A slave drove Roger and Jane to Roger's home. In the driveway, Roger stated that he wanted to hold the leash. It was mid-afternoon, and Jane was very tired. Roger walked with Jane into a house that felt bigger than Charles Mitchell's house. Jane soon understood why. Roger asked one of his slaves to assemble the entire staff. Soon, about twenty slaves were gathered in the entry hallway.
Roger spoke, “I would like to introduce you all to my friend Jane Foreman. She is a free woman who was once a slave. She is under investigation and will be staying at our home tonight. We will all eat at the hexagon tonight. Deepshikha, please make the usual arrangements. I am sorry this is on such short notice. I have been asked to restrain her with leash and chain as if she was a slave, but she is not a slave. She is our honored guest. I suspect she is tired and will be having a nap. Will someone find a bed that she can use that is equipped with restraints?” A tall black woman raised her hand.
Jane was led by the tall woman to a small room in the slave quarters. She took off her clothes and pulled a thin blanket over her body. She whispered, “So sorry,” as she attached a chain to Jane's leg. Jane did not mind at all. She drifted to sleep quickly.
After a few hours, the same woman came and unchained Jane. She helped Jane get dressed. She laughed and said, “You look like an off-duty policewoman!” Jane explained that she was wearing the same clothes that she had been given when the police rushed her out of her cell. She started wondering what happened to the clothes she had been wearing while she was put in the jail cell.
Her helper said, “Let me make a few phone calls to see if we can find your clothes. I cannot believe they put a guest of the Supreme Council in jail. I also cannot believe the Supreme Council would put you into chains.” Jane said, “Do not worry about that. I would appreciate trying to retrieve all the items that the police took from me. I think I am missing a few items from my luggage. Do not worry about the leashes and chains. I spent quite a few years as a slave. I have been free only a few weeks now.” Jane's helper bowed and said, “You are our honored guest. Let me help you get washed up, and then come with me to dinner.”
The dinner was in a large room with a big, hexagonal table. There were four place settings on each of the six sides. Roger was there, as were his slaves. Jane joined the table. Roger asked everyone to stand and just say their name. Jane was very surprised. She was able to remember about six names. She remembered that Roger's close dinner companion was named Lucy Ling and that Jane's helper in the bedroom was named Samantha.
Roger glanced at Lucy, the woman with a gold collar who sat next to him. She said, “Thank you all for sharing this table, and thanks for the world's bounty for sustaining us.” With that, everyone sat down. Roger said, “Perhaps I get lonely, but every once in a while, I like to share a table with my entire staff. I apologize that some of the food may be too cool or too warm since it is hard to share the table and fuss over food at the same time.” With those words, four people got up and rolled carts to the table. Some of the carts were chilled, and some were warm. Jane guessed that all of the food would be served at its perfect temperature.
Roger said, “As we get our food and get started, could you, Jane, please tell your story? Try to keep it to 15 minutes. When your story is done, you will have plenty of time to eat to your fill.”
Jane told her story. She decided to stick to the things that had been discussed before the Supreme Council. She was afraid that this was all a trap to get her to admit to things or mention details that had not come out before. Jane did emphasize that she was very afraid of the threats to her life made by Julie, the head of the Council. She told everyone, “I am scared that if I am considered a threat, then my husband Amir will also be considered a threat. I think his life is in my hands. I can live with my own errors. If my husband were to be executed by a misstep on my part, that is something I can barely speak about.” Tears streamed down Jane's face.
The whole table was listening to her every word. When she described how Roger had bid on her but was unwilling to outbid Amir's uncles, the table erupted with jeers to Roger for making such a mistake. Roger stepped in to describe the bidding process. Everyone laughed when it was revealed that it was Roger's brother's attitude that had stopped Roger's bidding. It appeared that his strong attitude about Roger was well known to those who shared the table.
