DJW

Ominian

Draft 1

Set in Epoch 0 of Ominian series

The studio is split in two, on one side is the producer, audio techs, and video techs in the control booth Their faces are grayish green or dark with shining orbs reflecting back the battery of monitors. On the other side of a thin sheet of glass is a dark room with lights and signals blinking on and off from the teleoperated camera’s and microphones. At the heart of the darkness is a brightly lit pool of white light shining down on two couches with a small coffee table in front from which glasses of water sit.

Producer “5 minutes, status on our guest?”

A distant hiss over his headset marks the entrance of three people. The first is a man in his mid to late 20’s, his hair and face have been marked up with makeup that makes him look almost clownish. The second is another woman in makeup and of similar age. The last is a tall, thin man wearing a fisherman’s cap and only light amount of makeup. The young couple sit together on one couch, while the fisherman’s cap man sit’s on the other.

Producer - “Sound check.”

Nancy - “This is Nancy Hamilton of World news, interviewing with the CEO of OS corporation Kyle Long.”

Jason - “This is Jason Killenger, test test, she sells sea shells by the shore.”

Kyle points at himself “My turn? Hello I am Mr. Long and today is Tuesday the 5th, 2034.”

The producer gives them the thumbs up, “Count down in 60....queue intro.”

In the background of the control booth, music can be faintly heard, as well as in the stage area.

The introduction ends and both Nancy and Jason turn to the active camera with a smile, Nancy leads the introduction “Hello this is Nancy with a World News exclusive interview of OSC CEO Kyle Long. Tonight we will be talking with Mr. Long to get the official story on the James Minson incident.”

Without hesitation, Jason takes his que from the teleprompter. “As most people are aware, earlier in the month, a guest worker at the OSC Atlantis operations flotilla was assaulted by OSC citizens, imprisoned by OSC staff, and tortured before being released back to United States custody. Until now, this has been the only information over the event as both US officials, OSC representatives, and Mr. Minson have refused to comment.”

Jason take’s a breath and then turns to look Mr. Long in the eye. “So Mr. Long, what exactly did happen?”

Mr. Long looks briefly down, half-smirks, then responds “Actually that’s exactly what happened, though you’re missing a few crucial points.”

“Such as?” Nancy asks.

“First point is that Minson was not so much tortured as deliberately have his life expectancy reduced by 20 years. This was done after an OSC court of law found him overwhelmingly guilty via the testimony of witnesses and surveillance camera recordings. Prior to being judged, he was provided legal counsel by local US embassy staff, a court appointed lawyer, and was treated humanely though restricted to quarters.”

With a quizzical look on his face, Jason asks “From what we know of OSC society, isn’t your constitution specifically say that corrections should strive more towards rehabilitation then cruel and or unusual punishments?”

Kyle nods. “Normally that is true, but that clause is nullified for capital or mass crimes. By mass crimes, that is anything where more than five people were injured or assault by the willful actions of the accused.”

Nancy shakes her head. “So what crime was Mr. Minson accused off?”

Kyle smirks again. “Before I will say what Minson did, it’s important that you learn for yourself a secret about OSC citizenship.”

Jason frowns, this wasn’t part of the pre-written dialogue, but Nancy seems to have been expecting it.

Meanwhile in the booth, “Just go with it, we have nine hundred million viewers and counting.” Whispers the producer to Nancy and Jason over earpiece mics.

“Yes, just a few moment’s prior to the beginning of our interview, Mr. Long approached me with a medi-site pill that would allow me to briefly experience the emotions and feelings of other OSC citizens like Mr. Long and his staff members sitting off stage. So what do I do to make it work?” Nancy explains to the camera before turn back to Mr. Long.

“It should be kicking in now actually... Just relax and close your eyes.” Mr .Long coaches.

Closing her eyes, the corner of Nancy’s mouth begin to turn down. Suddenly she opens her eyes and says with glee. “Wow, you can’t tell by looking at you, but if I am not mistaken, you are very angry right now.”

Mr. Long nods. “I don’t remember ever being this angry before in my life, if you relax a little bit more you can feel the rest of my companions are feeling just as upset. To explain why will take a little bit more time.” Mr. Long reaches forward, grabs one of the glasses of water sitting on the coffee table and takes a sip.

