The Tree of Knowledge, Daniel Miller [unputdownable books txt] 📗

put her in this position. She had been a victim of her own ego. As the general had said, “There is no room for ego in logical reasoning.” The general had been right.

Eva could feel the businessman once again looking over at her, his wet brown eyes reminding her of the eager, stupider-than-average mutt her neighbor brought home from the shelter recently. To prevent what would surely be another lame salvo, she pulled out her iPad, opened her Economist magazine app, and focused on the screen.

“A Queen or a Democracy in California?” read the headline.

Leaders the Economist a Queen or a Democracy in California?

Cristina Culebra’s uplifting campaign belies a worrying drive toward authoritarianism.

At first glance, Cristina Culebra appears to be everything that voters say they want in a candidate. She’s staggeringly smart, having graduated with a PhD in mathematics at the age of 25. She has been wildly successful in every venture she has undertaken, including creating a global business empire, writing a bestselling business book, and raising a successful child. Her campaign oozes efficiency and optimism as evidenced by the slogan “Government that works for you” and her logo of a tree in full bloom. She even has movie-star good looks. For these reasons and many others, the 53-year-old Ms. Culebra holds a commanding fifteen-point lead in the race to be California’s governor, despite campaigning under the banner of the newly created Reason, Enlightenment, and Democracy (RED) Party.

However, upon closer examination, Cristina Culebra’s cause takes on a much more sinister air. In addition to her campaign, Ms. Culebra has quietly channeled millions of dollars to an organization that supports a controversial citizens’ initiative to restructure state government. Of course, in California, citizen referendums are passed frequently with little fuss, but what makes this referendum so disturbing is that its sole purpose seems to be to subvert the democratic process and give Ms. Culebra nearly dictatorial powers.

Initiative 471, or the “Make Government Work” initiative, would temporarily suspend the state’s house of representatives and senate and replace them with an advisory board. This board would have no formal power but would merely serve as a councilor to the governor, thereby freeing the governor to take immediate, unilateral action on the state’s most pressing problems.

Proponents of the initiative say that this measure is needed to break the legislative gridlock, and history is on their side. The California legislature has failed to pass a budget in the last two years, while squabbling and infighting among legislators are at unprecedented levels. The state is almost bankrupt, and the current governor, Evan Adams, has been limited to the role of referee. Meanwhile, California faces crumbling infrastructure, record unemployment, and a housing crisis that is among the worst in the nation.

While it is tempting to take Ms. Culebra and her supporters at their word, we at The Economist have seen this movie a few too many times. Nearly every foreign dictator in recent memory has used government inefficiency or ineffectiveness to justify the “temporary” suspension of the democratic process. However, once this power is concentrated in a single pair of hands, it becomes nearly impossible to remove.

Fortunately, for the citizens of California, their likely governor controls a state, not a country, and as a result has no military to use against them once they grow weary of her reign . . .

If they only knew, thought Eva.

Eva finished the article and swept her finger across the tablet’s screen. Just as she had hoped, a new email stared out at her from her inbox.

The title of the email sent a curl of anticipation and excitement through her body.

“NEW ASSIGNMENT: HAIRCUT”

The Society believed that individuals needed regular assignments to stay motivated. Simply giving someone a position and a set of responsibilities was far too amorphous. A process of reason demanded steady, unrelenting progress achieved through the disciplined delegation and monitoring of tasks. While others chafed, Eva loved the system because it broke her work up into new, exciting, and discrete challenges as opposed to a monotonous ongoing “job.”

The Society deemed this type of assignment a “haircut” because it involved cutting off loose ends. Whenever members of the Society made mistakes, there would inevitably be loose ends that would need to be cut. These loose ends could be people or things, but their common characteristic was that they provided a link back to the Society and its plans. These links must be eliminated.

Biting firmly on her lower lip, Eva opened her new assignment. Her eyebrows pinched together as she gazed upon a picture of a young, bookish-looking man before her.

Could it be?

Eva’s brain swam through memories as her eyes slowly scrolled down the page.

“PROFESSOR ALBERT PUDDLES.”

Chapter 8

Albert blinked rapidly in the hopes that the image in front of him was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. The deciphered game tree mocked him with its weaponized logic and unrepentant cynicism. Never had he seen such a raw disdain for humanity encapsulated so clearly in a tangible object. He blinked again, but the haunting game tree stared right back at him.

“Does this mean what I think it means?” inquired Ying.

Albert looked sadly at Ying. He appreciated her boisterous, youthful innocence and hated to see that sadness in her eyes. Albert also feared that, in this case, ignorance was indeed bliss.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that this is a game tree detailing the thief’s approach to the theft,” he whispered.

Ying sighed, adjusted her glasses, and stared intently at the tree.

“So, if I’m reading this right, the thief thought that there were two major obstacles to obtaining the Tree of Knowledge: the security guard and getting access to the storage room. Obtaining access to the storage room was simply a matter of obtaining the security card, which, of course, was held by the guard. That’s why you see that branch of the tree ends there and the box is shaded.”

Albert massaged his forehead, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. He carefully ran his finger along the