The Perfect State: A Fictional Commentary on Humanity and Politics

Realisation: Chapter 4

New Oxford, 26 January 2048

6.00 PM, Jacque Darrin opened his front door. The hallway yet smaller than some others was still elegant. He noticed an envelope unlike any other on the floor, it was the colour of the envelope of an advisor of a Government Department. He was curious, Why would an advisor have business with me? Intrigued, he picked up the envelope and proceeded to walk into his living room which a cosy affair.

Sitting on his Chesterfield sofa and savouring the quiet before his wife and child came home, he opened the envelope with a letter opener. He put on his metal-rimmed glasses and then started to read the note inside the envelope, it read:-

'Dear Jacque,

I am a person within the government with the knowledge you may wish to know.

The Supreme Elder and the Council have voted to adopt Decree 68 which would mandate the execution of persons who failed the intelligence test regardless of their level of failure.

Due to sources and my connections within the government, I am aware of the fact that your daughter has an undiagnosed learning disability and will fail the test most certainly. I am also aware that you are Secretary of the Press Office and as such have unfettered access to the Records of the Supreme Elder. This could be very helpful in my desire to prevent the enforcement of this Decree and save your daughter.

I realise you must love your daughter as much as I do and would not wish such a fate befall her. Therefore, I propose we meet at a location just outside the city boundaries at 11 PM tonight to discuss how can you help me prevent such a tragedy. The location is contained in the code I provided with the note. My hope is that you attend and our forces combined we can undertake such actions that the will of Supreme Elder in this misguided case is prevented.

Yours faithfully,

Concerned Member of the Government'

Derrin read the note and put it down in shock. He was never informed of the change to the Policy Book. He experienced the same realisation that has come over both Quent and Mane and like them, a great wave of guilt washed over him.

The note was typed on paper only supplied to the Advisors to the Supreme Elder so it seemed obvious to him that the note was genuinely from someone within the Government, most likely a concerned Advisor. Only thing was which Advisor was it? It was no secret that a number of the Advisors actively disagreed with the policies of the Supreme Elder despite voting for them. Derrin who had access to all records was even more aware of that.

He had to meet the concerned member, it was imperative to the saving of his son and that was more important than anything. The location provided by the code ran through the correct process came up as a collection of agricultural fields outside the city called the Breadbasket of the Republic. Certainly, a curious location for such a meeting as it was relatively far outside the city for a member of the government who lived in the centre of the metropolis.

His concern for his own security was on his mind too, as someone who had full access to the Records he was heavily monitored by the authorities. He was too dangerous not to be monitored. His state-provided car had a location chip within it which meant he would be found if he drove to the meeting location in that car. Then a moment of inspiration, he remembered that his wife's personal car was not fitted with one and she sometimes allowed him to drive the car if his car was being repaired. At that moment a plan came together, once his wife was asleep he would take the car keys and drive his wife's personal car to the location.

The only main sticking point would be the checkpoints guarding the perimeter proper of New Oxford. The checkpoints prevented those who were the unintelligent labourers or those who were deemed 'undesirable residents' from entering the city proper. Most of the time these were not an issue as the city contained everything a man would want but now he would have to pass one of these checkpoints to get to the meeting location. What if he was recognised or arrested? Then his son would surely die. Fortunately, he remembered that around 10.15 P.M, the sentries changed at the checkpoint giving him a window of three or so minutes to get through the checkpoint, a challenge indeed but Derrin had no choice. He had to meet the concerned member for his son's sake.