EXCERPT #11

[…]

INTERVIEWER: “Kasowitz is pretty hard to fit anywhere in this puzzle, if I’m being honest.”

WITNESS #9791: “I mean, if you say so.”

INTERVIEWER: “You don’t agree?”

WITNESS #9791: “Why does it matter? I already told you, I know next to nothing about J.D.”

INTERVIEWER: “You don’t think what happened to him is the least bit suspicious?”

WITNESS #9791: “Again, what does it matter what I think? Any info I have on this guy is as good as anyone else’s. Next question.”

INTERVIEWER: “Should I be asking you about Burroughs, instead?”

WITNESS #9791: “Why would you even do that? You think I know anything about him that you haven’t found out already?”

INTERVIEWER: “Aside from the men on your team, I do believe he was the person you worked closely with the most.”

WITNESS #9791: “I didn’t ‘work’ with him. He was my platoon commander. He gave orders, I followed them. It’s as simple as that.”

INTERVIEWER: “It does strike me as odd that you and Kasowitz were in the same position, but it was just the two of them who remained in touch after the war.”

WITNESS #9791: “What the hell is this? You think I know anything about their reasons for keeping in touch? You think that I care? Go ask them.”

INTERVIEWER: “We will, at some point. Burroughs is hard to approach, thanks to his current standing, while your friend…”

WITNESS #9791: “[Laugh] He’ll show up eventually, don’t worry.”

INTERVIEWER: “Curious how the colonel never denied staying in touch with Kasowitz, though. Even after the federal investigation closed in on both of them, no less.”

WITNESS #9791: “Again, their business, not mine. I never stayed in touch with either of them, the three of us were never friends.”

INTERVIEWER: “I can tell. Especially in your commander’s case, if you don’t mind me saying.”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah, well, if you knew the guy like I do you wouldn’t be surprised.”

INTERVIEWER: “I understand you had your differences, it’s just that so far you seem to be the only one to deny having any further contact with him.”

WITNESS #9791: “You think I’m full of it.”

INTERVIEWER: “I’m not sure what I think yet, that’s why I brought you here.”

WITNESS #9791: “Me, of all people. Risking lying to spooks to cover for a clown like Leland. After all he did to screw me over. Is that what you think?”

INTERVIEWER: “Doesn’t sound like a bad guess, is what I think.”

WITNESS #9791: “Well, too bad, because fuck him, is what I think. But if it’s dirt on him you want, go grill someone else for it. I’m not getting court-martialed over this.”

INTERVIEWER: “Again, there’s nothing we know for sure so far. We’re all operating on known unknowns, sergeant.”

WITNESS #9791: “[Laugh] Maybe you are, son. There’s plenty I know for sure.”

INTERVIEWER: “Anything you’d like to share?”

WITNESS #9791: “Let me think about it. Why don’t you explain to me why you’re so interested in him, first?”

INTERVIEWER: “Colonel Burroughs? The man’s a major person of interest in this probe. He sanctioned the whole thing after Terrebonne, and volunteered to oversee the project leading all the way to the incident during the siege in Saint Germain.”

WITNESS #9791: “I’m aware of that. One of the reasons I never trusted him to take our side during the trial.”

INTERVIEWER: “So you understand why we’re in a bit of a hurry to get as close as we can without getting lost in a jungle of red tape.”

WITNESS #9791: “Sure. Which is why you approached me, is where I guess this conversation is leading.”

INTERVIEWER: “Not entirely. You had a major role in the project yourself, from what I gather.”

WITNESS #9791: “Not enough for them to pin the blame on me, it seems.”

INTERVIEWER: “Your standing as a soldier had more weight on the outcome, luckily.”

WITNESS #9791: “I don’t think luck was the factor at play, in this case.”

INTERVIEWER: “I’d be curious to know what you think it was, then.”

WITNESS #9791: “Isn’t it obvious? I was there when it happened.”

INTERVIEWER: “You and other nine men, sergeant.”

WITNESS #9791: “Doesn’t matter. It wasn’t them that they wanted, it was me.”

INTERVIEWER: “But not Romanek.”

WITNESS #9791: “[Silence] Not at first, at least.”

INTERVIEWER: “Did they ever tell you why that was?”

WITNESS #9791: “We deliberated for a while, so to speak. I didn’t want them putting Lucas in a risky position because of a botched operation.”

INTERVIEWER: “You felt like they were looking for a scapegoat?”

WITNESS #9791: “It wasn’t that. Even if it was, there’s nothing you can do about stuff like this when you’re just some jarhead and the brass already made up their minds. [pause] You wouldn’t happen to have a light, would you? Mine’s dying on me.”

INTERVIEWER: “Here.”

WITNESS #9791: “[Pause] Thanks. No idea why you’d have a lighter if you don’t smoke, though.”

