“now Jasper this is a simple exercise, just try to remain calm”

The walls were white and soft, a prison for the loathsome and the damned. It had been too long now, but they didn’t remember how long, more than two months, less than a year…too many drugs to remember, not enough to forget.

“jasper?”

Jaspers eyes lit up and he looked at the mans face. The glimmer of Nhils eyes shone through his, he was a man possessed.

“Good morning, like I was saying this is a simple evaluation, like an interview. Its nothing too stressful and it should help us better understand your condition.”

Jasper rested his right arm on the table, his left arm had been removed for safety reasons and as such he was reminded of his mortality and vice versa.

“an interview?”

“uh, yes. Of a sort, don’t worry about it too much and try to keep your answers simple. that is to say not pre-meditated.”

“ok” jasper nodded. Nhil nodded but he didn’t know why.

“very well” the Psychoanalyst straitened his paper and words and began talking.

“how are you feeling today mr. Valik?”

“quiet”

“quiet?”

Jasper simply nodded

“how so?”

“there’s less noise in my head, or I understand it better”

“are you saying the voices are gone?”

“no, and I don’t know how many times to explain it to you but its only one voice, not voices”

“you are referring to Nhil”

“yes but he’s quieter today”

“and why do you think that is?”

The side of jaspers mouth twisted Into a smile and a small laugh forced its way out of him “probably because he’s busy”

The Analyst jotted something down in his mole skin ledger.

“how are your memories today? How much of the past few months do you remember”

“not all but still too much, it’s the events before that are troubling…”

“have you forgotten them as well?”

“no, not forgotten, but its like a watercolour when the colours bleed together, I cant really pick apart our world from theirs.”

“you mean the real and the imaginary”

“I don’t know” jasper slicked back his hair.

“well tell me, how many people did you kill in the weeks leading up to the mayors death?”

Jaspers eyes flickered, skim reading thin air. “did you find his body? Did your recover the mayors body?”

“no, but its been long enough to be sure, now if you don’t mind please answer the question as best you can”

“I don’t know, there was the police chief and his men and that Mr.Whyte, some telefoce operatives, the high priest and the old mayor…that’s eight. And there were the other operatives and the mayors guards…about fourteen”

“we have it estimated at twenty two, and your associate killed a considerable amount more”

“Taras, have you found him?”

“no, as you well know he is extremely good at just dropping off the map. But just to let you know you are extremely lucky you developed this “mental condition” when you did, not that I don’t believe its genuine but just so you know if it had been a regular guy killing this many people he’d be executed before he had time for a last meal”

Jaspers eyes flickered as Nhil woke up. Nhil’s eyes opened onto the pallid room, it was crawling with ten legged diseases, the cracks in the foundation of human logic were here, in a prison built to keep the murders and rapists with mental conditions safe from the public…which murderer is without a mental condition, which rapist is sane. Nhil felt sweat form on the back of his neck, he looked down at his enthral left arm, it wasn’t real…but it was, of coarse it was, if you can imagine it It becomes real.

“well then its good im insane, it must save on electricity”

“actually criminals are put do death by injection now, mostly anyway”

“shame, the electricity was almost as good as the guillotine”

“I don’t mean to offend but am I talking with Nhil now”

Yes good sir, and what a fine talk it is…next question”

The questioner shuffled his shoulders and Nhil could read his discomfort

“very well, “Nhil” can you please reiterate why you went to such extensive lengths to kill the men you did?”

“I don’t see the point, it must be blunt. All you do is jot it down in that little book and incinerate it as you leave the room”

“no, jasp…Nhil I don’t, this is the same ledger I have been conducting all your assessments in, you can look if you like”

The man flicked through the large note book showing numerous documents and notes detailing Jasper Valik.

“Not the book, you incinerate it from your head, your just stacking shelves and when you walk out the doors you burn all you’ve learnt that day…why else would we keep repeating these conversations?”   

“Mr.Valik, I am offended, I take great interest and care in all my patience and the repetition of these conversations is to assess your memory not mine.”

Jasper smirked, Nhil smirked.

“Great interest, you don’t know what that means…I took great interest in the new mayor and you probably take great interest in your new car or your daughters schooling…but you wouldn’t be here if the man at the end of the hall stopped paying your checks, so how can you say you’re greatly interested?”

“I am paid for my work but I went into this career because I find the human mind fascinating…”

“thus the problem arises the “human” mind, what a dire mesh of beige misconceptions and infinite stupidity, there is little in this world or the next that can compare to the internal musings of a human who thinks he understands what is happening, infact we had a difficult time adjusting this time so its no wonder you would”

“Nhil, we are getting off topic”

“ok, well back to the topic of questions then I have one for you…what is the meaning of life?”

The psychoanalyst didn’t answer he simply stared at jasper, at Nhil.

“come on…or do you not know the answer? I assume you would say no one does, well how could you know that? Have you talked to them all? And to state a simpler question how many stars are there? Or how many people are left on the planet? Or where is the nicest place on this world? What is the best colour? Why did the great seas burn up? why do you fear death? What wrong with killing? How many numbers are there? Why did we have this meeting? What happens now? What happens when you realise that the human mind is infinitely more complicated than the answers to the questions I just asked?”

“mr. Valik I can see we have extinguished the usefulness of this meeting”

Jasper nodded, Nhil nodded…he knew why this time.

“its to find out by the way.”

“excuse me?”

“the meaning of life is… for you to find out”

“you see even you with your “godly powers” cant answer the question”

That implies there is no point, but there is and while you may think my answer nonsensical it is very important, the meaning of life is for you to find out…if your not getting closer to finding it every day then you may as well drop dead, your not trying had enough.”

“goodbye Jasper” the man pulled the cell door closed and once again Jasper and Nhil were alone together.

here a link to the old blog http://theoddsandendsoflife.blogspot.com/

well this is a good test post.