Cognitive Deviance

78. Downfall Part 2

October 31, 2045 - 6:50 PM

What the hell are you? Margo thought, her arms shaking as the Multi Man's knife moved closer.

"Why didn't you just shoot me?" he said. "You had nothing to lose by doing so. Nothing but lost knowledge that probably won't be lost forever, even when I'm gone."

"I can't be like the rest of Psychwatch," Margo said. "I can't kill people just because I don't understand them."

"So that's it? Once you've gotten the explanation you want for my behavior, you'll finally be ready to pull the trigger?"

The knife was almost there. Margo's arms shook, and her face burned red. Her muscles grew sore, as if wearing away like thread.

"You're only setting yourself up for disappointment," said the Multi Man.

The tip of the blade finally made contact, burying into Margo's cheek. Blood seeped out of the new incision as the young officer winced, gritting her teeth.

"Malcolm Slater once told me something back in the Rabbit Hole," the Man continued. "He pondered the reason why people go back to the source to understand why things are the way they are. Why people are the way they are. But the past is so irrelevant these days. We all have foundations, but we're never built the way we were intended to be built."

Margo screamed as the blade cut further across her cheek. 

"Your father beat you since you were a child, Margo. Your mother hates herself too much to care about anyone else. And on top of that, you hear voices and see people that aren't really there. You really think you were meant to last long in this world?"

"Fuck you!"

"But you did. You're here! Twenty-three years on this earth. You have friends, a family, a job, and an education. You overcame the cracks in your foundation. At least until today."

The knife swiftly retreated from Margo's face, leaving her cheek oily with blood. She felt a drop streak down her face like a tear, pausing at her chin before resuming its descent down to her neck.

"Psychwatch's foundation was a little more humble," he continued. "They wanted to confront the mental illness epidemic. Obliterate the stigma. Retake control of the human mind. They wanted to play God. But even the foundation of a god cannot support man. Flawed, blind, egocentric mankind that breaks down the moment it comes across something it has yet to control or understand. So just like you, Margo, Psychwatch subverted their own foundation and gave it the cracks we all see today. The violence. The invasion of individuals' minds. Their display of intrigue and curiosity toward our madness rather than sympathy. And all of the lies they tell us."

The Man leaned in closer. "I kill people, too, Margo. I have that in common with Psychwatch. But unlike them, I don't go out of my way to call it anything else."

"Then why are you doing this?" she screamed.

"Because I like hearing people ask why. Hear them try to make sense of it. It's incredibly amusing."

What do I even want to hear from him? Margo thought. 

The two of them remained still. Too still. Margo pondered if "human" was the right description for the Man.

"Do you..." she said. "Do you feel...anything? Like pain?"

"What answer do you want to hear?" asked the Multi Man.

She'd only prolong the game he was playing, Margo thought. She decided, Nothing. I don't want to hear from you ever again.

Margo collided her head with the Man's nose, forcing him back. Her skull pounded, and she felt a new cut on her forehead from the mask's rigid surface, but she was free. Free and now aware that the enemy was still human enough to lose in the end.