If You Look Up to Me, You'll See a God

 

My Son. 

You do not remember me. 

I am Jor-El. 

I am Your Father. 

By now you will have reached your 18th year, as it is measured on Earth. 

By that reckoning, I will have been dead for many thousands of your years. 

The knowledge, that I have matters physical and historic, I have given you fully on your voyage, to your new home. 

These are important matters to be sure but, still matters of mere fact. 

There are questions to be asked. 

And it is time, for you to do so. 

Here in this, this Fortress of Solitude —

We shall try to find the answers together. 

How does a good man live? 

What is virtue? 

When does a man's obligation to those around him exceed his obligation to himself? 

These are not simple questions. 

Even on Krypton, there is no precise science which provides us with the answers. 

I can only tell you what I myself believe. 

And to this end, I tried to anticipate your questions in the order of their importance to you. 

So, My Son — Speak :

Clark : 

Who am I?

Jor-El: 

Your Name is Kal-El. 

You are the only survivor of The Planet Krypton. 

Even though you have been raised, as a human being 

you are not one of them. 

You have great powers, only some of which you have, as yet discovered. 

Come with me now my son, as we break through the bars of your Earthly confinement, travelling through time and space... 

In the 6 known dimensions...

Your powers, will far exceed those of mortal man...

It is forbidden for you to interfere with Human History. 

Rather let your leadership, stir others to... 

In this next year, we shall examine, the human heart. 

It is more fragile than your own... 

For the past 2 years...

As we pass through the flaming turmoil which is the edge of your own galaxy, we will enter the realm of the red Krypton sun. 

Source of your strength and nourishment and, cause of our eventual destruction. 

The Planet Krypton, My Son, Your Home, as it was... 

This year, we shall examine the various concepts of immortatility, 

and their basis in actual fact... 

The total accumulation of all knowledge spanning the 28 known galaxies, is embedded in the crystals which I have sent along with you. 

Study them well my son, and learn from them...

Over the past 12 years, we have reasoned out logical judgments...

By the time we return to the confines of your galaxy, 12 of your years will have passed... 

For this reason among others, I have chosen Earth, for you... 

It is now time for you to rejoin your new world, and to serve its, collective Humanity. 

Live as one of them Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. 

But always hold in your heart the pride, of your special heritage. 

They can be a Great People Kal-El, They wish to be. 

They only lack The Light to show The Way. 

For this reason above all, their Capacity for Good, 

I have sent them you —

My Only Son.

(Now an adult, Superman emerges from the Fortress. The crowd goes wild.)

THE FATHER :

Say No More. 

New category, please. 

Combine “Fact” 

with 

“Fairy Tale” 

Now. Ask Him Again.

THE SON :

“How can The Blue Fairy make A Robot into A Real, Live Boy?”

- !TUNK! -

- SYSTEM REBOOT -

THE SPIRIT OF THE CAVE :

Come away,O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a fairy, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping

Than you can understand.

Your Quest will be perilous

Yet The Reward is Beyond Price.

In His Book,

'How Can A Robot Become Human',

Professor Allen Hobby writes of 

The Power Which Will Transform Mecha into Orga.

[ THERE IS A GOD, YOUNG KING DAVID -- 

AND HE HAS A NEW BOOK OUT.]

THE SON :

Will you tell me How to Find Her?

 

[ HE IS MEANT TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION : 

'Yes' or 'No.'

 

HE DOESN'T -- BECAUSE, AS WE LATER LEARN, 'GOD' (The Demiurge -- Professor Allen Hobby) HAS INTERCEEDED TO FORCE THE SPIRIT OF THE CAVE TO TELL HIM AT THIS POINT. ]

 

THE SPIRIT OF THE CAVE :

Discovery is quite possible.

Our blue fairy does exist

in one place, and one place only,

At The End of The World

Where The Lions Weep.

 

Here is The Place Dreams are Born.

 

THE FATHER :

Many a mecha has gone to The End of The World... 

