IC inbox for Snowblind

[ecks]

This device belongs to Ecks. Messages dictated to it will be received by Ecks.

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audio

[ecks]

I cannot make him do anything.

audio

[devoutish]

Are you sure? I think you have more power than you know about, Ecks.

[ecks]

I am sure. I have asked him and I have made arguments and it has not worked. I think that I would have to make him my prisoner to stop him from doing things and that is not a viable long term solution.

[devoutish]

I have an idea that I think might work, but it depends on you keeping it an absolute secret from him and everyone else. Can you do that?

[ecks]

[She hesitates, unwilling to agree to a plan when she does not know what it is...and when House is warning her away from contact with this man.

She answers the question carefully and literally.]

I am able to do that.

[devoutish]

We meet like normal, like we planned. You make sure he knows you're coming, but don't tell him where, so he can't show up.

And then, right after you've told him we're about to meet, you drop out of contact for a bit. A day, maybe two. You don't answer any of his messages, no matter what he says - because if you do, the plan is ruined. Understand? He needs to think you're hurt, badly, possibly dead. He will suffer, and he will feel guilt, and that will make him reflect on his careless actions.

[Whether or not it would stick once he realized the truth is another matter entirely - Alfie is inclined to think that it wouldn't. But he doesn't need to share that thought with Ecks.]

[ecks]

[The plan is shocking. She has never considered a lie on such a grand scale. She doesn't understand the sheer scope of it even as she points out what she sees as a flaw.]

He will see that I am talking to other people on the network and he will know that I am not dead or very hurt.

[devoutish]

You would not talk to anybody on the network that day. Not even in private.

[ecks]

Oh.

[That makes significantly more sense. It also comes with the possibility that other people will think she is very hurt or dead and also suffer.

They will not trust her when they know she has lied. Doctor House will not trust her, like Doctor Watson does not trust her.]

I understand. Will you really hurt me?

[devoutish]

No. It's only a trick.

[ecks]

Do you think it would make him stop?

[devoutish]

I think it's got a better chance than nearly anything else.

[ecks]

[There's a long pause before she replies. What she says next is not entirely a lie.]

I am thinking about doing it. Where are you now?

[devoutish]

On our way to the pass.

[ecks]

I am near the pass. Are you near the pass yet?

[devoutish]

We'll be close in a few days.

[ecks]

Tell me when you are close enough to arrange a trade meeting.

[devoutish]

Which direction will you be coming from?

[ecks]

We will be coming from the northwest, from the convenience store. We are bringing food. Which direction are you coming from?

[If she only speaks true statements, she thinks she can probably sustain the lie of having agreed to trick Doctor House by simply leaving it unspoken. It would not be bad, either, to be able to tell Doctor House where Alfie and Duster are in more detail.]

[devoutish]

The southeast. We'll be bringing supplies.

[ecks]

Maybe we will meet at the entrance.

[She's going to tell House, much good as it'll do him.]

[devoutish]

That would be very good, yeah. You've still got the supplies?

[ecks]

I still have the supplies. You still have the fake animals?

[devoutish]

I do.

[ecks]

We will trade when we are in the same place. Goodbye, Alfie Solomons.

[No lingering, circular conversation today. She's eager to finish talking to him before he asks her anything that would be difficult to answer without a direct lie.]