Chapter 18. Law and order

After making sure that Kaas had learned to use mental communication, Aska put on a very serious expression and said:

"The time has come to find out the most important thing, namely, what the law is, how not to break it and what will happen if it is broken."

Does this also concern children? he asked Aska mentally.

"This applies to everyone, the only difference is in the amount of compensation and the terms of recovery."

What are you talking about? he asked in surprise, still looking at the assistant's icon.

"Listen carefully, I'll tell you everything." Aska began:

"In Kiva, there are only 3 types of punishments."

"First, this is a fine for an offense, it is the same for almost all violations of laws and regulations. This penalty is not simple, but progressive. If you commit your first offense, the fine will be only 1 copper. Each subsequent violation will double this fine. Thus, the tenth violation will be worth more than 5 silvers, the twentieth more than 52 golds, the thirtieth, more than 5 sapphires, and so on."

"This rule has a condition that is different for adults and children. It is called 'rollback', if an adult does not violate anything for 1 year, then the counter rolls back 1 unit. For a child, this period is 1 month."

"And this is one of the important reasons why many are in no hurry to become adults ahead of time. Before that, they try to roll back the violation counter to zero. Although it seems that 30 violations is a lot, and 5 sapphires is quite an acceptable fee. But violations accumulate quickly enough, and the amount of the fine, which just seemed small, may become simply impossible to pay. You now only have a little over 33 rubies, so your limit today is 25 violations."

Aska, but what are these violations? asked Kaas.

"These are any violations that do not imply the maximum punishment. For example, violation of city rules. If these are children, then they most often interfere with passerbys, trample the lawns, make noise, litter, call names and fight. Everything is recorded, so the fines come up pretty quickly. By the way, you already have level 11 and the next punishment will cost more than 20 silvers."

"The second type of punishment, compensation. This is an additional punishment, because compensation without violation is impossible. Therefore, if you, for example, walk on the lawn, then you will be indicted not only 20 silvers, but also the cost of correcting the lawn. You have already had this violation twice, the first time it cost 53 golds, and the second almost 2 rubies."

Isn't it too harsh? he thought in the direction of Aska, considering options.

"Not at all!" Aska said in a stern tone, "The compensation is obvious, the damage must be repaired! As for the progression of the penalty, this is to prevent the rich from using their wealth for endless violations."

"The situation is more complicated with violations of social contracts and moral harm to people. After all, if the injured party can receive compensation, this mechanism can be used as a trick for transferring money. Therefore, the fines that are supposed for such compensations are usually very significant, but they go to the state treasury."

Aska, what if there is nothing to pay? Kaas asked in his mind.

"It's simple, capital punishment!" She answered quite calmly, as if talking about yesterday's weather.

"What? the capital punishment?" Kaas cried out, forgetting to communicate mentally.

"So, such a culprit will be excluded, why does the country need a person who is so incapable of adapting to life in society?"

"What do you mean 'excluded' ?"

"That means that they will be deprived of all property, including the PAK and sent to an isolated artificial island with a minimum set of food and clothing."

"And for how long?"

"Of course forever. Getting to the 'Zagh' is a one-way road. There is no way out from there, besides, there are no services familiar to Kiva's, a little nature and what the evicted people will do themselves."

"Aska, this is really harsh, but if the person corrects themselves, why not bring them back?"

"Maybe they will be corrected, but maybe not. Who should fix them? Who should be watching them? How to understand that they have improved? Why so much trouble with a criminal? Give them a second try to make more trouble? In fact, this kind of violators, if they are not carriers of state secrets, have the opportunity to avoid getting on the 'Zagh' ".

"Which one?"

"Expulsion to another country. The violator will have a whole month of waiting, in case they suddenly want to redeem themselves, paying their fine for them, and then they will have a choice, 'Zagh' or the country from which the amount of compensation will be higher."

"It looks like some kind of human trafficking!" Kaas was indignant.

"And not trade at all", Aska said in response. "They are a criminal, and that will be their choice of where to go. In fact, violators are often bailed out. This is done by sympathetic people, charities, or even entire countries through buyback programs. And they usually bargain for scientists or specialists."

"But won't it be a loss for Kiva if scientists leave it this way?"

"Everything has a price, if people demand privileges for themselves for the sake of their status or knowledge, then no one will give them away. Think for yourself, if you allow them anything, is it fair? The rest of the people, wouldn't they want the same thing?"

"But then it turns out that other countries can benefit from Kiva's specialists!" said Kaas and took the portion of the second breakfast that had just appeared.

"This is a dubious benefit, really smart people know their limits and if they have accumulated violations, they prefer not to leave the house for a year or two to roll back the fine, and therefore do not get into such serious problems, in addition, they are usually rich enough to pay."