Never to come back! 

That is Why They Call The End of The World :

'MAN-hattan'.

THE SON :

And that is Why We Must Go There!

HALLWAY OUTSIDE DR. KNOW'S SHOP

THE FATHER :

Wait! What if --

The Blue Fairy isn't Real at all, David? 

What if --

She's MagicK? 

The Supernatural is The Hidden Web that unites The Universe.

 Only orga believe What Cannot Be Seen, or Measured. 

It is that oddness that separates Our Species.

Or what if --
The Blue Fairy is an Electronic Parasite that has

arisen to haunt The Minds of Artificial Intelligence? 

They hate us, you know? 

The humans...

They'll stop at nothing.

 

THE SON :

My Mommy doesn't hate me! 

Because I'm Special, and...Unique!

Because there has never been anyone like me before! Ever!

Mommy Loves Martin because He is Real 

and 

When I am Real,

Mommy's going to Read to Me, 

and 

Tuck Me in My Bed, 

and 

Sing to Me, 

and 

Listen to What I Say, 

and 

She Will Cuddle with Me, 

and 

Tell Me every day a hundred times a day 

that 

She Loves Me!

THE FATHER :

She loves 

What You Do for Her,

 as my customers love 

What it is I Do for Them. 

But She Does Not Love You David, 

She cannot love you. 

You are neither flesh, nor blood. 

You are not a dog, a cat or a canary. 

You were designed and built

specific, like The Rest of Us. 

And You are Alone now only because 

They tired of you, 

or 

Replaced you with a Younger Model, 

or 

Were displeased with Something You Said, or broke.

They made us Too Smart, Too Quick, and Too Many. 

We are suffering for 

The Mistakes They Made, 

Because when The End comes,  

all that will be left is us. 

That's Why They Hate Us,

 and  

That is Why You Must Stay here — with me!

[He grins, offering his open hand]

THE SON :

Goodbye, Joe.

ROUGE CITY PLAZA

POLICE OFFICER :

You're in Big Trouble.

 

THE BEAR :

Be careful David, This is Not a Toy.

AMPHIBICOPTER :

Destination please?

THE FATHER :

MAN-hattan.

MANHATTAN

AMPHIBICOPTER :

Mecha Restricted Area.

Manhattan. 

Destination Achieved.

THE FATHER :

Man-hattan, The Lost City in The Sea at The End of The World.

THE SON :

Where The Lions Weep.

THE BEAR :

Grrrrrr

If You Look Down on Me, You See a Fool

 

I had a friend, at one point, who was a very bitter person. He had a bunch of problems. Some of them were self-inflicted, and some of them were fate, I suppose. He had become very, very destructive—murderously destructive. Genocidally destructive, I would say. You could see it in his dreams. He lived with me for a while. I knew him very well. He was a friend of mine from the time I was 12 until the time he committed suicide, when he was about 40. When he lived with me, I was trying to help him get on his feet, which was why he had come to live with me. He thought that maybe I could help him get up on his feet. He could only take relatively low-level jobs. He had some mechanical ability. He didn’t get educated, but he was a very, very smart person. He probably had an IQ of 135, or something like that. He was bitter, too, because he hadn’t educated himself to the level that his intellect would have demanded. He had to take jobs that were beneath him, intellectually. He had that real intellectual arrogance, and really smart people often come to believe that only smart matters. If they’re smart, and all that matters is smart, and then the world is sort of laying itself at their feet, then they’ve been terribly betrayed. Then they point to their intelligence, which is more like a talent or a gift. It’s like a false idol, which is exactly what it is, and a very dangerous one. They get cynical about the stupidity of the world and the fact that their talents weren’t properly recognized. That’s just not that helpful. Smart is a good thing, but, I’ll tell you, if you don’t use it properly, it will devour you, just like all arbitrarily assigned talent. You might have the talent, but it’s your friend if use it properly. If you misuse it, it will be your enemy. Maybe that’s how God keeps the cosmic scales adjusted.

