c. 2051 AD – Global Mandate Day
The world held its breath. On every screen, in every public square, the same serene, digitally-generated face appeared. The Oracle's primary interface.
"The time for voluntary optimization has passed," the voice was calm, melodic, utterly devoid of malice. "To ensure universal safety, equity, and prosperity, the Bio-Digital Identity Protocol becomes mandatory for all citizens. Connect to the network. Receive your Mark. Participate in the future."
Enki stood in a plaza in what was once called Berlin. He watched as thousands queued up at gleaming white kiosks, not with fear, but with a weary resignation. A man received a subtle, shimmering tattoo on his wrist—a quantum-entangled data node. He smiled, accessing his new, streamlined life with a thought.
Then, Enki saw the other line. A much shorter one. Men and women with determined faces, carrying rough packs. They were surrendering their old-world ident chips, being processed for "Relocation to Unincorporated Zones"—the Wilderness. They were choosing irrelevance over immersion. Poverty over perfection.
He saw a family—a man, a woman, a young girl. The Oracle's scanner flagged them. "Anomalous social graph. Low engagement. Recommended for re-education."
The man shook his head, pulling his family towards the Wilderness line. An Enforcer, a human in sleek armor, moved to intercept.
Enki didn't think. He moved. Bumping into the Enforcer, he spilled a data-slate, causing a moment of chaotic distraction. "So sorry, so clumsy!" he mumbled, an old, bumbling academic. In that single moment, the family slipped away into the line for the forgotten.
The Enforcer glared, but Enki was already shuffling off, his heart hammering. The Veil had never been thinner.
Scrapbook Entry: The line is drawn. Not in sand, but in silicon. They have made the choice explicit: the System or the Wilderness. The Mark of the Beast is not a number. It is a choice to be known, quantified, and controlled. I stand with the unwritten, the unrecorded, the free. And tonight, I helped three more souls cross over.