3.54.29—62/a
Office of Information – Restricted Resident Division
Report of Resident Safety Monitor Rudd ‘Door’ Burby
My gracious
respects, an honor. An honor, most
respected equal.
So,
resident Will, um, well, he spends his time buildin’ elaborate structures out
of playing cards. Yea-up, playing
cards. Paper ones, naturally. Yeah, we gave him a deck. It amazes Door how Will can balance them one
on top of each other, or leaning, counterweighted just so, never tumblin’ till
he wants them to. Don’t mind Door
talking in the third person. Door is “me”,
OK? They call Door that ’cause he’s so
stinkin’ wide; yeah, like a door. But
Will, he can just sit there doin’ it for hours and hours, you know? Like he’s got nothing better to do. Haha.
Yeah, Door’s quite the joker, ain’t he?
See, Will use to look up at the safety cameras every now and then, and
Door’d wonder if maybe he knew it was him up there monitorizin’ him. Shouldn’t know, though; shouldn’t be any way
for him to know, as Door can figure.
Door’s never mentioned it, for sure.
But, that was more “used to,” and it’s a thing not happ’nin’ anymore.
So Door watches resident
Will puttin’ together these houses of cards, and Door realizes, eventually, not
right away, you know, but eventually, that although Will builds lotsa different
structures, he always uses the cards in the deck we gave him in the same order,
you follow? Like a code or
somethin’. Like this: first he takes one joker and he throws it,
like as if he’s pretendin’ like he’s still all mad, huh, and it bounces off
that padded wall and lands just to the left of the door, face down. And then, he takes the other joker, and he
does the same, ’cept he does so it lands just on the right side of the door,
and it lands face up. Weird? Yeah, and Door has to watch him do this every
stinkin’ day. Now how can he do that so
precise? He certainly does know how to
throw his cards. But once he finished
with the two jokers, real particular, he starts on the deck proper, so to
speak. Puts out the ace of diamonds an’
the ace of hearts, and leans them against each other, fine and proper. That’s how it always starts, ev-er-eh single
time, but then it changes from there.
You know, ’cause like Door said before, Will don’t build the same thing
twice, not so long as Door’s been watchin’ him, least. But the order’s always the same. He works through the face cards of the
hearts, then two through six of the spades, then the face cards of the clubs,
then the ace of spades, then the queen of spades, then jack down through seven
of spades, then the king of spades, then all the rest of the clubs, ’cept the
ace, mindya, in what seems like a real freaky random order, and then ten down
through two of hearts, and then the even numbers of diamonds and then the odd
ones, a-and, las of all, he puts the ace of clubs on top of whateva structure
he’s gone an’ built, and sometimes these things are half the width of the cell. Honest truth, Door swears it. Oh, and then he pulls out the queen of
hearts, and the whole thing goes to the floor.
Alrightae, you want more particular? Instances?
Ok, ooookay. Lemme think a
moment. That’s right, you straighten
that collar yours. Heh-heh. Yes, respected equal, okay. Was the time, was the time, when, eh . . .
when he described to Door how he used to drink in “establishments,” ’fore the
Glorious Liberation. Said to Door,
“Door, listen to me very carefully as I explain this to you: I would step into the bar, order something
and sit down with it at my table in the back corner where I could see everyone
and I would slowly sip my drink. I knew
exactly at what point it would start to give me that fuzzy feeling and I would
always stop right before it hit me.”
And Door thought,
“That’s impossible,” but what he said was, “An’ how’d that feel, Will?” Door finds askin’ the resident how he feel
can do a mighta good, times, let ’em know two things a’once: ya care, you know? So not disadvantagin’ them. And you’re checkin’ up, keepin’ track,
watchin’ like, and haven’t forgot ’em.
And Will looked at
Door with dose wanderin’ eyes of his, and he said, “I shouldn’t answer that
question. Because you don’t really want
to know. You’re just asking to fill air
space. You and I, we don’t
interact. We just pretend to interact. But to fulfill my need to feel that I’ve
communicated, let out something of my soul, so as to avoid the oblivion of
being ignored by history, I will tell you.
