Gabriela sat down behind her desk and looked over her reading glasses at her office once again. She allowed a small flicker of pleasure to rest on her lips as her eyes rested on the award and picture once again. It was an impressive display and a very important honor. It was an honor that few achieved—especially so early in their career.
That had a distinctive ring too it. She knew it; her department knew it; now the big-shots up the ladders knew it too. This Department was the most important part of a well-greased society. She was indeed best at what the department did.
She turned back to her tablet to review new items for the day. One minor issue had been dealt with already as she rode the elevator to the fourth floor. Two regions on opposite sides of the continent were found to have differing font requirements for official documents. Normally that would not have even been an issue since it should have been caught years ago at the beginning of standardization and reconciliation. Except in this case, the official fonts had never been compared side-by-side.
“The document cases to which these apply are extremely rare,” her undersecretary informed her in the elevator. “We have searched and found that these are the only two regions to which this case would apply.”
“What case is that?” Gabriela asked.
“Regions that have capital cities with salt water access and marine aqua-farming of kelp.”
“Yes, a narrow subset,” Gabriela replied. “Which region chose the font first?”
“It's a tie. It goes back to the early days of kelp farming and each region had its own regulations.”
“Which region has the older kelp farms?” Gabriela asked.
“Again a tie.”
“Then which region is older?”
“The one on the east coast,” the undersecretary replied.
“There is your answer,” Gabriela stated.
The elevator door opened and Gabriela moved out gracefully—she made sure that her movements were graceful, purposeful, and authoritative. Her undersecretary followed a few seconds behind.
“You have your telecon with Dr. Gupal at ten thirty.”
“Thank you, Lanique.” Gabriela smiled at her undersecretary then stepped determinedly into her office and closed the door with a practiced shove. Nothing should be left to chance. All must be practiced, rehearsed, and executed with precision to achieve the best effects and to leave the best impressions. Indeed, she mused, best impressions often are the best effects.
The Department of Truth and Reconciliation was established a number of years before to ensure that all citizens were given access to the same knowledge and historical data. Of course, some citizens would take greater advantage of these resources than others and thus would be far more knowledgeable than the average citizen. However, by having a standardized set of facts, there would be no variability in the overall account of what the citizens understood. Infighting and tribal bickering would thus be kept to a minimum. Differences would arise, but they would be over mundane issues of which sports team was preferred or which musical entertainment ensemble provided the most delightful sonic and visual presentation. Indeed, the Department of Recreation and Events oversaw those annual competitions. So popular it had become that there were now several such tournaments throughout the year, each with its own brackets and rules and judges with the general public providing a collective vote for the final four.
Gabriela nodded appreciatively as she knew this season's Ensemble Event would be starting this weekend. She would be watching not just for entertainment value, but because she would be monitoring the content of each ensemble's lyrics. No group would ever be allowed to perform in a public setting without a thorough vetting of their songs, lyrics, and stage banter. Yet, being a live venue, there was always the chance that random non-truths could slip out. Non-truths that would have to be addressed, corrected, or—if egregious enough—punished.
It had been years since there was a debacle like that. Gabriela Pridthi Portilla-Nahn felt a certain amount of professional pride that her vigilance and skills had been a large part of that success.
She looked over her tablet again:
☼ Meeting a ten thirty to discuss internal calibration metrics and pedagogic rubrics. She set her alarm to go off after one hour to force a diversion. Such dry meetings had a tendency to contribute to their own longevity. “Inertia,” a colleague had called it. “Objects and meetings not in motion tend to remain unmoving.”
☼ Request to review history cleanliness. She sighed. More arcane sniping at semantics and syntax with a large helping of self-aggrandizement on the side. Absolutely essential, she granted, but it was looked forward to like a promised root canal.
☼ A new item caught her attention: “Technician reports family had unfamiliar details on child's computer lessons. Social services called to deal with potential trauma.”
“This is serious,” she whispered to herself as she opened the electronic file.
Scanning the details she felt a shiver run through her body in spite of the pleasantly controlled room temperature in her office. That this happened in the suburbs of their capital city struck hard against decorum and the uniformity of knowledge. If widely known, this could be perceived as an attack on their very way of life and the underpinnings of their modern society.
She pressed the connect button on her communication device. A moment later another voice spoke.
“Saiko,” Gabriela began. “We need to talk about this technician report from last night.”
“I'm on my way.”
As Gabriela waited for Saiko to come to her office, she stood up and looked out the large window. Saiko was a trusted associate. Gabriela smiled wryly as she recalled that a number of years before the term would have been “subordinate” but had since been changed because it sounded so demeaning. “Sub”— something that is under, or lesser, or of inferior worth. Yet, in spite of the modern rhetoric and verbal platitudes to the contrary, the position of “associate” merely became a replacement term with no diminishing of the correlated connotations of higher and lower on a ladder.
A quick knock on the door brought Gabriela back to the immediate problem.
“Come in.”
Saiko Ayame Nishimoto-Fuentes entered with professional dignity and an air of confidence that sometimes put others in a defensive posture. Gabriela merely saw the air as a put on necessity in the bureaucratic world of offices and cubicles. What annoyed her most though was just how lovely this young, up-and-coming associate was. That could be an asset and a troubling liability.
