Archive of Our Own

ARTHUR LESTER - A man sits on the park bench in front of you. Between his ragged clothes his scars are scattered and criss-crossed across exposed skin, old wounds exposed to the air. He stares in front of himself, fidgeting with his fingers.

ARTHUR LESTER - "...actually find it..." the man mutters under his breath, "...leads..."

ESPIRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] - Oh! Cops look for things, right?

1. "Ah, hello, my fellow cop."

2. Wait, what else is he saying?

3. Think of another topic.

ARTHUR LESTER - The man startles at your voice, freezing in place. His mouth snaps shut.

PERCEPTION [Medium: Success] - His eyes flick to you, but his head stays perfectly still.

1. Wait, why are you telling me this?

2. Ok. (Disregard observation)

PERCEPTION - It’s weird.

1. It is?

2. No, it isn’t. (Disregard observation)

ENCYLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] - Animals of all orders do subconscious calculations to compare the benefits of having something in full view versus the energy needed to move their head. For example, if you just need a quick glance at something, and are looking at something else, then the energy needed to move your head outweighs the benefits of having that thing you want to look at in complete view.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] - He’s looking at you. Not glancing. Looking.

1. [LOGIC - Legendary 14] Figure out what’s wrong with his eyes.➤ -12 possibilities not taken into account

2. Disregard thought.

LOGIC [Legendary: Failure] - Eyes… Uhhhhh…

1. [LOCKED] Figure out what’s wrong with his eyes. -12 possibilities not taken into account)

2. ...I’ll ask him about it. (Move on)

3. This is dumb. There’s nothing wrong with his eyes. (Move on, but disregard observation)

ARTHUR LESTER - "I- Sorry?"

1. "Leads, finding things. C'mon, isn't that what cops do?"

2. "Why do you look like that?"

3. "Where’d you get those scars?"

4. "Nevermind."

ARTHUR LESTER - The man sizes you up, eyes taking stock of your clothes, your bulbous face, your mutton chops, the bags under your eyes.

COMPOSURE [Medium: Failure] - Oh god, he's looking at us?! What is he looking at???

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - Don't let this twink intimidate you, sire! Act through his harrowing gaze! Strike a pose, perform for him back! Show him who you *really* are.

1. [SAVIOR FAIRE - Medium 11] Strike a sexy pose.

2. [ENDURANCE - Medium 11] Bulge your muscles.

3. [PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT - Medium 11] Do a backflip.

4. Wait! I'm too self-conscious! (Chicken out)

AUTHORITY [Challenging: Success] - Really? Just like that?

1. Yes. (Chicken out. For real.)

2. No, wait! I have to show this twink who's boss!

AUTHORITY - Good man.

1. [SAVIOR FAIRE - Medium 11] Strike a sexy pose.

2. [ENDURANCE - Medium 11] Bulge your muscles.

3. [PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT - Medium 11] Do a backflip.

4. Actually, I changed my mind. (Chicken out)

ENDURANCE [Medium: Failure] - Spittle flies as you give your best impression of a flex. You feel your face start to bulge, the strain on your already weak muscles compounding on your self-consciousness as all of your blood rushes to your cheeks.

ARTHUR LESTER - The man's mouth hangs slightly agape. "What-"

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] - He's confused more than anything.

2. [LOCKED] Bulge your muscles.

4. "Sorry. I'm so sorry." (Stop posing)

SAVIOR FAIRE [Medium: Failure] - You let out a sound not dissimilar to a pig and a horse gurgling water, and throw your hands on the back of your forehead like a damsel in distress. You feel like your face is about to explode as you curve your back in an attempt to expose your derriere.

ARTHUR LESTER - "No- no, stop-" He raises a hand to stop you. "What are you doing?"

VOILTION [Challenging: Success] - What ARE you doing? Apologize and move on with the conversation. Please.

HALF-LIGHT [Medium: Success] - It is weakness.

1. "Sorry, I got self-conscious when you started staring."

2. "Sorry, there was a voice that told me that I wouldn't feel as self-conscious if I struck a pose."

3. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

4. "If it makes you feel better, I don't know what I was doing, either."

5. "Striking a pose. Flamboyantly. Failurely."

