Amaranthine Historica

by O. Lemniscate

  [Applause and crowd-cheering sound effect]

  Victor: Mr President, since D-Day, Amarantis has been governed by the People’s United Revolutionary Eugenics, PURE Inc., whose logo is the Wakeful Tree. As the founder of PURE Inc., could you tell us why you chose that particular tree? Does it have a religious significance?

  Olfus: Ahem, sorry to interrupt, but PURE stands for People’s United Robotics & Eugenics... No Revolutionary in PURE! No Monky business! We are purely and religiously scientific!

  Victor: I stand corrected! As I was saying—um... Now that the dust has settled on Amarantis, is it full of depleted uranium?

  Olfus: As you know, before D-Day, PURE Inc. was one of the top ten most valuable companies in the Globalnext100. It was a powerful partner—

  Victor: Mr President, let’s just concentrate on the politics and the science. Critics of PURE claimed that the company was able to ignore the human and environmental damage caused by its products and pursue its devastating activities through lying, corruption, commissioning bogus scientific studies and—”

  Olfus: Yes, well, that’s all conspiracy mumbo-jumbo by eco-terrorists. No illegal activity has ever been proven against PURE.

  Victor: Wasn’t a Peoples’ Ecocide Tribunal set up before D-Day, with a bench of real judges, who—

  Olfus: All that’s very esoteric Victor.

  Victor: Esoteric? How so?

  Olfus: Esoteric as in irrelevant, unnecessary and impractical. The fact is, that D-Day did happen and it did change our lives. For hundreds of years, Amarantis was a peaceful and powerful nation. But the Freaud government was made up of all the wrong people; people with no scientific background who were deciding serious questions as to our future, cutting funds where they shouldn’t and subsidising worthless projects. Military spending went through the roof and, frankly, it’s quite obvious that the attack on our nation was a direct result of others seeing us as an overwhelming threat.

  Victor: I suppose that becoming the most powerful force in the world has its risks. One might say that perhaps from an outsider’s point of view, our excessive preparedness for defensive aggression could have been seen as a provocation?

  Olfus: If you want peace, prepare for war! We had to protect what was ours, what we worked so hard to build. We can’t be expected to open the gates and take in all the misery of the world.

  Victor: But some would say we were responsible for some of that misery. Should we not have tried to redeem ourselves by being part of the solution?

  Olfus: This is a global problem. Everybody’s responsible, everybody made their choices. The important thing now is stability!

  [Applause and crowd-cheering sound effect]

  Victor: Would you say that Chuck Freaud should personally be stamped with the historical stain of D-Day? Didn’t he trigger the nuclear codes unnecessarily?

  Olfus: He wasn’t called ‘Chuck the Drunk’ for nothing. He triggered a lot of things unnecessarily. But in all fairness, the Gateway to Hell nuke code was—and would have been even in the hands of the soberest person—a situation of ‘speak of the devil and you tempt fate’.

  Victor: In the past, you advocated for heavy-duty political decisions to be taken exclusively by a body of scientists, while some of your opponents insisted that a collective populace is wiser than individual experts—others yet, preferred to hand over the fate of Amarantis to artificial intelligence. Why, in your opinion, are scientists the best decision-makers in matters of State?

  Olfus: Well, the idea of an elite class of individuals ruling is not that new. Take Plato’s guardians for instance. Theoretically, guardians should be intellectuals dedicated to resolving matters usually in the hands of politicians. I disagree. Amarant guardians must be scientists. Why? Let me give you an example. When nuclear scientist Checherov appeared in a documentary Inside Chernobyl’s Sarcophagus—unbelievable as it may sound—he said: ‘Nobody orders me to do this, nobody forces me to do it. When I enter the fourth reactor nobody and nothing can disturb me. I am in another world, a world of freedom—of pure euphoria and joy. I was the very first person in the world to see the reactor from the inside’”.

  Victor: The power of scientific wonder!

  Olfus: Now imagine a philosopher in this same scenario. Useless, right? He or she would have rambled about airy-fairy bluebirds or pies in the sky... Now, how realistic or practical is that? Guardians must be able to view horror as a scientific challenge to be met.

