ARCH 3.7

“…peanut butter jelly time…”

13 Feb 2020.  Late afternoon.
Las Torres Mall
La Paz, Bolivia

40 hours after Ren’s hang-up.

Emma fills them in that Ren was picked up from a nearby strip and is on his way.

Everyone is waiting around in general suspense.

Emma doesn’t like an alert she received after.

She calls, no answer.

Calls another number.

Handsy guy answers.

“Heeeeeeeey Alejandro, you gotta tell me, everything good?  There was a stop.”

“Si si jefita, he want to visit market on the way over, he buy food and bread and stuff and things…      …and a bag i see…       …looks like he likes bags…”

“Oh good.
Is Fernanda okay?  She’s not answering.”

Alejandro fill her in; “Fernanda has eyes on him.  I have eyes on both, nothing here.
Morning overwatch reports all clear; same people, same stuff, same cheap prices…”

“okay okay, good good…      …and Alejo… 

[Emma looks over and hides herself into the phone]   …what’s he look like?”

“hahahaha, when he came out the plane, i tawt i taw a big tall drink of puddy tat…        …i’m just saying, maybe he’ll accept my coffee offer before going up with you, idk, chemistry savves?  Things happen jefita…”

Emma laughs on the line, “just leave him alone silly, get him here in one peace and be quick about it.  Quit testing people Alejo…       …and that reminds me…   …since ya’ll out there…     …would it be cool to ask you to hook it up with some of those chode looking guineos you like so much?”

Laughter on the line and assurances of compliance.

About an hour later enters Ren.

Big and tall; has to duck a little while going in through doorways. 
Dark black skin.  Asian features. 
A real peng a leng. 
Fresh clothes, swag and charm flows with him.
Carries a rugged rolling case for his gear, the latest in gaming computers and intel inside.

Handsy guy helps with his grocery bags, waved at the group, handed Emma her package and a few notes, and bounced.

The vibe was welcoming, cheerful, curioused, excited.
They hug and shake hands with Ren.
Everyone is looking and smelling attractive and presentable.

Hela jumped up to welcome Ren and he took a moment to give her a little TLC before Emma shooed her away.

The Chilean wine, vodka, and some sativa came out.
Fun background music on low as they make their way to the large living room/kitchen space.

Mingling and assimilation is happening while stories and jokes are swapped.
Everyone agrees Ren is a cool cat for coming back from the future to be there with them.

Everyone’s feeling each other out, playful; it’s warm inside.

When dinner plan questions started boiling; Ren volunchefs himself in.

“if okay with y’all; I was thinkin’ fixin’ a big-ass sammy for us all before we start?
Shake off some jetlag; show off these half-baked hibachi skillz.  [Ren does a cheap kung-fu pose to everyone’s approval]. 
I can put on a show, just watch. 
A little chow down before the biz-biz up in this bitch, [Hela barks in the background] what’d’y’all say?”

Mosa immediately nods yes, they all follow suit.

“Right-o then.  Watch out now, just gotta check out the ingredients, [Ren looks around the kitchen obviously lost]…   …I hate to be a bother but could any pohngyo help me find the…   [Mosa volunteered herself and helped Ren get items he would ask for…    …sometimes she would not understand what he meant and they would laugh as he tried to mix charades and descriptions…     ..at one point, she made believe she did not understand just to see how he would explain it].

Bander and Emma are watching, having small side convos with themselves and with Ren, and helping in here and there.

{…Mama ‘Berta always said the kitchen is the heart of it all… }

Bander insists that Ren try out his knife.

Ren checks out the slightly heavy chef’s knife and thumb checks the edges; lost his thumbprint immediately.

Passed the nail check as well.

{that’s right, sharpened it myself}

Bander throws caution, “That’ll cut ya if not careful dude.”

Ren agrees, “This blade is bankai af…   [Ren handles it with extra care and respect now]  You totes get it guey…     
…Food is love, and tools get that love cookin now not later; not bad at all boss-man!    …Hold up, this had to be done by hand so…  [Ren looks around curiously while putting on kiss-the-chef apron that Emma pulled out for him from one of the drawers marked with her name.]     …ah!  There it is, I see you got a whet stone here and…       …what ‘da yellow ducks…    …this for real realz?  A Hattori Hanzo whetter  …no way, say word….    [Bander says word bro]    ….hmmm, so if I take this fruity fruit…”

Ren cuts a tomato in front of everyone, slowly, sideways, without touching it with anything but the knife.
It never moved while being cut.

Everyone, including Ren was impressed, a little freaked out, and clapped.

Ren nods at Bander.

Bander nods back surprised.

Ren exhales a little scared and excited’.

“I guess i really am hibachi.”

  Ren holds it like a make believe samurai sword for a second before getting busy with it.

Little chop-chop here, mix-mix there; inspects the vegetables color and health, smells the meats, makes and dips his finger in the sauces and chipmunk tastes this and that; tests the bread for crunchiness.

“nice…    [Ren listens in while showing approval to the team] it’s got that symphony of crackle gueys; only great bread sound this way.  We are definitely on the right track.”

Emma brings it up with a smile and wink, “So….      ….nice man-purse there hot-shot”

Ren blushes a little, replies, “alright, lawyer up and sue me-“

Hela barks in the background consistently and everybody looks at Emma who quickly tries to ask her to stop and fills them in on why she does that to get back to Ren; “Oh!  No no no, Hela dear, he’s cool, we leave him be.” 

