The Special Economic Zone Chapter 11: We're Just Getting Started

 

We’re Just Getting Started

“Aki. Ron. Rea.” Thorn held his hands behind his back. “I have gathered you here because you will be the founding members of the Special Economic Zone Supreme Court.”

Ron shook his head. “I’m a crook. All I do is crime. And you want me to be a judge?”

“For life.” Thorn pointed at Ron. “You’ve got more knowledge of human depravity than any person I know. You’d be great as a balancing factor on the Supreme Court.”

“What, exactly, does the Supreme Court do?” Ron squinted.

“They take the laws that are laid down by the constitution and the legislative offices and interpret them. For now, since we’re only a small town, you’re going to be regular judges.”

“Okay.” Aki crossed her arms. “I think I get it. But are you okay, putting an immortal dragon in an office like this?”

“Of course. Your immortality is a boon that we couldn’t get back in my home. Your wisdom is unmatched, as are yours, Rea.”

Rea bowed. “I will take on this office with honor.”

Aki made a noise. “Okay. Since Rea’s in on this, I’ll be in on it too.”

“Eventually I’ll be expanding the Supreme Court to contain seven members. But since we have less than a thousand citizens here at the moment, I’ll leave it as three.”

Aki pursed her lips. “What role will you play in the new government?”

“I will be the mayor of this town, and eventually the president. For the next four years I’ll be staying in office under foundational protocol. But after that I’ll have to be elected.”

“You’re giving up power over your own creation?” Ron’s face was incredulous. “You were the one who built this town.”

“I know. But I also know that some day I will die.”

Aki shook her head. “Do you not realize? You’re the most immortal human I’ve ever met. I wouldn’t be surprised if you lived a thousand years.”

Thorn blinked a few times. Then he shook his head. “I couldn’t. Not only is my immortality not completely certain, but I don’t know if I’ll die from some other means before I reach my natural age.” Thorn sat down. “Here. Here are copies of the constitution and bill of rights. I added another amendment while thinking about it. Amendment zero.”

“The right to personal property, industriousness, and honest pursuit of profit shall not be infringed?” Aki raised an eyebrow. “Now why would you put that as one of your government’s fundamental laws?”

“This is an experiment.” Thorn stood up. “I do not know if it will work or fail, but I am in a position that supremely suits this sort of thing. No one in my home world ever had a chance like this one. Now read those documents. You will need to understand them inside and out. For the next two weeks I will leave the bill of rights open to criticism. Anyone and everyone can discuss it. When that deadline happens, the bill will be locked unless the senate and house votes for it to be changed.”

Aki snorted smoke from her nostrils. “You’re mad.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot here.”

Aki smiled. “But I love it. A social experiment the likes of which the world has never known.”

Thorn folded up his copy of the constitution. “You guys can debate what, exactly, the wording should be on these. You’re going to be the experts, after all. If all is successful, I don’t want people two hundred years down the line questioning what we wrote.”

“I’ll still be alive by then.”

Thorn shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. But before you accept this office, know that it precludes you from joining any of the other branches. So you’ll never be president or a senator.”

The three new judges looked at each other. Ron spoke first. “I will stake my life on my job.”

Aki nodded. “I will accept. I have no interest in ruling, but as a dragon I am very interested in law.”

Rea howled. “Yes! Yes!”

Thorn clapped his hands together. “Great. We will host a ceremony a few days from now.”

Thorn then went to the middle of the burgeoning town square and tacked the full constitution and bill of rights to the brand new town billboard. About a hundred demi-humans and dwarves surrounded the billboard.

Thorn cleared his throat. “I will now officially found the city state known as the Special Economic Zone. I know you have all been oppressed by humanity at one point or another, but I trust that our relationship with them will be cordial, as well as punitive. We cannot forget what slavery and warfare has done to us, but we can create a peaceful realm that is not afraid to show its teeth. This new realm will have three foundational aspects: one: freedom of speech. Anyone can say anything to anyone without recompense, exept when these words cause devious harm. As an addendum to this, religion of any kind and the state will be separated by law. Second: all sentient beings have rights that shall not be infringed. No matter your appearance or heritage, if you can speak a language—no matter what it is—you have the same rights as every other sentient being. And third: the pursuit of industriousness, trade, personal property, and pursuit of wealth through honest means will not be infringed.” Thorn bowed. “I hope to be your mayor for the next four years. If you wish to know more about our new form of government, then please wait until we distribute pamphlets containing everything you need to know. Until then, I will post the constitution in its entirety to the town billboard. Thank you.” Thorn bowed again.

The whole town erupted into cheers. “Yes! Thorn! Mayor Thorn!”

“As an extension of point two, I am now hereby abolishing slavery of any kind. If a human with slaves wishes to live in our society, then they must free them, without compensation. Slavery is an abomination and should not be allowed anywhere within civilized society.”

The cheers of the townsfolk echoed through the valley. Thorn bowed for a third time, and then stepped off of the stage. He motioned to Aki.

“Do you have something to say?”

Aki nodded, stepping up to the stage. “I know I am a fearsome dragon, but even a dragon as old as I am aware of the fact that this experiment has the potential to become something amazing. Until time we are able to produce a proper military, I will lend all of my draconic powers to defending this realm.” Aki bowed, and then stepped down.

