Nineteen: In Which Klaus Comes Back In the Midst of Turmoil... Like Always

[myblimpisbigger]

[Hey, Mayfield! Guess who's no longer droned? This guy! Now, can you guess who is not at all pleased about suddenly having lost all of his hard-won regains? This guy again! And finally, can you guess who's looking at a certain letter while eating his morning waffles, and debating what the hell he should do about it?

If you guessed half the people

Comments

[doctor_creep]

Of course not. And, presumably, once this is over we'll have everything back... but that fails to make this an... uninteresting gambit, don't you think?

[His amusement is audible, even over the phone.]

There are, of course, those who will believe... and those, like us, who will use this as a test. A flexing of muscles so infrequently used to draw fear in the hearts of mortals.

I wait with baited breath to see how these humans react to the reality -- or unreality -- of death here.

[myblimpisbigger]

[SPARK SENSES. THEY ARE TINGLING. Hello Nusakan, you are sounding particularly insane and scientific today.]

Indeed. I feel that is not as serious as some would make it out to be. After all, as we know from countless tests, death is hardly permanent here. A 'trimming of the population' will likely not last; it is merely a chance for Mayfield to force its residents to do something they would find morally wrong, in an attempt to break them. In that respect, it may succeed. The newer arrivals will be especially susceptible and frankly, I am just as interested as you are in the results.

[doctor_creep]

[HE'S NOT INSANE HE'S JUST ECCENTRIC. Well okay, maybe he's a little insane. Dying will do that to you and all.]

Certainly. And those who have things to lose will often be moved, no matter how long they've been here. Were I less certain that my personal level of involvement in this little rat race would see us against each other at some point, I would suggest we meet and watch this run its course.

Sadly, it's difficult to truly take in the havoc from afar.

[MAN HE WILL TALK FOREVER IF YOU LET HIM, BY THE WAY.]

[myblimpisbigger]

[Hey, Klaus has died before. Really. He gets that.]

Observing from afar is hardly the most enjoyable form of observation. To truly understand an experiment such as this, one must be in the thick of it. Should we meet -- and I expect we will, eventually -- I very much look forward to it.

[Was that a hint, Nusakan? Are you the one that was tasked with trying to kill him? Klaus can't be sure, but he'll file it away for later consideration.]

[doctor_creep]

As with most experiments. [His grin is quite audible in that smooth voice of his.] Indeed. Perhaps we shall even meet before we're forced to 'do battle.'

[It was not~ And he's equally uncertain of Klaus' own role... one of them could, very well, become the other's target at some point, so it will be noted for both of them.]

[myblimpisbigger]

Perhaps we shall.

[They shan't. But neither will know that until it's too late, so no harm in conjecturing.]

Until then, I wish you the best of luck.

[doctor_creep]

The same to you.

[There's the click of the phone being placed back on the hook, and the faint tugging suspicion that this is, perhaps, one of the more civil conversations at least one of them has had with the townsmen.]