I move my hand
when there is
consensus

I begin
flat-backed
in a brown
beaver-backed settee

Eyes forward
and still
I address you all
keeping still as I am able

And I ask you all a question

At the present moment
the question being considered
is
"Should I move my hand?"

I like to begin, normally
with a question that is midsized
and likely to elicit
quick agreement

You want conflict?

Conflict necessitates action
which necessitates movement

I have a good feeling about this question
I feel it will be quick
I hopes so
because there is still much to do

A vote is taken among the other soldiers
in our group
The voting lasts 30 seconds
followed by a 30 second pause

The vote is tallied quickly
The results are overwhelming
The soldiers favor movement
my movement
But there are holdouts
as there always are
at first

After the thirty second pause
a second vote
Closer toward uniformity
Still a few outliers but
95 to 5
in percent

You are stubborn
but I am more
I can wait you out
You will get tired
or hungry
or it will be your time
to go on patrol
or you will simply give way to the group

A third vote
The nays are down to two
The fourth
Consensus

It seems that I will move my hand
because you have demanded it

This game
consensus
was no doubt the result--
The brain child
of someone much higher up
Someone in charge
but someone who has spent time here
and understands how much nothing there is here

Only at the crust of a vacuum
would this war of attrition be considered
entertainment

I am the camp's entertainment

The game continues

The specifics of the questions
Content, phrasing, order, grift
are left mostly up to me

The questions are a strategy
with a strategy
wheels within wheels of involvement
smoke

The people in charge
There are suggestions
A colonel or the like will occasionally drop in
on our game
and nudge me in some direction or another
They have the luxury of seeing
the entirety

Other camps
with others just like me
with their questions
facilitating their own agreement

Maybe I will meet one
if I know what to ask

It is decided that I will move my hand

But I do not move it yet

The second question
There are an infinite options now
I decide to remain safe

"Do I move my hand to my chin?"

The question is self-serving
as there is a bit of fluff in my whiskers
that is causing it to tickle

And I'd very much like to take care of this
before proceeding any further

I imagine my motives are obvious to
everyone
You might very well even resent me for such
blatancy
However I have given you
not much choice
I have given you the choice of
something
or nothing
in a sea of nothing

The vote is quick
and it takes only two rounds

The agreement within the agreement is
Get on with it
We want to see what comes next

This game was designed
by the people in charge
to boost moral
to come together
to see the commonness
to stave off the sort of madness
this place is prone to
space madness on the Earth

It takes three more questions to effectively scratch my chin
Achieving this, I can proceed
with my plan

No matter how blatant my questions are
there is certain procedure
that must be adhered to

It is unwise and boorish
to ask for too much
too early
Loaded questions beg for consequences
When you can see the end you think through past the end

Small agreements beget more small agreements
They cascade like dish-rinsing stream along our camp
And after enough small agreements there is blind trust

Our commanding officer is a brute
an ass
displeasing
for too long

"Do I move my hand to my waist?"
Six attempts for consensus

"Do I extent my fingers outward?"
Four attempts for consensus

"What angle do I extend my fingers?"
24 attempts for consensus. 120 degrees agreed upon

"Do I move my fingers toward the holster?"
Three attempts

"Which fingers"
Three attempts

Do I grip the handle?
Two attempts

Do I lift my arm?
Two attempts

What angle?
Two attempts

Do I move my arm approximately 13 degrees to the left?
One attempt

Do I move my right index finger?
Two attempts

Do I move my right index finger toward me?
One holdout.

Sgt. Clarance Britton
has finally thought a question through past its conclusion
He sees the consequence

The consequence is he is shot through the face

He is the only one who does not want this

The soldiers make sure the Sgt. cannot move
from his position
and the voting continues

It takes less than a day for the Sgt.
in his stoic
shaking
praying
to become too exhausted
for utterance and gesture

I can wait you out

Another vote
He finally says nothing

There is finally
consensus

We will all agree
that this is self-defense

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 7 | PART 8

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