Thorn stepped back up to the stage. “In two weeks we will begin our election cycle for the legislative branches of our small city state. In the meantime, I will gather talent and decide exactly how power should be shared.” Thorn stepped down.

He town cheered, again. After a few minutes, they dispersed, going back to their jobs.

Aki slapped Thorn on the back. “You are the most interesting human I’ve ever met. I can’t wait to see what you are able to come up with.”

“About that. I need to acquire a winepress.”

Aki tilted her head. “For what? There are no vineyards here. At least not yet.”

Thorn grinned. “I’m going to produce a printing press.”

“Now what kind of a machine is that?”

Thorn looked up at the sky. “You know how copying books is hard, grueling work, right?”

“Right. I own quite a few books in my treasure collection.”

“I suppose you would have one. You’re a dragon, after all.” Thorn cleared his throat. “Well, anyways. What I’m planning on doing is producing a machine called a printing press with movable type.”

“Explain.”

“What you do is you arrange small metal letters to recreate a page in a book and then arrange them on the surface of the press. Then you ink the letters and press a piece of paper. That way, you can produce hundreds of pages of paper from a single arrangement of letters, thus greatly speeding up the process of copying books.”

“You’re a genius!”

Thorn shook his head. “No. I’m not. This is an old idea in the world I come from.”

“About that world. Where is it?”

Thorn pointed at the sky. “Across the phlogiston. In another dimension entirely.”

“So that’s why you’re so strange.” Aki sighed. “Well, I’d better get to studying that constitution of yours.”

Ron had left a few minutes earlier, leaving Thorn with Rea.

Rea looked at Thorn. “I have not yet thanked you for saving my pack.”

Thorn put his hands in his pocket. “I couldn’t stand for the condition I saw them in.” He shrugged. “I’m going to go meet with Pitch. He’s a chemist, and I think he can help me.”

Rea nodded. “Can I come with you? I know nothing about alchemy, but I am interested.”

Thorn caught sight of Sally, poking her head around the foundation of a building.

“You can come too if you want.”

Sally nodded and ran up beside Thorn.

Thorn, Rea, and Sally found Pitch working on the second floor of a building near the village edge. Thorn called out for him.

“What’s up, boss?” Pitch rubbed the dirt off his hands.

“I need formaldehyde and phenol.” Since Dwarvish had words for the two, Thorn knew Pitch understood him.

“For what?” Pitch rubbed his dirty neck. “The reaction between the two produces a spongy mess that is brittle and useless.”

“That’s a precursor to the plastic that I was talking about.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If you create the right structure to modulate the reaction, you can create a substance known as Bakelite.”

“Bakelite?”

Thorn had used the English word, even though he was speaking Dwarvish. “Right. It’s a simple plastic.” Thorn shook his head. “You dwarves are going to have to figure it out, but the basic process is that you control the reaction between formaldyhyde and phenol with a catalyst. I’m sorry that I don’t know more than that, but I’m not a specialist in the subject.”

Pitch rubbed his hands together. “Okay. I’ll go of what you already know. We can figure this out once we get our lab completed.”

“Is that what this building is?”

“Right.” Pitch pointed to the building’s second floor. “This is a science lab.”

“That’s good. I must ask. Who is getting paid here?”

Pitch frowned. “I never really asked. At this point, everyone seems happy to just do their job.”

Thorn shook his head. “No good. At some point that willingness to work for the good of the town will dissipate. We need to figure out a way to pay people for working.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“I have a theory about money. With my power, Pockets of God, I may be able to do something that no one has ever done before: create a hybrid fiat/commodity currency.”

“I don’t understand those terms.”

Thorn shook his head. “Pay your workers. If you need a loan, well …” Thorn sighed. “I’ll have to figure that out as well.” He conjured ten gold coins worth of silver coins. “Consider this a loan from the government.” Thorn motioned to a table that was sitting underneath the building. He conjured some paper and a pen and started writing.

“I’m no good with accounting, so we’re going to need to hire some administrative help. But until that happens, I’ll consider this contract as the marker of the Special Economic Zone’s first government loan.”

“What is the interest rate you’ll charge?” Pitch leaned forward.

“Two percent.”

“Two!” Pitch raised an eyebrow. “That’s low. Very low. Dwarven bankers usually charge around fifteen percent.”

“Low interest rates encourage economic activity. With my ability to conjure large amounts of commodity money, I will become the singular central bank.”

“Central bank? I don’t understand.”

Thorn shook his head. “Neither do I. But I will eventually figure it out. Now sign here, here, and here.”

Pitch signed. “Okay. So you want me to use this money to pay my workers?” Pitch didn’t seem to keen on the idea.

“No. Do whatever you want with it.”

“Whatever?”

“Yes. If your workers are willing to put in effort without pay, then so be it, as long as they are not being coerced. But I think you’ll find a significant difference in the productivity of someone who knows they’re getting paid.”

Pitch nodded. “Okay.”

Thorn looked at the research center. “Do you have a business model yet?”

“Business …” Pitch shook his head. “I was always counting on funding from …”

Thorn winked. “While I won’t say that I’ll refrain from subsidizing your work, you need to find a way to earn money if you want to sustain yourself.”

“Braid Kul.” Pitch cursed. “This is such a strange way to behave.”

Thorn laughed. “We’re just getting started.”