Stephen's Secure Blog #386
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 19 in this story, in Winter of year 10 of his special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #386 "CNN Alien Sports"
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Don started the second half of the usual after love broadcast
interview, with, "You said you suffered a brain injury and lost your
my Adept psionic powers. I still had some other unusual mental
abilities, such as an IQ estimated to be around 300, which was half of
what I had before, and I could still make and use independent mind
partitions, and had other parts of my usual mind training." He said
"Oh. Well, will you tell us more about the injury and what caused it?"
I said "No." He said "Er, why?" I said "I won't tell you because it
requires a foundation I don't have the time or desire to establish now,
for the explanation to make proper sense, and it involves some bad
memories I would rather not relive at this time."
He said "Would you tell us about some other alien encounters you have
had?" I said "Encounters I have outside of Earth, makes ME the alien in
it." He said "I understand. On their world you are the alien, and they
have encounters with YOU." I said "Right. Some might wish they hadn't,
and some wish they had more, such as the world of Posintan. Rose was
with me on my first mission there. May I bring her here now to assist
in the telling of it?" He said "By all means!" I said "By porting." He
chuckled. Another chair was brought, and Rose ported in. They greeted
each other. I said "The Posintans are like 2m tall intelligent upright
otters, but with something really different. They have three eyes,
three arms, three legs, and very strangely, three sexes. I haven't
asked them how they do it. Afraid to know, actually."" He laughed. Rose
said "I asked. Better off not knowing." I said "Might explain their
love of competition, though." She said "Probably. Fanatical about it."
I said "They compete for everything. Games, sports, jobs, and anything
else they can make into a competition. They have the best government of
all the planets in the GC, because they compete on merit just to run
for office. One more thing to set the stage. They don't just compete,
they bet. So much, the only personal tax there is, is a percentage of
winnings." Rose said "They've earned billions off of Stephen."
Don said to me, "You placed bets?" I said "No, I didn't place any
bets myself, except as part of the play. I don't approve of that, but
others sure did it. We were there to find and recruit students for an
offworld school we were supporting, by displaying our skills, to
attract them like moths to a flame." Rose said "That worked a little
too well." I said "Oh boy, did it ever!" Don laughed well. I said "I
was thirteen, and small. They were gigantic. I had never played their
sports and games, and hadn't even looked at them until we arrived
there. We acquired an agent, and because of their strange system, I was
awarded citizenship there. My first competition was something like Judo
and Jiujutsu. I had asked our agent to arrange my competitions in such
a way that my previously selected candidates would be watching. Here is
the first match." I played it. He laughed at my comment at the end.
Rose said "I expect you to have experts analyze that. They should tell
you that his first throw was almost impossible." He nodded. I said
"That opponent was one of my candidates. We discussed it after the
match, and he wasn't quite ready. He was, a year later." Rose said,
"One of the candidates who was watching, approached us. I took him
aside and examined him, while Stephen and our agent went to his next
match, and he qualified. I rejoined Stephen."
I played what happened then. I explained, "I felt his Ki, and from
not releasing it, I let mine flow to equal his. He felt it and became
afraid. It wasn't just my Ki, but that I had such control over it, that
caused him to withdraw from the match." I showed the rest of the
situation and the fight. I said "He passed the tests after, and was
accepted. Our new students wouldn't be available to leave for two days.
We decided to fill the time with more competitions. We decided to see
if Rose could become a citizen. She could and did, and we decided to,
well, who could resist a sword fight?" She said "Let's backtrack a
little. One of the things which qualified Stephen for citizenship on
that planet, was he was already a citizen on another world of the GC. I
wasn't. On Posintan, we didn't know at the time that we were being
watched and reported on, very thoroughly. No, it wasn't a conspiracy,
but because all who saw or met with Stephen were so impressed by his
athletic ability, sportsmanship, and well, all round niceness, they
told a lot of people about it and him. The government said that anybody
he proposed for citizenship there, who he certified to be like him in
those qualities, would be accepted without question. One more thing.
Those opponents of his were the best on the planet, and those on that
planet are the best of all the compatible species in the GC." I sighed,
and Don laughed at me. He had to explain, "I didn't embarrass him this
time. Rose did, and I think she's proud of it." She said "Darn right!"
I said "Unfortunately, it gets much worse."
That really captured Don's interest. I said "We'll only have time
today for a couple of more matches. Here is Rose competing in the point
sword torment final. It's scored something like the foil in fencing." I
showed that. I said "It's an open single elimination tournament. She
beat their best that day. Well, so did I. Here is Rose in the final of
the broadsword tournament." I played it. I said "We were allowed to use
smaller swords and make our own armor, which I made sure was in the
same ratio in weight to body weight as theirs was, to be fair." Rose
said "All we did was fair. No special abilities. The government noticed
that, after analyzing our competitions. That made them REALLY respect
us, because honor and fairness in competition are their most respected
virtues." I said "Which we didn't realize at the time. We were just
being who we are. What happened next, well, I think we are out of time.
