Ek Wallroon

Former Executive Officer

Given Name Only

Age 100 E-E

(Ek Wallroon sits at the other side of the table pouring semi-clear and bubbly liquid from a container into a fancy glass.)

CN: Name?

EW: Ek Wallroon

CN: Profession?

EW: In-between professions.

CN: What job did you have before your “in-between” status?

EW: Executive Officer of Noble Industries.

CN: Preferred pronouns?

EW: Using my given name is suffice, thanks.

CN: Age and by which planetary standards?

EW: Hundred by Eas-Enerang.

CN: I notice that you are not speaking like many anuh-kaj and other assimilated human subjects.

EW: Why should I try to continue talking like them around an uncultured crowd like the ones in this establishment?

CN: What did your job’s duties entail?

EW: I mostly executed high-level project support and executive tasks, but my crowning achievement was coming up with our company’s beloved mascot, Adam Zat. Then people suddenly claim that Adam is offensive out of the blue, and I lose my job for being behind his creation. The old recreational establishments I visited did not want me around while the controversy is still fresh in the public’s mind, so now I am reduced to coming to rundown trash heaps like these. I did not claw my way up to the heights like I have, only to see my life ruined by overly sensitive weaklings.

(Ek sips from the fancy glass, allowing some of the liquid to dribble back into the glass.)

CN: How did you get to reach such a high position?

EW: When I was younger, I worked in the family business. I always knew that I was destined to go above and beyond to reach my dreams of becoming far more successful than anyone I knew. I left and applied to different big corporations until I got accepted into Noble Industries. I worked and trumped my human colleagues, quickly rising through the ranks higher and higher within the company.

Before long, I hit one of the top managerial positions with my sights set on the executive roles no human had ever held before. Yet, the same things would happen every time I applied. I get called in by Humans Resources for an interview and answer every question they set up, only to be rejected because according to them, “I did not have a trusting face.”

CN: A trusting face?

EW: Humans naturally do not have trusting faces, because our eyelids, lips, and cheeks make it easier to obscure the truth. The Anuh-Kaj do not have such things with their own anatomy. I came to realize that after I walked out on my naysaying family, who were trying to convince me to stop applying and stay with our household’s trade. That night, I applied again for one of the executive jobs and purchased some heavy painkillers and a surgery kit. I was ready by the time the interview came around, and I succeeded in getting the job.

I called my family about the good news, and they told me to come over the next night. They planned a surprise party for me to celebrate, but they were the ones surprised when I walked through the door. I still remember them nagging me with questions like, “Why did you carve up your own face like that?”, “What did you do with the face parts you cut off?”, “Can you at least stop drooling and bleeding on the rug?”

They thought I did not have it in me to make it, but I showed them. I showed everyone in my life that I was not one to be underestimated. Anuh-kaj respected me while humans looked upon me in envy and disgust. Why? Because I made changes to myself? That is intolerance. Intolerance towards making who I truly am on the inside match who I am on the outside. We are one race, are we not?

(Nic angrily insults Wallroon for trying to equate the experience of changing oneself to fit in for enrichment and success, with the experience of changing oneself to feel wholeness of the self while facing the risk of stigma. Nic had to be held back by their friends as they and Wallroon argued, which eventually resulted in Nic having to be taken outside to calm down.)

EW: The nerve of children challenging their elders.

CN: I do have to point out that what you used as your argument against them was incorrect.

EW: No, I am not. In a sexual species, females have two X chromosomes and males have an X and a Y. It is just biological science.

CN: Actually, humans can still have a female body with an X and a Y chromosome but are insensitive to androgens… or male with two X chromosomes but also a Y…or female with only one X chromosome and no others… or male with two-

EW: What do you know? You are not a scientist.

CN: I compare notes and consult with my colleagues, and there are a few of them who study the history of alien anatomy, alien medicine-

EW: Never mind, let us just continue with the questions.

(Ek sips from the fancy glass, allowing some of the liquid to dribble back into the glass.)

