Microstory 996: Secular Volunteerism

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First of all, I’m not saying that religious volunteerism doesn’t do any good in the world, or that it doesn’t get results, but it’s not the way we should be doing it. There are thousands of charitable organizations in the world, and the list of ones with no religious affiliation can fit on a single, easy-to-read, webpage. I seriously have that list up right now, and even though there are some great outfits on it, it’s pathetically small. Why is secular charity better than the religious kind? Well, it’s all about intention and motivation. The reason anyone volunteers for the Salvation Army, for instance, is because they want to get to heaven. The bible teaches them that if they’re good people, God will bring them into the fold, so they can serve in the kingdom for eternity. I used this quote in my Stepwisdom series, but it’s just too good, so I have to say it again. The credited writer for eighth episode of the 2012 show Alcatraz is Robert Hull, so it is he who I credit for coming up with the line, “spirituality is for those seeking understanding. Religion is for those seeking reward.” What the bible doesn’t really get into—and I use this book as an example, because I’m more familiar with it—is altruism. It is not altruistic to help someone with the expectation that you’ll gain cosmic points for it. Just because you’re not expecting the people you’re helping to be the ones to return the favor, doesn’t mean you’re not doing it for the wrong reasons. It doesn’t matter who’s meant to reward you, you’re still doing it for the purpose of that reward. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t make you a good person. To be clear, religion isn’t the only cause of egoistic charity. Those thousand dollar plates still ultimately cost hundreds of dollars, because of all the lavish decorations, in the expensive venue. You should donate money because you believe in a given cause, and want to support its efforts, and that should be enough for you. If you just want to be treated to a lovely dinner of elf food, while you schmooze with rich folk, then you’re probably also rich enough to just go out and do that. You don’t have to pretend you actually care about homeless people, or the whales, or whatever the event purports to be bolstering. In fact, I hate to break it to you, but no one believes you anyway. Always assume you’re being more transparent than you think. So I do understand that religion isn’t the only problem our society has when it comes to volunteerism and charity, but it is the most obvious and prominent. It’s great that you want to contribute, and it’s hard to argue against you, even if you’re just doing it for the recognition. I certainly can’t tell you that we would be better off if you didn’t do anything. I just want you to question, and be cognizant of, your true reasons.

Microstory 954: Stem Cell Research

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As a human being who cares about this world, the people on it, and everything that happens to us, I believe in science. I believe in science that can help make the world a better place, for all living creatures. I possess a spirituality, differentiated from religion by the fact that I absolutely do not let my beliefs get in the way of progress. Organized religion has done some good in the world in the the way of charity and good will, but that doesn’t get them off the hook. Besides the fact that hope for heaven—or fear of hell, as it were—are terrible reasons to do the right thing, their good does not outweigh their bad. All religions are based on the primary sins, even the ones who claim to be virtuous. They’re all about greed, envy, wrath, selfishness, and more. Through these sins comes many of the planet’s woes; war, crime, and even natural disasters (the intensity of these recent hurricanes are the result of climate change, which is undoubtedly being caused by humans). Nearly everything that happens can be traced back to a misguided religious belief that prevents individuals from caring for their fellow man. Stem cell research is a good example of this issue. Now, I’m not saying there’s no such thing as ethics, or that we can do whatever we want as long as it helps us in the end. Problems arise, however, when ignorant people argue against research, or an advancement. The simple fact is that the average person does not know enough about the subject to form a valid opinion. Sure, it sounds bad when a Christian stands on a college campus with pictures of dead babies, claiming that stem cell research is responsible for the horrific images. But that’s not really what happened, and these arguments are not helping anything. I recognize there is a debate as to when exactly human life begins, and can’t realistically give a hard number for this, even though my canon does have an answer. The point of this research is not to stay right where we are with it. Scientists need to understand how this works, so we can engage in a responsible and safe way. That requires study and debate, but only amongst those who know what they’re doing. I’m not one of those people, and most likely, neither of you. Having read the bible cover to cover is not the kind of credentials we’re looking for. Regardless of your circular reasoning, there’s no way to prove the bible was written by God. Just saying it was means nothing to me. Therefore, it holds no more or less merit than any other work of fiction. Stem cells have the potential to save lives, and we can’t dismiss that just because it also has the potential to harm. If we lived by that mentality, we would still be living in caves.

