"Hey, Hatter, so glad to see you back. Where have you been?" grinned Alice. "I had to spend Christmas with this creepy mathematician who kept calling me Lolita."
"On an adventure in Blunderland," said the Mad Hatter, as he settled on a toadstool and reached for the teapot.
"Blunderland?" said the White Rabbit. "Never heard of it."
The Hatter nodded. "Not many people are aware. Takes a while to get there. I slept a long time and then, I opened my eyes, and what a view!" He sipped the warm tea. "A beautiful panorama, gleaming skyscrapers, manicured parks and gardens, shiny, happy people. Paradise by the porthole light."
"Sounds lovely," Alice remarked, "So why do they call it Blunderland?"
"Because it's all a faà §ade," replied the Hatter. "A country that is as handsome as Dorian Gray, and as dark and ugly as his picture."
"You said you had an adventure," the Rabbit interjected. "What happened?"
"Well, let me tell you the story. Once upon a time, and all that, Blunderland was ruled by a Queen."
"The Queen of Hearts?" asked Alice.
"No," said the Hatter. "No hearts. No citizen of Blunderland has one." Another sip of tea. "Anyway, the Queen is served by their drones."
"Their?" said the Rabbit.
"Not all Queens are female." The Hatter continued. "The biggest mission for the palace is to keep Blunderland safe for its citizens. The drones keep the barbarians at bay."
"Sounds good to me," said the Rabbit. "Where's the 'but'?"
"But--only a billionaire can be a citizen," the Hatter explained. "Everyone else is part of the serfice economy." He swallowed a bite of a scone. "All the tasks their society needs to run are performed by the 99%. Construction, education, healthcare, public safety, defense."
"Wait, did you say surface?" Rabbit asked.
"Yes. Serf-ice. Serfs serving the 1%." A smile. "Every four years, however, the serfs are entitled to--sorry, wrong word nowadays, allowed to participate in a political bacchanal to ostensibly elect a new Queen. And, I just happened to arrive at the climax of this theatrical performance."
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