It felt like I was in control.
Alcohol couldn’t touch me; couldn’t control me. I controlled it. And I felt big for a moment; like I
controlled everything. Illusion. Chimera.”
And, wouldn’t you
know it, he wouldn’t say a word more after that. Looked off into the distance, ’cept of course
there wasn’t a distance to look off into, heh heh, but he was trying, and Door
just gave him his nourishment injection for the day and went off and locked the
door behind me and all, of course, but the rest of the day, that little speech
of his just kept on runnin’ through Door’s head. Couldn’t forget it, much as woulda liked
to. Be sitting at the desk watching Will
pacin’ bout on the big screen and feel like was hearin’ that quiet, harsh voice
of his again, talking on about control and illusion.
But, true be told,
respected equal, I know what you’re looking for, here. Looking for Door to tell you if Will could be
the one in particular that we’ve been looking for all along. But true be told, Door don’t see a
resemblance to the old footage. Neither
in face nor in attitude. Yeap, of course,
most equal, Door knows that the countryside’s been searched thorough. So he must be in here, huh? That the line of reason? Well, Door doesn’t say Door don’t agree with
it. Just it’s like this: the Disruptor was all confi wasn’t he, all
boom and bluster? But this fellow, this
Will, he’s a Cerebral for sure, and not un-dangerous Door won’t disagree, but
he strikes Door as more of a wannabe, you know?
He’s got so many stories in his head, and he doesn’t right know which
one he’s part of, Door’s thinkin’.
Yes? Yes, equal that is correct. He did tell me a half again story ’bout the
Disruptor, yes he did. Well, okay. It was like this: Door comes in, you know, and Will’s sitting
there in the far corner with his legs stretched out into the middle of the cell
and he’s shufflin’ that card deck and eyeing it like it’s the last emotion-shot
there is, and Door gets out his nourishment injection and try to lope over easy
and make some sound brushin’ the door as comes through so don’t startle him,
you know, but Will looks up, very knowin’-like, and he goes and says, “Not
today, Door.”
So, Door’s a bit
startled ’imself, as he’s sure you can appreciate, and so he asks, “Well, come
on, Will, as blinky why not?”
And Will stops
shufflin’. And he says, “Let me tell you
a story, Door.”
And Door
think-checks his chrono and finds he’s actually forward of schedule anyhows,
and he closes the door ’hind him for safety’s sake and says to Will, “’Kay, go
ahead.”
And Door can’t be
blamed if and he don’t remember all the ’xact words that resident Will used,
but he started like and this: “The
Disruptor.” And he pauses like, for
dramatic ’fect, Door’s thinkin’, and he then he on-goes, “You and your people,
your GL, and your Opportunity Advantagement, you got the Disruptor wrong. He’s utterly unselfish. What he seeks to break is the Mistake.” And he went on like that, you know, with that
kinda rhe-toric, for a little while, and Door stands there, and he nods, ’cause
you wanta kinda lettem think you’re symp, you understand them, but then it was
like Will ’membered he was meant to tell a story, not go spoutin’, and so he
sits up straighter, and he looks Door in the face, kinda bold-like, and he gets
this glintin’ behind his eye, you know what I mean? And he says to Door, “The Disruptor once went
six days without his injections, to let his friends have them.”
Here’s that when Door
interrupts, askin’, “Friends? Don’t you
mean lovers?”
But, “No,” Will
says, all dramatic like. “I mean
friends. Understand this: the Disruptor
believes that not all close relationships are, or must be, or should be, sexual
in nature. He looks to the example of
history, the real history, as it was known before your Glorious L, and sees
that friendship, mutual unselfish assistance and kindness, was much of what
made the Old Nations work. The death of
friendship made your GL almost inevitable.
But that,” and there he paused again, kinda put-on art like, and he says
all slowly, “that was not even my point.
The Disruptor knew how to sacrifice, and that,” he put his hand over his
chest, “is my point.”
