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08/20/00 Pissing Off The Aliens. By Eddie Nambulous What really pisses you off? I mean, for us, it kinda might be the same thing that really turns us on – conspiracies, discovering them, cracking them – what pisses us off is people not buying into them, fighting them, dismissing them. And then of course there’s aliens. Call me whack, but I bet nobody’d like a bunch of tentacle-bearing, other-worlders taking over their home turf. But, aside from an invasion, whattaya think causes us to be so angry? Are our personal "hot-buttons" predisposed? I mean, are Sicilians really more angry than their brothers in Naples? Are European sports fans seriously more easily provoked than Americans because of their blood? Or do you think maybe it could just be all that bad weather and cheese? I bet it’s the cheese. Anywho, today’s topic revolves around the tried and true argument over Nature vs. Nurture. Can anger and a responsive aggressive behavior be taught or, in some people’s cases, is the aggressor just made that way? Sounds like something to use against us – an uncontrollable anger I mean. And certainly what Foster and I are learning is that if there’s a human foible to be exploited, the Gua have a test for it. And this time, boy did we learn it the hard way. The troubles started when Foster called in a debt from an old prison buddy, Omar Healy, to investigate a Gua experiment to test the anger-gene. Healy and I didn’t exactly get along – he kept calling me a freak, and not in the good way. He had a real bad-ass-tough-guy-schoolyard-bully ‘tude that just didn’t fly for Eddie in the Airstream. Side-note: Never insult a man in his own castle, condo or roller-home. Besides, Omar wasn’t exactly such a fine, physical specimen – I mean, yeah, he was big and tall and kinda, muscley. Okay, he coulda popped me with his pinky but that didn’t mean he had to be a jerk. (cont). The point is Healy had a lot of anger. But he didn’t think he was born pissed. No, Healy thought the stuff that bugged you in the course of ones life was what made people really feel the rage -- aggression wasn’t genetic, it was provoked. The Gua sure as heck put Healy through it, even using his DNA to create a specially designed super-husk – dubbed the "X-15" by the aliens. Healy was angry and determined to win – whether it meant using his rage or any other means necessary. He fought hard to bring himself honor and then to bring the Gua down. In the end the climate control element of the experiment gave Foster the edge. That and something Healy had said, "everyone has a weakness." Foster took the chance that, since the X-15 had Healy’s DNA, he might have the same weakness to the cold, which caused Omar to have excruciating migraines. Healy used his resolve to fight the X-15 to the death. But to tell you the truth, I don’t think it had anything to do with his anger – I think Omar just wanted to win. It was his capacity for good that helped us win this fight, not a blind rage. It was only when Healy really started thinking that the tide turned. So even if Healy was born mean, that isn’t what gave him his edge and that doesn’t mean that the Gua will be stronger for having helped themselves to some anger-DNA. We are what we learn and how we choose to live – genetics can’t control that. Foster asked Healy to join us in the fight against the Gua. And of course, even though the fighter was warned about the danger, Cade couldn’t help but feel somehow responsible for his death. Like the general whose orders necessarily condemn some of his men to the grave, Cade feels like he’s responsible for every one of us who join him in battle. We all marvel at Healy’s sacrifice, and recognize that he gave his fight for the greatest fight of all – for that alone, we’ll always see him as a champion. So raise a glass this week and toast to one of our own.
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