one - [video] - i'm stronger than all of this

[videocamera]

[The screen clicks on and Andrew appears, his face extremely pale except for the reddish patches of scabs and scarring on the right side of his face. There's remnants of blood below his nose and on his chin, like he just had a nosebleed and didn't wipe it off completely. Which is exactly what happened. He speaks quietly but his tone hints at both fear and anger.]

What is this, huh? What did you do to me? I can't-- [He interrupts himself with a more frantic note in his tone] Is this some kind of, of joke?

[His voice gets flatter.] I shouldn't be here. I'm stronger.

[The journal starts to shake, the picture jittering slightly. Then Andrew's nose starts to bleed again and the shaking stops, position slightly changed, now angled to give a shot of a messy bedroom behind Andrew's shoulder. His face is mostly off screen now but you can see his hands held up to his nose before the feed shuts off]

Comments

[videocamera]

No, no-- You're right, I'm okay. [He still sounds a little frantic, but at this point he's had some explanation from others. And he's starting to get super weirded out by just how nice everyone's being. This doesn't happen to him.] I'm just, I'm in my room. I'm fine.

[interns]

Are you sure?

[ she relaxes a little bit, at least. this isn't the first time someone showed up here with injuries, but. just- ]

Sorry, I- sort of have a hair-trigger reflex. [ s h e e p i s h ] I see blood and I need to jump in and try to help.

You're sure you're fine?

[videocamera]

[h e l p. Why is everyone being so nice and friendly? Does not compute.]

Mmhmm. Yeah, don't worry about it. [He pauses for a moment and the next words kind of burst from his mouth without him meaning them to.] No one knows who I am or, like, anything about me. And everyone keeps asking if I'm okay. Why do you care?

[interns]

Because that's why we're here, because we care. Well, some of us. Has anyone explained how the Barge works yet? About, um, Inmates and Wardens? I'm a Warden, and I think it's because I'm kind of hardwired to care.

[videocamera]

Kind of, but-- I mean, not everything. I still don't totally get it, you know?

[interns]

What part are you caught up on? Maybe I can help.

[videocamera]

How does it-- What is the point of this place? Is it just a punishment thing?

[interns]

It's not a punishment. [ a beat ] Well, some people think it's a sort of punishment, but I don't. It's for rehabilitation, in a way. A second chance. If you were brought here as an Inmate, it means the Admiral thinks you can undo whatever choices you made that- landed you where you ended up. [ got you killed, yeah, no, not saying that ]

[videocamera]

Second chances don't exist. How can you undo anything you've done?

[interns]

You can't really undo anything, I think, but you can change. Prevent yourself from making the same kinds of choices in the future, whether they were destructive or selfish or whatever else. I don't think there's such a thing as a person that's just- all bad.

[videocamera]

[And now he's thinking of the party, the lightning storm, of Steve. He can't help remembering how angry he was, how he just wanted Steve to get away from him. But nothing's going to put that right, is it? That's not possible. Even with the evidence of this place in front of him, he can't believe that's possible.]

Maybe you're too idealistic. If a person makes enough bad choices then... [He shrugs.] They're bad, right? Everyone thinks they are, anyway.

[interns]

At the risk of sounding like an after-school special - why does it matter what everyone else thinks? Like, okay- [ here we go ] Violence is bad. Hurting others is bad, using people for your own gain is bad. But even if a person does those things, if- if they recognize that it's bad, then I don't think that they are bad. Not really. Not in an irreparable way. People are more complex than that.

[videocamera]

What if they don't recognize that it's bad? [Like his dad, for example.]

[interns]

Then they need to be taught. I mean, there's always different interpretations of what's right and wrong, but there's are a lot of things people can do or go through that are universally bad. If someone can't see why they shouldn't be doing something like that, then their second chance is over. I don't think you can help someone like that. You can only make sure someone's there to stop them from doing whatever it is they won't quit.

[videocamera]

Who decides what's universally bad? Not everyone's going to think the same shit is the unforgivable stuff.

[interns]

-- The Admiral.

[ yes that's the best she's got ]

[videocamera]

[SO MUCH SARCASM:] Great.