“In the beginning the OSC was just one old freighter floating somewhere out in the pacific, captained by me and run with the help of a small collection of friends. Two years of roaming the pacific, the OSC was officially born with the launch of the first interstellar flight from earth, to the lunar surface, on to Mar’s, and then back to Earth. In the beginning we were an exceedingly close knit group, but as we began taking in new members and the OSC flotilla formed, that became less and less true.”

“One day, someone in the OSC approached me with a really crazy idea. At the time, the OSC was struggling to move forward as it took longer and longer to convey idea’s and settle them to some sort of collective agreement. What you are experiencing now is the culmination of that idea. What if we fundamentally changed the human condition? In groups smaller then 32-40 people, our minds & ego’s can find stability and a sense of belonging. This is because we know all of these people in our mental tribe and know we are safe with them and aren’t exposed to fears of being harmed or rejected.

Unequivocally a person will find themselves more and more unfilled in life, discontent, and aimless when they feel isolated. All of those feelings are to be expected when you are just one more faceless lemming in a chaotic growing new government, with new faces showing up almost every week. A lot of misunderstandings over humanities existence have stemmed from just the fear of the unknown. Take racism for example, which in its early stage is perfectly natural and to be expected, we are wired to fear and distrust what isn’t part of our tribe. Which is unfortunate as there are actually very few differences between one human and other, some people are white, others brown. Some are taller while others shorter. What we do all have in common but can’t easily show is that we all are, we feel, we love, we live. And thats why I pushed for it and the OSC governance adopted, a means to convey our emotions... to tear down the walls and expose ourselves to each other. Less than a month after the community empathy medi-site was dispersed, everything got better. Violent conflicts, work accidents, dispensaries of anti-depressants, excessive alcohol consumption... gone. Additionally, the collective health of all OSC staff members rapidly improved to where we are now at being mocked for dishing out steroids and mandatory yoga classes to all citizens.

It’s been six years since then and I am now the proud patriarch of one extremely happy but also fairly unusual family.

Of course this existence does have its downsides. If one person is injured or becomes ill, everyone in their immediate vicinity will feel their pain as well. Fortunately it isn’t crippling or overwhelming, but it does make you exceedingly uncomfortable. That’s why the OSC used extreme force to deal with the attempted terrorist incursion of our supply ship in San Francisco, there is no such thing as reasonable casualties or managed risk to our personal.

One last thing, while keeping in mind the nature of OSC citizens and our close bonds to each other, imagine how you would react if someone walked up and began to hurt a close relative of yours, say a daughter, a sister, or an aunt right in front of you? Now imagine how angry you would be if you were told they would not be punished in any shape or form because they were the son of the Vice President and prospective presidential candidate of the United States? Normally, the punishment for Minson’s crime is a painless execution but Vice President Minson made it clear that he would consider that an act of war, regardless of evidence and a prior statement of understanding that we have rule of law over our territory.”

In his booth, the producer has to give Mr. Long credit, he’s been dragging out the one thing everyone really wants to know. “Alright Nancy, this is your show and it’s time to call his cards.”

Involuntarily, Nancy nods her head “So Mr. Long, what exactly did James do?”

Suddenly the ever present anger emanating from Mr Long fades away, briefly spiked with a tinge of regret or saddness. “Let me show you what your brother did Mrs. Hamilton.”

At that exact moment, the producer reaches to place his hand over the emergency cut off switch but another hand from behind intercepts. “There are guns pointed at your skulls, keep your mouths shut and put your hands in your laps.”

The view count is now hovering at 4.5 Billion and the majority of associate networks have purchased live license options.

On the other side of the glass a scream bursts out “Oh my god James, STOP, STOP, NO!!! DON’T NO....” and is cracked into silence by a groan of pain and misery.

Jason holds his hands up and turns to Mr. Long “Jesus christ, stop it! You’re hurting her.”

Mr. Long shrugs and looks into the camera. “As I warned Vice President Minson, prepare yourself for unforeseen consequences.”

Copyright DJW 2012