  [Applause and crowd-cheering sound effect]

  Victor: Quite right! We need realists, not dreamers. So, why are you reticent about artificial intelligence governing Amarantis?

  Olfus: No Human would accept metal authority—even if it were intelligent metal. The wave of dissent over this subject, even before D-Day, shows how complicated this issue is for ordinary people.

  Victor: Yes of course... Ordinary people can’t grapple with such complex things. Thank heaven for PURE Inc.

  Olfus: Thank heaven for Freaud and his pink bubbles going up in smoke. We can’t afford further fatal errors. Under PURE the future is pure and bright, the world’s delight! A nation must be governed in the common interest, and its laws must be directed toward the good of its best people.

  [Applause and crowd-cheering sound effect]

  Victor: Since D-Day, the need for security measures, prompted you to demand better intelligence about any Amarant opposing you. To this end, Dr Darkstorm arranged a series of meetings with representatives of SkEyeClops and other police and intelligence agencies. These meetings produced a plan, the SkEyeClops Plan, which advocated mass surveillance of all Amarants. Would you say that there are certain situations—and the SkEyeClops Plan was one of them—where the President can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation, and do something illegal?

  Olfus: Well, when the President does it, that means it is not illegal.

  Victor: Thank you, Mr President. And now over to Yasmine, for her interview with Dr Jane Darkstorm.

  [Applause and crowd-cheering sound effect]

  *****

  Yasmine: Dr Darkstorm, welcome to our special edition. Tell us about Amarantis and the events that led to D-Day.

  Darkstorm: Once upon a time, here was more blissful than Eden. [Darkstorm’s mouth trembled and tears filled her eyes.] As you know, Amarantis was named after the sacred amaranth-flower, the immortal flower of Mount Olympus. Farewell happy Amarantis, Where Joy forever dwelled: Hail horrors, hail, Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell.[9]

  Yasmine: Do we know who built the ancient city and the origins of the materials used? Why does the Ring Canal comprise of 8 concentric and intersecting canals? Why 8 twin pyramids, 8 O-Gates, 8 O-Zones? Is it true that ancient mystics regarded the number 8 as the number of Freedom?

  Darkstorm: We don’t know exactly why the number 8 rules and we don’t adhere to explanations based on superstition. Interestingly, scientific analysis strongly suggests that the metal used in all ancient constructions is of extra-terrestrial origin. It’s a bit like Tutankhamen’s meteor dagger.

  Yasmine: I see you are wearing King Tut’s meteor glass scarab—

  Darkstorm: Yes, it’s made of glass formed over 28 million years ago!

  Yasmine: Hmm... GROM-glowing green! Now, prior to D-Day, President Olfus’ scientific team were jokingly called the Olfus Rat Pack—and not only because of their experiments on lab rats... The main Rats were, you the Den Mother, our Pack King, Ferrett the Cage Master—

  Darkstorm: ...the rest of your 60 Minutes team, of course, Technon, Makinti, Genix.

  Yasmine: Tell us about the Rat Pack’s biggest Ratatouille projects and discoveries.

  Darkstorm: As you know, I have 2 Nobels—

  Yasmine: Yes, 1 of them is in quantum teleportation! Beam me up, Scotty!

  Darkstorm: Correct! The other Nobel is in regenerative medicine. Olfus and I worked together on numerous projects in the last 50 years; most of them Top Secret. Aeonios was the biggest Tissue Engineering and Regen
erative Medicine project of all time. Unfortunately, the explosion 20 years before D-Day destroyed a lot of our work.

  Yasmine: Aeonios was only about regenerative medicine?

  Darkstorm: I would have to say, yes.

  Yasmine: Hello Dolly! Give us a bleat on human cloning!

  Darkstorm: Sorry, no bleats on human Dollies. For national security reasons, that information is classified.

  Yasmine: So, golly gee... Not a bleat, not even a squeak of information today! Okey dokey, let’s go back to my initial question as to the events that led to D-Day. What happened and who’s to blame?

  Darkstorm: Well, we have strong evidence that D-Day was caused by aliens identified by SkEyeClops.

