Solomon's Private File #427
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 34 in this story, in the Spring of 2061.
Solomon's Private File #427 "Kung Fu Fighting"
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women, men, and children are still being raped in private, and sexually
disrespected all over. I propose something er, different." He said,
"This has GOT to be interesting!" Pokes. I said, "Public decoys. They
would be people who are very attractive, who might draw some unwelcome
attention in places that often disrespect women." He said, "Such as
India." I said, "Yes. Many women are followed and leered at. Our decoys
would apply a mild consequence to those people, after making it obvious
their attention is unwelcome. Something like a not too hard virtual
poke where it hurts, escalating the more that doesn't change their
minds. These decoys don't have to be actual people, but images that
would flash a Corps armband when they do the remote poke, visible only
to the offenders. They tell people, they look crazy." He grinned
widely, and said, "I'll get right on it."
I said, "Next is Greek pledging and hazing. College type, not country
specific. Where it will cause real harm, or where the victim clearly
wants it to stop, we stop it, and apply consequences where the harm was
deliberate and intended." He said, "Yes! Some of us have been asking
for that, and the public, too." I said, "In Corps tasks, gradual
adoption is best. Easier to accept. The uphill slippery slope." Grins.
I said, "We've let the military alone. No more. I'll tell DOD. World
wide, too." He said, "Got it! Delay a week?" I said, "Yes. Not that I'm
going to tell them that, unless pressed." Grins.
I asked to see the President and DOD together. At the appointment, I
said, "Until now, we've not done Corps actions on military bases." Barb
nodded, and said, "Now you will." I said, "Sexual abuse has increased.
If we don't do something, you won't have much of a military left, and
have a big scandal. It's the male victims that are the most injured and
traumatized by this, and more, by how that's handled. Did you know
there is more male on male sexual abuse per capita on ocean oil
platform rigs, than in prison?" She said, "Wow! I didn't know that." I
said, "It's like a prison, but much less supervised. Would happen more
on Navy ships, but the lack of privacy provides some protection. We're
doing this world wide. We're not asking for permission." Grins. She
said, "Thank you." DOD said, "Officially, I'm asking for a delay of
implementation so we can inform our commands." He was shaking his head.
I nodded, and said, "All as anticipated. No." Grins.
Barb said, "You've done college dorms, but not private residences." I
said, "Greek, now, including deliberately harmful pledging and hazing."
She said, "Good! But things not deliberate?" I said, "Can't baby
people, and have them turn out well. We stop what's actually a crime,
when intent is such, as if witnessed by police. Even in dorms, we don't
stop them drinking alcohol, even where it's illegal. We don't stop most
fights. People have to learn to be responsible. Some will even die. If
people expected us to save them from their mistakes, they would keep
making them, and never grow up. That's not at all fun for us, but we
have to do what's right for humanity, more than for individuals." She
said, "I understand, but my electorate won't." I said, "That's why I'm
not asking permission. I'm not elected, but appointed." Smiles and
nods. We hugged.
The PM of India asked to see me. I shifted to her office. We hugged.
She said, "There have been numerous reports of strange ghosts. Women
ghosts. Beautiful women. Most have not seen them, even while others
have." I said, "And they have only been men." She said, "That's true."
I said, "And those men were a little uncomfortable at the time." She
said, "I am beginning to have an unusual suspicion." I said, "In a
politician, what's most unusual about that is you're correct." She
laughed well. I said, "It's a retraining exercise. The women are
illusions that are visible only to men who treat women badly, such as
follow them, and bother them for sexual reasons. When they do that to
those images, they get a little virtual poke where they're thinking
from." More laughter. I said, "They continue, it get's harder. The
poke!" She laughed harder. I said, "Soon enough, they get the idea, and
wander off, a little bent over for a while. And they're impotent for a
week after. Not that they have a real use for it, anyway." Grins.
I said, "Part of the cause of their disrespect is that it's part of
the culture. And that's caused it to be worse in another way, because
selective abortion has created a gender imbalance in the population.
There aren't enough women for all the men." She said, "We've made that
illegal, but it hasn't stopped it." I said, "We aren't going to stop
it, because it's a societal issue. We would have to do too much, and
the society would collapse. Social abuse of women is happening all over
the world, not just here. What we're doing is being noticed in America,
too. Believed less, though." She tried not to grin. I said, "Tribal
societies are mostly dominated by men, and women are more controlled by
them, by the nature of that system, and are usually more disrespected
than in other systems. Some people are offended by the tribal
designation, by the connotation that it's primitive, and so demeaning.
No, it's a social anthropological determination, based on political
structure, and social and family ties, in which loyalty is the most
demanded aspect. Neighborhood gangs are tribal. So is much of organized
crime, and it's in practically every country."
