Taboos
A Taboo is a law which has effect over a given territory in the City.
Overview
In the City, Taboo is a term that refers to various types of regulations established and enforced by the legal authority of a territory. This means there are two kinds of Taboos: the Taboos of a Nest, which are established by the Wing that controls it, and the Taboos of the City, which are established by the Head and must be respected by everyone in the City.
Taboos of a Nest have effect over the entire District controlled by a Wing, including both Nest and Backstreets. Breaking the Taboo of a Nest results in the Wing sending a number of Taboo Hunters after the violator. Fixers and people who travel usually prepare by informing themselves on the Taboos of the areas they plan on visiting,[1][2] although individuals who are capable of avoiding the clutches of the Taboo Hunters[3] and organizations like the Five Fingers[4] will violate the Taboos of a Nest without fearing the power of its Wing.
Taboos of the City extend to every District, and violating them is a transgression at a far greater level than that of a Taboo of a Nest: breaking a Taboo of the City is considered equivalent to a death sentence, as the Head quickly eliminates all that violate its authority.[5][6]
Compared to the Taboos of a Nest, these Taboos tend to be rules of a wider scope, with many of them relating to the overall ethics of the City, which must be respected to preserve its order. To this end, the Eye is tasked with constantly surveilling the Cityfolk, while the Claw is tasked with taking care of any violators of these Taboos, executing any that are found guilty without any possibility of appeal.[7] In the case of large scale Taboo violations, the Head will make use of Sweepers to clean in the aftermath of the violators' execution, thoroughly erasing any evidence.[8]
Taboo Hunters
Taboo Hunters are a type of Fixer contracted by a Wing or another authority to track down those who violate certain rules. Despite their name, Taboo Hunters' work is not limited to Taboos, and they may be hired to track down individuals who have broken private contracts as well.[9][10]
Taboo Hunters sent after a given violator are typically few in number,[11] and they are sent based on their Fixer Grade depending on the import of the violation.[3] Their work involves capturing the violator and bringing them to the authority they've been hired by,[11] although their primary task appears to be to stop the infraction, while the punishment is secondary.[12] For example, an N Corp. Taboo hunter tasked with hunting down someone after recording unauthorized footage in District 14 would prioritize the retrieval of the footage. While a violator might not receive grave punishment for the breaking of a Taboo of low importance, it is suggested that repeated violations typically result in the Wing sending higher Grade Fixers to take more severe measures.[3]
When breaking a Taboo in a District, Taboo Hunters and other enforcers hired by the Wing are allowed to use force and even take lethal measures against the violators without warning.[13] At times, Taboo Hunters may be tasked with chasing down a violator in a foreign District; in these cases, they can't work freely, but require authorization from the Wing that controls it.[14]
Known Taboos
Taboos of the City
- Resurrecting the dead in body and mind[15]
- Limited forms of resurrection are allowed, such as the methods used by H Corp.'s Life Insurance and Dante[16]
- Taboos dictated by the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Amendment:[17]
- Destruction or violation of a residential area during the Night in the Backstreets[21]
- Any kind of video or audio recordings, generally any kind of attempt to investigate on the events of the Night in the Backstreets[22]
- Not paying taxes
- Citizens are given three warnings to make their payments, and are killed after the fourth violation[23]
- Not respecting restrictions on the creation and distribution of firearms[24]
- The maximum length of the gun barrel must be shorter the higher the gun’s caliber is
- No gun should possess the firepower to penetrate steel or building walls (although shattering steel is accepted)[25]
- A gunfire sound must be audible
- Do not research or imagine technology that infringes the firearm manufacturing guidelines, as provided by the Head along with the license
- Only authorized Workshops are allowed to craft S-class firearms
- No explosive bombs can be thrown; must be planted on an object or a surface, and the radius must not exceed a certain extent[26]
District 11 (K Corp.)
- Disturbance at the Nest Immigration checkpoint (Taboo K185)[27]
District 14 (N Corp.)
- Creation of any recorded footage within the District[28]
District 21 (U Corp.)
- Unauthorized recording of the Laws of the Great Lake[29]
References
- ↑ Leviathan Book 6, Flow
- ↑ The Distortion Detective Chapter 23: Quercus Village - "He didn’t bother to give me a detailed description of this town. What are the cultural characteristics of the village, are there any taboos, anything… Will it be okay for us to readily set foot in this village?"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Distortion Detective Chapter 16: Dou Gui Combat Office - "Those kinds of Fixers (Taboo hunters) simply can’t be avoided. Although, how come they immediately send a Fixer that appears to be at least a Grade 2 after us? It’s not common for a Wing to dispatch a Fixer under its command to deal with something as trivial as filming a fight in the Backstreets."
Moses: "…YuRia, do you happen to have a previous track record of breaking taboos?" - ↑ The Distortion Detective Chapter 15: The Night in the Backstreets - "Moses: "It’s not just a taboo in a Nest. It’s a taboo of the City."
Moses' narration: "That means violating it won’t simply end with a taboo hunter or two chasing us. (...) We shan’t dare to commit a taboo that not even the Fingers violate." - ↑ Library of Ruina Mi's Page - "If ye didn’t know, the City’s taboos are a ‘uge deal, ‘s much more serious than taboos of the Nest. You break it, and yer life’s over right then n’ there!"
