
In a nation that proclaims itself a flawless utopia, loyalty is enforced with an iron certainty: doubt means death. Massive rallies fill the air with the booming oratory of the State’s charismatic educator, whose speeches celebrate a “clean and wholesome land” while reminding everyone that any whisper of dissent will be crushed. The atmosphere is both dazzlingly orderly and suffocatingly rigid, a world where public devotion is mandatory and private thoughts are dangerous.
Amid the grand auditorium, the Director of Public Security moves like a predator, scanning the shadows for those who dare to conspire. He confronts the Deputy of Vital Intelligence, a man trembling under the weight of secret reports about a mysterious rebel leader and a covert chemical project. Their terse exchange reveals a hidden network of resistance that the State refuses to acknowledge, hinting at a battle fought behind closed doors.
The story unfolds as these officials navigate a maze of propaganda, paranoia, and hidden agendas, exposing the fragile cracks beneath a society that believes it has eliminated all imperfection.
Language
en
Duration
~15 minutes (14K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2009-11-05
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
Best known for brisk, offbeat science fiction from the early 1950s, this writer left behind a small body of work that still feels lively and curious. Two surviving stories show a taste for both dystopian unease and playful pulp adventure.
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