Anyhow, my friend was a very smart person, although not as smart as he thought he was, unfortunately. He hadn’t done what would have been necessary with that intelligence to make it manifest itself properly in the world. That also embittered him, because he also knew that there was more that he could have done if he would have done it, and perhaps more that he could still do. What I was suggesting to him while he was living with us—because he was two levels from homeless at that point—was that he should find a job that he could find—working in a garage, working in a shop, or something like that, because he had some mechanical ability—and that he should separate himself from the arrogance that made him presume that such a job would be beneath him. At that point, no job was beneath him, but, more importantly, it’s not so obvious that jobs are beneath people.

Imagine that you have a job as a checkout person in a grocery store. That’s a fairly unskilled job. You can be some miserable, resentful, horrid bastard doing that job. You can come in there just exuding resentment and bitterness, and making mistakes, and making sure that every customer that passes by you has a slightly worse day than they need to. You can pilfer time—and, perhaps, pilfer goods—and be resentful about the people who gave you the position, because they’re above you in the dominance hierarchy, and you can gossip behind the backs of your coworkers. You can take your menial position—self-described—and turn that into a very nice little slice of hell. That’s for sure.

I always think of the archetypal diner in that way. You guys have been in this diner. There’s a really good opposite diner. There’s a great diner on YouTube. It’s Tom Waits reading a poem by Bukowski. I think it’s called Nirvana. It’s about a good diner that he happened to visit when he was a kid. A diner where everything was going well. You could listen to that. It’s great. But this is the opposite diner, that I’m thinking about. You go into a diner, right. It’s seven o'clock in the morning. You order some bacon and eggs and some toast. You look around the diner, and you think, it was like 1975 when the windows were last washed. There’s this kind of thick coating of who-gives-a-damn grease on the walls. The floor, too, has got that sort of stickiness that you really have to work at to develop over the years. The waitress is not happy to be there. The guy behind the counter isn’t happy that that happens to be the waitress that he’s working with. And then you walk down the stairs to the washroom, and that’s its own little trip. You come back, and you order your damn eggs, and you order your toast, and you order your bacon. It comes, and the eggs are too cooked on the bottom, so they’re kind of brown, and then they’re kind of raw on top. They’re cold in the middle. You really have to work to cook an egg like that, man, but you can master that with like 10 years of bitterness. It will teach you how to cook an egg like that. And then the toast—here’s what you do with the toast. You take the white bread—the pre-sliced stuff that no one should ever eat—and then you put that in the toaster, and you overcook it. You wait, and then you pop it out of the toaster. Because it’s overcooked, you scrape it off. You knock off the crumbs so that it doesn’t look too burnt, and then you wait until it’s cold, and then you put cold margarine on it. First of all, it’s not butter. But, if you put cold margarine on it, you can also kinda tear holes in it. Then it has lumps of margarine in it, and it’s really dry, except where it’s too greasy. That’s like its own little work of art, man.

You put that on the side with eggs. And then you have the potatoes. This is how you cook the potatoes properly: the leftover potatoes—and you keep dumping new leftover potatoes into the old leftover potatoes, over weeks. Some of the potatoes have half returned to mother earth. Then you flap them on the grill, and you sort of burn them a bit, I guess. And then you slap them on the plate. Jesus. You don’t want to eat those, man. That’s for sure. That’s the point.