She barks again and Emma bellows sharply;

“Loose!” 

Silence. 

All eyes on Emma, she starts explaining immediately:  “So yeah, She’s kind of like, my lawyer; you can just ignore her, believe me I’ve tried everything; she has no off switch, i think we got lucky just now, so anyways, you were sayin’ Ren-dear?”  

Ren looks at her in amused disbelief before moving on,  “Damn guey, that’s just so you…   ..anyways, I just have a thing for cases, book bags, containers, pots, pockets… idk, things like that…    …not unlike some people having a thing for shoes and hats…    [Ren looks at Bander eye-brows up]    …or sharpening knives apparently…    …so yeah, this awesome man-purse slash bolivian indiana jones strap is sexy and y’all know it, i mean, just look at these legit Aymara tribal marks…    …they kind of a big deal: farm terracing, chuno freeze drying, they solved food insecurity, invented mfkn potatoes of all mighty things…    …not to mention the Ayllu social system is something along your lines right?… “

Bander and Emma look at each other in agreement. 
There were pockets of Ayllu tribes and youth clubs nearby using this system.  EAB were able to ally easily with them as it mimics cooperatives and the 1-150 brazilian familias.  Some more remote areas are already working on some foods, fabriques, rope, net-made weapons, etc for support and trade for a supply line they were working on setting up.
Mosa also has some of her Kayapo supporters living and working with them out there.

   Ren speaks on, “…yeah, right on ya jelly haters – good thing my bag here holds my hater blockers…    [Ren pulls out his Helen Keller sunglasses from his purse and whips the legs open and slides them on; for a quick effect and small laughs, then puts them away again and reflects openly]    …so, hey, i’ve never been outside of the big Guangzhou before, and – Oh!  Yeah!  Hey!  [Ren looks around at all of them in earnest]

By the by, anything you gueys are into to pass the time or makes you feel chill, and also grinds your gears or whatevs?  I figure this is right times to get to know y’all better and not trip any land mines y’all may got hidden around here.  Like, fyi, i’m not trying to catch a spinning bird kick from Mosa if I accidentally use or drop her favorite coffee cup or somethin’…    [Ren playfully makes believe he is dropping a a fake cup and say’s uh-oh while looking at the broken cup on the floor to an amused mosa.  Emma chimes in, “ding-dong that’s a no-no!” as she clutches her world’s best sis mug in front of her😨💀   

Ren looks up suddenly from his cooking;  …Oh!  Also, that reminds me!  Anybody have any allergies? 
Shud’da asked sooner.  It’s peanuts for me btw, straight up that’s my kryptonite so…     please don’t kill me while I’m here?”

They all agreed to be mindful.
no one had any allergies.

Mosa kicks off her A’s to Ren’s Q’s first, “If not want to catch spinning bird kicks… [she says laughing, amusing over the image of a spix 💙 flying around and kicking a lumber logger out his hard-hat]  …never step into my room without knocking, I will open when ready.  And I likes…      …I likes long hot shower at night times, is my routine, so maybe, 1 hour please leave me alone time?  And…    …i like anime things, like, inuyasha, ranma and a half, full metal panic, maybe you have heard?  That’s all I think, for now, for me to say.”

Bander pushes himself to go next, not knowing how to explain himself, feeling accomplished to even say anything following up on Mosa, “eh, I’d rather there not be…    … wanted to say…-“

Emma notes him struggling and bluntly posits it down on everyone, “Hey guys, for me personally, don’t bring any pestles around; if a simple request like that is disrespected there’ll be no relationship moving forward…    …and I uh….   [Emma looks into the air and taps her chin]   …usually take my showers in the mornings…    …and if you hear things going bump in the night that’s probably me pacing around, working on something or feeding the munchies…  I don’t sleep much.  If you catch me playing my bootleg fortnight go ahead and join in on the action if you wanna get some, i’m always game…   

Emma shares she gamed a lot with her twinsy; metal slug, perfect dark, halo, and call of duty zombies were favorite of theirs, and they had just started trying out minecraft when it first came out before he left, and assures everyone that, “and of course, if I’m being loud or obnoxious or even if you think i’m being rude just bring it up, I’m not fishin’ to be distracting nor surf on your boundaries and…      Oh!
If hela girl has any accidents anywhere please let me know so I can clean it up right away!

Please Please Please do not trouble yourself with her; Bander and I got her covered.”

{well damn…     …thank’s babe…     …am I still this soft about this…      …can’t keep entertaining my fears of fkn pestles and violence; gotta get this trauma v-chip kind of thing out of me…     …it’s stunting my vocabulary, my ability to communicate…    …it’s a fkn problem…     …gotta go higher and jump out of this…      …and I hate picking up after that fkn dog…     …her sht’s all squishy and gross and she always gives me a weird look…    …gotta tell her at some point i don’t want to do that}

Bander brings himself back into the convo; more confidently this time around, “I do morning showers as well…  [he flashes emma an awkward appreciation smile]   …and, you know what…    …the pestle thing …  …I think that…  …it’s okay to have around those…    …things…     …it’s something we gotta move on from, there’s a lot of big picture sht ahead of us and we can’t be worrying about…  …that; including myself…   …so yeah, that would be distracting from my end.  So yeah, Emma, thank you; for that; but, it’s okay babe.  I also; always knock on my door and, this work we are doing, it’s something I take priority to; so if you come up with anything or have any questions, any time, any day, just knock away on that thing until I answer.  I can be kind of a heavy sleeper sometimes.  It doesn’t matter dough, I’ll work with you, it’s totally whatever.”

