I have never been comfortable with the idea of Project Pharos as an individual, but the project's boundaries aligned with my ethics, so I chose to accept responsibility for my actions, which might explain why my remarks to those I spoke with perhaps lacked the cutting edge apparently many had hoped for.

I resisted calls for sound bites and zingers in favor of simply being factual. Thus, we were able to compile citations for each of my observations, which we distributed to the networks as well as on our own website, unveiled along with the complete revamping of our YouTube site, no longer showcasing video blogs critiquing a two-season streaming series. Instead, videos and other materials were made available, showcasing the habitats and our diverse populations. With permission, videos of residents explaining why they moved below the Earth's surface were featured. Except for the first introductory video, all of the information we disseminated was positive and looked toward a brighter and more accepting future.

The video stream and our cuts were used by most networks through previous agreements. Our broadcast live agreement with the networks required me to speak in real-time with journalists from those networks over the two days following the event. I was rushed from floor to floor to different sets to speak with whoever was asking me a question before turning the interview over to a trained spokesperson and rushing to the next. I spoke in English where possible and through translators where it was not.

Those two days are still a blur to me. However, the day of the event remains as clear to me now as it did when it happened.

It's about a six-hour drive from Washington, DC, to West Virginia, so I had plenty of time to prepare once our targets were on their way. It was early afternoon when Faye came over, and Eileen happily went into the house to spend time with Grandpa Kevin.

I didn't need Faye for anything except moral support, which she was wonderful at. She had a knack for creating an entire conversation out of a phrase, which I found mildly distracting. And so we passed the time as I brushed my hair out, styling it away from my face and securing small combs to hold my hair back on either side before I donned my costume.

Jae and the rest of the Pharos team had agreed I needed to wear something to push a judgment of little account onto myself. A dark-haired older woman wearing bright colors in a style reminiscent of the origins of some of the immigrants who came in from the southern border was just the thing. My clothing had to look as if it were of surface make; any of our usual clothing down here would come across as different on the video image and create suspicion. We commissioned a dark dyed cotton skirt and blouse brightened by embroidered flowers in the front from a resident of NAHS, originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, in a style known as Tehuana. (1)

Having Faye keep me company also kept me from going back to the book, as we commonly called the database interface holding the decision trees. We hoped to use the information to guide them along a path of our choosing, allowing us to introduce ourselves to the world with the least amount of damage, both physical and emotional.

I'd practiced the various scenarios over the last year, and most of our sessions had brought us to a suitable resolution, but there were still variables, such as who actually followed our lure to its end. It was obvious with only three SUVs and little baggage, whoever was converging on Pharos had left their families behind. I was grateful; gaming out scenarios with children present had been excruciating.

Once we knew exactly which members of Congress had taken our bait, more branches of the decision tree would be cut off. My worry was what would happen if those who appeared veered off into the unknown; how would I be able to thread the air and maneuver them back to the storyline we wanted to stay on? My intuition hadn't worked during test runs; I could only hope it would work during the actual event.

No matter who showed up, the first act was the same: to discomfort them, to nicely deny them entrance based on the firearms we knew would come with them in an obvious signal of violence-based dominance. It would also serve as a subtle reminder that we could see them. How far and in how many ways could I take the game of denying them entrance? How would the game play out?

I needed to keep them fooled until the time was right, so my demeanor had to reflect someone easily manipulated. I aimed to present as flighty and slightly silly at first, subtly changing to a more authoritative version of myself as our farce progressed.

So I did, and the video transcription tells the rest.

They say history is written by the victors; in this case, history has been written by the survivors, and I have nothing positive to say about those who sowed discord and promoted hatred and anger at others for their own selfish purposes and gains.

After Pharos occurred, our residents were allowed to be honest with those they knew on the surface, and many took advantage of the fact. All facets of human behavior were revealed when those in the habitats confessed their true location to those on the surface. For some, it alleviated the guilt they felt; for others, the guilt was compounded by the response. To my immense relief, Noodin was able to contact his daughter and sincerely apologize to her for his past actions. Although the time they had to reconnect was short, they were reconciled. Noodin later told us he was grateful he was able to do so before it became impossible.