" Let's try it again." "Who is this?" " It's me." "Of course it's me." "Of course, Emon." "Of course." "And who is this?" "I don't know." "You know who she is." "I don't have to tell you." "Indeed." "And what is she telling you?" "I don't remember." "Damn your machine!" "You don't remember." "Smells trigger memories, Emon." "I can smell Aeon now." "Leather." "Hazelnuts." "Gun powder." "Sex." "Memories are precious." "We are only what we remember of ourselves and what we have done." "Without memories, we are nothing." "So tell me, Emon." "What do you remember now?" "What did Aeon tell you?" "What plots?" "What plans?" "What plunderings?" " She hates you." " What?" "She told me that she hated you!" "Your memory's playing tricks." "And so am I." "To retrieve the rest of these images, please obtain a narghile... and bring it to the location described on the rear side of this photograph." "Who wanted the narghile?" "Who is your contact?" " What's a narghile?" " Don't play dumb with me, you bitch." "You know that narghiles are a controlled species." "Ugly." "Nasty." " Dangerous." " I think it's sweet." "Sweet?" "You're the sweet one." "Hedrik, I don't want to see you doing that." "Allow me." "Now key her up and throw away the lock." "Yes, sir." " Not now." "I can't stand backseat drivers." " Better buckle up." "Emon!" "This isn't the time to bear a grudge." "I haven't the time, but I'll get you out of here." " Let's go." "Now." " I don't know you." " Who are you?" " Emon, don't say that." "I may have dumped you, but I wouldn't desert you." "Ripe fruit for picking!" "Feel my skin!" "Feel my skin!" "Feel my skin!" "I don't care who you are or what you're up to." "But you're in my way, so just let me pass." "Keep away from me." "I'm desperate." "Desperate to live or to die?" "Your choice." "I would have let you go, you idiot!" "I would have." "Hell." "No!" "Impressive." "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" "Why would I be interested in hurting you?" "I don't know." "You look as though you might." "You look as though you might enjoy it." " Really?" "Appearances can be deceptive." " No kidding." " So why did Muriel stand me up?" " Who's Muriel?" "Wait a minute." " Muriel didn't send you?" " No." "But you came from the prison, right?" " Yes." " Did you see a woman?" "Short hair, very pale." "Would have been wearing a gray prison uniform." "I wish I could say I hadn't seen her." "I'm sorry." "You don't want to know what happened." "She didn't make it, did she?" "I told her not to trust them." "She said it was her only chance." "So odd." "She didn't trust anyone." "Muriel." "Did you know her?" "I'm sorry." "Of course not." "I'm glad to know you." "Thanks for taking me with you." " Where are you going now?" " I don't know." "Your place?" " This really isn't the time." " Well, wake me up when it is." "Good going, Muriel." "Clean break." "Sentence suspended for good behaviour." " You caught that?" " Not right now." " I'm busy." " Excuse me." "I'm sorry, Aeon." "I guess I'm a little tense." "It's called a narghile." "I collect them." "You collect..." "Could have met you earlier." "Do you have the bliss pellets?" "If your idea of bliss is to forget everything about yourself." "Your favourite colour, your mother, your lover." "I'm truly sorry about Muriel." "Yeah, well, she'd want me to carry on." "We took the bliss pellet together and found out how it really worked." "It destroyed everything we had." " It twisted your minds?" " All our memories were gone." "Had we been lovers?" "Enemies?" "What?" "How had we met?" "I didn't even remember her name." "Hell, I still don't know how I lost my leg." " So why do you collect them?" " Planned extinction." "Muriel and I made a promise to eliminate all of them." "When we started, they were said to be endangered." "Collect them all?" "Seemed like no problem." "It's taken me years, Aeon." "I've caught thousands." "Recorded every one." "Now it's down to a dribble." "Almost finished." "I fished them out..." "Muriel climbed up the cable to store them on the platform." "And