Monday, April 25, 2011

(For ABC Wednesday, Magpie 63 and Sunday Scribblings.)
"O" is for "Obedient"
“All I’m saying is, we follow the rule book. No deviations.”
“But the rules aren’t clear for everything. That means that sometimes we can decide ourselves what to do.”
“No, we can't. If any rule isn’t clear, we’re supposed to go to – you know who.”
“The Exalted.”
“Exactly. And when it comes to orders from the Exalted, we are one thing: obedient! Keep that word in mind! Trouble with you young guys, you want to see things happen. You get bored. Well, a lot of our work is boring – get used to it.”
“Excuse me, but this is the PDA, right? The Planet Destruction Agency?”
“Sure, but we destroy only the ‘U’ planets, the uninhabited ones. According to the Exalted, we leave the ‘I’ planets, the inhabited ones, alone. It’s all in the rule book.”
“Yeah, but what you seem to have missed is the section that says it’s okay to destroy an ‘I’ planet if it’s on the way to self-destruction on its own. In fact, technically speaking, eliminating an "I" planet is easy -- it's a piece of cake."
“You’re referring to Earth again, aren’t you? You keep bringing that up like a broken record. Listen. Our job is to find which ‘U’ planets are old, unable to keep up, and destroy them. That does not include Earth. I realize that you think you have all kinds of new, innovative ideas, but the PDA has been around for a long time and doesn’t need new ideas.”
“You know what it was like, where I was stationed before? I was in Universe Seven and let me tell you, it was a different world. They didn’t destroy old, useless planets the way you do, just turn them off the way you’d turn off a light bulb. They blew ‘em up! This made for a spectacular son et lumiere event that not only made an exciting show for everyone but served as a lesson for all the other planets.”
“The Exalted – he permitted that?”
“Permitted it? He loved it! Here, we’ve got tape; let me put it up on the screen.”

“My God! That is spectacular!”
“Right. Look at those colors and stroboscopic lights and all that movement; it’s marvelous! We could do that with Earth! Because it’s a fact that an inhabited planet makes for a better show when it’s blown up.”
“But there’s this… In recent centuries, there have been more and more attempts on the part of its inhabitants to destroy Earth on their own. With their never-ending fighting and so on, they’re going to blow the place up themselves; they don’t need our help.”
“Well, give me a ring when it’s about to happen. I wouldn’t want to miss it!”

34 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

Yes, S is for self-destruction, or stupidity. I is for Idiocy, etc.

Leslie: said...

Thought-provoking post

Reflections said...

What a terrific piece! I agree with Roger though, E is for enough of the STUPIDITY!!! We must get a grip on this self-destruction we so endure.

Lyn said...

The "Exalted" may be getting tired of us..Since we are all"I", it may be time to go! Clever..

Seems we've been hanging out in similar universes..

Ann Grenier said...

Wow! What an imagination --- I think I'm hearing plenty of exasperation out there. I continue to think of E.B. White's words: "I wake each day unable to decide whether to save or savor the world. It makes it hard to plan my day" --- or something like that. I'm sure tired of us.

Isabel Doyle said...

I liked this very much - it whizzed along

Helen said...

Yours is the cautionary tale to end all of them!

Carver said...

Very imaginative and interesting post. Outstanding.

Christine said...

I hope I see the blow up from up there too, in a few thousand years. Creative as always.

Hildred said...

A great heads-up post!

signed...bkm said...

A new vision of the end times (2012)....your version is quite a spectacular one...bkm

Kay L. Davies said...

Wow, ain't that the truth? We're so hell-bent on self-destruction, no one needs to do it for us.
Good job using the Magpie prompt and coming up with a use for the ABC Wednesday letter, Berowne. My imagination is on underdrive lately, but at least it's crawling along well enough to appreciate other people's creativity.
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Steve Isaak said...

Excellent, put me in the mindset of Douglas Adams' novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

EG CameraGirl said...

Hehe! I'm not so sure I want to be here when Earth blows up or when it self-destructs. :)

Meryl said...

Great post - a lot of fun. I love your art work! LOL. Thanks for the smile.

Jane and Chris said...

I guess that was what the 'four minute warning' was for...all the ringing around!!
Jane x

Friko said...

Don't forget to ring me, I wouldn't want to sleep through it.

Tumblewords: said...

This is almost too close to truth to be fiction. Stellar.

Dinah said...

I so love your post! Great great and witty read ;-)

O is Overcrowded

Anonymous said...

Oooh... Rachel Carson meets Douglas Adams in a spectacular display of insight and fantasy.

Loved this, Berowne, even though I have to admit it's true - we'll destroy ourselves first. And all the gold will melt... all the money will fly up in the air like confetti... and that was what the destruction will be all about. Ironic. Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/aging-disgracefully-and-proud-of-it/

Berowne said...

Friko: "I wouldn't want to sleep through it."
Don't worry; it'll wake you up. :-)

Berowne said...

Amy: "A spectacular display of insight and fantasy." Dinah: "Great and witty read." Meryl: "Great post - a lot of fun." Steve Isaak: "Excellent." H&C: "A great heads-up post!"
My thanks to all for some very welcome comments.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Sadly it is true that we seem intent on destroying ourselves and the wonderfull world on which we live upon.

I hope I am asleep when it happens!

Anna :0]

Kathe W. said...

well done!!! as Pogo said " we have met the enemy and he is us"

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Great read- and very thought-provoking! We do indeed seem to be intent on self-destruction.

Berowne said...

Southwest Arkie: "Great read- and very thought-provoking!"
Thanks to you from Southwest Nutmegger. :-)

R. Burnett Baker said...

Good one, Berowne! We are truly a defective species, aren't we!!

Rick

Berowne said...

Reflections: "What a terrific piece!"
What a terrific reflection. :-)

chrisd said...

There is so much truth to this tale. Well done.

Jae Rose said...

A kaleidoscopic foray into Sci-Fi..love it..and how true - we need no help in destroying ourselves..Jae

Anonymous said...

Three cheers to the PDA!

Altonian said...

This is not a WOW! post. It is a very sad post.
Sad because it's premise is so true and likely, and it need not be happening. Hopefully your words will be read by people who can do something about correcting matters - but that is highly unlikely, it would mean the next quarter will be in the red.

Lilibeth said...

What is it now? We have the atomic potential to destroy the earth 27 times over...or is it 97? Either way I'm afraid He'll have to shorten our days to prevent it.

Old Egg said...

Sadly it looks as though you are preaching to the converted. Quite apart from blowing ourselves up we are already destroying the world through greed and apathy. There is no answer as we do not care enough for our children and our childrens children!

 
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