Bolton's Office Hours

[theoverseers]

[Want to chat with Bolton privately? Here is where you do it! Bolton's office hours will be held in conference room B in the library for approximately four hours in the morning several days a week. During that time the blinds will be drawn and that room will be off-limits unless you're there to talk to Bolton, though the other three study rooms will still be available for use.


Comments are screened for privacy.]

Comments

[theoverseers]

[Bolton answers the door, but he seems pleasantly surprised to see her.]

Good morning, Thomasin.

[theoverseers]

[In getting up and going to it? Not always the fastest. But he's pretty quick to call back:]

Come in!

[curdle]

And to you.

[ Her face, however, is hard to read. She walks inside and takes a seat, putting both her hands on the cup and gripping it tight. ]

You must tell me why I am named the heretic.

[ Except he definitely does not, and will probably say as much. She's pleading, not stating. ]

There can be but little to remember. I awoke with my mother's blood upon me. Please.

[bylight]

It just comes at the risk of someone else dying. This experiment... How can you go along with it? Isn't it wrong?

[theoverseers]

[He's not unmoved by her plea, but he's quiet for a long moment as he takes his seat. Looks around his workspace, finds the pen that he'd been writing in the book in and takes a paper towel.

When he speaks, as he's writing, it's not what she wants to hear.]

We're not supposed to tell people about the source of their titles.

[But he slides the paper towel over to her with letters written carefully so as not to rip the paper. If she can read Xander's handwriting now, she can read this.]

Nod if you can read this.

[cyan_maid]

[A call back is all she needs.

Jane enters quietly, closing the door behind her. She doesn't move to sit down, or anything - instead, she glances around to get an idea of how Bolton keeps his office before meeting the man's eyes.

And...

...Doesn't say anything. Jane just...stares at Bolton. Quietly. Intensely. It'd be intimidating if she also wasn't a teenage girl with a still-blotchy face from yesterday's crying and whatever emotions her recent memory had given her.]

[theoverseers]

[His grip tightens on his coffee cup, and he speaks quietly and with his head tilted down.]

If we could solve this Jamie's way, I'd be all aboard. But there's something at stake here for me, too.

I can't say more than that.

[theoverseers]

[There's a French Press that's still about 3/4 full on the table, next to some paper towels, a little ceramic bottle of cream held in ice, a sugar bowl, and two cups - Bolton's and an empty one that's still upside-down. He's sitting in the seat in front of the blackboard, and when she comes in he lowers the book that he's reading to his lap, splayed open and upside down to hold his place.]

What's up, Miss Crocker?

[refusedtoleave]

Is that because you aren't allowed to tell us or because you don't know?

[cyan_maid]

[Her eyes flicker to the book for a moment - out of curiosity, what is Bolton reading? - before she looks back up at him.]

...Where are the bodies of the victims kept?

[The PIP surely won't let her, but...the Lifey Thing is still in her. It always has been - she just didn't know it. But now that she does, she can't get it out of her mind. She's a God Tier. She has the power. She should use it, even if it can only bring back a few of the people who were here, even if...]

[theoverseers]

[Today? The Lathe of Heaven.]

All bodies are cremated and removed from the space station for sanitation reasons.

[theoverseers]

It's because we're not allowed to give you information that you're not privy to yet - I can discuss what you do remember with you, but I can't tell you what you don't already know.

[cyan_maid]

[The only outward indication of her sinking heart is that her hands, clasped in front of her, begin to shake.]

...You all really did your homework on all of us, didn't you?

[theoverseers]

Your extended profiles were very extensive.

...You need a whole body, don't you.

[curdle]

[ She watches him closely, her heart pounding, though the words he says make her face fall anyway. What is this? ]

But you...

[ Thomasin's voice trails off like she's looking for a way to word persuasively enough. In reality, she's trying to read the napkin, which she takes from Bolton and pulls closer to her. She stares down at it for quite a bit, then looks back up. Her eyes lock on his face. ]

Why? I know 'tis not just what happened in my last dream. I know it is not for Father's choice.

[ She ducks her chin down and brings it back up, willing him to see the comprehension in her eyes. ]

Can I not at least tell you my thought?

[refusedtoleave]

Is there a reason for that? Would what we've forgotten change how well you'd be able to manipulate us?

[theoverseers]

[There's a look that's almost pride in his eyes when he notices the nod.]

...Sure, tell me what you think it's for.

[he hesitates before he starts writing, making it look like he's poised to simply note down her statement.]

[theoverseers]

Is there a point in knowing? Everything's already happened.

[refusedtoleave]

[She flinches.]

And how do we know if you're trying to use someone who's already dead as a hostage?

[Not even giving him time to answer. She even slams the door as she storms out.]

[cyan_maid]

[Jane stiffens a bit.]

...I can't make one out of nothing. I could - reattach limbs, if...that's part of the problem...[The problem being "death", see [S]: Collide] Knit flesh together...probably excise a disease...

[If it's a death, and it's just the one time, she can reverse it. But no one here is exactly a phoenix.]

[theoverseers]

Since you're not the Champion of Life, I don't know if the PIP would let you...

[He looks pained, like he's debating on something.]

Who have you gotten closest to?

[theoverseers]

[cyan_maid]

[...

Too many names want to be said, but Jane holds them in tightly.]

Why...do you ask that? I-I don't want to know if there's some - some kind of system here where your bosses pick and choose which of us are going to kill each other, I won't - I won't participate in anything like that!

[Now she's actually getting upset, tears quick to flow. Wrong question, Bolton.]

[theoverseers]

What- no, that's not how it works--

[But you said excise disease and he thought...]

Okay then let me ask this- do your powers work at all on the living?

[cyan_maid]

[Don't you think she's been thinking that too, amongst everything else? She lets him speak, takes a breath.]

...No. Just - just the dead. It's not like...healing something. It's revival. And if that means someone's gotten their head cut off or couldn't fight off a plague, then I can - I think I can fix that, but I can't take away someone's cold, or - or -

[The tears are coming faster now. Jane grits her teeth, both palms coming up to wipe them away frantically.]