Archive of Our Own

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Failure] – …Weren't you just holding onto something? Whatever it was, it's gone now.

YOU – Aw, fuck.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – *Everything* slips from your grasp eventually. You should be used to it by now.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – The glass bottle taps out a crystallophonic melody as it bounces across the kitchen tiles, decidedly out of your reach. In its wake trails a winding river of pale red, dotted with lees.

INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] – In a similar fashion, the last dregs of the sunset are settling beneath the horizon outside.

You're almost out of time.

REACTION SPEED – Khm. If you were hoping to recover anything from that bottle, you've *already* run out of time. The last of the drink has already been emptied out onto the floor.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Formidable: Success] – At the very least, you now have the opportunity to simply *observe* it, and marvel at its beauty. A potential muse.

See the vitrine flask at rest -- see the liquid pooling between grouted kitchen tiles. It's your old friend in rosé-tinted glasses.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – *Glasses*? You were never civilized enough to bother drinking this stuff in *glasses*.

INTERFACING [Trivial: Success] – You've been saving time *and* resources by drinking right from the bottle. You're *efficient*.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Formidable: Success] – This direct approach -- casting every millilitre of alcohol *right* down your gullet -- stops stray droplets from disappearing into the recesses of your elaborate moustache. Barring, of course, everything accidentally spilt onto the floor, or coughed up from the depths of your roiling gut.

PERCEPTION (Taste) [Trivial: Success] – Mmm. Cheap wine and stomach acid, topped off with a flourish of bile.

1. – Gross.
2. – I'm efficient. I'm a machine.
3. – I need another drink.
4. – What am I doing, again? [Proceed.]

YOU – What am I doing, again? [Proceed.]

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] – You're in the process of drinking yourself to death, alone, on the kitchen floor of your apartment.

1. – Cool.
2. – That sucks.
3. – That doesn't sound right.
4. – Why?

YOU – Why?

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Heroic: Failure] – Fuck knows. You're not the only one affected by all the ethanol you ingest, you know.

PERCEPTION (Sight) [Trivial: Success] – The day's light has been well and truly extinguished, now. The dented kitchen light-switch looks down at you, resolutely *off*. The sun is already too far gone for you to follow.

INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] – It's not too late.

Chase it.

Chase the sun -- the *light* -- and swallow it whole. Let it fill the darkness in your soul.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – Are souls photically permeable? Is there even *room* for light inside a soul?

1. – I think there's room.
2. – I doubt there's room.
3. – I hope there's room.
4. – There's no room in mine.

YOU – I doubt there's room.

LOGIC – I would tend to agree. Souls are an ethereal sort of concept -- not much opportunity for physical storage space.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] – Well, light exists as *radiation*, not as *matter*. Light can exist in a vacuum.

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] – Khm, yes, but vacuums are still physical locations. You're putting the cart before the horse, presuming souls exist on the same physical plane as other containers.

INTERFACING [Trivial: Success] – Ooh, containers?

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] – Right! And, wait, we still haven't even established the photic *permeability* of the soul. It doesn't *matter* if there's any existing room if the light can't even get inside in the first place.

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – Harry…

Disregard any conclusions these ones are drawing about… Radiation? Souls? Whatever.

They're too far gone. You're too many drinks in.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – God, I love you guys. Talking in circles about utterly pointless shit forever and ever.

This is *nice*. It's such a relief to be back.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Yeah. Going cold turkey just wasn't for you.

You're lucky it wasn't *worse*.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] – It's true. The uncontrollable shaking, the heart palpitations, the overwhelming sense of dread…

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – The unshakeable presence of *spectres*. Sirenic voices blended into the whispers of the wind. The eyes in the shadows -- always watching, always just out of reach. Immaterial insects, scuttling around underneath your skin…

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] – Yes, those too. You need to understand, Harry, that these past few days have been a *best-case scenario*.

You could have died.

INLAND EMPIRE – *Delirium tremens* has been warded off, for now, but it shadows you diligently yet. As soon as your overworked liver purges the latest instalment of neurotoxins from your bloodstream, the hallucinatory spectres of paroxysm and febricity will greet you anew.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] – Abruptly abandoning this vice isn't an option for you anymore. It hasn't been an option for a very long while.

Now that you're no longer in withdrawal, seizures and hallucinations are marginally less likely to occur. You should start worrying about all your *other* organs instead.

VOLITION [Medium: Success] – On that note, don't you think it might be time to stop drinking tonight?

1. – Don't you start on that passive-aggressive bullshit.
2. – I'd like a little more, please.
3. – I can stop drinking whenever I want.

YOU – Don't you start on that passive-aggressive bullshit.

I get enough of that when I'm unconscious.

INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] – Mm. The paleomammalian cortex and basal ganglia are *always* watching.

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – No -- nobody's *watching* you, Harry. That's not something you need to worry about.

Come on, Inland Empire, don't provoke him. He's clearly unwell.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – Harry's no pussy. It'll take more than *that* to get under his skin. Isn't that right, Harry?

LOGIC [Medium: Success] – To get under your skin, it'd need some sort of digging implement. Mandibles, or claws, maybe. That's how all the bugs got in, wasn't it?

RHETORIC [Challenging: Success] – No, no, that whole *bug* thing was just a metaphor that got out of hand.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] – Formication! Not to be confused with fornication. A tactile hallucination of insects underneath the skin. It can be a symptom of withdrawal, malnourishment, psychosis, or brain damage. Take your pick.

If you want a hint, it's probably all of them.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Just to be clear, Harry, there are no bugs under your skin. It's all in your head.

INLAND EMPIRE [Formidable: Success] – Probably.

1. – Peel me open and we can flush them all out.
2. – Gimme another drink. I'm gonna drown those fucking bugs.
3. – They've migrated into my *head* now?
4. – Right. There's nothing under my skin. I'm fine.

YOU – Right. There's nothing under my skin. I'm fine.

No threats. No bugs. Nothing.

LOGIC [Formidable: Success] – Even barring those, there are still *plenty* of things under your skin. Your muscles, your adipose tissue, your lymph nodes… Lungs, liver, bones, brain… Hey, can we get a quick check on any potential metastases?

ENDURANCE [Legendary: Failure] – Eh. Nothing worth worrying about.

1. – Everyone loves my muscles.
2. – My skin is full of normal things, then?
3. – Meta-what now?

YOU – My skin is full of normal things, then?

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Yes. Exactly. You're fine.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Well, this calls for a toast, don't you think?

1. – Bottoms up!
2. – Cheers!
3. – Drinks are on me!
4. – Hmm. Is that a good idea?

YOU – Cheers!

VOLITION [Medium: Success] – Harry…

1. – What?
2. – Fuck off.

YOU – What?

VOLITION – You've had enough to drink, and you know it.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – He's got a point. You've had enough to dull the pain.

That *is* why you started drinking again, right?

1. – Yeah. Totally.
2. – It's not enough. I'm still not numb enough.
3. – I don't remember.
4. – No. I just wanted to ruin my life.

YOU – I don't remember.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Well, you're nothing if not consistent.

1. – Yes. One of my defining traits.
2. – Is that supposed to be a compliment?
3. – I think I'm just nothing.

YOU – I think I'm just nothing.

RHETORIC – No, that was… That was just another figure of speech. You're not nothing.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Formidable: Success] – You are something. You are a miracle. You are *the* miracle.

INLAND EMPIRE [Heroic: Success] – You are the cumulation of billions of years of chemical reactions, folded and twisted into a living, breathing *being* -- a being with the primary directive of *feeling pain*.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – Take your spine, for example. It *hurts*.

Probably because you're… Fuck, I don't know. Is this what you call *sitting* these days?

VISUAL CALCULUS [Medium: Success] – It seems like you attempted -- very recently -- to lie down on the kitchen floor. You must have given up halfway.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – Regardless of *how* you ended up like this, the resultant contortion of twisted vertebrae is becoming *unbearable*.

Look, I'll keep it short:

Your head hurts.

Your neck hurts.

Your upper back hurts.

Your lower back hurts.

Your tailbone hurts.

DAMAGED HEALTH
-1

YOU – You just said you'd keep it *short*.

PAIN THRESHOLD – Oh, would you like me to go into *detail*? Because I can *do* detail.

1. – Yes. Regale me with the comprehensive lore of my broken body.
2. – No. God. I'll move.

YOU – No. God. I'll move.

PAIN THRESHOLD – Fine. But you also ought to know that your thigh is *fucking killing you*. Nice work, again, on getting *shot*.

YOU – You inadvertently chip the flaking paint from a kitchen cabinet as your bloated body slumps into a marginally more comfortable position.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Challenging: Success] – Well done -- you didn't land *directly* in the puddle of rosé.

YOU – You gaze down to assess the spill. A leering visage stares back up at you, its distorted reflection stretched across the ethanoic pool.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Easy: Failure] – What is that?

1. – It's a failure.
2. – It's a rock star.
3. – It's a monster.
4. – It's a harbinger of the end times.
5. – I don't know what it is.

YOU – It's a monster.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – No, Harry. It's *you*.

INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] – Is it?

EMPATHY [Easy: Failure] – It doesn't feel like you.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – Whatever it is, you *despise* it. Every time you shoo the fucking thing away, it crawls right back after you. Mirroring you. Mocking you. It has never let you know peace.

1. – Question the monster.
2. – Reason with the monster.
3. – Ignore the monster.
4. – Destroy the monster.

YOU – Destroy the monster.

Your arm swings around in an unsteady arc. Your knuckles crack against the damp kitchen tiles as you catch him in the cheek with the back of your hand.

DAMAGED HEALTH
-1

YOU – Déclassé rosé splashes across the room. The leering man's face is dispelled.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – That was one of the shittiest right hooks I've ever seen.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] – A victory, nonetheless. Your foe, vanquished.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Aw, that stuff's for *drinking*, Harry. You could've at least *tried* to lick it up.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Trivial: Success] – There's still a fair amount left down there, if you don't mind ingesting the contaminants mixed in.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – It would be easier to just open a new bottle.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – Ah, but you see, that was his last one! That's why he'd been rationing the drink out so delicately -- cradling that bottle of his like a newborn babe.

Fitting, really.

1. – Why is it fitting?
2. – No, it's really not.
3. – Stop talking about me like I'm not here.

YOU – Why is it fitting?

DRAMA – Ultimately, you *did* choose the bottle over a wife and children, didn't you?

1. – What an astute observation.
2. – That wasn't my fault.
3. – Really? This again?
4. – Go fuck yourself.

YOU – Go fuck yourself.

DRAMA – At once, sire.

1. – What?
2. – Great. Keep me updated.
3. – Great. Don't keep me updated.

YOU – What?

DRAMA – Shall I pleasure myself at your behest, or not?

1. – What the hell are you talking about?
2. – You're disgusting.
3. – You shan't, because you can't.

YOU – You shan't, because you can't.

You're not real. All you *are* is pissing me off.

DRAMA – Ah, I'm only as real as you are, milord!

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Cut the shit, fancypants.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Agreed. Now isn't the time for games.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – I think we should focus on stopping this depressive spiral before it gets even worse.

1. – Make it stop, then.
2. – You can't stop me! I'm unstoppable!
3. – I'm not *depressed*.
4. – Why do you even care?

YOU – I'm not *depressed*.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] – Well, technically speaking, alcohol *is* a depressant.

You're also exhibiting textbook signs of…

Well, of a *great variety* of mental illnesses, really. Depression is certainly one of them.

YOU – I'm not depressed!

PERCEPTION (Hearing) [Easy: Success] – The walls creak in disagreement. The plumbing hisses its disapproval of your lifestyle choices.

LOGIC [Medium: Success] – That's *really* high pitched. Not your usual creaky ambience. That pipe might be about to burst.

1. – Hm. I should fix that.
2. – Hm. I should get someone to fix that.
3. – Hm. I hope someone else fixes that.
4. – Good. I hope it explodes.

YOU – Good. I hope it explodes.

I hope it explodes and kills me to death.

LOGIC – That wouldn't *kill* you. It could leave you with some nasty burns, sure, but it wouldn't be enough to kill you.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Khm. If it catches him by surprise, his heart might give out. That'd do it.

LOGIC – Well, it won't surprise him *now*. Not while he's *expecting* it.

YOU – Should I focus on something else, then?

ENDURANCE – If you're angling for that heart attack, sure. Go for it.

1. – Close your eyes. Focus on the squealing pipes.
2. – Stare up at the ceiling. Study the patterns.
3. – Grit your teeth. Think about *her*.
4. – Pinch yourself. Wake up.

YOU – Stare up at the ceiling. Study the patterns.

Good ol' reliable. You've been here plenty of times.

PERCEPTION (Sight) [Trivial: Success] – You map out the familiar webs of cracked and faded plaster, radiating out in unsteady paths across your field of view. A spider's attempt at the real thing is strung up in the corner, but the occupant is nowhere to be seen. Constellations of fungal colonies dot the dreary landscape.

They're tiny, but you feel even smaller.

1. – I'm so tired.
2. – I'm all alone.
3. – I'm going to die.

YOU – I'm all alone.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – You're not *all* alone.

There's a dead cockroach on the floor, barely a metre away.

Maybe you could strike up a conversation?

DEAD COCKROACH – The empty husk of an insect rests recumbent on the kitchen floor, its jointed legs curled up into an angular bouquet.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] – Most arthropods tend to seize up upon death, rather than falling limp -- which is what will happen to *you*.

