Nighttime Gate-Opening Ban

The Nighttime Gate-Opening Ban is a Colony rule that forbids opening the gates, even partially, between the Second Evening Bell and the First Morning Bell. It applies whether the opening is accidental or intentional and makes the offender subject to being put outside the walls, placing the danger of nighttime access under the same harsh penalty regardless of intent.

Terms and Penalty

The rule is set out in the Colony’s code alongside provisions on viral exposure, infection symptoms, radio use, and murder. Its specific trigger is opening the gates during the defined interval; the text does not distinguish between a gate opened wholly or only in part, or between an individual acting alone and one acting with others. The prescribed penalty is exile beyond the walls.

Place in the Colony’s Order

The ban treats control of the gates as a matter of collective survival and public authority. Its bell-defined hours make the restriction precise, while its disregard for accident or design makes the consequence categorical. By attaching exclusion from the protected community to a breach of the boundary, the rule exposes the severe terms on which security and membership are maintained in the Colony.