1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 2: Book Club Club Club Club Club. It's the Cool Zone 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 2: Media book Club. That's the jingle. It's the same every time. 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 2: I don't know what you're talking about, it doesn't change. 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 3: Welcome to Cool Zone Media book Club. I'm your host 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 3: Maria Giljoy with me as my guest as Mia. 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 4: Woe he ya, Hello book club chanting. We are, we 8 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 4: are booking, We're clubbing. It's a good time. 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. Two weapons, books and clubs. Books are 10 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 3: weapons in the pen is mightier than the sword way. 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 3: But also if you put one in a big sock, 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 3: like ideally a hardcover and a big sock, that's also 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 3: a reasonable weapon. That's not what today's story is about. 14 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 3: In the slightest, Cool Zone Media book Club is your 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 3: weekly reminder that fiction is fun. Where I read someone 16 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 3: a story, and today I'm reading Mia story. I'm reading 17 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 3: Mia story by someone named Nick Mammaitas. Have you ever 18 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,479 Speaker 3: heard of Nick Mammatas by any brandam chance? No, Nick 19 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 3: Mammotas is awesome. Nick Mammotas is a very hard working 20 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 3: fiction writer who writes just a honest stuff, especially short fiction, 21 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 3: but not exclusively. I guess I could just read you 22 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 3: their bio or his bio rather. Nick Mammatas is the 23 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 3: author of several novels, including The Second Shooter and I 24 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 3: Am Providence. His short fiction has appeared in McSweeney's Best 25 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 3: American Mystery Stories, tour dot Com, Weird Tales, Asthma, Science Fiction, 26 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 3: and many other venues. Nick is also an anthologist. His 27 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 3: most recent title is Wondering Glory Forever All Inspiring Lovecrafty 28 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 3: and Fiction. Nick's fiction and editorial work have been variously 29 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 3: nominated for the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, Locus, and 30 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 3: World Fantasy Awards. But the story is about clowns. It's 31 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 3: not really about clowns, but there's a clown in it, 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 3: and so that's why I'm reading it. That's not why 33 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 3: I'm reading the story. But I think it's clubby. This 34 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 3: is a story about space lasers and clowns and clown down. 35 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. 36 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, didn't give you enough of a warning about what 37 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 3: you were signing up for. This story is called the Flare. 38 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 3: The Light Brigade has a flare for the dramatic, or 39 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 3: at least the absurd. What I can tell you is 40 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 3: that they're located somewhere in the western end of the 41 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 3: Great Basin in California, and that I drove to meet 42 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 3: them in a car I rented at what's left of 43 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 3: the Reno Tahoe International Airport. Ten flights daily and on 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 3: Sundays eleven, that one being a quick hop to Vancouver. 45 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 3: Just to hang on to the name International do not recommend. 46 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 3: I traveled north in the early evening, when the temperature 47 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 3: was bearable but not so cold i'd need to heat 48 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 3: the car and waste precious juice. There were no charging 49 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 3: stations once I passed Pyramid Lake, but the brigade promised 50 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 3: that they already had power sufficient to reach our my 51 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 3: model te They also promised that I would instantly know 52 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 3: where to pull off the highway and pick up my liaison, 53 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 3: and they were right. Desert roads are always lonely, and 54 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 3: when the sun finished its descent, the only light came 55 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 3: from a failing Beaklin TM low orbit billboard and my 56 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 3: ride's headlamps. They were not even any animals prowling the 57 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 3: bush near the highway. No quick flashes of glowing eyes, 58 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 3: no glintse of track or collars in the shadows. Nothing 59 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 3: suddenly there and then gone in a blink. Both literal 60 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 3: and figurative, just brush and a low sky like black slate. 61 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 3: There was, however, on the shoulder of the road, a 62 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 3: circus clown, complete with red nose, great flipper shoes, and 63 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 3: a comically oversized hitchhiker's thumb. She wore a pair of 64 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 3: reflective yellow genie pants, a floofy sleeved crop top just 65 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 3: as vibrant, and a single red rose upon her left breast. 66 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 3: The clown's hair was pale blue and pink and pointed 67 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 3: straight up, a bit like the flame from a gas burner. 68 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 3: Turned all the way up, going my way, I asked, 69 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 3: She docked and entered the car headfirst, like an animal, 70 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 3: or at least someone unused to being a passenger in 71 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 3: anything smaller than a bus. I almost ate a mouthful 72 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 3: of her cotton candy colored hair. It was stiff, coated 73 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 3: and dried glue quick clowning around funny face, Hong Kong, 74 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 3: she said, as she squeezed her funny nose. It was 75 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 3: half broken and sounded like a wounded animal. But she 76 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 3: did her best to compensate broken animals. But trying our best. 77 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 3: That's what life has been for the past fifteen years. 