A call from the mayor

Don't be mad at Polly. She's only had an apple and a little bit of Sam to eat all day!

See. It's nice to share.

Hey! Didn't you just hear Helix say it's nice to share!?

[!0.88]Doggy
YUM

A call from the mayor

Stupid emu! Waits until I try to take a bite of her food, then nips off another one of my tentacles!

What's this? Mayor called… You've been ordered to go to Ecosystems Unlimited tomorrow… Would I please go with you?

I spent an hour making plans on how to trick Florence into inviting me! Wasted! Why is it that nothing ever goes my way?

A call from the mayor

I suppose I could take time out of my busy schedule to go with you tomorrow, but you owe me one.

Uhm, you're welcome. Why aren't you talking? Is this because I shoved a burning emu into the shower with you?

You're not talking because of the Mayor's orders? Heck, I can fix this! Come with me.

If it weren't for the order to remain silent, I'd be screaming about now.

A call from the mayor

This is a direct order. You will be silent unless my aide or I ask you a question. You will answer our questions fully and truthfully. Do you understand?

Myself, I'd say that order was over once she hung up.

Though with the Mayor, if she thought it would inconvenience me, she really would want you to remain silent even after the call ended.

And… that's the problem, isn't it?

PLAY >

A call from the mayor

Would you agree that it's not the Mayor's intention for you to remain silent forever?

Good. Then all we need is clarification on how long she does intend for you to remain silent.

And for that, we write the Mayor and ask her.

I suppose dealing with the Mayor again is better than chewing my own head off in order to escape, but not by much.

A call from the mayor

We end the letter with “Unless otherwise directed, I shall consider your orders to me to expire in 30 minutes time (nine P.M.). Sincerely, Florence Ambrose.”

Never put yourself in the situation where you're waiting for someone's permission. Put them in the situation where you have permission unless they take active steps to stop you.

Or as I call it, “making
human inertia work for you.”

A call from the mayor

This shouldn't take long. The Mayor always answers my e-mails.

SAM! IF I EVER GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL RIP YOUR TENTACLES OFF AND STRANGLE YOU WITH THEM!

Not a word about your orders. As far as I'm concerned, you can start talking now.

Though if the Mayor really cared about ripping off my tentacles, she wouldn't have sent a form letter.

A call from the mayor

Sam, thank you. It's 9 P.M. and I can finally say that.

You're welcome. Any time you have a problem with the Mayor, just let me know.

Of course, you're the reason she has problems with the Mayor in the first place.

I'm helping her achieve independence and you act like it's a bad thing.

A call from the mayor

This has been a very long day. My head hurts and I want to go to bed.

I had my brain hijacked by the Mayor today. Twice. This never would have been a problem back home.

Back home was a civilized place where most people go their entire lives without ever seeing or talking to their elected representatives.

A call from the mayor
[!0.987]2008-03-12

I have to admit that I'm feeling a little guilty about going to Ecosystems Unlimited tomorrow.

Sam hired me to fix his ship, not to chase down problems with the planet's robots.

So after I let Ecosystems Unlimited know about the growing instability that could disrupt the planet's infrastructure and lead to a collapse of human civilization, I'll ask if they know where I can get some good low cost spaceship parts.

Color by George Peterson

Florence is a very good person, she is more human than humans. Perhaps this is characteristic of non-humans trying to become more human.(Durable)
The Vampire: The Masquerade universe comes to mind, where a vampire seriously clinging to his human nature might well have become more human than most humans… (asurendra)