Kaas scratched his head and wondered, Aska, what other punishments are there?

"No more, fine, compensation and expulsion, that's all. The only thing to remember is that expulsion is threatened not only for non-payment of compensation or fines. Among them, crimes against people, such as murder, kidnapping, torture, rape, or Kiva's treason and some others. However, for such crimes, there is no bail, only 'Zagh'."

"But what if it's a child? Will they be sent to 'Zagh' too?" Kaas asked anxiously.

"It's more difficult with children. Each violation is an event the reasons for which are studied, and with children, they are studied much more carefully, because indeed, in the law on punishments there is no difference between children and adults. It is important to understand why, even with an assistant, the child continues to perform certain actions. It is extremely difficult to get to the point where the child cannot pay the fine. The counter rollback period is only a month and before it comes, this child will already be dealt with by specialists. Is it possible that they were deliberately provoked? Or are they seriously ill?"

"But, if they're just naughty?"

"Being disobedient is not a crime in itself, but for specialists it is the same symptom as everything else. You, too, did naughty things, but you didn't do those things that were punishable so often, and you always made sure that your fine didn't grow too fast."

"But won't that scare people into feeling too limited?"

"How can it be? In Kiva, there are actually not many rules. The usual rules of life in the city may differ, if you don't like something, suggest changing it or move to another city. Plus, you can do almost anything at home as long as you don't harm anyone. In virtual games, the rules are different, and by choosing the right games, people can further diversify their lives, but the system is the same, loss of rating, in-game penalties and lifelong expulsion from the game."

"Loss of rating?" Kaas asked.

"Yes, and in life there is also a rating, but if in a game, for children, it affects payments and can be considered a punishment, then in reality it is not a punishment, but simply statistics that can affect how others will evaluate you. It is sometimes important for a business to hire a person who will not be at risk of getting on 'Zagh'. For relationships between people, reputation can also be important, but this is already a matter of taste."

"But!" Aska suddenly said, drawing Kaas's attention with a gesture, "you must be extremely careful with violations!"

"I understand." he replied.

"No, you don't understand yet, any violation is being studied, the causes and consequences are carefully considered. It's not scary if they study the records and see that you stepped on the lawn while playing. But if you do something serious, they can do more thorough research, even medical ones."

"What could be so serious?"

"I will not even talk about murders and abductions, but, for example, excessive cruelty, unreasonable aggression and other behavior that will have symptoms of mental illness. Such crimes will definitely lead to a comprehensive study of the reasons in order to understand their source, the perpetrators, if any, and ways to correct them."

"And if the child commits premeditated murder?" Kaas asked.

"If this murder is not for defense purposes, then it will definitely be an expulsion in 'Zagh'."

"Even if it is a very small child?"

"It is quite difficult for a small child who has an assistant to do something like this, it will be stopped."

"But if they don't have time?"

"Oh you ... Very young children who can do something by accident do not play unattended. The probability of such an event is almost zero. And I do not know what they will do with such a case, Kaas has no records of this, and I do not want to make such a request, because such curiosity can attract the attention of the police."

"Does the police monitor everything that happens on the network?"

"You can say so, but it does not matter in the usual case, but if young children are interested in such exotic issues, then they will pay attention to them in order to avoid possible incidents."

"But shouldn't the child know what happens in the event of a murder?"

"At the latest, it learn this from the age of five and it is repeated at school every year until they become an adult. And the assistant, of course, reminds of this. But this is a very special interest and it is better to avoid questions that are not typical for children. And in general, everything that concerns children is given special importance in Kiva."

"But isn't everything too strict? Shouldn't children develop in a variety ways?"

"And what prevents them from developing like that? Diversification is one of the most important parts of education, by the way! So is the education of free will."

"It is difficult to talk about free will with such control."

"Just do not tell me that there was anarchy in your world and the children did what they wanted up to murder and indulgence in it."

"Of course not, but they were not included in such a number of frames and conditions."

"I could argue that you had even more of these frames and conditions, but we will not be able to verify this. In Kiva, raising children is the most important task of society. Children are guaranteed the necessary amount of knowledge and provided with almost any opportunities for development. Parents, in order to have a child, need to undergo special three-year education, pass exams and pay a fee of 1 emerald each, or 2 emeralds if there is only one parent." Aska said and continued:

"It is a crime to restrict children in knowledge or to teach children false knowledge."

"And who determines which knowledge is false and which is not?" Kaas asked.

