The Folly

By Charles R. Bourgeois

About the Book
Avon, the most isolated empire in the world, has created the perfect solitary society through its diplomatic and technological advances. The leaders of this massive state have achieved a way to not only control their civilian population by simply being powerful, but they also have evolved technology to brainwash all of its civilians through a system called ‘Cleansing’. All children that have been born within the barriers of the Avon state in the last ninety years have been installed with a chip in their brains that distributes all information the government believes they need. No one can receive information from the outside, and no one knows of the real world… except for Michael.
Being part of 0.01 percent of civilians that are able to see into the outside world, Michael sets off on a journey of enlightenment, joining forces with new friends in order to overthrow their tyrannical government and free Avon once and for all.

About the Author
Charles R. Bourgeois was born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He majored in history and education, and having played college lacrosse, he now coaches a youth lacrosse team.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Jul 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887297385

Book preview

Preface

Avon, the most isolated empire in the world, has created the perfect solitary society through its diplomatic and technological advances. The leaders of this massive state have achieved a way to not only control their civilian population, by simply being powerful, but have evolved technology enough to brainwash all of its civilians through a system called ‘Cleansing’. All children that are or have been born within the barriers of the Avon state in the last ninety years have been installed with a chip in their brains that distributes all daily news, information and propaganda that the government compiles each day. The most important part of the chip mechanism is the fact that as well as unloading propaganda to its people, it is also designed to erase all original thoughts that enter a person’s brain as instantaneously as they appear into human consciousness. The only human instinct that were left within people was that of human physical attraction, strictly for reproductive purposes. 

With the government able to manipulate all of its citizens, it was extremely easy for the state to become more and more powerful, while all people lived in ignorance, breathing and consuming all government propaganda filtered into their minds. The original chip system was created by the Chancellor of Avon at the time, Tobias Nero. His technology staff in charge of manufacturing was led by Robert Salem as well as neurologist Phillip Anderson, who was vastly important in making the chip safe for the human brain. Life was a very different place before the age of the cleansing and is the main factor as to why the technology was developed.  

Avon had always been a strong, affluent presence in the world, even from its earliest years; because of its power and wealth Avon was always a target for attack by many outside enemies. Although the nation became extremely wealthy and powerful in such a short period of time, their ideals that once molded the foundation of this nation were thrown aside, being shaded by greed. As the years went on, the national morals became more and more disregarded and led to a belief in aggressive expansion. Violent imperial triumphs, disguised as supportive endeavors to liberate people from their tyrannical regimes, were conducted all across the world giving Avon a bad reputation. 

As the world reacted to the wide-scale atrocities produced during Avon’s expansive attacks against allies and enemies alike, the government of Avon was vulnerable to ridicule. As time went on and technology expanded, the citizens of Avon began to see the atrocities first-hand as mainstream media allowed for outside influence including their government’s crimes of war. The citizens became more knowledgeable, and their dreams of protest and revolt eventually became reality, escalating to full scale riots in the streets that even had the backing of the outside world. After a grueling, violent several months, the Chancellor at the time, Henry Williams, was forcefully removed from his position and exiled from the nation for life. Avon was ready for a revolution, but they looked to the wrong man to find it. 

The nation had fallen into utter turmoil and was now in a shocking happiness, but with a sense of uncertainty of their future. In this misguided time, the people turned to a figure that they did not truly understand, Tobias Nero. Nero was a clean cut, white-haired, middle-aged man with a very appealing complexion who presented himself confidently and spoke very well. With the rough, unsure times within the nation, Nero created a sense of assurance with his smooth-talking speeches and tactics of improving the state of the nation. A man that spoke of peace, justice and order, paraded himself through the streets as the savior Avon needed, but behind his words lied a man, fearful of violence and terrible acts committed by man. He ran under the campaign slogan We’re going to clean Avon from the inside out! Looking back at history, it can be detected that what he meant was to clean the ideas of people so that the hate and violence would cease; at the time the people believed it was about cleaning up the government and the corruption of modern warfare. Tobias Nero was elected to power unanimously and began devising his plan.

