Chapter 235
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By Jue the television networks were showing specials. They seemed designed to shock the audience, not easy so soon after World War III. One special had a comatose comedian hooked up to a motorcycle, controlled by remote, trying to break the world record for jumping over the most barrels. Allegedly this comedian had requested this should he ever end up brain-dead, his way of providing for his children. Another special involved a game of Russian roulette. Five players, a gun with six chambers, one bullet. All five players survived, leading to speculation that the game was rigged, at least this first time. Some people were even fighting pistol duels on live television. It was no longer just drunken fraternities or sororities posting the videos on Youtube, these people were fighting in detperate attempts to provide for their families in desperate times. They usually spared each other, at least for now. One commercial around had a wrestler known as "Sgt Slaughter" advertising his fitness program. With this program people could make themselves fit enough to fight their wat into the Arks if not legally selected when the time came.
It wasn't all that suprising that there were several mercy clinis in the Brooklyn sector. Mason probably wanted more collectivists to kill themselves. Noone was explicitely forced, why would they need to be? With ELE barely 400 days away, little hope for collectivist refugees for getting into the Arks, many gave into the hopelessness. During the war the minimum age for euthanasia was lowered to sixteen. With parental permission they could do it as low as 14, and the waiting period was lowered to two days. Eve sometimes volunteered as sidewalk counselor. She had a hard time finding the right words to convince people. Her imam wanted a visibly pregnant woman, to remind people there were alternatives to abortion or suicide. It was discouraging. Parents who couldn't feed all of their children talking the older ones into suicide. Abusive spouses talking their wives or husbands into suicide. This seemed to be a part of the downward spiral of humanity. Nice boys like Adam hitting their girlfriends. Those who would've beat their spuses even before 2/4, now talking them into death. The physically or mentally handi-capped, who could've been properly handled before 2/4, now were easily talked into the mercy clinics. Eve knew that some of them had no real idea what they were going into these places for. But it was impossible to talk them out of it. Not when their parents or care-givers were saying this was right. The elderly mostly went in, not wanting to be burdens. Teenagers found suicide trendy, even romantic when young lovers made suicide pacts and died together. Eve was regretting her decision to become pregnant. It was a horrible world that she'd be bringing her child into.