Photomania

After a busy morning of listening to the business manager tell them that the nation's ability to borrow money was collapsing, the Royal Council convened to the Moquot Lounge for lighter discussion of the nation's situation. It was in the Moquot Lounge that they could ignore the realities of the outside world.

Seven Snakes spent the morning inspecting his portraits, which were now visible in seven different locations in the hotel. A week earlier, Seven Snakes asked a hotel desk clerk for a key to a hotel room and the desk clerk asked Seven Snakes for his name and whether he had a reservation. Seven Snakes screamed at the clerk, a petite girl in her early twenties, for not knowing him by sight and that she should be fired. Seven Snakes pulled out his cell phone and began to bark at the hotel manager. Immediately after the phone call, staff were reassigned to hang portraits of him in various locations so that the staff would know him by sight and that what was left of his dignity would not be undermined by an employee not recognizing him.

Some years back, a former Royal Councilor had done nearly the same thing. Councilor Kitchens, who had since gone into retirement, hit a jackpot on a slot machine in one of the government-owned casinos. An employee rushed to Councilor Kitchens, paid him his winnings and then asked his name for tax reporting purposes. Councilor Kitchens flew off the handle, said he was a Royal Councilor and said that no reporting of the winnings were to take place. Ever. The next day, portraits of Councilor Kitchens were prominently displayed in the aisles of the slot machine rooms. The portraits were not only prominently displayed in the center of the aisles but, to make sure they were actually seen and not ignored, customers had to turn sideways in order to walk past them when walking down the aisles.

Upon seeing Councilor Kitchens' portrait, other Councilors too wanted their portraits displayed in the goverment buildings. Then, after seeing pictures of the Royal Councilors displayed, the members of the Special Committee on Behavior also wanted their photos displayed. After a week of intense meetings and diligently reviewing floor diagrams, hundreds of portraits of government officials hung in the government's buildings.

The Royal Council Minus One pulled their chairs close together in the lounge, ordered a round of drinks and spoke of generalities. The Royal Council was in a jolly mood, especially after hearing Seven Snakes tell the story of how he made the desk clerk cry.

Two members of the Special Committee on Behavior joined the Royal Council. One was the head of the Special Committee and the other was Piper, who had been at the lounge since the evening before. The head of the Special Committee was happy.

"Thanks for that holiday," the head of the Special Committee told Seven Snakes.

The national bagel holiday, held two days earlier, had been a success. The brother of the head of the Special Committee was awash in cash from the business the holiday generated for his bagel company.

Throngs of Moquot citizens bought bagels to throw over their shoulders. Seven Snakes proclaimed that tossing bagels over their shoulders would bring the citizens good luck and the nation's newspaper backed up this statement with what it called solid evidence. The newspaper ran stories about the calamities that could ensue if people didn't participate in the event. The paper also denied rumors of the bagel arrest.

As much as the government tried to persuade its citizens that the story was simply not true, the persistent rumor of the citizen arrested some weeks back for dropping a bagel had not gone unnoticed by the citizens. Numerous citizens stayed home for the holiday out of fear they might possibly drop a bagel and be arrested. Other citizens glued the bagels to their hands for fear of being caught dropping a bagel. Only one citizen dropped a bagel. After a moment of shock, the citizen turned and ran as fast as he could. The further he ran, the faster he went until he was last seen sprinting up a hill and out of sight into the forest. He has not been seen since, presumably out of fear of returning to face arrest.

The head of the Special Committee broached another touchy subject.

"Ahh ... Seven Snakes, sir ... ummm ... pamphlets are being found around the village. The pamphlet tells of the bagel arrest. We do not know who printed or distributed these pamphlets. We have reason to believe that some citizens are believing what the pamphlet is saying and doubting our newspaper."

Seven Snakes pounded his fist so hard, an ice cube popped out of his glass and skidded across the tabletop, "That will not be tolerated! Who is printing these pamphlets? Find them and bring them to me!"

The head of the Special Committee said, "Better yet. They should be brought before the Special Committee on Behavior if they are found. That way it will look like justice is being done. There are still citizens who believe that we are doing a service by reforming the behavior of citizens."