“Saiko, have you read the technician's report from last night?”
Saiko nodded. “I was just re-reading the details as you called. The initial report came through last night. I received the call early this morning.”
Although it galled Gabriela that she had not been alerted of the situation prior to coming into the office, she realized that the timeline left little room for notification before the morning situation list.
“I see.” Gabriela carefully chose her words. “What has been done so far?”
“After the technician received the report,” Saiko began, “he stepped through the decontamination procedure with the family.”
“All done on-line?”
“Yes, this was a remote service call along with the standard phone support.”
“I'm afraid that some key points may have been left out of my summary,” Gabriela finally said. “What was found on the family computer that required such an escalation including counseling services?”
“It started with a mention of guns,” Saiko began, “then ended with access to details of prohibited religious rites and words.”
“Gracious!” Gabriela exclaimed. “How did the computer user find all that information?”
Saiko looked at her tablet. “The parent units report that their child had been reading an older book which included an outdated term.”
“Was this a physical book or a digital?” Gabriela asked.
“Physical.”
“First mistake right there.”
“Except it is one of the approved physical books that the Education Department has authorized for learning about the old days.”
“What was the outdated term?”
Saiko looked again at her tablet. “The phrase was, 'he gunned the engine and the boat leaped forward quickly.”
“So the child looked the phrase up?”
“Yes. The child entered the word 'gunned' into the family computer and a list of weapons appeared. The report says that there were many different types of weapons from throughout history.”
“Those lists are not approved for common viewing,” Gabriela replied.
“True. But there was not just a list presented. Instead it was a pictorial history of weapons.”
Gabriela pursed her lips then sat down again. She picked up her tablet and re-read the summary of the event. Many of the details that Saiko had provided were missing from the overview. She understood that executive summaries were hurriedly put together and often missed facts that the person in charge wanted to know or even needed to know. But how did this escalate from guns to religion so quickly? How did the normal protocols and filters prevent the family from being traumatized like that?
Gabriela turned her tablet toward Saiko to read. “Little of that is here.”
Saiko passed her tablet to Gabriela. “Here is a better summary. We are still working on the full write up.”
“More to be done?”
“Yes, an official visit with the family will probably need to take place.”
“How far known is this?” Gabriela asked.
“Very contained,” Saiko replied. “Our technician was quick to involve outreach from Community Standards and Unity Principles. They were the ones who met with the family and recommended, in conjunction with the parent units, Social Services be brought in.”
“Gracious,” Gabriela whispered then began reading the other's tablet. “The child kept clicking?”
“Yes. Multiple links and multiple articles appeared, each more troublesome than the ones before.”
“There's is so much here to digest,” Gabriela began. “First of all, do we know where these breeches in protocol came from? How did these prohibited references make their way into the normal data stream for this child's education?”
“That is under investigation. I have been apprised that this particular breech has been fixed. I have instructed our Data Purists to review all levels of the educational paradigm as well as the master repository of accepted truths. We must ensure uniformity of knowledge and understanding.”
“Good. I appreciate the quick response,” Gabriela said. She noticed that Saiko had remained standing so she added, “Please. Have a seat.”
Saiko sat down and said, “I will let you finish scanning the summary. There are some serious issues to address.”
“Yes, I see,” Gabriela replied. “This explanation of weapons and guns led to an article detailing the 2A position?”
“Yes, but that's not all.”
Gabriela continued reading. “2A” was an old reference to the “Second Amendment” which was held to be hallowed by people of the late Twentieth Century. Certain radicals had imbued those words with nearly mystical powers and held that the Government should be held in check by the citizens even to the point of the citizens being armed, legally and morally responsible to thwart Government from becoming tyrannical and oppressive. But the series of links did not stop with a detailed account of the Second Amendment.
“So the child, following her intellectual curiosity, clicked on a definition of what the Constitution was?” Gabriela asked, still reviewing the write up.
“Yes, and the child actually is nearly fourteen years of age,” Saiko answered.
“Troublesome,” Gabriela replied.
It was troublesome because it was a well-established fact that young teens were capable of synthesizing connections and scenarios and even formulating questions. That is why their intellectual development was so carefully shepherded to mold their character and thought pattern to serve the greater good of society in the best and most harmonious fashion.
But it was also troublesome because the child, or the young teen, had read a non-sanctioned analysis of the Constitution and its Amendments and then clicked further to read “1A”—the troublesome provision that allegedly gave everyone the right to think, believe, speak, and write as they themselves saw fit. Such unrestrained lawlessness in community principles would, of course, give rise to differences of opinions, then factions, then dissent, and then in severe cases even fighting.
“How much did this child, er, youth, read of 1A?” she asked Saiko.
“It seems that the child, or youth, spent about forty minutes on the computer from the time that she initially asked the question about gunning an engine.”
“Did she read things in detail?”
“It appears so. Background checks of this youth show that she is remarkably bright and gifted in reading and logic.”
