Solomon's Private File #428
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 35 in this story, in the Spring of 2061.
Solomon's Private File #428 "Balls In Question"
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high school, and I had just shifted to its obstacle course. A boy was
down and unable to continue. The teacher was yelling at him, "Get up,
you piece of shit! Get up, or so help me, I'll hang you from the second
floor dorm, by your little sissy balls!" I was behind him, but the
students didn't warn him. I acknowledged that to them with a nod. I
said to the teacher, "He can't get up. In fact, if he doesn't receive
medical treatment soon, he'll die. And you'll be charged with voluntary
manslaughter." He whirled around to face me, and just stared with his
mouth hanging open. I said, "Report!" He snapped to attention, and
said, "Staff Sergeant Briskit reporting as ordered, SIR!" He saluted,
too. I said, "At ease. This institution has medical power of attorney.
Do you authorize medical treatment for this student?" He said, "Yes
sir, I do." I said in the air, "George?" He ported in, and said, "I've
got this." We nodded to each other.
I said to the teacher, "Why did you want him to die?" He said, "I
didn't!" I said, "That was something of a trick question. If you said
you did, it would mean you caused this by intent, a good job, even if
evil. Instead, you said it wasn't what you intended, admitting severe
and lethal incompetence. Now for the second part, hanging him by his
balls. Were you really intending to do that?" He said, "No, never!" I
said, "Not a lie. Did you expect any student to believe you meant it?"
He said, thoughtfully, "Actually, no." I said, "Do you believe that
threatening an illegal punishment all know won't happen, will cause the
students to believe you and trust your word, or even respect you?" He
said, "I understand now. It won't."
I said, "Now to why I'm here, instead of just a Corps member. Do you
have any idea what that torture would feel like?" He tried to hide his
fear, said, "No sir!" I said, "I do. It happened to me in more than one
of my lives. You would have killed this boy. In the old days, his
parents would have been justified in causing you to undergo what you
threatened, as just punishment. I am not able to make that happen to
you, but you can be helped to feel what I felt." He grabbed himself,
and fell to the ground, screaming in agony. After five minutes of that,
the now healed victim said to me, "Stop it! Please!" I did, and the
teacher was allowed to faint. I said, "I'm healing his vocal cords."
The teacher woke up, and I said to him, "I stopped it when your victim
was able to ask me to. None of the other boys said anything. Think
about that." He nodded.
He said, "What caused it?" I said, "Poor conditioning, not enough
hydration in this heat, an electrolyte imbalance, and he didn't have a
good breathing pattern and depth. Oxygen depletion at just the wrong
time. In unconsciousness, he didn't have enough energy to take in
enough oxygen to recover, and his elevated core temperature was going
to make that fatal. Exercise induced heat stroke. You want people to
have endurance, you'd better teach them how to breathe, first. And
proper training and nutrition is needed. It is NOT just a matter of
desire and will. Do you understand this?" He said, "I do, sir!" I said,
"You don't have a full time nurse practitioner here. Get one. A
certified athletic trainer is recommended. You certainly aren't one!
Your School Commander has been watching a projection of this.
Recordings will be given to ALL the parents of all the students here. I
suggest you get to work making positive changes, or being closed down
would be the least of your problems."
I said, "By the way, there are multiple forms of that torture. With a
locked metal band around the testicles, and the hands being free, the
man could, with a lot of effort, grab the chain, and hold himself up
until he became too tired to hold on. Then the screaming started anew.
ANY movement made it worse. Sometimes they wrapped the chain around
their arm, so they wouldn't have to hold on tightly. Until that pain of
that was too much to withstand. But by then that arm and hand no longer
worked. Torture isn't just physical. But most often, the hands were
tied behind the back, and they couldn't grab the rope or chain. What
you experienced can happen again, with different varieties. I suggest
you remember that. Oh, and I will feel it with you, as I do with all
consequences I, or any of my people, apply. One more thing. If you
can't make your students follow your instructions willingly, without
threats, because they know it's to their benefit, you are no teacher,
or a true leader."
I said to the students, "There's a less than obvious lesson in this.
Be careful of the threats you make. Giving people ideas of how to do
bad things to people, while they have the motivation to do it to YOU,
is a very foolish thing. More, if you're outnumbered by them." I
wrapped the students in my love, and we left.
George said to me in his office, "That was intense!" I said, "A
teacher killing a student? You'd better believe it." He said, "That
last statement sure poked the Sarge in his paranoia." Big grins. He
said, "Not for publication?" I said, "Not from me. A parent or student
will do it for us, with their own decision. I'll make sure it isn't
edited." More grins. And that's what happened.