There was laughter as Jane described the crazy wedding with Amir and her release from slavery entirely within the wedding. There were tears when Jane described the wedding of Deb and Cathy. It was very clear that some of the horrors of slavery were hidden from Roger's household.
At one point, Jane got up from her seat and closely examined the gold collar on Lucy. Jane was certain that it was made by the same company that made her collar. Jane and Lucy started to joke that this made them cousins. Jane noticed that Lucy and Roger were both in bare feet, and their toes and feet were being very friendly with each other. At that point, Jane started to understand why Julie Hildebrandt was concerned about having Jane spend time at Roger's house.
Jane did ask Lucy if anyone at the table had small kids. Lucy said that she and Roger had three small children. The whole household had about 15 small children. They were all in a distant wing of the house, being cared for by seven temporary “workers,” which allowed all of the staff to join Roger for dinner. This was one of the many details that made these dinners so special. Lucy said that any children reaching age 15 were given a choice about working in the household or at a different place. Jane wanted to ask if Roger freed the children of slaves, or if they stayed slaves. But she did not want to ask about anything that would spoil the mood. Jane went back to her seat.
The financial details of Jane and Amir's life amazed everyone. All the slaves asked for $250,000 for a summer, with lessons from Jane. Roger just said, “Fine by me, but you need to pay back any losses, and I get to keep 10% of anything over $10 million!” There was a roar of acceptance of those terms, but Jane knew that slaves were not allowed to trade in the stock market and that winning was not as easy as she made it look.
Roger filled everyone in about the discussions before the Supreme Council. Roger added, “Jane, before it gets too late, or everyone drinks too much wine, we need to talk about the terms of your release from the Council. I think you need to promise not to form any technology company yourself. I think this is what terrifies the Council about you. You need to send a message to the Council each time you buy or sell a security. They will just ignore it. Some will try to front-run you, but that will work to your advantage when you buy. We need to get the old books about technology. I assume these are in Charles Mitchell's library?” Jane said, “Yes, but I do not want to say that, I do not want Charles to get into trouble.” Roger used a calm voice and said, “Perhaps, but what you ask will cause you to forfeit your life. Charles does not want the books that badly. I think a good compromise is to arrange for the books to be lent for five years to a secure library in Sunnyvale. The Council will accept that. We can also allow Charles the right to visit his books anytime he wants. Hopefully, in five years, the situation will change, and Charles will get his books back. Jane, do you still have your cell phone?”
Jane said, “I somehow still have my ID, wallet, and phone. I am missing a notebook of sketches I made of the Colorado Mountains from the train and a few other items. I am also missing the clothes I was wearing in my jail cell last night.” Samantha jumped up and said, “I am going to call the Police to get Jane's missing items.” Roger asked Jane to call Charles Mitchell to request that he make a five-year loan of his “special books.” Jane made the call. Charles was deeply concerned about Jane. Jane said, “I think I will be fine. We are working on a compromise. Part of the compromise will be for you to retain ownership of those special books you have, but to offer them as a loan to a special collection in Sunnyvale. If I understand right, it will be written up as a five-year loan. You will retain ownership. Is this something you could do?” Charles said, “Of course. I want you to come home safely. Be careful.” Jane said, “I am being as careful as I can.”
Samantha came back into the room and announced that the Police would be returning several items belonging to Jane. They would arrive in about two hours. Roger nodded, turned towards Jane, and asked, “Jane, we need to finish the business of compromise. Can you live with the terms that I just listed: no financing companies, notice given when you buy or sell shares, and Charles offers his books on a five-year loan?” Jane said, “Yes, I can live with this. Does this mean that Amir and I get to stay alive?” Roger just said, “Well, I would hope so. We are covering all the concerns that the Council has. To shoot you after you agree to this would be quite wrong. I certainly would vote against it.” Jane just said, “I just hope that the historical record does not show numerous examples of 4-1 decisions of the Supreme Council.”
