people couldn’t wait for the day that they did. It was this desperation for an answer that pushed Alan to listen to Art’s Ideas. Ideas that would put these people to some useful things. Things that had a great deal of risk and even death. One of these things was the Rouge Scouts program. Which was just a bunch of boarded young people that would be willing to risk their lives to go out of the secured zone and see what it left out there. They would scout for resources, like wild game, fishing ponds, rivers for power production, fields for planting and items that could be used to make equipment for the colony. Mike had some objections about sending people out that knew how our colony worked. If captured they would compromise the colony. These details were easily overcome and the program started just six months ago. By the time spring was in full bloom the first teams had ventured into Puyallup, Summit, JBLM and Lakewood. And we had kids lining up to sign on.

They were told the risks, but they signed up anyway. We actually had to open a class in school for topography so that they could create maps for the teams and for the teams to record what they found which was handed over to the council.

Even after a team was recorded as overdue and later recorded as missing, more signed up. Was this place so bad that people were dying to get out of it? No, it was just that there was no other outlet for adventure or as a venture towards the future. You see, as part of their reward, they get to pick a place to call their own. It would be outside of the secured area, but they would be given a title to the land and they could do with it whatever they pleased. And here in the colony that was in short supply. So they signed up. And they filled out their maps and made great discoveries all around the area.

There were a few caveats. Based on what our pedisors did to the land and how they destroyed so much, each title had addendums to keep that from happening again. Rivers were to be kept flowing. If power production was the reason you wanted it, you had to create measures to ensure that the indigenous fish could get around and that you did not divert water away from agriculture. People and animals had a right to water. If the land was obtained for the trees, you had to replant. Basically we were going to strive to be good stewards of the land and it’s resources.

Now Art had more ideas and wanted to present them to the council. Alan thought it prudent to have him review it first. Art lacked tact and skills in presenting information. His mind was full of details that he would leave out and so you had to drag it out of him. And sometimes they didn’t come out right. Which had a tendency to belittle or insult the listener. So, Alan took the ideas and messaged them into presentations that could go before the council.

There was a knock at the door and Alan answered, it was Art. He was very early. Alan let him in and they went to his office.

Once the door was closed Art blurted out, “We can’t tell them.”

Alan sat and looked at Art, “We can’t tell them what?” he asked.

“We can’t tell them why.” Art said.

Alan kinda laughed, “Okay. So who are we not telling and why?”

“Oh.” Art looked down, “Yeah. Ah we.. ah.. shouldn’t tell them why we are doing this.”

“Again, who.” Alan asked.

“The Outliers.” Art said as if Alan should know.

“And ‘the’ why?” Alan asked.

“Because we are trying to kill them.” Art said.

“No, we are trying to give them opportunities that they can’t find here.” Alan responded.

“True, but that’s going to get them killed.” Art said matter of factly.

“Yes, you said that when you suggested this idea.” Alan reminded him.

“I just wanted you to know.. That.. that is.. Why we need to keep it a secret, as to why.” Art explained.

“Art.” Alan leaned closer, “That is not the main reason, but it is one of the side effects.”

Art shook his head yes. “Okay.” he sat “Okay.” he said again.

“What do you have?” Alan asked.

“I just need to say that when I thought of this it was completely academic and its applications is somewhat disturbing.” Art looked at Alan.

Alan looked at Art and tried to think of a way to put it that the boy would accept. Finally he said, “Do you think that sailing away from the sight of land is foolhardy?”

Art thought about it then said, “No, we can navigate by other means.”

“How about setting out across unknown territory?” Alan asked.

“Well we know some of the things out there and they aren’t good.” Art objected.

“True, but every frontier has risks and most people that would venture into this type of thing accept that risk.” Alan said.

“As long as they are told of the risk, then it’s up to them.” Art said more to himself than Alan.

Alan was also wrestling with the moral aspects of this. On one hand he was giving people opportunities they would not find here. But on the other hand, he was surely sending some of them to their deaths. It seemed to balance itself out. But would that always be the case? Would the future leaders use this as a tool to rid themselves of problems? That was the issue that he struggled with the most. Things that were meant for good being turned into a weapon against the people in the future. Much like the promises made by politicians from one party being used against the people when the next regime comes into office. Or worse, being turned over to a third party that had no intentions of following the promises made by politicians. They had a perfect example of this just over the hill.

From the top of Graham Hill on the old Highway, you could see a large mound covered in plastic. It used to be a landfill, where thousands and thousands of semi truck loads of household garbage was dumped. When the politicians proposed the site, they promised it would only be open for ten years and that it would only be for the county’s garbage, but about seven years in, the county turned it over to a private contractor that continued to operate the dump until the downfall. The “hill” is over two hundred feet high of garbage. Decades of dumping from all over the region and a refusal of the third party business made a mountain out of garbage. A mountain that would take thousands of years to decay. And much of this garage should have been recycled, but when you have too much recycled material, it reduces the prophets of the organization and makes it an ineffective money maker, so they don’t try too hard to make that happen. In the end, we pay more and our great-great grandchildren will still have to deal with the mountain of waste.

