File No.6

    I wonder if they really would have let Number 6 leave The Village if he’d given them the reason behind his resignation? Somehow it may be doubted that they would. After all Cobb talked and look what happened to him! Yes he was allowed to leave The Village, but he would be forever in the pay, or rather the grip of those who are behind The Village. And no doubt called upon to give service to The Village when called upon to do so. All we have to do is look at both Number 2 and the Colonel, not forgetting Fotheringay. Number 2 was first brought to The Village as a prisoner, he admitted as much in ‘Fall Out’.’ When after addressing the members of the Assembly he said that what was so deplorable was that he resisted for so short a time. And there he was, back in The Village, not as a prisoner, but as a warder! And if that wasn’t bad enough, they brought him back for a second term of office, something which as Number 2, he was not best pleased about!
    And then there was the Colonel and Fotheringay, both seconded to The Village in order to play their parts. Perhaps they too had once found themselves in The Village only to be turned, released, to find themselves in the pay of those behind the internment camp.
    No, it seems highly improbable that they would simply let Number 6 go. Even if he gave them what they were after, how could Number 6 ever be trusted to be allowed to leave The Village and not go shooting his mouth off to………..yes to who, the Colonel? He did that twice and got him nowhere. So who would  believe him? Number 6 once suggested that Number 2 is just as much a prisoner as he is. To which Number 2 agreed, he knows too much, saying that they are both “lifers.” Because Number 6 will not give them the information they want.
    It strikes that Number 6 is a prisoner of his own making. He could talk, give them what they want in the hope that they would let him go. And even if he did, and was released from The Village, no matter how improbable that may seem. Where could he go, and how long before they caught up with him? It appears that Number 6 is in the best place. At least he knows where he is. What he’s up against. And not having to look over his shoulder all the time. But whether or not Number 6 can survive in The Village long enough to reach a ripe old age, well that’s another matter.

Be seeing you