Mia and I arrived at work the next day as expected. We stood behind President Aron who was speaking into a mike to two members of the Lunar Lakes press who streamed live to anyone tuned in on their television.
“But whether you agree with my decision or not, please be aware that a lot of thought went behind it…”
As the live press conference was being streamed, Lunar Lakes was practically at a stand still. Everyone stayed close to their televisions awaiting President’s Aron announcement regarding the fate of Frida and other humans who resorted to stealing. Chas was among those waiting for President Aron to get to the point.
“Will the human criminals be executed or not?” One of the reporters asked impatiently interrupting President Aron’s speech.
“Uh…”he said, sounding shocked that he had been interrupted.
President Aron recovered quickly and attempted to continue, “I will take questions at the end…as I was saying, some will not agree with my decision, however-”
“My vice president and other members of my cabinet and I agree that executing the humans at this time will-”
“So, the humans will go free?” The reporter once again interrupted.
President Aron continued his statement in lieu of acknowledging the reporter’s interruption and answering the question,“-be counterproductive and may cause further uproar and danger within our community. The humans will instead spend their sentences working the Crystal Mines of Lunar Lakes.”
“There are some members of the bot community who have threatened to kill the humans themselves if they are not executed legally through judicial means,” the reporter said in response.
President Aron paused in response to the reporter’s statement. Mia and I had a tough time concealing our concern over the threat.
“Vigilantes will not be tolerated in our community and the humans will be under maximum security 24 hours a day within the Crystal Mines.”
“Their labor there will help to keep our streets lit up by increasing our crystal energy supply and-”
“…and our homes will be free and safe from criminals due to the level of security that will be in place to keep criminals where criminals belong…off the streets.”
“There have been changes made to our criminal law that reinforces our ability to punish criminals to the full extent of the law. No criminal will go unpunished.”
“I will now take questions from the press,” President Aron said.
The female reporter spoke up once again,” To many bots that I have interviewed, full extent of the law means execution. Why is execution not being used in these cases?”
“As I said, I feel that execution would only lead to further civil disobedience among the human race.”
“There are some bots that would argue that the solution to our problem is to just eliminate all humans and continue on as a bot only society. Would that be plausible?” The reporter asked.
“Perhaps, but we were sent to Lunar Lakes to make this area habitable by humans. Annihilating the human population here would surely trigger retaliation by the humans that still reside on earth.”
“Also as I stated in my campaign before taking this position, I believe that we bots can benefit from human labor.”
“Because of the superior intelligence of the bots and their ability to work in high capacity positions, we need the inferior humans to work the lower skilled positions.”
“Without human labor, business owners within Lunar Lakes could not afford to stay in business because of significantly higher labor costs that would come with hiring only bots.”
“Yes, but the humans are reproducing at a very high rate. Before long, we will surely run out of jobs for them and crime will only increase exponentially. How do you plan to address that, President Aron?”
“The problem will correct itself with our new criminal laws. The more humans that turn to crime, the more free labor we will have to keep our crystal mine workforce thriving.”
“You see, it is a win-win situation. Either the humans stay in line, or they will be sentenced to years in the crystal mines. More humans equals more criminals, which in turn equals an increase in our crystal energy supply.”
“I am sure that this solution will satisfy everyone in the community once they think about the benefit to all bots in the long run.”
“I want to extend my thanks to you members of the press who came to hear my new plan. I also want to send a plea to the bots who are watching this. I can assure you that this plan will work. I beg you all to be patient and you will all see the benefits of what I have put into place.”
With that, the reporters thanked us for our time and left.
“I do not think that went very well,” President Aron mumbled as he began walking toward his office.
Mia and I stood there replaying the whole thing over in our heads.
None of us knew exactly what to expect from this announcement. All we could do was wait and prepare ourselves in case we found ourselves face to face with a storm.
