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The Earth Republic doesn’t have freedom of the press. Now. Did they get that by outlawing a free press outright, by writing laws that labels certain content “terrorism,” or by making sure all the media companies are run by friends of the leadership? The story doesn’t really get into that. But many such examples exist in the real world. Either way, Arthur Weiss gets to say whatever he wants. And Hansa is restricted to anonymous vagueposting.
↓ Transcript
Panel 1: Narrator: "During that month Zaynab's family were nothing but kind. But part of me felt like I'd never left prison, even if now it was entirely self-imposed." The family sits around the kitchen table for a meal. Zaynab's dad is laying out the food. Maida is the only one wearing a hijab.
Panel 2: Narrator: "I only left the house to go to work. I avoided talking to people at work." Maida sits on the sofa reading her screen as Zaynab's mom gets ready to go out with Fatima.
Panel 3: Narrator: "90% of the internet was pretty quiet. Without real people to talk to, you might think the revolution was over." Maida scrolls past posts about relationships, cat videos, and "get ready with me" videos.
Panel 4: Narrator: "It wasn't, of course. People were more active than ever, if you knew where to look." She sees a thumbnail for a video with two cops pushing a guy into the ground and another one going for the camera.
Panel 5: Narrator: "Although even at that, you had to do a lot of reading between the lines. It made it impossible to know the scale of anything, when everything was an isolated incident." A post from someone named 101th Flower Bitch gestures at graffiti of a guillotine and sarcastically bemoans the state of the neighbourhood.
Panel 6: Narrator: "The thing about fugees being deported seemed to be real. You could tell because of all the big media types suddenly debating using mallquis to fill gaps in the labour force." She scrolls to a video that has "Arthur Weiss Speaks!" in oversized letters. This video is listed as "in your orbit" rather than someone she follows by choice.
Panel 2: Narrator: "I only left the house to go to work. I avoided talking to people at work." Maida sits on the sofa reading her screen as Zaynab's mom gets ready to go out with Fatima.
Panel 3: Narrator: "90% of the internet was pretty quiet. Without real people to talk to, you might think the revolution was over." Maida scrolls past posts about relationships, cat videos, and "get ready with me" videos.
Panel 4: Narrator: "It wasn't, of course. People were more active than ever, if you knew where to look." She sees a thumbnail for a video with two cops pushing a guy into the ground and another one going for the camera.
Panel 5: Narrator: "Although even at that, you had to do a lot of reading between the lines. It made it impossible to know the scale of anything, when everything was an isolated incident." A post from someone named 101th Flower Bitch gestures at graffiti of a guillotine and sarcastically bemoans the state of the neighbourhood.
Panel 6: Narrator: "The thing about fugees being deported seemed to be real. You could tell because of all the big media types suddenly debating using mallquis to fill gaps in the labour force." She scrolls to a video that has "Arthur Weiss Speaks!" in oversized letters. This video is listed as "in your orbit" rather than someone she follows by choice.
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