I was asked to do a short show about it. After it played, Greg's
first question was, "Did you post that?" I said, "No I didn't post that
action. I prefer not to do that without the full consent of all the
people who didn't do the offense, who appear in a recording of an
action. I gave recordings to the school and the parents. Any of them
could have posted it. No, I won't say who." He said, "Did you expect it
to happen?" I said, "Based on past examples, well, when wouldn't that
happen?" He grinned, and said, "I see what you mean." I said, "I do
have a problem with that, though. If I wanted it published, I could
have. I doubt whoever did, obtained the consent of all those minor
children or their parents. If so, that was unethical." He said, "But
you do know." I said, "Yes, but I'm not going to say. Privacy issue. No
laws were broken in that. The school might have a lawsuit case, though,
but I wouldn't like it if they went with that." He said, "I
understand."
He said, "Why did you describe more er, varieties of that torture?" I
said, "As I said then, torture isn't all physical." He said, "Oh! Him
imagining it, was part of your er, motivational effort." I said, "Well
said! Yes. Some of his increased perspiration wasn't caused by the sun
and heat." He grinned. He said, "There were a lot of good lessons in
that action. Athleticism isn't all due to desire and will, or we would
all be instant Olympians." I said, "I'm not going to tell you I wish I
had said it that way." He laughed, and said, "Thank you! The empty
threats causing less respect, was also a good one, but the last visual
of the teacher's expression, just before you left, after your last
statement, showed just how effective it was. Don't threaten people with
ideas of how they can do it to YOU, while you're making a lot of them
want to. That's one of your greatest!" I said, "Oh, thank you. I
thought it was obvious. Seems it wasn't, that much."
He said, "A lot of people have been asking this. Could you be charged
with assault for making him feel that, and for the other times and
consequences?" I said, "Some have tried, but there are problems with
proving it actually happened, with non physical consequences, and
determining who did it. I didn't say I did it, just that it was from my
own memory of a past life. As it was in my mind, many of my group could
have read it, and applied it." He said, "You're the leader." I said,
they aren't employees, so there's no contract. You lead only by their
consent." I said, "And love. Can't do without that." He grinned, and
said, "Absolutely!"
He said, "There's been a change in what the Corps does. They acted
sometimes in college dorms, but not in fraternities and sororities on
and off campus. Now they are." I said, "They were private residences to
us, and so off limits. We decided to change what category they belonged
to, as thousands of parents requested. If what's happening there is
intentionally harmful, and against the law, we correct it. Only that.
We're not babysitters. People have to grow up making and learning from
their own mistakes, so we're not preventing all bad behavior, just
what's very serious that the victims wouldn't want to have happen to
them." He said, "A lot of parents approve of what the Corps is doing in
that."
He said, "Reports are that they're now acting in military bases, and
not just with the American military." I said, "Yes, they are. Due to
the nature of the military, reporting and redressing soldier on soldier
crime can't be done well, or acted on with full justice. It was
becoming worse. We had to do something, or the military would have
become mostly useless, in all countries." He said, "But you appose the
military." I said, "I don't oppose the military. In fact, I think all
people should have the benefits of military training and service. I
appose wars. The military in America doesn't cause wars, civilian
leaders do. The military does much more than fight wars. They assist in
all kinds of disaster relief, and perform protective services for
embassies. And they also fight crime. That's most of what the Coast
Guard does, after rescuing people. The Navy fights pirates. But to me,
the most important thing the military does, is train young people to be
responsible and dedicated adults. And the military being a large part
of the economy, it serves to stabilize it."
He said, "Oh! I hadn't thought of all that. Did the government ask
for your help?" I said, "No, the government didn't ask me, and I didn't
ask for their permission, although I did tell them before the new
implementation. Our policy has been from our founding, to not give
governments the opportunity to refuse before the just action. Any
government, and that includes galactic. We're independent of
governments. If what we do aids or harms a government, it's still fair
and impartial. On Earth, we place the human species over any of its
creations, which includes governments, in importance, and our
activities support that." He said, "A lot of your humor depends on
governments." I said, "Extra added benefit." Grins. We closed the show.
He said, "There was a lot to discuss in this show." I said, "You
don't hate that." He grinned widely. We hugged.
