Solomon's Private File #400
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in the
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 33 in this story, in the Fall of 2059.
Solomon's Private File #400 "Our Cable Channel"
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Canada compromised on allowing our channel if we included "Canada" in
the channel logo overlay. We agreed to that. We decided to use local
languages as much as possible. I would do different intros to address
the different customs of the countries. Then it went all over the news
that we were going to have our own channel. There had been rumors, but
the promos on the "Story Teller" shows on Fox, confirmed it. High
ratings, too. There was a lot of anticipation for our channel, and a
lot of comments.
I shifted to meet with a station manager in St. Louis. He said, "Our
viewers are angry for the blacked out program." I said, "Your network
told you our requirements. You violated them. You knew the consequence
for that." He said, "But we have to make money!" I said, "True. How you
do it is your choice, but you won't do it in a way we don't like with
our program. There are other sponsors." He said, "But we have to use
that one, or he'll pull his ads from all our shows." I said, "He wants
to ride my coattails, he may want to regret that. He was fine before my
shows aired. Did he advertise in ALL time slots before?" He said, "He
didn't." I said, "Extortion. Give in to him, others will copy him." He
said, "You'll talk to him?" I said, "Think Rose should?" He grinned,
and said, "That's not for me to say." Mom said in the air, "It is for
ME!" Big grins.
Mom ported to the office of a gigantic car dealership, and said, "You
don't like Solomon's Story Teller show?" He said, "I do like it. My
kids love it. The station won't let our ads on it." Mom said, "WE won't
let your ads on it. We gave Fox the rules for ads, and told them we
would black out the program if they violated them. Your local station
doesn't have anything to do with it. You wanted to sell your video game
on our show. Cars as weapons! It promotes violence. It's not going to
happen." He said, "There's violence on your show." She said, "There is.
It's real life. We don't INVOLVE kids in violent roll playing games,
that TRAIN them to be violent! You're very close to a consequence for
that, in just making the game available. Right now, the public doesn't
know why the show was blocked. Behave yourself, or they'll know YOU
caused it, and why. Could hurt your wallet much more than not having
ads on that show. One more thing. This show is going to air on our new
channel, too, which is MY project, after Sol okayed the requests for
it. You mess with any of our shows, you mess with ME. Understand?" He
gulped, and said, "I do. Thank you!" She nodded, and ported to the
station.
We hugged. I said to the station manager, "He didn't quite need a
terrorizes them. They feel her emotions, too." He said, "Oh! Now I
understand. I wondered about that." I said, "A lot of people have. Her
victims don't usually repeat, and REALLY don't want to talk about it."
He tried not to grin, and said, "I can believe that." I said, "That's
him." His phone rang. We nodded and left. Mom said, "I don't like doing
it. The old me actually liked it a little." I said, "I know." She said,
"But I have to. You need to be above that. Hawk isn't right for it. It
has to be me." I said, "But they do stay fixed." Grins and a hug.
Our network got on basic cable on most systems. We had pushed for
that, instead of in a premium tier. Being free to them was a big
incentive. Not having their own and local ads on it, was a problem for
them, but we compared our network to PBS, and they agreed. In some
markets, we're the most popular channel, even though we don't have much
original programming on it yet. Elmo speaking Farsi was a big hit. PBS
loves us even more. Internet streaming services all carry it, and love
that it's free. One actually wanted to give us money. Almost insisted.
We told them to give it to PBS. They didn't.
I'm doing tours of religious buildings with the people who run them.
That's taking time. Making the architectural shows at the same time is
a lot easier. Making the shows on religions, was a little different.
They all wanted to change everything, but when I showed them the
results, they didn't like their own changes, and I had warned them that
would happen. Embarrassment ensued.
Our Story Teller shows on Fox are very popular. A lot of people are
asking if that was one of my incarnations. My official response is,
"Don't ask for past incarnations. I'll reveal them when I want to. I
hope." Then a lot of people asked God in a healing broadcast. He said,
"It is a true life." That he answered the question surprised everybody.
What he didn't say, didn't surprise that many. I thanked him privately,
and he laughed.
It was night in Uganda. A 14 year old boy was alone on the side dirt
road. He was naked, and had no possessions. He was walking listlessly.