“Bothersome, to say the least,” Grabriela replied. “But I see there is more potential damage?”
Saiko nodded as Gabriela quietly read the remainder of the write up.
Gabriela was not only digesting the bare facts of the recap, but she was trying to formulate a way of dealing with the family and especially this young teen to mitigate any losses, forestall any psychological damage, and win the whole family over to the side of the community and truth and unity once again.
“But this teen click once more?” Gabriela quietly repeated in shock.
She was simply amazed at how many records and unsanctioned articles this student had been able to access. Such things simply should not happen. But then they kept happening! She was also shocked that the student had simply followed curiosity and did not halt once things started sounding differently from the proscribed. Clearly this bright student needed to have remediation to understand the importance of Unity and Community Principles as well as listening to voices of reason.
“Why didn't she stop?” Gabriela asked.
“Social Services asked that question,” Saiko replied. “The youth replied that her teacher had taught them it is good to question authority.”
Gabriela nodded. That indeed was an important lesson, but she made a mental note to include additional parameters as that adage was taught: There must be limits to the questioning; there are some things that must never be questioned.
Gabriela scrolled the write up to the last paragraph then gasped. “This child, or youth, clicked on the definition of religion?”
“Yes.”
Gabriela knew how religion was officially defined: It was any mystical or non-substantiated belief in things that could not be accounted for by science along with any system of beliefs that subjected the believer to emotionalism or irrationalism. She knew that synonyms included unsound, foolish, brainless, and quarrelsome. So many fights and wars happened over religious ideals.
“Unfortunately,” Saiko went on, “the computer gave the old, unaccepted definition of religion.”
“I see,” Gabriela replied, not quite knowing yet how to respond.
“And as the report states, that is when the parent units entered the room and saw their child reading an online version of the old religious book.”
“How?”
“We don't know. All these copies and their links have been removed again, but there is another source or sources that keeps asserting itself on our computer networks and in our data repository.”
“What old religious book did she read?” Gabriela felt a foreboding yet knew she had to know.
“It has been called The Bible.”
“That doesn't mean much.” Gabriela knew that many things that were considered important and instructional were called The Bible of such and such.
“No, it was the original,” Saiko answered. “The original book that called itself The Bible.”
“Is there any chance that this child, this youth, was the source of the contraband?”
“That avenue was considered,” Saiko replied. “But there is no record of the material coming from this student. Instead, we see the material going to the student.”
“Might we use this student as a plant to see how far this nefarious infection goes?”
“That is a good question. However, my first thoughts are to be cautious. We've already made too big of a deal over it. Whoever started this obviously knows that we are involved. Anything further from this contact would be treated as highly suspicious.”
“Hmm, good point. Perhaps we should flag further events to treat them differently so as to infiltrate and find the source.”
“That is an excellent idea,” Saiko replied. “Are you anticipating something further?”
Gabriela shook her head. “No, but we can't be caught flat-footed either. We are aware of a new strategy, we should prepare as well as brain-storm to think of other possible avenues that need to be guarded.”
“What about the family?”
“We will have to watch this student closely,” Gabriela began. “Make sure that she doesn't deviate off the prescribed learning pathway at all. That will help prove to us that this indiscretion was an accident and not part of a long-term and growing rebellion against Unity and the Harmonious Community Principles. I myself will reach out to the family. I will have Lanique set up an appointment where I can go visit them, express my sympathies over the event, and assure them that because of their alerting us, we know that such events are not likely to occur again. I will also use that time to assess the emotional and psychological state of this young teen.”
“Very good,” Saiko replied. “Anything further?”
“No, I appreciate your report,” Gabriela replied, moving the tablet back across the desk to Saiko. “I believe that we are in a good position now. We have quashed this potential disruption of our Community Harmony and Unity.”
Saiko stood and smiled. “I'll see you then at our ten thirty telecom.”
Gabriela stood and smiled, dipping her head slightly in the accustomed ritual of acknowledging an equal or colleague.
As the door closed, Gabriela sat back down and rubbed her eyes. Far-flung disaster had been averted, much of it without her direct intervention. Saiko had assumed an initial leadership role and had done well. Gabriela supposed that she could ascribe it to her leadership and training that gave her associates the skills, the tools, and the vision to deal effectively with the potential threat. Truth was again reconciled with the vision and purpose of the Community and the greater good of the people.
Of course, if things went wrong, much of the blame could fall on Saiko before it shifted up to herself. She shook her head. She knew how dangerous it was to play that game.
Quickly she sent a note to Lanique to set up a visit with the family that had been disrupted by the computer debacle. Before the telecom with Dr. Gupal, she wanted to flesh out some notes for her meeting with that family. She also needed to review the notes on metrics and rubrics for the morning's meeting. “This was definitely going to be one of those mornings,” she sighed to herself. “But we have again stamped out the impropriety of religion and extremism.”
Not even ten minutes later, her tablet announced an urgent new message.
She glanced at the header then gasped. “Several reports of contraband knowledge on home computers. Questions about religion and Bible filling network query engines.”
There would be no rest for anyone in the Department of Truth and Reconciliation that night.
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