Attention Citizens! Please pay attention for your daily obligated Progress Reminder!

  Today's Reminder: SPEND!

  Every Gilden you earn is a Gilden someone else spent, and every Gliden you spend is a Gilden someone else earns.

  When you spend a Gilden at a store, you not only help the employees of that store to pay their bills, you also help fund the government through your taxes- and in turn fund the infrastructure the Federation relies on.

  Look around your city. That Gilden you spent goes to funding hospitals, schools, passenger trains, and to building new roads and bridges.

  Don't hoard your wealth like a greedy oligarchic, and let it gather dust in some bank vault, do your Civil Duty and SPEND so that others can SPEND for you!

  This Message Is Sponsored By The Ministry Of Information And Truth.

  -Tainted Blood-

  -Drowning on Land: Ch2-

  Alavon University was nothing like she expected.

  Instead of one big building, she found herself in the middle of a massive campus complex, made up of dozens and dozens of structures of every size, it was like its own mini city! All the buildings were stylized with roman arches and white pillars, giving it a consistent Greco-Roman theme throughout the entire area.

  There were beautiful water fountains, and statues of the founding fathers of the federation, and small monuments dedicated to historic events, and even three massive granite slabs that the names of every student that had graduated and had gone on to do something worthy of being elevated to an A-class citizen. A good quarter of the last slab was still empty, and Chloe wondered if she might one day have her name carved there.

  The university was like its own world, with a large bay of water separating it from the capital city, and nothing but beautiful grassy fields in a one mile circle from the university’s center in every other direction.

  The only way to get to or from the campus was either by air, or high speed train.

  Chloe, naturally, arrived by the second of the two options.

  She arrived early in the morning, handed her bag of meager belongings off to the staff, for them to deliver to her dorm, was given her school uniform which she immediately changed into, and then wandered the campus in a daze for the next few hours until her homeroom started.

  She was the first one to class, getting there 20 minutes early, and sitting at attention for the better part of half an hour before the other students started fullening in.

  A deep horn rang out over the speaker system, and Chloe shot to her feet so fast that her chair nearly fell over behind her. Everyone near her looked at her weirdly, but she had already managed a perfect salute to the flag hanging in the corner of the room, with one fist over her heart and the other arm held behind her back at a perfect horizontal angle.

  Quite a few students were right behind her in speed, and had even crisper salutes, though none had the same urgency to their movements. Others were close behind, but lacked Chloe’s speed or the military kids’ perfect form.

  To her great shock, there were a handful of students that were sluggish to respond, taking a moment to put a bookmark in their story, or finish sending a text, before standing up and lazily saluting.

  She gulped and waited for the teacher to punish them, but he made no move to.

  What? Was the shock stick not universal? Surely those weren't used exclusively in the D-district education centers?? No, that- it had to be because this was a place of higher education! She had been told that the small zap for failing to salute on time was to teach children the importance of quick action, and of proper respect. Now that she was in a university, the students were being treated like adults, that’s what it must be!

  With the mystery solved, Chloe nodded to herself and waited for the part of the short trumpet jingle to chant the daily pledge of allegiance with her class.

  ““I pledge loyalty to the flag of Humanity. One federation, united in purpose, and in the pursuit of progress and prosperity for all.””

  The trumpet ended and only 15 or so seconds after standing up, the class sat back down.

  The teacher looked over the class with a scowl on his face. He was clearly a veteran of some kind, going from the way he held himself, and from the large scar that covered half of his face and crossed over one dead gray eye.

  “My name is Matthew Johnson, I served in the navy for 15 years before retiring. I’ve seen worlds burn, and the enemies of mankind crushed under our boot- both those beyond our borders and those within. You will refer to me as Sir, Sir Johnson, or Mr Johnson. If I hear a nickname, any jokes at my expense, or any disrespect at all, I will have you run a lap around the entire campus- and I will run it with you so that I can find amusement in your failure. My eye may be shot, but my ears are still as sharp as ever. Do you understand?”

  ““Sir, yes sir!”” The kids who had stood up at the same time as Chloe barked back in unison- they were definitely from military families.

  “I said, do you understand?”

  “”Yes sir!”” The rest of the class echoed.

  “Good.” Mr Johnson scoffed. “To get here you all took a lot of classes, memorized a lot of flash cards, bubbled in a lot of copy paste test sheet answers. But I don’t care about your grades before now- no, that’s what the bean counters who stamped your acceptance sheet care about. I want to know if any of you actually learned anything in all the years you spent in class.” He scanned the room with his one good eye. “Can any of you tell me why the Federation exists?”

