by Fred Hsu
It's year 7023 BC. The Earth exports "reading tapes" and "education tapes" to thousands of colonies in the outer worlds. Young men and women are 'taped' at the age of 8 so they can read. They become adults at the age of 18 by participating in the Education Day where each person has his brains analyzed and taped for the most suitable profession. Roughly 1 in every 100,000 teenagers both on Earth and on the colonies is found to be unsuitable for taping, and is sent to a "House for the Feeble-minded" on Earth for protection. George Platen is one such poor soul and shares a room with Hali Omani for the past 6 months.
(Both): Oh, our dreams were broken.
They locked
us up in this mad house.
George: They said I could not be...
Hali: could not be...
(Both): a Registered Programmer.
George: They said my brain was...
Hali: your brain was...
(Both): unsuitable for download!
(Both): The tapes of knowledge we sought,
Upgraded
every year.
Three
minutes on your doctor's chair,
Lets you
practice a new profession with flair.
George: While everyone is out there
Enjoying
his taped career,
I sit with
the uneducated,
Learning
from books,
One page at
a time,
Hali: I have no
problem with this arrangement
(Both) One page at a time!
(piano)
George: Hali! have you ever wondered,
who makes
new tapes every year?
(Both): How did he get taped so
he could
make more new tapes every year?
And who
makes tapes to tape
he who
makes tapes every year?
George: Er, I guess that would be... us?
Hali:
George! Your creative mind
Cannot be
tape.
(Both): You'll teach yourself out of books,
I'll teach myself out of books,
Create new
knowledge day and night.
Hali: You
know...
George: Now I know
(Both): This so-called
House for
the Feeble-minded
is in fact
an
Institute for Higher Studies!