Abandoned world: the Awareness - стр. 14

– I'm afraid it's the only right decision… As hard as it is to make, we have to nip this contagion in the bud… We have to show that our intentions are more serious than ever. That we will fight for our victory in this battle… We must execute him! And to prevent this from happening again, we must properly evaluate this crime… After all, an attempt on a manager's life is a brutal act. It's

not just a violation of some rule. It is a threat to our existence. It is treason against our world, against our nation. It is treason against ourselves… And it should be called accordingly… Treason....

– Execution for treason! – shouted one of the clackers, and immediately several supported him with a shout of "Yes!". People were driven to a frenzy in which they could not deny that something was going wrong, or not the way they wanted it to. They only began to want to agree with everything, to be in a common rhythm, to be part of the whole that was behaving right. Right means safe, because the new understanding of the world order included first of all the preservation of one's own life. Which now depended primarily on following the logic established by the rules.

Rules that could change, as they had just done. Which meant that the only way to remain intact, to stay alive, was to be compliant.

– And if anyone still thinks that's too harsh, let him have his say now! – Peyton thundered, throwing his pen on the podium table. At the same moment the clackers instantly froze, and there was a deafening silence in the hall, which lasted only a few seconds. Peyton defiantly looked around the hall, imagining that everyone could see his confident and formidable silhouette from their seats, and then solemnly proclaimed:

– So it's unanimous. Execution for treason.

Chief of

security

Bill Sterling was an elder. He was also chief of security. And he was also the only one of all the elders who was himself in charge of one of the sections on the station. And in all the time he'd possessed all of that, the thing he'd learned the most was restraint. It was the cornerstone of his whole policy, his whole system for staying on top.

There was no need to inconvenience the other elders. That was the first point of restraint…

He sometimes wished he could take on the task of cleaning up what was going on in the Supreme Council of Elders. At least once to clean it of those people who just waste other people's time, take other people's place, use other people's powers, and do nothing in their place. As much as he wanted to interfere, he would not allow himself to do so.