At this time, Nate’s job was refilling teapots as people emptied them, and keeping an eye on the fruit salad, muffins, bagels, etc, to ensure that everyone in the hall had as much to eat as they wanted.
All the other staff had headed out to the kitchen garden for the morning’s bout of weeding under Hakim’s eye. The chief gardener usually also gave a little lesson on ecology while he was at it. If everyone did an hour’s work every morning no one had to kill themselves doing stoop labour under the hot sun. And Hakim’s talk gave the weeders something to think about while the were at it.
Nate was coming out of the kitchen with some more smoked splake when he noticed that everyone had stopped talking and had their eyes glued on the tv screen. The cameramen had focused their equipment on a crudely build scaffold which had been built just in front of the main entrance to the Capital Building. (The police had allowed the occupiers to put it up because of the hostages they held.) There was a block and tackle attached to the middle of a crossbeam about ten feet off the ground. The other end of the tackle went through propped-open double doors.
Then the commentator was interviewing a security consultant and asked him what the apparatus was for. He said that he could speculate but he didn’t know enough to have a useful opinion. At that point the reporter announced that something was happening at the door and the feed was going back to it. The camera showed that the ropes were jerking around, then they tightened up into straight lines. After a period of time where the rope could be seen to be moving, a man was shown being dragged out of the doors by a rope tied around his neck. He was inexorably drawn up until his head was a foot below the block and tackle. He didn’t kick or struggle, but just hung loosely. The short grey hair and black suit identified him from a distance as the Vice President.
The rebels had punished him for overseeing and legitimating the last presidential election.
At that point the feed went black and a journalist at the central news studio came on screen. He announced that the authorities had temporarily cut all the satellite and other feeds from the Capital region.
The tv was turned off. Barbara and Kelly came out in front of it to make a couple announcements.
The martial arts teacher spoke first. “Our contacts have told us that this isn’t a hoax or ‘false flag’ operation---it’s the real deal. The Vice President was killed by the mob that occupy the Capital. Odds are that they are going to kill another ‘high value’ hostage soon---perhaps the House Speaker and/or the Senate Majority Leader. The authorities have temporarily shut down the press feeds to slow down the spread of information and also to prevent the people inside the building from hearing about what the authorities plan. They will bring them back up relatively soon because they need to control the messaging that is getting out and tamp down the rumours that come from a news vacuum.”
“That is bad enough, but our Web analysts tell us that hours ago the alt-right Dark Web exploded into intense activity. It appears that very worst of the Fascist groups---Atom Waffen, The Order, Three Percenters, The Base, etc---are mobilizing. This will also mean that they will be cranking up the second tier groups---like the Boogaloo and Proud Boys---plus the “useful idiots” like the Q-Anon and Incels to prime them into becoming more violent. We need to expect and prepare for some acts of extreme violence aimed at encouraging a crack-down that will radicalize more people into joining in on their side.”
“I’ve announced this not to cause any more anxiety. Instead, I want you to know that the Elders are aware of the problem and are already mobilizing our prepared resources to respond. You will not be ‘kept in the dark and fed manure’, nor will your leaders flail around like wounded bears. But be aware that the Dominant Paradigm folks probably will, so be ready when the Old Ones ask for your help.”
“I’m going to get back to my computer to monitor the situation. I suggest that everyone go back to the regularly scheduled programming of the day. It will help both with how you deal with the ‘interesting times’ that are ahead of all of us, and, how our society as-a-whole responds too. But first of all, Barb is going to offer some insight about how to deal with the reasonable fears that all of us are now experiencing.”
She came out in front and spoke calmly and precisely. “This is probably going to be the beginning of some ‘hard times’ for many people. You know that, I know that. We are going to have to double-down on learning to control our thoughts and emotions instead of letting them control us. And, as you all know, the best way to do that is through remembering to ‘Hold the onto the One’.”
“The One is huge---it is the entire universe. Not just the physical reality, but also the laws and processes that organize it. As such, it is a collection of an infinite number of smaller Ones---all the different scientific laws and mathematical processes that govern ever single thing, including us. Learning about the universal One is about learning how many of the different subsidiary Ones act both independently and in concert with others. We start this where we are right now. We gaze intently and dispassionately at both the world around us and our consciousness within.”
“Holding onto the One, therefore, is the process of reminding ourselves that we are human beings with a history and agency, a body and a consciousness, members of a community and individuals, with an awareness of our own mortality while being able to get glimpses of the infinite through investigation and reason.”
“The other thing to remember is that the Elders have survived millennia of crises: wars, natural disasters, plagues, revolutions, etc. We survive because we have learned the way to flow with things and ride the waves instead of trying to stand against them by using brute force. Remember that the present crisis is actually a minor blip in the grand scheme of things. The real catastrophe we all face is the Climate Emergency. And the biggest risk we run with this particular crisis is having the world forget that while we are dealing with the present mess.”
“Try to remember that the flip side of danger is opportunity. Things will be moving rapidly over the next few months. The Old Ones will attempt to chart a course through this crisis, and we will take whatever opportunities which may arise to help push the boulder of climate stability as far up the hill as possible while doing everything else necessary.”
“Now I’d like you all to sit comfortably and take three deep breaths. Take stock of your thoughts and emotions. Look at them without judgment or engaging. No matter how important they may seem right now, most of them are merely epiphenomenon---ghosts created by our brain to make sense of what our hormones tell us. Take three more deep breaths. Now go out and spend your day doing whatever your tasks are as well and as conscientiously as you possibly can. No matter how awful the news, weeds need to be pulled and food needs to be cooked!”
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