Living by the Colors - an Intro

Long ago and a ways into the future in this world or another, we, as humans, figured it all out.

Not we, it was a few "well-meaning people" that devised a system because everything, and I mean everything, was going to shit. That is a terrible way to describe things. We didn't get along, but much worse. Therefore, as a country, we decided to take a massive step "back" (I put back in quotes because some might call it back and others might call it progress).

Step one was controlling the narrative which involved a creepy amount of control by a small amount of powerful people. These powerful people could not let the other powerful people sniff out what they were doing so it was a very "grassroots" campaign. Technology was banned very efficiently and for reasons most people agreed about. Cell phones, which had been commonplace, were disposed of. Very little technology was allowed and was used to expedite paperwork and data processing. The time that followed is what we now know as The Great Whine.

I wish I were exaggerating about the whining but one cannot argue that it was a challenging time. We didn't know our neighbors and once we did, we discovered that they were terrible, smelled, and their lawn was unkempt. The newspapers returned, which had been prepared for, but the problem became that no one was doing the right thing. We were not working well together. If things continued to degrade, the whole change was going to fail.

This is why we needed the colors. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and we needed to categorize ourselves, work the job that best suited us, and the world would run smoothly. Nine colors, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Black, and White.

This led to a small bit of a war.

I am perhaps not exaggerating enough.

We went from The Great Whine to The Great Divide - the South choosing not live by the colors but wishing to find their way in the technology-reduced world, and the North, who was sure that the colors were the answer to all answers. The North was very well organized, shockingly brutal, and determined to teach their southern compatriots a lesson they would eventually be thankful they had learned. The South was sneaky, able to spy on nearly all the plans of the North, and sure of their absolute rightness in the whole scheme of things.

It is hard to give an exact number of all who died (172, 581, I guess it isn't that challenging) but was nearly half the population of the North and South put together and eventually, a truce was called. The natural barrier of the mountains became the official divide and it was agreed that only certain trade routes would remain open with the promise that neither side could try to indoctrinate anyone who delivered, received, or dealt with goods. The mountains became known as the Unihabited (they could have people there still but technically they are not allowed to be there so we will ignore any evidence of human life if it were to come up, which it won't). The Uninhabited has become the largest nature preserve in the world. I am sure no one could cross it without a train else a wild animal would surely enjoy them for lunch - not to be inappropriately dark.

Where did I start all of this?

I recall now. We have it figured out. We are free of the artificial slaves that were running us. We all live by the colors and I am proud to say that I have been categorized as a Red and Reds always live in integrity and we do know best.

I do not know all of the facts of how this whole system started (yet), but it is my goal to divulge to you,

Dear reader, everything you need to know about each color. Once you know your color, you can head toward the right career. Could you imagine if you were a Green and you were trying to do the job of a Red? Disastrous!

I kid, as much as a Red has the ability.

Next week, I will introduce the first color (although I confess wanting to tell you more about the man who made the system).

Until then, X