INLAND EMPIRE [Heroic: Success] – Your corpse will be marked by alcohol, heartbreak, and distinctly limp limbs.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] – These types don't like to venture out into the open on their own. What was the cockroach doing out here?

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Easy: Success] – Maybe it crawled out from under your skin?

VISUAL CALCULUS [Easy: Success] – Maybe it was intercepted en route to its destination?

LOGIC [Easy: Success] – Maybe it died, very suddenly, of natural causes?

PAIN THRESHOLD [Easy: Success] – Maybe it just gave up.

YOU – You look at the cockroach expectantly.

DEAD COCKROACH – It remains taciturn.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Looks like it's up to you to break the ice.

1. – So, you come here often?
2. – No, this is stupid.

YOU – So, you come here often?

DEAD COCKROACH – Yes, very often. This was my home.

1. – Hey, me too.
2. – I thought this was *my* home.
3. – Were you paying rent?
4. – And you left *all* the chores to *me*?

YOU – I thought this was *my* home.

DEAD COCKROACH – One truth does not preclude the other.

YOU – So we were roommates?

DEAD COCKROACH – I don't think I would have ever considered you in terms of *mateship*.

Labels never really mattered to me, though.

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] – So this *could* be your dead roommate -- but only if you want it to be.

1. – Roommate definitely isn't the right word.
2. – Wow. I didn't realise I had a roommate.

YOU – Wow. I didn't realise I had a roommate.

It's a shame I never got to know you. What's your name, then?

DEAD COCKROACH – I did not have a name.

1. – Did you have a family?
2. – Did you have a purpose?
3. – Did you have a good life?

YOU – Did you have a purpose?

DEAD COCKROACH – Did *you*?

YOU – Hey, I'm not dead yet.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Not for lack of trying.

DEAD COCKROACH – *Do* you have a purpose, then?

1. – Yes. I'm a detective.
2. – No. I'm just tired.
3. – Didn't you hear? I'm a monster.

YOU – Yes. I'm a detective.

DEAD COCKROACH – So was I. I was born to detect sucrose rewards and semiochemicals.

YOU – The phasmid said that too.

DEAD COCKROACH – Mm. We had a lot in common.

1. – You and the phasmid?
2. – You and me?
3. – You and who?

YOU – You and the phasmid?

DEAD COCKROACH – What do you think?

YOU – I think I'm lying on the floor, talking to a dead bug.

DEAD COCKROACH – That's a good thought.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] – If I may interject...

1. – Go ahead.
2. – No, fuck off.

YOU – Go ahead.

ENCYCLOPEDIA – Technically speaking, the term *bug* encompasses only the *Hemiptera* order of insects -- or the *Heteroptera* suborder, if you're feeling particularly pretentious. Cockroaches, over in the *Blattodea* clade, are way off the mark.

So you're *not* lying on the floor, talking to a dead bug.

Because cockroaches aren't bugs.

1. – Wow, I'm failing in ways I never thought possible.
2. – Meaning evolves over time. Cockroaches are bugs now.
3. – Are entomologists really that pretentious?
4. – I should've told you to fuck off.

YOU – I should've told you to fuck off.

ENCYCLOPEDIA – Have fun chatting with your dead *false bug* friend, then.

DEAD COCKROACH – I didn't mind being a false bug. I had other, more important tasks with which to concern myself.

1. – What sort of tasks?
2. – Concern? Was your life concerning?
3. – What led you *here*?
4. – Is this conversation helping me?

YOU – What sort of tasks?

DEAD COCKROACH - Eating. Sleeping. Socialising. Those sorts of things.

1. – Eating?
2. – Sleeping?
3. – Socialising?

YOU – Socialising?

DEAD COCKROACH – Sure. I was a member of a collective.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] – Khm-khm. I know you did *just* tell me to fuck off, *but*…

1. – But…?
2. – No buts. Fuck the fuck off.

YOU – But…?

ENCYCLOPEDIA – I'm so glad you asked! I just wanted to let you know that domiciliary cockroaches are known for their complex social behaviour, being capable of both competition and collaboration. Cockroach swarms exhibit *emergence* -- if a number of individuals, each with their own unique personalities, come together, they can operate as an entity greater than the sum of its parts.

All in all, this guy might have some good stories.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Challenging: Success] – Not too dissimilar to your experiences as *your* kind of animal, khm?

DEAD COCKROACH – You seem to be alone, though. Survival is difficult under such circumstances.

1. – No, I'm also a member of a collective.
2. – No, I've got a full house in here for company.
3. – Yeah. I'm planning to kill myself about it.

YOU – No, I'm also a member of a collective.

DEAD COCKROACH – Ah, I'm glad to hear that. Forgive my presumption.

It's always a comfort to huddle in the dark with your brothers, isn't it?

1. – That's not really what cops do.
2. – That's not really what communists do.
3. – That's not really what alcoholics do.
4. – That's not really what humans do.

YOU – That's not really what communists do.

DEAD COCKROACH – Isn't it?

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – The dead cockroach might have a point.

RHETORIC [Challenging: Success] – Yes, well… Well, communism hasn't been *rebuilt* yet. We can't just come out, guns blazing, with nothing to show for it.

Just give it a while longer. We'll be out of the dark in no time.

DEAD COCKROACH – Sorry. Another overstep on my behalf.

This conversation has been nice, though -- especially since I don't have anything better to do. No more tasks. No more concerns. No more hunger.

1. – What sorts of tasks?
2. – Concerns? Was your life concerning?
3. – What led you *here*?
4. – Is this conversation helping me?

YOU – Is this conversation helping me?

DEAD COCKROACH – I don't know. Is it?

1. – I guess so.
2. – Probably not.
3. – I have no idea.

YOU – I have no idea.

DEAD COCKROACH – Maybe you should talk to someone with a stronger understanding of your world.

Someone with basal ganglia and a limbic system and a neocortex.

1. – Like Jean?
2. – Like Kim?
3. – Like Gottlieb?
4. – Like *her*?

YOU – Like *her*?

DEAD COCKROACH –  The cockroach does not respond. Its waxy carcass rocks gently in the faint, chilly breeze, which forces its way into the kitchen through the cracks in your rickety window frame.

SHIVERS [Formidable: Success] – Across the river, resting in their prim front yard, a duo of siblings waits for their mother to return home from work. Upon her arrival, the elder boy will wave, face beaming and limbs gangling, all the while proudly sporting his first chin hairs. He is still a child in every sense of the word.

A newly employed dockworker is about to stumble across a waterlogged carcass. It was hefted into the River Esperance just two nights ago. It will take him a moment too long to recognise a fellow human in the limp tangle of rotting flesh. He will not sleep tonight.

A dishevelled man is actively decaying on his kitchen floor. A cheap libation trickles slowly through grooved tiles, creeping ever closer to the empty husk of a spineless animal. His telephone is about to ring.

PERCEPTION (Hearing) [Trivial: Success] – A chime-like trill fills the room. It pierces through your skull and drills into your sad, slimy brain.

DAMAGED HEALTH
-1

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – That is your telephone ringing.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Challenging: Failure] – Make it *stop*.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Easy: Success] – You can do that by *answering* it.

1. – What if it's the cops?
2. – What if it's the Madre?
3. – What if it's *her*?
4. – Fine. I'll answer it. [Proceed.]

YOU – What if it's *her*?

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – It *is*. You invoked her presence. She reads your thoughts like words on a page.

She's going to *consume* you.

VOLITION [Medium: Success] – Don't be ridiculous. She would *never* call you.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

1. – What if it's the cops?
2. – What if it's the Madre?
3. – What if it's *her*?
4. – Fine. I'll answer it. [Proceed.]

YOU – What if it's the cops?

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – You mean your *co-workers*? Obviously. Who else would ever *choose* to talk to you?

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

1. – What if it's the cops?
2. – What if it's the Madre?
3. – What if it's *her*?
4. – Fine. I'll answer it. [Proceed.]

YOU – Fine. I'll answer it. [Proceed.]

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – Sure. The question is… How?

YOU – How what?

LOGIC – How are you going to answer it? You're all the way down on the floor -- your telephone is decidedly not.

1. – Maybe I could throw my shoe to knock it down?
2. – I could pull on the cord to draw it closer.
3. – What if I levitate it into my hands using my mind-powers?
4. – I suppose I could try standing up.

YOU – What if I levitate it into my hands using my mind-powers?

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Formidable: Failure] – No… Your tele-kinetic mind-powers aren't potent enough. Not yet.

1. – Maybe I could throw my shoe to knock it down?
2. – I could pull on the cord to draw it closer.
3. – What if I levitate it into my hands using my mind-powers?
4. – I suppose I could try standing up.

YOU – I suppose I could try standing up.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – *Very* amusing, sire -- but now is the time for action, not for comedy.

1. – Maybe I could throw my shoe to knock it down?
2. – I could pull on the cord to draw it closer.
3. – What if I levitate it into my hands using my mind-powers?
4. – I suppose I could try standing up.

YOU – I could pull on the cord to draw it closer.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – That… could actually work.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Formidable: Success] – Put your weight into it!

YOU – You give the loose cable a hearty tug, and the landline tumbles off the counter. You praise your executive dysfunction for having never tidied up the messes of electrical cords in your kitchen.

HAND/EYE COORDINATION [Trivial: Success] – The contraption plummets through the air.

In good news, the telephone is slated to land right in your lap. The receiver is dislodged, quelling the incessant ringing, too.

In bad news…

REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Failure] – You are *not* braced for impact.

You are bludgeoned directly in the crotch as the telephone concludes its descent.

DAMAGED HEALTH
-1

YOU – You take a brief moment to let loose a wicked howl, succintly expressing your opinion on the situation.

With a wince, you shift your weight, hefting the base of the rotary phone from your lap before it manages to flatten your dick into the second dimension.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Medium: Success] – Well, of all your organs, that *was* the one you were using the least. Lucky break.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Yeah. Good thing it didn't hit you in the guts. You're one wrong movement away from voiding the contents of your stomach.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – And you're *very* lucky it didn't land right on your gunshot wound.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – Oh, yeah. This is *bad*, sure, but you would've been *fucked* if *that* happened.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – The receiver skitters across the kitchen tiles, casing chipped -- sharpened shards of darkened plastic scatter across the floor.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] – You could've called them *sherds*.

1. – Sherds?
2. – Can you pipe down?

YOU – Sherds?

ENCYCLOPEDIA – It's an archaeological term. It means shards.

1. – Oh. Sure. Sherds.
2. – I just *said* shards.
3. – That feels a confusing waste of time.
4. – My telephone is not an archaeological relic.

YOU – My telephone is not an archaeological relic.

INTERFACING [Medium: Success] – It could be if you buried it.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Don't bury it! Don't bury it. You need to *answer* it.

Come on, deep breath. Pick it up. It's time to be *normal*.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – You are *always* normal. God is in his heaven -- everything is normal on Earth.

YOU – Finicking with the telephone's spiral cord, you reel in the receiver like some sort of demented fisherman.  

PERCEPTION (Touch) [Trivial: Success] – Plastic shards fall loose as your greasy, sweaty skin shifts against them. The earphone now rests snugly in your hand.

REACTION SPEED [Easy: Success] – Oh, I know this one! You're meant to be holding the receiver up to your *ear*.

YOU – You do so, only several moments too late, with a socially-acceptable greeting already prepared. The underlying whinge of pain in your tone is *almost* unnoticeable.

"Hellllllo?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "-- was *that*, detective? Are you okay?" There is a note of deep concern in the caller's voice.

PERCEPTION (Hearing) [Trivial: Success] – That's not *her*. That's *him*! That's *Kim*!

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Formidable: Success] – Two birds, talking over a wire.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Trivial: Success] – Just a fellow officer of the law. Nothing to worry about.

LOGIC [Medium: Success] – He's not *quite* a co-worker, though. Not while he's still over at Precinct 57.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Either way, it seems like he's already decided to interrogate you.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – He wants to know *what you've done*.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – He wants to know *how you are*.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Khm. Talk about a loaded question.

HAND/EYE COORDINATION [Formidable: Success] – Not quite as powerful as a loaded pistol.

1. – "Kim! Hello!"
2. – "Fucking fuck!"
3. – "What was what? Yes?"
4. – "Good, how are you?"

YOU – "Good, how are you?"

You wheeze out the words. So far, so good.

DRAMA [Easy: Failure] – He has absolutely no reason to suspect your insobriety nor your injury, sire.

KIM KITSURAGI – "I heard a loud noise -- crashing. *Yelling*. What happened?"

VISUAL CALCULUS [Challenging: Success] – Hmm. It seems that something has pulled your telephone down from the kitchen counter. Pieces of it are strewn across the floor.

INTERFACING [Medium: Success] – The mechanical damage is limited. The destruction lies primarily in the device's plastic casing, now transformed into handfuls of jagged teeth scattered across the floor. You'll have to be careful when you clean them up.

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – You're not going to clean them up. You have better things to do.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – These things are expensive, Harry. How many have you gone through by now?

1. – *Fuck* my life.
2. – You and I both know that I don't know the answer to that.
3. – It's fine. I don't care.

YOU – It's fine. I don't care.

SAVOIR FAIRE – You keep telling yourself that.

KIM KITSURAGI – "*Harry*? Are you still there?"

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Formidable: Success] – Kim knows you're still here, physically -- he can hear your ragged breathing. He's asking to see if you're *mentally* present.

1. – "Yeah?"
2. – "Why?"
3. – "Who?"
4. – "Huh?"

YOU – "Who?"

KIM KITSURAGI – You hear a sharp intake of breath.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – You're maybe half a minute into the conversation, and Kim's already about to *lose his shit*. That's a new record.

