The Special Economic Zone Chapter 10: Bill of Rights

 

Bill of Rights

The flying carriages lifted over the mountain, over the siege surrounding it. Cass made a crude dwarven gesture at the soldiers down below as the carriages passed. They headed for the King’s Forest, which was several miles south of Dalmor.

When they reached the forest, the carriages touched down. Thorn saw Galena there, along with Sally and six demi-humans. He stepped out of the carriage.

“Galena! Sally!”

Sally rushed over and hugged Thorn. “You came back.”

Thorn pated Sally on the head. “I told you I would.” He looked at Galena. “Is this everyone?”

Galena looked at the carriages and whistled. “They pulled out all the stops. These are type three Dakkos carriages.”

Cass stepped out of a carriage. “King Dwargon has decided that Thorn is an asset to the Lonely Mountain. We’re now headed to Farrow Dells to start a new community.”

Galena clapped his hands together. “Good! That’s exactly what I was thinking. You don’t mind giving me a ride, do you?”

“Sure.” Cass shook Galena’s hand. “We have plenty of room.”

Five minutes later they were back in the sky. They flew over several human settlements, but they were too high up for them to do anything. They flew over the mountain range between Farrow Dells and the Great Plains. By the end of the day they had reached their destination. The carriages landed in the town’s clearing.

“Oh, wow.” Cass stepped out of the carriage. “This place is primitive.”

“That’s what I was hoping to change.” Thorn stepped out behind Cass.

Cass cracked his knuckles. “I hope you lot are hard working.” He addressed the gathered demi-humans. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

Cass drew out a plan for the city center on a piece of parchment he had brought with him. Several of the dwarven architects put together blueprints for a number of buildings. Other dwarves led the demi-humans in foresting efforts.

Several days passed, and the buildings’ foundations were now visible.

“We are going to need a large amount of stone.” Cass sat underneath a makeshift tent, sitting across from Thorn. “The stone of the mountains near here should suffice. What do you know about quarrying?”

“You’re the dwarf.”

Cass rubbed his beard. “Hm. Well then. We’ll keep working to find a good quarry location.”

More days passed. About a week after construction started, a large number of demi-humans arrived from all across the continent. Thorn gave each and every one of them a name. They were put to work.

A clearing near the edge of the Dells was created, where terraced farms were placed. Since it was planting season, the fields were soon sown with corn, wheat, and potatoes.

During all this, Thorn remained in his makeshift mayor’s house, drawing up everything he knew about modern technology. He also used his Pockets of God ability to create objects and tools that the city needed.

He soon found that his detailed knowledge of modern society was woefully shallow. He knew about things like polymerization and the Bessemer process, but he had no idea how to implement any of it.

He decided that the first thing he would try to do would be to create paper.

He met with Cass on one afternoon, when the sun was almost setting.

“Okay.” Thorn handed Cass a piece of parchment. “You know how parchment is hard to source, right?”

“I do.” Cass nodded.

“What would you do if there was a cheap, easy, and comparable product?”

Cass tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking this.”

[Would you like to conjure a ream of printer paper? Doing so will consume 0.0003% of your remaining mana.]

{Yes.}

A ream of paper appeared on the table in a flash of light.

“Now what is this?” Cass picked up a sheet of paper. “It’s light, and it’s a lot rougher than parchment.”

“It’s called paper.” Thorn stacked several more reams on the pile. “It’s made from wood pulp. I’m not entirely sure how to create it using non-magical processes, but I certainly can try.”

Cass laughed. “Okay. You got me there. We can try to recreate this using technology available to us.”

“I also want to procure a wine press.”

“Can’t you just summon one?”

Thorn shook his head. “It’s too big and complex.”

“So your power does have limits.” Cass rubbed his beard.

“Yes.” Thorn sighed. “I have to understand something intuitively in order to create it using this power. Things like gold pieces and simple potions are easy to understand. But unless I were to take apart a wine press and put it back together, I wouldn’t be able to create one.”

Cass bobbed his head. “Okay. I get you. We’ll add this to our list of things to do.”

“I know I’ve put a lot on you.” Thorn ran his hand through his hair.

“That’s what we came here to do.” Cass smiled. “You aren’t putting us through anything we don’t want to do.”

Thorn looked out the window at the buildings that were coming up around him. “It’s a good thing that there are beings out there who appreciate freedom.”

Cass folded his hands and leaned forward. “We need to talk about something.”

“Yes?”

Cass looked to the left and then to the right. “Right now, there aren’t very many people here, and most of them are indebted to you. However, as this town grows, it will be harder and harder to organize without a central government.”

Thorn pulled out a piece of paper he had been working on for the past week. “This is our constitution.”

Cass tilted his head. “Eh? What’s that?”

“It’s a piece of paper that tells the world what our government will be.”

Cass pursed his lips. “Explain.”