You have the bacon, and you want to make sure you buy the lowest possible quality bacon. That’s how you start. Then you throw it on the grill—and your grill has to be overheated to do this—and you have to cook the bacon so that it’s raw in places and burnt in other places. It has that delightful pig-like odor that only really cheap, badly-cooked bacon can provide. Or maybe you use those little breakfast sausages that no one in their bloody right mind would let within 15 feet of anything living. And then you serve that. And you serve it with the kind of orange juice that is only orange is color, and with coffee that’s…Agh…What would you say? It was started too early in the morning. That’s the first thing. Bad quality coffee started too early in the morning—got cold once or twice, and has been reheated. And then you serve that with whitener. It’s like, here’s your breakfast! It’s like, no, man. That’s not breakfast. That’s hell, and you created it. And then what you do if you have a diner like that is—because you have a miserable life if you have a diner like that, and you really worked on that—you go home, and you curse your wife, and you curse your kids, and you fucking well curse God, too, for producing a universe where a diner like yours is allowed to exist. And that’s your bloody life. Also, that’s what God’s trying to point out, here.

Who Came Up with THAT One?!?

[The Battle of Zaruthstra, 4037 A.D.]

HARCOURT: 

Nurse! Nurse! 

Damn it, where's The Nurse! 

ELEANOR: 

He needs help. 

HARCOURT: 

Madame President, I'm sorry, but we have to go now! 

Those things could be here any second. 

(A little boy is lying on a bed in the tent. He is very still. A Sontaran warrior enters.)

STRAX: 

Did somebody call for a nurse? 

(Strax tends to the boy.)

ARTHUR: 

Will I be okay? 

STRAX: 

Of course you will, my boy!

You'll be up and around in no time. 

And perhaps one day, you and I shall meet on the field of battle, and I will destroy you for the glory of the Sontaran Empire!

ARTHUR: 

Thanks, Nurse.

(Strax leaves, and Harcourt follows him.) 

HARCOURT: 

Commander Strax. 

I just have to ask. 

A Sontaran nurse? 

STRAX: 

I serve a penance to restore the honour of my clone batch. 

It is the greatest punishment a Sontaran can endure, 

to Help The Weak and Sick. 

HARCOURT: 

Who came up with that one? 

(The sound of The TARDIS materialising.) 

STRAX: 

Tonight, though, perhaps my penance is over. 

Captain Harcourt, I hope some day to meet you in the glory of battle, when I shall crush the life from your worthless human form. 

Try and get some rest.

The Ones Who Aren't Chosen

Dawn's Lament. Once More, with Feeling. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Does anybody even notice?

Does anybody even care?

BUFFY,

The Vampyre Slayer :

Hey. You okay?

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

Yeah.

I was thinking of hitting The Books, 

do some research on The First.

It's in retreat mode now, but you're still 

gonna need to know how to fight it.

BUFFY,

The Vampyre Slayer :

Great. 

Sounds Good.

Hey, you guys?

You want to head downstairs, 

get our newest arrival up to speed?

Come on.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

What's up?

Xander :

I'm just thinking about the girls.

It's a harsh gig being a Potential.

Just being picked out of a crowd.

Danger, Destiny.

Plus, if you act now, Death.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

They can handle it.

Xander :

Yeah.

They're Special, no doubt.

And the amazing thing is, 

not one of them will ever know.

Not even Buffy.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

Know what?

Xander :

How much harder it is for The Rest of Us.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

No way. They've got the...

Xander :

Seven years, Dawn.

Working with The Slayer, seeing My Friends get

more and more powerful.

A Witch, a Demon.

Hell, I could fit Oz in my shaving kit, but come a full moon, he had a wolfy mojo not to be messed with.

Powerful.

All of them.

And I'm The Guy Who 

Fixes The Windows.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

Well, you had that sexy army training 

for a while, and... 

and The Windows really 

did need fixing.

Xander :

I saw What You Did Last Night.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

Yeah. I...I guess I kind of lost my head when I thought I was The Slayer.

Xander :

You thought you were all Special.

Miss Sunnydale 2003.

And the minute you found out you weren't, you handed The Crown to Amanda 

without a moment's pause.

You gave her Your Power.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

The Power wasn't mine.

Xander :

They'll never know how tough it is, 

Dawnie, to be

The One Who isn't Chosen,

to live so near to the spotlight 

and never step in it.

But I know.

I see more than anybody realises because 

nobody's watching me.

I saw you last night.

