Kelly Hughson found out about the attack at the feminist conference from a contact he had in one of the national police agencies. Some sort of noxious gas was created by smoke bombs left in a closed lecture hall. Before they were set off, someone had blocked the two exits. The smoke had quickly filled the closed space, which made it difficult to see. This heightened the panic as people rushed to get out. By the time the fire fighters had been able to get the doors open, there were piles of bodies in front of them. Whatever was in the smoke, it was deadly to inhale.
Hughson took a few moments. He sat up straight in his chair, took three deep breaths, and, reminded himself that all people die. He then recited a bit of poetry to himself.
Heaven and earth are not humane,
They treat the ten thousand beings as straw dogs.
The sage is not humane,
He treats the hundred families as straw dogs.
Between heaven and earth,
How like a bellows it is!
Empty and yet inexhaustible,
Moving and yet it pours out ever more.
By many words one’s reckoning is exhausted.
It is better to abide by the center.
He thought about what he was doing, the long history of the Elders, and, the thousands of people who had worked over the ages to nudge humanity into becoming kinder and wiser. He then recognized that even as the universe had made every human being mortal, it had also created the instinct among many people to try to be kind and seek after wisdom. This helped him still his emotions and return to the task at hand.
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