Entry Four: (Day 5572)
Dear Reader,

It's been so long since I've held these pages. I've missed you. The figment of my imagination, the person who doesn't exist, that's the only person that I miss. I have been asked to not return to Education now, as I had a breakdown during Meal Time and began shouting my conspiracies to the others in my Year. They removed me from the room and I was interrogated in a place I was never even aware existed. I refused to speak, to the point where they thought I was mentally deficient. So they sent me to Station Thirteen. But the community only knows Twelve stations exist. Station Thirteen is apparently for those who have become a problem. I suppose I understand their thinking on that one, technically I am a problem. If you want to control a population of people you can't have one figure it out and tell the rest of them. It would defeat the whole system.

Anyways they decided to put me in a cell for a week, it actually ended up as four and a half days. I refused any food or water they gave me for fear of being drugged. I'm glad I did. For some odd reason my cell had viewing access to a cell across the hall. I watched a person, who it was I wasn't sure as I had never seen them before, eagerly eat and drink and within the next hour fall over backwards and be taken away while unconscious. I never saw them again and the cell stayed empty for the rest of my stay. After the third day I could tell they were getting nervous, I doubt they wanted me to die. I drank the water that night, crying the entire time, but I was so dehydrated and traumatized that no tears fell from my eyes. They seemed so pleased when they found the empty cup that it made me even more upset. But the joy fell from their eyes as hours and hours passed and nothing happened. The whispers were just quiet enough so I couldn't understand them while they stood just within the shadows and stared worriedly at me.

The morning of day four I was escorted into a different room where there was a large mirror on the wall. I sat in the chair for what seemed like forever but was probably only a few hours. I knew that they were watching me. I kept a straight face, and I stayed put. Finally they gave in and I enjoyed my small victory in silence. The officer sat at the table in front of me and asked me if I wanted to go home or if I'd rather stay here. I held my stillness, knowing they had no choice but to send me back to the community. If I stayed here I'd die of starvation within a few weeks. Maybe dehydration within a few days. He stared at me for a while before sighing and leaving the room. Once again I celebrated mentally. They sent me back that afternoon. I was received into the household as if I'd never left. Nothing more than Mentor James purposely not looking at me and Mentor Vanessa quietly informing me that I was to no longer to go to Education and instead report directly to Assignment in the morning. She said this without meeting my eyes. I had assumed they had searched my room and found this journal. I was right and wrong it turns out. They had gone in but only because they had finally figured out that I had taken down some of the cameras. They must not have searched at all because the trunk was still locked and the journal and the cameras I collected were still in there. I took down the new cameras and locked them in as well. I would have written that day, but as soon as I was finished with cameras the meal bell rang and I had to rush downstairs so they wouldn't come up and get me. I was so worried, that when I came down to dinner placements in the house, it almost didn't even faze me. But then my ever questioning mind kicked in and I realized something was amiss. We normally ate dinner as a community, never in the house. I went into the kitchen to see what was going on and Mentor Vanessa handed me three plates of food, pointed to one of them and said it was mine, and told me to put them all on the table. I walked back out to the table and realized I had forgotten which one was mine. I didn't think it terribly important at the time, I just put them down however. I sat at my placement and Mentor Vanessa and Mentor James did the same. By that point I had completely forgotten the whole specific meal thing and was focused on eating for the first time in four days. I didn't eat very much before I was uncomfortably full, a side effect of not eating for a while. I excused myself and put the rest of my meal in the fertilizer bin.

As I came back into the room Mentor Vanessa stood up and swayed slightly. I froze where I was and watched in slow motion as she collapsed to the floor and Mentor James jumped up and yelled to me to find help. Not only was I not even sure of who to find, I found I couldn't move. I had unwittingly drugged my Mentor. But really that wasn't what was holding me in place. She had purposely tried to drug me. And had almost succeeded. At that moment, I walked away. I left them there, and I walked away. I meant to leave Area 37 that night. I truly did. But my feet took me to the abandoned library and as I looked at the rough road that continued on, the road that would take me far from the community, I realized I was far too unprepared to attempt a journey to freedom. I wasn't even aware yet of what they were trying to hide.

That's when I decided, I would use the advantages they had for some reason given me. I would crack the code of Area 37. I would. That Reader, is really where it all went to hell. I can't help but think now, even just a few weeks later, that it was the worst decision I have ever allowed myself to make.

So, I of course had to return to the community, and the anger directed toward me was rather astonishing. Although now I realize I should have been completely prepared, as I had caused the entire situation, at least in the eyes of those who didn't understand the entire situation. When I got back I was immediately escorted to Mentor James' side and while he wouldn't look at me yet again, the anger and disappointment seemed to roll off of him in waves. He informed me that Mentor Vanessa had an allergic reaction to the meal and would be fine in a few weeks. Now I knew that everyone was purposely lying to me every chance they had. I know for a fact that it was not an allergic reaction and even if it was I wasn't sure why it would take weeks to recuperate. I was more glad than ever that I hadn't eaten the food in Station Thirteen, I can't imagine what would have happened if I had. I barely acknowledged Mentor James and fled to my room. By this point the entire community knew of my lack of control. I was entirely the new Thomas now. Everywhere I went all I heard were hushed whispers about how I should be removed from the Community as soon as possible. How I was a disgrace. I ignored the whispers and jests until one caught my attention. A woman whispered to a man as I passed by them that I was one of them, one of the Immune. As she said it he nodded, I know I wasn't supposed to hear them but I had gotten so used to being silent that my hearing had seemingly gotten better. I picked my head up from how I normally stare at the ground and stared at the people until they noticed. The color drained from the woman's face and she fainted, causing the perfect distraction as he went to catch her.

