Buffalo Future, 1 ~ Serpent Dove, 10 Interest

Copyright © 2013 Elder Adok.  First novel in the Buffalo Future series.  First published
in Great Britain in April 2013 by Hiss Farm Concepts www.hissfarmconcepts.co.uk  office@hissfarmconcepts.co.uk  Second edition September 2013.  This blog chapter edition August 2015.  The moral right of Elder Adok to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.  All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher.

"There's nothing here, Ash", summed up Silvanus in an off-handed manner. 

"What's so interesting about this Gustav man then?" Ashley sighed and replied trying not to let his frustration show. 

"That's the whole point, father. He is instant with history or wave mechanics or whatever, but it's the background that really counts. Bright waves don't necessarily carry wisdom". 

"You and your wisdom! It's almost as if you had a girlfriend called Wisdom". 

Metaguild did not excite Silvanus; he found the atmosphere rather flat. The buildings were traditional, rather ordinary and gathered in clusters to form quadrangles joined by interconnecting passages. People walked everywhere it seemed. Why all this wasted walking? The open evening was billed as an opportunity for the extended families of freshers to participate in mining wisdom. 

After welcoming drinks, cheeses of every description, and thin slices of delicious dried fruits, they were ushered into a large new lecture theatre based on a Greek oval auditorium. The guild master introduced herself by thanking so many who, by supporting their fresher, were also supporting a new dream in education. It was a warm brief speech; its main purpose was to introduce Gustav. He was so ordinary that Silvanus thought it some sort of joke. The lights dimmed slightly. 

Although this prophet of wisdom had little physical magic his immediate power over the audience was remarkable. How could such an underwhelming man draw his listeners; it was his controlled passion, his conviction, his power of understatement, and the attraction of the challenge he made. Gustav's boyish face, expressive eyebrows and dark complexion were not the norms in a visual communicator; somehow it gave his message more strength. This man had total confidence in wisdom so long as it was proclaimed accurately. 

He had come to appreciate his role as a custodian when considering the market value of stand-up comics, and the election of Ron Johnson in 2010 to a seat in the US Senate. The former use few props and often command an empty stage with just a microphone and spotlight. The latter gave a passionate speech about personal liberty, posted it on the ether, and gained such a following that he also gained his place in history. 

Gustav and Silvanus could have been from different planets and yet they shared the same dominant feature. Gustav would hound his quarry in order to extract the maximum enrichment it could provide. Silvanus had steel determination to reach his declared goals. Could these two disciples in the arts of ruthless guile ever meet in a shared cause? Only time would tell. They were both charismatic leaders whose influence on a relatively small number of followers could engender enormous change. 

Io was very fond of her goddaughter, Pamela who was more introspective by nature but enjoyed the stimuli of 'question' and 'adventure' upon which Io had been nurtured. Pamela had asked Io, whom she considered to be her aunt, to join the family at the metaguild open evening and she had snapped up the opportunity to meet Mr Gustav Kimmler. He didn't disappoint. Io enjoyed her own space and wasn't a bit perturbed when Pamela joined the chatter of her fellow students. Pamela's proud parents gradually drifted off too as they compared notes with other parents, so Io at last had the chance to wander off and explore a campus which enjoyed investment in beauty as well as technology. It was a college set in an art gallery. 

Silvanus had come with his ex, Holly. They were doing their bit as parents but it was obvious why they had parted; there was so little language between them. He was angry at heart, and she was just very shallow. Not an air-head, but the loft was rather empty. She had good powers of articulation but these centred on the trivia of the virtual world. The flat screens on her walls were more real than the windows to the garden. 

"Who's that stunning girl, Ash?" inquired Silvanus looking across the auditorium in Io's direction. 

"Who's who?"

Ashley already wondered why he had to have his father in tow; he seemed completely ignorant as to the ethos of metaguild and why Ashley resonated to its design. The boy felt the scars of his parents' divorce itching; then he had known rejection, and now it all flashed back. His father, the great and powerful Silvanus, just smacked of betrayal. What annoyed Ashley was why he still reacted so; he had chatted to Will about it and even been to see Will's minister, Pete who told him he had the great gift of sensitivity and would have to learn how to use it. 

"I'd like to meet her. Come on, let's go over". 

Ashley responded in such a way that made it obvious that he found Silvanus tiresome. 

"You go if you want to, father; I'll stay here with my mother". 

He didn't want to hurt his father because he loved him as a son, but neither was he going to be sweetness and light if it didn't ring true. They parted with mutual relief. Silvanus found the formal 'father' a constant harping back to the past as if there could be no forgiveness, and Ashley who longed to have a father-figure around to support his change from boy to man found Silvanus disgusted him. 

Io was standing fascinated by a picture; she looked awesome, not through surgery or make up, but because she was so very natural. The picture was an interpretation of a sight she knew too well. The Fish, her work place, had been painted as if planted in the sea. It was true that the Inflow complex was surrounded by a wide moat which somehow visually lifted it above the fenland because the sky reflected around the massive stem. The lake was primarily there for reasons of security, and had been made by opening up the Little Ouse river to form a large expanse of water north of the railway and east of the sluices to the Cut-off Channel; thus water level was easily controlled. 

