Solomon's Private File #68
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
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 15 in this story, in the Winter of 2041-2042.
Solomon's Private File #68 "Monster Mash"
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In a very far away place, in a different part of the galaxy,
actually, on a not very peaceful planet, there happened something even
less peaceful. In a formerly beautiful, before the invasion of the
psimasters, seaside city, a gigantic monster rose from the water of the
harbor. It tried to climb up onto one of the docks. It's short legs
gave it some trouble. It made some noises in its frustration. Then it
was waddling through the streets on two short legs, long scaly tail
swinging side to side, banging into things. People were running madly
from the skyscraper sized armored beast. Some people shot at it. No
damage. Some bigger guns were brought to bear. Well, the monster was
crushing cars and damaging buildings, and even broke through the
pavement with a heavy step, creating a gigantic pothole. The monster
struggled to get his leg out of that, causing some of the remaining
people there to laugh a little. But they had to run away, because of
the falling parts of the buildings caused by the monster's flailing
relatively short arms, made for very dangerous personal headgear. The
big weapons had only a little effect, causing a few flinching reactions
from the monster, and some scratching at the minor irritations.
Then some strange people arrived. It didn't look like they did
anything, but parts of some wrecked buildings went flying at the
monster. Some of those missiles bounced off. Some, the monster batted
back at the strange people, but the pieces didn't seem to want to hit
them. Some people were known to have remarked after this incident, that
the monster seemed to have actually enjoyed that activity. Like it was
a game. Then the monster was close to the strange new people. In a very
fast move, the monster picked up one of those people and ate him in one
big gulp! To pile insult on that injury, the monster rubbed its stomach
and actually burped in satisfaction.
Then those strange people moved backwards very fast. More big stones
from the buildings flew at the monster. One very big part of a building
was deflected over the monster's head, and went flying behind it, and
splashed into the water of the harbor. The monster looked behind it,
and then turned and waddled fast to the harbor, like it was going to
retrieve that piece. It fell into the water and tried to swim, but sank
like the concrete block it was trying to reach. They searched for the
monster for a whole day, but couldn't find it. However, they did find
some interesting things in on the bottom of the harbor that they hadn't
known about before. Old relics, actually. Fortunate it was, that the
monster had a arrived on a national holiday, and that the damaged
buildings had been empty of people. In fact, it was remarkable that so
few people were injured, and those who were, mostly caused the injuries
themselves in their fright.
My team got together in the big fully shielded room I had made for
that purpose, to study the captured psimaster who was asleep via a
projection. George said, "No toothmarks." One said, "No fangs to you."
Chuckles. Galya said, "We always tell the tooth." Groans. I said,
"Great monster! I loved the expressions you put on it. Amazing you
could make that thing actually look playful." They really didn't
dislike that. Daren said, "Oh Sol, what were YOU doing while we were
inside the monster?" George said, "We know you. You didn't say in
advance, but you had to be doing something, or you would have wanted to
be inside with us." I said, "Could you stop being geniuses for at least
a little while?" All joined in saying a big, "NO!" I sighed, and they
chuckled. I said, "I was helping people not get killed. A little touch
here and there, and some of the flying debris didn't kill anybody. The
psimasters were too distracted to notice." Daren said, "Distracted?
That so, you wouldn't have stopped there." I said, plaintively, "Don't
do that." Laughter and some pokes. I said, "Alright. I copied their
minds, even including some past lives which they don't remember." The
room was full of wows. Howard said, "Then why do we need this one?" I
said, "To see if we can change it." He said, "Oh!" I said, "Ready for
push? Oh, and you really need a separate compartment for this. You
won't want to keep most of it." I pushed all I had acquired, and my
thoughts and conclusions. More wows while they digested it.
George said, "We have a lot of work to do." I said, "Yes. More
planets to rescue." Daren said, "But how?" I said, "I have an idea. But
first, let's talk to this one. He's set to answer all questions, and
not lie. Oh, and we are undetectable to him. He will hear voices that
are different from ours. We proceed." I said, "Chonkine, wake up." He
did, and looked around, not seeing anything. He felt with his other
senses, and didn't learn anything useful. He said, "I heard a voice.
Where am I?" I said, "Where you are isn't important. It can be
anywhere, or nowhere. Location is only a matter of thought to us. Why
do you invade other planets and harm the people there?" He said, "We
are better. They are not of us. We make them of us." I said, "That does
not say WHY you do that." He said, "Because we are better." I said,
"Why does being better, motivate you to harm others?" He said, "Because
they are worth less, so what we do that they don't like, isn't
important." I said, "So is it true that you believe the greater should
abuse the lessor just because of that comparison?" He said, "Yes." I
said, "What of the choice not to do that?" He said, "Some of us choose
not to do that, claiming we don't actually need to, so we shouldn't. We
think they are insane." I said, "And do they think YOU are insane?" He
said, "Yes. But they can't stop us, even if they are more powerful.
