“HOW could you have put Carey on the moon?”
“I believed that she needed a different environment.”
Kretschmar really is yellin at me. I’s funny, cuz she never yells, like, never. She’s always in complete control of her emotions.
“You put her on Earth’s moon, at least, right? You didn’t put her way out in Jupiter’s orbit or something, did you?”
“I fail to see how it would really make a difference.”
“Right. Right. You really do fail to SEE don’t you. Just happened to choose one of our most heavily sponsored female subjects for orbit. Do you have any idea what kind of risk factors go along with that sort of thing?! You do, don’t you! I know that you do. What were you thinking?”
“It’s only a simulation.”
“It doesn’t MATTER. You know why? Because CAREY won’t know the difference. CAREY doesn’t know the difference between simulation and reality. That’s why she’s here in the first place!”
“Exactly.”
“What do you mean? This is going to screw up ALL of her levels. All of our studies with her are fucking ruined now. What could you possibly mean?! Are you trying to fuck with me, Dr. X? Are you? Because let me tell you something: the lord giveth and the lord taketh away. Just keep that in mind. Keep that in your strange fucking mind for as long as you can.”
First she walks away. And then she runs away. The smell of her sweater hits me suddenly like ape-scent gloriola.