repent
... or no reason, and humans are slaves to other humans. Everything is in relation to time. One must never be late for fear of having their time (life) deducted from them, and in the most severe scenario, having their “cardioplate” blanked and being terminated. It has been theorized that the society is in this shape because everyone who was going to vote against this type of regime was late to the polls. This is the world that Ellison introduces to us. This parable of individual freedom versus social control is one of Ellison's most famous stories, and indeed one of the most famous and anthologized of science fiction/fantasy stories ever. Everett C. Marm, a nobody who dubs himself the Harlequin (the resemblance to the author's name is entirely intentional), is perpetually late -- or heedless of the necessity for being on time -- in a society where timeliness has become an absolute value. He is in rebellion against the office of the Master Timekeeper, also known as the Ticktockman, who possesses the ability to subtract hours, days, and years from the Harlequin's life if the Ticktockman's minions c...