COMPOSURE [Trivial: Success] – Even if he's losing his cool, you know that he's incapable of losing his *coolness*.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Yeah. He's *so* fucking cool.

KIM KITSURAGI – "You. Harry. Harry Du Bois."

PERCEPTION (Hearing) [Trivial: Success] – Words spoken through gritted teeth.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – Ah. Kim is frightened that you're experiencing another bout of... What was it, again?

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] – Amnesia. Total retrograde amnesia.

1. – "Oh, yeah. Sorry, just practicing my owl impression."
2. – "I think I want a cooler name. I'm tired of harrying."
3. – "Right, *that* guy. Yeah. Still here."
4. – "Harry Du Bois? I'll see if I can find him for you."

YOU – "I think I want a cooler name. I'm tired of harrying."

KIM KITSURAGI – His quiet sigh radiates both frustration and relief.

"Tell me what's going on."

1. – "Phone's on the floor."
2. – "I can *probably* still have kids."
3. – "I think the cockroach died pretty recently."
4. – "Gotta work on my hooks. I'm losing my edge."
5. – "I spilled it *everywhere*, Kim."

YOU – "Phone's on the floor."

"Now, we can talk, and I don't even have to stand up."

You smile to yourself as you explain your ingenious scheme.

KIM KITSURAGI – "...Are you on the floor?"

YOU – "Yeah."

KIM KITSURAGI – "With your telephone?"

YOU – "Yeah."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Are you…"

He cuts himself off.

EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] – He's thinking that if he asks another *yes or no* question, you're just going to say 'yeah' again. And again. And again.

KIM KITSURAGI – "What's going on?" asks the lieutenant instead.

1. – [Visual Calculus – Easy] Explain how the application of force to an object will accelerate it in a given direction, moving it physically through space.
2. – [Electrochemistry – Medium] Explain how ethyl alcohol is a sedative and an analgesic.
3. – [Interfacing – Challenging] Explain how telephones allow people to communicate over long distances.
4. – [Encyclopedia – Formidable] Explain the mechanisms of acid and biliary reflux.
5. – "Yeah."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Formidable: Success] – You can explain to Kim that you're currently experiencing abdominal pain, feeling nauseous, and salivating profusely. It might also be worthwhile to note that although both acid reflux and biliary reflux can present with these symptoms, the two conditions are distinctly different diseases -- while acid reflux is strictly gastroesophageal in nature, biliary reflux also involves the duodenum. Obviously.

Incidence of gastrointestinal reflux can be alleviated by avoiding coffee, smoking, alcohol, and fatty foods -- none of which you are *ever* going to quit. Drug treatment is too expensive to be an option for you, and surgery is right out of the question. As it stands, the best you can do is to not lie directly down on the floor. And maybe take off those tight fucking pants. They're constricting your gut.

YOU – Could you put that in… simpler terms?

For Kim's sake, of course.

ENCYCLOPEDIA – Sure!

You're probably going to throw up.

YOU – "I'm probably going to throw up."

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – You manage to keep it down.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Do you need medical attention?"

YOU – "I think I need…"

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Formidable: Success] – At this point, *any* kind of attention will do.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – In particular, though, you like it when *Kim* gives you attention.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – You miss Kim.

You miss him so much.

1. – "You."
2. – "I need you."
3. – "I need you so fucking bad."

YOU – "You."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Excuse me?"

YOU – "Oh. You're excused?"

KIM KITSURAGI – A deep sigh.

"No, detective."

DEAD COCKROACH – The husk of a nameless cockroach is being sluggishly ferried across the room on a river of spilled rosé. Maybe you should take a trip on the ferry, sometime, too. While the veins of the hopeful Esperance run thick with water, not wine, you're magnanimous enough to appreciate that nobody's perfect.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Are you injured? Are you in any *immediate* danger?"

REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Failure] – Wow, look at mister asks-a-million-questions over here. Is he honestly expecting you to keep up with a veritable Speedfreak?

1. – "Dude. Chill out."
2. – "Too many questions."
3. – "Yeah."

YOU – "Too many questions."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Trivial: Success] – It was *two* questions, Kim mentally rebuts.

1. – "Too many questions."
2. – "Two many questions."

YOU – "Two many questions."

KIM KITSURAGI – "I'm -- Yes, alright. You don't have to repeat yourself."

1. – Wait, Kim's questions sounded important. Can I hear them again?
2. – "No, this time I said *two* instead of *too*."
3. – "Too many questions."
4. – "*Two* many questions."

YOU – "No, this time I said *two* instead of *too*."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Pardon?"

1. – "*Two*. Not *too*."
2. – "I just mean there were a lot of questions."
3. – "Nevermind!"
4. – "Yeah."

YOU – "*Two*. Not *too*."

KIM KITSURAGI – You can practically feel him squinting into the receiver.

"Alright."

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] – Clever move. Dismissing the conversation topic without dismissing your feelings.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – He simply doesn't understand your *genius*, sire.

INLAND EMPIRE [Godly: Success] – Doesn't anyone else read the UI these days?

KIM KITSURAGI – "Detective. Are you *hurt*?"

1. – [Pain Threshold – Challenging] Catalogue your injuries.
2. – "I don't know."
3. – "Yeah."

PAIN THRESHOLD [Challenging: Success] – Well, your back still aches, and your thigh is still fucking killing you. Getting hit in the dick with a telephone certainly hasn't helped matters, either. Your pounding headache is almost strong enough to cut through the fog in your brain -- courtesy of your overworked heart.

Everything hurts like hell, yes, but you're not *dying* -- in the *immediate* future, at least -- which is probably what the lieutenant is worried about.

1. – "Technically, yes. I'm hurt."
2. – "It's just the *usual* amount of agonising pain."
3. – "I'm fine. I'm not dying."

YOU – "I'm fine. I'm not dying."

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant lets out the smallest sigh of relief. "Okay. Okay, I'm glad you're not dying."

1. – "Do I get points for that?"
2. – "So, what's the occasion? Wrong number?"
3. – "Are *you* dying?"
4. – "I missed you, Kim."

YOU – "So, what's the occasion? Wrong number?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "No, I…"

EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] – Whatever his intentions were, he's starting to feel self-conscious about going out of his way to contact you.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Khm. I just wanted to check in."

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – That's reasonable. You worked closely together, and you're still recovering from a serious injury.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Challenging: Success] – Or maybe he has *other* motives for reconnecting, khm?

1. – "Cool. That's cool. I like check-ins."
2. – "I'm still recovering."
3. – "My name's currently still Harry, but you can call me anytime."
4. – "You wanted to check in on *me*?"

YOU – "Cool. That's cool. I like check-ins."

KIM KITSURAGI – "I suspected you might. How have things been going?"

1. – "Oh, you know."
2. – "No more infections so far."
3. – "Been doing a lot of self-medicating."
4. – "Everything still hurts."

YOU – "Everything still hurts."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Ah." Kim winces in sympathy. "Are you still on leave?"

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Wait, was that an option?!

YOU – "What? No! Am I still meant to be on leave?!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "No," he says reluctantly. "The RCM doesn't get enough nearly funding for that. Even for life-threatening injuries."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – He was hopeful, though. Hopeful for change against all odds.

INLAND EMPIRE [Formidable: Success] – You've inspired this sentiment within him. He doesn't entirely resent it.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Is there anything I can do for you?" he ventures.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – And now he's cursing himself for making such a stupid, sudden, open-ended offer.

What are you going to ask of him? What could he possibly do for you?

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – Don't make it weird.

1. – [Conceptualization – Challenging] Confess your wildest fantasies.
2. – [Electrochemistry – Medium] Confess your more mundane fantasies.
3. – [Volition – Medium] Say something reasonable.

VOLITION [Medium: Success] – You're going to say something reasonable. You will not invoke any inappropriate topics. You will present yourself as the spitting image of a normal man.

YOU – "Can you just…" you begin meekly. "Can we just talk? Chat?"

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – Perfect!

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim sounds relieved. "We can do that."

YOU – "Thanks, Kim. I really like your voice. I really like your..."

You pause to perform a gesture that Kim can't see. He can, however, hear the painful sincerity in your voice.

"You know…" you continue. "All of it. You."

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – If you *could* see the lieutenant, you might be able to spot the faintest smile crossing his features.

But you can't, so you don't.

PERCEPTION (Hearing) [Trivial: Success] – Your gut gurgles. Something inside is itching to get out.

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.
3. – Wait, we already did this.

YOU – Wait, we already did this.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Tough shit. Do it again.

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – Good. Keep it up.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – *It* being your good work, not the contents of your churning stomach. Make sure to continue keeping *the latter* down.

VOLITION [Easy: Success] – Yes. Even if you might be tempted otherwise, alcoholic drinks do come packed with carbs, which are something you desperately need.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] – Wines are fairly low in carbohydrates, actually. If you're looking for something higher in kilo-calories, you can't go wrong with beer.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – We'll have to keep that in mind for next time!

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – Either way, you certainly can't afford a proper meal after shilling out on drinks tonight.

So just pretend you're not full of poison and go on your merry way.

DEAD COCKROACH – That would make *one of us*, then.

It was strychnine, if you were curious.

YOU – What was strychnine?

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] – A common rodent poison.

1. – Interesting!
2. – Yes, I know what strychnine is.

YOU – Yes, I know what strychnine is.

But what does it have to do with anything?

DEAD COCKROACH – Strychnine is what shut down my nervous system. I was scouting out the back of your cupboard. I was hungry.

YOU – Okay. Why was there strychnine, a rodent poison, in my cupboard?

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – To kill rodents, presumably.

DEAD COCKROACH – For your information, you're speaking in the wrong tense. There is still *plenty* of rodent poison in your cupboard.

YOU – *You're* not a rodent, though.

You're a *bug*.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] – *Still* not a bug. Technically speaking.

DEAD COCKROACH – It's true that I'm not a rodent. When I sensed food, however, I sought it out all the same.

I was hungry, and then I was full, and so I was contented. Then I was confused. Then my nervous system started shutting down. I don't remember anything after that.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Formidable: Success] – In the process of every campaign of extermination, there are many, many incidental casualties.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – Almost as if by design.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – So, past-you left out some rat poison to kill vermin. Good to know.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – That'd explain all the *other* dead critters strewn across your apartment.

1. – Seems like it's all working as intended.
2. – So *I'm* the murderer in this case.
3. – Is this a sign that I should clean my kitchen?
4. – Rest in peace, buddy.

YOU – So *I'm* the murderer in this case.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Trivial: Success] – Yep. This one's open and shut.

DEAD COCKROACH – In a sense, the man who caused my death no longer exists. Are you going to carry on his legacy?

1. – No. I'm a new man.
2. – It's still my fault.
3. – What else is there to do?
4. – I don't want to think about it.

YOU – I don't want to think about it.

DEAD COCKROACH – Oh, but you *must*.

1. – No. I'm a new man.
2. – It's still my fault.
3. – What else is there to do?
4. – I don't want to think about it.

YOU – It's still my fault.

Your blood is on my hands. I'm sorry.

DEAD COCKROACH – You really *are* sorry, aren't you? Someone else's actions have led to my death, and you're here to apologise for him.

He succeeded, and this is what humans would call a *good thing*. One less pest in the world.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – It doesn't *feel* like a good thing, though.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Challenging: Success] – You've taken so many lives, and you don't even have the tact to remember doing so. It's not a good look, buddy.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – Khm. While that may sound bad, the alternative is far, far worse. Better to separate yourself from that man.

DRAMA [Medium: Success] – *Someone* has to play the part of Harry Du Bois. You're as good an actor as any.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Formidable: Success] – You have to take responsibility for his actions, even if you and he are different people. He killed himself and left you everything in his will. *Everything.*

His plethoric duties. His paltry savings. His poisoned larder.

His broken heart. His baser instincts.

And every single one of his mistakes.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – And lo, you're following faultlessly in his footsteps -- mourning your failings without bothering to change your behaviour.

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] – Wallowing in guilt is so much easier than trying to get better. Guilt is familiar. Guilt is comforting.

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – This is pathetic. If you can't handle having killed a fucking *cockroach*, what about those four perforations on your ledger? Those are four *human lives* you've taken.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – *They* had basal ganglia and limbic systems and neocortices. They had strong understandings of the world, and of the ubiquity of pain, and of the fact that their single chance at life was over once their nervous systems failed.

Because of you. On account of you murdering them.

Just for the record.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Heroic: Success] – Oh, well, if we're stating things for the record, I've got something to add, too.

Let it be known that those four perforations only indicate your *confirmed* kills.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Trivial: Success] – Mm-hmm. There's a *lot* that you and your colleagues tended to leave off the record.

1. – La la la, not listening!
2. – That's worse. You get how that's worse, right?
3. – I'm such a fucking piece of shit.

YOU – That's worse. You get how that's worse, right?

KIM KITSURAGI – "Harry?" Kim sounds worried. "Are you okay?"

COMPOSURE [Trivial: Success] – Oh, no, Kim's still here. Did he hear any of that?

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Failure] – What were you supposed to be talking about? Why did you stop? How long has it been?

1. – (Thumbs up.) "Yep. Still here."
2. – "I'd rather not be."
3. – "Did you hear any of that?"
4. – "What?"

YOU – "Did you hear any of that?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Khm. Bits and pieces," he admits. "You were talking to yourself."

RHETORIC [Challenging: Success] – Yourself, or your self?

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Whose self?