  “For the sake of progress?” A girl said as she raised her hand.

  “Wrong! That is what it strives to achieve, but is not why it exists!”

  “The Federation exists for the same reason all governments do, because after experiencing the chaos and lawless bloodshed of anarchy, humans are willing to give up parts of their freedom to a central power structure in order to live in safety and peace.”

  “Exactly! Now, you were taught about the failures of the political systems that came before the federation. The failure of democracy, the failure of communism, the failure of facism, the failure of monarchy. But can you tell me why they failed? Why did the old world collapse?”

  “They were all too busy fighting each other to progress as a whole for Humanity.” Said one student.

  “True, but not what I’m looking for.”

  “They grew stagnant and fat under the spoils of any success they achieved. The government would grow bloated with bureaucracy and corruption would rot them from the inside out.” Said another.

  “Bingo! That’s it! Now come on, give me more.”

  “The citizens were incentivised to benefit themselves over spending their wealth and energy benefiting the nation and society at large, often harming the society at large via spoils, corporate greed, corruption, or embezzlement for personal gain."

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  “Brilliant!” Johnson clapped. “Now how has the Federation avoided that fate?”

  “We avoid it by our dedication to Progress and the forward progress of Humanity!”

  “Yes, but give me a definition! What is the idea of Progress that we so desperately chase after?”

  “Progress is the advancement of industry, technology, and cultural structure in enough of a quantity to have a measurable impact. It can also include national statistics that have a correlation to the healthiness of Humanity as a whole, such as colonization, population increase, and the improvement of average living standards.”

  “Taken word for word from the book, but I want an example.” Johnson looked around. “Use your heads, what would you say is the best example of Progress on a civilizational level that we have achieved, and why?”

  “The citizen class system.” Chloe said firmly as she raised her hand. “The citizens of the federation that do their part to benefit the whole of the collective are rewarded with special rights and privileges, while those that harm the collective to benefit themselves have those privileges stripped from them. This aligns the incentives of the individual with society as a whole, and means that the most selfish thing you can do to help yourself is to help others.”

  The teacher grinned and gave her an approving nod.

  “I have high hopes for this class.” He said as he trudged back towards his desk.

  “In the dark times, before the Federation, the old world was a dangerous and terrifying place. Humanity was split into hundreds of different nations, each with their own cultures, their own languages, their own religions, their own militaries, and their own hatred for each other.

  “The world was divided, and chaos was everywhere. Conflict was constant. There was no standard of law across borders, so the drug trade ran rampant, and nations each fought to stoop lower than each other in their use of dangerous AI for an advantage. The richest individuals would migrate abroad to evade taxes, choosing greed over their civil duty, and forcing the bottom rung of society to bear the full weight of the nation on their backs.

  “As the nations grew more advanced, so too did their weapons of war, and their confidence in themselves. This led to three different World Wars. The first shattered the great Empires. The second shattered the continent of Europe, breaking the hold it had over the world. And the third… the third took longer to come to fruition, but it shattered the entire world.

  “The Federation, seeded by the remnants of the world’s best military and greatest scientific minds, was what pulled Humanity back from the brink. The Federation rebuilt civilization, the Federation unified Humanity under one banner, the Federation led us into the light and into a new era of Progress and Prosperity!

  “We are one Federation, one Government, one Earth, one Humanity, one People, one Culture, one Purpose.”

  He looked over the class with a steely gaze, making sure to make eye contact with each of them directly.

  “And you are our future.”

  The other students didn’t seem particularly impressed by the speech, but Chloe was practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

  Yes. This was the future, and she was a part of it. All of her effort had been worth it, and because it had paid off, that meant everything she had been put through was justified.

  It gad to be. She wouldn't accept any other answer.

  -Tainted Blood-

  “I need to ask for a vacation.” Ivan Yelts yawned into his hand. “10 hour work days is already rough even for the pay, but now we’re doing weekends too? I need to demand a raise, or threaten to quit the project.”

  He grumbled to himself even though he knew he wouldn’t walk away from this even at the cost of his life.

  This was the cutting edge of science, a new field that would revolutionize not just society but humanity at a fundamental level. This was PROGRESS, a true breakthrough that would push all of humanity forward.

  They just had to get the damn thing to work consistently first.

  So no matter how much he complained or how many weekends he had to work, he would always wind up in this stupid elevator at 4 in the morning, descending who knows how many miles underground.

