Red Rules

Many colors considered Red to be mean and scary and beautiful and that was useful because more than anything Red considered herself to be effective. This effectiveness arrived when Red instituted the Line of Defense.

Red instituted the Line of Defense after a breach, which happened so long ago, maybe during birth, maybe not. Following the breach and minimal necessary recovery, Red called an emergency meeting with all the inhabitants of the Red universe within her and informed them of the need for a Line of Defense. The inhabitants presented construction plans for this addition, and Red understood that to create something significant, something significant must be lost. An impenetrable Line of Defense meant she could not be vulnerable, and that meant she could not connect with another, which was something. Red, however, also understood that she could break down the Line of Defense once if she so chose, which made allowing for its construction easier. And up it went, the most beautiful, jaw-dropping Line of Defense ever. It made the Great Wall of China look like a worm and the combined firepower of the U.S. military feel like a dud firecracker.

There were no great gates in this Line of Defense, only a secret breach point Red herself and the tiny architects within her knew of, and only once did they agree to crack the Line of Defense and become vulnerable. That was when Red fell in love with Cobalt Blue and allowed him in, which backfired. And so the Line of Defense was sealed to be unbreakable, with no breach points anywhere. Not even Cobalt Blue could get through again. Red gave up on love and since then nothing breached the Line of Defense, which allowed Red to concentrate all her creative energy on effectiveness.

For a long time Red believed only Green might be a worthy adversary as a tactician, and since Green’s inclination was toward connection, or at least the appearance of connection, and Red’s inclination was not, Red was less inclined to engage Green in battle because she was as yet unfamiliar with Green’s abilities and weaknesses.

Electric Pink’s moving next door to Yellow and Green didn’t concern Red after Electric Pink’s negative poll ratings skyrocketed. Even Mikado Yellow and Cobalt Blue’s moving next door to Green and the others didn’t bother Red so much, and that was because a homeless color was living in Green’s garden. So instead of Green’s garden becoming an alternative societal focal point away from the energy Red administered, Green’s neighborhood had become a charitable contraption, which turned the colors off thoroughly. Red no longer considered Green’s neighborhood a threat to her status at all.

The most recent challenge was hearing Blue use the words power structure, and then to hear Blue say the power structure was sinister. Well, Red knew Blue was incapable of coming up with this vision on his own. Green wouldn’t be foolish enough to speak to Blue that way, knowing Blue and loving Blue like she did. Pink wasn’t interested in participating in such conversations. Yellow minded her own business, mostly. Electric Pink was a possibility, too, but White was the probability.

By promoting seditious talk, White was attempting to breach the Line of Defense and kill Red. Red was willing to dissolve White, without hesitation, or she was willing to allow any combination of the shady blues to do it. But Red knew dissolving a color was a last-ditch maneuver. Dissolving colors might mean splitting the clique, civil war. Everybody would take sides, and Red didn’t want to risk that quite yet. Red wanted to maintain all the colors beneath her, as they were now. As they should be.

White would be dealt with. Red consulted with the tiny advisers within her who lived on top of the Line of Defense and they agreed that expanding Red’s repertoire was a worthwhile opening move that allowed her all proven effective options at any future time. Red might even glean some insights into Green’s tactical way of thinking. Red was going to do some connecting in the name of maintaining power. Red was going to blend with Blue.

Here's the next part.