In 2084, 'erased' from society... yet still alive (#nijiclip)
Nijiclip I am submitting this for your theme. The topic is '2084'.
Resident registration for an invisible city
──Living as someone who does not exist──
*This story is fiction. However, it might be happening somewhere in the near future, or perhaps it is already happening to someone.
Chapter 1: City 2084
The year 2084.
The city had reached the pinnacle of a digitally managed society.
Every citizen was identified by all kinds of data, such as facial recognition, bio-IDs, and behavioral history, and an individual's 'existence' was etched as data into everything from government and corporate systems to transportation infrastructure.
However, there were exceptions.
People who were suddenly 'erased' from the records one day.
They were called 'invisible residents'.
They did not even have names in the administrative database.
They could not receive medical care, lost their jobs and rental homes, and could not pay taxes, vote, or even get married.
In a society that was supposed to be convenient, they were treated as if they 'did not exist'.
Chapter 2: The Day of Erasure
'I was living normally until yesterday, but from today, I have become someone who "does not exist".'
In the corner of an underground shelter, Kaede speaks quietly.
She was caught in an administrative system error when she tried to revert to her maiden name following her divorce.
One morning, her ID was deactivated, and she could no longer log in, use her transit card, or unlock her smart door.
'When I went to the government office, they told me, "Your data does not exist."'
It was not a bug or a mistake; it was an 'erasure of existence'.
Chapter 3: Memories of the Underground
Those excluded from the digital world had no choice but to hide underground.
In the old underground railway tunnels.
There, a small 'unofficial resident community' existed.
They proved their survival by calling each other's names, saying, 'You are here,' 'I am here.'
Someone said.
'The records were erased. But memories cannot be erased. If someone remembers me... perhaps I still "exist."'
Chapter 4: A Proposal
That day, Soma appeared.
He was a former data management supervisor for the City Administration Bureau.
A man who had been 'deleted' from the system himself for trying to expose corruption.
He opened a paper notebook and said.
'Let's write our individual profiles here. Let's turn memories into records.'
Face, name, date of birth, episodes, and who remembers them.
Notebook after notebook began to fill up.
Each one was a 'new resident registration.'
Chapter 5: The Notebook of Proof of Existence
The cover of the notebook was inscribed as follows.
'Resident Registration for the Invisible City'
—A notebook of memories for those erased from the records.
A record made by human hands that cannot be read on information terminals and requires no electricity.
The notebooks were shared among the underground residents, eventually swelling to dozens of volumes.
Everyone knows someone.
'You were there.'
That voice kept them alive outside of society.
Chapter 6: A Challenge to the Surface
Souma made a proposal.
"Let's post this record on the surface."
Rather than dying without anyone knowing, they wanted someone to notice them.
Carrying their homemade posters and copies, they snuck into the street corners before dawn.
Utility poles, bulletin boards, subway walls, apartment mailboxes—
The handwritten notes posted there posed a single question.
"Can you truly say that you 'exist'?"
Chapter 7: Ripples
At first, no one paid any attention.
However, one female student noticed the paper.
"Huh? I feel like this person used to be my homeroom teacher..."
Posts on social media gradually began to spread.
The media began covering the story, and the existence of 'invisible residents' became a topic of conversation in parts of the city.
The city council finally took action and began a re-examination of resident registrations.
They announced that they would 're-evaluate the possibility of citizens who were erroneously deleted.'
Chapter 8: To the Negotiating Table
In the administrative building, Souma and the others stood in that cold, inorganic conference room.
"We are not recorded. But we have 'memories.' We want you to recognize our existence once again."
The administrator asked.
"What is the proof of that?"
Souma handed over more than twenty notebooks.
All of them were handwritten, each one serving as proof of someone by someone else.
“Data is not the truth. Don't you think the memory that ‘someone was there’ is the real proof?”
Chapter 9: Obtaining a Name Again
The city granted an exceptional re-registration.
The handwritten notebooks were accepted as a preliminary step before the AI review.
Kaede held her resident record, which displayed her name for the first time in a long while, and shed tears.
“I am... here, aren't I...”
Chapter 10: Continuing to Raise Our Voices
However, the problem was not over.
Souma, along with his companions underground, continued the 'Record of the Invisible'.
To ensure no one else would be erased again.
To build a new form of social security based on 'memory' rather than records.
“In this city, we will not let anyone be ‘non-existent’ ever again. We will prove it. That you are here.”
Epilogue: Beside You Too
One day, a scrap of paper you might see while passing by.
It might have someone's name written on it.
Someone who once truly lived in this city.
And when you read it—
That person will, once again, be 'here'.
Postscript: I wrote a short episode story about 'Kaede,' a character from the short story I posted the other day!
Thank you for reading until the end.
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