6. Don’t apologize. Just glare.

7. NO! I JUST NEED TO STRIKE THE RIGHT POSE!

ARTHUR LESTER - His brow creases, "So you… Struck a pose?" The phrase is unfamiliar on his tongue. "Because I was staring at you?"

1. "Yes."

2. "I was scared of what you might see. I was scared you might see the hole in my heart."

3. "Uh… no..?"

ARTHUR LESTER - The man blinks. He says nothing, staring at you for a moment more. "I'm not a cop, to answer your question. Just a man looking for something." A pause.

ARTHUR LESTER - "You're the local militia?"

ESPIRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] - "Ask him what he was doing on that night." Salt and pepper lean back, waiting for something.

"What were you doing that night?" Echoed in the lonely brick room. Unoriginal words.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Failure] - It’s different, somehow. You can’t put your finger on it.

1. "Yup."

3. "I’m doing a bit of undercover reform, if you will. Kinda like fixing a machine from the inside."

4. "Yes, but. I'm actually a communist working for the revolution. The secret revolution." (Whisper this to him.)

5. Back up. Different?

ARTHUR LESTER - "I see."

SHIVERS [Medium: Success] - "It’s a machine, Arthur." He blows out from cracked lips, white smoke dissipating into the air. In a city far, far away, on a balcony overlooking the ants of people below. "Sometimes, the cogs are bad. Sometimes they’re good, but it’s a choice. You gotta remember that."

Arthur sighs. "So, just people, then."

1. "You said you were looking for something?"

2. "You know a lot of cops?"

3. "Where’d you get those scars?"

4. "Why do you look like that?"

5. "Someone’s talking to you. Who is it?"

6. Goodbye. (Leave him be.)

ARTHUR LESTER - "Yes, though…" He pauses, considering.

ARTHUR LESTER - He tilts his head. "I’m looking for something called the Blackstone."

1. "Blackstone?"

2. "Never heard of it."

3. "Interesting."

ARTHUR LESTER - His face tightens, "Apparently so. Though I have no leads."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - Annoyance.

PERCEPTION [Medium: Success] - The bags under his eyes. He hasn’t had a proper rest in weeks.

ESPIRIT DE CORPS [Challenging: Success] - The fan whirls overhead, papers stacked on top of papers stacked on top of a desk. His chest rises and falls rhythmically, face down in the sea of papers. Something gruff yells and thumps on his desk, startling him awake.

Apologies won't save him next time.

1. "Oh. Overbearing boss?"

2. Say nothing. It’s not any of your business.

ARTHUR LESTER - He stares at you for a moment, and then half-scoffs, half-laughs, "I- hah! Yes, yes, that’s one way to put it." He smiles, sadly.

1. "I’m sorry."

2. Nod. Cooly. But sadly at the same time.

3. "Bosses nowadays." Shake your head.

ARTHUR LESTER - The man leans back on the park bench, still looking at you. Another pause, and then he holds out his hand to your left, adjusting as he sticks it out. "Arthur. Lester."

1. "Harry. Du Bois." (Shake his hand.)

2. "Lieutenant double-yefreitor Harrier Du Bois. But call me Harry." (Shake his hand.)

3. "Sunset. Tequila." (Shake his hand.)

4. Don't shake his hand. Think of something else to say.

PERCEPTION [Medium: Success] - His grip isn’t strong, but his fingers are long, slender, and flexible.

HALF LIGHT [Challenging: Success] - He could strangle you with those.

1. "Oh. Overbearing boss?"

2. "Have you ever killed someone?"

3. Wait. Someone has long fingers and you think that he killed someone?

4. Move on.

HALF LIGHT - Look at him, mutton chops. Really look at him.

1. [HALF LIGHT - Medium 11] Do.

HALF LIGHT [Medium: Success] - There’s a hard look in his eyes, a confident spine in him behind the polite exterior.

1. Ohhhhhh….

2. That… doesn’t make sense.

3. That’s just nonsensical profiling.

HALF LIGHT - How do you know?

1. "Oh. Overbearing boss?"

2. "Have you ever killed someone?"

3. Wait. Someone has long fingers and you think that he killed someone?

4. Move on.

ARTHUR LESTER - "I- Excuse me?" An incredulous pause, "I don’t see how that’s an appropriate question."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - You caught him off guard.