She said, "I understand. We still have tribal problems." I said, "The
better communication becomes, the more people want to have separate
identities. People had a national identity, when those governments were
psychologically remote. Now they are as near is your mobile, and you
feel like less of an individual. So the resurgence of tribal loyalties
is causing problems. They were always there, but unknown to others.
Now, everybody knows everything, and pride magnifies it all." She said,
"Is there anything we can do about that?" I said, "As a government,
nothing that won't make it worse. China tried it with forced
indoctrination. You know what happened with that." She said, "I do. If
your father hadn't freed Tibet?" I said, "There would be no China.
Population control wouldn't have been much of an issue then. Millions
of rotting corpses, would. Here, as elsewhere, society will eventually
evolve to make it work after a fashion. There will be problems like
always, but then they will just be different, with people longing for
the good old days that never actually existed as they like to
fantasize. We live in interesting times. If they weren't, perverse
human nature would make it so." She smiled, and said, "So true!" We
hugged.
I shifted to an office in a martial artist's studio in Kowloon,
China. I said, "Two fighting schools are coming here to er, remove your
school. Very unappreciative of your teaching of women." She smiled, and
said, "You are not." I said, "My mother, even less." Mom appeared
beside me, and said, "I didn't know he was going to do this. Monitoring
is useful." I said, "I like surprises." Mom and I hugged. Kam ported
in. More hugs. Then Galya. I said, "What is this, a family reunion?"
Grins. Hawk ported in, and said, "I had to make that true." I said,
"Not unwelcome. Shall we all go down to greet the er, guests?" We did,
severely surprising a class of relative beginners. Sifu explained what
was happening, and they were all excited. I asked them to hide, so we
could surprise the visitors. Then I had to ask them not to giggle so
much. That didn't help.
I listed names to the Sifu, and said, "Can you beat any?" She said,
with and without weapons, and made plans. Then a whole lot of people
came into the studio. Only the Sifu was there to greet them. She said,
"Welcome to my school. How can I serve you?" One stepped forward, and
said, "We demand that you stop teaching here." She said, "Oh, you'e
offering to give me one of your schools?" He said, "NO. We want you to
stop teaching." She said, "Why? Is it because you want my students?" He
said, "We don't want them." She said, "Then what reason can you have
for this?" He said, "You teach women!" She said, "This I do, as I was
taught. Where is the problem in that, if you don't want to teach them
yourself?" He said, "They should not be taught these things. They are
unable to learn them well, and so dishonor all of us who teach." She
said, "Is this so for all women, including me, or just my students?" He
said, "All women."
Kam walked in to the room, and said, "All women, includes me.
Really?" He said, "Who are you?" Kam said, "I am Kamala of Tibet, the
Dalai Lama." They all bowed low to her, which she returned. He said to
her, "You are an Adept, a special case." She said, "Although I learned
this before I became an Adept, I can't deny I'm special, at least to my
family." Some smiled. She said, "I'm bringing a friend here, who is NOT
an Adept." Iron Lady appeared, dressed to fight. They knew of her, and
most of them had thoughts about withdrawing. Iron lady said, "Am I
unable to learn this art well? There are more women who are like I am
in this." I said, walking in, "But some are taller." She grinned, and
said, "Nice to see you again, Solomon." Then the rest of the family
came in, and she said, "And family." We hugged around. Some of the
guests started to leave. I said to them, "No you don't. You will keep
coming back, and you will continue to act with dishonor on this issue.
It must be settled here and now."
I said, "You have stated clearly that the Master of this place is
unable to learn this well, and so can't teach it well, to students who
are also unable to learn this well. The Master believes differently.
One is correct. One is not. There is a way to determine who is correct.
Which of you will fight this Master to prove or disprove your words?"
He said, "To what end?" I said, "Until one is truly unable to continue.
Cowardice will not be allowed." He said, "Even to death?" I said, "If
that is the first cause of the opponent being unable to continue, yes.
If not, I will not allow the fight to continue. One more thing. I will
not heal the person who loses, unless the winner allows it, nor will
that person be healed in a broadcast. He or she could die from the
injury. I see you want to know why. This is to prevent a premature end
to the fight, with a person expecting to be healed, and so inviting
injury."
Kam said to me, "Brother! I didn't think of that one. I like it.
Can't be more fair than that." The rest of my family agreed. I said,
"Who will fight? Don't all volunteer at once." Chuckles, even from some
of them. They went into a huddle and whispered among themselves. I
enabled the Sifu to hear it, which she was glad to. Then one was
chosen. I said, "Are you sure? I say this because I could hear you in
that conversation. You forgot my sensitive hearing." They talked among
themselves again. Sifu tried not to laugh. A better fighter was chosen,
one she actually knew of best, which they didn't know.
