Serialization of "Quedly Dake and His Quest to Conquer the Globe" — Chapter 6 of 25
From Book 3 of the Trilogy “Taterskin & The Eco Defenders”
“Maybe he wanted to use it to help others, to make the world a better place,” Chapawee interjected [another feature of the OmniMagister is that it remains silent if it detects a different human voice speaking following the questioner’s voice, allowing that other human to answer the question if they can, or if they have something to add]. “After all, we should give Dake the benefit of the doubt, right?”
“But he stole the Arodnap!” Stripes indignantly objected.
Chapawee’s fiancé Ravelle X pretty much agreed with Stripes, but felt honor-bound to defend Chapawee:
“I know it may sound implausible at first,” Ravelle said, “And even unlikely, but it is possible that Dake’s motives were good.”
“What do you mean?” Albert said, “How can theft be acceptable?”
“Well,” Ravelle continued, “What if he had some important mission to accomplish, but the only way to do it was to travel into the past? After all, we (The Eco Defenders) have the only two time travel vehicles in existence. And you have to admit, we ourselves destroyed other people’s personal property in the past for the greater good of humanity and animality, and is that (property damage) really any different from theft?”
Albert thought about this, frowning for a few long moments. “Okay, then,” he finally grudgingly acquiesced, “If Dake’s aim was to right some wrong or prevent some disaster, I will alter my view of him and his theft. It’s the age-old question of ‘Does the end justifies the means?’, I guess”
“That’s right,” Chumbawumba said, lifting his trunk and flaring out his ears. “It depends on how mean the means are, and how just the cause is, I’d say.”
“So, then,” Alexis said, “Let’s find out just what Dake’s motives were, or what, if any, method there was to his madness: Again I ask, OmniMagister, what did Dake use his money for after becoming a billionaire in 2027?”
Dake used the money his investments brought him to become President of the United States and then set himself up as Emperor of the World
“What? What sort of insanity is this?” Ravelle X pondered. “He had experienced the egalitarian society we enjoy in 2525 and then willingly traveled back in time to a barbaric and corrupt period of mankind’s history?”
“What’s Egalitarian?” Marmalade asked. “A place where there are lots of Eagles?”
“Not exactly,” I replied. “There are lots of Eagles here, but no more than there are Fillies, or Falcons, Ferrets, Foxes, or Fiddler Crabs.”
“Then what does Egalitarian mean?”
“Where people are equal, and animals are equal.”
“So why isn’t it called Equalitarian, then?”
“If you expect to make sense of human languages — especially English — you’re wasting your time,” Rovette informed Marmalade.
“Thanks for the tip; I wouldn’t want to waste thyme — it tastes so good in mashed potatoes,” Ocero Puddleby said.
“But back to people and animals being equal — equal to what?” Marmalade pressed.
“Each other,” was my reply.
“And Dake wanted to be above others, obviously, wanting to put himself forward as more important than the rest” Alexis said.
“How did he use his fortune to become President?” Rory asked.
Alexis put that question to OmniMagister.
Flattery, bribery, and threats
“OmniMagister, how, specifically, did he use those stratagems to gain prominence and power?” Alexis prodded.
The previous chapter can be found here.
The next chapter can be found here. [ link will be added when the following chapter is posted ]
Book 1 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Wonders Never Cease,” can be found here.
Book 2 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Tell It To Future Generations,” can be found here.
Book 3 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Quedly Dake and His Quest to Conquer the Globe,” can be found here.