- ↑ The Distortion Detective Chapter 15: The Night in the Backstreets - "Breaking a taboo of the City is on a completely different level to breaking a taboo of a Nest. The most one can do is delay their inevitable death. Unparalleled force will pursue us. Death comes unto one someday."
- ↑ Second Round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation/Floor 1 - Jia Mu: "The circumstance matters not; the context is meaningless. If a taboo is broken, they will be there to carry out the sentence. Almost as if they are… the executors of the natural law."
- ↑ Canto 8-20 - Faust, referring to Sweepers: "Once they are put to task, they are extremely thorough with erasing any evidence of the Taboo ever having existed."
- ↑ Canto 6-11 - Nelly: "Still, the contract isn't voided merely because people stop remembering it. Breaking it may invite the Taboo Hunters from an unexpected Nest or Fixers from the Öufi Association we had the pleasure of meeting earlier."
- ↑ Dante's Notes (Fixers, Record #2, Butlers) - "- Butlers bound to families or estates sometimes even forget what their initial contracts used to be. But apparently quitting is also a risky decision, given that Taboo hunters or contract-related Offices might come after them looking for bounty."
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Distortion Detective Chapter 19: The Hunter - Moses: "What happens to us once we follow you to N Corp?"
Vespa: "…I’m afraid I don’t know that. All I do is hunt down those who violate the taboo and send them to N Corp." - ↑ The Distortion Detective Chapter 19: The Hunter - Vespa: "First and foremost, the most important task: retrieving the original footage that was recorded. Second. Moving you, Ezra, and YuRia, the three people who broke the taboo, to N Corp. (...)
Moses: "You don't immediately kill those who break the taboo? How considerate."
Vespa: "…Well, that's how things are."
Moses: "But, no one who’s been sent to N Corp. for infringing the taboo has ever returned, to my knowledge?" - ↑ Canto 3-4 - Faust: "No matter the Wing, infringement of a taboo means that lethal measures can be taken against the violator without warning."
- ↑ Leviathan Chapter 20: Garnet and Lapis - "The fact that N Corp's taboo hunters invaded our Office, located in V Corp's Nest, also meant that the two Wings had already finished the necessary agreements and approvals."
- ↑ Canto 4-49 - Outis: "It’s unlikely that there was absolutely no technology or Singularity capable of complete revival at some point. (…) That can only mean… it’s not a kind of technology allowed to prosper in the City. …If I had to guess, the Head might…
Faust: "Indeed. It may well be an act of taboo as established by the Head."
Gregor: "I guess it would only count as a taboo if both the mind and body are recovered." - ↑ Intervallo 7.7-16 - Faust: "… The Head does not consider the revival via Life Insurance to be a violation of their non-resurrection Taboo."
Outis: "It is likely that, on a technical level, this 'revival' is actually categorized as brain resuscitation as opposed to a full resurrection; degradation of its functions considered, of course." - ↑ Library of Ruina Hook Office post-Reception - Roland: "I’m not too sure why it took place, but the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Amendment was introduced as part of that movement… It was already possible to create machines capable of feeling emotions and desires, actually. Those that are… pretty much human, in other words. (…) Thanks to the AI Ethics Amendment, no machines could ever be made to resemble humans, including replacement bodies."
- ↑ Canto 8-20 Jia Mu: "I warned her time and again that either the clone with a cloned brain or the original must be discarded within the week of production.(…) The Head… will not suffer those who have broken their Taboos to live."
- ↑ Canto 8-20 - Garion: "In there… a non-human was birthed. Even when the City must not suffer their existence, even when the City permits only humans to live—they were conceived nonetheless."
- ↑ The Distortion Detective Chapter 15: Vespa Crabro - "Creating minds and emotions… An action that is considered a taboo…"
- ↑ The Distortion Detective Chapter 34: The Night in the Backstreets
- ↑ Library of Ruina Wang's Page: "Not only do all the security measures stop, peeking at folk as a whole is banned during these hours! Well, stumbling on the scene o’ the crime ain’t banned. What it really means is… you ain’t suppos’d record videos o’ the scene or spy it with security cams… (…) If [anyone tries] to take a dig at somethin’ that happened during the Night in the Backstreets, some scary fellas called the Claws go after ‘em…"
- ↑ Library of Ruina Bono's Page
- ↑ Library of Ruina Tamaki's Page
- ↑ Full-Stop Office Rep Hong Lu/Voicelines
- ↑ Canto 9-11 - Marton: Oh. Here… "Throwing this bomb will result in an explosion that covers a 100-meter radius zone from the detonation point…"
Ezra: "Hey! That's a taboo violation, you know? At least try to come up with something actually convincing!" (…)
Faust: "It is highly probable that the bomb is a bluff. Any bomb that falls under the category of explosives… must be "planted" on an object or surface per the rules set by the Head."
Yi Sang: "Mm. And that boast of the blast beggars belief. Such a wide radius… is sure to break a bounty of bans and bounds." - ↑ Canto 3-3
- ↑ The Distortion Detective Chapter 7: YuRia Atelier - Ezra: "Recorded footage… You had the audacity to break the taboo of District 14? Are young people these days all bold and brash like you?"
- ↑ Canto 5-2 - Ishmael: "More importantly, you should know that unauthorized recording of their laws is one of U Corp's better-known taboos." (…)
Faust: "It is best that we do not produce any written records of their laws."
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