Stephen's Secure Blog #158
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 15 in this story, in fall, after the start of year 6 of his
special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #158 "Secrets of the Lost Race"
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Sharon called, so I went to the Smithsonian to talk with her. She
said "The Navajo Council called me and said you had some unique art of
them I would be interested in." I said very casually, "Could be I do."
I waited, and she said, "Alright! Whatever it is, I want it." We both
grinned. I showed her one of the micro-mosaics, and got the usual wow.
She said "I love it, but I don't know how those would fit in the
exhibit." I said "I don't, either." Then I ported to her desk, one of
the new dental clay sculptures, and explained how they were made. I
showed her images of the others. She said "I don't care if we don't
have room, I've got to have those!" I said "I figured. Just say where
and when, and you'll have them. Should I assume you want things made
that way, for other topics?" She said "You're a good assumer." I said
with false modesty, "I try." She laughed. I said "Just tell me what you
want, and we will see what I can do. Now for something else. Here is an
actual sized image of something I have available, if you want it." It
was a big geode with people. Her eyes almost popped out. I said "More
assuming. Your expression indicates some interest?" She said "You know
it does!" I ported some smaller ones to her desktop, and said, "And for
the gift shop?" She said "Wow!" I said "I can make as many of them as
you want, but you will have to provide the packaging. Oh, and at no
cost. You know they don't cost me anything but a little time, and I
already have more than enough Earth money. Let me know if and when, and
where." She said "I will." I said "I have a premonition I will find
something very important in gems soon. If that works out, you're never
going to have enough wows for it." She said "I'll live with that!" I
said "So I assumed." She laughed.
My premonition did come true. Sometimes I wish it hadn't. I have a
lot of background processes going on when I sleep. One of them is
scanning new solar systems for sculpting material, and other unusual
things. A big hit woke me up. I screamed NO, and I cried my eyes out.
Hawk and Rose wanted to know what happened, so I said, "My prospecting
partition found a dead planet with unusual things on it. My problem is
it wasn't always dead. It used to have people. They left archives. They
were good people who shouldn't have had to die!" They wanted to know
where, so I showed them. Then they cried with me. I said "I have to DO
something about it, and what happened provides the means. See those big
cracks in the crust? That one there, and that one, have rare red
diamonds in them. The color is caused by irradiation over time. I'm
going to use them. Let's record things, and copy their archives." We
did. I put together a presentation, and cut the diamonds I found. First
I went to Sharon and said, "What is the biggest of these you think you
should have in the museum, which wouldn't cause too much of a stir
about a lack of origin?" She picked one and I gave it to her, with the
story of the planet. She cried with me. Then she said, "We can't tell
that story now, but someday we will. You will make sure the other
planets out there will?" I said "Yes. They're next." She hugged and
kissed me, and said, "Thank you."
I made an appointment with the museum on Misnok, and the auction
appraiser. Rose and Hawk were with me. I said "These stones were found
in the raw, on a broken planet. It had people, before it died. I want
some of these auctioned to support a museum I want to build for their
archives which they left. I can pay for the building, but I can't run
it." The curator said, "You want to build it here on Misnok?" I said
"Someplace, yes. Here, if permissible. If not, on Posintan, where I
have more than enough credits." He said "But you came here first?" I
said "Yes. I thought this was the right world for it." He said, with
tears in his eyes, "Thank you!" I said in surprise, "But why?" He said
"You could have gone to any world with this, but you chose us for this
great honor." I said "Oh. I didn't think giving you more work to do
would be an honor." He said "Well, it is. We'll do it! Somehow." The
auctioneer said, "With your name, and the history of the gems, and
noble purpose, the auction will bring in a LOT of credits. Enough to
build a lot of museums." I said through my tears, "I can't take any
credits for them myself. Never! Charities or public works." He said "I
understand." I said "Here are cards which have files of their history
and what happened to them, and how the world is now. One thing I'm not
revealing, is where it is. I don't want looters to find it. They made
duplicate archives, for people like us to find, so we could know them,
and they wouldn't be lost to history. They KNEW they were going to die,
and that their world would never sustain life again. They KNEW for
years, and couldn't escape their doom. But still they thought of the
future and us. I will NOT let them be forgotten!" They all hugged me.
