King of All I Survey
Chapter 135: The Universal Co-op of Harmony and Friendship

Chapter 135: The Universal Co-op of Harmony and Friendship

I probably cried for a full ten minutes with Dad just holding me. When I was all cried out, I felt calmer. I felt stronger. Whatever I decided to do would be an improvement over the current state of affairs. Right now, many serial killers went undiscovered and remained at large. Those who were caught, generally faced life in prison. Some received the death penalty after years of appeals and prison.

I stood there in my father’s tight embrace. I reached out my awareness to Joe and re-established the link to the adult me android. For second, I watched my child’s body and my father. It was an image I wanted to remember for the rest of my life.

"I’ve made a decision," my adult voice broke the silence. Dad jumped almost out of his skin, not realizing that I had reactivated the android.

"It’s just me, Dad," my child self-whispered.

"Joe, by Royal decree of Timothy Aaron Bailey, Supreme Ruler of the Entire Earth Solar System and Nearby Space, from this day forward, if a determination is made by Joe Torres, acting in official service to the crown, that any sentient person proven guilty of murder or rape, and others proven guilty of repeated severe, violent crimes with a significant risk of repeat offenses despite the best treatment and re-integration support we can provide are hereby sentenced to death. They will be privately executed in a quick, painless manner. If they have families who wish to take the body for burial or religious services, we will accommodate that. Otherwise, the bodies will be cremated or otherwise reduced to their constituent components and returned to Earth. This shall apply to any such criminal found in any space or on any world legally claimed and acknowledged to belong to Earth, regardless of that person’s planet of origin or citizenship. Joe, record that as official law of the Earth System, witnessed by Daniel Bailey and Joe Torres. Record it into the Galactic Records, so it is accessible by all galactic civilizations. No exceptions will be made. If there is any question as to the applicability of the law, I will be the sole and final arbiter. Such power will pass to the next in line for my title, in the eventuality of my demise."

As part of my memory implant training in galactic politics, I knew the formalities of establishing laws within civilizations in order to make them legally binding. No law could be enforced or criminal pursued outside of any given civilization’s own territory, but formal arrest and extradition could be requested from any other government of anyone proven guilty of a crime within one’s territory if they sought to hide somewhere else. Such requests could be honored or not, without repercussion.

"Joe, we need to establish a full book of law for the Earth system and our territories, especially since we are expanding our territorial claims by infinity... Draw up a model based on best practices throughout the galaxy. I’ll read every word, of course, but for expedience highlight anything you think is questionable or anything that I would find questionable. Made a list of things whose absence or permissibility would be curious to my or Earth sensibilities, as well. I also want to establish a Constitution upon which all Earth law and policy is to be based. It should be clear, that Earth and all of its territories fall under the absolute rule of the Supreme Ruler of the Entire Earth Solar System and Nearby... wait, that doesn’t work anymore. Some of our newly claimed territories will be in distant galaxies, for goodness sake. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of alternate universes, yet, but the title should not exclude them. Yikes! I think I need to establish a system of Planetary... what Governors?"

My child self finally released my father from my desperate embrace and stepped back. I switched the speech back to that version of me, and continued in my child voice, my real voice.

"I need a whole governmental structure with powers and responsibilities delegated to various offices or committees. I’ll use some of the structure other civilizations use, but let me be clear. The Supreme Ruler of however I decide to refer to Earth’s claimed space, may make or over-rule any decision made by any Earth governmental entity at any time for any reason, without limit, for the period of my lifetime. If a successor is named, I will decide at the time of that announcement whether to rescind that absolute authority prior to my departure from that office."

"Alright," Dad interrupted, "I’ve got real work to do. If you’re going to be figuring out political structures and legal stuff, I’ll get back to work on Mexico. I’d like to request the Supreme Ruler’s permission to begin the groundwork and surveillance efforts for the rest of Central and South America, the Caribbean Islands, and any other associated island states. I’m excluding Canada and the United States for now. My plan is to work more or less sequentially, starting with those most heavily impacted by our drug interdiction efforts, including Peru, where there is a sizable cocaine industry growing even before we wiped out most of the competition."

I shrugged, then considered. I trusted him to do the right thing, but we should have some kind of structure and procedure in place. Our goal was to eventually get every nation to agree to fall under the authority of a single Earth government. That government, of course, was me. "No, permission denied," I pronounced.

"What?" Dad asked. He was a mix of surprise and confusion. "What’s the plan, then?"

"That’s my question, exactly." I replied with a smile, "I want a formal detailed plan that includes how and whether we recognize the particular governmental authority of a country. How do we plan to acquire their agreement to abide by the rules established by a single Earth Government, namely me? I want prioritized list of countries to be assimilated. You may work to help establish order in concert with countries in the regions you mentioned by providing them with information regarding corruption or criminality, but no military or law enforcement actions by us, at all outside of the regions between Colombia and the Southern US border. The only exception is the capture of high-level criminals fleeing those regions because of our actions. And serial killers as identified by Joe, as we discussed."

