people of the now

[batman's steward ©]

perfections [ 542d49 ]

These are your average, every-day citizens. They're born, they attend class, they hold jobs (which the Government assigns them), find spouses, have children, and continue the life cycle. However, they don't learn nearly as much as we learn now. There is no such thing as English in 2113, except to teach children proper grammar. People don't read books, unless they've been approved by The Government. These people don't think for themselves. They're taught what to think, and anyone who deviates from the common thought process is demoted to "imperfect" status. The Government has given this class the name of "perfection", but in truth, they're not perfect -- merely all the same. Perfections' behavior is monitored twenty-four seven by active street cameras and bugs. Every house is bugged. Every bathroom is bugged. And for these, there is no exterminator. Perfections start off as youths. They need not attend school, they simply hang around and learn whatever their parents decide to teach them. During the course of their lives, they are subjected to annual physical and mental examinations, the latter being nothing more than an intelligence quotient test. The Government uses these examinations to determine when a Perfection should begin working (at which job) and when a he or she should retire.

government [ 213c22 ]

If The Now were a clock, The Government would be all the gears and hinges that keep it functioning. People granted Government-level clearance still aren't allowed how to read, but they are encouraged to invent new technologies to benefit the perfections. That's not all The Government does. The bio lab staff are responsible for sampling the DNA of dead imperfections and searching those samples for patterns. If they spot any similar elements in the DNA of multiple imperfections, they scan the rest of the population for the same elements and send reapers after those who share the same element. Another branch of The Government is the perfection police. It's their job to monitor citizen activity and identify potential imperfections.

reapers [ 5e1f1d ]

Harkening back to that clock analogy, the reapers would be the lubricant oiling the gears to ensure that The Now remains a functioning society. They are in charge of what The Government believes in the most important operation -- hunting down imperfections and annihilating them. They are the only citizens of the now that can get away with murder. If they couldn't, it would make their job a bit difficult. Most reapers prefer to live in solitude and only go out in public when they need to purchase grocery items (or they have servants do that for them so they still don't have to). They also wear costumes - masks or stage makeup - to conceal their identity when they're on the clock. Nobody knows who they are until it's too late. Theirs are the only houses left un-bugged. Repears are hand-picked by The Delegates and spend at least a year apprenticing with an active Reaper before assume their position.

imperfections [ 4a2f1c ]

Imperfections don't register in the clock analogy. Why? Because they're not technically supposed to exist. In order to earn the label of an Imperfection, one must escape a Reaper attack and go on the run from The Government. That is when the perfection police post wanted posters about town with the imperfections' faces, officially branding them a "dangerous" imperfection. Once that happens, imperfections live by one law: kill or be killed. Running is not an option.