If someone did that to these outliers, there is no telling what they could turn this program into. He would have to put in some safeguards. Time limits or majority vote type of thing. He would think about this long and hard before he brought all this to the council.

Alan realized that he was lost in thought as Art was describing the next area he had ideas for. This one was for the intellectuals. “You see we need power and there are a number of small power plants around us. Most people never knew they were here, but if we could secure them, re-do the wiring so that it would come to Graham, then they could do so much more.”

“Wait. What?” Alan asked. “You want to do what with the smart ones?”

“I want to put them to work.?” Art said.

“Building a power grid?” Alan asked.

“Ah, yeah?” Art was confused as to why this was not helpful, “You could put them to work on the issue and then develop and survey the routes for the power.” Art pointed South, “Eatonvill and Nisqualy had plants, then there’s Bonney Lake, but that is too far North and I think there is one at White River and there’s this thing on the Green River.”

Art kept turning as he described the various locations that these places were. This would put these board kids to work and greatly benefit the colony. It was great.. Too Great. Alan interrupted him, “So, what are we going to promise them in return?”

“Well, they could run the places. Charge for power, that sort of thing.” Art said.

“And what if they decided to charge more than we can give?” Alan asked.

“Well, ah..I guessss..you could just take it from them?” Art half said and half asked.

“That could be costly.” Alan thought about how to keep things civil. Then he decided to change the subject. “What other insight do you have?”

“Well..” Art was hesitant. He liked the idea of putting people to work and even liked it when they had to use guile to push certain people to areas that would suit them, but there were others. Other individuals that tried to abuse the system. Some kept trying to hoard things, others just did as little as possible with trying to take as much as they could get away with. Then there were those that just did enough, no more, no less. In all of these cases, it was just a few people, but they were teaching others how to “Cheat” the system. Their attitude toward work and the leadership was toxic and it had to be dealt with. “That’s not an easy one to fix.” Art took out a notepad and opened it about half way in. “I have a few suggestions, but honestly these members need to be kicked out.” Art did not like being the bad guy. “They don’t do enough to justify being here. And I was thinking that we need to work on two things. Our moral values and minimum qualifications for citizenship.”

That caught Alan’s attention. He had been working on the moral and legal aspects of their colony for a couple of years now and needed a sounding board. Alisen was good, but she was a bit soft. The new system needed to have some stricter guidelines than the system that just fell apart. However, it needed some room to grow without being misunderstood. That was no easy task as it had to be built into the vision of their colony and the colonies to come. And now Art is telling him that it has to be the cornerstone of his program as well. There was no getting around the fact that they needed a constitution. One that their system would be based on. One that was as good as the last without allowing the erosion that happened. Maybe there was no one system that could do that over the test of time. The English General John Glubb was right and there was no way to stop the cycle. However, Montesquieu had managed to produce a form of government that seemed to allow the people to grow to their potential. A potential that could be very good or very bad. And that is where they were now. Setting on the edge of a new system that had to encourage the good and ferret out the bad. But if these great men could not solve the problem, how was a self educated person that was forced to be in charge of this motley bunch of humans, supposed to come up with a solution? Yet what choice did he have? This very group that pulled together to protect themselve would surely tear themselves apart if he did nothing.

“Sir?” Art was talking to Alan,

“Sorry.” Alan broke off his thoughts.

“Are you okay?” Art asked.

“Yeah. You just sparked a lot of stuff to think about.” Alan stated.

“So, you have been thinking about it.” Art asked.

“More than you know.” Alan said.

“Are you looking at the sun or just the shadows on the wall?” Art asked, referring to Plato.

“I’m stuck between Montesquieu and Machiavelli.” Alan said, not expecting Art to understand.

“I’m leaning more towards Machiavelli.” Art said.

Alan looked at him. “He was a self-preserving asshole.” Alan looked away and then said, “who made a few great points.” Alan then stood and walked to the window, he wasn’t looking at anything in particular, then said, “A system that stresses accountability while giving them the freedom to be what they want to be all within the structure of what is available now and in the future.”

“That’s like herding cats.” Art said

“Three entirely different ideas that have to be rolled up into a theory of government.” Alan counted.

“I’m getting a headache.” Art said,

“I’ve had one for the past six years.” Alan admitted.

This blog contains two books of the Remnant Series If you want to start at the beginning of Book 6, click the link below.
1st Chapter of Obsidian Arrows

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