Chapter 1: Hunger for Strawberries

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

I eat a few of the strawberries but am startled by the sudden fluttering of a bird taking off from the dark branch of a nearby tree. I turn around to see the figures of two men approaching. I instinctively start to run.

"Stop, this is private property!" one shouts at me. Running away is probably a bad idea, but, I really don't want to miss work.

[Dinari Dollar]

"I've been dumping it all in Mexico. No one owns Mexico and the Mexicans are too poor to do anything about it. Anyway, they would have to climb over that big wall that the U.S built some years back if they want to...I don't know...throw tacos at us or something." Dinari replies to Peter. He assumes a slightly more serious expression which is unusual for him.

"Okay, so here's the deal. Here's my biggest problems right now. First...a lot of crazy, ugly, poor, sick people are living in the United States right now. Some are leftovers from the bad times...and others are refuges. Something has to be done about this. Maybe we can set up reservations for these people or something...but right now they keep banding together and trying to steal stuff from my construction sites and from the domed cities in Florida." Dinari explains.

"Number two problem is that ..it would really be helpful to own some land in Europe or Asia. At least I could use it to pick up more cheap labor. Unless we use those diseased, insane Americans for the labor thing..but they don't last long and make for bad workers, you know?" Dinari states.

"Another thing is ..well, I think it's time we take over Cuba and turn it into some sort of casino/resort. I think I can expand a little from the retail thing. Of course, there will be All Mart stores there...but I think Cuba could make me a lot of money from rich vacationers. It's been sort of a base of resistance for people who hate the Manalists...so, I think we can get some support on that one." Dinari states. He thinks if there is anything else on his agenda.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter can't help grinning. His boss was such a delightfully self focused individual, it warmed his heart to know real Americans still existed. "Put down the rebels, smoosh the Cudans, and convince some stupid foreigners to give up their land: can do." Peter wasn't an officer; technically he wasn't a soldier, he was the properly of Allmart (according the Genetech guidelines and Manalist law), it said as much on his work card, but he was a man who liked to think ahead.

He also liked to work alone.

"Well," he continued, easing his stance, his tone shifting into a more conversational flow, "I'm already here so might as well see if I can convince anyone it might be in their best interests to relocate. Can deal with the wasters back home after that... maybe get a cannon and shot the squaters over the wall into Mexico... hmm..."

[Dinari Dollar]

"A cannon, that's such a totally awesome idea. We should go talk to Sota and have them make us a people shooting cannon!" Dinari says with delight. He claps his hands together, but is disrupted by his growling stomach. "Okay, well, I think...I think I really want to do this Cuba thing. Like...this week. It is one of my best ideas and I keep forgetting to do it. You're probably good at that ...military thinking kind of stuff." Dinari says while scratching his head. "How should we go about it. I paid a lot of money for my All-my fighters...and I just don't want to have them die for some stupid reason. What do you think? I don't want to bomb them because that could ruin things. Maybe just...I don't know...over throw the rebel authorities...assassinate the leaders or something. Something easier than a war or invasion, but enough to weaken them."

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

"Removal of leaders usually works," agrees Peter. He was thinking back to his formal training but quickly dismissed such notions. Genetech was effective but they didn't know rebels the way he did: he'd grown up among them. These folks in the wastes and in Cuba where like his old people, individualists bound by the will of singular individuals. If they lost that will than they could turn into individuals again and be easily dealt with.

If they took out the leaders and then Dollar swept in with his reform and relief it could work. Much harder to rebel when you had a nice stable job, even a crappy job as a towel boy in a fancy hotel that somebody paved over your house to make. Perfect.

"I'll catch a flight down there and do a little 'social adjustment'. When the morons shatter you can toss a few dollars in between them, wait for them to tear each other apart, then break ground on the new resort, and hire the survivors for pennies to work in the laundry room."

[Dinari Dollar]

"Sounds like a plan. And hey, once Cuba is ours, we should throw a party!" Dinari says brightly. He likes parties, and anyway, it is a way to show off his power, money, and what he's done for America. He turns to Tuvi. "You can like ..make the food and do all of the girly things." He tells her. "Well, let's head back to America. We have things to do!"