Microstory 443: The State of Things

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I’m going to take a bit of a break from our story to go meta. As I brought up in the introduction, this was first planned as two feature films. I almost wish I had moved to Los Angeles and pitched the concept to...I dunno, who’s a famous filmmaker you guys like? I was worried about not understanding how companies work, and it turns out that I was right to. I especially don’t know what it would be like to run, or work for, a company that builds windows and doors. As you might have guessed, just from the titles, each installment took place on a different floor, in descending order. The movie would have had dialogue, and I tried that here, but it didn’t really work. I ended up transforming it into a sort of spiritual follow-up to my Perspectives series. Half the time, I probably failed to make it clear who each voice was, and what they did for the company. Sorry about that, my bad. I wish I could tell you I will do better for this next set, but I can’t promise that. I recently read a tweet from a writer/filmmaker named Christopher Leone (that’s it, I should have asked him to make my movies) who said, “whatever I’m currently writing is highly annoying but I’m really excited about the next thing. This is a constant state.” This rings true to me, but I hope it changes next year. I am really excited about Headlines, and 121 Taikon. These are two things I’ve never done before, and I’m interested to see how they turn out. I’m especially anxious about the second one because it exists within a mythological context of my primary canon. If you think that’s confusing, just wait. It’s basically the Book of Revelation, but as written by a different author with different ideas about what’s going to happen. It’ll be crazy. Now you’re asking what this has to do with the series at hand. I’m sorry that I’ve digressed. What I’m going to be doing is continuing the story by going back to each floor and adding to the perspectives. My thought right now is to write them in conversational mode, which is something I’m planning in full for a 2019 series. This could act as a test for that concept. Welp, I’m about to dive back in and hope that it works out. Wish me luck. Or don’t, whatever.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: May 8, 2062

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The year’s Tribulation did not begin until rather late in the evening. And they knew this from the very beginning. They were not able to make calls on their phones. In fact, they were not allowed to do anything on them. There was only a timer, counting down the hours until they were to be pulled away from their lives. They last year asked their family to find them tactical gear and certain supplies to aid them in whatever was coming next. Just before the timer hit zero, they dressed themselves in bullet proof vests, which were thinner and easier to maneuver around in than those found in Mateo’s time. Over that they wore black uniforms with tons of pockets for flashlights, pocket knives, those rebreathers they’ve used on occasion, and various other survival items. They gave their loved ones hugs and kisses and prepared for the jump.

Mateo and Leona found themselves standing in an orderly line with a bunch of other people. They were all wearing beige jumpsuits and staring at the newcomers with little surprise. A security guard walked over for a look. “New prisoners?”

“Uh...” Mateo tried to think quickly.

Leona covered for him. “No, we’re not. We’ve been sent to work here.”

“Which chooser assigned you to us?” the guard asked.

“It was Melly,” Leona lied.

The guard was noticeably shocked by this. “She never sends us anyone. We are to understand that she’s not a big fan of keeping her kind locked up.”

Mateo shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell ya. We’re here for her.”

“What year are you from?”

“2062.”

“It’s 2062 right now,” the guard said, shaking his head. “They don’t ever send guards to their own time period.”

“I meant 2014,” Mateo tried to say.

The guard looked up to a couple of other guards and gave them a hand signal. “I don’t know who you are, or why you’re dressed like this, but I’m going to assume that you’re inmates until I’m told otherwise. You will be temporarily placed in a cell.”

The other guards started removing Mateo and Leona’s gear and outer clothing. “No, please,” she pleaded. “We’re supposed to be here! Not as inmates! We’re a tack team!”

The first guard scoffed. “Tell it to the poster girl.”

“What?”

The other guards took them by the arms and escorted them upstairs to a corner cell. They weren’t too terribly rough, but they did push them in and ordered the bars closed. For what was presumably a salmon prison facility, it was rather antiquated and unsophisticated. It was made of metal and concrete. They saw no security cameras, or lasers. There were no robots roaming the hallways, and a quick look out the window showed them that they weren’t placed on top of a kilometer-high platform. The gates were, however, electronic. The cell itself felt familiar. “I feel like I’ve been here before.”

