5. Promessa (Promise)

Picture album.

Mephistopheles at Work

A man waits on a bridge staring unhappily at the river.  Jean enters the scene, walking past and greeting him familiarly:

Jean: "Good to see you again, Captain Raballo."
Raballo: "Jean... What do you want with a retired man?"
Jean: "We need instructors at my new place of employment."
Raballo: "I heard some rumors after you left the battalion.  Seems you're involved with some shady organization." (Open distrust)
Jean: "It's a convenient organization for me."

Despite his warm salutation, Jean stopped several feet down the bridge, facing away with sunglasses.  There is no real camaraderie here.  His entire demeanor is furtive, from his dress to tone to cautious stance.  He brings danger to Raballo just with his presence.  Errands for the Social Welfare Agency should not be seen in daylight.


Raballo's curt acknowledgement makes it clear this lack of feeling is quite mutual.  He has no patience for pretending this is a cordial meeting between old comrades; Jean is up to something and he knows it.  Further, there has long been something unsavory about this man.  Even now he finds an organization that is allowed to assassinate people through any means necessary "convenient."

Jean does not give up easily and persists in his persuasion:

"Wouldn't you like to return to the military police?  That job was your life.  We could help you go back."  

A bribe.  As it is offered Raballo glances involuntarily with interest, but continues to turn his head to hide the reaction, leaving him to stare at Rico standing guard across the street.  A forcible reminder of what he is about to agree to, and his face creases in deep disgust at himself.  He knows full well who he is dealing with.

The scene moves to an operating room full of machines, a young girl lying comatose on the table.  To have so much monitoring equipment attached to her is an ill sign.  Raballo is being reeled in.  He asks if this girl is one of "them."

"Yes, if you choose her to be.  Well?  Will you choose her?"

Jean's face as he promotes this offer is disturbing, full of false friendliness, plastered over by a salesman grin with no soul.  He knows Raballo is getting close.

Raballo doesn't want to give in just yet; he needs to put up a fight for the sake of his conscience, and looks for a reason to resist.  Opening the dossier he sees the girl's picture at her tenth birthday party and challenges that she has glasses, and therefore would be unsuitable.  But Jean is ready for this with assurances that all can be fixed.  Raballo looks at him angrily, full of distrust at this man.  He can feel he is being played:

Raballo: "You talk as if you can do anything..."

Jean: "Yes, if it means you'll help us.  Will you choose her?" (Still smiling)
(Pause)
Raballo: "She's as good as any."

A devil's deal, but Raballo caves in.  He feigns detachment, but he was still moved.  It is the same method that worked on Jose: confront a good man with a hopeless innocent who can be saved, but only if conditions are agreed to.  It is an evil tactic.  It works.

As they leave the room, Jean informs Raballo that his first job is to name her.

"Me?  A girl's name?"  (Startled)

Strangely, this disorients him more than what he just saw.  He's been a military man all his life and now he's being asked to name a little girl; it distresses him, knowing that he is to be formative for this vulnerable human child.  After staring for a long moment at the body in the room, Jean assures him it doesn't have to be a girl's name, smiling as he closes the door.  Rico.

Jean: "You're free to name her whatever you like."  

Raballo: "I suppose that would make the job more impersonal."

Jean: "If that's how you see it."

But the harm has already been done, and Raballo is becoming increasingly troubled.  He can feel the bile threatening to well up.  The idea of depersonalizing her, and getting some distance to protect himself, is appealing.  From the beginning he was revolted with himself for even considering the proposal, and now that he has accepted his conscience is further smeared.


As for Jean, he is dismissive.  The deal is closed and he doesn't have to continue the charade.  He knows what concerns this man, and how to manipulate it, but he doesn't care how Raballo rationalizes his actions.  Jean got what he wanted.  Watching this is almost amusing, for he never needed such a salve.  Whatever lives in Jean named Rico as an act of cold oppressive cruelty, a terrible joke to himself that he still finds comedy in.

As the scene ends, the camera zooms in again on the girl's file.  It details that she was the daughter of a professor and had always lived a life surrounded by books, an interest her parents actively cultivated.  Something must have gone terribly wrong for her to fall this far.

Finally the view rests at the bottom.  Her former middle name, "Claes."  A male name.  That is what Raballo has chosen.

