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     They don't get so far down the dark lane before two fairly large and serious looking men step in front of them. The two are wearing black jumpsuits, military hair, and blank grimaces::::Dick thinks perhaps they're car mechanics::::have that look. But Chill Lol Ill is dead in his tracks::::and Estoli is glancing around futively looking for escapes. Dick leans in and whispers to Chill.
     "What is it?"
     "Security."
     "Like cops?"
     "Kinda."
     "Never saw any cops in Three?"
     "Security's there::::just hidden."
     Dick senses the others' fear, but isn't afraid himself::::curious::::sense the fear is a little bit overdone::::so he's even slightly amused::::and the two stooges just stand there arms crossed, silently glaring::::which adds to their menace.
     "Um, excuse me. Can we help you gentlemen?"
     This unsettles them for an instant, not that they twitch::::just something in their demeaner::::following Estoli's eyes Dick now sees there's two more behind them::::same black jumpsuits::::same awe thing.
     Dick begins to step forward to break into their incredibly exaggerated personal space.
     "Listen, I'm Dick::::"
     "::::Don't!"::::Chill::::
     "::::Don't move!::::Or you're dead!"
     Dick freezes. The goons have all suddenly brought out weapons::::skinny looking reddish-brown sticks::::seem to have come into their hands from thin air.
     "We're emissaries from Community Three."::::Chill Lol Ill.
     "We know who you are. The amatron is to come with us."
     "We go where he goes."
     "Watch 11-12, engage."
     Then a voice from thin air::::kind of lazy and disinterested.
     "Bring them all."
     "Where we going?"::::Dick.
     But there's no reply. They begin marching::::two in front, the three of them, and two behind. Dick talks quietly.
     "What're those sticks?"
     "Rods::::very deadly. No fucking around, dude. This is real."
     The escort leads them to the tallest building Dick has ever seen::::very square::::all mirrored glass. Dick notices some people on the street staring at them::::pity and fear.
     They enter the building::::the door folds up behind them, and they all stand there::::perfectly still. Dick doesn't get what's going on at first, but then realizes the entire dark wood paneled room::::which is about the size of your average multi-plex movie theater::::is moving::::can't tell whether up or down::::but they're in an elevator. Dick feels better::::at least knowing that much. The entire huge wall before them simply disappears and they're standing in a garden. Not only has that wall disappeared, but they're standing on grass::::behind them an over-abundant trellis of orange and purple bougainvillea. Dick doesn't like the sudden shift of place::::his body reacts, knees buckle slightly. He looks straight up in search of ceiling::::but finds instead a deep blue sky studded with cloud moving to some virtual high wind. But is it real? Something::::something. He scans the four horizons::::suddenly feels it::::though they're standing in a vast garden they're enclosed. To the right a stand of pine trees. To the left trim hedges::::behind which a green sloping hill rises far far in the distance::::impossibly far. And in front of them a path through ornate flower beds and flowering bushes::::a colonial mansion::::though somehow out of scale with the rest::::too small::::a strange perspective. They're led down the path::::birds fly::::sparrows, meadowlarks::::there's a pond with ducks and swans. Soon they've arrived at the mansion doors, which open::::suddenly they're inside a large office::::with huge windows overlooking Anaconda, and the jungle beyond, from something like the 100th floor.
     There are four men seated comfortably in a group::::suits. One of them stands and begins to saunter over wholly focused on Dick::::friendly but so intensely curious that Dick feels non-existent.
     "Put your rods away."
     And Dick sees that the rods in the goons' hands simply vanish.
     "You're dismissed."
     Dick turns and sees that the other two are already gone::::must not have come in in the first place. The two goons march off to the left through a chunk of wall which dematerializes and quickly materializes::::as if swallowing them.
     The man extends his hand to Dick.
     "Don't got one of those buzzer things, do you?"
     "I'm afraid I don't understand."
     They shake hands::::the man's hand boney, slack::::serious smile.
     "Welcome to Anaconda, Mr. Calm."
     "Thanks. And you are?"
     "I'm Relativo Farsoo."
     "These are my friends::::"
     "::::They don't interest us, Mr. Calm."
     Dick looks to Estoli and can see he's avoiding any direct eye contact with any of them. Chill Lol Ill ditto. Both stand stiff::::at atention::::staring nowhere.
     "We"::::the man sweeps his arm back elegantly to acknowledge the other three::::"are Anaconda's council. We are in charge of Anaconda, come sit with us."
     Dick goes with him.
     "You mean you've been chosen by Anaconda's Detta, to pretend to be politicians?"
     The man laughs good-naturedly::::the others are meek, look curiously at Dick::::one smiling a bit too friendly. They're all very old::::frail, but certainly not the type you'd fuck with. Dick sits.