I shifted to be beside him. He wasn't even startled. We exchanged
greetings. He said, "You know." I said, "I do. He can't do it again."
He said without interest, "What did you do?" I said, "He will have
erections often, but not when he would want to use it. If he or another
touches it, it will sting like a thousand angry bees had attacked it.
That could motivate him to set records for height in jumping." He had
to smile a little. I said, "My uncle liked that one, but he is still
crying for you. Yes, we do feel what others feel, just as you do, but
more intensely." He nodded.
I said, "We should discuss your future." He said, "I have none. I
have no family. No home. No possessions." I said, "All those things can
easily be changed. What is more difficult to change, are your feelings
about that." He said, "I can have those things?" I said, "If you don't
reject them, yes. All people can, if they try. And I can help a
little." I grinned and poked him. He tried not to grin back. He said,
"I don't have any clothes." I said, "Does that bother you?" He said,
"With you here, no. Before you arrived, it was like a kind of freedom,
a natural condition." I said, "I feel the same. It's common to those of
us who can see without eyes." He said, "I haven't told anybody about
that." I said, "Usually the best course of action. Why ask for more
trouble than you already have?" He smiled, and said, "True. I would
like to wear clothes before I meet people who would be offended by my
lack of them, but it's not urgent, or even desired at this time."
I said, "You thought you were alone. No person on Earth is. They have
me." He said, "I feel your love for me. I feel some for you." I said,
"That's natural." He said, "My father thought I would like what he
would do to me, thinking I liked other boys for that. I do, a little,
but no person likes to be forced. He didn't want to believe my requests
to stop." I said, "Force in sexual things is a sin. He will suffer for
that. As I described." He said, "What of my sin for liking boys, and
not just girls?" I said, "No sexual attraction is a sin. That is now
the rule in your family's religion. Only actions can be sins." He said,
"I didn't know that. What of actually doing it with another boy?" I
said, "I do not believe any sexual contact that is not forced is a sin.
There has to be full knowing agreement for there to be no force. For
Catholics, the rule is no sexual activity outside of marriage, but most
people don't pay any attention to that." He grinned, and said, "So I've
noticed." I said, "Been looking, eh?" He said, "Not specifically, but I
have a great interest in how people are, and why. More so, because they
are completely unaware of that." I said, "I know the feeling! That's
always been my major interest in life. Well, after I gave up drawing on
the walls." He had to laugh.
I said, "The problem with studying people, is you have to be where
they are, to observe them. SO inconvenient." He said, "True. Very
true." I said, "I attended a summer recreational camp when I was a
child. I didn't care about the games." He said, "But you cared about
watching the people being people." I said, "Yes! Absolutely
fascinating! It was like I was in heaven. Some wondered why I always
had at least a half smile on my face." He said with a grin, "I wouldn't
have wondered, but asked to share observations." I said, "I wish I had
a friend like you then, but my other friends would have been a little
lonely." Grins.
I said, "I have a program that sends selected children to university.
It even pays them to go." He said, "When?" We grinned. I said, "There
are qualifications. Good character. High intelligence. Willing to work
hard to learn, and desire to make the world a better place. You qualify
in those things. But there is something in the way. We need your
parents' approval." He said, "They will not." I said, "There are some
in the program where that happened." He said, "I assume the problem was
resolved." I said, "Even to threats by the court and loss of parental
rights. We could do that here with no problem, but that could take some
He said, "That could work." I said, "With your permission, we will MAKE
it work." He said, "You have it." I said, "Good. If you had it, you
would have nowhere to put it, being without pockets." Grins.
I said, "Think what you'd like to wear, and you will have it." He
did, and looked down, and liked the new suit and tie, and shinned
shoes. I said, "Looks nice, but it's something like a prison to you."
He said, "Yes, but I must not violate customs if I wish not to cause
problems." I said, "As someone of your interest would know." He said,
"Are there many of my interest in your program?" I said, "Sadly, no.
Mostly hard science and math." He said, "I like math." I said, "Part of
your studies. There are a LOT of people. Math is needed to help
understand all that information. Hmm, your hunger isn't just for food.
But we can fix the food issue right now. Think what you desire, that's
healthy. I know that look." He laughed.
A table appeared on a platform next to the road, with chairs and
covered dishes. It was lit by candles. We sat, and lifted the covers
off of the plates, and he said, "Wow!" I said, "Eh, might be included."
