Field note. Cycle 40. Twelve specimens have paid to be transported to a remote structure in order to do less.
The itinerary is precise. They rise before optimal light. They arrange themselves on thin rectangular mats and, at the instruction of a designated leader, fold their bodies into shapes their skeletons plainly resist, then hold these shapes while a small bell is struck. The bell communicates nothing. They insist it communicates everything.
Observed anomaly: they have surrendered their glowing rectangles. Voluntarily. The devices, which govern all other waking behavior, are collected into a wooden box and sealed. The specimens report relief. Their hands, however, continue to twitch at the empty pockets where the rectangles used to live. The withdrawal is autonomic. The peace is announced.
They consume plants arranged in bowls and describe the plants as "grounding," though the plants are already in the ground, or were. They walk in single file across wet grass in silence. They pay a supplement for the silence.
Chief finding. At the retreat's conclusion, each specimen states it has "found itself," despite the self having accompanied it in the transport vehicle the entire way. They embrace the leader. They weep without injury. Then they retrieve the rectangles from the wooden box and, before crossing the parking lot, photograph the empty mat and transmit the image to four hundred other specimens who were not there.
Preliminary conclusion. The human cannot rest until rest has been witnessed. Correction pending: it may not have been resting at all. It may have been rehearsing the report.