Chapter 5: Page 6

Land of Confusion: Page 6

NOTES FROM JASON

After all that Agency intrigue, let’s check back in with our other characters today, shall we? Last we saw them, which was quite literally the last scene of Chapter 4, they met this mysterious old man, whose name we learn here is Virgil. Now we see them venturing through the forest that surrounds Fortescue Manor, the same forest we saw a young Penny flee into during the flashback in Chapter 2. Virgil’s words are a bit on the cryptic side, but we do start to get a sense of what he wants from our characters, and I’m sure we’ll be getting more as the scene progresses.

We also get another mention to a group called Molon Labe. The name itself comes from Ancient Greece, specifically the battle of Thermopylae. When the invading Persian king Xerxes ordered the Spartans to surrender their arms and submit, their response was this two word phrase, which translates to “Come and take them.” In the world of The Jacket, Molon Labe is a resistance group which came about sometime during the reign of Alexander Knoxley, the previous despot. Rather than demanding a relinquishing of arms (as those were among the first things seized by Knoxley. Funny how that always seems to happen), Knoxley’s target was Lamsters and their items. It makes sense in its nefarious way. In Knoxley’s world of authoritarianism and collectivism (but I repeat myself), an enhanced individual would be a massive threat. While Knoxley was eventually deposed and executed by the current regime led by Stephen Carnelius, the status quo didn’t change (funny how that also always seems to happen.) And so Molon Labe continued to be a thorn in the side of the State, but considering Carnelius is still thriving in the story, we can see how well that went.

There’s a lot more I can go into, but I don’t want to get long winded here, plus we will be getting more details on this group in the pages to come. Virgil seems to have a connection to Molon Labe, as does Penny. Was she part of this group as well? Seems likely. I referenced Chapter 2 earlier. You might recall that mention was made of some particular ‘friends’ of Guy Fortescue’s by his brother-in-law Matthieu. Perhaps the Fortescue family was part of this group too? Maybe the Fortescue ring wasn’t the only reason that Guy and his wife were executed, and Penny was nearly killed herself by the gunman known as Derek. Wonder whatever became of him, by the way? Also recall that following her ‘death,’ Penny was discovered by a woman named Amy. Perhaps she too is part of this group? Some things to keep in mind going into next week. See you then.