Outliers 2C Artemis
Art looked tired as he presented his program to the council. “It’s an extensive endeavor and wil
require years of training in the school system. With classes that are age appropriate during the elementary stage and more extensive ones when they reach their teenage years. I would even put ethics and personal responsibility classes in the apprenticeship programs.”
Everyone just looked at Art and then back to the booklet that he developed for them to see the entire program. Years in the making and so detailed.
Alan was the first to speak, “Thank you Art. We will need some time to digest all of this and see if there is any part we can use right away or not at all. I think we'll need some time.”
Art nodded his head. This was somewhat rehearsed as both Alan and Art knew that the council would need time to catch up with what they have been working on for the past two years.
Susan spoke first, “This is… Wow.” She looked at Alan, “This is very detailed.”
Walk looked at Alan then Art, “This reminds me of an article that my uncle sent me from Japan. It was outlining our responsibilities as a citizen. And how we are only a cog in a machine but without us the machine could not work. I would like at least a month to look this over.”
Kan was silent, so was Lopez.
Laurance just shook his head no, but then looked a little deeper. The shaking stopped and he just read a few pages.
The silence was deafening. This idea has merit, but how far could it really go? He finally looked up, “I… I’m going to have to study this for a while.” He looked at Alan and said, “You really just can’t help yourself?”
“If a society can not get behind this it will scatter just like the one that tore this world apart. There needs to be a single line of focus that binds us together as a society and yet does not stifle it. That is the goal.” Alan explained.
“And you think you’re smart enough to come up with this?” Lorance asked.
“No.” Alan stated.
“Oh, you and this kid then?” Lorance tilted his head towards Art.
“Not entirely, but we have built the foundation that more bricks have to be laid on.” Alan said.
“I think I’m going to have fun tearing this apart.” Lorance stated then closed his book and said to the small crowd, “I motion to set this item aside until the council has had a chance to digest it and be able to make an intelligent decision.”
Susan second the motion and Kan, Walk and Lopez nodded their agreement. The motion carried and we went on to other items of interest. The rest of the night went on as normal, it was over quickly and everyone prepared to go. Lorance walked up to Alan, “I just don’t know what to say.”
Alan looked at him for the next dig.
Lorance just stood there. Alan had seen him peeking at the booklet and with the lite schedule, no doubt had been able to read quite a bit of it. “It’s better than I thought it might be, but damn” he shook his head, “Do you really have to go here?”
Alan looked Lorance right in the eyes, “You know we do.”
“From what I’ve read so far, it’s like playing god.” Lorance stated.
“Line upon line, precept upon precept.” Alan quoted.
“Even that has a dark side.” Lorance said.
“Then let’s build in some safeguards to keep it from going there.” Alan knew that he had Lorance’s support. A society has to have a compass to guide it. And this was the best one that they could put together. Now all they needed to do was make sure that it could not be abused.
“This may take more than a month.” Lorance said.
“I don’t care if it takes a year or two to complete, but we need to start with the easier parts now.” Alan said, careful not to try and get too much at one time.
“So, you want to implement this in stages?” Lorance saw the logic in that.
“We have to move very slowly and methodically.” Alan looked at Art. “It will be the next generation that will embrace the full scale of this.”
“This is brainwashing.” Lorance stated.
“Part of it is.” Alan looked at the crowd that was filing out of the council room and thought of all the benefits of this society working as individuals and as one, simultaneously. He looked at Lorance, “And it will eventually have to be a part of our constitution.”
Lorance looked at Alan and took a deep breath.
Alan did not look away.
“No.” Lorance finally said.
“You're the only one.” Alan did not back down.
“That would take years.” Lorance protested.
“You have one.” Alan shot back.
“You son of a b…”
“You knew this was coming, now it’s here.” Alan cut him off.
Lorance looked away. He hated it when Alan was right and you could see it in his face. His shoulders sank, just a bit. He looked back at Alan, “Damn you.”
Alan didn’t bother to respond, he had won the point. As he turned to walk away, “I want to see a draft in two months and please use Art as a researcher, he’s quite good.”
Lorance didn’t respond. He just stood there. He’d been manipulated so successfully that he didn’t even see it coming.
Alan walked out and met up with Art.
“That went well.” Art said.
“Yep.” was all Alan had to say.
“I’m working on the final draft of the responsibility proposal.” Art told Alan.
“How many examples do you have?” Alan asked.
“About three dozen.” Art said.
“Isn’t that a bit of an overkill?” Alan stopped walking and looked at Art.
“Not really. I mean you have family responsibility. Business, social, friends, environment, nature and so many other things we just don’t think of. I just couldn’t stop coming up with examples of how we need to show responsibility. And the more examples we give, the clearer our intention will remain over time.”
“Let’s just try to keep it under ten thousand words.” Alan said jokingly.
“Uh…” Art said.
Alan stopped walking and looked at Art with the dad look.
“Just kidding!” Art said in a jovial tone.
