Project Village

     You know why you’ve been brought here of course, No? Well allow me to fill you in. We simply could not permit you to continue in your current vein. All this blog writing about the Prisoner and this Village, it’s ridiculous, I mean how long did you think you could keep it up for? I’m sure you think you know all about the Village, well we’ll have to put that to the test will we not? What’s this, the silent treatment? There’s no fifth amendment here sonny boy. You know who I am? Well you soon will, and I’m sure I’m going to get to know you very well. Ah, you react! I see you recognise what I have here, it’s a very large file, in fact it contains every single word you have ever written about the Prisoner and his Village. Every word, every thought and idea you’ve committed to paper. We’ve been busy collecting it for years, it’s information you see, and we collect information. You have some strange ideas, ‘the Prisoner’ a vicious circle…..what did you write here…..in the Prisoner’s end is his beginning, that’s an old fashioned slogan isn’t it, it’s certainly almost biblical!
    And you say people actually read this? How do you know they read it? Oh they comment on it do they? What do they say? This boy needs to get out more! Thinks he knows it all! But I will give you credit where credit is due, you certainly know how to flog a dead horse. How many times have you raked over the coals of why the Prisoner resigned? We know why the Prisoner resigned, you know why the Prisoner resigned, and so does he……….. I mean all this information you’ve written, about what? Well its basically a 1960’s television series, it’s not real is it? Who cares about it any more anyway? It’s creator, what’s his name Patrick McGoohan, he’s dead……oh I see he lives on through his work. Well that can be said of the best of us, and the worst.    
    Can’t you see that it’s made a prisoner of you, a prisoner of ‘the Prisoner,’ isn’t that the terminology? You live with it every day. You’ve lived with it for 45 years, why put yourself through that when there is no need? Oh I see, it’s too late for escape, is that because you are too old? Or because there is nothing to escape to, because there’s nothing to escape from? No “other place” to go to? Don’t tell me that Village is all there is? Well perhaps that’s true for you………
    I contribute to the Village newspaper The Tally Ho, well that’s me gone over to the dark side! And to think that I resisted for so short a time! Yes, and what have you done? Turned it into a newspaper dedicated to the Prisoner! Prismatic Reflection. What‘s That No.6 Up To? Caught On Camera! The Therapy Zone………Well I could write about the social climate in the Village. What is the general impact on the citizens who live in the Village, social reform, now there’s a story……….democracy, is it dead in the Village? Did democracy ever exist in the Village? I could write pieces on the prominent citizens in the Village. How about your story?……….Sorry, I don’t know how long I’ll be here……Number 1? I could write an expose on Number 1.……….. You need to be careful, otherwise we’ll have to reform you! I would hate anything nasty to happen to you. You of all people should know that for some the Village can be a very dangerous place. But confide and we concede. We’ll look after you for as long as you live. But mark this and mark it well, no more serious writing about the Prisoner or the Village, then life here will be so much healthier for you. I mean to say, you wouldn’t want to end up like that poor Roland Walter Dutton now would you? If you must contribute to The Tally Ho keep to 60 Second Interviews, what the Butler saw that kind of thing, No.113b can help you there, he’s a keen photographer, and perhaps the occasional thought for the day.
    Can I ask one thing?………Yes……….I had manuscripts……..They’ve been filed away…………..In one of those grey filing cabinets I suppose…….You suppose correctly. I did say we collect information, it doesn’t matter the source…….And my computer……..The General, only you would give the name of The General to your computer, I suppose your lap top was the Colonel?………Was?.….They have both been crushed!………. Why?……..It was kinder that way, than simply to wipe their memories! You could perhaps wipe my memory………How do you mean?…..Wipe all unpleasant memories of the Prisoner and his Village, make me a free man! Now why would we want to do that? What was it the President said……oh yes Remember us, don’t forget us, keep us in mind. And that’s true, because through you and many others like you, by keeping the Village in mind, you maintain our very existence. So here you are and here you will stay. Yes, perhaps after all you should keep writing, it makes for good therapy I’m told. What are you writing now?………….If No.2 had any failing, it was one of over confidence, and an underestimation of No.6, that’s two failures for those who are not counting. As well as this, No.2 has somehow cultivated a genuine rapport with No.6, they have become too friendly. What’s more there is a question over whether or not No.2 is fit for a further term? No.2 comes and goes, eventually becoming a weak link in the chain of command. Even a half successful term of office does not automatically mean a stay of execution. A departing No.2 means the arrival of a new No.2, bringing with him, or her the failings of their kind……………….Be seeing you