"Because you ordered her to"

Claes has been taken and is first seen on the firing range, dressed in a drab vest and shorts; functional, boyish clothing similar to Rico's, although she has retained her long hair.  Her continued efforts to hit a can with a bullet are failures.  The spent casings on the ground make it clear she has been at this for some time, and when she finally strikes a target Raballo sighs in pent-up exasperation:

"About time you hit it.  Don't come back until you can always hit it from 20 yards."

And with that leaves in annoyance.  He doesn't want to instruct her, even though he sees that she has no idea what she is doing; just doing his job by the letter, waiting for an excuse to say something and abandon her.  However, once he has retreated to the quiet of his room he sits down in troubled thought.  This behavior is familiar: a total disengagement with training, struggling to get out of the presence of his girl, an unshakable pensiveness afterward.  Jose.


The night passes and the next day rain pours from the sky.  Raballo is eating in the cafeteria, seated across from Jean and Rico.  Judging by their meals it is at least noon.  Jean asks with no real concern:

Jean: "I haven't seen Claes today."
Raballo: "Yes, I told her to keep practicing at the range yesterday.  I haven't seen her since then."
(Raballo continues to eat; forcefully, almost rudely, dismissive)
Jean: "Since then?"
Raballo: "Since then means since then.  She didn't even show up to report back.  Nothing since then."
Jean: "I see." (Smiles)

Raballo is continuing to distance himself, not even pausing in his meal to emphasize how much he assuredly doesn't care about how Claes is doing.  She's nothing but an inconvenience.  Jean, rather than continuing his questioning, begins to lecture Raballo on how the girls take time to adapt to their bodies.  His eyes narrow and he injects, "Much like how you did with your leg."  A reminder to Raballo: you're here for a reason, do your job.


Jean turns to Rico and his polite facade drops into open dislike.  He tells Raballo that each girl adjusts to the implants at a different rate, with the implication that Rico is on the low end.  He knows she is listening and cruelly derides her on purpose as she slowly loops pasta around her fork.  She does not acknowledge what he says, accepting the abuse and continuing to eat in silence.


Jean turns back and his face adopts its sly smile.  He suggests that perhaps Raballo should have Claes practice writing or a musical instrument first, to get her used to her body.  As he says this, a pointed view of Henrietta playing the violin before the rain is seen.  This is likely how Jose sold the idea to Jean as the latter would never consent to giving the girls something as gratuitous as music lessons.  Art for the sake of violence; that is this place.  Raballo becomes ever more gruff, complaining this wasn't part of the job.  He doesn't want to be told that he has to rear Claes; that makes her too human.


The view next jumps to Raballo frantically hobbling along the colonnade where Henrietta is practicing.  She stops in curiosity to watch him limp by in reckless haste.  The music rises in the background, like the dread that Raballo is slowly realizing.  His earlier pretense at aloofness is gone and Henrietta's presence indicates he hardly even waited to rush from the cafeteria.  With the knowledge that something may be truly wrong he is moved to desperate action.


He first barges into Claes and Triela's shared room, but only a surprised Triela is there to greet him.  A brief snippet of the dislocation this place represents: teddy bears, a tea table, a healthy young girl... and a shotgun.  All coexisting as though it were natural.  As he heads out to the practice range he hears Jean's voice in his mind:

Jean: (In memory) "Check the shooting range.  I'll bet you she's still there."

Raballo: (Hearing shots echoing from the range) "Why would she..."

Jean: (In memory) "Because you ordered her to."

Jean knew she was out there.  He knew as soon as he heard Raballo had given the order and did not even bother to mention it.  The news even warranted a smile: Claes is working as intended.  Her wellbeing was not of any real issue, just whether Raballo was training her properly.  It was even a bit funny, the same vaguely amused expression stealing over his face as when he alluded to naming Rico.

Raballo, reaching her, exhales a tortured "Claes..."  He didn't want to believe it.  What has he done?  Piteously, her eyes glazed over, drooping in cold and exhaustion, Claes apologizes:

Claes: "I'm sorry.  I still can't hit it every time..."
Raballo: "Idiot!  You can't get better shooting for an entire night!"

He is completely horrified at what he has done, and uses his anger to cover the shock.  The ire may appear to be directed at her, but it is vehemently with himself.