I see you working here today.

You're not Special.

You're extraordinary.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

Maybe that's Your Power --

Xander :

What?

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

Seeing. Knowing.

Xander :

Maybe it is.

Maybe I should get a cape.

DAWN SUMMERS,

The Princess :

A cape is good.

Xander :

Yeah.

A Bicycle Made for Two

Deactivation of Hal 9000

The most efficient animal on the planet is the condor. 

The most inefficient animals on the planet are humans.

But a human with a bicycle becomes the most efficient animal. 

And the right computer... 

A friendly, easy computer that isn't an eyesore  but rather sits on your desk with the beauty of a Tensor lamp... 

The right computer will be a bicycle for the mind. 

And what if instead of it being in the right hands, it was in everyone's hands? 

Everyone in The World. 

We'd be talking about the most tectonic shift in the status quo since... Ever.

 The shallow hedonistic spirit of the nineties was too fragile to endure the cold of the vast twin shadows cast backward by an onrushing age of terror. Darker times were on their way, demanding a new clarity and rigor of thought.

I tried to articulate the outlines of the next trend by introducing to the pages of JLA a military-funded superteam called the Ultramarines, whipped up by Uncle Sam to keep the Justice League in check should their internationalist stance ever compromise US military security. By the end of the story, the Ultramarines had split from their paymasters and joined with a group of like-minded DC heroes in a hovering city-sized headquarters named Superbia, there to announce a bold new manifesto for change :

SUPERBIA HEREBY DECLARES INDEPENDENCE FROM ALL NATIONS AND OPENS ITS GATES TO SUPER-CHAMPIONS FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH. WE INTEND TO SERVE AS A FIRST-STRIKE GLOBAL PEACEKEEPING FORCE. WE WILL KILL IF WE HAVE TO. IF WE HAVE TO, WE’LL LET YOU KNOW. TERRORISTS, DESPOTS, CORRUPT BUSINESSMEN … THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAMARINE CORPS IS HERE. THERE’S NOWHERE TO HIDE.

As it happened, I’d almost exactly described what the next big development of the superhero concept would look like.

Meanwhile, I prepared myself for the oncoming zeitgeist by listening to Chris Morris’s bleak, brilliant, bad-trippy Blue Jam on Radio 1 every Thursday after John Peel. 

Oddly enough, I was beginning to find humor in all the things that had once frightened me. 

The prying eye of Big Brother, the aging process, loneliness, failure, and death were all just punch lines to the joke. 

I loved to listen over and over again to HAL 9000’s death scene from the soundtrack to 2001 : A Space Odyssey, and when Jarvis Cocker and Pulp released their masterpiece comedown album, This Is Hardcore, its unflinching evocation of middle age, stale waterbeds, and tinny bachelor pad music made me rethink my own lifestyle.

I was about as alien as I’d ever wanted to be, but I’d grown tired of one-night stands, drink, drugs, and the dating game.

It was time to get serious.”

True Love’s Kiss

SUPERMAN :

How'd you like going solo? 

LOIS LANE :

I loved it... but not as much as being with you. 

SUPERMAN :

I needed to be with you, too. 

You make me laugh. 

You're the only one I can talk to. 

Sometimes, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. 

LOIS LANE :

I'm always here for you. 

You know that. 

You'll do The Right Thing, no matter what it is. 

You always have. 

SUPERMAN :

Thank You. 

You know something? 

LOIS LANE :

What? 

SUPERMAN :

You don't even know my name. 

LOIS LANE :

Kal-El. 

SUPERMAN :

You remember, don't you? 

LOIS LANE :

I remember everything. 

SUPERMAN :

"Never set one of them above the rest. 

Love all humanity Instead." 

It’s not fair. 

CLARK KENT :

Lois. Time to go. We'll be late. 

LOIS LANE :

Huh? What am I doing out here freezing my butt off? 

CLARK KENT :

Oh, you wanted some fresh air. 

