Post by thedoctor on Oct 30, 2010 21:44:32 GMT -5
Julian sat up in his bed after a long night’s sleep and rubbed his sore knee. He quickly ran through all he had to do today and after a few deep breaths stood to face the day. Today marked 5 years since he had come to OFFICE 5 and he was proud of all he had accomplished. It certainly hadn’t been easy. In his time here OFFICE 5 had become the most efficient and disciplined of all the Consortium properties. Auditors and military personnel have visited to investigate and have left shaking their heads in wonder, unable to comprehend the simplicity of the situation. As he watched the transport shuttle fly past in the west he recited his mantra, “reincarnation, not incarceration”. In the shower he went over his speech that he gives the annual shipments of inmates.
“welcome to OFFICE 5. My name Is Julian and I’m the democratically elected president of this colony. You no doubt have many questions and preconceived notions about what life on a prison colony is like not the least of which is why there is a president or democracy here. 5 years ago this was just any other colony complete with violence and gangs. There was one fundamental difference though; Outer Fringes Incarceration Colony number 5 was designed to have no guards or law enforcement. Prisoners are dropped and the shuttles take off. The idea was the prisoners will kill each other and do everyone a favor by eliminating all the ‘evil-doers’. You see, we’ve since found out that the Consortium operates each colony differently to find the most effective way to run them. Obviously no guards makes it very cheap. But there’s something they didn’t expect. No one, regardless of their past actions, is evil. We’ve all done terrible things here. I’m here for killing a man for his wallet. Whatever you’ve done it’s safe to assume that it was done because of various social and economic situations that compounded into something out of your control. Now, left here with no one to oppress us or judge us we have an opportunity to start over and live lives that we want. We enjoy very nearly zero crime on a planet comprised of criminals. We live in neighborhoods that many of us would have, and some have, killed for in our previous lives. Undoubtedly there is always an awkward period when new groups arrive as you realize that you’re not going to have to stab your way to the top. We’ve perfected our process and to the right you’ll find people ready to check you in and start getting you situated…”
Etc.
Each year is different but they get through it. Usually just in time for the next batch. It’s still fairly new though, the peace. Walking down the streets between the houses that every citizen helped to construct he reflected on the turmoil that was necessary to get them to this point, as well as the second time he took a life.
“welcome to OFFICE 5. My name Is Julian and I’m the democratically elected president of this colony. You no doubt have many questions and preconceived notions about what life on a prison colony is like not the least of which is why there is a president or democracy here. 5 years ago this was just any other colony complete with violence and gangs. There was one fundamental difference though; Outer Fringes Incarceration Colony number 5 was designed to have no guards or law enforcement. Prisoners are dropped and the shuttles take off. The idea was the prisoners will kill each other and do everyone a favor by eliminating all the ‘evil-doers’. You see, we’ve since found out that the Consortium operates each colony differently to find the most effective way to run them. Obviously no guards makes it very cheap. But there’s something they didn’t expect. No one, regardless of their past actions, is evil. We’ve all done terrible things here. I’m here for killing a man for his wallet. Whatever you’ve done it’s safe to assume that it was done because of various social and economic situations that compounded into something out of your control. Now, left here with no one to oppress us or judge us we have an opportunity to start over and live lives that we want. We enjoy very nearly zero crime on a planet comprised of criminals. We live in neighborhoods that many of us would have, and some have, killed for in our previous lives. Undoubtedly there is always an awkward period when new groups arrive as you realize that you’re not going to have to stab your way to the top. We’ve perfected our process and to the right you’ll find people ready to check you in and start getting you situated…”
Etc.
Each year is different but they get through it. Usually just in time for the next batch. It’s still fairly new though, the peace. Walking down the streets between the houses that every citizen helped to construct he reflected on the turmoil that was necessary to get them to this point, as well as the second time he took a life.