"MAN FACING SOUTHEAST" "To My Father" "Mirta... my love..." "I fired twice, as we agreed." "There were two bullets left for me." "I put the revolver here and fired the other two shots..." "Then I couldn't see anything." "I could only hear her moan." "She was suffering..." "I wanted to help her, but there were no more bullets." "I couldn't see through the blood." "I heard her, but I didn't know where she was." "The blood gushed from me like water from a broken pipe..." "She was gone." "We'd agreed to die together." "She had bought the gun." "I failed her." "How could it be?" "You must help me." "He thinks I can help?" "I fired twice..." "A priest could help more." "There were two bullets left for me." "He'll never rid himself of those images." "I'll sedate him." "Soon he'll disappear among the rest." "He'll be on more, but he'll never be himself." "As we agreed." "How would he react if I touched his hand?" "She was moaning..." "It would show affection, tenderness." "My God..." "How he must need it." "But he can't expect that from me." "I put the revolver here and fired the other two shots." "Neither do I." "I could only hear her moan." "She was suffering." "Poor fool." "He doesn't realize he's being punished." "A prolonged agony." "I wanted to help her, but there were no more bullets." "You didn't save yourself." "Welcome to Hell." "Don't worry, we'll help you." "Excuse me, Doctor." "How many patients have you?" "32, I think." "You must know it." " Check the registry." " I have checked." " There should be 32." " Has someone escaped?" "Just the opposite." "There's one too many." "I checked the other wards." "Everything's in order." "Nobody's missing." "No new patients have been admitted." " When did you discover this?" " This morning." " Which one?" " He must be outside." "He's in the chapel." "He's a good man." "He comes from far away." "It's only a series of vibrations, but they have a good effect on the men." "Where does the magic lie?" "In the instruments?" "In the one that wrote it?" "In me?" "In those that hear it?" "I cannot understand what they feel." "Yes, I can understand." "I just can't feel it." "Do you understand?" "Excuse me." "I am Rantes." "How did you get here?" "To earth?" "In a spaceship." "You're a Martian." "Doctor, that is an insult." "You are an intelligent man." "Do you always underestimate your patients like this?" "Are you a patient?" "No, but I'm not a Martian." "I come from far away..." "from another world." "It's pointless to explain." "You wouldn't believe me anyway." "But you came in a spaceship and landed right here... in our courtyard." "No." "Coordinates 34 degrees latitude south, 61 longitude west." "In a field, near a place called" "Junin, I believe." "I shouldn't reveal so much information." "All right, Rantes, or whoever you are..." "We're alone..." "We're not the police." "You're involved in something shady and want to hide out here." "You're not the first, who would look here, right?" "Look, I don't care what you've done, but don't waste my time." "If you stay, I'll have to contact the police." "You know the best way to protect my mission?" "Telling the truth." "Who's going to believe it?" "And the best place to tell the truth is this." "Anywhere else, you know what would happen?" "They would bring me here." "I would be back here telling you the same things." "If you're gone tomorrow, no one will say anything." "If you stay...." "Do you know what you're in for?" "I know the methods, all the methods that you humans use." "I think he's faking." "Tomorrow he may be gone." "If he stays, just in case, give him a sedative." " What about his file, Doctor?" " Put..." "Unidentified Flying Patient, until we find out his name." "Dr. Denis, this is Dr. Gimenez's secretary." "I'm confirming the interview on Tuesday at 3.00." "Julio, it's Nolasco." "I'm calling about the clinic." "Give me a call." "Ciao, a hug." "Horrible machine, tell my Daddy when you see him that I called to tell him that Saturday, when he comes to see us, to take Consuelo and me to see the Moscow Circus." "Buy the tickets." "Bye, machine." "A kiss to Daddy." "If Rantes was faking it, the lengths that he went to made him sick." "He sat for hours without moving, without blinking." "Totally isolated." "Immersed in someplace, I began to suspect that was too far away, but not outwards, as he said, but inwards." "Rantes, what do you do in the gardens?" "You spend hours without moving." "I receive and transmit information." "I told you I need to learn your identity." "The police will come to take your fingerprints." " I hope it doesn't bother you." " No." "I would find that amusing." "It's just... if my prints should match someone who's