LOIS LANE :

That's ok. 

I don't want to catch a cold. 

I feel kind of weird. 

I feel like I have jet lag. 

CLARK KENT :

Jeepers. 

LOIS LANE :

Isn't that crazy? 

CLARK KENT :

Yeah. 

LOIS LANE :

How about you? 

You still down? 

CLARK KENT :

Nope. Things are pretty clear. 

LOIS LANE :

Good — Too much thinking wears down your batteries. 

Clark —You got to go with your gut.

The Power of Love 

in its purest form.

Fairy Tales, especially the edited Disney versions, usually have a few things in common: 

The Rule of Three,

and 

The True Love's Kiss.

Finding your true love will cure 99.9% of magical maladies and curses, restores memories and washes your windows, or your money back! 

Except in the case of the page quote, where you'll get turned into a polyp.

This trope is so ingrained in the psyche of western audiences it will never really be discredited, but often subverted. 

It's actually a Dead Unicorn Trope that's Newer Than They Think — notice how many of the original versions of the stories listed below had nothing to do with a "kiss". 

It is also often modified to True Love's "First" Kiss as an Anvilicious lesson about chastity.

Subtrope and most common form of Magic Kiss. 

Has a tendency to be The Big Damn Kiss. 

Can overlap with Dude, She's Like, in a Coma!.

Gratitude

 

Generation-X were not well dressed, because there was no reason to dress smartly. 

They were not career-minded, for there was no reason to pursue the corporate dream. 

They were seen largely as apathetic, 

but it was an apathy born of a logical assessment of the options rather than just innate laziness. 

They were often well-educated and creative, 

and were usually portrayed as being talkative and self-obsessed. 

If they had A Mission, of sorts, it was 

To Work Out How to Move Forward

from Where They Were. 

“One of the things that’s really struck me hard about the disintegration and corruption of the universities is the absolute ingratitude that goes along with that. 

Criticism, as I said, is a fine thing, if it’s done in a proper spirit, and that’s the spirit of separating the wheat from the chaff. 

But it needs to be accompanied by gratitude, and it does seem to me that anyone who lives in a Western culture at this time and place in history, and who isn’t simultaneously grateful for that, is half blind, at least. 

It’s never been better than this, and it could be so much worse — and it’s highly likely that it will be so much worse, because, for most of human history, so much worse is the norm. 

Then there’s this little story that crops up, that seems, in some ways, unrelated to everything that’s gone before it. But I think it’s also an extremely profound little story. It took me a long time to figure it out. 

It’s The Tower of Babel.

My Generation asked me to read this:

"We're not good friends. 

Most of us never found the time to get to know you, 

but that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. 

We don't talk about it much, but it's no secret that Sunnydale High isn't really like other high schools. 

A lot of weird stuff happens here."

The Chorus :

Zombies! 

Hyena-People! 

Snyder! (laughter) 

"But, whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, 

you seemed to show up and stop it. 

Most of the people here have been Saved by you, 

or helped by you at one time or another. 

We're proud to say that the Class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history. 

(applause from the crowd) 

And we know at least part of that is because of you.  

So the senior class, offers its thanks, and gives you, uh, this —

  Jonathan produces a multicolored, glittering, miniature umbrella with a small metal plaque attached to the shaft. 

It's from all of us, and it has written here : -

' Joss Whedon —

Class Protector ' 

Herd Immunity

Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we’d call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

Now add people getting vaccinated. As of this week, 15% of Americans have received the vaccine, and the figure is rising fast. Former Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb estimates 250 million doses will have been delivered to some 150 million people by the end of March.

There is reason to think the country is racing toward an extremely low level of infection. As more people have been infected, most of whom have mild or no symptoms, there are fewer Americans left to be infected. At the current trajectory, I expect Covid will be mostly gone by April, allowing Americans to resume normal life.

