Saturday, 6 November 2021

Empathy Requires Insight, Not Guesswork




If you think that 
she must feel that way, because 
THIS is happening to HER, 
then you don’t understand Human Beings at all.

This is a Miraculous Pregnancy 
in the barren womb of an infertile woman — 
There are Precedents, of course…

Amongst the women 
of The Faithful, 
having prayed for A Miracle —
They then got one.





David-8 :
My Deepest Condolences.
[ I Question Your Sincerity, Lore. ]

I'm going to have to take this.
(he confiscates her protective amulet — a cross necklace)
It may be contaminated.

Shaw :
If there's A Contagion,
we were all exposed.
You need... We need to run blood work on everyone who set foot in The Pyramid.

David-8 :
Yes, of course.

Shaw :
Yes?

David-8 :
I understand how inappropriate this is given The Circumstances.

But as you ordered quarantine fail-safes it's My Responsibility to ask :

Have You and Dr. Holloway
had any intimate contact recently?

Since you and he were so close...
I want to be as thorough as poss...

My, my -

You're pregnant.

Shaw :
What?

David-8 :
From the look of it, three months so.

Shaw :
No, that's impossible.
I can't be pregnant.

David-8 :
Did you have intercourse with Dr. Holloway?

Shaw :
Yes... but 10 hours ago.
There's no bloody way
I'm three months pregnant.

David-8 :
Well, Doctor...
it's not exactly a traditional fetus.

Shaw :
I want to see it.

….don't think that's A Good Idea.
[ You might get upset. ]

Shaw :
David, I want to see it.

David-8 :
Now, Doctor...

Shaw :
I want to see it.
I want it out of me.

David-8 :
We don't have the personnel to perform a procedure like that.
Our Best Option...

Shaw :
I want it out.

David-8 :
…put you back into cryostasis until we return to Earth.

[ Freezing the infected UnDead Engineer’s Head didn’t work at stopping The Black Oil cancer-filth infection dead in it’s tracks, why should it work with her..? It won’t, obviously. ]

Shaw :
Please, get it out of me.
Get it out of me!
Please.

David-8 :
It must be very painful.
Here, let me give you something.
That's it. There, there.

Someone will be along shortly
to bring you back to Cryo Deck.

It must feel like 
Your God abandoned you.

Shaw :
What!?

David-8 :
To lose Dr. Holloway after Your Father died
under such similar circumstances.
What was it that killed him?
Ebola?

Shaw :
How do you...? 
How do you know that?

David-8 :
I watched Your Dreams.



[Data's quarters]
(Data is packing a very small carry case. It's contents include a small holo-projector that displays an image of Tasha Yar, an impressive collection of medals, He puts a book on the desk and then Maddox walks in without even knocking. Data comes back with another item to find Maddox reading) 


MADDOX
'When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, 
I all alone beweep my outcast state'.

 Is it just words to you, 
or Do You fathom The Meaning? 


DATA
Is it not customary to request permission before entering an individual's quarters? 


MADDOX
I thought that we could talk this out, 
that I could try to persuade you. 

Your Memories and Knowledge 
will remain intact. 


DATA
Reduced to the mere facts of The Events. 
The substance, the flavour 
of The Moment, could be lost

Take Games of Chance. 


MADDOX
Games of Chance? 


DATA
Yes, I had read and absorbed every treatise and textbook on the subject, and felt myself 
well-prepared for The Experience. 

Yet, when I finally played poker, 
I discovered that The Reality bore little resemblance to The Rules.

MADDOX
And the point being? 


DATA
That while I believe it is possible to download the information contained in The Positronic Brain, 
I do not think you have acquired The Expertise necessary to preserve 
The Essence of those experiences. 

There is an ineffable quality to Memory 
which I do not believe can survive Your Procedure. 


MADDOX
Ineffable quality
I had rather we had done this together
but one way or the other, 
we are doing it. 
You are under My Command. 


DATA
No, sir, I am not under your 
nor anyone else's command. 
I have resigned from Starfleet. 


MADDOX
Resigned? You can't resign. 


DATA: 
I regret the decision, but I must

I am the culmination of 
One Man's Dream —
This is not Ego or Vanity
but when Doctor Soong created me 
he added to The Substance 
of The Universe. 

If, by Your Experiments, I am Destroyed, Something Unique, Something Wonderful will be lost

I cannot permit that, 
I must protect His Dream. 






“Experience by itself proves nothing. If a man doubts whether he is Dreaming or Waking, no experiment can solve his doubt, since every experiment may itself be part of The Dream. 


