{"id":2467,"date":"2023-01-21T14:14:06","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T21:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2467"},"modified":"2023-01-21T14:14:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T21:14:06","slug":"compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/21\/compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Set your story in a society where everyone is constantly aware of unwanted surveillance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were at least six cameras around the parking lot Grace could see without craning her neck. There were another nine she\u2019d seen as she entered the lot. The counting wasn\u2019t voluntary, it was more an annoying tic. She tried to relax in her car, waiting for the Compliance Office to open, but there was no comfortable position in her tiny commuter one-seater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked at the ticket summons on her phone again. \u201cPresence in a restricted zone.\u201d Convenient<\/em>, she thought, that they can mark an area restricted with no warning and collect fines<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stout, matronly woman opened the doors of the office. She looked stuffed into the stiff-collared, square-shouldered Compliance Officer uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After she\u2019d propped the doors open, she put on her uniform cap, stuffing it down over her curly hair where it threatened to fly free any second. She looked at the time on her phone, and motioned for those in the parking lot to come in. Her uniform strained and bunched as she waved her arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace made her way into the drab waiting room with the others who had been waiting in the parking lot. Her phone chimed and her number in the queue showed: 14. Seeing how there were only six other people in the waiting room, she assumed that the numbers didn\u2019t start at one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The waiting room was silent. While cameras covered every public space and citizens\u2019 moves were always monitored, the Compliance Office was certain to have visual and<\/em> sound recording. The fear of saying something that might increase a fine or add a new violation kept everyone silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman in the overtaxed uniform sat at a desk near the front door and called out, \u201cNumber one!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace was surprised to see one of the people in the room stand and approach the desk. She checked her phone again; the number was still 14, and there were now only five others in the room with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every ten minutes, another number was called. Sprinkled between the ones who were called from the room, others entered the front door, their phone chimed with their number, and the woman at the desk called their number in the same moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace\u2019s plan to save time by arriving before opening and being seen soon was, she found out, without merit. She had expected the waiting room to fill up, but there were never more than a few people there at a time. It was more than two hours before she was called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She approached the desk and showed her phone. The woman motioned to the door behind her with a thumb. Grace said, \u201cThank you,\u201d and went in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow, the long hallway through the door was even more bland than the waiting room. Doors were offset on each side of the hall, and young woman in civilian clothes with a badge on her hip waited for her at an open door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrace Spahn? We\u2019re in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Grace was seated at the small table, the woman closed the door. \u201cGrace, I\u2019m Compliance Detective Alexandra McAlly, but you can just call me Lex.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace nodded at the woman but remained silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lex smiled. \u201cLet\u2019s start with the basics. Your name is Grace Spahn?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere do you live?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSunrise apartments, 302 West Baker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight there on the corner of Third?\u201d Lex asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd where do you work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m an underwriter at Starline Mutual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere is that?\u201d Lex continued to make notes in her tablet as they talked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in the Southerland Building, just past East H Street on Fourth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd do you drive to work? Seems a pretty short trip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I walk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you walk up Third or Fourth or\u2026?\u201d Lex let the question hang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFifth, to work. The same back, unless I need to stop at the market, then I take Seventh instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy is that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo sidewalks on Third or Fourth, and Sixth goes right past that biker bar and run-down hotel with all the drug dealers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, the Braun district can get pretty seedy depending on where you are. But your apartment\u2019s in a quiet area, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to beat around the bush here. Your fine is steep. I know you don\u2019t have a way to pay it off without taking out a loan, so I\u2019d like to talk about alternatives with you; see what we can work out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was fined for walking home from work. The so-called restricted zone<\/em> wasn\u2019t restricted when I entered it.\u201d Grace crossed her arms. \u201cDon\u2019t I have a right to an attorney?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lex leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. \u201cCompliance violations aren\u2019t crimes, and they aren\u2019t handled by the courts. The only time they come up in court is as character background when determining sentencing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I haven\u2019t committed a crime, then why am I facing a five-thousand\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCompliance violation, as I said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it isn\u2019t laws you\u2019re enforcing, what do Compliance Officers enforce with your constant surveillance and outrageous fines?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCommunity standards, decency, and safety. The surveillance doesn\u2019t belong to us, but to the State. It\u2019s shared with us, police, the Workplace Safety Administration, the courts, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd the Anti-Terrorism Task Force, right? The ones that disappear people.\u201d Grace leaned back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lex scooted her chair closer to Grace. \u201cYou\u2019re a smart woman, it\u2019s obvious. You\u2019ve got a good job, decent place to live, perfect credit record\u2026you know how to keep your life in order. If you could help us out, this violation would be purged from your record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to identify someone that was in the restricted zone at the same time you were. If you could walk me through your trip home, it could help\u2026especially if you can remember the people you saw there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou want me to try and describe everyone I saw in the fourteen-block walk home, last week? I\u2019m afraid I won\u2019t be much help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot everyone, no. Did you make any stops the night you were stopped?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, the corner market, over on Seventh and West Baker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWas that before or after the stop?