He traveled via teleportation booth, so he leads the others to what appears to be a fancy phone booth with a slightly art deco appearance to it. It is a soft turquiose green color with a shell shaped design over the door.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter followed Dinari to the booth but held back, waiting for his boss to travel first (they had different destinations). He used the chance to step closer to Tuvi so he could speak without Dollar hearing. "While I'm gone, try to make sure he doesn't get bored and change plans. I don't want to be standing in front of the fan without a way out when the stuff hits it." He had the most respect for Dollar but the man was something of a fool.

He was uncomfortable placing an part of his fate in anybody's hands, especially a strange woman like Tuvi, but the job was what it was and she was the only person he knew was regularly close to Dollar besides himself.

[Dinari Dollar]

Dinari leaves Peter with Tuvi and programs the teleporter to take him back to his mansion in Florida. He disappears in a curtain of light and leaves Tuvi and Peter far behind.

When he arrives at his mansion, he steps out of his private teleportation booth and decides that he is going to try to make his own dinner. He walks to the kitchen and scratches his head dumbly.

"Okay...hamburgers. I am going to need...hamburger...and a pan. I wonder where the pans are." Dinari says as he starts looking through the kitchen which seems foreign to him.

[Li Violette]

I talk to Ariel Tal Shachar, the Moderator, for about 10 minutes to see if anything interesting transpired at the meeting that day. He said that there was a great deal of debate on the caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol issue, but that the whole thing has been post poned for 6 months.
This is wonderful for me, since I happen to love tea. I can't imagine what I would do if I had to go without it!

The thought of it makes me thirsty for some, so, I leave my Moscow hotel room and decide to go out searching for some Jasmine Green Tea. Hopefully one of the shops has it.

[Jack Kruschev]

Anthony sat and thought. He had just finished the accelerated growth gene for his creature so it could be fully developed within days. Now to think of a name for the beast. What to name it, what to name it... It was powerful, but lost it's intelligence too quickly to be anything complicated. The name could wait, the creature needed to be perfected.

Anthony got up, went over the the microscope, and took a look at the cells.

"Amazing," Anthony said.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

I run as fast as I can. I even jump over a barbed fence, which is half bent down and covered with tall grass anyway. I run and run..and finally reach a hill. I guess it was pretty silly to trespass. I suppose these forests are better watched than I imagined.

I run down the hill then stop to catch my breath.

"I wonder what would happen if I was caught? Maybe a fin..." My question to myself is interupted by a red flash of light from behind.

[Jack Kruschev]

Anthony saw the cells gradually move into place. There were slowly creating the small bundles of 100 cells required for a stem cell. This new creature would be exactly like the last one, just more obedient.

Anthony moved injected the cells with the accelerated-aging gene. And the cells began to grow.

[patrick]

Pat had quite a bit more time in Moscow before he had to return to work. He wasn't particularly entertained here, and he was restless without work. He didn't sleep the previous night, which contributed to his angry mood. He wouldn't admit it, but lacking cigarettes also contributed to his disposition.

He went over the saved numbers on his cell-phone, simply bored. He gave into his thoughts and decided to walk the chilly streets of Moscow, in search of fun.

[Alexei Nacharade]

The plane arrived with the Afghan opium. Planes were somewhat easier to access privately, being there were no longer the most efficent way to travel long distances, with the teleportation booths.

Alexei figured the rich were teleporting, and the poor couldn't afford to use them. His organization was probably in just the right price range to use air transport, not to mention it was much easier to smuggle contraband to alocal of one's choosing. The opium was being unloaded onto trucks, even bicycles, and transported it to various (and hidden, for obvious reasons) places in Moscow.

Alexei walked into the plane and located a small wrapped package of opium. Sliding his balisong from his sleever he skillfully split it open and smelled the contents. It was excellent quality.

He watched the vehicles begin to drive off, until one remained. He hopped into the last one and sat down in the passenger seat as it pulled away. He waved casually as the cargo plane prepared to take off back to former afganistan, to recollect another crop. It was a never ending cycle, that Alexei guessed the Anti Drug Commission, the manalists, and even Father Manala himself couldn't stop.

Alexei chuckled to himself.

[Jack Kruschev]

Anthony watched as his creation slowly grew in the tests vats.

"Little by little. That's the way life comes into being," He muttered.