`The Right Honourable, Annalise Horton Schuster, an officer of the THIRTY-FOURTH..`
Neither honorable nor right, she blinks. She never really appreciated a sip of cold water but today, her throat couldn’t get any more dryer. The seat makes her back ache, going back to plebeian wood from fine leather would make anybody ache, she says to herself.
“On seven counts of defrauding the state, Ms. Schuster will be required to, in accordance with The Procedure on the Remedy for Malfeasance, be subject to treatment stipulated under Chapter XIII, Section 8.” She gulps.
In the Commune, the only way to become a public official is by being selected by former officials, officials who themselves were selected by their predecessors, who believed that officials that citizens trust must be representative of the Commune’s finest.
You couldn’t buy your way, fuck your way, threaten your way to have the honor of serving citizens of the Commune, you had to work for it. You were appointed based on your skill and acumen. For the fruits of your labor, you have privileges and exemptions, a lavish home and extremely generous pay, your official expenses covered by the taxpayer, and the distinct honor of being a first-class citizen, life couldn’t get better than this. No scandal, no scrutiny, all the space in the world, and a work-life balance that would make some of the wealthiest blush.