I get the feeling this is not what it wants, so I let my body fall out of its undeniably psychiatric bearing. We are now two ordinary men talking. I give a silent laugh at the thought of either of us as ordinary.
"The experiment. conducted by. the Strangers. was fundamentally. flawed. And yet I. was powerless. to stop it. If I know. anything about your. nature. what little I know. poses no threat. to you. Perhaps you fear. the unknown. If you have not. spoken to one of. us. before. you feel as though. you are risking. everything. But you. control this. reality. I do not. stand a. chance of. unravelling it. And as far. as I can tell. there is no harm. in what you do. I wish. I knew why. but. I am content to. know that I. cannot know. the affairs. of a mind that. encompasses. my own."
I am good at making myself seem small and harmless when I need to, and also at making people believe I am vital. But I have no doubt that the City will make up its own mind about me. I myself am not sure how useful - or how harmful - I could be. I do not understand where I fit in to this 'balance'. I let it hear the questions, the desire to understand. And at the back of my mind, an injured ego cries out, 'Why me?'