by Danny Dunn
I think lots of good people have run for president that would have been good for us to have as president. But the problem has been that they were and are surrounded by people in office that are part of a very corrupt system, so corrupt in fact that, if our greatest minds are elected, they are no match for the incredibly powerful self-minded people with the power to crush any good idea. Many have watched and were inspired by Zaria’s story of her life and how many dreams of living in that world. Well, you don’t get there by clicking your heels three times. You get there by doing the hard work of getting the rock close to the goal line. Remember, in the beginning, Zari’s father Henzar telling young Zari the story of the rock. I am not Zari or Zaria in that story, I am one of the 20 men and women carrying the rock toward the goal line so that someone great can carry the rock over the goal line. The very smart and capable people running on my party ticket. They are also rock carriers. Our job is to do the hard work of getting the rock to the goal line.
We are not talking about AI or computers or any of that stuff. We are talking about good citizens willing to dedicate a portion of our lives to put in the find the corners of the puzzle, which in this case is repairing the election process and solving the motivational aspect of the politicians in office. The dedicated members running in the New American Party, including myself, all understand that we are not the ones who will build a truly great country.
Panel member 3 “I don’t know what it is, but you make me cry a lot, and I am not a crier. So, what happens after you solve the voting and corruption issues.
Tom smiles, “I know you mean well, but you are asking me to run across a bridge that isn’t built yet. There are but a very small number of our politicians who have embraced my ideas regarding voting and corruption. The rest are scheming and plotting of ways to stop my party and me from achieving our goal. They are going to bring knives, guns, cannons, and anything else they can find in what I expect to be an all our war going on inside our political system.
Think about it, in this short time there have been two assassination attempts on my life. Not one but two. Some very powerful people in this country want me dead. They know that if 98% of the population votes, they are screwed. They know that if the election system is aimed at 1 person 1 vote, they are screwed. They know that if we are successful at eliminating the lobbyists, they are double screwed. They know that if we get rid of the gerrymandering of the districts will increase the power of the will of the people.
Imagine a world where you are making $146,000 a year, and your boss says, let's make it $2 Million a year, and you tell them no thanks, I’m good. What? Why? The truth is that it could be $5 million, and they would still say no thanks.
Panel member 4 “Doesn’t it scare you that there are people who want you dead?
Tom “Yes, and if it were not for Pong, David, Michael, Zaria, and a cast of many, I would already be dead. But I am getting closer and closer to the point where, if something happens to me, others who will get the rock across the line.
Panel member 3, “there you go again.” She wipes the tears from her eyes.
Tom smiles. It’s ok.
Panel member 3, “what is it like being with Zaria as your mate?”
Tom “Now you are out to make me cry. Zaria is so amazing. It is strange being around someone so much smarter than yourself. Yet, she and the others just take it right in stride. Because they are computer-based, their brains always think in terms of the top priority, which for them is; Universe, Planet, Family, Self, and then Peace and Equality for all. Every decision they make starts there. What a wonderful way of thinking. I would like to think at least a tiny bit of that has rubbed off on me. But back to your question. I am happier inside and more at peace than I have ever been.
Panel member 4 “could you summarize what the Zaria family is doing now.
Tom laughs. “Pong is running the robot and computer business with Steve and generating the money for Zaria 2 to build her survival island, and for Zaria 3 to serve 6 million meals a day, and for Queen Zenthra to be designing green energy products. Zaria 4 has joined Zaria 2 on the island.
Panel member 1, “what will you do between now and the election with no one running against you. Dodge bullets and visit with as many people as I can.
The panel laughs but in a very controlled way because they all know the dodging bullets is for real.
The panel moderator says their time is up and asks if there is anything he would like to close with.
Tom looks at the camera and tells the people he will do all he can to make voting easier. He encourages everyone to vote but tells them that if they are too poor to take off work or to stand in line for hours not to feel bad and that he will work hard to make it so that the next election it will be like sending a text message and picking up a loaf of bread.
