Kalran: Tales of the four nations/Security through oppression

The Government is always watching
You step out of the passenger cab of the train connecting your residence district to an industrial area. The first thing you feel is the bite of warm air as it rushes into the cab, washing away the chill of the air conditioner. Everyone is used to it, and walks into the station, and as you do so, you see people boarding other vehicles. A bus lowers down it ramp to allow people to walk on. Several cars wait for loved ones and guests to approach them. And the loud stomping as Monitors wanders the area, their eyes staring as everyone walks. Your view of the distance is partially blocked by towering Balors walking through the streets, blaring out propaganda 24/7.

As the whine of the train's clockwork engine dies down, you are hit with the sounds of this residential sector. The din of chatter, cooking, and even the bombastic propaganda speaking from the telescreens that seem to be on every corner. You try to drown out the sounds and be on your way. Blocking you, though, are a group of grim-faced Enforcers holding their coats closely. They ignore you, more intent on a house behind you. They draw their weapons and leave them at rest, a sight common enough in the government that no one even bats an eye. You then heard cries as Enforcer with a man in handcuffs, followed by another yanking away a child, about four years old, from the arms of their mother. The mother tried to run up and stopped them only to get punched by another Enforcer, her cybernetic arm easily dislocating the woman's jaw, before cuffing her, adding "resisting arrest" among her crime of being associated with a criminal, and started dragging the three of them to a nearby Backbreaker. Above the man's protests, one of the smarter-looking ones speaks a line all too common, "You have committed a crime against Ouroboros. Now you and your family shall be punished."

Around you, a few other bystanders watched, most ignored it but you noted some looked in fear or fury. You, like many citizens of Ouroboros, ignore this and go about your tasks, like everyone else.