CN: Alright then. What businesses were Noble Industries involved in?

EW: The manufacturing of machinery used in warehousing, importing, and exporting; plus, the warehousing, importing, and exporting of various cargo. We built and managed entire communities dedicated to fulfilling those roles. If not for us, the unassimilated of the old colony and the non-subject migrant workers of today would have no homes, no work, no care of any sort for their ilk. What gratitude did we get in return for helping them? Complaints, criminality, and arrogant defiance.

CN: What did the people complain about?

EW: Different niggling things that they blow out of proportion. They just do not understand the inner workings of economics.

CN: Can you give an example?

EW: Okay, here is a perfect example. There was this one company community where some of the workers tried to get the other residents to form a union, which goes against the terms and agreement to letting them live in the community. They refused to go through the proper channels we had in place because they saw it as a “conflict of interest.” Thought they were too good to follow the rules, so we fired the ringleaders and had security evict them. Doing so caused a riot that damaged property. Typical of them. No respect for other people’s things.

CN: Did they target personal property or private property?

EW: Does it matter? There is no difference between personal and private property.

CN: There is, and I have noticed much property mislabeled as such during my visit to this planet. Private property is intended to generate capital for its owner at the expense of those deprived. Personal property does not, and the owner has a distributive right to exclude others. The purpose of targeting either type can have personal motives, but destruction of personal property hurts the owner personally. Meanwhile, destruction of private property hurts the owner’s means of generating capital. Practically all property in that community is company owned, which makes it private. Nothing produced belongs to - or is freely enjoyed by - the common operators and maintainers of those properties. Correct?

EW: Yes.

CN: Okay so the question is, what drove the workers to attempt unionization despite it would mean breaking their contract with Noble Industries? Was the property damaged in relation to their roots calls for unionizing?

(Ek sips from the fancy glass, allowing some of the liquid to dribble back into the glass.)

EW: Why should we care? Unions are all nothing more than excuses to laze about and indulge in criminal acts. Nothing but criminal enterprises masquerading as worker organizations, that is what unions are these days. Extortion schemes to drain honest businesses with their outrageous demands and charge workers dues. Without loyal subjects like me to guide humanity, they would run amok. Worse yet, they would invite so-called “pro-human” ideologies and rule to take root. Preach about pro-human this and that but promote terror against their own property and kind. They are all anti-human.

CN: From looking over records we found on unions, instances of organizational corruption is a relatively sporadic problem with rare high-profile cases, like with many other organizations. Most of those cases involved unions that were formed by the authorities, or had the employer or executive have ultimate say. By and large they are not for-profit, and the dues help run the organization for better job security, conflict mediation, and bargaining powers to match those of management within their societal constraints. In other words, workers would not normally seek to unionize if they were treated better.

EW: Okay maybe unions used to be effective and had a purpose, but they are a burden today. Just trying to start one caused a riot.

CN: Stopping them from starting a union caused the riot. Not the mere attempt to start a union.

EW: They do not want to work.

CN: Unless someone truly enjoys their job, no one wants to work. Work is a need, particularly when there is no other way to produce the needed goods. Saying no one wants to work is not a criticism but a fact of life; particularly, if people do not feel like their work output is not worth the benefits they will receive in return. Again, if treated better they would be more willing to work.

EW: Life is not fair. No one gave me a handout, so they need to get used to it.

CN: You do very little to nothing to alleviate the plight of others, even though individuals like yourself have more than enough capability to do so than many others…because life is unfair? I do not understand your rationale, from the fact you are of a species that only continues to exist to this day from communal cooperation to-

(Ek laughs.)

CN: Your laughter sounds forced. Are you using it as an attempt to discredit and pretend what I say is not irritating you?

EW: You sound like a pro-human identity extremist. My well-being outweighs theirs. They would be nothing without the roles people like me provide.

CN: Did you not need workers to keep the company functional? Is that why you used coercive tactics to keep them working without unionization?

