Record eight explores the irrational root - square root of -1. D-503 is scared of this 'foreign, alien' irrational number that cannot simply be comprehended as it 'was beyond ratio.' He fears them, to the extent that he 'wants to build a little wall' around it. As readers, it may seem silly that he has this attitude towards a simple number; but for D-503, this is normal since he has been brought up believing that everything is rational and 'logical.' Yet, ironically, D-503 uses this irrational number subconsciously to provide reasons for unexplainable concepts. Perhaps, this use is due to the government imposing the belief that all things can be explained by mathematics on its citizens. However, this is contradictory as Zamyatin uses repetition to convey that D-503 wants to '[tear] that [square root of minus 1]' out of himself, to 'stifle [the] damned [square root of minus 1]' in order for him to once again, be at peace with himself. Internal conflict is thereby created within D-503, it is this that is taken advantage of by I-330 and results in his betrayal of the One State later in the novel. At this point, it is almost as though I-330's influence is subtly affecting the ways in which D-503 thinks. Earlier in this novel, he believed that 'it is a given' that he and all the other ciphers are 'permanently [part of] a quadrilateral predicament.' However, he begin to feel that sometimes it is good to relax for 'a short time in this simple strong triangle', formed between R-13, O-90 and him which is 'not [perfectly] equilateral.' Conformity is still being illustrated, however this time, it is slightly different from the previous sections in the novel as D-503's attitudes towards uncertainty, irrationality and the unknown begin to change.
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