Tom takes a few days off before heading out again. He and Zaria spend time by the waterfall and like to open up the waterfall door and play music. There are guards around Zaria’s place, and the drones are everywhere.
They take the transport into the office to say hi to everyone. Pong is working with the Pongettes on the university, which is ready to open. Do you want to go see it? She asks Tom and Zaria. They are both are excited and say yes, let's go. Tom asks if the Pongettes can come. Pong, ok, but do you have a cup Tom, I think that they are enjoying that just a little too much. They all laugh.
They hop into the transport. David sees they are going to the university and sends Alby, Linda, and Alex and Dan. Tom also has the Pongettes send over a hundred extra drones to assist the normal team of drones guarding the university.
The transport takes them to the center of the university. They get out of the transport and walk 50 paces to one of many elevators, and Pong pushes the button for the student’s lounge, which is on the top floor. They reach the top, and they all get out. It is empty, of course, but they walk up to an automatic door and enter the outdoor deck area. Where they walk around the entire building as Pong describes all the buildings and facilities.
They walk down the floor and visit the teacher’s lounge. Then they stop at the math, physics, astrophysics, art, music departments. They are all beautiful, Pong. Both Tom and Zaria are impressed. Well, mother, when you compliment me, you are complimenting yourself, you know. Zaria tells Pong she understands why Zari was always threatening to delete that line in my code. Tom laughs.
AI, robotics, computers, and drones take up 4 floors. I am looking for a guest speaker for these departments…mother. I would be happy to Zaria says. Oh, I was going to ask if you could ask Zaria 4 to do it, ah, joke, lol. Yes, I would love it if you would speak at the opening of these departments.
The place is amazing. There is grass, lots of beautiful trees and shrubs. The layout matches Zaria’s hub concept with all of the offices and classes, the library, and other group-centric rooms in the 20-floor high tech building with a large cafeteria at the top floor and the teacher’s lounge the next floor down. Then each floor supports a department.
When they get down to the 2nd floor, there are five walking bridges on the 2nd floor that lead out to a basketball arena, a state-of-the-art auditorium for the arts. And our favorite AI. Pong says she calls it the floor of Irony. And she laughs.
. They walk into the first one, which is an assembly room that seats 15,000. It has a huge video wall behind a stage. This is for school-wide assemblies where we will host our guest speakers. Pong clears her voice, you know, like the president of countries. She looks at Tom like well,
Tom laughs, am I being invited? Oh brother, now I see why you are sticking to just carrying the rocks. LOL Yes, I would like you to speak at our grand opening. Tom laughs pretty hard and tells Pong he will speak to his manager and get back to her and laughs. Yes, I will be happy to.
Great, then you get to see the rest of the campus.
Pong shows them the basketball arena. Basketball will be our only major sport. There is something about basketball that I really enjoy. The rest of the s
ports are the unsung heroes, but as it turns out, are also the favorites of the Brainiac. Badminton, fencing, gymnastics, tennis, chess, volleyball, rowing or crew, rock climbing. All of the sports will use this arena for their competitions. And, we will be holding drone competitions here. That should be fun.
There is basically a moat around the center building. The moat is here for security, and we use it to cool the building. The moat is fed by a well water system. There is a series of 1,000 feet deep wells that we draw up cold water. We push that cold water through a series of pipes built into the foundation of the buildings and then into the moat. Then another pump on the other side of the moat pushes the water back down 1,000 feet, where it naturally cools again.
As they walk outward, there are parks, windmills using Zaria’s vertical axis blades, solar panels, and some thermal core units being completed. They are now two circles of buildings out and are in the ring of buildings that require more space.
Pong walks them into a large building that houses their 3D printing department. It features 3D printers of every kind and some monster multi-head printers with 6 axis printer heads. Next door is another large building for chemical engineering. I believe this department is the key to 3D printing. I think if we bring great minds into this room, we will do great things. Tom looks at Pong and smiles and puts his arm around Zaria as she beams at her daughter.
