This was part of my final portfolio for Fiction and Poetry Writing II with Amy Eisner.
Carlos Macasaet
7 December 2004
200.106 – Final Portfolio
A foreigner was caught trespassing on the palace grounds last month. His neck did not bear the number that uniquely identifies all living citizens of the state. He carried no papers and he spoke no language that anyone could understand. He was promptly arrested and my supervisor, citizen 392332, put me in charge of his incarceration. He would be the first prisoner to be entirely in my charge. At first, I thought this was a test because a citizen in my range is not usually permitted such responsibilities. Perhaps my superiors suspected me of plotting against the state and wanted to observe me closer. Perhaps they wanted to make sure I was not shirking my duties and so they brought in a spy, who carefully concealed the identification number that usually shows prominently on the back of the neck and uniquely identifies each living citizen. I had heard of such things being done before. With treason on the rise, the state has had more reason to spy on its citizens. I also know that certain high-ranking citizens use a technique to conceal their identification numbers when they travel abroad. However, it is impossible to conceal the markings permanently and they begin to show again within a month’s time. I dismissed the notion that he might be a spy when I realised that all of the higher-ranking citizens that worked in the prisons had their hands full now that our prisons housed nearly a third of the state’s population. Either way, it was quite an honour to have a prisoner of my own. I would treat this matter with the utmost care and attention to detail.

