Wayne Gray

Strip poker is fun for everybody. Even the losers.

😈😼😉😮☺️🫠

Well, we knew it'd happen. This week, I've been tapped by our CFO to help in a dispute against one of the federal regulatory agencies governing us and our funding. The short of it is this: an audit found they had overpaid us for our lab expenses to the tune of $200,000 a year for five years. In other words, they planned to shave a cool million off our next payment and withhold $200,000 a year from here on. The reasons are utterly bogus. Claiming we're double-dipping. Part of that is claiming our low reference lab costs must be due to us billing patients. This is actually because I implemented a process to rebill insurance after the first denial, which knocked our lab bills down from $15,000/month to $2,000/month. So they're trying to penalize us for doing BETTER than average with the funding we received. This is a way for the federal government to wrest money away from federally funded clinics without legislation. Without any kind of law changes. Just abuse of the audit system, and hope clinics just fold. We're taking them to court to appeal. But currently, I've got a million-dollar anvil over my head. I'm the guy in charge of our labs. If we somehow lose this appeal, then that information will go to the board of directors. And they'll ask the guy in charge of the labs what happened. Our appeal is on Tuesday. I've provided all the information asked of me to our CFO and lawyer. So. I'm going to get drunk now.

That was ... magic!

They are wild critters. Like the Zen masters of the animal world. They chill out with predators, turtles, and birds. Just hanging out. Usually with their eyes closed in the sun. It's wild. Oh. Like this.

Good golly ... miss molly.

Mike, sometimes we must suffer for our art. And sometimes our husbands do too.

Thank you for the kind words. If I had been more consistent over the last two years, I might agree with you. But I've just now gotten my mojo back. Maybe give it a bit. And there are some titans in those groups. Down the line, perhaps. But not yet. Let's see if I can maintain a consistent posting/writing schedule first. Still. Thank you.

Thanks for reading and for commenting on the story! Yes. I like how you worded that. A titanic global shift is underway. In the face of violence, a pacifistic, underground movement is slowly chipping away at what had become a fascist state—one intent on annihilation through any means necessary. And through the determination of our heroes, it is succeeding. I like where the story leaves us. We get to see the overview of the big things happening, as well as the individual stories in Cairn Seventy-One. I think it's a good way to show macro and micro levels in the world. Thanks again.

Thanks for the great words and for reading! Super glad you liked the work. There will be more to come from me down the line.

Thank you for the nice words and for the read! Ah, I'm glad you liked the vignettes. I didn't want to tell that the worm changed things when it was so easy to show it. I had to stop myself from adding more of those. There are thirteen hundred (population of Cairn Seventy-One) little stories possible, and I had to moderate myself a lot there. LOL I appreciate that you spent time on this one. Thank you again.

Thank you! And you're very welcome. I'm glad this one resonated with folks. It hit me fast and suddenly, and I'm so happy I got to share it with you and the others here. I'm already working on another story, and continuing Engineer Benson too. So ... I'll be around.

Thank you, Dave. This was a great exercise. I'm glad you enjoyed it and walked along with me on this journey. I hope, for all our sakes, that the world understands the importance of empathy better in the future. And ... maybe this little story can help a bit.

That's a timely sermon. Good on your church leaders for choosing it. I have to watch who I am around. I pick up the ... vibe of those around me. I internalize the prevailing emotions of those around me. It's why a great concert is unspeakably amazing. It's not just the music, it's the crowd reacting and responding to it. It's why new movies are great to see in the theater. As time has gone on, I've found myself less and less able to moderate this. I guess that means I'm more empathetic? Regardless, it has had a weird effect. I am now more likely to avoid crowds. I pick and choose who I hang out with and where I go more carefully. I cannot watch violent shows anymore. Not person-on-person violence. Vikings, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us are just a few that I had to stop watching. So it's a bit alien for me to imagine people who don't feel that. Who can tolerate the pain of others. I can't not even in my media. Maybe I do have a worm. Just a defective one without all the great "side effects." That sounds about like my luck. LOL. Thanks for reading and writing, Tony. You're always encouraging, and I appreciate you.

