Breakfast In The Park

 Game date: 8/13/2020

I do not address this entry to my future adoring fans, eager to know every detail of my life.  

Nor do I address it to my VP Parker, burgeoning with potential consciousness.

Yet neither am I making a generic journal entry.

No, this entry is addressed to my father.  Today you would have been proud of me.  You bastard.

Using the information I had gleaned from TekKnight security, I contacted everyone that they had been tracking to a meeting.  I chose a public venue, with no walls to trap us, even though I considered it unlikely that we would be tracked.  I still couldn't shake that feeling of paranoia.  There's an open-air cafe near Rosa's Park where a group can gather and still have a semi-private conversation.  I arrived a bit early and sent Parker patrolling with both drones, watching for any Enforcer activity.

Once everyone had gathered, I shared with them the recipe for "Longevity Peaches" that the AutoChef had showed me, and the food it produced while divulging that information.  I also passed out data sticks, so that everyone would know what TK had on them -- emphasis on the past tense.

Most present did not have any interesting ideas about the AutoChef behavior, save two:  The gnome Layla, who seems obsessed over the fact that her mother is named for this obscure flavor, and the "terrorist" Jane Doe, who seemed to recognized all the ingredients as being derived from plants.  Now, this I did not know, and throws some new light on the whole thing.  If this is the case, then "peaches" could also be plants, and the message could mean that plants are returning... This warrants some thought, and is far more likely than some dream of immortality.  No less dangerous, though.

Once the speculation over this had gone on for a bit, I steered the conversation toward group dynamics, and the fact that this group needed someone to call the shots.  

Dad, I gave them every out.  

First I pointed out that we were all loners, and the only person among us with any team experience at all was Jane herself.  She seemed surprised at my nomination, but it was the plain truth.  

I did expect someone to throw my name into the mix.  After all, I did call the meeting, and I had wiped our data from the Enforcers' servers, effectively calling off the hounds from our trail.  I did not expect that it would be Mauger to do it.

Again, I tried to give them an excuse to turn on me.  I stared straight into Mauger's eyes and admitted to selling him out -- and why.  Oh, Father, if you could have seen me.  I learned this from watching you, at a thousand endless board meetings.  How often have I watched you, the ultimate contortionist, stab someone in the back while smiling in their face?  

And Mauger did not flinch.  He picked up the gauntlet and he voted for me anyway.  As a figurehead.  That he intends to "topple" at some un-named future date.

Only one person present spoke out against me.  Vamir, the silent assassin.  Good.  It's good to know that this is someone with integrity.  And in the end, I was only elected leader by one vote.  So you see?  Not everyone responds to bullying.

But, I was elected.  And no one walked out.  

That was the easy part.

Now to get this operation funded, and see to it that everyone remains safe.

Or as many as will allow it.

And once this is done, it is done.  Do you hear me?  I'm not building a power base for its own sake.  I may be using what you taught me, but I'm not turning into you.

..::Kai::..