PLANTING SEEDS. Episode 3. our heroes find themselves chained to the floor of a cygnusian prison cruiser.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "PLANTING SEEDS. Episode 3. our heroes find themselves chained to the floor of a cygnusian prison cruiser."

Walter Homer Wright
5 years ago
Views:

1 overwhelmed by questions? bedeviled by doubts? don t know where to turn in the search for truth? how can you know? whom do you call? well, here s whom! call the Episode 3 PLANTING SEEDS created and drawn for the big history project by larry gonick our heroes find themselves chained to the floor of a cygnusian prison cruiser.

Episode 3 PLANTING SEEDS don t play dumb with me! you ve been caught helping a dangerous criminal escape! as if you didn t know... what?

and I am legi-logi magistogi, high authority on cygnusian law! our heroes find themselves chained to the floor of a cygnusian prison cruiser.

.. zyx-27 has violated the laws of cygnus epsilon and fled the planet to escape capture! so you say! where s the evidence? oh! I m so sorry!

2 Episode 3 PLANTING SEEDS don t play dumb with me! you ve been caught helping a dangerous criminal escape! as if you didn t know... what? who s a criminal? hey, i m scien tific authority personified! it takes more than words to convince me! and I am legi-logi magistogi, high authority on cygnusian law! our heroes find themselves chained to the floor of a cygnusian prison cruiser. I DON T SUPPOSE this looks like a rescue... if only we knew what s going on... zyx-27 has violated the laws of cygnus epsilon and fled the planet to escape capture! so you say! where s the evidence? oh! I m so sorry! I didn t realize you were authority too! I should have known by your hat! you are associates of a known lawbreaker! by law, you must share the crimi nal s fate, which is banish ment to the orchards of cygnus epsilon! BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 3: PLANTING SEEDS 2

all right, if you say so. I have spoken.

at least they re sending us to some orchards!

with all due respect, big guy, have you taken

3 all right, if you say so. I have spoken. it s good! i m hungry again! at least they re sending us to some orchards! how bad can that be? this is more like it! with all due respect, big guy, have you taken leave of your senses? sshhh, vera! you have to respect authority! didn t you see that hat? let s eat! no, jesse! no! BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 3: PLANTING SEEDS 3

no! not without a digestion license! a license? to eat food? how does that work?

but the government only issues digestion licenses to some of us. those with licenses get an injection, and everyone else is out of luck.

how is anyone going to know whether I have a digestion license or not? they don t have to know! without a license, the fruit is poisonous!

4 no! not without a digestion license! a license? to eat food? how does that work? our dictator, the high guardian orx-30, commanded our scientists to modify the genes of all food crops to make them poisonous. but the government only issues digestion licenses to some of us. those with licenses get an injection, and everyone else is out of luck. he also ordered the development of a medicine, an antidote, that enables our bodies to digest the food. how is anyone going to know whether I have a digestion license or not? they don t have to know! without a license, the fruit is poisonous!! and who gets the license and the antidote? who gets to eat? WHAT AN AMAZiNG STORY, ZYX! CROPS THAT ARE genetically engineered TO HURT PEOPLE OR WHATEVER YOU CALL YOURSELVES! only cygnusians loyal to the high guardian orx-30! all cygnusians must apply to get this antidote. BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 3: PLANTING SEEDS 4

ok, the fruit s bad for birds and cygnusians, but what about for humans? I wonder... we can test it! the quickest way would be to eat some fruit!

.. there s one thing about your story I don t quite understand, zyx: why do the unlicensed cygnusians let orx-30 get away with it? why don t they stop him? good question!

.. but where? across those mountains to the land of the unlicensed! because, Brianna, the unlicensed are weak, and orx-30 is strong.

5 ok, the fruit s bad for birds and cygnusians, but what about for humans? I wonder... we can test it! the quickest way would be to eat some fruit! if we drop dead, then we ll know! i ll pass, thanks... there s one thing about your story I don t quite understand, zyx: why do the unlicensed cygnusians let orx-30 get away with it? why don t they stop him? good question! they would seem to have a choice in the matter! frankly, I trust zyx, though i m not sure why... just a hunch! we ve followed her this far... I guess we keep going... but where? across those mountains to the land of the unlicensed! because, Brianna, the unlicensed are weak, and orx-30 is strong. I think you ll get the picture once we reach the top of this rise and look back... wow! what a view! per fect evi dence, brianna, of the power of agriculture! yeah, how could all those cities and roads and spaceports exist without the food to feed the cygnusians who built them and use them? BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 3: PLANTING SEEDS 5

agriculture does more than grow population! farming grows surplus food more than people can eat when it s harvested so the people who control that surplus gain power over the others.

zyx! popular girl, zyx! zyx! the friendly greeting is evidence in her favor, wouldn t you say?

6 agriculture does more than grow population! farming grows surplus food more than people can eat when it s harvested so the people who control that surplus gain power over the others. like whoever ran the grain warehouses in the temples of ancient sumer and india! welcome to the land of the unlicensed! whoa! nastylooking! they re not nasty, jesse, just poor and hungry... zyx! zyx! popular girl, zyx! zyx! the friendly greeting is evidence in her favor, wouldn t you say? with power comes wealth, and with that wealth leaders can organize big projects like irrigation systems, building construction, and roads. to make this work, people become specialists: architects, engineers, cooks, scribes, soldiers... so agricultural societies can grow complex, highly organized... Zyx! I see what big sci means, though, about hunting and gathering instead of farming: there aren t a lot of unlicensed cygnusians in the neighborhood! the shortage of food keeps the numbers down! I may be able to help with that... and what about people without agriculture? BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 3: PLANTING SEEDS 6

my backpack just happens to be loaded with seed packets for a school garden ing project. why don t we plant em? these are genetically engineered to be extra nutritious!

yes, but we have to think about some practical things, too, like setting aside seeds for planting next spring, getting volunteers to guard the seeds... oh, and a cleanup committee!

maybe these guys will get to eat something besides grubs and berries after all! this could be a test of big sci s claims about agriculture!

7 my backpack just happens to be loaded with seed packets for a school garden ing project. why don t we plant em? these are genetically engineered to be extra nutritious! a few months, and many grubs and roots, later here s your surplus! wow! logically, more cyg nu sians should be able to live here now! wow! best picnic ever! yes, but we have to think about some practical things, too, like setting aside seeds for planting next spring, getting volunteers to guard the seeds... oh, and a cleanup committee! see? like I said! things are get ting organized already! do I have to get permission from anyone to do this? no, we re not that organized. maybe these guys will get to eat something besides grubs and berries after all! this could be a test of big sci s claims about agriculture! and here they come, flocking from all over the unlicensed zone! population can grow by immigration as well as reproduction. too bad orx-30 is marching over the ridge at the head of a well-fed army of licensed cygnusians! let s eat!! to be continued... BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 3: PLANTING SEEDS 7

Act One Scene Jim hits File. File hits Jim. Jim goes down.

Act One Scene Jim hits File. File hits Jim. Jim goes down. Jim. Then take something else! H.C. Hey, quit it, stop that! Jim hits File. File hits Jim. Jim goes down. Noah. (To File.) If I didn t think he had it comin, I d wipe you up good and clean! File. He had