Page 26 - Unlikely Stories 1

DeathCon

“Well, hello, folks! I’m Buell Bauser, and this is another edition of
‘Wonders Never Cease,’ your weekly video magazine of remarkable
places and things right here in our own backyard. And what a show
we have for you today! We’re here at the Vulcan Convention Center
in beautiful downtown San Diablo, and next to me is Thyssen Krupp,
organizer of the Know-how, Research, Innovation, and Enterprise
Gathering. Did I say that right, Thyssen?”
“Yes, you did, Buell. And let me add that this exposition of defense
technology is open to all, so come on down! It goes on until next
Tuesday, plenty of time. Just a small admission charge, and parking is
free. Bring the whole family! Lots of things for the kids to do, too:
simulators, replica weapons, you name it!”
“Thank you, Thyssen. Now we were talking just a couple of
minutes ago before we went on the air about how unique this
gathering is. Could you tell our audience about that?”
“I’d be delighted to, Buell. What we’ve done here is a bit unusual.
You know that the big corporate contractors have annual arms fairs
in Europe to show off their wares to prospective buyers from all over
the world. You also know that military and academic research is
going in dozens of countries, most of it secret or published only in
some dry-as-dust technical journal read only by a dozen people with
PhDs. And what do we everyday folks do here in America? We like
to tinker, we like to invent and we love our guns! We have gun shows
all over the U.S., hundreds a year. It occurred to me that all these
parties have a common interest: getting their new ideas and products
to the market. Some of them are ready to scale up to mass
production, and some need investors to help them to the next stage
of development. All of that is now under one roof: the Know-how,
Research, Innovation, and Enterprise Gathering!”
“Now let me get that right, Thyssen: when we go inside, we’ll be
mingling with Middle-Eastern potentates looking for surface-to-air
missiles and armored personnel carriers as well as with local boys
trying to buy an unlicensed handgun?”

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