HALF LIGHT [Medium: Success] - KEEP PUSHING.

1. "I’m a cop. There are no inappropriate questions for me."

2. [AUTHORITY - Heroic 15] "Answer my question." (Try to intimidate him.)

3. [SUGGESTION - Heroic 15] "C’mon, what’s a few skulls between friends?"

4. "That was a bad question. Let’s move on."

ARTHUR LESTER - He raises a brow. "Apparently, there is, because you just discovered one."

1. "I’m a cop. There are no inappropriate questions for me."

2. [AUTHORITY - Heroic 15] "Answer my question." (Try to intimidate him.)

3. [SUGGESTION - Heroic 15] "C’mon, what’s a few skulls between friends?"

4. "That was a bad question. Let’s move on."

SUGGESTION [Heroic: Failure] - You nudge him playfully, but the man only frowns.

ARTHUR LESTER - "You shouldn’t-" he gets a faraway look in his eyes, and then snaps to you, "You shouldn’t talk of the dead like that.

1. "Why?"

2. "Alright, fine. But answer my question."

ARTHUR LESTER - "No." He gives a placating smile, his head not fully turned toward you, "Sorry, officer."

1. "I’m a cop. There are no inappropriate questions for me."

2. [AUTHORITY - Heroic 15] "Answer my question." (Try to intimidate him.)

3. [LOCKED] "C’mon, what’s a few skulls between friends?"

4. "That was a bad question. Let’s move on."

AUTHORITY [Heroic: Failure] - The polite smile you didn't even realize was there falls off his face.

ARTHUR LESTER - The man unfolds himself from the park bench, standing. He turns toward you with that stare again.

1. [COMPOSURE - Formidable 13] Stare back.

2. Look away.

COMPOSURE [Formidable: Success] - You manage to not look away.

ARTHUR LESTER - "If you think," he lets the word hang for a moment, "that just because you are a cop, you can intimidate me," His voice was an icy wind in the cold of winter, "you are sorely mistaken."

ARTHUR LESTER - "I am not afraid of you, Harry. I have crawled out of pits much darker and much more threatening than a cop who waves his power like a magic wand."

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - He believes every word he says.

SUGGESTION [Challenging: Success] - He’s not a soft nut to crack. You need to warm him up, like soup over a flame. Patience, lieutenant.

1. "I’m a cop. There are no inappropriate questions for me."

2. [LOCKED] "Answer my question." (Try to intimidate him.)

3. [LOCKED] "C’mon, what’s a few skulls between friends?"

4. "Okay, I’m sorry. Let’s talk about something else."

5. "Okay, Mr. Mysterious, keep your secrets. I’ll crack you. Like a nut. Over a flame."

6. "That was a bad question. Let’s move on."

ARTHUR LESTER - He looks amused. Almost. He searches your face, and says nothing.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - He thinks you’re a joke.

AUTHORITY [Challenging: Success] - You need to tell him, right now. Otherwise, you’ll never get his respect back.

VOILITION [Challenging: Success] - Don’t force it, Harry.

1. "I’m not a joke."

2. "Sorry. You’re not a nut that needs to be cracked."

3. Move on.

ARTHUR LESTER - The man sighs, looking away. A pause, and he sits back down on the bench.

ARTHUR LESTER - "Any other questions, officer?"

1. "You said you were looking for something?"

2. "Where’d you get those scars?"

3. "You know a lot of cops?"

4. "What is the Blackstone, again?"

5. "Why do you look like that?"

6. "What are you listening to?"

7. "So, how many people HAVE you killed?"

8. Goodbye. (Leave him be.)

ARTHUR LESTER - "Used to."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - It’s a sore subject, but there’s a touch of melancholy.

SHIVERS [Challenging: Success] - MAYBE IT WAS BETTER BEFORE. BEFORE EVERYTHING.

1. "Used to?"

2. "You said you weren’t a cop."

3. "I see." (Leave the subject alone. For now.)

ARTHUR LESTER - "I… uh," he says, with a tinge of humor to a joke you don’t know, "Haven’t been in the police business for a long time."

1. "On the run?"

2. "Quit?"

3. "Fired?"

ARTHUR LESTER - "No- I was-" He purses his lips, chooses his next words carefully.

