Guardian by Alex London

the large tent:
    “I apologize to each of you and to the Reconciliation, which I have betrayed with my covetous thoughts. My intention to steal food came from my past as an executive with Birla Nanotech, when I would profit off the labor of others. The desire to take for myself what belongs to all is ingrained in my heart. I deeply wish to purify it, and I thank you for preventing me from following through on my dark desires. With your help, I may succeed in becoming a healthy member of a community of mutual concern and shared sacrifice.”
    “And do you renounce your greed?”
    “I do.”
    “And do you renounce your past?”
    “I do.”
    “And do you renounce the Machine?”
    “I—” The man hesitated. He looked up at his interrogator.
    The Purifier punched him in the stomach, bending him double with the blow. Marie flinched, but no one else in the tent even blinked.
    “And do you renounce the Machine?” the Purifier repeated, pulling the man upright again by his hair.
    “I cannot renounce what is not real,” the man said, his voice strained. “There is no Machine. Only fools believe the networks could ever be restored.”
    The Purifier studied him. All eyes studied him.
    “Good,” the Purifier said at last, then turned to the assembled crowd. “How best shall our friend purify himself of this greed he has confessed?”
    There were murmurs in the crowd. This was a chance for the members of the cooperative to demonstrate their commitment to Reconciliation. As former elites, they were all suspect. Other white-masked Purifiers stood around the tent, watching everyone closely, no doubt noting who appeared reluctant to punish a transgression, who might themselves be tempted to transgress.
    “The crime is from the past,” a voice called out. “Let the punishment be as well.”
    The crowd quickly concurred with a round of clapping and stomping. The man in front nodded and stomped his feet, agreeing readily to whatever punishment was assigned to him. Reluctance to be punished would be a sign that he still harbored guilty thoughts.
    “Very good,” the Purifier beside him said. “In the Mountain City, when a patron committed an infraction, his proxy would be administered jolts from an electro-muscular disruption stick.” The Purifier pulled out such a stick. No one needed an explanation. The old system had existed until just a few months ago. The EMD sticks themselves were outlawed, but it was widely known that they still circulated, and the Purifier cadres used them freely.
    The Purifier activated his, and through the mouth hole of his white mask, Marie clearly saw a smirk sneak its way across his face. For a former proxy, the chance to shock a former patron this way had to be a thrill. This Purifier was bold to show his enjoyment in front of everyone. It was not supposed to be a joy.
    He touched the stick to the man’s side, and instantly the man’s body jolted. After a second shock, he collapsed and quivered on the ground. Two Purifiers rushed forward to hold him up. Another shock was delivered. And another. And another. The man spit up on himself, his legs gave out, and still, another shock followed. No one dared look away.
    Marie scanned the crowd and saw her parents sitting side by side, together, both of them watching the punishment being administered without the slightest emotion on their faces. Surely, they would have known this man before, when he was an executive. Her father’s company did extensive business with Birla Nanotech, who installed much of the biodata into people’s bloodstreams.
    Marie didn’t recognize the man, but she could imagine him standing in their living room at a cocktail party, laughing and telling jokes. Maybe she’d even gone to school with the man’s children, if he had any. It didn’t matter. He would never see them again.
    Marie knew it pained her parents to watch, but they had avoided seeing the suffering that the old system caused for so long, only seeing its