Paradise

• Michael Lane, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2006

No war, no pollution, no crime, no despondence. Looking upon his city from the citadel, the Mayor of Eden gave an approving murmur. Society was running, as it should, a paradise. Turning his attention to the countless data, he examined it. He moved quickly down the list, not really bothering to read into the regular statistics, only the anomalies. Refinery production was unchanged, exactly to the gram ore was processed as predicted, just like every day for the last 657,834 days. That was as expected, it was entirely automated. The monorail system too was on time to the millisecond, and had been for the same amount of days, but that was to be expected also, it too was automated.

The Mayor of Eden stopped for a moment, and began to examine one of the security monitors of the citadel. He gave a moment of thought about the paradise he ran. He knew nothing of the citizens of his city, of their lives. Choosing an employee at random, he cast his attention upon him.
“Employee,” rang the smooth voice of the mayor, “what do you think of this city?” The employee continued to stare ahead, expression unchanged.
“Employee, why do you not respond?” The employee’s expression remained; that of a maniacal grin, staring continuously at a single point, his body unmoving, his face unchanging.

Frustrated, the Mayor abandoned the silent employee and focused elsewhere. A glance across the city revealed a magnificent megalopolis, the constant streaks of the monorails crossing the city in their elaborate grids, the thousands of cranes forever working, expanding the city per expected growth, the process entirely automated. Factories steadily at work producing the products for consumption, the excess exported; eliminating wastage, power generators across the city utilizing thermodynamics in unwavering production of billions of megawatts of electricity. And spanning the whole city; neon lights of every colour and description, boasting the many activities available to the residents of Eden. A land where no one needed to work, where all manner of needs were provided for, where everyone could live in complete luxury.

Yet, the Mayor was troubled. In theory, the city was perfect, but he had never known a sole to voice their opinion, he had never discovered what a lone citizen felt, only what he could infer from the abundant statistics he constantly gathered. Thinking quickly, as he always did, the Mayor decided he would venture into the city, and see with his own eye the state of the populace.

So, for the first time in memory, he descended the citadel and entered the city, to see the state of his billions of citizens. Passing through the recreational areas, he saw much of the public, all in a state of happiness; no one exerting any effort whatsoever, everyone with the same, unchanging grins of the employee.

It was in his travels that the mayor made his grim realization, the reason for the lack of crime, pollution, despondence. Returning to the citadel, the Mayor made his choice. He was mayor of no-one, and as his only purpose to exist was in that capacity, his programming was no longer needed. He shut down, the last thing he saw being the employee, his skull grinning.