Stephen's Secure Blog #436
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 24 in this story, in Summer of year 14 of his special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #436 "Pope Decides"
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Pete said "Your 'not a hero' rant made people think you are more of a
hero. Growling won't change that. That won't either." I said "So why
are you torturing me with this?" He said, too smugly, "Because I can.
You ARE a hero, more than anybody in history." I said "I've done some
bad things, too." He said "Percentage?" I said "Shut up." He laughed,
and said, "The great debater in action!" Even I had to laugh at that,
and myself.
A strange being appeared with a weapon in hand, in our living room
after the kids were in bed, and shouted, "I kill you!" I time froze
him. I said to Rose, with my arm still around her on the sofa, "Odd. He
didn't knock." She said "Not very neighborly of, er, him?" I said
"Could be a him. I wonder how he located us." She said "Right.
Interesting hat. Insulated and over the Third Eye." I said "Well, yes,
but he has a lot of other eyes." She said "A real stalker." I said
"Should get a restraining order on those extended eyeballs." She
giggled, and poked me. I said "That gun. I should kick him in the
tentacles for that." That got me a harder poke. I said "Make no bones
about it!" She laughed. I said "No trace attached to him. He came
through the 4th, but is a 3D being. He spoke GC, so that gives us
something of how he knows about us, but his world isn't a member. On a
hunch, I scanned around the area of the Blue Crabs. Got his planet
located." We looked. Lots of water. No big surprise, because our
invader looked like an upright octopus with a circle of extended eyes
all around his bulbous head. I said "That's where he came from. A point
matter transmitter, and remote viewer. Experimental. Ha! His Guardians
know of him. Nice people. They want him back, and will take away his
toy. Shall we?"
Rose said "I'll shield." I removed the stasis, and pulled off his
hat, and put him to sleep so fast he didn't even know it. I removed all
his knowledge of us, and ported him to the multiple arms of his
Guardians. Rose briefed Ichi on the issue, who is going to make contact
with those Guardians after a day or two. Rose said "I wonder how he was
going to get back." I said "Suicide mission. Rid the galaxy of Adepts.
Has a cult of followers. He's the inventor, though. Guardians will take
care of the problem now." Rose said "It's almost time for your meeting
with the Pope." I said "Might be a little more pleasant." She grinned,
and said, "Just a little." I nodded, and ported clothes to me, and
ported to his office.
Paolo was there with the Pope. After polite things, the Pope said,
"So you're not a hero." I said "So you are telling me what I know." He
had to laugh. Then he said, "Like that alien, I can't make myself hate
you, or even think you are an enemy." I said "Good. My safety is
secure." He said "More than I can say for my Church." I said "When you
dig yourself a whole, you shouldn't be too surprised if you fall into
it." He said "No three wise men?" I said "Sorry, no. Was a little
drummer boy, though. Drove Jesus's family crazy, pounding in that thing
all the time." They laughed really hard. I said "His parents took it
away from him after a storm of complaints. Jesus used a lot of stories
from his childhood in his teaching." Paolo said "What was the boy's
name?" The Pope said "You suspect something?" He said "I do." The Pope
they were?" I said "Yes. Lovers. Judas more than Jesus, who loved
everybody." He nodded. I said "You know I haven't said that publicly,
and I don't plan to." He said "You have our gratitude. If only we had
more to give you our gratitude for." I said "Not a bad attempt." He
chuckled I said "I told those at CNN that I don't want to discuss Jesus
any more, that I had said all I wanted to say about him. NOT
specifically to make you deliriously happy, even though you are making
a good show of it." He chuckled.
The Pope said "Your er, departure?" I said "Can't wait?" He started
to apologize, and stopped on noticing my grin. I said "In about nine
years, you can start denouncing me." He was ready to deny it, when I
said, "But you KNOW what happens to those who are persecuted. Right.
They become stronger. Sorry, you can't win. And I'm not the only
situation manager among us. And Rose can be a very fierce defender.