Roger said, “I would like to tell you a story, but it is one I have told so many times, I want Lucy and Samantha to tell it. Please tell the story of the financial collapses, modern slavery, and our current governance here in the United States of America.”
Lucy laughed and said, “OK, I can play this game, Roger. Put me on the spot, well, please chime in when I forget a key part of the story.” She turned away from Roger and looked right at Jane. “Well, Jane Foreman, my collar cousin, this story is just for you. Please pay close attention. Take no notes since I do not want to get into trouble. Back in 2019-2021, there was a cataclysmic collapse of the world economy. Centralized control of all institutions failed utterly. It was a grim period of mass starvation. About the only group that survived intact socially and financially was the network of billionaires. They had yachts that could stay afloat from two to three years or had secret sheep farms in New Zealand. They inserted themselves into the process of rebuilding society. The billionaires settled in ten guarded cities. Each of the ten cities in America with an enclave for the level one had a similar Supreme Council. Sunnyvale's Council specializes in technology. There were other councils for social issues, finance, police matters, resources, food, medical issues, news and media, legal framework, and finally one to resolve disputes between the Councils.”
None of this was obvious to Jane or anyone else who did not know how power was wielded in America. “The constitution was ignored decades ago. Only the billionaires had the ability to make rules that would be followed across the country. As the nation got back on its feet, the billionaires stayed in control. There was no call for a constitutional convention. You may wonder why. At the time, no one knew how rules were being set, and everyone was so focused on staying alive and getting the next meal.”
“Today you have visited Sunnyvale California, and you have not only met the Supreme Council but have been threatened with execution. Some people who hear this story do not believe this could be true. I suspect that I will have less difficulty convincing you.” Lucy looked at Roger, and Roger smiled and added, “What Lucy is leaving out is how wrong these Supreme Councils are. They are the part-time work of extremely wealthy people with a dozen or hundreds of businesses to run. It is amateur hour. It is frustrating. Governing should be the work of skilled technical workers, not the whim of distracted level one people. The whole system is wrong, and now it is an even worse anachronism. You look confused. What I am saying is that we have a feudal system of governance, in an industrial society.”
Samantha joined in, “You also forgot to explain the beginnings of modern slavery, and how it is destroying this country once again. It all seemed reasonable in the beginning. People were starving, and credit card companies had plenty of liabilities. Few people could pay their credit card bill. Instead of allowing bankruptcy, the credit card companies started to seize and sell off their customers. This boosted the balance sheet of the credit card companies and helped the bankrupt customers since they were often sold to people or organizations who would feed their new property. The cash flow from customers with big credit card balances usually made huge profits for the credit card companies even if the balance was never paid off. Because financial institutions extended far more credit to whites than to blacks, slavery is much more of an issue for white people than for black people. I know that it is wrong to be amused by all of this, but it is clear that white people really messed themselves up with all of this. My great-grandfather lost his house in the 2007 housing crash. I think my people just got screwed first.” Jane muttered, “I do not remember being taught any of this at school.”
Samantha continued, “The rule of keeping children together with their families until age 15 was instituted to avoid the worst abuses of slavery, but the cruel permutations took their toll. Jane brings us a series of stories: her entire family made slaves not because of what might be called legitimate debt, but because of manipulations of the parents; creditors, who pushed the family into slavery; the children were enslaved even though there was no financial call for it; Jane was able to stay with her friends only through high school graduation, as long as she was constantly chained to something; and finally, the tale of children and babies dying quickly because the parents are no more, perhaps as organ donors. And that that is just one person's stories told over the dinner table. What horrors would be found if we asked a hundred people about their experiences?”
Roger interrupted, “Let me add my thoughts. First, there were several financial collapses. Once the economy crashed to almost zero, it came back because millions of Americans constructed their own garage or backyard business. Bit by bit, things were starting to come together. But when a few companies started up mass production again of key items, it wiped out millions of simple businesses. The economy tanked again. The one thing that has always annoyed me is that at no point in our spotty recovery have we been able to revive any practical form of air travel. Apparently there were massive hidden subsidies in the past which we are unable to duplicate now. Such a pity.”