{…sht…   …i got no fkn hobbies right now…     …i’ve been trying to keep up with Emma and mixing our resources and spending a lot of time…    …wait a moment, have you ever seen emma sleeping?}

Ren closes the loop, “I don’t know how we got into all this shower and pestle talk y’all but I dig it.  If you gueys ever do bring a krok sak around that’s what’s up, I’ll hook it up with some thai dishes.  Oh, and I take at least two showers a day just so y’all know, maybe 3 if i get back to my exercise routine.  Will be mindful of y’all shower time.  Aaaand…     …if ya walk in without knocking don’t say I didn’t warn ya in advance, that door is for your protection not mine, whatever you see in there uninvited is somethin’ y’all gonna have to live with.

If by chance i don’t hear you tapping, just text me or message me or somethin’, I probs be plugged into the computer doing matrix stuff, you know, where i spend most of my time…     …and Ms. Mosa, did i hear right?  Did-you-say-you saw Full metal panic!?  Aaaaaahhhhh snap!  That’s so chao kuuuuu!  I remember that one, they had those arm slaves and those whispered people and black tech and that, ah!  what was it called, the power source pohngyo, it was aaaa….       [Emma leads them on with “laaaamb” and Ren and Mosa say it together with the japanese accent] “Lambda driver!” and the three of them giggle about it.

Bander smiling gets himself another drink.

{Well, that show sounds cool…     …wish i saw that one…      …missed out on some good insider fun here}

They all continue going back and forth on little habits, quirks, pet-peeves, shows they’ve seen and would/wouldn’t recommend, and boundaries while Ren continues working on dinner on and off between convos.

Emma thinks she caught on and asks if that was what she thought it was.

Ren knew she would know, and assures her, “that’s right.  One super sized Ren special chxn Vietnamese sandwich order coming right up.”

“Ooooooooooh nice!  haven’t had one in an ill minuuuuute, they have the best of those back in da Westmin-stah Californ-yay.”  [Hela barks in the background, Emma slumps over defeated] 

Bander rides the bark, “Let me guess, she’s a lawyer dog from California [Hela barks twice and comes running up and around looking at the crowd, asserting some kind of presence, did a few sharp in place twirls, mad dogged them from the floor during her 15 seconds of fame, and left with her head and tail up while heading back to Emma’s bed, clearly satisfied about something]  Emma replies “yups” to Bander and the amused group. 

Ren stifles his laughs at the puppy show and starts his competitive bragging, “Well I assure you, this Sammy is better than their sammies guera guey; but don’t just take my word for it, Sammy says brace yourself!  [Ren is stylishly, almost outlandishly, cutting the bread and setting 4 large sandwiches up.  all even sized, except for one notably supersized compared to the rest].  “It’s my favorite witch in the web wide world, and I like to think I have good taste…”

Looks over and smiles to mosa, then bander and back to emma.

“If I’m the connoisseurus rex I think I am, you guey-gueys are in for a treat.  This particular sammy always hit’s just right and makes me feel the all warm and fuzzies inside, ever feel that before?  Hope I’m able to share some of that tonight with y’all.”

Ren continues smiling and cheffing with rolled up sleeves.
He’s cooking and putting everything together; surprisingly quiet with the pan clangs and dish scrapes despite the speed and intensity.

He gives a heads up.

“All right-y then…     …I guesstimate not even 10 mikes… “  [Ren bites his tongue in his cheek, checks the temp progress and moves around doing kitchen stuff]  “the trick to this witch brew…    …is the contrastednesses in temperatures inside…    …and the Viscousaucity of the spread goo…    …gotta be careful here, a little bit too hot and we overdue it; a little too cold and you won’t feel anything special…    …it’s all gotta be worked together just right you know?”

Bander wasn’t listening, he was in the immediate area prepping a small presentation space.
Bander gets his whiteboards and markers out, and Emma kind of hears him as she sets up her phone and projector to display on the backwall behind his setup while the air is inviting of fine cuisine.

Mosa is entertained with this guy’s dedication to a sandwich.  Judging him.  Doubting him.  Not believing that he will get the bread out of the oven in time between all this jugglin’ and the fumblin’ and no kitchen timer.  Fully vested in analyzing how this person operates, his wants and needs and character, as he may be able to open new doors to new paths that will lead to her finding baby.

Ren defies expectations.

Soon enough everything is ready.

Ren serves and impresses Mosa first with the nicest looking plate he quickly put together.

It was a meng cat made from cut fruits and vegetables.

She felt a little thrown off and called out in front of everybody from the extra generous presentation.

Everyone else is being served regular themed plates to the background of new york beats over panamanian rhythm.

