DR O and the ECO-X

by Aaron T Knight

1. The three fast buck guys, to Frank’s surprise, caught up with him at the CRAP site. It didn’t take too much persuading to have him accompany them to Miracle Pictures. It is hard to understand why Frank figured they would give up after the ECO-X had disappeared from the movie site. He would have to explain what happened to the animals and how he intended to correct the situation.

  One more time Frank ’s good relations with the movie production people paid off. They had a meeting and he explained the problem to them.

  ” Right to the point.” he began, “The ECO-X used for the filming have been taken and returned to the inventor. So, is there any way to finish the filming using the work already completed?”

  In the land of make believe many seemingly impossible filming tricks have been developed to solve a problem. For example the Tara mansion in Gone With The Wind never existed it was etched onto the film in Hollywood. This film crew appeared to be excited when Frank presented them with an nearly impossible problem to solve.

  2. Fascinating legal maneuvers began with Miracle Pictures and the unions who were upset by the missed days of work on the movie. There were things going on under the table, at the table and over the table. We’ll do this if you do so and so but only if so and so is satisfied. Incredibly complex agreements were being hammered out to finish the jinxed movie no matter what. The Japanese film executives were being given an invaluable lesson about the Hollywood movie business. It was really a lesson they would have been happy to have missed.

  3. Miracle pictures was spending a fortune on legal fees to protect themselves and finish the picture. Law suits for financial losses abounded wherever one could be filed. Then a brilliant light of salvation arrived for the embattled film company. Frank’s meeting with the film crew paid dividends when they found an answer to the missing ECOX problem.

  Cutting edge computer technology is a common tool in the land of magic. Film people came up with an answer to the missing creatures. Frank and the crew had produced a library of ECO-X filmed in all kinds of action poses. They had enough material to create computer software to translate the library into movie scenes. They finished the movie, and on time!

  Miracle Pictures was able to make a deal with the unions albeit under the table to release the movie for public viewing. It was released simultaneously to hundreds of theaters around the world. A quick way to get their money back it’s called “showcasing”.

  Far, far away from the glitter and glamor of Hollywood it was quiet where Dr. O and Joe were trying to solve the egg bearing ECO-X’ future. Only one part of the dilemma had been solved, that was the capture in Pasadena. Of itself deciding how to handle the problem of the egg bearing ECO-X was challenging. Had they seen the monster movie titled “Attack of the Giant ECO-X” their anxiety level would have skyrocketed.

  The movie held a danger ’s edge right from the start with loud drums and symbols clanging the viewer into a sinister world. In the dim landscape dark forms were moving toward the audience then suddenly they burst into the sunlight. The cheerful chirping had been replaced with a low snarling sound alternating with a primeval scream.

  A giant ECO-X head filled the screen staring menacingly at the audience as it ate a house. Viewers screamed as the eyes of the insect now filled the screen. But instead of being the pleasant blue eyes of the creature they were evil slits blazing red light in luminous green eyelids.

  The camera now moved away until a swarm of giant ECO-X passed over the audience. Landing in the street the monsters began to dine on the neighnorhood with greatly enlarged fangs covered with bits of debris from their munching. In one close up a razor sharp fang was magnified into a gigantic size moving as if to eat the audience. More screams were heard in the theaters from this ghastly scene. And so it went as a laughingly thin plot appeared and disappeared in the spectacular scenes of the newest monster icon in action.

  The end of the film showed the hero shooting down the last standing ECO-X with only a pistol. It seems the hero was a scientific genius who had studied the creature and found one tiny weakness in its brain. Nearly being killed many times the hero discovers a small entry to the brain requiring an expert marksman to hit the area. Naturally he is that man as he mows them all down from a number of impossible postures.

