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Rule of Twelve, Book 1, Chapter 24
Double Take – Hard choices
September 20, 2022
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The next eight days progressed without any of the drama of the first run between Earth and Mayfield. There had been a series of traverses along the same route. The interim stops had gone by smoothly. The layover at Maple Tower had been enjoyable, but quiet in comparison to the previous time. There was some downtime, some dancing and lots of long and, at times, deep conversations.

 

The rig had just arrived in the Mayfield system. The crew were coming around.

   “Looks like things are busy,” Marr said into the crew comms. “Air traffic control has put us in a holding pattern. No chances of getting down this morning. They suggest it could be later this evening, but more likely tomorrow morning. They have also instructed us to drop to a lower orbit. Will I update the autopilot?”

   “Yes, go ahead. And I think I know why,” Dukk said as he looked out.

   “A Mammoth!” Marr exclaimed as she looked up.

   “What is a mammoth?” Luna asked as she looked around.

   “A huge space craft used by the heads of the elite families,” Bazzer answered as he unbelted and came forward to get a better view. “Basically, a small hub capable of traversing. A fortified flying palace. There aren’t many of them. Very rare. Perhaps a dozen in our galaxy. You hardly ever see them, let alone get close to one.”

   “Well, check this out,” Annee said as she turned on the projector in the centre of the cockpit. “The radar has picked up four other large vessels.”

   The projected image showed a graphical rendering of the planet. Orbiting the planet were five large craft. They were evenly positioned to form a ring around the planet.

   “But five means!” Bazzer started to say and then stopped.

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Rule of Twelve books to be narrated with the help of A.I.

I am investing in A.I. driven narration to bring the Rule of Twelve books to life.

It will be more than just narration in the traditional audio book sense. The A.I. will enable me to bring dialogue to life with character specific voices. This will create a rich and engaging narration.

Over the coming months I will be in catch-up mode, building the narration for already published material. Eventually, the aim will be to concurrently release chapters in both written and rich narrative form.

The narration will eventually make it to audiobook form for platforms like Audible and Spotify. However, to get it sooner, you will need a Locals subscription. The Locals App works just like your favourite audiobook app. So, you can listen on the go. Becoming a subscriber also helps keep this whole show on the road.

I look forward to sharing the journey with you.

Bradley.

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Rule of Twelve, Book 2, Convergence

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Rule of Twelve, Book 1, Double Take

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Psychological Safety is a trojan horse

Marr nodded with a wink as she put her hands on the back of Luna’s chair and started to speak.

   “Emeelie, what if I have a room with a single door and I put you in it. The door isn’t locked, and you can leave at any time. The room represents a life experience. Now what if I dropped a lion into the room. What would happen?”

   “All things being equal, eventually the lion would get hungry and want to eat me.”

   “What are your options?”

   “Obviously I would leave via the door, immediately,” Emeelie answered.

   The others laughed.

   “Sure, and every other time a lion is dropped into the room you are in, you’d leave too?”

   “Yes,” Emeelie said with a hint of hesitation.

    “What if there was a possibility that a lion might be dropped into every room, from that moment on. How would your experience of life pan out?”

   “Dreadful. Limited. I wouldn’t be able to stay or even enter any room.”

   “Right. You’d spend your time running out of every room and miss every potential experience.”

   “Ok.”

   “What if I put a chain on the lion and anchor it to the wall?”

   “That would work. I would be able to enter the room again.”

   “Right. So, the lion would need to be chained down for every room you may enter.”

   “Great.”

   “This is the trojan horse.”

   “How?”

   “If I am controlling the lion with chains, I am controlling you.”

   “What! How?”

   “I can choose to use chains or not. I can determine which room you can enter and which you cannot. Your potential for life experiences is controlled by me. You allow yourself to be the victim.”

   “Of the lion’s hunger?”

   “No, my will. You are allowing me to depower you.”

   “Oh.”

   “Yes, oh. Your safety becomes dependent on me or somebody else putting chains on every lion.”

   “Not good.”

   “No. What else could you do that leaves you empowered, but not eaten.”

   “I could learn to defend myself against the lion.”

   “Yes, or even tame it. Put chains on it yourself, so to speak. That way you could go into any room you like, regardless of whether there is a lion in there or not. You’d be safe without anyone else’s intervention. You’d stay empowered. You would experience life to its fullest.”

   “So psychological safety is a trojan horse. It puts my safety in the hands of a third party. It depowers. It turns people into victims.”

    Marr nodded and smiled.

 

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Excerpt from Rule of Twelve, Book 3 - Regeneration, Chapter 17

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Rule of Twelve, Book 3, Chapter 13
Regeneration - Power

 

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Dukk opened his eyes. It was dark.

   “A dream. It must have been a dream,” he muttered as he tried to fathom where he was. He tried to digest the pre-dawn excursion with Craig.

   He swung himself out of bed. Marr was gone.

   He checked the time. Mid-afternoon.

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Rule of Twelve, Book 3, Chapter 12
Regeneration - New ground

 

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“What in the world is going on?” Craig demanded as the doors to the south banqueting hall, closed behind them.

   Dukk, Marr and Emeelie stood before him. Beyond was the atrium bathed in orange light from the setting sun.

   On the opposite side of the atrium the doors to the north banqueting hall were open. Music and chatter could be heard from within.

   The noise from the others disguised the deathly silence that engulfed the four.

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