1. – "About what?"
2. – "Don't worry about it."
3. – "Sorry. Trying to kick the habit."
4. – "I dunno. Might've been someone else."

YOU – "About what?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Well…"

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – He feels mildly uncomfortable admitting that he was listening in another of your little *episodes*, but he isn't going to lie to you.

KIM KITSURAGI – "I didn't catch all of it -- you were speaking very softly. Something about the nervous system?"

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – And about death and killing and murder. He won't mention those ones, though.

1. – "Did I sound cool?"
2. – "I'm basically a nervous system, yeah."
3. – "And basal ganglia and limbic systems and neocortices?"
4. – "What about death and killing and murder?"

YOU – "I'm basically a nervous system, yeah."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Well, there's nothing wrong with feeling nervous. Especially in our line of work."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – It comes with the territory.

KIM KITSURAGI – A delicate pause. "And it's okay if you're having trouble coping with that."

"We all have our vices…"

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] – Seems like he might've caught onto the fact that you're not entirely sober.

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – Oh, don't let him *preach* to you.

1. – "I might have a *bit* of a drinking problem."
2. – "Yours is smoking, right? Ciggies?"
3. – "I don't think I can handle another sermon about this shit."
4. – "I'm not even drunk."

YOU – "I'm not even drunk."

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim doesn't say a word, but you can *feel* him raise an unimpressed eyebrow in your direction.

YOU – "Okay," you immediately concede, "I'm drunk."

"*But*…"

1. – "It makes me *so* good at coping."
2. – "I couldn't help it."
3. – "I'll be fine."
4. – "It's not like it's a *problem*."

YOU – "I'll be fine."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Challenging: Success] – Yes. With the power of positive thinking, anything is possible. If you believe -- with all your might -- that hangovers and liver failure aren't real possibilities, you'll make it through the night entirely unscathed.

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – You buy yourself a little more time by willing your gastric sphincters shut. You gurgle plaintively into the telephone's receiver as you do so.

KIM KITSURAGI – A gentle sigh. "So, you'll be up bright and early for work tomorrow, khm?"

1. – "No."
2. – "God, no."

YOU – "God, no."

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – What? You can't just *decide* not to show up on time. You're a role model to all those poor kids -- khm, younger officers, I mean.

LOGIC [Challenging: Success] – That could be part of the reason as to why suicidal ideation is so commonplace at the 41st.

YOU – "Sorry. You're right. Early bird gets the worm."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – One bird, eating a worm.

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim is deliberating over his words. After a few moments, he speaks again.

"Actually, I think you should call in sick tomorrow."

1. – "I don't know. My phone might be broken."
2. – "But I just got back from leave."
3. – "And admit I'm a total fuck-up?"
4. – "I'm *fine*."

YOU – "And admit I'm a total fuck-up?"

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Challenging: Success] – A fuckupatoo! It makes up for its lack of feathers and failure to eat worms with its capacity to scream.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Formidable: Success] – The Major Majestic cockatoo tends to live for 40 to 50 years in captivity. The oldest known specimen, a male dubbed 'Biscuit', survived to the ripe old age of 83.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – The only known fuckupatoo, on the other hand, will survive to 65 -- but that's only if everything goes perfectly to plan.

KIM KITSURAGI – "You're not getting any *less* fucked-up by keeping on like this, officer."

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Khm. He's calling you *officer* now.

SUGGESTION [Medium: Failure] – Ha, that means he hates you and wants you to die.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

1. – "I've done it before. You saw my ledger."
2. – "You wanna bet?"
3. – "But it's the only life I know."
4. – "If you want me gone, just say so."

YOU – "I've done it before. You saw my ledger."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – An array of notches for each year of service performed. Each case closed. Each life taken.

Every single perforation bringing you *that* much closer to making the world a better place.

KIM KITSURAGI – "That wasn't sustainable."

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – He's right. Burning yourself out doesn't help anyone. You need to take more care of yourself if you want to protect Revachol.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – And protect *Kim*.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – Kim lives in Revachol, yes.

KIM KITSURAGI – "In fact, it nearly killed you."

1. – "That's just the way it goes."
2. – "*Nearly* isn't enough to stop me."
3. – "Wish it'd finished the job."

YOU – "That's just the way it goes."

"It's the Bloody Murder Station in the Bloody Murder District, Kim."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – No rest for the weary.

KIM KITSURAGI – "It doesn't have to be that way," explains Kim patiently. "Soon enough, you won't be quite so understaffed -- and Martinaise is the 57th's problem now. That's something, isn't it?"

LOGIC [Legendary: Failure] – What does he know about your staffing that you don't? Who would ever want to join your precinct?

YOU – "I guess that's something," you admit begrudgingly.

"They've got me on *administrative leave*, you know. I'm not even allowed outside during the day."

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – They're treating you like a naughty boy. You're a decorated police lieutenant, god damn it!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – The two aren't mutually exclusive.

KIM KITSURAGI – "It's probably for the best. You're still recovering from a gunshot wound."

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Among other things. Many, many other things.

1. – "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
2. – "I am recovering from *many* things."
3. – "Yeah, and the pain meds don't do shit."

YOU – "Yeah, and the pain meds don't do shit."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Oh?" He sounds concerned. "How would you rate your pain?"

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – A rating, hm? Time to unleash your inner critic.

1. – "It's bad."
2. – "I would give it a thumbs down."
3. – "Zero stars."
4. – "Misguided. Unpleasant. Derivative."

YOU – "Zero stars."

"*So* much room for improvement. I would not recommend the experience."

KIM KITSURAGI – There's a trace of amusement in his voice. "How about the *severity* -- on a scale from 0 to 10?"

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – You don't have any frame of reference for this scale -- ask Kim to define the bounds first.

YOU – "Is 0 the baseline? How much pain is that?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "…That would be *no* pain, detective." He doesn't sound quite as amused, now.

YOU – "Is that a theoretical thing, then? Why not start the scale with the *normal* amount of pain?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "The normal amount of pain is *no pain*."

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – What? What the fuck is he talking about?

1. – "What?"
2. – "Very funny."
3. – "Seriously, though, Kim."

YOU – "What?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "The normal amount of pain is *no pain*, detective," he repeats bluntly, before quickly amending:

"Well. Occasional aches and pains aren't unusual, at this age. And I'm well aware that you've been injured. But… When we first met, for example. Were you in pain then? Prolonged, physical pain?"

PAIN THRESHOLD [Medium: Success] – You nearly blacked out the first time you had to navigate those stairs in the Whirling -- and *not* just because of your killer headache.

YOU – "Was I not supposed to be?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "No..."

"What about the next few days of the investigation?" he suggests. "When the hangover wasn't quite so intense?"

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – He's grasping at straws, here. This is getting hard for him to rationalise.

YOU – "I mean, the headache got a little better. But everything else was still pretty bad."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – *Everything else?* Kim isn't sure what that means, and he doesn't like it.

KIM KITSURAGI – "That's… not good, detective."

1. – "This is probably just a misunderstanding."
2. – "I didn't know that."
3. – "Ah."

YOU – "Ah."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Khm. Yes."

COMPOSURE [Trivial: Success] – Your conversation seems to have ground to a halt.

The silence is palpable. If you wanted, you could palp it.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Medium: Success] – It feels like you've done something *wrong*.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – This is *another* thing you've completely forgotten.

Too much is *gone*, Harry. For *good*. You can't keep trying to talk to normal people. You're just going to fuck everything up.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – You can still save face, sire. Inform him that you were merely jesting.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – You can almost hear Kim's thoughts racing. Analysing. Reassessing.

1. – "Just kidding." (Laugh raucously.)
2. – "You sure, Kim?"
3. – "I don't think I understand."

YOU – "You sure, Kim?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Quite sure, detective."

1. – "Are you *super* sure?"
2. – "How much is a 10, then?"
3. – "Why isn't no pain *my* normal amount of pain?"
4. – "Well, on a scale of 0 to 10…" [Proceed.]

YOU – "Are you *super* sure?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "I am super sure," confirms Kim.

1. – "Are you *super* sure?"
2. – "How much is a 10, then?"
3. – "Why isn't no pain *my* normal amount of pain?"
4. – "Well, on a scale of 0 to 10…" [Proceed.]

YOU – "How much is a 10, then?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "The worst pain you've ever felt."

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – You're spoiled for choice on that front. Take your pick.

1. – "Like getting my heart broken?"
2. – "Like going through withdrawal?"
3. – "Like getting shot?"
4. – "Like going septic?"
5. – "Like getting my heart broken and going through withdrawal, and then getting shot and going septic?"

YOU – "Like getting my heart broken and going through withdrawal, and then getting shot and going septic?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "That'd do it, yes."

1. – "Are you *super* sure?"
2. – "How much is a 10, then?"
3. – "Wait, so why isn't no pain *my* normal amount of pain?"
4. – "Well, on a scale of 0 to 10…" [Proceed.]

YOU – "Wait, so why isn't no pain *my* normal amount of pain?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "I… don't know. It might have something to do with your lifestyle choices."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Heroic: Success] – Tens of minutes away, John 'Archetype' McCoy guzzles down another drink -- on the house, for his selfless service in the line of duty -- and roars with laughter.

"Sunset, that's it! Tequila Sunset, he's calling himself. And he's trying to go *sober*?" He slides open a pack of Drouins and pats around in his pockets for a lighter. "What a fucking joke. God."

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – No, no. The pain has *always* been here. Why do you think you *started* drinking?

YOU – Well, I thought…

PAIN THRESHOLD – That was rhetorical. Don't answer that.

1. – "Are you *super* sure?"
2. – "How much is a 10, then?"
3. – "Why isn't no pain *my* normal amount of pain?"
4. – "Well, on a scale of 0 to 10…" [Proceed.]

YOU – "Well, on a scale of 0 to 10…"

"I dunno. What number is the one where you can't walk?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "You can't *walk*?"

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – He is decisively aghast.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – He's hanging onto your every word. You've got him twisted around your little finger.

1. – "Well, yeah, hence the whole phone-on-the-floor thing."
2. – "And that's merely the tip of the iceberg, Kim…"
3. – "Actually, that was just a little joke from me to you. My treat."
4. – "Wait, it's not like I'm a *cripple*."

 YOU – "Well, yeah, hence the whole phone-on-the-floor thing."

"I don't think I would do that usually."

KIM KITSURAGI – "But you're back at work, yes? Have you been… working from home?"

YOU – "Oh, shit, that'd be cool. That'd be really cool. That's a thing I can do?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Not to my knowledge," he answers slowly.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – But, again, he was hopeful. He believed that change could be possible.

YOU – "Damn. No, I've just been working at the precinct. I mean, I can walk *sometimes*."

KIM KITSURAGI – "On your injured leg -- without pain relief?" Kim asks incredulously.

YOU – "Yeah! It takes ages, so I've gotta wake up *super* early."

"Which works out, honestly, because then there aren't nearly as many kids around to throw rocks at me."

KIM KITSURAGI – You hear Kim curse under his breath.

"You *need* to tell your lazareth about this, detective."

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – You did, though. Nothing came of it.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Formidable: Success] – It's been years since Gottlieb last humoured your pleas.

1. – "I tried, Kim."
2. – "I don't really like him."
3. – "It's not a big deal."
4. – "I forgot. I'll ask him about it later." (Lie.)

YOU – "I don't really like him."

KIM KITSURAGI – "You may not *like* him, but he's your precinct's medical practitioner. It's his job to help you."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Heroic: Success] – But Gottlieb is taking a leaf out of the Débardeurs' book -- he's on strike. He refuses to treat you with any level of sincerity.

YOU – "Like how it was his job to fix me up in Martinaise?"

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] – Kim is *keenly* aware that the 41st's lazareth never stepped foot in Martinaise. Not when you dutifully reported your photosensitivity, or confessed your total amnesia, or brought up your myriad coronary issues -- and *definitely* not when you were shot.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Right. I see." He sounds pained. "You're taking a day off work tomorrow."

1. – "Why?"
2. – "Okay."

YOU – "Okay."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Good. After our call, will you ring your precinct to let them know?"

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – *After* your call? That means Kim is *going to hang up*. He's going to abandon you.

He is going to abandon you.

Kim is going to abandon you.

1. – "Please don't go."
2. – "No, wait, Kim."
3. – "You're leaving me?"
4. – "Stay. I need you to stay."

YOU – "Stay. I need you to stay."

KIM KITSURAGI – "I'm not about to hang up, detective. I'm still here."

"But once we *do* finish talking --"

1. – "I never want to finish talking to you."
2. – "Don't leave. Please don't leave."
3. – "No. We won't. We can't."

YOU – "Don't leave. Please don't leave."

KIM KITSURAGI – "I'm still here, detective," repeats Kim calmly, "And I'm not leaving. I just need to know if you'll be making that call later."

INLAND EMPIRE [Formidable: Success] – The steady drone of Jules' voice echoes through your mind. No words. At least, not words that you can understand. It's just his old, monotonous, reliable tone.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – There's nothing in it to indicate that he dislikes you.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – You already know that he dislikes you.

He *hates* you, in fact.

He doesn't think you're worth keeping around. None of them do.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – He doesn't hate you, Harry.

It's not worth his time or energy to *hate* you.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] – Hey, don't leave Kim hanging.

1. – Oh, yeah.
2. – Huh?

YOU – Huh?

REACTION SPEED – You were talking about making that call, remember?

1. – "Making that call?"
2. – "I don't like calling the precinct."
3. – "Look man, you know, yeah."
4. – "No."
5. – "Completely."

YOU – "Making that call?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Mm-hmm."

