Rebellion Against Oppression
The students at the Commonwealth are subjects of a corrupt system. Their position on campus is astute and respectable, but they only are admitted to the school after surviving years of rigorous and arbitrary testing. On campus they are the subjects of a corrupt government which deliberately pits groups of students against one another. When Cia and Raffe and others discover the corruption, they immediately set about devising plans to rebel. The rebellion itself, however, is later found to be a constructed product of Dr. Barnes' in order to divert attention form himself. Cia takes it upon herself to devote her attention to the eradication of this broken system, which has its roots in the government even beyond the school. Although her aims are high, she resists fear in order to accomplish change.
Disillusionment
Cia experiences a series of disillusions when she attends the Commonwealth school. First, she had anticipated being a valued member of the community, but she quickly learns that she is merely a pawn in a massive systematized game. She fights with herself and her friends in order to adapt their expectations to this new system. In the school, Cia's objective becomes to recapture the school's original purpose -- education and civics -- in order to benefit future generations. In this pursuit, however, she again faces disillusionment in the form of the fake rebellion. She learns that some of the members of the rebellion are in fact plants of Dr. Barnes'. They don't represent what they claim any more than the faculty. Finally, Cia defeats the fake rebels and brings down the whole system of testing and political manipulation, but she's astonished to discover that she's also brought harm to her community. In the wake of the fallen government, many people struggle to rebuild their businesses, trust, and security. Although Cia did not initiate the corruption, she is the vehicle through which most people learn about the corruption, forever linking herself to this traumatic revelation.
Distraction
The entire rebellion is formed as a distraction. Dr. Barnes is intelligent enough to recognize that the students resent testing and were unprepared for such a grueling requirement. Instead of insisting upon his own will, he covertly selects certain students to insert themselves into the rebellion. In this manner, he ensures that the rebellion persists. This serves Dr. Barnes' purposes in two ways: the attention is diverted from his action onto the greater body of corruption and Barnes gains insiders in the movements of the rebellion. He actually benefits from the perpetuation of the rebellion because it's the perfect distraction, even fooling Cia for a while. This is why he's a master of deception who has been able to manipulate the system for so long.