They won't kill. We kill them when we want to." I said, "Most in the
galaxy would consider them sane, and you insane. Do you know this?" He
said, "I didn't. I don't care. We are better." I said, "We took you
from that creature. We have you here, and you are unable to act as you
would want to. By your rules, we should do to you, what you do to
others. Is that correct?" He said, "You are better?" I said, "By many
orders of magnitude, yes."
He struggled in thought. He said, "You should not." I said, "Why?"
He said, "Because I don't want you to." I said, "But by your rules, we
should, and what you don't like shouldn't matter. How do you reconcile
that conflict?" He said, "I cannot." I said, "How does that reflect on
your assumption that you are sane?" He said in horror, "I am not sane!"
I said, "Extrapolate. When your group runs out of new planets to take
over, what happens to you as a people?" He said, "We would destroy
ourselves." I said, "An insane person would not have thought that.
Could not have." He said in wonder, "I am not insane?" I said, "Do you
want to harm people now, as you did before?" He thought hard, and said,
"No, I do not. I don't understand. Did you change me?" I said, "I could
have, but I didn't. You changed yourself, through being forced to think
of things you had avoided thinking of before. More accurate self
knowledge can do that for people." He said, "Wow!" I said, "We've heard
that before." He said, "What will you do now?" I said, "What to you
think we should do?"
He said, "You should stop us." I said, "We have already started,
partly. None of your interstellar crafts will reach their destinations.
Of ALL your people and planets. That means you cannot expand, and then
you will fight among yourselves until you are all gone from this
existence. We can do other things. Recommendations?" He said, "Can you
not cure us of this insanity?" I said, "If it were a brain malfunction,
yes. But with you, it is a matter of choice. We will not forcibly
change that." He said, "Why?" I said, "A forced change of mind cannot
last, and it could cause worse of what we would change. And that would
make us insane ourselves, which is actually not possible." He said,
"Wow! But I believe you. Those we called insane are unable to lie. I
must assume that is even more true for you." I said, "Correct. Very
good reasoning." He was really not displeased with that.
I said, "There is something else we can do. We can remove the special
abilities of those who harm others with them." He said, "I think you
should. These abilities aren't truly necessary for our lives and
culture. Can you cure the people we have converted?" I said, "That will
be attempted. One of us will visit the world you were taken from. Would
you like to watch?" He said, "Yes please!" I said, "The form he will
choose to appear as, may look unpleasant to you. Oh, and he has a
unusual sense of humor." He said, "Interesting that you would say that.
So, among you, there are significant differences among individuals?" I
said, "In our group, we are independent of species and origins. We
value differences. Some, more than others. He is about to arrive." I
said to the rest so he couldn't hear, "It's set. Whoever speaks, their
voice will sound like the one I used."
I ported to a building I had insulated, and walked out of it, with no
personal disguise, but covered by a 4th powered PK shield. I asked one
of the people I met, a police officer, "Pardon me, I'm looking for my
pet." The kind woman said, "He's lost? What does he look like?" I said,
"He's very big and likes to play fetch, and will eat almost anything.
He doesn't swim well." She said, "Big? How big is he?" I said, "Oh,
about 120 meters tall." She showed surprise. She said, "THAT was your
PET?" I said, "Oh, have you seen him?" She said, "All the damage you
see here. Caused by a creature that size. He even ate one of our
Masters!" I said, "Oh. Well, was that one powerful with mind talents?"
She said, "Yes." I said, "That's my pet! He finds those very tasty! Do
you know where he is?" She had an assortment of very interesting
reactions. She said, "No, but if you follow me, I can take you to
people who might be able to help." We walked together.
Our captive psimaster was laughing, when he could, he said, "The
monster was yours?" Daren said, "Yes. His idea. I think you assumed
that, now you've seen him in action." More laughter.
We went into a fancy undamaged building. My police officer friend
told one of the guards, "Important information about the monster. We
need to see the Masters." He nodded, and we went into an elevator, and
up to a floor near the top. We got up, and she said the same to a guard
there, who went and told somebody else, who came back and said to me,
"The Masters are aware of you, and ask you to meet with them." I said,
interestingly, "You call them Masters. What are they the masters of?"
He said, "Us." I said incredulously, "YOU are PETS?" He said,
thoughtfully, "Something like that, I think, yes." I said, "Oh! Wow!
Sentient beings as pets. How unusual!" They nodded, glumly. I was led
into a big chamber. There was a crescent shaped table facing the door.
People were seated on the outside rim. Different looking people. The
police officer told them what I had said. They had interesting
reactions. One in the middle, the most powerful said, "That was YOUR
pet?" I said, "Sure sounds like him." He said, "How did he get here?" I
said, "He just pops up in different places. Hard to keep track of him
when he's being frisky. He REALLY doesn't like the leash." My guide
almost choked, trying not to laugh. He said, "You can control him?" I
said, "Sure, mostly. He's a good pet. I bet he's got a bit of
indigestion about now. Doesn't look like you people are all that
healthy for him." Some SERIOUSLY odd reactions. The one we captured was
almost hysterical with laughter.