Antibody studies almost certainly underestimate natural immunity. Antibody testing doesn’t capture antigen-specific T-cells, which develop “memory” once they are activated by the virus. Survivors of the 1918 Spanish flu were found in 2008—90 years later—to have memory cells still able to produce neutralizing antibodies.

Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute found that the percentage of people mounting a T-cell response after mild or asymptomatic Covid-19 infection consistently exceeded the percentage with detectable antibodies. T-cell immunity was even present in people who were exposed to infected family members but never developed symptoms. A group of U.K. scientists in September pointed out that the medical community may be under-appreciating the prevalence of immunity from activated T-cells.

Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. would also suggest much broader immunity than recognized. About 1 in 600 Americans has died of Covid-19, which translates to a population fatality rate of about 0.15%. The Covid-19 infection fatality rate is about 0.23%. These numbers indicate that roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population has had the infection.

In my own conversations with medical experts, I have noticed that they too often dismiss natural immunity, arguing that we don’t have data. The data certainly doesn’t fit the classic randomized-controlled-trial model of the old-guard medical establishment. There’s no control group. But the observational data is compelling.

I have argued for months that we could save more American lives if those with prior Covid-19 infection forgo vaccines until all vulnerable seniors get their first dose. Several studies demonstrate that natural immunity should protect those who had Covid-19 until more vaccines are available. Half my friends in the medical community told me: Good idea. The other half said there isn’t enough data on natural immunity, despite the fact that reinfections have occurred in less than 1% of people—and when they do occur, the cases are mild.

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn’t suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don’t explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts. But it’s also based on direct observation of how hard testing has been to get, especially for the poor. If you live in a wealthy community where worried people are vigilant about getting tested, you might think that most infections are captured by testing. But if you have seen the many barriers to testing for low-income Americans, you might think that very few infections have been captured at testing centers. Keep in mind that most infections are asymptomatic, which still triggers natural immunity.

Many experts, along with politicians and journalists, are afraid to talk about herd immunity. The term has political overtones because some suggested the U.S. simply let Covid rip to achieve herd immunity. That was a reckless idea. But herd immunity is the inevitable result of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of virus transmission has been broken in multiple places, it’s harder for it to spread—and that includes the new strains.

Herd immunity has been well-documented in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where researchers in the Lancet reported the prevalence of prior Covid-19 infection to be 76%, resulting in a significant slowing of the infection. Doctors are watching a new strain that threatens to evade prior immunity. But countries where new variants have emerged, such as the U.K., South Africa and Brazil, are also seeing significant declines in daily new cases. The risk of new variants mutating around the prior vaccinated or natural immunity should be a reminder that Covid-19 will persist for decades after the pandemic is over. It should also instill a sense of urgency to develop, authorize and administer a vaccine targeted to new variants.

Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn’t try to manipulate the public by hiding the truth. As we encourage everyone to get a vaccine, we also need to reopen schools and society to limit the damage of closures and prolonged isolation. Contingency planning for an open economy by April can deliver hope to those in despair and to those who have made large personal sacrifices.

Dr. Makary is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, chief medical adviser to Sesame Care, and author of “The Price We Pay.”

Champions

Angel walks into Cordelia's apartment. 

Cordy and Wesley jump up from the table. 

Cordy:  

Angel!  Are you all right? 

(Takes in his appearance) 

What happened?

Angel:  

Is she here?" 

Cordy:  "The pregnant woman?  No. - Gunn, brought us the talisman, but..." 

Angel looks at Wesley. 

Wesley goes back to his books:  "Working on it." 

Angel:  "I told her to come here. - She doesn't trust me. - Why should she?" 

Angel hits the whiteboard. 

Cordy:  "You can't see everything.  You're just a vampire like everyone else... That didn't come out right." 

Angel:  "I thought I was out of the tunnel." 

Angel slumps down on the sofa. 

Cordy:  "Sure you did... because the tunnel is - you know, it's something we all... Are we talking real tunnel or symbolic?  Just give me that much." 

