I was high when the Governance started.

There was a giant party at the opening of the event. The final selections had been made, and we had favored the Chinese by picking several dozen articulate members of the opposition, and several dozen pugnacious members of the establishment.

There were speeches and food and dancing. I was laughing at a thought that Lauria had shared with me and waiting for Callisto to give his opening remarks sanctioning the beginning of the event. The five of us, the collaborators conspiracy, knew what was coming. No one else did. I couldn’t stop smiling about that.

I hadn’t been high every minute of every day, but I was surely trying to give Grace as much data as I could. So far she had detected no patterns. Well, no patterns that mattered to me. She told me that Lauria was starting to act more and more frustrated with my growing obliviousness. I couldn’t really fault for that.

The party was happening on one of the lower floor conference rooms. A quick glance out the windows revealed the nanocables’ rainbow shimmering like some faerie spell or movie special effect.

It was an atypical crowd with atypical conversations. How often had world-renowned scientists or businessmen had the opportunity to voice their opinions on a silver screen? How often had people had the option to watch six or seven different conversations between people with IQ’s over 150? Awkward stances and unprofessional hairdos were everywhere. The cynical part of my was fairly certain that TV history had never witnessed so many ugly people framed in the same shot, ever.

Of course, nearly all were fit. We had to make sure of that given what was coming.

To a viewing public used to watching drama on television, watching people who tried to minimize drama in their life was going to be something of a challenge. The people who chose to participate in the Governance had one thing in common—overbearing confidence. I could see it, but seeing it on television might not have been as easy. People were looking each other in the eyes, and no one was fidgeting.

There would be some very valuable ventures that would be born today. Betting on the event favored Callisto and I, but at this stage, even our numbers were no better than 30:1. In my opinion, the most interesting bets would be on the percent increase in world GDP. If I had to bet I would put it at around 20. If we were really lucky we might get as high as 50.

I smiled as I thought of the people currently winning the competition. It was the nature of the event that we were trying to encapsulate a civilization, so the winners after the first night would be the cooks, musicians, servers, and managing caterers. Their names would be at the top of the scoreboard that Callisto was almost ready to unveil.

At the entrance to the party, there were about 100 people, nearly 5 percent of the total, who realized that they needed to pay for their right to party. To them, trailing on the first day was well worth the cost of earning a triple A credit rating.

Lauria wandered back over towards me and we touched glasses. “Cal says it’s time to start. You should choose the spot that you want to be watched by a billion people.” When I looked at her now I didn’t see the ship’s head nurse, I saw the shark that had thought to stage a world governance debate. I saw the mind that Grace called instrumental in conceiving the first and only world-wide fixed lottery. There was more than healing between us now.

“I stand with you.” I said. She blushed, nodded, and turned shoulder to shoulder with me.

I hoped she would stay here; she would look so lovely with a rainbow behind her. “I can’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s faces.” I said.

“I can’t wait to see the front page of every newspaper in the world.” She answered.

The lights bounced around and spiraled towards the podium where Callisto was standing. A tone sounded and the room quieted.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attendance this evening. You are businessmen, scientists, researchers, and above all else, hard workers. There are currently 2012 people in this building. 1009 males along with 1003 females.” He intoned, infusing happiness and pride into every word.

The moments when an audience chooses to applaud have always struck me as rather odd. This was the first.

“There were over one million total applications. Although most of you procrastinators didn’t fininsh until the final week.” He paused, glaring good-naturedly at the crowd. “I personally reviewed ten thousand, including each and every one of yours, and you were all chosen for your excellence, dedication, and genius.”

The audience cheered again, then he continued. “I don’t know if there has ever been a gathering such as ours, but I am proud to stand among you at what you might consider the opening games of the first Governance project.

“We are a gathering that owes itself to one man who stands among us today. Mr. Paine, please raise your hand.” I did, and the assembled men and women turned to face me.

I felt their eyes like a physical weight. Callisto didn’t allow applause to start, continuing his speech. “There are few among us who have not used his creation, and I owe my personal fortune to him. All of us knew the Internet was changing everything. But there was just one man who seized on the chance to change the shape of the future. Although I daresay there is more than one person in this room that wishes it had been he or she that had seized it.”

He laughed along with several members of the assembly. “I am among them. Still, Mr. Paine, allow me to personally thank you for the contribution that you have made to our world’s society. It is through your creation that score will be kept during the yearlong project that we are about to undertake.”

Applauding with gusto, most of the crowd turned back to Cal, and I breathed a sigh heavy with relief. I leaned into Lauria and she patted my forearm.

