The Michelangelo Effect

 In the year 1475, when Michelangelo was born, there were around four hundred million people in the world. If you consider him to be a rare once in a lifetime individual of skill or import, then the chances of another similar figure being recognized would amount to one in four hundred million. You may substitute any famous individual from history in his place and my thought experiment will run the same. 

Let's start with the assumption that good old Mikey was one in three hundred million. A once in a lifetime find for the human race. His art was so sublime that no other person in his lifetime could have competed. Again, substitute whoever you want in his place. 

Now take into account the modern world population. There are twenty times the number of people in this world than there were back in his day. That means that there are twenty people with the exceptional skill, artistry, or insight to rival Michelangelo in this world today. Repeat this process for each individual of import you may recognize. Darwin, Da Vinci, Solomon. There are so many people in the world right now that multitudes of exceptional people in all fields and in all walks of life, all forms of science and art, equivalent to the best of the renaissance or ancient history, must be alive today. Why do we not recognize them?

One voice that says something exceptional is, in itself, an exception. But once there are many who say it, once there are many who can reproduce that feat, it becomes ordinary, even if it rivals that of the famous dead celebrities. There are workshops in Italy that still produce marble statues to the quality of the old masters. There are gems of every kind hidden in our world, blanketed by a niche that almost none of us understand, or buried underneath a layer of obscurity that only comes with our world's enormous culture. People with the skills of the old masters are alive today and practicing their craft. New masterpieces are being created every day. 

Just remember that, with a big enough population, there will come a large absolute number of outstanding individuals. Believe that we are living in a time where masters walk, where we pass by a legend without even looking in their direction. 

My experience with the Ambernic RG351P

Playing retro games on the actual device they were designed to be played on is expensive and difficult. It may be hard to find the hardware, or the games, or they may be prohibitively expensive. Any combination of these factors leads one to search for alternatives to the original hardware. This is where emulation comes into play. If you have a powerful enough machine, then you can download software that will allow that machine to pretend to be the original hardware. Then you can just download the games you want to play and file them onto your system for easy use. 

Portable emulation machines are something that has cropped up in recent years to deal with the handheld market that appears to have experienced a bit of a drop off. A single machine can run a multitude of emulators, allowing for a large library of games to be played on that device. The handheld emulator I ended up choosing was the Ambernic RG351P, part of a family of handheld gaming stations that are available at a reasonable price. 

This is where my adventure began. When I unboxed the platform, it was packaged well, with setup instructions that were short and easy to understand. I slipped the MicroSD card into the slot and turned it on. It responded on the first touch. After displaying a few lines of code, it started up and loaded into an interface. 

This machine is built on Linux, which is an operating system independent of Windows and MacOS. While I have no experience with Linux, I do have a lot of experience with emulators. The card came preloaded with an assortment of games, ranging from Capcom to PC Engine--a device that was only released in Japan in the early nineties. 

However, this is where my adventure ramped up in difficulty. I had bought this device to play games that were released on the PSP. When I started up Valkyria Chronicles 3, I immidiately noticed a distinct crackling noise. I restarted the machine and checked the options menu. I switched the emulation software to the other of two pre-installed systems. It seemed to work. 

This cascaded, though, as saving on the new software was wonky and didn't work very well. I quickly filled up the available slots--it seemed that I was unable to overwrite old saves. This resulted in me opening up the save data folder using a SD to USB converter. I deleted the saves through the file explorer interface and that worked for a while. 

Then I decided to try playing visual novels on the device. They would not save on the Liberto/PPSSPP emulator, so I was forced to switch to the original PPSSPPSDL software kit. While tinkering around with saving options, I accidentally screwed up saving for all the other games as well. This was irreversible, as I spent an hour trying to get it working again. I thought that I would have to return the device, as it was almost unusable. Then I discovered a whole group of people who were working with the exact same machine I was. They had created a completely new OS, and also recommended using a different microSD card, as the ones that came packaged with the device were notorious for being low quality. Learning this, I immidiately bought a high-end SD card from amazon that was Samsung branded for under twenty dollars, guaranteeing some degree of quality. Then I flashed the new OS to the card using a specialized software. The device booted up perfectly, I transferred my saves without issue, and got to gaming. 

In the end, I enjoyed this adventure, not just because it allowed me to have access to a number of old games that are not really supported anymore. It required a large amount of expertise, both with computers and with emulators in specific. I had some of that expertise already, but this project really taught me something. I enjoyed it, and to me it was worth the price of admission simply because of how interesting it was. And that, I think, is the ultimate value of any piece of technology. 

On billionaires and money

 I've recently heard a lot of people giving billionaires flak for having too much money. They claim that no reasonable person will have use for that much accumulated wealth. They feel as if the billionaires have taken something from them and feel envy towards them; this justifies the line of reasoning that they should be culled or have their net worth reduced to a more reasonable level through forced requisitions. What they don't understand is that billionaires don't take money from anyone. In the modern American system, the majority of high-profile billionaires were given that money by you--by the people who are complaining. You use services like Amazon and Paypal, paying money for the privilege. You utilize services distributed by satellite that were launched into space by SpaceX. You pay money for goods and services totally and completely voluntarily. 