78 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 3: The light Brigade had invited me out to their secret 79 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 3: headquarters to witness and write about the launch of their 80 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 3: home brew laser satellite. Just two years ago, the Brigade 81 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 3: had created and uploaded open source plans for the improvement 82 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 3: of your backyard photovoltaic receivers to convert solar powered laser 83 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 3: energy into good old DC electricity. It was a provocative 84 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 3: move by this assemblage of hackers, engineers, and from the 85 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 3: look of the looks of the clown under employed performance artists, 86 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 3: especially provocative since there was and there is nothing for 87 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 3: photovoltaic receivers to collect that isn't just coming from the Sun. Already, 88 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 3: solar power satellites have been on the drawing boards and 89 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 3: some of the most hopeful PowerPoint slide presentations ever created 90 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 3: for almost seventy years. Indeed, there are a handful of 91 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 3: microwave transmitting satellites in low orbit right now, but they're 92 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 3: not pointed toward the Earth. Instead, they are oriented towards 93 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 3: the four long Wang weapons platforms located thirty five thousand 94 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 3: kilometers overhead, to keep them powered up and ever ready 95 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 3: for war. But that the Light Brigade wants you to 96 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 3: know is going to change. We didn't travel much more 97 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 3: than a mile before the clown, whose name was Elektra, 98 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 3: told me to pull over and get out of the car. 99 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 3: She pointed her novelty thumb at me, then dug it 100 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 3: into my ribs as if it were a pistol and 101 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 3: she a mobster. It was fine, all part of our agreement. 102 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 3: The night was frigid, but it's the kind of cold 103 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 3: that's a relief, like walking by the open door of 104 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,799 Speaker 3: the store you could never afford to enter a freelance 105 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 3: journalist's salary. She kept me waiting outside, where I took 106 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 3: nips now and again from my flask while she programmed 107 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 3: a new route into the car's navigation system. Then stepped 108 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 3: back out and said, want to sniff my flower? Before 109 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 3: I could even say yes, it's squirted, and something sticky 110 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 3: that smells of lavender hit me full in the face. 111 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 3: I woke up blindfolded, still in the passenger seat of 112 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 3: my car, but definitely off road. A hard jostle sent 113 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 3: my head up to the roof and nearly lost consciousness 114 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 3: A second time, Easy said, Electra, we're close to the Shonzai. 115 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 3: I was intrigued to hear that bit of Mandarin. It 116 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 3: meant she trusted me. Shonzi distant strongholds beyond the reach 117 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 3: of the emperor in ancient times, Shonzi bandit bands resisting 118 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 3: centralized power. In the merely pre modern era, Shonzi underground, 119 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 3: non hierarchical factories for knockoff cell phones with extra features, 120 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 3: and spider Man action figures in turquoise and purple instead 121 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 3: of red and blue. In the recent past and today, 122 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 3: Shonzai meant all those things and something more. I had 123 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 3: a million questions, but I wasn't going to ask them 124 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 3: well blindfolded. It was another thirty minutes perhaps before we 125 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 3: pulled up to the Shanzai. Stay in the car for 126 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 3: one minute, please, the clown said. She stepped out and 127 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 3: closed the door. I could hear other people milling around, 128 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 3: and they made me wait for much longer than a minute. 129 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 3: But finally the passenger door opened, and a man's hand 130 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 3: pressed against my chest and told me one sec He 131 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 3: took off my blindfold and then stepped back and said 132 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 3: get out. There were six of them, including my chauffeur. 133 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 3: They introduced themselves. A couple shared their pronouns and won 134 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 3: a brief list of headmtes only the clown and a 135 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 3: woman with whom she was now holding hands, said welcome 136 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 3: to the Light Brigade. We launched at dawn. They spoke 137 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 3: in an eerie practiced harmony like creepy twins in a movie, 138 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 3: then broke into laughter. And you know what else is 139 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 3: like creepy twins in a movie? 140 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 4: Man? You know, I thought you were gonna go for 141 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 4: the launching it done one, but that one's funnier. 142 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no, launching it done. Oh I kind of no. 143 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 3: I feel bad. I feel like that should have been 144 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 3: the that should have been the ad pivot. Well, you know, 145 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 3: there's no going back. It's a forward only medium. That 146 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 3: they say classically about pre recorded audio. It's just like radio, 147 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 3: and that it's here's ads. Listen to them, or press 148 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 3: the forward fifteen seconds button a couple of times, maybe 149 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 3: six times, whatever, until you hear the jingle music again, 150 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 3: and we're back. The brigade's rules were simple, no photos, 151 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 3: no extensive physical descriptions. They let me know that none 152 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 3: of the communicative tech I might have, including my watch, 153 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 3: would work out wherever they were. I could only talk 154 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 3: to the clown, her girlfriend, and one fellow who agreed 155 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 3: to answer questions if I addressed them just to him, 156 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 3: and if they were sensible. There had been a vote 157 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 3: about my presence here, and it was a tie, so 158 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 3: everybody one, according to half the Shanzai, I wasn't there, 159 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 3: