The Truth

Chapter 1

Ever since I was little I've been told that 73 is the best number. It's the 21st prime number, and its mirror image, 37, is the 12th, which is coincidentally the mirror image of 21. 21 has the prime factors of (get this) 7 and 3. In binary code, 73 is 1001001, 7 is 111 and 3 is 11, all of which are palindromic numbers (they're the same backwards as forwards). Personally, I'm not convinced. I don't trust odd numbers. I don't know what it is, there's just something a bit weird about them.

Everyone else likes it though. Heck, even you do. Everyone practically worships it. Everything revolves around that bloody number and the numbers 3, 7 and 37. You start school at 3, get a pet at 7, start secondary school at 13, start university at 17, start working at 23, are married by 27, have a first kid by 33, and get given something special and personal at 37 providing that you've followed every law to the T. Every other age with 7s and 3s in them just gets a big party. At 17 you also receive a chip in your shoulder that allows your every single move to be tracked by the government.

 You die by 73. No one lives any longer. I think it's suspicious but no one else seems to.

A lot of things involve 73. There are 73 books in the Catholic bible. 73 is the number of seconds it took before the space shuttle Challenger OV-099 exploded on its tenth mission, killing all seven crew members. And now I have 73 hours to prove myself innocent. I'm not a murderer. Or at least I don't think I am. I don't know, I guess re-telling the story will help me figure out as well as you. It's funny really, isn't it? How you're asking me if I murdered them and I don't even know for sure. And how a number I hate, a number hammered into me from birth, has suddenly become so vital in my life. So I guess I'll properly begin.