Roger regained his thoughts. He added, “This was when the billionaires stepped in to restructure society. They demanded protection from the rest of society. This was when the specific six levels of society came to be created. Ten cities for the level one were named to be defended against anything or anyone. We find ourselves in defended city number four. I think we can agree that a frontal assault against the fortress would bring out massive firepower and repression. I think that the direction that Jane Foreman proposes to go in is the only way to challenge our very broken system. I would like to suggest that we each fill each other's wine glasses in a toast to Jane Foreman and her very bold plan.”
Jane was very confused. What was her bold plan? She had wanted to get into level one by any means necessary. Now that was blocked at every point. If she could stay alive and hold onto half her money, she would be lucky. Her every move would now be examined by a committee of the most powerful people in America. How could she be executing some bold and magic plan that would overturn the existing social order? And why would a level one person set this in motion? None of this made any sense to Jane at all.
Jane decided to take the bait. She asked, “Can someone please tell me what my bold plan is?” Samantha moved her chair close to Jane and whispered in her ear. Jane nodded and asked, “How do I set up false identities?” Roger said, “You should be able to figure this out for yourself. If you cannot, call me up and say that you need help on the Argentine Project. I think you can do the rest yourself. I will monitor your progress by seeing no activity about you on any computer system. Good luck. Now let's find our kids, put all the temporary help in the big dorm room. Jane, you might as well join them.”
Just about everyone got up from the table at once. About three people stayed to deal with the dishes. Roger and most of his slaves went down a long corridor and then up a staircase. There were several rooms with children of different ages. In a few minutes, the kids were in their parents' arms, and the temporary workers were leashed. Roger held Jane's leash. He told her, “You stay with me since I am personally responsible for you.” They went down another corridor to a large room with mats on the floor. There were small stands near each mat with drinking water, a flashlight, and a nearby potty. There was a proper bathroom that was quite deluxe. The eight slaves (if you include Jane) took turns using the toilet and then picking out a mat. Each slave was chained to a nearby anchor, and the door was locked from the outside. Jane was behind in her sleep, and her head was filled with wine and confusion. Jane's mission was to change society so that no one had special privileges, and as many slaves as possible could be freed. Even with a deluxe bathroom, this appeared to be an unlikely place to start a social revolution. Jane fell asleep easily.
Jane woke up early. There was enough light coming through the window for her to look around the room. Everyone else was sound asleep. She noticed that some of the mats in the room were arranged very close together so that two people could sleep together. These seemed more popular than the mats that were more isolated. Jane was glad that she had not accidentally taken one of the popular mats. She noticed condoms on a shelf close to the “couple's mats.” Jane used the little potty next to her mat and waited for the door to open. Samantha came in and unlocked everyone. She brought in a cart with eight small baskets for laundry. Everyone put their laundry in a plastic tub that already had their name on it. Samantha passed out bathrobes for everyone. There was a line for the bathroom, but everyone was polite. Jane used one of the sinks to wash up since she had already done her business. A few minutes later, Samantha used a key to open a latch on the wall. She pulled a lever, and a pair of tables slid into the room. She pulled in a second cart, loaded with food. In two minutes, the tables were set, and everyone was eating an amazing breakfast. Someone came in quickly, placed Jane's two suitcases on her mat, and alerted her that the suitcases were there.
Everyone at the table was curious about Jane. She had a slave collar but had the clothes and luggage of a free person. She told them that she was a freed slave who had run into some problems and that Roger and his slaves were helping her. Everyone nodded and started to say how nice Roger and his slaves were. One of the child care workers said, “If you have a problem, and you come to Roger's house, he and his slaves will make it better.”