EW: Whatever, it does not matter! They committed crimes against Noble Industries! Crime is an illegal act against law and order, nothing more. They all deserve to be locked up for life or executed for it.

CN: You believe any legal violation warrants severe punishments or death?

EW: Yes, especially if they have a criminal record. What, do you have different definitions for criminality too?

(Ek laughs.)

CN: Yes. The Galactic Collective’s society distinguishes between crime and acts of desperation. A crime is a wrongful act committed regardless of basic needs met, mentality stabilized, and interests reasonably heeded. An act of desperation is a wrongful act committed due to the debt of need, mental instability, or interests unheeded. Acts of desperation require proper reform and care, while the former is open to punishment. All actions – proactive and reactive – depend on context.

EW: Acts of desperation. We fund all our company communities’ social care programs available for all our workers. We believe all life is precious.

CN: If true, then why do the records I and my colleagues studied showed that the illness and mortality rates in company communities were near comparable to communities that had no social care programs?

EW: A bunch of those communities are located within the boundaries of protectorate territories. We are not responsible for what happens under their jurisdiction.

CN: What about the company communities within Apiary jurisdiction?

EW: Illegals are stealing the services and worsening the overall conditions in those communities. I believe we should deport them all to give those who are legal residents a chance to thrive.

CN: There are records that show your own company employed those deemed illegal by the Apiary.

EW: We did not know they were.

CN: The required applications were not done for months, and they were still working up until they were captured and deported by authorities.

EW: We were showing compassion.

CN: They never received full compensation for their work.

EW: They were there illegally and there is nothing against the law for an employer hiring those people.

CN: Can you explain the treatment of who you consider legal then? The children of assimilated domestic foreign migrants are guaranteed access to programs as Apiary subjects, but everyone else is left out. There is no assistance going to the parents themselves, which is a problem since their young still primarily depend on them being actively involved in rearing.

EW: We are not responsible for those people either. If women cannot care for babies, they should keep their legs shut. Pregnancy is their fault alone and should be forced to carry on to full term.

CN: Let me see if I can understand clearly. Noble Industries built a community for its workers to live in and created services to care for them, yet the company has no responsibility in making sure any of the residents receive services?

EW: Why are you bothering to ask me? You seem to know about everything the company does.

CN: I only know the information that is available, and what is missing from the story is the catalyst for the attempted unionization. The other company communities around the time shared the same issues but this community chose to violate their contract to better its situation.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

EW: Ha! Joke is on you! Those workers were not unionizing to better themselves! They chose to unionize to reject our business’s implementation of planned obsolescence in our products.

CN: Planned obsolescence?

EW: It is the production of goods that rapidly become obsolete and so require replacements, achieved by frequent changes in-

CN: I understand what it is. I am shocked to hear that planned obsolescence is allowed by the Apiary. That practice is banned by the Galactic Collective because it places the well-being of those dependent on the product in question at risk. If that was not enough, it increases the amount of waste and expense along with the product’s already intentionally shortened lifespan.

EW: It is not illegal as long it is used by non-subjects. Furthermore, if people are not happy with the way an establishment does business, they should go and get what they want from someone else.

CN: All affordable goods and services widely available within the Apiary’s domain are all run by monopolies and oligopolies, while any not part of either are made to go through qualification barriers that make their goods and services more or just as expensive for a smaller range of availability.

EW: Boo-hoo, I guess people will just have to settle for higher spending and creating more waste.

CN: You got upset when people destroyed replaceable property. Why are you not upset when the environment is destroyed so wantonly? Is that destruction more egregious since it is something that more than a few people depend on to live and harder to replace? I thought you said Noble Industries believed all life is precious.

(Ek laughs.)

EW: Nice try with your gymnastics in logic!

CN: Is that how you feel about me asking you questions?

EW: Yes.

CN: You can leave this interview whenever you want.

EW: I am not leaving.

CN: Why?

