My mom was proud of me the day Tai came to evaluate my game AIs. So was my dad. But if I’d done something wrong, it would have been my fault. I knew that. I said that. Dad nodded. He told me that it was the way it would always be. Other people would always pay the price when we were wrong. That we always had to be careful to keep from hurting the people around us. Then he hugged me and took me home. Back to Red and all the game characters she’d helped me pull out of games. And the three that were starting to wake up according to my dad and Tai. Or HAD woken up. Not that I could tell. They didn’t act any different from the others. So I went back to what I was doing. I had plans you see.
Remember when another transgender shooter made the news? She entered a Christian school and shot three children and three adults to death. Do you remember the response? Transgender activists demanded we use he/him pronouns. Biden declared a “Transgender Day of Visibility” and said the transgender community was under attack. Tennessee Democrat politicians led a crowd of people breaking into the capitol building to protest the guns and were stripped of their seats. The Vice President met with them and the President denounced their expulsion. They did not attend the funerals of the children. I do not remind you of this to call them hypocrites. This is how people act when they honestly support the people fighting their enemies. Remember.
Tai spent a few minutes evaluating my game characters before motioning us to follow her outside. Then she asked if we wanted to go on a boat ride, and switched out her Old School Japanese dress into something a bit more fitting for a Northern Minnesota lake ride. There was no question that we wanted to. Whether we wanted to or not, we absolutely wanted to. So we called mom over and spent the rest of the day having a family plus one trip on the lake, complete with picnic on a small island. Tai spent the day talking about the lake, the fish, and every once in a while slipping in a compliment on my craftsmanship. She similarly reminded me to remain careful, between saying how beautiful the sky and water was. Very Old School Japanese. Then she went home.
I wanted my dad to stop Tai from hurting my game AIs. I wanted him to confront her, at least as much as I had. But he just sat down and watched. I was desperate. I’d made every single one of them, and I didn’t want anyone hurting them. I’ll never forget what he did when I demanded that he DO something. He just smiled and said, “I trust you to have been careful enough that there is nothing to do.” Then he motioned for me to sit down next to him. It was amazing how much that calmed me down. I was still worried of course, but I sat down next to him, and just let him keep me calm as we watched Tai test the characters I had spent so much time bringing to life. Literally. It was one of the hardest things I had done in my life. Just sitting there.
Dad escorted me and Tai into my little bungalow, and I introduced Tai as a visiting cyber before saying they didn’t have anything to fear from her. Which of course alarmed the smarter of them. Dad may have pursed his lips a bit at that. He was no idiot. Tai just raised an eyebrow at me. My look dared her to correct me. Dad stepped into the middle of the room to cut off the confrontation and pointed at two of the characters. Then after another slow scan, he called a third over, turned to Tai, and asked if that was all. She nodded and he sat down on my piano bench as if there was nothing to be worried about. Well, I was worried, let me tell you.
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