Alan continued to walk. They got to the corner of Meridian and two, twenty four. Art kept going down two, twenty four and Alan climbed on to his three wheeler. He looked up the Graham hill and was thankful that he had retrofitted his bike with two electric motors powered by a car battery. More than enough to make it up the hill and then they would be recharged on the way down. Not fully, but some. Alan waved at Art and took off.
The next day Alan was home working on a broken radio. Thanks to container christmas, he had a huge stockpile of electronic parts. This radio’s power supply burned out while it was plugged in. The changing system must have been given a surge and then, boom. No radio.
There was a nock on the door.
Alan found Lorance standing on his porch. He opened the door and said, “Hello.”
Lorance turned back to him as he was looking out. He had the Moral Code book in his hand. He didn’t look happy. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.
“It’s what's been missing in this country for quite some time now.” Alan responded.
“I can’t argue that. But this?” He held up the book.
“You have a better idea.” Alan asked, not expecting an answer.
“You might as well come out and say it’s a biblical law.” Lorance stated.
“Oh no, it’s a long way aways from the judeo/Christian law. And this isn’t meant to be a religion, just a way to get along with each other. Yes, the Golden rule is in there, but so is a lot of other things. Some Budist truths, some Muslim precepts, but mostly just good old fashioned courtesy and respect. And if you hadn’t noticed, it’s aimed more at our leadership than it is at the citizens.”
“Oh I noticed.” Lorance opened the book to a place he had marked, “And what about this?”
Alan glanced at it, “What, you don’t want to be held accountable?”
“We can’t control the client.” Lorance protested.
“Then you’d better make sure they’re innocent.” Alan stated.
“That is a burden of the system.” Lorance said.
“And that burden just about destroyed us!” Alan was ramping up. “If you have someone on video tape doing the crime, they shouldn't have the right to claim Not Guilty.” Alan threw up his arms. “How are they not guilty?”
“That's just a nuance of the law.” Lorance stated.
“No, that’s a lie. There may be some extenuating circumstances, but they’re guilty.” Alan stated.
“We don’t have video cameras.” Lorance said.
“Not yet, but we will.” Alan chined.
“But, really. I mean no one is going to be a defender under this… Law.” Lorance stated.
“Sure they will. But only those interested in justice. Those that just want to win will move on to something else.” Alan was not to be moved on this point.
“Okay, so.” and he flipped to a new section, “This is blank.”
“It’s not finished yet.” Alan said.
“So, why present this now.” Lorance asked.
“Not everyone processes information as fast as we do, people need time to look things over and deal with their own angels and demons. This is not going to be easy. We’ve had it too good all our lives and then it fell apart like a house of cards.” Alan lowered his voice, “It’s up to us to put that deck back together like we need it to be. I have no doubt our subsequent leadership will try and undo it again, but not today.” Alan said.
“We are going to have to water this down some.” Lorance said hopefully.
Alan just looked at him. “We will see what the consensus thinks, then work on just how much to Water it down.”
“This is dangerous, you know that. Right?” Lorance asked.
“I know. Every day is a struggle between what is right for our colony and for the individual. Every situation presents reasons why and why not to do something. And I can’t bear the weight all by myself. Art is a good researcher and has penned a lot of stuff for this, but he doesn’t have the maturity to know where too far is.” Alan went quiet. The statement was more of a plea than a statement.
“I’m not sure any of us do.” Lorance said softly, “But we can get it close and let history do the rest.”
“You and Art have both said it, this thing can become a weapon against the people, so we can’t give them too much wiggle room.” Alan cautioned Lorance.
“I’m going to need more than a mouth and I want to see Art’s responsibility clause or whatever you call it.” Lorance gave into Alan’s wish. This did need to be done, but it needed to be done right so it balanced the needs of the many while allowing the individual enough freedom to thrive.
Alan looked at him, “I don’t care if you take a year. But we need a draft soon. We have issues brewing in our mist that we will need to apply this to. And maybe we can build precedence to support what we are doing.”
“I’ve always liked the idea that Freedom isn’t free, but it’s more like security and well-being isn’t free. It requires a cost from the people, all of the people.” Lorance mused.
“That is a good opening and the cornerstone of that cost is personal responsibility.” Alan said.
Lorance just stood there. His mind had it’s marching orders and he could work with this. After a few moments of silence Alan went to his desk and opened the bottom draw. He pulled out an old bottle and two glasses. This was normally reserved for Mike, but today was a good day. His normal advisory was now on board with producing the one thing that would out live them all. The vision for their colony and, if successful, the rebuilding of mankind. Alan poured two glasses of his best brandy and handed one to Lorance.
Lorance was surprised by the gesture. They went out to the porch and watched the sunset. No more words. No arguments. Just silence. Rainier went pink in the even light and then back to its normal white as the sky started to go dark.
It was the bats chasing the mosquitoes that finally broke up the moment. Lorance gave his glass back to Alan. He didn’t say anything, he just left.
If you want to read more about the Remnant Series see the links below.
Bood 5: Chaos coming soon to Amazon.com
Book 6: Obsidian Arrows
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R. A. Legg
R. A. Legg
R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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