LEHRER: Adalwolf is dead. There’s nothing to discuss.
GLEESON: He’s been dead for over a year, and we still haven’t talked about it. You need to process what happened to him, come to terms with—
Lehrer arches a brow.
GLEESON: —how he died.
LEHRER: He died in the battle for DC. He was a martyr to Carolinia. A hero.
GLEESON: You told me ... you said there was a note.
A pause.
LEHRER (eventually): Yes.
GLEESON: What did the note say?
LEHRER: He wrote that he was going to DC. He ... made it clear he did not expect to return.
GLEESON: But there was no reason for Adalwolf to be in DC, was there? And he was ill.
LEHRER: No. He should have stayed in Durham. Nevertheless ... nevertheless, I’m not convinced this was suicide. I told him to release the virus on DC. I used persuasion. If he misinterpreted the order—
GLEESON: Is that likely?
LEHRER: I don’t know. Possibly. Yes. But on the other hand, Adalwolf was sick. He’d gone fevermad. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that he would have elected to take matters into his own hands.
GLEESON (patiently): And why do you think he would do such a thing?
LEHRER: I told you, he was—
GLEESON: Fevermad, yes. But there’s another reason. You thought it, just now.
Lehrer’s gaze sharpens, and for a moment it’s Gleeson’s turn to sit a little taller, both hands gripping his own knees. Then:
LEHRER: In the letter ... he said something. He said he wanted me to abdicate power. To—move on with my life.
Gleeson says nothing, although Lehrer is clearly expecting him to finish the thought. At last:
LEHRER: I suspect he saw his death as a way to instill grief in me.
GLEESON: Why would he want you to grieve? Why would anyone—
LEHRER (flatly): Because he wanted me to feel something. Those were his words. He wanted to use his own death as a weapon to cut me back into the image of a mind and character he found acceptable. Even after he was gone, he wanted to control me.
GLEESON: Is that how you see it? That Wolf wanted to control you?
LEHRER: Am I wrong?
Gleeson elects not to answer that question.
LEHRER: From the moment I left that hospital, Adalwolf saw me as a tool. I’d always been intelligent. Once Wolf realized he could use me to craft his strategies—to win the war—that became my purpose, in his eyes. Of course ... (Lehrer smiles coldly.) He didn’t anticipate that I might just as easily use my power against him.
Video file is incomplete.
CHAPTERTWELVE
DARA
