Without Patience, Proper Bureaucracy can not stand. Without Proper Bureaucracy, society fails

- Public Notice #3

The screens flickered, flashing the Ideal Bureaucratic Society’s triangular logo before showing the main office hall. A thin woman wearing a pencil skirt and a billowing blouse stood in the center of the screen.

"That's her, isn't it?" A woman spoke, leaning towards the man beside her.

"Yes, but shush, we need to hear about this." The man wrapped his arm around the woman, placing a hand right against her belt, pulling her in close.

The woman on screen cleared her throat, pulling out her two hair sticks from her bun and tapping them against the glass bowl beside her. “Hello, wonderful civilians of the Ideal Bureaucratic Society. While this gathering is intended to find the next leader, we have some announcements and business we must conduct first."

I gulped, pursing my lips as I looked at the left-most screen, watching the clock hands tick by. tick. tick. tick. The announcement that brought me here said this would only take 30 minutes; with announcements and the usual business, though, it would probably take an hour or more. I had my day planned out to perfection, but this would screw that all up.

On the screen, a girl wearing a white lace dress was brought out, arms held by two Soldiers, their visors pulled down to hide their faces.

"This woman was assigned to work in the housing office, assisting with the coordination and organization of housing-related paperwork." The woman circled around the girl, running the hair sticks across her jawline. "While working there, however, she cheated the system: she broke the law and the protocol by pushing her father's request for a larger house up the list, causing numerous people who would've gotten a large house before him to be wronged."

Shouts of disdain about the girl echoed through the area, coming from nearly everyone. I joined in, as this was what she deserved; she broke one of the most fundamental rules and needed to be punished, but I hoped she was the only person to be punished today so that I could return to my schedule as quickly as possible.

"As punishment for that..." The woman tapped her hair sticks against a button on the wall. A mechanical arm extended from behind the girl, reaching towards her and grabbed her by the arm. The girl yelped as the arm pulled away, the needle retracting back into the palm. Her skin started to bubble and melt away before she fell to the ground, screaming in pain. "If you are under the age of 15, please, do not follow temptation to break the rules; those rules are in place to ensure fairness and equality for all, and inequality is what breeds anger and the drive to murder." She nodded.

There were 3 more punishments to be completed before they reached the main event.

The woman on the screen smiled as she looked directly at the camera. “Now that we have business completed for today, it is time for the lottery! For those who have recently moved into our embrace or for the young ones who haven’t seen one before, whenever our leader dies or decides to step down, we pull a name from a bowl with every name of an adult between the ages of 18 and 40. Whatever name we pull will become the new leader." She walked around the bowl, running her hair sticks against the rim.

Anticipation filled the room, everyone leaning in to get a better look at the screens.

The woman reached into the bowl and ruffled her hand, tossing the slips of paper around. “And the next person to take the seat of leadership will be..." She pulled out the slip of paper and unfolded it. She pursed her lips and motioned for a man to come over before handing it off to him. "Aden Opalle! If you are Aden Opalle, please promptly head to your local bureaucratic office."

This was the worst blow my calendar could take: even worse than a virus erasing it from existence. I could still see my calendar, but none of it would apply or even work anymore, as I was now the leader of the Ideal Bureaucratic office.