Moke pushed a few buttons on his monitor and moments later, a picture appeared. It was a picture of him that was taken over twenty years ago, but Moke recalled the events of the year, in which the picture was taken, as if they had happened yesterday.
Moke suddenly gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he recalled how the bright lights had been hot and blinding as the maniacal voice relentlessly shouted at him, “Who is Fats Manawilli?! Goddamn you! Answer me! Who is Fats Manawilli?!”
Moke opened his eyes and slammed his fists onto his desk as he looked at the picture on the monitor. His mind soon became flooded with more unpleasant memories. This time, in the back of his mind, he could see a large, Kupano man, dressed in a fancy suit, who was smoking a cigar as he laughed and said, “Ya see, son… these are things that you don’t learn in school. Life isn’t a choice between good and evil…it’s really not even a choice. We do what we do to survive, because we just ain’t as lucky as those people, who got to be in charge of things. And what do those people, who are in charge, do exactly? They tell the commonman a bunch of lies aboutthis so called Ailanian dream. Tell fill your head full of all kinds of bullshit, like for instance, how it is possible to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and achieve anything you want with hard work.They fill us full of lies about how the size and scope of government needs to be limited from interfering with your life, so that you can succeed and be an individual. And what does it mean to be an individual? I guess an individual, and a true moral person, is someone who stands on their own two feet and doesn’t live in a way that allows them to feed off their fellow man like a parasite. And ya know what is funny about that philosophy? The fact that I ain’t met ANYONE in this whole world that would qualify as moral, if those are the requirements.”
Moke felt himself shuttering with confusion, guilt and sense of self-hatred as he remembered how the large, Kupano man in the fancy suit smoked on his cigar as he said, “And by the way, if a moral person, is someone who does not use their fellow man as a means to an end, or feeds off their fellow man like a parasite…how can those rich people, and the politicians who pass laws which allow them to stay rich call themselves moral? Thou shalt not be a parasite who used your fellow man…isn’t that exactly what Ailanian Corporate CEO’s do when they go to the government for bailout money? Isn’t that exactly what those rich corporate assholes are doing when they lobby for legislation that forces the government to turn a blind eye to the fact that Allied corporations are robbing us blind? Fuck Capitalism…fuck patriotism…fuck them before they fuck you. Ya see, here’s the truth…long before there was a corrupt Ailanian government being fed by money, which comes from greedy Capitalists, who need the government to pass laws so that they can rob the people of every dollar they make…Ailana was a tribal society. Ailana used to be made up of tribes…and the tribes worked as a community…they worked as a team. And guess what, boy…there ain’t no I in team…there ain’t no you and there ain’t no ME in the word team. Before these rich, corporate assholes teamed up with the government so they could be guaranteed a steady stream of income, there were just people working together to make each other’s lives better. And back in the days of the law of the jungle…it was all about being strong…not about being politically connected and rich. There was a time on this planet when people had simple needs. They had to eat, they had to have a warm, dry place to sleep, and they probably had to have the occasional religious experience and maybe an occasional festival as a reward for doing all the things that allowed people to eat and sleep in relative comfort. But then, the tribes were conquered. They were convinced by someone that this planet needed shopping malls, fast food, movie theaters and television sets full of commercials for all kinds of shit they don’t need….and now, because of that race to achieve the Ailanian dream, our brothers walk around on this planet with slumped shoulders and eyes that appear to always be begging.”