dead, don't be scared." "Rantes, do you believe that could happen?" "I mean, do you... believe that you could be dead and be here, in front of me?" "Yes." "Not in such simple terms, of course." "But... in reality most of these men are dead but they're here..." "Sometimes in front of you." "They're dead in what way?" "What do you think?" "You are a sincere son of a bitch, a faking son of a bitch, which is even crazier." "My mother would find your statements amusing." "What's her name?" "We have no mother." "At least they never told us." " You're a robot." " No." "You are all robots." "You just haven't realized it." "All right." "I'm a robot." "What are you?" " You wouldn't understand." " Try me." "You are in the prehistory of the holograms." "Holograms?" "Yes." "A type of photograph obtained through a laser beam." "It's an experiment done in our physics laboratories." "We have been able..." "How can I explain?" "To have those images take shape in space through what you would call a large projector programmed with a highly complex computer to include the vital information for that image to be alive." "Let's see..." "You're telling me that you are a projection." "In a way." "I... my spaceship..." "We are as images projected in space." "I say "images" for your benefit, because, in reality, I could do without your eyes." "You could close them." "I'd still exist." "I breathe." "You can touch me, I can touch you." "We are perfect human replicas." "Except for one detail." "We cannot feel." ""I cannot feel. "" "That was one of the most moving confessions." "I'd ever heard from a patient." "I hadn't been feeling much for my profession." "I hadn't been so interested in a patient in a long time." "And I hadn't been happy in a long time." "Soon they would take his fingerprints." "I guessed that Rantes had been a mathematician... maybe a physicist." "He had mentioned a physics laboratory." "This is a hologram." "The laser bounces off the object leaving its impression on the plate." "Then, to reconstruct the image we use another laser." " Is this an experiment?" " It's a laboratory experience." "The object is registered indirectly on the photographic plate." "Understand?" "The hologram represents the object in code." "Could people be photographed and projected in space?" "For example, projecting a person here so that person would seem reel?" "It could be done with pulsating lasers, but it would just be the image of its outward appearance lacking all the other attributes of a real person." "Why assume that a person who talks about physics must be a physicist?" "He could just know about certain phenomena and make up a story." "Who'd use such information for non-scientific purposes?" "What is he?" "A writer." "A writer." "A writer or just a reader." "Reader?" "Why did I think that?" "Reader of what?" "Fiction was not one of my interests, but in Rantes' description of holograms had a literary feel to it." "Someplace I had read something similar." "That business of projecting human beings..." "In some book... and I had it." ""I began to find unknown waves and vibrations and devised instruments to capture and transmit them. "" ""Here's the machine's first component. "" ""The second records, the third projects. "" ""It doesn't require screen or papers. "" ""If you open all the receivers, Madeleine appears, complete, reproduced, identifiable. "" ""Remember that we refer to images extracted from mirrors... with sounds... resistance to touch, taste, the smells, the temperature, perfectly synchronized. "" ""Morel's Invention. " Adolfo Bioy Casares, 1940." "If Rantes had written his story instead of telling me, he could have become a famous writer, instead of the lunatic I hoped to unmask." "Okay." "Rantes could have been a physicist or read "Morel's Invention. "" "But what would that prove?" "Take it easy." "There are only two alternatives." "Either Rantes is crazy or he's from another planet." "No, old man." "There cannot be two alternatives." " What is it?" " The report on Rantes' fingerprints." " I don't understand." " They're not on file." "He doesn't exist." " Any explanations?" " A Uruguayan... who suddenly turned up here would have no records." "He always looks in the same direction." "He always orients himself in the same direction between the water tank and Pavillion 6." "What direction is that?" " Which way is north?" " There." "Then he faces towards the south." "South..." " Southeast... right?" " Yes, southeast." "Southeast." "And why not southwest?" "Or north?" " Southeast." " What does he say?" "That he receives and transmits information." "Whatever it is... on that line... there must be some clue to his past." "We're changing the medication for