DECORUM

ABOUT + RULES ⤵

they face extreme prejudice. their rights are limited. employment is both systemically and culturally difficult. willers aren’t allowed to work “higher level thinking/moral” jobs without a learner’s permit (that is very difficult to get). which restricts them to blue collar, manual labor jobs and minimum wage jobs that society deems mindless and “easy” (e.g. fry cook) (despite what they may have been prior to their felony and enrollment in DECORUM). while they could technically be cashiers and waiters and minimum-ish wage jobs of that nature, employers do discriminate and would never hire a willer as a face of their company.

there’s also a HOM (high occupancy mind) tax on many experiential things. because willers have a conscience who can see and hear what they do, if they’re buying a ticket to see a movie or go to a concert or attend college, all of these would require a double pay because someone else is also experiencing these things through them.

a willer

a conscience

the congressional rep for the decorum district

the mayor for the decorum district

reva hauer (i've yet to write her and would let her be adopted by the right buyer...)

key oh (i have written her but if she interests you, again, would let her be adopted or taken for a spin by the right buyer)

A4 members

A4 leader(s)

writer(s) for the morality show (key oh's or the children's edition)

decorum admin worker

a former willer who graduated and is now a normal citizen again

a former willer who graduated and is now a conscience (rarely done if ever; would be a poster child for the bureau)

art freeby's conscience

hopper goodacre's willer

hopper goodacre's previous willer

richard mcgovern's conscience

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stupidity is a premium luxury. You understand? I say something dumb and they dock my morality score. You can say whatever you want. The stupider the freer." Art pays to enter the museum. "You know I have to buy two tickets, right? They count my babysitter. H-O-M." High Occupancy Mind. "You're the one who can say it..." A suggestive face their conscience cannot see.

DECORUM WORLD.

Kieran isn't allowed to know Hopper's name (article two, section two, sub clause three: a conscience's legal name must remain confidential). Her formal alias is Hop (the paperwork to get an alias so close to her first name approved was colossal). But he calls her Claire because she's always clarifying. "You slept in today." Here goes her namesake: "For you, anyway. You usually get up before the worms do." She's doing her makeup in the bathroom. She rakes the mascara wand through her lashes, stops mid-sweep, and squints at herself in the mirror—sees his vision overlaid her vision which makes her hand-eye accuracy a little askew (a glob of mascara gunk got in her eyebrow, she dabs it off)—questioning aloud: "Do worms sleep?"

Richard is eating at an Italian restaurant. Chicken parmesan. He sees Deco at the host stand.

Making a show of it, shouting from his table: "No. Refuse that man service."

[sms: Deco] Meet around back

In the kitchen, the floor is so greasy managers must have blank worker's comp checks in their email signatures. Richard moves a bowl of lettuce and sits on a steel-metal table. Chefs and busboys clip-clop around them in their clunky-clog rubber shoes. He'd rather slip and break his neck than be seen wearing those.

"You can't approach me in public like this. You bomb people. That bombs me." Deco analyzes weapons, he doesn't make them. Toe-may-toe toe-mah-toe, I-ran I-raq. What's the difference? "Capiche?" Shoulder slap. "What do you want?"