     "You see, Mr. Calm, you've just come from Community Three::::you originated there. You had a guide, I take it?"
     "Yeah."
     "Well, I believe he wasn't aware of your plans to travel here::::otherwise he would have briefed you on us."
     "Wasn't a lot of time. I'm just doing. I've been asked by Three's Detta to stop 7z's::::a com-hack you've transported here for god only knows what."
     "And you and your friends here destroyed his work. Unfortunate. Many months of preparation::::many months of very delicate work. And you destroyed it."
     "Yeah, well. It seemed like the thing to do."
     "A tremendous amount of energy, Mr. Calm. Energy::::electricity::::is the only this world has now that you could liken to money. It is a global economy, and we have gone very deep in debt for our project."
     "And what was your project?"
     "Our project is, to come on-line again. To become a community hooked-in to all of the world's resources."
     "Who kicked you out?"
     "You make it sound like a boy's club. Our charter was revoked six years ago."
     "By who?"
     "Whom. It was not a human decision. That is what is so disturbing."
     "The Dettas?"
     "Yes, Mr. Calm. Machines decided that our form of democracy did not fit in to the whole::::so they broke connection to our Detta. It has been an incredible struggle, just to survive."
     "Where does 7z's fit in?"
     "We needed to, let me speak metaphorically, dig a tunnel through to a key community."
     "So you could suck the tit."
     The four old men turn stone-faced. Dick turns around to his friends.
     "Come on, guys::::grab a chair. Let's hash this out."
     Chill Lol Ill looks to Estoli. A silent agreement ensues, and they relax. They both look to Dick, then back to each other, then walk over and sit in the large over-stuffed chairs on either side of him.
     "This is Estoli, and this is Chill Lol Ill. Gentlemen, this is Don Relativo Corleone, or some shit."
     He turns to the next one, who coughs.
     "I am Fabio."
     "I am Surto-Pam."
     "I am Sergio, Dick"::::the very smily one::::"We have met before."
     "Oh?"
     "Yes, well, I was eight years old at the time. Do you remember?"
     Dick looks hard at the man.
     "Eight? That would make you how old?"
     "I am 217 years old."
     "Shit."
     But Dick sees from the others' reaction that it's not to be questioned.
     "217::::that's incredible."
     "Yes."
     "And where did we meet?"
     "I sold you my mother's goat-meat tamales on a beach in Mexico."
     "Never been to a beach in Mexico."
     The man looks confused::::disappointed.
     "So? What is it you want?"
     "Just to talk, Mr. Calm."::::Relativo.
     "So, talk."
     "We have a huge set-back here. The Codon cannot hold much longer. We have need for a new ally."
     "I'm working for the other side."
     "Well, yes, you are. We have sixty-three thousand inhabitants here in Ananconda. Compared to the five billion others on Earth, you might take us for being insignificant. But we are a good, strong, proud people. We care about our people, Mr. Calm."
     "Well, you know, maybe that's the problem. You don't own them::::they are not your people!"
     "You've misunderstood."
     "No. It's clear now. You're like some mafia or something::::right? How could human beings control a Detta?"
     "It's not unheard of."
     "Maybe not, but, as I get it, a Detta simply collects data and makes sure everyone gets what they need::::seamless distribution. Humans standing in the way of that would only interject favoritism and prejudice. Am I wrong?"
     "Yes. You're wrong. Having machines interpret those prejudices into quantum code::::that is wrong::::that is not human!"
     "Machine ain't going to say, 'Hey, you're this certain color or certain religion, so, fuck you.' Machine just makes things flow."
     "Is that what you believe?"
     "I believe, right now, that I'm in the midst of some extraordinary dream. From my point of view, I see you got machines doing most of the manufacturing and all of the shuffling around of stuff. No poor people::::hell, no money::::no reason for crime, right? Everyone's got a roof over their heads, food in their bellies, clothes on their backs::::and the rest, those cool things we all just gotta have, well, they're available."
     "You see our world as utopia."
     "Well, all the makings are there."
     "Are they, Mr. Calm? What with freedom, and individualism?"
     "Cat sitting on death row has freedom::::he decides whether to bash his head against the bars or not. Being an individual just is. We already got it. It's not something to base an outlook on. I'm just a simple fool::::but what I saw being offered in Three was a damn-sight better than how we had it two hundred years ago. I may come across as some middle-class workaholic shmuck::::but don't you think I don't think about all the suffering in the world?::::Back in my world. All that inequality? What're you offering these folks?"
     "Human leadership."
     "Can't get me to join your campaign. Human leadership sucks. Best thing they've done is to create a machine which can rule them."
     "Then we have nothing more to say."
     "Damn right!"
     "We do, however, have you and your friends here in custody on a matter of sabotage."
     "What?"
     "You planted a bomb in our Detta."
