Chapter 39

All eyes swiveled to Dank and the others. He did not stop clapping until it was painfully obvious his reaction was out of place.
The man who had spoken walked to their table as Dank sat back down and slid himself in to the bench opposite him, next to Specialist McComb.
"Welcome," he said, addressing all of them, "My name is Douglas Jordan."
Junior extended a hand in greeting and replied, "I'm Junior."
The handshake was returned and introductions were made. Junior conveniently forgot to mention who he worked for, but Douglas did not ask.
"What brings you to Shady Rock?" Douglas asked.
"Just passing through," McComb interjected.
"Not many people do that," Douglas asked, "Where are you coming from?"
Junior answered, "Pittsburgh," which was true in only the most recent sense.
"But not originally," the man observed, "Your accent is . . . unique."
"Not originally, no," Junior admitted.
"You are those people on all the vidcasts, aren't you?" Douglas asked, "The one's touting the benefits of joining the Benevolent States United."
The last part was not a question at all, and Junior got the impression that the first part wasn't really up for debate.
"That's true," Junior admitted, "But we liked your story. Can you tell us more about it?"
"Tell you more?" the man seemed angry, "Why? Are you gathering more evidence against me?"
"We aren't here in any official capacity," McComb said, "and these people only have as much history as they have picked up in the past few days plus all the BSU sanctioned data casts."
Douglas stared at Junior and Trixie May and Dank for a bit, considering.
"You really don't know, do you?" he finally asked.
"Know what?" Junior asked, fast feeling confusion cloud over him.
"I'll tell you the small "t" truth, if you want it," Douglas offered, "But if it gets back to any Benevolent States United officials I'll deny it. The tavern keeper says you aren't being monitored remotely." He nodded to the man behind the bar who was trying his best to pay attention without appearing to.
"Here is the truth," the man started, "The Benevolent States United may have meant well at first. No one wants to argue against peace, right?" He didn't wait for an answer, "But running a planet full of people looks hard -- and it isn't even as easy as it looks.
"They took responsibility for every one, all of us, and systematically, for ease of processing, removed our ability to do for ourselves or to improve our state-issued life status.
"Freedom is incredible, but once you start putting limits on freedom it gets hard to stop. More and more rules are created by bureaucrats to improve their lifestyles and decrease their load of paperwork. At the same time, the penalties for citizens in violation of these new and increasingly obscure laws and guidelines suffer punishments that are more and more horrible."
"But there are so many of you," Trixie May asked, "Surely the government has to listen to your complaints."
"They listen, alright," Douglas agreed, "They monitor all of our electronic communication and a good number of private conversations. Sweeny here," he indicated the man behind the bar, "he has to sweep this place for monitoring devices every few hours and it still isn't completely safe. But direct communication with the government? That is a one-way ticket to re-education."

Chapter Thirty Nine Interlude

File: Datanet Core Server Gamma Alpha ninety six, Galactic Technologies, Era: Modern -0, Index Benevolent States United, Computing, Incident handling, Data Supplied by Datanet Tech Feed

Greetings Faithful citizen! Our records show you have requested to send a comment or complaint to your local official regarding a services gracefully and generously provided by the Benevolent States United.
Please submit the comment or complaint in the form below. Also note due to data delivery restrictions your message must fall within the generous twenty character limit. If you requre more room, please browse to form F8250374 to request additional space and submit a complaint about this form through form F385003 or deliver your complaint in person at the nearest Benevolent States United facility.
Please include your contact information and Faithful registration number with all complaints to ensure efficient processing.

Dank set down the data terminal and looked around the tavern. Several of the customers had wandered off, leaving just the people Dank arrived with and Douglas, who had just finished another story.
Junior and Trixie May looked grim. McComb appeared unsurprised but shaken.
Douglas's hand unconsciously drifted to the indention in his arm. He scratched at it.
"I thought we had it bad on EcoHope 11," Trixie May said, "Sounds like this place has it a lot worse."
"Don't get me wrong," Douglas said, "There is a lot of good that happens here, and as bad as they sound the Benevolent States United isn't all bad."
"That's true," McComb agreed, "Fewer people go really hungry than ever in human history."
"Even fewer than that would go hungry if the people were allowed to take care of themselves," Junior muttered.
"What are you goin' to do about it, Junior," Dank asked, "You can't solve every problem by smashin' it with a Beater."
"I suppose not," Junior agreed, but he thought about just how nice it would feel to try.
"We can't just leave things like this and crawl back to EcoHope 11, y'all," Trixie May insisted, "We have to do somethin'."
McComb cleared his throat and said, "Maybe there is a way you can do something with the Beater."
"Like what?" Junior asked.
"Enter the contests," Douglas offered, "The right pilot and the right machine could make a fortune. More importantly, they gain the ability to make statements during and after the matches."
"So all I gotta do is sign up to fight the most powerful, well-designed robots on Earth Prime piloted by the very best pilots anywhere to possibly get the chance to speak out against the government?" Junior asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Douglas affirmed, "And you have to win, too."
"No one listens to losers," McComb agreed.
Junior wanted a beer.