And before I get started I just wanted to mention one of my
favorite (I didn’t say best) guitar solos is in the song Time Waits for No One
by the Stones. Some pretty good lyrics also. Has nothing to do with the story,
but for some strange reason that song came into my head while I was getting
ready to finish up. So yes Youtube is our friend and I played it a couple of
times.
And you better stock up on all the foreign beers you like
before the tariffs start hitting them. Priorities people priorities. Wine also.
Oh my goodness, I just remembered Crown Royal is Canadian. Damn...Or you can
write your Congressperson and tell them to man or woman up and stand up to
Trump about these tariffs. Whatever is in the kool aid at the Republican water
cooler is damn strong. Who doesn’t stand up for their constituents while some
individual stabs them in the back?
Back to the story
Mr. Samson had not seen Dave for three years. He sat fuming
while waiting for the meeting. And Dave had seen nonchalant about all the time
he had been away? Missing? Preoccupied? Mr. Samson had no idea why he hadn’t
seen Dave, yet he wasn’t use to people being there when he needed them. He
spent years becoming head of pretty much the top level. Everyone knew his
business accum was the best. What they didn’t know is how many new products
Dave had developed for him. Don’t get Mr. Samson wrong, he paid Dave well, but
it was Dave’s ideas that had pushed Mr. Samson to the top of the heap. And
after three years he wanted more from Dave. In his mind Dave had dropped the
ball badly.
Dave, in essence, was on a completely different planet. He
had been working on a project that only interested him. He called Mr. Samson to
arrange this meeting. This meeting would culminate this project and much more.
Mr. Samson started to tear into Dave when Dave showed up.
They were meeting on Mr. Samson’s level. As always Dave moved freely through
all levels and felt comfortable amongst them all. Dave ignored Mr. Samson’s
outburst and sat down. This caught Mr. Samson by surprise. Most people cowered
when he was angry. He didn’t know how to respond so he sat down also. Dave then
changed the direction of the conversation by asking questions about Mr. Samson,
how was business, how was the family, and Dave was very sincere about asking.
Mr. Samson decided to go along with the familiarity and
answered questions, discussed various events in business and family. The
conversation turned very relaxed. All the while Dave was fidgeting with a small
buzzer that had no wires or attached to anything. Mr. Samson got around to
asking what Dave was up to. Dave smiled.
He gave Mr. Samson the buzzer and told him there was irony
in Mr. Samson holding the buzzer. Mr. Samson laughed. Dave asked Mr. Samson had
he ever heard the phrase the first will be last and the last will be first. Mr.
Samson tried to remember. It seemed familiar. Dave said he had read it in an
old book. He couldn’t remember which one, but the phrase had stuck with him for
years. He didn’t know why, but it did. Today at least it made sense to him. Mr.
Samson asked why. Dave just said because of why you are holding the buzzer.
………………..
What Dave hadn’t told Mr. Samson was that he had been
working on the bottom level for years. He had covered much of the planet and
the parts he couldn’t get to he met people who could. He worked diligently the
first year looking to find two sets of people. Some came from the various
levels and some came from the bottom dwellers. The first group contained
healthy people who still liked interacting with people, some even had
relationships along a family model. Others were open to exploring. All were
willing to work hard. The others were very ill, they were ready to die. Suicide
had been eliminated by the Artificial Intelligence. Since they were able
to observe all they would rush in help whenever someone appeared to make a
public attempt to kill themself. Over the years people became so absorbed in
themselves no one looked for an alternative to the life they led, even escaping
it completely.
Dave found these people because he had a purpose for them.
Both groups were very scared and excited to be part of Dave’s plan. And nowhere
was it written down for the Artificial Intelligence to read. It was passed by
word of mouth and Dave’s interactions with the various groups as time went on.
The second group work diligently on the instructions they
were given. Dave’s instructions laid out very specific steps, he kept it simple
since no one had the background needed to perform the tasks. Dave read extensively
so each step was broken down into terms the second group could understand. Most
of them came from the lower levels. They were tired of servitude work while
working constantly ill. They had been taught enough in life to perform menial
tasks spelled out in simple instructions. They were perfect for Dave’s needs.
And they both know the relief they would feel once the plan came to fruition.
They may be simpletons, but they were not stupid. They saw the truth.
The first group had to play a patient game, yet at times
they had to take great chances. The whole world had lived in the cities. This
group was learning new tasks no one did anymore. They had to hoard supplies and
keep them hidden from the artificial intelligence and other people. This included
others they knew that were not chosen, their bosses, what semblance of family
they had not chosen, and especially anyone on the upper levels. Occasionally
the upper levels would make tours of the lower levels to build morale. Or that
was what they were told. No one actually knew what morale was anymore. Yet it
was something upper tier people had done since time immortal in the business
world, so they did it. This took greater amounts of planning for Dave. And he
had to keep track of what they had. He wanted his plan to succeed. And maybe
Dave may have chosen to be part of this group if he had developed a personal
relationship with someone. He never did and that is why he was with Mr. Samson.