Meanwhile, Cal continued. “While I am thanking people, thank you to the caterers of this event. It has been said that the value that we trade is its own reward, but I am a bit more old-fashioned than that. Thank you for crafting this beautiful day.” More applause followed his words.

“I suppose there are also sponsors that I should thank for helping to make this event as a whole possible, but I won’t. Now that the games have begun, they will have to pay for every moment of face time that I provide them. That is rather the point isn’t it? The thing that we have learned from Mr. Paine: value is everywhere. Every action that you can perform is of value to someone. The key to supporting yourself is timing your actions so that the value you provide can be traded for other value.”

Cal hadn’t given me his speech. I suppose he must have enjoyed watching me squirm. I imagined Lauria in the starlight and tried not to let the tide of emotions break on my features. I don’t know how well I succeeded. I was too high to know exactly what they all were, but they were heady. “Remind me to never watch this tape.” I whispered to Lauria. She kissed me on the cheek. “No promises; I want to see how good I look in this dress.”

Cal continued his speech. “Ah, timing. It really is the key to everything. If you have the gift of it life will fall into your hands with no seeming effort. If you do not have the gift of it, life can be a continuous struggle.

“It brings to my mind a story I heard once about the ancient Indian philosopher Mendella. He was conversing with a learned king on the night before his scheduled execution. The king bade the philosopher to share the wisdom that his life had taught him.” Callisto spoke.

“The philosopher told the king that the most important thing that he had learned was that learning was a delusion, for the relating the experiences of one man to another was a task for the gods, and not for man.” He paused, grandstanding for the crown. “The king executed him the next morning.” He finished with a laugh shared by the crowd.

“Yet I can’t help but think. There is a crucial kernel of truth in what he said, maybe even an entire ear. My experience and yours cannot ever be truly compared. Our inner lives will remain our own, at least for the foreseeable future, as will a thousand other facets of our lives. I am reminded of the parable of Mendella today because we have agreed to let Mr. Paine’s creation judge a percentage of our lives. Regardless of the outcome of your own personal Valuestream during this year, the first year of the Governance competition, remember Mendella’s wisdom.”

Callisto paused longer than he had at any point in his speech. He looked out at the crowd and with gentle eyes and a kind voice began to speak again. “Though many of us are titans in our own fields, we are not gods. Nothing about this project is intended to judge or rate your experience, merely the works and acts of your minds and hands.” He smiled again, and I knew why his celebrity was so absolute-- he accepted the world and its foibles in a way that I had never been able to.

When I think of Mendella’s story, I have always thought that if he had went the route of Scheherazade tried a little harder we might know more of his wisdom. I wonder what additional wisdom he would have learned to share with us if he had chosen to share that particular kernel on the 1001st night, rather than the first.

Callisto continued his speech. “So today I wonder how to best use this platform that I have built myself. Tomorrow the cameras will still be on me, but they will also be on you, and you, and everyone else. Today is a moment unique in time, when a billion souls will hear my words in a hundred languages in words that it would take me years to learn to pronounce.” The crowd hushed, thinking of the time to come, their own plans, their own thoughts.

“What should I do? What knowledge should I reveal? How can I turn the timing of this moment into actions that the world will consider of great value?”

His pause for effect stretched until a well-known comic shouted, “Show us your dick and start your porn career!”

Callisto let his laughter be real and long. “There will be time enough for that tonight, I’m sure.”

“No, I think what I will do is announce the next stage in VI’s space program. Ladies and gentlemen, you are all in good health. I know because I reviewed all of your files. Welcome to the next stage of human space flight. At the top of this building there exist two plasma batteries that are each two meters in diameter. Their creation is a documented research stream that I began and that was completed by the Venturi Industries Corporation.”

He continued. “Three months ago a project was completed that will turn one of those batteries into the world’s first inertial combustion engine. When I push this button a process will begin which will generate 1.15 g’s of force. That force will propel us into an orbit around the moon. We have confirmed this plan with the International Space Agency. In 4 hours the gravity on this vessel will return to normal. This button will propel us into the future. I wonder if I have the courage to press it.”

It was a measure of Callisto’s reputation that no one shouted advice. This was my line, the moment that I had required of myself: my own crossing of the Rubicon. “Do it Cal; it will fly.” I said.

He looked at me for the first time during his speech and I saw again what the media loved about him. His face hid nothing, he wore a look of genuine wonder, love and awe at what he was about to do. He was as natural in front of a camera as I have always been tentative, and I felt a moment of true envy.

He did it. There was a click that was clearly audible through the microphone. “See, I had to find some way to keep you honest. The challenge is to create the most value on the ‘Stream. Now you can only interact through the world on the ‘Stream and through the resources of this building. I would wish you good luck, but I know that you do not need it.”