  Yasmine: Can you tell us more about these ‘aliens’? Who or what are they? Animal-Vegetable-Mineral?

  Darkstorm: Again, for national security reasons, that information is classified. I assure you, however, that SkEyeClops is never wrong.

  [Censor chop – ‘undesirable content’]

  Yasmine: Thank you, Dr Darkstorm. And now over to Kala, for her interview with Dr Evangelia Pock.

  *****

  Kala: Dr Pock, following the Aeonios explosion, you were awarded 1 Medicine Nobel for your reconstruction of President Olfus’ face. The surgery made world news headlines. Can you give us some background?

  Pock: Of course. At the time, our current Amaranthine President was CEO of PURE. When the Aeonios lab exploded, he went in through the blustering flames to salvage what he could; he came out smelling like crispy bacon. He required an extensive face transplant. Reserve cultures of his own skin also sizzled in the fire, so we had to find a donor. Tyrone Brown, a 32-year-old Amarant, who was left in a vegetative state by a road accident, turned out to be the perfect match—apart from the skin tone and hair. The transplant involved cutting away Olfus’ charred face, re-draping the new skin, and meticulously closing and reconnecting blood vessels and nerves. That kind of surgery was ordinarily allocated to a Bion, but for some reason, the Professor categorically opposed.

  Kala: The surgery was successful.

  Pock: Yes, but Yours Truly nearly died... from stress. After all, who doesn’t know about Professor Olfus firing Zippo the PURE Master Chef—he almost sent him before the firing squad—just because the meatballs in his spaghetti con le polpette were not symmetrical!

  Kala: Hmm... To be fair though, unless one is a piano, one is likely to be upset at having to wear an ebony face on an ivory body.

  Pock: You’re absolutely right. We tried various methods to bleach his face but the side-effects were horrendous, so we aborted. He didn’t take this too well. Sometimes he seemed to be from a different planet. Since then he has barricaded himself in his quarters in the ARC, only talks with a handful of people and steps out once yearly for his presidential speech. As you know, everyone has to go through a disinfectant chamber before stepping into the ARC and yet another disinfectant chamber before entering his rooms. He never shakes hands with anyone and he’s very sensitive about smells, especially the smell of sweet almond. The best seller amongst Lucy’s Secret line of perfumes, Arsenic and Old Lace has been banned and—

  [Censor chop – ‘undesirable content’]

  In the end, we made a synthetic 12-hour peel-off mask for him that matches his body skin tone. He plasters it on at midday and sheds it off before the clock strikes midnight. We couldn’t do much about the hair.

  Kala: He’s much happier then.

  Pock: You could say he’s back to his old self...

  Kala: Thank you, Dr Pock. And now over to Michael Leakey, for his interview with Dr Technon.

  *****

  Michael: Dr Technon, child prodigy shot to stardom, you obtained your first Bioneer Award from The Society for Ecological Restoration at the age of 12. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

  Technon: Well, I’m much older now hah hah...

  Michael: Yes, hah hah... And last year, you were voted the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine! No need to blush—

  Technon: And I'm too sexy for Milan, New York, and Amarantis, I'm too sexy for your party... too sexy for your show...

  Michael: Yes, hah hah... Getting back to the nitty-gritty...

  Technon: The nitty-gritty is that, like most Amaranthine children, I grew up motherless and fatherless. My parents were killed in the Aeonios explosion. My foster family, the Lemniscates, wanted to adopt me... however as with everything in Amarantis, there were administrative complications—

  Michael: Complications, which nobody understood actually... Even to this day—

  Technon: That’s right. All my birth records disappeared in the explosion. As for the Cloud births, marriages and deaths registry... my records show that I was born ‘under X’. I checked genealogy.com. Nothing! Looks like I’m the only Technon around! I googled, juggled and surfed, and all I found was a definition of the word ‘téknon’ in Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

  Michael: So what did Thayer thay? Hah... Thorry for the pun!

