STORYLINE

The Legend of “Down-the-Line” Don

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After the accident everyone was scared because the people who had made the rules weren’t around anymore. The survivors worried that everyone would just do what they wanted and nobody would want to have a society again. Because nobody was around to make them do the right things anymore, people started telling stories about how to act. Those stories are called parables and this is one of my favorite. “Down-the-Line” Don teaches you how easy it is to become greedy and how bad that can be.

Before everything broke Don worked for a tow truck company and he would spend his day taking other people’s cars and putting them in a special yard. If you wanted to get your car back, you’d have to pay Don money. Everyone thought that was OK because there used to be lots of rules about where you could put your car when you weren’t in it.

When the accident happened lots of people were scared and some didn’t know what to do, but Don did. He figured he needed to let people know that nothing on the island was working and people were hurt. Since nobody could make a call on their phones and the internet was broken he thought the best way to get help was to try the radio tower. He made an announcement but didn’t hear anything back. After waiting a long time he noticed some other people down at the bottom of the tower. He decided to go down and see who they were.

Because the radio tower is so tall it turned into a natural meeting place for lots of people looking for help. Don began to move some of the big trucks from his lot next to the tower and people began to live in them. Lots of the people who were living in his trucks were sick and had burns, luckily Don knew how to make medicine from sausage tree fruit. He started to plant some around the radio tower and the first one he planted is still there today.

Don spent lots of time taking apart the other cars in his lot and bringing back anything that was useful to the tower. Eventually he had piles and piles of useful things like batteries and wire and people would come every day for help. Don began to think about how many people wanted help and how unfair it was that he was doing lots of work for free.

He started making the people who lived in his trucks give him half their food or find another place to live. Instead of giving away the extra stuff to people who needed it, he started to charge or go through their packs to see if they had anything he wanted. If they didn’t have enough rai or something to trade Don would tell them, “You can pay me down the line.” Over time only a few people had enough food to live in his trucks and he would hold regular auctions for his items to make sure he got the most possible for them. It only got worse once he fixed the broken ziplines.

The ziplines made it possible to send food and medicine quickly to different areas without having to worry about bandits. But sending stuff down the line was expensive! Don started making people work for him to pay off their “down the line bills,” but it took a long time. Soon there were whole Kānaka villages that had to work for Don in order to pay for water and sausage tree medicine. He had more rai and stuff than anyone but he still wasn’t happy. Half the island was working for him but it wasn’t enough. He decided that he owned anything that was under the ziplines and sent out his guards to collect a toll from anyone who walked underneath.

People started to to get angry and talk about how greedy Don had become, but they needed his help so they had to pay what he wanted. Don could send almost anything down his lines that you needed as long as you were willing to give him what he wanted, and he wanted everything. Then Don went too far.

A nearby Kānaka village was attacked one day by night marchers. Lots of people were badly injured including the Chief’s children. The village’s fastest runners were sent to get medkits and have them sent down the lines. When they got to Don’s they had enough to trade for the kits but he wanted extra to let them use the ziplines. Knowing that they didn’t have much time, the runners begged and pleaded but they didn’t have anything Don wanted. By the time they ran back with the kits it was too late.

Word spread quickly about how Don wouldn’t let the runners use the ziplines and let people die. That night, a huge group showed up at the radio tower and a big battle began. There are lots of stories about what happened to Don in the end. Some say that they threw him off the tower, others say that he jumped. My favorite ending is that they took a koa axe and sent parts of Don down each of his ziplines to let everyone know that all their debts were paid. They say that some nights, if you listen closely, you can still hear his parts traveling up and down the lines trying to get rai from anyone beneath them. My mom says that I should know better than that, and I do, but my little brother Aukai doesn’t.

The story of Down-the-Line Don helps people remember how easy it is to become too greedy and what might happen to you if you do. It’s also really good for getting back at your little brother when he messes up your room.

Akamai Mahelona
4th Grade
Pu`u School Lahaina

STORYLINE

I’m In Dire Need of New Staff and Supplies

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Dear Main Office,
I won’t beat around the bush. Things here are grim and I am in dire need of food and equipment. My replacement Kānaka assistants have turned on me and for the first time in 37 years I’m worried that our important work might not continue. I haven’t received any out-of-office messages from you, so I assume that your continued silence due to the difficulty in running a multinational corporation without utilities. I have diligently continued my work, but I’ve reached a point of no return I fear. Without new hires, some clean lab glassware, and a viable source of fresh water, I’m afraid I’ll have to shutdown the Lahaina facility.

I’ve done my best to keep the place tidy but it has been a losing battle. As I mentioned previously, my former co-workers lost focus and became a huge impediment to what we are trying to accomplish here. A mere 29 years into the process, they decided that building a lounge and distilling alcohol was more important than our goals. As you know I took the issue into my own hands so to speak and cleaned house. However, they had done quite a bit of damage and left a huge mess. It’s been 2,550 days since any of the facilities team has shown up for work. The place is starting to look and smell like a pigsty. Normally I would just find some local hands to scrub the walls but my relations with them have become strained. Could you please send someone with a good supply of cleaning products?

While my work has seen some great progress, the plant hybrid project has been a failure so far. With food acquisition becoming a daily obstacle, I began to wonder if there was a more efficient way to fulfill a person’s dietary needs. I began to take plants already rich in minerals and fortifying them further with a wide range of vitamins. I tried incorporating some of the chloroplasts from some of these plants directly into the subjects to see if that could augment or replace a kanaka’s bodies daily demand for vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, all of the Kānaka women I’ve integrated with the hybrid plant exons suffered radical changes that made them half unwilling participants, half angry flowers. They turned out to be exceedingly dangerous as well, so I was forced to release the majority of them into the forest.

