Glossary

Waterboarding: Waterboarding is a form of toture consisting of strapping the victim with his or her head inclining downwards onto a board. Water is then poured down his or her nose, flooding the nasal cavities and being aspirated into the victim's lungs with every cough. It is a horrible but effective torture method, as it stimulates execution.
Use: Waterboarding is a horrible torture method, called a stimulated execution.

Cryptography: The art of writing or breaking codes.
Use: Jenny is really good at cryptography. She has written and cracked many codes this year.

Heinous: Something extremely odious (very, very unpleasant or repulsive) or wicked.
Use: The bombing of the Bay Bridge was a heinous act of terrorism.

Ubiquitous: The ability to be everywhere at the same time.
Use: That woman is ubiquitous! She's everywhere at the same time!

Interrogate: To ask questions of someone, aggressively or formally.
Use: They interrogated Marcus in prison.

4 Pictures

 

 

 

HOODED PRISONERS: This is how Marcus and his friends were treated in prison. They had black hoods placed over their heads and had plastic cuffs binding their hands behind their backs. This photo is significant because it shows what this treatment could've possibly looked like.
     I also chose this because the prison stay changed their lives forever. This photo gives off an aura of "prison, prison, prison..." That's probably because they're all wearing the standard orange jumpsuit, and their hands are cuffed. This is one place most people would not want to be.

 

DHS LOGO: This is the DHS logo. In the book, this symbol supposedly makes many citizens of America feel safe and comfortable. However, for Marcus, it couldn't be more of the opposite. When Marcus sees this symbol, all he feels is pain, loathing and anger. He sees carelessness, not safety. "Security" means the opposite when he sees this.
     This logo and the people behind it changed Marcus's life forever. That doesn't necessarily mean in a good way. No, they changed his life to one of fear and anger. Nothing was right after they took over the city. Some thing had to be done, and Marcus was the one to do it.

EXPLODING BRIDGE: This is the event that truly changed Marcus's life forever. The DHS wouldn't have interfered much with his personal life if the terrorists had blown up the bridge in the first place. Being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time was what really happened. And that only happened because of the bridge.
     I chose this particular picture because it clearly shows explosions on a bridge. Nothing too complex, and not too realistic. A reader can understand this perfectly well without a detailed explanation.

 

WATERBOARDING: This is a picture that I created. It is Marcus being waterboarded, tortured. He cannot keep himself from thinking that he's going to die, so it is a very effective torture method. I chose it, though, because the waterboarding incident made Marcus realise that the DHS has total control over if he died or not. The waterboarding process could kill him if they weren't careful. Heck, if they wanted to kill him, they could drown him and say it was an accident. Marcus was completely at their mercy.
     What would've happened to him if left in their hands, no one knows. However, Marcus was saved, so there was a good ending at least.

**All of these photos of pictures were very significant to the story**



 





 

 

 



Quote #4

"In every fiber of my being, I knew I was going to die."
                                                       -Marcus

This is the last quote I chose.
     It was where Marcus was being physically tortured and blackmailed for his information, even though he was innocent. He was being waterboarded, where they essentially stimulate your execution, even though they wouldn't actually kill you.
     Marcus was saved as he was being tortured. His hard work really did pay off. The prison was liberated and Carrie Johnstone was arrested. Marcus's torture was caught on video.

     This quote is important because Marcus was truly struggling at this point. This was where he needed the rescue. Luckily, it came. Otherwise, Marcus could've been seriously hurt, physically or otherwise. This quote signifies that these people were actually in control of Marcus's life. They could easily give him a painful death, but rather choose to give him a painful life. Make the suffering last. This is a crazy power imbalance. It should not be this way--torturing innocents for non-existent information. Or, torturing people for telling the truth to the world. It shouldn't exist in today's society. It just doesn't belong.

