PRELUDE
The five thousand colonists stood assembled on the concrete of the spaceport landing area, defying the stiff breeze that preceded the still distant desert storm. Elisa adjusted the air filter of her helmet to keep out the fine dust, and advanced onto the platform of the terminal. Beside her, three Compliance enforcers overlooked the assembled mass below. Two stood unmoving, nearly three times her size in towering combat suits. The third contrasted starkly, a slender, unarmed figure of roughly human proportions.
Elisa wondered whether the enforcers in combat gear actually had a biological being controlling them, then assumed this was not the case. Early this morning, she had awoken to a high-priority message from the Compliance Requisitions Division, that had demanded the immediate production of two enforcers at her fabricator. The third had appeared not long thereafter at the transference station.
The two combat suits, dead as they were the moment they had emerged from the assembler, had snapped to life in an instant. The transference network supplied them with a soul and raw energy in quantities that put the total energy allowance of her whole colony to shame. She could produce all the combat suits she wanted, but with the Empire keeping a tight lid on the energy supply, they would be of no use.
Despite claiming only a barebones cloned body, Elisa made no mistake about the third enforcer. These were amongst the most powerful and feared entities in the universe. Even a Provider would obey their demands. Compliance could instruct a Feudatory like her to bring them the rope they needed to hang them, and anything short of unquestioning obedience was unthinkable.
There was nothing an enforcer couldn’t or wouldn’t do in its efforts to uphold the Policies. Mitigating circumstances did not apply, for the Policies were characterized by their simplicity. One had to share their data at regular intervals.
The reason for a Compliance visit eluded Elisa, however. As Feudatory responsible for upholding the Empire’s Policies in the colony, Elisa knew everyone was up to date with the Data Sharing stipulations. Illegal use of energy was unlikely. The only one in a position to do so would be Max, and his loyalty to the Empire was beyond contestation. She went over the remaining policies, a violation in each of them more unlikely than the last.
She spotted Max amongst the ranks of those assembled below, as he could never help but stand out. To the obvious irritation of those around him, Max had prostrated himself on the ground. Elisa made eye contact with Ervin Sekhon, the psychologist that had become Max’s closest friend, and she saw him shrug. Elisa sighed. While expecting nothing short of total compliance, Compliance was not known to care one bit for overt displays of abasement.
The small enforcer took a step forward and indicated it wanted to speak. Elisa had not introduced it, but then again it required no introduction. She quickly gestured to it to go ahead.
“Six individuals from this colony have been involved in an incident on 96 G. Piscium f3, concerning the illegal usage of energy,” the enforcer announced. As always, Compliance would skip pleasantries and get to the point immediately. A holo appeared midair. Elisa assumed one of the suited enforcers was projecting it, as it wasn’t coming from any of the systems in the base.
The display shocked everyone and showcased a burning, ravaged cityscape. The scene was nothing short of apocalyptic, with several square kilometers of the city ripped apart, and the desiccated husks of skyscrapers visible in the surroundings. Although not much of an issue in current times, the number of casualties would be in the tens of millions. Elisa was sure the Service Department of Flow would be able to have all of them issued with replacement bodies and up again by tomorrow.
She silently checked the transference logs through her aura link and found the six colonists that had gone on leave.
“All six are detained pending our investigation. In addition, as a security precaution, I will conduct an immediate audit of every subject on this world. No one is to leave our sight until the audit is concluded. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes you,” the enforcer said before turning away, while one of the armored ones stepped forward.
Elisa swallowed. No one was eager to have enforcers skim through the contents of their mind, but refusing them would surmount to treason.
“Of course,” she said in a resigned manner. “We have nothing to hide.”
“Naturally,” the enforcer answered without a trace of emotion. “I take it that you will be first?”
---
Chapter I - Qi Meifen
To answer your questions, you are currently indisposed and held in detention. On behalf of Compliance, I apologize for any inconvenience caused.
I was wondering about that, yes. I can't see or feel anything. How is it that I know you are here?
Measures are taken to guarantee your stability and comfort.
I see. Thank you… I guess?
Let us proceed. You stand accused of being an accessory to Second Policy violation, illicit use of energy, which has led to a noteworthy incident at your last location, resulting in 3.4 million disposals and significant material losses.
I am sorry to hear that. I assume the Empire is more than capable of having these 3.4 million people reinstated?
Of course. However, this fact does not mitigate the seriousness of your violation. I must inform you that as part of the process, Compliance has performed a full audit of your data.
Meaning you've already scraped through all the information in my brain. Great. Why are we having this talk if you already know everything? You already know I am guilty. If I am condemned, then why are we even talking?