Didn't we miss a commercial?" Don said "Right, on both counts. When can
you come back?" I said "The usual after love broadcast show." He said
"But you aren't finished with this story!" I said "Er, you didn't
really need to tell me that." Rose poked me, and he laughed. I said
"One more thing. Our prize money was enormous. Those competitions paid
VERY well, and our agent had been betting on them, too. Oh, and winners
get a portion of all the bets placed. By the end of the sword
tournaments, we had earned a whole lot of money." She said "We didn't
author. You tell them better. Next time." Don said "We'll have to get
back to you about the schedule. I hope we have something available as
soon as next week."
I said to Rose, "I wonder if the major networks would be interested
in airing our tag matches from that trip." She said "Good idea. After
this, they just might. Let's ask Chad." Don said "You won't show it
here?" I said "We spent a whole day playing Laser Tag with them, before
we did fencing on the second day. Not enough time for you to show even
one whole match." He said "Oh. But can we have a sample?" I said
"Alright. Here's something from a match where we two played against
four." I showed them a spectacular sequence of moves, and he said,
"Wow!" I said "We weren't able to say that at that time, or we would
have. Although I have to say it looks much more interesting now than
when we were in the middle of it." Rose said "Absolutely!"
Back home, Rose said, "I didn't see the network angle. Who do you
think will go for it the most?" I said "Probably all of them, but I
think we should favor Fox. They owe us, and want something." Chad said
"Right. Got them set up with great shots and commercial breaks, so each
match will last an hour?" I said "You know I have. Here they are. After
they all run, we can shop around the second trip, where we did two
against our two. Masks on, will keep the others anonymous." Hawk said
"That should work. Going to show them your archery?" I said "I might."
Chad did show them to Fox first, and they pleaded with him not to show
them to another network, and gave him an awfully high offer for the
right to air them. In the mean time, the other networks were already
trying to contact him with their own offers. He could see the messages
while he was with Fox. Some were higher, but not by much. He went with
Fox, if they didn't change anything in them, and didn't air more than
one a day, in the order we specified. They liked my introduction, which
would run before the action starts for each show. They really liked the
built in commercial breaks, and they told Chad to tell me my
videography was great. All that movie making was giving me some
education in that. Fox ran a lot of promotions, with the shows to air
right after my next interview on CNN, scheduled a week after the last
one.
After Don did the introductions on the CNN show with Rose and me, I
said, "Well, we're here again. Can we go home now?" He said "NO!" Rose
and I laughed. Then he did, too. I said "We have another guest here
with us, or is he working with you?" It was the celeb interviewer. Don
said "He wanted to be here. I didn't see any harm in it." I said "And
my question?" The celeb said, "A little of both, I suppose." I said "Is
that fair? You control the camera, and the air time, and you have two
attackers, where on our side, we have just two defenders. Should we go
get our swords?" He said "Yes!" Don looked at him like he was crazy. I
said, "Don, I can see your opinion of that, looking daggers at him." I
ported our broadswords to us. I said to Rose, "Who do you think will
win their fight?" She said "I think we should wait for them to choose
weapons." I said "Right. Then we can see how they handle them. But the
English like fencing more than Americans. Maybe he'll choose that."
She said "If I were Don, I would choose a submachine gun." I said "I
hope not. Noisy. They're looking at us. And their producer is laughing
his head almost off his shoulders, which they can hear in their
earpieces." Don laughed, and said, "Yes we can." I said "Would you like
me to tell you why I think he wanted to see our swords?" Don said
"Yes." I said "Objective solid evidence makes what we said a little
more real to him." Celeb nodded. I gave him my sword, like it didn't
weigh anything. He dropped it, and said, "Wow! That's very heavy!" I
said "Were you thinking you could compete in those matches?" He looked
embarrassed, and said, "I have to admit it, yes. But to knock down
those gigantic contestants with your sword, that sword, you must be
amazingly strong. Were at thirteen." I said "Yes. So was and is Rose.
Only Rose and those others of my school could hope to compete with
those of that world, of humanity. We train so hard, it would kill the
most elite of human athletes. That's why we don't compete here. It
wouldn't be fair." They both said "Wow!" I said "Oh, a chorus!" They
almost strangled.
I said "They do archery there, too. Nobody of humanity but us could
successfully draw the bows they use. Want to see my attempt at that?"
They did. I showed them the whole thing, including my use if their
standard bow. I said "Later, I used my bow in Mongolia, in the
festival. Our classmate won his tournament with the bow I had made like
that one, that I gave him." Don said "The Games Master there. What he
said about you. I can see why they like you so much." Rose said to me,
"Show them what they said about you at the swords venue. If you don't,
I will, but you translate better." I said "Alright, but under
embarrassed protest. You two, do NOT follow her example!" They tried
not to laugh, not very successfully. They said wow when I was finished.
We broke for a commercial.
When we returned from break, I said "You didn't really need to see
the swords. You could have asked me to take you to Posintan." That
floored them. Don sputtered, "You would really take us there?" I said
"Well, we won't know that, because you asked for the swords, first. Got
proof already. Anyway, I would have to ask them for permission for you
to record anything." He said "But didn't you record?" I said "Our
memories are not detachable. Anything we see and hear we can put onto
readable media. And I can now see anything of my past, and from any
angle, too." He said "Oh!" I said "But I wouldn't be the one to take
you there. We would be so mobbed, we would have to leave in a hurry.