once I'd found them all..." "Muriel would have blasted the platform off into the sun." "You little bastard!" "What have you done to my Muriel?" "What has it done to you?" "Is getting rid of them really so hard?" "First thing you do is stop thinking about them." "I thought you said you wouldn't hurt me." " I didn't." " So why am I so damn sore?" "See the retro boosters?" "I'm not seeing it." "There." "Muriel took each of the narghiles up there." "That was her idea?" "Not to destroy them?" "How?" "You can't kill them." "So I was collecting them to blast into the sun." " The sun?" " Now I don't know what I'll do." " Sounds good." "I'll do it." " What?" "I'll take Muriel's place." "That's what you want, isn't it?" "Well, I don't know." "I'm not sure it's a good idea." "The air is very thin up there." "You'd have to wear a special suit." "It's dangerous." "Come on." "What else are you going to do?" "You can't climb up there yourself." "Hey!" "You think I'm some kind of a helpless cripple?" "Something like that." "Muriel!" "What is it, Muriel?" "Are you angry that I hit you?" "You know I couldn't help it." "Tell me you forgive me." "You're forgiven." "That's better." "Muriel, I've loved these close encounters." "I can tell." "This is the last... narghile, you know." "I won't be putting it back." "I figured." "What... should I tell Rorty?" "Tell him to blast the platform." "He'll never know." "What about us?" "Oh, God!" "I..." " It's..." " You, too?" "It's over." "Aeon!" "How many of us can you betray at once, Trevor?" "Who's betraying who, Aeon?" "What have you done to Muriel?" "What have you done to Rorty?" "Oh, Muriel." "Why me?" "Mission accomplished." "That platform's infested like a Breen tenement." "So you didn't have any trouble?" "Everything okay?" "Very much okay." "I'd say it's time to rev up those boosters." "Funny you should say that." "It's true." "I've found no more narghiles." "It seems to be time." "But how would you know that?" "Looking for these?" " May I tell you the truth?" " That's up to you." "I never wanted to hurt you, Rorty." " Quite the opposite." " You expect me to believe that?" "I have to hurt you." " I killed Muriel." " What!" "I was in prison to retrieve those pictures." "It was an accident." "She attacked me." "I fought back." "When I met you outside, I thought I'd try to make it right for you." " I didn't expect to care about you." " You don't care about me." " Muriel loved me." " Maybe she did." "But the platform is empty, Rorty." " There are no narghiles there." " What are you talking about?" "You're lying again." " Muriel gave the narghiles to Trevor." " That's ridiculous." "Rorty, I know you won't..." "Trevor and Muriel wanted it as a reason to be together." " They were lovers." " No!" "You're the one sweating with Trevor." "Get out." "Get out!" " You're trying to destroy me!" " Rorty!" "Don't!" "I can prove it!" "I need you to believe me." "Go ahead." "Prove it to your heart's content." "I don't care!" "Just get out!" "Emon!" "Rorty!" "You believed me." "Old faithful." "Aeon, you're slipping." "Rorty." "Look, Rorty." " It's all right." "I'm here." " Muriel?" " Aeon!" " Look, Rorty." "Look at the mark." "It's the one Muriel gave Trevor." " It doesn't mean anything." " It means I'm telling the truth." "Sure." "Fine." "I really don't care any more." "Forget about it." "I've just gone halfway around the world to prove something to you... and you don't even care?" "I think I'm going to kill you." "That's what I expected the first time I laid eyes on you." "Big mistake." " Here." "Keep this as a memento of me." " I'll never forget you, Aeon." "Rorty." "Rorty?" "Where are you?" "Rorty, I'm sorry." "I know how much..." " What are you doing here?" " I'm not gonna hurt you again, Rorty." "That's nice." "What's your name?" "No, Rorty." "You didn't." "Didn't what?" "Who are you?" "What is this place?" "We are not what we remember of ourselves." "We can undo only what others have already forgotten." "Learn from your mistakes... so that one day you can repeat them precisely." "Stop." "Erase."