Challenge #01535-D074: Action and Consequence

There is a minor but critical distinction between being right and being not wrong. -- RecklessPrudence

Someone had graffitied a museum's promotional poster. The poster, being about a dinosaur exhibit, featured the ever-popular T-Rex. The graffito read, He's a chicken, I tell you! A giant chicken![1]

There was no need to arrest the offending graffiti artist because the local paleontological fans had already corralled them and were having a Well-Actually contest. Lyr hung back and observed, just in case things got rowdy. These were, after all, fellow humans, and humans sometimes argued with their bodies as well as their mouths.

"...while the T-rex is related to the common chicken," one pontificated, "there's no evidence that the descent is at all direct."

"Since there's no DNA, there's no evidence it isn't directly descended, either," countered another.

"Wasn't there a mummified dinosaur foot found in antarctica?" said a less-than-educated dino fan.

There was a universal chorus of, "THAT WAS A MOA'S FOOT!"

Someone else added, "And it was found in New Zealand. Of course. Because that's where the Moa evolved."

"Survived the dinosaur apocalypse," corrected another.

"It's the K-T event, dumbass, not the dinosaur apocalypse."

"Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe."

"Now see here..." began another, but Lyr stepped in. If any collection of syllables was a prelude to a fight[2], it was the phrase, 'now see here'.

"Assembled cogniscents," said Lyr, "I do believe enough education has happened to the offending party..."

The assembled saurian fans stammered apologies and dispersed away from the offending party. Lyr glared down at her middle child, Elaise, still gripping the marker. Her face turning deep red. "Momma, I can explain..."

"Traditional punishment for graffiti-ing in a non-graffiti zone is just the same as when I found you using your crayons on the wall." She picked up on the distant giggling from some of the more popular girls in Elaise's classes. Lyr would get to their case soon enough. "You've been drilled on all the signs for supply cache zones. Get going."

Sigh. "Yes, Momma."

And while Elaise was trudging towards the nearest cleaning supply cache, Lyr sauntered towards the laughing popular girls. What was the thing Shayde always said about these things? Plus la change? The seemingly inevitable character types of 'hangmen' or 'mean girls' never really died, no matter how much effort people went to curtail them.

They didn't notice Lyr until she loomed at them. "Ladies," she said. "I know that you are the ones responsible for telling my daughter to break the law. That is most definitely not displaying appropriate levels of responsibility," Lyr glared at each and every one of their paired locator bracelets and anklets, heavily implying that each of them could have their two Locators increase to three, each. Just like the three that Elaise still wore. "I thought leading by example meant keeping those on a lower responsibility tier out of trouble. Instead of leading them into it."

All five of the girls stopped laughing and looked like they were trying not to wet themselves. The chief 'hangman' tried, "It wasn't us, Officer..."

Lyr cleared her throat and tapped the little square with the six pips on her chest, a tiny sign to others that she was an ESPer. "You're not about to try and lie to an officer of the law, are you?"

Big, wide eyes said, Oh flakk, clearer than her mouth ever could. She started shedding crocodile tears, "PLEASE don't tell my parents," she blubbed, "they're going to be so-o-o-o mad at me. I'll be grounded for_ever_..."

"You should have considered that before misleading a junior," said Lyr. "I have your faces and Locator tags on file in respect to this incident. If you fail to follow me to the nearest security kiosk, you will also be filed as runaways."

One of the slow learners said, "Why aren't you off catching the real criminals?"

Lyr added a mark by her name in the growing file. "Thank you for volunteering to watch some educational vids about the nature of crime. I'm sure your friends will appreciate the time spent away from free time activities."

Another one whispered, "Damnit, Vi. Shoosh!"

Parents, of course, would be notified. Misleading a Junior was a minor offense, but it was still against the laws and, more importantly, one of the key factors in remaining Senior to the level of responsibility they had mislead. A week or two with three Locators would possibly teach them humility. It would also likely teach them who their genuine friends were.

When Elaise was done with her cleaning, Lyr would have to team up with her lifemate Jole and give Elaise the talk about which sorts of encouragement were the ones to trust.

[1]: True facts: T-Rex's closest living relative is the common chicken.

[2]: Other than general enquiries as to whether their mother can sew, pal.

[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / VectorPot]

If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me.

Send me a prompt [13 remaining prompts!]

Check out the other stuff I'm selling