I said "Dating the event was difficult, but I estimate it to be
almost half a billion years ago, a rogue planet turned their solar
system upside down, and stole their atmosphere. Earthquakes and
volcanoes, and later, meteors, did the rest, to ruin their planet. They
were very intelligent people. They knew how to make their archives so
that some would survive. I love them for that. We HAVE to let them live
again, through us." They all said, "We will."
We did. It took a little over two months. The auction went VERY well.
I chose the number and the kinds of diamonds to get the best group, but
not so much they would flood the market and degrade the prices. They
were labeled by the media as Memorial Diamonds, which I never expressed
an opinion on, and never used myself. You have to work with the
publicity you get, or ignore it, but never work against it, or you will
lose your shirt, and your chest with it. In this case, it stopped what
I was afraid would happen. Being called Blood Diamonds. The museum
decided to add another wing onto one of their own buildings to house
the exhibit. I would rather it had a separate building in a design from
that world, which I told them, but this was faster, and it didn't pay
to argue with the people who were going to operate it. But it did make
me decide to do that my way on Posintan.
I asked for a meeting with The museum director on Posintan. Rose and
Hawk were with me. I gave the same speech, and offered a diamond
specimen. He said "Have you offered this honor to other worlds?" I said
"Yes, to Misnok. I felt they er, needed this more, for social reasons.
They agreed, without knowing why, and then decided to house it in a new
wing on their building. I wanted it in a separate building in one of
the styles of the doomed planet, which they knew. I decided not to
argue with the people who were going to operate it. So, I'm offering it
here, ONLY as a separate building. They don't know I'm doing this. If
it happens, and they find out, they will realize that it isn't always
the best thing to go against my wishes." He said "We already know
that!" I said "Oh." Rose and Hawk laughed. I said "I'll pay for the
building, naturally, and from credits I er, earned here from the
people. Unlike there, I won't make any public appearances. If needed,
Rose can do that." He said "If you give me recordings of your pertinent
conversations, I'll take this proposal to the President, with my full
support." I said "Would the presence of Hawk and Rose be helpful? They
know as much about it as I do." He said they would. And they agreed. I
said "Thank you. I'm going now to meditate." We said our goodbyes.
I ported to my apartment in the Temple in DC, and put on a plain
monk's robe, and went to the room of the Emerald Buddha, which I had
made for Tomba and the Temple, in the special room he had built to take
the weight of it. I sat in lotus in the back of the room, and let my
sight go elsewhere, while my perceptions wandered inside the sparkling
green image. After a while, Tomba came and sat with me. I knew Hawk had
pushed the information about my find to him, so he knew why I was
there. He knew I knew he was there, and we shared our sorrow for the
lost billions of that doomed world. I didn't speak, or move, or eat, or
drink, for three days. Then I did those things, but not speak, for an
hour, and then went back to the green world in front of me, and in my
spirit, for another three days. Then I was finished with my mourning. I
cleaned up in my apartment, and Tomba and I had a meeting. I said
"Thank you for being you." He smiled, and said, "Who else could I be?"
I smiled and said, "Whoever you want to be." He said "I am." I said
"And I'm glad of that, for both of us, and this world. The next, too."
He said "Thank you. You almost went there, didn't you?" I said "Yes. I
cried out inside, the big question; Why? I was not answered. I was
about to go get the answer, when I was touched by the other. I don't
know what was told to me, only that I knew it wasn't yet my time, and
that my answers would come to me when they should. Acceptance is mine,
now. Except one thing. I can't help wondering who they incarnated
into." He said "Some could be us." I said "I would like that." We
hugged with love.
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Grant
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