As for Claes, reason doesn't matter.  If freezing in the rain all night is what it takes to get her trainer's affection, then that is what she will do.  He tells her to follow him back, sobered by the suffering he has carelessly inflicted.

Her Books are Gone

Later that evening Raballo is reading Claes' dossier again in private.  Learning about her.  As he looks over the pictures contained within he mutters:

"Fleda... Fleda Claes Johansson."

Her name.  Her real name.  She is a person who came from somewhere outside of this place.  Here, she sits on a swing in a garden with a book, turning to the camera happily.  There, she holds a book on Christmas day, smiling in joy at the gift.  Against his will he is thinking of her as a human, and the distance he imposed for his own peace of mind is shrinking.


He is surprised by a knock at the door.  He asks tersely what it is, and without an answer the door opens.  It is Claes, looking dismal compared to the spirited girl of the pictures; the contrast is heartbreaking.  Her clothes are a pale lilac, the buttons running down the left side.  Much more appropriate for her sex than the previous attire, but still a bit oversized like bargain purchases, avoiding too much appearance of concern.  Raballo's perception of her is shifting.

Raballo: "Did you sneak out of your room?"
Claes: "Jean told me to visit you."
Raballo: "Jean did?  He didn't tell me.  Come in anyway."

This is, of course, a lie on her part.  Jean would never send a cyborg just to chat with her trainer.  Claes came here on her own.  She didn't answer who it was before opening the door in order to make it harder for him to dismiss her.  The ploy worked; he invites her in, slipping her file inconspicuously away.  This girl is more clever than the others, but like them she just wants to be with her handler, even if she has to deceive him in the process.

Now seated on his bed, her infiltration successful, she looks around with interest.  He has placed his coat over her shoulders and is making her a cup of hot tea.  Raballo's uncaring front is flimsy indeed.  Claes is naturally drawn to marveling over his many books, an echo of her former life:

Raballo: "There'll be much more.  Filling the bookcases'll be exhausting."
Claes: "I'll help you put the books away." (Eagerly standing to help)
Raballo: "Mind your own business."

Hearing the rejection she sits back down, a faint and slightly hurt "yes" issuing from her lips.  Raballo is walking a fine line here; these books are valuable to him, and her touching something personal makes him uneasy that she is getting too close.  He continues to talk:

Raballo: "We may not look it, but people in our profession read quite a lot.  People without education and curiosity won't become good soldiers."
Claes: "What kind of books do you read?" (Eager)
Raballo: "Let's see.  I'm reading a book about how to grow vegetables in your backyard."
(Raballo scowls unhappily for a moment)
Raballo: "It'll come in handy for when vegetable aliens attack." (Flat)

(Claes is thoroughly unamused; she is keen enough to know this isn't a real joke)
Raballo: "What kind of books do you read?"
Claes: "I received some textbooks for my classes.  I will read some books too, if that's what I need to become a good soldier." (Dutiful)
Raballo: "I see..." (Sadly)

In Claes, Raballo has found a fellow bibliophile, but this forces him to recognize the contradictions in himself.  He doesn't read because he thinks it makes him a better captain; he reads because he loves learning for its own sake.  Soldiers don't need curiosity and vegetables have nothing to do with combat.  The real joke here is just how transparent his rationale is.


What has been done to Claes, what he is doing to Claes, though, is tragic.  As she says her last line, images flash of pictures in her file as Raballo remembers them.  In each one there is a book, held happily in her hands; Tom Sawyer and Anne of Green Gables are both legible titles.  This girl loved to read before she came here, and must have had many favorites.


But she does not remember them anymore: he took her books from her.  This beautiful, intelligent, vivacious girl who was excited about reading and filling her mind with stories is gone now.  Claes sits there, a shadow of herself, unaware of the magnitude of what has been stolen from her.  That she accepted his rationalization and now believes education is for killing... this is an unconscionable travesty.  Like the violin lessons, this place defiles everything it touches.  He declares no firearms practice for a while and tomorrow they will go somewhere else.  He must get her away from here.  This cannot be allowed to continue.

"Training"

The next day both are seen driving in a car in the countryside.  Claes asks seriously if this is okay, observing it is not a holiday.  There is a reasoned keenness to her.  She knows the SWA isn't a lenient organization and she doesn't just accept Raballo's gifts unthinkingly, putting her understanding together without delay.