They like me a little too much." Rose said "He's the most popular non
native person in their entire history. It happened after and because of
the last thing he competed in on the first trip." I said "I suppose you
want to see that." They really did. I explained about the circumstances
leading up to the match, and about Stumak, and the Ssintris. Then I
showed them what happened at the venue before the first game, and then
the game. They were howling with laughter. We broke for a commercial. I
said "Hold comments until you see the final game, and what happened
after that. There is a reason." They nodded.
Back from break, I played what happened after the first game, and
they REALLY howled with laughter. Then I played the second game, and
what happened after it. They looked at me in awe. Rose said "We didn't
know what he was planning. We had a discussion after it, and he
explained. Why don't you tell us your thoughts on that?" Celeb said
"You played HIM!" Don said, "The classic psych-out." I said "I wasn't
good enough at Stumak to beat the best player in the history of the
game, so I played him instead. I learned enough to win only one kind of
game, which in chess is called the fools' mate. The rest of that was to
get him to let me do it. The really hard part was the first game, to
make it into a draw. He treated each match as a contest of ability. I
treated the whole situation as the game, and managed the moves in it my
way, which he never suspected. Now, tell me WHY I went to all that
trouble. What were my REAL goals for the event?" Don said "After we
come back from commercial." I said, during it. "No help from us." They
looked a little frustrated.
Back from break, I said, "We didn't help them in figuring that out,
which I think they were a little unhappy about." I said to them, "So,
what is your answer? What were my real goals?" Don said slowly, "You
already had your candidates, and you hadn't planned to stay longer. You
found a bad situation, and you decided to correct it. They were using
bad sportsmanship. You played on that to make it worse, and then used
that to make them see themselves as the others saw them." Celeb said
"At the end, your opponent became honorable, and that's amazing!" I
said "He didn't have any options left." Rose said "Like always, he made
a bad situation ten times better than if it never happened. Those
players are now thought much better of. We had more than enough money
to fund the schools we were looking to start and support. Our manager
had bet with Stephen's winnings, at odds of 91 to 1 against him, for
him to win. Stephen had seven billion credits, with his percentage of
the whole planet's betting on that game. Wait! There is one more
reason. He almost never does something like that without having
multiple reasons. All of the worlds of the Galactic Council know Earth
people as super fair and honorable people, as a result of that whole
trip. Yes, that is always one of his goals for all he does off of
Earth." They said "Wow!"
Rose said "But there is more. The next time he went back there, here
is what happened." She showed them what port control had said about my
new status there, translating pretty well, and lingering on my
embarrassed shock. I said to her, "Did you really have to do that?" She
said "Absolutely!" I just sighed, and shook my head. We went to
commercial. I said "Do we really have to come back from break?" They
laughed. After we came back, I said, "They have more of my things in
their museum now. That planet was one of the three that I represented
as an Ambassador." Don said "As you suggested, we did some research on
auras, and yours most of all. The experts say you are not supposed to
be alive, that you should already be in Nirvana. That you have to
resist that to stay here, and that if you ever relax that too much, you
will be gone. Is that correct"" I said "Yes, that's correct. It's only
because of my unusual abilities that I'm still around. I can never be
totally unconscious or totally asleep, or I would be gone. If I don't
have complete control of my love broadcasts, I will be gone. I know
that, because it happened." They were stunned. Celeb said, "Could you
please explain that?" I said "In my first world love broadcast in
Thailand, I drew so much power that it sent me out of my body. I died.
My memory of what happened after that isn't completely clear, but I
pleaded to be allowed to return to see our children born, and to finish
my work for which I had deliberately reincarnated into who I am today.
I was stuffed back into my body, and it was changed, and I was given
the task to free Tibet. I've been on really borrowed time ever since."
More stunned silence.
Don said "But Tibet is free now." I said "I noticed that. I don't
know when I'll be called beyond my ability to resist. I really want to
stay long enough to see my children grow up. I've asked, and had the
request acknowledged, but not yet approved. So, I've been doing all I
can, treating each day as my last. I have to say, it's not really a bad
way to live. I see we are out of time, so I'll end the program now, by
our lives with you, and all our friends, the viewers, today. Farewell
for now." We bowed, and ported home.
Chad said "They are still staring at where you were. I have to say,
great way to end it." Pete who had ported in with us, said, "Right.
Didn't give them the chance to tell you to stop the broadcasts. Do you
expect to go during one of them?" I said "I think so, but I'll know
when it happens, if it happens that way. What will you do with my
body?" Hawk said "You won't take it with you?" I said "I doubt I can. I
might be able to port it somewhere, but probably I'll have other things
on my mind then." Rose said "I think we should burn it to ash in your
pavilion, in view of all the people in Sera not more than ten minutes
after we know you are gone for good." Hawk said "Good idea. Give some
of that to our school, and the other schools to be mixed into paint for
their walls." I said "Just so that none of it stays where a stupa will
be built for it. I do NOT want to be worshiped." Chad said "Good luck
with that!" We laughed.
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Grant
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