EW: I do not cut and run from a fight. I am not giving you the satisfaction of trying to embarrass me.

CN: It is not my intention to try and embarrass you. I am only trying to make a factually accurate record.

(Ek laughs.)

EW: I bet you say vaccines are good for people too.

CN: So you are against vaccines?

EW: I am not anti-vaccine, but a vaccine skeptic. Research by the Independent Doctors Institute Of Tir-Torzor says people vaccinated against SBHB still get infected by it, and are transformed into androids from the inside out without even knowing it.

CN: No, it stops you from spreading it and dying if you catch the disease. The main function is to make sure your bones do not become brittle, and your brain does not harden from calcification. Plus, you do not transform into an android.

(Ek laughs.)

EW: Where did you get all your information?

CN: Memory trace libraries, museums, authentic records from independent sources, individuals and groups with verifiable direct experiences or expertise on the relevant subject. Same sources as my colleagues whose research I cross-reference with.

EW: All of that is fake! Manufactured by A.I. to trick hapless rubes like you. Smart people like me know that the truth can be found on the Datum Sprawl.

CN: The Datum Sprawl itself is the least overall reliable source from its space being so cluttered. For every verifiable information proven factual, there is estimated to be about three times or more unverifiable or disproven information. One for example is the fear of people turning into androids from taking the vaccine. It is an absurd anti-A.I. conspiracy theory with its formulation traced back to Entrepreneur Sj Sharpe, as a dishonest scheme to build an audience for self-benefit.

EW: You dare besmirch a patriot like Entrepreneur Sj Sharpe, who died a victim of the anti-human ramblings of Wong Kyong?

CN: Sj Sharpe died from being forced to use a substandard medical center, after having to pay his own transportation fee to emergency responders. He was an assimilated domestic foreign who got shot by cetaceans targeting random humans during the Escalation. Worse, Sj was seeking to inform on the location of unarmed human refugees before his shooting.

EW: Sj was fulfilling civic duties, and his death proved that equality was alive and well. If there was no equality, the cetaceans would have spared Sj’s life as an act of discrimination between the one and other humans.

CN: That logic is bizarre and nonsensical. Why is callousness and cruelty the only form of valid equality to you?

EW: I am not being cruel; you are being cruel for trying to portray someone honest in a negative light!

(Silence for a moment as I try to make sense of his logic.)

CN: Anyway… the anti-vaccine, anti-A.I. conspiracy theory is pushed heavily by Independent Doctors Institute Of Tir-Torzor, which has been proven to be an organization created by disinformation propagandists under the direction of former Colonial Overseer Va.

EW: The Anuh-Kaj never lie! Va is anuh-kaj. If the Anuh-Kaj never lie, then that means anything connected to Va is the truth. If people working with Va warn me about vaccines, then I will believe it.

CN: It is the same source used by Va’ists in their opposition to vaccines. You made the same arguments they did but took longer to say that you are anti-vaccine.

EW: Oh what, am I a Va’ist now because my opinions are different from yours? You do not get to shove your beliefs down my throat!

CN: It is a fact, not a belief.

EW: Why are you attacking me? What kind of interview is this?

CN: Again, if you feel that I am being unfair to you in this interview, you can leave.

EW: Well guess what, I do not cut and run! You cannot make me. Even if I supposedly applied for membership, they would not accept me anyway because how I look disqualifies me. I am not and never will I be one of those extremists, with their neat hats and awesome everything. Jerks.

CN: The inconsistent messaging you believe in does not make you a Va’ist, but much of what Va’ists and people like yourself have been repeating are the result of pro-Apiary and anti-human propaganda campaigns.

EW: Ha, you are so weak minded that you fell for pro-human propaganda! It is an undeniable fact that it has been proven time and time again, when pro-humans run things, it never works out.

CN: There is record of many examples – even today – that proves pro-human ideals put into practice can work.

EW: Name them then. I bet you cannot.