so why a clown suit? I asked, over a meal 160 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 3: of grilled grow meats and pine nut soup. We were 161 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 3: sitting outside a top military surplus sleeping bags on the 162 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 3: ice over floor of the desert. I wasn't allowed inside 163 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 3: any of the structures, but I am allowed to say 164 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 3: that they appeared to be hoop houses with opaque plastic 165 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 3: canvases stretched over the frames. We needed helium, said Electra 166 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 3: the clown. She casually confessed to a series of crimes 167 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,599 Speaker 3: involving an illicit helium smuggling ring that caters to the 168 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 3: more nostalgic members of the ultra rich for their children's 169 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 3: birthday parties, her infiltration of the same, and a sudden 170 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 3: and perhaps violent hijacking of a truck of canisters. Her 171 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,359 Speaker 3: girlfriend rubbed her back as she spoke of brandishing a firearm. 172 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 3: How she convinced the truck driver that helium was as 173 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 3: flammable as hydrogen through sheer force of will, And what 174 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 3: a challenge. It was unloading the truck in a safe 175 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 3: house and then slowly transporting the canisters in ones and 176 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 3: twos to this location. I kept the suit because I 177 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,439 Speaker 3: knew you'd stop for it, she finished. Who could resist? 178 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 3: Nobody can resist, said the clown's girlfriend. Electra had told 179 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 3: me much about the plans of the Light Brigade, just 180 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 3: from sharing that one anecdote, the brigade would not be 181 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 3: launching a microwave transmitting satellite. These six people were likely 182 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 3: the whole of the organization. There was no broad movement, 183 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,720 Speaker 3: no multinational organization stealing and smuggling, borrowing and building to 184 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,319 Speaker 3: create the means to provide free power to the masses. 185 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 3: May I see your raccoon, I asked, Yeah, said the girlfriend. 186 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 3: You can call me Robin, by the way, Tracy, said Electra, 187 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 3: who finally took off her large wig and plucked off 188 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 3: her nose and tossed it into the wigs cap. The 189 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 3: other person, who agreed to speak to me only if 190 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 3: I asked sensible questions, identified himself as Lee. Though as 191 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 3: Lee was the one with the headmates, I knew that 192 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 3: agreement might be altered at any moment. 193 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 5: It was like that. 194 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 3: Raccoon is a portmanteau of rocket and balloon, a twentieth 195 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 3: century technology obsolete for a full century. A balloon hoists 196 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 3: the rocket up into the upper atmosphere, then the engine 197 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 3: ignites in the rocket, usually a solid fuel number can 198 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 3: get even higher without needing all that much fuel. In 199 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 3: the nineteen forties, raccoons were used for atmospheric and meteorological study, 200 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 3: but or quickly superseded by liquid fuels and rockets capable 201 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 3: of reaching orbit from the ground. Raccoons were still technically useful, 202 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 3: but the missile synic doocic of war. Even when there 203 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 3: was no possible worry that an upper atmosphere mission would 204 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 3: be targeted by an enemy, the very fact that raccoon 205 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 3: seemed easy to shoot down was enough to mothball the 206 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 3: inexpensive flexible technology. Tracy and Robin were happy to show 207 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 3: off the disused minute Mann silo. The moon was new, 208 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 3: and for obvious reasons, the Light Brigade kept its work 209 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,839 Speaker 3: areas dark. We're not worried about the police, per se, 210 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 3: Robin explained. As we picked our way through the bush, 211 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 3: led by nothing but the lights of our wristwatches, my 212 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 3: little ball of light found a scorpion on the desert floor. 213 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 3: It didn't scuttle away or flex its tail, and I 214 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 3: too found myself frozen, both terrified and feeling the cold 215 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 3: of the night air for the first time. Tracy knocked 216 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 3: the iraqnet away with her oversized shoe. Be careful, she said, 217 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 3: but she wasn't talking about the scorpion. Not a minute later, 218 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 3: both women grabbed my forearms and kept me from taking 219 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 3: a fatal step down the concrete tunnel they were leading 220 00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 3: me to. The silo wasn't capped, and the rocket sand's 221 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 3: nose cone was much smaller than the Minuteman for which 222 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 3: it was originally designed. There was a low concrete building 223 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 3: on the far side of the lip of the silo, 224 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 3: but it was dark enough, and I'd been focused enough 225 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 3: on where I've been stepping, but I hadn't noticed it 226 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 3: at all. They wouldn't talk about the missile very much, 227 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 3: except to saying that it was a solid propellant rocket 228 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 3: and that its fuel was environmentally friendly Hexa nitro hexa's 229 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 3: iso wurtzsustain, a word that danced on their tongues even 230 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 3: through their giggles, but that utterly confused my transcription software. 