[color=green][b][u]The Mini-RP Collection[/u][/b][/color]
[color=white][b][u]#56: New Thoughts on Life[/u][/b][/color]

[i]Taken from the comments of "New Thoughts on Life;" syntax errors fixed, and dialouge slightly altered.[/i]

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[b]Chuong:[/b] I think the biggest controversy was the aftermath of Zachary's dictatorship, because despite improvements in America, he has left a lot of bad memories on his people; especially the seize of Topeka where he ordered suicide bombing attacks in that city that led to the destruction of Westboro Baptist Church. Too many terrorists volunteered to blow themselves up at the expense of others there... It's really bad.

[b]Zachary:[/b] Not surprised you'd say that, Chuong. I think the biggest controversy is the mindset of the G-52s, Cripto, and Wildcat City before we became UN1024s. I didn't became a UN1024 to watch them still mope and lock themselves up in their rut. That's when I come in to pull them out.

[b]Soil:[/b] And us. The idea of a world being better without technology is nuts. Even more insane is how Neo-Luddites claim that technology threatens traditions and cultural norms. It depends on a case-by-case thing, and there are Amish who do use modern cooking utensils to make their food; especially wireless kitchen tools that uses thorium as its source of power.

[b]Star:[/b] Here's something that will turn your frown upside down, Leo! We bought out several dead casino properties in Atlantic City and converted them into our facilities, and we even built our factories in Atlantic City! Casino City shall become Green City there, and that city's economic output will grow tenfold if not more! There's going to be way more jobs there and less crimes!

[b]Sky:[/b] With our factories there means more production of things like electronics. Electronics and technology are created to increase job efficiency. For example, a waitress in a busy restaurant will take more time writing on paper to take orders and handing them to cooks than a waitress who uses a tablet to do the same thing,but send the orders to the cooks with a touch on a screen with a stylus. Our Slate tablets, which are tough to withstand pressure and other elements, are ideal for restaurant waitresses to construction workers.

[b]Sea:[/b] A waitress will only need to pick up her tablet, take orders from the patrons with her stylus on the screen, touch the send button with her stylus, and the orders will show up on a TV monitor in the kitchen. Then the cooks will get to work. See? Technology isn't too bad.

[b]Star:[/b] Blame Bendraqi for making technology look bad. No matter what happens, we're going to expand our green agenda and if we must create electronics to increase job efficiencies for many people, so be it! Its good for the environment! That's why the gym you go to in Wildcat City uses a tablet screen for patrons to sign in instead of a clipboard with paper, because it cuts back on paper. Plus, when they print, everything will be readable, unlike some cases when it's done by handwriting.

[b]Sea:[/b] Hardworking people need hardworking tools to increase their job efficiencies to catch up with world demand, period. That in return will generate more profit and productivity. So in actuality, technology increases economic activity and more wealth and revenue.

[b]Zachary:[/b] That, and it's about time Wildcat City starts looking forward to the future while focusing on the present. If Irwin was here, he'd be blowing it up at Wildcat City with his own rants, and that guy has anger issues! He doesn't help as much as S4 does! Oh, and not to mention, without the promotion of technology to increase job efficiency, Plasma, F.H., C.W., and T.W. may not exist because their careers rely on technology.  This is because they are TSARs, or Transportation Security Administration Representatives, and they need to use the latest computer systems and handheld electronics to do their jobs when it comes to, say, relaying information. 

F.H. here lives in The Philippines, and his job requires constant use of email because he's not only helping American and Filipino soldiers to increase security at the local airports and seaports there to stop smugglers.  He also has to deal with emails regarding about the encantos, diwatas, and whatever supernaturals live there in that country. F.H. even reads his emails after his shift because weird beings lurk in the jungles of The Philippines. I've seen White Lady and aswangs there and those alone are way more than enough to scare me. 

As for Yamashita's Gold, you have to be stupider than Bendraqi to even think about hunting for it since no one ever lives to tell about the gold.

[b]Liwanag:[/b] Uhm... What about me? I live my traditional lifestyle as a Maharlika warrior to represent The Philippines?

[b]Capuno:[/b] Irwin can't slime you or criticize your for that because what you're doing is a a part of our culture. Second, the Noah Faction likes you this way and wouldn't let Irwin slime you. 

[b]Leo the Patriotic Lion:[/b] Then perhaps we had the wrong attitude towards technology. Granted there are the bad sides of it and we were so determined to avoid them, that we failed to see the good sides. Everything the writers said was true about the old-fashioned education provided bigger-than-normal test scores, skewing the averages, and leaving people to ask, "How do they do it?" 