the patient in bed 7, Rantes." "He is delirious and he's not improving." "We'll try to depress him." "I want a daily report, O.K.?" "He's a good man, he comes from far away." "Everyone seems to like you." "I thought about what you told me that you couldn't feel." "What about that?" "Can we chat?" "How about some coffee?" "My projection includes all the information to do many things." "To play Bach... and other things that would surprise you." "To me, it's only information." "Why do psychiatrists lean back when they listen?" "They think it's contagious?" "Forgive me." "It's just a habit." "Now, Rantes..." " You gave that patient your coat." " He was cold." "What compelled you to give him your coat?" " He was cold." " Stop bullshitting me, Rantes." "You felt something for that man." "No, it's a totally rational reaction." "If someone is cold, I help." "You're programmed for that." " Do you have hallucinations?" " No, you do." "I'm one of your hallucinations." "You're a complete lunatic." "But you're a very special lunatic." "You worry me." "You really do." "I appreciate your worrying about me." "It's not customary to care about someone else here." "In this hospital?" "On this planet." "What about yours?" "Tell me about that." "Where did you live?" "In a town?" "In a city?" "No data found." "That information is unavailable." "Ask again." "I don't want to deceive you." "I could describe any town, any city..." "That would be deceiving you." "It wouldn't be a town as you understand it... nor would it be the past you're seeking." "You're my past... this moment..." "this world." "You want to take me to man's past." "But how could you understand that?" "Relax, Doctor." "What's worrying you?" "If I were a dictator and could command powerful armies, I could understand." "But I'm not." "I'm in an asylum." "Everyone knows that I'm crazy." "You, too, right?" "Rantes, you're sick." "I'm a doctor." "I want to cure you, that's all." "I want you to understand me, not cure me." "Even though he didn't believe it, I tried to understand." "In fact, it was becoming my life's main objective to understand Rantes." "He passed every test, as expected." "Sticking to his crazy beliefs, each time more complex, more perfect." "The intelligence test rated him as a genius." "No analysis showed any physical abnormality, all the results indicated he was healthy." "Except for one detail... he claimed to come from another world." " We're seeing the circus?" " No." "I didn't have time to buy tickets." " Where are we going?" " To the zoo." "Again?" "What are you doing?" "Keep still." "Sit straight." "Leave that alone." "Waiter!" "Here." "One steak!" " The steak!" " What?" " My steak?" " I put it there." " Where?" " I left it there." "People are waiting!" " Did you take it?" " Where?" "Time went by." "Rantes became just another shadow." "One of many... acknowledged only by the priest, who now had an incredible organist." "Rantes didn't exist, except for me." "No other doctor acknowledged him." "At that time I was the only witness to his existence." "If Rantes was crazy, he was crazy only for me." "His delirium didn't diminish." "Apparently, he had avoided taking the anti-psychotics." "I could have injected him." "For some reason, I chose not to." "Rantes' delirium was harmless and for the moment, perfect." "I just had to wait." "I was sure that, at any moment, he would make a mistake." "I want to ask a favor." "Would you arrange for me to work in Pathology?" "In Pathology?" "What would you do in Pathology?" "Let's say... cleaning... maintenance." "I see, you're bored." "You want to use your hands." " What about the handicraft workshop?" " No, Doctor." "What would you have me make?" "Wooden boxes that read "Souvenir from Nuthouse"?" "I'm not bored." "I want to work in Pathology." "You're my only friend with any power here." "Sending a lunatic to work in Pathology would make you a lunatic." "The cleaning story is a good pretext." "That's the pretext." "What's the real motive?" "To investigate." " Investigate what?" " Man's brain." " Your brain?" " No, your brain." "I hate to disappoint you." "All signs indicate your brain is exactly like mine or any other human's." "Then why are you considered sane and I'm considered insane?" "He sure seems like he's from another planet." "He is a good man." "Gentle." "O.K. Leave him with me." "On a conditional basis." "If he behaves, he stays." "He'll be useful." "It's the only way to get an assistant." "There's not even money for coffins." "The other day I sent out two corpse in the same box." "Behold... a genius." "I wonder what made him go nuts." "When he dies, I get the autopsy." "You're a son of a bitch." "Yes, it's mine." " All