Just then, the door unlocked, and Lucy and five other women came into the room. Lucy was breastfeeding a small baby. The women were all asking about their children, and how they had behaved last night. By the familiarity, Jane realized that these workers regularly came to the house, and they knew each child by name and temperament. Jane knew that when you get caregivers together to discuss their charges, the conversations could go on quite a long time. Samantha came in and said, “The self-transport needs to start in 30 minutes. Is everyone feeling OK to walk back to your company? It is about 55 degrees outside, will anyone need a sweatshirt?” Everyone raised their hands. Jane made note of the need to dress warmly.
Everyone ate quickly. Conversation stopped. Another cart came in with clean clothes, with a sweatshirt for everyone. Jane asked, “Did they clean the clothes that quickly?” One of the child care slaves said, “Oh no, they keep a few sets of clean clothes here for each of us. They are careful to launder our clothes and keep track of our names. The house treats us so special; we love it here.” They finished their breakfast and switched to getting washed up and dressed. Jane did hear one of the women say, “Next time, I sleep with Roberto!” The women all looked at one of the two men, who made an expression like, “Everyone calm down, and wait your turn.” They all dropped their bathrobes onto just one mat and put on their clothes right there in the center of the room. Jane joined them, to much hilarity. One of the women said, “You look like you would be very sweet with children. If you were part of our crew, some of the women here would wish you were a man!”
Jane walked with them to the entry hall, as the slaves formed into a line, all chained together. They wore simple sandals without socks, and the lead person wore a large tracking device. Several women and children went outside to wave goodbye to them. Lucy held Jane's leash so that she could join them outside as well. All in all, it seemed like a lot of time and effort had been expended to allow all the slaves in Roger's household to have an adult dinner together. It was very hard for Jane to think that Roger was some nasty person trying to trick Jane into saying or doing anything to get her into trouble. Whatever Roger was, he was the person that he said he was. Jane now felt like she could fully trust him.
About an hour after the slaves left, Roger came in with a small item. He said, “This is an encrypted USB hard drive with 10 trillion bytes of material. The password is digit 4, the word ‘ever’ followed by two exclamation marks. This should give you plenty of material for your project.” Jane put a sticker over the USB port and wrapped it up with some of her clothing. Jane hoped that if it were discovered, the person would not think that it was something for a computer.
About one hour after getting the hard drive, Jane got into a car with Roger to go to the Council meeting. By then, Jane's clothes had been laundered and packed into her suitcases. Roger strapped and locked Jane into the car, drove what seemed to be less than three miles, and unlocked and unstrapped her. He put a leash on Jane and walked into the Council building. He instructed a staff member, “Please chain Jane in a corner of the hearing room. Get her a donut, coffee, or anything that she needs. Please stay close so that Jane can be unchained when the meeting starts.” With that, Jane was in an empty room, except for some staff members.
After about half an hour, the members of the Supreme Council walked into the hearing room and took their seats. Roger motioned for one of the staff people to unlock Jane, to attach the leash, and to bring Jane before the members of the Council. Julie said, “I hope that Roger has been a suitable host.” Jane said, “Yes, he was, I had a pleasant evening.” Julie then asked, “Can I inquire about where you slept last night?” Jane answered, “I slept in a very pleasant room with open sleeping for myself and seven slaves. We were all chained up to our sleeping mats, and the door was locked for the evening.” Jane wondered why she was asked this question. Perhaps Roger had a reputation for taking advantage of his female guests. If this was not true, then chair of the Supreme Council was asking an odd and inappropriate question.
