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The Mortal
State
punish humanity and bring judgement upon us all. But nobody
knew. All that anybody knew is that when it finally left, there was a
silence. A soft white hush fell, so unfamiliar in the stricken and
tortured landscape that at first, it was deafening. It was the quiet
of a planet freed of four billion lives. The Purge had left behind
a lost people, ghosts of the former reality stranded in this
nightmare of a future.
From the ashes of the Purge rose the Sanctuary. A light in this
blackened world, the Sanctuary provided a purpose for humanity to
rebuild their lives. The Sanctuary gave people hope; it provided
resources, laws and a vision of a world reborn from destruction.
That vision grew into the Republic of Elysium, as crystalline and
idyllic as they could envision. The Sanctuary taught to learn from
the mistakes of the past and to create a future where no such errors
could be made again. The only way this could be ensured was to keep
the people thinking as one, as only when the population is under a
single belief can peace be attained. Have faith in the Sanctuary, they
preached. Change is the poison of mankind. Thoughts in unison
become a people in union. This, they assured, was the only way
humanity could survive.
Every Monday at 0800, the Sanctuary officials herded the city
into the Central Square, forming a vast sea of grey suits and glazed
expressions. In the midst of it all, I always felt like I was drowning.
Sometimes I would glance furtively at the congregation, searching
for something, some kind of spark of emotion. But each head was
upturned dutifully to the immense screen above. It crackled to life,
as it did every Monday, and vivid images flicked past whilst a sombre
voice washed over the crowd. The voice-over described the terrible
divided world before the Purge, how humanity was slowly pushing
itself closer over the edge. Graphs illuminated the screen, steep lines
depicting the sudden surge in world population in the 21st century.
‘Humanity’s population bordered on 8 billion,’ the voice drummed
steadily. ‘And still mankind insisted on finding methods to cure
illnesses, prolong life. They denied that their lives were limited and
constantly in a fragile, mortal state. The world could only sustain 4
billion lives, but still the population grew and humans spread over
the globe like a disease. Greed festered, and the few who charged
ahead turned a blind eye to the masses that were left behind.’ Images
of children flashed above, their bony legs collapsed under their
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