Alicornutopia

Cadence is, has always been, and always will be the greatest nation on earth. For a period, however, a long line of slovenly and wretched monarchs threatened this greatness. They would show up to parliament, berate their representatives, prevent important work from taking place, and expend royal coffers on trivial whims. One especially bad ruler died, and the only person left to take the throne was his seventeen-year-old daughter, Abigail.

Young Queen Abigail showed up to parliament the next day, and didn't say a word. Three bills were passed before lunch. She remained silent throughout the week. The nation was once again seeing progress. She stopped talking altogether. She became ornamental. People loved her for this. Her passivity allowed everyone to carry out their work in peace. People talked about the power of silence.

One day Abigail became sick. She was to die. Doctors came but she was unresponsive. Two parliament men came to her one Sunday, and they swear she spoke to them. She gave them her only proclamation: "Make everyone like me, and never allow this to change." Others tried to verify her proclamation, but she had once again fallen silent.

Parliament arranged for her proclamation to be realized. It was the construction of something entirely new. People would live quiet, efficient lives. Everything would be automatic, preserving the world just as it was for Queen Abigail, Cadence's final monarch.

It worked perfectly. Now everything is structured just as Abigail wanted. It will likely stay that way forever. Inspectors have tremendous success in monitoring and controlling crime. There are just a few lingering problems that need to be addressed.

There are stories.
- A quiet man leading double lives, one of which might cost him both.
- An insomniac who must murder before she can find the peace to sleep.
- A vigilante detective willing to do anything to get to the truth.
- A rebel leader prepared to sacrifice his followers to achieve their goals.
- A child unwilling to be silenced.

These people are criminals. They are the last remaining blemishes upon our great nation.

They will be hunted down, and they will be fixed.

Don't think we don't know that you're one of them.

(Excerpted and modified from Perfect, unrevised.)

Cadence is lit by gaslight. The dignified are driven by carriage and the poor walk. The air is brisk and biting, constantly.

It always seems to be late autumn.

The world is simple, without distracting hues and colours. Inspectors stand upon most street corners and pay visits to the factories and storefronts and homes of the city. They are ever-present and vigilant, waiting to weed out the criminally different.

Rowena lives a proper life as a citizen of Cadence. She always carries her Freedoms: the steel bracelet that signfies the Freedom to Create: the black scarf that grants her Freedom of Thought: the dark umbrella that signifes her Freedom of Privacy. She never speaks, never invites guests to her home, and always submits her art directly to the archivist panels for approval or blacklisting. Her grey dresses are never dirty, creased, or unkempt, and she always wears the government-issued red corset that marks her as a Notable Citizen. She attends mass at her local Church of Abigail daily, and neither works nor eats on Sundays. When it is not a Sunday, she assists the Inspectors with their duties as one of the Queen's Crucibles.

Though she is terribly in love, she has never kissed her paramour, nor given him a flower, nor any other immodest act. She hopes that the Department of Personal Relations will approve her marriage proposal soon, and has never thought of abusing her position in the Certificator's Guild to speed the process along.

Is there a Freedom of Speech? What do you mean by “true history” of the nation? Surely the one you presented is completely true and accurate.

Ah, yes, Perfect Unrevised, AKA 'the most Joker-demanding setting I have ever seen'

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DanielH wrote:Is there a Freedom of Speech? What do you mean by “true history” of the nation? Surely the one you presented is completely true and accurate.

What are you quoting?

((There is no Freedom of Speech. The True History begins with "assume the last King was assassinated, and his daughter was threatened into silence."))

PlainDealingVillain wrote:Ah, yes, Perfect Unrevised, AKA 'the most Joker-demanding setting I have ever seen'

((That it is.))

Eva wrote:What are you quoting?

Nothing at all, and surely not a previous version of the only post in this thread which has been visibly edited, about an hour and a half after I asked my questions, because there is clearly no need to edit posts. Those were so-called “scare quotes”.

DanielH wrote:

Eva wrote:What are you quoting?

Nothing at all, and surely not a previous version of the only post in this thread which has been visibly edited, about an hour and a half after I asked my questions, because there is clearly no need to edit posts. Those were so-called “scare quotes”.

Of course you would not quote an improperly redacted document, since you were never in possession of an improperly redacted document, because improperly redacted documents do not exist.