if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

numbers

     "Basically, how the Tera government works is like this." Zelda explained as we crossed into the Lanayru region. I noticed she still stood a little apart from us, holding the reins of her horse tighter than strictly necessary as she walked on the outskirts. She still didn't fully trust us. "It operates on a system of numbers."

     She held out her hand. With each level she bent one finger. "You've got the Units at the bottom, ranked by power and influence in the government. Below the Units is the army and lower staff. Well, we call them lower staff, but they're more like slaves. That's where the dissidents end up. The public doesn't know about this, of course. To them, they just disappear at night, never to be seen again."

     "That's crazy." Daruk looked horrified. "Slaves? A few of ours have gone missing and that's where they are?" His face twisted. "It's horrible."

     "It really is." Zelda shook her head. "That's why we gotta fight them, to win back our taken people. The Hylian farmers and producers too. They are being forced to make nearly double of the goods they used to be able to make and the taxes had skyrocketed. Everything good Hyrule stood for: peaceful prosperity, freedom, even basic privacy, has been destroyed."

     She seemed to grapple with her thoughts for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Enough about that now. One level above the Units: Decas. Next level is Hectoes. Next is Kilos. And then you enter the special operatives, the most powerful and dangerous people: the Megas, then the Gigas, and finally, the Tera herself, Sorrah, at the very top. Most of us have never seen her face, actually. The Megas have met her but only the Gigas were allowed to work closely with her."

     "How does that relate to numbers?" Sadie, who was not good at math, asked, biting her lip to hide the emotions that surfaced at the mention of her sister's name as the leader of our enemies. 

     "It's like this. Units are, well, units. Deca is a prefix meaning ten. Likewise, hecto means hundred, kilo means thousand, mega means million, giga means billion, and tera means trillion. There are 7 layers to this government, each one with a different purpose and a gradually increasing power level."

     "What type of purposes?" Daruk asked. 

     "I don't know about many of the others, but the Units are basically footsoldiers and the Decas handle odd jobs, low-grade miscellaneous work that doesn't really have a lot of influence. The Hectoes go to the towns and keep down dissent. I know some higher levels are researching the Power Orbs that they got a couple months back, and take care of trade and all that... But I no longer know all the details."

     "I see." Revali said. "And what about the numbers? How many people in each tier?"

     "That's where it gets a little bit complicated. Well, it's like this. You know binaries?"

     Sadie said "no" and the other two said "yes". 

     Zelda smiled slightly. "It's okay if you don't understand. You only need to know the numbers."

     She hesitated for a moment, then continued. "Obviously there's only one person at the Tera level: Sorrah herself. There are 10 Gigas. 11 Megas. Those are the special operatives and the major threats. Then you jump to 100 Kilos, 101 Hectoes, 110 Decas, and finally, 111 units. These people at or below 100 in numbers have significantly less sway and are weaker."

     "Oh..." Daruk scratched his chin. "And if I'm not mistaken, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, and 111 are binary numbers for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7?"

     "Yes. And that's also the power scaling with 1, the Tera, being the strongest and going downwards from there. It's all ranked in terms of power, influence, and numbers."