It really is all about safety.
He knew that, and he was good at his job within the HSB, that’s the Health and Safety Bureau. This was the one thing that kept the world safe; that stopped it slipping back into the mess it had been in so long ago. It was a world that was better now, much better than before, but more importantly, it was safe. Most people would have no idea of what the world used to be like. It is so far back now, and such great strides have been made over the centuries. So much has changed. The new world order was a long time coming, but come it did.
So many hazards and life-threatening scenarios now no longer exist. The world-wide production and processing of food now under control of one central authority. The HSB, of course.
No more drivers, only passengers. Simple, don’t you think? And so obvious. All types of conveyances sensor-controlled to eradicate any possibility of collisions. Moving beyond the use of electricity was a game-changer. All those all too common accidents in the home, gone. Kids sticking spoon handles into sockets, mums in baths reaching for hair-driers, and dads fixing TVs. All gone. No more fossil fuels either. Everything so much better. Through the decades, the need for hospitals has been greatly reduced. Most citizens never visit one in their lifetime. Even those who make it past two-hundred.
The fire-proofing of clothes, materials, houses and office blocks has reduced the need for a fire service to such a small section within the HSB, that most people never see them. All major populated areas are kept safe within climate-regulated domes. For those travelling between, science now monitors the weather with accurate predictions and a global weather warning system. As for wars and fighting over land, power, money and other stuff. It’s all gone now. Just no need for them. It’s all so far back that it’s hard to imagine what was being fought over.
All aspects of life are now safety-compliant. Everything is under control. Everything, accept people that is. What are you going to do? This is the only category of safety risks that can’t be controlled, well, not entirely. Lord knows it’s been tried. Scientists have been working on it, but it just can’t be done; not with a one hundred percent rate of success. The only remaining threat is complacency. That’s where the man from the HSB comes in. Where there is trouble, he nips it in the bud. There can be no exceptions. Left to grow, left to fester, it’s a contamination that will creep back to a time well past. Well behind them. Well gone.
His ear bud chimes and he checks the address on his wrist screen. He arrives to find two men shouting at each other. They stop and stare at him with helpless expressions, they know exactly what’s to come.
He draws the device and fires twice…
Safety is everything.