One may argue that "eating and drinking and housing" are not voluntary. However, in our current system, you have choice as to what you eat, how you drink, and where you live. That same "non-voluntary" set of human necessities does not begin with you. In order for a man to eat, another man must till the field. In order to put butter on your toast, another man must milk the cow and churn the butter. There are certain things in this world that are not voluntary. But when you look at the current system, we have figured out a way to inject voluntary choice even into these things. You can choose Nutella or Jiffy. White or wheat. Seven different kinds of fruit jam.

Do you think a government would function without a figurehead? Without people making big decisions? How do you expect an economy to work the same? The people on top, when viewed through a utilitarian quid pro quo lens, may not deserve a billion dollars for their hard work, when there are plenty of people working just as hard for much less. But what billionaires do is inspire. They lead their company or corporation through trailblazing and pushing the envelope. 

Most billionaires have their net worth tied up in stocks; these stocks, at one point, were worth much less. They are not taking money from anyone. That money is being given to them by you, the person using the service or buying the good; by you, pushing up the stock price through your pension; by you, getting that PS5 through amazon. No one but the government is forcibly taking money from you or from anyone else around you. You give the billionaires money. If you want there to be no billionaires, then stop buying things. 

Here's the rub. We live in a free market society. Most billionaires make their money because they produce something, start something, or do something incredible. The ones who actually make their money through cheating, such as Bernie Madoff, are arrested and put where they belong. You may not think that what they do is worth a billion, but at the same time you spend a hundred dollars on amazon in a single month. You purchase a Tesla. You use PayPal. You Google something. Hell, you participate in the modern world. You don't have to do these things. But you do, and a small percentage of that money makes its way up the chain and into the pockets of a billionaire. You don't like it? Play by the vegan book and stop buying their products. No more smartphones. No more internet. No more electric cars.

And finally, you must understand that the alternative to giving billionaires power is to give the government that same power. And the government is not answerable to you. They are answerable to the masses, which might not include you. And even that tenuous connection will be thrown off by any government that can figure out a way to fenagle more power.

The thing is that there will always be people with more and people with less. The people with less will envy the people with more, and certain kinds of people will promise a change in the status quo in exchange for power. The people with less will go along with it, hoping for change, and then get burned when all that happens is the leadership changes.

The economy doesn't run on feelings. It doesn't run on your emotions or your presuppositions. Trying to run an economy based on a single ideological framework just doesn't work. The world is complex, much more so than most people realize. It's an iceberg. 

Here's what I suggest to all those who think we should "eat the rich." There really aren't enough rich people to fill the bellies of every citizen forever. If we eat the rich, we are also eating our intellectual and functional capital. Say what you might, but CEOs are always smart and driven. Members of the politburo, however? Say hello to nepotism. Running a huge company takes skills. Skills that very few people have. And if we eat them, the cream of the crop, because we're peckish and don't like how they look, then we're doing ourselves a disservice. We're not living in thirteenth century Europe. We're living in the modern world. One with a free market, where you vote with your dollar. 

You gave that billionaire your money in exchange for what they gave you. Please stop trying to steal it back. 

And finally, to address the fact that billionaires have the ability to lobby the government and get perks and subsidies and so on (unfairly): that's a government problem, not a billionaire problem. Governments will always be somewhat corrupt. Money fuels that. More money means more fuel to throw on the pyre of bribery. I think the genius of the American system is that the "bribery" is out in the open. We've figured out a way to turn what essentially is bribery into a transparent box where anyone can see exactly who is paying who and for what. Eliminate that and everything goes underground. So if you feel that billionaires are corrupting the government, then blame the government just as much as the people who are doing the bribing.

In conclusion, any action against billionaires that involves taking away their money is fundamentally envy-driven, rather than through a thought-out and well-considered plan to improve the state of humanity. There are plenty of ways to improve general human well-being; most of them not involving the government. That's what churches and charities are for. While I believe that the free market can handle a large amount of fat, don't axe the whole system because you think that you deserve something that you don't have. Be kind. Be happy with where you are. If you are concerned about the well-being of a group of people, look inside yourself and see if you really care about them or if you just want to use them to feel better about yourself. Enjoy your life the way it is. The concept of "Nirvahna" is one I believe you should embrace; it's a system of thinking where you live with what you have without envy and without the need to constantly feel better about yourself. Instead of being an ass about your own views, learn to live in harmony. When you stop the greed in yourself, you will suddenly find that you won't begrudge other people their wealth. They're not the greedy ones; you are. You're the one talking about stealing large portions of another person's property because you feel as if they don't deserve it; even though you've given it to them of your own free will. 

Live in peace and everything will be fine. 

Uzumi and the Seven Great Oaks Chapter 4: Please

 

Please

“Please, you have to help my son!” A woman in rags was begging the passerby for help. Reese and I were walking along the Underground’s main thoroughfare, heading for the elevator. The woman kneeled in front of a yokai with the head of a rhino. “Please!”

The rhino shrugged the woman off and kept walking.

I turned to Reese. “Do you think we should help her?”

Reese shrugged. “Stuff like this happens all the time. We can’t afford to be heroes when it doesn’t concern us.”

