Fiction:United Bidonite Empire/Society

Ten-Rank System
Bidonite society is rigidly structured and stratified on every level; however, while certain groups of people may start out on higher levels than others, all advancement is done based on merit. Stratification is accomplished through the "Ten-Rank System".

Ten-Rank is something of a misnomer; there are really more like forty ranks, including those counted Rank-Exempt or Rank-Expunged. It goes hand-in-hand with the caste system, with ten ranks for each caste (with the exception of the damez, who get four).

Ranks are described through a letter prefix describing their caste and a number suffix describing their actual rank. A Bidonite of rank BI-5 is a bik who has achieved a 5 on the system.

A Bidonite's rank determines their quality of life. Higher ranks are allotted larger dwellings, better rations (real meat instead of processed fungal imitations, fresh fruits and greens rather than synthetic substitutes), more luxuries, and above all, a higher social standing. Lower ranks are, of course, the opposite. All non-damez Bidonites start out as a 3 on the Ten-Rank System in their appropriate caste, so that privileges can be taken away should that Bidonite fail to match up to standards.

As stated above, the System works differently for damez; for them, a rank of 1 is equivalent to the rank of 10 for lesser Bidonites. As they are groomed from birth to be leaders and authority figures, damez inherently deserve better accommodations, according to Imperial philosophy. There is a more practical aspect to this, however. In addition to being stateswomen, damez are responsible for populating the Empire, and most of them must time out of their daily lives for the task of laying eggs. This is an enormously prestigious duty, but it is also a taxing one. In order to maintain the energy for egg production and ensure healthy children, damez must live in a comfortable environment and eat surprisingly large amounts of food every day.

Advancement to a higher rank is handled by the administration of whatever job that Bidonite happens to hold. Qualification is established through review of that Bidonite's work record, recent achievements, and testimony of two others of equal or higher rank. Retrogression is rarer and is usually a punishment for an overwhelming failure or embarrassment.

Advancement is voluntary -- even if a Bidonite qualifies, they may choose to turn the opportunity down. These cases are uncommon.

People deemed Rank-Exempt are exceptionally rare -- the most notable examples are the four High Sovereigns, who sit at the very top of the political ladder and have no limits to the resources they are allowed to commandeer. As Rank-Exemption can easily lead to overindulgence, only a handful of others in the entire Empire are allowed to have an 'E' in their rank, and only then after extensive review of their services, accomplishments, moral character, and economic viability. Furthermore, only those who are rank 10 may apply for exemption.

People deemed Rank-Expunged are moderately more common, but they are an order of magnitude less fortunate. People with the rank 'X' are the very worst of society -- the criminals, the morally corrupt, the people who have screwed up so monumentally that the only option was to kick them off the Ten-Rank System entirely. More often than not, they are exiled from the Empire outright. The few who aren't probably wish they were.

Enlistment in the military is a surefire way to advance up the system, which contributes to high enlistment rates. It's said that joining the army guarantees you a 5 at least.

Education
The government permeates every aspect of Bidonite life, including the school system. That being said, the school system in the Empire is pretty good.

Education is universal. Every Bidonite gets assigned to a school from the moment they hatch out of their cocoons onward. However, the type of schooling they get depends on their caste. Aabik receive a minimum of education: reading, writing, moderately advanced mathematics. Higher castes receive more extensive and advanced educations in preparation for the role they'll be expected to play in society. Aadamez, for example, are also taught administration and leadership skills.

Universal education is not simply a charity, however. It's also an excellent way to indoctrinate young Bidonites into being loyal citizens of the Empire. Propaganda is ubiquitous without ever being intrusive. It's entirely possible that this, above all else, is what keeps the Imperial Legions' enlistment rates so high.

The Empire maintains two varieties of schools: core schools and specialty schools. While core schools teach the "core" basics of education, they also keep track of individual Bidonites' strengths and weaknesses in regards to certain subjects. How well they do qualifies them for entry into one or more specialty schools that teaches them to make the best use of their talents. Of course, the higher your caste, the more specialty schools you can go into. As the Bidonite caste system is in a rough pyramid shape, this means that the Empire has a lower percentage of scientists than in other nations. This has the unfortunate effect of slowing down scientific progress (hence why they haven't moved away from railguns in the last two hundred years). Indeed, many of the most recent Bidonite scientific breakthroughs come from reverse-engineering technology scavenged from enemy battlegrounds; the repulsor technology that propels their spacecraft was stolen wholesale from the Necrox.

Law
Imperial law is military law. With the Alien Threat poised impatiently just beyond Bidonite territory, watching for the slightest opportunity to invade, it is important for the Empire's population to be good citizens and obey the authorities. An empire is carried by its citizens, and if the citizens stand firm against the Alien Threat, so will the Empire.

Imperial law is shaped by Bidonite culture, which places an immense emphasis on community. A crime that harms the community (theft, vandalism, malpractice) is a felony. Particularly horrifying is any crime that causes the unintentional death of a fellow Bidonite - murder of the third degree. The outright murder of a Bidonite -- murder of the second degree -- is even more terrible. And spirits help you if you kill a Bidonite from a reproductive caste -- murder of the first degree - because not only have you murdered your kin, you have also murdered all of their future children, who will now never be born.