these clippings..." " It's information." " About what?" " About the world's deadliest weapon." "We know how to defend against your other weapons." "Not this one." "It baffles us." " What weapon, Rantes?" " Stupidity." "Human stupidity." "Why do you say "us"?" "I'm not the only inhabitant of my planet nor am I the only one here." "For God's sake, Rantes, don't tell me there are others." "You're plenty." "This same scene is happening all over the world." "Other Rantes facing other doctors like you in other nuthouses, having the same discussion at this very moment." "And we're all saying exactly the same thing." "Check it out." "Call them." "Dr. de la Fuente, Madrid." "223-4563." "Dr. Lamarque, Lima." "42-6126." "You speak English?" "French?" "If one of you would call, you could change history, but we know you won't." "It is beyond the limits of what you can accept." "We are beyond those limits." "O.K., if I accept all those doctors are talking to all the Rantes, what do these clippings mean?" "The daily crimes." "If God is within you, you assassinate God every day." "How does this concern you?" "We are preparing the rescue." "Do you see why a nuthouse is the safest place?" "I can tell you this confidential information because nobody will believe it." " What rescue?" " The rescue of the victims, those who cannot survive amidst the terror." "Those broken by the horror, those who are without hope..." "here." "It will not be robbery." "All you've left out are the words "Blessed are the Meek"." "You made a mistake in assuming your role." "You say you are from another planet." "You should have said you were Christ." "My story might've been different but not your reaction." "Rantes, did you have children?" "Why do you keep this?" "They also cannot live with horror... and they die like ants." "International Operator, one moment, please." "International Operator, one moment, please." "An invasion of Christs was an amusing idea." "God forgive me." "The absurdity of it amused me." "The old, official version of one Christ always seemed absurd, but it never amused me." "I didn't know why, but it was impossible to get the thought out of my mind." "I wondered, if this were true, why was that Christ a social being, one with a political approach while this one isolated himself completely?" "Things had not gone well that time." "Perhaps this time they decided to change their tactics." "My God!" "Rantes was probably right in saying that psychiatrists lean back to avoid being infected." "In his case, I had committed the indiscretion of not doing it." "Sometimes a perfumed breeze comes through a window." "Does it call up some old memories?" "I don't have memories that can be activated that way... but if I had them, certain smells, certain perfumes would harm me." "We have lost many agents that way." " How's that?" " Agents..." "like me." "They feel things they are not programmed for and separate themselves from the beam." "They have deserted, why?" "For things that you would consider stupid." "Perfume coming through a window, for example, a woman's fragrance, a catchy saxophone melody." " A saxophone?" "Did you know I play the saxophone?" " No." "But, please, Doctor, don't take me literally." "Don't show up with a saxophone to try to destroy me." "I don't understand something." "You talk about sensations... sensations that seriously upset the people of your planet." "Combinations are produced which make our computerized memory begins to malfunction." "We still do not know why." "That's why I asked to work in Pathology." "To investigate." "Why don't you stop bullshitting?" "I will help you, I really will." "I know that you're afraid to see yourself as merely a man, as a sick man, but don't worry, I will not abandon you." "But you have to help me." "You're a great guy, Rantes." "It's a pity." "You're a great guy, too, but you're not happy." "You know it, and it doesn't bother you." "Human beings resign themselves to so many destructive things." "They do nothing to change things." "Is it stupidity or are you paying for your sins?" "Home again." "Rantes, it's still early." "How about some coffee?" "Why should I be cured?" "Can you give me a serious reason we can discuss here?" "Rantes, if you're not a lunatic," "I would concede that you are an extraterrestrial." "That would mean that I'm a lunatic." "Nature allows only for very slow change accepting a change of species before a change of conscience." "I'm more rational than you." "I respond rationally to stimulus." "If someone suffers, I console him." "If someone needs my help, I give it." "Why do you think I'm crazy?" "If someone looks at me, I respond." "If someone talks, I listen." "You have slowly gone