to the fact that they reputedly contained passages of sacral Khmer text more often than not. Nonetheless, they were breathtakingly beautiful works of intricate art.
Confronted with his first unexpected choices immediately after setting foot in their new homeland, Niklas Vladimir visibly relished the authority that his new-found role as family patriarch afforded him and even risked an embarrassing row with his family over his speedy choice of one of the low-cost standard versions, replete with what he thought was an imposing eagle, for all of them.
“I don’t know. If they don’t get it right …” Charles voiced his objection, “it’ll kinda look like a rooster in drag.”
Niklas shrugged and relented, agreeing–much to Charles’ surprise–to a motif with a slight upcharge. He was almost there where he wanted to be, but not quite.
Only once during the further proceedings on that morning did he again risk losing his countenance: difficult as it was, he successfully managed to keep himself in check following Jacqueline’s extremely cheeky and very embarrassing comment as to whether the implantation of the chip might not be most adequately and fittingly accomplished by just “… ramming it up everyone’s ass.”
The answer to that particular question was unfortunately no, she was informed wryly by the young dog-faced, on-duty chief of staff at the TAMS facility administration desk.
Then they were cordially referred to their lifestyle counselor.
Here, following their rather unceremonious arrival, and now committed to live and work in a society beholden to none other than the good Lord himself, the family was advised of the legal grounds associated with the necessity to contribute the greater share of its savings in return for the privilege of residing in a tenement erected to house the swelling flood of newcomers rushing in ever since the proclamation of the domain.state. Although everyone was doing all they could to keep the process streamlined, they were informed, there was unfortunately still a lot of bureaucracy and plenty of additional papers to be signed before one finally comes out of the pipeline.
“But, of course, we’re here to help you!” proclaimed the counselor cheerfully. “And it’s all worth the effort, as I’m sure you’ll see!”
Upon submitting application for permanent residency in the Domain.State of Libertyville@Esperantia, and after all other formalities were finally taken care of, the prospective immigrants were instructed to proceed to the next and final station, the desk where they would then assume their new identity prior to being discharged into the mainstream of Libertyville@Esperantia.
Although not explicitly mandatory, a name change was strongly encouraged as it was viewed as a sign of one’s willingness, or even eagerness, to integrate into the existing social habitat. It was a signal of wholehearted acceptance of the new homeland and its culture. And, to make it more attractive, there was certainly nothing in the guidelines that found fault with selecting something trendy.
The assumption of new identity was regarded as an important milestone on the path toward a successful integration.
“Just think about it for a moment,” the on-duty notary officer explained as she sat before them at her desk with an impish smile that Charles thought was perhaps exclusive to the realm of brainwashing.
“… our job here is not unlike introducing huge swarms of new fish into a big aquarium each new day.”
The notary officer sat at her desk, waving her rather muscular arms in concentric circles as though she was about to paddle away. Charles suspected that she held this lecture often.
“The more they do to resemble the rest of the existing population,” she continued her lecture, “… the easier it will ultimately be for them to become accommodated by their peers. It’s all about assimilation and it’s all voluntary, of course.”
A short discussion ensued. When it was over, Niklas eagerly went for the name of Nik.Vee.
There was then some delay while the three of them engaged in a brief but ultimately fruitless discussion among themselves over the real necessity of this measure. In the end, Charles was dubbed Ch.ase, primarily because the on-duty notary–whose enthusiasm for her work clearly exceeded some of the more obvious limitations of her mental capacities–was apparently having difficulty making any real sense of the meaning of the abbreviation ‘Chas.’ that was contained in some of his documentation and she was simply loathe to admit it. Luckily for her, Niklas had then quickly assented and thus Charles’ new identity was speedily and irrevocably decided upon without ever bothering to really consult him about it.
With two names already decided, it was Jacqueline’s turn. She remained, much to Charles’ silent admiration, adamant in her refusal to go along with anything as ridiculous as a name change intended to forge a new identity.
“How about Jack.ie or maybe something flashy, something really intriguing like Jacki.Q? Oh, hold on! I see that there are already a few Jacki.Qs. How about Jacki.Q32?” the on-duty notary suggested. “That sounds really keen, don’t you think?”
The on-duty notary licked her dry lips as her fingers hovered just above the keyboard, ready to tap the letters onto the form at a second’s beckoning.
“No way,” Charles’ mother stated bluntly. “It sounds like a kitchen blender or a fatburning machine. Jacqueline it is and shall remain. I was told the name change is voluntary.”
The on-duty notary paused and looked up for an instant. The expression on her face was similar to that which she would have worn if a dog had unexpectedly pissed into her shoe.
“Does anyone here have a problem with my just staying who I am?” an annoyed Jacqueline demanded, her voice now slightly louder and her tone slightly sharper.
“No. No, that’s alright, I suppose,” the on-duty notary murmured and resumed typing on her keypad.
Jacqueline glared victoriously at Niklas Vladimir–or Nik.Vee, as he had decreed he would be known from this day onward. He didn’t say a word.
And, as was to be expected, Nik.Vee did indeed have a problem with this display of stubbornly brainless repudiation, at least as he personally viewed it, but he today wisely elected to keep his mouth shut. In keeping with his usual manner, he would simply wait until a more opportune time presented itself to make it readily apparent how pissed off he was at his wife for her embarrassingly inane display of rejection just as they were on the verge of being released into their brand-new lives.
The city of Libertyville@Esperantia looked, at least superficially, pretty similar to most of the modest number of other towns and cities that Charles had visited up to now. There was traffic everywhere, busses, trams, cars. There were old buildings and new buildings. The family certainly wasn’t expecting any kind of Amish-style frugality, horse-drawn buggies or coarse hand-woven garments in their new home but they were surprised at how unexceptional it appeared to them upon their first encounter, an uneven and oddly modern mix of both dynamism and decay that was arguably the true face of globalization.bliss.
There were grocery stores and laundromats and garages specializing in shock absorber installation. There were fast food places and discount furniture stores everywhere. If anything seemed remarkable to them, it was perhaps only that they were somewhat baffled at the sheer number of both churches and adult entertainment facilities that dotted the main thoroughfare into the city. Judging by this, there was obviously a lot of competition out there for patrons and for the souls thereof.
SCANDAL: LIBERALS SPEND BUCKETLOADS OF BILLIONS ON BOOKS! an oversize gazillion-pixel NewsBoard blared brightly as they whizzed by.
There seemed to be electronic NewsBoards and AdBoards everywhere. The top subject, so they deduced after catching successive glimpses of the running text, was some unsettling news about water tables, about flooding somewhere and a few outskirt areas elsewhere suffering water shortages. As the minivan hummed along, whisking them to their new home, they saw finished concrete foundations at numerous abandoned construction site from which rows of drainage pipes protruded two or three meters into the air. To Ch.ase, the sight of the pipes reminded him