“Yeah, Mateo, we’ve both been locked up a number of times. Too many to count.”

“No, that’s not it.” He looked over the room and tried to remember. There was a single small bed, with a table next to it. A shelf of books was on the other side of the bed. Besides a number of postcards, there were a couple of pretty girl posters. They were familiar as well, but Mateo could not remember their names. He decided to focus on the table where there was a bible and a chessboard. “Like I said, in prison, a man will do almost anything to keep his mind occupied,” he quoted.

“What was that?”

“It’s Shawshank Redemption.”

“The movie?”

“Yeah. We’re in it. This is Andy’s cell.” Mateo stepped over to one of the posters. “See, this is Rita Hayworth.” He picked up the bible. “There should be a rock hammer in here.” He opened it up and found himself to be right. The book was completely hollowed out with a small hammer placed inside.”

“Did he teleport us into a movie? I don’t think that’s possible.”

“No, not everything is perfect. Andy carved the chess set himself. This was obviously bought at a store. And these posters are clearly replicas, and there should be...” He walked over to the Raquel Welch poster and lifted it up to find a hole in the wall. “Yep. There it is. Our escape.”

“The Rogue recreated a movie set so that we could recreate a scene from it?”

Mateo laughed, “I guess.” He laughed some more.

“You’re a little too happy about this.”

This was true. He was rather excited. This was one of his favorite movies, and now he was Andy Dufresne. Who else can say that? “I knew it would be important that the Rogue has an obsession with pop culture.”

“You were right.” She pointed to the hole. “So we just crawl through that and we’re home free?”

Mateo scrunched up his face like he was smelling something disgusting. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

Mateo described to her the events of the film, including the parts not directly related to the escape itself. If they had had time, he probably would have recited the dialog and narration word for word, because he was definitely capable of that.

“So we’re going to have to slide through fecal matter.”

“That’s the plan,” Mateo replied, trying to be upbeat.

“Then we end up in a creek, and we’re home free.”

“That’s right.”

“The Rogue said we wouldn’t likely survive this one. This all sounds gross, but not deadly.”

“True. I imagine he has something in store for us in addition to this.” That was immediately proved to be true. The tunnel did not lead them to a replica of the pipe system from the movie. They were in a hallway. No one was around, but it was much more advanced than Shawshank.

“You didn’t say anything about this.”

“Now I have no idea what to do.”

“Wait, now I recognize this,” Leona said after they looked around for any guards. “This is Fox River State Penitentiary.”

“I’ve not heard of it.”

“It’s from the show Prison Break. This is a mashup.”

“So, how do we get out of here?”

Leona paused and carefully recalled the events from the show. “We have to climb through the window and crawl along the cable. But we’ll have to tear the bars off first. In the show, they tore out the firehose and tied it to the elevator which forced the bars from the window frame.”

They walked into the med bay to find they didn’t actually have to tear off any bars. “Again, not a perfect replica,” Mateo noted.

Leona opened the window and looked out. “There’s no cable.”

“No cable?”

“No cable. There’s no way to get all the way over to the wall.” It was several yards away from the side of the building. “He’s creating a no-win situation.”

“No, he’s not. There’s a way out of here. There will always be a way. He likes to be entertained. They all do. If something is too easy then he has to throw a wrench in it.”

“So what do we do?”

“We give him a show.”

“How do we do that?”

“We get you to a computer. It’s not like you haven’t broken someone out of jail before.”

They searched the hallways and found a computer terminal in an office. Leona started working her magic. She didn’t have full access to the system, but as long as there was a single connection through the network, she could make anything electronic do just about anything. She programmed most of the prison doors to open up at once, and she sounded the alarms. She also made the lights start flashing on and off and turned the volume up on every television set. On the security feeds, they could see guards running all over the building, trying to contain a riot.

“What was the point of this?”

“It’s a distraction. We have to get down to the chooser block. I found something in the files.”

Mateo followed Leona down the stairs. They ran into one of the guards on their way. Now, Mateo was not known for fighting, but he used his memory of every combat movie scene he had ever witnessed to subdue his opponent. He wasn’t able to knock him out, but he knocked him down so that he wasn’t able to get back up again by the time Leona took his badge and continued forward.

