The following is a very short story inspired by an untitled poem by an unknown author.
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Changes
Back in those days, we were still pretty much in shock after hearing about the Emperor’s death. I don’t think any of us had ever really thought about what it would be like after he died. To be honest, I don’t think it ever even occurred to us that he might actually die. Most of us had never known a time when he wasn’t there.
The changes came pretty fast after that. I still remember when the Moff came on the subnet feeds and announced the dissolution of the New Order Party and the abolition of the Safety Police. Who would have thought such a thing was possible? Who would have ever imagined a world without the Ordinals? We hardly knew what to think.
Can you imagine what it was like? Things were changing so fast. It seemed like just the night before we had gone to bed, and it was — do you remember the old Ordinal slogan? “The Emperor’s on his throne, all’s right with the world”? Suddenly we woke up and it seemed like a brave new world, with strange and wondrous possibilities.
It was about a month after the Ordinals were suppressed that the Moff came to our city. It seemed like the whole of the city was assembled in Chancellor’s Hall. Tens of thousands of us there, all staring at this man standing before us on the stage. He wasn’t wearing the old drab uniform anymore. I remember thinking, “Great stars, I’ve never seen him out of uniform before.” Why would any powerful man not want to be seen clad in the olive of the Empire? That’s how much had changed.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “I have come before you here today because I want to hear what you think. The old regime is gone. The old system is gone. We’re living in the future now. I want to hear what you think about the future.”
We just gawked at him. Nobody had ever asked our opinion before. Not like this. The city hall meetings had always been rubber-stamps for the Ordinals and their allies in the local machine. Speaking up was a good way to get a visit from the Safety Police.
Finally my friend Davin stood up. The Moff looked at him politely and gestured for him to speak.
“Sir,” he said, “When will we have free elections?”
The Moff looked at him, surprise on his face. He gestured for Davin to continue.
“And what about jobs? There are no jobs. The little money we have you take away to buy more guns. There are so many poor people, people without shelter. And what about medicine? There are too few hospitals. The ones there are, so few of us can afford.”
The Moff looked horrified. I can remember the look on his face, like he had absolutely no idea how bad things had been in the past few years.
Davin was building his confidence now. “And what about our missing family members? The people the Safety Police took away at night. When will we see them again?”
The Moff cursed out loud. “Is this the government I have been ruling all this time? Is this what I have been responsible for? Friend, thank you for bringing this to my attention. By this time next year, you will see changes.”
The next year the Moff came back. He stood up there on the stage, looked out at us, and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have come before you today because I want to hear what you think. The old system is gone. We are living in the future now. I want to hear what you think about the future.”
We were quiet for a very long while. Finally I stood, and I spoke up and said, “Sir, when will we have free elections? When will we have jobs? When will there be shelter for the poor, and medicine for the sick? When will we see our missing family?”
I took a deep breath.
“And where is my friend Davin?”
Changes
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