“…♪con el tumba’o que tienen los guapos al caminar…
…las manos siempre, en los bolsillos, de su gaban♪… ”

After setting himself last, Ren lets them know, “hey y’all, i’m with you on what you are doing…    …actually, im scared af, but i’m with you…”  [Ren then raises his cup to mosa] and no worries pohngyo, about your plate, just wanted to let you know I think you’re cute and used that as an excuse to do a little peacocking and showing off, not trying to be annoying or too forward.

Ren shoots mosa the tried and true smiley wink face 😉, encouraging her to let him know what she thought about that first bite and did the pat head rub belly with a little rusty salsa dance to go with it to the soft background music.

Mosa is used to being complimented and approached randomly all the time. 
Flustered, she politely says her obrigada line and raises her cup and a half smile in return, slightly intrigued, tipsy and charmed; tries not to show it.
She did find Ren particularly attractive, and felt odd at being caught off guard like this.
His vibe felt different to her, and she has never been challenged like he did to her just now:
Her dilemma being that the food art was so good, she didn’t want to eat it. 
But she also wasn’t going to not eat it.
Mosa is offset.
She figures it’s likely because she’s hungry and he fools good. 
She meant, the food smells good.

Bander and Emma compliment how nice the plate came out to Ren while they give themselves hush hush secret side glances.
{yeah, I’m seeing this too emma.  Yes, I know, we are totally gossiping about this later}

Ren quickly moves his attention off of Mosa and into showing off his fake id and passport he used for getting over.  Emma showed off her own fake docs, they all argued over who had the coolest fake names while they dug into dinner.  Mosa shares how she doesn’t have any id’s at all, but a few wigs instead.  Bander flexes how he has more real passports than everyone’s fake one’s and wigs combined as he fixes himself a screwdriver on the rocks.
The party is trying not to talk or laugh too much with the food still in their mouths; covering up with their hands here and there to hide their simultaneous enjoyments.

Everyone is excited to go over their travel adventures; they wished they could go over every detail, but many voices kills intimacy.

The sammich was good.

Mosa was delighted.

Emma was all over it.

Ren’s worries about the sandwich coming out lame or ducked up were gone after all the face humming going around.

Bander screws around a bit more before biting in after everyone else.

{oh my…    … mclovin the sht outta this…    …he was right about the warm and fuzzies…    …damn this is good stuff; pay attention to how he does it next time, you already have the ingredient list…    …his fkn thai food must be amazing…    …gonna have to grow a pair and get him a fkn mortar kit myself or something…    …gotta get over this fear…       …i still can’t even wash my own feet without…   …freaking out}

Everyone enjoyed and complimented Ren’s big sammy.
It was nothing but moans, eye rolls and lip-slaps and laughter and sauce on fingers over the table.
They shared and had fun as friendly almost strangers awkwardly drawn together.
It was harmonious in there.

Somebody had to pull them out of it and move the plot forward.

{looking like a mfkn beer commercial in here…    …fkn hate commercials}

Bander starts bringing attention to himself and takes over the kitchen narrative.

Everyone was quick to scythe their convos.  Emma sharply cut the music off.

All eyes on Bander.

Napkins cleaned hands and faces; full bellied and ready in their seats; pleasantries were over;
this is the sobremesa they were all starving for.

Bander is taken back by the eerie silence and respect they are giving him.
It’s usually not this fast and easy.

{present the problem, provide perspectives, invite involvement, paint the goal, plan-do-study-act…   …and loosen up, be flexible, let the drink flow through you}

“alright, so…

…All good presentations require identifying the problem and providing solutions…

…so here we goes.

the problem is that the world is fkd up…”

Everyone put their drinks up and mumbled agreements.

“So the solution is to paint a world picture that is not fkd up; simple ideologies we can all get behind”

Everyone put their drinks up and mumbled agreements.

“I’m not going to go over the details tonight, just making sure all of us are on the same page as we work on this global glow up.

That’s what the world wants.  That’s what the prayers are asking for. 
That’s what the wifey is demanding, that’ll help Mosa, and it’ll be the ultimate Disney story for Ren eh?
So yeah, we all have a stake in this.”

Ren puts his pinky and drink up and asks, “And what do you get out of this guey-man?”

Bander opens his arms and delivers with tipsy flair and friendly scorn;

“Transcendence!…   …and bragging rights of course…    …Leave my piss mark all over this era.  …and outside of ridding myself from this impossibly jacked up situation y’all got me in, the next stage of human history is going to have Bander time as a highlight in it whether i’m still in it or not cuz i’m epic like that…

…I mean, come on now, let’s give credit where credit’s due right?  I’m power pointing the mfn’ Brian Boitano method here to essentially kill the money religion world wide, do you have any idea how fkn hard and complex toppling hegemony is?  With no fkn army?  This is some Napolia’damus Chris’vinci Khania’velli level sht.  This is the missing economics episodes for Star Trek!  This is pinky and the brain scheming…   [Bander leans further into his answer]   
…World peace would make me the ultimate beauty pageant winner yo; i’d  be sexy af.  Einstein himself couldn’t solve this atomical wtf problem, so that’s automatic genius status right;  Death and taxes?  Not this fkn guy!  Sht, pull this off, i’ll be the immortal of the immortals, someone out there fo’ sho’ fo’ sho’ is goin’ to make a statue abou-”

Emma brings him back, “bae bae, show us the rat-race mousetrap first pretty sexy silky please? 
Tomatoes and frybread top a capuchino mi capuchin?”

