(Untitled)

[whatsatisfiesme]

[Gilbert's voice is dreamy, today -- which is to say, not only soft and airy but also tired, so much so that it's wavering around its usual precision.]

They've let my cellmate wander off somewhere.

I haven't seen him since...ah, I can't remember. And there were never any doctors or guards drifting around before, so that must mean he's escaped,

Comments

[immortalstudies]

Your cellmate hasn't wandered off, Gilbert. Why would you think that? I think you know very well what happened to him.

[whatsatisfiesme]

'Why would I think that?' Other than the boy not remembering his own name most days? I suppose he slipped out when the guards weren't looking and is holed up somewhere.

[His tone is so serious, now -- the slow, sleepy rhythm that's coming naturally to it right now is helping the act.]

Find him some other cell to play in when you catch him, won't you?

[immortalstudies]

So you think the problem is our guards? You really have little faith in us. It's a bit disconcerting. You don't seem to make much progress in your condition.

He isn't coming back. He's gone.

[whatsatisfiesme]

They didn't do anything the last time he made trouble, did they? There was blood and glass all over my cell. It doesn't inspire confidence, doctor.

[A little beat, and the boy's voice goes stiffer:]

So, he broke out all the way? How shameful.

[whatsatisfiesme]

'A bit.'

[A weak laugh]

They've never made it easy to get sleep here, have they? That's all the same.

[whatsatisfiesme]

They don't give you that with your breakfast on the 'lower' level? Pity.

[That's not sarcasm, exactly, but it's not serious, either -- just quietly wry in a way.]

We never had it at Lacombrade, so it's not something I can miss.