This process is solely for your benefit.
Wouldn't it be more efficient to just do whatever it is you have to do instead of wasting all this time on me?
This process will take well under a second of real time.
Great, thanks for telling me I have under a second to live.
Please state your name so we may proceed.
I am Qi Meifen… Nice to meet you. Do you have a name?
Compliance does not name its enforcers.
I will just call you ‘enforcer' then?
If you wish. Now, to begin the process, I would ask you to please recount the events leading up to the commencement of your leave on 96 G. Piscium f3.
Well, hmm. Commander Woodward informed all of us that we could take leave. One night at the pub I got together with a group of fellow colonists to discuss our options.
Please list these other colonists, for completeness' sake.
My close friend Sigrid Ronningen, Yao Guowei the head of security, Qian Shirong, Valeriya Marakova and Casimir Stephanov.
What was discussed at the pub?
The consensus was that we wanted to transfer to a human world. Since we already knew that Earth is currently not very accommodating to colonists and no one had any reasons to go there, we started looking at the available alternatives. Some of us wanted to go to Proxima, but Sigrid and Casimir suggested that we should have a look at the reviews first. While interesting, Proxima did not stand out as a tourist destination, while Piscium and 82 G. Eridani d did. Both required some leverage to get transferred to, we found out, which made them all the more interesting. We found a sponsor for Piscium first, and that settled the matter.
Could you describe this process for sponsorship?
Piscium was historically under control by a faction called the Shincho, we found. Most of us knew these, as they were already around in our time as one of the two independent economic entities in Sol, specializing in cybersecurity. They ceded from the UEC shortly after the Centaurans did, and made illicit use of artificial intelligence to settle various worlds. All of them have long operated on a social credit scheme. This had traditionally served to keep outsiders out, and local law had rendered it impossible to transfer there without making a deal with a sponsor to obtain the basic cred needed for transference. Not long after we cast our interest into the infosphere, a memo flashed on our aura. A certain 5*EZdoR Angelus reached out with a deal. Hmm, since our communication does not seem to be conducted vocally, I will tell you the name is pronounced as Five Star Isodor, in case you wondered. We certainly did the first time we read the memo.
What were the specifics of this deal?
We were to accompany him and agree to be recorded, and he wanted Valeriya to participate in at least one combot arena fight on his behalf. We quickly found he was a topscale celebrity there. One with lots of cred to spare. The amount he would give us was beyond belief, and would instantly put us in the upper-midscale of the world. We’d receive a quarter upfront, no strings attached, the rest was kept in escrow. It was an offer that was hard to refuse. We had already decided we wanted to see a combot fight, and Valeriya found it exciting to participate. So, we cast our agreement within the hour and waited two days for Flow to produce our skins. We were offered all kinds of mods but thought nothing of it. Then we transferred to the station at Hamatani-Si, the capital city of the Lagoon Province.
Could you recount the events following your transference for me?
The first thing I noticed is how magnificent the selection of wearables was. Since we had to look presentable for our host, I selected a fine dress with a peacock motif and went wild with the automakeup. We met up in a lobby to have a drink together before entering the arrivals hall. Most of us marveled at the process, and our new skins as well. For some, this was the first time they had transferred. Then we made our way to the arrivals hall. 5*EZdoR was waiting for us there, along with his entourage.
How would you describe them?
It became obvious to me what the five star part of his name stood for, as 5*EZdoR had five nons - disposable companions. Later I would find out that five is a large amount, as two is the norm for citizens on Piscium. 5*EZdoR himself was an imposing, inhuman figure that stood nearly three meters tall, with a pale chalk-like face. He had dark lamellar clothing and white biolume symbols grafted into him. Two enormous feathered wings protruded from his back. His face was angular and well-defined, his eyes narrow slits bearing black-in-black eyes. He had leaf-like silver strands instead of hair, and his ears stood on the top of his head, like a cat.
His nons had similarly impressive skins. Gaia was the most normal of the lot, best described as a tall, well endowed golden-haired angel. Melody was frail, her hair giving her the appearance of wearing a dark helmet. In addition to her raven wings, she had a dark, fox-like tail. Blancandrin was the only non with a male skin. Silver-haired like his master, he had some scant pieces of golden armor, golden sandals, and a minimal silk loincloth as his only wearables. Draki-3 was more of a demon than an angel. She had pointed fangs, exposed bones in her wings, and biolume green eyes. Despite her appearance, the last one, Rapture, was far more demonic and unsettling than Draki-3. Her skin was that of a petite child. Rather than innocence, her features always stood malicious.
