Dark Fate - Book 16 Prologue (Patreon)

Prologue – Trade Chat

(North American System Information Exchange Forum, formerly Community Building and Civil Defense Chat)

abby_gail, bento, RainyDayze, GringottsGoblin, DoritoMan, D.VaLuvr69, Carion, RadicalEdward, FusionGal, NotACop, Scholar, RamblingWreck, Anonymous4, Anonymous6, RedShift, SevenNationArmy, BagOTrix, White_Queen, Faraday, BackpageGal, FullServiceMassage, daytrader, Skippy, shadow_clone23, THE_MERCHANT, jenny8675309, Rabbit, Angelus and Tracker are in the chat.

FusionGal: The rebrand still feels weird to look at.

Faraday: I agree, but it was necessary, as the scope of the board expanded to include more and more people, outside Atlanta, and absorbed or merged with other boards.

RedShift: Probably for the best, in the end. So much of what is happening is beyond any one city, you know?

Scholar: In the first days after the System initialized, a community-based board was practical, since we were trying to just keep Atlanta from going up in smoke. Now, with things starting to stabilize, expanding our focus is for the best.

FullServiceMassage: Other boards have popped up to fill in the gaps left by the rebrand, and the one before it.

Rabbit: Even on the internet, nature abhors a vacuum.

shadow_clone32: So, anything new happening?

White_Queen: It isn’t really a secret, but the Harris Administration is sending people around Congress, laying the groundwork for a couple major bills they want to push.

Angelus: What kind of bills?

White_Queen: The first is a Mandatory Service bill. Basically, anyone age 18 or older must complete two years of military service, or six years of other government or service jobs.

Tracker: That sounds very unlike Harris. Isn’t he supposed to be pretty liberal, even by Dem standards?

Scholar: Yes, but a mandatory service requirement is not necessarily a conservative point.

White_Queen: Indeed. The Administration is pitching it with the line, “One-fifth of the human race is dead, so everyone has to pitch in, either contributing to the defense of our species, or supporting the structures which keep us safe.”

RedShift: What ‘service jobs’ are they talking about?

White_Queen: The information I’ve seen so far lists things like doctors, teachers, and so on, but also construction workers doing infrastructure projects. Adventurer also counts, apparently.

Carion: Doesn’t sound too bad, especially since there are non-military options. This System doesn’t give a damn who you are. If you can’t protect yourself, then it will gladly throw you under the bus, and everyone around you, too.

White_Queen: Yes, but the rumors are that the second bill is going to be the one that really causes trouble.

DarkLord has entered the chat.

Skippy: Wait, DarkLord? You’re back?

DarkLord: Yes, we just transitioned into Sol System. And I can see this place has had a couple upgrades since the last time I logged in.

Scholar: So, how was diplomacy with the Commonwealth?

DarkLord: Oh, things went pretty well, actually. Wiping out the Incux ships around Ulora meant that the Commonwealth Navy, at least, was solidly in our corner, which cut down on some of the grandstanding and BS.

White_Queen: So like you to just hit things until the situation goes your way.

DarkLord: Not all of us are manipulative backstabbers, Queen. I leave that role to you.

FullServiceMassage: I take it you have history?

DarkLord: Multiple histories, actually. You all already know that there have been time travel shenanigans on a massive scale. The first time through, she was my friend, my lover, and my right hand as we fought to free Georgia from the aliens that came and claimed it. She stabbed me in the back, literally.

White_Queen: And you ruined everything by blowing it all up, instead of quietly becoming a martyr so that we could rally the people and push out the invaders!

DarkLord: When people stab me in the back, with cursed daggers, I tend to not care about their plans any more. So, sue me.

Scholar: And that’s when you came back to this time?

DarkLord: Well, the second time through, it seems I went and got my revenge, until she broke, and replicated what I did, resetting time. The third loop, we fought so much that the next twenty years were constant wars between our factions, and invading forces. After our deaths, my daughter arranged a fourth time through, and set up seeds to guide us away from each other, until emotions had calmed down, as well as erasing the memories of loops two and three.

RedShift: Should we be worried about you two fighting again? I mean, she’s a Congresswoman, now, and you’re, well, you.

DarkLord: If she stays on Earth, I foresee no problems. If she comes to Ceres, though? Well, dueling is allowed on Ceres, and there only consideration for gender is if a woman is pregnant at the time.

White_Queen: No, none of my plans benefit from war with Ceres.

Tracker: Well, away from this topic, and back to what was being discussed. Queen, you said that the Harris Administration was pushing for two bills, right? One was the mandatory conscription/service thing. What is the other?

White_Queen: The judicial reform bill. Basically, tying sentences to the System as much as possible. That one… well, it doesn’t *technically* violate the 13th Amendment, but…

Scholar: Wait, are you talking about judicial slavery?

Rabbit: That’s horrible! How would anyone agree to that?

White_Queen: Any time someone asks Harris’s people that, they respond with the same answer: how will you keep a Tier 2 or higher individual in jail if they don’t want to be there?

DarkLord: There’s a reason that it is the galactic standard for ensuring prisoners don’t just walk out of jails. No one else has found a better way, either. At least slave collars can be removed. A [Puppet Brand] is basically a death sentence, but your meat suit keeps moving.

shadow_clone32: There’s no way that will pass the House or Senate! And it will get overturned in the courts.

White_Queen: If you have a better idea, I’m all ears. Harris has promised to scrap the bill personally if someone comes up with a better idea, that actually works on most of the population, and isn’t even more inhumane, like putting people in medically-induced comas or other nastiness. Half the staffers on the Hill are busy reading up on information from the System Shop, looking for any better options.

bento: How will this affect our relations with other countries? This will seem like a huge step back to most people.

DarkLord: Other countries are facing the same problem. You didn’t think that only the US has prisoners, or a bad history with slavery, did you? I can say that diplomats have been quietly trying to come to agreements on edits to the Geneva Conventions, thanks to the System. That’s something that got started before I went off to visit the Commonwealth.

BagOTrix: So, what did you do on your trip?

DarkLord: Oh, you know, the usual. Had a bunch of meetings, talked to some important people. Made some military deals to try and help stop the unending tide of omnicidal bugs. Went shopping and picked up some souvenirs. Normal things.