The new President of Agriculture was set to speak within the next three hours. The election was close. There were talks of voter suppression and misinformation to keep some Forms out of the election process. We needed to be put this behind and move forward as a united Unit. For many it would be difficult. This was the most controversial and divisive President of Agriculture election in over 100 years – possibly more so than when the traditional office of President of United States position was moved to a leading position in tourism and marketing.

President of Agriculture, Ms. Bess Bell, had a most unusual path to the Kansas City Whitehouse. Ms. Bell spent the previous 10 micro years learning everything she could about the issues that held our Unit together, as well as those that divided our land. She would be the first from her family to fully complete the guided learning process.  Consistent monitoring put her in the top of her learning outcomes and placed her in position to run for the President of Agriculture, based on matching criteria.

As much as we tried to put a face on the differences and added label after label, it came down to old versus new. No change versus change. At that time in our society, we waited until the old ideas were phased out. We continued talking to and interacting with the old idea purveyors, getting their opinion up until their last breath. Every fear had to be listened to and managed, whether rational or not.

In less than two hours, Ms. Bell, the first Bos Taurus Form elected to the President of Agriculture position, would be speaking. Even though she had gone through all the regimented brain development procedures, those opposing her felt she brought an incredible bias to the current controversy.

Almost one hundred years prior to the time of President of Agriculture Bell, after the dissipating shorelines and the great migration inland, we were forced to move our technology in a new direction. Robots were to remain helpful in automatization.  But there was a focus on land and agriculture. New ideas were needed to solve the simple problem of feeding Forms.

After the advancements in “All Form Culture”- the ability to grow certain non-Human Form brains into cognitive and productive organisms added a multitude of moral and ethical issues.  The discussion surrounding how we were to care for newly blossoming sentient beings, combined with the new battle over food consumption – meat versus vegetable versus syn – created unrest for many years leading up to the election of Ms. Bell.

The Hominoidea stayed primarily in the southern hemisphere regions and thrived. As we freed land from meat production we moved the Bos Taurus into protection programs. The Canis and Felis were also given assistance and an opportunity to mainstream. There were staunch opponents to this new way and, once again, Human Form fear drove the narrative surrounding the issues.

Once vegetable and synthetic foods took over, there was very little reason for killing to create meat.  Very few “Gesters” (referring to meat consumers and the extra digestion needed for meat) could tell the syn meat from real meat. However, Gesters had been backed for over one hundred years by the National Protection Association (NPA) Party (formerly a weapon lobbying organization). Long after our Unit moved to solar power, eliminating a carbon based fuel, the NPA party’s sole platform had remained the consumption of non-syn meat. This election marked the end of that reign.

In less than an hour, the new President of Agriculture would speak via virtual dialogue dispatches.  Although Ms. Bell had attained the mental equivalency of top Human Forms, it would take another 35 years of breeding to adjust the vocal palette to allow verbal Human Form-like speech patterns.

The Bos Taurus were originally thought to be a non-Human Form that would have difficulty learning, Truth be told, aside from Gesters, many knew for years that they could remember – and even hold a grudge. Because their brain was able to grow with the help of genetics, they became one of the quickest to advance. Some were instantly afraid of this prospect and worried that the Bos Taurus would realize how they’d been treated historically and retaliate. However, they turned their learning skills into a benefit and in a short time contributed immensely to the success of the All Form Culture.

Unfortunately, this led some of the Gesters to call the Bos Taurus ”elitists.” They relied solely on their brains to sustain their lifestyle – one that, through only nature’s doing, required them to be cared for on a regular basis by Human Forms.

It was only minutes before the speech and the massive crowd was scanned for weapons – ranging from old fashioned metal guns to 3D hyper printed plastic guns to Cylon compression phone rays. Slowly, the President of Agriculture was led onto the stage. She wore a professional blue gown that covered her body, only exposing her four legs below the knees. Her hoofs were painted a pristine black. She wore a traditional decorative gold bell around her neck that caught the stage light and sparkled briefly. At the podium one of her team placed the virtual dialogue apparatus near her temple.

The massive crowd was made up of three quarters Human Forms and the rest other Forms. They went silent. Multiple screens appear behind her as her mouth moved slowly with no perceivable sound. Then the text appeared.

“Thank you to the NPA for bringing important discussions to the public during the four year campaign and election process. I want to thank all Forms for taking part in the election process….”

There was a commotion in the crowd and a clean cut Human Form with a traditional older style suite and wearing a silk neck ribbon jumped to an aisle and shouted.

“Die cow!”

He pulled a Cylon CP from a skin pouch on his arm and shot multiple times at the President of Agriculture. She quickly swung her head up, bringing the decorative bell in front of her. The rays ricocheted off the bell and directly back at the man, piercing his neck, eye and stomach. He was killed instantly.

The crowd of Humans and other Forms moved in around him quickly to prevent medical workers from getting him into a healing booth, where he had a chance to be brought back. The group nearest the man could smell the stench of meat coming from his stomach wound. The crowd quieted again and faced the President of Agriculture waiting for her to continue.

The Human Form’s partially digested stomach meat scent wafted up towards Ms. Bell in small pin prick waves. She was torn, but knew what the Forms wanted. She continued.

“We will work together to improve our Unit for our offspring and their offspring. We must unite and find common ground. On that common ground we will build a better, brighter future for all Forms.”

The screens went blank and balloons and confetti dropped from the sky as all Forms in the audience cheered loudly.

#

The day turns to night and the stage morphs into a different kind of stage with a different Bos Taurus on the stage. This one looks bigger and appears to have Human Form hair in patches on his head. There are no monitors. This Bos Taurus speaks directly into a voice magnification system. His voice is low and strained.

“That was the story of my great, great grandmother and in many ways the story of all of our kind. I can promise you that the continuing leadership of the Bos Taurus will only lead to more prosperous times. Now that we truly have a voice there is no turning back. We will continue to lead this great Unit into the future – for all Forms.”

The crowd becomes visible as a circus of lights crisscross the large group. This new crowd is mainly made up of Bos Taurus and other Forms, with a handful of Human Forms sprinkled throughout. Once again, the balloons and confetti drop as the Forms continue to cheer.

Sadly yours,

Jason Spafford

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