King of All I Survey-Chapter 155: What’s the Catch?

As soon as the lights came up journalists began standing and calling out questions. Some yelling to be heard over the others.

"Basta! If you have a question, raise your hand for a second, your face will go up on the screen behind us to show that you are in the queue. Our system will manage the queue until everyone has had their chance. When the box with your face is highlighted, it’s your turn to ask your question," I instructed them. We hadn’t set anything like that up ahead of time, but I knew Joe would be listening in and could handle it on the fly. I glanced over my shoulder as the hands went up in front of me. Sure enough, rows of faces appeared.

"OK, now let’s try again in order, one at a time," I said. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

One journalist stood up. "How did you get rid of the gangs? Did you kill them all? How?"

I shook my head, "No, we did not kill them. The large group that tried to invade Guatemala from Chiapas was mostly killed in that military engagement. They were heavily armed and actively invading another country. This was a situation the Guatemalan government obviously found unacceptable. The majority of them were killed shortly after crossing into Guatemala as enemy combatants. All the others from Chiapas, the western regions and other parts of Mexico were captured, unharmed. They have been incarcerated in a secure, humane facility where they are well-treated and are required to undergo intensive psychological evaluation and engage in intensive therapy sessions. It is our belief that the majority of them can be rehabilitated and returned to society as productive members of the community. Those who are eventually released will have been judged by our rigorous evaluations to pose absolutely no threat of recidivism or continued criminal behavior. Even so, they will be released first into a work program providing community service to help repay the damage they have done. They will have regular supervision, ongoing psychological support, and continuous evaluation. This is not a forced labor program. These are jobs with good pay. While in custody, they will receive training and education to prepare them for these jobs. No one who poses any threat to of future violence will be released into the community. Because of the potential for old grudges on both sides for previous actions, none of the former criminals will be released into the same area where they operated previously. We do not believe in punishment and vengeance. We believe in removing threats, rehabilitation, and restitution."

The next face on the display behind me lit up, another journalist stood up, "What happened to the soldiers who burst into the building earlier today? We all heard gunfire and screaming, who was hurt? How did you stop them?"

I chuckled, "It didn’t sound good, I admit. However, I can assure you that no one on either side was injured at all. I don’t want to give away our secrets, but we have some highly trained security staff who have recent experience in dealing with the very violent cartels and gangs. The soldiers were effectively neutralized once they were inside, again, without harming them or allowing them to harm anyone. They are all safe and in the process of being released to the Mexican government. Unfortunately, that is as much as I can say on the topic."

The questions continued, "Miss Flores, how do you respond to people who say you are a saint, and the church should recognize you as such?"

Maribel shook her head, "I am no saint. I am an ordinary woman who had the incredible good fortune to be born into a wealthy family. I choose to use that good fortune to help make the world a better place, that’s all. My father taught me those values and has been an example of that principle for many years, though perhaps his efforts have not been as visible as my work has been. I am surrounded by people who share the same goals. Not just those who work for Universal Earth Concord and its charitable groups, but everywhere I have gone. I have found that when people don’t have to live in fear, when they have security and access to basic necessities, they turn to offer helping hands to others. Because of the situation in which I was born, I have the opportunity to give more, that’s all. It doesn’t mean that I am somehow better or different than anyone else. If you would make me a saint, then you must also make your neighbors and even yourselves saints when you help each other to build a strong, safe, and prosperous community. I am not special... Wait, let me say that differently. We are all equally special. If you want to honor me, then honor yourselves and your neighbors by helping each other."

I smiled as I listened to Maribel. I knew she had been created using my own mother’s core personality as a base, with a fictional memory overlay to temporarily make Mom think she was someone else while she worked undercover in Guatemala. Joe had later separated that personality out from Mom’s and... I don’t know how to think of it, programmed it into, transferred it, birthed it into and advanced semi-biological android body. Even though she was entirely created, Maria Isabel Flores believed she was real. That’s not even right, I chided myself. She IS real. She feels joy and pain and every other human emotion just the same as I do. That’s what makes us real, not our individual origin story. Even though her childhood memories were created rather than lived, she IS as real as I am. The thought reminded me that needed to officially declare her a person, with all the rights and privileges of any other person in the Universal Earth Concord.

I was brought back to the present by the next question, "Your opening speech made it sound like you don’t expect President De La Huerta to sign your contract to let you stay on in Mexico. Why is that? What else is in the contract that would cause him to say no? Can we get a copy of it?"

Here was the heart of the matter, I thought, the million-dollar question. "You’re right to ask. That is a very astute question. Yes, if the agreement were as simple as perhaps I have made it out to be, perhaps the choice would be easy. We are offering to provide the people of Mexico, and honestly elsewhere as well, access to the best modern medical and basic necessities. We offer to rebuild and modernize your electrical grids, roads and transportation systems, your communications and access to the internet and information, to help provide job-training and even actual by hiring people into our own organization. We offer to help law enforcement make communities safe from crime and even to help defend Mexico should they ever come under attack from outside. We will help build schools and train teachers, equipping them with the very best modern technology. If that was the whole agreement, why would anyone refuse these gifts. We don’t ask for payment, but what’s the catch? What do we want? What are we asking President De La Huerta to give us in return? That is the right question, and the one that everyone in Mexico has the right to know."

I paused. I took a deep breath. Here it is, I thought, in a way, I’m about to announce to the whole world that I want to take over everything as Supreme Ruler. This moment would either start that ball rolling with gathering momentum or turn the whole world against me and the Universal Earth Concord. My next words would have the highest stakes of anything I had ever said and done, except maybe my initial meeting with Earth Friend.

"Our goal, as we have said many times, is simple. We want to give every person on Earth the opportunity to live in peace, without fear of poverty, illness, crime, or war. We want everyone to have the opportunity to live up to their highest potential, according to their own wishes. That’s it. Period, end of story. It is our belief that in order to achieve this goal, people all over the world, countries all over the world have to agree to certain principles. They have to agree that they will never start a war or attack another country, for example. They have to agree that people have the right to choose their own destiny, to follow their dreams, to live where they want, go where they want, and have their basic needs met regardless of their circumstances. We believe people have basic rights that are not given to them by governments with strings attached. Governments exist, we believe, for no other reason than to make life better for the people who they govern. That includes protecting them from outside threats, providing for their needs, and offering them the opportunity to live without fear and to be happy. In order to guarantee that, governments have to be accountable to a higher, common authority. We are simply asking for Mexico to agree to allow itself to accountability, agree that it has a basic responsibility to the people of Mexico and even to all the people of the Earth."

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