Chapter 7

Chapter F

Law #348 or The Theory of Three

In December of 2089, as India declared itself a Perceptionist haven and several countries prepared for military conflict, the Perceptionist movement prepared to strike its death blow to the United States economy from within.
Unknown to his superiors and subordinates, Leonard Fennell, United States Secretary of the Treasury since 2088, was a practicing Perceptionist who was quietly putting a plan into motion that would rip apart the foundations that the United States government rested upon. On January 1st, 2090 the President put into place a temporary stipulation that, for a period of a week (January 1st -7th), all legislation would be fast-tracked in order to speed the process of war against the enemy nation of India. Due to this stipulation several laws were passed that gave the United States the materials, legal right, and justification to launch the massive air strike on Indian soil.
Due to his position, Leonard Fennell had a great hand in the financial recommendations made at this time and amidst the hundreds of bills passed during the fast-tracking period he managed to slip one piece of legislation through that would lay in wait like a ticking time bomb. On Wednesday January 4th, 2090, following the passing of Law #347 “Idaho control”(1), Law #348 “The Theory of Three” was read and passed(2). Upon its inception, the law, as detailed by its contents, was to be filed away and void until January 1st, 2092.

(1) A law mandating that all citizens of Idaho found to be practicing Perceptionism were to be sent to internment camps on the border of Mexico and Texas for no less than three months.

(2) The reference to laws being read during the week of hurried legislation is a massive overstatement as several laws passed during that week were more often than not never opened by legislators and were simply signed and sent on their way. There was a story circulating among several prominent politicians after the ‘Great Decline’ that the law containing the guidelines and framework of the Theory of Three arrived for review by the proper legislators and left its review unopened with only a small note affixed to the outside. The note directed the secretary of the committee to ‘sign and enforce with all due diligence.’

After the withdrawal of support by Great Britain and the Republic of South America from the war on Perceptionism the United States media slowly became isolated from world news. United State’s overseas correspondents were barred from all press conferences and were, in many cases, deported back to the states. This hostile reaction from foreign countries had the United States entering a forced isolationism from which it would never recover. Trade from other countries ceased and world news was soon non-existent. However, as the coming days would prove, these drastic changes would mean very little for the fate of the once great nation.
On January 3rd, 2092 the United States government began reporting vast sums of money missing from several major departments with no evidence as to their whereabouts. Over the course of the next several days it was discovered that, in addition to the disappearance of millions of dollars, several important documents and files had been destroyed in seemingly random fashion across the nation. The American citizenry began to react to the governments gross mishandling of affairs by staging marches in every major city in the United States. Perceptionist groups in these cities began holding mass protests that were met with violent clashes by the police forces still loyal to the government. Over the next year the U.S. government suffered several political failures as a result of the random disappearances and, consequently, the American public also suffered under a heavy weight.
On September 23rd, 2093 Leonard Fennell resigned as Secretary of the Treasury and issued a statement in the New York Times under the headline “It was Me.” In this statement Mr. Fennell detailed his sole involvement in the implementation of Law #348 and the Perceptionist motivations behind it. The article explained how the numbering system had been altered in the Department of Finance and how the disappearances, which seemed random, all had correlations relating to the number three. After the release of the incriminating statement former-secretary Fennell disappeared. It is rumored that he left to hide in the obliterated ruins of India, but there is no hard evidence pointing in any direction.
Prior to this upset the citizens of the United States could be divided into two distinct classes, upper and lower; the former surviving on what they had stockpiled and the latter living on the streets with little or no food. Upon the release of the statement by former-secretary Fennell the impoverished citizens rioted in every major city across the nation. The police forces were entirely overwhelmed and the nation was virtually swallowed by its citizens.
On January 22nd, 2094 the United States Government, in a final attempt to sustain any structured form of government, used almost all of its remaining resources to establish relief centers in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles. On February 1st, 2094, with its funds depleted and its citizens scattered and untrusting, the United States government officially dissolved. The great melting pot had finally boiled over and has since run dry.
There is still no news from any of the overseas continents. The American continents communicate very little as long distance travel is next to impossible. We are now, in the most desperate of hours, truly alone.