Knotty Knuggets

The Goddess & The Devil

Marcus     . . .  In performing what I thought … or at least what I had hoped … was my Civic Duty, I rendered a most significant Contribution to what could be the greatest human Disaster that the World has yet experienced.

My Nutshell throbbed, as did my Heart, as this Report continued down the Chute to my painfully attentive Ear … still from the Mouth of the Counselor, Signor Spinale: “That is not all, Signor LaPinto. Master, do continue. Tell him of the private Buyers.”

“Ah, yes,” continued Signor Avarriccio. “We have also executed Contracts to supply numerous Men of Business … much like us, they no Doubt flatter themselves … with steady Shipments of small Arms to be sold among the private Citizenry.”

“Yes, Signor LaPinto,” confirmed Signor Spinale. “Again, the Fine Art of Business was at Work in the masterful Hands of our Lordship. Tell him, Signor.”

“With Pleasure,” replied the Man. “Once the first Arrangement was made to have a private Dealer selling the new small, Self-reloading Firearms was completed, similar Deals made themselves along a Network branching out from that first Spot and stopping only at the Land’s End.”

“So,” interpreted Nicolo LaPinto, “with the Citizenry of one Locality purchasing our new Weapons, all adjoining Communities, seeing the deadly Threat of so well-armed a neighbouring Herd, will thus see themselves in Need to arm themselves to no less a Level in Order to deter or repel any forthcoming Aggression, the Means of which were doubtlessly at Hand and the Desire for which, in our present human Condition, should always be presumed by any Individual or Group with the slightest Desire for Self-Preservation. And deadly Weapons designed and manufactured to the Standards of the highest State of the Art are the ultimate Equalizers among Men.”

 

The Prisoner     Death … our Mortality … is the ultimate Equalizer among all living Beings. But deadly Weapons do hasten Death. They’re rather efficient in that Way.

 

Marcus     Naturally, I agree with you in full.

There. I have taken another of your Pawns with my Bishop.

 

The Prisoner     Good … I mean … that we agree on so vital an Issue.

Now, Qh2 to h1. There! I’ve checked your King again! Go on while you plan your Escape.

 

Marcus     “And so on, and so on will our Fire spread,” stated the Counselor, continuing along the younger Protégé’s Path of Logic, “until the very Skies draw the sole Boundary of our conflagrating Market.”

“Most remarkable,” agreed Nicolo, still with the awestruck Tone. “But, how were you able to convince that first prospective Dealer to retail our unique Products?”

“Nicolo, dear Boy,” replied the top Man, “I needed only to convince him that he would make one Sale, which I accomplished by telling him that I had already made Sales of our Products to another Vendor nearby.”

“Only one?” pursued the inquisitive Understudy.

“Only one,” was the firm Response. “The People would take it from there. Just as whole States and Communities would recognize the Need to arm themselves against the Threat of one presumptively aggressive neighbouring Herd, so too would the Individual within the Community feel the Compulsion to arm himself against his Neighbour, who must also be presumed to harbour hostile, greedy Intentions. After all, why would any Person living within a residential District wherein not a single Inhabitant possesses such Firepower as we can provide suddenly equip himself like a front Line Soldier in the most sophisticated military Outfit in the entire World? How well would you sleep while within Range of his Death-dealing Bolt, now extended well beyond Earshot?”

“I see it well,” responded the youngest Signor, his scratching having at this Point reached a frantic Pace. “A Conflagration it truly is! You saw the Volatility of human Fear ready laid across the Continent and simply lit the Match.”

I hoped that the noticeable Shortage of Wind flowing through the Neck Pipe of the last Speaker provided Evidence of some lingering Sense of Humanity. Just as with the Chairman, but with more Spine and Brains, Nicolo LaPinto appeared engaged in OmniVirono’s foul Business beyond the Point of any peaceful Return, should that at some Point be his Desire.

…

~ The Goddess & The Devil, Act I, Sc. 4, Ch. XIV