Grins. We ate well. I said, "Now for where you will stay the night.
Your Priest's house has an extra room." He said, "He is waiting for
me." I said, "Do you have to be intelligent ALL the time?" He laughed.
We stood, and moved away from the platform. He said, "You have not yet
made it vanish." I said, "I could leave it there, protected for all
time." He said, "It would be very interesting to observe the reactions
of people who see it." I said, "Precisely!" We grinned. He said,
"Please do it, and record it for me." I said, "I will. It will have a
plaque that states it's in your honor, by me, to commemorate the start
of your new life." He cried, and we hugged. Then I said, "I'll clean
"They get used to the hugs, so it doesn't usually happen more than
once. Yes, some are disappointed by that." He said, "Your group?" I
said, "We don't have enough energy for that, after doing it a lot,
intentionally." He said, "Wow!" I said, "We say that, with some
effort." He laughed.
We ported to the front door of the Priest's house. He opened it and
said, "Welcome Solomon and Robert!" We did feel that. We all sat in the
front room. I said, "We need his parents' signed approval for the
program." He said, "Attempted rape is a serious crime." I said, "But
rarely punished in your country." He said, "Unfortunately, I have to
agree, but by a man to his son? That as reported, is very rare, and
should be very much noticed, and therefore prosecuted. And with you
involved, I think you know." I said, "I do. It remains to convince the
parents that it could happen if they don't sign. I've done this kind of
thing before for our scholarship students." He said, "Do you do it for
all children?" I said, "My Corps does it. I do it in this kind of more
complicated case. And I have an extra personal interest in Robert. He
wants to study my first and greatest interest. Why are people like they
are, and why don't they know that?" Grins.
He said, "But you allow the rapes to happen." I said, "In the homes,
we have to. Murders, too. We are NOT the police. We don't have the
authority to enter people's homes and restrain them before they even
commit a crime. They will just do it again. Only when there is a real
crime, can we stop them from ever doing it again. Yes, people suffer,
but for the greater good, they must. This is NOT easy for us." He said,
"Oh. I think I understand it more. In the morning I will send my
assistant to their home and ask them to come to me." I said, "BOTH
parents. If they don't?" He said, "He will mention something about
avoiding police action." Grins. Robert said to me, "You could do this
without aid." I said, "Wherever it's possible, the local community
should do as much as possible in resolving these things, because they
have to live with the results. They should have a say in it. That
usually causes the best resolution, which can also improve the
community. You knew that. You just wanted to hear me say it." He was
embarrassed, and said, "I have to admit it, yes. But you didn't finish
it. It improves the leadership and standing of the local leaders." I
said, "If they cooperate, yes." I said to the Priest, "Doubt no
longer?" He was embarrassed, too, and said, "I admit I did a little.
Not now. Well done!" We bowed.
I stood, and so did they. I said, "Robert, what you need from your
home, has been copied to be here, but improved a little." I said to the
priest, "Please show him to his room." I hugged the boy, and he said,
"You were right." Grins. The Priest came back, and said, "I know. You
wanted to avoid me being embarrassed in front of such a keen observer."
I said, "I'm impressed." We hugged, and he did have an erection, but
that was all. I said, "Do you think he knew?" He said, "I don't want to
think about it!" Chuckles.
I was there with them in the morning when the assistant left to talk
with the parents. The father said, "He put a curse on me! The priest
must remove it." Assistant said, "That will be discussed. You wife is
asked to attend, also." He said, "She will NOT! This is a private
"Then I will discuss it with him first." They left. His wife tried to
sneak behind, but was caught and sent home. I was there. She said,
"Solomon!" I said, "I knew who I was. I offer you transportation to the
church." She said, "He will beat me." I said with a grin, "No he
won't." She said, "I think I will like this. Do you know why my son
left?" I said, "His father tried to rape him." She said, "Oh! So the
curse is yours." I said, "Complaint?" She said with a smile of relief,
"Not at ALL! I refused him. That may be why he turned to the boy. I am
at fault!" I said, "No you are NOT! Only HE is at fault for any of his
actions." We hugged. We ported to the extra bedroom where her son was.
They hugged with tears.
