Citizen No.118

  During a daily prognosis report on Number 6, a disembodied voice describes Number 118 as an eccentric resident, and it is implied that Number 6 is an eccentric resident as he sits to have his portrait painted, thereby humouring 118. So what makes someone an eccentric? Someone who deviates from a usual pattern, is unconventional, odd perhaps. So what’s so odd about being an artist? Many artists throughout history, and in modern times, have been unconventional in their work. Perhaps because in this instance, the painting turns out to be not a portrait of Number 6 but a piece of abstract art!

   Why would an eccentric artist be brought to The Village? Perhaps he wasn’t an eccentric artist at the time, perhaps he became one as a result of living in The Village. He might not have been an artist in his former life. After all painting is a form of therapeutic occupation. Number 118 may have once been someone of importance, in what capacity or where is unknown, but with information that either needed protecting or extracting. How long has Number 118 been in The Village? It’s clearly impossible to say, but quite a long time would be my guess. Unless they had taken to abducting senior citizens to The Village!

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