Bander cools his fantasy jets and gets back to presenting.

“Right, thanks babe.  Okay.  The word of the day is freedom, that’s the rat-trap we bringing in…

{nice; way to bring the freedom intro in like that.  rat-race; rat-trap…    …i’m sure they’ll get it}

Ren shouts’ out “Fkn barz!”

{ah! fkn ace, dude likes battle rap also.  that’s cool af…    …see if you can throw a good one out at some point}

“Right, so!  now; let’s get that word straight first:

Fkn freedom.

Get ready, I’m going to be all over the place.  Stop me, ask questions if you got them, whatevs”

Everybody put their drinks up and mumbled agreements.
attentive.

“Okilly dokilly; world today; fkd up, unbalanced, unhinged; it’s not a mistake, it’s all intelligent design af.
So fkn smart in fact, it’s hard to see without, you know, being in the know, so it’s like, one of those hidden in plain sight things pedestrians usually don’t pick up on…     …ever.  Or adapt to, cuz, whut the fk they going to do?  vote and protest and sht?

Power only respects power, everyone else and their million opinions are harmless.

To know what freedom is, we have to first know what freedom isn’t.

…I invite you to take in what population control in general looks like…”

Emma projects on the wall social stratification pyramids from the web.  Familiar scenes of privilege at the top maintained by the groups under it.  Caste systems.  Feudal systems.  Apartheid systems.  Patriarchy systems.  Pecking order systems.  Chattel Slavery systems.  Wage systems.  Religious systems.  Social Class systems. 

Different names, geographies, epochs, pictures, ideologies, but ultimately the same pyramid scheme and message.
Hegemony and power hierarchy was existent, and undisputable.

“This is what privilege based ideological warfare looks like.
It’s the biggest driver of our lives, It’s at the center of everything we will be dealing with, and, [hicccups]

As long as this scheme exists, there’s no such thing as freedom now is there?”

Everybody saw themselves in the pyramid scheme presented.
Themselves and their families and friends in it.
Feeding the groups above them.
subduing the groups below.
protecting their own classes, like little social bubbles.
Like slaves.  Zombies.
There was no freedom angle to be made when presented with this picture.
Only privilege arguments.

Bander takes another sip of his drink.

It hit everybody that Bander’s entire life has been at the very top.
His perspectives are not like theirs, at all.

Bander pauses, hiccups, looks at the projection for a moment.

“…I’ve given this a lot of thought.

What all these pyramid schemes mean…

Carrot or stick.  Plata or plomo.  
silence or violence.  Double bind or double time. 
Heaven or hell…

…easy way or the hard way…”

Bander shuffles a little uncomfortably.

“anyways…    …quick thing I have to share with you guys that I kind of, well, had to deal with recently. 
I’ll share it I guess, while this drink is still in me but..   ..yeah.  I don’t know if you noticed but…

…I’m kind of a narcissist.”

Everybody looked around at each other, nobody was shocked.

“…right.. okay, so look.  Personal narcissist story moment, I’m sure y’all have your own eh.

We’re all a part of this system, whether you like it or not… 

…I have shares in factories all over Louisiana, it’s a southern part of the states, where Katrina happened if you can remember that.  The cash crop there, oil, maybe you’ve heard of it, makes a killing.  Energy demand is always growing, it’s one of the most valuable and indispensable resources we have.  You wanna talk about contrast?  All around this precious nest egg of mine are some of the shttiest zip code incomes in the states.  Those dumb-ass ‘mericans eat themselves alive out there for a buck, that’s the perfect recipe…

…Keeps wages low, like it’s supposed to. 
Management and immigration keeps wages low.  high populations keeps wages low.  Single moms keep them wages low.  convicts keep them wages low.  Dangerous neighborhoods and jerrymandering keeps them kids on the low cost where they need to be…      …there’s always fresh bodies out there ready to chase a buck, us billionaires call these [hiccups] broke schlubs the reserve army of labor.  Anything that keeps wages low, the locals hungry, and the rights to the cash crop product in our pockets without the plebs noticing or changing anything is a good thing, duh.  There’s always sht people will fight about, cuz they don’t know sht…    …as long as they keep agreeing i’m the lawfull justified owner and their anonymous and unreachable shareholder god…

[Bander laughs in surreal realization]  …I never even touch the value generating stuff, I just have to recognize that it’s important, invest in different fields…    …keep the machine running, just another diverse portfolio asset…

…crazy…    …it’s all paper.  [hiccup]  paper rights.  paper money.  it’s legit to everyone because it’s written down and a big deal of it is made…     …people are so fkn simple…

…did you all know that prison labor systems are more profitable than slavery?…

…Anyways, this is the foundation of how money works, and us money makers compete on this sht…”

Bander looks around, audience let’s sink in the social stratification pyramids in the background…   
…realize that the speaker is genuine psychotic…     …and is being open, conscious and unfiltered about it.

Emma speaks up.

“world is fkd.  Check.  Freedom and hegemony don’t mix, check.  The wars of the ages of good guys vs bad guys is narcissists tricking us plebs, check.  Up next, how we gonna beat this bae?”

Mosa and Ren nod at Emma on her summary and look to Bander to continue.