I took off and went towards my sanctuary, the abandoned library. I couldn't comprehend what she meant, Immune, it wasn't a word I was especially familiar with. I looked it up in the work of definitions and received the elusive answer of Not Responsive, Susceptible, and Exempt or Protected. From what Reader? I researched that afternoon until the sun set and there was no more light to read by. I learned some but not enough to help explain what was going on. There were a few magazines on the desk that was labeled Receptionist that were from Year 3,173 that talked about a new food program. This is the Immunity I believe she was referring to. An immunity to the chemicals they infused the water with permanently on planet Earth. I can only hope you're immune too, I imagine though if you weren't, you'd have stopped reading a while ago. That's part of the chemical, it makes your brain believe anything they want. And furthermore, not believe anything else. Now this was the early three thousands so I imagine they have perfected the treatment by now.

If I truly am Immune then it makes sense finally why I can see all of this treachery and they can not. Reader, this was a week ago when I learned all of it. Well, truly that was just the beginning. It turns out that the one place they don't have cameras in the known community, which basically means excluding Station Thirteen and beyond, as I'm sure more exists, is Station One. My Assignment area. I did a terrible thing, and although really I have done many bad things, I believe this one tops them all.

I am skilled with electronics and wiring, and technically I only used what they gave me. I placed the cameras I took from my room and the rest of the house and placed them in Station One. Using prior knowledge from a few books I read at the library I removed the transmitter that was sending the video stream to them and reconfigured it to send them to a location of my choice. I used my Education tablet once I had removed the Education software. After all I didn't really have any use for it now anyway. Once the connection was made I made my way to Assignment with the cameras in hand and placed them strategically inside of the building, careful not to be spotted by the workers. It wasn't the most thought through plan but somehow it worked. After Assignment I returned to the house and once Communal meal was over, which I am no longer afraid of eating due to the Immunity, I ran to my room and started up the program, scanning the video feeds from Station One.

I couldn't keep the grin off my face, I was beating them at their own game. I was fighting back. The taste of success was sweet in my mouth and it quickly led me to crave more. I watched as the workers wandered unknowingly through my trap, they seemed so busy with tasks. It was a bit strange that whenever I was there, there always never anybody else around. But as soon as I leave, they appear out of nowhere. It may just be my apprehensive mind but things like that put me off a bit. I can't help but wonder sometimes if this is a set up, but there's absolutely no logical reason I can come up with for that. I hope it's just in my head.

The next day as I was hoping I caught sight of Director Adams in Camera Three, the one in the file room. I zoomed in quickly as he put in the four digit passcode to the main file cabinet, in other words, the only one I am not allowed in. My curiosity was killing me, I had to know what they could possibly be hiding in a fairly small file box. He put in the passcode and a smile bloomed over my face as I could clearly see what it was. Three - Seven - Zero - Five. I didn't write it down then, due to my fear of Mentor James who was right downstairs. It was bad enough I was monitoring video files I didn't have clearance to see, not to mention it was illegal to place the cameras in Station One anyway, and just to add on technically I had stolen my Education tablet as I should have returned it. Instead of which I wiped the program and put the video monitoring system onto it. So many unwarranted activities all at once and I was already a problem citizen. Pretty much a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. Regardless I already had the code and was forming a plan. The monitoring system couldn't keep record of every second of footage, there was too much and not enough space. But it could record some if you put in the time to begin and the time to stop. I was due to Assignment, so I set it to begin at Hour Eight and to stop at Hour Nine. Once I had placed everything back in the trunk and locked it I took off to Station One. I made it there with ten minutes before the video feed would begin recording, so I ignored the main office and went straight to the back, where Camera Three was placed. To no surprise, but slight unease, it was completely empty. I watched the office timepiece count down to Hour Eight and then began my trials. I checked the hallways, trying to ignore the botheration resting on my shoulders. I walked back to the file box and put in the passcode, my breath catching as it actually did open. No alarms went off, no one came running into the room, but my heart was racing in fear all the same, I had never been so aware of the simplicity of life than in that moment. Intruding into classified files of the community is an offense punishable by lifelong imprisonment or removal from the Area.

As I opened the first drawer I wasn't even sure of what I was looking for, I knew I had a timer on me as well as the fact that technically someone could walk through at any moment. It didn't take long before I found something of interest, an architectural plan for some sort of handheld control. At the time I didn't look to closely, I just held it up to the camera and counted to ten. Then I placed it back into the drawer and continued on rifling through. I found many potentially interesting things, over the course of an hour I searched the entire cabinet of files and put anything that caught my eye up to the camera to look at later. I watched as the time became Hour Nine and I quickly shut the drawers and freshened the room to make it unknown that I had trespassed into private files. Reader I swear to you, not two minutes after everything was back where it belonged, a community worker passed through the room. After a complete hour of nobody, they happen to walk through after I am in the clear. I'm not saying I think it's purposeful yet, I do not know for sure. I can not know for sure.

That all happened today. Well searching the filebox did. I wrote this all after coming home from Assignment. I haven't even watched the recording of the files yet. I had to get this all down on paper. The meal bell is ringing again and I can't even begin to explain how much I've come to hate the bells that control my life. Still, I have to go. I'll write again soon, I'll have to record the results of the files.

Stay strong Reader.

-KM