The Book of Knots - Jags

Chessboard Zero Affi liation: The Community (magicians), The
Underground’s Upper Echelon
Note: Uncontrolled Llamed Infection could result in the destruction of
the foundational sub-structure of the universe itself. The Caretakers
council considers it a forbidden initiative.
Big Pharma
Resolve Humanity by “curing” one of the most irritating and obscene
delusions harbored by mankind: hope. The Hypotherapist believes that
there is some simple psychoactive medicine that, when delivered to
the human central nervous system will heal the pathological tendency
toward optimism and aspiration and replace it with a pragmatic and undeluded
view of reality.
Humans, so treated, would be expected to undergo “self-directed
therapy,” colloquially known as “suicide.”
Sponsor
The Hypotherapist is the primary caretaker sponsor but a number of
other Caretakers provide assistance with the research that is necessary.
Approach
The solution requires several steps
1) Identify and develop a working relationship with Chessboard
Zero entities willing to support the project. This step has been
accomplished: The Caretakers have found their Chessboard
Zero allies at the top of the pyramid of the multinational
pharmaceutical companies generally referred to as “Big Pharma”
Status: Complete
2) Develop the Cure. In some ways, this is no different from any
normal development of a pharmaceutical product. Advances
in neurochemistry and psychopharmacology have provided
signifi cant assistance in this area. And many current drugs
result in varying degrees of suicidal psychosis anyway. The
trick is to fi nd something that’s subtle enough for use Stage 3
– distribution. Status: Underway
3) Worldwide Distribution. Once the cure is developed, it must be
administered to the overwhelming majority of the population.
This step is far enough in the future that it remains a “mere
logistical detail” but everyone operationally involved in the
project (the people on and close to Chessboard Zero) know
it’s going to be tough. Some of the plans on the drawing
board include marketing the cure as a cheap treatment for
a number of mental ailments (and working with the major
insurance companies to ensure that it will be widely prescribed
as a treatment). Ultimately, however, there may need to be a
government (and ultimately pan-government) mandate that
requires everyone to take it. Status: Planning
people’s lives–-make your
dick stand up. Make you grow
hair. Hell, I’ve seen the
“big one”–-the pill that
makes you skinny… [snickers]
And yeah–-the ones that make
you happy. Those were some of
mine. Back when serotonin was
all the rage.
So if you’re going to fi nd
the guy who can help you, who
do you go to? I’ll tell you:
you come to me. And that’s
what they did. They did their
homework, that’s for sure.
They knew the industry. They
had a short list of guys in
my position and guys with–-
you know-–my philosophy.
My philosophy? Simple-–I’ll
lay it out for you. Take
notes: this is good. Ready?
I’ll tell you my fucking
philosophy. It’s the same
philosophy all the guys at
the top have. Seven habits of
highly effective what? Forget
that crap. It comes down to
one thing:
Never. Lose.
Got it? That’s me. And, say,
two or three other guys. Sure
there’s a lot of ‘family men’
out there in the industry
plugging away like… well
anyway. They’re useless. It
was me, it was some others
– we’re out there at the
cutting edge, and we’re
willing to do what it takes
to win.
So they’d done their
homework, and they knew me…
It was a phone call. From
a ‘placement specialist.’
Yeah—a headhunter. Executive
headhunter. Said he had
an opportunity for me. And
I was looking. You know?
This was when making your
prick hard was still new and
everything and our pipeline
had something in it that
made your heart valves go all
screwy. Kind of a low point.
69
Book of Knots - The Symposium