231 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 3: More importantly, and why this fuel was used during this 232 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 3: straight conflict, is that Hexa nitro hexa's iso wurtz tain 233 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 3: burning rockets don't leave much of a visible trail. Thanks 234 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 3: Nick for including that word twice in the story so 235 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 3: that I had to read it. Thanks good looking out. 236 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 3: I realized the ladies could toss me into the hole. 237 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 3: They both had strong grips on my arms. This wouldn't 238 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 3: be the first bunch of hackers or makers or burners 239 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 3: or post rats or socialists or whatever the Light Brigade 240 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 3: was hoping to be calm out here in the Great 241 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 3: Basin to simply devolve into madness. It's a good one, 242 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 3: I said, idiotically, not that I've seen too many up close. 243 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 3: The balloon the satellite. My clever idea was to give 244 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 3: them a reason to lead me away from the silo 245 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 3: rather than truck me down into it for whatever blood 246 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 3: baptism they thought would help the mission. We'll show you 247 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 3: everything except that which cannot be shown, Tracy said. Robin 248 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 3: giggled at that none of this was helping. Except for 249 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 3: the small cement pillbox by the silo. There didn't seem 250 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 3: to be any other buildings around their grips didn't lighten 251 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 3: up as they led me off into the night, like 252 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 3: two prison guards bringing a drunk to a holding cell. 253 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 3: I was a little tipsy. Robin began making an unusual 254 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 3: clicking noise with her tongue and cheeks. I opened my 255 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 3: mouth to say something, but Tracy put a gloved finger 256 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 3: to my lips. They stepped lightly, and I aped their 257 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 3: tentative shuffling, thanks only partially to the hold they had 258 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 3: on my arms. The beam of watchlight passed over something 259 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 3: and vanished into it. Then Robin disappeared for a moment, 260 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 3: only to come back, holding the Knight in her hands 261 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 3: and directing my attention to a flight of cement steps 262 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 3: going underground hyperblack. I said, you were echo locating drones 263 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 3: are everywhere, and satellite's too, the Tracy, as she nudged 264 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 3: me onto the top step. Satellites are everywhere. There's one 265 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 3: in the subterranean warehouse into which I was walked alone 266 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 3: at Tracy and Robin's urging. It was not quite as 267 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 3: dark as the hyperblack tarp's top side, but it was 268 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 3: pretty dim. Lee, the third member of the Shenzai who 269 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 3: deigned to speak to me, sparked an old fashioned cigarette lighter, 270 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 3: perhaps ten yards away. Everything from his eyeglasses to the 271 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 3: size of the room was bigger than I imagined it 272 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 3: could possibly be, except for the satellite itself. He wouldn't 273 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 3: show me the whole thing at once, but casually walked 274 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 3: a tight circle around an object roughly the size and 275 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 3: shape of a very nice propane gas grill, of the 276 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 3: sort your parents might have once owned. It's the kind 277 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 3: of thing you might look at and be compelled to say, 278 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 3: what a butte, and then offer a pull from a flask. 279 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 3: But I resisted, I should not have. This is just 280 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 3: the laser, Lee explained. His eyes were obscured by the 281 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,359 Speaker 3: triple refraction of the firelight and the lenses of his spectacles. 282 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 3: A few more watts and he'd be the one shooting lasers. 283 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 3: Diode pump alkali. We get potash from the desert. How 284 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 3: do you know it works, I asked, How do you 285 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 3: know any of it works? The laser, the satellite, the raccoon. 286 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 3: Why are you asking me, Li said, because you think 287 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 3: I'm a man. Examine your biases, madame. He extinguished the 288 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 3: lighter with the top of his thumb. Somewhere behind and 289 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 3: above me, a clown nose honked for second after that, 290 00:16:55,200 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 3: I didn't hear the echolocational clicking behind me. Journalists say, 291 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,919 Speaker 3: or they used to say, don't bury the lead, but 292 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 3: I have done just that. I simply wasn't expecting the 293 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 3: story I ended up living through. Here's the lead. Fifteen 294 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 3: years ago, third party transnational belligerents used laser satellites in 295 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 3: low earth orbit to attack both Chinese and NATO positions 296 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 3: along the Taiwan Strait during the Second Battle of the 297 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 3: Davis Line and now the Nutcraft. The satellites existed in 298 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 3: multiple sweet spots. Their orbits were too high for anti 299 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 3: aircraft fire or drones to take out, but too low 300 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,639 Speaker 3: for the orbital platforms to target without possibly striking their 301 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,679 Speaker 3: own forces on the ground. They were big enough to 302 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 3: pump out lasers, capable of melting flight decks and combusting 303 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 3: individual sailors unfortunate enough to be standing in the wrong place, 304 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 3: too small to be spotted amidst all the other war 305 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 3: drunk in the skies until they warmed up and started 306 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 3: firing deadly enough that both said I had scored propaganda 307 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 3: victories by blaming the other for violations of the laws 308 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 3: of war insufficiently destructive to be anything more than a 309 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 3: political anomaly. After the fact, ten fatalities, dozens of casualties, 310 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 3: mostly blindness and other vision impairments, some second and third 311 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 3: degree burns. A single human pictogram in the infographic detailing 312 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 3: the carnage of the battle, made special by the asterisk 313 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 3: explaining what had happened. The simple collapse of the world 314 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 3: petroleum supply brought both sides to the negotiating table soon enough, 315 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,679 Speaker 3: and with the Treaty of Taipei, a significant population exchange, 316 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 3: and the launch of Long Wang, the peace of pure 317 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 3: exhaustion settled upon the world. But not here in the 318 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 3: California Great Basin. I asked Lee one further question, could 319 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,959 Speaker 3: this be weaponized? And then I got a whiff of 320 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 3: Tracy's clown flower and fell down. Then woke up, this 321 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 3: time just before dawn, in my car and not where 322 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 3: I left it, parked on the grounds of the Light Brigade. 