Experience proves this, or that, or nothing, according to the preconceptions we bring to it.


This fact, that the interpretation of experiences depends on preconceptions, is often used as an argument against miracles. 


It is said that our ancestors, taking the supernatural for granted and greedy of wonders, read the miraculous into events that were really not miracles. 


And in a sense I grant it. That is to say, I think that just as our preconceptions would prevent us from apprehending miracles if they really occurred, so their preconceptions would lead them to imagine miracles even if they did not occur. 


In the same way, the doting man will think his wife faithful when she is not and the suspicious man will not think her faithful when she is: the question of her actual fidelity remains, meanwhile, to be settled, if at all, on other grounds


But there is one thing often said about our ancestors which we must not say. 


We must not say `They believed in miracles because they did not know the Laws of Nature.' 

This is nonsense. 


When St Joseph discovered that his bride was pregnant, he was `minded to put her away'.' 


He knew enough biology for that


Otherwise, of course he would not have regarded pregnancy as a proof of infidelity. When he accepted the Christian explanation, he regarded it as A Miracle precisely because he knew enough of The Laws of Nature to know that this was a suspension of them. 


When the disciples saw Christ walking on the water they were frightened:6 they would not have been frightened unless they had known the laws of Nature and known that this was an exception. If a man had no conception of a regular order in Nature, then of course he could not notice departures from that order: just as a dunce who does not understand the normal metre of a poem is also unconscious of the poet's variations from it. 


Nothing is wonderful except the abnormal and nothing is abnormal until we have grasped The Norm


Complete ignorance of The Laws of Nature would preclude the perception of The Miraculous just as rigidly as complete disbelief in the supernatural precludes it, perhaps even more so. 


For while The Materialist would have at least to explain miracles away, the man wholly ignorant of Nature would simply not notice them.


The Experience of A Miracle in fact requires two conditions. 


First we must believe in A Normal Stability of  Nature, which means we must recognise that the data offered by our sense

Cassie




 

"Mandela said, 
'People must Learn to Hate.' 

And, yes, I admit 
I'm paraphrasing here -

- leaving out a lot of 

lovey-dovey Inclusion stuff -


- but he was right

People must Learn to Hate.


I'm going to be 
Their Teacher."


— Cassandra Nova

Good evening. I'm Stu Nahan, with Bill Baldwin.
We welcome you to Madison Square Garden.

It's the anxiously awaited rematch between 
former champion Rocky Balboa 
and the reigning champion Clubber Lang.
We now switch to our remote cameras 
inside the dressing rooms.

Would you comment on how you plan to fight Balboa? What's your strategy?
 

Don't need any
Balboa's so Predictable and Stupid —
 The Man comes straight ahead. 
He's tailor-made for me,
and he’s gonna Get Hurt.

 - That's good. - Turn 'em over. Good?

 How does that look? OK?

 No, I don't hate Balboa. But I pity the fool.
 And I will destroy any man who tries to take what I got.

 Remember where you came from.

 Remember what it took to get you here.

 And remember what he did to you last time, right?

 Both are brawlers, with the edge and power going to Clubber Lang,

 so I would say the odds are very long against Balboa regaining his title.

 Now it's your turn. It's your turn, huh?

 What's your prediction for the fight?

 - Prediction? - Yes. Prediction.

 Pain.
 

They SHOWED Me How IT Appeared to THEM



The View from 1990 :
Transsexuals are very passive.

THEREFORE,
if someone going around Killing Women 
and Harvesting Their SKINS 
to stitch together 
A Woman Suit —

Then, Lecter Says :

Billy isn't a real Transexual :

But he THINKS he is --
He tries to be.  

The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

You see, Memory's The Thing.


It's The Key.


It's The Key to Everything.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

If It really does want us back here, don't you think the smartest thing we can do is just get the hell out of Derry?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

No, no, no. It does want us back.

Of course It does!

But It doesn't know I know What I Know.


What do you know?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

How to kill the shit out of It!

I've read every book.

I've talked to every person in this godforsaken town, everybody that would talk to me, anyway, 

and that's not a long list.


But it wasn't enough.


I had to know how this all started.

How IT started.

And IT started here


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

Whoa.

What am I looking at, Mike? 


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

It's an artifact.

Early 18th century Shokopiwah.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

Shoko... How'd you get it?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

I found it, in the...

No, no, they gave it to me --

I stole it.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

You stole it?!

From Native Americans?!? 



The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

Uh... It's complicated. 


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

Yeah, it is......!!


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

They helped me on my journey.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

So beautiful.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

They showed me things. 

A Vision.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

Ow.