crazy by ignoring those stimuli, simply for having ignored them." "Someone dies." "You let him die." "Someone asks for help." "You look the other way." "Someone is hungry." "You squander what you have." "Someone is dying of sorrow." "You lock him up so as not to see him." "One who systematically adopts this conduct, who walks among the victims, ignoring them, may dress well, may pay taxes, go to Mass," "but you cannot deny he is sick." "Your reality is terrifying, Doctor." "Why don't you look at the real madness for once?" "Stop persecuting the sad ones, the meek, those who don't want to buy, or cannot buy that shit you would gladly sell me." "That is, if you could." "Rantes had just made a move that surprised me." "It seemed unprogrammed." "Unexpectedly, a rage had surfaced in him." "He claimed to be a "Cybernetic Christ", but his rage made him resemble the other Christ, the old Christ." "At this stage, my thoughts were confused somewhat by shame, somewhat by anger." "Since Rantes was becoming more Christ-like, his end would be the same." "I wouldn't admit it, but I wanted Rantes to disappear completely." "Even though history would see me, if this were true, as the Pilate of the galaxies." "Even so, I would prefer, as had many Romans, to risk a resurrection rather than have him here saying what he was saying." "Hey, Rantes has a visitor." " Beatriz..." " Dick." "Rantes had been here for a while and he's made no progress." "We don't know his identity." "In the register, he's listed as N.N." "So your presence may be very useful." "That's why I intercepted you." "Now I'd like to ask you some questions." "They may seem indiscreet, but I think you'll understand." " Are you related?" " No." "A friend?" "We met a while ago." "I'm an evangelist." "I work in a church." "We do relief work in a village." " That's where we met." " In a church?" " Why was Rantes at the church?" " He showed up offering to help out." "At first, we didn't realize his importance." "Importance?" "He knows everything." "He teaches the kids music." "He's delivered several babies very professionally." "He's assembling a machine using parts of radios and calculators." "He says it will be a computer." "From the beginning we found him a little strange, but a good man." "He told me his story." " It was very moving." " He explained why he's here?" "He described his problems with alcohol." "Problems with alcohol?" "What problems with alcohol?" "He didn't tell me why." "I didn't ask." "He said he'd been an alcoholic." "He sought help to avoid harming anybody." "He said he was improving." "He spoke highly of you." " He never mentioned coming from another planet?" " No." "Ranted may have problems, but he doesn't seem crazy to me." "Excuse me." "Excuse me, Doctor, but it is late." "Yes, of course." "Will you be visiting again?" "I'd like to talk more." "Anything he said may help me." " And him." " Yes, of course." "Can I have your phone number?" "I don't have a phone." "I'll give you my numbers." "You can call me here or at home." "Rantes deserves our help." "He's a valuable man." "You told me everything, eh?" "The Saint?" "She's a very interesting woman." "Why do you call her the "Saint"?" "Because she's a very special woman." "Her mechanisms are unlike other humans." " What mechanisms?" " This is confidential... but I can trust you." "Uncommon connections between the emotional and the physical." "When a human being feels something what are the external physical reactions?" "You can cry, or tremble, or pretend you don't feel a thing." "The Saint could never hide anything." "When she feels, when... she becomes deeply moved or feels love, I suppose, she regurgitates a blue liquid." "A blue liquid?" "Yes." "It's a very interesting case." "Searching for ways of decoding feelings and transforming them into information, it's truly an exceptional case." "Why the need to expel the liquid?" "Why blue?" "What produces it?" "Perhaps she's epileptic and you imagined the liquid was blue." "What's wrong, Doctor?" "Have you found yourself at the limits?" "Crazy trees grow in nuthouses." "Why did you tell her you were an alcoholic?" "An alcoholic?" "I didn't want to frighten her." "I am interested in working with those people." "Telling the truth would ruin everything." "Horrible machine, tell Dad I would like to go to fishing." "I deserve it since I got an A in school." "Bye, machine." "I don't like to talking to you." "Have Daddy call me." "Dr. Denis, this is Beatriz Dick, Rantes' friend." "Please tell him that I haven't abandoned him." "I had important reasons for not visiting him." "I'll visit him again next Sunday at 5:00 p.m." "I called because I know you care about him." "Thank