323 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,639 Speaker 3: The car's controls had been locked and my hands cuffed 324 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 3: behind my back. I didn't think they'd knocked me out, 325 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 3: stuffed me into my ride and programmed it to make 326 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 3: a sharp right turn into a desert so that I 327 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 3: could be cooked like a potato and die. I thought 328 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 3: I was going back to the airport. The cuffs, I 329 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 3: guessed were the typical police issue that any security guard 330 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 3: with the universal key could unlock for me after I 331 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 3: rolled up to the parking lot attendants little box, probably, 332 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 3: and as a bonus, I was going to need to 333 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 3: pee before the car got me to my destination. Though 334 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 3: JA school one oh one, start with softball questions, as 335 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 3: the source might wig out or just end the interview 336 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 3: if you begin with provocations. But I was thinking of 337 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,160 Speaker 3: this article as a puff piece more than anything else. 338 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 3: Check out the product and personalities, throw in a charming 339 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 3: anecdote or two, and post. The fact is that there's 340 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 3: never been a decent business case for peace full laser 341 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 3: transmitting solar powered satellites. Historically, they don't collect enough extra 342 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 3: solar radiation to make it profitable to build, launch, and 343 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 3: maintain them, no matter how dark the black one paints 344 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,400 Speaker 3: their solar panels, no matter how much helium one steals 345 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 3: from the children of billionaires. In our post oil nineteen 346 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,959 Speaker 3: degree celsius era, when a cloudy day is practically an 347 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 3: economical holiday and cheap and shiny photovol take collectors fill 348 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 3: the parking lots of most defunct strip malls. There's just 349 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 3: no profit to be had. The only laser transmitting satellites 350 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 3: that have ever been commercially deployed were used for space 351 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 3: to space communication or wide scale high detail mapping. Those 352 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 3: and the Davis line direct energy weapons fifteen years ago. 353 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 3: You know what else promises to be commercially for one 354 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 3: thing but feeds into a culture of war? 355 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 4: Is it the space lasers you can buy from our advertisers. 356 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 3: Yes, go buy a space laser because that's a thing 357 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 3: that you can do and would be moral and there's 358 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 3: nothing complicated about that. 359 00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 5: Here's some ads. 360 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 3: Welcome back, unless you have cooler zone media, in which case, 361 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 3: well it's still welcome back. But it's just welcome back 362 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 3: for me talking about ads to me talking about coming 363 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 3: back from ads. Aren't you so glad that you pay 364 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 3: a small amount every month in order to not hear 365 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 3: ads but instead to hear Margaret toss to ads and 366 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 3: then come back, because really, tossing to ads is the 367 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 3: high point of her day because it's where I can 368 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 3: make sir joke. Anyway, here's the story. The sun begins 369 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 3: to bubble up on the horizon. In my rear view mirror, 370 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,719 Speaker 3: I see a black ball dragging a gray arrow up 371 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 3: into the sky and tell the mirror to start recording. 372 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 3: If I'm a war reporter, now I might as well 373 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 3: get some good visuals from the model t's tiny hatch. 374 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 3: I hear a voice say, oh good, you're awake. Tracy 375 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 3: kicks out the armrest between the rear seats and unfolds herself, 376 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 3: legs first out of the trunk, then slithers into the 377 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 3: front passenger seat. Sorry, there was a coup. She glances 378 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 3: down at my wrists, ah, handcuffs. Also, they're after us 379 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 3: by now? Probably you uh? I start? I am a 380 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 3: legitimate master of the circus arts, Tracy says, who is 381 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 3: after us? I say, there's a lot to know, now, 382 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 3: who what when journalism is inscribed upon my nervous system? Robin, 383 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 3: the investors, Tracy says, not all of them. 384 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 4: Of course. 385 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 3: We raised funds to buy the silo via the blockchain, 386 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 3: so most of the people funding the project know little 387 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 3: more about it than already real estate guaranteed twenty percent return. 