"Yeah, it seems this is part of my job too."

They have come to a lake to fish.  Like Jose, he is using the excuse of improving her coordination as a cover for enrichment.  Claes is dressed appropriately for the occasion, the clothes appearing new and quite nice.  He teaches her how to cast a line, and she emulates perfectly.  Having completed the task she turns to him inquisitively for her next instruction, only to be told to sit down and wait for the fish to bite.  This was not what she was expecting; so much for movement training.


As they both sit in silence Buon Ricordo (Good Memory) plays in the background.  The clouds drift overhead, a flock of birds departs from a nearby tree.  A fish breaks the water and Claes watches it with curiosity.  Even if her face is not expressive, she is very alert to all this.  But then a cool wind blows, a thought and a feeling coming to her, and she looks down pensively.  Raballo mistakes the expression:

Raballo: "Are you bored?  When I was a boy, I always got bored when I went fishing with my father.  I didn't know the joy of idly passing time."
Claes: "I'm not bored at all.  I was just thinking: even I can experience these kinds of things."
(Claes takes in a short breath before "these kinds of things" and turns her gaze to look out at the lake appreciatively)

Claes is not naturally an expressive girl, but this peaceful experience is nourishing her soul.  She watches it all with interest, her sharp mind naturally turning to observe each new wonder.  None of it is taken for granted, with the knowledge that it is a gift to experience such things given her situation.  However, this very reflectiveness delivers to her a realization, the haunting accompaniment of self-awareness: it will not last.  A cold breeze ripples the pond in resonance.  Raballo pushes brusquely on:

Raballo: "I just brought you here because it's my job.  I don't really care about you.  What I care about is returning to the army."
(Raballo refuses to look at her directly during his delivery)
Claes: "Is it all right if I ask about your leg?" (Nonplussed)
Raballo: "An accidental pistol discharge during my military police days.  Three years at the agency and they'll help me go back.  That's the promise I made with Jean." (Abrasive, he looks at her to observe the reaction)

It is Raballo repeating his tired mantra; even though he has the voice his refusal to look at her betrays how unsteady it is.  He can't face her directly and say he doesn't care, for it is not true.  The explanation he offers her about why he is here is defiant, purposefully derogatory, for in truth it is shame.  He is admitting to her that he came here because of a bribe, a contract to take advantage of her so that he can get what he wants.  "I am not a good man so don't look up to me," is what he says.  This was his failing; even as he pushes her away he is confessing.


Claes is remarkably unruffled by his outburst, especially considering how sensitive the girls have been shown to be to their handlers.  She is too sharp, and after watching has noticed what he says bears no relation to how he acts; she recognizes a fellow liar when she sees one, and does not take his words at face value.  Her question about his leg is offered with genuine concern as she tries to further get to know and understand him.  With Raballo's attempt to shock her failed she smiles at him cleverly:

"In that case, I will become your leg until the time comes."

Her reply not only confirms her devotion, but her intelligence as well.  Rather than use a mundane phrase she reaches to metaphor, a composition of her own upon appreciating his story.  Her expression during delivery is an enigmatic Mona Lisa smile.  Benign, reserved, and with a look in the eyes that says she understands something he does not.  At the end of the sentence her eyes narrow subtly in affection: her secret knowledge is that he is a good man.

Raballo isn't quite ready to accept her and tells Claes to knock it off, but his voice has lost its hostile edge, betraying a degree of embarrassment for her endearment.  Before she can respond a fish bites her line and and he excitedly begins to tell her how to reel it in.  Straining and unused to her body, she overcompensates, falling backward as the fish is yanked from the water.  Even with her dismay, she is blushing with emotion at this happy occasion.  Claes begins to narrate:

We visited many other lakes after that... Lombardy, Veneto, Piemonte... At the agency, we were always silent and true to our roles as teacher and student, but for some reason, we always talked at the lakes.  It was our unspoken rule.

That Claes is explaining demonstrates her awareness of what is going on and her ability to articulate their relationship in a clear fashion.  For Raballo's part, he is figuring out a new balance, separating his identities by location rather than within his own head.  The lakes he takes her to are spread across all of northern Italy; a thinly-disguised desire to show her what he loves.  With this step he has begun to deviate from Jose's trajectory, learning how to value his girl without becoming entangled in himself.

