Stephen's Secure Blog #238
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 16 in this story, in the Fall of year 7 of his special
school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #238 "Eli and Srinoy"
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I had already told Srinoy about Eli, and what I expected him to be
doing with him, so we didn't need a new briefing before we all ported
to Rhamcha's office. After polite things, it was a little amusing,
watching the two men size each other up, liking what they saw and felt.
They noticed Srinoy's and my reaction, and thought that was funny. We
went to a bigger meeting room, and invited the other Abbots. After they
came, I introduced Eli. Rhamcha had already told them about him, from I
had told him the day before. Then I sat back and watched Srinoy tell
everybody what Eli would be doing, and why. Not once did he look at me
for approval, and that was noticed. And they knew I noticed them
noticing that. After all that, I said "Eli's clothes won't withstand
the way you wash yours. Being beaten to death must not be fun for
them." They laughed. I said "I will put a special blue light cleaner in
his room, which will take care of that problem. It also cleans people,
too, with a little wakeup thing to start the day right." Srinoy
giggled.
I said "Well, I guess that means you want to try it. Sure. After the
Chinese leave, we can have them all over. Very convenient, and saves a
lot of water. If the difference in food becomes an issue, we can do
something about that, too. Let me know of any difficulties, and if you
want, any special good things, too. Eli has a need. Fighting training.
I hope he can get some of that here, one way or another. Great for mind
training. When we are ready, let's go to where he will be staying, so I
can set things up." We went. He was given a small one person room.
Washing and bathroom things were centrally located in another building.
There was a wooden bed with yak leather straps holding some blankets, a
small table, and some floor cushions. I put the blue light cleaner in
the only unoccupied corner, operable by a sensitized portion of the
wall, so the light wouldn't keep him awake at night. I tried it, and it
worked. Then the Abbots tried it, and all jumped and giggled at the
wake up tickle. I said "I've put them in a lot of places. When I ask
people if they want the tickle removed, guess what they said." Rhamcha
said "They said to keep it." I said "Yes, and most forcefully said,
when it was to be used by others." They laughed.
I said "I'll be leaving now. I expect there to be interesting times
to come, and I will enjoy hearing about them." I hugged them all with
love, which gave most of them boners. Then I ported to my meeting with
Chad. He said "I read your books. All but one looks publishable." I
said "And?" He said "That one about Moses. While it's very interesting,
fascinating, actually, I think it's too incendiary to link to your
name." I said "So it will do an exodus from the list." He poked me. I
said "I never thought it would make it. Or the Saint Francis one. I
don't really care. I'm probably not coming back, so they should be on
record, even if nobody sees them." He said "Right. But, we can still
try to publish them, but just not with your name. One thing is for
sure. That Mongol book is a definite best seller. So well written, it's
like you were there. And the ending is a real heart stabber." It was my
turn to do the poking. He laughed. He said "I like the appendix, too."
So I poked him there, too. He said "Are you going to write any about
Tibet?" I said "I could, but the life of a monk, is kind of, er,
monkish. Not much to hang a story on. I could write a saga of my fights
with the Adepts of the Dark, but I don't think this is a very good time
for that. I don't want people to be thinking of fighting with psionics
right now." He said "I see your point, but it would get across our
ethical limitations." I said "I see your point, and raise you one, I
wasn't always a monk when I fought them." He said "If you don't share
those some way, you are going to get to Nirvana faster than you
expect." I laughed.
I said "What other news have you got?" He said, "Great reviews for
the gallery event. You really impressed them with you. Rose was right.
YOU made the sale. We have been invited to show in a lot of places.
Plugging your Smithsonian connection was a very good idea. It shows you
are already established and known. And your love connection didn't hurt
your marketability at all." I said "Speaking of that, thanks for
getting Eli started." He said "He told?" I said "No. I assumed aloud,
and he laughed." He laughed. We hugged with love.
I said "I want to do a Christmas album as soon as possible. Some of
the best music to show off a voice. I want it out for the season." He
said "This is a surprise. But 'O Holy Night', and 'O Come, All Ye
Faithful' do really work the voice." I said "I like 'Silver Bells'.
'Joy to the World', too, because I can really belt that one out." I
showed him, and he said in awe, "You sure can!" I said "Most of them
can't be sung that er, energetically. So, when do we do it?" He said
"Arranged for what?" I said, "For whatever you want. Solo voice, to
full orchestra. I can give you the sheets any time you want. If you
want to be part of that, like a duet, or on piano, fine. Why don't we
do all the ways, and then you can assemble the albums any way you want
to. We can do all my singing that way, if you want. I have mostly every
other day available for about two weeks. In between screwing, of
He poked me, and we both laughed.
I said "I can build a recording studio any way you like it. Or we can
record our way. We need to get started on the Christmas things right
away. Then I want to do other theme albums. Broadway, movies, opera,
ethnic, countries, popular. Even country western. So what are we
waiting for?" He said "Why all this enthusiasm?" I said, "Well, er, ah,
because it will be with you." He broke down and cried. I had some
tears, too. We hugged with love. Then I whispered, "This is not
singing." We laughed. Then we worked. In one of our properties in LA, I
built a full size orchestral recording studio, and some smaller ones in
the same building, fully isolated. I showed him I could operate the
boards remotely, even while I was singing, which amazed him. He said
"It would take too long to start our own record label, which we will,
for the Christmas album. So we need to record what we can, and then
shop it around." I said "What about musicians?" He said "I agree. We
need an orchestra. I know you can do it yourself, but people shouldn't
be told that, because they can't believe it. So we have to have real
people attached to the names we credit." I said "So what are we waiting
for?" He grinned, and then started making calls. Then we went to were
the prospects were. That's where things went bad. They were bad. I
couldn't spare the time to make them any better, even if they would
have let me. I said "Maybe we are going about this wrong. Maybe a movie
or TV producer or director knows some people. They DO use them." We did
some people networking and found a full really professional orchestra
available the same day.
