Off With Your Head

"But, King, sir, we have tried everything possible. At this time, we do not have the technology ready to..."

"Professor, I appreciate your candor. However, in my reign the words 'no,' 'not,' and 'never' have little meaning. You will find a way to get this done before I die."

"But..."

"And if you would like, I can send you to our weather station in Antarctica should you be unable to accomplish this simple task I assigned you."

"Yes, your kingship. I understand. My team will comply with your demands."

"As you wish." The king waved the group of scientists out of his conference room and turned to his advisor.

"So, Makeyon, what is your analysis of the situation?"

"Sir, if I may be so candid?"

"Anytime."

"My understanding of the technology is that to recreate a brain as magnificent as yours is, we would need every detail of your life to feed the body attached to the brain and we..."

"What?! Have scribes not recorded every word I've spoken. Have video crews not followed me every day of my life? What more do you need?!"

"Your lordship, we...I mean, they believe that in order to recreate a person just like you, they need to grow a duplicate using your internal interpretation of the external input. Every attempt so far has created a person who believes he is greater than you."

"Greater than me?!"

"Uh...yes, King. But we have destroyed these impertinent impostors."

"Destroyed them? Hmm...all of them?"

"No, your highness."

"Good." The king waved his advisor out of the room.

The king walked out to the balcony and waved at the throng of fans who stood in the palace square day and night. Sometimes all it took was glowing adoration to feed his thought process and he would discover a new way to apply science and technology to the exuberant growth of his people's kingdom.

He paced back and forth, nodding to himself sometimes and shaking his head other times.

The people below stood quietly, knowing their leader was about to speak.

He stepped up onto the podium. "My people, I welcome you!"

The crowd yelled back in unison, "We welcome you, King, and wish you good health!"

"Today, I stand here before you a new man, invigorated by your presence."

"We feel your strength! We wait for wisdom!"

"I have consulted with the greatest minds this kingdom or any other civilization has ever produced. They tell me that in my genetic makeup is a man who is wiser and greater than I am."

The crowd booed.

The king held up his hand. "I know. I know. Blasphemous words. However, I understand what they are saying, for it is with time that I have grown to become your humble leader. Although I was born poor, my mind was sharp and my courage great. So it is that I have fed this body and this mind the cornucopia of food that your hard work has produced so that I could lead you to wonders no kingdom has ever seen!"

The crowd cheered.

The king raised his arms up to encourage more cheering. "Thank yourselves for your achievements!"

The crowd cheered for several minutes while the king raised his fists and shook them. Finally, the king held his hands up to quiet the crowd.

"You have been patient, my people, waiting to see when I would produce an heir. My son will soon be ready to appear before you." A cheer arose but the king held up his hand. "I promise he is a man 10 times stronger than I and many times smarter for his genes are my genes but his wisdom and training much greater because he has the resources of the kingdom that you provided him that I did not have as a child!"

The crowd cheered again.

"You are the reason for our glorious accomplishments! My destiny is your destiny. Your destiny is my son's destiny!"

The king held up his fists and let the cheering crowd lift his spirit and carry him back into the royal conference room. He pointed at the robotic assistant which always followed him with a video recorder, carrying other means to record the king's presence, such as an infrared heat sensor and remote body function measurement instruments.

"Tell the scientists to prepare my young self as he is. I can no longer wait for them to perfect me as I am. Perhaps their technological shortcomings will work to my advantage after all."