Since Sir Matalot's native UPR had always been his only home, he was incapable of noticing anything peculiar about the ways of his land, for he had a rather slight basis of comparison to anywhere else. He was a naturally inquisitive man, but wasn't especially skilled in the arts - especially in navigation or voyaging, although he was quite interested in these sorts of things; and deep in the recesses of his being, he knew that lands terrifically different than his own existed somewhere out in the unknown. Such places he longed to see, and in them resided people he wanted to meet.
Upon his completion of the formal required training period in the UPR, Sir Matalot took a moment to analyze his life station. For ages, he had frequently dreamt tales of faraway times and places commonly recounted by a lifetime's worth of companions. For multitudes of those who came before Matalot told grand anecdotes of courage, adventure, heroism, and fortitude - and Sir Matalot wished to generate his own stories like the ones he heard.
Heeding the universe's call, our intrepid wannabe explorer then set out on a course to learn anything & everything he possibly could about other lands he might be able to visit. He directed more specific questions to acquaintances who had traveled before him by various methods to all manner of places. Matalot was most interested in the stories involving traveling to bizarre places of other eras, and so decided he would embark on a similar journey. He compiled a sizable list of potential sites and finally made up his mind: he would spend two years exploring an ancient land called the Perublic of Rokea (or shorthandedly, simply Rokea). Rokea was a charming place full of traditions unlike his own, and in it, housed countless locations & people which Matalot immensely wished to greet. Throughout his great excitement and anticipation, he maintained a sharp awareness that he would forever remain a Provincian, and as such, endlessly be seen as an outsider in the land of Rokea, and he must never forget his people or his birthplace.
During his stay in Rokea, Sir Matalot never abandoned his curious nature and tremendously enjoyed learning about the interesting thoughts of Rokeans and their unusual ways of completing tasks. He came to realize that these people were fundamentally much similar to the Provincians he knew, but they constantly demonstrated new and fascinating sides of humanity - which left a lasting impression on Matalot. In spite of this huge positivism, Sir Matalot oftentimes became frustrated in his new home since the culture to which he was accustomed and their related worldviews were vastly different than the ones in this new place. It took a considerable length of time, but the constant barrage of odd instances in Rokea eventually caused our hero to deeply miss his homeland. Perhaps he just wasn't habituated to Rokea's ways. Or maybe it was because he didn't fully understand the Rokean philosophies behind their foreign practices, which subsequently required the apparent peculiar hierarchies of this civilization - other things that Matalot was unable to comprehend.
Nonetheless, examples like http://www.viralviralvideos.com/2010/10/04/old-korean-woman-attacks-teenage-girl-on-korean-subway/ became a daily unavoidable occurrence to Sir Matalot in the land of Rokea. These types of actions never took place in the UPR, and Matalot tried and tried, but he kept falling short of a complete understanding.
Several aspects of our hero's UPR quickly became evident to Sir Matalot. For one, Matalot came to appreciate that he had generally taken for granted his familiarity with his homeland, and he now became certain that Provincian ways were comparably more advanced than those of Rokea. You see, the relatively longer existence of UPR culture allowed the civilization to experience shifts in its collective identity. These changes were the product of realizations of wrongs innately created by humanity. The corporate shifts began in the form of movements, gained widespread acceptance in the land's citizenship, and ultimately led to amendments in the civilization's laws. Rokea's shorter cultural history hadn't provided it with the opportunities to yet accomplish these kinds of things.
There was also the universally relevant topic of personal defense. People in every time and every place have realized that not all people's interests always agree with each other. And when disagreements occur, opposing parties occasionally get angry and conflicts (along with the occasional violence) ensue. So people began forming tools in order to protect themselves and their interests. However upsetting as the fighting might be, violence and weaponry have become inextricably linked with all civilizations. In their daily lives, Rokeans still relied on primitive tools.
Some examples of Rokean devices:
In the more advanced UPR civilization, personal defense was still a concern for residents, but they faced different circumstances that, in turn, called for unique weaponry and related uses. Following completion of training, each citizen was issued an individualized self defense item. These items came in many forms: some were bigger than others or more powerful or more or less accurate than others. They were all specialized for particular situations and reflected each citizen's unique style of training and level of skill. Sir Matalot was equipped with a common Provincian device - that is, commonly used in his native land, but quite unlike anything seen in Rokea.
Sir Matalot carried a UPR-issued directed energy weapon:
This isn't to say that Rokean and UPR's social and moral structures were completely opposite, but the lands' systems were greatly different. Rokean culture wasn't better or worse than any other. And similarly, Rokean personal defense capabilities were far from non-existent, but not on par with those of UPR. They were just perfectly dissimilar.
Sir Matalot befriended many fellow travelers in his new temporary home. Some of these new acquaintances came from other distant advanced societies, ones that also held the resource capabilities that allowed for time travel from their homes to places like Rokea. Most of these people were also equipped with devices strange to Rokea, and they all met comparable struggles as Sir Matalot. One such difficulty was that Matalot's UPR-issued self defense weapon didn't operate properly in Rokea. Apparently, Provincian devices needed a constant supply of UPR energy to remain useful, and so they only maintained their maximum effectiveness when kept and used within UPR boundaries.
A Provincian with an inoperable weapon, and hence unable to protect himself, would naturally feel exposed. Thus, as was the case with Sir Matalot in the Perublic of Rokea. In addition to feelings of vulnerability, Matalot was also often bothered when he had to stand idly by whenever one Rokean took advantage of another Rokean. He didn't understand why someone would do this to a fellow citizen. But nevertheless, he was helpless in these kinds of situations - for his UPR device was useless and, even when occasionally partially effective, had no success when it met Rokean defenses.
One particular day as Sir Matalot boarded the local transportation carriage, he witnessed an especially remarkable event. When stepping into the coach, he was pleased to come face to face with a beautiful young Rokean woman. They briefly acknowledged each other, then carried on with their preoccupations. Directly behind Matalot, a nobleman entered the carriage. Likewise to Matalot, the nobleman was comparably smitten by the young woman. And being in a position of authority and - as such - enjoying an air of entitlement, the nobleman began to make a series of advancements toward the young woman. She made attempts to tell the nobleman that she was not interested in his urges, but he continued to press forward and became increasingly aggressive - for, afterall, his status was superior to hers, and Rokean custom called for a lesser person's compliance with any demands of a superior. Unless a person of higher rank overrules.
Once again, Sir Matalot was forced to sit back, watch, and remain powerless throughout the entire situation. For this was the way of the Rokean people, and they could handle their business internally. And even if he wanted to intervene, he knew that his weapon would be ineffective and he would be effortlessly dispatched. But, just then, another nobleman bravely came to the rescue! He had overheard the commotion and promptly ran to the damsel's aid. Brandishing his weapon, the lady's savior chased off the offender and saved the day.
Meanwhile in his role as the quiet observer, Sir Matalot was overcome with a sense that justice had been upheld that day. Although he wasn't the hero in this story, he didn't seem to care. For what he saw that day shined a light on the goodness of the Rokean people and filled him with a peace of mind that he had never felt about the Rokean way of life. Furthermore, he now felt a confidence that everything was the way it should be and that everyone, everywhere would be just fine. He also knew that if decency existed where he never expected it to be, things would surely be as peaceful as ever back in the UPR.
