side 11/6/24

Question 1

…Hi.

Answer 1

You got a letter.

Question 2

You opened my mail?

Answer 2

I was curious.

Question 3

That’s a federal crime.

Answer 3

SO SUE ME.

Question 4

What does it say?

Answer 4

You know. (Henry reaches for the letter, but Kat pulls it out of his reach. He goes for it again. Kat tries to hang on.) No. No. Stop!

Question 5

I’m the Butler Fellow.

Answer 5

You are such a bastard.

Question 6

…You’re mad.

Answer 6

Your proposal had nothing to do with galactic fucking orbits.

Question 7

I would have been happy for you.

Answer 7

But, you’re not.

Question 8

But, I would have been.

Answer 8

But, you’re not. It’s your name on the letter. Look… (she snatches the letter back from him.)

Question 9

No, don’t-!

Answer 9

“Congratulations, Mr.Satterfield!” …Congratulations.

Question 10

I earned that. You submitted, and I won. Fair and square.

Answer 10

You’re building missiles.

Question 11

No. No. Orbits. I study orbits. And orbital strikes are… I tweaked my research, that’s all. I’m not building missiles. I’m not an engineer.

Answer 11

You are theoretically building missiles.

Question 12

You can’t theoretically build anything. It’s just theory.

Answer 12

Theory. Okay, let’s talk about theory. You’re the Butler Fellow. You’ve dodged the draft. And theoretically, you’ve escaped the war.

Question 13

Yes. / That’s the whole point…

Answer 13

Theoretically. But in actuality, yo’ve walked straight into Vietnam. Kinetic orbital strikes? You’re a soldier now.

Question 14

It’s not forever.

Answer 14

How could you do that?

Question 15

I’m just trying to survive! Once I get my PhD, then… I’ll go back to cosmology. It’s all transferrable and if this is what will keep me out of Vietnam, then I have to take it.

Answer 15

…Yeah. But there’s just one thing.

Question 16

Right. Of course. As always.

Answer 16

You’re gonna end up killing people. Maybe you won’t see it happen, and maybe it won’t be for a long time, but you’ll have blood on your hands. And you’ll have to live with that.

Question 17

I will always have blood on my hands! There’s no way out of this without someone’s blood on my hands.

Answer 17

Yeah, well. You’re looking at your first casualty.