The Magistrate: A Short Story

The Magistrate

Michael Smith stood alone in the rain, waiting. It was nearly time. The rain beat down mercilessly on him. “Why is it always raining?” He asked himself. He shifted his feet. “He should have been here by now.” He breathed a long sigh into the cold air. The flimsy grey canopy like structure above him bended weakly with the wind; and he could smell the wet cement behind him. It was a strong, artificial sort of smell; contrasting sharply with the vile smell of alcohol that emitted from the flask he held in his gloved hand. He always wore gloves, whether or not the local climate dictated it. The black leather of his boots creaked as he stamped his feet on the cement to keep warm. He put the flask of liquor back in his overcoat pocket. His ears detected the faintest electric purr of a vehicle; and a sleek, black car came into view. “He’s late.” He thought to himself. The car rolled up to him and the back window on the passenger side rolled down. “I have a message for you,” said a grating low voice. “The Magistrate wants to see you.” Michael nodded. “Let’s go.”
“My name is Michael Smith, identification code Bravo 996. I live in Imperium City. I am 23 years old. I have no domestic partner. I work for the Magistrate, the ruler of Imperium City. My only purpose is to serve the Magistrate. This is my sole purpose and duty, and I will fulfill it to the end. Long live the Magistrate!”
The hologram which contained Michael’s credentials closed back into the disc from where it had sprung from. The man sitting opposite him handed it back to him. “Well, Bravo 996, how do you like Imperium City?” There lurked the faintest hint of smile on his lips. “Sir, it’s a nice change in scenery,” responded Michael. The man looked at him. “Nice change in scenery, huh? Doesn’t make much sense to me; the cities are all the same. Every wall is dull, grey cement. Every road is black. Everything’s symmetrical, everything’s clean. You know, I heard that before the age of the Cities, there were these things called matchboxes that people used to start fire. I saw a picture of one once. Our cities look like a bunch of matchboxes standing up.” Michael stared at him, questions rising in his eyes. He carefully watched the man ramble on about the Cities. “He’s bordering on Violation,” thought Michael. Immediately, the man, as though sensing his thoughts, caught himself. “But of course, that’s how it should be: clean and symmetrical.” He said not very convincingly. Michael nodded as if to convey a sense of caution to the man.
The man sat silently for a moment, then turned a cold eye onto Michael. “It didn’t say anything in your profile about your Division,” he barked sharply, “explain, Bravo 996!” Michael’s facial expression did not change. “I’m sorry sir; protocol dictates that I cannot tell you that. It’s classified.” The man’s temper flared, and he grabbed Michael’s collar roughly. “Tell me, you piece of filth! I have authority over you!” (Apparently, he was bent out of shape because Michael had detected he was bordering on Violation.) “You will submit to me the proper information about your division, Bravo 996!” Michael grabbed the man’s hands. His expression conveyed no emotion. “If you must know, I am of Division 2.” He said coldly. Suddenly, the man’s eyes grew wide in horror. “You-You’re one of them! Get away from me!” Michael’s hands closed about the man’s neck. “You are in Violation of Code, information has been revealed to you which is classified and you have physically attacked a Division 2 construct of the Magistrate. As such, it is my duty to terminate you. Your service to the Magistrate has been appreciated but you are no longer needed.” The man stared in horror at him, “Your time will come!” He whispered hoarsely. “I exterminate people like you; I can’t be exterminated,” whispered Michael back. The man tried to yell out but failed as Michael’s hand was against his throat. With one swift motion and a brutal cracking sound, Michael snapped the man’s neck. It was as simple to Michael as it would have been to snap a twig. Then, he pulled the back of the seat to reveal the trunk and shoved the body inside. He sat back in the seat and breathed as if nothing had happened. He adjusted his black tie, smoothed his dark hair and settled back in his seat. “Take me to the Magistrate; and have this vehicle Sanitized.” He told the computer that was driving the car. “Yes, sir.” It was still raining outside. “Why is it always raining?” Michael muttered.
The car pulled up to a large square like building. It rose into a pyramid, way up in the clouds. This was the Magistrate’s personal dwelling and the headquarters for all Division monitoring. Several other such towers rose in the distance, the Ministries. Each one responsible for a certain area, they kept close watch on their quadrant. Michael ascended the steps in the rain and passed through the wide archway. Two masked guards wearing all black stopped him. He showed them his disc, and told them his name and number. “Alright, Mr. Black, you’re cleared to go. The Magistrate is expecting you.” Michael nodded and proceeded to the elevator. “I’m here to see the Magistrate.” He told the elevator. “Welcome, Bravo 996,” said a smooth woman’s voice, “The Magistrate has been expecting you.” The elevator rose into the air. Michael turned and looked out the window.
He could see the grey city, stretching on for miles. The grey tops of the buildings glistened wetly under the unrelenting rain. Nothing but grey for miles. This was Imperium City. Everything was clean, everything was right. Everything was dealt with in the methods the Magistrate had dictated. And that was the way it should be. Michael had grown up in this building, in an underground facility called Section 42. He had grown up without any parents; the only parental figures he knew were his instructors. His real parents had been donors from Division 3. He was now a Division 2 Construct, someone who had no other purpose but to do the Magistrate’s bidding. Division 1 Constructs were called Citizens, and they each had jobs assigned them; designed to increase the overall welfare of the state. About ninety percent of the constructs in the cities were Citizens. Division 2 Constructs were the only ones who had more of personal names as well as numbers. They were the “police” of the Cities. They hunted down Violators (those who thought, said, or did anything against the state.) and exterminated them. Michael was a special Division 2 construct; he worked for the Magistrate personally. Generally, Division status was shown on ID discs, unless you were like Michael; a Division 2 construct specifically trained to be the Magistrate’s personal guard. Division 3 Constructs were called Elitists. They were the directors of the various Ministries of the cities. The Magistrate was the top Division 3 Construct. He was the leader of all the cities.