  The final scene of the movie had a powerful emotional message. An official looking public announcement is shown complete with a commanding voice warning the viewers that the EPA has labeled the ECO-X a public menace. The statement had been altered from “Public Nuisance” to “Public Menace”. But then, what’s in a name? Visions of the cute little guys evaporated to be replaced with the evil eyed, big toothed monster created by Miracle Pictures. They were ordered to contact the EPA if they saw an ECO-X. These creatures need to be eliminated stated the final warning of the so-called public announcement.

  Frank called Joe to alert him about the monster movie. He urged him to take Dr O to see the movie ASAP. That night the pair went to a movie theater. At the end of the flick they left in shock at the nightmarish depiction of the gentle ECO-X as an enemy of the world. At the lab they talked most of the night about possible scenarios they could expect from the reactions movie goers would develop from the film. Their greatest worry was the ECOX, now seen as cute animals helping mankind, being replaced by some sort of maniacal monster.

  Joe ’s imagination conjured up a scene like the town folk in a monster movie carrying torches and tracking down the ECO-X. Nonsense, he told himself, get a grip. Still, a faded memory of this scene lingered in his mind. Joe knew for sure a number of people were aware Dr. O had a large colony of ECO-X stored at the college.

  The coast guard and the harvesters at the CRAP site were alerted to suspend operations, gather up the animals and leave immediately. Some of them had seen the monster movie and agreed with the action they were taking. In less than a day the CRAP site had been cleared of the animals and the harvesting crews. They were taken to the coast guard port for safety and to wait for instructions from SAMI or Dr. O.

  When WAMI learned about the cessation of operations at the CRAP site on O’s orders they tried to countermand him. Crew members were loyal to Dr. O, so WAMI was ignored by the crew. Pressure on the coast guard didn’t work either they refused to take any action. One more time there was a crisis to be solved regarding the wide difference in motives of WAMI and Dr. O.

  Then the EPA entered the fray and revoked its permission to use the ECO-X for harvesting plastic trash.

  People in general enjoy something different in their lives. When Miracle Pictures rather overdid it with the official looking public notice for dramatic flair. it created an illogical international hunt for ECO-X. No one requested more information about the monsters as depicted in the movie. Only action mattered. It was a hunt for all ages of people to start looking in their local area. They followed the official orders in the announcement and turned in their finds to the police.

  There was a fascinating variety of insects turned in. Lots of grasshoppers because they resembled ECO-X the most. A colorful array of crickets and dragon flies. No creatures were found since they were all in the possession of Dr. O. He found himself on national TV with coast guard officers pleading with the public to stop looking for ECO-X. They assured them it would be a waste of time.

  Miracle Pictures had actually produced a “boffo” monster film earning more money in six months than the total income collected from all of their films since 1940. Already a sequel was being planned on the weak premise that one of the beasts was only wounded and returned. Their only problem was working out a deal to obtain ECO-X for the second movie from somebody..

  Chapter Sixteen

  ` The unexpected adventures of the creatures went on. A major problem arose over the egg bearing animals. In the college town where O had his lab, plastic waste was becoming scarce. Given the size of the wild bunch they were faced with a crisis. How would they be fed? Public exposure would be a disaster because people had been alerted to capture ECO-X as a public service. Joe shu
ddered to think of possible consequences if discovered.

  Only one answer seemed plausible to him. He said to O. “We have to ask the coast guard for help to bring the creatures back to the CRAP site for food. If they would agree to help us their boats could arrive tonight..”

  Dr. O and his problems were well known to the coast guard. His request for help was immediate and the US coast guard boats set out to retrieve the wild bunch the same day.

  In spite of the EPA proclamation taking away Dr. O ’s license to use the ECO-X to clean up a waste site, it was ignored to keep the animals alive. Their need for plastic had become a persistent problem. The entire population was brought back to the CRAP site as a temporary solution. They decided to split the groups of the animals by types. Joe headed out with the wild bunch to hide them on the far western fringe of the CRAP site.

  The western trip was much shorter than he anticipated. He was startled to find the site miles smaller than it had been at the beginning of the project. When the egg bearing ECO-X were released here they weren’t confused. Forming up to one swarm they headed to an area on their own at the western edge of the site and began to feed.

