IC CONTACT

[herrstory]

Leave a message. If I find it convenient to get back to you, I will.

Comments

[herrstory]

And would you be the one to place them yourself?

[slightlyoffchilt]

Oh, no. No -- that is a job for your immediate subordinates.

[If only for the sake of humiliation.]

No doubt they'd love the opportunity to express their. Gratitude. Towards you.

[herrstory]

They are not of age for such a thing.

[slightlyoffchilt]

You are in charge of more people than just Tate and Carl, which is beside the point because their literal job is patient control and you would be -- [Oh my god, realizes Chilton. Starr was making this sexual.]

Oh my god.

[herrstory]

Hmm. I like the way you say that. Oh my god. Repeat that for me, will you?

[slightlyoffchilt]

I most certainly will not!

You are getting a new prescription from me, and you will fulfill it. [An anti-psychotic.] Even if I have to force each pill down your throat myself.

[Oh no, he thinks, already too late to rephrase the wording.]

[herrstory]

[ A short, sharp exhale is the only indication Starr gives that he's finished. And then the sound of a few tissues being yanked from the box to clean up. ]

We had a division of the Grail who could take a fraction of a person's soul and turn it into a pill form. It worked wonders to heal psychotic ailments in compatible individuals. Perhaps something to consider looking into.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[An array of emotions to follow: Starr's overt use of him for muted orgasm, the realization that physical threats pacified him, and the knowledge of a terrible (and yet impossible) thing to destroy souls for pharmaceutical use. Anger, curiosity, horror.]

That would be impossible here. This world isn't guaranteed to have souls -- who would you be using?

[herrstory]

It is not a matter of choice. There are things beyond us that make souls compatible together. You may hate me and yet still, our souls could be a 98% match. Not that I am in need of such medications. I am perfectly stable and sane.

[ A sniff. ]

[slightlyoffchilt]

You are clinically neither. [But Chilton won't elaborate -- he's taken by Starr's assertion. A realization dawns.]

This is real to you. Righting wrongs -- albeit through dark and questionable ways -- that means something to you. You want to improve the world.

[herrstory]

Of course I do. You called my motivations into question?

[slightlyoffchilt]

Wiping away the psychopathic will not fix the world to your liking.

[herrstory]

They are not the only ones who need to be wiped.

[slightlyoffchilt]

Who else, Herr Starr?

[herrstory]

[ Starr could have given Chilton a list. A list of celebrities or imPorts or lesbians or something equally ridiculous. But instead, he opts to give him a serious answer. After all, Chilton did FINALLY call him Herr Starr. ]

When I served on Germany's Anti-Terrorism Unit, I was with a team on a mission. And this mission was to stop a plane of hijackers. We charged in and effectively shot down all of these men. There was, however, one casualty. A little girl who got her face blown off. My men and my superiors celebrated this as a victory. We defeated these hijackers and there was only a single casualty. In their eyes, it could have been far worse. In their eyes, they were the heroes. But I saw things differently. The world did not have to be this way.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton remained quiet for some time, mulling over this insight.]

You couldn't believe in a world that would allow a child to be sacrificed. You couldn't believe in a god who would allow that.

So you are making your own.

[herrstory]

Not quite so.

[ A pause. ]

I could not believe in a world that lacks so much order whereupon something like this would be considered acceptable. I would sacrifice a million little girls if it would bring the world to the order it so severely needs. I will clear whoever it takes to see my plans to fruition.

But you are correct in assuming I will make my own Messiah, one I deem worthy.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Solemnly, and with a voice barely above a whisper:] That is madness, Klaus. By proclaiming a new order, by anointing a new god, you are asserting yourself as something beyond humanity.

I have become gravely concerned for you.

[herrstory]

Such concern would be deeply misplaced and wasted. Especially since I see similar traits within you. You crave order.

[slightlyoffchilt]

Mine is not the same as yours. Mine is -- [Precise chaos. An order of its own.] I make inroads regarding matters of the mind. Comprehension of human sadism.

[herrstory]

I do not mean what you do. But how you are. The way you run your hospital, for example. There is a certain order there -- a regimen and routine. You want to stick to your strict authority and you expect your employees and patients to fall into line. When they fail, you will force them into submission through your sedatives.

Or your bondage.

[slightlyoffchilt]

That is different.

[herrstory]

Is it?

[slightlyoffchilt]

Yes. My behavior remarks upon the everyday mechanisms of human want for logic and order. It isn't the same impulse as global interference. World domination.

[herrstory]

But given the opportunity to have the world on its knees before you, mouths wide open in awe -- would you truly refuse? If you knew you could be the one to save the world from itself with your psychological prowess, would you simply stand back and allow things to continue as they are?