The Project

by Courtney Summers

So why, after all these years, did she put my name in a dead boy’s mouth? And what was he telling me to find?

To give the gift of atonement, Bea must first be redeemed. To be redeemed, Bea must let go of all she knows she is.

The plants didn’t make it.

But where is the line between what circumstances have turned you into and who you choose to be?

This is her first Attestation. Each week, members are expected to go into the Reflection Room alone and lay their souls bare to a microphone: to share their triumphs and setbacks, fears and hopes, how they feel about Lev and The Project and The Project’s path forward, how they feel about each other.

This is just like a reality tv show

If she comes back to him empty-handed, she will have failed.

The media loves to distort the truth, but like Lev says, The world is falling around them—and they will fall with it.

Do not give them a reason to discredit us, Casey says. But it’s true, Bea replies weakly. People aren’t ready for the truth.

“He’s moved it to Telegram.” “What’s that?” “It’s a messaging app. Lots of journalists use it. It’s got good encryption and self-destruct options, anyway…”

Oh god no, not the Qanon messaging site

Bea and Casey are the only ones Lev trusts with the outcomes, and so they spend nights together poring over the answers, looking for the kind of spiritual distress that demands intervention and restoration of faith. It is an extension of Attestation, Lev tells them, and he requires members to dig deeper into themselves to satisfy it.