8.4.19

“I’m not supposed to talk with you.”

“Well that’s rude,” the Devil said, picking dirt off their immaculate white shoes. “It’s Saturday afternoon, we’re in a church, and I want to partake of the sacrament.”

“But you don’t ever confess. Why are you here?”

“It can work in reverse, father. Most come here, seeking to unburden their souls, to make them light enough to float to heaven. There is freedom, though, in knowing you’re damned, and treasuring the weight that brings you to perdition.”

The priest shook feebly. “I have sinned.”

“And I,” said the devil, “am here to listen.”

7.28.19

She sat in the back of the church, listening to the sermon. The preacher spoke of gays infiltrating bathrooms, of Muslims infiltrating the government. Somehow he never spoke about the children he raped. The fear and shame he enforced filled his congregation.  Each would transfer that suffering  to the weak and helpless. She scratched her arm, waiting for the worship to start. The music began. It was weak, inoffensive. But it triggered what She needed from their souls. Yearnings, pleas, grief and gratitude. Spilling from their hearts into Her Essence.

She stumbled out. A fix was a fix after all.

7.27.19

“Why is it anime for me?

I’ve spent 45 years watching this stuff, locked on to it before I even knew it was from somewhere else, for another audience. Maruki Trading company, Sandy Frank and Carl Macek had me primed for the years of untranslated Betas, the VHS subscription services, and the streaming video of today.

It’s not the color, or the style, or even the storytelling. It’s the emotion. This was always a place where a character’s emotions were present on the screen and the expressing of emotions was the point. Our hearts are as vital as our minds.”

7.26.19

Bruce Wayne sat glumly, looking over the details of the plan.

“Our R&D department is providing free municipal wifi across Gotham. Our chemical divisions are providing storage and recycling services for facilities such as ACE, The Wayne foundation is focusing on mental health, as well as addressing housing and food issues across the city. We’ve teamed up with STAR labs for renewable energy sources. In short, we’re making Gotham the place you always wanted it to be, with Wayne Industries as the engine of change.”

“I know, but…”

“Would it help if we added a bat to the letterhead, sir?”

7.25.19

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

Secrecy

7.24.19

“They’re just taking up space. And we’re running out of room.”

The meeting table was covered in paperwork. Ledgers and diagrams, projections and panels.

“We’re seeing if we can get the overflow to other countries, but no one’s taking us up on it. Even the ones we expected.”

“Even with removing beds and facilities, the space limitations are showing.”

“It’s not like they’re legal entities. Our country doesn’t recognize them.”

“We can’t release them; if they go back, they’ll find another way in.”

“There’s a solution, and it’s got historical precedent.”

The folder for a new facility simply said ‘de-lousing’.

7.23.19

Captain Trall sat in the sandbox, each eyestalk focused on a child.

“You -all- have guns?”

The children nodded eagerly. “We’re gonna battle soon. It’ll be great!”

The stalks recoiled anxiously. “What do your guns fire?”

“Mine squirts water!”

“Mine shoots bubbles!”

“Mine has lights and goes pew pew!”

“And if you’re shot, what happens?”

“We drop down, and we’re dead for a couple of seconds, then we get up and play some more. What does your gun shoot?”

He looked down at his flechette pistol and thought carefully.

“Ah..Nothing.”

“Can you say pew pew?”

“I think so.”

“Let’s play!”