Issued from Dr. Therese Braunschweiger's desk is history's first ever decree from the Ministry of Truth. Innovation, like most inevitable things (such as change or death), can become terrifying events when sprung upon us in our daily lives. A legal discussion revolving around a concept so delicate and cherished as free will is especially bound to incite alarm among good denizens of Regalia, and even more-so when left to the hands of a single Minister. I must have you, the people, know that I understand all of this and more, so that as you read this decree, you do so with an open mind and heart. Know that I will not fail you, for failure is not a luxury we dutiful servants of the Empire can afford. WHAT IS "PROJECT: LAST MERCY"? What is "Project: Last Mercy"? How does it affect me? "Project: Last Mercy" began as a solo-operated program, willed into existence through one Metropolitan doctor's many sleepless nights and desperate need for another, better solution. These days, I manage an experienced and dedicated team of Counselors, Medical Providers, and Reality Enforcers, who together have forged something of a medical empire. We are a team dedicated to the rehabilitation of at-risk Occult, who by their own magical practices and/or conditions, have become a danger to themselves and broader society. Though we offer many less severe forms of help, our unique treatment program of "Somatic Correction", developed by myself, concerns the direct management of physical behavior. Such has sparked the topic of "free will" which has been evaluated by the Crown Regent in his most recent decree. Before considering "Somatic Correction", we at Last Mercy must bring a patient through the following steps: 1. | Assess if a person of the Occult is a danger to themselves or others. Our treatment program is intensive, and thus a patient must meet a series of extreme requirements. Do they have a repetitive history of magical or accursed violence? Have all other tried solutions been exhausted? Are they at risk of imprisonment or extreme corporal punishment? If the answer is "yes" to all of the previous, then an Occultist may be a candidate for our procedure. 2. | Establish an understanding with the Occultist candidate. A willing discussion between patient and doctor is encouraged for a smoother process of choosing a recommended treatment. Unfortunately, many who find themselves with a tendency toward magical or accursed violence also suffer from an aversion to productive change. This is why it is typically in this step that we introduce the Reality Enforcers; a united front of helpers ready to enforce a necessary and non-lethal hand for the sake of your public safety. 3. | Treat the chosen patient candidate. We have a variety of procedures with programming uniquely suited for its wearer, the leniency of such usually determined from patient to patient. We are proud to present a steady success rate in rehabilitation, with no proven complications in physical health or otherwise. Following the procedure, the patient is ordered bi-weekly safety checkups, Counseling, as well as direct meetings with their Physician where they are free to voice any questions or concerns. BY WHAT EXTENT SHOULD WE DICTATE "FREE WILL"? By what extent should we dictate "free will", and who are we to determine that? Execution is the hindrance of all free will, down to the will of existing. As the Crown Regent, Reynaud Kade has pronounced, the right to live is in fact universal (within Regalian Borders), so there is by that logic a reasonable limit to what we may enforce on another. What separates us from a thralling Sanguine or Cahal is not only our mercy and truth, but also a comprehensive moral code of how we can ethically oversee the delicate matter of behavioral correction for criminals. The Ministry of Truth decrees that all decision concerning the management of one's physical behavior (otherwise known as the application of "Somatic Correction") may only be enforced by state-approved institutions of justice, who must follow a strict code of requirements. Failure for these institutions to uphold to the Code of Mercy will be appropriately punished by the Ministry of Truth. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SOMATIC CORRECTION MUST ONLY: - REFER TO DETERRING ONE OR MORE BEHAVIORS WHICH ARE CRIMINAL, DELUSIONAL, OR MADE WITH LAW-BREAKING INTENT. - ENFORCE BEHAVIORS WHICH ARE DIRECTLY AND UNDOUBTEDLY EMPIRE-SERVING. - INCLUDE A PRE-PROGRAMMED CIRCUIT, MEANING THAT ONCE THE DEVICE IS ESTABLISHED, FURTHER COMMANDS MAY NOT BE SPONTANEOUSLY ISSUED. (Ex: The programmer may not include commands such as, "do what I tell you to".) - BE ISSUED TO CRIMINALS WHO ARE EITHER FACING EXTREME CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OR IMPRISONMENT UNDER REGALIAN LAW. - BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A MUNDANE PROCEDURE AND ESTABLISHED BY AN APPROVED TECHNOLOGICAL CIRCUIT. (Unapproved technology includes: Godsamtro, Jalidtech, Arctech, Bidriqtech, Dark Metal, Aranatech, Nephiltech, and Necrotech.) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ A Somatic Correction circuit program should ideally follow a brief and simple recipe of correcting the dangerous behavior, enforcing one which is Empire-serving (only in the case that the criminal would be unlikely to serve a productive purpose on their own), and finally, ensuring that the issued circuit remains functioning as intended. Using a patient/criminal example of a Sanguine Brood with a history of slaughtering innocent civilians due to an uncontrollable lust for blood, here is a standard program of command: 1. Do not feast on blood, nor go through the initial motions to attempt to. 2. Seek to serve the Empire in a lawful and productive manner. 3. Keep this circuit intact and correctly functioning. WHAT IS THE TRUTH? What is the truth? Why does the Ministry of Truth determine that? A united Empire needs a united front. As the Minister of Truth, I may be considered as the appointed middle-man between State Officials and citizens, so that government messages remain concise, appropriately delivered, easily understandable, and sensitive to all perspectives. Furthermore, as one in dictation of the truth, I must also be hearkening to yours. While every individual experience brings about a perspective often contradicting with others, all have a personal truth which deserves to be noted, considered, and if necessary: corrected. It is here, at the Ministry of Truth, that this process will be officialized. Our Ministry team includes a diverse selection of professional individuals with boundless access to every corner of the Regalian Archipelago, if only to reassure civilians that all of your voices will be heard. Additionally, I would like to remind the following State Officials that their decrees and publications must be processed through the Ministry of Truth before being dispersed to the public eye: RODRIGO PEIRGARTEN, LORD COMMISSIONER @Yigit CC-DELLE, MAYOR OF CROOKBACK @slurmancer ASTRID ELSEDOTTIR, MAYOR OF FAIRBANKS @MantaRey AMELINA PEIRGARTEN, IMPERIAL HOSTESS @seoulmate TUIJA NORDHJEM, IMPERIAL HOSTESS @Annie_Short ALEKSANDRA DRAGIC, MINISTER OF LAW @Lionfiles JOCELYN VON DUERR, MINISTER OF FAITH @Dekuras REN MAIYUSA, MINISTER OF HONOR @OkaDoka BERNADETTE BECKETTE, TENPENNY MINISTER @TheRook1 MALCOME LOWE, MINISTER OF INFORMATION @Testlo RIFTAN DRAGIC, FOREIGN MINISTER @AlienDark12 Also concerning recent lies, it is worth at least a brief mention that: HEQUAT, NOR THEIR VILE SANGUINE COVEN IS IN ANY WAY ASSOCIATED, IN COLLABORATION WITH, OR TOLERATED BY THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH. @Transistor ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ With this said, I vow to continue being open and forward with the good denizens of the Empire, and I am honored for this opportunity to serve you. May we all walk under his eye, for the Great Way is in just one direction. Under His Eye, Her Truthful Eminence, - Dr. Therese Braunschweiger.
The Yanar looked over the promised declaration, examining it carefully. A frown creased her mouth as she turned the page over to check for any additional information or assurances of concerns, but found nothing more. It could have been worse, surely, but it could also be better. Unsettled, she carefully replaced the notice on the board and headed off to plan another round of attempted mediation.
