The sun shines on Mary Casper the same way it does every morning she sleeps at her own house. Mary is lying in her bed basking in the warmth of the San Diego sunshine, but today is not everyday. Today is the annual Lockdown. Mary is a traveler and only finds herself at home when she needs to recharge her own batteries or when it’s mandated by The Alignment.

The annual Lockdown is one of the mandated times. Everyone is required to be in their assigned city for 14 days as The Alignment analyses the data from the previous year. The output of this analysis is the new Distribution. Most years everyone over the age of 25 stays in their assigned city. It would be quite strange and alarming to find drastic changes in the beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors of adults who are more than a quarter-century old.

Traditions dominate the Lockdown and Mary always looks forward to the 14 days in her hometown. She rotates in her bed so her legs swing out to the left and bend to find the floor. She rises into Tree Pose - a yoga position. Mary then completes a series of poses moving slowly toward the center of her bay window. Her foot plants solidly to the right of center, arms outstretched she leans back and turns her head toward the window through which she can see the ocean crashing onto the sand below. She finishes her yoga routine ending in child pose. After a final breath in, hold, out she stands and opens the window just in time for the Alignement Drone to float in with her morning meal.

“This better be my favorite hometown meal or I will protest…formally,” Mary says playfully to the AD.

Of course it was her favorite because the System doesn’t make mistakes. The System knows people better than they know themselves. The System knows what a person needs before and better than the person knows it. The System creates the reality in which the worldwide citizens live. The System makes life feel magical. The System is not to be challenged.