Ch 6: Demotion

~
(Harrington)

I’m lying on the soft, water-resistant surface that covers much of the floor of my spa. It’s designed for massage, stretching, and rest. The lights are dim. I’m leaning on one of the various levels and shapes that allow comfortable positioning during spa treatments. I inhale the subtle vanilla sent of the candles. I can hear the beautiful Elara. She’s in the bathroom, quietly singing some kind of pop song as she prepares to leave.

My Prophetic Word for Elara didn’t get much beyond a few congratulatory and optimistic platitudes before the nature of the meeting changed rather abruptly.

She was actually a bit aggressive. I’m still catching my breath as she emerges from the bathroom looking cheerful and quite satisfied with herself. I ask her to wait for a moment so I can look at her. Resting on my elbows, I stare. She enjoys the attention, standing very still, head tilted down slightly, eyes looking up at me, smirking. Is this one actually perfect?

After a few moments I hear a tiny voice say quietly, in a sort of plaintive sing-song: “Can I give you another massage?”

“No no, Elara, thank you, I have to do work now, bless you, I like you, good bye now.”

She smiles, shrugs her shoulders, turns and leaves.

I may just fall asleep here instead of going to my bed.

As I exit my residential quarters to take the lift to my Ground Forces Liaison office, I see the sun rising in the distance, over the water, beyond the forest of other towers.

My Ground Forces Senior Liaison Officer is conversing with some forward base commander. He acknowledges me with a nod as I walk in. The propa feed is showing, essentially, our mission from yesterday. The images are surrounded by talking heads and scrolling text blasting out the message of terror, destruction, and the thrill of victory, the sensation of crushing a hated enemy who is helpless. Without interrupting his conversation the Senior Officer points at another display, and with the same hand throws over another report showing an interview of a sobbing civilian woman in front of an angry crowd. They’re directing their fury against the Godless, Satanic enemy that has pointlessly destroyed their village. We exchange a silent nod and I head back to the lift.

Late into last evening and still this morning, Kade’s question about the war has lingered. I know that his question was totally innocent. Kade is a good and trustworthy man. He was genuinely questioning the possibly corrupt motivations of the leaders of our enemies, not us. His conditioning prevents him from turning the same question around to point at his betters, even if he realizes that he occasionally participates in violence performed as propaganda. Like all Infotechs, he is able to think about such matters in two incompatible ways at the same time, with no sensation of irony or hypocrisy. We thank the great scientific Prophets Of Old for emphasizing this most human tendency in their sacred texts.

But still, Kade’s question betrayed a type of thinking that hints at the possibility of cynicism or even political subversion. For someone even of Kade’s respected standing, to dare, in the presence of a Leader, to probe the purpose of the war beyond the official narrative is, practically if not formally, a breach of protocol. It is unexpected behaviour from Kade, who is normally so reserved and content in his position.

It’s a reminder to me that the disease of political and religious subversion can fester under the surface even among the most loyal servants, even before they’re aware of it.

As I enter my private office the holoscreens light up, displaying streams of real time data. The displays are calibrated to my personal tech so that only I can see what they show. I place one finger on the central console and whisper, “Show dossier life overview re the person Kade-74382521.” The array pulses, syncing with Kade’s personal identifier and dossier. Within a second, a holographic timeline unfurls before me:

- Childhood (Age 0-11) - Birthing Centre location, nutritional protocol during gestation and early childhood, education and conditioning protocols, IQ and aptitude testing.

- Early Years (Age 12-18) - Records of enrolment in Infotech Academy 405, grades in advanced calculus, participation in the “Harmony Initiative” civic projects, IQ and aptitude testing.

- Early Career (Age 19-28) - Flight logs from the orbital transport fleet, maintenance reports he authored, commendations he received for exemplary adherence to protocol.

- Recent Activity (age 29 – present) – Leader Transport and Recon appointment – Here’s a spike in his private data consumption in the last 6 months: encrypted journals on historical insurgencies, “underground” forums discussing the ethics of perpetual warfare, and a series of “off-record” communications with a small group of Infotechs who have been discussing the reasons for the ongoing war. Auto analysis considers the discussions non-subversive.

- Social Interactions – A network graph showing his contacts: fellow pilots, a handful of other Infotechs and BuilderHelpers of various vocations who seem to be sports fans, and a brief link to a former Professor who moved on from teaching at the Infotech Academy of Government six years ago, now working at the Central Data Hub. I mark that link to examine later.

- Special Interests – An indexed history of hobbies, sports, entertainment consumption, and so on.

- Kompromat – An indexed, weighted list of any compromising or embarrassing information – everything from routine minor transgressions to matters with greater coercion value. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

The Array estimates that Kade’s curiosity about the purpose of the war grew steadily after finding on an “underground” forum some archived recordings of ancient debates about governments’ use of propaganda against domestic populations. I chuckle as I think that ancient governments treated domestic propaganda as illegal.