ARTHUR LESTER - "Once my partner died, I stopped the whole…" he waves his hand, gesturing at some big picture, "working-with-police thing. He was usually the one who handled the business side of things."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - Partner in this context could mean two things: partner as in someone you work with, or someone you are romantically involved with.

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - Or both.

1. *Gasp* Oh, the drama!

2. No, probably just a work partner.

3. Probably his romantic partner…

4. I don’t know. My chest hurts.

LOGIC [Easy: Failure] - There’s only one way to settle this.

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Failure] - Wait, don’t-

1. (Glance around) "Are you… part of the homo-sexual underground?"

2. Hey. Don't say that.

ARTHUR LESTER - He blinks. "The-" His expression hardens.

ARTHUR LESTER - "And what if I were, officer?" he says sharply.

DRAMA [Challenging: Success] - Don’t be tricked. He’s afraid.

LOGIC [Medium: Success] - He thinks you’re going to arrest him.

1. "It’s okay, I’m not going to arrest you."

2. "I don’t know. Arrest you? Maybe that’s what cops do."

3. "I’m sorry if I made you feel unsafe."

ARTHUR LESTER - He stares at you, and then, mercifully, drops the subject, leaning back into the park bench. "You say that a lot, don't you."

ARTHUR LESTER - His eyes wander the streets behind you.

1. "You said you were looking for something?"

2. "Where’d you get those scars?"

3. "You know a lot of cops?"

4. "What is the Blackstone, again?"

5. "Why do you look like that?"

6. "What are you listening to?"

7. "So, how many people HAVE you killed?"

8. Goodbye. (Leave him be.)

ARTHUR LESTER - A slight twitch of the eyebrow, a polite, "Oh?"

1. "You don't turn your head when you look at things. It's like your eyes are separate from your body."

2. "What's up with your eyes?"

3. "So, uh. Yeah. Any story behind that?"

4. "...nevermind. I wanna ask a different question."

ARTHUR LESTER - He pauses. "Not a lot of people notice that." He scoots the weird tone out of his voice, places begrudging respect in its place. "I’m impressed."

EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] - He's… slightly nervous at your question. Impressed is a facade; In reality, it put him on guard.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] - IT’S A SECRET.

1. "Oh, thank you."

2. (Gasp) "Oh, is that a secret?! I love secrets!"

4. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel on guard."

ARTHUR LESTER - He smiles, a touch uncomfortable.

1. Wait for him to speak first.

2. "Well? What’s the rest of the secret?"

ARTHUR LESTER - His expression stays the same, eyes searching your face.

1. Wait for him to speak first.

2. "Well? Anything else?"

ARTHUR LESTER - His eyes abruptly snap back to you. There’s a slight pause before he responds tersely, "Nothing else."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - Walls, again. He’s trying to protect himself from us.

1. "Ok. Let’s talk about something else." (Drop it)

2. "Really?? Are you suuuuuuuure?" (Push a little)

3. "Hey, I won’t judge. I’m a cop, but I’m like. A good cop. The chill cop you wanna take a break with. And you swap secrets with."

4. [Suggestion - Challenging 14] Try to convince him to tell you.

SUGGESTION [Challenging: Failure] - He’d probably respond well to…

1. "...Please?"

2. "I’m begging. I’ll beg on my hands and knees."

3. Cry. Let the tears run down your face to show how much you just gotta know.

4. *Sigh, and slowly uncock your gun*

5. "PLEASE. I HAVE TO KNOW."

ARTHUR LESTER - "What-" He perks up at the sound of the hammer clicking back, a confused expression on his face. He freezes when his eyes fall squarely on the gun in your hand.

ARTHUR LESTER - His eyes are wide, glancing between the gun and you. "Hey- We can- We can talk about this, right?"

1. Point the gun at him.

2. Point the gun at you.

3. Put the gun away.

VOLITION [Medium: Success] - Hey. Hey, what are you doing? You’re pointing a gun at a man for what? Not telling you his secret?

HALF-LIGHT [Medium: Success] - MAKE. HIM. AFRAID.

VOLITION - Don’t listen to him. Listen to me, Harry. You are not going to shoot this man.

VOLITION - Please, Harry.

