Sunday November 25, 2007
Book 9: The Body Politic — Part IV: We Kept the Party Hats

Transcript

Narrator: Aboard the Touch-And-Go. . .
Ennesby: TAG tells me you've been having an interesting conversation with our prisoner.
Schlock: I don't think that's what it's called.
Schlock: I've just been listening while Xinchub lied his head off trying to get me to let him go.
Xinchub: You malign me, Sergeant. I have done nothing of the sort. For starters, my head - my NEW head - is still firmly attached.
Xinchub: And I haven't been lying. Every word is the truth. If there are inaccuracies, they serve to expose the limits of my own understanding, rather than belying my honesty.
Schlock: See? He just said he be lying.
Ennesby: Shush. The grownups are talking now.
Xinchub: And finally, I have not asked to be released, nor am I trying to elicit sympathy. I simply want you to know everything.
Xinchub: I think you'll find that my story is supported by facts that are public, or that can be quickly discovered. Financial records, public call logs, personnel files. . . A few quick searches should verify my words.
Ennesby: TAG is a pretty good lie detector if he's got a baseline, but he tells me you're either very hard to read, or have been completely honest with us.
Xinchub: Let's establish a baseline, then. My name is Prince Rapunzelstiltskin, I own Mars, and my first wife left me over financial matters.
Ennesby: TAG?
TAG: Hmmm. . . It would appear Xinchub has been telling the truth.
Ennesby: Begging the question "why?"
Xinchub: Because the truth shall set you free.
TAG: Okay, now he's lying.