Read Or Die Fan Fiction ❯ Citizen 451 ❯ Citizen 451 ( Chapter 1 )
[ A - All Readers ]
By: Lafiel_Fan01 
A dark, alternate history Read or Die future.
Anime/Manga: Read Or Die Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.29.2007 | Pages: 1 | Words: 669 | Visits: 849 | Status: Completed
A dark, alternate history Read or Die future.
Anime/Manga: Read Or Die Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.29.2007 | Pages: 1 | Words: 669 | Visits: 849 | Status: Completed
Read or Die and Read or Dream are owned by Geneon, Shueisha Inc., and the respective artists and authors, not by me.
Fahrenheit 451 is owned by Ray Bradbury and the related publishers, not by me.
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"Paper would tear itself, burn itself, and cut itself all for her sake. If she were in real danger, it would do anything to save her"
-Unknown.
"For the sake of the future, We must forsake you in the present"
-Unknown
---
Citizen 451.
Before the change, Citizen 451 had always been a little scatterbrained and preoccupied with her job. Because of her somewhat detached way of life, it came as a nearly fatal shock the day the firemen came and burned her home. Afterwards, with the flames still leaping into the sky, a representative of the State came and took her away to a reeducation camp.
---
Somehow they knew.
Citizen 451 had received another precious, rare book from her associates, and with utmost caution had brought it to her modest home.
The next day the Firemen and the representative of the state were at Citizen 451's door before she even had time to prepare what little food they allowed her for breakfast. Oh, they were very polite about it, there were rules after all, but once again her home was invaded. Lead by her case officer Mr. Card, the firemen all but ransacked her home in their desperate attempt to find the book, or any other contraband that would allow them to burn the place down and send her to reeducation permanently.
Once again their efforts were in vain. As they should be. After all, with the time Citizen 451 had spent in reeducation, was she not now a faithful servant of the sate? The zealous Mr. Card, was he not simply making sure Citizen 451 did not stray from the path she had been placed on? Citizen 451 was now a simple street cleaner and gardener. Though once a former Chief Librarian of a great national library, Citizen 451 now showed by example that she was no better than any other citizen of the Sate.
Frustrated once again at the failure of his efforts to prove that the reeducation of the timid Citizen 451 had been ineffective, Mr. Card and the firefighters departed.
Citizen 451 dutifully stood in her doorway in a posture of respect until Mr.. Card and the Firefighter unit was out of sight. Turning and closing her door, she paused to take a deep breath, then set about cleaning up the mess the representative of the State had left behind.
Later, after turning on the Television at the appropriate hour like any other good Citizen, Citizen 451 sat down at her small kitchen table. A brief touch of the wall brought the book into her hand. Running her thumb down the weathered book's spine, she read the title, "Midnight Liberation Zone," and reflected on the little redhead, now grown, who once owned it.
All the State's efforts to reeducate Citizen 451, trying to prove to those who might rebel that reeducation worked, had only played into her hands. Working as a street cleaner and gardener allowed her to move unobtrusively about the city. This allowed her easy contact with those who recovered books, and further easy contact with her old friends and others who would take them to a safe place. The long, nearly unbearable periods between chances to hold and read a book were sometimes hard, but in the effort to preserve those few remaining books, was not any sacrifice worth the effort of she who once claimed the title "The Paper?"
---
With apologies to Ray Bradbury and Henry Pu Yi.
---
Authors Notes:
Inspired by MM's DB Sommer's "Literary Hell," and written after an e-conversation with a friend.
Fahrenheit 451 is owned by Ray Bradbury and the related publishers, not by me.
---
"Paper would tear itself, burn itself, and cut itself all for her sake. If she were in real danger, it would do anything to save her"
-Unknown.
"For the sake of the future, We must forsake you in the present"
-Unknown
---
Citizen 451.
Before the change, Citizen 451 had always been a little scatterbrained and preoccupied with her job. Because of her somewhat detached way of life, it came as a nearly fatal shock the day the firemen came and burned her home. Afterwards, with the flames still leaping into the sky, a representative of the State came and took her away to a reeducation camp.
---
Somehow they knew.
Citizen 451 had received another precious, rare book from her associates, and with utmost caution had brought it to her modest home.
The next day the Firemen and the representative of the state were at Citizen 451's door before she even had time to prepare what little food they allowed her for breakfast. Oh, they were very polite about it, there were rules after all, but once again her home was invaded. Lead by her case officer Mr. Card, the firemen all but ransacked her home in their desperate attempt to find the book, or any other contraband that would allow them to burn the place down and send her to reeducation permanently.
Once again their efforts were in vain. As they should be. After all, with the time Citizen 451 had spent in reeducation, was she not now a faithful servant of the sate? The zealous Mr. Card, was he not simply making sure Citizen 451 did not stray from the path she had been placed on? Citizen 451 was now a simple street cleaner and gardener. Though once a former Chief Librarian of a great national library, Citizen 451 now showed by example that she was no better than any other citizen of the Sate.
Frustrated once again at the failure of his efforts to prove that the reeducation of the timid Citizen 451 had been ineffective, Mr. Card and the firefighters departed.
Citizen 451 dutifully stood in her doorway in a posture of respect until Mr.. Card and the Firefighter unit was out of sight. Turning and closing her door, she paused to take a deep breath, then set about cleaning up the mess the representative of the State had left behind.
Later, after turning on the Television at the appropriate hour like any other good Citizen, Citizen 451 sat down at her small kitchen table. A brief touch of the wall brought the book into her hand. Running her thumb down the weathered book's spine, she read the title, "Midnight Liberation Zone," and reflected on the little redhead, now grown, who once owned it.
All the State's efforts to reeducate Citizen 451, trying to prove to those who might rebel that reeducation worked, had only played into her hands. Working as a street cleaner and gardener allowed her to move unobtrusively about the city. This allowed her easy contact with those who recovered books, and further easy contact with her old friends and others who would take them to a safe place. The long, nearly unbearable periods between chances to hold and read a book were sometimes hard, but in the effort to preserve those few remaining books, was not any sacrifice worth the effort of she who once claimed the title "The Paper?"
---
With apologies to Ray Bradbury and Henry Pu Yi.
---
Authors Notes:
Inspired by MM's DB Sommer's "Literary Hell," and written after an e-conversation with a friend.