Imagine 1 - ten years from now - a saved man , a purpose defined, an evoke to answer

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of
darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had
everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to
heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far
like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its
being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison
only.

A tale of two city's Charles D***ens

“…Yes Alchemy, I’ll be on the next hypersonic transport available out of Nano City,
eta Kansai International in 2 hours. Team
will assemble and meet me there in the next 12 hours. Valorin out”

“My god, has it really been ten years?”

Arata & Kalama looked up, their keen intelligent gaze following the man as walked from his desk to the enclosed balcony overlooking the university
district (http://www.nanocity.com ).

He reached the balcony before the crisp chirp signaling the end of the encrypted stream faded and silence returned.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t sense the two as they padded silently up to him and butted there large heads into the back of his knees, causing him to dip a bit lower so wet noses could be pressed against outstretched palms.

“Ok Ok… “ Minutes of furious scratching behind pert ears and happy growls finally came to a end “ work to do ”

the even tone signaled an end to their play and happily with tails furiously wagging the Tibetan mastiffs returned to their self declared den under the desk.

Following them back to the desk, unlocking a small drawer; taking a worn leather covered address book into his hands. “I got this around the same time, ten years ago.” He wrote
down four names, their respective avatar contact numbers next to them. Carefully he replaced the book, locked the draw and initiated the security protocol.

Files online where only as secure as the determination and resources of the person who wanted a peak at them, and there were some very determined and powerful people who wanted to see what was in this book. No, keeping it retro also kept it safe well retro and a soft Ai nano security system. He spoke the 15 digit security command at the desk while his hands rested on the green leather blotter.

Sensors scanned his biochemistry, while others verified the voice print, analyzed the stress levels, and scanned a number of other biometric security protocols. A crisp clear tone signaled the desk knew it was him. Soft Ai, what a wonder, he reminded himself to send Brian another thank you note for this system. He watched carefully as the draw shimmed and then ceased to be a draw and returned to a solid piece of wood.

He chuckled as he thought of this desk, looking as resplendent as any other French regency writing desks straight out of the 19th century Paris salon would look, except this one was in 21st century India…this desk in this city…all to fitting.

As he surveyed the room he thought to himself who would have imagined that the Social Entrepreneurship company he started to help people achieve resilient communities (Holons) would have been so well received or so desperately needed that coupled with the fact that his his lighter then air emergency vehicles would unfortunately be in such demand.

When he first proposed them, people were incredulous but then people thought only of blimps at football games or disaster prone Zeppelins- strictly 20th century modalities, not embracing the new possibilities of composite materials, not seeing the future that company’s like worldwide Aeros corporation (http://www.aerosml.com/) did and they were just one among many international companies.

It was not the profit that gave e him joy, no Nothing compared with the feeling of seeing the hope in the eyes of people , caught in the middle of a disaster zone when football field sized vehicles silently settled on the scene and contained in them full equipped flying hospitals or the construction ships that could move a wh*** battalion of construction people and equipment all with no need for a runway. Set it down and unload and start saving lives.

“ Zen, contact the following virtual assistants and arrange for a Allosphere conference in 30 minutes for their people. Yes sir came the immediate response… then all have confirmed meeting – Note : Sasha asks that it be in 45 minutes as Burton is teaching in his dojo. Agree to the time change, process a seat on the next hyper to kansai for myself, and institute vacation Alpha protocol-

permissions given for you to assume my identity for purposes of business, track the investments, allow buys up to 5 million shares – starting at 100 shares and increasing based on a desired 12
percent growth of the portfolio, trading to end if losses reach ¼ of that limit in a given day, risk level nominal.

Oh and please notify Abha to meet me in 60 minutes for instruction on the trouble makers care."

Tails happily beat the carpet at the mention of their nickname and the prospect of spending time with Abha. they say Tibetan mastiffs have there own agenda, and there right.

He grabbed a quick shower, dressed in non -descript clothes (at least to the naked eye) and assembled the UPMC’s he would need and loaded his kit bag. Any other equipment would
be waiting in Japan, provided as needed.