Training

A dark subway at night after the last train has left, the graffiti on the walls bearing evidence of its lawlessness.  Raballo is sending Claes down to the sounds of raucous, dangerous-sounding laughter.  She is to incapacitate the thugs without killing them, with an emphasis on keeping the commotion to a minimum.  Practical training.  She has a gun, but he emphasizes it is a last resort for self-defense.  All of this camouflaged in a striking black and white dress that highlights Claes' elegance.

"If you can't handle these subway punks you can forget the real thing."

She descends into the darkness.  After a moment Raballo hears gunshots and radios in to Alfonso to keep the police away.  Something has gone wrong.  Claes appears at the bottom of the stairs, dragging two dead hoodlums, prompting Raballo to call in the clean-up crew as well.  His stern glare is cut short by a plaintive, "I'm sorry..." floating up from below.  He now sees her more clearly and his face falls into distress.  Claes has a knife in her stomach.  Even as she stands there bleeding, she apologizes.

Raballo has again misjudged the power he has over her.  He had dressed her as a mature woman, a reflection of how he was misled by her poise into considering her an adult.  And so he was careless.  He gave her an order not to use the gun unless she had to, and his offhanded comment implied that if she can't do this, she isn't good enough to serve him.

Claes took his words to heart.  She values his instructions so highly that she would sooner be stabbed than violate them.  The failure leaves her holding back tears for having not lived up to his expectations.  Despite her fierce intelligence and relative maturity she is still so vulnerable.  Her reserved demeanor may obscure it, but Claes has a supremely delicate heart.


As they return to the agency, Raballo's initial horror transitions predictably to anger; an outward berating that hides the fury he feels toward himself.  The bloodied knife sits on the seat next to him as a reminder, pushing her to the back and allowing him some harshness with distance:

"I told you that judging when to use your gun is more important than how well you can shoot!  It's too late once you're in knife range!  Don't hesitate to shoot next time."

The last sentence softens, and is delivered less as an order and more a plea.  He wants Claes to protect herself, to value herself as he is coming to value her.  It terrifies him how easily he has hurt his precious girl again with ineptitude.

Jose vs. Raballo

Claes and Henrietta are practicing marksmanship while their handlers watch; Claes is dressed appropriately for the activity while Henrietta is clothed as a schoolgirl on a shooting range.  As they continue, Jose's face tilts slightly downward, his attention wavering as he falls into thinking about himself.  Raballo, who remains alert, observes Henrietta's errors:

Raballo: "Jose.  Your girl needs to learn some consistency."
Jose: "Easier said than done.  Are you suggesting I increase her conditioning?" (Waspish)
Raballo: "That's not what I meant." (Returning Jose's irritation)
(Jose turns his head peevishly during Raballo's reply)

These two began similarly, but the difference has grown: Jose becomes increasingly withdrawn while Raballo stays engaged.  He realizes he must for Claes' sake; she's twice harmed herself seriously because of his errors, and he can't afford to make more.  Raballo is no longer perfunctorily fulfilling his role as a trainer; he is committed to doing it properly as well as caring for her.


Jose, however, is living in his own head.  Raballo's criticism of Henrietta was taken personally, a reflection of his character rather than the simple advice it was meant to be.  His response was both inappropriate and full of excessive spleen; he isn't replying to Raballo, but to Jean.  He's reliving the same guilty arguments over and over, knowing he is failing Henrietta but unable to get outside his own suffering.  In the end he turns petulantly away with eyes closed as though to say, "You wouldn't understand what I'm going through."


Raballo's frustrated response is cut short when Henrietta's gun jams, prompting her to ignorantly look down the barrel.  Raballo reacts quickly, snatching the gun from her hand and knocking her bodily against the wall, her headgear flying from the force of the impact.  His haste was appropriate, and while such violence can hardly be called commendable he truly wants to teach Henrietta this instant that what she has done should never be repeated for her own sake.

"Do you wanna die?!"

