The Number System

[flammingcorn]

According to the rules of the number system, no two individuals shall have the same number. Thus, an elaborate process was thought out.

In the beginning, of the number system, all named individuals had his/her name changed to numbers. How one obtained a number and in what order is unknown, but it was made so that no two individuals were numbered the same. From there on, anyone born would be given a new number on their birth.

However, realizing that the quantity of these numbers would get out of hand for future generations, they knew that changes would have to be made, It was then that number recycling came into play. Namely, whenever an individual died, his/her number would be passed on to the next person born closest to his/her death. New numbers were only added under the circumstances that there were absolutely no deaths at the time of the birth and all previous numbers had already been recycled.

That's where things got tricky. As it was difficult to match up births and deaths exactly, one would only have to take his/her best estimate. that being said, every so often a mix up would occur and numbers were repeated. In the case of this happening, fractioning would apply. That is, the youngest of the double numbers (even if only seconds younger) would have a point one (.1) tacked onto their number. even more technically, those who could not be figured out by age participated in a literal coin toss which resulted in the loser becoming the fraction. Meanwhile, fractions were the only numbers not recycled. Once a fraction died, his/her number went to the grave with them. the only chances of having a recycled fraction was if some twist of fate doubled the same exact number again in another generation.

Once the technicalities were figured, identification means were made. At an infant age, the individual was given a locked on bracelet on his/her right arm. Whenever the infant outgrew its bracelet, one could take it to an official establishment to have the bracelet replaced.

When the individual was a little over toddler age, the bracelet was replaced with a locked on collar. As with the bracelet, as the individual grew, the collar could be replaced at official establishments that handled such affairs.

Finally, by the age of thirteen-years-old, the individual was given a more permanent identification. A tattoo of his/her number would be placed on the individual's right side of their lower back. All single and double digits were written in 000 fashion, and the print size of the tattoo depended on how long the number was. For example, 30976 might be printed fairly small, while a number like 037 would be printed larger. while the print may have been small or large, the general size of the tattoo as a whole stayed fairly consistent.

How said number was pronounced was solely up to the individual, such as "Double-'o-seven" compared to simply "Seven" or "One-seventy-two" compared to "One-hundred-and-seventy-two" and so forth. The same could be said for actually writing the individual's number. While official documents had to be signed in numerals following the 000 fashion (namely, matching one's tattoo), nothing else dictated that the individual couldn't print out their numbers if they so wished on anything else. Common practice seems to have single and double digits printing their numbers in written form where it may apply, while triple digits and up prefer writing their numbers in numeral form for convenience's sake. In some cases, others decide to get fancy and choose a form such as roman numerals to write out their number, but as stated earlier, it all depends on the individual.

For more information, please see the laws listed under "Number System Related" in the "Laws and Punishments" section.