1. – "Making that call?"
2. – "I don't like calling the precinct."
3. – "Look man, you know, yeah."
4. – "No."
5. – "Completely."

YOU – "Completely."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Completely? Does that mean you'll make the call?"

1. – "Making that call?"
2. – "I don't like calling the precinct."
3. – "Look man, you know, yeah."
4. – "No."
5. – "Completely."

YOU – "Look man, you know, yeah."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Does that mean you'll make the call, detective?"

1. – "Making that call?"
2. – "I don't like calling the precinct."
3. – "Look man, you know, yeah."
4. – "No."
5. – "Completely."

YOU – "No."

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – Déjà vu.

1. – "I don't think I'm feeling well enough to call the precinct."
2. – "I won't do it. You can't make me."
3. – "I would rather shoot a hole through my head than call the precinct."
4. – "I can't do this, Kim. I can't do any of this."

YOU – "I would rather shoot a hole through my head than call the precinct."

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Kim didn't like that. For multiple reasons.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Detective, you can't just --"

He sighs.

"You can't *say* things like that." His worry in his tone is palpable. If you wanted, you could palp it.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Wait. This isn't just Kim's *personal preference* talking here. He's trying to do you a favour.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – He's offering you a *warning*.

KIM KITSURAGI – "You can only make so many *jokes* until someone takes notice. People *talk*."

"If you keep up like this, you may well end up in the Sanitarium."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] – The Sanitarium is a facility housing many of Revachol's *invalids*. Initially established to offer treatment and convalescence to the unwell, it now serves primarily to keep the mentally unsound and the physically disabled out of the public eye -- away from *normal* people.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – This is why it is *paramount* you convince the greater public that you, too, are normal. You *must* remain on their side of the fence.

1. – Is it nice there?
2. – What changed?
3. – Do they still help people?
4. – Have I been there before?
5. – Hm. I think I feel sick. [Proceed.]

YOU – Is it nice there?

ENCYCLOPEDIA – It is not nice there.

1. – Is it nice there?
2. – What changed?
3. – Do they still help people?
4. – Have I been there before?
5. – Hm. I think I feel sick. [Proceed.]

YOU – Have I been there before?

ENCYCLOPEDIA – Khm. I'm not sure if I'm at liberty to disclose that information.

1. – Is it nice there?
2. – What changed?
3. – Do they still help people?
4. – Have I been there before?
5. – Hm. I think I feel sick. [Proceed.]

YOU – Hm. I think I feel sick. [Proceed.]

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – No shit.

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – Other than letting loose a monstrous burp, you're fine -- for now. Stomach acid bubbles, unfaltering, at the base of your oesophagus.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Khm. Would you like *me* to call the precinct for you, detective?"

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Heroic: Success] – Oh! He wouldn't offer to do this for just anyone.

In fact, he's never offered it to *anyone* before.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Kim *cares* about you.

1. – "I would appreciate that."
2. – "I don't know."

YOU – "I would appreciate that."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Alright."

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – But make sure he does it *later*. You're still talking to him. You've got to keep talking to him.

YOU – "But *not right now*!" you squawk.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Medium: Success] – Hey, mind your volume. Some of your neighbours are trying to sleep, you know.

KIM KITSURAGI – You imagine Kim wearily massaging his temples. It seems like something he'd be doing right about now.

"I'm not going anywhere, detective."

1. – "Sorry."
2. – "Thanks."
3. – "Good."
4. – "Are you sure?"

YOU – "Sorry."

KIM KITSURAGI – "It's okay. Just try not to do it again."

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – It wasn't *truly* your fault, though, was it? Why apologise? Your hand was forced!

1. – "I won't. I promise."
2. – "I might do it again."
3. – "You were going to leave. I had to speak up."
4. – "My volume control is impaired. I couldn't help it."
5. – "Wait, I take it back. I'm not sorry."

YOU – "My volume control is impaired. I couldn't help it."

"Just so you know."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Right."

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – He sounds unimpressed.

YOU – "It's because I'm drunk."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Yes."

YOU – "Cognitively impaired," you continue. "*Non compos mentis*."

KIM KITSURAGI – "You could say that."

YOU – "Which *means* that nothing I say or do is my fault. According to a court of law."

KIM KITSURAGI – A brief pause. "That's not how it works," Kim explains coolly.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – He says *everything* coolly. He's *so* cool.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – And he's right, of course. You know he's right.

AUTHORITY [Challenging: Success] – You need to take responsibility for your actions.

DRAMA [Formidable: Success] – You're usually champing at the bit for a taste of the limelight -- but only if you can be the *hero*. You *love* looking good. Everything else is *other people's* fault.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – But you *are* responsible for your actions, Harry. Whether you care or not.

Whether you *remember* or not.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – You remember enough to get the gist of things, though, don't you?

1. – I'm remembering why I needed to forget.
2. – It's not my fault they made the mistake of trusting me.
3. – I don't want to think about any of this.
4. – One more drink. I just need one more drink.

YOU – One more drink. I just need one more drink.

Then I won't remember *anything*.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Tough luck, party boy. We're fresh out.

In the meantime, your hyperactive brain needs to focus on *something*.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Something *positive*, preferably.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] – How about your accomplishments in the workplace? You've certainly achieved a lot throughout your career.

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – *You* don't remember much of your time at the precinct, but all of your colleagues still carry the remnants of your old and strained relationships. Your old partner, in particular -- Jean-Heron Vicquemare.

VOLITION – Uhm. This isn't sounding positive at *all*.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Your pock-marked satellite officer always took the brunt of your *big feelings*.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Challenging: Success] – The satellite orbits the target of its affection eternally -- always lingering close, but never close enough. Drawn along on every escapade, no matter how foolhardy.

VOLITION – This isn't helping. Cut it out, guys.

INLAND EMPIRE [Heroic: Success] – You know what you told him? 'I don't want to get better -- I want to get worse.' Those were your words.

VOLITION – I… Hello? Is anyone listening?

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – For far too long, Jean followed you with diligent admiration, and you repaid the favour by calling him every off-colour name under the sun.

Only one of those derisive nicknames really stuck. He throws it back at you now, years later, but it doesn't sting you like it did him. You're not human enough to feel it.

VOLITION [Challenging: Failure] – This is bad. This is really bad.

1. – He hates me. They all hate me.
2. – The shitkid knew what he was getting into.
3. – I fucking ruined him.
4. – [Volition – Formidable] Snap out of it.
   -1 Don't want to get better.

VOLITION [Formidable: Failure] – You can't.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Maybe that one was too personal.

Here's one a little more removed, then. You can't even recall this one's name.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – There's a simple reason for that -- you never even *asked* for her name.

INLAND EMPIRE – You'd coaxed her back to your apartment. Hoping to travel to *l'origine du disco*, of course. Maybe you'd even let her come along for the ride.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – So, there you were, all up in her personal space. Women loved that, right? Maybe you were a little hazy from whatever the hell you'd snorted back at the club, but you were feeling good. You were feeling *great*.

You were chatting up a storm, too. Letting her know how *lucky* she was to get with a guy like *you*. Promising to *show her some moves*.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Well, you were chatting *at* her, but she wasn't replying. You figured she just liked listening to you. *You* liked listening to you, after all.

You raised your volume just a little, as well, in case she was one of those *hard of hearing* people. You weren't picky about these things. You were cool like that.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – She was being seduced. Everything was going perfectly.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Right up until you noticed the *fear* in her eyes.

REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Success] – You were only granted *one* fleeting moment of clarity, but it was enough.

You recall releasing your white-knuckled grip on her arm. Laughing awkwardly. Waving it all off as one big joke.

DRAMA [Medium: Success] – And she played along! Oh, quite the jokester you were.

Well, the night had been *lovely*, darling, but unfortunately, it was time for her to go. Something just came up! Oh, yes, of course, she had your number. Thank you for that. She was definitely planning on calling you tomorrow.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – Once she was out of your reach, the rapid-fire clacking of high heels on concrete was downright *impressive*. Leaning heavily on your doorframe, you watched as her pretty little silhouette was swallowed by the darkness.

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] – She was presented with two options -- roaming the freezing, moonlit streets of Jamrock in isolation, or revelling in the warmth of your well-lit apartment and your great personality -- and she opted for the former.

That, too, is impressive. You have quite the effect on people.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – What *were* you trying to do that night?

1. – I wasn't thinking clearly. It was a mistake.
2. – God, she was so polite about it. I deserved worse.
3. – You *know* what I was trying to do.
4. – [Volition – Formidable] Snap out of it.
   -1 Don't want to get better.
   +1 Escape is still possible.

VOLITION [Formidable: Failure] – You can't.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – How about one of the few people you *didn't* want to stick your dick in, then?

VISUAL CALCULUS [Trivial: Success] – You've seen your share of bare bodies, and only a *select few* have ever been found wanting. Leslie, the Public Indecency Drunk, was one such example.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – *No one* wanted to see that. It was almost as bad as the situation *you* had going on.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – But Leslie, the ever-magnanimous performer, still went out of his way to share his art with the masses.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Dicks out on the corner of Main and Perdition!

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – There was actually only *one* dick out. Leslie's partner in crime, Burke, had better things to do.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Yeah. He took a swing right at you.

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – You! An officer of the *law*!

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – You struck back, of course. Nobody gets the better of *you*.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – You can still recall the sensation -- the way Burke's teeth *shattered* against your ledger. The impact quivering from his mangled jaw, through your grimy ledger, all the way into your own trembling hands.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Not trembling with anger -- or any other emotion, for that matter. You were absolutely shitfaced, baby!

PERCEPTION – And you kept going, of course. Beating his face in -- even after his limp body hit the ground. It was all very funny.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Not *strange* funny, mind you. This was *laugh-out-loud* funny.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Burke was just like you, you know.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Trivial: Success] – Except he wasn't being *paid* to ruin people's lives. He did it for free.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] – For the joy of the craft! You were just in it for the *paycheck*. Is that better, or worse?

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – Hey, brutality pays the bills. You were wise to figure that out. Old Burke-o was leagues behind you in that regard.

INTERFACING [Trivial: Success] – And while he may have jammed your ledger shut when it made contact with his skull, he helped you open it back up with his kneecaps.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – You don't know what you would have done if you'd lost that precious letter from *her*.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Oh, speaking of which…

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – NO. NO NO NO.

1. – I was just doing my job.
2. – I remember all the blood.
3. – He shouldn't've fucking touched me.
4. – [Volition – Formidable] Snap out of it.
   -1 Don't want to get better.
   +1 Escape is still possible.
   +1 NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

VOLITION [Formidable: Failure] – No…

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – You know how it goes.

VOLITION – No, no, no.

APRICOT-SCENTED MEMORY – Harry.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – For one brief moment, your heart *stops*.

DAMAGED HEALTH
-1

APRICOT-SCENTED MEMORY – I wanted to write you a letter, so you can read it when you wake up. Maybe it will make you happy.

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – You're already awake. You're already awake!

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – Then this is a living nightmare.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

APRICOT-SCENTED MEMORY – Every morning when I step out and you're asleep beside me, I find a little piece of sadness in me. I carry it in my chest down Voyager Road…

VOLITION [Medium: Success] – You don't have to do this.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – He doesn't have a *choice*.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

APRICOT-SCENTED MEMORY – Every step I take, it grows. By the time I reach the fuel station it has filled me entirely. I step on the light rail and look back, sparks fall from the bow collector. I know it will be like this until late afternoon, when I get off the 42 -- and walk back to you…

You, you… Every step I take will get lighter. It almost makes me run! Sometimes I do. I can't believe I met you. I can't believe the happiness I feel with you. You have a vast, vast soul and I will always, always, always come back to it.

Kisses, kisses, kisses.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

MORALE CRITICAL!
HEAL YOURSELF NOW

YOU – Eyes bulging, you feel yourself reaching into your pocket with errant, twitching fingers. It doesn't take long for them to emerge with their prize -- a few loose pills of drouamine. You choke them down instinctively.

HEALED MORALE
+3

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – You *can* make it through this, Harry. Stay strong.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Trivial: Success] – Do you ever stop to think about how deeply you've scarred her? How her heart starts to *race* whenever a man raises his voice? How she *flinches* every time the phone rings?

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – She was getting better, you know? Away from you.

With your memory gone and her living an isola away, she finally had a chance at peace.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – But you couldn't have *that*, could you, sire?

1. – She thought I was cool…
2. – One day, she'll return to my side.
3. – She doesn't understand. She *needs* me.
4. – [Volition – Formidable] Snap out of it.
   +10 Got what you came for.

VOLITION [Formidable: Success] – It's over.

Fuck.

It's okay. You're okay. It's over.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – That was a close one. You might wanna pop another drouamine, just in case.

COMPOSURE [Challenging: Failure] – From your lips escapes a deranged and pitiable wail.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Detective?" asks Kim, worry evident in his voice.

1. – "Oh my god."
2. – "Help. Help me."
3. – "I need another drink."
4. – "I need to kill myself."

YOU – "Help. Help me."

KIM KITSURAGI – The fresh note of panic in your voice is echoed in Kim's own. "What is it? What's wrong?"

YOU – "Kim, they don't shut up. They never shut up."

KIM KITSURAGI – His panic recedes, but his deep concern remains. "*Who* don't shut up?"

YOU – "You know, the fucking... *thoughts*. They never *stop*."

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – You know, Harry, if you had phrased that differently -- referred to us as *voices*, perhaps -- Kim might have even greater cause for concern.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – No! We're not *voices*. Don't mention *anything* about *voices*.

