They walked towards one of the many low storage sheds that bordered the property. The former naval base had rows and rows of barracks. The society had retrofitted into accommodations, offices, storage, and meeting rooms. Louie tried to fill Jones in.
“Things haven’t been going well,” Louie confessed. “When the Nutritionally Complete Macronutrient Appreciation and Promotion Society was put on a watchlist by the Federal government, we realized we needed to completely separate from the grid. Apparently, because we promote shared meals, we’re Enemies of the Economy. We started with the standard procedures, the exemption paperwork and all that, but it didn’t come to anything.”
“There’s no appeal that works,” said Marius, frustration clouding his voice. “Sometimes we give potatoes and milk to people who have no money. But they won’t even give us an exemption for that.”
Louie pursed his lips. “There was an especially bad city council hearing where we all got evicted from the chambers. After that, Bugs had us take precautions.”
Louie gestured at the fences surrounding the compound. Jones realized they were newly reinforced and lined with cameras.
“Isn’t that all moot now that the Next Economy is here?” Jones asked. “Enemy of the Economy status applied to the last economy, right?”
Marius and Louie looked at each other. “Not sure where you’ve been - ” said Louie.
“Dying of dehydration in the Mojave desert.”
Louie considered this.
“Ah. Well, long story short, we still don’t know if the Next Economy is a thing yet.”
“The news keeps saying it’s a thing,” said Marius. “The Governor keeps saying it’s a thing. No one’s getting paid so almost no one is working, that’s a thing. But as far as everything else goes it’s like, where is it?”
“The rumor is major issues with the migration,” said Louie. “So we don’t know. If there is still an economy, we are probably still its enemies.”
“The potatobase. What’s that?” Jones asked.
Louie beamed, relieved to be on his favorite topic. “The potatobase is the greatest accomplishment of The Nutritionally Complete Macronutrient Appreciation and Promotion Society to date. It is a purpose-built database, conceived by Bugs, designed and built by his most trusted acolytes, that makes continued development of the Perfect Meal Algorithm possible.”
“I thought the perfect meal was potatoes and milk,” said Jones.
Marius seemed irritated. “Yes, of course, but in what ratio? This is what the potatobase is designed to answer.”
“And the algorithm doesn’t work?”
“The algorithm is always improving. Our main issue today, however, is the Bugs is logged into the potatobase.”
“I wouldn’t give him access either,” said Jones.
“No,” said Marius, “The problem is that he’s logged in, but he hasn’t been here. He has, as we have just learned, been in jail.”
“Federal prison,” said Jones.
“Either way, he has not been physically here to access the potatobase.”
“We thought he was hiding from us in one of the empty barracks,” interrupted Marius. “He does that when he needs to think, or paint.”
“Remote login?” suggested Jones.
“Remote login is not a feature of the potatobase.”
“Ah,” said Jones. “I see your concern.”
“Come take a look yourself,” said Louie. “The core concepts will become more clear. You should plan to stay a few days anyway - what were you eating out in the desert?”
“Snacks,” admitted Jones.
“Only snacks?”
“There was one casino buffet that was very good,” Jones replied.
Both Marius and Louie shook their heads. “You have not been getting the appropriate nutrients,” said Marius. “But there’s no harm in it. You will stay and eat with us for a few days, and we will work this out together.”