“First off. The government of this town will be considered a city-state until we expand our borders. We will have three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislation will be comprised of a number of representatives relative to the number of species within the nation. Each representative will be elected for a four-year term by the people who are affected by their choices.”

“Elections?” Cass grimaced. “Why would you ever want to give up power?”

“That’s the thing. I can’t trust even myself with too much power. Let me continue explaining.” Thorn ran his finger along the document in front of him. “I will be the mayor of this town for the next four years, but after that I am going to have to be elected.”

“You certainly are a weird one.”

“I’m not the one who came up with these ideas. Anyways, the judicial system will be comprised of seven supreme court justices. However, as our population is low, we will start with three. I will appoint these three judges. They will serve for life.”

“Okay.” Cass rubbed his hands together. “I’m starting to get it. You’re separating powers, aren’t you?”

“I’m glad you picked up on it so fast.” Thorn took out his bill of rights. “First and foremost, amendment one of the bill of rights states that we will have free speech. A person cannot be punished for anything that comes out of their mouths.”

Cass’s eyes widened. “Anything? Anything at all?”

“Minus a few heinous crimes that I will deal with later.” Thorn pointed to amendment two. “The right to bear arms will not be infringed.”

Cass’s eyes widened even more. “You’re absolutely crazy.”

“We’re just getting started.” Thorn pointed to the third right. “The government will not be able to house soldiers in civilian homes.”

Cass raised an eyebrow. “Really. That’s a big departure from what other humans do.”

“It’s a fundamental piece of the government I want to create.”

Cass rubbed his beard. “Won’t that make it much more difficult to host an army?”

“Yes. But I want, first and foremost, for the rights of the people to be respected.”

Cass chuckled. “Go on.”

“Fourth. It is unlawful to search property or seize objects without a warrant.”

“You’re a nutcase.” Cass shook his head. “There’s no way a government can function like that!”

“Just wait. Number five: trial by jury of peers. Every conviction needs to be ratified by a jury of twelve peers. No person will be tried for the same thing twice. And, we can’t confiscate property without rendering compensation.”

Cass laughed. “Oh, god of stone! You’re really going through with this?”

“Amendments six through nine deal with trials and the court system. I’ll expound on them when we get one set up, which won’t be for a while.” Thorn passed Cass a copy of everything. “Read up on this when you get the chance.”

Cass took the paper and read through it. “Okay. I think I get it.”

“Exactly. Tenth: the government can only act upon the powers that it is given by this document.”

“So you’re restricting your own power. Why?”

“Because I want Farrow Dells to become a nation of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

“You’re mad.”

Thorn chuckled. “We’re only halfway there. Amendment eleven eliminates the state from pursuing legal action with other sovereign entities. Twelve deals with how the president will be elected. Now here’s the bomb.”

“I read it.” Cass grinned. “No slaves.”

“Nope. No slaves. Ever.”

Cass nodded. “I understand completely.”

“Fourteen: all rights of people will be retained. You can read the exact wording in your copy. Fifteen: Everyone can vote. If they are an adult, then no matter the gender, race, or beliefs, they can vote.”

Cass nodded. “Hm. That’s an interesting system there. What are you going to do if they vote for something you’re against?”

“Then the people have had their say.” Thorn flipped his paper. “Yes, we are going to institute a tax system. We’ll talk about implementing that much later, once we have hired a number of accountants. Also, we’re going to have to figure out exactly how to divide the senate and the house among our population.” Thorn flipped his papers again. “And finally, the last one worth mentioning in a non-technical context: women will also have the vote.”

“So you meant everyone when you said everyone could vote.”

“Exactly.” Thorn folded up his papers. “You can make copies of that document. Eventually I will speed up that process with a printing press, but for now get at least ten copies of this document circulating.”

“Okay.” Cass looked over the papers again. “This is revolutionary. No one has ever formed a government like this.”

“Exactly.” Thorn nodded. “That’s why I’m doing it.”

“You even left a clause for yourself to be voted out of power.”

“Yes. I don’t know how long my lifespan here will be, but I do know eventually that I’ll be gone. I need to set up a good system for this place to flourish even a hundred years after my death.”

“You’re a long-term thinker, then.”

“Exactly.”

Cass seemed to think for a minute. “What do you want to call this new nation of yours?”

“The Special Economic Zone.” Thorn slid his papers into his bag of holding. “I know it’s a bit of a mouthful, but it’s supposed to symbolize our commitment to staying true to our morals.”

“The …” Cass hmphed. “I know exactly what that implies. You’re going to create a safe haven.”

“Yes. I’m going to create a nation where economics will be easy to pursue. I want to put together the greatest social and economic experiment this world has ever seen. With minimal taxes, minimal regulation, and maximum chance for profit, who knows what will be built?”

“You’re a libertarian, then.”

“I didn’t know Dwarvish had a word for that.”

Cass chuckled. “There are a lot of things you don’t know.” He overlooked the city, which was mostly foundations at the moment. “I can’t wait to see how you do.”