I can say that I finished the book, but no spoilers for you. It was probably silly to break 100 page book up into eight segments, but I did. I only had 18 pages remaining at the beginning of the chapter so I went ahead and finished it. I actually debated on just ending the review here, but I need to time to catch up on some other reading and if I push this forward, it will make me have to start the next book sooner. So, you will have to bear with me.

In these five chapters, you have primarily the internal struggle that D-503 has after agreeing to participate in the destruction of the Invictus. I-330 of course suspected that he would have moral dilemma about following through. The subplots that are happening are O-90 does actually want to go beyond the wall to raise the child and D-503 figures out that U- is an informer to the Guardians. Finally, there is something called the Operation that is going to remove the numbers imagination. Everyone is scheduled to have it performed.

I want to talk about bad tactics and strategy. I think that it is bad strategy to rely on someone that is not completely bought into the idea of participation. I think that it is pretty natural that someone where an idea is just revealed that there may be some trepidation. At the very least, they more than likely cannot be convicted to the cause.

When I was in Boy Scouts, I orchestrated an stunt that failed. I was going to get some scouts to capture some patrol flags in the middle of the night. I had printed up posters with mysterious sayings and had someone there go up early and post them around camp before all the other troops arrived. I even sought permission from the adult leaders to do this. When we went to bed, one scout was supposed to set an alarm and wake us up at midnight.

Guess what didn’t happen, they didn’t wake up to the alarm and therefore we didn’t do it. I was crushed and upset for all the effort that I put in to do this and it failed. I think silently, this was one of those events that led me to feel like I can’t trust other people with something that I really wanted to do. More so than that, it lead me down the path that whatever I really wanted done, I needed to do it myself.

I think in retrospect, this might have been a good thing. It was a little risky as in not really Boy Scout behavior. But, it also changed something in me, not just mindset for a drive to make myself better. I decided to join high school wrestling because I thought that it was the best opportunity to become fit and a better ‘warrior’. I never wrestled because I loved it or was good at it, I wrestled because I thought that it made me tougher and more hardcore.

I never was the even a good athlete, but I became tough and strong. I could outwork most people physically and I had a never give up attitude. I had strong personal discipline based on regimen and denial. I am nowhere near that rigid today, but the one thing it did for me was give me the confidence that I could set my mind to a something and pursue it no matter how hard it was.

OK, so that was a bit of a diversion. What I am trying to get across is that people not fully committed to a cause are going to have moral conflict. Or at least, they are not going to prioritize it to the same point that believers are going to. This leads to a higher degree of failure.

Clearly the resistance had some prior knowledge of D-503. He was targeted for his position with the Invictus project and they had research him and his habits. I think that it is a stretch to think that someone is going to be bought in with limited exposure to what is happening. This is particularly true when they didn’t even explain what they were up to until days before he was supposed to initiate the most critical part of the plan.

Quite frankly, there are lots of times that I agree to something because I think that it is the right thing to do or it would be good for me. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have some angst or anxiety or regret associated with the decision. These are not life risking decisions either. I suppose that it wouldn’t be a humanizing story without the element of doubt and risk. Stay tuned to next week for the exciting ending or read ahead to find out for yourself.

End Your Programming Routine: I think that if you are going to belong to a radical group, there is probably some sort of loyalty test that you need to develop if you are going to hinge your revolution on an unknown commodity. I mean, doesn’t that seem obvious. Seriously, I think that it is the same psychology that goes with the saying that partnerships struggle. You never know what the other person is really thinking or if they are totally committed to the endeavor. No surprises here but this is why my wife calls me glass half full. I almost expect failure and success is a pleasant surprise.