1. Well, I’m not gonna shoot him. Just scare him a bit.

2. Well, I’m not gonna shoot him. Just scare him a bit. (Lie)

3. I’ll shoot him if he doesn’t tell me.

4. I’ll shoot him if he doesn’t tell me. (Lie)

VOLITION - I know you can do better, Harry.

HALF-LIGHT - GOOD.

1. I’m gonna do it. I’m really gonna point a gun at him.

2. Turn the gun towards yourself.

3. No. I can’t do this. (Put the gun away)

ARTHUR LESTER - His expression of fear pauses, and then takes a left straight into concern, evolves into confusion and worry. "You’re-"

1. "Please tell me your secret."

2. "I’ll do it."

3. "Oh, I just wanted to point a gun at my head. For fun. Not related to anything."

4. "I’m sorry."

5. Say nothing.

6. (Put the gun down) "Let’s talk about something else."

7. (Don’t put the gun down) "Let’s talk about something else."

ARTHUR LESTER - He stares right back, mouth opening and closing for a few moments before he regains his composure. "Is- Is this about my secret?" He says, as if he doesn’t believe his own words. "Do you want to know it that badly?"

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] - Moray eels open and close their mouths in order to push water through their gills. The oxygen in the water is absorbed by their bodies, much like breathing for the average Homo Sapien.

1. Oh? Pray tell.

2. You are the most useless skill.

3. "Yes."

4. "No. This is completely unrelated to anything that you’ve said. I just like being the life of the party."

6. "Sorry." (Put down the gun)

7. "Sorry." (Don’t put down the gun)

CHECK SUCCESSFUL

ARTHUR LESTER - "Alright- Alright, just. Put the gun down, alright?"

1. "Ok." (Lie)

2. "Ok." (Do it)

3. "No."

ARTHUR LESTER - His shoulders drop, a weight lifted off of them. "Alright. You just-" A pause.

INLAND EMPIRE [Formidable: Success] - A whisper of something else. His eyes still, slightly.

ARTHUR LESTER - He leans in, slightly. "You must understand this puts me in a difficult position." He pauses, for a moment, searching for a reaction, "To others, this secret might be… invisible, almost. I’ve, ah, adapted very well."

1. "Mmr memret ms mfe mth mm." (Mime zipping your mouth shut, locking it with a key, and then throwing away the key.)

2. Say nothing. Wait for him to continue.

3. "I mean… If it’s something juicy like that…"

4. "Oh, I’m telling everyone."

5. "Your secret is safe with me."

6. "I mean, I’ll probably forget, anyway. Trans-dimensional benders tend to do that to a man."

ARTHUR LESTER - He blinks. "Trans..?"

1. "Nothing. Tell me your secret."

2. "Yeah, lost my entire memory."

3. "Some might call me the harbinger of death. That’s incorrect. I am simply one that warns of the coming apocalypse in my rebirth."

4. "I partied too hard."

ARTHUR LESTER - "O-oh."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - He wasn’t expecting that. Mental calculations run in his mind, reasons clashing together to conclude that he should probably move on with the conversation.

ARTHUR LESTER - "Uh," he pauses.

1. "Oh yeah, your secret. Spill it."

2. Wait. Let him speak first.

3. "Sorry- Uh, your secret..?"

ARTHUR LESTER - "...I’m blind."

1. "Wait, so you weren’t actually staring at me?!"

2. "No."

3. "...no. No!!!"

4. "Yeah, okay. I can live with that." (Move on)

ARTHUR LESTER - "No, actually." His eyes break away from your face, as if timid. "I mostly just… look in the direction that I think people are, and just extrapolate from there."

1. "How’d you stare at me so… intensely, then?"

2. "Ok." (Move on.)

ARTHUR LESTER - "Ah, uh…" He shrugs, "I get that sometimes."

1. "You said you were looking for something?"

2. "Where’d you get those scars?"

3. You know a lot of cops?"

4. "What is the Blackstone, again?"

5. "Why do you look like that?"

6. "What are you listening to?"

7. "So, how many people HAVE you killed?"

8. Goodbye. (Leave him be.)

INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] - You feel it, then. Something else whisking itself closer to him. Wary.

ARTHUR LESTER - There’s a minute pause, and then he raises an eyebrow at you. "Well, for one, I know I was just listening to an officer on a park bench."

1. "No, that’s not what I was talking about."