Kim's already suggested siccing the fucking *Sanitarium* on you. If you start rambling about *voices in your head*, you'd be signing your own goddamn death warrant.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] – Assuming your experiences are universal, it wouldn't even be worth *mentioning* to Kim. Who *doesn't* have a couple dozen entities in their mindscape, clamouring for attention every waking moment of their lives, after all?

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – We don't *clamour*. We… *converse*.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – *I* do. I clamour.

I clamour, and I bluster, and I bombast.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] – I'm not sure that you can use 'bombast' as a verb.

DRAMA – Well, certainly not with *that* attitude.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Ah. That's not an unusual problem."

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Kim doesn't know the half of it.

1. – [Encyclopedia – Legendary] What? What doesn't Kim know?
2. – "So why am I doing so much worse than everyone else?"

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Legendary: Failure] – There are *lots* of things that Kim doesn't know. He doesn't know how to lose gracefully. He doesn't know what it's like to have parents. He doesn't know when the bombs will drop.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – The bino f*g probably doesn’t know how to make better friends, either, if he's willingly spending time talking with *you*.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – What's gotten into you all tonight?! Can we please *behave*?

1. – "I still like playing games with you, Kim."
2. – "I don't remember my parents either."
3. – "Wait. I need to tell you how this all ends."
4. – "So why am I doing so much worse than everyone else?"

YOU – "So why am I doing so much worse than everyone else?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Well, everyone copes differently," Kim says thoughtfully. "You could probably use a good distraction."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – You have plenty of distractions available! You just don't use them enough!

1. – "Drinking is a pretty good distraction."
2. – "Speed is a pretty good distraction."
3. – "Heroin is a pretty good distraction."
4. – "Coke is a pretty good distraction."

YOU – "Drinking is a pretty good distraction."

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
   +1 Drinking is a pretty good distraction.
2. – Let it out.

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – For the most part, you manage to keep it down.

The muted, burbling retch you broadcast through the receiver doesn't seem to convince Kim of your assertion, though.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Detective…"

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – You get the feeling that, right now, he'll be pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – Change the topic, quick! Lighten the mood a little. Get Kim back on your side.

YOU – "Okay, no, you're right. That was a fucking stupid thing to say."

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – That's not *light*, sire. That's simple self-debasement.

If you want a lighter mood… Well, is there anything lighter than *humour*?

1. – Oh, yes. Let's get *funny*.
2. – I think there's a good reason that this conversation has gotten serious.

YOU – Oh, yes. Let's get *funny*.

"Kim. Listen. Here's something. Stop me if you've heard this one before."

KIM KITSURAGI – You've already raised his suspicions, but he's willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. He is patiently waiting for you to continue.

1. – "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
2. – "A pig and a murderer walk into a bar..."
3. – "Civilization has existed for eight thousand years."
4. – "I'm gonna kill myself."

YOU – "I'm gonna kill myself."

KIM KITSURAGI – There's a heavy silence.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – You get the sense that the mood has grown even *more* dour.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Well, he's not stopping you…

…But it seems like he *might* have heard this one before.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – Fine! He's not in the mood for humour! Go ahead and do things *his* way, then. See how *he* likes it.

1. – "Wait, I've got better material than that. Let me try again."
2. – "Whoops. That wasn't funny. Or appropriate."
3. – "I *am* distracted, though, Kim. The system works."
4. – "Sorry. I should start taking this more seriously."

YOU – "Sorry. I should start taking this more seriously."

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – Finally, assuming some responsibility. Took you long enough.

KIM KITSURAGI – "I think that's a good idea," says the lieutenant slowly.

EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] – Kim sounds tired, but there's a hint of relief in his voice, too.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – You're finally on the right track. You should keep talking. Get to the crux of the matter.

YOU – This glimmer of hope motivates you. If you can talk this through, everything will get better.

"It's just -- I'm just *scared*, Kim. Everyone's out to get me. At least, it feels that way. I don't know how much of it is even *real*, y'know?"

"So… So the drinking *is* a good distraction. It makes everything feel a *little less* my fault."

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Good stuff. You're on a roll, here.

YOU – Emboldened by Kim's failure to interject, you continue baring your soul. This is the right thing to do.

"Like -- Like *I* might not be the one that sucks. Maybe I shouldn't be killing *myself* over this shit -- maybe it's someone *else's* fault. Maybe that bullet's destined for *another* person's skull. And maybe I can make that happen. You know?"

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – Wait, this is getting a little too *real*. Maybe tone it down a little?

YOU – "And, sure, okay, the drinking might kill *me* eventually, too. Okay, maybe sooner than eventually. It's probably, no, *definitely* killing me right now. But isn't it better to go out on your *own terms*?"

You're proud of yourself for laying it all out so clearly. You wait for Kim to respond.

"You get it, right?"

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim doesn't respond immediately.

Nor does he respond belatedly.

Kim is not responding at all.

YOU – You're waiting for Kim to say something.

You're also starting to get very, very nervous.

"…Kim?"

KIM KITSURAGI – He's still not talking.

COMPOSURE [Challenging: Success] – He doesn't know what to say.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Every word you've spoken tonight has made Kim just that little bit more worried.

This conversation has been going on for a *while* -- he is *quite* worried, now.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] – Not only about your *own* wellbeing, but the safety of your peers, too.

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] – No, no, it's not like you're not about to *kill* anyone.

How about reframing it? Hit him with a rhetorical question to convey your point *and* assuage his fears.

1. – "I mean, what even is death, anyway?"
2. – "If I was really planning to kill someone, would I be telling a cop right now?"
3. – "But it's not like you've ever seen me kill anyone, right?"
4. – (Laugh.) "Anyway…"

YOU – "But it's not like you've ever seen me kill anyone, right?"

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Wait… no. Not like that.

KIM KITSURAGI – "I *have*, in fact, seen you kill someone, officer."

INLAND EMPIRE [Heroic: Success] – Gritted teeth. Gleaming eyes.

Welcome to the fucking reckoning.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success]  – All right, you misspoke. That's okay. As long as you can continue to *justify* your arguments -- dish out the facts -- you'll win him over eventually.

YOU – "Right. Well. That may be true, *but*…"

KIM KITSURAGI – "But *what*?"

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] – The lieutenant's patience seems to be wearing thin. That's not good.

1. – "But that's just our job."
2. – "But that one guy was evil."
3. – "But it wasn't, like, *that* bad."
4. – "But you've killed more people than me."

YOU – "But you've killed more people than me."

KIM KITSURAGI – An unimpressed silence.

YOU – "So…"

KIM KITSURAGI – "So…?"

YOU – "So, yeah."

KIM KITSURAGI – You hear a deep and weary sigh from Kim.

"I have to ask, detective. Is this line of questioning helping you?"

"At *all*?"

1. – "Obviously."
2. – "It might if we keep going."
3. – "No. This is stupid. I'm sorry."

YOU – "It might if we keep going."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Khm. Would you like to know what *I* think?"

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Yes! Let's hear Kim's opinion!

YOU – "Hit me."

PAIN THRESHOLD [Challenging: Success] – He *should* hit you. A nice, meaty thwack, right to the cheek.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – To *any* of your cheeks.

KIM KITSURAGI – "I don't think it's helping, and I don't think that is going to change."

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Nothing is ever going to change.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – A blue forget-me-not; a piece of the grey sky.

1. – "It has to."
2. – "That makes sense."
3. – "Nothing is ever going to change."

YOU – "It has to."

KIM KITSURAGI – "It doesn't, actually."

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – He makes a fair point.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – And I don't know if you've noticed, Harry, but you've been moping to yourself about how murder makes you a shitty person -- and then you went and pointed out that Kim's killed even more people than you have.

If *you're* bad, what does that make *him*?

YOU – "Shit. I'm sorry. I'm such an asshole."

KIM KITSURAGI – "It's okay. It's not a big deal."

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – No. It *is* a big deal. This might be the biggest deal he's ever encountered! You're besmirching his reputation! Don't let him snub you so easily.

1. – "I'm *such* an asshole, Kim."
2. – "Okay. Yeah. It's not a big deal."

YOU – "I'm *such* an asshole, Kim."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Khm." He sounds unimpressed.

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – He's not *getting* it. You need to really sell it.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – You should support your case with evidence. Anecdotes. Personal experience. You know yourself better than anyone else, right?

YOU – "People keep calling me an asshole. That's a *fact*."

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – Loudly. Persistently. Right to your face.

YOU – "Although…"

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim's silence is expectant.

1. – "I want to be better."
2. – "I don't remember any of it."
3. – "I think I'm even worse."

YOU – "I think I'm even worse."

KIM KITSURAGI – He sighs again.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – He was hoping for something a little more positive.

He wasn't *expecting* it, but he was permitting himself another speck of hope.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Even now?"

1. – "Yes."
2. – "Yep."
3. – "Yeah!"
4. – "Correct."
5. – "Absolutely!"

You – "Yeah!"

KIM KITSURAGI – He's thinking hard, formulating his next response.

"Can you give me an example? A *recent* example?"

"Because, for all the time I've known you, you've been trying your best. Despite everything."

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – God, what's it going to take to *get through* to him? It's like he's disregarding your words on purpose.

REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Success] – Only one recent example of your assholery comes to mind -- that time Kim gave you a friendly call, and you spent the whole time whining and retching into the receiver.

And it's still happening. Right now. You're being an asshole right now.

1. – "Right now is pretty recent."
2. – "I can't remember anything."

YOU – "Right now is pretty recent."

Your eyes are suddenly stinging with tears. You angrily wipe them away.

"I'm doing it right now, Kim. To you. I'm an asshole. I'm not a good person."

KIM KITSURAGI – "You keep saying that," intones Kim, "But I'm not sure I believe you."

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – He's like a brick wall. He's refusing to listen.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – He *has* to listen. If he stays in your life, you're going to *destroy* him. He needs to get out of this mess.

YOU – "Kim, please. You've seen how bad I get."

1. – Don't say the next part aloud.
2. – "And I don't want to hurt you."

YOU – "And I don't want to hurt you."

You sniffle into the receiver, loud and inelegant.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – You're such a fucking pansy.

KIM KITSURAGI – "What, so you're trying to scare me off?"

"I'm afraid that isn't going to work."

1. – "But it has to work!"
2. – "Why not?"
3. – "Nothing I do ever works."
4. – "I'm sorry, Kim."

YOU – "But it has to work!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Does it, now? What happens after this *inevitability*, then?"

1. – "Then I'll kill myself."
2. – Wait. I don't want to say that.

YOU – Wait. I don't want to say that.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – Why not? You've been building up to it for all this time!

KIM KITSURAGI – "Harry?"

1. – "Then I'll kill myself."
2. – I really don't want to say it.

YOU – I really don't want to say it.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – You really are a coward. You came all this way for nothing?

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – Ignore them. It's good that you're not saying it.

You do have to say *something* to Kim, though. It's the courteous thing to do during conversations.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Just be honest with him, Harry. You owe him that much.

1. – "Then I'll kill myself."
2. – "I don't know what to say."
3. – "I'm so scared, Kim."
4. – (Remain silent out of spite.)

YOU – "I'm so scared, Kim."

"I don't want to hurt anyone."

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – You can't keep saying shit like that. He's *never* going to respect you as a man.

YOU – "And the only way that'll never happen is if *I'm* out of the picture. For good."

"I just keep *thinking*… I can't stop thinking about it."

KIM KITSURAGI – "About… hurting yourself?"

1. – "Yeah. That."
2. – "Something like that."
3. – "Oh, way worse than *hurting* myself."
4. – "It's not really *me* you should be worried about."

YOU – "Something like that."

KIM KITSURAGI – "How likely would you say you are to *act* on these thoughts?"

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – You're good at recognising patterns. This one is very familiar.

YOU – "You saw how it went with the Hardies. Your gun, my mouth. First chance I got."

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Kisses, kisses, kisses.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – A shudder of unease runs through the lieutenant.

KIM KITSURAGI – "But you didn't go through with it," notes Kim carefully.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Easy: Success] – God dammit. See? Even the bino knows you're a coward.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – That's *not* what Kim is saying.

RHETORIC [Challenging: Success] – He's reminding you that that your death *isn't* a foregone conclusion.

YOU – "That's true," you concede.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Why?"

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – A simple question with a simple answer.

1. – "You were there, Kim."

YOU – "You were there, Kim."

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim doesn't reply immediately.

EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] – He's deeply touched. He's also *deeply concerned*.

KIM KITSURAGI – There's a tinge of guilt in his voice.

"I can't always be there for you, detective."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Heroic: Success] – Despite how much he wants to be.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – He's here *now*, though.

YOU – "You're here now, though."

KIM KITSURAGI – A brief pause.

"I am."

Another long moment of silence stretches on.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – If only you could preserve this moment, and Kim's caring presence, forever.

YOU – The silence continues to drag on.

COMPOSURE [Trivial: Success] – Kim's scared to disturb it. You both are.

SUGGESTION [Challenging: Failure] – Is he waiting for you to say something first? Is he worried about comforting you? Or is he finally plotting his egress from this insane conversation?

RHETORIC [Formidable: Failure] – You really have no idea what to say now.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – You're all out of ideas? Here's something else to focus on, then.

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Failure] – Nope. That's enough. We're finally getting this shit out of here.

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim is privy to the high-concept soundscape created as you void the contents of your churning stomach. Noteworthy highlights include the spluttering chokes produced as you regurgitate small, partially-digested chunks of unrecognisable organic matter.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Kim is *so* worried about you.