“Well I’m going to help. The spirit of Taekwondo would be angry at me if I didn’t.”

“That’s stupid.” Reese rolled her eyes.

“Well I’m helping her. Whether you come with me or not.”

Reese groaned. “Okay, okay. It’s my job to take care of you right now, but don’t expect me to go out of my way.”

I approached the woman. “Do you need help, ma’am?”

The woman grabbed my shoulders. “Please, help! My son has been taken captive by the cartel!”

“They exist down here as well?” I looked at Reese.

Reese gave a serious head shake. “No. We do not, ever, want to get involved with the cartel.”

I sighed. “Well, someone’s in trouble, and we have the ability to help. At the very least I’m going to listen to her.”

The woman started crying. “My name is Amber. My husband got into debt with the cartel and couldn’t pay it back. They took him and my three year old son Arie. They’re going to kill them both.”

“More likely sell their organs or turn them into slaves.” Reese crossed her arms. “You still want to help her? It’s the fault of her deadbeat husband.”

“Deadbeat or not, there is an innocent life on the line here. I’m going to help.” I gabbed Amber. “Tell us where you think they went.”

“They’re in the main cartel building.”

“The cartel has a building?”

Reese shrugged. “There really isn’t anything you would call a legitimate government down here. It’s a haven for unsavory types. There’s a lot of criminal organizations here. The Yakuza, the Triad, the Mafia.”

“Okay. I get it now.” I sighed. “I know the cartel. When we deal with them, we must be careful. If you get on their bad side they won’t hesitate to retaliate.” I thought for a moment. “Okay. We’re going to approach this straight. Where’s their building?”

Reese sighed. “Follow me.” We walked across the Underground and came to a large, modern-looking building in a relatively upscale neighborhood.

“Wait, this is their building? I was expecting something more sinister.”

Reese put her hand on her face. “God, this is a stupid idea.”

Amber took hold of my arm with a clammy hand. “Please, help them.”

I took a deep breath and walked up to the door. A man in a suit was standing next to it and eyed me with a menacing glare. “What’s your business here?”

“We’re here to settle a debt. This lady here—” I pointed to Amber—”Got into some trouble with you guys.”

“Unless you have the money, we got nothing for you.”

I put my hand on the man’s shoulder. “There should be another way, right? One that doesn’t involve kidnapping a three year old child?”

“We’re not a charity.” The man grimaced. “But I will let you in. The boss has been bored as of late.” He lifted up a radio. “There’s a party coming in. Call the boss. Tell him …” The man eyed me—” That there’s some entertainment coming along.” He opened the door and gestured us inside.

We walked into a clean, well-maintained hallway. A busy looking man holding a suspicious bag of white powder hurried past us.

“Was that …”

“Don’t.” Reese looked at me. “Pretend that you didn’t see it.”

Two yokai guards stood in front of the elevator. Both of them were holding scary-looking rifles and had bulletproof vests on. We were ushered into the elevator and taken to the top floor, where we stepped out into another hallway. At the end of it was a large, fancy-looking door with carvings on it.

We walked across velvet carpet and stopped at the door. The doors opened without any input.

A man was sitting with his back to us, looking out a window that contained a view of the Underground. “I was going to refuse to let you in.” He lifted his hand, which held a glass of wine. “But then I heard that the fantastic Reese Montgomery was in the group.” He turned. The man was ferocious, with a large scar across his face. He grinned. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, princess.”

Reese grimaced. “I do not feel the same.”

“Oh, dear.” The boss touched his chin. “I forgot to introduce myself. I am Don Carlos. Leader of the small operation usually known as the cartel.” He smiled, though his eyes remained dangerous. “What can I help you with today?”

I stepped forward. “This woman here had her family taken from her. We’d like to figure out a way to get them back.”

“She had a debt, no? The best way to clear a debt is to pay it back. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, but is there anything we can do besides that? Some sort of service we can provide?”

Don Carlos looked at Reese with a grin on his face. “It just so happens that the greatest yokai fight tournament of the year is about to happen in New Yesterday.” Don Carlos grinned bigger. “And if us, the cartel, could just so happen to field one of the biggest new names in the Seed world, well, what would you think?”

“I’m a professional Seed.” Reese folded her arms. “I can’t do this.”

“Of course you wouldn’t have to use your real name. That would even work out better for us. You know, betting odds and all that.” Don Carlos folded his hands. “I must ask, though. Why are you going through so much trouble for a single woman who has no connection to you?”

Reese elbowed me. “It’s this guy. He wants to play the hero or something.”

“I have a mission to protect those who need it.”

Don Carlos eyed me with a strange glint in his eyes. “Your aura. It’s strange. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

Reese appeared to get nervous. “He’s, ah, he’s a Seed in training.”

“I thought Seeds started their training when they were toddlers. He’s, at youngest, a senior high schooler.”

“College, actually.” I did my best to smile.

“Hrm.” Carlos tapped his fingers on the table. “My sixth sense tells me that you’d actually make a good candidate for sponsorship in the tournament. I like the way you look.”

I bowed. “Then I’ll take you up on that offer. As long as Amber gets her son back.”