Some people know that already, much to their sorrow." He cleared his
throat, and I grinned. Paolo tried not to laugh. I said "Want another
reason to be grateful? Fear doesn't become you. People have been
asking. I could publish a list of all the Cardinals and Popes in
history who were homosexual, with evidence. Oh yes, there was a lot of
lovin going on around here." They had to laugh. I said "Feel better
now?" The Pope said "Not really. I know we shouldn't do anything either
way. We can't refute you even after you go, because I'm sure you will
have left enough evidence behind to thwart that very well." My grin
told him he was right. I said "You don't think we might actually WANT
you to do that?" Paolo burst out laughing. When he could, he said,
"Can't beat the prime situation manager!" He said to the Pope, "Look at
how well he made those conservatives expose themselves. To attack him
is to lose more than not attacking." I said "And you've been SUCH a
disappointment." They laughed.
I said, "Do you think I actually want to do this to you?" Pope said,
"I know you don't. You have to do the right thing, and we have to do
whatever remains." I said "Someday, somebody here will try to change
things. I don't know what will happen, but I can tell you one thing.
Established religion is what is holding the world back. Earth will not
have the stars until that is corrected. That's not my decision, but
that of all out there, who will not tolerate that insanity among them.
Yes, that's what it is to them. Believing in an old contradictory
fantasy so strongly as to deny science that might not agree with it,
and so strongly as to be driven to try to make everybody else just as
insane as they are, well, human psychologists are too afraid to ever
call that insanity, but that doesn't hold back the aliens." He said
"They don't know God?" I said "Do I?" He said "I see your point. The
Gnostics were right." I said "Actually more right. You know God less
your way, because of the untruths you propagate. I have found them to
be at least as moral, on average, as humans. Some much more so, and
without what they view as primitive immature belief systems. Yes, most
of them have religion, but of a mature kind. They don't need to
worship, or have people direct them how to do it. Yes they have their
criminals, but much less in comparison. The rogue planets, like
Nagindra, are not that way because of religion, or lack of it, but by
politics and selfishness. Prejudice, too. All those things that
religions actually require on Earth. But those are their leaders. Most
of the rest of the population is actually nice."
I said "We did encounter a species who's government was a martial
theocracy. They believed they were destined to rule the universe. They
went on conquering crusades. Earth was one of their targets. Bad move.
REALLY bad." They laughed. I said "I talked about them on TV. The
Centaurs. Over a few years, we modified their religion, and proved the
power of it, by freeing their vassal planets in ways that only their
God could do, if they even understood what happened." Fascinated, Pope
said, "How did you do it?" I told them. They had a lot of wows. I said
"And that was set up and done by my first in this life situation
manager trainee. His first unsupervised solo assignment. We have two
more of us like that now. When you have a strong unreal belief system,
it can easily be manipulated by outsiders, and better in secret. In
most cases, they then become the insiders. Constantine is an example of
that. And a lot of Cardinals and Popes bought their positions, and so
changed the Church from the inside, to THEIR desires. Which usually
involved acquiring more power for themselves. And more lovers. And we
know about the torture, don't we." He looked sad. I said "What would be
best for all, is if you all vanished, and the Churches were demolished.
It wouldn't stop people from trying to recreate it, but they might
actually fail. There are other options, which I'm sure you've thought
of." He said "We have, and not so drastic. We know any changes we would
make would be violently opposed by our own Priests, and whole parishes
would occupy their Churches as if their lives depended on it." I said
"Which you have made them believe." He said "Yes. What of Islam?"
I said "It will have less relevance as the digital age progresses.
Sharia law can't cope with an open society. In two hundred years, we
will either all be Muslims of a very different kind than what it is to
day, or they won't exist at all, except in small enclaves. Judaism is
declining even more rapidly. Staunchly Catholic countries are allowing
gay marriages. And some Popes have approved of the use of condoms. So
your people won't screw their way to dominance, like your predecessors
had hoped." They chuckled. I said "Here's something you can do to
improve things, to start. Make celibacy voluntary. It used to be. Could
result in fewer expensive legal settlements. Both situations probably
won't cause much trouble." He said "I've thought about it. If I had a
little more courage, I might do it." I said "There are some extra
backbones in the catacombs." They laughed. I said "I could discuss more
said "Polishing the stones on the Cross I gave you, won't make them
more shiny." He smiled, and said, "Something Jesus would have said." I
said "Then you will listen to it even more?" He said "Eh, no." We
laughed. We parted in friendship, however odd it was, after I gave them
one more thing to consider, "Remember what I said before. The best
should reproduce, for the good of humanity."
