CHAPTER ONE

[perturbator]

[The video comes in rather unfocused at first, until some noisy fiddling brings a pair of 80s style Air Jordans into view.]

There's probably other things I should be asking first, but I only have two questions right now. One: How's the weather in California this time of year?

[If this place really is different, the forecast won't be nuclear fallout. People will be there again. America might be whole again.

Quickly, the camera shifts to a small coffee table with several different newspapers strewn all over it, but with a DVD copy of Terminator 2 on top.]

Two: How the fuck do you rewind this thing?

Comments

[slightlyoffchilt]

Really? [His skepticism, light and dry, cut clearly.] Is it not? I was rather under the impression that, when addressing the motivations of a murderer upon a victim, it was always the significant other who was questioned first.

[But apparently that had struck a nerve, for the tangent to make its conversational encore.]

So what about me, exactly?

[perturbator]

I never told you she was murdered.

[And that's him suddenly sounding incredibly suspicious.]

What disorders have you got? 'Cause in my experience only crazy people seek out more crazy.

[slightlyoffchilt]

That is simply statistically one of the most likely outcomes.

[From his world, maybe. Chilton comes from a Baltimore where there's enough serial killers to fill every week of a season.]

And in that case, I would guess that your experience is hardly universal. [Coming from the guy who did just assert that being murdered was a universally highly probable exit.] I haven't any disorders. My interest is purely professional.

[perturbator]

They caught the guy. He shot me, too.

[Because of all the people he'd killed, he would never, ever let anything happen to her. Until it did.]

Okay. [He drops that word heavily, definitely not sounding like he believes Chilton, but more like surrendering to a dog demanding to be taken out for a walk.]

I guess you just have a lot of balls to threaten new people about keeping them from working.

[slightlyoffchilt]

Perhaps not the specific compliment I would have granted myself, but your uneasy and vague respect is noted.

[perturbator]

[He didn't really mean it as a compliment, but somehow he doubts Chilton will catch on to that consciously.]

Respect. Sure.

[It's been a long time since he respected anything, and he won't start now.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[If those two words better illuminated Jacket's true intent, Chilton didn't change his tone about it.]

At least we better understand each other. [Hah.] I wish you well, in your technological endeavors.

[perturbator]

Yeah. If there's no cool endoskeletons in this one, I know I can blame you.

[Again, joking. Maybe.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

No doubt blaming me would be worth the effort.