2. "Oh, yeah, haha. Weird question."

3. "Ok." (Drop the subject.)

ARTHUR LESTER - "Oh?"

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - Wait, sire. He’s about to lie to you. Don’t give him anything to base the lie off of.

1. "C’mon. What’s whispering in there?" (Point to his head)

2. "What is it? Do you have a mic in there or something?"

3. [AUTHORITY - Heroic 15] "Don’t lie to me, Arthur." (-2 tried to intimidate him before)

4. "Well?"

ARTHUR LESTER - "There’s nothing whispering in my head, officer." He says, confidently, assuredly. "And I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you what sort of facilities they would put me in if there were."

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - He’s too confident. He-

COMPOSURE [Medium: Failure] - They’re gonna WHAT?!

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] - He’s probably referring to a mental asylum, in which those members of society who cannot function well on their own are hospitalized. Mental health is highly stigmatized even today, and even more since most cities either cannot afford or will not dump money on the facilities. What happens then is that underfunded, untrained staff focus less on the mental health of a person, and more about punishing them for what endangerment they might have done before.

COMPOSURE - Oh no. Oh FUCK.

VOILITION - Calm down, please. He can’t hear us.

COMPOSURE - Is- Is that supposed to make me feel better??? Oh god. What if he finds out?! Are we gonna get locked away???

1. They’re gonna put me in a mental asylum.

2. Try to nod.

3. Bad topic. Next question, please.

4. [COMPOSURE - Medium 11] - Try to gain back your composure.

COMPOSURE [Medium: Failure] - You try to fall into a neutral expression, but-

-

"...he looks a little bit like a horse. His face is scrunched up, the edges of his lips shaking with uncertainty. He stares at us with wide eyes."

Arthur waits for John to say more, not daring to whisper a need for clarification. A few seconds pass, and then a few more. Arthur feels his eyeballs shake a little in their sockets.

"He-" John says, hesitantly. "He’s thinking very hard about this, it seems."

Arthur allows almost a full minute to pass before he speaks. "Are you-"

"His eyes snap towards you. Seems he was spacing out."

-

ARTHUR LESTER - "Are you alright? You’ve been sort of… staring into the distance, there."

1. "Yeah! Haha! I’m good! I’m normal. I’m the sanest man alive."

2. "Oh yeah. Just the voices in my head telling me I should panic. Don’t worry! I’m not panicking anymore."

3. "Oh yeah. Oh YEAH."

4. "Uh- Uhm, no."

5. "No, but let’s move on."

6. "Yes, let’s move on."

ARTHUR LESTER - He says nothing.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - He’s doing his best to make sense of the facts laid out in front of him.

EMPATHY - He’s failing, if you couldn’t tell.

1. Nod your head. Confidently.

2. "Yeah." (Don’t nod your head. He can’t see.)

3. Say nothing. Ask another question.

ARTHUR LESTER - "Yes…" He says, unsurely.

1. "You said you were looking for something?"

2. "Where’d you get those scars?"

3. "You know a lot of cops?"

4. "What is the Blackstone, again?"

5. "Why do you look like that?"

6. "What are you listening to?"

7. "So, how many people HAVE you killed?"

8. Goodbye. (Leave him be.)

ARTHUR LESTER - He pauses. "Lots of fights."

1. "Wait, but you’re blind."

2. "Woah, that’s rad. As hell."

3. "Wait, like, for fun?"

ARTHUR LESTER - He shrugs dismissively. "I told you, I’ve adapted very well."

1. "How’d you even get into those fights in the first place?"

2. "Never mind. I’m gonna ask a different question now."

ARTHUR LESTER - His expression falls a little bit. "I suppose… a combination of my own bad luck, and… anger." His voice lifts with melancholy, a bit of sad not-quite regret. "Pent-up anger and helpless at myself, and I… took that out on other people."

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - Right there, a pause. He realizes he shared too much.

INLAND EMPIRE [Challenging: Success] - Reel yourself back. Protect yourself.

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] - …which is the exact opposite of what you should do, if you want to crack him.

1. I wanna say something about my past self…

2. "I’m sorry that happened to you."

3. "That’s… vile. I think you’re a bad person."

4. "Sometimes I have a voice in my head that plays off my fears. And hates women. I don’t listen to him much."

