A little later, after exhausting the topic of the document and the possibility that Robin's parents were alive, Dustin and Robin moved on to the topic of his possible appearance before the Oasis Landing court and the grounds on which he was to be judged.
"Seriously, who goes after and tries to imprison a man for having more than two children?" Dustin inquired.
"The Oasis Landing Population Council, I guess," Robin replied.
"I know, but it's preposterous. Of course, I'm not saying that Oasis Landing is the only place with nonsense laws, I just thought that in the future humans would be more like... free."
"We are, but in the book of the Council two children are more than one man can handle. And if you have them by the forbidden method, the infraction is double."
"Forbidden method, that blows my mind, I mean, I know Oasis Landing families who certainly didn't 'engineered' their children. My parents, for instance. And Judith's."
"Because they're privileged citizens. If you've worked for the Council like Mr. Planeson, your family enjoys a lot of benefits other people can't even dream of having."
"So in the future everything remains the same: the rich and powerful have all the good stuff and the common people stay poor as ever".
"There are no rich and poor in 2054, everyone has access to a comfortable life, it's just that the privileged get everything sooner and faster than an ordinary citizen.
"Privileged and ordinary, is that some kind of social class system?"
"No, 'class' is something else. You don't get it from privileges, nor from the money you earn, but from your behavior. If you behave well and obey the law, you're a good citizen, if not…"
"I get the picture. And you're cool with that?"
"I was for a while, in my early youth, before everything that happened. I knew the system wasn't perfect, but I had a decent life. Besides, beggars can't be choosers, you know? I'm an orphan, I grew up in a community center and thanks to the Council I got to where I am."
"To the Council or Emit?"
"Emit was my intercessor, but if I got into the Time Academy and ended up being a Traveler, it was because the Council approved me."
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