They walk outward to another circle and cross over another moat, where they reach student and faculty housing. This is where the chaos will be living, and she smiles.
The places are spread out and are thousands of the Zaria design. They are smaller at only 2,000 square feet but house 4 students very comfortably. Every house is space 100 feet from any other house. There are no cars allowed inside the circle, but there are transports that take everyone from the housing to the parking lot very quickly.
Also, in the area are stores of various types within walking distance. There is a movie theatre, bookstore, and pretty much everything you would need to survive. We have a very generous scholarship program that will bring in a lot of great minds. Zari bots will be everywhere, and over half of our professors will be bots.
Pong looks at Zaria and Tom and tells them they are such a sweet and peaceful couple. That is the deluxe tour. Let’s head back. Tom and Zaria are impressed and tell Pong over and over how amazing the place is and how much they think of her. Pong smiles and says, “I am a chip off the old block and gives her mom a hug.
They arrive back at the office, and Pong puts up a chart on the video wall. It is a graph of applications to attend ZU (Zaria University).
Tom asks if that is in the millions, Pong says yep, we have over 8 million applications to come here. Our fees are half of the other major universities, and even with half of our students being on scholarships, we still make money. I am offering student loans at 2% interest. When a student is accepted, their tuition is locked for as long as they are attending. Any student graduating with a 3.8 GPA or higher gets their undergraduate loans at a 1% interest rate and at the same tuition rate until they are done. We will break even in our 7th year, meaning this place will be paid for.
Tom and Zaria secretly fly to Africa to visit Z5. They tell David and bring Joe to fly them, and Pong comes along.
They land at the base camp. Security is heavy, and the airport is busy. Z5 is excited to see them. She jokes with Tom that if he feels uncomfortable here, she could notify some rebels, and they could fire at you now and then. They all laugh. Z5 takes them on a tour of the facility.
Tom asks how many meals per day are going out of this airport.
Z5 tells them she has 100 planes at this airport, and each plane is running 1 flight per day. That is 100 flights per day times 16,000 packs per flight. There are 10 meals per pack, so we are delivering 16,000,000 meals per day. And we now have 5 airports running. Our system has enabled us to feed everyone in reach of the planes with 1 flight per day now. We are working on adding 3 more airports, at which point we will start back with 2 flights per day at some locations. The main issue now is based on fuel capacity and range, which is a good thing. It would save a tremendous amount of money if Z3 were able to come in and turn the areas into farmlands. Hint, hint.
Zaria, Tom, and Pong smile and nod their heads yes. Wouldn’t that be amazing to not just feed them but to make them self-sufficient?
Do you want to visit a camp Z5 asks? Sure, they say. They are high-value targets among us. Are they safe there? And they turn to look at Tom. Tom laughs and says, hey, I am right here, you know. Z5, yes, as long as we get in an out, you would not want to spend the night there.
The get into a chopper and fly to the nearest camp. There are mothers cooking dinner, children playing soccer. One day we dropped several thousand soccer balls, and she laughs. We have a video of the landing. We did it right before dawn so that no one was out. I believe this camp received 20 balls. They get so much use out of them.
They stop by a few families, and the Zarias speak to them in their language. Z5 introduces the mothers to each of her family and to Tom and explains who they are and where they are from and that they are the ones paying for the food program.
The mothers quickly come back with friends, and a large crowd gathers and keeps repeating their phrase for thank you, and God bless you. Tom bites his lips, trying not to cry, but the tears are streaming down his cheeks. One mother comes up to him and wipes the tears away with her finger. She pulls his face down and kisses his forehead and says, thank you in her language. He nods his head and says, you are welcome. They continue walking. I timed this for you. You have all seen the videos of what it used to look like. This is how it is now.
