Control Room, The Radcliffe Asylum
T he Dude had just closed the door behind him and stared at the Pillar. They both knew the police wouldn’t get them as long the door remained locked, but they weren’t sure about how long it’d stand strong against the pounding outside.
“They will try to bomb it sooner or later,” the Pillar said, rocking on the chair and smoking his pipe.
“So what are you waiting for?” the Dude said. “I thought you’d stand up and burn them with you and the asylum.”
“That’d be heroic, yeah?” the Pillar winks. “Actually, I can’t stand up until you leave. I don’t want you to die with me.”
“I had to come back.”
“I knew you would.”
“I have a question.”
“I know you have.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“All of this? You’re confusing everyone. You’re not a good man. You know that.”
“Good and bad are hamburgers and donuts. It’s hard to tell which is worse for your health.”
“Stop the insane analogies and games,” the Dude demanded. “Answer me.”
“Ask me.”
“Why are you doing this? ”
“And by ‘this’ you mean?”
“Saving Alice wherever she goes. Of course, you do it in the weirdest ways, but you keep on planning behind her back to save her.”
“It’s a hobby of mine. I like to save people. Besides, you’re as guilty as me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you do it?”
“Do what?” The Dude tensed.
“Save Alice. You, too, do it in the weirdest ways.”
“That’s because you told me to do it this way.”
“It was the only way possible.”
The Dude said nothing. He knew the Pillar was right.
“We had a deal,” the Pillar said. “A plan we put together.”
“We did.”
“It was risky, but necessary.” The Pillar dragged from his pipe, as if he were Freud and the Dude was his patient. “It worked, don’t you think?”
“It worked very well.” The Dude chuckled a little, his face still veiled in black. “But you never told me you’d blow up the Queen’s head.”
“I never planned to.”
“Then why do it?”
“I just couldn’t resist. I mean me with the gun and this obnoxious stocky thing standing before me. Chances like these happen once in a lifetime.”
“Killing her complicated things.”
“Life is always complicated,” the Pillar said. “Except when you consciously decide it isn’t.”
“I wish I’d written down most of your quotes,” the Dude says. “But I guess there is no time.”
“Yes, there is no time. You have to leave. I have to burn someone.”
“It’s true,” the Dude said. “But before I leave, tell me what’s coming.”
“Meaning?”
“This war that’s starting, what’s it about?”
“The most precious thing.”
“You keep saying that,” the Dude said. “It’s vague.”
“It won’t be when Alice reads my Wonder note, which should be the first thing you do when you escape with her.”
“Just the note? One word? Can it explain everything?”
“It’s my Wonder. It’s the only thing I did right in my life. So yes, it explains everything.”
The Dude tapped his foot on the floor. “Okay, so where is my costume?”
“You don’t need a costume,” the Pillar said. “Just take off that Reds’ cloak and walk out to the police. They will trust your face. They think you’re one of them. I believe you know what to do next.”
“I know,” the Dude said, and took off his costume.