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace knew that the detective knew well the answers to the questions she was asking. \u201cBefore. If you look at the summons, it describes the shopping bag I was carrying at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, well, did anything odd happen while you were in the market?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace shrugged. \u201cI got the notice on my phone that the area was restricted right after I got my groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGroceries?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, junk food, anyway. Just some snacks for while I watched the latest streams of Star Voice<\/em>. I didn\u2019t know Compliance was policing our eating habits now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing like that,\u201d Lex said, \u201cI just want to be sure my report is precise. You understand; you write accident reports for insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I determine who qualifies for what amount of insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks, I just learned a thing. I know you\u2019re observant, I\u2019ve watched you since you walked into the building. You probably know there are four cameras in here and seven in the waiting room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFive and nine, unless you count the one in the foyer, then it\u2019s ten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExactly. You always count the cameras?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t help it, I just do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine.\u201d Lex flipped through her tablet. \u201cWe\u2019re just hoping you can help us out with that observational skill of yours. How many cameras between your work and the market?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I go straight down Seventh like usual it would be eighty-nine. If I take Fifth and then up the hill on Baker, it\u2019s ninety-one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid you notice anything odd about any of those cameras that day?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo\u2026I try not to look right at them\u2026I just count them out of the corner of my eye. I wish I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFair enough.\u201d Lex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. \u201cNow, I\u2019m going to ask you again, Grace; other than the restriction notice, what odd thing happened while you were in the store?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a commotion in the front of the store when I was in the back. I didn\u2019t think anything of it. The neighborhood\u2019s not the best, and sometimes it gets noisy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat about the man who caused the commotion?\u201d Lex showed a still of the man in a mask looking directly at Grace. \u201cDid he say anything to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace knew who it was. Jeremiah was her neighbor. He was sweet but disturbed by the constant surveillance. He rarely left his apartment, and always returned in a state of near panic. She knew who it was behind the mask because he had one green eye and one brown eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Sorry\u2019 when he bumped into me on his way to the bathroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lex showed her another image, Jeremiah\u2019s identification photo. \u201cDo you know this man?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s my neighbor, Jeremiah\u2026can\u2019t remember his last name. You already knew that, though.\u201d She felt like the hammer was going to come down any second. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs this who bumped into you in the market? It would be hard to hide from anyone he knows with those eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace\u2019s eyes fixed on the door, and she felt the room shrinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you prefer, you can end this right now and pay the fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t afford that, but\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lex lowered her voice, talking softly to Grace. \u201cLook, I get it. Jeremiah\u2019s your friend, and you don\u2019t want to implicate him in anything. But you know, if you pay your fine and leave, and we find out later that it\u2019s him, you\u2019ll be charged as an accessory after the fact. We have his phone on West Carter and Third before it disappeared, then didn\u2019t show up again until four hours later at his home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWha\u2014what\u2019s the charge?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe police don\u2019t tell us, but if I had to guess, I would guess misdemeanor vandalism. The person in the mask was spray-painting cameras on Fifth and West Baker. If you know something you don\u2019t tell us, though, they can bump it up to felony conspiracy for both of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lex stood up. \u201cI\u2019m going to give you a few minutes to make up your mind. I\u2019ll come back with a loan form in case you decide to pay your fine today, but I\u2019d rather make the police detective happy than the change counters in Compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace thought about it. She knew that Lex was probably lying that she didn\u2019t know the charges. If she kept quiet, she would have to find a way to pay a fine of more than three months\u2019 rent, and the loan rates would be brutal. She wasn\u2019t sure how much the police and compliance knew. It might be a ploy to get them both on higher charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She crossed her arms on the table and buried her face in them so the cameras couldn\u2019t see her cry. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Jeremiah,\u201d she whispered through the tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lex came back in the room after Grace\u2019s tears had mostly subsided and offered her a box of tissues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace accepted one and wiped her tears and blew her nose. \u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo need to apologize.\u201d Lex kept her voice soft, her cadence slow and soothing. \u201cHave you decided to tell us who the man in the mask was?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou already know,\u201d she said. \u201cI saw those eyes, and knew right away, but I didn\u2019t know why he\u2019d be wearing a mask and running. I was afraid he\u2019d done something terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really not as big of a deal as the police want to make it, from what I can tell,\u201d Lex said. \u201cBut I need you to say it out loud. Who was the man in the mask?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was Jer\u2014Jeremiah\u2026my neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, Grace. If I can get your thumbprint here, verifying that your answers are truthful and your fine and compliance violation has been purged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace held her hand out and let Lex get her thumbprint. She felt numb. Lex led her out the rear door of the Compliance Office, and she found herself standing in front of a sign pointing the way to the parking lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had already taken the morning off work to deal with her summons, and now her head was too scrambled to go in. Grace texted work to say that she wouldn\u2019t be in for the afternoon, either, and went home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She pulled into her parking space as the last of a parade of police vehicles pulled out\u2026including units marked \u201cATTF\u201d, the Anti-terrorism Task Force. The world shifted beneath her, as she realized what she\u2019d just condemned him to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Set your story in a society where everyone is constantly aware of unwanted surveillance. available at Reedsy There were at least six cameras around the parking lot Grace could see without craning her neck. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[214,233,210,209],"class_list":["post-2467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-drama","tag-dystopian","tag-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-DN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2467"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2468,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467\/revisions\/2468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}