“Right. We can’t guarantee the life of her husband,” Don Carlos looked at Amber with a smile—”But we also can’t let her get away scott free. How about this. You three will participate as our sponsored fighters in the team fight.”

Reese raised her eyebrows in shock. “You can’t be serious.”

Don Carlos chuckled. “Oh, yes I am. This woman really needs to be taught a lesson about how to pick romantic partners.”

Amber was shaking. “But sir, I don’t know how to fight. I’ve never been in a fight in my life.”

“Exactly!” Don Carlos appeared quite chipper. “Such a story! Such motivation! A young woman fights against yokai in order to protect her child! This is exactly the kind of story I’ve been looking for!”

Amber bowed. “Then I will risk my life.”

Reese held out her hand. “You won’t die. I’ll make sure of it.”

I looked between Reese and Don Carlos. “So can everyone see yokai down here?”

Don Carlos blinked, and then chuckled. “Well, how else would someone be able to live down here?” He raised his hands. “In any case, let’s get you guys started. The tournament is in three days. You can do what you wish until then, but remember that if you flake we’ll be taking her kid.” Don Carlos pointed at me. “And that isn’t what you want, right?”

Reese bowed. “Thank you, sir.” The three of us were ushered out by men in black suits. We stepped onto the street and looked at each other.

Reese sighed. “I’m going to have to talk with the Grand Master about this. He’s probably going to be against it, but I think I can persuade him.”

I looked at Reese and paused. “Why are you helping me? Why are you risking your life to help someone you don’t know?”

“Because …” Reese sighed. “I really can’t say. Perhaps I have the same bleeding heart that you do.”

I looked up at the ceiling. “Okay.”

Reese looked between me and Amber. “The two of you can go to the academy. Uzumi, you’re going to have to learn a lot in the next three days. Make sure you get as much stuffed into your head as possible.”

“Right.”

Reese nodded and walked away.

Amber looked at me. “I am sorry. I didn’t expect anyone to actually help me, let alone go as far as you have.”

I shrugged. “It’s my calling. I have to do something about people in distress.” I paused. “That’s about it.”

That wasn’t about it. I had a beef with the cartel, harkening back to the other day when they had tried to extort the soup kitchen. From the start, helping Amber was, to me, a way to get into the cartel and scope out the new leadership. I wanted to help her, of course, but I understood that I might have a chance to negotiate with whoever was in charge and get them to whitelist the soup kitchen. Helping Amber wasn’t the only reason why I was getting myself into so much trouble.

It was a boon that Reese had agreed to help—I felt that her presence would radically change whatever the outcome was.

Amber bowed. “My address.” She handed me a note written on a piece of scrap paper. “I won’t bother you anymore. I know you have other things to do. And thank you. Thank you so much.”

I nodded, pocketing the paper. “Are you okay? Do you think you can fight?”

Amber raised her hand. “Believe it or not, I used to be called the Iron Maiden.” Her grin, though, was hollow.

“Great. I’ll be seeing you in a few days.” I turned and walked to the academy. Once I entered, a man with shock white hair who didn’t look older than thirty waved at me.

“Are you Uzumi?” He walked up to me. “I heard from Johnathan. I’ll be your interim instructor here. I know your have the strangest affinity we’ve ever seen, but we’re going to do our best to teach you everything there is to being a Seed.” He paused. “I was told Reese would be with you. Where is she?”

“She had business to attend to. So, where do I start?”

The instructor turned. “My name is Aike. I’m the general instructor for third years here at the academy. I know you’re in college to be an engineering student. I hope you have some spare time?”

I raised my smartphone. “I’ve already contacted my professors.”

“Great. Glad to see you’re on the ball. Come with me and we’ll try to get you up to speed on becoming a Seed and what that means.”

We came to a small classroom filled with the kind of chair-table hybrid that was at most high schools. Aike walked up to the chalk board. “Are we ready to get started?”

 

Uzumi and the Seven Great Oaks Chapter 3: Death

 

Death

I sat in front of a wizened old man wearing a kimono and holding a cup of tea in his hands. He eyed me with the sharpness of an eagle, and then put down his cup.

“So. You have gained the Seed Sight.”

“Yeah, I still haven’t figured out what that is.” I tried my best to not fidget.

“The elemental stone that you absorbed has changed the psions in your body. You are an oddity.”

“You’re not making any sense. Psions? Elemental stone?”

The Grand Master closed his eyes and folded his hands in his lap. “New Yesterday was founded as an enclave for yokai and monsters of all shapes and sizes. What do you know about the seven great oaks?”

“Nothing, really. I just assumed they had always been there.”

“They are the protectors of the leylines that flow through this city. New Yesterday is a city of magic. One of many in the world, but special in its own way. Monsters, known as yokai here, coexist with humanity. However, only those with the Seed Sight can perceive them.”

“Then why did I suddenly start seeing these, um, yokai?”

“I do not know. It has something to do with the elemental stones.”

“You mentioned them before. Was it that ruby that broke next to me?”

“Most likely. The elemental stones are mysterious in many ways, and we do not understand them.”

“This Seed Sight.” I shifted my legs. “You’re telling me that most people don’t have it.”