CN: Awra Amba, Neo-Guangzhou, Marinaleda, the Free Land of the Tenacious Unicorn, the Acorn Community, Roja-

EW: Okay smarty – if pro-humanism is so wonderful – why so many overthrown, replaced, or collapsed?

CN: Discounting that many of these collapsed due to the global effects of the supervolcano eruption, the Apiary and their supporters actively provoked civil unrest, terrorized noncombatant populations, rigged elections, and hijacked factions and movements, among other things. Then there are the ones that are not actually pro-human, despite their own claims of being so.

EW: No, wrong! They all are pro-human! You are just making excuses for why they do not work. You do not want to admit pro-human rule does not work because of human nature.

CN: With similar reasoning in mind, would you say the Apiary is just as big a failure as the colonial government?

EW: What? Of course not!

CN: The Apiary’s colonial government is largely based on Eas-Enerang’s style of governance. According to you, something associated with a supposed foundational ideal – no matter how far it strays from the purported source – is enough to declare an entire foundation is doomed to fail since one style failed. Same goes with fallaciously claiming any one worse iteration is equivalent to its founding principles.

Being pro-human or PROHU or anti-Apiary – whichever name you try to use to attack similar ideals – have nothing to do with subjecting the opposition to hatred, exploitation, or extermination in the name of purity, stability, or order. Claimants within may harbor such views and desires, but the base ideologies themselves never required those for its top aim of seeking universal equity. If indulging the views and desires of a relative few take higher priority over the needs of universal equity, any declaration that something was done for pro-humanism is a lie. They or others may insist pro-humanism is who they are and what they do for all purposes, but all they truly have is a hollow label without its principled meaning.

What entails to be pro-Apiary or anti-human on the other hand, has always placed the survival of the Apiary’s power ahead of other people. Exploitation and extermination compose its foundation’s core, so what outgrowth it spawns will always have the power of the Apiary as its primary concern.

(Ek laughs.)

EW: Pro-human rule still does not work because they were not secure enough to stop their overthrows and replacements.

CN: That makes as much sense as saying that you are a bad driver because someone else sabotaged your vehicle. Speaking of not being able to stop overthrows, there were several successful counter-revolts launched after the pro-Apiary forces took over governing roles.

EW: Those behind the attacks on the pro-Apiary governments are terroristic animals who deserve to be put down as such.

CN: Why is that? The pro-Apiary forces were the ones who imposed themselves into positions of power against the will of the local populaces they sought to rule.

EW: They are both just as bad as the other. Both sides are bad because the pro-Apiary people – who I assume are well-intentioned folks – intruded on the other’s sovereignty, while the other one is pro-human and pro-humans are enemies to humanity and freedom. They are both violent and should take each other out.

CN: Why are you pretending the vulnerable pro-human population defending themselves from a clear and present hostile force, is just as guilty as the pro-Apiary forces that made the avoidable choice to initiate the conflict to begin with? How are the pro-humans “enemies to humanity and freedom” as you put it, when you acknowledged in the same statement that they were not the ones who intruded on the other’s sovereignty?

EW: I never said that!

CN: You did.

EW: No! You lie!

CN: I have it recorded.

EW: Where is the evidence! Prove it, or I leave!

(I show Ek footage of Ek admitting the pro-humans were not the intruders. I pull away the omnitome once the footage finishes.)

EW: Pro-humans are a threat to everyone around them! We – the Apiary – are the superpower of Tir-Torzor, Tir-Tentuntay, and Eas-Enerang! We are the ones in charge! When we make demands, the others need to listen to us and do what we tell them to do! Ever since Va was exiled, nobody respects the Apiary or its colony anymore thanks to the treasonous Overlord Council and that human identity extremist, Colonial Overseer Ko Zourgeois!

CN: Why does the concept of freedom end whenever non-subjects are concerned… and how is Ko Zourgeois a human identity extremist? Ko is continuing much of the Apiary’s oppressive policies. The only differences from Va are that Ko is the first human Colonial Overseer of Tir-Torzor, and he did not sign off on any known acts of genocide like Va.

