#77: Banana Slug - ReDesign

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“Total Design ReEvaluation?” Cody looked at Shelby.

“Yup.” Shelby agreed. “Not only do we have SSmoke but we also have VR which we didn’t have before. We need to consider the problem from “the trenches” so to speak “boots on the ground”.

“Or omnisuit in the water” Joshua said.

“you have the right idea. We’re agreed. We have SSmoke. We need to learn to USE it for what it is. Not just a copy of what’s come before. It’s going to be tough. It’s goes against our thinking.”The Dragon Lady agreed.

”HOWEVER!” uh oh. She was serious. Everyone gave her their undivided attention. “Not all the old ways are bad. We must always remember ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it until it is!”

She’d got that part exactly right. Everyone agreed. No one said anything for some time. They sipped coffee in silence.

“ Josh said “But what about other people? What about refugee and survivors of the flood? Unless someone does something real soon a lot of people are going to die. A lot of people are going to die anyway no matter what anyone does. They are going to die a horrible death. They are dying right now, according to the TV in the other room. We should help more if we can. We should do more. They’re just regular folk. It could have been us. It WOULD have been us but for pure blind luck and Shelby.”

Josh normally he didn’t say much in a group. For him to speak out or say so much at one time was very unusual. Normally he was very quiet so it was especially unusual for him to be so intense..

Some of the other customers in Ernie's were giving him strange looks. Ernie didn’t care. They could go somewhere else if they didn’t like it. There were other rooms or they could just leave. He refilled Josh’s coffee cup and removed the empty plate.

“You’ve been watching the video feed again haven’t you? The Dragon Lady asked him.

Joshua nodded. “Yes, like I said, the TV in the other room, earlier before everyone got here.”

“I don’t believe anyone can dispute what you say, Joshua. Facts are facts. Those are facts, dreadful as they may be.” The Dragon Lady said looking at him intently. What was going on here?

Joshua wasn’t defiant. That wasn’t his style. Neither would he give an inch if he thought he was right. Solid they called him. Like a Rock. “It’s horrible. If we can do something to save lives. We should do something. We can therefore we should.”

“We can, yes.” The Dragon Lady said.” You are correct. We should but how? Remember the advice of the Sage. ‘First do no Harm.’ What do you propose that we do that won’t do more harm than good?”

“I’m not sure. I feel a pressing need to go running off in all directions at once right now, screaming my fool head off. That’s obviously not the best idea.” Joshua said.

“Doing anything is usually better than doing nothing during an existential crisis.” Captain said. “most times those who do nothing just die in place.”

“That’s what they told us in combat training” Marc agreed. He and Captain were trying for a bit of humor to lighten the mood.

“Look how far it got us.” Captain said.

“Hind sight is always 20/20. No matter what you did it was right in retrospect, if you live. We’re still alive ain’t we?” Marc responded with a grin. “so we were right. If we were wrong we’d be dead.”

Captain didn’t say anything. He just frowned and sipped his coffee. Something about that wasn’t right. Marc was always doing this to him.

“We were half right.” Captain said. “we’re each missing our legs, half of us is dead, kinda”

“Yet since we’re still alive we were half right” Marc finished and nodded his head. “That makes perfect sense.”

Captain frowned and blinked, just, no.

The Dragon Lady smiled thinly at the by play. She appreciated what her Hug-Thugs were trying to do. They were attempting to divert some of the pressure from the youngest Mage. She sipped her coffee and looked at Shelby. Shelby looked back then they both looked at Chad. Chad looked grim, closed his eyes and nodded. The Dragon Lady spoke to Joshua.

There was a lesson coming, a revelation, and it might hurt.

“Joshua...you are the youngest Mage.” She said “I don’t just mean in age, I suppose the term I’m looking for would be ‘time in grade’. You have the least time in grade. There are some things that happened before you joined us that affect the course of action that you purpose.”

Joshua blinked “What do you mean?”

“Before you joined our happy band the government attempted to wipe us out.” She said.

Joshua looked at her oddly. He was skeptical, “Is this some kind of black helicopter thing?”

“I wish it was Josh.” Chad said with a sad smile “I’m here to tell you differently. They kidnapped, tortured and eventually killed me, for example. I woke up on an Autopsy table. They don’t like us Josh.“

Joshua was horrified.

“After that little incident” Shelby recalled “they sent a kill squad to one of our social events. Their intent was to capture me and kill everyone else.”

Joshua hadn’t heard about any of this. He was boggled. “What happened?”

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The Next Episode Is
#78: Banana Slug - “We killed them right back…
The Previous Episode was
#76: Banana Slug - Ernie’s…
The First Episode was
# 1 : Prologue…
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Book One: SoulStone
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