Parasite City

You may question the source of some of my ferocity towards power which is displayed on these pages. The thing is this - I have witnessed it up close. Real close.

Two years ago I had the rare opportunity, as a mere peon of the Empire, to visit the Imperial Capital and glance in awe at the temples and palaces of marble dedicated to god-men that are the tabernacles of Parasite City.

The wages of the powerful loomed large as I plod the gilt-lined streets of the empire's cold, beating heart, secured of the booty rent from Imperial rampages against its domestic subjects and against foreign foes.

Here is a guided tour of the morbid centre of the new Imperium Romanum, courtesy of yours truly:



Arriving in Parasite City, via an airport fittingly named for one of the dead Imperators which once ruled on high here.




Parasite City has a fairly efficient transit system (which you paid for, of course) to transport the hordes of bureaucrats in the service of the State from their McMansions in the capital's outskirts to the halls of power in the centre.



The main railroad terminal is a transport nexus which brings us to the marble heart of Nova Roma.



Our accommodations for the week. This hotel, by the way, is the same location where the aforementioned dead Imperator was nearly assassinated about 30 years ago.




This phallic symbol of power looms large and erect against the appropriately bleak sky, constructed to honor one of the empire's chief founders who would have likely blanched apoplectic at the attempt of deification therein.



Indeed, it looms imposingly.




Palaces of marble, with deliberate architectural affectation of ancient religious temples, loom large with the booty of Imperial treasure on presentation for its sheeple to witness as we traverse the centre.



Glory upon the bounties of State rampages!



The Hope Diamond is a particularly nice feather in the Imperial cap.





Other marble palaces in the vicinity merely serve as massive repositories for hundreds of thousands of State parasites employed in the numerous Imperial ministries, funded by the proceeds of State booty, diligently performing the People's work so that we may all be happy and prosperous for eternity.



In front of one of the more preposterous looking Imperial structures, it is clear that the grand "grassy" Mall that occupies the centre of this metropolis and is diligently maintained by the Imperial parks service is looking the worse for wear. By the way, this is the middle of summer.

And we trust these same people to "manage" our economy and wage "wars" on terror and a thousand other things. Truly the State is effective in all its grand endeavors!



The propaganda ministry continues its important work of communicating the glories of the State to the huddled masses empire-wide.



I feel a crescendo approaching. Someplace big is just around the corner.



And now we reach the Empire's bloody heart - the palace of the Imperator Maximus, the unitary executive, the god-king of the ages.

In imagery, it appears deceptively far from the street. In person, it is shocking to see how closely the sheeple are permitted to approach the environs of the residence where He who is the fount of all that is holy and true resides.

I thought about flashing the ol' middle member just for good measure, but the Praetorians in blue and black mass quite heavily here for obvious reasons, so I restrained that obscene but patriotic impulse.



Bedraggled victims of the State's rain of slaughter and other depredations make a feeble protest to the entrenched power behind the fence directly across the street.

This was just part one. To-morrow, we continue our tour of Parasite City with a gander at the legislative branch!