“That is what I am saying, yes.” The Grand Master lifted his teacup. “And you are a special case. Before you, all individuals with the Seed Sight have been born with it. You are strange in this way. The elemental stones have caused something out of the ordinary. This isn’t the first time.”

“So what now?” I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“You’re going to have to make a choice. Do you want to continue your ordinary life, or do you want to join the Seeds?”

“Wait.” Reese held up her hand. “You’re just going to let him in like that?”

“He is a Seed Sight. Like all Seeds, he has been given the choice.”

“But he just gained the sight today! He doesn’t know anything about what to expect!”

The Grand Master shook his head. “No. This is my decision. I can tell that this young man is very capable. Much more so than he appears.”

Reese pursed her lips. “Someone needs to teach him, then. Who are you going to foist him onto?”

“You, my dear.”

Reese raised her eyebrows. “Are you kidding me? I have to take care of this newbie? I’m already busy with the search for the elemental stones!”

“Patience, young one. We still need to see if he will accept.”

“I’ll do it.” I stood up, crossing my hand over my body. “I feel like this is something I have to do. I know barely anything about this place or you guys, but I can tell that I might be needed.”

“Good, good.” The Grand Master rubbed his beard. “Then Reese shall introduce you to our organization.”

Reese looked like she was holding back considerably. “As you wish.” She turned to me with a grimace on her face. “Okay then. Follow me. While we walk to the academy, I’ll tell you as much as I can about Seeds and Yokai.”

I nodded, following Reese to the door. Reese bowed respectfully to the Grand Master, and I did the same. We left the room and then took the stairs to the first level of the castle. After leaving the entrance hall, we stepped out onto the street. I was still impressed by the variety of monsters that were walking out in the open.

“Stop ogling.” Reese kept her gaze straight ahead. “There are people here who don’t like being stared at.”

“Sorry, sorry.” I maintained my gaze straight ahead as well. “So, um, do you fight monsters on a regular basis?”

“Yokai. Please use the correct term. Monsters are a different type of beast.”

“They’re the same though.”

Reese sighed. “Look, I’m not the one who made that decision. Monsters are beings traditionally associated with the cultural West. Yokai, on the other hand, have a distinctly Eastern culture of origin. The difference is unmistakable.”

“So why are there so many of them here in the middle of the American Midwest?”

“New Yesterday has a large population of Japanese immigrants. They came here after the Great Summoning.”

I blinked a few times. “Great …”

“Right. Normal people don’t know about that. The Great Summoning was a war fought between various spectral beings and humanity about fifty years ago. It upended the normal nature of things, and a large part of the population of Japan, Korea, and other eastern countries was forced to migrate to the West.”

“Oh.”

“They don’t teach this in regular school for a number of reasons.”

“Right, one of which is that most people don’t believe in monsters—I mean, uh, spectral beings.”

“Correct.” Reese appeared a bit less on edge. “I’m glad you’re taking this in well.”

“I mean, I just discovered that there’s a whole different world that I didn’t know about.” I looked up at the stone ceiling, which was spanned by large steel beams. The whole hollow area appeared to be artificial. “So where are we?”

“The Underground.” Reese took a right turn and I followed her. “It was built by a collaboration between Seeds and Yokai to act as a non-threatening home for both. Living full time on the surface as a Yokai is actually quite difficult.”

“So if a normal person were to come down here, they wouldn’t see all the yokai.”

“Correct.” Reese stopped in front of a building that was tall, but also thick, with a lot of wooden dragon statues on its various balconies. The light coming from inside was a deep, calming yellow.

“This is the academy.” Reese opened the door and stepped inside. “It’s where Seeds learn how to handle their jobs.” The door opened onto a hallway with wood paneling that had several classrooms along its length. “And it’s also where the lab is. That’s where they perform the awakening ritual.”

We took the stairs to the third floor and stepped out into a room that was much different from the vibe of the rest of the Underground. White walls rose to join in an ached ceiling supported with steel. The floor was white tile. A large number of strange machines stood in corners, taking up most of the floor space.

A man in a lab coat looked up from a desk. “Reese. What can I help you with?”

“I have a new Seed that needs to undergo the awakening ritual.”

“You know that the ritual only happens at the beginning of the new year, right?” The scientist looked at me with a puzzled expression. “And I don’t see any candidates with you anyways.”

“He’s the candidate.” Reese pointed at me.

The scientist raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Why wasn’t he tested when he was seven?”

“He just gained his powers today. I’d appreciated it if you could spare some time to analyze him. You should have gotten an email from the Grand Master.”

“Ah, yes, I did. I just thought he was talking about someone, well, much younger.”

“Uzumi here is what you’ve got.”

I looked at Reese. “What’s the awakening ritual?”

“It’s the procedure that tells us your affinity.” The scientist stood up. “My name is Jonathan. I’m the staff researcher here at the Academy.”

“He’s a really good scientist.” Reese shrugged. “He can take care of you.”

“Are you going to stay here, Reese?” Johnathan looked at her.

“I’m interested. I want to see what kind of affinity an artificial Seed will have.”

“Very well then.” Johnathan picked up a small round device from his desk. “Okay. Your name?”