To cut to the point, I need a few more assistants around here. In addition to all the other problems I’ve weathered, there is a storm brewing among the locals and there is no doubt that it is headed my way. Since we ran out of stem cells, I’ve been forced to find ways to harvest them myself. At first I had no problem finding willing subjects, but lacking the proper equipment the process was quite painful. Soon word spread among the Kānaka and they stopped volunteering. Knowing that progress is bigger than individual feelings, I continued harvesting what I needed in order to advance my research. You wouldn’t believe how angry they got after I explained why drugging them and piercing a needle through their thigh bones was necessary to make the world a better place.

Then we had the incident with the plant subjects I mentioned above. The group I released descended on a local village and drained the fluids from a number of individuals before they were driven off. It turns out that the Kānaka hold family ties in even higher regard than their stem cells. A angry mob came here in the early morning hours carrying torches and various nasty looking implements of destruction. They screamed and yelled and eventually tried to break into the facility. I tried using the resolution skills that I learned in our training videos but they were ineffective. They seemed hung up on the whole stem cell misunderstanding and accusing me of unleashing a wave of monsters on their village. Every time I tried to change the subject they just got more furious.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that they were not interested in having a rational conversation. I could see by their repeated attempts to break down the doors that they couldn’t be reasoned with, so I opened a window above the entrance and sprayed a particularly strong protein destabilizer on a few of them. The ones who weren’t breaking down in front of the doors scattered and screamed at me like I was the one who was wrong in the situation. Worse yet, the spray ruined any potentially useful stem cells, so the whole encounter was a waste. It’s just a matter of time before they come back and my supply of destabilizer is limited. In addition to more lab assistants could you also send one of corporate’s conflict resolution experts? I’d like to work out my issues with the locals before things get too out of hand.

STORYLINE

U.N. Releases Report on Recycling Cartels

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A troubling report was released today about the vast number of men, women, and children who are forced to spend their days sifting through trash looking for valuable recyclables. The U.N. claims that over 3 million people are made to harvest plastics, metals, and other raw materials by so-called “Recycling Cartels”. According to the report, the huge drop in oil prices and other global-economic disruptions have created an environment conducive to the cartel’s operations. They estimate that the number of forced laborers will grow to 5 million within the next 10 years.

While the authors were careful not to focus on any underlying blame, that has not stopped many in the media from doing so. Veilwatch founder Tim Durney says it’s clear who is to blame for the issue, Veilcorp. Durney says that the problem began in 2039 when 182 countries signed the Gateway Travel Accord, making veil transportation legal and easy worldwide.

He says that the world was not ready for the economic realities of having a ultra-cheap workforce available in any country and the ensuing collapse of transportation sectors. With so many people out of work or displaced, Durney contends that it was inevitable that bad-actors would exploit the impoverished and fill the void left by failed governments.

“The truth of the matter is that mankind was not ready for the box Veilcorp opened when they unleashed this dangerous technology. The problem started when they signed the GTA. We saw massive protests, numerous failed states across the globe, and wars. Not content with that, Oeming started his Icarus project and solar production of 127 began. It was like adding a supercharger to Veilcorp’s engine of destruction. Now we find out that millions of people have to pick through trash just so they have access to food and shelter. These cartels used to make their money doing terrible things: human trafficking, gun running, drugs, you name it, and now thanks to Veilcorp, forcing people to sort through garbage pays better,”

Durney says.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Patrick Swalwell, who signed the Gateway Travel Accord, disagrees. He says that every new technology causes a period of uncertainty. Swalwell maintains that the extraordinary nature of veil technology may be causing a larger ripple than normal, but in the end, economies will adapt. “The reality is that unfortunately right now there are places where gathering recyclable materials is economically feasible. I think these groups are deplorable but I disagree with the U.N. report. I believe in history, and history has shown that issues like this will reset and resolve themselves after a period of transition.”

Durney counters, “This is the same song and dance we’ve heard again and again. They say that the only way to fix things is to let the chaos run its course. The only way we can learn how to use this technology is to let terrible things happen. But we have to ask ourselves, were we ready for this? Are we really ready for a leap this big? I believe the answer is clearly, no!. You wouldn’t give a room full of toddlers guns and say that some are just going to have to shoot themselves until they learn how to use them responsibly.”

Veilcorp spokesperson Lisa Hunt says she finds the report troubling, but pushes back against claims that the company is responsible. Hunt says that the company has strict guidelines about what sorts of materials can be transported and follows all applicable laws in the areas the corporation does business in. She contends that Durney’s allegations are grandstanding and nothing new.

To claims that the company should take the lead in addressing the cartel problem, she says,

“We are not the world’s hall monitors or the global morality police. We are a company that transports goods and people across the globe in a safe and enjoyable manner. That’s it. Blaming Veilcorp for failed states and what amounts to slavery is absurd. I don’t recall hearing about steel manufacturers being blamed for the world’s knife attacks. I wish all this outrage, both real and manufactured, would be directed where it belongs, at the cartels and governments that allow this inhumane practice to continue. We could demand the expansion of recycling facilities to help cut the money out of this barbaric practice. Governments could work to restore order in the areas where the cartels operate and give these people a chance at a better life by finding jobs. I happen to know a company that is pretty good at helping people get to work everyday. Let’s start blaming the people who actually robbed the bank and not the people who made the car they got away in.”