5. "Wait, you don’t have pent-up anger and helplessness anymore???"

6. "I see." (Move on)

ARTHUR LESTER - "Oh, you mentioned that before, didn’t you? Having voices inside of your head?"

1. "Yeeeeeeup. Twenty-four."

2. "Yes."

3. "Nope." (Lie)

ARTHUR LESTER - He blinks, surprised. "Twenty-four? Doesn’t it get…" He gestures at his head with his right hand, "crowded, in there?"

1. "Not at all. They kinda just help me, you know? They don’t really crowd me out."

2. "Sometimes. Especially when multiple of them try to "help." " (Put quotation marks around help)

3. "All the time. Having more than one voice is inherently busy, right?"

4. "What? Voices? Huh? What are you talking about?"

ARTHUR LESTER - He processes this for a moment, a curious expression on his face. His eyes search your face for a moment.

ARTHUR LESTER - "You don’t seem very…"

1. "Unstable?"

2. "Threatening?"

3. "Smart?"

4. Let him speak.

ARTHUR LESTER - "Well, I was going to say malicious." He pauses. "Maybe misguided, sometimes, but not actively trying to hurt me."

1. "Why would I? In the coming apocalypse, I’ll need all the allies I can get."

2. "Don’t test me."

3. "I don’t think I could scare you, anyhow. You can be very intimidating."

4. "I’m sorry if I gave you that impression."

5. "I don’t wanna be malicious. I think I’m fine where I’m at."

ARTHUR LESTER - "I’ve done what I need to." He says dismissively.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - Maybe more than, sometimes. But he doesn’t wanna say what’s already been said.

1. I wanna say something about my past self…

2. "I’m sorry that happened to you."

3. "That’s… vile. I think you’re a bad person."

4. "Sometimes I have a voice in my head that plays off my fears. And hates women. I don’t listen to him much."

5. "Wait, you don’t have pent-up anger and helplessness anymore???"

6. "I see." (Move on)

ARTHUR LESTER - He stares forward.

1. "My past self was very angry at himself, too. Put some music on and started screaming about ‘not wanting to be this type of animal anymore.’ "

2. "My past self was very desperate. Pointed a gun in his mouth when things didn’t go his way."➤ ARTHUR LESTER - He doesn’t respond.
EMPATHY - You ALSO pointed a gun at yourself, remember?

ARTHUR LESTER - He looks confused for a moment, "Your…?"

ARTHUR LESTER - "You mentioned that before, right? Something about a, ah, trans…dimensional bender?"

1. "Yup! Don’t remember a thing."

2. "All I have is Revachol. And Kim. And the case."

3. "All I have is the case. And Kim."

4. "Nah, I was joking with you."

ARTHUR LESTER - He frowns, "Who is…?"

1. "Revachol? She’s the city."

2. "Kim? He’s my investigative partner." (Say this with pride)

ARTHUR LESTER - "Oh, I suppose he’s not here."

1. "Yeah."

2. "No."

3. "What? He’s standing right behind you."

4. "He’s… not real."

ARTHUR LESTER - He blinks. "Oh."

1. I wanna say something about my past self…

2. "I’m sorry that happened to you."

3. "That’s… vile."

4. "Sometimes I have a voice in my head that plays off my fears. And hates women. I don’t listen to him much."

5. "Wait, you don’t have pent-up anger and helplessness anymore???"

6. "I see." (Move on)

ARTHUR LESTER - He pauses. "Not as much, that’s for sure."

1. I wanna say something about my past self…

2. "I’m sorry that happened to you."

3. "That’s… vile."

4. "Sometimes I have a voice in my head that plays off my fears. And hates women. I don’t listen to him much."

5. "Wait, you don’t have pent-up anger and helplessness anymore???"

6. "I see." (Move on)

ARTHUR LESTER - His eyes wander the streets.

1. "You said you were looking for something?"

2. "Where’d you get those scars?"

3. "You know a lot of cops?"

4. "What is the Blackstone, again?"

5. "Why do you look like that?"

6. "What are you listening to?"

7. "So, how many people HAVE you killed?"

8. Goodbye. (Leave him be.)

ARTHUR LESTER - "Oh, goodbye to you, as well. It was nice to have a conversation with somebody else."