“Uzumi.”

Johnathan nodded. “Okay. Now take this—” He handed me a small needle-like device—”And draw some blood.”

I pricked myself. The blood dripped onto the sphere. “Does everyone put their blood on this thing?”

“Yes.” Johnathan observed the ball.

The ball blinked red, and then turned pitch black. Johnathan jerked, almost dropping the device. “My god.” He lifted the ball up. “Try one more time.”

I dropped more blood onto the device. The same thing happened.

Johnathan put the device carefully down onto his desk. “Your affinity is death.”

Reese gasped. “Death? You can’t be serious!”

“Yes. I’m serious. In all of my years here at the lab, I’ve never seen this before.”

I looked between Reese and Johnathan. “You’re saying something is wrong?”

Johnathan shook his head. “Nothing is wrong, per se. Just that you have the aura of death.”

“So? What does that mean?”

“I do not know. I only sat through half an hour of a lecture ten years ago. I never expected to see this in my actual career.”

I tilted my head. “So I’m strange?”

“Even more so, considering that you’re an artificial Seed.”

“Okay?”

“I, uh, I think we need to talk to a Shinigami.” Johnathan sat down, his hands visibly trembling.

Reese ran her hand through her hair. “I know one.”

“Shinigami?” I looked at Reese. “Is that another kind of yokai?”

“Not technically. Shinigami are gods, not yokai.”

“Okay. I think I get it.”

Reese grabbed me by the elbow. “We’re going. We need to understand what you are, and why you’re here.” She dragged me out of the lab and downstairs to the street. “Where we’re going, keep an eye out. The being I’m taking you to doesn’t live in the best neighborhood.”

“Right.” At that point I just wanted to see where this would end. We walked to the other side of the Underground, to a dilapidated corner filled with bins of trash. Reese took me to a small hole in the wall bar. I couldn’t read the Japanese signage that hung over it. We stepped in.

There was no one inside, and a man with slicked-back hair behind the bar. His muscles were huge, and his eyes shined a bright red. He was cleaning a glass.

“Reese.” The man put down the glass. “It’s been quiet a while, hasn’t it?”

“Jack. I have a Seed here with a death affinity.”

Jack tilted his head. “Ah, yes. I can sense the aura. Yes, you definitely are a death mage.”

“Death mage?” I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Many things.” Jack reached for a glass and took several bottles off the shelf behind him. “Your pleasure? On the house, of course.”

“Um, Old Fashioned?”

“Sure.” Jack poured out an Old Fashioned cocktail, and pushed the glass across the bar.

I sat down and took it. Reese sat down next to me.

“So what do you think a death aura means?” Reese tapped the table with a nervous rhythm.

Jack replaced the liquor bottles. “It simply means that he has control over the flow of life and death. He can kill and he can bring to life.”

“You mean, necromancy?”

“Almost.” Jack took a chunk of ice and placed it in a glass. “He has access to the underworld. There are many things you can do with such access.”

“Like what?” I sipped my old fashioned. It was bitter.

“Many things, child. Death is a strange playmate. You learn much from just being in its presence.”

“You said something about killing?”

“Yes. If you wish, you can end life easily. It is never easy, but you can do it.”

“Does that mean I have, like, a death touch or something?”

“Perhaps.” Jack filled the glass with spirits. “Reese, your usual?”

“Thanks, Jack.” Reese took the glass and downed it in a single drink. She put the glass back down. “So you’re saying that he can raise the dead.”

“Somewhat.” Jack turned around. “You have a long road ahead of you, child. I feel the swirls of fate around you. You may accomplish many things, both good and bad. Perhaps even change the very fabric of the world.”

Jack turned back to face me, and smiled. His teeth were pointed. “I will be happy to watch.”

 

Uzumi and the Seven Great Oaks Chapter 2: Earthquake

 

Earthquake

That was the day I discovered the world of Yokai and became a Seed. It was a normal day at the dojo, where I was practicing my turning kick technique, under the supervision of Master Chol.

Master Chol shook his head. “You’re not turning fast enough. When you get off your feet, make sure your already have momentum going through your posture.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re a third degree black belt now. I expect better of you.”

“Yes, sir.” I assumed a Junbee stance—a stance with both hands in a neutral position and feet spaced shoulder width.

“Good. Now perform form seven.”

I went through the motions of the form, finishing it with a yell.

Master Chol checked his watch. “You can go home if you want.”

“Yes, sir. I will live in perseverance, in the spirit of Taekwondo. Having honor with others, integrity with myself, and self control in my actions.”

“You are dismissed.”

I bowed to Master Chol. After changing into my street clothes, I left the dojo and walked through the crisp evening air. The seven oaks towered over the skyline. I checked my watch—I was due at the soup kitchen in fifteen minutes. I walked at a brisk pace to the kitchen, which was located several blocks away in the middle of the homeless part of town.

The kitchen was a small hole in the wall with a sign that read “New Yesterday Community Kitchen.” Not much of a catchy name, but this was a soup kitchen, not a department store.

I stepped through the door.

“Uzumi.” Beard, a gigantic black man, waved a ladle at me. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. Get your apron on and help us out.”