I paused to gauge Dad’s reaction. He looked a little annoyed to be honest. It was probably a lot more paperwork than he wanted to do. "Until we have Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico formally agreeing to our World Government authority, I want to do minimal work in other countries. If we solve all their problems without preconditions, why should they agree to anything?"

"Dad shrugged, "That makes sense, I guess. Do you want me to get that agreement from the first countries, or..." He trailed off, clearly not wanting that job.

"No, I need to write up the laws and governmental structure first. We have to have something for them to agree to before we get their agreement. We have to figure out what to do if they refuse. Something that does not involve force, by the way. Anyway, there’s a whole bunch of details and structure we need to put in place before we just go running willy-nilly around the world. Charitable work and establishing charitable footprints anywhere Mom decides, on the other hand, should go forward as far and wide as possible as long as we can keep it under control and consistent in messaging and branding."

"Is Mom going to direct that? I thought Maribel thinks she is leading Food First and Health First, under her father’s directives..." Dad asked with raised eyebrows.

I sighed, "Yeah, that’s right... You see why we have to think this all out and figure out how to control it before everything just runs off the rails. Joe is going to be acting the part of Maribel’s father to bolster the background story of her existence." I said, thinking out loud, "Let’s say, having become newly reacquainted with his long-estranged daughter Susan, he wants the two of them to work together to head his organizations. As we previously hinted, he is part of some secret group bent on making the world a better place despite national governments, and their ultimate goal is a single world union. That’s why he wants the charitable organization to be well-branded, so they can be firmly associated with the eventual announcement of the goal of establishing a single world authority. He’s going to have to work with Arroyo and Camal de Leon and Colombia and Mexico directly, to get them on board first. At some point," I stopped and continued the sentence from my adult android form without pause, "we have to introduce me as the head and driving force behind the whole operation. Once that’s done, and we have a formal global organization acknowledged by several nations, we can begin expansion in earnest. How’s that sound?"

Dad tiled his head to one side then the other as if weighing different arguments inside. Eventually, he shrugged, "I guess that makes sense. So, I’ll just work on the Central America region, plus Mexico and Colombia for now. And work with Joe on global serial killer eradication. I’ll draw up a strategic plan for expansion into other countries, working with Susan... and Maribel?"

"Yes, both of them. I guess we’ll have Maribel’s father hire you as... something... maybe Chief Security Officer for his charitable enterprises? No, if we put the factories under him as well... No, we need some shadowy mystery group to own most of the visible assets. I guess I started that with the Good King factory... The name should reflect the eventual one world government." I paused, considering and rejecting potential names in my head. I noticed Dad’s eyes lighting up...

"You know," he began, "In Star Trek, it was called United..."

"NO!" I cut him off emphatically. His enthusiasm faded to a hurt look. "Look Dad, it’s a fine name, but if we are pulling names out of TV and movies, we’re not going to be taken seriously. I mean, United Earth or United Earth Federation or anything from popular Sci-fi canon is going to make us seem like a bunch of nerdy kids pretending to be in charge."

Dad cleared his throat meaningfully, "Ahem... Doesn’t that describe you pretty much exactly?" He raised an eyebrow waiting for my response.

"Well, maybe, but that’s not the point. We need a name that sounds authoritative and serious. One without associated preconceptions. You know, something like New World Order of the Illuminati Elite."

Dad snorted and we both laughed.

"Ok, I see what you mean," he finally admitted, "the name is important and needs to reflect a certain level of... dignity or whatever."

"Exactly, lots of whatever," I smiled. "Kingdom and Empire have so much existing emotional history around them, that we pretty much have to rule them out. Maybe we throw in Universal to show the broader scope of our eventual domain... Earth should be in there... What else? Something to show that it’s all joined together."

"The Universal Earth Co-op of Harmony and Friendship?" Dad suggested?

"Yeah man! We’ll grow our hair really long and, like, tie-dye all our uniforms, man," I agreed with my best Tommy Chong imitation, "That would be great, man."

Dad chuckled, "Hey, I’m trying to help here..."

"I know, I don’t mean to be dismissive. I’m sorry, it just sounded funny."

"No apologies needed. Funny is its own apology... I mean, I don’t know... anything for a laugh or whatever?" Dad struggled to make a meaningful sentence, which is probably part of the reason why I couldn’t take his suggestions seriously, I’m just saying.

"I actually like the idea of harmony, Dad. It suggests everybody on the same page, like a choir sounding better than a soloist... Like the opposite of discord... Concord? Earth Universal Concord... or Universal Earth Concord. That makes it sound more like a Treaty or Agreement rather than a single new group that’s taking over. Member nations agree to the Universal Earth Concord... What do you think?"

Dad nodded, "It sounds way less sinister than the Illuminati thing and way less hippy-dippy than the Co-op of Harmony thing..."

"We would write up a Concord like a Constitution declaring basic rights for the people of member states, governing principles, and establishing an over-arching authority ostensibly to oversee compliance and to allocate financing and resources. There can be a governing council including heads of state, but in the end, it has to place one person, me, at the top with ultimate control. And the member states have to agree to that... I think we can work something out." I nodded in appreciation of the grand concept coming together.

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