Holy fuck.

I feel kind of funky.

Hot.

Am I sweating?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

I need you to see what they showed me, Bill.

Bill. They live outside of Derry.

Beyond It's reach.


They moved there many years ago.

Their Holy man, Their Holy of Holies, he took me in.

Fed me their sacred Maturin.


I started to...  To react.


All living things must abide 

by the laws of the shape they inhabit.


While I sat there, looking out over the valley, I saw It arrive.

I knew that one day, I would have to make you all see.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

Mike, did you put something in my drink?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

It's, uh... It's a root.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

You...

You drugged me? You drugged me?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

No, it's a root, with properties.

It's just a micro-dose of what 

the Shokopiwah gave me...


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

Why would you do that?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

...to open my eyes.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

I don't feel real good.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

I need you to look, and you'll see.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

I don't feel good.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

Open your eyes.

Open your eyes.


They showed Me The Past.

Showed Me the way It appeared to Them.

They showed Me Their Pain.


They showed Me How to Stop It!


It's over.

It's over. You're okay. You're okay. 

Did you see it?

The ritual?


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

The Ritual of Chud? 


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

Yeah, I knew you...

I knew you would see it.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

I saw the whole fucking thing, Mike.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

That's How We Kill It.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

How are we going to do it?

Everybody already said no.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

But with YouThey'll Listen.


This won't work without All of Us.


The Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier of 2016/9 :

Okay. So, what do you mean that you've seen us all die?

Yeah, 'cause I gotta be honest.

That's a fucked-up thing to just drop on somebody.



The Beverley Marsh of 2016/9 :

Every night since Derry,

I've been having these nightmares.

People in Pain. People Dying.

People...


So, you have nightmares.

I have nightmares. People, they have nightmares.

But that doesn't mean that your visions are true.


I've watched every single one of us...


You've seen every single one of us what?


At the place that Stanley wound up.

That's How We End.


Okay, how come the rest of us aren't seeing that shit?

I mean, what makes her so different?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

The Deadlights.


The Deadlights.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

She was the only one of us that got caught in 

The Deadlights that day.


We were all touched by It.

ChangedDeep down. 

Like An Infection. Or A Virus.


A Virus. You understand.

Slowly growing.


That Virus, it's been growing for 27 years.

This whole time, metastasizing.

It just got to Stan first, because...


The Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier of 2016/9 :

He was The Weakest.


Jesus Christ, Rich.


The Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier of 2016/9 :

Just Saying What Everyone Else is Thinking, man.



I mean, Rich, come on.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

What Beverly sees, it will come to pass.

It's What'll Happen to All of Us

eventually, unless we stop It.


How the hell are we supposed to do that?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

The Ritual of Chud.


The Shokopiwah.

The first ones who fought IT, They have A Saying.


"All Living Things 

must abide by The Laws 

of The Shape They Inhabit."


The Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier of 2016/9 :

A tribal ritual?

Are you fucking kidding me, man?


All right, there's gotta be another way.

Okay? This thing comes back, what, every 27 years?

Let's just kick the can down the road and do it then.


The Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier of 2016/9 :

Wait, we'll be 70 years old, asshole.


The Beverley Marsh of 2016/9 :

It doesn't work that way.

None of Us make it another 20 years, 

and the way it happens...


So, if We don't beat It this cycle, 

then... We die.


Horribly.


Yeah, I don't need the "horribly" part.


The Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier of 2016/9 :

I didn't say it. She said it. Not me.


The Bill Denbrough of 2016/9 :

All right, guys. Look.

I've seen What He's Talking About, and it's all True.

It's the only way.


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

If we want this ritual to work...

We have to remember.


Remember what?


The Mike Hanlon of 2016/9 :

It's better if I show you.

We don't have much time.


His cycle will end soon.

And once it does...


We're fucked.


The Barrens.


This is where we came.

After The Rock Fight.


The Clubhouse.






Little Bo Peep :

Sir, I told you this is just a routine

follow-up on the Raspail case.


Dr. Chilton :

He is My Patient. I have rights.


Little Bo Peep :

I understand that, sir.


Dr. Chilton :

Look, I am not just some turnkey,

Miss Starling.


Little Bo Peep :

This is the number for the US Attorney's office.


Please, either you discuss this with him

or you let me do my job.


Do you understand?


*****


Little Bo Peep :

If your profile helps us catch Buffalo Bill

in time to save Catherine Martin...

the senator promises you a transfer

to the VA hospital at Oneida Park, New York,

with a view of the woods nearby.


Maximum security still applies, of course.

You'd have reasonable access to books.


