Case #8: Video

[19centconstable]

[George is COMPLETELY DRESSED. So dressed. He also looks slightly pink and wrinkly, like he's spent too long in the bathtub.]

I've been in the tub.

[For two days, apparently. And still so unclean. His hair is also not parted and slicked down as usual, and is currently making a sort of wild, fluffy, dark halo around his face. The ends curl a bit. George's hair may eat combs. George is too sulky to do anything about it. This flood has tested even his unwavering positivity.]

I want to apologize for...

...

...everything.

[A curt nod, and the camera is switched off.]

...

[Then switched back on again.]

I would just like to say, also, just so you know, that I am never...unclothed, not even underneath my clothes.

...I'm getting back in the tub.

[The camera is switched off.]

...

[Aaaaaaand switched on again. He's here, he might as well. George clears his throat.]

Who...does...the art?

Comments

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

But...wouldn't they have just died anyway?

Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

I said when it was their time. I didn't say they were sick or already dying.

Sometimes they had outlived their service to the Collective. Sometimes, they had been seen as useless. And sometimes, they were made sick.

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

I don't...is it like the noose?

Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

[Pause to look it up.]

I...I don't know. It's a room, George. And the colour inside is one that will kill you if you look at it too long.

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

But the people who are killed: have they done anything wrong?

Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

Not usually. There's always a celebration of some sort beforehand for them. The people who do things wrong either get the Mildew or Reboot.

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

Re...boot?

Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

It's where they send you when your merits get too low.

They send you there and tell everyone that...well, it's something like this place, I suppose. And you don't see your family or friends again.

Because they kill you.

But they don't tell people that last part.

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

That's terrible, Jane, terrible!

Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

I know.

I was almost sent there, but...I always had a way out.

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

How can they get away with that?

Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

It's in the Rules. In the Rulebook.

And people, like I said, don't know they're going off to die.

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

Well they've got to be told!

Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

No.

Not yet. It will be done, but not all at once.

Re: Private

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

Why not?

Re: Private

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

There are too many people who know the truth right now that we have to get through.

This is so much more than just...Reboot.