They ended up in a different block of the prison. Some salmon had made there way there and were either fighting guards, or each other. Leona looked around before settling on her target. “There.” It was Prince Darko, in his cage.

“What are you doing here?” Prince Darko asked.

“We’re getting you out,” Leona explained.

“Why?”

“Yeah, why?” Mateo asked.

Leona swiped the guard’s security badge and unlocked the cell. “How are they suppressing your time traveling?”

Prince Darko presented his arms. He was wearing a fancy set of wrist restraints, not unlike the ones Mateo was given way back when they were in the Reaver warehouse.

Leona took a key she had stolen from the office desk and removed them. “Okay, get us out of here.” She took his shoulder and motioned for Mateo to do the same.

Prince Darko searched around the room.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked angrily.

He pointed to one of the security guards. “Get me his hat.”

“The hell you talking about?” Mateo yelled.

“Just do it!” Prince Darko yelled back.

Mateo ran over and took the hat from the guard who was too busy to care because he was fighting off two particularly vicious salmon prisoners. He handed it to Prince Darko then took his shoulder again.

“This is going to be jarring,” Prince Darko warned.

Mateo felt himself being torn from the timestream, but it was different than all the other jumps. It was like there were multiple versions of him, each one a little bit behind the other in a cascade. A small tremor shook his body as an electrical charge jumped between every single one of his atoms. The scene changed. They were standing in the foyer of someone’s home. Prince Darko released his hand from the security guard’s hat that was now resting on a hook. Light came through the window, proving it was daytime.

“What just happened?”

“You just threaded an object,” Prince Darko told them enigmatically.

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The Advancement of Mateo Matic: May 7, 2061

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When they woke up the next day, Leona had some questions. “Why did you not tell me about The Cleanser before? How often have you spoken to him?”

“Just a couple of times. I don’t know why I didn’t tell you,” Mateo replied honestly. “We just got done with Reaver, and I guess I didn’t want to burden you with the next thing.”

“We’re in this together,” Leona said before amending, “at least, we’re supposed to be.”

“I know that.” And so Mateo told her about everything; his meetings with the Cleanser, him witnessing her and Prince Darko’s private conversation, and a few things from his past he figured he’d get off his chest. In the end, it was comforting to let her all the way in. She was right. They were a team, and they needed to be honest with each other.

She shifted the subject a bit after that was all done. “Is The Rogue interested in acting out the tribulation period from the bible?”
“Might could be. I don’t know.”

“Well, what’s meant to happen during this period? What are the tribulations?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?”

“Well, Catholics don’t really believe in the tribulation period. Not really. And I’m not exactly a scholar on the matter.”

“They don’t? You’re not?”

“Yeah, there are different interpretations of the text. Some believe what you read in those books, or see in those movies. But those are dramatic interpretations. Those are glamorized. Things are a lot more simple in the original book. People don’t generally realize quite how much humans supplement the Word with their own personal beliefs. There is not as much detail as you would think, and so people sort of make things up to fill in the gaps; try to make it more clear.”

“What do you believe?”

“Just like with most people, my personal beliefs are just that, mine. I don’t follow every single thing the Church does, and I don’t listen to everything the Pope says. He’s a leader, not a god. And he’s definitely not God. Personally, I try to ignore anything the bible says is going to happen, and focus more on what it says happened. I treat the book as an historical record with flourishes. These stories were written before the computer was invented.”

“What does the computer have to do with anything?”

“I just mean that it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen when you can’t so much as fathom future development. They didn’t say anything about the computer being invented, much less vehicles or electricity; not even almost, not even a little. I find it hard to believe they knew what will happen when Christ returns, if he ever does.”

“So there are parts of the bible you just straight up don’t believe?”

“Yes, of course. There are tons of examples, and I would have more if I had chosen to dedicate myself to studying it. But the major problems I have with it are, like I said, when it tries to predict the future with so little understanding of it.”

Leona nodded her head consistently while she was processing. “Well, what might that mean for the Rogue’s intentions?”