INTERVIEWER: “Everyone else smokes, around here. Eventually you just buy one.”

WITNESS #9791: “Right. Makes sense, I guess.”

INTERVIEWER: “You were getting somewhere interesting with the Terrebonne report.”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah? What about it?”

INTERVIEWER: “You mentioned they wanted Romanek before they settled for you.”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah. First contact, according to them. Apparently that plays a big part in post-breach measures. But it wasn’t just that.”

INTERVIEWER: “What else, then?”

WITNESS #9791: “After the readings were in, Romanek’s frequencies stood out from the rest of us. And I mean, by a wide margin. Me and the boys were getting average numbers, but his were something else entirely.”

INTERVIEWER: “Any idea why?”

WITNESS #9791: “Who knows, honestly. Genetics? The weather that day? Seems like every other year they fund a new study to try and nail this down and it’s always a new answer.”

INTERVIEWER: “Romanek did have an interesting family history when it came to this sort of thing, from what we could gather.”

WITNESS #9791: “Not sure what you’re referring to but yeah, his family was a weird bunch. Never got along with them myself, but he personally avoided even being reminded they ever existed. I used to think I didn’t get along with my family, before I met him. Little did I know.”

INTERVIEWER: “So you did get to know them, at some point.”

WITNESS #9791: “Sort of. After the trial I had to keep in touch with his brother and sister, they secured all the legal ins and outs. They live abroad, someplace out West, can’t remember where. Apparently they hadn’t talked to him ever since he joined the army. Never met them in person. I don’t think they ever visited him, at least not to my knowledge.”

INTERVIEWER: “His parents?”

WITNESS #9791: “I visited the Romanek stead maybe once or twice after the trial, to help move stuff out and get some papers signed. Lucas’ mother was, well, if you talked to him you already know. What I can say is that as soon as I met her, I could tell it was all true. Just talking about it is enough to make my skin crawl.”

INTERVIEWER: “And what about his father?”

WITNESS #9791: “I don’t even know how to put this. Lucas never talked about his old man, and for the longest time I thought he and his siblings had been raised by their mother on her own. When I met the guy I finally understood why. He barely moves from that chair. I don’t think he ever addressed me. I don’t even know if I remember his voice or not.”

INTERVIEWER: “You think any of these traits had any bearing in the readings you just mentioned?”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah, I mean… When you meet people like Mr. and Mrs. Romanek, you start wondering if it’s true that the Old Army used to put something on our water to keep us… Not obedient, but just about weird enough to not be dangerous. I believe you heard that theory at some point.”

INTERVIEWER: “I’m familiar with it.”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah, I never gave it much credit before I started meeting people from some of the other households around the Triangle, back in the 60s. Made me realize my family was one of the normal ones, all things considered. I get the feeling everyone goes through a similar experience, to some degree.”

INTERVIEWER: “But do you believe Romanek’s upbringing in this sort of household had any substantial impact on the readings? Compared to, say, the genetic predisposition. Water-spiking conspiracies notwithstanding, of course.”

WITNESS #9791: “Honestly, I kinda gave up trying to make heads or tails of this whole thing. It got way too weird after a certain point, and from them on it just got worse. Everything about Lucas except his character seems murky to me, looking back. Which is fucked, because we were best friends for the longest time.”

INTERVIEWER: “Would you say this was your motivation to volunteer to take his place?”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah, pretty much. But it wasn’t just that. That was Preacher, back there. Him and the boys, they were my men. I felt like I needed to step up. Not just for them, but because I felt that was my duty. That it was just the way to go.”

INTERVIEWER: “Weren’t you concerned about the risks?”

WITNESS #9791: “What risks? We didn’t even know what actually happened to us, nobody would give us a straight answer. It was always the same broken record about how the asset was too valuable to have him, you know, explained to us grunts. They even brought Burroughs over to the facility just to explain to me in person that they weren’t gonna explain shit.”

INTERVIEWER: “Did they at least tell you why you were there?”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah, they said Bravo had stepped into something they shouldn’t, and we were just unlucky to be on cleanup duty after them. Those assholes ahead of the project never said it outright, neither did Burroughs, but they would rather have us shot on sight than having to deal with any of that. Like we should be thankful that we weren’t getting decommissioned over their fuckup.”

INTERVIEWER: “So you were surprised they didn’t just write you off instead.”

WITNESS #9791: “I was. After I came to it I’d try to wrap my head around what the hell even happened, but the more I tried the less it made any sense. The recovery, the observation period, those weird questions and even weirder answers. It all felt like a dream, or waking up from one in a place that isn’t your own bed. The absolute definition of waking up in a bigger house.”

INTERVIEWER: “That house being the Institute.”

WITNESS #9791: “Yeah.”