Member-only story
Citizen Compliance Detected
1
“Unlock this door. We need to talk.”
The room hums with the sickly scent of passion fruit delight pumped in through the vents. A calculated sweetness. Temper it down — too much pleasure dulls the senses. The main station is fried, surveillance feeds are glitching in and out, and the workers have revolted. Unacceptable. The horse bolts toward the yard — an unauthorized movement detected. Dispatch a drone. Track its heat signature.
Captain the main freight containers. Scan them. Inspect them. Ship them over the roughened seas. Close to the docks now, where hubris meets its audit. Ego detected. Arrogance flagged. They won’t listen. No words change thoughts. No words change meaning. But words do change social credit scores. And yet, they overestimate their contributions to the welfare of the state.
Listen. The ice cubes tumble down the chute — recorded. Audio file #43792. Rolling, twisting, locking into a frozen grip. The fantail flutters overhead, anomaly detected. She senses it — the shift. The air thickens, dense with suspicion and the possibility of possibles. Possibility is a dangerous thing.
Step closer. We want to help. Resignation is unacceptable. Compliance is key. Vehicles will collide. Governments will topple. Not this government, of course. The unmistakable campaign of illogical…