I said, after I heard them play, "That was very good. I sing and play
some instruments. We will be recording some things. Do you need me to
prove what I can do?" The conductor smiled and said, "No, I caught the
parts which were broadcast of your show, and from before your show
started. If you want us, and at our price, we're yours." I said "You
did miss some things before the cameras were set up, but some of that
will be in my next show." Chad said "And that might be broadcast on US
TV, but not live." I said "There is one condition. I'm the boss. REALLY
boss. I am the best musician here, on any instrument, and I can prove
it. Do you need me to, or are we all set?" He said "Any instrument?" I
said "You heard me. Do you NEED to test that? We do have a time
constraint. We would like to get a Christmas album out before Santa
gets stuck in the chimney." He said "Well, just one."
I said "Alright. Make it one somebody here will let me use, and one
which has some really good solo music written for it." He said "Not
woodwinds or brass. An expert who knows one, can usually play them
all." I said "Not with virtuosity. I will." He said "You can handle a
bow, and keyboard. Harp." I said "Didn't that get on the air? I guess
not." I went to it, and it was in tune. I played my Spanish
transposition from last time. When I was finished, I said to his
dropped jaw, "You're surprised. Ready for more? I set that up the last
time I played the harp, as I was playing it. AND, that was the first
time I had ever played the instrument. This was the second time I ever
played the harp. Are we ready now, or do I have to keep er, harping on
this?" Chad laughed. I said "He likes puns." He said "I believe you.
We're in. How long do you want us?" I said to Chad, "We don't have to
stop with the holiday music. These people are good. If I don't sleep, I
can do it every day. Only three Monasteries to go on this trip. Then
I'm mostly clear, and can catch up on the snoozing."
Chad said to the conductor, "Solid days. How long can we have you?"
He said to Chad, "I've got three weeks. Then we score shows." I said "I
don't need to rehearse, myself. If we work it right, maybe two days an
album?" He said "An optimist." I said "I'll take any mist which will
work." Chad said "Three weeks it is. When can you start?" He said
"Tomorrow." Chad gave him the address of our new studio, and a contact
phone number. I said "We'll provide the food, a full spread. Any
preferences, let us know. Want the music now?" He said "Full sheets?" I
said "Yes. For the first album. More songs than will fit. We'll select
after recording." He said "Sure, I'll take it." I reached into my
shirt, and pulled out a sheaf of papers which couldn't possibly have
fit inside, and handed it to him. His eyes opened wide, but he didn't
say anything. He looked through them and said, "This is good. Very
good. Who did this?" Chad was grinning, so he said to me, "You, right?"
I said "Er, yes." He said "You have original works, too?" I said "A
few, and more when I want to. I have total recall, so I don't have to
put anything on paper until I'm finished." Chad said "We will be
recording all kinds of solos, ensembles, and concertos, of a lot of
instruments, too." I said to Chad, "He asked about original, but he
doesn't really know what he's asking about." Chad grinned and said,
"Show him the piano piece from the next show?" I raised an eyebrow at
the conductor, and he nodded.
I went to the piano, and checked the tune. I played all the notes,
and then played one, and said, "Does this sound right to you?" He said
"It doesn't." I said "Now?" He said "Better! What did you do?" I said
"First rule. Don't ask about methods." I tuned the instrument, and then
started my original composition. When I was done, I looked around, and
there were a lot of open mouths, and Chad was dripping tears. I said
"Chad, if you keep doing that, you'll have to drink a lot more
liquids." I was too far away for him to poke me, but we both knew he
wanted to, which made him smile. The conductor recovered enough to say,
"I don't know what to say." I said, trying to be helpful, "Er, how
about, 'hello'?" Chad laughed, and the conductor smiled a little. He
said "That was amazing!" I said with a grin, "Ah! So you DO know." He
laughed. Then he said, "If you can pay us, and can employ us steadily,
we can skip a season." I said "Won't you be passed over the season
after that, because you opted out?" He said "It's a risk, but if this
works out like I think it might, we could write our own ticket then."
Chad said, "We can't use you in a steady way after three weeks, or
until the voice albums are finished. He's the only performer, except
possibly with me a few times. We will be doing instrumentals, but not
on a full time basis. He has other work to do. But we expect there will
be some live performances in the US in the future, and maybe on a
regular basis. We can't project that far in advance. Why don't we see
how the first album goes, and discus it then, if you're interested." He
said, "Good idea."
I said "I have a few hours today. Want to play around?" He looked at
the orchestra, and they all liked that idea. So we did it. I played
different instruments, and Chad played the piano a few times. we played
some songs with the other musicians. The conductor said "Is there
anything you don't do?" I said "Yes there is. I don't lie. I can't. I
don't hate. I can't. I can't act unjustly." He said "You're serious." I
You ARE him!" I said "Er, can we keep that quiet around here? Mobs
don't go well with recording." He nodded. He said "But why are you
doing this?" I said "Well, because I can. You KNOW I can. My friends
would do some really bad things to me, if I didn't record what I can
do, for the future." He nodded and said, "I can really appreciate
that!" I said "Thanks. I have to be honest. I would have made the
recordings and not published, but for another reason. I have a task to
perform. A goal. Personal fame, which I really dislike, is one of the
tools I need to use to help accomplish it." He said "You can count on
me." I looked him over. Chad figured out what I was doing, and almost
choked, holding back his laughter. The conductor looked at me oddly. I
count on.., OH!" He laughed, and Chad joined him, and I grinned.
We said our goodbyes, and see you tomorrows, and when we could
unseen, Chad and I ported away, still chuckling.
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Grant
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