After only one year in office, Nero had become extremely powerful through his diplomatic decisions and a strong backing of the Avon people. All the while, behind the scenes he was planning and creating his masterpiece which would allow him to have full control of his unknowingly willing disciples. As he planned his assault on the minds of his citizens he conducted the ‘cleansing’ experiment upon several of his highest ranking soldiers. After confirming his ideas of brainwashing were effective, he cleansed the entire army and placed them in all cities throughout Avon. 

On a dreary Monday in late autumn, all news and television stations went black, radio stations were turned off the air, and all were left in a sense of confusion for hours. The aggressive unveiling of the cleanse began in the hospitals, where all babies and small children were forcefully cleansed and any mothers, patients or doctors who resisted were to be executed on the spot. After the hospitals were under control, it was easy to manipulate the rest of the population; either they would accept and survive without a mind or fight in the street with the highest risk of being killed without hospitals to help them. Many fought back and many died, but at the end of the day all living souls in Avon were under the control of a tyrant who could decide on anything that each person was allowed to know. 

All literature and art was destroyed along with any history of Avon’s violent past, except for a large, sophisticated library compiled in the Chancellor’s home. Nero was successful in his pursuit of control, containing the secrets within the borders. Tobias Nero served as Chancellor for the rest of his life and although he was in control of the entire nation for this span of time, he never used his power again to wage war or cause violence because at his core, Tobias believed the cleanse was just that, a cleansing. A cleaning of all primitive and emotional thoughts that have caused the biggest disputes in human history.

Unlike Tobias Nero though, the current Chancellor Callahan Nero or Cal, his grandson, is a manipulative and power hungry tyrant in the truest sense of the word. Cal Nero is a very smart, educated man who has lived in the luxury of the Chancellor’s home his entire life allowing him to immerse himself into their vast home library. Cal was always a very lonely and insecure person, permitting himself a lot of time alone to read about all sorts of things, but had a specific interest in historical warfare and conquest. As he became aware of who his family was and the power that they held over people, he began to idolize powerful leaders that he read about. Callahan saw that like his favorite leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan and Julius Caesar, with control and public ignorance Avon could become a dominant force in the world. As he grew and became more and more educated, his radical ideas did as well, and by the time his father was no longer capable of holding the seat of Chancellor, he devised a plan. Callahan Nero had his father Jeremy and his entire staff executed so that there would be no interference. 

For the past ten years the nation of Avon has been told they were at war with the rest of the world abroad, because Cal Nero has used Avon’s mind control system to promote a pro-war agenda and force his people to fight for his own selfish desires. But the truth is, Avon has been excommunicated from the world since the early years of the Tobias Nero reign. 

99.9% of citizens know nothing of this story …

I. DOGMA

Good morning, Citizens of Avon. All is well in this great land we are lucky to call home. A monotone voice rings out in the heads of every man, woman and child, each morning at exactly seven o’clock a.m. A 17-year-old boy with light brown hair and vibrant blue eyes awakens to his daily message and ventures toward his bedroom door when another more serious message rings out. Our brave men on the frontlines to protect our liberty have suffered a grave tragedy today. Fifteen of our most valiant warriors have been killed as well as several others severely injured in a designed attack upon our naval base. As a nation you must be angry and steadfast to the conviction that we will conquer our enemies every day until we are free of all oppression in the world! The nation’s attention every morning for the past years, after the morning wake-up call, has been directed towards the ever-escalating war efforts.  

Michael Francis Rollins, wash up and come down for breakfast. You have school today, shouted a bland voice coming from down the staircase.  Michael brushed his teeth, washed his face and completed his morning routine by examining in the mirror, the small, light, indented scar adjacent to his left eye. The sound of his sister’s footsteps moving down the stairs broke his attention. His eyes moved away from the mirror and he ventured down the staircase into the kitchen. 

