Chapter Three

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The anticipation built as the small group leaned in so they wouldn't miss a word that the soft spoken man was about to speak.

"The foundation of morality and law is based upon a simple principle — all human life is equal," he began rather cryptically. "We recognize there are differences in ability, appearance, output, and potential... but killing a homeless person is the same moral and legal kind of wrongdoing as killing a rich and successful person. Most of you would likely agree. The reason this is considered the same kind of wrong is because the poor person and the rich person have the same intrinsic value or moral worth.

"However, World War III has really started to make people reconsider this fundamental notion. Do all humans have the same intrinsic value? Some would say that as a species, we have sociological, ecological, and even economical limitations. Meaning, we cannot grow exponentially. We will eventually reach a point where resources cannot sustain the population. Waste and pollution will reach a point where we will permanently damage the environment. As well, the economic system cannot grow infinitely. There will be a correction. There will be a collapse. We saw that with World War III, also known as the Automation War.

"Automation rendered most of society obsolete. People no longer had jobs, no longer had purpose, and served no meaningful utility to society. Systems broke down, governments failed, and people became desperate. Once that happened, the darkest part of humanity reared its ugly head.

"It was a manifestation of the most despicable and heinous acts imaginable. Civility eroded and billions of people lost their lives. Once our population reached a point where scarcity was no longer a threat, balance was restored.

"If we continue down the same path of consumerism, selfish consumption, and procreation, we will undoubtedly see a repeat of these atrocities. Something needed to be done. A new way of thinking needed to emerge and be set into action.

"That's where The Shadow came in — they are a group of anonymous hackers who took it upon themselves to manage the global population. A billion people remain and new strict measures were deployed to create a more stable collective.

"In their minds, not all humans were created equally. To them, living is not an inalienable right, it's a privilege. The Shadow wants only the best and brightest contributors. They want society to be made up of the most intelligent, talented, driven, and obedient citizens. A dream team if you will. Too many or too few of us, and we become unbalanced. Too many freeloaders creates disharmony and stifles innovation.

"They believe this will ensure the long-term survival of the species. That means the population cannot have any excess or inefficiencies. According to them, we don't need starving artists," he said, looking at Dane. "We don't need a surgeon with two broken hands," he said, making eye contact with Lynn. "We don't need a washed-up fashion model. And we don't need a paraplegic defector.

"We as a civilization grow the right amount of food, produce the right amount of goods and services, and everything runs smoothly in a harmonic balance. It's a fully self-sustaining eco-system, which produces very little waste. Everyone has a purpose. Everyone must be necessary. And there are strict laws governing procreation.

"Everyone on the planet has a microchip embedded inside of them. This creates an unbelievable amount of data that can be used to track everything from productivity, social impact, body mass index, and even emotion.

"The Shadow uses analytics and advanced algorithms to determine a person's utility over time. Real-time data tells The Shadow who is a productive member of society with little detriment. Are you forming meaningful relationships with people? Are you happy most of the time? Are you kind and helpful to others? Are you becoming self-actualized and reaching your fullest potential? Are you contributing more than you take?

"If not, they put you on a list. Using advanced predictive analytics, they can use this information to forecast what your future output will likely be with a remarkable degree of accuracy.

"Everything you do impacts your utility score and determines your social worth. Ultimately, they want to know if you contribute to the betterment of the species... or detract from it?

"Low performers are removed from general population. Those of you sitting here today, including myself, have been selected to be removed from gen-pop. I suspect none of you had any idea of this and didn't even consider yourself to be a low performer or underachiever. You likely weren't even aware that you had a social utility score and that everything you do is being tracked and monitored."

Everyone sitting around the campfire was dumbfounded at what they were hearing. Some were in disbelief, but all had strong opinions about it.

"That's messed up!"

"How could they do that?"

"How are they able to get away with this?"

Chatter amongst the group quickly escalated as emotions took over. People were charged up, sharing their mutual outrage with one another.

Then a voice emerged from the group asking a very important question that everyone else seemingly missed.

"How do you know all this?" Dane asked.

"I was one of the founding members of The Shadow."

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