  Joe followed them and he discovered a sort of large nest where the tiny offspring were being raised. This solved the mystery about their periodic disappearance off the west coast. A homing instinct was inherent in them as another one of nature’s surprises. Based on what he saw the CRAP project had been on going and easily 60% closer to the finish of the clean up. At least I finally have a pleasant surprise with the creatures he thought to himself. maybe this project will be completed after all.

  With the blessing of the coast guard operation CRAP began operations again. They told O they would deal with the EPA. Now that Dr. O had control over the wild bunch with his new signal the project was moving at a dizzying pace. At last the ECO-X could show the world what they could accomplish when properly controlled. No more egg bearing ECO-X though, O wasn’t completely sure a another disaster might not be created. Recent uncontrolled crises were quite fresh in his memory. His respect for the power of nature had been restored.

  .

  Within a month or so there wasn ’t any mention of the creatures. It was old news now and public interest was fading fast. Miracle Pictures hadn’t lost their interest. They were in a frenzy to film their sequel to the original movie before interest died away. Studio people were dispatched hither and yon to find a solution to their problem.

  Most of their efforts were naturally focused on the

  CRAP project where the ECO-X were working. More boats appeared on the periphery of the project all carrying movie people. Joe watched the action nervously. He patrolled his boats and their crews constantly keeping their attention on the band of “pirates” (it’s what he called the movie people). .

  Joe needed to be vigilant as the pirates (movie people) tried various devious and sneaky plots. Generous bribes were common among the harvesting crews who stayed loyal to Dr. O. However it didn’t stop them from trying many times with more tempting offers.

  One day trails of bubbles were seen around the boats. It was a fleet of one man submarines with fish nets trying to catch ECO-X while they were feeding. US coast guard captured all of them and the Navy prison in San Diego was suddenly packed to capacity with pirates. They were charged with trespassing and public nuisance.

  Such activity always catches the attention of the news media. Reporters in boats began appearing near the movie people to observe the action. Joe groaned to himself, not again. He had to assign a number of harvesting men to play guard around the area. Helicopters made swift forays flying low towing large nets which the creatures recognized from the past. They played around the choppers dumping water on them until they had to fly away because they couldn’t see anything.

  It was inevitable for a greedy crew member to succumb to a bundle of green cash. The money mad traitor led them out to the nesting area for ECO-X babies. No problem to catch as many as they wanted because the infants were too young to fly. It was an evening raid without any running lights on the boats. Slowly the boats silently drifted into the area. A piece of cake. Using flashlights they netted hundreds of the babies and slipped away.

  .

  The following morning all of the movie people boats were gone. News media boats also disappeared when they realized the people of interest had left the area. Over at the harvesting area the crews were speculating about what had happened.

  Had they succeeded in capturing ECO-X? How? Joe almost took off for Hawaai.

  The mystery was solved by the ECO-X themselves as they began to leave the harvesting area en masse. No amount of signalling worked on them. Joe jumped into a boat and ordered it to follow the creatures. Half way to the nesting area Joe guessed why the ECO-X didn’t respond to their recall signal. Their instinct for protecting the little ones had taken over.

  At the nesting site Joe watched them circling and swooping down over and over. Some babies were still there but most of them had been kidnapped! They swarmed up over the site and left in a direction away from the harvesting area. Joe was in a panic now with all sorts of visions passing through his mind of ECO-X escaping the signal. He couldn’t stop his memory from going back to the Disneyland disaster and more.

  Evidently Miracle Pictures execs hadn ’t wasted much time hiring the crews. Had they done so the kidnapping might have worked. Instead several of the would be crew managers decided to use the easiest simplest hiding place for the babies. Brilliant. These less than bright lightbulbs took them to the Miracle Pictures stadium in Simi Valley all set up with nets and other equipment to accommodate the baby ECO-X. Not exactly a secret place. The only conclusion seems to be that they had temporarily forgotten WAMI knew about the site. Or, maybe they didn’t think past using the least complicated hiding place.

