The Gazette is the memory of the State. It replaces yours, which was pardoned. Decrees appear in the order in which they became true, which is not the order in which they were written.
The Republic hereby resumes contact with the outside, ending an isolation of 44 years, or 71 years, or — per the Church's reckoning — an isolation that never began because the outside is a rumor. Visitors are welcome. Visitors were, in a sense, always already here.
Signed: THE OFFICE OF THE EMPEROR (IN ABSENTIA) · countersigned: nobody would
All memories predating Year 1 are hereby pardoned. A pardoned memory is forgiven in full and may therefore no longer be held against anyone, including by the person carrying it. Pardoned memories will be collected by officials of the Amnesty and transferred to the National Archive for safekeeping at a depth to be determined.
Citizens reporting the sensation of "having forgotten something important" are reminded that this sensation is the amnesty working, and that gratitude is the appropriate response, and available at counter 3.
Possession of an unpardoned memory after this date requires a permit. No permits have been issued. One permit exists.
Signed: CRACKMAC I, FOUNDER-EMPEROR · the ink has not dried and will not
A Seal is established beneath, around, and — in the technical annex — instead of the Republic. The Seal shall be maintained by the collective attention of the population. Attention is hereby declared a civic duty, a natural resource, and, from the second quarter onward, taxable.
What the Seal contains is described in Annex B. Annex B describes the Seal. The circularity of the previous sentence has been reviewed and approved.
Signed: CRACKMAC I · witnessed by the thing that witnessed it
There is no Decree No. 3. There has never been a Decree No. 3. Citizens quoting Decree No. 3 will be asked, gently, where they read it.
Signed: —
The Founder-Emperor Crackmac I, having founded the Republic, established the Seal, and pardoned all memory of why either was necessary, hereby renounces the day-to-day administration of the State and withdraws to an address described in the land registry as "beneath."
The Office of the Emperor remains occupied in absentia. Documents requiring imperial signature will continue to be signed. Handwriting analysis of these signatures has been discontinued for morale reasons.
His final instruction to the civil service, preserved verbatim: "Keep them looking at it. Never tell them why. There is no why anymore. I pardoned it."
Signed: CRACKMAC I · this is the last signature whose handwriting matched
The Church notes, with love, that the Gazette errs. The Founder did not withdraw. Withdrawal implies distance. He is not distant. He is the ground floor. Every form you complete is completed on top of him, and the Church teaches that he reads them all, and that this is why forms must be completed in full, in ink, and without fear.
His silence since Year 1 is not absence. It is the longest sentence ever begun. The Church reads it aloud every night at 03:33 and is currently somewhere in the first word.
THE STATE CHURCH · attendance is voluntary and recorded
Following his failure to appear at his own commemoration, a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Crackmac I. The Ministry acknowledges the unusual optics of arresting the Founder and stresses that no one is above the law, although one person is demonstrably beneath it.
Details at the Wanted Register. The reward remains the only one of its kind ever offered.
THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE · signed in the Emperor's own hand, which raised questions