  The magnetic elevator slowed to a stop, but the moment the doors opened with a soft ding, Ivan was grabbed and yanked outside.

  “H-Hey! Let me go!” He cried as two men in black security uniforms forced him to the ground and began searching his pockets. “I’m one of the leading scientists on this project! I’m a B-class citizen! Unhand me!”

  But the security men did not listen to his objections, and they continued their search, confiscating his phone and his wallet, and practically ripping off his lab coat.

  To Ivan’s dismay he could see that it wasn’t just him, in the entry way dozens of his lab staff were being held against the wall with their hands behind their head.

  “You’re going to pay for this! Do you have any idea what you’re interrupting, or who the director of this project is?”

  “The director is the one who ordered this search.” One of the security said, causing Ivan’s protests to die in his mouth.

  They patted him down, checked for anything hidden in his clothes, then hauled him to his feet and began pushing him out of the room.

  “You’re coming with us, the director wants to see you.”

  “What are you doing with my staff members?”

  “They’re being searched for contraband, and held for questioning. If they’re found to be clean they will be released back to work as usual.”

  Ivan wanted to curse at them and tell them that none of the brilliant men and women he’d worked with over the years would be responsible for… whatever had caused this reaction!

  But he held his mouth shut, and let the men drag him down the winding tunnels of the underground lab.

  It was cold down here, cold enough for a thick layer of mist to coat the metal floor and for frost to cling to the corners on sharp turns. Without his thick labcoat or his gloves, Ivan was shivering and desperately wishing for the heated break room.

  Soon he was dragged in front of a familiar sealed door, and the guards let go of his arms.

  Ivan shot them a dirty look and scanned his ID (which would have been extraordinarily illegal for anyone to take away from him, even for police, let alone private security). The door slid upwards with a silent hiss, and he was very satisfied when it slammed shut behind him when the guards tried to follow him in.

  “Dr Yelts, I’ve been waiting for you. Come in, come in.” A voice called out from further inside. “I apologize if the guards roughed you up, but this is a very dire moment that we have on our hands.”

  The director was tinkering with a machine. It was a large cylinder in shape, about ten feet long and twice the length that any man could wrap his arms all the way around.

  It was made of thick reinforced steel, and the sounds of pistons could be heard inside even at a distance. The machine seemed to lurch as it did its work, pumping and pressing the thick slurry it was being fed into a solid mass of some kind, which was then pulled out of the vat as it drained.

  But at the center of the machine, visible through reinforced glass, was a core of living tissue. It was dense flesh of meat and organs that pulsed and throbbed in tune with the whirring of the eclectic engine that supplemented it. Thick wires were plugged into the side of the machine to supply it with electricity, but alongside them were two pipes that pumped blood in and out like an artificial heart.

  It was similar to a lot of the most advanced machines down here, in that regard. They weren’t really alive, but they weren’t quite dead either.

  “Director, what in the world is going on? Our own security is holding our best men hostage! I was practically assaulted the moment I entered the facility- and I’m being told it was on your orders!” Ivan shouted. “I know I’m pushing my authority here, but sir, frankly I am too angry to care. There better be a damn good reason for all this!”

  “...We’re missing multiple batches of pure blood.”

  All at once it felt like the temperature of the lab fell several degrees.

  “Oh…” Ivan swallowed hard. “Oh.”

  “Someone has been tampering with the inventory logs. Logging extractions for tests that never existed. They have been stealing our most valuable asset from under our noses.”

  “This is very bad.” Ivan said as he wiped his suddenly very sweaty palms on his pants. “How much are we missing? A few samples? Maybe a gallon?”

  “Try an entire tank’s worth.”

  Ivan’s face went pale.

  “How did this happen!?”

  “Slowly. A bottle here, a few ounces there, for almost an entire year.” The director laughed dryly. “We take meat, we draw bone marrow, and we drain blood by the gallons every day. It all grows back like magic, but we can only take so much at a time before we risk killing it and losing our only supply. If our supply was being tapped, it would explain why we’ve been falling behind schedule.”

  “If that much blood makes its way into the public-”

  “You’re worrying about things beyond our control at this point. Forget prevention, we need to focus on preparing for damage control. Whoever’s behind this hasn’t done anything with the blood, at least nothing major. But when they do, we need to be ready to shut it down, quarantine the area, and clean up the problem before anyone else gets involved.”

  “And if a civilian gets infected?”

  “Then we clean up them as well.”

  Through the glass window in the lab below, a female scientist with black and white dyed hair kept her head down and kept working to not draw any attention to herself.

  -Chapter End-