Moke closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as his heart raced while he remembered what the large Kupano man with the cigar said next, “But not me…and hopefully, not you. We are part of something bigger and better than that…we’re in the process of bringing back the tribe…we’re in the process of bringing back the community…and we are in the process…of bringing back the honor that was stolen from us when someone with wealth and political connections told the whole world that people, who live in tribes and believe in supernatural superstitions, are savages…and savages should be civilized with the ideas of individuality and the Ailanian dream so that they may prosper and advance. I haven’t seen my brothers and sisters advance very much under the heel of this so called Ailanian dream…I’ve only seen a once proud people reduced to beggars and slaves…and with your help…I intend to free them…and in order to free them…Atlas must shrug…and Ailana… needs to wake up from the dream… ”
Moke flinched as he thought about what makes criminals go to jail for a moment, until the voice returned with more advice he had heard when he was young and impressionable. “They tell us lies about how we should not want the government to tax the rich, or get involved in their business, hoping that we’ll buy into their bullshit theory of trickle- down economics. But then they wine and dine High Senators behind our backs so that they can get access to government bailouts when their risky business ventures fail. And when they fail…all our lives are affected…when the rich make the wrong decision because their greedy minds want more and more money coming to them faster and faster…it’s the common man that loses his job, his house, his health insurance…and his paycheck that was supposed to help him buy the Ailanian dream. But here’s the best part…the rich still get richer and they get to enslave us even more because they convinced us to gut and declaw a government, which could have protected us from their lies and their greed! Our desire to be patriots and individuals with freedom becomes our demise! Think about it, they get off scot-free while the rest of us lose our asses! What kind of deal is that? It ain’t fair! It ain’t what the religions of Objectivism and Moralism are supposed to be preaching and accepting as right, fair and just…what we have happening here…is THEFT and BLACKMAIL. There is no free man accepting whatever wage he feels he deserves for his talents and labors when those at the top of the pyramid cause the whole thing to come crashing down! There ain’t no austerity involved in their formula for success and whatever they are doing…it sure as hell is not Capitalism. Open your eyes, boy, look around you, we live on a planet, with a whole lot of misguided people, who are quite confused about the true meaning of the ideology and theocracy they have decided to follow so blindly. There ain’t nothing conservative about what those rich men and our government are doing behind closed doors…Atlas would truly be able to see what he’s been missing out on…if he would just shrug off those who have been keeping him on his knees! Those who have claimed to be following the ideology to the letter…are the ones who have it completely wrong! They are using the people of this world! They’re like leaches…they feed upon their victims…and their victims are us. The leaches that feed upon us realize that they need to find a way to keep us from realizing just how much blood we are really loosing…and so they tell us that slavery is actually freedom…and we are so willing to put on our shackles because we believe that they are good for us! What the fuck is wrong with us, Moke? Why the hell are we letting these people fill our heads with this bullshit?”
Moke reflected upon the profound effect those words had on him as he remembered the passion in the man’s voice as he said, “If what they tell us is true, then life is nothing more than pursing your own self-interests…and stomping on the backs of whoever you can to get what you want! I don’t know what you believe now, son…but let me tell you something, there is no rule book for life…and if there is…then it’s only read by those people out there who are suckers! So tell me, you wanna make some money? Ya wanna be able to walk around on this planet with your head held high because ya ain’t got someone, with ill-begotten power and authority, putting some k
ind of weight of the whole fucking world upon your shoulders?”
Moke ran his tongue over his teeth as he remembered how convincing the man with the cigar had been as he said, “Tell me, son… do ya wanna be free? Do ya wanna be your own man? Ya want to be able to impress your girl with some nice flowers and pretty things so that she will respect you as a man? Go to this address…there will be a hovercar parked there…a hovercar that a bank is about to repossess. Wouldn’t it be a waste if some pseudo-capitalist, who couldn’t keep up with his payments, lost his hovercar to a bank before we got a chance to put some of our people to work tearing it apart? It works out better this way. Some rich asshole banker gets to claim a loss on his debit sheet, and the government bails him out. We, on the other hand, put a few members of our tribe to work. We pay our people in cash that they can use to feed their families with. Meanwhile, the guy, who can’t afford the car, can claim it as stolen to his insurance company, and we can sell the parts for a big profit…that’s the way things should work for us…a tribe all working together to survive in a newly made savage world. That’s the way to live tax free, with no government interference in the way we do business. There ya have it, the pursuit of self-interest… the way of the true Capitalist.”