I said, "Next, we will choose the form of the fight. Will there be
weapons?" He said, "Can we choose?" I said, "Questions and answers in
the order they are presented. Will there be weapons?" Another private
conference which I shared with the Sifu. They concluded that he was
stronger, so use of weapons would be to his disadvantage. He said to
me, "No weapons." I said to the Sifu, "Your decision?" She said, "No
preference." I said, "So, there will be no weapons. You will both
remove from your person all things that can be used as a weapon." They
did. I said to the man, "Coins can be weapons." He got rid of them. I
said to the man, "The choice is made, but your reasoning for it is
false. Strength is an advantage in weapon use as well. With some
weapons, even more so. No, you can't change your mind. You had a great
advantage in your friends' advice. The Master here did not. If she
wins, it will mean ALL of you were defeated." Some them actually nodded
in agreement.
I said, "All but the two who will fight, please move to the edges of
the room." They did. In front of us appeared a slightly yellow haze,
that was surrounding the middle of the room, and also dividing itself
in half. I said, "That's a hard force wall you see. The divider will
leave to start the fight. You may now prepare yourselves. Signal when
you're ready to fight." The man did some warm up exercises. The woman
didn't. We approved of her. He signaled he was ready. I said,
"Remember, there are no rules, but the final one. However, you know you
will be personally judged by all you do in this. Ready?" They signaled
they were. I said, "Begin!" The dividing wall vanished.
He rushed her, and she dodged, landing a round kick to his liver. He
almost went down. She allowed him to recover. He worked more cautiously
after that. He landed a few strikes, among many attempts, but none
cleanly. He was trying different animal styles, and she was using
mainly wing chun and tai chi, with an occasional high kick from
hopkido, which surprised him. She landed more strikes, and while they
had less power than his, were more accurately placed. Then she almost
took out his knee, causing him to limp a little. Then she trapped a
straight punch, and dislocated his elbow. She gave him time to secure
that arm inside his shirt. Then he took a one armed stance, but clearly
his heart wasn't in the fight. He was defeated in spirit, and it showed
to all. His friends didn't like that at all. He tried a kick he
shouldn't have, and she kicked him in the groin. It wasn't hard, but he
fell, and took a while to get back up, which she waited for. He did
manage to sweep her feet, and she fell. He tried kicking her while she
was on the floor.
One kick did hit her on the hip. Then she grabbed one of his feet,
and upended him. He was slow getting up, which she waited for. He came
at her, but straight on. Big mistake! She planted a power reverse punch
in his middle, right below the sternum, his forward momentum making it
much worse for him. He dropped, unable to breathe. The force wall came
into being between them. I said, "The fight is ended. The xiphoid
process penetrated his heart. That's the dangling lower part of the
sternum, the long bone in the middle of the chest. He's dying." I said
to his friends, "Do you accept that he has lost the fight?" Nods, and
the leader said, "We do." I said, "Will you continue to appose this
Master?" He said, "For one so honorable and skilled, we cannot oppose.
We request that he be healed." I said, "Sifu in truth, what is your
will in regard to his fate?" She said, "I ask that he be fully healed."
I said, "So be it." Then they were both healed. He stood. I removed the
force walls. He bowed low to her, and she bowed to him but not as low,
which was proper. Then they bowed to me and to Kam. We bowed in return.
"She is welcome here." The leader said, "I apologize to you for our
failure of honor." She accepted, and there were more bows. They left.
I said, "Fools chose the worst one to fight you. Sure he's better in
ability, but not in spirit. You won because you are a better person."
She said, "You knew!" I said, "I think I just showed that." Kam poked
me, and said, "It was obvious to us. Sol wouldn't have let this happen
this way, if he thought you would lose." I said, "There was still a
chance. Oh, alright. A very little one." Grins. Mom said, "I wondered,
but I trusted you." I said to her, "She could have killed him at
practically any time, but that's not who she is. He could feel that,
eventually, and that made him lose even more. He expected to die, and
gave himself up to that. A very unworthy fighter!" Kam said, "Some of
the others noticed that. More embarrassment for them, but they trust
her now, more than some of their own friends. She's earned it, and they
haven't. None of them have been tested like she has. That's what all
this was really about." They all looked at me, and I looked behind me.
They laughed. I said, "Yes, that's true. You know I can't help but to
manage things to the absolute best possible conclusion. No, I didn't
interfere in the fight. Needing to do that would have been a failure to
me. I would be the embarrassed one, and it would have made everything
false. No, it was all real, and very much earned. All Hong Kong will
know about this. Going to make things very interesting." Big grins. We
hugged all around, and left our separate ways.
At home, "Galya said, "Not going to show it?" I said, "No, that would
make things worse. They would lose face so much, they would have to go
looking for them." Chuckles. Then I had to explain to Harahm what that
meant. He liked it.
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Grant
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