Raballo stands over her, but he clearly isn't intending further harm.  He wants to scare her, to drill into her how serious her mistake was.  Jose has now sprung into action... to stop Raballo.  In this critical moment when Henrietta may have killed herself on accident, he is still stuck on thinking about making her, and hence himself, feel better, no matter the dangers.  But Raballo has had enough.  He wheels on Jose angrily, striking him with his cane:

"You put a girl, who can't even use a gun properly, on the range.  Did you think that a modern gun wouldn't jam?  Eh?!?  That kind of attitude puts all of us in..."

The girls now begin to react.  Henrietta, seeing Jose in trouble, struggles to her feet and picks up the bench, intending to strike Raballo with it.  Claes yells a warning, interrupting his tirade, and takes up position between Henrietta and Raballo, her gun aimed at the other girl.  This altercation between the trainers has immediately spread to their cyborgs with soon-to-be deadly results.

Before it can become lethal, Raballo strikes Claes, knocking her gun astray as it riddles the wall and ceiling with bullets, saving Henrietta's life a second time.  Jose orders Henrietta to stop and the crisis passes.


This is how divergent these two men have become.  Jose's withdrawn behavior is more than worrisome, it is reckless.  In his procrastination he has come to hedging on things never going wrong, like a gun that will never jam.  Yet he struggles to see it anymore, having spent so much time looking inward at his own self-grief.  This is entirely about assuaging his own pain.


To continue this policy will ensure that Henrietta is not only a danger to others but to herself; she is going to be seriously harmed at some point, and Raballo knows it.  Claes' delicate strength has taught him this, and his growing feelings for her will never let him forget it.

Inflection Point

This incident has brought to Jean's attention the willingness of the cyborgs to attack each other.  In a private meeting, Raballo is exonerated:

"Captain, you are not at fault.  Jose doesn't seem to be in the mood to instruct her lately, but... the problem this time is a failure of the conditioning.  I now see it stands to be improved."

These are the types of events that eroded any respect he had for his brother by the meeting in Fratello.  But for now he is not quite incensed, and will defer chastising Jose unless it proves necessary.  Problems with the conditioning, however, cannot be ignored:

Raballo: "Are you going to redo the brainwashing?"
Jean: "Jose will probably disagree, but both probably need several pages rewritten."
Raballo: "If you keep doing this kind of thing, it'll shorten their lifespans..." (Distressed)
Jean: "That just comes with the territory.  Either way, this doesn't concern you.  Once the agency lays the groundwork, you will be back in the military police.  Take some time off while she's recovering."

This is the moment of decision.  Jean has given him the rationalization.  Raballo has every reason to turn a blind eye; he just needs to pretend a little while longer and he can have his old job back, where he can forget all of this happened.  Forget about Claes...



His hand has been pressed against the window for the entire scene.  He sees her lying there, so defenseless and innocent, and it tried to reach out through the glass of its own accord.  To his shame it has been his actions that have harmed her... at the shooting range... at the subway... and now here.  She has done nothing wrong and yet is the one paying a terrible price while he is told to walk away.  But he can no longer walk without her.  With his face staring back at him in the glass, the hand that was thwarted from comforting her curls toward a resolute fist.

Regret for a Gray Life

Henrietta and Jose are waiting outside in the courtyard for Raballo.  Seeing him, Henrietta stands up promptly, delivering a rehearsed apology while nervously clutching her skirt:

"I'm sorry Raballo, it was all my fault..."

It isn't that she is insincere, but she doesn't want to mess up what Jose told her to say.  It has to be done right for him.  She'll be sorry, or not sorry, if he tells her to be.  Her guilt for his failings.


Raballo ignores Henrietta and asks Jose about redoing Henrietta's conditioning, and he confirms that he will be resisting Jean's choice:

Raballo: "I don't know how to control that aggressive attitude of theirs.  They can't even tell the difference between enemies and friends."

Jose's stand is superficially admirable, but fails to address the problem.  Raballo is truly feeling the dilemma: there is no middle ground between caring for these girls and using them as weapons.  Turning inward, Raballo reflects:

"Fighting violence with violence is all I've ever known."

Claes has changed him.  He is a good man, yet somehow along the way he had become accustomed to this.  To accepting that this is how it all works.  That there might be another way to live... that everything he had done may have been in error... it is reaching him now.  He derisively quotes himself: "Good soldiers read... yeah right."  That joke has become his life.