All of them bore the suffix Angeli, I suppose to signify 5*EZdoR Angelus was their owner... liegeman, as they are called on Piscium. And, lest I forget, all of them carried ornate swords and daggers.
What was the reception like?
I was overwhelmed when we entered the arrivals hall, and I am well acclimatized to hablife. A cacophony of sounds washed over us, both from 5*EZdoR fanfare and the other citizens in the arrivals hall. Camdrones flashed and whirred, while his obsequious nons fanned around us and ushered us forwards. I realized quickly that 5*EZdoR was not addressing us with his ceaseless jabber, instead, he was casting to what he called his ‘sats', his viewers. The nons posed with us, but 5*EZdoR just spun around and ambled off, his voice not ceasing for one instant. We were led to a large, poorly parked lux aero and our group began boarding. I saw red-clad localsec, caring not for the parking violation, but rather keeping frenzied sats at a respectable distance. Blancandrin pulled me aside, offering me a ride on his custom golden two-seater, which I refused.
I see. Where did they convey you?
To the Hamatani Licensed District, where our sponsor held several establishments. We enjoyed more sparkling drinks and marveled at the sky through the transparent top of the aero - the local sun had set and overhead, above us, we could see half of Piscium f1 through the latticed dome they had constructed over their city, a necessity that preserves the temperature that far out in the system. Below, the shimmering waters of the lagoon brimmed with the lights of the topscaler yachts, contrasting sharply with the neon glare of the city that rose from the shorelines. The locale had a denser concentration of ads and holos than a corp-run hab back in my days. Our aero committed another parking violation as it descended in a central plaza, but 5*EZdoR seemed to either not care or own the place. Wait, are you going to do anything with the violations I report?
Compliance only processes subjects for Policy violations and holds no mandate to resolve violations of local law. Please continue.
Okay. We took a walk around the city, which was extremely lively and entertaining. The buildings stood tall and imposing, but the ground levels were bursting with people, and on most facades, spectacular holo anims played. The people were dressed in overly extravagant clothing and everyone looked very happy, if not intoxicated. Our host moved ahead in almost theatrical fashion, whirling as Draki-3 and Melody cleared a path in front of us. We were led into a fine diner situated at one of the top floors of a crystal building, called 'The Spire'. While none of us were hungry, we sampled the dishes nonetheless.
Throughout dinner, 5*EZdoR sat on a special low stool and had a small platform placed on top of the table to eat from, to account for his enormous size. He was mostly occupied by blathering to his sats and chumming with the owner of the establishment, a wide, bald man introduced to us as ser Xal Aret, whose interest in us was shallow and did not appear to extend beyond fishing for compliments and maneuvering us into saying favorable things about him, the food, or the ambiance of the establishment. We could only place his behavior into context much later. In doing so we, as loaded individuals without affiliation, would increase his social credit and the standing of his establishment. You must understand that in the topscales of Shincho society, what people think and say of you translates directly to wealth, power and most importantly we'd soon find out, the things one could get away with.
I moved outside onto the balcony to get some air, and Casimir joined me there. The place was chilly and had a clear glass floor so we looked down at the lights of the city below us for what must have been a quarter of an hour while talking about general things until the last of the food arrived and we had to go back inside. As we slowly made our way back to the table, I observed the other diners, realizing that the behavior pattern of 5*EZdoR was by no means unique. The tables I could observe typically held four or five people, of which one was the dominant individual, extravagantly dressed. In contrast, the others displayed clear and excessive fawning behavior. I understood that each group consisted of just one single liegeman and the others were all nons.
Trouble began after we finished dessert, which consisted of a small fragrant golden cake covered in a topping of tiny pearls that tasted sweet and fruity. 5*EZdoR signaled for Sigrid to come over, which we first assumed was for some kind of toast. Later I realized that this was either something his sats were clamoring for him to do or something someone influential was sponsoring him for.
What happened next?
5*EZdoR asked Sigrid to dance for him, on the table. I looked at Yao Guowei and wondered whether we should speak up, but she had already begun, the giant 5*EZdoR wrapping his arms around her and lifting her onto the table with ease. But not before he kissed her.
He kissed her?