Moke bit the inside of his cheek. In his mind’s eye, he could almost see the man’s face through a cloud of cigar smoke. The words that came from the cigar smoking man’s mouth seemed almost prophetic, “The keys will be inside, all you gotta do, is come up with the courage to do the right thing…think about it, Moke…the prophet Ayn spelled it out in a pretty black and white manner…it’s good to be selfish…you shouldn’t have to live as anyone’s bitch…freedom, is all about the opportunity to use your fellow man as a means to an end…and you’re truly living the Ailanian dream if you get the chance to fuck them…before they fuck you…”
Moke clenched his teeth and felt a nervous knot forming in his stomach as he pressed a button on his monitor. The picture of him standing next to the large, cigar smoking man suddenly disappeared.
Moke sighed with a bit of nervous relief as he saw the words, FILE DELETED<
Moke smiled a bit as he thought to himself, “I’ve still got a few things up my sleeve that you don’t know about, you son of a bitch…I’ve got a plan for dealing with Captain Ronald James Harris, and after I am finished with him, I’m going to have you by the balls soon enough.”
Location: The HanaPaloiFederalBuilding
Ailanian Standard Time: 1200 Hours.
“I need to clarify some facts about Captain Harris. I think Moke is up to something…and maybe if I can learn about who was…maybe I can find out who I am…” Audrey felt her nervous thoughts racing as she noticed how the old Ailanian woman looked prim and proper. Audrey found herself fidgeting in her seat as she noticed how the old woman seemed to look down her nose at her while she spoke.
“Ronald James Harris?” High Senator Ulu Jinkua said as she sat behind her desk, looking important and powerful. “The last time I heard that name, it was coming from a bailiff in my courtroom. I remember, back when I was still a High Court Judge, I sentenced him to a special school for troubled teens.”
Audrey swallowed as she felt a twinge of guilt for sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. She thought of the medical file and how she purposely kept it longer than the time she was allotted for it. She thought of the lies she had told to Moke, telling him how it wasn’t completely decoded yet, and how those lies had bought her more time to read what she was not supposed to see. She thought of the lunches she had and the questions she asked.
Ulu gazed at her for a moment before she said, “I suspect that you have had a conversation or two with Kara…and I suppose that she told you how I thought Ronald Harris was a bad influence on my nephew. However, as it turned out, when they were growing up, my nephew was actually a bad influence on him.”
Audrey bit the inside of her cheek and sat silently, contemplating what that meant.
High Senator Jinkua inhaled deeply and said, “I reasoned this out, because Moke’s bad behavior actually got worse after they were separated…but he did get into fewer fights, since he didn’t have his muscle-bound, dim-witted friend to back him up anymore. But these are things we don’t talk about, Agent Winters…my family has secrets that need to be kept confidential. We Kalapanas are royalty…we have to be the ones who set the example. I tried to keep my nephew’s…youthful behavior, out of the public eye, if you know what I mean, Agent Winters…and I don’t see the need to bring such matters to light now.”
Audrey tried to look humble as she said, “I’m not trying to pry, ma’am, but do you think the way Moke treated Ronald Harris all those years ago, might be the reason why he does not want him to return to Ailana?”
“You are asking the wrong person, Agent Winters,” High Senator Jinkua said flatly. “I simply never spent enough time with them to know much of their relationship. I thought they were good friends…they might not have always been good boys, but then again…who am I to say? In his mother’s eyes, Moke Kalapana could do no wrong. In his sister’s eyes, Moke was hardly in the right…in my eyes…let’s just say there are some things should just not be talked about in certain circles, in certain situations, Agent Winters. Sometimes it is just best to let the past, stay in the past.”
Audrey said, “Unless of course, there is something in your past, which could somehow affect your future.”