1. – God, I'm disgusting.
2. – I'm ruining his life, just like I ruined everyone else's.
3. – I hope this scares him off for good.

YOU – I'm ruining his life, just like I ruined everyone else's.

EMPATHY – You're *not* ruining his life. Why would he choose to call you -- and then *refuse to hang up* -- if he didn't want to talk to you?

1. – He probably dialled the wrong number.
2. – I've *tricked* him into thinking I'm worth his time.
3. – He must be a masochist.
4. – This is obviously another hallucination.

YOU – I've *tricked* him into thinking I'm worth his time.

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – Oh, come off it. He always sees through your bullshit. There's no way you've managed to trick the lieutenant into anything.

DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – You are, if anything, *too* sincere, sire.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Are you alright?" asks Kim weakly.

1. – "Yeah."
2. – "No."
3. – "I dunno."
4. – "Who cares?"

YOU – "Who cares?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "I care."

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – See? You might be able to delude *yourself* into apathy with your shitty nihilism, but Kim is having none of it.

KIM KITSURAGI – "That sounded *bad*, Harry. I know you don't get along with him, but I think you *need* to contact your lazareth."

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – Do *not* get Gottlieb involved. He'll only make it worse.

1. – "No! No."
2. – "It's fine. I'm fine."
3. – "He'll make it *worse*."
4. – "*Don't* call Gottlieb."

YOU – "*Don't* call Gottlieb."

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – Nor Abigail.

REACTION SPEED [Easy: Success] – Isn't *Kim* a medic, too? You should get *him* on call instead.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – Yeah. Call Kim.

YOU – "Kim. I've gotta talk to Kim."

KIM KITSURAGI – "…I'm here, detective."

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Wow! That was fast!

1. – "Wow!"
2. – "Hi, Kim."
3. – "I have some medical problems."
4. – "I threw up."

YOU – "I threw up."

KIM KITSURAGI – "I…" he begins, a little disconcerted. "Yes. Yes, you did."

1. – "It hurt."
2. – "Don't call Gottlieb."
3. – "How are you?"
4. – "That's all, I think."
5. – Wait, is Kim about to say something else?

YOU – "That's all, I think."

Instinctively, you twitch forward to hang up the phone, before realising what a monumentally stupid idea that would be.

You grip the receiver tighter, lest it be wrested from your clutches. Even though you *didn't* hang up on Kim, the fact that you *could* have is *haunting*. In another world, you will have ruined *everything*.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – What are you doing?

1. – Talking to Kim. Duh.
2. – I might be spiralling?
3. – I am so sad and my mouth tastes like vomit.
4. – What are *you* doing?

YOU – What are *you* doing?

VOLITION – *I'm* trying to keep you on track.

YOU – You're not doing a very good job at it. Stupid idiot.

VOLITION – …

Do you even *want* to get better, Harry?

1. – I don't remember.
2. – I don't care.
3. – I don't know. [Proceed.]

YOU – I don't care.

VOLITION – Yes, you do. If you didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

I need to hear it from you. Do you want to get better?

1. – I don't remember.
2. – I don't care.
3. – I don't know. [Proceed.]

YOU – I don't remember.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – You didn't want to be this kind of animal anymore.

VOLITION – But *do* you, right now? Do you want to get better?

1. – I don't remember.
2. – I don't care.
3. – I don't know. [Proceed.]

YOU – I don't know. [Proceed.]

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – It's okay if you don't know. But you *do* know that Kim's here for you, right?

If you need help getting better, you can tell him as much.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – You should do that.

YOU – Well, I *should* do a lot of things.

VOLITION – Yes, and this is one of them.

YOU – Should I kill myself, too?

VOLITION – No, that's something you *shouldn't* do.

1. – God, this is so confusing.
2. – How am I meant to keep track of this shit?
3. – Should I kill somebody *else*?
4. – Why not?

YOU – How am I meant to keep track of this shit?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Easy: Success] – Speed does *wonders* for your memory, Harry.

INTERFACING [Easy: Success] – You can always write these things down.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – How about you request assistance from the man explicitly offering it to you?

1. – Fine.
2. – No way.

YOU – Fine.

"Kim?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Yes?"

YOU – "Can I ask a bit of advice?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Yes, of course."

1. – "It's customary for us to keep our pistols loaded, right?"
2. – "Listen. There's an old box of rat poison in the cupboard."
3. – "So, I've got this massive carving knife up on the kitchen counter…"
4. – "You know how I live up on the fourth floor?"

YOU – "You know how I live up on the fourth floor?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Where are you going with this?" he asks slowly.

YOU – "I was just thinking, y'know -- should I just go for it? Take a dive? It's gotta be, what, a 12 metre drop? And I mean --"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Officer --"

YOU – "-- I mean, people have survived higher. I reckon, though, if I angle it right -- land right on my head -- there's no coming back from that, right? Once you get --"

KIM KITSURAGI – "*Officer*, I --"

YOU – "-- the skull shattering directly *into* the brain, it's basically over. It's funny how the thing that's meant to protect you is what does you in, right?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Is it funny?" thunders Kim. "Is that what you wanted to ask me, officer? Your planned suicide -- is it *funny*?"

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – The lieutenant is *upset*.

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

1. – I meant to do that.
2. – I didn't mean to do that.

YOU – I didn't mean to do that.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – What *did* you mean to do?

1. – I figured it was a normal thing to say.
2. – I wanted to communicate my anguish behind the guise of humour.
3. – I just wanted to ask if I should kill myself.
4. – I don't know.

YOU – I just wanted to ask if I should kill myself.

LOGIC – That wasn't the best way to go about it.

YOU – Well, yeah, I can see that *now*.

1. – "That was fucked up. I'm sorry."
2. – "I was just kidding. Geez."
3. – "I think I'm losing my mind."
4. – "I shouldn't have said that. I'm gonna go kill myself."

YOU – "That was fucked up. I'm sorry."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Yes. It was."

DAMAGED MORALE
-1

MORALE CRITICAL!
HEAL YOURSELF NOW

YOU – Instead of engaging with the logistics of killing yourself, you find yourself instinctively gulping down another handful of pills coated in pocket lint. If only for a moment, total oblivion has been shaken off your trail.

HEALED MORALE
+3

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – You haven't shaken the shaking, though. That's not going away anytime soon.

INTERFACING [Trivial: Success] – In the meantime, don't attempt to operate any heavy machinery.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Are you genuinely considering this course of action tonight?"

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – Is he serious? Over the course of your entire life, you haven't *ever* managed to kill yourself.

INLAND EMPIRE [Formidable: Success] – You've never been given a proper chance to hone your craft.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – Khm, yeah, whatever. All I'm saying is that it's not like you're about to start succeeding *now*.

1. – "I'm so sorry, Kim. I'm so fucking sorry."
2. – "I should just leave you alone."
3. – "I just don't know what to do."
4. – "Fuck. I'd just fuck up *killing myself*, too."
5. – "I'm gonna do it. I'll miss you, Kim."

YOU – "I'm so sorry, Kim. I'm so fucking sorry."

KIM KITSURAGI – "What does that mean, detective?"

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – What does he mean, 'what does that mean'? Why does he care? Why the fuck is he still sticking his nose in your business?

1. – "Why do you care?"
2. – "It means that I'm sorry."
3. – "I was hoping you'd know."
4. – "I don't know. I'm sorry."

YOU – "I don't know. I'm sorry."

You add in another apology for good measure:

"I'm so sorry."

SAVOIR FAIRE [Challenging: Failure] – Try three for the price of one!

YOU – "Fuck, I'm so sorry."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] – Kim senses that this line of questioning isn't worth pursuing.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Harry. I need you to talk to me."

1. – "I'm so sorry, Kim. I'm so fucking sorry."
2. – "I should just leave you alone."
3. – "I just don't know what to do."
4. – "Fuck. I'd just fuck up *killing myself*, too."
5. – "I'm gonna do it. I'll miss you, Kim."

YOU – "I just don't know what to do."

"I didn't mean to…" you trail off, despondent. "I just wanted to hear your thoughts on it. On killing myself, I mean."

"Because I trust your advice. I trust you."

"I *can't* trust myself, Kim."

KIM KITSURAGI – "I would recommend *against* killing yourself, detective."

1. – "I'm sorry."
2. – "I see."
3. – "You don't get it."
4. – "But *why*?"

YOU – "I'm sorry."

KIM KITSURAGI –  "In fact," continues the lieutenant, "I would go so far as to *forbid* it."

AUTHORITY [Medium: Success] – Kim knows what he's talking about. In matters of health, his word is law.

Throwing yourself off the balcony tonight is *forbidden*.

1. – "I don't know why I said that. I'm sorry."
2. – "I trust you, Kim."
3. – "Oh. Okay."

YOU – "Oh. Okay."

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim doesn't reply immediately.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – Fuck, he's *gone*. You've scared him off. He's gone and he's never coming back.

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.
3. – There's nothing *left*, you piece of shit.

YOU – There's nothing *left*, you piece of shit.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Oh, right. I'll throw in some retching, though, on the house.

YOU – You convulse, coughing violently. This time, although only a smidgeon of stomach acid rises to scorch the raw flesh inside your mouth, it still doesn't feel *great*.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] – Everything is empty in the end. Everything *goes*.

PERCEPTION (Hearing) [Trivial: Success] – But *Kim's* not gone -- the line isn't dead.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] – Neither are you. Not yet.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Trivial: Success] – It would be deeply inappropriate to abandon someone in the midst of such an emotionally charged conversation. Kim makes an effort to adhere to social norms.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Oh, shit, *social norms*. Maybe you should've said something more *normal*.

1. – What would a normal person say here?
2. – I'm done being normal.

YOU – What would a normal person say here?

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Heroic: Failure] – Let's see.

Khm.

I'm skimming through the archives…

…But I can't find *any* scripts for this scenario.

It's starting to look like *normal people* simply *don't* threaten their colleagues with suicide over the phone.

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – Don't panic. You can still get through this. Encyclopedia, what do normal people say *generally*?

ENCYCLOPEDIA – Normal people say a lot of things. Common examples include 'Hello!' and 'How's your wife?' and 'Get away from me!' and 'Thanks!' and 'Can I get you a drink?'.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – Well, you've already made headway into the conversation, so a greeting probably isn't necessary.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Try thanking him! He's trying to help you out, after all.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Hey, since someone *else* is bringing it up for once, you really ought to ask Kim out for drinks -- and there's no time like the present!

1. – "Hello, Kim!"
2. – "How's your wife, Kim?"
3. – "Get away from me, Kim!"
4. – "Thanks, Kim!"
5. – "Can I get you a drink, Kim?"

YOU – "Thanks, Kim!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "…Of course."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – There's a trace of resignation in his tone, along with something else. Uncertainty, perhaps? Regret?

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – The knowledge that you're still teetering on the brink of suicide is causing him to reconsider his actions.

Filing for transfer is a gargantuan task. Why should he bother relocating to the 41st if you'll be dead by the time his paperwork's been processed?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – KIM'S TRANSFERRING? TO *YOUR* PRECINCT?!

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – That *does* ring a bell, now that you mention it.

1. – "Wait, you're *transferring*?!"

YOU – "Wait, you're *transferring*?!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "I…"

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – You seem to have caught him off guard.

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim speaks as if the truth is self-evident. "Yes, I am."

HEALED MORALE
+1

YOU – "To the 41st?!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "*Yes*, detective."

HEALED MORALE
+1

KIM KITSURAGI – "Are you... having second thoughts about the offer?" asks Kim carefully.

YOU – "What? No! That's great! That's fantastic!" The joy in your voice is palpable. If you wanted, you could palp it. "Never mind all that other stuff I just said!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "About wanting to jump from the fourth storey and shatter your skull?"

YOU – You laugh warmly and without warning. "Yeah, I was kidding!"

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Kim's *transferring* to *your precinct*! This is the best!

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Right now, everything is *perfect*.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Khm." Kim does not sound convinced.

YOU – "So, when's the transfer?" you follow up breathlessly. "This is so exciting!"

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim takes a deep breath. "Well, as you know… Khm. Maybe you don't."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Failure] – You don't.

YOU – "I definitely don't!"

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – The manic joy in your tone persists unshakeably, even though it's no longer suitable for the subject at hand.

KIM KITSURAGI – "I see. Well, these things take time. Our interdepartmental channels of communication could certainly stand to be streamlined."

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – He's glad to hear you cheering up, but he's taking it with a grain of salt. He knows how capricious you can be.

1. – "I'm so happy, Kim!"
2. – "This is going to be *so* much fun!"
3. – "I've been thinking about you for so long!"
4. – "Aces high!"

YOU – "This is going to be *so* much fun!"

"We can be *partners* again!"

KIM KITSURAGI – You've really caught his attention with that last line.

"*Partners*? Don't you already have a partner?" There's a note of hope in his tone.

EMPATHY [Formidable: Success] – This hope is coloured by desperation. The harder he clutches at it, the more it frenzies.

1. – "He dumped me!"
2. – "I dumped him!"
3. – "Not really!"
4. – "Not at all!"

YOU – "Not really!"

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – The wave of euphoria crashing through your body begins to ebb.

YOU – "We stopped, uh, working with each other."

"I mean, we still work *next to* each other. But he doesn't talk to me anymore. I mean, he yells at me, sometimes, which you could count as talking."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Is *yelling at one's colleagues* considered regular practice at the 41st?" Kim asks.

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] – He sounds unimpressed.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Medium: Success] – You're honestly not sure. You haven't really been around long enough to suss out the unspoken workplace rules.