He kissed her on the mouth. By the looks of it, he wanted to try for more than that, but Sigrid pulled away. I was too shocked and kind of didn't want to be impolite, so I decided to stay and watch as events unfolded. It turned out to be a big mistake. Diners turned their heads as Sigrid danced, irritated by the breach of decorum, as the place was far too upscale for this. Angry glances were directed at Xal Aret, whose head turned red. He seemed unwilling to interfere and attempted to play it down, assuring his clientele that it wouldn't last long. As Sigrid danced and camdrones zoomed, 5*EZdoR shouted loudly but incomprehensibly. The patience of the diners ran out, and in my aura I could see that some started to downrep Sigrid in the infosphere. One ser that my aura ID'd as Eoh Shi-Won went as far as taking his grievance in the real. He took a piece of seafood from his platter and flung it towards our table, where it hit Sigrid in the leg. His nons applauded, as did some of the other guests.
5*EZdoR responded instantly, rattling the table with the flat of his hand, then making a gesture across his throat to make Sigrid stop. He theatrically flicked the shrimp off the table while his nons gathered up around him, their faces carrying exaggerated expressions of indignation. "Ohhhh, ya bigot monsturr," I remember him squealing at ser Eoh with this over-exaggerated high pitched voice of his. And: "Ya pompous prick ar' just hatin' her cuz she's a new-blood off-worlder, nay?". He continued ranting, professing how ser Eoh was intolerant of Sigrid because of who she was, what she looked like, how ser Eoh was disrespectful of those beneath his scale, this or that. Within moments, sats weighed in on the drama and began uprepping Sigrid and downrepping ser Eoh, who turned pale and fell back in his seat in confusion as his social credit crashed downscale.
Going by your account, I cannot help but observe that ser 5*EZdoR set up the provocation, victimized ser Sigrid Ronningen, and then capitalized on the outcome.
That is correct. I saw it inflate exponentially on the infosphere; the more the situation escalated, the more sats followed 5*EZdoR and the more jumped on the bandwagon to downrep ser Eoh, ser Aret, or any of the diners that they could ID, while 5*EZdoR and Sigrid reaped uprep.
Surely a situation like that cannot continue to escalate forever, as the population is limited.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
The population is indeed limited. But, the more people have a vested interest in the situation, the more they will defend their position.
For example, say that I had a large amount of social credit on one side of the issue. If you were to attack me for my position, my friends and allies would come to my defense, and together they would have large amounts of social credit as well. Similarly, if any of them would be attacked, I will not hesitate to lend my rep to defend their position. Over time, it will become a de-facto social contract to defend each other, unconditionally, irrespective of whether your side was right, or deliberately instigated the issue in the first place.
Your social commentary is noted. Could you please continue to describe the events of that day? How did the situation resolve?
None of the diners had anything close to the satcount of 5*EZdoR, thus they were forced to submit to avert ruination. Victorious, 5*EZdoR and Blancandrin jumped on the table, kicking and stomping at the dishes and dancing frantically while the drones emitted some kind of fog, holos, and loud, vile music. Sigrid made herself scarce, not wanting to be involved any further. Abruptly, 5*EZdoR cut the music just as suddenly as it had begun, saying he had an important announcement to make. He shouted to the diners that they could leave if they didn't want to hear it, but no one moved, hoping for a chance to repair themselves. His remaining nons theatrically gathered round, posing as if listening with the utmost attention. 5*EZdoR then proclaimed a new age had begun, and the old regime was dead. He said he was now our ruler, and all present should rejoice.
The loud, screeching music resumed, as did 5*EZdoR and Blancandrin's dancing. His nons urged the diners out of their seats, lined them up around the table, and made them bow to pay homage. Ser Eoh was grabbed roughly and thrown on his knees at one side of the table, but 5*EZdoR ignored him. Draki-3 thoroughly destroyed any semblance of his self-esteem as she lashed his buttocks with her tentacle-like arm and forced him to crawl under the table on his hands and knees. The sats seemed to have a good chuckle at the display, as they refunded him and others a good part of their lost rep. With little left to do in this locale, 5*EZdoR whirled his way to the exit. We were not far behind, as we didn't want to be anywhere near the outraged diners with him gone.
Where did he go next?
Just a few floors down, into a club. Once again he paid us little heed, as he dashed behind the bar and began to make himself a drink. No one seemed to dare to stop him, least of all the disposable staff. Blancandrin invited me for a dance, which I did, as the music was quite catchy. 5*EZdoR sleezed over the bar, mingling with some of the other guests while shooing others away, pouring more drinks.
We tried to regain our bearings after the events that had just happened. Sigrid pinged a memo to our group, raising the question of whether we should stay with 5*EZdoR or call it off. Casimir made the good point that even though we had been paid part of the social credit in advance, 5*EZdoR’s sats would hammer it into oblivion if we opposed him, just like they had done in the restaurant mere moments ago. Before we could come to a conclusion, 5*EZdoR made ready to leave, leading us out into the streets below with much fanfare.
