Sean had always wanted to be a journalist. As a kid, he loved the idea of getting the big scoop and telling the truth to the world. So when he landed the job as a reporter at his most respected paper after college, he was living the dream. His stories gained a lot of notoriety too, helping to uncover corruption in officials and make public exploitative practices of corporations. Sean was really making a difference.
Sean naturally then took an interest when the Re-Education Through Labor Act was passed. He had suspicions that the new program could be exploiting the young men it sought to improve. However, as Sean started investigating, the new regime caught wind of his questions. The Re-Education Through Labor Program was too important to let one journalist stop.
And thus Sean was accused of libel and slander against the regime as well as treason for trying to undermine the Program. But the regime offered Sean leniency. He could join the Program and work four years at a sewage plant. Wisely, Sean recognized the court's mercy and accepted.
It has been two years since then. Sean has forgotten what it is like to wear anything besides his mandatory coveralls. His dream of being a truth-teller has been quashed. He learned the hard way that the truth is not some objective fact, but what is best for people to hear. Of course, Sean wishes he could tell the real truth of the program The regime has showed him that truth of the Program is that it makes better men. Now, covered in muck and clad in coveralls, Sean is a better man. His mask may muzzle him from speaking much, but he wants to say that every man would be better this way.