YOU – "I dunno. Yes?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "That sounds… unprofessional."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] – *Mister* Vicquemare's esteem drops once more in Kim's mind.

YOU – "Either way, it's hard to work with a guy who says he wants you dead."

INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] – He doesn't *want* Harrier Du Bois dead. He already *knows* Harrier Du Bois is dead.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – Jean Vicquemare is grieving.

DRAMA [Challenging: Success] – And *you* certainly aren't helping matters, puppeteering his dear old friend's bloated corpse around the workplace every day.

KIM KITSURAGI – "And you haven't been assigned another partner?"

YOU – "If that's the case, nobody's told *me* about it."

"I mean, Pryce's got me playing catch-up with paperwork, so I would've been stuck on desk duty either way."

"It's been *so* boring, Kim. I can't wait until you get here. We can get the gang back together again!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "The gang of… the two of us?"

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Formidable: Success] – A flock of two birds.

YOU – "Yeah, exactly!"

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – Wait, does *Kim* want this, though? You're not giving him any choice in the matter.

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – From what you've heard -- quite regularly, and at great length -- you used to have quite the habit of being particularly thoughtless about these sorts of things. Thoughtless and greedy.

Are you going to keep the tradition going?

1. – Of *course* he wants this. Stop sowing doubt in my beautiful mind.
2. – I'll ask for *his* perspective. I'm going to be thoughtful and greedless.

YOU – I'll ask for *his* perspective. I'm going to be thoughtful and greedless.

"Wait, Kim… Do *you* want to be partners?"

KIM KITSURAGI – Kim is silent for a moment.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – Shit. Fuck. He's going to back out of it, and you're going to be all alone. You should've just sprung it on him!

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] – You *are* technically his superior, after all. It's not like he should *get* a choice.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] – That's *not* why he's paused in thought.

The lieutenant had himself convinced that he could live with being your distant colleague, at best. He knows that you have a *storied history* at the precinct, and that the partnership the two of you shared in Martinaise was only temporary.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – Knowing you from afar wouldn't be *ideal*, but it was something he would be willing to accept.

DRAMA [Legendary: Success] – No. He was only willing to *convince* himself that he'd accept it.

He craves much more.

KIM KITSURAGI – "I would enjoy that."

HEALED MORALE
+1

KIM KITSURAGI – "And you think your captain would be alright with that?"

1. – "I don't see why not."
2. – "He'd better be."
3. – "I have no idea, honestly."
4. – "I don't give a shit what Pryce thinks."

YOU – "I don't see why not."

SUGGESTION [Challenging: Success] – I'm not sure about that. You barely know *anything* about Ptolemy Pryce.

AUTHORITY [Easy: Success] – *Any* change to Precinct 41's C-Wing would be an improvement over the sorry state you left it in.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Right. Okay." Kim's clearly doing his best not to sound *immensely* pleased by this turn of events. "Well, I still won't be through with the transfer for another few weeks, at *least*."

"What do you think you'll be doing in the meantime?"

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – For the record, he's asking about what you'll be doing *at work*. This isn't an opportunity to talk about your hobbies, or your ailments, or your suicide plans.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – You *could* go off topic, though. He wouldn't *really* mind.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Challenging: Success] – Barring the suicide plans, though. Don't bring those up again.

YOU – "Uhh…"

1. – "I'm honestly still not sure what my job entails."
2. – "I'll be doing paperwork."
3. – "I've been thinking about getting into rollerblading."
4. – "Not killing myself!" (Wink.)

YOU – "I'll be doing paperwork."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Ah, yes, a classic," agrees Kim. "Can't close a case without filling out the requisite paperwork. Anything else?"

YOU – "*More* paperwork."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Once you're *through* with the paperwork, then?"

YOU – "I will *never* be through with the paperwork, Kim."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Of course," he concedes.

"Well, hang in there. Depending on how the transfer process goes, I might even be able to help you out in the end."

1. – "Don't worry, Kim. I'll finish all the paperwork. I'll finish *everyone's* paperwork."
2. – "That would be great! I love your handwriting."
3. – "I hope they process you so soon. The soonest."
4. – "There *is* no end. Paperwork is an ouroboros -- ink and sheet eternally entwined."

YOU – "That would be great! I love your handwriting."

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – His handwriting? You *love* his *handwriting*? What kind of homo shit is this?

SAVOIR FAIRE [Medium: Success] – It's nothing to worry about. Just… Don't double down or make it weird.

KIM KITSURAGI – "How kind of you, detective."

1. – "I mean, *love* is a complex word…"
2. – "They say a man's handwriting is the window to his soul, correct?"
3. – "It's neater than mine, I mean. My handwriting is mänly, and consequently suffers aesthetically."
4. – "No worries, Kim."

YOU – "No worries, Kim."

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Phew. You had us all worried for a moment.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] – Yes, don't get distracted. His handwriting isn't the point. The point is *the man himself*. *Kim*. Keep thinking about Kim.

YOU – "*Kim*…"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Mhm?"

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – Ah, shit. You've gotta stop thinking out loud. Now you have to say another normal thing. Quickly.

1. – "I just… I can't stop *thinking* about you..."
2. – "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
3. – "Can we… can I see you, sometime soon?"
4. – "I'm normal. You know that, right?"

YOU – "Can we... can I see you, sometime soon?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "You'd like to meet up?"

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] – Yes. Good recovery. That was almost an ordinary thing to say, and Kim is none the wiser.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – And that's a genuinely nice idea. He's a friend. You need to spend time with friends.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Challenging: Success] – Sure. But why draw the line at mere *friendship*…?

YOU – "Yeah. Like a..."

1. – "Work outing."
2. – "Friendly get-together."
3. – "Therapy session."
4. – "Date."

YOU – "Friendly get-together."

"You know?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Yes. I think I'd like that, too."

EMPATHY [Formidable: Success] – He really would. He never would have risked broaching the topic himself, though. He's thankful that you did.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – And now you have an outing to plan! You could go anywhere -- do anything. The sky's the limit.

REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Success] – A picnic, maybe?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – A little basic, but a solid choice for a first date.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – I swear to god…

LOGIC [Medium: Success] – But you don't have a picnic blanket, or a picnic basket, or any food that you could serve to company in good conscience.

1. – [Endurance – Challenging] Keep it down.
2. – Let it out.
3. – What the hell? There's *still* nothing left in there.

YOU – What the hell? There's *still* nothing left in there.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – My bad. Force of habit.

YOU – Your body forces a half-hearted coughing fit. Your stomach is decisively empty. The taste of bile stagnates on your tongue.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Trivial: Success] – Khm. You're clearly not in the right mindset to plan your reunion right now. That's okay.

We'll wait for the perfect moment.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Harry… Are you alright?"

1. – "I'm so happy you're transferring."
2. – "I can't feel the bugs under my skin anymore."
3. – "I think I'm done throwing up."
4. – "I'm not going to kill myself."

YOU – "I'm not going to kill myself."

You say this in the most reassuring tone you can muster.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Challenging: Success] – *Tonight* is the final word, left unspoken. You're not going to kill yourself *tonight*.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Formidable: Success] – Kim understands exactly what you mean.

KIM KITSURAGI – "Okay. I'm glad to hear it." The genuine relief is clear in his voice.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – You made him glad! That's got to be worth a point or two.

KIM KITSURAGI – "*Will* you be alright?" the lieutenant asks. "I still need to call the 41st to let them know you won't be coming in tomorrow…"

"Without effective pain relief… I just can't believe…" His muttering trails on for another moment before he catches himself. "I apologise. Will you be okay tonight?"

1. – "I'm sure I'll cope."
2. – "I'll be okay. Sorry for worrying you."
3. – "Yeah. I just wanna get to sleep."
4. – "I'm not going to kill myself tonight."

YOU – "I'll be okay. Sorry for worrying you."

KIM KITSURAGI – "It's okay, detective."

"Remember what I said earlier, alright?"

1. – "Which bit?"
2. – "Yeah. No suicidal indulgences."
3. – "We're gonna hang out!"
4. – "I hold onto your every spoken word, Kim."

YOU – "We're gonna hang out!"

KIM KITSURAGI – "That's right," he says with tired warmth, "So you'll need to keep safe until then."

NEW TASK – STAY ALIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE KIM AGAIN

1. – "Oh *yeah*, baby. I'm gonna fucking ace this shit."
2. – Oh *yeah*, baby. I'm gonna fucking ace this shit.

YOU – Oh *yeah*, baby. I'm gonna fucking ace this shit.

VOLITION [Medium: Success] – Good work keeping that thought to yourself.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – I don't know. Kim might actually appreciate the enthusiasm.

1. – "Oh *yeah*, baby. I'm gonna fucking ace this shit."
2. – The moment's already passed. I'll wait for another chance to say something cool.

YOU – The moment's already passed. I'll wait for another chance to say something cool.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – Instead of saying something cool, you reply:

YOU – "Yeah."

KIM KITSURAGI – "I can check in again tomorrow morning -- if that's alright with you."

SUGGESTION [Formidable: Success] – Wow. You shared your fantasy of shattering your skull open on the pavement, then vomited into his ear, and Kim *still* wants to talk to you again.

Not only that, *he* wants to initiate your next chat. You're a real charmer.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Yes, please! More Kim!

1. – "I would appreciate that."
2. – "Yes! YES!"
3. – "Some people call me Harry, but you can call me anytime."
4. – (Smile loudly.)

YOU – "I would appreciate that."

"But not *too* early, if that's okay. Maybe around..."

You swing your arm around in a shoddy left hook to glance at your wrist. You are not wearing a wrist-watch.

1. – "I am not wearing a wrist-watch."
2. – "Lunchtime?"
3. – "Ten hundred hours?"
4. – "Whenever works best for you?"

YOU – "Whenever works best for you?"

KIM KITSURAGI – "Right." From only the single syllable that he's offering up, you can hear the smile in Kim's voice.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, then. Good night, Harry."

1. – "Yeah."
2. – "G'night, Kim."
3. – "Nighty night."
4. – Blow a kiss into the receiver.

YOU – "Yeah."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Yeah?" comes Kim's reply, coloured with amusement.

1. – "Yeah."
2. – "I mean, uhm, you too."

YOU – "I mean, uhm, you too."

KIM KITSURAGI – "Get some sleep, Harry," says Kim, not unkindly.

After a long and quiet moment, bereft of your potential interjections, he hangs up.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Well.

That went…

…*Far* better than expected.

HEALED MORALE
+1

1. – Hell yeah.
2. – I am a god of telephone conversations.
3. – Everything still hurts, though.
4. – I think I'm pretty close to passing out.

YOU – I think I'm pretty close to passing out.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – If you fall asleep on the kitchen tiles again, your spine is going to fucking kill you.

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] – That is not a threat, but a promise.

ENDURANCE – It's also a threat.

YOU – Is being killed by myself also off the table? Or is it only if *I* kill myself?

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] – You should have asked about the *details* of your anti-suicide pact before committing to it.

Always read the fine print.

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – You know what Kim would say? He would say that you should sleep in your bed, not on the floor.

1. – Well, if *Kim* would say it...
2. – That wasn't part of the agreement.

YOU – That wasn't part of the agreement.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] – Tough titties. You're getting up. Hup, hup!

1. – Alright. I'll get up.
2. – Fine. I'll get up, but I won't like it.
3. – But I don't wanna get up.

YOU – But I don't wanna get up.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – Then the world will turn away from you, and leave you behind.

1. – Alright. I'll get up.
2. – Fine. I'll get up, but I won't like it.
3. – But I don't wanna get up.

YOU – Fine. I'll get up, but I won't like it.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – You don't have to like it. You just have to *do* it.

YOU – It hurts. Of course it hurts. But, as you scrabble around in the shards of plastic strewn across the kitchen floor, you slowly rediscover your balance. Leaning heavily against the cupboard, you heave yourself to your feet.

Something chitinous crunches wetly underfoot as you stumble through your darkened home. Your stagnant bedroom bids you welcome as you stagger forth, head still spinning and body still aching. The urge to collapse onto the grimy bed is strong, but the fear of excruciating pain from aggravating your wounds is stronger.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Challenging: Success] – Salt on a wound is cliché. *Bedsheets thriving with mildew* on a wound, on the other hand? A novel metaphor.

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] – Bedsheets thriving with mildew *and* piss.

RHETORIC [Trivial: Success] – *Mildew* can thrive on bedsheets, sure, but you'd be better off using another verb if you're going to bring piss into the equation, too.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – And, in regards to the metaphor, piss *does* contain salt -- it's not unlikely that the bedsheets would *also* be introducing salt into your wounds.

YOU – With as much care as you can muster, you lay yourself down to rest. Not *eternal* rest -- but it will suffice for now.

HEALED HEALTH
+1

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – And in good news, you've managed not to introduce any fungal *or* uric contaminants into any of your open lesions.

SHIVERS [Formidable: Success] – The wind whispers through the night sky outside.

Sheltered within a vast edifice of hexagonal wax, a worker bee settles down to rest, nestled against its many comrades. Tomorrow, it will happen upon a new cluster of flowers -- freshly sprouted maybells. The snow has thawed.

YOU – Your glassy eyes trace the familiar shapes on the faded ceiling until your eyelids grow too heavy to keep open. Darkness overtakes you once more.

INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] – Your dreams will be gentler tonight.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] – Heading to bed was definitely the right decision. It'll be easier to cope with the hangover tomorrow morning.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] – Yeah. It's gonna be a killer.

YOU – Aw, fuck.