EW: Wrong! Va did nothing wrong! Va was framed by an ancient cabal of baby-feasting, pedophile androids puppeteering the Overlord Council, because they wanted to regain dominion over Tir-Torzor and Va was secretly foiling their plans!

CN: It sounds like you did not learn a thing from your firing.

EW: What are you trying to say?

CN: I am not trying; I am saying it. I have heard of your corporation’s controversy. There was backlash against their mascot Adam Zat because the character was based on the stereotypical depiction of a human.

EW: So, what? It was a character beloved by many for years with no complaints.

CN: It was only around for three Eas-Enerang years and while some did not care, many did not like it. The complaints were first ignored until society’s majority attention was drawn to it from the main controversy.

EW: They are human identity extremists!

CN: There was little evidence of any extremist elements involved if any, and – strangely enough – most of those who wanted it gone originally were not human but anuh-kaj. Regardless, the primary focus of the controversy was never about the mascot like you keep claiming it is. It is about the speech you made during a party that drew ire from the Overlord Council members. Your termination from your job was due to their influence over your employers, not the general public's involvement. The employers would not have cared if you did not attack the council's reputation.

EW: I know of no such thing! How about having evidence before you accuse me of-

(I show Ek footage of Ek making a speech during a party, ranting about how the Overlord Council was being directed by androids to stop Va – a supposed descendant of aliens responsible for building humanity’s first wonders according to Va’ist beliefs – from thwarting plans to have non-subject humans and huwaty replace the subjects of the Apiary. Ek watches most of the footage before pushing it away.)

EW: That is not what I meant! You took me out of context! You changed what I said somehow!

CN: How could I have possibly done that right in front of you?

EW: After clawing up from nothing, I do not deserve to have my career ruined!

CN: You did not come from nothing. You came from an affluent family that lent property for a fee and a set timeframe, who got to start their business from an agreement arranged with the Apiary in exchange for fighting in the War for Tir-Torzor. A war in where both your mother and father hid without fighting during much of the battle. Before then, they both had entirely different first and last names and were part of a gang that murdered community healers to create a demand for cures. Fake cures the gang concocted, which would worsen illnesses, create new ones, or kill the afflicted.

EW: Slander! You slander my family name! You have no pr-

CN: I have records of veterans from the war, their performance on-

EW: Shut up! Through hard work, my family built an honorable living from providing what was needed to those struggling!

CN: You are trying to make coercion of the vulnerable sound like legitimate aid. Lending personal necessities for a fee under the looming threat of suddenly losing it all due to an overdue payment, is not honorable nor hard work. It is a predatory practice of benefiting off the hard work of someone less fortunate, which has been normalized by the ones with the power. It is a practice the Galactic Collective has made illegal.

EW: My family was like any other property lender and had another job to help make ends meet. Are you saying even property lenders who have other jobs are leeches too?

CN: Yes. You chide supposed laziness on part of workers fighting for a fair living, and yet you want understanding for predators who too detest having to work for a living and are not willing to work more than one job. From what I learned, it is not out of the ordinary for non-subject migrants to work more than one job and many of them must pay those same property lenders. Those same property lenders who on record are backing efforts to curtail various rights for many non-subjects, further proving their profession is not one of compassionate altruism.

EW: So, what? We are all selfish! It is in the innate nature of every living thing to be selfish! Fuck anyone who hates me just for being a successful human who understands how economics work in today’s world! I am not going to apologize for benefiting from the work of others!

CN: Your understanding of economics is limited, else you would not be defending a narrow view of economics as the best when there is proof that is not. There might be those who hate you for being a successful human, but I can see the view you use to enable unabashedly exploitative behavior would be a most obvious reason why others hate you. Even so, no one is asking you to apologize. Apologies are easy as they are just words without the actions to prove it. What is being asked of by the marginalized of the Apiary, is the dismantling of the oppressive system that powerful people such as yourself still benefit from to this day. Also, selfishness is not innate to the nature of every living thing. It is self-interest not selfishness, which are two other words that I find are often confused in this society.