So, that’s
probably what you wanted to know about, ain’t it, ’spected equal? That was his only moment of Disruptor talk,
though Door supposes there’re other moments wouldn’t meet anti-standards of
hate or dogma rhetoric. Talked ’bout
failures, times, too, respected equal; how recipients weren’t as happy as they
pretended to be, how “shortages” (his word not Door’s, I ’umbly point out)
existed, and the what-like. But Door
knows for fact, from talkin’ to love-sharer of mine who efforts in this
division as well, that the resident she watches also has such talkin’, times,
and says others as well.
. . . Well, you’re welcome, most ’spected equal,
and always a pleasure for Door to be of serv-- er, to assist an equal of such great and honored equality as yourself,
most equal.
Oh, really? Door ain’t sure . . . means, is that
nessecary? Might not like it, Will, and
sure and you won’t get straight answers out of him talkin’. No, Door wasn’t suggestin’. Yes, m’spected. Uhum. Door
will do that. And, please remember Door
favorably, if his name does ’appen to come up in conversatin’ with, eh, other
most equals.
3.54.70—55/c
Office of Information – Restricted Resident Division
Responses of Restricted Resident William Rethhouse
Now
that was an abrupt “question”, wasn’t it?
It that your style now, point blank?
I’m afraid it just will not work, not on me. I’ve told your “equals” hundreds of times, I
am not the Disruptor.
Grah! Please, don’t do that again. It’s a victory for me every time you hurt me,
you know. It proves how hypocritical
your system has become. It started well
enough, of course, but you know what they say about noble intentions. So by all means, let fly. In the name of love, yes, hit me! “Reconcile” me. I have been offensive.
Graaaah! I bite iron.
Physical pain shall do nothing to me.
The defense of old, infirm liberty is stronger than you give
credit. Beat and get blood, but our
veins run deeper than you know in many bodies.
You shall not reach our heart by breaking skin. Don’t sneer!
It’s unbecoming. Pretend rather
that you are posing for one of those Free Equity posters.
Graaah . . . Don’t bother hitting me. Uh. I’m
merely attempting to save you some trouble.
Physical abuse will accomplish nothing.
And I’m afraid I’m already rather broken psychologically.
Why of course I’ll
answer some questions.
I am aware of the
trouble the Disruptor has been causing.
Hmm. Well, in my opinion, he serves a proper end
with incorrect means. . . . I
mean it.
Because the
extremity of them destroys any potential yield of recognition of his validity
or legitimacy.
Well, that was a
sudden change in direction.
Excellent
question, actually. What is the
harm? You’ve already eliminated them
from your dire equation, anyway, haven’t you?
Oh, unaware, is it? Well, I’ll
get to it then. Glean what you
will. I imagine your profiling books are
already pretty full. Enough to stock an
Information department shelf, probably.
It was just before
the endemic when I last saw them. Me and
some friends, (yes, there’s that subversive, offensive word again!) were at a
concert. You know, music. Old days music, not like the post-ethnic
stuff your unity-stations play now. I
received an alert, and my wife (long live such subversive concepts!) wanted me
home for an early supper. My two sons
were there, eight and twelve and boisterous as ever. The meal was delicious. Maybe some of the last potatoes ever to be
harvested and eaten. I’ve almost
forgotten what that was like, chewing and tasting. I remember Lisa was quoting from a movie
she’d seen at her cousin’s u-port half the supper hour, and explaining the
various explosions in it, but I was always less interested in movies than my
wife. A rebel against the repressive
mainstream society, I think it was.
Movies like that were allowed back then, although I daresay there wasn’t
too much actual thinking done by the characters other than how to escape
various situations.
Yes,
yes, note that down in my file.
I remember we
laughed, all of us, at various wonderfully funny and nonsensical things Toby
said. The news wasn’t on. There was rioting in some of the streets, I
knew from the broadcast on the way home, but inside the home security field, we
felt safe. Electric lights were still
warm colors sometimes back then, not the cold white everything is now. The heat was on, as high as we could afford
it, and we were all wearing gloves and scarves.