A C17 flies over and does a circle around the camp as 16,000 packs are dropped and come floating down in parachutes. As they come down, a man, woman, or child position themselves below the parachute to claim it. It is bad manners now to take a pack from someone standing under it, and the village has its ways apparently to discourage doing it. The parachutes land right into the hands of the villagers, and they run the pack back to the family. They have also agreed that no more than 1 person per family can be out there collecting packs. So, every family sends there fastest runner to do the collecting. If a family is too old or too sick to collect, they can designate a collector.
The process is very measured, and everyone seems to get what they need Z5 says. They stand and watch as the families collect the last of the packs. A mother comes up to Z5 and tells her that a jeep full of rebels is headed here. They saw the helicopter. Z5 says they should go now. Tom asks if the drones are here. Z5 says yes, we have 100 here. And they have tire poppers and tasers? Z5, yes, they do. Tom says, and these guys raid this village. Z5 talks to the mother, and she replies, yes. Tom says, so it would be good if these guys were gone. And Z5 asks the mother, and she replies yes. Tom says, then let’s eliminate them. Z5 puts the drones up in the air. Pong, Zaria, and Z5 control them. They fly the drones toward the vehicle speeding toward them and fly parallel to them and square in as David did. As the rebels pass the drones, the drones close in on them from behind on the last vehicle, and they kill everyone in the last jeep. They close in on the second vehicle and kill them, then they close in on the lead vehicle and kill them just as they are approaching the Zarias and Tom. Z5 tells them to take their weapons and bury their bodies and to cover their vehicles.
Tom says that it was a nice visit. They are surrounded now by the villagers who are all thanking them over and over. Wow, what a great feeling. I see why you love this Z5. Thank you for doing this.
Pong, Zaria, and Tom get on their plane and head back to the states. Tom gets lots of sleep on the way back while the girls chat. Pong goes up and sits with Joe a while, as she usually does. She and Joe have developed a special relationship, and Pong likes Joe a lot, he has traveled the world and has a very relaxed and comfortable way about him. Since his wife left him for being away a lot, he seems sad sometimes, but on this day, his spirits are up, and he is pretty funny.
>
Pong jokes around about wearing out his jumping over the car story and asks if he wants to go rafting with her mom. Joe laughs hard and tells her maybe it is time for some new material of her own. Pong says that maybe they should go find some trouble of their own. Joe smiles and says that he has wanted to suggest that for a while, but it never seemed right before. Pong is very excited inside and says it’s a date. Pong asks him to tell her about how he learned to fly and when how old he was when he knew he wanted to fly. Joe laughs, it was in high school. When I first wanted to learn to fly. I saw how much the girls loved pilots, so that was my hook. I joined the Navy to become a navy pilot. I studied hard and did well on the tests and poof, I was a pilot. I did have a very natural ability to fly, and after a lot of time flying in the wars, I was asked to join the Blue Angels. That was fun and got me lots of girls and my now ex-wife.
This is pretty amazing stuff you are funding Pong; I know you don’t care about the money, but scenes like what you just experienced must be very rewarding. Pong smiles and says, it is what I am made to do, Joe. And yes, Tom cried for me back there. If I were able to cry, that would have been one of the times I would have cried.
Joes says that your mother and Tom seem very happy. Pong says, yes. They both are very much in love, I think. Talk about power couples. They are landing, and Pong watches as Joe takes them in.
OK, says Pong, we should be thinking of an adventure for us. Joe says he is on it.
End Chapter 49
Chapter 50 – Joey and Pongy sitting in a tree
Tom develops a list of races that are on the fence and decides to hold events at each location where maybe he could help turn them. He asks will to do the same. David plans out two of their itineraries, and a week later, they head out on the campaign trail. Tom visits with each candidate, they hold a free dinner for a thousand or so at each location and hold a rally that day. And then travel to the next location. Tom is shocked by the turnout, the turnouts are huge, and in many cases, they could have rented a stadium instead of an arena but, time is an issue, and they do the best with what they have. Tom Spends time with David, which is rare, and the two have a good time together. David congratulates Tom and Tom tells David, ya’ know what David. I never saw it coming when we met, but wow. They really are special beings. What a ride it has been.
