Caltrops - No Stairway to Heaven





	[quote name="Commander Tansin A. Darcos"]World premiere On Monday, March 26, 2029, the Republic of Vicron was holding a special event. The new Governor General and Head of State had been appointed exactly one month earlier, on February 26. This was the first major action of the Governor General's office, the construction of a new West Entrance to the building. Covered by scaffolding, and drones prohibited from flying over the area, the work was hidden from the public. It was to be a special event, as the West Entrance would now become the ceremonial entrance, celebrated with a band and singers. TV Channels 2, 4, 5, 6, 10 and 12 announced they would cover the event live, which was to be held at noon. At 11:59, the scaffolding fell, exposing a set of marble steps and a handicapped-person lift surrounded by a yellow ribbon, replacing the steel steps and series of ramps. At exactly noon, a man came out, and began playing a guitar. As soon as he started playing, everyone recognized the tune. The one that was so well known and irritating to hear repeatedly, that guitar and instrument stores in Vicron and back on earth, routinely had signs up warning people not to play it. Flute players walked up and started exactly on cue. A singer came out, and at the precise moment, started the first words of the song. "There's a lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold." At the appropriate point in the song, a hand reaches out to pull the rope on a cover, exposing the word "Heaven" in white on green, as a new singer says the words, and points at it, "There's a sign on the wall." Background singers hum and accompany on chorus at the appropriate points, and drums and cymbals come in as needed. A delivery truck arrives, and the rear doors are opened in time for a man with an electric guitar to exit and begin playing. It was at this moment people would recognize the event for what it was: a precisely choreographed flash mob of performers. More of them walked in, singing "Oh oh, oh oh." At the point the direction is sung, the singer turns, places his hand above his eyes, and peers to the west. A spotlight comes on at the top of the steps, as the words are being sung, "Here walks a lady we all know / Who shines white light and wants to show", Vicron's Governor General, Her Excellency, the Honorable Mantissa E. Darcos, walked out of the shadow at the top of the steps, hands behind her back, wearing a long flowing gold dress that reached down to her ankles, accompanied by glittering gold pumps.She stops, and the spotlight was shut off. As she had practiced many times, when the line "to be a rock, and not to roll," started, she stepped forward, exposing her hands. She is holding a huge pair of scissors in one hand and the rope to the sign in the other; it had been her hand that had exposed the sign. She let go of the rope before holding the handrail to descend the steps. When she got to the bottom of the steps, she used the enormous ceremonial scissors to cut the ribbon around the entrance. She stepped up to the microphone, and changed a few of the words at the end of the song, to indicate her office had purchased the new entrance. As she sang the words, her arm swept across the stairs, then pointed to the sign. "And <i>I'm</i> buying <i>this</i> stairway, to Heaven." From that point on, the West Entrance to the Governor General's building was known as the <i>Heaven's Gate</i>. [/quote]