Guildbreaker: “Why did you become a Humanist? Humanists are all supposed to have a great ambition, what’s your great ambition? Doctor Weeksbooth?”
Weeksbooth: “I have to go, I’m going to be late.”
Guildbreaker: “Just a couple more questions. The museum director said they offered you professional positions here several times. Why did you turn them down?”
Weeksbooth: “I have a job.”
Guildbreaker: “Do you like running the cars? Are you happy doing that?”
Weeksbooth: “Look, I’ve tried to be cooperative, but I’m not stupid, and we’re not going to let you keep taking advantage of this investigation to poke at me and my bash’. Masons already control a third of the world, you want to control us, too?”
Guildbreaker: “I assure you—”
Weeksbooth: “Get out. Get out of my office!”
Guildbreaker: “I didn’t mean—”
Weeksbooth: “Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!”
Interview ended 15:03 UT.
Selection from interview with Dr. Ember Balin, 16:03 UT 03/26/2454:
Guildbreaker: “So, that first suicide attempt was the reason you were put in charge of Cato’s case?”
Balin: “Yes, in March 2440. Cato was fifteen then.”
Guildbreaker: “How many attempts have there been since?”
Balin: “Officially, three.”
Guildbreaker: “Officially?”
Balin: “The rest of the bash’ watches Cato very carefully, so it’s hard to say how many others they’ve prevented. Several.”
Guildbreaker: “The second attempt was the following year, yes?
Balin: “2441.”
Guildbreaker: “It was two days after Cato officially registered as a Humanist and got their first boots, yes?”
Balin: “Yes.”
Guildbreaker: “Do you think there was a connection there?”
Balin: “What, that if you become a Humanist you try to kill yourself?”
Guildbreaker: “No, but do you think Cato might have been pressured into becoming a Humanist? That they really wanted to be something else?”
Balin: “Cato Weeksbooth is a great person, a great scientist, and a great teacher. Doesn’t that sound like the model Humanist to you? Picking your Hive is a very emotional moment, it brought a lot of other feelings to the fore.”
Guildbreaker: “I’m going to be direct, Doctor, do you think Doctor Weeksbooth wanted to be a Utopian? The Saneer-Weeksbooth bash’ has been Humanist for centuries, there must have been great pressure to stay…”
Balin: “I understand the question.”
Guildbreaker: “And?”
Balin: “Fuck off, Mason.”
Guildbreaker: “Excuse me?”
Balin: “The same goes for all these records you’ve asked to requisition. Medication records? Dates of past sessions with their sensayer? I know that for legally ‘indispensable’ Humanists like Cato Weeksbooth Romanova can override doctor-patient confidentiality, and believe me we wouldn’t be sitting here otherwise, but enough’s enough. Cato Weeksbooth has been a bug under a lens since they were fifteen, and I don’t like you taking advantage of their lack of privacy rights, especially when you have no explanation for this inquisition. If you come in here with a judge’s order then I’ll answer, but until that happens I’m not making Cato’s most personal records and feelings public just because the Emperor’s curious. I also frankly resent the assumption that Cato wouldn’t want to be a Humanist if they weren’t forced to.”
Guildbreaker: “I can assure you, this investigation is very important.”
Balin: “Assure all you like, Mason, but until you can tell me the point of all this, or until I see a judge’s signature on my screen, I’m not budging. Ask Cato in person if you want to know how they feel about Utopians: if they won’t say I won’t.”
Guildbreaker: “I see. Then the third suicide attempt was when?”
Balin: “July thirteenth, 2449.”
Guildbreaker: “Five years ago. And do you know the cause of that one?”
Balin: “If you’re going to requisition Cato’s sealed files, Mason, you may as well bother to read them.”
Guildbreaker: “I’m sorry?”
Balin: “Cato’s parents and the entire rest of the parent generation of their bash’ died in a rafting accident.”
Guildbreaker: “What?”
Balin: “All their ba’pas, the Saneers, the Weeksbooths, the Typers, the Snipers, all of them, drowned on their annual whitewater rafting trip. It was hushed up, coming only nine years after the Canner Murders, everyone would’ve gone crazy about bash’-loss making people into monsters. Let an expert tell you, Canner was a much more complicated case. And this wasn’t as extreme as Canner, since the rafting trip only included the Saneer-Weeksbooth ba’pa generation, none of the kids died, but anything that has to be compared to Mycroft Canner is a bad thing. Cato was institutionalized for two months after that.”
Guildbreaker: “Was Cato the only one who was badly affected?”
Balin: “They were all badly affected, all their ba’pas died.”
Guildbreaker: “I mean—”
Balin: “I know what you meant. Lesley Juniper Sniper Saneer was also institutionalized for … I can’t remember how long, not more than a week. Lesley didn’t actually try anything but it was Lesley’s second bash’loss so we wanted to be extra careful. The ba’kids were all watched closely, they always are, being so indispensable, but Cato and Lesley were the only two with any history of instability. You really had no idea about this, did you? So much for the Empire seeing all and knowing all.”
Guildbreaker: “What about the last attempt? You said Cato had one more official suicide attempt?”
Balin: “December eighth, 2450. That one was … let’s call it a theological crisis.”
Guildbreaker: “Can you be more specific?”
Balin: “I can tell you to fuck off as many times as you like, Mason, it’s kind of fun. Anyway, I wasn’t as deeply involved that time. I always handled Cato jointly with their sensayer, Esmerald Revere, and Esmerald handled that incident.”
Guildbreaker: “For the record, this is the sensayer Esmerald Revere who died by suicide on March sixteenth of this year?”
Balin: “Yes. It’s really only been eight days, hasn’t it? Feels like longer.”
Guildbreaker: “You knew Member Revere a long time?”
Balin: “Since I took on Cato’s case. I’ve never thought it was a good idea for that bash’ all to share one sensayer. Cato for one needs a specialist. Most of that bash’ does, really, Lesley being orphaned twice, the two set-sets, Sniper being Sniper, the Typer twins are an odd case, and Ockham Saneer really should have a sensayer who specializes in officers licensed to kill. But they all insist their bash’ has shared a sensayer for umpteen generations, so who are we to say different. Esmerald was the finest sensayer I ever worked with. I trust Julia Doria-Pamphili, and I’m sure this new sensayer Julia’s chosen must be something special or they wouldn’t send a Cousin in, but there’s not another Esmerald Revere out there, there just isn’t. Anyway, it’s time for my next appointment, if you don’t have any more teeth to pull today, Mason.”