As we went along, some people noticed 5*EZdoR, possibly aware of what had just occurred at the Spire. He waved to them all, posing for camdrones and generally enjoying the attention. We followed him closely, as we didn't want to risk losing him in the crowd, but also took our time to take in our surroundings. We were in one of the major streets of the Licensed District, and the establishments located here were quite upscale, although most of them were not nearly as civilized as the Spire had once been. We saw casinos, clubs, pleasure houses, and other types of entertainment that were difficult for us to understand. The clientele out on the streets was also quite diverse and interesting.
Could you give an example?
Well, curiously, as we made our way through, we passed this large building with a round entrance portal of dark stone. Orange light emanated from within. There was no signage, so I used my aura to ID it. The place was called "The Dragonfly Lounge" and it specialized in recreational brainscans. As I curiously peered inside, a Flow commissioner came stumbling out, two well-dressed disposable staff in ornate robes bowing and waving goodbye. The commissioner was dressed in the ordinary grey-yellow livery, closed faceplate, all that, looking very out of place. Is that even allowed, messing with people's brains like that?
For obvious reasons, such entertainment is strictly monitored and requires the operator to hold a license.
Yeah, I guess. Anyway, this reminds me. It wasn't the only time we encountered Flow. Out and about on the streets, we came across this van moving slowly through the crowd. Around it were four Flow contractors. Suddenly, one of the contractors pointed at this intoxicated person laying on the side of the street. Two of them approached the person and told him to move. The drunkard mumbled profanity at them, while the contractors stood there. After a few seconds, one contractor took a baton from his belt and disposed the hapless fellow, just like that. A small crane loaded the skin in the top of the van, and they moved on. People gave them wide berth but otherwise ignored them. I saw them dispose two more, further down the road.
Did the sight trouble you?
No, not particularly. I mean, I've seen people die before. But just casually doing it on the streets and having the skin dangle upside down like that? That's just...cold. What did shock me was the fact that it were disposables disposing citizens... I never really thought...
Disposables merely operate within the boundaries of the instructions they are given.
We were just about to be treated to an example where that leads to...
Please describe this... example.
The street widened, and we found ourselves in another plaza. On one side, there was this large building, with holos displaying the words "CAT'S PAW RYOKAN" in pink characters. Emerging through the noren, a group of six people in traditional dress approached ours, three males and three females. They looked more baseline human than 5*EZdoR's group, but all were good-looking. Their hair was done up in an elaborate, traditional style and the nons had painted faces, like a troupe of performers. All of them were armed, one of them even carrying a polearm. Their liegeman, named ser Sato, approached 5*EZdoR and offered him a small but formal bow, which was returned with a mere nod. I could not overhear the first part of the exchange, but I saw that 5*EZdoR rapidly became more and more agitated and finally started throwing profanity. Ser Sato took insult, and with a firm tone, he challenged 5*EZdoR to a duel of honor.
With glee, 5*EZdoR shoved Melody forward, while Sato signaled one of his own, an extravagantly dressed man wearing a kimono robe, hakama, and an ornate sleeveless haori with a black and white zig-zag pattern. His face was painted blue, white, and black and he carried a tachi - a long curved sword - and a tanto dagger in his obi. 5*EZdoR's nons were more extravagant and gave a whirling performance to announce Melody, who brandished her two short swords. Suddenly and without warning, she leapt forward. People dispersed and formed a more or less neat circle around the two combatants.
Sato's non barely had time to draw his weapon before Melody was onto him. As he raised his blade to block the strike leveled at his throat, Melody dashed past and slashed him across his upper arm. I saw she had hit him good, as silver blood dripped onto the ground. Some onlookers boo-ed at Melody's dishonorable move, but 5*EZdoR merely pouted and brushed the critique away with a nonchalant gesture. The fight was brutal. The next time the two met, it was apparent that Sato's non had studied Melody as much as she had studied him, for he waited until she committed to a strike before moving in and cutting her swiftly across the ribs with the tip of his blade. Then he sidestepped with unnatural swiftness, which avoided Melody's shorter weapons altogether. A follow-up strike caught Melody in one of her wings, which snapped and sent feathers flying.
Melody reeled back, and he took the opportunity to press forward. He slashed at her face, using his weapon's reach to his advantage, cutting a deep gash in her cheek. Then, as she attempted to close in, he kicked her feet away from under her and brought his tachi down towards her unprotected neck. Melody rolled with the blade, and it only cut a deep groove in her collarbone. She brought her foot up, kicking hard into his groin, and he tumbled back. Melody had managed to lock his blade between one of her own and her shoulder and latched onto him. She gored him with her free blade, landing three quick stabs into his abdomen, as both went to the ground.
