tellthestory | THE BOX OFFICE

...what?

[this is gonna go great I can tell]

...'Cause lilies are, um, are poisonous for cats youknownevermind.

Anyway, uh...

...oh, I didn't know that. [neat? he guesses?]

Yeah, so, what's up?

Yeah, so, um.

[Billy takes a deep breath.]

...I think I killed someone. Back home. I mean.

[...it takes a moment for the Balladeer to realize that's the end of the statement.]

Okay.

[And he exhales the rest of it.]

...So you knew that.

Sure. I know a good bit about all of you, more than we ended up putting in those profiles.

Why, what did you think I was going to do?

I dunno, react? I-I mean, I don't...

I don't think I could kill anybody!

[His voice cracks a little bit. This has been bothering him all week.]

...well, look, I can't say I approve of everything that everyone here's done back home, but I've known about it all for a while. I don't see a reason to act shocked now.

[.....]

But same thing as the secrets, here: I won't tell anyone anything you tell me. It's probably better to talk about stuff, so I want people to feel like they can. At least to someone. [He cants his head to the side slightly.] So...is this because of something you remembered?

...

It's not exactly- well, it is, but-

I-I remembered, that um, that I was told that I had to kill someone for my application to- to the League to be... to be considered...

And then this, um, [he pulls out the piece of paper from earlier in the week out of his hoodie pocket.] this said I was a member in good standing with the... with the League.

So I-I had to have...

...I see.

Okay, this might sound like a stupid question, but why do you want to join this League? You don't seem to agree with their practices too much.

[Billy slouches his shoulders and slumps into the chair like a kid in the principal's office.]

...That was the only place for- for people like me. The only way I could make a difference.

And that's- they don't always kill people! If I hadn't... hadn't flubbed up the mayor's dedication ceremony, I would have been in, I know it...

[He leans forward slightly, arms resting against his desk, posture as straight as ever. This must make for an odd picture.]

What kind of difference do they want to make?

It doesn't matter what- What I could do with League funding! I could upset the status quo! Show the world that I'm not a joke! I'm not just some meathead's punching bag.

I could show them the true face of their precious heroes - that they're all bullies, deep down.

Byyyyy...beating them up in public instead?

...it's what...

[Billy swallows. He's never told anyone this before, but there's a part of him that still doesn't want to be right, that still doesn't want to have killed someone, either.

He closes his eyes and sees Joe Justice being beat to death with a pipe.]

...it's what made me see the truth.

[His brow furrows, and he seems honestly taken aback.]

...what happened?

[Billy squirms like he's doing battle with himself, with the truth.]

Y-you know how little kids are, they... they love heroes. Good vs. Evil. It's a good story, kids eat it up. But, uh...

...I was 8. I got to see my favorite hero in action against his archnemesis, Mister Maniacal. I had a black eye from a classmate who was four years older than me, and I... I realized that my hero sounded like the bully who... who hit me.

[His voice has faded out to almost silence, now.]

And the people around me, they- they didn't see--! They still don't see that being smart isn't- isn't bad! They glorify ignorance because that's all that they can comprehend, a-and anything else is... is horrible.

[He leans forward and presses the heels of his palms against his eyes, and for all that his voice is muffled he just sounds sad and scared, like a little boy caught in over his head.]

I never wanted to kill anyone...

Woah, hey, I know you didn't.

[The Balladeer seems entirely unsure how to handle this; he rocks forward as if he wants to reach out, but instead just clasps his hands together.]

I don't understand, don't you have modern technology in your world? Of course being smart isn't bad.

Of course we do, it's 2008-

[he has to take a minute and breathe because he almost sounds hysterical. Slow, deep, ragged, self-soothing breaths as he forces the reopened wound back closed again.]

I-it's all about being the right kind of smart. You can be an inventor, but you can't think too outside the box. You can be an innovator, but you have to stick to the status quo. You can be smart, but you can't be a genius. You can't want to learn, you can't care about knowledge for knowledge's sake.

How has your society survived that long?

[That's a rhetorical question but also kinda a serious one]

...hey, do you want some tea? Or cider? The book said people drink hot apple cider in the fall, so...

[Billy has no idea either. Presumably his world entered the Darkest Timeline some time before 1978 and just diverged from there.

Also he had to make most of his own iPhone apps.]

...The book? What book?

Raoul brought me a cookbook from upstairs. It said that you could serve "fall treats" with that?

Oh. Yeah, I guess that sounds about right. Apple cider or hot cocoa, probably.

[...We're talking about this now, I guess.]

You're, um. Are you the one who's really into Halloween, or is it a mandate from your bosses?

I've neeever even celebrated Halloween before. I think it's some kind of audience appeal thing? Like...there's special holiday movies, right?

Just gimme a second, I'm gonna run by the staff kitchen. [And he...leaves? Congrats, Billy, you are now successfully alone in the showrunner's office.]

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