Best of all though,

one week of the year, you get to leave the hospital

and go here -- Plum Island.


Every day of that week, you may walk on the beach,

you may swim in the ocean, for up to one hour --

under SWAT team surveillance, of course.


--And there you have it.

A copy of the Buffalo Bill case file.

Copy of the senator's offer.

This offer is non-negotiable and final.

Catherine Martin dies, you get nothing.


"Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center."

Sounds charming.


Little Bo Peep :

That's only part of the island.

There's a very, very nice beach.


Terns nest there. It's beautiful.


Terns? Mm.


The Wolf :

If I help you, Clarice, it will be "turns" with us too.


Quid Pro Quo.

I tell you things, you tell me things.

Not about this case though.

About Yourself.


Quid pro quo. 

Yes or No?


Yes or No, Clarice?

Poor little Catherine is waiting.


Little Bo Peep :

Go, Doctor.

[ Come, boy - Suckle. ]


The Wolf :

What is your Worst Memory of Childhood?


Little Bo Peep :

Death of My Father.


The Wolf :

Tell me about it. 

And Don't Lie, or I'll know.


Little Bo Peep :

He was The Town Marshal, and...

one night he surprised two burglars coming out

of the back of a drugstore.


They shot him.


The Wolf :

Was he killed outright?


Little Bo Peep :

No. He was Very Strong.

He lasted more than a month.


My mother died when I was very young, so -

My father had become the whole world to me, and, uh, when he left me, I had nothing.


I was 10 years old.


The Wolf :

You're very Frank, Clarice.

I think it would be quite something

to know you in Private Life.


Little Bo Peep :

Quid pro quo, Doctor.


The Wolf :

So tell me about Miss West Virginia.

Was she a LARGE girl?


Little Bo Peep :

Yes.


The Wolf :

Big through the hips?

Roomy?


Little Bo Peep :

They all were.


The Wolf :

What else?


Little Bo Peep :

She had an object deliberately inserted into her throat.

Now, that hasn't been made public yet.

We don't know What it Means, yet.


The Wolf :

Was it a Butterfly?


Little Bo Peep :

Yes. A Moth.

Just like the one we found 

in Benjamin Raspail's head an hour ago.


Why does he place them there, Doctor?


The Wolf :

....The Significance of The Moth is Change.

Caterpillar into chrysalis or pupa...

And, from thence, into Beauty.


Our Billy wants To Change too.


Little Bo Peep :

No, There's NO correlation in the literature 

between Transsexualism and Violence.

Transsexuals are very passive.

[ The Activists AREN’T. ]


The Wolf :

Clever girl.

You're so close to the way you're

gonna catch him. Do you realise that?


Little Bo Peep :

No. Tell me why.


The Wolf :

After your father's murder, you were orphaned.

What Happened Next?


I Don't Imagine The Answer 

is on those second-rate shoes, Clarice.


I went to live with my mother's cousin 

and her husband in Montana.

They had a ranch.


The Wolf :

Was it a cattle ranch?


Little Bo Peep :

Sheep and horses.


The Wolf :

How long did you live there?


Little Bo Peep :

Two months.


The Wolf :

Why so briefly?


Little Bo Peep :

I ran away.


The Wolf :

Why, Clarice?

Did the rancher make you perform fellatio?

Did he sodomize you?


Little Bo Peep :

No. He was a very decent man.

Quid pro quo, Doctor.


The Wolf :

Billy is not a real transsexual.

But he thinks he is. He tries to be.

He's tried to be a lot of things, I expect.



Little Bo Peep :

You said I was very close to the way we would catch him.

What did you mean, Doctor?


The Wolf :

There are three major centers for transsexual surgery —

Johns Hopkins, the University of Minnesota, 

and Columbus Medical Center.

I wouldn't be surprised if Billy had applied 

for sex reassignment 

at one or all of them and been rejected.


Little Bo Peep :

On what basis would they reject him?

[ Today? Absolutely NONE. ]


The Wolf :

Look for severe childhood disturbances 

associated with violence.


Our Billy wasn't born a criminal, Clarice.

He was made one through years of systematic abuse.


Billy hates his own identity, you see,

and he thinks that makes him a transsexual.


But his pathology is a thousand times more savage

and more terrifying.




The Ram :

It rubs lotion on its skin.

It does this whenever it's told.


The Lamb :

Mister, my family will pay cash.

Whatever ransom you're askin' for,

they'll pay it.


The Ram :

It rubs the lotion on its skin,

or else it gets The Hose again.


Yes, it will, Precious.

It will get The Hose.