I grabbed my apron from my locker and put it on. “Is the rice cooked yet?”

“No.” Beard was stirring a pot of chili. “Get that started. We can’t have our chili night without rice.”

Thirty minutes later the first guests started arriving. They were mostly homeless people from the surrounding streets.

Two men in suits walked through the door about fifteen minutes before closing. They had the aura of Mafia. I sensed bloodlust coming from one of them, a big bald guy with sunglasses.

“We’re here to collect our dues.” The bald guy sneered.

Beard waved his ladle at him. “This kitchen has a deal with the cartel. We don’t have much money anyways.”

The bald man chuckled. “There’s been a change of leadership. The boss has decided that you guys aren’t exempt from protection payments anymore.”

Beard gripped his ladle with white knuckles. “You need to get out.”

I held out my hand. “Beard. Don’t go overboard. They’re the cartel. If you hurt them they’ll be all over us.” I walked around the serving counter and stood in front of the two thugs. “We can’t pay you. We don’t have any money. This is a soup kitchen. Please tell your boss that, even if it comes to threats, we can’t pay you more than twenty bucks.” I took a twenty out of my wallet. “Take this. And please leave us alone.”

Beard crossed his arms and nodded, though his eyes were still hostile.

The bearded thug grabbed the twenty from my hand. “Yeah. I’ll talk to my boss. If he gives the word, we’ll burn this place down.”

I clenched my fist. “Please leave.”

The bearded thug snorted, and then turned to leave. The other thug, a man who had muscles like the Terminator, lowered his sunglasses, glared at me, and then turned to follow the bearded thug.

Beard closed his eyes and shook his head. “The gangs in this city are getting out of hand. Why don’t the authorities do anything about it?”

I scratched my chin. “Maybe they have better things to do than investigate racketeering around a soup kitchen.”

“Pah. Get back on the line. We have mouths to feed.” Beard waved his ladle.

I waved at a homeless man with a long white beard and military cap. “Hi George.”

“Hi Uzumi.” He hobbled to the counter and got himself a bowl of soup.

After an hour, I found myself sitting on a bench with my hair net in my lap. Rubbing my temples, I tried to think of how to handle the cartel problem. The previous boss of the Ishi cartel was a friend to the homeless. He never asked anything of the New Yesterday Soup Kitchen. Now that he wasn’t in charge anymore, things were going to change.

I stood up. “Beard, I’m leaving now.”

Beard waved his hand. “Have a nice day, Uzumi. Don’t get into any fights on the way home.”

“What, do I look like a yokai to you?”

“I can’t be too sure with you.”

I sighed. “Bye.” Leaving the kitchen, I headed towards my small apartment on the third story of a dilapidated apartment block. When I got inside, I took off my coat and sat down on a shredded couch that had its stuffing leaking out of the edges. The TV in front of me was super-modern Samsung, seventy-inch. It was one of the reasons the rest of my furniture was in such bad condition.

I grabbed the controller of my PC Engine Five. For the rest of the night I played video games until it was time to get to sleep.

The next morning I got up early and prepared to go to school. New Yesterday Community College was just a couple blocks down the street, a rather urban campus that sat in the city’s North block. The buildings had been repurposed from a factory and several office blocks—you wouldn’t be able to tell it was a college campus if you didn’t already know.

I showed up to Thermodynamics II just before the lecture started.

A blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty wearing a gothic-style black dress sat down next to me.

“Hey Alice.”

“Uzumi.” She took out her laptop, which was covered in anime stickers. “Did you get the homework done last class?”

“Yeah.”

“Then can I ask you a few questions about problem nine?”

“Sure. I mean, after class.”

Alice smiled. “Thanks.”

We listened to the lecture. After class, Alice and I walked to the cafeteria, where we got some food and sat down at an empty table. Alice took out her laptop and we spent thirty minutes going over the technicalities of problem nine. It was difficult, but something that was expected during an engineering degree. I was training to become a bio engineer and she was becoming an industrial engineer.

At that moment a black-haired girl wearing a hoodie and jeans bumped into our table. She staggered a bit, apologized, and then kept walking.

I noticed that she had dropped something. It was a wooden stick with paper bits attached to it, with a strangely magical vibe. I grabbed it and stood up. Just as I was about to tap her on the shoulder to give it to her, she twirled around and aimed a punch at my face. I caught her fist in my palm.

“Whoa there.” I held on to her hand. “Sorry. I just wanted to tell you that you dropped this.”

The girl appeared to be embarrassed. “I’m sorry.” She paused. “You caught my attack. Not many people could have done that.”

I furrowed my brow. “I’m a black belt in Taekwondo.”

“Hm.” She examined me. “You’re not a weakling.”

At that moment the glass of the cafeteria window shattered with a violent crash. Debris flew everywhere. The girl grabbed me and dove to the ground.

We both looked up at the same time. A small red stone clattered to the ground next to my stomach. It glowed brightly, shattered, and then like someone flicked a switch I saw a horrifying monster almost on top of me. I rolled out of the way in panic and leaped to my feet.

“What the hell?”

The monster was lizard-like, with a long black cloak covering its body, and a face with a white mask that had open, hollow eyes. Its movements were undular and creepy. It hissed.