It is true that what you did in Atlantic City is putting a smile on my face, but at the same time, I hope you didn't cause unemployment. The casinos there that are still active will still be active, and one of them has Merv Griffin's name attached to it. I've only been there because I once had to help solve a mystery in 1984, and thanks to that case being solved, it, among other things, continues to hold auditions for wannabes hoping to get on [i]Jeopardy![/i] and [i]Wheel of Fortune[/i], the biggest successes of the genius that is Merv Griffin.

[b]Super C:[/b] Still, that's impressive that you took the dead casinos and made them your own. Did you employ all the ex-casino workers, or did you hire new people in case they fled to Las Vegas just to keep working there since dealing the cards is the only thing they know how to do? Once I met a man like that. That was the most awkward confrontation I ever had. Also, at the gym, if worst comes to worst and the tablets aren't working, I tell my customers to just write it. And since penmanship is a must in the local education systems, that's not as horrible as it seems at first glance.

[b]Leo:[/b] The restaurant workers in Wildcat City will still write it down. Here's the point we are making: we're doing both the old-fashioned and the newer methods. That way, we have something to fall back when the other one doesn't work, and that's happened a number of times. 

[b]Star:[/b] S4 causing unemployment? Uhm... for us to expand our green agenda, we must hire more people. Second, casinos have high employee turnover rates compared to most other industries because the pay in casinos are not all that great, the benefits are low, and most casino workers rely on tips to live. Granted that Zachary's reforms said that tipped employees are to be paid at a minimum of $5 an hour and he helped to bring cost of living down to new infrastructure technology but even that, most people in America actually make more than what people make in casinos except for those running them. Plus, casino employees have to deal with rude and suspicious customers, too.

[b]Zachary:[/b] Most people in America would much rather be non-tipped minimum wage employees than tipped employees because non-tipped wage workers have higher wages to make up for their lack of tips, where under my reforms, it is $10 an hour as the minimum wage for non-tipped employees. Oh, and don't forget that some of those former employees who left the gambling industry are wanting to enter the science field by attending college first, which will come in handy for S4. Not to mention, they're going to need people to build their factories and engineers to make sure the robotic arms in the factories function properly so they can continue to build products efficiently such as their electronics.

[b]Soil:[/b] We're going to be holding a mass hiring event in Atlantic City, too, so the answer is no; we're not causing unemployment.

[b]Zachary:[/b] There's a way to everything, you know.

[b]Chuong:[/b] Nowadays, you get to have it both ways! And Leo is right about falling back to old methods when new methods don't work. My father said that technology can only go so far, because if something you use to type fails, then you must write on paper. To him, you have to go old and new school so that you have something to fall back on.

[b]Sky:[/b] We try to hire as many of the ex-casino workers and displaced casino workers to work for our facilities as much as possible, in order to make sure that we have the right job candidates. Of course, we always get fresh college students who want to work for us, and we get plenty of interns as well. Plus, we also get a lot of high school interns in our facilities as well so they can learn more about what we do, so that later on in life, they would feel encouraged to work for us for a cause.

[b]Super C:[/b] I think I wanted a straightforward "YES" or "NO" to that, but I think the answer to that was a YES and a NO. I mean, "YES," you're hiring the casino workers for a better pay, and a "NO" to causing unemployment.

[b]Leo:[/b] Indeed. All I have to do is learn the new methods. Lucky I found "Windows 7 for Dummies" book to go with the laptop Irwin forced me to buy, because it had Windows 7. Today, we're at 8, and 8.1, and soon to introduce 9. My neighbors didn't like the Start menu on Windows 8 because it was "too tablet," but is it?

[b]T2:[/b] I think they're trying to compete with Apple, bro. They've got tablets that double as laptops now.

[b]Leo:[/b] I see. What I have is a standard laptop, although I never put it on my lap because of the heat. Instead, I set it down on a desk or tray when I use it. 

[b]Star:[/b] And that's why our Black Box laptops have the heat dissipation system, where the heat distribution goes outward than on the bottom.

[b]Avon:[/b] I usually use a laptop board just to be on the safe side anyways. Second, I use laptops on a desk or table anyways.

[b]Soil:[/b] Windows 8 allows you to change between the "tablet" mode to desktop mode. As for the tablets that double as laptops, those are called 2-in-1s, and our Black Box laptops are just that. Our Slate tablets, however, are just tablets.

[b]Sky:[/b] Do understand that our Black Box laptops and Slate tablets are designed for the military, construction workers, engineers, emergency workers, police, and medical workers at least. Of course, there are regular civilians who will pay top dollars for tough gaming machines, like our Black Box laptops, though they were originally designed for soldiers and military engineers in the first place.