"It is not defined that way, there is no such thing as a list of false knowledge. For example, your parents would suddenly want to convince you that Assia is flat, that would be a crime. But nowhere is it written that this is false knowledge, however, there is a confirmed scientific fact that Assia has the shape of a ball. Thus, any 'knowledge' that contradicts this will be false."

"But you yourself said that in the game 'Expansion' there are things that do not yet exist, aren't children being taught false knowledge in this way?"

"Not at all, the knowledge taught there is real. Game events are also real, because they take place in this game world. And children, of course, cannot play this game without realizing that this is a game, they simply will not be allowed. This applies not only to 'Expansion', but also to all games, including fairy-tale or historical ones. Almost everything in the game, except for things that children must learn and understand on their own, has detailed descriptions, of course, there are indications that this is a made-up object and there is a link to an existing analogue if it exists. You can fantasize as much as you like, but you cannot pass a lie for truth, that's all."

And our children were often deceived. They were frightened with horror stories and forced to believe in fairy-tale characters such as Santa Claus. It was considered a tradition and was surrounded by a holiday. thought Kaas towards Aska.

"Fairy tales and holidays, this is wonderful, but you cannot teach children false ideas, because it can be harmful in their future life. Any knowledge becomes part of their ideas about the world, even if they are false. In general, the deception in the Kiva deserves special attention."

Kaas, with his attitude towards deception, looked inquiringly towards Aska.

"I have already mentioned social contracts, and so, they all relate to the relationship between people. Most are marriage or partnership contracts. And the largest number of obligations that are recorded in them are precisely the responsibility of people to each other. Violation of such obligations and deception is precisely the part that is fined and compensated in favor of the state."

And what will happen for the violation of such a contract? What is the compensation?

"Violation is a fine, and compensation is spelled out in the contract, usually this is a percentage of the entire fortune and the minimum amount, in case this percentage is below the minimum amount."

And people prescribe the amount of fines for each other?

"Why are you surprised? If people were not prone to deception, then no contracts would be required at all. Was a simple word of honor enough in your world?"

No, and we also had prenuptial agreements, but to be honest, I don't know what was written there as a responsibility. Among the obligations, as far as I remember, were loyalty, attention, having children, providing a certain way of life.

"In Kiva everything is the same, people agree on what they want from each other, from living together and write it down. The conditions are completely arbitrary, but they have the same structure, conditions and liability for violation."

"The most common conditions relate to the recording of life."

Trust but verify? asked Kaas.

"Not only, it so happens that people do not want to give each other access to view the past, or have gaps in the records, but they define for each other what exactly they would not want the person to had done in the past, and it turns out that they give such a promise. Thus, if it turns out that, in fact, someone lied, then it will be a violation."

But how do you know that they lied if there is no record?

"It is impossible, but sometimes it happens that other people have the record. Some people turn off the recording altogether as soon as they become adults. Someone goes to places where recording is prohibited. Many people do not want to record intimate details of life. This is quite common, many people choose to hide part of their lives."

You did not surprise me with that, we would also hide everything.

"But there are other people who always record everything. And in a relationship, on the contrary, they agree on full access to the life of a partner."

"Your parents' contract can be an example, they decided not to hide anything from each other, which is actually not very common."

"But why?"

"What exactly, 'why'?"

"Why not widespread? Isn't that everyone's obvious desire?"

"The desire is obvious, but usually contracts are fairly balanced and obligations and responsibilities are approximately the same for all parties to such contracts. And if people want to know everything about others, this does not mean that they want to tell everything about themselves."

Kaas wondered what it would be like to reveal everything about himself to another person, even a loved one, even if you completely trust them. Even if he didn't do anything particularly bad in life, how many embarrassing events were there?

If my partner could see all the porn that I watched and what I did, it would make me shoot myself. He thought, unconsciously looking at Aska's icon.

"Pfaff…" she chuckled and burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

Kaas understood how he screwed up and blushed like a tomato, but there was nowhere to run and hide:

"What's so funny? Pretend you didn't hear." he almost begged.

"In fact, I'm not laughing at what you said, but at the fact that you accidentally said it to me. There are no people here who have never seen what you thought about, even in the school curriculum there are similar materials."

"Are schoolchildren shown porn?"

"Schoolchildren are shown and told about everything that they may need in life."

"And Kaas already ...?"

"Undoubtedly, this is included in the training course for communication between people. How can you not talk about what plays an important role in a person's life?"

"But don't the children find out about it too early and do something stupid?" Kaas asked, carefully avoiding piquant words.

"Why should they do something stupid? If you are talking about sex, then it is prohibited until people become adults."

"Wait, but isn't the usual age of majority here 30 years old? How can people get by for so long…. Without it?"

