Chipless

Everyone who’s born in Talitha Harbor is assigned an identity number that’s derived from their DNA using a hexadecimal system. They put this number on identity chips, which are held by Ouroboros Vocation.
During the Talithan Choosing Ceremony they receive their first identity chip as a watch. As they get older, they will also have the option of putting their chip in a tablet type device. This chip, via the device, connects them to a larger system. One that manages their credits, shopping, room controls, automatic door locks, optional location services, messaging system, social media, medical records, and more. It’s a convenience for both the person and the Vocation System that’s managing the goods and services for an entire populace.
Not every Talithan wants to be tied to this digital system. Everyone has the option to live without it. It’s rare for people who work for one of the thirteen vocations to go without. They pay these members with credits, which are a digital only currency. They’re not the only currency. But typically, those who work for the vocational system want that compensation.
People who choose not to use their identity chip are called chipless. They still have the identity number, but the identity chip is kept with Ouroboros. Some choose to carry their number with them on a card for identification related to medical care, others don’t even want that.

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Becoming Chipless

For most of the Talithan population, they won’t have the option of becoming chipless until they graduate from vocational school. Upon graduation, they can choose to leave the vocational system all together, and with the option of keeping their identity chip or not. Many Talithans still use them so they can collect credits as payment and benefit from the rest of the system. Like all vocation offered services, this system is free.
When a Talithan gives up their chip and device, they bring it to Identity Services, which is owned by Ouroboros. If they have any credits left on their account, that amount is assigned to a card that identity devices can read. The cards are not active digital devices. Once the card is used up, it ends up back at Ouroborus. There is no identity tied to the card, it is up to the person who receives it to keep track of it if they don’t want to loose their credits.
If the member was living in Tiered housing, they are reassigned to a chipless home. These homes still have all of the basic ammenitites, aside from the door lock system that’s based on identity chips.
There is no citizenship in Talitha Harbor. The vocations are city based, and a transfer has to be requested. But, for chipless, they can live wherever. If they move, their home will be open for another. Talithans are only allowed to permenantly live in one house at a time. One can request temporary housing if they are visiting, and keep their previous home.

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Chipless Communities

These communities still get all of the standard vocation services that everyone else gets. They just receive them in different ways. All of the vocation made goods are rationed to some degree, to make sure everyone has access. THe Talithans also care deeply about their environmental impact, and they limit their production based on that standard.
Each vocation has their own token that they hand out to the chipless so they can still receive their goods, but only as they need. For example, the are alloted a number of tokens for clothing. What they choose to do with these tokens is on them. If they want to wear summer clothes in winter, they can. This gives them more freedom verse requring them to trade clothes. Though, these tokens are handed out based on a standard wear and tear model. When seasons change, or if they decide they change their mind on how many skirts verse pants they want, they can bring in their clothes to swap. They can also bring in old clothes to swap. But, the token system also lets them gain a few items without a one to one swap, to allow for some flexibility, and so older clothes can be turned into rags, or whatever by the members and the weight is not all on the vocation to recycle these materials.
Each vocation is in charge of it’s own token and distribution system. If the chipless communities feel like they are not being treated fairly, they can bring their greivences to a Call to Counsel and let the citizens decide.
The Vocation System has been in affect, to some degree, for the entire life of the planet. There have been tweaks along the way. But, no major changes in terms of who gets what. A Call to Council brought on by a group of chipless is rare. Occasionally individuals will bring a vocation to call, but when it’s only one, it’s rare for them to win. Especially if the vocation can prove that they are treating them the same as everyone else.

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Education

Public School is considered a right and basic requirement for all Talithan children. Not sending a child to the public school system in two of the Great Cities, Anunitum] (settlement:c21c59f4-0566-4094-b82a-d76c82dcdb91) and @[Pangu, is considered neglect. It’s required officially by Simmah as well, but they don’t enforce it on the same level.
If a family, chipless or not, is keeping their children from public school in Anunitum or Pangu, then they will face repercussions. Depending on the circumstances, the child may become a ward of a schoolhouse, which also takes on foster and orphan care. In Simmah, however, homeschool parents are only reprimanded if there are other signs of abuse or neglect.
There have been cases of parents denying their children medical care to avoid sending their children to school. Simmah feels that it’s more important that parents don’t have public school as a reason to deny their child medical care. There are still homeschool parents in Simmah that will refuse to use Health Services, but they are a minority among that group. It is also an illegal activity. Parents don’t get to choose whether a child gets medical care.
The choice to not punish homeschoolers is controversial. Parents with custody disputes have hidden the child in question among those communities. The education given to the children can be mixed. The biggest drive behind the public schools is equal education. Everyone gets the same primary education regardless of who their parents are, or what city they’re born in.
If those kids want to join a vocation as an adult, they may have a lot of education to catch-up on, depending on what duty or job they want to perform. The biggest worry is that they won’t even be made aware of their rights, particularly their autonomy from their parents. Simmah will send educators and Child Advocacy to the known chipless homeschool groups to balance this out.

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Library Pads

The chipless still have access to the same digital information as those with identity pads. For them, this comes as library pads. They can be used at a library, or checked out and brought home. The amount of time they can keep one will depend on availability. Turning off location services is not available on these devices, since that’s the only way the libraries can track them.
There are communication boards that the chipless can use to leave messages for each other, or people who have identity chips. If a person using an identity device has their information published in the public address book, then anyone can message them.
The Talithans don’t attach names in any legal or permanent way. Their identity number is the only thing that identifies an individual. For someone who’s using their chip, it’s possible to find them if they change their name often, especially if someone already has them attached to a contact list. For the chipless, constant name changes can make them impossible to identify in the digital messaging systems.
Some chipless, who want to remain anonymous, will agree on names ahead of time to be used in a specific forum, so they can leave each other messages.