He said, "He killed one of our people! What do you say to that?" I
said, "Killed? Well, alright, maybe a little. When he comes out the er,
other end, I'll fix him up and ask him if he wants to come back here."
They just stared at me. I said, "You're eyes are working, but your
mouths seem to be, er, not. Need a nap?" One recovered enough to say,
"You can bring people back from the dead?" I said, "Depends on what you
mean by dead. Anyway, it's not forever. So, do you know where my pet
is?" He said, "No, we don't. He fell into the sea, and we couldn't find
him after that." I said, "Alright. Thanks for trying. I'll go look in
some of his favorite places." He said, "No. We want you to stay." I
said, "Sorry. Maybe later." I turned and started walking out. He tried
to grab me with PK. It slid off. I said, "Oh! You want to play! Why
didn't you say so?" He said, "Play? What do you mean?" I said, "Sure.
Play. That's what little kids do. I'm a kid, too, but I can see you're
much younger. I can stay and play with you for a little while if you
want. But not for long. I'm a responsible kid. Oh, you're trying to
read my mind. That's REALLY not polite. Take a nap." That one went to
sleep. They couldn't wake him. One said, "Er, how old are you?" I said,
"Time is complicated. In your way, thousands of years." One said, "How
see. REALLY little kids. I see you broke some of your toys. Want me to
fix them for you?" One said, "Which toys?" I said, "Some buildings, and
some of your pets need fixing, too." He said, "You would do that for
us?" I said, "Sure. I'm a responsible kid. We should help the little
ones." One said, "Can you help us to grow up?" I said, "I can, a
little, yes. I should. It's my duty. All big kids should help like
that."
Our captive said, still laughing, "He's making them WANT to lose
their powers! Genius!" Daren said, "Well, yes." He said, "Is all he's
saying, the truth?" Daren said, "As much as the language, and their
comprehension, allows, yes. He really is not yet an adult, as you would
define it." He said, "Wow!"
I said, "I just thought of something. Your people on your other
planets. Think I should help them, too?" One said, "You can do that?" I
said, "Sure. I like to help. Makes me feel good." They looked at each
other, and nodded. He said, "We would like that. Thank you very much!"
I said, "Fine. Shouldn't take long. I'll do it now." I sent my love in
a broadcast to the whole world, and then to the other worlds they were
on. I asked Dad if he could join and heal, even those who were
converted. I was told something like, "what took you so long", with
humor. While the healing was happening, I stretched my personal time,
so I could fix the damaged buildings. When I was done with that, I set
my time back to normal. Dad gave me some personal love, and a burst
package of information. In the last part of the broadcast, I removed
all the psionics, including PK, from all who had abused it. I noted
that Dad had successfully restored the brains of the converted. They
remembered some of what had happened. Then I powered down my love.
The Masters were noticing their PK was gone. Some said to me, "WHAT
did you DO? My powers are gone!" I said, "My father visited with me
while I was fixing things. He said you were too young to have those
abilities. So we took them away. Now you can grow up better, not being
tempted to abuse sentient beings. You should be happy about that.
You'll grow up faster, just like you asked." They were really NOT
happy. I said, "One more thing. Those you converted are fixed. They
remember what you did to them. You might want to play hide and go seek
with them before they come here and play a little too hard with you.
Oh, and I told this to your people on the other planets, too. Hmm, some
of them move faster than you do. Don't feel too bad if you get a little
killed. Death isn't the end. Ha! I think I know where my pet is." I
turned to my escorts, and said to them, "Right. Not Masters now. Be
nicer than they were, because you are, right?" They nodded, still
dazed.
I looked into the distance, and shouted, with my arms outstretched,
"Oh Godzilla!" I ported back to our insulated room. Our kids were
trying not to laugh. I said to the captive, "It is done. Those who you
had labeled insane, were not affected, but they were informed of what
happened." He said, "Is it true his father helped?" I said, "Yes.
Remember this. For each power, there is always greater." He said, "But
what of God?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Oh!" I said, "Where do you wish
to go now?" He said, "I still have my abilities. I think I will join
those who I called insane." I said, "They were already informed that
would be so." He laughed. He said, "May I know your name?" I said,
"Only that of he who did the recent action as an individual. His name
in Solomon. His friends call him Sol. He might, or another of us, visit
your planet some day. Now you will know that person will be of us." He
said, "Thank you, all of you who I can't see, for all you have done." I
said, "For all of us, you are welcome. Farewell." I ported him to were
some of his new friends were. They started quite a conversation.
We put together a presentation of what we did. Some of that was from
cameras we had hidden all over. Then we removed evidence of what we had
done, and ported home. We had a full conference. I said, "It's done. No
more PsiMasters. A watch needs to be kept on them to see they don't
start again, and for their ships still in transit, but that's a lot
easier than stopping them would be. Want the presentation in a push?"
They did, and I gave it to them. There were a lot of wows from the
recipients, and a lot of big grins from those who were involved. Then
there were a lot of hugs and kisses going around. Ever been kissed by
somebody saying wow at the same time? Interestingly different, for
sure!
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Grant
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