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and child, regardless of their station in life, shall receive this mark on
their right hands or on their foreheads. Those who neglect to get the mark
when it is made available will not be allowed to buy or sell until such time
as they receive it. Those who overtly refuse shall be put to death, and every
marked loyal citizen shall be deputized with the right and the responsibility
to report such a one. The mark shall consist of the name of His Excellency or
the prescribed number.
With that, Leon dropped heavily into his chair. Viv Ivins smiled benevolently
and said, Why, thank you, Reverend, which caused all, including Leon, to
laugh.
David was afraid his crashing heart and shaking hands would make him
conspicuous. What if someone got the bright idea to apply the mark to the
inner circle that very night? He might be in heaven before Annie knew he was
dead.
We have settled on the technology, Viv continued. The miniature biochip
with
the suffix numbers embedded in it can be inserted as painlessly as a
vaccination in a matter of seconds. Citizens may choose either location, and
visible will be a thin, half-inch scar, and to its immediate left, in
six-point black ink-impossible to remove under penalty of law the number that
designates the home region of the individual.
That number may be included in the embedded chip, should the person prefer
that one of the variations of the name of the potentate appear on their
flesh.
Variations? someone asked.
Yes. Most, we assume, will prefer the understated numbers next to the thin
scar.
But they may also choose from the small initials no bigger than the
numbers N/C. The first or last name may be used, including one version of
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Nicolae that would virtually cover the left side of the forehead.
For the most loyal, Nicolae said with a grin. Someone like, oh, say,
Director
Hickman, for instance.
Hickman blushed but called out, Sign me up, Viv!
The beauty of the embedded chip is twofold, she continued. First, it leaves
the visible evidence of loyalty to the potentate, and second, it serves as a
method of payment and receipting for buying and selling. Eye-level scanners
will allow customers and merchants to merely pass by and be billed or
receipted.
Several whistles of admiration sounded. David's head throbbed. He raised his
hand.
Director Hassid, Viv said. What are you looking at in the way of timing?
Worried that your head won't take any more invasion just now? she said,
smiling.
I had an IV in the hand too.
Not to worry, she said. While the potentate and the former Supreme
Commander see value in employees serving as examples to the world, you will
have thirty days, beginning tomorrow, to fulfill your obligation.
I'll do it tonight, someone said, and I'm not even Hickman!
A month, David thought. A month to get out of Dodge. What would become of him
and Annie and Mac and Abdullah? And Hannah Palemoon?
Viv said that over the next few days she would be sure each director knew his
or her part in the rollout of images of Carpathia and the application of the
mark of loyalty.
Meanwhile, she said, His Excellency has a closing comment.
Thank you, Viv, Nicolae said. Allow me to tell you just one story of a
family I
met today, and you know I met thousands. We have such a nucleus of loyal
citizenry! This was a beautifully loyal Asian family named Wong.
David fought to maintain his composure. Their daughter already works for us
at
Buffer in Brussels. The parents are well-to-do and great supporters of the
Global
Community. The father was quite proud of his family and of his record of
loyalty.
But I was most impressed with the seventeen-year-old son, Chang. Here is a boy
who, according to his father, loves me and everything about the world as we
see it
today. He wants nothing more than to work for me here at the palace, and
though he has another year of high school, would rather bring his talents our
way.
And such talents! I will arrange for the completion of his schooling here,
because he is a genius! He can program any computer, analyze and fix any
procedural or operational or systems problem. And this is not just a proud
father talking. He showed me documents, grades, letters of recommendation.
This kind of boy is our future, and our future has never looked brighter.
That boy, David thought, would die before he took the mark.
SIX
As Rayford followed the wheelchair down the hall, barely able to breathe, his
mind reeled with his mistakes. Were it somehow possible to extricate himself
from this, he would be the most decisive leader the Tribulation Force could
imagine.
They repaired to an office even smaller than the original. Pinkerton Stephens
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