You may have noticed that my plan to run updates throughout March hasn’t gotten off to the best start. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but I’m getting back into it. Normal service resumes now!
The Bureaucracy is the official government system for the islands of the Incorporated Islands of the Pacific Commonwealth, holding up the elected officials in the Secretariat, the Committee of Representatives, and the Board.
The complicated nature of daily life in the Islands, the constant daily opt-ins and opt-outs, the payment for government services of transport, power, water purification and so forth is entirely handled by the Bureaucracy, leaving the people and their elected officials to carry on with their lives.
Divided into several departments, each nominally associated with a committee of members of the Secretariat, the whole agency performs several different roles.
The departments include –
The Department of Justice includes law enforcement officers, the judiciary, legal advocates, as well as various investigatory bodies – serious crime agents, Interpol liaisons, and so forth. They also manage the prison system, notably the total security facility known as the Deep Drift.
The Department of Commercial Affairs handles trade tariffs their implementation by customs officials, investigates incidences of insider trading, and generally keeps an eye on the various Megacorps. They are also responsible for the various embassies of the state around the world.
The Department of Defence maintains the sea borders of the IIPC, with naval vessels patrolling between and marine bases planted upon various different islands. They also launch and maintain various satellite intelligence and defence platforms, and have a small number of space vessels based at the top of the Beanstalk.
The Department of Health provides government funding for basic health services, provides patents on new pharmaceuticals and cybernetic implants to the various corporations producing them, and offers research grants. Rumours for the last ten years have often made mention of research grants being offered for work on extrasensory and supernatural abilities.
The Department of Energy is responsible for the original construction and ongoing maintenance of the Beanstalk, a space elevator with vast solar energy capture capabilities. The giant green structure uses an artificial form of photosynthesis to provide free energy to the Islands, as well as a foothold at the edge of space far above. The department is also responsible for various tide and wind energy research.
The Department of Communications creates the standards for datamesh communications, as well as maintaining the infrastructure. Various white-hat hackers are deployed in the constant security war with black-hats attacking state property, to monitor any unencrypted communications, and to decrypt those deemed important enough to breach personal privacy.
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