Path Selection

Path Selection is a Life Factory tradition that all inhabitants must perform during their 18th birthday. This rite of passage is meant to be formal declaration of a young person's self-chosen role in the factory. After deciding upon a profession, and accepting all the powers and responsibilities that come with it, the initiate is showered with gifts and accommodations one final time before becoming a grown adult.

Execution

1. All in-house born citizens must schedule Path Selection two years in advance of their 18th birthday to their Boss(s).
2. On their 18th birthday, the child becomes an Initiate, and reports to their Boss's Antechamber.
3. The initiate has 8 hours to review the official starting roles and House Vows made available by their Boss. (It is highly recommended that all children review the available career paths and vows with their families well before the actual Path Selection day).
4. The initiate accepts a role by wearing the appropriate headpiece and exiting the antechamber.*
5. The initiate is now an adult, and has pledged the House Vows.

House Vows

1. I solemnly vow to respect my fellow's rights.
2. I dutifully vow to carry out the job my boss has set for me.
3. I proudly vow to uphold the traditions my house has preserved.
4. I bravely vow to question and improve these traditions in respect to the previous three vows.
5. Fifth Vow (optional)
   But above all else, I recklessly vow to never question my own creative spirit.

*Fifth Vow

Being antiquated, the fifth vow is optional since there is no way to practically arbitrate a member's "creative spirit". Therefore, initiates are, by default, unbound by the 5th vow. In fact, initiates are prohibited from seriously pledging that vow so as to avoid legal dispute in later adulthood.

"...the fifth vow is a relic from the Five Merchants, completely incompatible with today's rules. The only way to literally invoke the fifth vow is to refuse a role during Path Selection entirely, present yourself WITHOUT a hat on your head, and jump out the window.."

[Thorne v. Gerter Boss, 156 RHG]

As such, any initiate who wishes to opt out of their life at the factory may do so by invoking the 5th Vow.
But never before Path Selection.

Primary Related Location

Antechamber