Julie continued, “Roger has a proposal that I think I can accept. It is a bit of a slap on the wrist, but we are not finding any real wrongdoing here. The Council is not concerned with people making money. The Council is concerned about any one person or faction that could upset the balance of technology in the marketplace. Jane, I am going to pass a document to you. This is what Roger says you have agreed to this.” Jane read the document and said, “This is exactly what was discussed over dinner last night. I agree to these terms.” Julie said, “Against my better judgment, I am going to accept these terms, with a few more clauses. I want you to cease all stock trading and allow us to track your location until I have received all the items that I will list now. I want you, Jane, to surrender your high school notebooks. We are going to give you a list of all the stock trades that we have documented. I want you to correct this list if you can see an error. I want you to write up a master document that explains why you bought or sold each security. I want to review the diary of your trades, look at your reasoning, and see if I can see your logic in your magic notebooks. If I am satisfied, there will be no further punishment. Do you agree to my terms?”
Jane answered, “I do accept these terms. I do need to keep my notebooks until I have turned over my homework assignment. I cannot cease trading until I have a chance to phone my beloved husband Amir and tell him to do so. We both trade using the same methods. I assume we are both under the same restrictions. One concern I have is that to do a full accounting I need to locate the magazine articles describing the new companies. My report needs to be based on my memory if I cannot locate the source articles in local libraries. Please do not think I am trying to hide anything if I cannot give exact quotes on certain items. I would like all the members of this Council to review my materials before any further sanctions are placed on me.” All of the members of the Council nodded their agreement to this idea.
James Chu stood up and whispered into Julie's ear. Julie said, “My apologies, but there is one more restriction. You, your husband, and anyone else that knows about your methods can never offer any advice about the purchase of stocks. The only exception is to make general statements about being lucky or saying that stocks are risky. Any public or private mention of any stock as recommended or not recommended is strictly forbidden. Is that understood?” Jane answered quietly, “I understand this very clearly.”
Julie said, “Please call your husband to tell him about these restrictions while the staff prepares a document with all of these terms. Once you have signed the document, we will unlock you, and you will be free to go. Until we have received your full report, you will keep the locating device on your collar. Once we get your report, we will mail you the key so that it can be removed and shipped back to us.” Jane nodded her agreement. She called Amir. Amir was grateful to know that Jane was alive and able to travel back to Warren. A few minutes later, a document was produced. As soon as Jane signed it, her leash was removed. She could put her life together again.
Julie said, “Since you had problems traveling through Emeryville, I would like to travel there with you and make sure you get on a train without any problems. Do you have any train tickets back to the east?” Jane said, “I have no return tickets.” Julie just said, “Wonderful; I will accompany you to Emeryville. I assume we have no further business today.” The other members of the Council shook their heads to say, “No.” Jane noticed that Roger had an alarmed expression on his face. Jane knew she had to be very careful.
Julie drove Jane to the train station. There were five parking places reserved for the Supreme Council. Jane enjoyed stepping out of the car from a front seat and not being locked up. Julie was greeted by name. It was clear that she did not need to purchase any tickets. Jane also noticed that the “border crossing” was gentler by train. There was a special tunnel with steel doors. The tunnel ducked beneath a hill, which hid the barbed wire fence from train riders.
Julie started asking about the dinner at Roger's house. As expected, she was fishing for something that Roger said that would get him in trouble. Jane decided to speak about taking a nap in someone's room and then the big dinner at a hexagonal table. Julie seemed to be familiar with the table and his eating with his entire staff. Jane mentioned the visiting child care workers, who slept in a special room. Jane said, “It appears that Roger goes to great troubles to ease the slavery restrictions on everyone, but at a certain point, everyone needs to follow the rules.”
Julie wanted to know if Roger had said anything that showed that he wanted to change the social order. Jane just said, “Of course, doesn't everyone?” Julie looked surprised as if she was getting her evidence easily. Julie asked, “What did he say?” Jane carefully told the stories of freeing her family, of her friends learning about the facility that took care of babies and small children, of how there was a high death rate, and of how her friends took what money they had from the bank and purchased two babies. Jane gave enough details to break even the hardest soul. She added, “Once I told that story, Roger said that should not be happening. I hope I am not getting him into trouble.” Jane noticed a few tears on Julie's cheek. She just said, “No, you are not getting him into any trouble.”
