Smartystan

At the offices of Delaseer, the four Founders and the proxy, Winnington, sat around the large oak table. Dr. Strong sat at the head once more. This occasion marked the first time they all had been together in the same room since the break-in and arrest. Tension simmered and there existed a sense of electricity in the room as they looked at each other. Finally, “I’m alright,” Dr. Strong said. That same tension melted away like butter on a hot skillet. There seemed to be a cooling effect, conversely.

“We’re just glad that….” Go began.

“You don’t have to say it. I already know,” Dr. Strong interrupted. “I thank you all for your support during this arduous time in my life. I’m fine. Nothing is going to stop me from making this country-state into the sole purveyor of freedom and justice.”

Belinda wiped a tear from her face. “We love you, Covey.” Her voice didn’t break but carried with it all of the strength of her whole being.

“I know.”

The room burst out laughing. He added, “I know because you all are here to see the elimination of crime. We haven’t quite achieved that but we have mitigated it by over ninety-five percent.” Applause and whoops went up into the air. Except for Dr. Keija Frampton.

Dr. Frampton looked nonplussed.

“What are we clapping and hollering for, here? This man could have been injured or worse. With us getting the number of crimes committed down to a fraction of what the rest of the US is experiencing right now, it’s no small feat. I’ll admit that. But we can’t break out the funny hats and noisemakers too soon.”

Winnington sketched notes into his tablet.

“You, Winnington,” Dr. Strong noticed the young man. “What do you have in that tablet?”

“I’m just going over notes that correspond to this meeting, doctor.”

“I see.”

Belinda noted, “There’s a way we can lower the crime rate, sure, but what happened to you was personal. Agnes was mentally unstable and had stalked you for many months before dropping off of radar. When she came back, she found herself in the clutches of the law with steel bracelets around her wrists. Did you get your stuff back?”

“Yes, everything was recovered intact. The synths have repaired my home and even made it look newer, somehow.” Some chuckles went around the table but the air remained fraught with a bit of apprehension. Still, Dr. Strong sliced through it with his humor. Then he cleared his throat.

“Enough about me. I’m fine. The place couldn’t be better, and I’ve got a new synth. Monique.”

The room oohed at this last revelation. Even Dr. Frampton curled a wry smirk around her mouth.

“So, let’s get the proceedings proceeding. We must talk about the fact that there are more and more people crossing the border into the new nation than ever before. This is exciting. These are people who scramble, trek and try to find a better place for their lives. We must never forget them. With all the matters we have going on in this place, it is imperative that we address this beautiful problem.”

“Yes,’ Go said. He had not touched heroin for days and now sat at the table, sober as a traffic cop. “If we give incentives for government entities to entice these folks to come over here, we’ll be in better standing overall.”

Belinda shook her head in agreement. Dr. Frampton scoffed. “I hear you talking, Vestin, but there’s a lot more nuance to it than that. What about our private businesses? They have the right to turn people away based on race, place of origin, sex, color, or creed. We protect those rights as property and individual rights. I understand why you want to have people employed by the government, though.”

“As we all know Keija and I are co-CEOs of UltraSynths. With that merger of our companies, we can set a precedent in how to train and hire humans alongside our synths and learned machines. If we do that, we’ll have every opportunity to be stewards of enterprise,” Belinda asserted.

“Yes, these are magnificent ideals,” Dr. Strong acknowledged. “If we make sense of the issue of migrancy, of criminals and those with infectious diseases, then we might be going somewhere.”

Vestin spoke up again. “I just wanted to say we’re so fortunate to have a legal drug trade as opposed to a war.” With these words came sincere looks around the table awaiting for the young man to say how he was just using. They knew he never abused drugs, though, they expected him to have taken something for the pain.

“I think we should march with boldness into this great space. With every drug legal, we should focus on humans and synths raising the coca plants, poppies, marijuana, and drugs made in labs. All of it should be on the table and we ought to permit people and semi-people with the opportunity to either lessen the workload or make fortunes in the name of drug manufacture, production, distribution, sale, and consumption.” Go sipped some water.

Dr. Frampton shrugged. “I think the young man’s gotta point. I have to say, I’m intrigued by this whole notion. In the United States of the past, incarceration rates were outrageous. A good chunk of those behind bars were because of drug offenses. Not sexual assault or rape, or robbery, fraud, or homicides, but for involvement in substances. Also, there was a particular agency that barred thousands of life sustaining and curative drugs in the name of denying the populace their right to them. Now, we have the chance to ensure that we not only demonstrate that we actually give a damn about human life, but that we can make it flourish.”

For some reason, the others wanted to applaud, but refrained from such activity. That tension subsided even more when Dr. Frampton had finished talking. Dr. Strong took over once again.

“Alright. I think this wraps up for a healthy discussion and the idea of Delaseer seems more rich than ever.”