Being granted to live in the free land was like a dream come true for the middle-aged couple. They had travelled thousands of miles on foot with their teen children in the hope of a better life. Even the refugee camp where they spend about three weeks on the border of the free republic offered them a better experience than they had back home.
Free republic had been leading the world order for more than five decades. Built extraordinarily all over a desert, the republic had no natural resources, but it was their control of the global technology that had made them astoundingly rich. Since its establishment, they had been welcoming people from all over the globe who believed in freedom of ideas.
Upon their arrival, the free republic granted the middle-aged couple a place to live, arranged education for their children, and provided them with unlimited access to all the essential apps where they would choose a career and grow. It was, however, not mandatory because no one needed to worry about basic living in the free republic. Shaping the career was only for those who wanted more perks in their lives, and those who wished to become leaders of the future. The middle-aged couple didn’t bother to explore the vast world of apps, neither they took any free training offered by the government. But they made sure their kids will.
Tuten and Philen grew up with the right education, and in a decade, they even forgot they once lived in a place where even dressing up against the codes would cost people their lives. With the best facility in the world, they thrived and mastered the leadership app. Their influence grew among other people, especially the first and second-generation refugees from all over the world, known as new-freezens. The brothers, in the process of moving forward in their career, noticed the lack of presence of new-freezens in essential areas. The offsprings of people who had contributed in the making of the free republic, known as main-freezens were mostly in the leadership, controlling vital techs, and enjoying the best perks the place could offer. Most main-freezens had the best flying pods, and hacker free app access, whereas most new-freezens would rely on state-provided public pods and apps they had to secure on their own. It was still a thousand times better than what the wealthiest could afford in the place where they came from.
One winter morning, something shocking happened in the area 1023. The pods, private and public, suddenly malfunctioned in the sky, and all the essential life-guiding apps failed miserably. Within few minutes, more than a million systems malfunctioned, and thousands lost their lives. Though the top engineers took control of the situation within minutes, the damage had been done. It was the worst thing to happen to the republic since its establishment.
Within hours, it was revealed that someone from abroad had successfully inserted a bug in the system. The bug was detected and neutralised. It wasn’t hard for the administration to identify the people responsible, given that they had all the best tech minds and systems within their border that were running the whole world. Among many, the government of the country Tuten and Philen were born was found responsible for the attacks. They got the punishment they deserved, and the whole world supported the free republic’s action. No one would dare to mess with the free republic in the future, except some of their own.
The offsprings of new-freezens started demanding equal participation in everything. They stated their dissatisfaction in the apps and speeches that would directly be communicated to the top-level leadership. To address the first wave, top-level leadership cleared all the citizens that the republic was formed on the grounds of equality for everyone, and whoever would work hard and get better with the apps, would advance in their life regardless of their origin. But the spark of envy was growing among the next generation of new-freezens. Someone had successfully planted the seed of new agenda in the minds of people because politicians always needed an agenda to rule, and political agendas were blurring out in that perfect system.
A few main-freezens supported the idea of an equal outcome because equality in everything had been an undebatable topic in the republic. Eventually, the republic became so divided that the major parties polarised on each idea. The first one supported the existing system and believed there had always been an opportunity for people who would invest their time. The second one, however, rejected the whole idea and rooted for equal outcome.
Tuten and Philen became one of the prominent members of the equality party in a few decades of advocating for equal outcome. Though it was the freedom that had granted them to put forward a new idea, they decided to censor opposing views. Not only the primary apps but the public forums and free speech platforms were taken over by the mob, and speaking against the idea of equal outcome was censored. The first idea behind the building of the republic was crippled.
The situation became tenser when a few main-freezens demanded the end of immigration for seeing the perfect system heading towards disaster. Tuten and Philen, and their party silently commanded a riot which rocked important parts of the republic. Some even attempted the destroy major systems. Even when more than 90% of the population did not support the cause, the government agreed on the bill of equal outcome.
With the help of careerless mob, who were always available for any kind of destruction, free speech was soon censored. And with the radicals controlling the major tech and systems, the idea of a free republic was only limited in its name. Almost all the great minds left to the places where their contribution would be appreciated, and more than 90% main-freezens migrated. Those who didn’t, started a rebellion.
In less than a decade, there were no free food or a free place available for the people to live, and there were no refugees on the border. The new government labelled new-freezens as special-freezens, who would not require to contribute to anything but enjoy other’s contribution. With a plummeting contribution to the tech economy and thriving corruption, the free republic became one of the worst states in the world, similar to the place Tuten and Philen’s parents fled from, decades ago. But they were in power, people still supported them, and there was nothing to worry about, at least for them.
Michael Ghimire 