They Call Me the Coroner | Top Gun: Maverick

There's the Chaos

~~Jasper~~

I read a quote one time. It went something like this.

Beware of false knowledge. It's more dangerous than ignorance.

In Tesha's case, it's been both false knowledge and ignorance. But now, the truth is coming out. I lied to her. I helped shatter her world to tiny bits and pieces.

Now I'm helping to grind it into powder.

She's staring at me like she's the most confused person alive.

I wouldn't be.

She should know what this is about.

It's funny how the human mind will see it's greatest fear right in front of it and still do everything it can to deny that fear or stall itself from believing the reality.

Perhaps that's one of the reasons why we, as a collective group of humans, spend so much time in front of TVs, Playstations, or in fantastic worlds created by the imagination that couldn't possibly be real.

We are afraid of something...or we hate something.

And we want to stall ourselves from facing the reality, the knowledge of it.

After all, ignorance is unbelievably blissful, isn't it?

Yet, we can't know that until we face the knowledge of reality. So, our attempts at gaining back the bliss of ignorance are futile.

We know. We dread.

"What is this?" She breathes.

I grit my teeth as I'm pulled out of my thoughts, but relax when Michael glances back at me to answer.

"Your orders came from Admiral Bates. His orders came from me. My orders came from-"

"Me." Michael interrups. "Coroner, only three of those men you killed were mine. Collateral damage, if you will. Had to make it look legitimate enough for your fellow government officials to believe it."

She stares at the floor, her eyes squinted. Her face in a jumble.

"The other eight..." Her voice is hollow as she sits still.

I bite my tongue and try to keep myself from making an expression. "Were your own." I finish.

Her hands shake as she grips the edge of the bed so tight her knuckles lose blood flow.

"No. I want proof. I didn't kill my own countrymen..." Her lips quiver as her body starts to fold in on itself. She whispers. "I. Didn't."

"Look at him, Tesha." Michael points to me and I have to keep myself from shrinking back. "He should be all the proof you need."

She strangles on her words, unable to form a comeplete sentence. I only catch two identifiable sounds. "I" and "murdered."

I grit my teeth as she stares at the floor and starts rocking back and forth, hugging herself.

I have to admit, however, I didn't expect such a quiet, controlled reaction from her.

"Now that the cat's out of the bag and you realize that you've been working as my little villain all along." Michael gets close to her and smiles in his gentle, sweet way. Insane if you ask me. "I need you to come into the light as my star in this grand show we call war and work for me without all this...annoying discretion and secrecy. Can you do that?"

She widenes her eyes at the floor and her shaking stops.

"Listen." He removes himself from the chair and crouches down in her face. His smile never wavering. "In my eyes, in the eyes of my country, my commanders, you are an asset. A wonderful hero to us. Yes. But if you go back to your people, your commanders..." He clicks his tongue and sucks air through his teeth. "I don't think they would be so adoring of you once they know the truth. Because I will tell them all...if I can't have you, no one can."