Jane started to ask about Roger, “Why doesn't he use his money to deal directly in the slave trade to discourage it? He has billions. Why does he allow all this death and suffering?” Julie said, “He tried to intervene. It caused a scandal in the Council. They told him he needed to restrict his money to technology and related companies. I think if he could trade all his holdings away to end slavery, he would do so. But he cannot even stub his toe in the business side of slavery without the world coming down hard on him. I wish it were not so.”
The train pulled into Emeryville. They got out and located the ticket area. Jane bought a set of tickets back to Warren. As she left with her tickets, she noticed Julie making a gesture to someone. Jane knew something was up. Julie said, “I want you to stay right by my side.” Just then a group of television camera operators and other reporters gathered in front of them. One of the reporters gave a countdown with his fingers. Jane knew that in half a second, she would be on live TV, probably nationwide.
Julie just faced the cameras and said, “I am Julie Hildebrandt, head of the Supreme Council in Sunnyvale. I am here with Jane Foreman, who just gained her freedom. She has been able to buy and sell technology stocks and now has more than $25 million. She was asked to appear before the Council to answer questions about her trades. Jane, can you fill people in about your experiences?” Jane sucked in air and did her best. She started, “Well, the Council reviewed the stock trading activity of my husband and I. They will be continuing the review of these records. We did not use any inside information but instead used a trading system that we now realize is destabilizing our delicate financial markets. We have been asked to refrain from further trading until all of our records can be reviewed. Julie, just before the TV cameras appeared, we were speaking about what happened when I tried to travel to Sunnyvale. As I was in this station, I showed the Police my ID card and this letter inviting me to appear before the Supreme Council. The letter has some simple computer codes that can be used to verify its authenticity. Instead of typing these into a computer, they pushed me into a filthy jail cell. I was late for my meeting before the Supreme Council. Julie had to call the Chief of this police station. Why look, there she is here, come over for the camera …” The Chief looked terrified and stepped between Julie and Jane.
Jane continued before anyone else could speak, “Chief, can you tell the nationwide audience why your Police took a level two citizen with a valid letter to appear before the Supreme Council and put this person into a dirty cell that should not be used for a pig?” The Chief just said, “When we got the phone call from her honor here, we realized our mistake. We did give you a shower.” Once again, Jane was quick to pick up the conversation, “So you insult the Council and figure that giving a shower is your version of an apology. I find that an interesting point of view. But let's talk about theft. Numerous phone calls were made on my behalf to obtain all the items stolen by your Police Officers from my luggage. I am still missing a nice red-brown leather-bound notebook that I used to sketch the mountains and scenery on my train trip here. Perhaps it can be located while the TV cameras are still rolling.” Jane noticed a dozen Police Officers calling on their radios and racing around the station. Jane quickly said, “I am sorry Julie, I hope I have not changed the topic. I know you are here to make sure I am not again assaulted by the Police. Is there anything else you would like to add?” Julie looked totally shocked and was struggling to form some words. She finally said, “Yes, we were upset about the delay in starting our hearing, and we were deeply distressed to learn that you really could not testify once you were brought here because you had not eaten any food for a full day. And I do hope someone can find your leather book.” Just then, an Officer came running up with Jane's sketchbook. Jane said, “Well, the police ignored two phone calls from a billionaire about returning my things. It takes a nationwide TV hookup for them to return my things. Citizens, just address letters to the Supreme Council of Sunnyvale California. Please send letters about abuses of the local Police to the Supreme Council. Hopefully, they will investigate and bring these outrageous abuses to an end. There, I think we are done with this interview.”
Once the cameras were off, Julie yelled, “What the hell was that?” Jane answered quietly, “Sorry, but I did not know what to say. I improvised. Next time you want me on TV, give me a script.” Jane picked up her luggage and walked to her track. While she was doing so, they were whooping and hollering in Warren, Ohio.