you, Doctor." "Listen Doctor, I've been cheating on you." "Hi, how are you?" "I've finished seeing my patients." "Would you like some coffee?" "I want to know how Rantes seemed to you." "Excuse me for a minute." "I'll wait in the car." "It's outside." "Beatriz, I don't want to alarm you, but..." "Rantes did not explain his case fully." "He hides things." "A man always hides something in his soul that's why he's not happy." "Of course, but these are serious things." "Rantes is not an alcoholic." "He thinks he is from another planet." " What's your opinion?" " About another planet?" "No." "Do you think it's serious?" "Can he be cured?" "The truth is, I don't know." " I haven't made any progress." " He seems well." "He feels well, but that place is not exactly a summer camp." "I know it." "I though you would be able to help me." "I want to help you, but I don't know how." "I'm searching for some human trace." "I can't find any trace of his past, of his origins." "I can say he's sick, but I don't really know what's wrong with him." "This happens often in psychiatry." "A man lives his life without leaving some imprint." "I know the real story of Rantes must exist somewhere." "I think you can help." "Why do you think I could help?" "He lied to me, too." "You never heard him mention a place, a town where he might have lived?" " He never mentioned Uruguay?" " No." "As far as I remember, no." "Once he mentioned a trip." "There is a boy Rantes teaches music." "He's very impressed with him." "Rantes thinks he's a genius." "He admires him." "It bothers him because he believes that the boy's genius will be wasted." "Once, he mentioned taking the boy on a trip." "I asked about the trip." "He just said, "That boy will travel."" "Rantes can go out." "He comes and goes when he pleases." "Why doesn't he go out with you for a walk or a drink?" "He doesn't want to." "He says he's too busy at the hospital." " He's investigating something." " Oh, yes..." "Are you suggesting I don't do enough with him?" "No, no." "You do plenty by visiting him." "I better go." "Need a ride?" "No, thanks." "I'm not going far." "I like to walk." "So long, Doctor." "Thank you for your concern." "Next week I'll take him to a concert." "Would you like to come with us?" "A REAL LOONEY CONCERT MADMAN CONDUCTS IT" "It would've been fine in the entertainment section, but... it made the Crime section, and I look like a fool." ""How did the patient escape?" He didn't escape." "He was out with one of our doctors." "You're right, I'm sorry." "I made a mistake." "I thought it would be good for him to get out." "He loves music." "Besides, he's harmless." "So I see." "It's lucky you didn't take him to a military parade." "Instead of the Crime section we'd be front page news." ""Nut Orders Military Attack"" "That's already happened, and Rantes wasn't involved." "Dr. Denis, this man is a delirious paranoid and you're treating him as a mere neurotic." "I don't have to remind you that a man who persists in such delirium is potentially dangerous." "Today he's a Martian, tomorrow he hears voices and kills someone." "You put him to work in Pathology, take him to concerts." "Perhaps you're experimenting with new healing technique." "We don't cure anybody." "If you've lost faith in your profession, you know what to do." "I come here every day because I believe that, despite the difficulties, we do serve." "Curing even one patient gives our work meaning." "One in 1500 patients." "That's a pretty low average." "Dr. Denis, regarding yourself, the subject is not closed." "Regarding the patient, I want no more confusion." "Alpidol injectable, and that's final." "He'll fall apart." "It's the only way to shake the delirium." "Yes, but the delirium is all that keeps Rantes going." "He may become catatonic." "If he becomes catatonic, give him electroshock." "You have 15 years' experience." "This can't go on." "This..." "Rantes... was with you the whole time yesterday?" "Yes, I picked him up and brought him back." "The other patients say that he led last night's activity." "The sentence was handed down and would be carried out." "I had my orders." "After all, in this story I was only Pilate." "I felt guilty, not about hoping that Rantes would slip up, but about how little his future troubles bothered me." "The Saint, as was her custom, had disappeared, vaguely promising to visit soon." "Oh, Doctor." "I was worried." "I didn't mean any harm." "Please forgive me if my behavior yesterday caused you problems." " I'm sorry." " It's all right." "I understand storing information, but what makes them function?" "What keeps them going?" "What makes them feel?" "Is that what you call the "soul"?" "You did nothing