At the table sat two beautiful blonde women, one being Michael’s elder sister Victoria and the other, his mother Diane. Good morning, Michael, come here and eat your breakfast. The bus will be here to pick you up in only a few minutes. She embraced him and gave him a gentle kiss upon his forehead which he brushed off.  Good morning, Vic, said Michael in a quiet yet sincere tone. She responded Hi, in a very unexpressive tone. Mom, did you see the highlights this morning? said Michael.

Yes, I did. Many men were killed by an attack overseas in their valiant effort to support us, she responded, sounding much like a robot in her voice as if the response was instinctive.

I’m going to be one of the brave men to protect you and Vic and everybody in Avon one day, just like Dad, said Michael as he examined a framed picture on the shelf to his right, of a man in a blue military style uniform, displayed in a brown frame with a small seal towards the top right.

Your father would be proud of you, son. Now, the bus is here, take your breakfast sandwich with you and have a great day, learn all you can. I love you, she said as she saw her children out the door. 

 Michael made his way to the end of his driveway; a large yellow vehicle awaited him. He stepped up the three stairs towards the steering wheel where he was greeted by the self-driving mechanism that operated the vehicle, Good morning, Michael Rollins. Michael just put his head down and found a lone seat near the front of the bus, where he sat staring out the window replaying the highlights from that morning over and over until he saw a large building made of glass with a large sign out front that read Nero Secondary School. As the bus rolled to a stop at the motion activated sliding doors of the building, the voice of the ‘bus driver’ rang out again. Welcome to the Nero Secondary School, children. Have a great day. Michael rose from his seat to exit the bus, when he was shoved back down against the seat by a tall boy with fire red hair and big buck teeth. That was Ross.

There was one small group of people in Avon that was born with such a strongly aggressive brain that the cleanse did not truly work on; these were known as skids. Ross was one of these people. He was a bully, especially to the quiet, like Michael.  

I’m sorry about those boys, Michael, a girl’s voice resonated from behind him, along with a hand reaching out to help Michael up from his seat.

Thank you, Grace, said Michael as he somberly walked towards the double doors with a shameful look of defeat upon his face. She followed right after him off of the bus and towards the entrance to the school. 

Grace Rainer is Michael’s only friend at his school; she is a year older, but they have been good friends since they were little kids and are in the same grade and group at school. She is a tan skinned girl with brown hair and beautiful dark blue eyes; because of this she is one of the more admired young women at the school. Grace, like Michael, grew up without her father most of her life; their fathers, being in the same regiment of the Avon National Special Forces, were both killed in the line of duty. Although Grace is very beautiful and Michael was seen as more of an outsider, they had a strong connection towards each other that others could not understand. They were different. 

The two walked through the glass double doors together, like they did almost every day, and just as every morning began, the population of the school leered at them as they walked next to each other. Before the two parted ways, they engaged in a little ritual handshake that they did every day to salute their fathers. The handshake included three low fives concluded by the traditional salute of the Avon Military, which is conducted by taking the right hand and reaching across his or her chest to place it over the heart then abruptly brought down to their side standing at attention. Have a good day, Grace, said Michael as he made his way toward his classroom. Bye, Michael, I’ll see you at lunch, she said in a loud manner to get his attention, for he had already started off down the hallway. 

Michael got halfway down the hallway when he turned right and scurried into a classroom labeled 11B above the doorway. The eleven standing for the eleventh grade in which Michael was attending that year and as for the letter labeled, that is a more complicated concept.      

In Avon, all students, by the time they reach intermediate school, which begins in sixth grade, are evaluated and categorized into three separate groups. The groups are broken into A, B, and C and are determined by a single standardized exam. Group A is designated for the more academically gifted and more naturally intelligent students, aimed to train