Case #41: Video

[19centconstable]

[George looks much less youthfully enthusiastic than usual. And sad. Try as he might, he can't quite help but look sad.]

I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of this, but I'm afraid Miss Jane Brunswick has elected to return home. If anyone was wondering.

Comments

[most_feared]

She was a nice lady. She didn't like it here much. [He's worried though.]

[19centconstable]

I suppose she didn't.

And she has got people and important things to do waiting for her, as I understand it, and I'd certainly never begrudge anyone all of that.

I will miss her, though.

[most_feared]

[That's the worst feeling, isn't it?]

Yeah.

[And he clears his throat. He's terrible at this making-people-feel-better thing.]

[19centconstable]

[It's okay, K.: George is a man.]

There's nothing to be done for it, of course.

You've been well, I hope?

[most_feared]

[This sort of socializing is better and doesn't stump him.] Alright, mostly.

You?

[19centconstable]

I had been. Yes. Certainly.

I can't say I approved much of the last port.

[most_feared]

[Little bit of a snort.] Vegas doesn't seem like it would be your scene.

[19centconstable]

It seemed like an unhealthy amount of gambling.

[most_feared]

A lot of it's not healthy. Most people there want to find some way to forget their problems. That's what it's for.

[19centconstable]

And forgetting never solves anything, I'm afraid.

...Except in cases of brainwashing, but then it only solves things for the person doing the brainwashing, not the person who has been brainwashed.

[most_feared]

Sadly, forgetting solves a lot more than you think it would.

But that's a bad way to forget.

[19centconstable]

How so?

[most_feared]

Sometimes things happen to people that hurt them. And hurts them in a way that'll stick for the rest of their life. They can't help it. It's just how their brains work.

Sometimes it actually helps to not be afraid of everything because one thing hurt you. You just... close that one little bit off.

But these people, they don't forget so much as bury it under a whole lot of more problematic shit.

[19centconstable]

I'm still not sure how one is better than the other.

[most_feared]

I've seen one save a lot of lives, and the other destroy 'em. It's complicated.

[19centconstable]

We can certainly agree on that.