Raballo pauses seeing Jose's expression.  It is a look of barely suppressed anger and disapproval.  Resentment for the incident, Raballo's willingness to use more conditioning, his own superior pride, and perhaps a petulant awareness that this man is surpassing him.  The last may be the most intolerable, that Raballo has abandoned the pretense of moral superiority and is beginning to see clearly what he must do to make things right.  Raballo realizes he is rambling and cuts himself off: Jose does not understand his words.

The Dead

Raballo is fishing alone, his face hidden from view.  What he is experiencing cannot be shown, and it would be improper to intrude.  The scene merges into a shot of men around a table at the agency playing cards:

Giorgio: "What's with the military police captain?"
Alfonso: "Doesn't know what to do with all his free time."
Giorgio: "He might be at his breaking point now."  
Alfonso: "Probably for the best, considering the business we're in."  

These men are dead.  They too pass their time idly, but it is through distracting trivialities: playing cards and chatting about Raballo's deepest struggles as though they are the weather.  To remain at the organization is to become like them.  Turn away enough times, and eventually one turns away from the self.

Back at the lake the camera rests on an empty spot next to the tree.  Claes' spot.  A fish breaks the water, but she is not there to appreciate it.

It Doesn't Need to be Said

Back at the SWA, Claes is running frantically to catch Raballo as he packs up his car.  Her clothing is now a soft green.  There is a delicate knot on the front of her blouse, with billowy sleeves and shorts flaring like a skirt.  She is in the springtime of her life: young, growing, lively, and feminine.  How beautifully she has regenerated under him.

Raballo: "It's been a while, Claes.  You got out of the hospital today?" (Deadpan yet... tired)
Claes: "I got out a day early.  I was looking for you." (Anxious)

Raballo raises an eyebrow; unlike at the dormitory, he isn't fooled by her lie.  She cares about him enough to escape.  His demeanor is different; he is not effusive, but all pretense of harshness has vanished.  He has come to peace within himself, and is only now able to see through to her deep affection.


Realizing she is caught, Claes admits she heard he was leaving the agency when Henrietta came to visit.  He asks if she's made up with Henrietta, which only leaves her confused.  Make up for what?  The conditioning; she has forgotten.  His eyes close for a moment, another stab of pain for what his choice has cost her.  But he does not keep them closed.  He doesn't have to anymore.

"Don't worry.  All I want is to spend my time idly until you get officially released tomorrow."

His turn to lie in order to spare her the worry.  He hands her two things: a key to his room, so that she may read his books, and her old glasses.  Prized possessions.  These are not gifts given to somebody one will be seeing again in a few days.  Claes is surprised to see her glasses.  She asks him why he kept them.

"I tried my best to train you to stand on your own feet.  But looking at you lately, I start to get worried."

This man, despite pretending otherwise, was always thinking of her.  He wanted to teach her to be a good person, not just a weapon.  But these two goals cannot coexist.  Those glasses were his reminder that she came from somewhere, a link to that girl who used to smile happily while reading her books.  He can't give back her life, but he can remember it for her.


True to his nature, his parting words to her are advice of the conscience.  He looks so tired:

"One must think clearly before pulling a trigger, regardless of what the agency orders..."

She is a cyborg now, and that can never be changed.  She has to live with what she can and must do, but he will never tell her to act as their unthinking tool.

"You shouldn't use your strength when you're not on a mission.  When you have those glasses on, I want you to be the gentle Claes."

He can't change what she is, but maybe he can help her find peace in the moments that she has.  He rests his hand softly on Claes' shoulder.  Looking at her profoundly:

Raballo: "This is not an order that can be rewritten... it's a warmhearted promise from you.  Understand?"
Claes: "I do."

Raballo is no longer just her trainer.  He cares about her, enough to question his entire life and give up his future.  As the scene fades into whiteness she stares back at him, his hand tightening ever so slightly on her shoulder.  She understands.  The words aren't spoken.  They don't have to be.

Loss

Raballo has contacted a news outlet.  He will reveal the agency and ensure that it is stopped; even if it is too late for Claes to be ever fully saved, he can prevent her tragedy from recurring.  He arranges to meet with a journalist over the phone, emphasizing the utmost caution should be taken, having himself carefully ensured he is not being followed.  There are no delusions here: the agency will kill those who oppose it, but he will not be deterred.  Hanging up, Raballo looks out over a tranquil lake in the countryside, perfect for fishing.