The elevator had reached the top of the building, and shook Michael from his reverie. He stepped out into a large grey room. There was an android secretary at a small desk. It looked up at him as he approached and handed her his ID disc. The android analyzed it, and then said, “Welcome, Bravo 996, the Magistrate is waiting.” A pair of doors slid open and Michael walked through them.
He found himself in an enormously large room. Everything was dull grey and there was no furniture of any kind save a chair at the far wall facing a huge monitor. There were images of people on the screen and video feed of every room in the building. There was a man sitting in the chair, talking to a holographic image of one of the directors. The hologram disappeared and the Magistrate stood up and turned around. He was tall man, with jet black hair, and an aura of perfection about him. He wore a black suit and a silver ring with a black stone set in the middle. “Ah! Michael! You’re here!” Michael nodded. The Magistrate strode toward him. “What do you have for me?” Michael pulled three small discs out of his coat pocket and handed them to the Magistrate. “Excellent!” said the Magistrate, as he strode over to the massive screen on the wall. Michael followed him quietly. The Magistrate inserted the three discs into three different slots in the wall near the screen. Three figures appeared on the screen. They were the leaders of the other three Cities. Suddenly, a red bar materialized in front of each image. The message read, “EXTERMINATED FOR VIOLATION.” A thin smile played itself across the features of the Magistrate. “Wonderful work, Bravo 996; you have done your work like a true servant.” Michael nodded. “It is my purpose, Magistrate.” The Magistrate turned toward Michael. “I now control all four of the Cities. Everything will be as it should. There shall be no Violation unpunished, no thinking left uncorrected. No emotion shall go unchecked. Their will be new, more aggressive monitoring on all Citizens. The old laws of Violation shall be strengthened. The population shall truly know that this is their salvation!” Michael nodded in agreement. “Sir, what was their violation?” The Magistrate stiffened, and looked at him. “Thought crime, Bravo 996, they were found thinking against the state.” He said in a halting tone. Michael wanted to ask how they knew of their thought crime. “Enough with the questions, Bravo 996, you did well. You’re dismissed.” Michael bowed and exited the room. The Magistrate watched him go; then pushed a button and a hologram of a soldier clothed in black materialized. “What are your orders, Magistrate?” The soldier inquired. “Bravo 996 has committed Violation and questioned motives of the state. I want him exterminated immediately.” said the Magistrate coldly, “He is not to leave this building; he has worn out his usefulness and he is dangerous to the state.” The holographic soldier nodded. “Consider it done, Magistrate.”
Michael got into the elevator. As it descended, he pondered his encounter with the Magistrate. Was the reason he had exterminated those three leaders really because of Violation? But it wasn’t his place to question the Magistrate. The Magistrate was always right. But Michael couldn’t help but notice how the Magistrate reacted when he asked that question. But that probably just meant that what happened was a different degree of Violation. He figured what he had done was perfectly legitimate. Abruptly, the elevator stopped. Elevators weren’t supposed to stop in the middle of a descent. Michael’s senses tingled. He felt like something was wrong. The doors slowly opened.
He was staring into a security monitoring complex. Security guards were everywhere, and as the doors opened, they all turned towards him. “Hey, that’s the Division 2 construct wanted for Violation!” someone shouted. “Violation!?” The thought darted through Michael’s mind. Then his instincts instantly took over. Diving into the room, he sidestepped swiftly, and jammed his elbow into the nearest guard’s helmet. Grabbing the soldier’s machine gun, Bravo 996 swung around, firing machine gun rounds into the tightly knotted soldiers. Swinging the gun upward, he discharged a round into the skull of the soldier whose weapon he was borrowing. As the soldier dropped to the ground, Michael gripped the gun and rushed through the room to the window on the far side. As he ran, he passed a shelf with tactical equipment. He grabbed a rappelling cable and discharged it into the ledge of the window as he shot the glass and leapt through the space. For a split second, Michael was even with the raindrops around him and time stood still. Then as gravity took hold, he plummeted towards the earth.
The rappelling cable took effect and swung Michael into the wall of the building. He jammed his thumb onto the lowering mechanism, and he shot downwards. Breaking periodically with the rappelling mechanism, he quickly came near the roof of a lower building. Michael quickly shoved his legs into the wall and propelled himself on to the adjacent roof. He landed with a loud thud onto the roof. He lay still for a moment. He looked up. There was an airship patrolling around the Magistrate’s building. “Not good!” He leapt up and ran towards the edge of the building and leapt off onto a lower one, and so on until he reached the surface streets. He pressed himself against the wall and watched as the airship made a pass over him. It hadn’t detected him; otherwise they’d already have killed him. He relaxed his guard and pondered the events of the past half hour. He was being hunted down for Violation. Why? Questions arose in his mind. The Magistrate wanted him gone. That was the only explanation. Michael knew too much, that was it. He knew the reason why the leaders were gone. And he was pretty sure now, that it wasn’t for violation. It was for power; for the Magistrate’s gain. The entire system Michael had worked to preserve his entire life; was broken. His god had betrayed him.
The rain still fell all around him. “Why is it always raining?” He wondered again. There was silence except for the pattering of raindrops all around him. “It’s not supposed to be like this, I’m a Division 2 construct! I don’t get exterminated.” reasoned Michael. But these questions could come later. Right now, he needed to make himself invisible. He was good at that. He needed to become inconspicuous. He would go to the center of the city. And spread the message about the Magistrate and his hypocrisy. Yes! That was it. “Salvation! Salvation for one man isn’t much of a salvation.” Michael heard an airship in the distance. It was time to go.