wrong except making yourself conspicuous." "You made the papers and the Director looks like a fool." "There are torturers who love Beethoven, who love their children," "who go to Mass." "Man allows that." "At the time of killing, animals are more honest." "Don't say that." "We're not talking about torturing or killing you," "I just have to give you medicine." "I cannot work here anymore." "For a while." "Where is that afternoon in which he first felt love?" "What traces of the moments of pain and pleasure this man felt?" "You may be feeling some changes, but don't worry." "It's for your own good." "And I won't abandon you." "There goes Einstein, there goes Bach," "Mr. Nobody, a madman, an assassin..." "What do you think, Doctor?" "Will this drain lead to heaven or hell?" "The first results were unexpected." "Rantes' delirium seemed to persist." "Only I noticed a change." "His position, where he claimed to receive information, it had changed." "He wouldn't admit it, but these transmissions had been affected." "The medication had damaged his antennae." "More in touch with reality, Rantes concentrated on concrete problems." "I considered this progress, but it led to new problems." "Outraged by the hospital food, he spoke for the patients demanding that the Director sample the food." "The Director refused to see him." "Rantes would not leave until he was heard." "The next day, he changed his tactics." "He went to the newspaper office to plead his case." "They showed interest, but Rantes refused to leave, unless the Director came to taste the food." "He fared no better than he did leading the orchestra." "There was the imbecile asking for help, claiming by his gestures that he spoke for others." "How could he be helped?" "How could one penetrate that robot driven by a mechanism so fragile that he needed to protect himself with such strong armor?" "I was beginning to doubt I would ever find out why." "Doctor..." "Doctor..." "Why have you forsaken me?" " Yes." " Doctor, Rantes is dying." "So am I. I want to see you." "I don't think it would be right." "Beatriz, don't make me make a scene." "I need to see you." "Why did you abandon him?" "I didn't." "Perhaps he had been abandoned before." " We'll cure him." " You should leave him alone." "At least he was happy." "He'll get better." "I know it won't be easy..." "Don't disappear again, Beatriz." "Rantes needs me." "I need you more." "I love you." "There will be a price to pay." "For sleeping with me?" "No, for my betrayal." "Of whom?" "Rantes." " You have slept with Rantes?" " No... not because of that." "Then what?" "I'm not what you think, Doctor." "You're incredible." "We make love and you still call me Doctor." "I don't think anything, Beatriz." "I haven't felt this way in a long time." "What?" "I'm happy." " No matter what?" " No matter what." "I came with Rantes." "I'm one of those lost agents he spoke about, corrupted by sunsets, by certain fragrances." "I mean it." "All right." "I lied to you." "I'm not an evangelist." "I didn't meet Rantes in church, but we do work with people in the village." "There is a boy Rantes wants to take." "It is also true we cannot feel... except some traitors like me." "Get out!" "Get out, you goddamn nut!" "Don't abandon us!" "Who do you think I am?" "I'm not stupid!" " Don't leave us!" " Get out!" " Please, please!" " Get out!" "I could have loved you, too." "She is your sister?" "In this photo... you were both 15 years younger." "Maybe 10." "Who was in the missing part?" "Mom?" "Dad?" "Who was he?" "An alcoholic?" "Everything will work out, Rantes, but you must help me." "Was this... the garden of your house?" "Was your house big?" "Rantes..." "I must know who you are." "And Beatriz?" "Who is Beatriz?" "Your sister?" "Was she your wife?" "February 9, 1985, was a Saturday." "I went fishing with my children." "Rantes had reached rock bottom." "His vital signs were weak." "The on-duty doctor ordered the usual treatment, electroshock to bring the patient out of the catatonic state." "Rantes suffered a heart attack from the anesthetic." "When I returned to the hospital, Rantes' body had been sent to the University." "I wondered if some student, some professor upon opening his body, would sense the mystery it had contained." "The patients didn't accept Rantes' death." "They said he had gone, but that he would return in a spaceship." "They would be there... waiting." "I waited for her." "If they were brother and sister, God would be, for me, from then on an unknown alcoholic who has fathered these children, these opposite sides of one coin." "Perhaps that's all we are, the foolish or crazy children of a father, who, at any rate, was too difficult to forget."