The black-haired girl pulled out a katana and rushed the monster. She twirled in the air and sliced the monster’s left foot off. The monster screamed and clawed at the girl. The girl dodged and rolled on the ground, getting up in front of the sushi bar. She held her sword in both hands. With a look in her eyes that wasn’t exactly fear, she tilted her head. “You can see it?”

I pointed at the black lizard ghost monster. “What the hell is that?”

“Earthquake. I mean, a No-Face.”

“What?”

“Just get on the ground!” The girl rushed the No-Face and stabbed it in the stomach. Black goo oozed out and the monster screamed with a metallic screech that caused tables to rattle.

The girl tore the monster in half. She then leaned on her sword, breathing heavily. “Blergh.” She wiped her mouth, and then patted her pockets as if looking for something. “Did you see a small red gem?”

“Uh, yeah, I saw one,” I blinked a few times, “But it broke right next to me and then I could see … That thing.” I pointed to the corpse of the monster.

“You ate it?”

I shook my head, stunned. “No, why would I eat it?”

“You …” The girl sighed. “But the fact is that you absorbed it somehow.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I pointed to the monster. “What is that? Why did it just break into the cafeteria? And why did I suddenly start seeing it?”

The girl grimaced. “I have no idea. That crystal was beyond my knowledge. I’ve never heard of an ordinary human who gained the Seed Sight.”

“Seed Sight?”

“The ability to see yokai.”

“Yokai? As in ghost monsters?”

“Exactly.” The girl walked up to me and grabbed me by the elbow. “You’re coming with me. We have a lot of questions to answer.”

I was dragged by the girl out of the cafeteria. Sirens wailed in the distance. We walked to the library, then took the stairs to the basement. An elevator that looked totally out of place was embedded in the far back, in a room full of old files and drawers. The girl knocked on the elevator door.

“Um, what’s your name?” I fidgeted with my thumbs as the number on the elevator rose.

“My name is Reese.” The girl stares straight ahead.

“Where are we going?”

“The Underground.”

“So this elevator goes down?”

Reese continued to stare at the elevator. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” I stood in silence until the elevator doors opened. Reese pushed me into it and walked in after me. The doors closed.

“We’re in the basement. How deep does this thing go?”

“Deep.” Reese’s eyes had a sharp glare to them.

The elevator dropped for a minute—which is a long time for an elevator. It stopped with a jerk. The doors opened and I looked out upon an entire city.

“This place is huge!”

“Stay next to me.” Reese dragged me out of the elevator and into the street. “The naturals don’t take kindly to upsiders.”

“Oh my god. Is that a crow person?”

“Tengu. Please do no say that out loud where they can hear you.”

“Is that …” There were humanoid figures of all shapes and sizes. Most of them had some sort of animal feature, like horns, or beaks, or claws. They were wearing traditional Japanese clothing for the most part. The buildings surrounding me were all wood paneled. The lettering on most of the signs was Japanese.

“I knew New Yesterday had a significant Japanese population, but this is something else.”

Reese was silent. She seemed to be pondering something.

A gigantic castle rose above the city. It must have been at least twenty stories. Reese took me straight towards it. We entered, and the receptionist bowed to Reese. Reese grimaced.

“Where is the master?”

The receptionist raised her head. “In his office.”

“Good.” Reese grabbed me and pulled me towards another elevator. “I have something to show him.”

 

What is a voluntary contract and why does it matter? In the context of r/antiwork

I've been seeing a lot of stuff about r/antiwork, a subreddit that is all about "quit culture" and the new great resignation. It's full of people talking about how they quit their jobs and how work in general just isn't working for them--no pun intended. The people on the sub tend to view their culture as a rebuttal to the whole "capitalism" thing; it seems that the place is rather a hotbed for socialist and Marxist conversation. The people on the sub tend to gravitate towards a critical view of how western economies are fundamentally "exploiting" the workers through poor working conditions and low pay.

However, I have recently heard a good interpretation of this situation: the fact that r/antiwork is actually the signal of a free market working as it should. The very fact that millions of people can quit their jobs on a dime and speak freely about it is--contrary to what people on the sub seem to think--capitalism working exactly as intended. This "great resignation" thing is actually a reaction of a free market to the fact that wages are, in general, too low. Since less people are willing to work the same number of jobs, employers have been raising pay, and will continue to raise pay until they are able to fill out the positions that they need. This is a net benefit to the people who are doing those jobs. 

What I must stress is that this is a grassroots movement. This is not a violent revolution. It isn't even an organized strike. It is a million individual people deciding that the benefits side of their social contract isn't worth what they are paying. And here's the critical thing to remember: not a single one of them is facing actual legal consequence. Or at least the vast majority of them. This is economic liberalism. A world where work is a voluntary contract between the worker and the employer, kept valid only until one side decides that it is not worth it anymore. That is the fundamental basis of a free market, and by extension, capitalism. 

Also I think the main problem is just the fact that people got tired of the workplace being like a Dilbert comic. Bad bosses and managers can do a lot to bring a company down. You can see hundreds of posts poking at that fact on the subreddit.