Late in the 1900s there had been a technological development that was eyed with mistrust by governments world-wide. This ancient technology had been called the Internet. Although developed by the government, its use had early been co-opted by the population at large. First thousands, then millions, then hundreds of millions of people connected easily and quickly to each other. News from one area traveled to another in the blink of an eye. And no longer were people silent about what they saw going on around them.
In the shadowy weblog world skepticism reigned. The myth and the lie were demolished with ease. No group was safe when information was so readily available. Discontent did not need to be fomented; it existed already in the nooks and crannies of the Internet.
And so it was that the Internet would come to be seen by those who dreamed of power above all else as a foe in need of vanquishing. And so it was that governments and Deans and Directors would form an uneasy alliance, united in their distrust of the Internet. And so it was that they conspired together to rid the world of this unholy menace.
And in their zeal they demolished the Internet, or so it seemed on the surface. And then they took on the television broadcasters and the radio stations and the newspapers and the publishing houses, evil purveyors of untruths all.
By 2157 the powers that be had managed to eradicate the Internet,television, radio, newspapers and books from the homes of the people, leaving them only in the hands of the government, where they surely belonged. At last, the powers thought, they had brought control back where it belonged. And they slept soundly in their beds at night, knowing that only that which was proper to be known would the people know.
And such was the situation in January of 2169.
To Be Continued
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