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Letting the Record Speak
my character's questionable. my life is a broken record
*tear*
Mr. Sandburg:
This letter is in regard to a scholarship you received two ye-
*crumple*
i'm shredding the documents; i'm keeping my mouth shut. i'm running on radio silence; i'm letting the record speak
*click*
"-head, caller. You're on the air."
"Yeah, about this Sentinel thing..."
"Caller, I'd like to remind you that our topic tonight is the connection between unusual exhaust trails and strange outbreaks of illnesses."
"I know. That's what I'm saying. What is this Sentinel guy was, like, exposed to chemicals? I mean, what if the hormones in meat or something are turning us all in mutants?"
"Of course you're aware that the Sentinel paper has been repudiated by its author."
"So what? That doesn't mean it's n-"
*click*
i doctored the evidence. yeah, it was a cover-up. i want to stay wrapped in my blankets and never get out of bed.
*ring*
"Yeah?"
"Christ, Blair, how could you?"
"Look, Phil, it's been a rough couple of days and I pretty much said everything I had to say in that press conference. Could we not talk about it?"
"Did the government lean on you? Is that what happened? Your subject, was he some kind of CIA experiment? Did they tell you to keep quiet?"
"Nobody told me to do anything. I faked my diss; end of story."
"Jesus. You know, Sandburg, you're the last guy I thought would go over to the dark side. I never thought you'd become one of *them*."
"Phil ... why don't you call me when you sober up?"
"Don't talk to me, Blair. I know they're just talking through you. It was nice knowing you, man."
*click*
the switchboard is lighting up. i'm not taking any more calls. well, maybe from larry king.
*ring*
"Blair, this is Sid. I wa-"
*click*
the 20th century's closing ... it's closing in on me
*zzzrt*
"-ree days since a Rainier University graduate student shocked this community by admitting that his ground-breaking doctoral thesis was, in fact, a fraud. But there are some who say they were not at all surprised. We welcome to our show Dr. Gerald Reed from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Dr. Reed, you believed the Sentinel thesis was fraudulent from the beginning. Why?"
"Well, simply put, it was ... fanciful. Professor Sandburg wrote of psychic connections between a pair of so-called Sentinels ... spirit animals appearing in visions ... all of this mysticism, it has a strong public appeal, but no scientist should ever become caught up in it. It should be obvious even to the lay person that these primitive religions have no real-"
*zzzrt*
some words that I try to live by: it's none of your goddamned business
"Missed you at the station today, Chief."
"Yeah. Sorry. I had to look after some things."
"Hey, you're not on the payroll yet. Don't worry about it."
...
"Blair? You doing all right?"
"Yeah. S'all good."
"Okay. Whatever you say."
"Whatever I say."
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing."
--all lyrics from Shredding the Documents by John Hiatt