He was more part of the second group than the first. He was still physically
healthy, very healthy in fact even though he had gotten up there in age. He was
mentally sick. He didn’t know what it was, but he was depressed. Nothing about
humanity excited him, but he still felt affinity for people and the planet. He
debated internally for a long time which direction he should head. The decision
did not come lightly and the work took years.
………………………………….Dave and Mr. Samson talked for a bit longer
with Mr. Samson fidgeting with the buzzer. Then a great peace came upon Dave.
The kind of peace you have once a very difficult decision has been made, yet
you as a person weren’t sure of the decision, then it hits you. Dave’s whole
body relaxed. Mr. Samson noticed. Dave again asked about the phrase the first
will be last and the last will be first. Mr. Samson still couldn’t remember
where he had heard this and worse a dread hit him. Dave’s emphasis on this
phrase sounded ominous. Mr. Samson asked why he was so obsessed with this
phrase. Dave told Mr. Samson to push the buzzer and he would find out. Mr.
Samson stared at the buzzer for a short moment, then pushed.
Mr. Samson felt he was in control all the time. He couldn’t
fathom anything going wrong in his world, yet when he pushed the buzzer it
didn’t feel right. It was a simple buzzer and made a small noise once pushed.
Nothing happened. He felt relieved.
Dave and Mr. Samson continued their conversation. Dave asked
Mr. Samson what he knew about foundations. They talked about structural
foundations to societal foundations. Dave asked Mr. Samson what he knew about
the current foundation of humanity. Mr. Samson looked at Dave perplexed. Dave
asked him if he had ever heard the phrase about building your house on bedrock
versus sandy soil. Dave wasn’t sure about the phrase, yet it seemed appropriate
for the moment. Dave explained to Mr. Samson that even if you built on bedrock
you still needed to maintain the foundation. It might need repairs over time.
He explained to Mr. Samson what he observed about the buildings. The whole
structures were cracking from the bottom up. Sooner or later the buildings
would start collapsing if nothing was done. Mr. Samson jumped up, we must
report this and begin repairs immediately. Dave asked him for a moment more.
Mr. Samson sat down, a few more moments wouldn’t hurt and he needed to gather
more information from Dave so he could start figuring out he could make money
from these repairs. Dave produced again, albeit not what he planned, yet
something to produce.
Dave also said society has a foundation. What happens when
the foundation of society has moved from bedrock to sandy soil he asked Mr.
Samson. Mr. Samson instantly recognized this was a philosophical question and
didn’t want to waste time and started to leave. As he was getting up he heard
distant rumbling. This was unusual he thought, he brushed it aside because he
wanted to get Dave back on track so he could begin the building repair
business. He tried engaging Dave, Dave remained silent now. The rumbling grew
closer.
As the rumbling came closer Dave finally said, humanity has
been on sandy soil for a long time. It isn’t going to last unless you move it
back to bedrock. Mr. Samson looked at Dave and was getting ready to ask what
did he mean. The building they were on, plus all the others around them
collapsed. The world as Mr. Samson knew it was no more. Neither were Dave and
Mr. Samson. Within a few hours all the cities of the world were rubble. The
instructions had been followed exactly and the group of sick people had
fulfilled their promise to themselves to be rid of the pain. They were at the
bottom of the rubble. They had spent the last year of their lives planting the
explosives. Each attached to weak points in the structures Dave taught them to
identify. They did this task with great joy. They knew their pain would end.
The other group of people had moved to the edge of the
cities the day before Mr. Samson and Dave met. When Dave went to meet Mr.
Samson he pressed the first buzzer that sent them to the few places on the
planet that was not built up as cities. The last vestige of nature was now
their home. They had maps to the few valleys that were left. They had the tools
to redevelop the land, grow groups and raise animals for food. They had
infinite amounts of reading material that was moved to some of these areas over
the last two years to guide them. They were slowly learning to read to apply
what was in the books. They had moved enormous amounts of supplies, books, and
started building new dwellings right under the artificial intelligence's noses
so to speak. Dave had reprogrammed the artificial intelligence that these were
new tasks assigned by the upper level to keep them busy since there were so
many people in the city. He even told the artificial intelligence the truth in
a way, that the population needed to be thinned. This made sense to the
artificial intelligence since resources were constantly stretched. The
artificial intelligence helped in the destruction of their world also.
When the first group left the cities the artificial
intelligence recognized this was different and communicated to the leaders of the
upper tiers. Some tried to respond, yet this was new so no one had time to
understand before the buildings started collapsing. It was over before anyone
in the cities could react. A few upper tier people did get on helicopters, yet
because they didn’t know any other life, they eventually circled around the
rubble until they ran out of fuel and crashed back to earth. No one ever
thought the world would crash down.
And it hadn’t. What crashed was a society that no longer
existed anyway. Dave recognized what was wrong and the only way to fix society
was to rebuild its foundation on something stable. He would not know if his
plan would work, but he did know humanity did better when they had to rely on
themselves to overcome adversity. He gave them uncertainty, adversity, and yes
hope.
The people that were left, thrived.
The End.
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