     "Bullshit story. And how'd you know about that threat?"
     "We're hooked-in to 7z's."
     "Well then you're no god damn different than the machines::::are you?"
     "7z's is a special case."
     "Head-case. Special head-case."
     "I have one request."
     "Shoot."
     "My brother is the cultural minister for our people. He would very much like to speak with you."
     "But then we go? Free?"
     "I must make inquiries into your threat. Since it came from your lips, we would only detain you::::if a bomb were found. I could torture and kill your friends, but to what end?"
     "Yeah. Exactly. O.k., I'll talk with your bro."
     "Mr. Estoli stays with us::::this is a secure room. Any, what do you say, hanky-panky, and we kill him."
     "No hanky-panky, dude. But we're not giving up on stopping 7z's."
     "Moot point. He will be no longer with us soon."
     "Good. And for good?"
     "He has attempted to hook into our Detta's Codon in a rather crude fashion::::to ensure his own maintenance::::immortality. But we push a few buttons and he's gone."
     "Smart. Don't want that shit-head around::::really."
     "We will continue working on our problem with resources from within our own time-zone."
     "Do that."
     "Now. If you, and Mr. Ill will kindly go down this hallway::::my brother is really very eager to meet you."
     "You promise nothing's going to happen to Estoli?"
     "Down the hall there::::nothing, so long as you don't alarm Tito."
     The walls opens up. Dick and Chill walk down it..
     "Can we trust them?"
     "Don't got any other choice."
     They come to a doorway which automatically opens, Dick steps inside and it immediately closes::::cutting him off from Chill Lol Ill. An old old man sitting in a chair behind a desk lost in stacks and stacks of books::::and what looks an old Mac off to the side.
     "Another Dimension is nothing but pure fiction, Mr. Calm!"
     "What?"
     "Your book::::the book you wrote in 2006::::I guess you called them ebooks then::::it is false! I didn't say it! It couldn't have happened like that!"
     "Wait a second. You're dissing me for an ebook I write in four years, for something I attribute to you, that you, what, say?"
     "Yes. And it's remarkable in that that, what you just said, is perfectly recalled."
     "Maybe I mixed things up?::::Maybe I purposely embellished?::::Doesn't matter, does it? Can't change anything."
     "Yes. Well, very well."
     "So?"
     "I don't know. I just, I guess I wished for you to know of my dissatisfaction with your book."
     "What exactly is it I supposedly attribute to you, which bugs you?"
     Pause.
     "O.k., then. Why'd you arrange for this meeting? Why not avoid me altogether? Then you'd know for certain that I'd just made the whole thing up?"
     Pause.
     "What? Oh, wait a second::::is it fame? Some sort of notoriety?"
     "Well::::"
     "::::No, that's it! You hold this minister post or whatever the fuck it is because I wrote about you in my book!"
     "Don't think that your book is so special. It enjoyed a kind of cult status for a short period. No one ever believed it was a true story. No one has read it for over a hundred years."
     "So, what do you want? What's done is done. I wrote what I wrote. Write::::whatever. Can't be changed, from my understanding of things."
     "No, it can't."
     "So?"
     "I just wanted you to know."
     "That I fucked up? Well, cool."
     Pause.
     "So what is it I misquoted you as saying?"
     "I'm not going to tell you."
     "Ah, you caught on to my trick."
     "If by trick you mean by my not saying it, I can rest assured that what you wrote is pure fiction…"
     "Is that what I meant?"
     "You're pushing, Mr. Calm."
     "What am I pushing?"
     "You think you're very clever!"
     "This is like Alice in Wonderland, dude. I'm done with this. Bye!"
     "Ha! I never said it! There! There!"::::mad laughter.
     Dick quickly turns around::::the wall::::he frantically waves his arms trying to catch some beam or something to open the door. It opens and Dick steps out into the hall dizzy. Chill Lol Ill is there, waiting.
     "You look like shit."
     "Yeah."
     "Who was that? What was all that in there? Heard yelling."
     "I have no idea. Some crazy motherfucker. Let's go."
     They fast-walk down the bright hallway::::the wall opens and they're back in the office::::only Relativo and Estoli left, both sitting::::obvious they haven't had much to say to one another.
     "We go now?"
     "There was no bomb."
     "Well, just you wait and see::::we're a plant'in one jus now."
     "Do you feel you ability to manufacture such outbursts::::or are you wholly oblivious?"
     "Oblivious. Let's go, dudes."
     "That ability is being human, Mr. Calm::::you'll see that such humor has vanished from the people in Three."
     "Yeah, well, how do we get out of here?"
     "There."
     And the wall opens and they walk out and find themselves on the path in the garden::::just the three of them.
     "What the fuck was that?"
     "You just tooled some major dudes."
     "It's all a bunch of bullshit."

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