A political candidate walked into my temp Bureau office. She said,
"My party requires this." I said, "I didn't make them do that. I'm
innocent! Well, at least in this." She grinned. I said, "If you would
prefer another of us, no problem. They're qualified, being super
educated super geniuses who know when they're being lied to, who's
watched me do this for years. I'm asked for because I'm the er,
loudest." She laughed. I said, "Very few women CEOs run for political
office. Burns corporate bridges behind them." She said, "I want to make
a difference. A new challenge." I said, "A rough sport played out in
public. And not just for current actions, but everything you ever did,
even your family, is fair game." She said, "We're ready for it." I
said, "They all say that." She said, "Meaning they were naive." I said,
"Er, underestimating." Grins. We did the tests. She said, "Why those?"
I said, "They want something objective they don't understand, to point
to for some unintelligent reason, if needed, which it never is." She
said, "Now I know it's really you." My groan made her laugh. I said, "I
used to do it only for job specific appointees. Now they want it for
everybody."
I said, "If you have any vetting issue, you should tell them. I'm
required to ask if there are, but you don't have to tell me about
them." She said, "There aren't." I said, "Remember the lie detection?"
She said, "My son isn't part of this." I said, "The record is sealed,
but you know how fragile that is. You kept him off of the sex offender
She said, "Do you advise me to not go through with this?" I said, "I
can't do that. It's your decision. Personally, I think it shouldn't
make any difference. He's not part of the job. What he did wasn't your
fault, but you know some supercilious idiots will say it is." She said,
chuckle. I said, "We're different people. I would fight, just for the
fun of it. Your party is a little repressed when it comes to sexual
issues. In public." She said, "In private?" I said, "As wild as
anybody. This knowing all thing was a BIG eye opener!" She had to
chuckle. I said, "I started the political protection service when I was
young. It didn't invade their privacy unless it was triggered. I made a
little mistake with that. I hadn't considered that some weapons could
be used for er, intimate recreation. And handcuffs?" She laughed well.
I said, "It's all up to you. It might never come to light. I won't
report that, and I won't make you tell them. That's standard for
candidates. You have my best wishes. I'll release the approval report
tomorrow. Don't ask. If you don't already know, you don't deserve it."
She laughed. We hugged.
Mom said, "I like her." I said, "So do I." She said, "Can we do
anything?" I said, "Victim doesn't remember. Parent does. Victim
wouldn't want it public. Parent might not know or care about that. This
isn't a predictable thing, and we can't do anything useful that's just,
to stop it. But you can sure voice your opinion on that, if it happens.
Sexual misconduct outside of the home, is not the direct fault of the
parent, if not intentionally normalized at home. Here's the info." I
pushed it." She said, "Right. Thanks."
I gave the candidate a glowing approval. The problem with her son
didn't go public, and she won the primary, but lost the election. She
asked to see me again. We did it in the office. She said, "Did you do
anything?" I said, "Me? No." She said, "I have to ask, did Rose?" I
said, all innocent, "You didn't have to. Oh, all right. She was going
to crow. Mom told her that it would make trouble for her son, who
really wouldn't want that, which was true. Fixed it. Didn't make her
love you, though. No, don't do that. Will only make it worse. Some
minds you can't change, even with reality on your side, especially when
it comes to harm to a mother's child." She said, "I understand. Do you
know why I lost?" I said, "Not your fault. Opponent's party is in power
and doing well, after your party flubbed it. Advantage, him. You
weren't noticeably superior enough to overcome that in your district.
Good try, though. Party bosses noticed. Dems field a bad candidate in
the next presidential election, your party could be in, and you with
it." She said, "You really ARE non partisan."
I said, "I am very partisan. I want good people to do good work for
the country. That could be any party, if they actually want to. Your's
still has a lot of er, kooks." She laughed. I said, "Well, what else
can you call people who say they don't want the government to mess with
people's lives, while they're trying to make the government do just
that? I don't much like deception and irrationality." She said, "I've
noticed that." I said, "Your party's problem is the other side has all
the good stuff in their platform, and you can't differentiate yourself
without having what's left, which are the bad things, which don't
actually work. Almost all the major problems the government has allowed
to happen or caused, have been caused by Conservatives, because they
have ideals that are mostly based on fantasies." She said, "I've
studied your er, rant about that." I said, "And asked to be published,
by Republicans." She said with a grin, "Traitors!" I said, "They keep
saying this will happen if that does, or the opposite, and then ignore
it when reality doesn't agree with them. How they deal with that is to
relabel it, and try to make people forget it ever happened. That
actually works with their base, who only listens to what they want to
hear, as they're conditioned to do. So, it keeps happening. The only
way to fix that, is to completely abandon that party, and start a new
actually sane party. It's been tried. Hasn't worked yet." She said,
"I'll think about that." I said, "Oh no, what have I done!" She
laughed, and we hugged.
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Grant
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