2. That Sparking Thing

Tom had to wait a long time for his train, which was super annoying considering he was planning out how to change the world and wanted to be doing that in the comfort of his own home instead of the noisy and smelly downtown Muni station. These things take a certain holistic approach, he told himself, and he wasn't feeling very holistic at the moment. He forced himself to stop thinking but that only worked for a moment or two. He was never good at meditating or even relaxing for that matter. He had a brain that went on overdrive for years until it finally burned out, many years later, and he became a much happier person. In the meantime it was think think think. Just then he was thinking about Chris and about the possibility that Chris would soon be marrying the brainy and beautiful Laurie, and the very strong likelihood that shortly thereafter they would begin producing a gaggle of spectacular and out of control little redheads. But that was then. Or would be. In the meantime, he felt that time was short and he would have to launch his plan into action quickly.

He finally made it home to the small basement apartment which he shared with two annoying cats and any number of small white mice. The fat gray cat liked nothing more than to sit on his shoulders while he was trying to work, and dig her very sharp claws into his back. The tiny yellow cat, meanwhile, spent much of her life swinging back and forth on his sneakers under the table. The table top itself was covered with partial inventions and their makings, a lot of electronic bits and pieces he had collected from the dumpsters behind the GreenVu recycling center, and stolen from his days working at World of Parts. Already he had created a variety of useless inventions, but felt certain that something he invented would someday somehow come in handy for some reason or other. He wouldn't worry about that now.

Amplification, he thought. Targeting systems. Tracking devices. Audio tuners and receptors. Computer software. Handheld devices. He felt confident he could deliver the technology. The worries he had were of a systems problem and a personnel issue. To do what needed to be done required people. Tom didn't know any people except Chris. Chris knew people. That was huge. It always seemed to Tom that whenever he mentioned anything - literally anything at all - Chris would always know someone who either did that thing or knew someone who did. Like giant paper balloons. Chris knew a guy who could make them. Like restoring medieval Church books. Chris knew a guy who could do it. Like flying to the moon. Chris actually knew one of those millionaire space tourists. Or sort of knew him. Actually, he had fucked the guy's wife. That ought to count for something.

But anyway, requiring people required also people skills, and Tom knew well enough he had none of those either. Again, Chris was the man for that. He was a charmer. I mean, he had fucked that guy's wife while the guy was actually walking around on the moon. The guy was even on the phone with his wife at the time. Calling from the fucking moon! She was like, yes dear. Yes, dear. Oh my, yes dear!

People skills. The people would have to be found, selected and trained. And then they would have to be volunteers too because neither of them had any money. Just great ideas. And the people would have to be trusted or else they might steal those great ideas when the whole great idea was to give away the great ideas for the betterment of mankind. Obviously they needed young people. People who still gave a shit about the betterment of mankind. No one over thirty, that was a given.

The ideas were coming thick and fast. He wished he could call up Chris and give him the lowdown but he didn't have a phone. No money, no friends except one - why have a phone? Instead, he tapped his notes into a homemade handheld device using a sharp, pointy stick. Might need money, he worried. This was the biggest problem of all. Tom was a freegan, except for rent and utilities and food and clothing. That meant he was poor and a cheapskate. He always said he didn't have a girlfriend because he was always broke, but that was only part of the reason. There was also the fact that he didn't like people very much. Potential girlfriends were turned off by the fact that he didn't really like them.

The strategy, however, was becoming pretty clear. To change the world they would need some agents of change. They would need some targets of change. They would need to bring those two together just enough. It would be like rubbing sticks to create a spark and make a fire.