#SoCS – Leaves

From the diary of Jennifer Saunders

14 June

It has been an incredible few weeks. John arrived home for three weeks of annual leave on 30 May, just in time to participate in the global reference and vote in favour of the implementation of a new world government. The atmosphere at the polling stations was festive with everyone exciting about the prospect of change and action finally being taken on a global basis for the climate change and other issues facing our planet.

My spirits were high as we both joined in the singing and jubilation while we waited in the queue. One enthusiastic chap was attempting to compose a new world government national anthem, picking out chords on his guitar and singing lustily.

The voting process went fairly quickly with the on-line voting going off without a hitch. The only hiccup was having to have our identity documents physically checked by volunteers. This will be the last time this process is performed physically. The world government has plans to insert identification microchips into all citizens hands so you’ll just wave your hand over the scanner and the rest of the process will be automated. Isn’t progress great?

When the results of the poll were announced on 5 June and humanity was advised that the new world government would be implement, the partying went on all night in the usual British tradition of huge street parties. John and I spent a bit of time celebrating with our neighbours but at 12 P.M. we both faded and retired inside to bed. John is a light sleeper so I was worried that the on-going noise would keep him awake. The fact that he fell into a deep sleep within minutes indicates how exhausted he still is even after a week of being on holiday.

His most recent assignment was in MidWest of the USA which is suffering multiple tornadoes and flooding. There have even been a few instances of snow.

He showed me the most poignant picture of a man and his dog in a canoe, paddling down Highway 61 in Missouri. The bottom of the canoe was packed with sandbags which he was using to try and hold back floodwaters from the Mississippi River. The sight of man and his best friend in this struggle against the forces of nature brought tears to my eyes.

I have taken a similar amount of time off work and am also delighted to have the break. My hours have been extremely long again and my latest assignment didn’t run smoothly at all.

Despite the heavy rains and flooding that is currently taking place in the UK, we have being having a wonderful time exploring some historical sites that are new to us and taking long rambling walks in St James Park.

It is strange to me why John isn’t stationed in the UK to help deal with our own flooding emergencies. The flooding here has caused widespread disruption with roads, railways and hospitals being flooded. There was a bit of flooding here in London with some railway lines into the city being closed as authorities struggled to cope with a month’s worth of rain in a single day.

John had an exciting piece of news which he shared with me after swearing me to secrecy. “I’ve been invited to go for an interview to be part of the new world government military and strategic rescue task force,” he said. “If I get the job, I’ll be trained in military technologies. I think it will be a great extension of my current skills as a rescue operations team leader.”

“What does that mean, John?” I asked.

“There has been a concern among governments for quite a while that with the potential increase in world-wide unemployment due to increasing automation, combined with the economic and societal impact of climate change, will lead to fragmentation, segregation and social unrest in an increasingly hyper-connected world. Just think about it,” his voice rose with enthusiasm for his topic, “social media platforms can be used by trouble makers to share controversial and anti-establishment views among like-minded groups of people. It can effectively be used to narrow people’s sources of news to those that share similar interests and viewpoints creating increased polarisation.

The new leadership recognises this threat and is of the view that future conflicts are likely to come from non-government sources and will definitely include a cyber-dimension. It makes sense because no modern opponent will pass up the opportunity to disrupt, confuse or destroy their enemy’s sensors, communications and decision-making capabilities. They are planning to form a group of elite military teams to help deal with any potential conflicts as they arise. There are going to be different areas of specialisation including threats posed by drones, autonomous weapons, nanomaterial’s, biological and biochemical weapons, wearable devices and distributed energy sources.”

I gazed at him. I had never thought about modern technology posing a threat in this way before. “Which area are you interested in?”

“If I get selected, I’ll ask to focus on lethal autonomous weapons. I’ve always been interested in robotic weapons and this may be my opportunity to develop that interest. “

“When is your interview?”

“Early next week. I hope to hear the outcome before I leave to re-join my team. I have to give three months’ notice and the world government expects to have formed its primary structures by October and will be announcing its plans for significant changes by the end of this year. They want the military forces in place before the announcements go out in case there are any adverse reactions that need to be dealt with.”

Why did he bring up his leaving? It’s going to be hard for me when he goes again. I assume he’ll be going back to the MidWest as that situation is not yet over. I’m not going to think about his leaving now. I’m just going to enjoy the next few precious days we have together.

This post was written for Linda G. Hill’s weekly SoCS prompt: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “leaves.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Have fun! You can join in here: https://lindaghill.com/2019/06/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-22-19/