388 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 3: And no, not Robin. They are three on site investor 389 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 3: Onbud's folks tied us both up and went to get you. 390 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 3: Robin and I have built up a tolerance to the 391 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 3: spray they knocked Lee out with it, though there's not 392 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:18,719 Speaker 3: much to do in the desert, so Robin taught one 393 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 3: of the investors how to echo locate. Sorry, also, I 394 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 3: talk a lot when I'm with a new person. Sorry 395 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 3: about that too, Where why? 396 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 4: How? 397 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 3: I should have been clearer, but I'm too confused to 398 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 3: make my question specific. How did you escape? Is answered 399 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 3: wordlessly as Tracy picks the lock on my cuffs with 400 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 3: a paper clip. Where were she and Robin locked up? 401 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,800 Speaker 3: Hardly matters. Tracy probably just shimmied out of whatever they'd 402 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 3: bound her with. Why is a bigger question. Light Brigade 403 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 3: really isn't a weapons project. I promise it's just you know, 404 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 3: Tracy says before trailing off. Her face is as red 405 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 3: as the desert twilight. We're going all the way to 406 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 3: the airport unless you can pick the ignition or the 407 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 3: door locks, I say, so, just start from the beginning. 408 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 3: How do you prove to people that your laser transmitting 409 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,199 Speaker 3: solar powered satellite actually works if all it does is 410 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 3: give randomly placed receptors a third more juice? Now and 411 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 3: then it's proof of concept. We need dozens of them 412 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 3: in sun synchronous orbits. So blow something up just once 413 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 3: for some venture capital funding layer for the dramatic. Well, ah, no, 414 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 3: I realize the truth of the business model. Blow something 415 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 3: up whenever one of the investors want something blown up. 416 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,880 Speaker 3: Pollution free, energy efficient ninety five percent of the time 417 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 3: to pay fixed costs, and a profit center in privatized war, 418 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 3: not dramatic, absurd? And why me? In the rearview mirror, 419 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 3: the rocket ignited and took off a star and a 420 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 3: quickly faded star filled sky. It's mostly the car, Tracy says, 421 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 3: because it's easy to track. But I know she waved 422 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 3: a hand. Her fingers were very long and thin. People 423 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 3: hate journalists, and the ending one would make worldwide news. 424 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 3: He are, I am a Light Brigade's publicity person, but 425 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 3: my idea was just to bring in a journalist, not 426 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,719 Speaker 3: to people hate mimes too. I found myself saying, I 427 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 3: am a clown and we're not going to her. Gaze 428 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 3: flicks towards the rear view. It's rare to see a big, 429 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 3: old gas or car on the highways anymore, since there 430 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 3: were few operational gas stations but a fast four to 431 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 3: three point fifty pickup is bearing down on us. Is 432 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:40,639 Speaker 3: that Nambud's person's car? It is, Tracy says. They probably 433 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 3: figured out that I escaped with you. So how do 434 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 3: we stop the car? Can you pick the ignition like 435 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 3: the cuffs? Pick this, Tracy slowly the ignition? No, of 436 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 3: course not. You have to hack these things and I can't. 437 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 3: I came here to get you out the second the 438 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:01,679 Speaker 3: car stops in the airport lot. She shrugs, exaggerated. A 439 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 3: stage performer can't resist an audience. They want witnesses, maybe 440 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 3: a terror angle to make sure you're on the news. 441 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 3: It's up to me to stop the car. Least have 442 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 3: my hands now. Of course, there's the issue of the 443 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,239 Speaker 3: pickup truck on her tail. Circus arts are powerless, and 444 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 3: I'm no techi. What can journalists do except watch and 445 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 3: write what they saw for pennies. Ah watch, ah, pennies. 446 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,400 Speaker 3: We drove far enough that my watch is in contact 447 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,119 Speaker 3: with the rest of the world again. I take it off. 448 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,400 Speaker 3: Put on your seatbelt, I tell Tracy, as I put 449 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 3: on mine. I hand Tracy my watch and tell her 450 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 3: to log in under her own account and report the 451 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 3: model t were in for drunk driving and drunk riding. 452 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 3: Her fingers are nimble. She does it in a few seconds. 453 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 3: It takes me to dig my flask out of my pocket. 454 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 3: The interior turns red, and out of the steering wheel 455 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 3: comes a breathalyzer tube, and a sickly sweet female voice 456 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 3: urges me to blow just a little a gulp. I 457 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 3: swish and gargle and swallow, then blow. The car stops 458 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 3: hard a clax and sounds inside, and the voice, now 459 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,399 Speaker 3: with a testy edge to it, warns me that this 460 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 3: car is fully locked and will move no further. Into 461 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 3: a retrieval truck arrives. Try to stay loose, I say 462 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 3: more to myself than Tracy, who can certainly manage that 463 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 3: trick better than I can. Booze aside. The ford slams 464 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 3: into the rear. I see nothing but a white explosion 465 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:37,919 Speaker 3: before me. I found out what happened immediately after the crash, 466 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,439 Speaker 3: only weeks later. I broke my nose in three ribs 467 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 3: and really wrecked my back in those inexplicable ways that 468 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,919 Speaker 3: can never fully be healed. Stuff happened to my literal 469 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:50,639 Speaker 3: spinal fluid, one of the few substances we can't just 470 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 3: laidle out of a vat pour into someone. Tracy was fine. 471 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 3: She wriggled out over her airbag, kicked out the front windshield, 472 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 3: and then skidobtled around to see the ford. It had 473 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 3: pushed us a good half mile up State Route thirty six, 474 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 3: ate the back half of the Model Tea and nudged 475 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 3: up between my shoulder blades. The ombuds folk were alive 476 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 3: inside the wreck, unconscious and crushed between half a dozen 477 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 3: air bags. We'd had a few seconds to prepare ourselves. 