The sword was too long to pull back, so Sato's non had no other option than to let go, and attempt to draw his tanto. Melody was quicker, and drove her left blade deep into his right shoulder, pinning him to the ground and paralyzing his arm. He did manage to knock the second sword out of Melody's hand with his other arm as she brought it down to stab him in the face, but he gained nothing, as Melody sat firmly on top of him and used her hands to choke him and smash his head into the pavement repeatedly. He struggled desperately, and it took several long minutes for his strength to leave him. The blade was still lodged in Melody's shoulder as she brought her face up to his and forced her tongue down his throat as he died.
How did you feel, seeing this?
Well, I think they deliberately use the silver blood for disposables to reduce human response when we see them injured, but I still felt sick and uneasy at the display. Unfortunately, it didn't end there...
Please continue, what happened after the duel?
Melody Angeli pulled the tachi blade out of her shoulder and stood over the body of her dead opponent. For a moment I saw pride in her eyes, as she was showered in uprep from all the sats that had watched the spectacle. Few had expected her to emerge the victor after the initial exchange of blows. Ser Sato bowed stoically and turned away in disgrace while a yellow-faced non collected the weapons, leaving without saying another word. Melody began displaying triumphant dance moves.
The many stains of silver blood turned white on the plaza’s flagstones, while 5*EZdoR’s eyes quietly ran over Melody’s injuries, no doubt weighing them against her past contributions and future worth.
How did that calculation pan out?
Not good. With a determined, swift stride 5*EZdoR paced over to stand next to Melody, “Tell me, ma non,” he began in a soft, honey voice that abruptly turned into a hoarse shout. “Why ma sats think ya takin’ the piss offem?” He struck her across her bloodstained face, and Melody cried out in surprise and panic, landing hard on the ground amidst a shower of dark feathers that had come loose from her broken wing.
5*EZdoR ranted and diminished her while Blancandrin recovered Melody's lost shortsword from the street, twirling it around in his sizable hands. 5*EZdoR had now cast his wings wide and stood over the sobbing, prostrating Melody as a vengeful angel. Draki-3, Gaia, and the little Rapture dashed around him, mimicking and amplifying his movements, their faces alternating between exaggerated expressions of stern condemnation, gleeful excitement, and teasing naughtiness. Little Rapture snatched Melody’s remaining sword and made off with it, giggling.
Melody gathered her strength and raised herself, but did not make eye contact. “My liegeman, I cannot bear to have caused thee such indignation,” her voice pleaded. “Please, I beg of thee, dispose me and let my blood wash away thy anger.”
She pressed her head to the ground once more, but in a whirl, 5*EZdoR rushed behind her and planted a foot on her back. His nons joined in and began kicking her. None held back, while Melody cried and wept and the camdrones whirred around, circling like sharks drawn to a feast.
How did your fellow colonists respond to this?
We briefly discussed amongst ourselves, as no one was liking what 5*EZdoR was doing. Sigrid didn’t want to await the conclusion and stepped forward to intervene. Blancandrin stopped her, swinging his arm wide, the shortsword held extended. He said: “No one is to interfere between a liegeman and their nons, not even a Provider. It is the law.”
We recognized that we had no means to stop 5*EZdoR. The disposables had no rights, and the liegemen were well within theirs if they wanted to cut their nons to pieces for causing the slightest displeasure. Or for no reason at all. Naturally, this troubled us a lot. We had come to this world to have some fun, but weren’t aware that this was going to come at the expense of someone else, disposable or otherwise.
I assume ser 5*EZdoR disposed Melody?
Yes, but not then and there. He grabbed her by the broken wing and yanked. We cringed to our stomach as we heard the bone splinter and were too stunned to look away. It remained put. 5*EZdoR scowled and brought his knee and weight to bear, then tore it clean amidst a shriek of Melody and spray of white and silver blood. He then gestured to Blancandrin for the sword. Blancandrin wiped it clean first using his loincloth. As we already suspected, he was wearing nothing underneath except for some golden hmm... ornaments. When he ceremoniously handed it to 5*EZdoR, the latter began to hack away at the remaining wing, while shouting things like “Ya don't deserve these, ya bitch-non!”.
With Blancandrin away and 5*EZdoR preoccupied in the background, our discussion resumed, more openly critical this time.
Was everyone in your group opposing ser 5*EZdoR?