“If he has plans to act out the coming of Christ, then I suppose he’ll have to reveal his power to the whole world, which I doubt the other powers that be would allow.”

“I mean just in terms of what he does to us. The tribulations.”

“If he wants to act out the tribulations, he’ll have very little to go on. The text is vague and brief on that matter. It tells us what life is going to be like for seven years, but it doesn’t go into specifics, and you have to gather this information from a number of different places. There’s no single scripture that just lays it all out for you.”

“Oh.”

“I think we may be overthinking this whole thing.”

“How so?” she asked.

“I would assume his use of the word tribulation was more general. It probably has nothing to do with the bible. I think he just means we’re gonna suffer.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she conceded. “I guess I was just hoping we would have a road map for where this was going. So we could plan accordingly.”

“I doubt the man would be so obvious, even if he were borrowing concepts.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” The Rogue interrupted.

“Um...” Mateo replied with a scowl. “This is a private conversation. We would appreciate you waiting your turn.” He swept his fingers through the air, palm down so as to incautiously send him away.

The Rogue laughed. “I like you, kid. You show me no respect. I don’t get that from other people.”

“I know what you are,” Mateo lied.

“What?”

“I know your secret, what you’re trying to keep from us. I know why you’re doing all this. I know where you come from.”

The Rogue was notably distressed by this, but only for a second. He was determined to keep his guard up.

Mateo was hoping to glean some information from him by pretending to already have it. But instead, all he learned was that there was something to be learned. And if there was anything he learned since falling into his pattern, it was that the truth always comes out.

“You’re lying,” The Rogue said, but was unsure.

“You’re right,” Mateo replied. “But I know someone who does know what you are. I just need some time.”

“Well,” he said. “You have today, at least. That’s what I’ve decided. Every other day will be a tribulation, and you get breaks in between.”

“That’s so generous of you,” Leona said sarcastically. “What happened to Prince Darko?”

He was annoyed. “It was not my intention to show you what The Cleanser did, but I could not control that. I can, however, control what you know from this point on. I shall not explain Prince Darko except to say that he lied about his pattern. It would seem that lying runs in the family.”

“So he really is my brother, though?” That wasn’t much, but it was something to remember.

“Each tribulation will come with a reward,” the Rogue went on, “besides the not dying part.”

“A reward?” Leona asked. “Like being able to survive multi-day spacecraft trip?”

“Like a pizza party, or something,” the Rogue corrected. “I don’t know, I’ve not thought much about it. I doubt you survive this next one.”

“How can you not know how it turns out?” she pressed.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re a time traveler, and one who is not bound by a pattern. Can you not just skip ahead and see whether we survive or not?”

“Leona,” Mateo warned, “don’t poke the bear.”

“I could do that, yes,” the Rogue said. “But I much prefer to be careful.”

“Careful of what? Disrupting the spacetime continuum?”

“No. Careful of spoilers,” he answered in a British accent, which was another pop culture reference. This man liked his movies and TV shows. That was important, because they might be able to use it against him in the future. If only there was a way to communicate with Leona without anyone knowing. They could never be sure if they were being spied on from another dimension. What was that about virtual telepathy?

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Microstory 85: The Eighth Seal

And then I looked up in horror as the eighth seal was torn open. Limbs fell from the trees, sparks flew out of the junction boxes, sewage bubbled up across the roads, and gas exploded on every corner. 2 Rain dripped between the shingles, the internet became spotty, and orange cones littered the sidewalks, but never near the many holes in the ground. 3 My car broke down in the middle of nowhere. The cell towers tumbled, and there was no reception. 4 The air conditioners and heaters failed across the world, and no one knew how to turn on fans or put on coats. 5 The traffic lights were lit up with all three colors, or none at all. 6 And ye, it was a frightening sight as dozens of service trucks began to terrorize the city. They parked at least two feet from the curb. The operators smoked cigarettes and made lewd comments to the passersby, but they never did any work. 7 A man who was their leader danced wickedly on the largest of the service trucks, and the service truck was yellow, for that is the grossest color for a vehicle. He answered the phone and claimed to the people that their call was important to them, and that a representative would help at the earliest possible moment. 8 And once all of the seals were brought together, the world ended.