2. (ANTICIPATORY COPING) (VOICE --> VIDEO)

[slightlyoffchilt]

While I am not usually one to wax the philosophical so publicly, I must admit there’s a sort of poetry inherent to existentialism. Disorientation in the face of absurd, incongruent, maybe even violent sequences -- well, we have other names for that, too, don’t we? The experience, the circumstance.

[Chilton flips the communicator to video, showcasing only his clean-shaven face. His expression is mostly neutral, accented only with a wry halfway smile and an arched eyebrow. The scene glimpsed behind him is the Porter Lab in Cape Canaveral. This angle hides the cane that Chilton now relies on.]

The consequence -- traumatic. And if we consider the responsibility of the individual to create meaning for himself, well, then perhaps our reactions can be as predictable as clockwork.

[The camera zooms in, focusing on Abel’s face, which is fairly pale and lacking his usual facial hair in favor of stubble.

There’s the faint shadow of a shoe print on his left cheek.]

Don't you agree, Abel?

[Gideon's eyes drift upward, expression irritated but preoccupied, as he props himself up on his arms; his lower body isn't in the camera's view. There's a fork in his hand that is dangerously close to Chilton's leg.]

Can be, provided nothing interferes to change those natural consequences in the first place. An individual may create meaning for themselves in an ideal world… in the real world, fate waits behind unmarked doors.

Put that away, Frederick.

[Chilton, instead, slides the camera focal point over to Gideon's missing leg. In a few minutes, Gideon will be equipped with a Government-standard wheelchair. But until then:]

Someone help the fatalist here, please. He's on his last leg.

Comments

[video]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton nods, still looking a bit numb -- he's fine physically, more or less, as his recovery (with the disembowelment, in Baltimore) had months to take place. But the psychological impact of all those memories flooding back, at once?

Chilton had that numb, faraway look, when he thought no one was watching.]

Do you mind if it comes tomorrow? What happened in Heropa. I can come in tomorrow, it's just. It appears that I have people to reconnect to.

[Kind of odd, that sensation.]

[video]

[glassinine]

It would be better if it were tonight, sir. The culprit must be taken into custody as soon as possible, before he has a chance to strike again.

[video]

[slightlyoffchilt]

He won't be going anywhere.

[Another look towards Gideon.]

Might you be able to put up an encrypted line? There aren't any chairs here, and I'd need both hands.

[video]

[glassinine]

...Of course, sir.

[He does encrypt the line, but he adds:]

You can wait, as well, to give the statement to the detectives in charge of the case. Whatever you say now will simply be passed along to them.