Yes and no. While none of us appreciated being dragged into this, Yao Guowei and Qian Shirong argued that since everything was within the boundaries of the law, we should not interfere, especially not on a world where we were new and unfamiliar. We could address 5*EZdoR later, in private, and ask him politely to stop upsetting us, argued Shirong. Guowei made the point that we were in effect ambassadors of our colony. If we caused an incident here, it might reflect badly on everyone and sour relations between our worlds.
Sigrid, Casimir, and I were of the opposite disposition and argued to leave immediately, no matter the consequences. A world where such barbaric hedonism was legal, no, facilitated, should not be a friend of ours. Valeriya was undecided.
I see. How did it resolve?
An opportunity presented itself not soon after, but I’ll get to that in a moment. We saw 5*EZdoR had put the sword in his sash and pulled Melody up by her hair. He then reached over her shoulders and ripped the scant clothing from her chest. He corded the jewel-clad silk around her neck and began to strangle her from behind. To our surprise, Melody suddenly began fighting back desperately, although her claw-like fingernails found no purchase on 5*EZdoR vise-like grip. “Whada matter? Expect’d to die by the blade?” he scorned. The nons began a mocking display of them choking each other and adopting wild facial expressions, to the delight of the onlookers and the sats.
Soon, Melody had worn herself out and soiled herself. 5*EZdoR let go abruptly and kicked her back to the ground. She twisted and spasmed, barely managing to rip the tangled rag from her neck. Coughing and crying, 5*EZdoR afforded her a brief, pitiless flick of his hand, and the others rushed in and began kicking her bruised and bloodied form again.
“Better. Now lezze wat should be done with ya,” he said calmly, after which he abruptly burst into another frantic tirade to call upon his sats, while the molestation at his feet continued. He looked absent, probably going over his sat comments, calculating how to best leverage the situation to his advantage.
An attractive offer must have manifested itself in a private memo. He waved his fingers, and the kicking ceased.
Someone had offered social credit for Melody’s fate?
Yes, that’s precisely what happened… With sudden fanfare noise emerging from the drones, 5*EZdoR sprang up and performed a pirouette. “Deimos-251 has patroned ya, aaaaand, for tonight, Blancandrin here is gonna offer ya sats somethin’ spec’l,” he exclaimed in his characteristic explosive, high pitched voice.
The nons made puzzled faces, as if wondering what the special surprise that 5*EZdoR and Deimos-251 had concocted would be. Melody had composed herself a little and was back on her knees. She just numbly repeated “I thank thee for thy patronage, Deimos-251,” over and over.
5*EZdoR just spun around some more, the camdrones on his heels. “Deimos-251 is patroning yer trip tooooo Plouton! Unbeliiiiievable!”, he shouted. I looked up what this Plouton might be, and it turned out to be some upscale live-action snuff club that just bought themselves a stage performance. He continued. “Blancandrin’s gonna hit ya for all he got. Aaaand then, ya’ll get your sword back. Which you will sit on.” That’s what he said. Blancandrin then dragged Melody off by her hair, the camdrones trailing behind. 5*EZdoR encouraged his sats to switch to the newly created channel to watch the show he and Deimos-251 had arranged, and it seemed that to his confusion, nearly all of them did.
Which gave you your opportunity?
I motioned to my fellow colonists to move towards an alley that led away from the plaza, and Sigrid joined immediately. As Valeriya started to follow, Guowei tried to stop us. “You can’t just leave, you agreed to fight for him,” he said to her. Casimir and Shirong looked undecided. Sigrid gave them both a stern glance, and Shirong joined us. Our window of opportunity closed fast, so we made a run for it, leaving Guowei, Casimir, and Valeriya behind. The last I saw was Guowei looking on in frustration. On 96 G. Piscium, he had no official privileges, as he would have had as the colony’s security officer.
As we reached the alley, we looked behind us, and saw we weren’t followed, not immediately at least. We ran for a few streets, then paused, looking at each other and trying to decide what to do, and where to go.
I messaged Valeriya, and she said that 5*EZdoR had noticed our absence. He had thrown a few curses and had dispatched Rapture to “go get them”, but otherwise didn’t seem to care. He was probably raking in hard that evening. 5*EZdoR was leading the others to their hotel, but he had canceled our reservations, and even if he hadn’t, we kind of didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Our rep wasn’t being hit that hard, the attention of his sats being elsewhere.
Where did you go afterward?
We tried to get out of the Licenced District, but it was huge, and we were on foot. After a few blocks, we spotted a quiet convenience store named Bunny Corner. We all agreed this looked like a safe place where we wouldn’t attract unwanted attention, and entered. Three contracted staff with characteristic bunny ears bowed enthusiastically and then proceeded to stalk us, recommending every product we laid our eyes on and asking all kinds of personal questions.
