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Rule of Twelve, Double Take - Ch3 (Passage 5/5)

(… continuing)

Dukk stared at the wall behind the bar and let the barely touched drink go warm.
“What in the world is going on?” he thought.
His self-reflection was interrupted by an incoming alert on his comms. It was Annee.
“Ann, what is going on?” Dukk answered in a daze.
“Are you alright?” Annee asked.
That woke Dukk up.
“Sure. You?”
“Yes, all done here. Rachelle has taken all her stuff from the master cabin. Bazzer and I gave it a once over and moved your lockers in there.”
“Thanks, Annee.”
“So, I was thinking I could move into your old cabin? I already checked with Bazzer, and Larinette is hardly in hers, so she shouldn’t care?”
“Wait, what? You are staying? What about you and Rachelle,” Dukk asked calmly. He was starting to get used to the idea of the unexpected by this stage of the afternoon.
“All good things come to an end, Dukk. Besides, I have years of potential left in me. I am not ready to settle down or be grounded just yet!” Annee replied awkwardly.
“That is brilliant news!” Dukk replied gleefully without thinking.
“Actually, I will miss her,” Annee added.
“Oh, of course, I mean, I am sorry for you and Rachelle, but I am delighted you are staying with the Dinatha, you are one in a million. And, definitely, take my old cabin.”
“Thanks, Dukk, see you at dinner,” Annee added and ended the call abruptly.
That suited Dukk fine as he felt it was getting a little uncomfortable. He was struggling with his emotions and was in no state to help Annee with hers.

Dukk used the heightened awareness following the call with Annee, to get his thoughts together. He used his heads-up display to access the contracts board.
He searched for urgent high value beef contracts. There was only one. It had just been posted.
“Odd! And as suggested by the mystery man, the contact went by the name of ‘Wallace’,” reflected Dukk.
The listing gave the details of the load and destination. It all looked legitimate. The listing also gave the place where Wallace would be tomorrow at nine p.m., local time. He saved the details. Paid the tab, left yet another drink barely touched, and headed for the door.

As Dukk made his way back to the h-pod to shower for dinner, he did his best to disconnect from the day’s events. He did his best to quieten his mind. Which wasn’t easy. His curiosity streak was strong. It had been pivotal in his decision to follow the mystery man’s orders. And now it was working overtime on what this might all be about.
Before entering the h-pod, he stood for a moment. Undecided.
“Should I check-in on the Dinatha, before getting ready for dinner?” he thought to himself.
“No,” he concluded, “The sentinels will keep it secure. Besides, I must clear my head and be present and engaged at dinner. I will need to be alert so that I can pick the right moment to take my leave and get to the VG station on time.”

(to be continued...in the next chapter)

[Rule of Twelve, Double Take, Chapter 3 - Grounding (Passage 5 of 5)]

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2021 BJ Allen

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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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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.

 

-------

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

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Rule of Twelve, Book 3, Chapter 13
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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
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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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