Tell me this,
master MRE, why can’t we have that back?
My time aboard the Solidarity
was hellish, true be told, and this is worse.
If you want, I can tell you more stories about the Disruptor. That’ll give you the evidence you want, won’t
it? You’ll be able to cite in the Unity
Courts and in your Information reports.
Your associates and myriad love-sharers will be much impressed, I’m sure,
that you figured it out. The protesters
and the resisters will be disheartened, surely, and that’s what matters most,
admit it. But I’m not the Disruptor. And you, personally, will have to live the
rest of your very most equal life with the precious knowledge that you, most
respected, were wrong. And soon enough, I suspect, the Disruptor
will do something else out in the world, that you won’t be able to deny, and
you’ll have to admit you disposed of the wrong person.
Wait, you’re
getting up? You’re leaving? How can you do this? After all we’ve been through! Will I ever see you again? Oh my.
Best of luck writing your report for your more most equals!
3.54.98—23/r
Office of Information – Restricted Resident Division
Recommendation, based on Analysis and Summary of Restricted Resident
and “Disruptor” Suspect William Rethhouse by Most Respected Equal Nolan Teague
Having
spoken with both the resident and his Resident Safety Monitor, it is my informed
conclusion that said resident, William Rethhouse, is undeniably one and the
same as the long-sought unstable, degenerate, seditious, and anti-social Disruptor,
out-standing insurgent in armed and violent antagonistic and hostile opposition
to Tranquility, Unanimity, and Love Unfettered, may they ceaselessly direct
us. As a precursory perusal over the
preceding texts, trans-corded directly from standard equipment issue 4.5mh audio-nets,
will confirm, we have numerous exceptional and indubitable reasons to surmise
that the resident in question was intimately, thoroughly, and systematically involved
with and implicated in deviant, aberrant, and violently insensitive and
disruptive activity, in unprecedented defiance to the Unanimity of Tranquility,
prior to and (auspiciously, for only a succinct interlude of time) shortly subsequent to the Glorious Liberation.
Please
make careful note of the following phrases from the text of the prisoner: “recognition [the resident’s] of his [the
Disruptor’s] validity”, “infirm liberty” (illegal word pairing), “he serves a
proper end”, “dire equation”, “various explosions”, “repressive mainstream
society”, “rioting”, “hellish”, “disheartened”.
It
is my unwavering estimation that if these phrases are run through a proper and
well functioning Subconscious Analysis Streamliner that the results will be
both steadfastly indicative of offense and unflinchingly unequivocal in their
blatancy. That is aside from the obvious and rampant
sarcasm and extremely and repetitively insensitive disrespect employed in
referring to all things correlated even in the most marginal manner to our essential
precepts, these aberrant attitudes occurring consistently throughout the consultation.
The Commission of Resident Hosts and Caretakers
has stated to me categorically, in a document which I can provide if necessary,
that they are in full agreement with my prediction of these forthcoming
results.
With the
consideration of the safety of the Restricted Resident Facility, and the other
Residents and their Caretakers therein, foremost in my consciousness, I
recommend, with the most suitable and customarily natural sorrows at this
regrettable necessity, and with the opinion of the Resident Health Overseer in
unwavering agreement with my own, the immediate implementation of the following
procedures (at the following levels):
-Retraction of Potentially
Detrimental Memory (thorough)
-Tranquility and Continuity
Awareness Enhancement (durable)
-Personality Optimization
for Affirmative Societal Contribution (comprehensive)
to be performed on
the person of respected equal and current Restricted Resident William
Rethhouse, individuation # k8i3*-/th6.
I am Tranquil,
Unanimous, and Loving in my optimistic anticipation that this shall prove to be
the lasting conclusion of all unconstructive and ingenuous actions on the part
of the “Disruptor”, whose dubious designation I now feel free to put in
quotations, and whose pacification I have no cause to doubt will constitute a
definitive step of affirmative progress in furthering the complete restoration
and preservation of the Unanimity of Tranquility.
Most Respected
Equal Nolan
Teague , Office of
Information, RRD