text: Altair, a seventh tier farmer, is troubled with how long problems take to be addressed. One advisor says 6 months is reasonable given the size and population of the kingdom, but the farmer is troubled by how hard it is for anyone 6th tier or below to get a spot as maximum wait time is based on tier. Your other assistant asks you to consider that, since the problem was still adressed in a timely manner, nothing would have been gained by letting him speak earlier. Altair responds that though the issue of export taxes was resolved this time, there is no guarantee that this happens in all cases.
  
  You consider their points. Giving equal priority to all tiers sounds nice in theory - you remember the problem for your days as an eighth tier yourself - but hard to implement in practice. It would be hard to persuade the other branches of the government to go against the status quo, and changing the system might cause unintentional consequences. On the other hand, the job of Dissonance is to voice the concerns of the people, and if over two thirds of the people can never be heard in a timely manner, then that is a big issue.
  
  > keep things as they are
  You decide to leave things as they are. The risk of upheaval and breaking a system that mostly works - not to mention potentially alienating the other officials you want to impress - is to great. It is better to be a gentle leaf on a big pond than a thrown stone.
  
  Your attention is soon drawn to other matters, some of interest and others not, as you hear complaints for several hours each day. It's not the most uplifting job - you are glad you have a lot of downtime each day to recuperate with pleasant baths, playing music in your room, or partaking of various types of entertainment around the court.
  
  After a few weeks, you pick up on a pattern - many of the complaints have been related to, directly or indirectly, a second tier Official of the Evaluation Guild. While you could draft a proposal specifically in regards to that official, or speak to Key about reassigning the man directly, it would seem more efficient to draft a proposal recommending a process for dealing with these "problem cases" in the future. Sinfonia has several ways one can raise in tier, but short of direct criminal behavior, or reassigning someone who was only in a higher tier temporarily, there are no ways to really 'drop' an official tier.
  
  You see two possible ways that the larger problem could be addressed:
  
  #1. Craft a system to evaluate and reassign someone in a command position, of any type, if more than six formal complaints a year are lodged against them. To minimize the chance of complaints being weaponized, a temporary evaluation committee made up of their peers can drop the social credit of anyone whose complaint proves spurious. The problem officials and commanders will not drop tiers, but they will be moved to a different position that does not involve management.
  
  #2. Propose that every formal complaint lodged against an officer or official goes through a permanent review board. Credible complaints will drop the social credit score of the official in proportion to their severity. The drop will at as a warning to those officials, as their monthly resource allotments will be lowered, and this will warn them to reform their ways. If they continue to rack up complaints, and drop more than 100 points in a six-month period, then they will be demoted to a lower tier.
  
  > Propose reassignment
  The scheduled day for your presentation before the court arrives. You are nervous, as it is your first large proposal given as Dissonance.
  
  "First Official Altam of the House of Regulation! Dissonance now speaks!" The announcer introduces you.
  
  "I greet you all, First Officials of Unity, Regulation, and Harmony," you bow twice, as you have been taught. "I bring a problem before you that I have observed is affecting the effficiency and civic happiness of Sinfonia. And, I hope, a solution you will find satisfactory."
  
  You lay out the issue of managers promoted past their spheres of competance, who amass frequent complaints, and there being no easy method - beyond months of waiting to see Dissonance - to deal with them. "As you can see, dealing with each individual on a case by case basis would be inefficient, and could demoralize the people." You also give your proposal, that six valid complaints in a year will trigger an automatic reassignment.
  
  After some back and forth, where you respond to objections that the system could be misused, or the potential that moving settled officers, managers, and officials could cause upheaval, the council nears time to vote.
  
  Unity is divided. Harmony is in question, 26-19. Key and Dissonance affirm. Tempo objects. The vote is locked! A second round of deliberations begins.
  
  "Please consider carefully," you bow three times, "the problems of today should not be ignored due to the uncertainty of tomorrow."
  
  Unity is united, granting 9 votes in favor. Harmony is carried, 28-17. Key, Dissonance, and Tempo affirm. The proposal is passed.
  
  Your reputation in the court increases, as not only was your first proposal passed, but you even persuaded Unity - the most difficult of the Houses to sway, as the officials must all vote in favor or all stand against. You find other officials now visit to ask your advice, or simply to network. Tangor even brings you on a diplomatic mission to Crefalis, a country on the moon! He congratulates you on escaping the mire of your past, and working hard to build the future of Sinfonia.
  
  As you look over the lunar landscape of spiraling resorts and domes amid cratered valleys, you swear to yourself there will be no return to the 8th tier in your future. You will make the best of the time you have as Dissonnance, to ensure you become an indispensible part of the official court. Then, even if you are replaced in the lottery in the future, Harmony will be open to you - and perhaps even Unity. Your future is as bright as the green and blue planet that dazzles in the evening sky.