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Brady made frequent trips over to the Lopez Ranch over the next few days. He brought over clothes and supplies and regaled them with his latest travels. He spoke with enthusiasm about his time in Encinitas, and the crashing of the International Space Station, and how he timed it to perfection to greet the crash to show off to a local waitress - he had forgotten her name by now. They listened politely to this, believing that Brady had probably over-egged this particular story.
As they were tucking into an evening meal in the Lopez home, he told them about the Judge giving him his pardon, and proudly showed off his letter-headed paper - signed Judge Audre Jefferson of McFarland.
Lucian said, ‘I don’t understand why she would do that. Surely, you are an escaped felon on the run - just like me.’
Brady sighed, this was one story he needed to keep quiet, as the power was in its secrecy. ‘That was a long time ago, and in the meantime, I’ve been giving them a lot of information - it didn’t seem particularly earth shattering to me, but the clever people, like Professor Chu, put it to good use to protect the East McFarland Trads. Also, recently, I have been donating lots of clothes to them, the Greens are dumping them as they don’t need them anymore. It looks like the good old boy, Brady Mahone has been doing his bit for charity.’ He laughed, ‘What’s the word for one of those rich dudes that gives stuff to the poor.’
Mary-Lou answered, ‘A philanthropist. Judge Jefferson clearly believes you are a reformed character. She’s giving you her blessing in the hope that you will stand up and fly right.’
Brady laughed, again, ‘She’s betting on the wrong horse with that one.’
Amie searched for the voice within her. She hadn’t said a word since her night of shame and apologies. She had to say something while there was a subject in the conversation which interested her, greatly. She feared either Mary-Lou or Lucian would take the conversation spinning away from her. She took two deep breaths. Her Moms looked at her with concern, and mouthed, are you ok? Amie with an effort blurted out before the words could be sucked back in on the next breath, ‘Why don’t the Green people need their clothes, anymore?’
For a moment she felt stupid and pathetic as no one answered immediately, but then Brady looked into her eyes. ‘What do you know about NanoSuits™?’
‘Nothing.’ She looked down at the remnants of her dinner. ‘I know which movies, TV shows and music the teenagers in the Green communities like, but that’s about all.’ She added with an apology, ‘Not that I’m not grateful for that, I love to hear the sales reports. It kinda connects me to the outside world.’
Brady smiled as softly as he could, in a spirit of reconciliation, ‘I could tell you all about the NanoSuits™ they wear - providing, of course, that Lucky and Mary-Lou don’t mind me having to take over the dinner conversation with a lot of stuff they already know.’
Mary-Lou grabbed Brady’s hand and smiled warmly, ‘That would be nice, Brady.’ She lied, ‘I never really understood it really, so it would be good to have a recap.’ Lucian knew what Brady was doing in trying to reassimilate Amie back into the group. He smiled his gratitude at Brady.
Brady tried to put his thoughts in order, and the process of storytelling recalled the time he spent with the Beardons - and the shark story which still haunted Brady. ‘It started with the Green Revolution back in ’84, when you were a babe in your Mom’s arms. There was a company called Sattva Systems™, and they developed all kinds of technology in their quest to save the environment and the planet from extinction.’ He smiled, ‘They sure do like to sound like the good guys - but they ain’t, believe me.’ He continued, ‘Then they developed this Nano-technology making it impossible to hurt someone who wore this Suit™. This is where the Green Revolutionaries or the GreenRevs joined forces with Sattva Systems™ to bring down capitalism - the old way of running things. They planned this way back in 2050 when the governments rescinded some climate change accord or something like that.’
Lucian said, ‘Hey, man. I didn’t know that.’ Amie looked at him sheepishly, it had taken an effort to get Brady to discuss anything with her. She didn’t want the conversation to move onto the politics of way back when. She wanted to know how the other kids lived. He said, ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.’
Brady said, ‘Anyways, those indestructible NanoSuits™ were called RedSuits™. At the 2085 New Year’s Day ceremony, Cain passed on the RedSuits™ to the whole of West McFarland.’
Amie said, quietly, ‘What was that like?’
He pulled out his Distor™, ‘Cain, the Disciple, had one of these, fully loaded with NanoBots™, and the whole community held hands, and it kinda got passed on from one to another.’
Mary-Lou said, ‘I’ve seen this Cain. He looked like a vision of Christ, our Lord.’
Brady didn’t feel it was appropriate to give his feelings on Cain at this point. Why spoil a good story with the truth? ‘Since then, every few years or so, they keep adding layers, or upgrades or some sh-, stuff like that. They had the OrangeSuits™ next. This put NanoBots™ inside them to cure any known illnesses, it means they don’t suffer from cancer, pandemics, or even coughs and colds anymore. And this is where we come in - the last Suits™ they upgraded to was Yellow™. With these they can conjure up imaginary clothing, at least that how it appears to me, maybe it’s real - who knows. This means they can dress any way they like, whenever they want. They can change clothes in an instant - just like that.’ He sprang his fingers open as if he were completing a magician’s trick.’
Amie’s eyes widened, ‘That sounds amazing. I can see why people would want that.’ She added, ‘Would you buy one of these NanoSuits™?’
‘I sure could afford to, but my Pops...’
Mary-Lou said, ‘It’s ok.’
‘My Pops was always into his conspiracies. He wasn’t always on the money, but he had his moments. Anyway, he warned me about being tempted by governments offering bribes, he said, “Son, that’s how they get you.” I never really understood, but it felt right. I didn’t fully get it, but I think he was cautioning me to wait until the big picture emerged. So, I’ve resisted the urge to fully join them.’
The more I see of their big picture, the more certain I will never want to be one of them. Any organisation that makes Brady Mahone feel he is on the righteous side is an organisation that nobody should join.
‘Will there be any more NanoSuits™, or is that it?’
‘Personally, I think they are gonna keep on coming. I’ve heard that the GreenSuits™ will reduce the Green’s need for water. It will cut down on sewage, apparently.’
The Lopez family laughed, Amie giggled and said, ‘What does that mean?’
Brady roared with laughter, ‘It means they will pee and poop less.’ They all laughed and shook their heads in disbelief.
Lucian said, ‘Does that mean you’ll be making a roaring trade selling discarded toilets next?’ He laughed at his own joke until he was crying, he spluttered, ‘I apologise for using toilet humour at the dinner table.’ They all laughed and laughed.