In terms of punishment, the Empire typically meets violence with violence. Which means that for lesser crimes-- pickpocketing, avoiding work, forgery -- justice is served in the form of public shaming and little else. This is worse than it sounds: Bidonites are intensely social beings, moreso than humans, and the way one presents themselves to their peers is highly important. Worse crimes can lead to the temporary docking of rations up to demotion on the Ten-Rank System and solitary confinement (which, while bad enough for humans, is a little bit like Chinese water torture for Bidonites). Murderers of the third degree risk becoming Rank-Expunged depending on the number of those killed and their relationship to the victims. Murderers of the second and first degree get three months of solitary confinement without food, and are expected to slowly starve to death locked inside a bare steel cell. Second-degree murderers do, at least, have a cyanide pill as an option.

Religion
As a whole, Bidonites are not a religious people. Organized religion exists, but generally speaking it's a relative minority. Spirituality permeates Bidonite society -- it's an extremely rare culture that doesn't philosophize on what happens after death -- yet for whatever reason those beliefs never coalesced into any sort of central structure. Most Bidonites could be considered agnostic.

The predominant religion of the Empire is called Yurabisik. Yurabisik is descended from a pre-Empire worship of nature spirits in Orbaz and the Five Cities. In essence, it is believed that appeasing the spirits brings good fortune and prosperity to the land. Conversely, angering those spirits causes natural disasters and destruction. Spirits are present in all things, natural or not: a Yurabisik priest would just as soon bless the structural supports of a skyscraper for strength as they might make offerings to the wind and the air for good weather.

Medicine
Being a highly social species that lives primarily in crowded urban conditions, Bidonites are very vulnerable to disease. As a result, the Empire's medical facilities are exceptionally advanced for their general technology level. Alongside compulsory vaccinations, nanomachines predominate the field: semi-organic and remote-controlled automata capable of hunting down pathogens and destroying them far more efficiently than the immune system can. As no chemical antibiotics are involved, diseases cannot adapt to become resistant to them. At the end of their service, the machines can self-destruct within the patient's body, breaking down into nontoxic organic components that are filtered out harmlessly by the kidneys. However, cancer and autoimmune disorders remain perennial threats to individual Bidonites. Use of nanomachines in treating them still significantly extends lifespans compared to use of conventional radiation or pharmaceutical treatments.

The Empire fully sequenced the Bidonite genome several centuries ago. Genetic engineering of Bidonites was declared an ethical violation and outlawed at roughly the same time. Being a firm believer in the sanctity of reproduction, the Empire does not look kindly on eugenics. Inability to provide proper care for people with congenital disorders (whether physical and mental) is considered a moral failing.

Life
From birth to death, nearly every Imperial citizen lives under the control of the Ministry of Governance, with almost every aspect of their lives plotted out for them beforehand.

As to be expected from a police state, every citizen has a government-issued identity card and is expected to have their identification on hand at any given time. The ID card is all-important -- it's necessary for virtually every aspect of your personal life, from opening doors to purchasing food. Even accessing the public toilets requires ID authorization.

Rationing is a way of life. Every citizen has a personal, daily allowance of food and water. Hoarding is, while technically legal, frowned upon. Food rationing is recorded in pocketable ration booklets via holepunch, and are replaced on a monthly basis. Other rations are dealt with automatically: showers, for example, are programmed to shut off after the allotted time, notified by the ID card you used to enter them. Consumable luxuries, too, are rationed: things like cosmetics, recreational drugs, and even the amount of time you spend at the cinema are tightly controlled. Permanent luxuries, like cushier furniture or a personal computer, must be purchased.

Communal living is one of the defining characteristics of Bidonite life. Only the highest-ranked citizens get their own houses -- everybody else lives in apartments, the size of which depends on their own ranking. Personal washrooms are considered a luxury: everybody else has to make do with (enormous) public lavatories and baths. Personal transportation is likewise rare. In the Empire's cities, all transportation is public transportation. Food, too, is mostly dealt with in massive communal cafeterias.

Working Bidonites typically eat two meals a day: a brunch and a dinner, with a work period in between. Both meals are usually taken at a cafeteria. After dinner, they have the rest of the day for leisure. Should a worker feel peckish on the job, they may purchase a variety of snacks from a nearby food stall (hot and freshly made) or vending machines (cheap and convenient) using their own money.

Food in the Empire is primarily specially cultured and textured fungal extracts, which can be modified to imitate a variety of different foodstuffs. The quality of your food increases the higher your rank: for example, at rank 5 you start getting real meat instead of synthetic spun-protein substitutes. Better food is a large part of the incentive to advance up the Ten-Rank System.

Upon completing their education, citizens are assigned a job according to current needs and deficits. Once settled in, they are expected to remain in that job field for life, if not necessarily the same job (advancement up the corporate ladder is possible even for aabik). Jobs are assigned in shifts all throughout the day, so that Bidonite factories are in motion 24/7, barring weekends, which are used for maintenance. As Bidonites have very malleable circadian rhythms thanks to living mostly underground, it works out. Once a citizen gets through their shift, they may either return home immediately or go to the nearest entertainment center (which might be the same one they work in, depending on job). Despite the Empire's obsession with rationing, Bidonites do, in fact, get paid for their work. This money is generally intended for buying luxuries that make life more comfortable.

On death, Bidonites are cremated and their ashes used to fertilize crops. In this way, even the fallen may continue to benefit the Empire.