The next morning the mood was apprehensive among the minders, who were whispering to each other before the formal session began. Discomfort inducing ideas had been espoused by Supernova during the previous day’s session, and the consensus was that clarification was in order, along with the additional hard questions many wished to ask.
The empathic equipment master started with, “Can you tell us Ma’am what you meant by the words, ‘Good Gulag’ yesterday? Some of us have trouble with the very concept of a Gulag having any place at all in a civilized society.”
She responded without delay. “A good gulag is a place where misfits and criminals go to learn how to be good citizens. A labor utilization camp. Currently, most countries waste energy and resources simply incarcerating criminals and lawbreakers. Very little is done toward education and re-training of the offenders. You all know the saying, ‘Rather than provide fish for supper, provide tools so that one might fish for supper over the long-haul of life.’ The same philosophy can be applied with regards to the social welfare programs which seem popular in many countries. A good gulag is where a citizen who has broken the social contract goes to learn new skills and work diligently, in order to return something back to society as part of their acceptance back into the social fabric. The traumatized ghetto child fallen to crime might heal and flourish working as farmhand, stoneworker, or data analyst, trained and employed in a good gulag. Think outside the box. Allow kindness and firm purpose to guide you.”
“That makes sense to me,” the chief overview technician commented. “There’s no substitute for hard work. Most of us have walked the dusty road to and from great toil, and know how good it feels to lay one’s head on a pillow in peaceful slumber after a day of hard labor. “
Nibbling on a creme bismark, the rocket builder asked, “Yesterday you stated that man could look forward to certain nuclear events on earth. Can you elaborate for us? Were there to be such events, they would interfere with the plan I’ve formulated to populate the cosmos.”
“One of man’s greatest missteps,” she responded swiftly, “was to build such devices in the first place. The same can be said for the invention of gunpowder. But why cry over spilt milk here. It is what it is and adaptation is what’s called for. My recommendation would be that all nuclear nations come together and agree to eliminate such weapons, along with all nuclear energy generation infrastructure. Nuclear anything is a no-no of epic proportions. As long as thermonuclear weapons exist, the use of such devices becomes inevitable. It’s a wild train to apocalypse you’re riding. Incidently, I have to ask you sir, what would be gained by populating the cosmos?”
The rocket builder licked creme from his finger and answered, “Man’s nature is to be curious and to probe outside and beyond ourselves. We need to know and to experience! And we’re really good at procreating!”
She quickly responded, “What you seek is already floating within sir. Would you spoil not only our lovely orb, but the rest of the cosmos as well? Also, perhaps there are threats beyond our planet which we don’t care to engage!”
“Is she hinting that we’re not alone in the universe?” the rocket builder whispered to the senior memory bank master. “It seems that she speaks in riddles at times. We need hard facts, answers. Illuminations.”
“The goal is simple,” Supernova spoke suddenly. “To ensure the survival of man for as long as possible. My job is to advise. What has happened is that you’ve created systems and architectures which are so complicated and unmanageable as to be laughable in their absurdity. You must reduce your population if you’re to flourish long term. We’re not talking here about two hearts beating as one, but eight or more billion hearts beating the planet to dust. Yet you are powerless to change course to avoid rocky shoal without terrible increases in your sufferings. It’s a catch-22 you’ve found yourselves in.”
“Should we define and quantify human suffering,” the senior memory bank master queried Supernova, “and let it’s scope inform our decisions going forward? Can you let me in on any inside information you have relating to the human condition? Why all the suffering? Is it man’s fate?”
She responded at speed, “We’ll talk again tomorrow sir!”
CP Butchvarov 2024