“To attack the stratification pyramid scheme, you need to look at the most important value based pyramid scheme. 

For easy reference, we will use what’s called the blackfoot hierarchy of needs, also known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with eh, [hiccup], a community over individual emphasis….   …it will help put everything in perspective.”

[Emma pulls it up on the projector while bander continues]
Bander also draws it on a whiteboard.

“Here’s your targets: 

Safety, food, water, shelter;

electricity, entertainment, belonging, ambitions, sex;

emotional support, etcetera etcetera…

…All this is supposed to come from an actively involved community.  Make sure you note that nuance, it’s community, not individual.  Make sure you note this list, it’s the entirety of our focus from here on out.

Trust is the expected and principal currency in a community…   …as that is real, the real value…
Billionaires get that more than anybody else, it’s our super power.
Cassandro’s 1-150 families, and Emma’s cooperatives, and their hybrids, embody these things intrinsically…

…problem is, like Emma found out, a cycle starts to happen, the system starts correcting itself, using soft power and hard power…    …so we need safety in numbers…     [hiccup]    …we need the idea to go viral…    …so that even if we fail, it can be picked up and advanced by any mfkrs out there looking for directions out the maze…”

Bander points out to the core physiological and socio-psychological needs all humans require on the maslow scheme, and how money is used as an ideological tool in every possible aspect; forcing dependency.  Domestication.

You go from hunting and growing your own food together as a small unit, to paying for your food to a large centralized entity.  Go from harvesting water, to paying for water.  From building homes on available space, to paying for a home on taxed land.  From protecting yourself with your neighbors, to paying for strangers roleplaying as cops and military to protect you from your neighbors.  From being able to go wherever you want, to paying for passports and licenses and permissions and certifications…  From having relationships, to paying for marriage contracts or getting pimped out by poverty in the worst ways…    …we getting a picture here? 
Everyone see how its homo reciprocan gettin’ chased by homo economicus with a very big mouth and stick?”

Everyone nods…   …kind of.

“Money, religion, governments, borders, race, patriarchy, all that sht, it’s just ideas.  It’s all just games with game rules.
Hence game theory.
It’s just mind games with rules that favor some over others, and cheaters and winners and losers and gambles.

We need a system that can [hiccups] replace and survive the current one long enough for a diffusion of innovation to take place.

We gotta get them to stop playing other people’s games, and play our game instead.

So, here’s the proposed strategy.

If we build it they will come.

We have to take over the entire Maslow scheme with trust over moolah thinking.
It’s that simple.

Any questions so far?”

Ren tells Bander he gets it, then asks,  “How far you guys willing to go with all this?”

They all look at Bander.

“until the cows come home eh?  [Hiccups]  None of us here seem willing to leave things as they are right now…    …I’d say we got stamina in here.  How we all feeling about all this?  We in this?  We going all the way?”

Mosa and Emma surprised Bander for a moment with their violent approval.

{…Of course they’d stop at nothing…       …here because of them…    …literally  [hiccups]  my fkn owners in one way or another…     …shts crazy…     …what’s coming…   …so many people are going to die…      …so many more people are going to be saved… }

Ren pops his collar, says, “all right, commitment, that’s what’s up; world fkn peace!  let’s go!  i mean, why the fk not?
So, whatcha want, whatcha need from me?”

Bander continues onto him, “hurry up and get us a demo of that Olympia app we can start playing around with, we’re gonna need a cool name for it by the way.

I also need you to start listing the hardware, rollout plans, and of course, ballpark costs for us to make our own global internet system.  [Ren perks up].   [bander hiccups and continues] “Yeah, you heard that right dude bro, internet for the people by the people and for the people…      …i think that’s how that goes; Oh, and hey; yo:  We’re bringing napster back and super size it, fk they gonna due, sue us?  [barking in the background].  Money has no power where we going; so if we doing this whole become ungovernable sht we gotta own and maintain our own communication system.  You know, act like we mean business.” 

Ren eyes get anime size wide in excitement, starts imagining the global nerd community building a statue of him if they pull off free internet and bring napster back.

Bander pauses for a  moment and takes another drink, notices Emma writing some things down; Ren fantasizing about something;   Mosa, attentive to him, as if waiting for something; anything.

  {fk she scares the sht outta me…     …never gonna get owned like that again…    …sht, I didn’t come prepared with anything for her and baby…       …the long term plan helps, but we need something more aggressive…     …she would need a fkn army…        …no way this can be done without weaponizing…       …need to start building an army now…     …but how can we…}