The father was brought in, and said to the Priest, "My son put a
curse on me." He said, "Why do you think he did that?" Father said, "I
refuse to say." He said, "Then I can't help you. But I can help you
with something else here. There is a police action pending against you
for the attempted rape of your son. I can help you to avoid that." The
father tried to digest that. I was showing the family what was
happening in the front room. Father said, "He lies!" He said, "Don't
take me for a fool. Isn't that the reason for the curse?" Father said,
"Oh. How will you help me?" He said, "Your son has been offered a
scholarship to university. You sign the papers for that, we won't need
to involve the police. You know he can no longer stay in your home."
Father said, "The police won't believe him." He said, "If there is any
person they won't believe, it's you. The entire community knows of your
dishonesty and abusive nature." Father said, "Oh. Please let me see the
contract." He looked at, and obviously had trouble making sense of it,
and said, "Have you read it? Is it good?" He said, "Yes, and yes it is.
I recommend it, but of course you should read it. Now, actually. The
police like to be informed of crimes while they're still awake from
their morning coffee." Father said, "That's true. I'll sign it." He
did. Priest said, "His mother needs to sign it, too." He said, "She's
not here. She went to see friends and won't be back for days."
I said to her, "Your turn now." She grinned, and walked into the
room, and said, "I'll sign it." She took it from the Priest, and did
that. Father was looking mean, but he tried to hide that from the
Priest, and said, "What about the curse on me?" I walked into the room,
and said, "Oh, did you want me to make the consequence worse?" He
looked sick and about to throw up. I said, "I know all. Did you think I
wouldn't know what you did? I'm not the police. I don't invade homes to
stop crimes. But once it happens, I can act. You know that now. One
more thing. If you attempt to harm your wife, what you feel now when
you touch it, you will feel constantly, without end, and I will not
allow you to harm yourself. You will not even SPEAK against your wife,
or you will never speak again. Do you hear me! Answer me!" He said, "I
do!" I said, "You will continue to support her. Remember, I know all,
see and hear all. I can always do worse to you, should you give me
cause. You KNOW I will." He nodded in fear. I said, "I don't require
it, but you may apologize to your son." He came in from the other room,
dressed in his new suit. Father said, "Robert, I was wrong. I apologize
to you for what I did." Robert said, "I accept. Good has come from the
bad."
I said to the father, "A good start. You have never fully Confessed.
I suggest you do that soon. If you can make yourself into a good and
responsible person, I may remove the consequence. That will take time,
if it ever happens. Try. What could it hurt?" He said, "You care for
ME?" I said, "I love you. I love all people. That's who I am." I
offered to hug both parents, and both accepted. They left, much
subdued. I said to Robert, "You said your farewells to your mother?" He
said, "I did. I will visit her as I can." I said, "Good." He said,
"Will he be better?" I said, "If I knew, I wouldn't tell you. It's not
good to do that." He said, "I understand. It was interesting." I
grinned, and said, "The hug. Yes, he reacted as you suspected." He
grinned, and said, "And you specifically allowed it." I said, "Do you
ALWAYS have to be intelligent?" They laughed.
I said, "If I port you to Tibet as you are, you will die. The rapid
change in air pressure would kill you. We don't really like dead
students. So unresponsive." Priest laughed loudly. I said, "You now
have fixed to your chest a small device that will manage the air
pressure around you, slowly reducing it over the course of two weeks.
Then it will leave you. It can't be damaged, even by soap and water.
You won't notice its effect except in the shower, and when you urinate
standing up. Liquid passing through the field is deflected a little. I
know you're going to look for that. They all do." Grins. I said, "You
will have a room, and a counselor, who is waiting for you. All your
things here, will be there, and anything else you need. This may be
your biggest adventure to date, but I think only the first of many. You
know I will always love you." We hugged. I said, "Ready? It's lunch
time there. I KNOW you wouldn't want to miss THAT." He grinned, with
tears, and nodded. Then he was gone.
Priest said, "He was naked and without any care for his future, he
said, when you found him." I said, "There are many things I'm required
to do, that hurts me a lot. Then there are these times." We brought our
tears to our hug, then I shifted out.
George said, "That was a different one! His future?" I said, "A
critical one." He said, "Wow!" I said, "Yes. If I hadn't already known
all here, that would have been an assigned mission." He couldn't even
say wow. I had to show him my grin for that.
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Grant
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