EW: Well…well…if your people are so disapproving of all the terrible things the Apiary has done, you should not be trying to start trade relations and simply go back to where you came from! You will not, because though you act so high and mighty you still want the benefits!

CN: I am with a group evaluating the Apiary to see if trade relations would be a wise decision. There have been some improvements but overall, the Apiary appears to have not learned from the atrocities of the past. I must admit, my own species is not above reproach for we were no better in the past-

EW: Ah hah! Hypocrite!

CN: - but we learned from our mistakes and careless hubris. We stopped accepting excuses on why not to change, and now we are better off for it. Through a proper education that is grounded, empathetic, constructively creative, and interconnected to our ecosystem, we learned and grew as a people. We swore an oath to ourselves that we would do whatever within our power to make sure that we would never find ourselves close to self-extinction again. This includes choosing who we associate within the galaxy and by how much. The Apiary appears to be less than ideal trade partners to say the least, and you are currently building a convincing argument to forego trade with your adopted civilization completely.

EW: Fringe! Extremist! You are a human identity extremist! You keep pointing out awful things to cause disunity within the Apiary! I do not see race! We are one race, you racist!

CN: Is it racism for bringing up that my people used to have the same problem as your people with willful ignorance and intra-species bigotry? Do you even know what racism is, or did you start saying it because you know it is supposed to be bad after people called you a racist? I have heard your use of the term “we are one race,” before. It is a disingenuous attempt by pro-Apiary proponents to silence legitimate concerns, which especially clashes with your claim that you do not see race.

EW: I do not care what your facts are, Va is truth!

CN: I am disturbed by the amount of willful ignorance you have proudly exhibited throughout this interview. If I did not have the proper record-keeping equipment for this, I would be accused by my colleagues of completely fabricating your existence. The mere idea that a being would earnestly think in the convoluted and inconsistent ways you do would be an absurdity, yet here you are.

EW: I am entitled to my opinions! There is no such thing as a wrong opinion!

CN: Only if it goes against logic, reason, and verifiable fact. I have been using most of my time during this interview refuting bad information based on what you wish to be real, not what is real. You are not entitled to share without being challenged and I am not going to give your uninformed opinions equal weight to ones that can be backed up by logical arguments and vastly different and superior evidence of facts. You must be the worst interviewee I ever had the displeasure to speak to and I have spoken to some awful ones. You are worse than the Surts. At least they have a reason to be so destructive as it is truly within their nature to be so. People like you actively choose to become poison, in a futile attempt to distance yourself from your own species and pretend whatever shared responsibilities do not apply to you.

EW: People like me?

(I use a unique word from our language which I must censor from this interview transcript because it is so appalling. Ek laughs.)

EW: Ooooo, I am so hurt.

(Ek laughs.)

EW: What does that mean? I do not care how you think of me. I will proudly wear it like a badge of honor.

(I tell the exact meaning which I must censor again. Paraphrased however, it means, “one who invested so much and yet is so insecure of their standing in life, making others miserable and projecting their own flaws onto the vulnerable gives them a sense of control over what they feel is a chaotic cyclical void of self-loathing and meaninglessness.” Afterwards, Ek stops laughing and stares at me in silence.)

EW: But I am a good man.

(Silence as I stare unconvinced at Ek.)

EW: Really, I am!

(Silence as I stare unconvinced at Ek. Ek then angrily rants and yells profanities, slurs, and veiled threats at me, before eventually storming off to exit the establishment.)

EW: And if you publish any of this, I will take you to court and sue the fucking shit out of your ass!

(Ek leaves the establishment, not realizing that my status of diplomatic immunity authorized by the Apiary makes it so that I cannot be sued.)

- End of Recorded Interview -