Overall, the Array rates Kade as non-subversive to pre-subversive, suggesting that a human decision-maker consider minimal intervention – optional, not mandatory.

Having reviewed the full dossier, I initiate the Reallocation Protocol. A discreet command is sent to Personnel Management, reassigning Kade from the high-profile Leader Transport and Recon unit under my personal command to a ground-based logistics depot on the outskirts of New London’s industrial zone. The new posting will keep him useful; his piloting skills can be repurposed for operating heavy-load transport drones. But it will remove him from a position of prestige where he can influence or inspire others. He can wonder aloud about his conspiracy theories if he really wants to, but he’ll have to do it far away from any position perceived as important or influential. There is absolutely no risk of disclosure of secret information accessed in his former role, and not only because of the oath of confidence he took and which is taken so seriously. Anyone in Kade’s former position—working closely with a Regional Admin Leader—knows he is under constant close monitoring, and in any event has long ago internalized total loyalty to the administration.

As the protocol executes, a soft chime confirms the update. I lean back, watching the hologram fade, and think of the words of the Prophet Of Old, Brzezinski, who foretold of a future ruling class that would possess the capacity to monitor every facet of an individual’s life at any moment. I chuckle at how accurately the idea captures the essence of what we practice today: omnipresent, data-driven vigilance that renders dissent not just impossible to conceal, but actually impossible.

Kade will be congratulated and awarded a healthy bonus for his exemplary performance, et cetera and so on. He will soon learn that his new duties involve overseeing the loading schedules of mineral shipments—important work, but a far cry from the exhilaration of soaring above the battlefront in the personal service of a Regional Leader. The demotion will be framed as a strategic redeployment to improve operational efficiency in shipping, preserving the illusion of fairness and reward while quietly neutralizing a potential source of unrest.

I’ll miss Kade. A temporary pilot will be made available to me until I decide who should replace him.

In my private living room I’m still thinking about Kade. I know that he would be feeling bewildered, wondering if he is being punished, or if some kind of mistake has been made. His demotion under the Reallocation Protocol was done swiftly with minimal explanation.

But his question about the purpose of the war still reverberates. Kade had served me so well for several years, with a kind of humble wisdom. Or so I thought. I thought we understood each other. How could someone like him have been tainted with such perverse notions?

Longstanding Edicts of the Supreme Council call for absolute certainty that no seed of dissent can germinate among the lower classes. This idea is so completely internalized by all members of the Leader class that they know it without ever having been aware of the Edicts.

We have an administrative doctrine called Total Integrity Awareness. It is not enough that a single potential subversive be removed from a position of influence; the entire web of relationships surrounding the person must be examined and, if necessary, destabilized. Every node in the network of a potential subversive must be rendered incapable of forming a coherent counter-narrative.

Thus, I am compelled to dig deeper into not just Kade’s activities, but into the lives of those who might have nudged his curiosity. Through my secure home workstation, the Array projects a constellation of connections:

[Name – Class – Characteristics – Primary Interaction with Kade]

Tori – Infotech – Pilot on human-operated high-altitude reconnaissance sorties; high inherent intelligence. She accessed some encrypted journals on historic political uprisings and shared them with Kade in an online forum. They have not personally met.

Dorian – BuilderHelper – Former “maintenance buddy” during Kade’s early service; works custodial and maintenance duties throughout my tower. Images of him show a large, powerful physical specimen. He’s a dedicated sports fan; he likes to exchange orthodox stories about the Earth Purge with workers in the tower, including Kade.

David – Infotech – Former Instructor at the Infotech Academy of Government, now a Senior Prophecy Analyst in the Central Data Hub. Very high inherent intelligence. Expertise in political science, religious history and theology. Analyzes and interprets Supreme Council Prophecies to advise policy makers in formulating Supreme Council Edicts. Dossier permanently flagged noting he is a product of the accelerated education programs. He has a creative streak. He has always been under watch to some extent. His dossier is detailed and interesting. He discussed with Kade the historical and theological origins of the current political system, and origins of the war among the three superstates. Nothing unorthodox.

Jenn – BuilderHelper – heavy labour – served as the BuilderHelper representative in a program that paired BuilderHelpers with Infotechs including Kade, for community morale projects. No communications of note.

Finn – Infotech – Junior administrative assistant as Art Division. Chatted with Kade several years ago on music discussion forums.

Two of these individuals represent a possible nudge of influence that might have awakened the potential for doubt within Kade. Yet the data does not isolate a single dominant influence or any subversive influence. The Council’s mandate leaves me no choice. If I cannot pinpoint the source, I must neutralize the potential sources.

I will initiate the Disruption Protocol.