Io was intrigued by the painting's background; it seemed to contain emotion. All that communication was represented in salutations, in passion, in delighted hesitation, in purpose. Quantities of information, of texture, of tone competed with realities of spirit, of hope, of well-being. The more she looked at the picture, the more absorbed she became. She didn't realize Silvanus had approached. 

"Hello, my name is Silvanus, you seem to see something in this picture". 

Io didn't even notice him and carried on looking. So he tried again. 

"Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, I gather that is your work place. I can't say that I would be intrigued by a picture of my office". 

Io turned slowly, and looked at him straight in the eyes not saying anything for a moment; how dare he invade her space. With all his energies for control, management and manipulation, he felt strangely challenged by her look. They had never really met before but knew quite a bit about each other through the conversations that spilled around Gustav's pod. 

"I suppose that Silvanus, the tree-man would have an attitude like that". 

Silvanus quipped back. 

"And I suppose Io the moon-maiden would constantly rotate around some boring little planet". 

They laughed slightly uncomfortably and then Silvanus continued. 

"Anyway tell me what fascinates you in this picture?" 

She began to point out its detail and, as she had so often found, it was during her explanation that she came to understand why she was uneasy in her work at the Fish. So much of what was communicated was little more than entertainment. It was as if all life was just one long episode of a soap opera, without even an intermission! The more the world communicated the less real it became. This picture was about bringing souls together, about minds comparing their zest for life, about living and not merely existing. But she knew that most of what passed through the Fish was just junk.

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Buffalo Future, 1 ~ Serpent Dove, 09 Valuing

Copyright © 2013 Elder Adok.  First novel in the Buffalo Future series.  First published in Great Britain in April 2013 by Hiss Farm Concepts www.hissfarmconcepts.co.uk  office@hissfarmconcepts.co.uk  Second edition September 2013.  This blog chapter edition August 2015.  The moral right of Elder Adok to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.  All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher.

"Have you ever been involved in diplomacy, Mr Kimmler?" asked William, his dark eyebrows lifting in a quizzical frown as they walked the quad. 

Of course Ashley was there too. Gustav encouraged students to walk round and round the metaguild quad as they wrestled with an idea. Exercise brought oxygen to the brain. They were wrapped up warm against the cold, and the frosty air caught their breath. 

"Not directly, no; but I have a beach which is dedicated to diplomacy. For years I've been trying to influence the United Nations (UN) to develop a simple Value to Living index. For many animals life is just an existence, and that is sadly true for millions of human beings too. Funnily enough what sparked me off was reading an old copy of a newspaper written when fox hunting was banned last century; someone had compared the lifestyles of different animals. If I remember correctly pigs came off best, chicken worst, and foxes somewhere in between". 

Ashley wanted more detail about the Value to Living index. His contact lenses had become uncomfortable so he was wearing glasses and checked them. Sphinx informed him that often managers and civil servants seek to measure value added to a function, for example education. The Value to Living index (or V2L) seeks to quantify the whole of a being's life span in terms of quality not just quantity. The index allocates scores against seven phases in life, with one additional score for the spiritual component, and is designed to be easily determined. 

Gustav Kimmler responded, "That's right. I remember them from Jacques' soliloquy in As You Like It by William Shakespeare, with one additional score added for the whole span. Let me show you an example". 

Gustav had real skill in setting out his ideas on an impressive V2L beach that he ran. It used suckling piglets against a rural skyline as the home image. He hoped that, as waves of information broke upon his beach, they would in turn carry his ideas across the world. He also loved tradition and pulled an ancient fountain pen from his inside jacket pocket and stopped walking so as to write on some card which he propped up on one leg supported by a bench. The lads were fascinated by his dexterity and the way in which he seemed so at ease with such an odd instrument. 

"It starts, 'All the world's a stage, and men and women merely players'. Let's take a male free-range pig rather than a person as our first example. How does it begin? Ah yes, 'the infant mewling and puking' is the piglet stage which is well husbanded with little stress except for the tails being cut off, and administration of various vaccines. Let's give it a high score, say 8 out of 10. What's the next phrase?" 

Gustav capped the pen and put it with the card inside his jacket, rubbed his hands against the bitter cold and put them in his trouser pockets. They walked on, cheeks aglow. Ashley loved the quaint rhythm of Shakespeare's style and already had sphinx telling him the whining school boy, with his satchel and shining morning face.
Gustav cut in, "Ah yes ... 'unwillingly to school'; that's when piglets run around together and learn their place in the pig village. I think that's another 8. Remember these scores because we'll complete the card in a minute". 

They walked at a good pace to keep warm. 

"Then comes the 'lover, sighing like furnace'; with artificial insemination and castration of most male piglets this stage is a bit tame: 1 out of 10". 

Gustav paused long enough to write the number on his card. 