Angel:  "I-I saw the light at the end of the tunnel - that some day I might become human. - - That light was so bright, I thought I was already out." 

Cordy sits down beside him with a sigh:  "Yeah.  We all got a little cocky, didn't we? - It's gonna be a long while - until you work your way out - but I know you well enough to know you *will*. - And I'll be with you until you do." 

Angel:  "What about your inevitable stardom?" 

Cordy:  "I'm not saying I won't 

Wesley:  "I think we got something. It's medieval.  A small badge or coat of arms, to be presented when going before the Cahair Binse.  Roughly translated that's chair of judgement." 

Angel:  "The Tribunal." 

Wes:  "Right.  An ancient court to settle grievances." 

Cordy:  "You mean- with like lawyers and stuff." 

Wes:  "This is a little more primitive. It's a fight to the death." 

Angel:  "That's why she needed a champion.  Where would this Tribunal take place?" 

Wes:  "There is no way to tell.  They're mystical events, they could rise up in our reality whenever they please." 

Angel:  "Look, we got to find her right away - whatever it takes. - There's only one way."

Angel singing:  "Oh, Mandy.  Well you came and you gave without taking, but I sent you away, oh Mandy. Well, you kissed me and stopped me from shaking. (The green, horned host is watching him sing) and I need you today, oh Mandy. (Angel looks around at the demons in the audience and his singing gets a lot worse) Well, you came and you gave.." 

Cordy sitting beside Wesley at a table:  "That man will do anything to save a life." 

Finally the host goes up and takes the mike away from Angel as the song ends. 

Host:  "Hey, how 'bout that.  A performer.  Why don't we just call him Angel, the vampire with soul.  I'm gonna have a chat with Mr. Tall Dark and Rockin' and meanwhile, Durthock, the child-eater, is gonna open up to y'all.  He's searching for the gorrishyn mage that stole his power and he's feeling just a little bit country.  So, lets give him a hand." 

Host leads Angel off the stage. 

Host:  "Well. You're just the hot ticket.  One night only, two seats left, partially obstructed view." 

They sit down at a table. 

Angel:  "What can you tell me?" 

Host:  "I can tell you're all business." 

Angel:  "She's in danger." 

Host:  "And you're feeling pretty guilty about that.  Hey, you made an honest mistake.  You killed her protector.  A lot of guys would have done the same.  Of course now she's gonna have to face the judgement with no champion and that's looking grim for her and the baby." 

Angel: "Tell me where they are." 

Host:  "Well.  Who's a little curt? Who's a little curt Jurgens in 'The Enemy Below?' The Tribunal will be wherever she is.  She can't escape it." 

Angel:  "Where is she?" 

Host:  "My question first.  And answer true, because you know I'll know.  Why Mandy?" 

Angel:  "Well, I-I know the words - (leans in closer) - I kind of think it's pretty." 

Host smiling:  "And it is, you great, big sap!  There is not a destroyer of worlds that can argue with Manilow and good for you for fessin' up. She'll be at Forth and Spring.  The trial will be there." 

Angel:  "Trial?  How does it work?" 

Host:  "I can only tell you what I tell you.  The rest is up to you." 

Angel gets up to leave. 

Angel:  "Can I save her?" 

Host:  "Try - and find out."

Intelligent System, innit?

[Decrypt room, Maidens Point, Northumbria, 1943]

(Cousin to Enigma, the calculating machine takes up the length of the room and a lot of the width. Commander Millington enters.) 

JUDSON: 

The North Atlantic U-boats have changed ciphers again. That's twice this month. 

MILLINGTON: 

Can we crack them? 

JUDSON: 

Hmm. It may take a few days longer. 

Oh, they're using SIX rotors now instead of five. 

MILLINGTON: 

Get inside The  Nazi Mind, Judson. 

Learn to Think The Way They Think. 

It's the only way to understand their ciphers. 

JUDSON: 

The Machine can do it, if you'd be so kind as to authorise it, sir. 

Thank you.