Prologue

 

Mark Grey leafed through the white folder on his desk in his opulent office on the top floor of Grey Towers. The founder and co-owner of the Grey Channel was a fairly anonymous man, well-dressed and urbane. He was in his early fifties now but still fit-looking, dark haired with just a touch of silver at the temples. He had no real outstanding features; he wasn't particularly handsome or tall or short. He was just decidedly average in appearance.

However, looks could sometimes be deceptive. Mark Grey was a very intelligent man, a high-flying graduate of Cambridge University. A deep thinker, a computer and AI specialist, a very thorough and organized planner. And one of the wealthiest men in the country. The Grey Channel turned over a phenomenal amount of money and had made him and his fellow entrepreneurs, Vanessa and the twins extremely rich.

And not only had it made them rich, but it had introduced them to all sorts of other wealthy, powerful people and specifically to the men and women who ran the New Government and by extension the country. The New Government had recognized very early on that mass communication disguised as entertainment was key to retain their popularity. Mark had realized at the same time that his idea for a Pay Per View experience of the recently introduced Cadet System would be the perfect propaganda vehicle for such an exercise.

His connections to the twins, their money and their political connections opened several New Government doors and the plan was formed. Mark and his associates would have sole access to the newly established Cadet Service which they would use for state-approved propaganda. And that was how it all started. Photographs and then videos and then drone shots. Each capturing a particular moment of humiliation or shame.

Usually it was some sort of menial, laborious chore. Washing and scrubbing things on their knees seemed to be a favourite judging by the feedback. The feedback had been Mark's idea. First of all it gave people an outlet for the emotion regarding the rightful treatment of traitors as one of the contributors so memorably described the comments section. But second, and more importantly, it helped create a sort of community.

A place where people could not only express their rage, but also their satisfaction. And as Mark soon discovered to his satisfaction where the great unwashed could support a cadet, or more usually heap scorn or mockery on them. Some People discovered their favourites and supported them through thick and thin. The majority of the others discovered their most hated cadet and talked them down at every opportunity. It was like an old-fashioned reality TV show but played out with actual real people rather than actors pretending to be real people.

Mark also discovered that his fan base was a very varied cross-section of the general population. Patriots, students, loyal workers, stay at home mums. Lots of people in fact because the content was given away free. It was soft-edited footage with appropriate, shortened punishments and inspirational, narrated redemption arcs. It had swelling, patriotic music including at times the national anthem. But mainly it showed cadets learning, repenting, thanking the New Government for the opportunity to make things right, to make amends.

Which all served to achieve their purpose very well. There was indoctrination of course, a lot of easily-influenced people watched the Grey Channel and were quite willing to absorb the New Governments trumpeting of its own achievements. There was a certain amount of moral instruction. Naughty young women who were connected to the previous administration were being punished for the sins of their parents or their friends. It didn't really matter who, the fact that they were being punished and being seen to be punished was enough

The Grey Channel soon became hugely popular with the people and although that was certainly a good thing as far as advertising revenue was concerned, Mark was convinced that there were other ways, which was where the idea of Pay Per View came from. The New Government accepted their percentage of the cut and then it was game on. Tier 2 attracted the wealthier members of the public willing to pay their monthly subscriptions and included minor officials, the police, teachers, the sort of people who were New Government supporters in some sort of position of authority.

What they got for their money was a lot more uncut punishment scenes, fewer edits and less narration. There was a lot more crying and genuine remorse which was clearly what the views wanted. Once again it was all about seeing justice done but at a more physical level. It also crucially involved audience participation. Members were allowed their own interactions with the channel. Comments were encouraged and not particularly moderated. Discussions about particular punishments and cadet reaction to them were commonplace.

Like on social media, accounts sprung up and rapidly became famous (or infamous in some cases). People had their favourite cadets and rooted for them. Others had cadets who they particularly disliked for whatever reason. Then the Grey Channel started to post pictures and videos posted by the general public. And then it started to pay some of the bigger accounts for their content. In very little time the membership of Tier 2 went up by a factor of ten. Everyone seemed to be watching it; it became a prime-time staple. People discussed the show and its content at work and in pubs, everywhere in fact.

Mark Grey had created a monster which reached far into the British consciousness and psyche on almost every level