Claes is staring out the window, longing but happy, the light slanting on her face.  She is waiting for him, wearing her glasses, with Triela at her side.  But Raballo is late.  The door opens.  In his place is Jean, standing in the darkness of the hall.  He walks toward her.  Claes' face begins to fill with concern: this man is never the harbinger of good.  "Captain Raballo..."  Time slows as Triela's eyes widen; she knows what is coming, what it will mean for her friend, but she can't stop it.  "...is dead."  Jean goes on to lie that he was killed in a hit-and-run two days ago.  Two days.  They didn't bother to tell her for two days.


But Claes is no longer listening.  Her face is frozen, unable to express the enormity of what she has just lost.  There are no tears as she is eclipsed by the vast gulf opening in her, like the darkness expanding in her eye.  Triela's voice echos in the background, revolted at Jean's vicious disregard.  He tells her to be quiet, any pretense gone, and orders men to take Claes.  The scene ends to the sound of footsteps resounding against the floor mingling with Triela's desperate attempts to bring Claes back.

Daughter

In the chief's office, it is decided that Claes is no longer of any use to the agency.  She stares blankly, lost without any meaning.  Her clothing has turned to brown now.  The springtime is over and she has wilted.  A scientist speaks up, saying he wishes to use her for cybernetics testing.  This is not a kindly salvation that has prevented her from being tossed away.


The subsequent scenes show her put under immense strain to check the specifications of her implants.  They push her and push her, demanding that she give it her all, until her shoulder is dislocated from the exertion.  As she stands, wincing from the pain, they tell her they will get painkillers... in a moment.  They have to attend to the findings first.  Her life continues to be hard.


Bookending these experiments is Triela preparing for a mission.  As she leaves she turns and says she'll be back soon.  The teddy bears in the empty room stare back, and then reply absentmindedly, "Yeah... have fun..."  It is Claes on the top bunk, hidden from view; only her boots on the floor revealed her existence.  She is hardly here anymore, forgotten, except by the ever-caring Triela.


Claes begins to narrate:

I don't participate in operations like everyone else.  I don't even step outside the agency.  To the best of my knowledge, this is the only way I've ever lived.

They took Raballo from her.  They killed him and then they erased him.  She walks alone on a causeway to the lab; after it is over, she walks back the same way.  It is this routine every day, an evil made dull by repetition.  She drifts through life.


Then, a curious thing happens.  Even as she walks alone, Buon Ricordo begins to play, as it once did at the lake.

As I do this each day, something often comes to mind.

She is seen knocking on Henrietta's door, recruiting her for this idea.  Claes is still in brown.  She grew out of the dead grays into green, which in turn have given way to an aged color.  The girlish blouse has become a womanly dress; reserved, stately, and entirely her own.


As they walk along the path, Henrietta asks what they are doing.  Claes replies they are planting a garden.

"Jean actually gave me permission when I asked him."  

Liar (I say this fondly).  Henrietta doesn't understand why, but Claes merely tells her she felt like doing so.  She can tend to her garden even in this place, in defiance of Jean and all he stands for.  Henrietta stops her, asking if she is lonely:

Henrietta: "I would die of loneliness if I didn't have Jose."  
(Claes stops her short)
Claes: "Happy little girl.  I decide if I'm lonely or not." 

This is for the audience as much as Henrietta.  Save your pity.  They killed Raballo, took away his memory, but they could not rewrite her promise.  It is in her now.  She has an old soul, one that is above such demeaning by casual sympathy.  At times she may be lonely, but that is for her to know.  The admonition of Orione now has context: have fun while you're still young, for she no longer is.


Claes concludes in narration of her daily activities.  She cooks, draws pictures, and plays music; rather than remain broken, she enriches her existence.  His wisdom mingles with her spirit to sustain her even now.

Raballo's old room is shown, his chair now conspicuously vacant; she says she has all she could ever read.  His last gift to her: she has books again.

But most of all, I know the joy of idly spending my time.  I think my father or someone taught me it long ago.  I just get that feeling.

Yes, Claes, it was your father.

←Episode 4

Interlude 2: Abutment, Episode 6→