003.

[velocette]

[LOCKED to WARDEN FILTER]

[He's thumbing through papers, frowning a little.]

Who's the best fighter on board?


[LOCKED to HARVEY DENT]

Hey. Guess we're hitched to the same wagon now.

Comments

[halftheman]

You've mentioned before. [ And he doesn't believe it. The man's about as criminal as the rest of the warden element. ]

[velocette]

[He won't often catch nuances, but he hears--or sees--disbelief because for once he's actually watching for it.]

What's your idea of criminal?

[halftheman]

You killed a man before? For pleasure? For compulsion?

[velocette]

[His expression doesn't change, but there's an almost imperceptible distance in him now, like a screen has come up.]

Yeah.

[halftheman]

Make you feel good? Feel powerful?

[ Harvey watches; nobody should forget by his nature, he's as much a psychological predator was a physical one. He was a lawyer, once. And a damned good one. ]

[velocette]

[He's aware he's exposing a flank here, but he's not about to lie about it. There will be times enough in the future when his deafness interferes in their conversations; no reason to make it worse than it already will be when Harvey thinks he's ignoring him on purpose.]

I didn't feel anything. And I don't really define power as what other people can affect.

[halftheman]

You feel nothing? No pride. No power. No satisfaction. Nothing at all?

[ He's sniffing around that flank, alright. ]

[velocette]

I stopped feeling proud a long time ago. And he was just some guy, there's nothing to be satisfied about whether he's alive or dead.

[But he is terribly amused by the questions, wondering how this ticks together in that divided mind over there.]

[halftheman]

Then why did you do it?

[velocette]

I was a dumb kid. I thought he was a harbinger of the end--that was still when I thought I could save people from themselves. I realized the truth after he was already dead. [He's very nonchalant about it, and honestly so, with no bravado in the slightest.]

The other guy was incidental. He was all hopped up and I knew he wouldn't stop coming at my brother, but I don't think I really meant to kill him. Just one of those things.

[halftheman]

Hrmph.

[ Harv doesn't say much. He thinks. ]

[velocette]

What was it really like for you, first time you killed? I don't know how much of that file is the Admiral's opinion.

[halftheman]

I was just taking out the trash. Felt good to finally have him out of the picture.

[velocette]

Not uncommon, I guess. People trip over each other, get in each other's way. but that's not how you see it now is it?

[The way he describes that first time is so...goal oriented.]

[halftheman]

[ It was a goal. Every death was bringing him closer to Falcone. ]

How do you think I should see it?

[velocette]

...Don't really believe in 'should'. Things are what they are. That's what I want to know about.

[halftheman]

They were in my way. I got them out of my way. Murder's just a means to an end.

[velocette]

Yeah but it's like an anvil. Sometimes you get the same end, using a wrench, you know? Gets you fewer detours. At least here, where they're just going to come back to life anyway.

[halftheman]

Here, it doesn't matte. Death's just-- a thing. A not-thing.

Already died once.