I tried to buy a drink, but when I tried to tell the clerk that I wanted to make the purchase, she began giving me more bottles. I objected, saying that I didn’t want to buy more than one. She smiled and simply said “Free!”. We didn’t understand. Shirong took a chocolate bar and tried to buy it, and the same thing happened, he ended up with what must be half the carton of bars pressed into his hands. “Free, free,” the staff cheered, happy to see us consuming their stuff.
Why did this surprise you?
Well... I wondered why anyone would operate a store if everything is free. We surmised that this was a social credit printing business, the shop owner or the staff somehow getting uprep for every second we spent there, while it cost us nothing. We found a little area with some tables in the back and had our drinks there. I argued that if the food and drink were free, at least we should have no issue surviving the duration of our holiday.
Let me inform you that your mindset is irregular on this issue. You would be hard-pressed to find any Provider-run world that would let a citizen starve.
Well, we’ve hardly been living under the Provider Empire for long. Everything is still new and, well, different.
Do you have to pay for food at your colony then?
No, but we are expected to work for that…
The Empire expects its citizens to be compliant and its Providers to provide. Back on point, what else happened in the convenience store?
We began discussing our next steps, such as finding a place to sleep and all that. The staff overheard us, saying we could sleep with them in the store. More out of curiosity and amusement than interest, we asked how that would work. The staff opened the door to the storage room, and two of them accompanied us inside.
Besides the usual shelves of products and cleaning equipment, the room had low tables and recuperation pods for the disposables, one of them currently occupied by a fourth staff member. We were welcome to sleep here with them, they said. Sigrid thanked them and politely declined as we prepared to leave. Then I noticed the storeroom was not really laid out very efficiently for storing stuff nor for recuperating disposables. Rather, it appeared like a set, and it began to dawn on me what it was for. Suddenly, one of the disposables launched herself at Shirong, pushed him behind a shelf, and began to vigorously kiss him. Shirong was too surprised to react.
Sigrid grabbed the disposable by the collar and tried to pull her off the lad, exclaiming “What do you think you’re doing,” but it was to no avail. “Thank you for visiting Bunny Corner!” she simply said, as she touched Shirong indecently and started to undo her top. The second one eyed me seductively and asked me salacious questions about my preferences, and whether I wanted to do eeehh... things with the sleeping one.
Hmm, tell me, do you find any of what I’m telling you funny or interesting?
We’d be poorly equipped for the job if that were the case.
So sad.
So how did your group disentangle itself from the situation?
What? So you can make fun at the job?
There is nothing we can’t do in the pursuit of upholding the Policies.
Well…
Your answer?
Hold on a moment. What if I just sit here and don’t give an answer? I could just drag this out forever if I…
Your answer, please.
when suddenly the door was kicked open and we saw Rapture standing there. “You have been naughty!”, the evil brat hissed, a wide grin growing on her little face. “Ya, so has your boss, now sod off,” I recall Sigrid answering. Rapture wasn’t dissuaded in the least. “No no no no no, you gonna come home to daddy!” she wailed, flicking out a knife. We didn’t know how to respond, and I found myself wondering whether that mongrel was even allowed to harm us or this was an idle threat.
Then Shirong came up with a smart idea: He called out to the disposable staff that they’d all get uprep if they’d take care of the problem. He didn’t have to repeat himself, as the two contractors in the storeroom flung themselves at the interloper. Unfortunately, Rapture was a very able fighter, and the contracted staff were not. We weighed in and started grabbing things off the shelves and throwing them at her, but she dodged or knocked them aside easily.
Rapture drew a second knife and casually eviscerated the first disposable and cut a major artery in the leg of the other. The third ran in and joined the fight, but Rapture took her in the throat with a thrown knife, leaped up, and kicked her in the face. The ensuing fight was grim, as the disposables proved persistent and didn’t relent, trying to latch on to Rapture and bite and scratch her, while Rapture stabbed them repeatedly in the face and throat until they finally died amidst a growing pool of silver blood.
Rapture’s grin was now ear to ear. “Naughty, naughty, naughty,” she kept teasing. Then she froze and collapsed. Behind her, a green and yellow-painted face was caught in an expression of anger as he twisted his spear and then pulled it from the back of Rapture’s head. He bowed and apologized profusely for the intrusion and poor introduction. I bowed back and thanked him for his help, but he said it was nothing. He introduced himself as Tsutomu and asked us politely to come with him to Ser Sato. We discussed briefly and agreed. Thus we left the convenience store, but not before uprepping the place and members of staff.