  Joe decided to check out the stadium believing it was probably a SWAG (simply a wild ass guess). But what the hell. Sometimes even SWAGs work out. Near the stadium he walked to an exit door and upon opening it there was a loud chirping sound up above him. Up there was a mass of ECO-X slipping into the nets holding their offspring.

  As they loaded the babies onto their backs to take them home, men far down on the main area were running around with an assortment of equipment to capture the ECO-X. There were nets on poles, hooks meant to close the nets and lastly cannisters of tear gas. This appeared to be their final solution for capturing the creatures. Joe sat down on a bleacher seat to watch the show.

  Watching the men wildly waving nets and hooking the webs without any success he knew from experience their efforts were amusing and amateurish to the creatures.

  Now he watched them tying tear gas canisters to their poles for the final attack. It was a fascinating show. As the poles with trailing tear gas reached up to the nets the ECO-X flew up to the ceiling of the stadium. So far the gas wasn’t affecting them at the top of the stadium. Joe was mesmerized as the crew extended ladders to the max and climbed up with their poles.

  Still quite a distance from the creatures above them the poles were thrust while the men stood on the very top of the ladders in a brave last effort. Then the teetering started on the ladders supporting the crew. Laws of physics took over as the force opposing the weight of the men came into play. Not enough energy and slowly the ladders began to sway ever faster from the weight on top.

  The crew was trapped on top of a shaky foundation rocking faster an faster. They couldn’t climb down fast enough to counter their weight. One by one the ladders toppled over and fell to the floor below to the screams of fright issued from falling men. Ladders, men and poles ended up in a crazy heap on the floor. Joe left the stadium unseen to use his signal to the ECO-X. Hearing a familiar sound in the midst of the terrifying attempts to capture them brought the entire swarm, babies and all flying to Joe.

  Feeling justified he packed the creatures, chirping loudly, into the kidnappers’ vehicles and took them home. Chapter Seventeen A clash occurred between all of the parti
es involved in overt actions to control, use, profit from or protect the ECO-X. To understand all of the gyrations now occurring it is best to chronicle the legal moves of the contesting parties:

  Miracle Pictures defended it ’s right to sieze the creatures citing the EPA’s decision to label the ECO-X as destructive insects. EPA had publicly announced to treat them in the same manner as ants, termites, flies and a long list of other pests. Ergo, their crew locked up in San Diego for kidnapping were innocent of any wrong doing. A motion was filed in federal court to release them immediately. That wasn’t going to happen overnight. A panel of judges was created to study this unique legal question.

  WAMI filed charges against the movie company for trespassing into the harvesting area of the State of California. The entire contract was filed with their court brief. $100 million in damages were demanded for theft of their property, the ECO-X.

  In addition the company brought a law suit against the EPA for erroneously declaring the ECO-X to be nothing but pests. Piles of documents and correspondence between EPA and WAMI and Dr. O were placed in evidence where the EPA plainly recognized ECO-X as hybrid creatures.

  Consequences of winning this dispute meant Miracle Pictures had indeed kidnapped a valuable patented asset. Naturally the film company could be held responsible for damages and SAMI would receive $100 million. Dr. O as the inventor declined to file a patent infringement suit.

  WAMI was relying on the original status of the creatures as too unique to categorize. In addition to the damning evidence of the EPA’s original position they were naming Dr. O, Joe and the US Coast Guard as witnesses about the creatures behavior and contribution to society.

  It was one of largest legal messes ever created. Attorneys on both sides plastered the courts with motions, damage suits, complaints and criminal actions. A number of judges were frantically attempting to be excused from serving on the grounds of full schedules, illness and family problems. It became a legal impasse, who should do what and when? What courts federal or state should have the honor of being the first to enter this black void without any presedences to lean on?