Even now, Pharos is not a fond memory. But I have no regrets.

It began a pattern I still follow when I can, when the results are consequential: making very sure of my motives, choosing each time and reaffirming my choices.

Even back then, I knew our subtle understanding of the Charter would change. Those tasked with interpreting the Charter worked to maintain a steady balance, avoiding the vagaries of extending a right only to snatch it back.

Those who joined the Charter Committee, first sponsored by the LCO Initiatives, were able to examine the consequences of poorly thought-out decisions in real time. Decisions made neither in service to facts nor the law, but in service to an ideology seeking to demean those whose health and well-being are intrinsic to our species in real time.

Weeks after the trip to Woodville, a United States Supreme Court decision rocked the country. Although a draft had leaked a month earlier, it was still shocking to realize that Justices who, during their confirmation hearings, each of whom had testified under oath that they upheld the constitutional right of a woman to control her body's reproductive system, had lied. It was the only explanation when a decision made 50 years before, upholding the right to privacy in one's own body, was overturned with no apparent thought to the practical implications. (1)

States began to pass draconian laws aimed at criminalizing not only a medically induced loss of a fetus but a spontaneous one as well. Women were treated as guilty without recourse and denied medical care by hospitals and doctors who feared legal ramifications. Children raped by those without a conscience were forced to bear those children and, most likely, to raise them in poverty. (2)

The justices had sworn an oath by the Constitution to administer justice, but the majority on this court did anything but. They accepted phony cases to justify discrimination against those who were not socially conforming to the court's majority view of what America should look like, no matter the Constitution. And it certainly didn't help when it became obvious that many of the conservative justices were being paid for their decisions. Ogliarchs were providing lavish vacations and vehicles, buying property the justices were selling, some for far above a reasonable price. Not to mention refusing to recuse oneself from a case in which one's wife was involved. (3)

While the justices strained their oaths to the point of credulity, many Republican members of Congress openly broke theirs. They opened fake financial investigations into the son of the current President while ignoring all the very real financial irregularities of the children of the previous one. They kept the evidence from the investigation secret because what they were discovering wasn't something they wanted to brag about on their favorite propaganda shows. Instead, they hid the evidence and lied to the people they were supposed to represent. (4)

They lied during public meetings, seeking a sound bite to get coverage, and then used it all to send around donation requests. The donation requests on both sides were egregious, but the Republicans were actively lying about what was happening. (5)

By the time we traveled to the fake bomb shelter, I had ample evidence of the venal and self-serving motives of each of the members of Congress who had continually availed themselves of our honey trap. Each one blatantly placed their self-interests and biases above everything else, lying, deflecting, and grandstanding to raise more money to maintain their power. Money and power seemed to be the only things they embraced.

The differences observed while living under the Charter, which guaranteed our rights in a way the United States Constitution did not, were stark, especially when seen in light of those who interpreted these foundational documents and the decisions rendered.

When it came to Pharos, I didn't have to decide whether those who might stride onto our stage deserved the consequences of their actions; they self-selected. Anyone who chose to prioritize their own comfort above that of those they were sworn to protect and serve deserved the opportunity to reap what they had sown.

My focus was on myself and how severe a consequence I was willing to endure for any harm I caused. How heavy a burden was I willing to carry and still be able to love and care for Kevin and all the others in this family we had become a part of? What could I do to mitigate the consequences to myself?

Verifiable facts and truth do much to abate harm, and so I did my best to avoid malevolence and kept to unvarnished truths, even if my disdain might have leaked through here and there. I'll even admit to taking a bit of schadenfreudean pleasure as I witnessed those who became our players experience discomfort and confusion.