The Book of Knots - Jags

Book of Knots - The Symposium
Interview 1 (The Director of a Major
Pharmaceutical Company in the United
States)
Sometimes--a lot of times--I get
the [high-pitched, nasal, vaguely
feminine voice] “how could you doooo
this” crap. Like it’s some kind of…
I don’t know. Like they wouldn’t.
You know?
The fact is – I’ll tell this
straight up – the fact is anyone
would take the kind of opportunity
I’ve been given. Anyone. All
the whining moralists. All the
blubbering mental invalids. Any of
them. If they’d been approached the
way I was, they’d have said yes.
Yeah—-you would too. Believe me.
A chance to work with these guys?
A chance to be part of the future?
You’re either a winner or a loser
–-that’s never been more true than
today, and it’s getting more true
all the time. And let me tell you:
I’m a winner. They saw it in me and
that’s why they chose me. And all
those crybabies? Losers.
And I’ll tell you something about
losers – listen: you don’t hear the
truth very often, so you know, take
notes: Better. Off. Dead. I mean it.
These guys haven’t been happy a day
in their miserable lives. This work
we’re doing—this work I’m doing?
It’s a fucking mercy, okay?
So don’t lecture me about right and
wrong. Ninety percent of the human
race needs the fucking strength to
do what’s right and we’re going to
give it to them.
[Pauses. Breaths calmly for a
moment, staring out the window as
though his thoughts are ordering
themselves before he continues
talking]
So. Do I feel bad about it? Not a
bit.
Recruited. You make it sound like
I’m in the army. I didn’t get
“Recruited.” I’m the director for
–-well, no details. Let’s say I do
serious long-term R&D [Research and
Development] for a company you’d
know the name of if you read the
Journal [The Wall Street Journal].
We make the drugs that are changing
68
The Civilizing of Mankind
From the Symposium there were a variety of solutions to the
problem of man. The only one that was fully endorsed was Big
Pharma—but several coalitions of Caretakers created their own
initiatives (some well known, some in secret). All of these were
designed to either alter man to an “acceptable state” or destroy
humanity outright. Some of these solutions are detailed here:
Initiative: Big Pharma
Mission Statement: Develop a pharmaceutical
solution for Mankind. Prognosis: 88% mortality;
remaining 18% of humanity will be chemically
cured of hope and creativity. Potential for ultimate extinction
through species-level suicide: High. Regrettable.
Caretaker Sponsor: The Hypotherapist
Chessboard Zero Affi liation: Global Pharmaceutical Industry.
Note: Big Pharma is the offi cial Symposium Initiative. All other
Initiatives are considered either renegade or at least suspect.
Initiative: Project Pagan
Mission Statement: To create a civilized variant of
mankind (see “Rational Actors”). These mutations
are fused with self-generated Whirls and will refl ect
both benefi cial psychological and physiological
changes in the subject.
Caretaker Sponsor: The Wheel
Chessboard Zero Affi liation: US Air Force division known as
Project Pagan
Note: Pagan is a direct descendant of the US Government’s
Project Pilgrim. Pagan is considered under sanction/quarantine
by Project Puritan [Orders: Shoot on Sight].
Initiative: Army of No
Mission Statement: The punitive destruction or
enslavement of mankind by lower-reality military
force. Short term goals: infl iction of global-scale
suffering. Long term goals: extermination.
Caretaker Sponsors: The “triumvirate” (The Clear Widow,
The Beastly Baby, The Factory)
Chessboard Zero Affi liation: Individual operatives.
Initiative: Llamed Infection
Mission Statement: To create a “strain” of
Wonderland Infection which will be extremely easy
to contract. The resultant pan-cultural infection
will result in the break-up and dissolution of the
Chessboard Zero structure in its entirety. Projected immediate
mortality: 85% to 98%. Projected eventual mortality: 100%.
Caretaker Sponsors: Deconstructionists. Lem, Black Rose.