Yared Zerezghi — 2124

Amendment to referendum …

The entity known as the System, with regards to its inhabitants, will secede in order to become its own self-governing entity.

1. Those who have uploaded to live on the System shall no longer hold their citizenship (sometimes known as “dual citizenship”) to their country of origin.
2. The creations of those who have uploaded to live on the System shall be considered as originating in and governed by the System as a political entity.
3. The System as a self-governing entity shall enter into trade agreements with other governmental entities for goods and services required to maintain the System as a physical entity.
4. The exchange of goods and services between the System and the governmental entity named in the trade agreement shall be binding by those two parties only.
5. The act of uploading to the System shall be considered one of emigration, and regulations around immigration shall be set by the System.
6. No extant governmental entity may set undue barriers to emigration to the System beyond existing expatriation agreements, nor may they intimidate, dissuade, or otherwise hinder citizens from choosing to emigrate.
7. As a separate governmental entity, the System is a valid destination for asylum-seekers and refugees regardless of reasons for seeking such, with regulations for accepting such being set by the System as a self-governing entity.
8. Due to the nature of the System, the following limitations shall be put in place on this governmental entity:
   1. It shall not be able to declare war on any other governmental entity.
   2. It shall not enact any trade embargo, tariff, or other restriction on trade against any other governmental entity.
   3. It shall not provide favor to any one governmental entity over another except through the agreements set above.
   4. No other governmental entity shall declare war on or attempt to destroy the System.
   5. No other governmental entity shall aid or abet another governmental entity to conspire against the System.
9. The physical elements of the System including but not limited to the System hardware, resource infrastructure, and the “Ansible system” required for uploading shall be considered property of the System as a governmental entity.
10. The System of a governmental entity shall enact any and all regulations relating to its own governance, which no other governmental entity may hinder.

Signatories:

Direct Democracy Representative individual

Yared Zerezghi (NEAC) via Direct Democracy Representative.

Governmental representative

Yosef Demma (NEAC), Councilor.

System-side representatives

The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream of the Ode clade by way of Michelle Hadje, Jonas Prime of the Jonas clade by way of Jonas Anderson (Council of Eight), Council-members.

November 28, 2124

The response to the proposal was immediate and dramatic.

Yared had not know what exactly it was that he was expecting, but it certainly was not an immediate division within the DDR, with one half being suddenly and intensely for the referendum and its amendments, each for their own reasons, and the other half being suddenly and intensely against the referendum for completely separate reasons.

It was not that he’d not expected some division, but the divisiveness of the amendment itself was shocking. Where once there had been general consensus on the issue of individual rights and the L₅ launch amendment, there was suddenly no guarantee that the referendum itself would actually pass. It had been a foregone conclusion, and now, in the matter of minutes, the entire thing seemed to be crumbling around him, and, with his name attached as DDR signatory, he was responsible.

His instinct was to leave. To run. To hide. Some adrenal reaction drove him to leave, to back out of the ‘net, throw on his [hat] and nearly sprint from his apartment.

He made it the several blocks up to the undeveloped patch of ground before he calmed down enough to realize that, not only had he left behind any chance of responding to the flurry of comments on the referendum and its amendment (unless he wanted to use the intentionally clunky interface for doing so on his phone), but also any chance of syncing up with True Name and Jonas on the events.

Now, here he was, huddling at the base of a scraggly tree like some hunted thing, an animal seeking only to never be seen by unknown predators. Now, here he was, completely alone.

And yet he couldn’t force himself to rise. Couldn’t force himself to get up from his crouching position, couldn’t force himself to walk back to his apartment or, really, anywhere else, couldn’t even force himself to pull his phone from his pocket and get in touch with…well, who would he even contact? The only one he interact with in the subject — really, the only one he interacted with offline in any sincere capacity — was Councilor Demma.

Given this reaction, that seemed ill-advised.

Alas, with a thrill up his spine along the exocortex and a gentle ping from his implants, his phone began to ring. A glance at the screen confirmed his fears.

Demma.

“Shit, shit.” He stood, paced around the tree in a circle. “Shit. Shit, goddamn.”