  Technon: Literally, ‘téknon’ means ‘child’; figuratively, it means anyone living in full dependence on the heavenly Father. Biblehub.com added an explanation: ‘anyone fully (willingly) relying upon the Lord in glad submission. This prompts God to transform them into His likeness’.

  Michael: Holy cow! You’re the Messiah!

  [Here, Jane Darkstorm jumped in with Life of Brian[10] lines]

  Darkstorm: Now, you listen here! He’s not the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy!

  [Michael giggled and took over Brian’s cues]

  Michael: Look. You’ve got it all wrong. You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody! You’ve got to think for yourselves. You’re all individuals!

  Darkstorm: Yes, we're all individuals!

  Michael: Come on, Jane. That's enough. Let’s get serious... Hah hah...

  Technon: So yeah, I’m an only Téknon... Anyway, I was with the Lemniscates for my first 12 years and after winning my Bioneer Award I was given a live-in scholarship at the ARC.

  Michael: To what or to whom do you owe your success?

  Technon: I believe my greatest discoveries were the direct result of my unbridled curiosity. In the words of the great Isaac Newton, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary—

  Michael: ...whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before you?

  Technon: Correct. And... I didn’t have anyone around telling me not to try things. Grandma Lemniscate taught me to study nature with passion and imagination. Her post-its were plastered everywhere like wallpaper. I mean everywhere! How can I forget Chief Seattle’s letter pasted on both sides of the toilet door? I can still recite parts of it: ‘Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself’.

  Michael: And how do you explain your special passion for mushrooms?

  Technon: The Earth belongs to mushrooms—they were the first organisms to come to land, and survived numerous global disasters. They actually absorb toxic waste! For you kids out there who don’t clean up after your mess, don’t expect any magic shrooms to do it for you! Hah hah!

  Michael: Hah hah!

  Technon: But seriously! Studies have shown that certain types of mycelium—the threads beneath the body of the mushroom—can transform a pile of diesel waste into a fruiting, buzzing, humming, green garden. My Elixir-of-Life shrooms can fight and prevent dangerous viruses and bacteria, such as bird flu, pig flu, any-kind-of-flu flu. They really are extraordinary!

  Michael: In the past, you and other scientists have also suggested that mycelium is Earth’s ‘natural internet’.

  Technon: Well, yes, mycelium is ‘sentient’. If a mushroom falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Yes, mushrooms speak to each other in hushed tones when we aren’t listening.[11]

  Michael: Thank you
, for your enlightenment. And now over to Dan Del’Orion, for his interview with Dr Ferrett.

  *****

  Dan: Victor Ferrett, Nobel laureate in cognitive science and brain-to-brain technology, you were one of the first Amarants to be incubated by an SEAI Bion—a bio-inspired system capable of understanding the emotional state of the Humans.

  Victor: Yes indeed, I too was one of the experiential children of Amarantis. A successful SEAI Bion should be able to predict the desires, wishes, and preferences of its Human owners. Being super-wealthy and super-busy pop singers, my parents Elektra and Shimon replaced themselves with Bion replicas—while they travelled the world drinking Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain.

  Dan: With the feel of the ocean and the taste of champagne?

  Victor: And as we all know, one day they met at a bar called Rosa Canina where they planned their escape.[12]

  Dan: How did all this shape you? Is it true that your real parents refused to return because their Bion replicas composed more than 900 hits, becoming the greatest of all-time pop songs artists?

  Victor: Them’s the dice, you gotta roll with the punches. Being a poor little rich kid turned me into a go-getter. I’m not only Ferrett the Cage Master, I’m Master of my own Destiny. I shape my own Reality.

  Dan: Don’t we all?

  Victor: No. Only those of us who understand that ‘All Things Are Number’. You’ll say, ‘What did Pythagoras mean?’

  Dan: I don’t know! Hah hah... We’ll have to host you on another show for that one.

  Victor: OK, let me simplify. The path of our existence resembles the infinity symbol which looks like the—

  Dan: Kaboom kapow! The knocked-out horizontal 8!

  Victor: We travel back and forth on that ever-winding magical rollercoaster of time and space, through infinite labyrinths—

  Dan: Wow! What have you been smokin’ lately?