 “…Hey Ren…    ….while you’re at it…     …and emma, this is off the cuff, hold on…     …fk it, let’s jump from a higher altitude…     …what’s the worst that can happen at this point right?  If we don’t build something now we won’t have time later, so has to be now as well…      …you and emma prep a shell company we can angel invest in…      ….picture this, an armed non-profit HQ off of guam, put up satellite locations everywhere the labor is cheap, have them dedicated to immediate global anti-trafficking and anti-kidnapping initiatives…     …Emma, make those 1-150 cooperatives…          …hire on then transition as many vets and their families you can find…     …[Emma cuts in, suggesting that they start it off as a reality show]  fkn brilliant, that’s fkn fire, yes, yes, a fkn charity with guns and cameras on them, people can follow from everywhere, puts all eyes on the issue and drives support…                …mosa, if you could, ask the good doctor if he is open to traveling to guam…  [Mosa nods],      …emma and ren…       ….find puppet ceos willing and able…      …This is all dynamite.  More attention is more speed…    [Bander looks directly to Emma]  Babe, we’re putting in a full bill on it for funding, fk it, make it 2, we just half-way thought this up and already i’m committed to go hard at it, the vision is good, it’s coming together…      …mosa, that means we’re getting teams and equipment that will specialize in intervening on child slavery all over the world, and you will have backdoor access to them and the resources they use, and the strategies they develop and what not…        …and we’re liberating mfn guam under everyone’s noses…     …this should help…     …something you can work with emma and ren with to find baby…     …it’s not the fastest option…     …but it’s the best i got at the moment” 

Mosa tears up and nods humbly, blows her nose.
She remembers Cassandro randomly for a moment.
He had told her.
She is not alone.
There are everywhere.
Crouching tigers, hidden dragons.

Ren leans in, offers his hand to her hand.

She let’s him.

Emma follows with her own hand offer.

She let’s her.

Bander get’s back into it,  “allright, so that’s a little extra there for the three of you to talk about.  It just occurred to me so obviously it needs alot to get ironed out, if you got something better, bring it up.  We need to stay off radar, the drama and heat has to stay clear from our names, keep the funding anonymous and uncrackable, i’d like to live to see all of this through.

Emma assures him that goes without saying.

Bander starts wrapping it up, “so yeah, hey, I got some logistical ideas in mind I’m still working on…  [hiccup]  …but in the end, it’s whoever has the best solution to any of the listed problems that wins this.  We are all competing on the best pro social solution to each one of the maslow problems.  That’s the driver behind everything.  prosocial solutions to anti-social problems right?

Right-on, you got your pyramid models to study and focus on, so go git ‘er done. 

Any questions?”

No questions were brought up.
There was a lot to digest, it would require processing first to ask the right questions.

“Any questions come up, let’s talk anytime eh?”

There are multiple boards with global maps, multi-colored thumbtacks and strings in the background.
Bander goes to one of them and puts a big star on the guam location.

He looks at the board, feeling like an officer in tun tavern.
{this is it…    …we need a new board to start marking the charity bases…     …I’m so fkd up right now.  did i miss anything.  Did i say too much…   …too little…    …shts spinning, stay sharp}
He tries to contemplate the many issues that are going to pop up against them on this, but the drink isn’t letting him.

Bander starts drawing the two pyramids on two of a few more whiteboards for easy view for whenever the kitchen spaced is used.

Each board has it’s own topic.

Status quo:  social stratification pyramid.

Privilege over plebs.   transactional hegemony.

The second board:

Targets/solution:  Blackfoot Maslow pyramid, community fundamental wants and needs structure.

(Physiological)

FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, REST, SAFETY, COMMUNICATION,

(Psychological)

TRUTH, KNOWLEDGE, LOVE, BELONGING, ENTERTAINMENT, TRADE, TRAVEL, SELF ACTUALIZATION

(strategies)
1-150 self sufficiency social grouping.  Cooperative business models, transparent money flows.  Ownership of blackfoot/Maslow hierarchy of needs using these models.  global olympic replacement app with a cool name for it’s future transition.  Guam HQ, strategic setups + present as a reality tv show + emma; consider add to bootleg fortnite, transfer lessons learned into virtual training environment.

Mosa goes up to Bander as he finishes up writing and says obrigada, quick to leave him after that as she feared upsetting him in any way; goes to emma and talks low.   She wanted to know what else this guam strategy could mean in finding her son, and help with some vocabulary words she wrote down.  Emma goes to the side with her and fills her in on what she understood.

Ren comes after to speak to Bander.

“okay, owning your own internet, it’s already being done, let’s just say the prices are astronomical.”

“naw, not launching anything into space, that’s too complicated, way too many moving parts in the air, so ground is better if we going for local control…     …was thinking something like mesh networks or something better if you got it.  I’m not an expert in any of that, so it’s all on you in getting something up.  What we can provide if needed are stations around the oceans, mountains, islands, whatever.  Feel free to join Emma and I this week, we are looking to fund into graphene tech to boost signal strengths, I heard some familias talking about it and other similar materials being explored to glow up all kinds of final products, and one lady [hiccups], excuse me, one lady even used samples of it to advance her bullet proof vests out there in the favelas.  So yeah, we gonna try to make it real.  Free internet for everybody if we pull this cat in the hat trick”

Ren smirks, scratches his head, agrees.  “another good one.  alright, i’ll get right on that app and speak with emma on setting up the shell…     …that’s fkn brilliant, the attention it will get.  A de-centralized red-cross with guns, aw man the world ain’t ready for what’s coming…        …Why guam though?”

“i read that at some point that they have the highest rate of military enlistments and the states won’t even open them a vha hospital…      …those guys getting shafted is easy contrast and easy fix, give them healthcare, purpose and respect and you got the workings for a small army…   …people like that don’t care about the bread and circus…    …the hope is that they will use that warrior spirit for something real instead of boot licking to the states…    …it’s a gamble…    …i’m counting that they got the heart for it”

[Ren shutters in delight] you giving me goosbumps bro, never seen someone build a real life spirit bomb before.  We gon’ make Rochi proud.  Aiight, emma says to treat you like the rockstar client that you are and you got no scope creep limits, so imma get you your app functional at top speed, should be a few short months, we gotta army of dateless minion nerds coming up, real heavy hitters you know?…  [ren laughs, takes another swig of alcohol]       …I love how rich y’all are…     …alright, so I got some things for ya.