"The soldier's stage 'full of oaths, and bearded like the pard' is more worthwhile, not in fighting terms but in various social groupings established on free range farms. It would be reasonable to argue for 6". 

William anticipated Gustav's next thought, "But pigs don't live into old age because they are killed for food". 

A quizzical look flashed across the dark features of his face. 

"You're right there; the 'justice' followed by the failing stages with 'big manly voice, turning again towards childish treble' are only seen by the occasional boar kept on as a stud. With modern culling methods the average pig never smells death or has any idea that it is coming. Robots cull only the required pigs almost simultaneously and, when well programmed, discreetly so that other pigs are hardly aware of death; they just wonder where their companions have gone! Pigs don't face the trauma of wasting away and they die in peak condition so I would give 5 out of a possible 20 for these two stages". 

"Do you think that humans should be culled too?", asked Ashley shifting his balance as if the thought made him uncomfortable.

"Well, V2L might help. There's no point in existing just for the sake of it; however the elderly are our greatest source of wisdom because they can draw on a sense of perspective. Our pics are set to 110 years after which, if we want medical attention, we have to demonstrate a certain quality of life; otherwise there will be no intervention just to extend life. Let's complete the index for a male pig and then you can calculate something for a human being. Let's tot up the score so far". 

They stopped walking and sat down on a convenient bench sheltered from the biting east wind and catching some thin winter sun. Gustav showed them his card which they completed. 

"Nothing else can be added because life is cut short. 'Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything' does not apply to pigs. There appears to be no spiritual side to a pig although some say they make good pets; let's be generous and add on 5 points. That gives us a total of 33 out of 80".

male pig = infancy, 8 + student, 8 + lover, 1 + soldier, 6 + justice, 5 + 2nd childhood, 0 + oblivion, 0 + spirit, 5. Total = 33

"You can see that it's simple to come up with a value, and it gets people talking which puts the whole thing into the public domain, and that's a key feature of V2L. In the early part of this century the World Health Organization (WHO) came up with a Quality of Life scale or WHOQOL for short. It was a fantastic attempt to assess well-being internationally. Unfortunately the research became complex and bogged down by copyright issues, so it never entered into public use". 

He paused for questions or comments but was surprised by attentive silence; perhaps it was the cold. Anyway he continued. 

"There was an attempt to make it accessible called the 'happiness index' but understandably it was rubbished as 'political correctness gone mad'. You try out V2L for an unwanted child without access to good education, and I think you will begin to see its power". 

Ashley began, "The first stage is the mewling puking infant which for an unwanted child is likely to be tough, probably involving physical abuse. I reckon the first five years of life are when children pick up a real feel for what life is about, and to learn that nobody loves you is a hard cross to carry. The score would be low, say 2 out of 10". 

"But that's worse than a piglet's start!", cut in Will. 

"That's the whole point of V2L, it make us think about living as opposed to existing, and it applies to all sentient beings", explained Gustav. "Many human beings have been given dreadful lives". 

He wrote on his card. Ashley was curious because he had had to carry a cross himself when his parents divorced. 

"The whining school boy can't be so bad; the child will feel friendship at school, say 7; that makes a measly 9 so far". 

"Hang on a minute", cut in Gustav, "I said this child had no access to good education. I think 7 is too generous; more like 3 because the child could be trapped in a so-called home". 

"The lover, sighing like furnace ought to be a good stage with a real sense of being wanted but perhaps finding it difficult to trust, say 7 out of 10. That makes 12 out of 30 and we're catching up on the pig", explained Will with a slight sense of relief. 

It seemed appalling that an animal should score higher than a human. 

"Then comes the soldier full of strange oaths which I suppose is professional life since national service was abolished ages ago", argued Ashley who was a pacifist by nature. "What do you think, Will?" 

"It can't be less than 5; sometimes those who have had a difficult upbringing have natural resilience in a competitive market place, how about 8? That gives a cumulative total of 20 and we've nearly caught up the pig if I read your writing correctly Mr Kimmler". 

"I think you're beginning to see the power of this idea and why I have dedicated so much time and effort to influencing the swell with my beach". 

There was a brief pause, which reinforced the sense of Gustav's utter conviction. They considered the justice and, after a long debate about learning from life, came up with a score of 6. The final stages of life gave the most difficulty but they settled for 4 in each, 34 out of 70 so far ... only one more than a male pig! Only the spiritual component could make a difference. They agreed that sometimes disadvantaged people have profound spiritual lives and gave it 7. Gustav showed the card which they noticed had one more section waiting to be filled.

male pig = infancy, 8 + student, 8 + lover, 1 + soldier, 6 + justice, 5 + 2nd childhood, 0 + oblivion, 0 + spirit, 5. Total = 33

unwanted human = infancy, 2 + student, 3 + lover, 7 + soldier, 8 + justice, 6 + 2nd childhood, 4 + oblivion, 4 + spirit, 7. Total = 41

valued human =

Book and Kindle editions available from Amazon  or wait for the next chapter.