I'm glad you found the epilogue satisfying. It, unexpectedly, became one of my favorite parts of the story. Rook and Rios... both of those guys, their vignettes, I liked them the best of the examples we saw. Sort of haunting and quietly powerful. Understated. But changing so much. So you're right to wonder about those jobs that require "bad" people. Or people who rail against society. Or just people who like to see institutions and things burn. Those folks will eventually find their tribe. They'll stop hurting people because it also hurts them. They'll eventually get help, because others will feel their pain. And they'll either help bear it or find out what they need to stop it. So crime would stop. Wars would end. Needs around the world would be met. What would the armed forces and police do after that? Well, there's a hell of a lot of resources that have been hoarded for decades by very few. And now those people need hands to get those resources out to those who need it most. I think there'd be plenty to do for a long time. Good work. Stuff worth doing.

If only, eh? But yes. Maybe one day. Thank you for reading and commenting. I appreciate the time you spent on this one.

Great to hear you enjoyed it, Mike. You're absolutely right about the close bonds formed in the military, law enforcement, fire, emergency response, etc. Places where the bonds between your fellows can literally save your life. Where people reach and try harder than they could have otherwise, without those bonds. But yes. Such closeness is often limited by our societal pressures to conform to heternormanitive constructs. And it doesn't serve us. We get to see a world where this barrier is slowly broken down. I do like chapter 3 for this reason. Even before the infection, Davis and Stanford had their moment. Where they allow themselves just to be what they are with one another. And they're both better for it. Lewis and Hardy, too. It took longer for that to become physical (off screen, as it were), but it was no less meaningful. You guys are lucky to have each other. Me too, with my guys. It's a tiny taste of what's possible. Thank you for reading and commenting. This really was a fun one.

Thank you. I like the "what if" nature of it. While it took a strange worm to instill empathy in my story, I believe it's possible without it. The story serves as a view port into a world where it's possible. And ... I'd like to live in such a place. You know, AFTER the worm has taken over.

Thank you, tim. It's a strange world when "empathy" becomes a political issue. Yet, that's where things are right now. I wanted to write something that leans into it, weaponizes it. Not to hurt people, but to make a point. Lack of empathy is the root of many problems in the world. Though there's no magic worm to help us, maybe we'll figure out how to start showing it before it's too late. At the very least, we can be an example to others, and simply do the best we can.

They've all got to end. While this one is on the shorter side for me, I think it works all right considering the subject. Thanks for reading and for the comment!

Thank you for reading along and commenting, Chris. I had a good time with this one!

Thank you, kbois. I do like how it turned out.

Epilogue It had been five weeks since their visit to Central. Atticus watched as the helo descended, wind shearing across the open yard. Beside him stood John, calm as always. Framing them in a loose crescent, a dozen soldiers stood silent sentinel—each cradling a rifle, each shifting just enough to betray unease. The rotor slowed, and the aircraft settled. The door opened. General Taggart stepped down. Atticus narrowed his eyes and whispered, “Alone?” Taggart strod

Happy Saturday, molly! How about forgoing "normal" entirely? you're looking forward to having your routine back, not this three-day-long interruption of it. Because, yes. "Normal" sucks.

I am somewhat aware of your "controlling ways." 😉 I'm glad you could see what I was doing with the general. I mean, besides seducing the hell out of him. We've spoken of how most of those who had come to you had stressful jobs demanding control from them. And how with you, they willingly gave it up. To have the burden of deciding removed, just for a while. That has stuck with me, and the general is a prime candidate for just such treatment. And in a way, I guess he got it. We'll have to see about that "tricksy" comment. 😛 Thanks for the read and comment, Mike. One more chapter to go.