[b]Radko:[/b] *is shooting at a Slate tablet with his Five-Seven handgun and looks at the flattened bullets* This is one tough tablet!

[b]Sea:[/b] It is. We even, I kid you not, covered our Slate tablets in frying batter and deep fried them; something you would never do to any electronics. But we did that with our Slates and Black Boxes. When we pulled them out of the fryer, we removed the batter and discovered that the electronics were working like new as usual. Of course, any opening ports on them must be closed first by their respective port doors. The Slates and Black Boxes are also designed for underwater photography and scanning at least, making them popular among naval spec ops soldiers around the world who like to go swimming underwater. S4 turns science fiction into science reality.

[b]Star:[/b] When there's demands for our electronics, we make more of them and sell them through retail stores like Best Buy, where they will sell our electronics there and get our commissions. So what's going to happen in Atlantic City is that displaced casino workers will either work for us or at a retail store that sells third-party electronics. So, I don't see unemployment rising in Atlantic City anytime soon. In fact, if anything, it's going to go down even lower. 

Here's a fun fact; cities with casinos tend to have higher unemployment than cities that don't. Before Cripto, New Jersey has a higher unemployment rate than Texas does. Nevada, despite having Las Vegas and casinos in other cities like Reno, still have higher unemployment rates than Texas does. That's a fact and those are stats before Cripto bailed the world out of debt. Atlantic City's unemployment won't rise anytime soon. However, its city economy will shift though but always for the better. 

[b]Mayor Leo Clarson:[/b] Cities before Cripto's donations with casinos had higher unemployment, you say? Boy, am I glad I fought hard to ensure we'd never have one! It must be all the gamblers who are addicted to it and gamble themselves out of exisiting, at worst extreme. The writer of the book [i]Crime and Punishment[/i] got inspiration to write [i]The Gambler[/i] because he needed to pay his gambling debts.

[b]Leo:[/b] I have my own fact to add although it's not fun: during all the bellowing I was doing, Las Vegas became a ghost town overnight, although just for two to three days. That's what legend says; I think they were all just hiding from me. At least one casino building there permanently turned into a bowling alley, but I forget which one. Nowadays, Vegas is back to being what they are best: the Sin City. And the only reason we went there recently was to put an end to the Syndicates' work. "This time the house definitely loses!" I shouted that day.

[b]Cripto:[/b] I had no idea my wealth changed that. My parents always told me never to gamble.

[b]Super C:[/b] It's our policy nobody gambles unless it's because you're doing it in order to reveal a criminal scheme. In fact, both Cody and Nickelback Nathan have been involved in gambling, as a way to reveal how the criminal is cheating. In both cases, they led the criminal into bankruptcy but didn't want the huge amounts of cash, since they're the type that is happy with what they have, and want nothing more than fruit in their stocking stuffers at Christmastime. So they donated the money to charity. *to Sea* That's incredible, the way you tried to deep fry the thing and nothing damaged it. 

[b]Star:[/b] *to Mayor Clarkson* Nailed it!

[b]Sea:[/b] Mmhmm! Accident proof electronics are needed in jobs that are prone to them a lot.

[b]Zachary:[/b] However, I do want to say this. El Shaddai has targeted casinos before on several occasions because they share a similar view against gambling like you do guys. The only difference is that those guys want to destroy casinos whereas with us, we save everybody and let people solve their problems without the violence. 

[b]Leo:[/b] I'd better write that down.

*He does so on a notepad.*

[b]Mayor Clarkson:[/b] Meanwhile, I wish to congratulate you S4 members on the succeesses you've had; those flowerbed walls are getting to be quite the season's must-have item. City Hall will have them installed, and soon I personally will wish to have them in my yard.

[b]Soil:[/b] All right! Sounds good, then! 

[b]Mayor Clarkson:[/b] I'll have the check made out as soon as possible. First I have to get a refill of checks; ran out just last night. 

[b]Soil:[/b] Don't you have a debit card? We take electronic transfers instead, since they're quicker than checks. 

[b]Mayor Clarkson:[/b] I do, but I don't use it much except for when I have to make a withdrawl from the ATM. This is one of those things I'd use a credit card with, actually. Do you take those? 

[b]Soil:[/b] Of course! Our Slate tablets come with built in card slides since they are designed for small yet busy businesses. 

[b]Mayor Clarkson:[/b] Okay. Credit it is. 

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[i][u]NOTES:[/u] The G-52s at the time were just starting to undergo a transitional period in their lives with the hiring of new recruits who do not fall behind the times, and the old Bendraqi had not yet died yet.[/i]