Canto 146 – Robo-Alliances
Smoky Hardretter was adding the final touches to the image on the 3-D display of a Mechanoid-control device. It was essential that they get things right. If they were going to establish control over the planet Mingo, Smoky and his ally Raylond King, two thirds of the ruling triumvirate of the local star cluster, would have to develop a stronger Mechanoid army than the one already controlled by the third triumvir, Evil Emperor Mong the Maniacal.
“Ray, what are we going to do if we can’t overcome Mong’s superior control mechanisms?”
The handsome young Raylond and his beautiful young wife, Tara Salongi, stepped in from the nursery.
“We just got little Amanda to sleep, Smoky. You have to discuss quietly.” Tara’s stern look gave him no room to raise his voice in protest.
“Mong is such a weak-willed ruler. There has to be a way to overcome his advantage.” Ray’s jaw was set in a grim line.
“You haven’t really taken him on directly, Ray. He’s tougher in conflict than he seems when he’s drinking coffee or participating in the mechanical-dance ritual. And he was the one out of the three of us responsible for the defenses of the entire star cluster.”
“Oh, I am aware of that. And it only got worse when we tried to force him to join the New Star League with us. He went directly to Sir Saurol to report us and get Admiral Tang to replace and recall us.”
“Um, guys…” Tara indicated the man-shaped thing listening to their conversation while leaning against the door post.
“Interesting… I seem to be here at just the right time to hear exactly what I needed to hear.”
“Who are you? And what do you want?” Smoky asked.
“He’s the synthezoid robot known as Sorcerer. He’s a bad guy, and you need to shoot him in the head before he can do his robot thing.” Tara was glaring commandingly again.
“Wait! I’m not the early model. I’m Sorcerer 27. New and improved. And I’m the solution to the problem you were just talking about.”
“You want to help us revolt against the Imperium?” asked Raylond.
“I’m tired of being shot in the head before I can perform my miraculous functions. I need to be on the winning side for a change.”
“What can you do for us?” asked Tara suspiciously.
“I possess access to Syn Corporation AI control systems. I can turn your Rot Warrior Zombie Soldiers into reanimated beings who can think creatively and independently, even as well as they did when they were living beings.”
“Why would you help us?” asked Smoky.
“You will reward me with sole control of the planet Zadukar that orbits the Lonely Star in the far corner of the cluster.”
“That miserable hot rock with methane for an atmosphere?” asked Raylond.
“You have a deal!” declared Smoky.
“Yes, but the prince is probably long dead. And, besides, Slythinus himself was probably killed on Stanley,” said Sorcerer.
“Why do you want it?” asked Raylond.
“I just want to be a ruler among the good guys for once,” he said with an evil robotic smile.
How Good Things Grow from Bad Things
In the deep woods of the Pacific Northwestern portion of the United States, a great tall pine tree is struck by lightning. Of course, the threat of fire in this day and age is very real. But luckily, this time as the tree falls in flames and ignites the brush around where it falls, the sky opens up and a deluge of rain extinguishes what the lightning has ignited.
Time passes as time always seems to do. The burned area heals. The slain giant is broken down by bugs and heat and bacteria and rot. And before you know it, flowers begin to bloom there. The tree’s carbon-based flesh has fertilized the ground. And where the tree once created shade, there is now a hole to let the sunshine in. Life gets wildly busy growing.
Because of what the tree suffered, the forest floor, especially the part of it where flowers bloom, got its chance in the sun.
The same sort of rule of nature happened in politics in 2016. Bozo the Crime Boss got elected because the wave of pus and anger he surfed into power on had been festering under the skin of the country since Reagan brought judgemental, self-righteous, and fear-mongering rich-types into the political power pinnacles in 1980. The boil finally burst. De-regulating environmental protections has been a Republican priority since Ronnie Ray-Gun put James Watt in the job of Secretary of the Interior just so the forests in National Parks could be opened up to logging and oil exploration. And we have seen in the past few years how badly those changes in policy have affected our lives. The environment is on fire. We don’t have enough trees to absorb all the carbon dioxide that is causing the warming. Most of this country’s fresh water is now contaminated with an industrial waste of one sort or another. But Don Cheetoh’s recent implosion is threatening not only to wither the poisonous fruits of Republican policies but fundamentally destroy the evil-making machinery that the Republicans have worked so hard at maintaining for decades. We human beans who actually value human life over money thought 2016 was a deadly disaster. But it may instead have been more of a lancing of the boil as the twice-impeached Prexydent of the Disunited States did all his high crimes and misdemeanors in the public eye and then was routinely given a pass by Republican leaders in Congress. It reached a point with the stolen presidential documents that his crimes can no longer be covered up. The poisons may well be draining out of the holes the spoiled mango of a man poked into the very skin of our government. Look at how much climate-correction legislation was recently passed by the new, non-Cheetoh President. And look at how polls are suggesting that Democrats might not have to endure the traditional punishments for doing something good for the people that Republicans were so looking forward to. Good things are seemingly growing where the manure of the previous Republican administration has been spread.
My own life is also an example of how something terrible grew into something good. As a victim of childhood sexual assault, I spent many years grappling with trauma. But the incident made me a school teacher, determined to fight dark things like sexual assault, violence, and a will to do harm to others with the power of education, empathy, and love. As a retired teacher, I have fully embraced naturism, and am nakedly honest about many things. One of those things is that you really need to endure some badness in your life to truly understand and appreciate the good that directly comes out of having survived that evil.
I should be very clear about the fact that when I was a teacher, I was not also an active nudist at the same time. I never suggested that any child should be naked in public and never saw any of my students nude (a feat achieved by never being a coach of athletics in charge of monitoring behaviors in the shower room after events and practice.) My nudism is entirely practiced after I retired and mostly at home by myself. But it is also a good thing to grow out of the badness that occurred before. It is a chance for me to finally be at peace with who I am inside my own skin (hopefully free of boils.)
As I am now a Medicare recipient, I have to face the badness on the horizon that comes with reaching an age considered a fully-lived life. There could be heart attacks, strokes, and possibly Parkinson’s in the near future. I could lose so much of my mental self-control that I end up being charged with drawing child pornography (though I don’t believe I have done any of that. Former President George HW Bush didn’t believe he sexually harassed any young nurses from his deathbed either.) But whatever badness comes, I do believe there will be some mitigating goodness that follows because of it.
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