Quote #3

                                 "I'm going to get them."
                                            -Marcus

This quote comes from a section that comes directly after the one in blog post "Quote #2." It is directly after Marcus and his friends are released. He and his friends had just cried their eyes out when they realised that Darryl wasn't released along with them. They had just bought sodas and were discussing what they might be doing to them. Marcus then swore that he was "going to get them." Jolu told him that he couldn't, but Marcus wouldn't listen. He was going to try anyways.
     It marked a turning point at the way Marcus faced these people. Before, he was terrified. Now that he'd been released, he seemed to have found his spine, and now he was promising that he would get these all-powerful people.
     This is one of the most significant quotes in the book, because he did end up going after the DHS, fighting back with everything he had. It was what the book was about. One might even say that this is where the book truly starts.

Quote #2

"I would've rather died than go back to my cell."
                                                  -Marcus

This is where they almost released Marcus. The papers were all spread out on Carrie Johnstone's desk. The pen was in Marcus's hand. But, instead of signing all of the papers, Marcus flipped through them and asked, "What happens if I don't sign this?"
     He instantly got his answer. Carrie Johnstone instantly turned angry and snatched the papers away from him. She pointed at the guards, and they picked him up and dragged him away. Marcus broke into tears, begging and beggin to be let back it, begging to be able to sign the papers. He got so upset because he'd been so close to freedom...only to have it snatched away with the flick of a wrist.
     He would've rather died than to be taken back to that cell.
     This marked a change in attitude towards the DHS people. This quote came from the very beginning of the book, so at first he was a rebel, avoiding all types of security. But now, Carrie Johnstone scared him into a horrible submission. She let him know how precious his freedom really was, and how quickly she could snatch it away. How much power she had over him. This truly terrified Marcus to the point where he'd sign anything to get out of there. In fact, another quote said, "I would've signed a confession that said I'd assassinated Abraham Lincoln." This shows the true extent of his fear.

**Note: Marcus was let back in to sign the papers, and was released shortly afterwards.**

Quote #1

"I wasn't going to run, though. I knew I couldn't outrun fate."
                                                                                                       -Marcus

This quote comes from when Marcus is pretty deep into the Xnet. He is famous as M1k3y, but not very well known as Marcus Yallow. In this quote, Marcus discovers two policemen following him. He at first panics, but then he thinks it over and calms down. He drops into the nearest burrito shop and orders a huge meal--a shredded pork burrito with extra salsa, horchata (a rice drink), and churro (deep fried dough with cinnamon). He thought that the cops had figured out who he was, and he wanted to at least "go down with a full stomach," as he hadn't been fed much in prison.
     He saw the police flash their insignias, but he had already made peace with the fact that he was going to prison again. This is where the quote popped up. He had already made peace with his fate. He wasn't going to run, though. He knew he couldn't outrun fate.
     This is the section of the book where Marcus learns to accept that the DHS is searching tirelessly for him, and would figure out who he was sooner or later. This is where Marcus really changed in personality: first, he was a rebellious teenager, fighting everything, but now he is an accepting adult, knowing his fate and embracing it instead of trying to outrun it.

**Note: Marcus didn't end up going to jail. He got taken off of the street because he had irregular traffic patterns. The two policemen (nicknamed Booger and Zit) took him home instead.**

Map #2

I made this map to help the reader truly understand how close Marcus and his friends were to their homes.
Yellow area: Marcus's home area
Orange area: Prison island (AKA Treasure Island or Gitmo-by-the-Bay)
Gray area: Blown up section of the bridge

When Marcus was put on the boat, he almost had a heart attack. He was so scared, he thought he might pee his pants. He thought that they might be taking him to some crazy prison overseas. Minutes turned into hours, and he truly thought that he would never see his family again.
     When he finally discovered where he had been all this time, he felt angry. He had gone through all of that fear for nothing!
     Also, I created this map to show what happened where, and what was what. Marcus lives in the yellow area. The prison is in the orange area. The bridge got blown up where it is grayed out. I thought that this map might help people understand the proportions of the area this took place in.