"And this is the reason to become an adult earlier. Doing stupid things, as you said, is very easy. Sexual pleasure, the most powerful fixing factor in the human psyche. And therefore, experiments with it are prohibited, as with any other potent addictive drugs." Aska said in a calm tone, as if she was not at all embarrassed by this topic.

"But then, Vasi Kariz, who became an adult at the age of 14, can already do whatever she wants?"

"Exactly so, but she proved that she can make this choice consciously, understanding all the consequences of any of her steps. You don't think you can become an adult just by wanting to? To do this, you need to have certain social ratings and pass a serious exam. And in case you're wondering, she still doesn't have a boyfriend."

"But she is already 39!"

"So what? She is now pursuing a career."

"But what about age? Will she not remain an 'old maid' ?" said Kaas, taking the set of food that had just appeared.

"Have you forgotten your grandfather? He is 318! And she will not remain an 'old maid', although of course, loneliness can develop into a stable habit, but I do not think that this concerns her, as she said in an interview, she has not yet found herself someone she likes." Aska objected sternly, and as if remembering something important, she quickly switched to another topic.

"I haven't told you about meeting on the street yet. Each person has a status that they can prohibit to approach them and communicate. If you suddenly want to chat with such a person, you will immediately receive a fine."

"But how do I know about it?" Kaas asked.

"Of course, in your augmented reality interface. If you want to chat with someone, then you need to pay attention to whether this person wants to be communicated with at the moment. Even if this is a friend or acquaintance, but they status will be prohibitive, then they should not be disturbed."

"And if they are relatives?"

"Even relatives, if a person forbade everyone, then this means that it is forbidden to everyone. In the same way, you now have this status and therefore, your parents do not bother you. Tomorrow morning, I'll take it off, and I'm sure they'll meet you right away."

"But why is this the norm at all?"

"Usually, parents like to say too much when influenced by emotions", Aska replied with a smile, "Children don't like it, but more importantly, it can have a negative impact on development, and therefore it is considered normal to allow the child to calmly think about the experience. Of course, they must make this decision themselves, and they are not left alone, they have an assistant. Parents, so, are aware of everything that is happening, and in case of real problems, specialists will join."

"Well", she said, "you've already seen your grandfather, and now is the time to show you your new parents, watch the video with them, you have to get used to their appearance."

Along with Aska's words, a scene with a video appeared in front of Kaas, in which he and two other people were. They walked down the street together and talked about something.

Their resemblance to the boy was obvious, the dark hair he got from his father, and in the features of his face were guessed signs of both parents.

His mother, Asura, had the same emerald hair as his grandfather, Hoga Vix, which probably indicated that he was a relative from Kaas's mother's side. Only her eyes were light green. Kaas's father, Kanter, had blue eyes, which apparently gave a light azure tint to their son's eyes, as if the artist took and mixed both colors on palette.

On Earth, in humans, eye color usually did not mix, giving different shades, but it is possible that in this world, the mechanism for forming eye color in children worked a little differently.

They seemed attractive to Kaas, and perhaps because he was already used to his new appearance, he felt a certain closeness to them.

The couple were tall and slender, Kanter was about half a head taller than Asura. The appearance of his mother was attractive, both in face and figure, on Earth, she could easily have been involved in modeling or starring in commercials. About his father, he could not say anything like that, for him the man was just another man, tall, slender, handsome.

Their walk lasted almost an hour and ended in an open-air cafe, which was located on the third tier between the buildings of the districts, which opened up simply stunning views, on one side of nature, and on the other of the city.

Although there was nothing exciting about this video, Kaas stared at them without stopping, even not paying attention to the landscapes that opened from all sides.

It was a strange feeling, because his parents on Earth had long since left this world. He was never really close to them, as is the case in other families. And now he was looking at this friendly family, and could not understand what exactly he was feeling.

After another hour, the video ended and Aska removed the scene.

Kaas woke up from it as if from a dream, at the moment when a reminder flashed on his interface that it was time to eat.

Aska, seeing his confusion, didn't bother to distract him. And only when he finished eating, she recalled:

"You have to get used to them and remember how to address your father and mother. When they were together, you usually called them 'dad' and 'mom', but in private, you only called your father by his first name, Kanter."

"I'll remember", he replied in an uncertain voice.

"Okay, for today we have nothing else, so you can do sports as usual and go to bed. In the morning, I will change your status after you have breakfast and are ready."

This time, Kaas chose the most basic workout for general fitness, of course, with an active dynamic suit.

This time it lasted almost the entire 2 hours, because Kaas tried hard to give his best to the end, and Adri did not bother him at all.

Completely exhausted, Kaas was in no mood for experimentation, having eaten, took a quick shower, and bit a biter, he immediately went to bed.