478 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 3: They'd been completely surprised. Tracy pulled me from the wreck 479 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 3: and dragged me past the side of the road onto 480 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 3: actual desert sands. A streak of blood and other liquids, 481 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 3: like a great stroke from the paint brush, making a 482 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 3: trail behind me. It was good she would be able 483 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 3: to find me a few minutes later through all the smoke. 484 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 3: Then she dashed down the road and found my watch. 485 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 3: I came to fairly quickly. The thinnest sheet of ice 486 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 3: lay over the sand. In ancient Egypt, servants were sent 487 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 3: out each morning before dawn to ever so gently scrape 488 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 3: the millimeter of frost that would form upon the dunes 489 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 3: overnight and collect it into a small cup so that 490 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 3: the Pharaoh might have a small cup of Sherbert with 491 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 3: his breakfast. I got two licks in before every molecule 492 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 3: of H two O vaporized. With before my one good eye, 493 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 3: I guessed that the satellite had just then passed overhead. 494 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,959 Speaker 3: As both my rental and the Ford F three fifty 495 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 3: burst into flames, I felt the soles of my feet blister, 496 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 3: the sense of having toes vanish as flesh blue flew 497 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 3: off bones. It was good. That meant my spinal cord 498 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 3: was still functioning. When I woke up again, I was 499 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 3: lying on the back of the cargo bed of their 500 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 3: trievil truck. I screamed at the sky for an hour 501 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 3: as Tracy negotiated with my watch in an attempt to 502 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,560 Speaker 3: re route the truck away from the airport vehicle's rental 503 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 3: office and to a hospital. In her other hand, Tracy 504 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,480 Speaker 3: gripped a mostly melted license plate. I remember that she 505 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 3: kept having to take a new pictures of it and 506 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 3: upload them to a satellite link in order to be believed. 507 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 3: When she and Robin visited me in the hospital a 508 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 3: week later, she showed me a scar on her palm 509 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 3: that was shaped like much of the letter. W Lee 510 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 3: sent my watch a JP three g depicting a big 511 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 3: eyed owl holding flowers and wearing a sash reading get 512 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,200 Speaker 3: well soon. That was somehow worth four and a half 513 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 3: million dollars to a soft be auction bot on the 514 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 3: Worldwide Hive. Like all freelancers, I am uninsured, but that 515 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 3: gift paid for all my medical expenses save painkillers, so 516 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 3: I've had to find another way to get addicted to them. 517 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:32,520 Speaker 3: I live in a tiny house on the roof of 518 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 3: an apartment building, the first story storefront of which is 519 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 3: the sort of very much not Irish pub that journalists 520 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 3: enjoy drinking in. I get my pills from sympathetic colleagues 521 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 3: and well wishers. It took me a long time to 522 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,240 Speaker 3: file this story, but when it's posted, I'll have a 523 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 3: few extra coins to buy some rounds for the gang. 524 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 3: Other than the pub for pills, pints and peanuts, I 525 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 3: stay in bed, very much not healing. I can pay 526 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 3: my rent and buy my grow meats thanks only to 527 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 3: a peculiar fact. Somehow, the photovoltaic collector on the roof 528 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 3: of the shipping container I call home consistently collects a 529 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 3: third again of my energy needs at a rate twenty 530 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 3: percent over its own listed capacity. I'm able to sell 531 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 3: the extra electricity in my batteries back to the local utility. 532 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 3: Every three months. The electric company sends me a check. 533 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:27,560 Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a fun story. I feel like, Okay, before 534 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 6: I say anything further. As the child of people who 535 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,479 Speaker 6: work with light, I need the issue of warning about lasers, 536 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 6: which is that they are very dangerous. They are very 537 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,200 Speaker 6: very bad for your eyes. Even looking at a laser, 538 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 6: just being like pointed at a wall, like the diffraction 539 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 6: from that is enough to fuck up your eyes. Don't 540 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 6: mess around with them. You will go blind. Okay, it 541 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 6: may take a while. They're very bad for you. 542 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 3: Okay. 543 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 7: Yeah, now that I've issued the laser disclaimer, Yeah, no, 544 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 7: I like this story. Okay, so I asked, I asked Nick, 545 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 7: I'm going to start doing this thing where I asked 546 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:05,840 Speaker 7: the authors to give us, give us a little bit 547 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 7: of a I was like, do you want to, you know, 548 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 7: say anything about your story? And Nick said, if, dear listener, 549 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 7: you have the sense that the flare is informed by 550 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 7: a deep skepticism of techies and burning man, you are correct. 