October 6, 2,696: More Traces of Lost Civilization            

In 266_,  a government scientist accidentally created
a new type of iron that was stronger than the strongest
steel.   Actually polymerized spider silk made to mimic
fine crystal, it was free of carbon and transparent.
Visi-Iron could not be chipped or cracked.   Tank
drivers charged with shattering the substance
found themselves rolling over and screaming Uncle.  
Lawmakers convened in emergency session to decree
that every single-owner home  (exceptions at bottom
in subscript 0.01) be reconstructed to  incorporate
V-I inside and out.   Don’t be stubborn.  Stamp you
with a red I for Implode.  “Security is at stake!”
bulletins state-repeat-state.   “We will do anything
to make the good citizens of this great nation safe. 
Don’t worry.  Your routine will remain undisturbed.  
Won’t even notice.    Surveillance planes and balloons
and a host of handy-dandy devices are being treated
as we speak to blend with their surroundings.  Twilight
paints the horizon blood,  blood will be all you see.  
Clouds cannot darken enough to foil our sensors.
Clever trappers pounce on chameleon-type lizards
and bleed them for a chemical alters colors quick
as a tongue flicks an insect down a gullet.  Won’t see
us,  won’t hear us,  monitors blared.   The internet
has been replaced with an all-new, all-better
Safe-T-Net.   Appears that citizens were pulled out
of bed and told. “You’re welcome.”  “You’ve got mail.”
Message: “Keeping you safe.  All but official
intruders being disappeared.   Blue-collar crime.  
Naturally, pre-approved businesses with X
or more lobbyists have already been shielded. 
Expense the shields at tax time.  Others, do not think
about bottling or storing secrets at home.”

How it started, looks like.  Hate you didn’t know
before you shuttled to our planet.   Might try to find
the corner of that closet doesn’t appear to hide
a bug.    Robe and disrobe quickly,  keep on
using sign.  Legal slash illegal shifts with the wind.
Parachutists drop at a single hint.  No wall, roof,
floor, door, window that was considered off-limits
goes unwatched and unbugged.   Sense danger? 
Feel helpless?   Help us get our heads together
before they are bugged.  They can find us, we can
find them.  More of us.  Spy shops are sprouting
underground. Caves deep in mountains.  Has to be
a way to hack into the System.  Shhhhhhhhh.

 

(c) Phyllis Jean Green,  September, 2005