I watched. He tried that rationalization on the assembled Cardinals.
The new ones liked the idea, and the flattery from me in it. By a
narrow margin, the vote was in favor of it. Two weeks later, the Pope
made that official, that celibacy was then highly recommended, but not
a requirement for Priests, and it wouldn't hinder their advancement if
they made their individual choice not to be celibate. And if it was
their choice to be married, they should have children. Then he stuck it
to me, saying, "Stephen has said that our Priests, along with Priests
of other faiths, are some of the best of humanity, and those qualities
that cause that, should not be allowed to die with them. Their
greatness should be passed on, for the benefit and advancement of
humanity. I can find no way to refute that. Celibacy was not always a
requirement in our Church, which was not harmed by that then, and will
not be harmed by it now, and into the future. We now return to that
previous standard, in order to benefit humanity, a most noble
justification." I could almost hear a gigantic boyish sigh of relief
when that hit the news.
I was asked if I knew the announcement was going to happen. I said,
"I was not told about the celibacy decision or announcement in advance.
What he said that I told him and his people, happened years ago at my
house in Tibet, also in the presence of Buddhist Monks, that it was
also addressed to. I think it was a good decision. Well, I would,
considering that I recommended it." There was a lot of comment, but
very few complaints. Rod kissed and hugged me a lot, though.
I had a meeting with the Mormons, at their request. They were a
little unnerved by my constant smile. One said, "They've had a
significant decline in seminary applicants. Part of that was due to
celibacy. We expect that to change now, and there will be more in
opposition to us." I kept my smile, and said, "And how many are of
retirement age now, who will see this as a reason and excuse to
retire?" There were some "Oh"s around the table. I continued with, "And
with an influx of new more liberal Priests who will have good reason to
support the best for the whole world, and not just the Catholic part,
sneaky suspicious devious devil!" I said "Is that a complaint?" He said
"Absolutely not!" Some laughter. I said "There is more, but I shouldn't
I said "I met with him recently, with his Nuncio that's assigned to
me, who has worked to stack the deck of Cardinals to be more in line
with my goals. The Pope would do more, if he had a backbone. I offered
some from the catacombs, but he declined." Good laughter. I said "We
are actually friends, and he would like to make his religion more
truthful, but is afraid. We all know this is going to be a slow
process. But change WILL happen eventually. My Nuncio will be Pope
someday. Yes, he's been taking lessons from me in sneaky suspicious
devious devilship." Some chuckles. I said "Don't let them be the only
one to change." The leader said "Yes. We are working on that, too. We
would rather do it by choice, than by how you are manipulating them." I
grinned, and wiggled my eyebrows at them. They laughed, and I said,
"Manipulation. Oh really. Why do you think I'm here and telling you all
this?" After some startled looks, they laughed again.
I said "Don't think this ends with me. We have three other situation
managers, and one is more forceful in behavior and attitude than I am."
One said "Your wife?" I said "Oh yes!" They chuckled and nodded. I said
"Be nice and cooperative with her, not for her sake, but yours." They
nodded. I said "I hope you believe me. My people love to watch me work.
They say they learn a lot, and find some of it very entertaining. Now,
given a choice, they would all rather watch her work, including me. You
do NOT want to be a target. A big macho member of Congress actually
peed his pants, when she confronted him about a bad action he was
involved with, and she did absolutely nothing to him. No, this was
before the space samples. They wanted to remove my work from the
Smithsonian, and the director too, for religious reasons. They now know
what a really holy terror is!" They laughed hard. I said "By the way,
she's listening, and is not displeased at all. In fact, I should be
getting home, and I think you might have an idea why." Their big grins
said they did. I hugged them all, and ported home.
Rose said, "Laying the groundwork again?" I said "I was about to
start, Ms. Groundwork." She laughed almost as hard as Hawk.
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Grant
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