“There are lots of things that can affect one’s future, Agent Winters…but sometimes, we simply have no choice in the matter. Our fates lay in our destiny, and as far as our family is concerned, it is our destiny to lead.”
Audrey bit her lip. She realized that she would get no more information from this woman and it would be futile to push the subject anymore. She sighed and said, “High Senator Jinkua, do you approve of CIA’s course of action so far?”
The old woman said, “Whatever sort of action we are taking is irrelevant, Agent Winters, as long as the effect allows us to achieve our goal of getting this newest generation of Immoral Ailanians off of drugs and booze, and back into the workforce. And that goal is going to require more than brute force because the greatest shame this planet and its people have known has not come from the greed of drug dealers, but from the laziness and apathy of their customers.”
Audrey seemed confused as she asked, “Ma’am?”
“What I mean, Agent Winters, is when you create a society, where everyone has everything that they need, they forget how to want and achieve something. We have more people with these so called, dreams and ambitions that they are never going to achieve because they are more concerned with getting intoxicated and satisfying immoral pleasures than they are with attaining that goal of doing something meaningful with their lives. We refer to these people as prisoners of paradise…people who are adrift in their own delusions of grandeur, constantly planning out their purpose in life, and never really attaining anything, or accomplishing anything because they are more concerned with self-medicating their physical pain and mental anguish away. These people must be shown the error of their ways.”
Audrey interrupted her, “but Ma’am, what does that have to do with our course of action?”
Ulu’s voice became gruff as she continued with her rant. “What I mean, Agent Winters, is instead of analyzing, and overcoming the obstacles they face, many of the people on our world, stare at their monitor and television screens, while lying on the couch in an inebriated state of mind. They think of nothing but short term pleasure and pain relief…they desire nothing, and have very few expectations of their fellow man, nonetheless themselves. Blowing up some drug dealers doesn’t bother me, Agent Winters, if that is what you are asking. I only see drug dealers as obstacles standing in the way of the progress we as a people need to protect.”
Audrey said softly, “It seems rather forceful…but we certainly will see a dramatic drop in the availability of Cutz.”
“Don’t forget that force is sometimes necessary, Agent Winters. When you have a child, you spank it when it misbehaves…and hopefully the pain from the blow, will install a sense of boundaries, and submission. And the reason why you punish is not to be mean, but to help foster within that child, what is known as a guiding purpose in life. I did, what I did, to the young Moke Kalapana, so that he might have a chance to become Captain Moke Kalapana. I made my decisions, hoping that somehow, he would find a guiding purpose in life.”
Audrey remained as polite as she could as she said, “but is it right to use force in order to control the lives of people, who do not live and believe the way you do?”
High Senator Jinkua narrowed her eyes and her wrinkled mouth became downturned as she said, “Agent Winters, I only make logical decisions, and I make them, because I know what is best for the people of my planet. The people of Ailana need to be made aware of the higher purpose that they could serve, if they could just learn how accept the help we are offering, so that they may stand on their own feet. Why is it wrong to enlighten the unenlightened? What is wrong with showing the people of this planet that there is an ocean full of opportunity for those who desire to make an effort to learn how to swim?”
Audrey submissively said, “But Ma’am, we are allowing The Military to detonate bombs…”
Ulu acted as if she didn’t hear Audrey speak as she said, “You have to understand, Agent Winters, Ailana has developed a peculiar, political economy…from dependency. This planet has become the home of legions of life-long welfare recipients, along with the bureaucratic and corrupt political structure which sustains itself by maintaining its ‘clients’…in poverty. While the postwar economies of Aurora and Earth have been booming for the last three decades, millions of Ailanians have known nothing of the wealth, prosperity, nor the spiritual and tangible rewards of having a guiding purpose in life. They only know a sedentary life of welfare check cashing, along with the feelings of futility and depression, which leads to the disintegration of the values created by our traditional Ailanian family structures and the traditional religions that guided them.”
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