By some standards Alpha Complex is not that bad. For many low-clearance citizens it works fairly well, as long as you ignore the utter absence of human hope and aspiration. To a beggar on the streets of Calcutta or Lagos or the South Bronx, Alpha Complex would look great. With clear understanding of all its drawbacks, with their eyes wide open to its corrupt and arthritic bureaucracy and its hazardous environment and The Computer’s all-encompassing insanity, they’d still move there like a shot.
Most Alpha Complex citizens live either happily or in a state hard to distinguish from happiness. Their assignments keep them busy during the day. They have plenty of leisure, pleasant company and many charming, order-affirming vidshow entertainments created and produced by HPD&MC. From infancy, citizens learn how they must be happy. When education fails, The Computer prevents unhappiness or discomfort through extensive use of drugs.
The daily routine of an INFRARED citizen looks something like this:
Rise with hundreds of others in the barracks. Pop a couple of Wakey-Wakey pills. Wash and eat a leisurely breakfast. Go to work at a service firm. Have a leisurely lunch with coworkers. Work some more. Down a handful of Mellodaze caplets. Return to the barracks. Have a leisurely dinner. Attend a club meeting such as Botspotters, Volunteer Map Verifiers or the local subsector chapter of Keep Alpha Complex Totally Hygienic. Gather with friends in the communal view lounges to view Teela O’Malley adventures and game and reality vidshows. Chat. Relax. Turn in with hundreds of others. Drink a warm cup of SleepyTyme relaxant. Sleep soundly.
Utopia.