551 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 7: It's really it's a really interesting synthesis of a bunch 552 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 7: of the worst ideas that any Wood had, Like the 553 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 7: it's called the murder market, that there was this whole 554 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 7: thing for a long time where there was supposed to 555 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 7: be this scheme where that there was like an assassination market, 556 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 7: oh effectively, uh huh, where yeah, you could like put 557 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 7: The theory was that you could just keep putting money 558 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 7: into it and eventually like the price would be high 559 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,440 Speaker 7: enough that someone would do an assassination and kill the person. Yeah, 560 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 7: and everyone I knew insisted it was run by the FEDS. 561 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:55,280 Speaker 7: I don't know if it was run by the FEDS. 562 00:32:55,280 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 4: I think it was run by not very weird people 563 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 4: on dark web. Yeah, but yeah, this is this It 564 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 4: does sound like the exact kind of idea that these people. 565 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 3: Would go totally They're like, oh, we're going to bring 566 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 3: free energy to the world, and the world's like we're 567 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 3: actually doing good on energy. Everything else sucks, and they're like, well, 568 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 3: free energy. It's totally not murder laser definitely not. No, 569 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,560 Speaker 3: And I like the like you have the the people 570 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 3: who are genuinely excited and trying to do the good 571 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 3: thing and then like but the way in which they're 572 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 3: funded causes them to do bad thing. Yeah, I totally 573 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 3: don't have any sympathy for that. I totally don't know 574 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 3: what that's like at all. 575 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 4: Don't get in bed with the crypto billionaires. It's always 576 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 4: a bad idea. 577 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 2: Yeah. 578 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, And I wonder I didn't I didn't ask exactly 579 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 3: when this was written. I wonderful it was before the 580 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 3: NFT crash or if this is predicting its return, But 581 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 3: like it fits within the context of this world they're 582 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 3: describing very well. 583 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 5: So yeah, I don't know. 584 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 3: I like stories that are just still I like stories 585 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 3: that just like accept that the world is going to 586 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 3: be very different very soon because of climate change, but 587 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 3: then like still have like relatable normal people within it. 588 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,480 Speaker 4: So the world may burn, but there will always be 589 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 4: only semi employable, incredibly broke. 590 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,920 Speaker 3: Journalists totally, and then the not really irish pub that 591 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 3: they all hang out at. Well, that's that's book club, 592 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 3: if Mia, if people, where can people find you? I 593 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,359 Speaker 3: mean it's funny because like, most people probably are listening 594 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 3: to this on the feed of your podcast, but they 595 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,440 Speaker 3: might be listening to it on the feed of my podcast. 596 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 4: So that's true. Yeah, I host the podcast. It could 597 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 4: happen here. You can find it where presumably where you're 598 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,239 Speaker 4: listening to this who also have it could happen here, 599 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 4: assuming that it's not already, It could happen here. Yeah, yeah, 600 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,239 Speaker 4: I guess you can. You know what, No, I'm not 601 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:00,320 Speaker 4: gonna plug my Twitter. 602 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:00,880 Speaker 5: Screw that. 603 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:02,840 Speaker 4: Don't go on there. I don't want to be responsible 604 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 4: for any of the people listening to this being on Twitter, 605 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 4: So don't find me now. 606 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:12,760 Speaker 3: Twitter is in the process of doing what this story 607 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 3: is making fun of. It is in the process of 608 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:26,240 Speaker 3: becoming from tech utopianism to tech dystopianism very quickly. Okay, well, 609 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 3: you can find me on coolby Boulded Cool Stuff, which 610 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 3: might be where you're listening to this, or if it's not, 611 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:35,280 Speaker 3: then that's where you can listen to me. Every Monday 612 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 3: and Wednesday, I tell you about history. And Nick asked 613 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:45,239 Speaker 3: me to plug the the anthology he co edited with 614 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 3: Alan Datlow. It's called Haunted Legends, finally available as an 615 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 3: ebook at all Electrons stores, and that's the next phrasing 616 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,920 Speaker 3: of it. After thirteen years of being print only, is 617 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 3: a good chance to bring back the spirits of ghost 618 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 3: stories for Christmas, so go check out Haunted Legends. Nick 619 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,280 Speaker 3: is very good taste in stories as well as writing 620 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:14,040 Speaker 3: good stories, and I will also hopefully have good taste 621 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 3: in stories because I'm going to keep reading them to 622 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:21,160 Speaker 3: you every Sunday from now until I'm not doing it anymore. 623 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:23,200 Speaker 5: Bye. 624 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,320 Speaker 1: It could Happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 625 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 626 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:32,319 Speaker 1: cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 627 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,959 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 628 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,320 Speaker 1: You can find sources for It could Happen Here, updated 629 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 1: monthly at cool zonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.