17.18. The Multiplication of Flags
Location: Municipal Parade Storage Depot, East Nara Sector
Description:
Inside a warehouse designed to house civic pageant materials, Judai and Juna discover rows of identical flags—hundreds, maybe thousands—each slightly off-register. Some bear missing stars. Others include years that never occurred. These flags were printed in anticipation of ceremonies that were either canceled or rewritten. “We rehearsed the national future,” says a custodian. “So it would recognize itself when it arrived.” Juna climbs onto a pallet and spreads one out: it reads *FOR THE IMPERFECT REIGN*. There are notes on attached slips: *burn post-march*, *approved by twin chamber*. This is the archive of multiplicity, where sovereignty becomes simulation—performed endlessly in rehearsal. The real ceremony never happened. Only its shadows remain, stitched into fabric and folded into forgetting.
Keywords:
flag duplication chamber, Nara parade rehearsals, sovereign rehearsal archive, imperfect reign banners, unrealized civic ceremony
Very Short Story:
They lit no candles. The flags did that themselves. Some glowed faintly when touched, others whispered instructions. Judai unwrapped one with his name embroidered inside. “This was never flown,” the custodian said. Juna read the ceremony protocol—dated 1984, though it described next week. Outside, drums echoed. But no parade approached. “We were meant to remember an event we hadn’t attended yet,” Juna said. They stood among flags like ghosts waiting to be hoisted. The wind picked up, just enough to lift corners. “Let’s fold them back,” Judai said. “We haven’t arrived.”
