Conversation · Acele

"Oh, that... you're not gonna believe me. There's no point in me telling you."

She's less prone to blurting out 'crab-man!' than the others.

"You're right. Let me ask you about something else."

"We'll see. Go ahead and tell me."

"Okay," she nods. "I went in and saw a woman next to one of those machines there. Noid calls it a mainframe..."

"She was dressed like someone who's being raised by their grandmother, you know. Strange old clothes. Had this absent expression, didn't say anything, just stood still."

"That's not especially frightening."

"And then, you know, right behind her a man crawled down the wall. Upside down, like a crab. Down the church wall. I think the woman didn't even know he was there, he was completely silent..."

"He stopped right before he got to the floor, then just hung there like that, looking at me. Right at me. I fucking turned around and walked out. End of story."

"Like a crab, you say?" The lieutenant nods. His face is stone.

(Nod.) "I saw him. I saw the crab-man."

"You saw him?!" She leans closer. "Does it mean that you went in there? Did you see the other spooker, the one in grandma's clothes?"

"I did see them both, yes."

"Good, so you believe me." She looks at the tent. "You should go tell this to Andre, he'll know what to do next."

"I prefer not to share this information with you."

"Oh. Okay." She sits back on the blanket, ears red from cold. "What about Andre? You should go talk to Andre if you don't want to talk to me."

"No, just the crab-man."

"Hmm..." She sits back on the blanket, ears red from cold. "That's odd. You should search her machine, maybe it says where she went?"

"What did this 'crab-man' look like?"

"It was too dark." She shakes her head. "I couldn't tell exactly."

C'mon. She obviously could. She already went into detail.

"You were wrong. I do believe you."

"Why?" She raises a brow.

"Strange things happen."

"Okay then," she nods. "They certainly do around me."

"Seems too ludicrous for a lie."

"I guess so." She hesitates. "Anyway -- what else?"

"What would you stand to gain?"

"Nothing," she says. "Anyway -- what else?"

"You were right. I don't believe you."

"I don't blame you. I mean, I wouldn't believe me either. I'm surprised Noid did. Andre I expected, but Noid..." She shakes her head.

"C'mon, quit stalling on me. What did he look like?"

"He looked like a banger, okay? He was all muscular and stuff. Had a mesh tanktop. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that only made it scarier, in a way..."

"A crab and a banger?" The lieutenant raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, a 'banger', as in a Mesque gang-member. I know what it sounds like, but that's what I saw."

"A crab and a banger?"

"Yes, a 'banger', as in a Mesque gang-member. I know what it sounds like, but that's what I saw."

C'mon. She obviously could. She already went into detail.

"Go on."

"I did and I'm sorry." She doesn't appear surprised. "For what it's worth... which isn't much."

"This is why I didn't go into the tent." The lieutenant looks at the ocean, squinting his eyes. "Typical delinquency."

"You don't get to choose your posse, they choose you. Mine are idiots, but they're mine. I tried to talk Andre out of it, I even tried not to lie to you..."

Indeed. She merely tried to omit the truth instead.

"Instead you opted to omit the truth. It's the same thing."

"I know. But I knew you'd see through their plan too. I'm not an idiot. I should have been able to control them. I will in the future. I promise."

She seems incredibly controlled all of a sudden. Her fists are clenched and she looks straight ahead. She's keeping herself together with all her might, rippling on the inside.

"May I ask, what did you tell them?"

"I took a cut of the action. I'm corrupt to the marrow, you see."

"Oh!" She almost smiles, but then decides not to. There's a moment of silence.

"Okey dokey then."

"Wonderful," the lieutenant says, still looking at the ocean. "Revachol really needed another cop-for-hire. Maybe later we can go and get some doughnuts?"

"I needed some reál, Kim. It's a hard knock life."

"Okay. Now conduct your side-interview and let's move on to the case at hand."

"Soooo...?" The young woman looks at you, then the lieutenant, then you again. Then at the shore. She seems uncomfortable.

She doesn't get confused often, but she is definitely confused now.

"You know a good doughnut joint?"

"No. Conduct your side-interview and let's move on to the case at hand."

(Whisper.) "It's all a ruse. I'm actually super deep under cover, blurring the lines between reality and make-believe."

"Please officer, just finish your side-interview. We need to move on to the case at hand."

"Once I cracked their play I didn't really care. I'm not an arbiter. You're someone else's problem."