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Do you want to graduate? [Or does he just want to stay alive?]
[Especially now that he knows that he could stay as a warden and get a deal of his own.]
Then we can start working out what you might need for that, and get an idea of where your next warden can start. [They checked the ledger for Zakalwe already, and it was empty. The least they can do is find something to add to it.] Do you mind if I come to your cabin?
His cabin looks like theirs — somewhat impersonal, more like a hotel room than someone’s home.
They study the bed for a moment before sitting down. “Is this somewhere from your world or is it … more metaphorical?” He seems to be from the future, at least from their world’s point of view.
[ He's not exactly ready for this, but one day's all he'll allow himself. His voice is a little froggy as he speaks. ]
Hello, Cheradenine? This is Will Graham. How are you holding up after that Breach?
[Cheradenine's voice is strained and tense.]
Not. Well.
Sorry to hear that. I know our jobs weren't exactly the safest. Is there a death toll involved?
“Mine is also a hotel room. I wondered if it might mean something.” Their real home would be difficult to put in a cabin, but it would make sense if it were the Barge’s way of representing a lack of stability.
After they read his file, Avalon waits for their item to show that their inmate is in his cabin. They show up with both his file and theirs. Several hundred tiny, blood-red beads coil up their arm, starting right above their item.
Maybe they should wait, but this is important. They need to know his version of the story, not just the Admiral’s. They want to see how he reacts to the Admiral’s, to the file’s delivery, to the way that it tells them what he did without telling them much about how he got to that point. He knows his reasoning, and the Admiral knows the events. They need both.
“Not just yours. I think it might help you to read mine.” And there are a few parts where they think they need more information.
They can't have done anything like what he's done.
They go to sit down on the bed again, setting both files next to them. “From what I can see, you and I did similar things to end up here as inmates. You might have some of the same struggles that I have, but your file focuses more on what you did and less on why you did it. So I want to see if anything in my file is familiar to you.”
“Usually they are, but not always. Do you have somewhere else you might want your cabin to be? I can ask the Admiral to change it.” They like theirs, but Zakalwe might not feel the same.
They run their fingers over their bracelet. “I was also a killer before I was brought here, and I borrowed identities for it.” They think he took Zakalwe’s name for a different reason, but the parallel makes sense to them. “I have no idea how the Admiral decides the pairings, but those types of connections seem to be part of it. My warden had dealt with struggles that were similar to mine, too.”
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