He got to the Alloshpere (http://www.allosphere.ucsb.edu/) conference room and adjusted the virtual scene to be the center of a fantastic rose garden, Elizabethan in style. He wondered who would be first to realize the meaning of this local, after all this meeting was sub rosa. The first
holograms flicked into being right on time.

“ Hello people, thank you for joining me at such short notice, as you know Alchemy has a called an Evoke, Location is Japan - we are tasked with over watch for his teams on the ground. I shall be lead in kensai in 2.5 hours. The rest of you have 12 hours to get there. Location for meet up will be
transmitted once you get into the Japan Node space. You have 15 minutes for questions & comments.”

As his friends began to talk, his mind went back to a younger voice, one that sounded a lot like himself ten years ago and yet one that sounded nothing like who he is.

Back then, at the tender age of forty eight he liked to say he had only been awake for the last 3 years. In actually he was struggling to wake up from the sleep that was his life for years before he did. However it was only upon the passing of his father that he finally managed to break through the conditioning 20th century society combined with his own fears and foibles had shackled him with and begin the real training in being a person who would choose his destiny rather than let it be chosen for him.

Hmm… the words sounded pompous in his head now just as they did then, but back then he had no problem using pomposity as a shield, just like he used his gifts for intellect and observation …potent shields against the perceived and sometime real injustices of the world but in truth, just a way to avoid reasonability for others and most importantly for himself. You cannot help another if you yourself need help.

Complete freedom equals complete reasonability he used to say, he believed that through ten years ago he just struggled hard to break free of the self imposed limitations he had placed on himself but it was not until he came across the Evoke network that a key clicked and released the shackles. Oh back then it was a game, but through playing it he met other people of all ages and nationality’s and no matter what they all had one thing he did not, something he had lost ... Purpose – Ikigai as they say on Okinawa.

"A useless life is an Early Death" –Goethe had said and he was right.

Without a sense of purpose, the gifts felt hollow, the work felt meaningless, and he had slowly
started to distance himself from family and friends, selling off most of his possessions to achieve a minimalist lifestyle. His close friends had kept the spark alive in him, as had his friendship and love for his mother who he cared for. That kept him alive, but survival does not always equate with living.

He mused how back then it was not the bonfire of living that it used to be, not the take on the world joie de vire ... his make the impossible possible drive... the spark of life he used to have. no back then that bonfire had gone out, it became only embers.

Funny thing about embers , the have a way of roaring back to life with the right amount of fuel and a little breath , a little breathe of life.

I guess a part of me knew that breathe would happen, after all the fuel he needed he had gathered himself. It took the form of scrub brush of business plans and npos he had sketched out or written, the fallen limbs of writings left unpublished, the sturdy heartwood of education opportunities languishing....all this fuel left to mold and slow rot on the forest floor of his life.

Until a small breath became a strong wind and that fuel all fell on the embers and the flames began again.

Thankfully I’ll never know if my life was going to be like if left to those circ**stances.

The agents of the Evoke network changed all that. The network had reawakened his sense of adventure, of making a difference, of having purpose and in the agents of the network he found others who believed as he did and who called him friend.

The timer on his watch silently pulsed against his wrist breaking him from his wistful revere, the meeting was winding down… avatars blinked out as he gathered his things, said goodbye to the hounds and with grin made his way down to a waiting vehicle.

He traveled a lot in the last ten years sometimes on business, sometimes with loved ones, a lot for Alchemy but never alone, Ikigai was with him, then and now, no longer an elusive dream,now it was friend who went with him no matter where he went, no matter what the circ**stances, never to be lost again for now it was as mush a part of him as his very DNA.

That’s where I will be when Alchemy calls me for the Japan Evoke.

In closing I like to leave you, my fellow agents with this quote from Edward Hale…

I am only one,

But still I am one.

I cannot do everything,

But still I can do something;

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

I, we ...can Evoke!

Namaste