Follow The Rules

One of the things that was always trotted out was:

"If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear"

That would be fine if the systems worked properly and were transparent and above board. People were told that slight changes were needed to ensure the safety of them and their families, and people generally accepted it.

The government had been voted in, and the electoral postponement was only initially for three months, but that was three years ago, or was it four now? No one could remember, but they knew that rules had to be followed for their benefit.

It seemed that the skies were always grey and there was always a misty drizzle. People had forgotten what sunshine was, and life was just the same thing day after day, except it wasn't.

On an almost daily basis, freedoms were trimmed in the name of the greater good, and people accepted it. No one was sure of the truth anymore so they just accepted what they were told by the broadsheets and on national television.

Then when they came to take their partners and children they accepted it was for the greater good, and when their partners and children were replaced, they said nothing. Change was natural, it was the way things were. They did not ask why, they just got on with their lives.

They were constantly told their lives were improving and the nation was improving due to the policies of the regime, and the ruling party was believed by the nation. They knew that if they did not follow the edicts issued then they would become one of the "disappeared".

People could walk in the streets, go to the shops to buy what they needed to live, but social conversation became a thing of the past. The only sounds were from the automatic checkouts and the footsteps of those in the stores and on the footpaths.

There was not need for private cars although there was still basic public transport, but the overall colour of everything, like the weather, was a uniform grey. Even the television broadcasts were now in black and white.

Libraries and books disappeared because the regime decided it would be better for the nation if people did not read anything other than the prescribed broadsheets. There was no need for independent thought, that would be detrimental to the development of the nation.

To everyone, this was normal, whatever they were instructed with, was normal.

An alien dropped into this place would not have seen any questioning or dissent, and foreign countries just saw them as a country in isolation, doing what they thought was best for themselves.

Life for everyone just became a way of passing the time until it ended.

No one knew who the ruling regime was or how they benefited from the situation, but they ran things with an iron fist in a velvet glove.

Every communication was about benefits and progress for everyone, but if anyone stepped out of line they wee taken away by the ghosting department, and never seen again. No one knew if they were imprisoned or executed, but nobody asked or cared,

The past had been erased, there was no future and the only thing that existed was the now. Some thought that this must be hell, maybe they had died after a bad life and this was their punishment, but the knew better than to say this out loud.

Today was another grey, rainy day. Jus like yesterday was, and just like tomorrow would be. There would be an announcement on how things were getting so much better for everyone .... in black and white.