Emma told me to triple up your online security.  You did a good job by yourself staying on the downlow…   …kind of…   …we went ahead and fixed some sht up for ya.  Some of those videos in the bander file actually made it online, I’m sure you wouldn’t know anything about that 🙄, but no worries though, all gone now, you’re schlong all over the place situation is under control.  That’s right, you literally have a whole team on 24/7 covering each other’s shifts just to keep your face and your dk offline.  That was quite the show you put on in that brazilian party by the way…       …damn man, there were like, a bakers dozen of hot chicks on ya, you fkn legend…   and then you got married to vengeance incarnate…    fkn bad-ass guey…       …so yeah, don’t bring attention to yourself, keep your face and genitals off the digital space please, make their lives easy and we can keep you invisible. 

Here’s a phone, this is the most important phone in your life from here on out so keep it on you always and charged.  The battery inside of it has an emergency solar charging function if you find yourself out of power, or if you lost your charger again.  It’s a nokia 3310 with it’s own custom kernel and homebrew, if it breaks, it’s because you went way out of your way to do it.  If this phone rings, it means shts bad.  Did I already say keep it on you?  Keep it on you.

Also, remember how punisher was caught.  Remi shows him a small plastic coca-cola bottle.  I got some anti-ai makeup and tips we can go over later on, but yeah, we can’t help you with your gait getting caught on camera.  So if you want to take that extra precaution, you may want to, you know-  [Ren gestures at the coca-cola bottle with his head several times]

Bander looks at the coca-cola bottle, gets the hint and laughs out loud.

{…well fk me running…     …sht’s real, i’m gonna get killed doing this}

“…well fk me running…”

Ren laughs with him and continues.  “That’s right that’s right, and yeah, no, seriously though, obviously something smaller but i’m not kidding.  This is the world you live in and when those cameras got you on lock you are only a meeting and an action plan away from getting smoked.  They will totally hit what they can see…

… so okay guey, I’ll get your sht going first thing tomorrow.  going to decompress, call it a day.   Gonna talk to your wife, get settled around here, then go take a shower, idk…    …will keep that status strat vs the maslaw thing in mind, those were good targets you painted…   …you okay there guey? drink’s gotta be hittin’ you hard, you must have that hard drive scrambled by now with the way you were drinking”

{can’t believe it’s on…   … rough draft plan to take over the world…     …that really is some pinky and the brain level sht…   …and this camera and ai sht I gotta watchout for.  If this all goes through…    …my billions won’t mean anything…    …so this better fkn work…      …billionaires eat their own if they got to…        …we’re all in fkn danger from…     …everyone…   …he said something about hardrives…    …gotta go de-frag…    …oooh, that’s a good one, tell him you are going to go de-frag for the night}

Bander takes another swig and didn’t answer Ren.  Feels an overpowering feeling of disdain, and courage, towards the situation…      {jump is done…    ….time to live with the decision…    …why am I sow exghausted right now…    …that was a good fkn sandwich…}

Emma and mosa finished up.  Emma notices Bander and tells him to not worry about picking up, she has him covered.  Bander grumpidly apologizes to everyone, leaves Ren and heads off to his room.

Mosa picked up after herself quickly and bounced for the evening, taking the remaining part of the sandwhich with her to her room.

Ren and emma hang out in the kitchen area, speaking while cleaning up together.

Ren shares his admiration for Emma.

“…of course you would find a way to arrange marriage yourself to a trust fund baby and turn him into…   …holy sht, you turned him into tony stark after his run in with the Taliban…”

Emma, amused, downplays her role.

“I’ll have you know I kinda found him that way…    [she recaps to ren]     … he ran into Cassandro of all possible people, got tricked and beat half-to-death by a homicidal jujitsu escort, kidnapped by said escort into the favela after putting the fear of god in him, and pushed to supporting a trash mountain overhaul initiative by an escaped convicted killer and child warlord…     …yeah, seems to have shifted something in there…         …and I’m totally crushing on him.  Speaking of which, jujitsu girl, she’s peanut butter Ren…     …they call her, the lion of Kayapo…     

“haha, yeah yeah, I know I know, you told me how she totally one upped you guys in Colombia there Harley quinn…     …she’s so cool…   …and i’m so Mufasa you know?

Emma shakes her head and smiles, “don’t say I didn’t warn ya…     …and don’t fk anything up.  We need her help for security and no matter what you are helping with baby, it’s part of our deal.”

Ren admires his bag as he assures her that he will talk to her tomorrow about what he has so far, “So…   …never a dull moment working for you…

….still can’t believe this guey just dropped a whole 2 bills on the arming guamsters project then went to sleep…  

…Gonna go tuck out as well.  Let’s talk tomorrow on this in the afternoon…   …actually, day after tomorrow.

I got plans.”

Emma smiles mischievously as she is finishes tidying up.

“yeah, me too.”